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Day Forty-Eight, Under-the-Influence

Posted in Under-the-Influence, Devo Shorts 2011, tagged , , , , , on September 8, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Day Forty-Eight

Two-Sided Destruction

“For [then] He will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence.”

Ps 91:3

          Do you know there are two sides to the offensive attacks of the enemy?  One side – brings an attack from the outside.  It is like the fowler’s snare –it presents the attack against your flesh (your body and soul).  These are the kinds of threats we are most aware of — muggers, murderers, even ones who simply desire to mistreat or harm you or speak evil of you – they are the more obvious agents prompted by the enemy.  Yet the Word of God is replete with instances where it shows that as we dwell in the Secret Place of the Most High God, we remain safe.  The need, however, is to abide in the Secret Place; to make the dwelling of God our home. Don’t wait for an attack to present itself before you go there – go there early, daily, and abide there.

Far more dangerous is the enemy’s postured attack that presents to the inside of you.  This is like the deadly pestilence.   It could be in the form of disease or infirmity, but it could easily be a thought or an attitude of your heart (doubt, wavering, fear, or wicked thinking) that will ultimately defile you.  Left unaddressed and unresisted, these thoughts can not only defile you, but if you were to entertain them (accept or share them) they would rise up and defile many.  These are the most dangerous agents, because we don’t often recognize the enemy’s campaign here.  They present their attack to the inside and we think it is our own thought.  We tolerate or worse make room for it by acceptance (“I’m getting sick.” or “I agree with that thought.”). Whether or not it is your thought or one planted by the enemy, the combat strategy is the same.  Confess and repent to the Lord, then resist the enemy and he will flee from you.       Ask the Lord to cleanse you and for destruction by the cross of the very nature in you which embraces and participates in such thinking.

It is failure to perceive the anti-Christ nature of these thoughts, and to address them properly that causes us much harm.  To not recognize them as wrongful, against the nature of Christ, and to not deal with them means they gain an avenue of entrance into us that is welcoming.  That allows for that thought process to grow and expand with other thoughts, equally destructive and harmful.  Soon it is like the Trojan-Horse waiting to distribute an advance team of the enemy’s camp and opening the gates to greater enemy forces.

For both of these attacks (from the inside or outside) the Lord is equally able to render them powerless.  However, we are way more disposed to perceive and register the external threat than the internal.  This is a problem.  It means the enemy will attempt both and see where you are quick to put him off.  Additionally, as part of growing in maturity in the Lord, He desires for us to become “like Him” in standing on His word.  More and more the Lord will require us to use His word by faith to deflect the tactics of the enemy.  This is part of our “yielding” to the Lord, where it really means we stand beside Him.  We must become sensitive to know when He will fight or when we must take up the fray.  This is part of growing in Him.

For now – be quick to discern the two-sided destruction the enemy would hurl your way to ensnare you!  It is already defeated by the blood!  Let us know the enemy’s tactics, but even more so know the provision of our Lord Jesus Christ that has overcome the world, even our faith!

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Day Forty-Seven,Under-the-Influence

Posted in Under-the-Influence, Devo Shorts 2011 on September 4, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Day Forty-Seven

Terrible, Ferocious Beauty, or

Great Mercy and Loving-Kindness

Which Mountain will you ascend?

 

“…and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus…”

Eph 2:6

          I am an avid armchair mountain- climbing enthusiast.  I am especially fond of documentaries detailing expeditions on Everest.  One by Discovery Channel called “Beyond the Limit” was particularly exhilarating.  The visual landscape was stunning, the rigors and hardships compelling.  I was most struck, however, by two things. Once you are on the summit of Everest the panoramic view is amazing!  Even from a camera’s lens you can begin to see the curvature of the earth itself.  Beautiful!  Yet it is a terrible, ferocious beauty – for Everest is extremely unforgiving.  One mistake here, at this altitude, under these conditions will quite possibly take you out – for good.

Having now vicariously seen these two characteristics of Everest (its ability to provide panoramic perspective and its unforgiving nature) my mind immediately juxtaposed it against a more heavenly standard: the Mountain of God and the heavenly realm (Ps 24:3).

So as I ponder the most profound, “elevated” perspective of the human soul from a natural standpoint – like Everest, at its very zenith its greatest demonstration of wisdom is none-the-less still – earthly, earth-bound.  Indeed there is much in common between Everest and man’s natural wisdom.  This kind of wisdom is detailed in James 3:14-16.  It is called “superficial wisdom,” for it is of an earthly nature, unspiritual (animal), and can even be devilish.  Ironically, the characteristics of this kind of wisdom have often been well-documented in the very behavior of climbers seeking to conquer Everest.  It says in James that, “…wherever there is jealousy (envy) and contention (rivalry and selfish ambition), there will also be confusion (unrest, disharmony, rebellion) and all sorts of evil and vile practices.  Climbing teams seeking to summit Everest often demonstrate these very traits: rivalry, selfish ambition, confusion, unrest — even rebellion.  Interesting….

Even as Everest is an “extreme” location upon the face of the earth – it seems to personify some extreme examples of this kind of earthly wisdom, and its inherent limitations.  As high as your field of vision is expanded in the natural realm from its lofty heights – nothing is done to ameliorate the natural condition of man still needing a Savior. You are in fact still earth-bound.  As high as this point will take you, it cannot improve you or make you better – quite the contrary.  While providing a vista for incredible perspective, Everest (like natural wisdom) cannot regenerate you nor make you better spiritually.  It cannot give life, nor increase life.  Thus, ascending Everest does not help you to arrive at true spiritual wisdom or life.  It does not bring you to Jesus Christ as Savior.

