Expositions and Notes by Sister Kim Frey
Chinese/Culture Study 7
In this study, we are going to delve into the concept of education. The Western Culture tends to prioritize intellectualism, careers and personal interests. This has lead to isolation, a lock of respect toward others and ultimately chaos instead of peace. Our system must be evaluated and ratified to bring harmony and peace.
In the Chinese culture, education is seen as a way to improve one’s character and life. Throughout the Bible, God’s messengers spoke of this
same concept. The goal has always been to bring the Kingdom of God to earth through a culture. These called apart people are to be a holy priesthood, who follow the perfect pattern displayed by Jesus in His time on earth. This example was set to equip them for this kingdom work.
We must inspire this way of life to truly educate and build this kind of culture.
This begins with personal enlightenment and a vision to produce a governing order of righteousness and prosperity for all people. This goes beyond merely the individual, but for the goodness in society as a whole.
We can look at this in terms of a righteous monarchy, which has been a longing and prophetic hope throughout the ages.
“They will be my people, and I will be their God. I will give them singleness of heart and action, so that they will always fear me and that all will then go well for them and for their children after them. I will make an everlasting covenant with them: I will never stop doing good to them, and I will inspire them to fear me, so that they will never turn away from me. I will rejoice in doing them good and will assuredly plant them in this land with all my heart and soul.”
Jeremiah 32:38-41 NIV
This is a pledge and a calling for a called apart people who have the zeal of the Lord.
Isaiah 65 mentions the birthing of such a people. God made Himself known to Israel, so that they would produce a culture. But, they rejected Him and so God turned to another people and continues to do so. He continues to say, “Here I am, come with me and learn the way.” But, we continue to pursue our own imaginations, rather than walk with God as He desires. Some desire His name, but in reality turn their hearts away from him. This is like a wife who wants the privileges of a family name, but doesn’t actually want a husband. So, the children she has are illegitimate. They are not true heirs capable of continuing the family line.
A people will be birthed out who want to be His people and who hear and obey according to His will. They will be a wonderful nation who will be established in prosperity and hope.
For this to happen, the Lord will secure and establish a remnant. These people willingly step into this process of discipleship and sanctification where righteousness living is the their personal virtue. This way requires both education and cultivation.
As discussed in the previous culture study, there are 6 basic characteristics to cultivate a virtuous person. These virtues can be used as a manual to help govern people. These righteous standards start from within and progressively move outward.
- wisdom
- compassion/love
- sanctity (holinesss)
- righteousness – keep the things that need to be honored honorable
- faithfulness-the Chinese character for “faithfulness” combines symbols that represent balance and righteousness, emphasizing the importance of sticking to moral standards. Faithfulness is seen as a prerequisite for being considered a godly or virtuous person. To cultivate this virtue, one must have proper training and alignment.
- peace
Basic routines, boundaries and order are necessary to create a culture with mutual respect and honor. This is not to oppress people, but rather to free people. It eliminates confusion and chaos.
The cultivation of these virtues requires both education and guidance.
Education means different things throughout different cultures and even individuals. Western education tends to miss the importance of acquiring wisdom rather than just knowledge.
However, it is necessary to have a comprehensive education that is focused on the development of a person as a whole.
There are many important aspects involved in training in wisdom -including intellectual, emotional, relational and spiritual education.
This process requires both personal enlightenment through the Holy Spirit, and discipleship.
The secretes to the kingdom of God are not given to the common man, but only to those enlightened.
“Then his disciples approached Jesus and asked, “Why do you always speak to people in these hard-to-understand parables?” He explained, “You’ve been given the intimate experience of insight into the hidden mysteries of the realm of heaven’s kingdom, but they have not. For everyone who listens with an open heart will receive progressively more revelation until he has more than enough. But those who don’t listen with an open, teachable heart, even the understanding that they think they have will be taken from them. That’s why I teach the people using parables, because they think they’re looking for truth, yet because their hearts are unteachable, they never discover it. Although they will listen to me, they never fully perceive the message I speak. The prophecy of Isaiah describes them perfectly: Although they listen carefully to everything I speak, they don’t understand a thing I say. They look and pretend to see, but the eyes of their hearts are closed. Their minds are dull and slow to perceive, their ears are plugged and are hard of hearing, and they have deliberately shut their eyes to the truth. Otherwise they would open their eyes to see, and open their ears to hear, and open their minds to understand. Then they would turn to me and I would instantly heal them.”
Matthew 13:10-15 TPT
Once our eyes and ears are open to these new perceptions, then we are able to enter in to a new realm, where new abilities and realities of existence are enabled. This is a transformative process that coincedes with true healing.
We go from a place of lack and imperfection to a place of being made whole, fully restored back to a right relationship with the Father. This relationship makes the way to be perfected like Him, and enabled to live a life in a whole new Spiritual realm.
The word salvation can be defined as “made whole, lacking nothing, fully perfect.”
This relationship gives us the opportunity to be conformed and sanctified through discipline and discipleship. This concept is often missed in today’s Christian framework.
In 2 Peter 1, Peter talks about how we can partake in God’s divine nature, in a progressive way. We gain righteousness character by first having a personal conviction of love and compassion. This begins with loving the Lord with all our heart and then loving others as we love ourselves.
This begins with the relationships most important to us- our parents and elders -and then expounds to family, community and the greater society.
This begins with establishment of our own character and then is put into practice.
