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Published September 28, 2016

The Greatest in God’s Kingdom

Autumn bench on a still pond

Of all virtues, Jesus elevated meekness above the rest. Why humility? It is the door opener to grace, and no virtue enters our lives except that humility acknowledges our need and requests virtue to come. Without humility, we see no reason to change or appropriate future grace.

Yet, humility not only hosts the other virtues, it is also the life essence that sustains them. It is humility that recognizes when love is growing cold and humility that confesses our need for greater purity. Without humility, our virtues harden into lifeless statues; we are outwardly religious, but inwardly unable to change.

Humility is the taproot of true nobility. For it provides increase to wholeness, and life and maturity to all other virtues. It is the antidote to Pharisee-ism and the cure for a Jezebelian attitude.

A Child

Consider: when Jesus was asked by His disciples, “Who then is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?” He put a child in their midst. He said, “Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven” (Mathew 18:1,4).

What a sublime wonder! In Heaven, the height of greatness is measured by the depth of one’s humility.

Consider Wuest’s Expanded Translation of Jesus’ statement:

“Therefore, he who is of such a nature as to humble himself like this little child, esteeming himself small inasmuch as he is so, thus thinking truly, and because truly, therefore humbly of himself, this person is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.”
Jesus came to establish Heaven in the lives of His followers. Thus, He introduces the realm of God to His disciples with the words, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven” (Matthew 5:3).

Beloved, the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to the “poor in spirit.” Who are these poor? They are people who “know their need” (Godspeed Translation). Beloved, there are people in Heaven who were sinners on Earth. The streets of God’s kingdom are filled with people who, at some time or another, failed and fell short. There are adulterers who’ve been washed and cleansed by Christ’s blood, ex-drug dealers and prostitutes whose hearts are filled with praise to God – all who came face to face with their need, repented and found forgiveness of their sins.

But there is not one proud individual in Heaven. There are no self-righteous beings in Heaven.

Here on earth we see the strutting pride – the air of self-importance – manifest in leaders and celebrities. Again, we behold the air of false superiority in our cultural prejudices. We see unrepentant pride in the conflicts that lead to divorce and the offspring of pride – envy and jealousy – in the inordinate desire of men to be glorified before other men.

Jesus said the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to the poor in spirit! Not the perfect, but the poor. Yes, we are called to standards of perfection, and strive we must toward that upward call. Yet, perfection in Heaven is measured, not in degrees of self-sufficiency, but in degrees of dependency and surrender. We can search for an eternity and we will observe truly: there dwells not one proud soul in all of Heaven.

Today, we cry for revival and pray for breakthroughs, and persevere we must. Yet the Lord’s eyes are upon a certain individual. He says,

“For thus says the high and exalted One Who lives forever, whose name is Holy, ‘I dwell on a high and holy place, and also with the contrite and lowly of spirit in order to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite‘” (Isaiah.57:15).

The disciples were arguing about who is greatest in the Kingdom. Jesus placed a child in their midst. This is greatness in the Kingdom of Heaven: to possess a humble heart.

By Francis Frangipane

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The True Foundation

Published July 14, 2016

The True Foundation

Christ Himself is the eternal blueprint for our lives. Only in studying Him, in measuring ourselves by Him, do we grow securely upon the foundation of God.

Beloved, we were created to become like Christ. God’s plan has not faded or become obsolete! Even as Christ has not changed, so neither has the plan of God for the church. Our transformation will burn in God’s heart “until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ”
(Ephesians 4:13).

You see, the focus of both leadership and congregations should be upon attaining Christlike transformation and His love for people. This has been the Father’s purpose from the beginning of time and it remains His unchanging goal at the end of the age. (See Genesis. 1:26-27 and Romans 8:29.)

The problem is that, too often, as Christians we define ourselves by what we do for God rather than what we become to Him. What pleases the Father most is not what proceeds from our hands but what rises from our hearts. He is seeking the revelation of His Son in us. There is nothing on earth that so pleases the Father’s heart as when Jesus Christ is revealed through us. As Paul wrote, we become a “fragrance of Christ to God”
(2 Corinthians 2:15).

This is why we focus on revealing Christ Himself. Other aspects of Christianity develop correctly only as they emerge out of our greater pursuit of Christlikeness. You see? No aspect of our spirituality functions properly apart from our living union with Christ. It is here, in pursuing Christlikeness, that we find true spiritual assurance that we are not being led astray.

