The Best Investment Tip You’ll Ever Hear

During a walk in the woods with friends once in 1999, the following understanding of “the parable of the talents” came to light for me from one of them, in context of relationships. (Matthew 25:14-30)

Looking at the one slave who buried his talent, we must understand that the application to the Kingdom of God has little or nothing to do with financial investment, putting money in a bank, or even burying it in the ground.  The Lord is speaking about “high risk” investment, however, as contrasted with the relative safety of money in the bank.

In the Kingdom of God, the currency of God is love, and the investment is in relationships.  Jesus is the investor.  He staked everything on relationships, first of all His relationship with His Father, and then with His Father as the backer, He invested everything in us who believe.  He is after a return on this investment in relationships, and lots of them.  Jesus’ Father is looking for fellowship.  When the Greeks wanted to meet Jesus, He went away and left the job to us, John 20:20-26.

By His death, He made a deposit into our lives, and the Holy Spirit continues to bring us even more of Him.  Jesus is looking for a return on that investment.  Jesus knows what it is to risk rejection, and be rejected, Isaiah 53:3.  He expects us to take the same risk, and invest ourselves in others.

For the slave who had very little experience with the Lord, there were two problems: one a problem of perception, and the other, a very real fear, Matt. 25:24-25.

If we have no sense that the Lord has sown anything of substance into our lives; if we know little or nothing of Him, we have a very false impression.  We don’t see ourselves as having enough to take a chance on reaching out to others.  The downside risk is that of rejection – rejection now, and rejection on the day when we must all give account.

The Lord has promised us a return on our investment, in this present age as well as the next.

One hundred times as much as what we are willing to invest, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers (Luke’s account reads, ‘parents’) and children… Mark 10:29-30

How are you doing with
the investment of your life?

~From “Are You Worried Yet? Where is Money Taking Us” by Jay Ferris.

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The One Tree

“It is futility to try to tell the woods from the trees. Focus instead on the one tree that is needed to see the whole picture. At that tree, external preoccupations come to an end, and eternal occupations have their beginning.”  – Jay Ferris

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The I am of This Moment

“From a spiritual perspective it is impossible not to appreciate at some greater depth why God identified Himself to Moses as “I AM rather than “I was” or “will be.” We need to be guided and governed by the “I Am” of the moment, and not the “I was” of the past. To be governed by the “I Am” of the moment sets us free from the bondage of past wounding and offendedness.” – Jay Ferris

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Not a Knot Hole, but a Tear Down

Now for a brief word on Ephesians 2:13-19:

“But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances;for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;  And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh. For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father. Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God;”

Notice that God didn’t just provide a knot hole through the veil; He “broke it down”; He “took it out of the way”; He “abolished” it; and He nailed it to the cross! In other words, it’s gone. He left no room for the flesh to do anything. Everything that would be done from now on would be done by His Son in the hearts of those who received Him. His Son was the last Adam. There are no more, and there haven’t been any more since Jesus. They were all wiped out at the cross, past, present and future.

“Christ in us the hope of glory” is all that remains for both Jew and Gentile. In Him, and He in us — everything we used to be has been done away. Jew, Gentile, male, female, slave, free: it’s all gone, because He is the point of it all.

And we still don’t get it. It’s like we are still peeking through a knot hole.

— By Jay Ferris

 

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What It Looks Like

In His prayer in John 17, Jesus said,

“I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me…I gave them the word that you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given, for they are yours…I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me..

I found myself praying that same prayer. I wasn’t praying it on purpose, so to speak, but supernaturally. Without even trying, I was saying the things that the Father is saying, loving the ones that the Father had given me. It wasn’t me, it was Christ who lives in me.

Jesus did not try to reproduce by having office hours, and making appointments. Rather, He said to those that the Father gave Him, “Come on with Me.” They had something like three, round-the-clock, years with each other. It must have been something! That has been our heart for many years now. We have tried to walk it out in such a way that those that the Father has given us can get as close as they want for as long as they want. Quite a few have stayed in our home, some longer than others. There have been 3:00am desperate bursting into the house, all night deliverance sessions, lots of house calls, carried some, bandaged others, lots of tears, you name it. And all the while our own flesh and blood children were still with us.

The flesh and blood kids are mostly gone, and now here is a new daughter In The Lord. I wanted her to know that we are not likely to have the time together that would be the desire of a father’s heart, especially a father with a new daughter. If she moved into the house, after three years, I might want a break, but short of that, not to count on it. This to say, that she has full and complete access, whether in tears or rejoicing, whether in confusion or in clarity, yes, even in sickness and in health, and whether abounding or abased. 

This is The Church, as she is revealed on and between the lines of the Scriptures. To the religious she looks like a cult, but to God, she is the light of His life to people living in darkness. She is the validation of, and expression of the Love of Christ in the World.

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A Day of Sweet Remembering

Eight years ago today, Jay Ferris was taken home to his place in Christ. Many on this list knew him, and were personally impacted by the specific revelation God gave him about relationships, as well as the palatable love of God that poured through him. On this anniversary, I wish to invite everyone, whether you knew him or not, to remember the legacy of this saint gone before, in one of three ways. 

1. Visit the Jay Ferris Memorial Page, where you can read dozens of testimonies and short stories of people who knew Jay personally. Find it at: https://lovinglikegod.com/memorial/

2. Watch an inspiring 30 minute interview about the nature of the Kingdom of God. Jay’s responses, according to the interviewer, were unlike anything he had heard before. Go to: https://lovinglikegod.com/media/video-kog/ 

3. Listen to one of his audios, some of which were at a “Searching Together” Conference which he regularly attended. As Jay often said, “Buckle up,” because I believe you’ll find these audios to be a powerful ride. Listen at: https://lovinglikegod.com/media/ 

Father, we thank You for the gift Jay Ferris was to the world. As fellow “Lovers in Training,” may we not pull back in fear or unbelief from what You have for us. May a revelation of Your love in Christ make us different people today, than we were yesterday! 

In Love!

Pamela

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