The out working of this practice is in relationships. We must have a faithful and willing heart to serve others with appreciation and respect, even in the face of hardships and oppression. Serving should be practiced by all. False humility can make us want to serve more than we receive, but this should be balanced. Jesus displayed a proper balance in His life with His disciples. He served others by example and also received service as He enlisted His disciples to do certain tasks. He loved and served others in a relational way, rather than just focusing on personal concerns.
Given this pattern from Jesus and personal guidance from the Holy Spirit, we are equipped to prioritize relationships and serve others in this kingdom culture pattern. In humility, we learn to lay down our lives (submit our will) to this high calling of self discipline, fortitude (mental and emotional strength to face difficulties), and repentance. In this way, all of our imperfections become part of a beautiful tapestry of a life of worship.
Within this culture/ society, we are seeking to build a family with in a hierarchy of sorts. Parents and elders should be treated with respect for their position of authority. When outside of the home, this same respect is shown to leadership in different local churches and communities. There may be times, when it is necessary to discern whether leadership is legitimate or not. But, ultimately respecting authority and leadership will lead to a stronger and more solid relationship with God.
Then we serve those within our family, community and opportunities given by the Father.
These divine and fruitful relationships must be our first priority. Then, we can pursue other interests and hobbies.
In our current culture, this order is completely reversed. We pursue career, and other interests/skills, and then pour what is left in our day to developing healthy relationships.
Then the fully stuff of society becomes the dominating example of how to pursue and have a righteous character. This has not always been the case, but has really manifested itself in the last century as a degradation in our society.
When you are young, you don’t have all the distractions and responsibilities that come with age. This is really the optimal time to learn the value and importance of relationships, not concentrate on responsibilities.
This is an ongoing process. It begins with the training and education of these virtues. Then, the training skill sets and other things that will polish our lives can be pursued…like personal abilities, history, culture, rituals, and other specific skills. These are all interconnected and important in shaping one’s life.
While specific skills and abilities may vary over time, the importance of basic cultural and ethical respect remains constant.
As we interact with others, it’s important to evaluate others in our sphere. Soul ties and the familiar spirits are a very easy entry way for the enemy to bring in disarray and disorder. Bad habits lead to spiritual disorder. So, we need to make a delineation of God’s righteous standards. This is not to be harsh, but rather to show to learn from both the good and bad examples.
In personal relationships, it is highly important that we are transparent, authentic and honest in what we speak and practice. Led by example, there is no need to judge others harshly, but rather we set an example of a righteous way of living that can translate training into greater spheres of understanding.
As a wise man, you should naturally care for the roots of everything. If you root your life in honorable and respectful behavior, a natural flow of fruitfulness and growth will occur.
The root for learning how to love and build righteous relationships starts with respect for authority figures such as parents and elders. This is a reverential heart that paves the way for a better grasp of what it means to fear the Lord.
True humility comes from admiring, honoring and respecting authority, with an understanding that wisdom and love go hand in hand. By valuing and respecting the roots of one’s life, individuals can learn to treat others with the same reverence and compassion.
True humility then starts with the posture of the heart. We must learn to establish and nurture relationships based on trust and mutual respect, rather than simply trying to dominate or control others. Without respect for differing feelings and perspectives, it’s impossible to bring peace and order into a a new society or community.
To appropriate meaningful relationships, we must nurture the posture of the heart, which is a pure and harmonious attitude from the inside the way we process our thoughts, to the outward display of how we live our lives.
We often look at Hebrews 4:12 from the point of view of judgement or correction, but we should look at it from the perspective of establishment and encouragement.
The word of God and teachings of God are alive and active, ready to give instruction and guide your life; to help guide you in a certain way. It knows your inner man and wants to deal with the attitude of the heart. Our thoughts form the attitude of the heart. We must use our hearts to appropriate relationships. Knowledge and skills can’t impress a heart. Rather, we must nurture a righteous, honest, humble, and wise heart as a young person. This will stay with us throughout our lives and serve as a guiding post or foundation for building solid relationships.
When we recognize this is what God wants in a disciple, we must begin to approach God with a contemptible and admirable attitude that deserves our immediate action.
The Word of God is capable of evaluating and judging our souls. Someone measures our inner man, like in a court. When we fear the Lord, and respect His ways, we realize He is good and has given us everything needed to be like Him.
Do we appoach God with an attitude of contempt, like we are the center of the world, or are we humble and moldable? Are we a vessel that is ready to improve in order to establish His nature, character and wisdom in our life? This is the right attitude in the heart that paves the way to our information into His image.
A reverential fear of the Lord, through these teachings, produce a righteous, humble and tender heart that is willing to be changed and transformed in to the will of God.
When we love God, we desire a relationship with Him and so do His will above all things. This is the one He will open up the revelation of His heart to.
“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
Romans 12:1-2 NIV
Paul shows is that God’s will is not merely personal, but rather has to do with relational mapping; it’s a service to the greater society. Most people read the Bible from an individualistic point of view, but they don’t understand the context for why it was given. Although our self is certainly involved, that is not the only intent. Righteousness, love and peace can only be appropriated in relationships. We cannot be self righteous, have self- peace, or have self joy. These are all relational dynamics brought about through the work of the Holy Spirit.
We are to test and approve what is good, pleasing and perfect to the Father’s heart. These are progressive.
Our reflection of God’s will is shown in how we respond.