Consider: Paul said that the result of seeking the measure of the stature that belongs to the fullness of Christ is that “we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine” (Ephesians 4).

Paul warned that people can be “carried about by every wind of doctrine.” Yes, false doctrines are dangerous, but Paul wasn’t limiting his warning only to false teachings. For even a true doctrine can have a false emphasis and lead us astray. The pursuit of Christlikeness aligns us with the Father’s highest priority for our lives. It secures us upon the path to truth, for “truth is in Jesus” (Ephesians 4:21). He Himself is the way, the truth and the life.

As a result, Paul wrote that intimacy with Christ was the deepest cry of his heart. He said, “That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death” (Philippians 3:10).

He was not speaking of some esoteric knowledge of Christ but an intimacy that led to conformity. Do we see this? He wrote, “That I may know Him . . . being conformed.” Knowing Christ and being conformed to Him is of the same essence. Christ Himself is the true foundation upon which we must build our lives.

By Francis Frangipane
used by permission

Thoughts by All thoughts by Francis Frangipane Thoughts by Men

The Commitment of an Intercessor

Published March 11, 2016

The Commitment of an Intercessor

‘Then Moses returned to the Lord, and said, “Alas, this people has committed a great sin, and they have made a god of gold for themselves. But now, if Thou wilt, forgive their sin—and if not, please blot me out from Thy book which Thou hast written!” Exodus 32:31-32

The prayer of Moses is remarkable. Moses was not only the leader of Israel, he was an intercessor as well. Ultimately, an intercessor gives up all personal advantage for the sake of those for whom he prays. Moses knew he personally had favor with God. Yet he presented himself as a remarkable portrait of one irreversibly committed to Israel’s transformation. He said, “If Thou wilt, forgive their sin—and if not, please blot me out from Thy book.”

Moses said, in effect, that he was not serving for individual gain or glory – this was not about him, but about the people he loved and served, rebellious as they were. The soul of Moses was bound together with the future of Israel. Similarly, we must see ourselves irreversibly bound together with the lives of those we pray for, both family and friends, as well as our community and nation. Moses would not be blessed, honored or pleased apart from the fulfillment of God’s promise to the Hebrews. If God would not forgive them, He could not have Moses either. Israel and Moses had become a package deal.

Have you struggled with situations in your personal life in which you cannot seem to break through? Perhaps you are spending too much time on your needs and not enough time praying for others. Make a prayer list of people with desperate needs, and as you intercede for them, see if the Holy Spirit doesn’t break through for you, too. Indeed, include your enemies and those who have hurt you. Remember the story of Job. When he prayed for his friends, God healed him (see Job 42:10). Intercession not only transforms the world, but also transforms us.

Lord Jesus, I am awed at Your willingness to show mercy. You actually changed Your mind about judgment on sinners because of one man, Moses. Lord, in my world and times, let me be that one who so delights You, who is so intimate with You, that my prayer for mercy outweighs Your judgment to destroy the disobedient. May the favor You have given to me be multiplied to those who yet do not know You, and may it spread until all the earth is filled with Your glory!

By Francis Frangipane

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The Transcendent Life

feature scene mountain calm peaceful serenity

Published May 6, 2013

The Transcendent Life

Typically when I remind Christians that their core destiny is Christlikeness, most nod, affirming the general truthfulness of my statement. However, I can tell that they really do not believe becoming Christlike is the reason they exist. If they did, they would have a plan. They would be in obvious pursuit of their transformation.

Yet, when people think of their destiny, they often first think of something they will do for God, a task that involves the visible demonstration of a unique gift or ministry function. But neither our gifts nor a specific calling represent the core reality of our destiny. It is not what we do for the Lord, but what we become to Him that matters. It is this inner surrender of the heart, this deliberate turning of our soul Godward, that defines our true progress.

Our responsibilities and gifts may be as varied as the seasons of our lives – and certainly we should spend time attending to them. But I am speaking of the deeper reality that must develop within us: becoming like Christ.

I am sixty-six years old. During my life I have served God in a variety of tasks. Yet whether I was church planting or selling computers, doing odd jobs or starting a training school, I never confused my calling with my destiny. Becoming like Jesus is why we exist.

Your Life Focus

The sad fact is, we have seen ministry leaders whose gifts and callings were so powerful, so captivating, that they seemed capable of bringing Heaven itself to earth. Then, to our shock, we discovered later that these very same individuals were secretly in the grip of the most disgraceful sins. How could such things occur? When our primary goal is the development of our gifts or calling rather than our character, we become increasingly vulnerable to satanic deception.