One cannot help but hear the words the prophet Isaiah expounded in 55:9: “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.”

How different then is heavenly wisdom and a heavenly perspective from this earth-bound view on Everest and its natural wisdom? When we have Jesus Christ as our Savior, we can approach the very perspective and heart of the God of the Universe.   We are seated with Him in heavenly places, and we have the mind of Christ as the word says.  It is not enough to be “on top of the world” (such as on Everest) and to have the world’s perspective – we need the wisdom that comes down from above which is only available when Christ lives His life in you. This wisdom is first of all peace-loving, courteous (considerate, gentle.)  [It is willing to] yield to reason, full of compassion and good fruits; it is wholehearted and straight-forward, impartial and unfeigned (free from doubts, wavering, and insincerity.) (Jam 3:17)

But unlike the unforgiving nature of Everest – the Father’s presence is the source and well-spring of  forgiveness!  Psalm 103:11 declares, “For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great are His mercies and loving-kindness toward those who reverently and worshipfully fear Him.”  You cannot top that! (Actually – no one can. )

People may mistakenly look to the grandeur of Everest to fix their life.  They may think it can help them to see truth.  They may even believe it can give new insight on life’s meaning, situations, and challenges.  But at best these will be fleeting shadows of reality compared to the splendor of the rarefied air of God’s heavenly perspective, finding His wisdom, and being in the presence of the One Who created it all.  In Him – alone, we live and move and have our being.

So we ask ourselves — can the creation outshine the Creator in any manner? Can Everest top the One Who is Tops? The greatest value to climbing Everest would be that it would prompt you to then desire to ascend God’s Holy Mountain?  That natural wisdom would be found so wanting it would cause you to hunger for wisdom from above — even God’s Holy Mountain and His Presence.  You may wonder if that is a real mountain to be scaled?  Can it even be found?  I believe it can — when we seek it with all of our hearts (Jer 29:13)

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Day Forty-Six, Under-the-Influence

Posted in Under-the-Influence, Devo Shorts 2011, tagged , , on August 21, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Day Forty Six

 God’s Desire for You:

Yield …

“Do not continue offering or yielding your bodily members [and faculties] to sin as instruments (tools) of wickedness.  But offer and yield yourselves to God as though you have been raised from the dead to [perpetual] life, and your bodily members [and faculties] to God, presenting them as implements of righteousness.”  Rom 6:13 Amp

 

          Every once in a while we get a clarifying glimpse of God’s true intention and the reality of His grace.  I had one of those moments recently.  I was studying and found that the word “surrender” as we know it is not used in the King James Concordance, nor in the King James Bible either.  Nor is it in the concordance of my Bible of choice – the Amplified Bible (although it does appear within Scriptures like Rom 6:16, but that is a poor use for the reasons below.)  Because the notion of “surrender” is very prominent in the teaching of Christianity, and many songs we sing, I was surprised and even curious.

          This is what I found. The closest rendering that you can find instead of “surrender” and the more correct use – is the word “yield.”  When you look up surrender on dictionary.com it uses “yield” in its definition, but the meaning implies that you are being delivered into the possession of another: say the police.  You are giving yourself up, or over to that entity.  You are in a sense giving up your will, but that is not at all what the Bible actually teaches us about our life in Christ.

          The dictionary definition of yielding also falls short of the true intention of God.  “Yield” in this instance refers to production: like that of produce (like fruit); or what is yielded like profit.  Lastly, it refers to giving up to a superior power.  Like you would put your will aside and accept the will of a superior power.  But as you will see, that does not express the grace, and will, and intention of God.

          Let us look at the rendering of “yield” in Strongs Concordance.  It is #3936, the word “paristani” in the Greek.  Here is the true meaning of yield.  When you yield yourself to God, He is not asking for you to abdicate yourself to Him.  He is not asking for you to hand over and resign your will to Him.  Rather He is asking that you “stand beside” Him.  As you yield yourself over to Him you are now willing to“exhibit” Him and His life in you.  You are willing to “proffer” yourself – put yourself before Him for acceptance.  He will “substantiate” His life in you.  He will be “at hand, ready to aid”, and “assist” you, as you willingly “bring your life before” Him.  He gives His life to live in you, as you are willingly yielded to Him.  Your life is not taken captive and strong-armed, as though you are incarcerated.  He is constantly waiting for us to yield more and more of ourselves so that we will have more and more of Him.

This is affirmed by the Scripture in Mt 11:29 where Jesus says to us, “Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me, for I am gentle (meek) and humble (lowly) in heart, and you will find rest (relief and ease and refreshment and recreation and blessed quiet) for your souls.

          This is a dramatically different thing than what happens with the enemy.  Satan wants your mind to be passive – so he can invade you. He wants to take over your life (especially  your will) and use you, then cast you aside when he is done with you (even ending your life at that point).  

