Further, Part 7

At this stage in the journey, you will find people who have experienced life with God long enough to live with a deep and abiding conviction that they have a role to play in God’s story. They have learned how to turn all of life into a formative advantage–drawing deeper into life with God, and love for others than they could have ever imagined when they began the critical journey.

Freedom
Jesus Culture

Move
Jesus Culture

Christ Be Magnified
Cody Carnes

Voice of Hope
Josh Via

The Critical Journey
“Stage 5…is the outward journey, …[But] how do you talk about what is going on at this stage in the journey? That becomes one of the dilemmas. The healing and calling experienced are so personal and profound that they are difficult to express. When we do verbalize our faith at this stage, we often use the same language, analogies, and images used at stages 1 and 2. Yet the language does not convey the surrender, the experience of our own painful path to healing and wholeness in God, or our real sense of call.”

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Genesis 41:38-41
“Could we find a man like him, in whom is the spirit of God? … After God has made known to you all this, there is none as discerning and wise as you. You shall be over my house, and by your lips all my folk shall be guided. By the throne alone shall I be greater than you…See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt.”

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Genesis 45:1-11
And Joseph could no longer hold himself in check before all who stood attendance upon him, and he cried, “clear out everyone around me!” And no man stood with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers. And he wept aloud and the Egyptians heard and the house of Pharaoh heard. And Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph. Is my father still alive?” But his brothers could not answer him, for they were dismayed before him. And Joseph said to his brothers, “come close to me, pray,” and they came close, and he said, “I am Joseph your brother whom you sold into Egypt. And now, do not be pained and do not be incensed with yourselves that you sold me down here, because for sustenance God has sent me before you. Two years now there has been famine in the heart of the land, and there are yet five years without plowing and harvesting. And God has sent me before you to make you a remnant on earth and to preserve life, for you to be a great surviving group. And so, it is not you who sent me here but God, and he has made me father to Pharaoh and lord to all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt. Hurry and go up to my father and say to him, ‘Thus says your son Joseph: God has made me lord to all Egypt. Come down to me, do not delay. And you shall dwell in the land of Goshen and shall be close to me, you and your sons and the sons of your sons and your flocks and your cattle and all that is yours. And I will sustain you there, for yet five years of famine remain–lest you lose all, you and your household and all that is yours.’”

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Genesis 50:15-18
And Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, and they said, “if Joseph bears resentment against us, he will surely pay us back for all the evil we caused him.” And they charged Joseph, saying, ‘Your father left a charge before his death, saying, “Thus shall you say to Joseph, We beseech you, forgive, pray, the crime and the offense of your brothers, for evil they have caused you. And so now, forgive, pray the crime of the servants of your father’s God.” And Joseph wept when they spoke to him. And his brothers then came and flung themselves before him and said, “Here we are, your slaves.”

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Genesis 50:19-21
“Fear not, for am I instead of God? While you meant evil toward me, God meant it for good, so as to bring about at this very time keeping many people alive. And so fear not. I will sustain you and your little ones.” And he comforted them and spoke to their hearts.

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Esther 4:9-11
And Hatach (Esther’s servant) came and told Mordecai’s words to Esther. And Esther said to Hatach and charged him to convey to Mordecai: “All the king’s servants and the people of the king’s provinces know that every man and woman who comes into the inner court without having been called, the single rule is to put to death unless the king reach out to him the golden scepter. And as for me, I have not been called to come to the king thirty days now.”

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Esther 4:13-14
“Mordecai said in response to Esther: ‘Do not imagine to escape of all the Jews in the house of the king. For if you indeed remain silent, relief and rescue will come to the Jews from elsewhere, and you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether for just a time like this you have attained royalty?'”

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Esther 4:15-16
And Esther said in response to Mordecai, “Go assemble all the Jews who are in Shushan, and fast on my behalf, and do not eat nor drink three days, night and day. And I, too, with my young women, shall fast in this fashion. And so, I shall come to the king not according to rule, and if I perish, I perish.” And Mordecai moved on and did all that Esther had charged him.

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Philippians 3:2-3
Watch out for the dogs! Watch out for the ‘bad works’ people! Watch out for the ‘incision’ party–that is, the mutilators! We are the ‘circumcision,’ you see–we who worship God by the Spirit, and boast in King Jesus, and refuse to trust in the flesh.

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How do I really know if I belong to God’s family?

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Philippians 3:4-6
Mind you, I’ve got good reason to trust in the flesh. If anyone else thinks they have reason to trust in the flesh, I’ve got more. Circumcised? On the eighth day. Race? Israelite. Tribe? Benjamin. Descent? Hebrew through and through. Torah-observant? A Pharisee. Zealous? I persecuted the church! Official status under the law? Blameless.

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Philippians 3:7-9
Does that sound as though my account was well in credit? Well, maybe; but whatever I had written in on the profit side, I calculated it instead as a loss–because of the Messiah. Yes, I know that’s weird, but there’s more: I calculate everything as a loss, because knowing King Jesus as my Lord is worth far more than everything else put together! In fact, because of the Messiah I’ve suffered the loss of everything, and I know calculate it as trash, so that my profit may be the Messiah, and that I may be discovered in him, not having my own covenant status defined by Torah, but the status which comes through the Messiah’s faithfulness: the covenant status from God which is given to faith.

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Philippians 3:10-11
This means knowing him, knowing the power of his resurrection, and knowing the partnership of his sufferings. It means sharing the form and pattern of his death, so that somehow I may arrive at the final resurrection from the dead.

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Philippians 3:12-14
I’m not implying I’ve already received ‘resurrection,’ or that I’ve already become complete and mature! No: I’m hurrying on, eager to overtake it, because King Jesus has overtaken me. My dear family, I don’t reckon that I have yet overtaken it. But this is my one aim: to forget everything that’s behind, and to strain every nerve to go after what’s ahead. I mean to chase on toward the finishing post, where the prize waiting for me is the upward call of God in King Jesus.

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Philippians 3:15
Those of us who are mature should think like this! If you think differently about it, God will reveal this to you as well.

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