Boundaries
TEACHING FROM PROPHETIC PATHWAYS JUNE 2007
Psalm 16:6 - the boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places, surely I have a delightful inheritance.
 These are unprecedented times. The divergent values of Christianity fly in the face of the forces at work on earth today, as never before - forces which seek to defy the value of humanity with humanitarian views which are anything but truly humanitarian. The value, right and voice of the individual are subsumed into what is deemed the corporate good. Christ died for the individual. Each one of us is uniquely loved, purposed and planned for our time on earth, as well as in eternity.
There is a responsibility for the people of God to know the times and seasons for their generation and to serve the purposes of God in them.
Boundaries delineate ownership, authority, responsibility and power. Most people are communal and territorial – identifying with a place and a people
What is the power of mankind on earth – individually and corporately?
It is the right and ability to choose. Our choices are revealed in our attitudes, responses, decisions or actions.
This is the wonderful power God has given us.
It is the power that Adam and Eve used.
Our choices can change the world.
Yet with this power come responsibility, ownership and cost. Our choices are not just for ourselves as we are not alone on earth. Our lives impact those around us, as will our choices. Adam and Eve made a choice to breach the boundary.
Breaching the boundaries of God is inherent to fallen humankind.
Christians can sometimes fall into a trap of thinking that the freedom, which Christ brings, is licence to do whatever they want. Christianity requires a giving up of our own lives. Christ made it clear that we must also take up our own cross, choosing to die to self and pay the price of serving Him.
This is the paradox of Christian living – we are free, yet we are slaves.
We have authority to administer the power of God on earth. Our faith can move mountains. We pray and God hears.
Yet many will say that their faith moves nothing and prayer is unanswered.
There are many possible reasons for this and I suggest that one of them is to know the extent and limitations of the authority and power we move in. When we know this we can be confident in who we are and what we can do. If we breach these we are open to attack and deception. The enemy certainly knows the extent of our authority and that is the extent of Father God’s specific will for us and the leading of the Holy Spirit in the outworking of that will.
We need both a revelation, of God’s will and we a relationship with the Holy Spirit to know when to move in the time, the way and the path of His will in any given situation.
We can declare ‘through Christ I can do all things’, which is true, but that doesn’t mean we can do what we like. There are boundaries on what we do. The Holy Spirit puts good boundaries around us so we move with Him, in the right time.
Jesus had all authority in heaven and earth. He told the disciples this and he also empowered them to go out and minister in His authority. But when Satan tried to get him to use his authority by tempting Him in the desert, he refused. He knew his authority and chose to use it only to do the will of His Father. Everything that Jesus did was predicated on knowing the Father’s will and only doing what He saw the Father doing. He spent much time alone, praying to the Father.
Jesus had boundaries. He only did what He saw the Father doing.
Boundaries are good, when they are God ordained.
When the children of Israel crossed the Jordan and came into the land prepared for them the Lord placed each tribe within a territorial area and declared boundaries around them. They were all one nation but each tribe had a distinct purpose and relationship to the other. Even their geographical placement was significant to God. It was important that they didn’t even intermarry between tribes in order to maintain the distinction of function and purpose.
God’s boundaries are for individuals, groups, churches, nations and generations.
They denote our freedom and authority.
As we recognise our own boundaries and those of others we will walk in the divine order, valuing others and their contribution to us.
As we serve the Lord and are fruitful within the boundaries we have, he will extend our places of influence and authority.
Boundaries are also extremely significant on earth today. They are the cause of many wars and disputes. The enemy seeks to rob the people of God of their territory, natural and spiritual. He hates the church with a passion because where two or three are gathered, then God is in the very place they inhabit. The enemy wants to rob us of every place of authority and influence we have, as well as distract us from worship, praise and fellowship to prevent the presence of the Lord being manifest through His people on earth.
The enemy will provoke rebellion against authority and order in order to pull down the strongholds he knows the people of God have: strongholds of faith, love, unity, sacrifice, harmony and servant hood.
We must be more alert and aware of our field of influence, authority and ministry – not just in the church but also in every area of our lives. Our call is to serve in every area just like Jesus did – listening to the Father, doing what He is doing.
Life on earth in the 21st Century is moving towards global, or at least international, control with consequent derecognising of national and geographical boundaries as having any significance in the political, economic or even social context. Within the EU. nation-states are progressively less able to claim sovereignty over their own territory as increasingly higher ‘powers’ claim the right of intervention through legislation and the common ‘good’. This means that nations, communities and cultures will find it increasingly difficult to preserve their own distinct identity.
Types of Boundaries
Social – people identified by religion, ethnicity, occupation, class, lifestyle, accent …. or those living within an area/community
Territorial – marked physical areas on the earth – delineated by jurisdiction (political) or assigned wealth (property and right of ownership or use)
Spiritual – supernatural power and authority to influence and establish the presence.
Territory may give right to control of social boundaries, which is exactly what the EU legislation imposes – the right to travel across frontiers to live, work and enjoy the economic and social benefits within the bounds of the EU ‘territory’.
