In very difficult days the last few days for personal reasons when I posted on Sunday about a very personal loss I come back to concentrate on our theme, the Marturia. It is a very important theme regarding the days we are now living in, to dig down to the rock to launch our foundation. We cannot trust in the structures we have trusted in till now. Right now expectations of lockdowns across the world, the sense of crisis in every sector and dimension of life. However we must not and cannot enter this, because we are not of this world, we have our lives inserted into another Kingdom which does not inspire disobedience or militancy in the way the world does it.

Today I have 4 things to highlight in this verse concerning our walk IN the marturia. Here they are in I Peter 5:10.

But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you. ¹¹ To him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

Perfect

The word for “perfecting” is teleio, which speaks to the process we need to work through. However here the Greek used is not this one, but katartizo. This is speaking to the final state, not the process. It speaks of our eternal position, our eternal privilege, our eternal power and eternal permanence. We are “called” to His Eternal Glory says this Scripture. The “marturia” is the end time mark for which we shall overcome every satanic barrier. With the marturia we will not be overcome, but as we obey Christ than men we will come into increasing dimensions of the Holy Spirit. Remember Acts 4, when the Apostles were ordered not to preach in Jesus, they said they would rather obey God than men. This attitude in itself sets them up as the Church for a double anointing, a second visitation. They became positioned in Psalm 2 which they saw as being applicable to the situation they were in…the Holy Spirit met them. The process of reaching katartizo has all to do with who we do homage to, who we obey, and who we live by. The main thing about Psalm 2 is what the Father did by conferring Kingship to His Son, “I have set my King on my Holy Hill.” It is from that the Psalm 2 used in Acts 4 brought such impact, because what was prophetic in Psalm 2, is now reality in Acts 4. So in that perfecting process we must distinguish between what is prophetic and what is real at this moment. We are in the prophetic in our sonship because we are still walking out every process to arrived at katartizo until we too like Jesus arrive at our ultimate reality. So we are here distinguishing the difference between “perfecting” and “perfect” in the Greek, because in our modern languages we do not always see the true sense.

Established

The word is “sterizo” which means turn into the direction resolutely. This word Established means that God is resolutely turning into the ultimate state of perfection. This determined action starts with us looking at Hebrews 1:1, where we see God’s determination to SPEAK to us, through prophets first then through Him who is the Word, is the Voice of the Father. In a time of incredible uncertainty we need to understand that God is determined to bring us to our perfection. Then we read in Jude that the Spirit will present us before the Father perfect and without blemish or fault. There is a determination in the Trinity to bring us into a life of purpose and security. Can you see what I am trying to demonstrate here? You see in the Greek dimensions of the meanings that you cannot see in our modern languages, I am not presenting the Greek to seem scholarly at all, I am opening up my and our understanding.

Let us be encouraged that whilst we can be determined to walk in Christ, He is more determined to bring us into our destiny than we can imagine.

Strengthened

The word here is sthenosai which means to CONFIRM, AFFIRM, STRENGTHEN, GIVE VIGOR. Let us now use this meaning to receive from God confirmation of where and who we are. We are sons and heirs of an eternal kingdom where there is no pandemic, no poverty. There is also no political process in that Kingdom. So God will use these days where the world, the news channels, pumping out crisis day after day, moment after moment, to give us spiritual gifting and standing to wade against this tide. The tide is FEAR but our wave is FAITH. Faith in the fact that the Kingdom we are subjects of is a Kingdom that does not enter into crises, does not oppress, does not encourage injustice. This Kingdom must be a sphere that confirms the space we live which we call HOME is a space where a DIFFERENT kingdom functions, with different language and different decisions are made. We need to make that statement every day, when letters with bad news come, when bills come in we cannot pay, when our job companies call to tell us our job has disappeared. At this moment we do shake, we do enter into shock but after we need to make a statement: THAT MY GOD IN WHOM I TRUST AND LOVE WILL ESTABLISH ME FIRST IN THE HEAVENS AND THEN ON THE EARTH.

Settle you

The word here is themelioo which means to consolidate, to set up a settlement in a truth, in a decision, or in a geographical location. God will do with us as He did with Abraham, who according to Hebrews 11:10 made him see in the desert, when there was nothing, a city and a community whose maker and designer is God. Even though he lived in tents he did not attend to the fact of this reality being determinant in his faith in God’s vision. He lived in tents knowing that these tents would be replaced by houses and a temple and walls. And even though it took time, even though it was many generations down the road, so he lived in that vision. So we must have vision of God’s settling us so that whatever “tents” we are living in, we do not get swayed and don’t get dictated to by what is temporary. Here we need to look at the fact that here in the UK, and the northern hemisphere, in January is grey and damp, but that will give way to May’s green pastures and blue skies. God imprinted this in the natural seasons. The darkness always makes way for light.

This post has ministered to me personally, and I pray it does you also, because being a “marturia” a witness we live by different principles. In this dimension of the “marturia” we see in these 4 processes where God is taking us, and how He is taking us. We must become secure in this. We must live like this, yes it is a learning process, but it will give us so much enriching and establishing that nothing which comes against will win over us, we shall be overcomers!

Shalom!

Don’t forget the book “12 Foundations of the Church” is available on Kindle.