          I find this so compelling.  God did not create us, give us life and a personality and a soul to use us and then cast us aside.  He created us so that “in Him” we would become active, willing, participants.  In Him we would come to live and move and have our being.  In Is 1:18 He says, “Come now, and let us reason together ….”  He wants our active cooperation, our active will to come along side and to willingly stand beside Him, willingly understand Him and become subject to Him.  And that’s just the thing: our scrutiny of God and His character can stand the light of any examination.  There is no darkness in Him of any kind.

          Because of Him – I can rejoice!  He makes Himself known to us so that our trust in Him can become complete!  The God of the Universe – desires you to yield – to come along side Him, willingly, and live your life there!  With Him! In Him. 

“I will say of the Lord, He is my Refuge and my Fortress, my God; on Him I lean and rely, and in Him I [confidently] trust! (Ps 91:2)

Amen!

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Day Forty-Five, Under-The-Influence

Posted in Under-the-Influence, Devo Shorts 2011, tagged , , , , , on August 16, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Day Forty-Five

 

The Metaphor of Our Spiritual Fitness

 

“A word fitly spoken and in due season is like apples of gold in settings of silver.”

Prov 25:11 Amp

 

 

          There are many words spoken today ostensibly in the Name of Jesus.  But unless they are words also spoken at His prompting, in His nature, character, authority, and in obedience, they are not “fitly” spoken!

 

          _Fitly_: for a small word it bears great importance.  Its use in the Proverbs Scripture above implies something from God that is given out at the appropriate time.  Just as you and I are given and increasingly filled with the Living Word, at the divine moment – we have the opportunity to share that word.  But it is even more than that.  You see as believers – “we are becoming ” the apples of Gold in frames of silver!

 

          The “apples of gold” refers to us bearing the image and likeness of Christ.  Symbolically, He is, “like an apple tree” among the trees of the wood in Song of Songs 2:3.  He refreshes us with apples: SoS 2:5.  And under the apple tree He awakens us, SoS 8:7.

          As we increasingly perceive Him through His word we are transformed into His own image in every increasing splendor (2Cor 3:18) – and the image of the apple covered in gold speaks to this likeness of His life and the image of His deity operating in us (in our spirit).

          Yet His likeness (Spirit) in us is surrounded by our own vessels of flesh (earthen furnaces/vessels) and His word and promises continuously work on purifying us like silver purified seven times over.  As His word resides in us and is loosed within us it does a purifying work.  It renews our mind, it sanctifies us, and causes our soul and body to be preserved sound, complete, and blameless at His coming.

          With the impact of His word and truth and life in us, we become qualified… “fit” if you will, to give His response to the situations of life.  At that moment, we are not spouting platitudes, giving our own opinions, nor callously giving some kind of mechanical response.  In fact, if we are “right” in Him – then it is the very word of God, backed by His character and heart, that is coming forth from us – to bring life, to even expand life in that very situation.

          But this divine response has not come without a great cost.  It comes in fact, because of the cost!  First, the cost that the Lord paid on the cross for us, and then the willingness of the person to lay down his life as a living sacrifice (die) – that the word of God can be brought to bear in him, then through him, then from him – for God’s purposes and timing.

 

          This is the inherent meaning behind the “apples of gold in settings or pictures of silver.”  It is the Lord’s own saints, His Body, being transformed, carrying forward His response/His word in His divine timing – that lives would be changed, people set free, wounds bound up, and that the love of the Living God would be applied to needy hearts!

 

          That is our charge – to be those very things for His glory!  To carry His word as apples of gold in settings of silver, as He would carry it – in love.  

 

 

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Day Forty-Four, Under-The-Influence

Posted in Under-the-Influence, Devo Shorts 2011, tagged , , , , on August 2, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Day Forty-Four

 

His Angels …Winds, and Flames of Fire

 

“[This Is] the revelation of Jesus Christ … And He sent and communicated it through His angel (messenger) to His bond servant John.”  Rev 1:1 Amp

 

 

          Do you realize that both the law (which was given to Moses), and the Revelation of Jesus Christ (which was given to John) were both given and relayed by angels?

 

          Hebrews 2:2 says that the … “message given through angels [the law spoken by them to Moses] was authentic and proved sure, …”

 

          The question for you and me today is… are we ready to receive from God’s ministering angels?  Are we in the right place to be ready to entertain His Winds and Flames of Fire and the message they bear?

 

          Zachariah, the future father of John the Baptist and a Levitical Priest, was on duty when he received such a visitation.  Geographically, he was in the right place.  But spiritually he was not.  An angel of the Lord appeared to him at the right side of the altar of incense.  It was at the hour of burning the incense – lifting up prayers – that this encounter occurred.  But Zachariah was not well prepared.  The angel spoke to him about them having a child but instead of meeting this presentation in faith and belief – he met it with reasoning and logic.  Zachariah considered his age and that of his wife, Elizabeth, and when Gabriel spoke of them having a son – he doubted.  It caused him to ask Gabriel for proof that this would occur.  This was not a good thing.  He was struck mute so that he could not interfere with the will of God in this event.

 

          We want to be found in the right place spiritually should we entertain God’s messengers.  The only right place is in the place of faith in the Spirit.  There we will apprehend not only the message, but the spirit of the transaction will be correct so that no loss will occur.  We will be fully qualified to participate – and not struck mute so that we can’t interfere.  The goal is for us to meet every situation in the right spirit!  That is – in the Spirit of Christ.  Be-loved – Amen.