EU and other faceless and nameless powers, seek to influence social boundaries for the greater common good and even legislate to breach the religious and territorial boundaries of individuals and groups within their territory. This is notably manifest through the current clash of rights between those who have faith or moral values, which are in opposition to others. It is mostly Christian beliefs and values, which are overtly challenged, and there is now legislation to prohibit expression of belief if it is deemed offensive to others. The boundary walls of ‘freedom of faith’ have been breached and there is a progressive and insidious flow of ‘moral’ pressure and legal constraint to remove the right of believers to have a testimony, which can be released, to the world.
The Word came. We carry the Word in us and we are called to release the Word, so that the world may know and believe.
Freedom of speech is lost and those who seek to declare boundaries of behaviour determine the definition of acceptable behaviour and legislate to define their values as pre-eminent over individual rights. The irony is that the underlying value is not one of individual rights, but the need to sacrifice the rights of the individual for what is promoted as the common good. Yet opinion polls would suggest that across the EU the majority of individuals would prefer less centralization and more autonomy for nations. It is widely believed that the UK will not have a referendum on Europe because the public vote would be towards cessation. We purport to live in a democratic society, but the reality is that there is little national power left through successive legislation, which overrides the national laws of European nations. Even the designation ‘nation’ is gradually being replaced by the word ‘state’.
As the ‘state’ is becoming the dominant form of political organisation, certainly in Europe, the level of influence, which can be maintained through democratic means, is increasingly diminished. It is unlikely that allegiance to or support for a particular political party will have any significant effect on the economic or social context within a nation, especially with the move towards global economic control.
Those living in the nations of Europe are considered European citizens. The rights of residency, employment and access to welfare override the social, political and economic boundaries across all the nations within defined areas of Europe. As principles of citizenship take precedence over all other identities, such as religion, race or class, social and territorial boundaries become blurred or indistinguishable. There will be a need to suppress any group identities which conflict with the principles of the ‘State.
The main vehicle used to establish State control is the law – declarations of rights, responsibilities, value, authority and accountability. The law denotes the boundaries of freedom within territorial areas.
While there is now established pan-national control through the EU, there is an active move towards the establishment of a global economy, which will require political and social action across all nations to endorse and empower global control.
As boundaries are removed, or expanded, to encompass a broader range of social, cultural, religious and ethnic groupings, so autonomy diminishes at all levels and any right to self-determination is removed.
The ‘human’ approach to controlling an inter-dependent global community is to make ‘human’ decisions about distribution of resources based on the greater good of the masses – reducing the actual individual human rights.
The Christian faces many paradoxes in terms of boundaries and only by listening closely to God and following the leading of the Holy Spirit is it possible to discern our areas of freedom and the right boundaries in which we live our life on earth.
Paradoxical Challenges:
The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it. (Psalm 24:1)
The heavens belong to the Lord, but the earth he has given to man. (Psalm 15.16)
The Great Commission – go into all the world - no boundaries – (Matthew 28:18-20)
Only do what you see the Father doing – self imposed boundaries – (John 5:19)
Love your neighbour as yourself – no boundary – (Matthew 19:19)
Forgive that you may be forgiven – boundary (Luke 11:4)
The Creator is distinct from Creation – boundary
In Christ I can do all things – no boundary (Philippians 4:13)
The body is a temple – boundary on behaviour – (1 Cor 6:19)
Consider the body as a living sacrifice – (Romans 12:1)
We are under a new law – the law of the spirit of life - (Romans 8:2)
We are coming into a time when listening to the voice of the Lord will be imperative to living on earth, essential to understanding how to make choices and decisions in line with His will. Living a prophetic lifestyle will not be an option!
God Planned Boundaries
When the children of Israel entered the Promised Land they were given defined geographical areas for each tribe and these were specifically allocated to tribes in line with God’s purposes. The prophetic promise of God given to Moses identified the extent of the land he had set apart for the children of Israel and, of course, this would have a boundary area.
What does that mean for us today?
I believe the Lord is stirring us to be aware of the extent and limitations of our individual and corporate roles on earth today, in order that we might be ready to face the significant challenges, which are imminent within the global, natural and spiritual context of life on earth today.
Few can be unaware of the overt conflict against Christianity today in the western world. Many Christians is third world, fascist and communist countries have given their lives for their faith. The western context has been largely dominated by Christian culture, at least, and Christianity has been tolerated, if not ignored for most of the 20th century.
The 21st century has seen a significant turn in the level of acceptance and tolerance for Christian values and also challenges within the church with the conflicting beliefs and values in areas such as women in ministry and sexual orientation.
The next phase – from 2008 onwards – will see the challenge to Christianity impact every church in every nation, the truth will become blurred as humanistic values are debated and positioned within the church body. The middle ground will disappear and there will need to be clear choices made by individuals, leaders and ‘congregations’ about what they truly believe and the price they are willing to pay to testify those beliefs when challenged or threatened from within. There will be a type of ‘civil war’ coming to the church, with strong argument and opinion posed against the leading of the Holy Spirit. This will not be a flesh and blood war, but flesh and blood will fire the bullets and the church will be shaken to the core.
But this is a good shaking, one in which those who are clear about the truth, who allow the Holy Spirit to guide in every interpretation of that truth and who are willing to die to self in order that the Lord can build His church – not man. These are the days we are living in.
These are the times and seasons, great change and a new era for church on earth. Maybe the last era.
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