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I'm sure this will find some in various stages of withdrawal from sugar, caffeine, spending, or other habits that you consider must be broken by the January 1, 2014 due date for turning over a new leaf.

That in mind, I wanted to start off this year with a short message that should serve as a reminder of something we all know in the Body of Christ: "it's either the cloud, or the crowd."

When talking "cloud" vs. "crowd," it all comes down to how you personally define and pursue success. Do you define your success in terms of accomplishment, or is it a matter of obedience to what you know God is asking of you by His Spirit, confirmed through His Word?

Overcompensating for Weakness

Years ago, in my book Apostolic-Prophetic Intercession, I devoted an entire section to "The 12 Characters of Intercession." One of those I titled "The 'Instead-Of' Intercessor." The tendency to "instead-of" is something many work at to "make up for" something else they know they should be doing, but would rather do what they prefer. For example, when it comes to giving, an "instead-of" intercessor not obeying the Lord financially reasons that if they become "super" pray-ers ("instead of"), it will "make up for" honoring God. Such substitutionary religious acts can apply across the board. For example, when there are some who are not willing to truly love people or be part of the Body of Christ, they may "make up for" it by helping strangers financially, or with food distribution, water supply efforts, or simply by working hard in church programs. In and of themselves, those acts are not bad; many times they can be very, very important. But to do such things instead of what God truly does want is evidence of a problem. And it is perhaps safe to say that more than a few in the church could be found guilty at attempts to "instead-of" to "make up for" their failures to truly obey God.   

Whether many of us want to admit it or not, there is a tendency to overcompensate for personal weaknesses by either being religious or going past the grace of God in ways we truly are strong. This is human, that is normal, but it is disobedience. Religious works of the flesh cannot make up for disobediences rooted in our failure to either follow or receive God's specific grace. Granted, we all have specific "lanes" of being clearly gifted while also having others in which we are not. But I'm speaking of trying to cover disobedience with performance, to somehow make up for not being or doing what God wants by choosing to present ourselves in ways that we may prefer, but that misrepresents who Christ is in us. (Really, isn't that what Ananias & Sapphira did?)

Being Successful

Success - when you read Scripture - is inseparable from obeying God (Isa.1:19-20; Ro.1:5). To be truly successful, we must follow "the Cloud" of His direction, not "the crowd" of those who seem to be successful. "The crowd" is always trying to present itself in the best possible light for the sake of being received by others. Christians of that method may use it as a proof to others, or to God (but perhaps mostly to themselves). Why? Their self-image and understanding are rooted in what they and others see. Jesus addressed this in John 5:39-44:

"You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life. I do not receive glory from men; but I know you, that you do not have the love of God in yourselves. I have come in My Father's name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, you will receive him. How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and you do not seek the glory that is from the one and only God?"

Becoming His Workmanship

Each and every one of us has been called by God to present ourselves to Him, but not as products of our own workmanship in the hope of receiving approval. Instead, we are called to present ourselves to Him as "living sacrifices" that result in our becoming "His workmanship," having been successfully molded for obedience to His purposes on "the potter's wheel" (Ro.12:1; Eph.2:10; Jer.18:1-6).

Many today worship results. If a pursuit can't be said to produce the desired outcome, they see no value in doing it. They only attempt what they think will "work." But if the result of those efforts fails to match up to expectations, that "god" has to be overturned by going after another one in order to accomplish. But those successful efforts only produce (at best) an "instead-of" that follows "the crowd" of self and others rooted in religious idolatry or the world's spirit. "Instead of" that, we need to go after an obedience that comes from following "the Cloud" of Christ thru the Spirit. That is what produces His eternal purposes (Eph.3:9-12).

Which will it be for you?

Bill Click

rpm5clicks@juno.com