  

 

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Day Forty-Three, Under-The-Influence

Posted in Under-the-Influence, Devo Shorts 2011 on July 25, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Day Forty-Three

 

YOUR

Offerings…

( God’s Worst Nightmare?)

 

“And the Lord had respect for and regard for Abel and for his offering.” 

Gen 4:4 Amp

 

 

Often we look at the book of Genesis, and we miss its profound significance and bearing on our lives.  In truth – the account of Cain and Able, in Genesis 4, provides us with a thumbnail sketch juxtaposing two distinct and even adversarial ways of trying to live the Christian life.  The first way is living according to authority (in obedience to God, in dependence on God) — lead by the Spirit.  The second way is living according to reasoning (in independence from God – lead by the soul).  These two ways of living the Christian life are expressly derived from the two trees of note in the Garden:  the Tree of Eternal Life; and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.  Another way to see this, is to see these two trees as types: the Tree of Eternal Life as Life according to the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus (our spiritual life); the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil as life according to the law of sin and death (our natural life in the flesh).

          Many believers assume that once they are saved — they can coast.  There is nothing more for them to do.  They are oblivious to the struggle that now ensues — to bring them to live a spiritual life in Christ, rather than a carnal, soulish life.

         To live a spiritual life that is pleasing and acceptable to God, we must live in dependence upon Him — being obedient and subject to Him.  That way of living is like living according to the Tree of Eternal Life – a new life lived in the Spirit.  That is God’s desire and provision for all of us.

          To live a life that is not pleasing or acceptable to God, all we have to do is live according to the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil (the life of our fallen nature) – making our own choices according to our will, intellect, and emotions (soul) without the Holy Spirit.  This is called the mind of the flesh – where the soul still predominates.  (Rom 8:5-8, 1Cor 3:1-3)  This way of life does not rely on the provision and sacrifice of Christ and is against God’s desire for us and His provision. 

          When we live a spiritual life, we have surrendered ourselves daily to the Lord.  We reckon ourselves as dead to sin and alive to Him.  We renounce all use of ourselves, instead – we yield all of our faculties (soul) and members (body) as living sacrifices of righteousness to God.  This is according to God’s word found in Romans Chapters 6, 7, and 8.  It is also according to Romans 12:1-2, Proverbs 16:3, and multiple other passages.

          Some of the best Scriptural clarification for living according to the flesh is presented in Romans 8:1-14.  When we choose to live this way, according to our old nature – then all the fruit of our works takes on the character of fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.  Not only this Tree, but even its fruit cannot enter the Kingdom of God – (1Cor 15:50) because its nature is flesh which cannot inherit or have share in the Kingdom.  Rather it will be burned in fire, just like works not built on the foundation of Christ that are wood, hay, and stubble (dead works – done in the flesh, 1Cor 3:11-15).

Now Abel brought a sacrifice to God according to God’s standard and leading.  It was the firstborn of his flock, including the fat portions (which are the choicest portions).  But the to understand what Abel did (that made him pleasing and acceptable to God), is found in Hebrews 11:4.  It says that Abel was “prompted, actuated, by faith” to bring His sacrifice.  This means he was operating by faith in obedience to God.  He was choosing to follow God in obedience and dependence –believing that this was the way to please God – which he did.  The fruit from Abel’s work, because it was in faith and obedience, was of the character of the Tree of Eternal Life.  It could not be burned up when tested by fire.  But it still bears witness to us today, because his works were done in faith.  They will never be destroyed – but they endure in the Kingdom.

What is the application for us here?  Live our lives according to the Spirit of Life in Christ, according to the Tree of Eternal Life operating in us by the redemptive power of Christ.  Our walk, as believers, should be after the dictates of the Spirit, not after the dictates of the flesh.  This is the provisioning that God has made through the Cross and Christ Jesus. 

What then could we conjecture as being the “Worst Nightmare of God?”  It would be for a believer to hear about these two Trees and their respective natures and ways of living, and ignore any correction of the Spirit saying, “TAKE NOTE!”  Worse yet would be to live as one deceived, believing he was living by the Spirit when all along his nature and works were still of the flesh. 

This is the lesson and caution we gain from Cain.  His works and offering to the Lord were of the fruit of the ground that was under a curse.  This was an offering from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.  It was in fact an offering of Cain’s best work, his best reasoning – in independence from God yet contrary to God’s own direction and instruction.  It was both disobedient and rebellious.  Cain knew God’s requirements, but sought to come to God on the ground of his own personal worthiness and toil.  It was unacceptable – just as all of our own best efforts fall short when we ourselves are not surrendered as living sacrifices to God – then being responsive to God’s prompting and actuating by faith and obedience.

Do you wonder if you are operating after the dictates of the Spirit, or the flesh?  Do you wonder if your nature and fruit take their character from the Tree of Eternal Life or the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil (from your spiritual man or your natural self)?  One thing is certain, if you are living according to the Spirit – your life in Christ is expanding, becoming more powerful, and you are walking by faith not by sight.  You live a life according to authority, and the atonement of the Cross is being liberally applied to your daily walk.  You are continually bringing to bear the word of God in your life as a rule of light.  You are continually refuting arguments and theories and reasonings and every proud and lofty thing that sets itself up against the true knowledge of God, (even rooted in your own thoughts) and leading every thought and purpose captive into the obedience of Christ.  Your trust is in God, not yourself! Not your best stuff, nor your worst!