You see, a time will come when in increasing degrees we begin to master our gifts. We learn how to preach and prophesy effectively; we can minister in perfect pitch in song or praise. We even master the tears of sincerity in our altar calls and ministry. Outwardly our spirituality is convincing, yet inwardly our soul is bored with our staged, religious performance. The challenge of our calling is gone. No one discerns our inner decline, not even our closest friends. In that state of mind, a door swings open to the world of the flesh. Scripture says, “Desire fulfilled is a tree of life” (Proverbs13:12).

The life that sustains us – that should ultimately fill us – is not drawn from seeking our calling but seeking the Caller Himself. This was Paul’s goal when he passionately wrote, “That I may know Him.” This “being conformed to His death” was the “one thing” Paul said he truly focused on (Philippians 3:10, 13). Paul lived a transcendent life that unfolded “from glory to glory” (2 Corinthians 3:18).

Beloved, God created man to be “in the image and likeness of God” (Genesis 1:27 AMP). The image of God is Christ, and it is our conformity to Christ that fulfills the purpose of our existence. We do not need crowds to see us perform nor applause to affirm our ministry. When we pursue the image of Christ, we possess the meaning of life.

by Francis Frangipane
Used by permission

Thoughts by All thoughts by Francis Frangipane Thoughts by Men

Published September 14, 2011

Tell Francis I Miss Him

by Francis Frangipane

If Satan cannot distract you with worldliness, He will overwhelm you with weariness. Indeed, how easy it is to wear ourselves out; even good works done without recharging ourselves in God can drain us of life and energy. Daniel speaks of a time at the end of the age when the enemy will attempt to “wear down the saints of the Highest One” (Daniel 7:25). God never intended for us to do His will without His presence. The power to accomplish God’s purpose comes from prayer and intimacy with Christ. It is here, closed in with God, where we find an ever-replenishing flow of spiritual virtue.
Weary in Well-Doing

In the early 1970s, during the beginning of my ministry, the Lord called me to consecrate to Him the time from dawn until noon. I spent these hours in prayer, worship, and the study of His Word. I would often worship God for hours, writing songs to Him that came from this wonderful sanctuary of love. The presence of the Lord was my delight, and I know my time with Him was not only well spent but also well pleasing to us both.

However, as my life began to bear the fruit of Christ’s influence, the Holy Spirit brought people to me for ministry. In time, as more people came, I found myself cutting off forty-five minutes from the end of my devotional time. On occasion, ministry to people extended into the night, and I stopped rising as early as I had.

Church growth problems began to eat at the quality of my remaining time; ministerial expansion, training younger ministries, and more counseling and deliverance crowded the already limited time I had left. Of course, these changes did not happen overnight, but the months and years of increasing “success” were steadily eroding my devotional life. In time I found myself in a growing ministry but with a shrinking anointing to sustain it.

One day an intercessor called who prayed regularly for me. He told me that during the night the Lord spoke to him in a dream concerning me. I was eager to hear what the Lord had revealed to my friend, thinking perhaps He was going to increase our outreach or maybe supply some needed finances. I asked him to tell me the dream.

What the Lord said had nothing directly to do with the projects and priorities that were consuming my time. He simply said, “Tell Francis I miss him.”

Oh, what burdens we carry — what weariness accumulates — when we neglect the privilege of daily spending time with Jesus. I cried as I repented before the Lord, and I readjusted my priorities. No longer would I counsel people in the mornings. I would spend this time again with God.

I was sure I would lose some of the people who had recently joined the church. These were people who had come specifically for personal ministry. I knew I would not have the same time for them as before, but I had to make my decision for God.

The next Sunday morning I announced to the congregation that my mornings were off limits, consecrated to God. “Please,” I said, “no calls or counseling. I need to spend time with the Lord.” What happened next shocked me. The entire church rose and applauded! They wanted a leader who spent more time with God! They were tired of a tired pastor.

As we enter the coming days, our primary activity will be to minister to Christ. Certainly there will be increased pressures. There will also be times of great harvest and spiritual activity. No matter what circumstances surround us, we must position ourselves first and continually in the presence of God. For to miss our time with Jesus is to miss His glory in the day of His presence.

