We are cut, hurting and far from being One with God and each other as the body of Christ.
I bow low to repent before God and you as my brothers and sisters for my sins that have hurt you and divided some of us. I confess the sins I know to confess, and the ones I am searching to find words for, and the sins that are unknown to me.
Specifically I want to repent for judging you. If I see your broken humanity through the twisted, inflated accusations of the enemy and take offense, I come into agreement with the accuser of the brethren and give power to His cruel torture of you. I fail to see you as our Father’s precious child, a struggling soul, an earnest saint. My judgement cuts me off from accurate understanding, free communication and right relationship with God Himself – and with you. My judgement blinds me to the truth that I am righteous, self centred, smug and defensive. Because I am deceived I can feel the relief of the tension and see it as a good thing. Will you forgive me?
I have a deep finger cut and the sting, and the fear of pain, restricts my hand movements and distracts my focus. But I cannot imagine the pain that our division causes our Lord. No wonder the enemy seeks to divide us. No wonder the world turns away from our hypocrisy and lovelessness.
Will you bow low with me before the broken body of Christ?
O Lord! Jesus’ 39 stripes become death by a thousand cuts when we cut each other down. I am sickened by the picture of what this has cost our Beloved.
Death by a Thousand Cuts
And I am shocked to see, at a time when we are standing against the principality behind China, that “death by a thousand cuts” is a form of torture and execution originating from Imperial China. Lingchi (Chinese: 凌遲), translated variously as the slow process, the lingering death, or slow slicing, and also known as death by a thousand cuts, was a form of torture and execution used in China from roughly 900 CE until it was banned in 1905. It was also used in Vietnam. In this form of execution, a knife was used to methodically remove portions of the body over an extended period of time, eventually resulting in death.
Death by a thousand cuts may also refer to psychological death by a thousand cuts, when a major negative change happens slowly in many unnoticed increments and is not perceived as objectionable.” Wikipedia
Death by a thousand spiritual cuts can also happen slowly in unnoticed increments that are only evident to God. Lord, convict me by your Spirit each time I lash the body of Christ.
None of us are able – except by the blood of Christ and power of His Spirit in us.
Isaiah 53:5 “He was wounded for our transgressions, He was crushed for our wickedness [our sin, our injustice, our wrongdoing]; The punishment [required] for our well-being fell on Him, And by His stripes (wounds) we are healed.”
Job 6:29-30 “Turn away [from your suspicion], let there be no injustice; Turn away, my righteousness and vindication is still in it. “Is there injustice or malice on my tongue? Can my palate not discern what is destructive?”
Galatians 5:19- 26 “Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.”
Being one with Christ and each other has always mattered but it matters particularly right now.
We, as the body of Christ on the earth are at a crucial threshold in time. Division would prevent us crossing into God’s kingdom purpose. We have prepared teaching on ways the enemy can oppose God’s purpose for us, at the threshold as we try to pass through. It is vitally important that we are free of dishonour and crossing over as one with others. [See specifics from Slide 57.]
We are in dire straits, passing through a series of thresholds in July 2020:
- We are all in the threshold known as ‘dire straits’ – days of distress in the Hebrew Calendar. The straits [tzar in Hebrew] between 17th Tammuz (7th July) and 9th Av ( 30th July) are a time of narrow, limited vision when we can’t see past our pain.
- We in Melbourne are in the limitation and pain of Level 3 lockdown against the community spread of Covid-19, praying with the support of many around Australia that this spread is brought under Godly control in this state and across Australia and the world.
- Watchmen across our Australian/South Pacific region are before God in faith that He will release funds by the deadline on 20th July for His regional House of Prayer at Langley Hall in Bendigo.
- We are in 24/7 worship throughout July, with many across Australia, bowing low in God’s presence, in continuous intimacy and revelation. Contact sue@partnersinprayer.org.au if you’d like to Bow Low in His Presence with us.
- We are taking communion together across Australia many times a day – during our worship sessions and national prayer. This reminds us again and again of the preciousness of the body of Christ, Jesus’ prayer that we be one, and the price of failing to be one.
God’s Word says this better than I can:
1 Corinthians 11:24-33 “This is (represents) My body, which is [offered as a sacrifice] for you. Do this in [affectionate] remembrance of Me.” 25 In the same way, after supper He took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant [ratified and established] in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in [affectionate] remembrance of Me.” 26 For every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are [symbolically] proclaiming [the fact of] the Lord’s death until He comes [again]. 27 So then whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in a way that is unworthy [of Him] will be guilty of [profaning and sinning against] the body and blood of the Lord. 28 But a person must [prayerfully] examine himself [and his relationship to Christ], and only when he has done so should he eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For anyone who eats and drinks [without solemn reverence and heartfelt gratitude for the sacrifice of Christ], eats and drinks a judgment on himself if he does not [j]recognize the body [of Christ]. 30 That [careless and unworthy participation] is the reason why many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep [in death]. 31 But if we evaluated and judged ourselves honestly [recognizing our shortcomings and correcting our behavior], we would not be judged. 32 But when we [fall short and] are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined [by undergoing His correction] so that we will not be condemned [to eternal punishment] along with the world. 33 So then, my brothers and sisters, when you come together to eat [the Lord’s Supper], wait for one another [and see to it that no one is left out].”
1 Corinthians 10:16-17,21 “The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? 17 Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons.”
Romans 7:4 “Therefore, my fellow believers, you too died to the Law through the [crucified] body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God.”
Romans 12:3-5 “God has given me grace to speak a warning about pride. I would ask each of you to be emptied of self-promotion and not create a false image of your importance. Instead, honestly assess your worth by using your God-given faith as the standard of measurement, and then you will see your true value with an appropriate self-esteem. In the human body there are many parts and organs, each with a unique function. And so it is in the body of Christ. For though we are many, we’ve all been mingled into one body in Christ. This means that we are all vitally joined to one another, with each contributing to the others.”
Job 27:3-4 “As long as my life is within me, And the breath of God is [still] in my nostrils, My lips will not speak unjustly, Nor will my tongue utter deceit.”