Here are some of my favorite poignant examples so you can see the contrast between the leading of the Spirit (God’s direction) and what our own reasoning would look like.

 

–                             Gen 24, The servant of Abraham goes to Abraham’s descendents (in Mesopotamia) to secure a wife for Isaac.  The leading of the Lord directs this servant to choose her on the basis of her offer to water all the servant’s camels. (Really?  Didn’t even want to count her teeth?)

–                             Ex 14, The Lord tells Moses to camp by the Red Sea where they have no other choice than to cross over on dry ground. (I’m pretty sure my reasoning would have taken me nowhere near the Red Sea!)

–                             Joshua 3, Joshua is told by the Lord that when the soles of the priests’ feet, who are carrying the ark, are in the river Jordan – then it’s waters will stand in a heap and not flow till all have crossed over.  (There is no way our reasoning will get you to this behavior as a good choice.)

–                             Judges 7, Gideon is told to decrease the numbers of the warriors with him by the way they drink water.  This takes the number of men with him down to 300.  (_Of course_ my reasoning would lead me to go into an outnumbered battle expecting victory by smashing pitchers and blowing trumpets!)

 

When a man or even a fellowship chooses by ignorance or rebellion, to live at the lower level (his flesh – body and soul together) and not according to the Spirit, he will only be able to sow from and to that which he has: namely the flesh.  We are told in Galatians that whatever a man sows – that is what he reaps.  If he sows to his own flesh (his lower nature, sensuality) he will reap decay and ruin and destruction.  But he who sows to the Spirit reaps eternal life!  It is for this reason the enemy, Satan, so desires we be ignorant of sowing to the flesh – that we would reap decay and ruin and destruction.

You must awake – Bride of Christ!  It is His life that we carry and we must bear His image, not that of our own!  Be provoked by this, and become certain that you walk according to the Spirit!  As a believer in Christ, if you do not walk according to the Spirit, you are most certainly walking according to the flesh.  There are only two choices!  Be — loved, become certain to what do you sow…

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Day Forty-Two, Under-the-Influence

Posted in Under-the-Influence, Devo Shorts 2011, tagged , , , , , on July 11, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Day Forty-Two

 

Why We Lack Power!

 

“But to those that are called, whether Jew or Greek (Gentile), Christ [is] the Power of God and the Wisdom of God.”  1Cor 1:24 Amp

 

          There is a question that moves through every fellowship of Jesus Christ at one point or another.  Inevitably the question arises, “Why do we not see the same kind of power operating in the Church today as at the time of Acts?  Why do we not see as many signs and wonders as happened back then?”  I believe there is a direct answer to that question – but it is not an answer that will make any of God’s saints feel good, myself included.  But it important not to stay fixated on this answer, but rather to move on to the solution.

          THE ANSWER:  We have not died to ourselves as required by the Word of God, thus the power of God cannot be manifested in us.

          THE EXPLANATION:  Jesus Christ Himself is the very power of God and the wisdom of God.  But just having Him as our Savior does not immediately follow that we will walk in His power as He did.  While the Word of God provides for that very thing: “As He is – so are we in the world”… etc., the fact is, you and I have to follow Christ more fully, more deliberately, and deny ourselves to be able to manifest the power of God.  We must die to ourselves.

          In the Garden of Eden, Jesus is personified as the Tree of Eternal Life.  But there was another tree there as well – one that was forbidden:  The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.  Very simply stated, whichever one of these trees we “eat” from – we will grow in and manifest its fruit.  Matthew 3:10 says that every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.  All the fruit that is born from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil – is from the power of our own works of the soul – it is therefore fruit of the flesh.  It cannot inherit the Kingdom of God according to 1Cor 15:50.  Thus, the fruit and even this tree will be thrown into the fire.  But see this clearly now – the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil is like our soul which Satan stirred into operation in the Garden.  When we are soul-ish, or in our old nature (which is flesh) – this is the Tree which is operating.  All of our fruit (good works) done in the flesh comes from this tree.

          However if we have the Life of Christ dwelling in us, then we have the nature of the Tree of Eternal life within our spirit.  The difficulty is that both these trees cannot operate simultaneously for they are adversarial – just as the flesh is adversarial to the spirit (Romans 8:4-9).  Our two natures: the first of flesh and the second born of the spirit – will not and cannot coexist well.  They cannot be both allowed to live and exert control.  To try and make that happen creates a person that is double-minded and unstable in all his ways (Jam 1:6-8).  So we must see the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil as comparable to the flesh life, our old nature, and the Tree of Eternal Life as comparable to our New Life in Christ according to the Spirit.  We are called as believers to live and move, not in the ways of the flesh but in the ways of the Spirit – with our lives governed and controlled by the Holy Spirit.

          You can begin to see then – why the Church lacks power….  We have lived lives where the flesh has predominated – not the Spirit.  We have not reckoned ourselves as being dead to sin and alive to God.  (Rom 6:11)  We have not yielded our members and faculties as instruments of righteousness to God.  (Rom 6:13)  In fact, we have more often catered to the appetites and impulses of our carnal natures, and in that regard we are not pleasing or acceptable to God.  This is a picture of the end-times church, which 2Timothy warns against, which holds a form of piety, but denies and rejects the power of it!