Father, it is the fragrance of Jesus, cultivated in secret, that manifests through us the knowledge of Him in every place. Forgive me for being anxious and troubled about many things, when to sit at Your feet was the only necessary thing. I choose now that better part, and gratefully receive from Your intimacy the better things which shall never be taken away.

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Thoughts by All thoughts by Francis Frangipane Thoughts by Men

Published July 18, 2010

Return to your Dwelling Place in God

By Francis Frangipane

Ultimately, I believe there are only two acceptable, core attitudes we should have toward the Almighty.
The first attitude is heartfelt abandonment. This is the result of having found the Lord’s Presence in a new unfolding of His glory. Heartfelt abandonment will always be accompanied by transcendent awe, unspeakable joy and irrepressible love. All of these are the result of having laid hold of the Lord; they are the consequences of His presence.

The second core attitude we must possess comes in the seeming absence of God’s presence. It is a relentless longing, an unquenchable thirst, to find Him whom your soul loves. Abandonment and longing are the two tracks that lead us into our destiny in God and guides into true spiritual fulfillment.

The deception we battle about seeking God is rooted in the fact that, like ancient Israel in Babylon, we have lived too long in exile from our inheritance. In our apostatized condition we have legitimized superficiality and allowed shallowness to become our acceptable norm. Thus, the call is issued from heaven: Return to your dwelling place in God! For the Promised Land of the church is the dwelling place of God’s Living Presence.

You say, according to 2 Chronicles 7:14, “But we have humbled ourselves and prayed; we are turning from our wicked ways. Why has He not healed our land?” He has not heard our prayer because we desire our healing more than we desire our God. You see, there is yet one more imperative 2 Chronicles calls us to fulfill. In the context of repentance and prayer, He said, “…and seek My face.”

Beloved, when the Lord called David to seek His face, David responded, “Thy face, O God, I shall seek” (Psalms 27). This is the essence of one who has “a heart after God.” We seek God for His heart, not merely His hand. We have asked Him to extend His hand, to touch and heal us. But the Lord, in His great love for us, desires we seek His face.

Thus, the Holy Spirit bids us to draw near to God. His word promises that, as we draw near to Him, He will Himself draw near to us. It is the nearness of His Spirit which descends upon us and, through us, heals our land.

Again the Lord speaks, “I will go away and return to My place until they acknowledge their guilt and seek My face; in their affliction they will earnestly seek Me” (Hosea 5:15).

Together, using the very words provided us by Hosea as our template, the Lord even gives us words with which we respond, “Come, let us return to the Lord. For He has torn us, but he will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bandage us. He will revive us after two days; He will raise us up on the third day that we may live before Him” (Hosea 5:16).

Yes, even the prophet Hosea encourages us with his words as well, “So let us know, let us press on to know the Lord. His going forth is as certain as the dawn; and He will come to us like the rain, like the spring rain watering the earth” (Hosea 5:15-6:4).

Is this not the very cry of your heart, that the living presence of God would saturate the dryness of your soul? Come to us, O Lord, like the rain watering the earth!

Therefore we conclude, it is time to seek God. We urge every pastor to guide their church and every parent to lead their family into an attitude of seeking God. Consecrate a room in your church or home and call it the “tent of meeting.” It is right, beloved, and timely, to seek after God.

“Moses used to take the tent and pitch it outside the camp, a good distance from the camp, and he called it the tent of meeting. And it came about that everyone who sought the Lord would go out to the tent of meeting which was outside the camp“(Exodus 33:7). Everyone who sought the Lord entered the tent of meeting. Dear friends, the Holy Spirit shall help us. For the mission of the Spirit is, summarily, to lead us into the presence of Jesus. And this He will do until Christ is as real to us as the world was when we were sinners.

THE PROMISE OF GOD
Is it possible that we can be delivered of a superficial life? Yes. For the Spirit He has given us, dwells within us and He “searches all things, even the depths of God” (1 Corinthians 2:10).

If you are weary of a life without God’s fullness, then seeking the Lord may be a turning point in your walk with Him. Our hope rests in the integrity of His immutable word: “Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. And I will be found by you” (Jeremiah 29:12-14a).

Let us pray:
Lord Jesus, my soul yearns and even longs for Your courts. Guide me into Your holy Presence, dear Lord. Let me find You again in a new way. I cannot live without Your constant love. I am desperate for You Jesus. Restore my longing for You until I find You, and in finding You, abandon myself totally into Your love. Amen.

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