It is for this reason – we lack power.  We lack the predominance of the life of the Spirit/the life of Christ/the Tree of Eternal Life and the subsequent need to live and move and have our being in Him.  We have continually fed our soulish life/our natural flesh life, and allowed the Life of the Son to languish and starve within us.  When we obey the Spirit and surrender to the Spirit to do His will, we are His slaves leading to righteousness.  But when we obey the flesh and surrender to the flesh to do its will, we are its slaves leading to sin and death.

THE SOLUTION:  The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil must be made inoperative and ineffective for use.  Like putting a “red-tag” on a dashboard signifying it is broken and useless – this tree must be cut down, up-rooted and laid waste in our lives.  We do this when we deny ourselves, pick up our crosses and follow Christ.  We do this when we make a decisive dedication of our bodies, presenting all of our members as a living sacrifice (Rom 12:1), and we must do this daily!  Only as we do this will we fulfill what is said in 1Cor 15:49:  “And just as we have borne the image [of the man] of dust, so shall we and so let us also bear the image of the [Man] of heaven.”  

Because of the Cross — may the Tree of Eternal Life flourish in His saints!  May we be obedient with all our hearts!  May we be be-loved, _His_, more than our own.  To His glory and Praise!

           

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Day Forty-One, Under-the-Influence

Posted in Under-the-Influence, Devo Shorts 2011 on June 30, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Day Forty-One

 

Of Particles, Beams, and Hypocrites

 

“Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye but do not notice or consider the beam [of timber] that is in your own eye? Lk 6:41

 

 

            As we mature in Christ we must be on guard against portraying ourselves as more advanced in character than we really are.  The greatest difficulty may be that it doesn’t occur to us – we lack.  It comes down to the difference between being and doing.  If who we really present is who we really are – no problem:  no hypocrisy.   But when we have a vision of how we are (who we be) obstructed by lofty knowledge and desire to be better, holier, or more complete in Christ which we haven’t yet achieved – then we are in danger of growing planks in our eyes.  We become oblivious to our own true state – but are eager “Sally Sanctified” in pointing out other’s specks.  It is then – that the inevitable “log-jam” happens!

            I must tell you our own perceptions about ourselves can be very sneaky and trixxy.  We quickly notice the faults of others but are blissfully oblivious to our own deficiencies.  So when the opportunity arises for the Lord to put His finger on this condition – we must be careful to hear Him.  “Moi?”  “_Me_ Lord?”  “_I’m_  the problem?”  We are immediately incredulous.  “How could that possibly be?” we ask.  “They were so….  And they did such and such….  We only did this little thing.  How could we possibly be the ones at fault here?  They brought an elephant gun to our cap-pistol fight!”

            This is where you must be “vewwy, vewwy, careful” – like the little pig says.  You have justified yourself in your own eyes.  You have exercised your right to do, or say, or engage (which is your old flesh nature) over the redemptive nature of Christ (which is the spiritual man and your reasonable service).  You have acted out — posturing yourself as being according to the spirit – but you have really been according to the flesh.  Doesn’t matter that from a “natural perspective” you look squeaky clean — in fact, you are a hypocrite.  You believe you are operating at a standard which you intellectually grasp, but have failed to demonstrate.  And that is a hard pill to swallow!

            Do not be deceived at this point!  The enemy desires you be blind to your own motives and conduct.  He desires that you operate in darkness, not seeing your true condition at this moment!  But if you will wait and ask the Lord –“is there any fault in me Lord in this?” He will open your eyes.  It is hidden.  It is difficult to see because we are blinded by our own evaluation and reasoning over what has transpired.  Be brave however.  Be humble.  Face the truth and you will have that beam of timber removed from your eye as you confess it and ask forgiveness.  Ask also to be delivered from deception over the disparity between what you perceive and what it “true” – especially about yourself.

            It is in this place of humbleness that you grow and mature in Christ.  It is the need of us all.  First, however, we must put off self that we may be fully clothed.  You do not want to ever meet Jesus being only half-dressed so-to-speak.  Therefore, be fully clothed in Him… be-loved.

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Day Forty, Under-the-Influence

Posted in Under-the-Influence, Devo Shorts 2011, tagged , , , , , , , on May 14, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Day Forty

 

Where Your Test Will Come

(Where your thinking trumps obedience to God)

 

“I thought …. So I forced myself to offer a burnt offering.”

1Sam 13:12 AMP

 

          Our trust in God is always a continual choice – allowing Him to overcome territory in us that He has not previously occupied.  To grow in trust, God continually provides choices where our rational intellect and understanding must step aside and give way for irrational faith to operate.  This, then, is the ground in us that the Lord truly possesses, and it becomes His new beach-head for further operations.  But where that choice is still to be made between being subject to our best reasoning or subject to obedience by faith – THAT is where our tests will come.  For faith to reign, for the Lord to reign in that area, requires our deliberate choice and surrender to obey.

 

          Take the example of King Saul in first Samuel Chapters 13-15.  Our first clues about Saul’s weakness come as the Lord commissions Samuel to anoint this man as King over Israel.  He tells Samuel: “He shall save them out of the hands of the Philistines.”  For a King — that is a destiny of very limited scope.  The Lord was already revealing the extent of Saul’s usefulness to Him, because of weaknesses that could not be overcome.  Even as Samuel broaches the subject of God’s call on Saul’s life, Saul is only able to see what is before him according to his rational perception: “Am I not a Benjamite, of the smallest of the tribes of Israel? And is not my family the least of all the families of the clans of Benjamin? Why then do you speak this way to me?”

 

          Now we look at Saul’s first major misstep.  From 1 Samuel Chapter 13, where Saul takes upon himself the priestly obligation (without the Lord’s sanction) of sacrificing a burnt offering before going to battle with the Philistines. It is no coincidence that everything appears to be arrayed against success.  The Israelites are seriously outnumbered by the Philistines, and the weight of both chariots and horseman increase the Philistine advantage.  The Israelite numbers are dissipating in the face of this threat, and they are forced to hide in caves, holes, tombs, and cisterns.  By the time the sacrifice has been made and the fight is on – Israel’s numbers are down to 600 fighting men left.  You can see logistically, rationally, with his best understanding about fighting and tactics – Saul is under a hard press here.  Samuel had given instructions to wait for him for seven days.  As he waits, Saul watches what looks like the chance for any survival, let alone success, dissipate before him.  Everything in him cries out, “Do something quick!” (Recognize Saul’s own thinking here.)

 

          At that moment – he had the chance to surrender that thinking and fear to God: to put it in the Lord’s hands.  If he had rolled and committed and trusted this work of the battle to the Lord and put all his reliance on Him – Saul would have succeeded, but more importantly so would have God (Prov 16:3).  But when he allowed his fear and urgency for action to lead him into priestly activities for which he was not authorized or called, he sealed not only the failure of that engagement, he secured the early demise of his own reign as King.

 

          Two more opportunities to obey are presented to Saul before he is thoroughly rejected as King.  In Chapter 14 Saul’s son Jonathan takes his armor bearer over enemy lines and wipes out 20 of the enemy for a stunning strategic blow.  It garners the validation of the Lord with the trembling of the earth and the trembling of the Philistine forces in terror and panic. Yet Saul has already pronounced a (self-led) edict cursing anyone who would eat until “he has vengeance on his enemies” (it’s about his vengeance).  His own son Jonathan eats of honey-comb after his fight, and is refreshed but now is under that pronounced curse.  When the people realize Jonathan (who had just whooped up on the Philistines) is cursed to die they rescue Jonathan by siding for him.  Saul has stepped into the arena of religious practice by his edict and curse.  It is complicated when Jonathan unknowingly eats.  Jonathan nails it when he comments that his dad has troubled the land.  The Israelites were so famished they were unable to deal with the Philistines as effectively, so the battle was not fully successful.  Plus, by the time the people could eat they brought themselves under judgment by eagerly eating the meat with the blood.  Now as Saul is instructed to inquire of the Lord as to whether he should pursue the Philistines – the Lord is silent.  He gives no guidance.  So now Saul asks for lots to be drawn to find out who has sinned and caused God’s silence.  This is when he finds out his son has eaten.  Yet instead of honoring his edict and offering his son to the Lord, (and paying his vow) he allows the people to dissuade him from following through. Here, now, was a chance for Saul to humble himself and come clean.  He could have confessed being self-reliant and self-led.  He could have confessed being led by his own religious notions and not the Lord; botching the victory; causing the people to sin.  But instead he kept face – stood steadfast, and moved more deeply into the terrain of disobedience and self-reliance.

 

          1Samuel Chapter 15 is the setting for the famous “What then means this bleating of the sheep…” quote.  It is the inevitable declination of a man who could have fulfilled his destiny except for his steadfast reliance on his own thinking.  Saul is commanded by God (through Samuel) to go and smite the Amalekites: “to destroy all they have; do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.”  Saul does not.  Again, moved by his own rational processes rather than faith in the Lord, Saul allows the people to save the best of the sheep and oxen to sacrifice to the Lord.  His obedience is tailored to his own notion of pleasing God and pleasing the people.  This is considered evil in the Lord’s eyes.  To obey only in part is no obedience.  Saul is in fact saying, “I weigh my own skill in thinking higher than I weigh your command Lord.  My confidence in myself is greater than my confidence in You.”  Thus, with this episode Saul is finally rejected as King and he will no longer hear the Lord from any avenue.

 

          It is a dismal story.  Launched with every potential, every ability to wildly succeed – Saul is tested and found wanting at the very point of his greatest weakness which he trusts completely:  his thinking.  This is where we must all beware.  Our own perceptions and interpretations of God’s commands can end up disqualifying us from use, but even worse – from the Kingdom.  Just as God’s word is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, this same word will touch the very place where God does not reign in us – in our own thinking.  This is where the test comes. He precipitates an event, which requires us to either defer to our judgment or defer to our faith in Him.  These are adversarial things – they cannot both operate at the same time.  We must choose.  In the very act of choosing – we solidify the terrain of our soul either for success or failure, obedience or disobedience, greater growth or diminishment of the Kingdom of God operating in us.

 

          This may be the test before you, and only a test – but out of it expands one Kingdom or another: God’s or this world’s.  The choice is yours.

 

Be-loved:  Be confident in the Lord.  Be faithful.   Be obedient.  May His Kingdom rule in the hearts and minds of men!

         

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Day Thirty-Nine, Under-The-Influence

Posted in Under-the-Influence, Devo Shorts 2011, tagged , , , , , on May 1, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Day Thirty-Nine

 

So You Think God’s Unfair?

Our Right – Not Our Obligation

 

“But to as many as did receive and welcome Him, He gave the authority (power, privilege, right) to become the children of God…” Amp Jn 1:12

 

 

                Yesterday as I listened to a young woman call in to the radio Bible answer show, To Every Man an Answer, on CSN (Christian Satellite Network 91.1) I was gripped by her tenaciousness, but I anguished at her dispair.  You see – she was asking how God could create a man who He knew would never receive Him, and then judge him eternally for not receiving Him.  Her feeling was – God was being unfair. 

          I wanted to be able to chime into this conversation!!! – Would you rather God made you a robot? If there is to be no possibility of people going to hell – there would have to be no possibility for people to disobey: God would have had to create robots with no soul, no emotion, no will of their own, and thus no choice.  He would have had to program us, with no other option than to do what He desires (which would be to follow Him).  Once you give someone the capacity to choose – you must allow for them to choose differently than you would desire.  For that reason, a consequence must be attached to that choice. But it  was never God’s desire for people to go to hell – that’s why He sent His Son – to preclude that very thing!!!

          But you see – in this woman’s eyes God is unfair.  She wants people to be able to choose their own way, and go to heaven.  She is asking for something out of the realm of possibility.  Let me give you a small example: denture cream. 

Yes, it is odd metaphor but it works.  People who have false teeth have trouble keeping them in place on their gums because they don’t adhere to their gums.  They are of a different material (plastic) than the tissue structure of gums.  So the false teeth are easily pulled away from the gums when people bite into something they need to chew.  Ultimately, the denture cream forms a medium to hold (to adhere to the gums) because it is like gluey rubber.  Now people can choose to use denture cream or not.  But there are consequences to not using it:  ugly drooping dentures, slippage, abrasions, wearing down of the gum structure – these are just a few of the consequences of choosing not to use it. Yet people have the choice, and we all know they do exercise that choice.

          In a very small way – we can think of Jesus Christ like denture cream.  As we receive Him as Lord, He holds us to Him and even within Him (we are the dentures here J).  We live in Him and have our being in Him.  Thus, He is a bridge between us and our restored contact with the Father – Almighty God (the gums J).  It is Christ Who actually holds us in relationship with the Father.  In Christ, we are now safe in our ability to approach the Father, to again be in relationship with Him – through our attachment in Christ.  In Christ – we remain stable and fixed, we are held in place by Christ.

But in true reality in Christ, you and I are being constantly changed, transformed, from glory to glory.  You see – we are constantly becoming more and more Christ-like: each at our own pace, we have more and more of His life in us.  In the strength of becoming more and more like Him, the power of cohesion expands – the more we become like Him, the more our attachment to Him grows and becomes stronger.

Yet – for us to have Jesus Christ holding us, saving us, and restoring us – we must first choose Him.  As many of us who receive and welcome Him, He gives the authority (the power, privilege, and right) to become the children of God.  But if we choose Him not – we can neither fault the Lord for us not choosing Him, nor can we fault Him for giving us the choice in the first place.  It simply cannot work that way.

Hearing the castigation of this young woman caller against the Lord, the parable of the nobleman and the minas rises to mind.  It is found in Luke 19:12-26.  A nobleman goes into a distant country to obtain for himself a kingdom.  He gives ten of his own servants, ten minas to buy and sell with while he was away.  The citizens there detested him however, and said they did not want him to be ruler over them.

When he returns – He calls these same servants together to see how the buying and selling has gone.  After the first two display their profits, the third servant can only give back what was first given to him.  He says to the nobleman: “Lord, here is your mina, which I have laid up in a handkerchief.  For I was [constantly] afraid of you, because you are a stern (hard, severe) man; you pick up what you did not lay down, and you reap what you did not sow.”

This third servant did not know the nobleman. He did not recognize this nobleman’s authority to either pick up or reap.  He did not acknowledge all that he had (the mina, the opportunities to serve, even his very life) were originally given by the nobleman.  He just knew he was afraid of him –but also found fault with his methods.  Sadly, this servant is judged as wicked – with the nobleman concluding, “I tell you that to everyone who gets and has will more be given, but from the man who does not get and does not have, even what he has will be taken away.”

“Getting” in this parable is like receiving Jesus Christ.  It is like choosing Him – like choosing to use denture cream.  If you choose Him, you will get more of Him (more understanding and more likeness of Him as you obey Him).  But if you don’t choose Him, even all that you have (your very freedom to choose) will eventually be taken away as you descend into hell.  Like dentures sans denture cream — you will be loosed, eternally slip, droop, chafe, and be eroded and fall into eternal damnation.  It will be then that you see your error, but you will still only rail against God and call Him unfair – even though all your opportunities to know Him were equal to everyone else’s (each got one mina – the same amount). 

A comic example may be welcome here — even as it clarifies this serious issue.  An elementary school classmate of mine once shared a funny story about her mum.  She recalled that her mum once laughed so hard on a roller coaster – that her dentures fell out.  They were irretrievable broken by the fall.  In my quirky processing – I see that even in enjoying life I need to be anchored in Christ!  My classmate’s mum needed denture cream to stay secure – as do we all.  There’s no exception to that.  We need the attachment of Christ.  He has provided it – how can we find any fault with that?

Be-loved, if you receive Christ as Lord, it is your right to be held securely.  But you are under no obligation to have Him, or that right.  Yet — it remains before you — to choose.  Choose right.  Choose Christ.  Choose life.

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