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Posts Tagged ‘He is’

Day 149, “To Pursue or to Lean/Rest?”

Posted in Under-the-Influence, tagged , , , , , , on January 14, 2025| Leave a Comment »

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One of the best strategies the enemy uses against us is to keep us in a “do loop” of pursuing God rather than resting or leaning on Him in faith.  He causes us to rely on our sense of “being saved or having God at our center.”  When we no longer sense the Lord’s presence we gear up to pursue again. I have seen this become the default setting of so many believers. This becomes a new lifestyle…always in pursuit, never apprehending.

This is different than the Lord hiding Himself so we will indeed press into His Presence and His word.  Instead this is entering a traffic circle of activity to pursue Him and never coming to the exit: never coming to a place of resting or leaning on Him.  It is a place where our confidence in ourselves and our actions reasserts itself over our faith in Him or His word. We trust in what we feel or experience instead of what is conveyed in the word about Him or His ways or character.

Second Timothy describes this situation as follows:

“… they are forever inquiring and getting information, but are never able to arrive at a recognition and knowledge of the Truth.”  2Tim3:7

We become like hamsters on an exercise wheel, a treat extended before us (of gaining a greater sense of His Presence), but we never recognize we have received it…but why is that?  Because the basis for recognizing we have received something has moved from the realm of faith to something more tangible and temporal.  It becomes something of the flesh that is under our control. It is an emotional zeal which leads us to deception. It becomes works.

The danger here is that the believer has actually moved from faith in God, to faith in themselves and their activity.  It actually wars against the truth of God and muddies our perception of the spiritual realm!

Our focus should be to believe, rest, lean, and peace…

Here are just a few Scriptures to recalibrate and focus our faith that we can employ to be able to rest and lean on God.

Colossians 2:5

“For though I am away from you in body, yet I am with you in spirit, delighted at the sight of your [standing shoulder to shoulder in such] orderly array and the firmness and the solid front and steadfastness of your faith in Christ [that leaning of the entire human personality on Him in absolute trust and confidence in His power, wisdom, and goodness].”

Galatians 3:3

“Are you so foolish and so senseless and so silly? Having begun [your new life spiritually] with the [Holy] Spirit, are you now reaching perfection [by dependence] on the flesh?

Phil 2:13

“[Not in your own strength] for it is God Who is all the while effectually at work in you [energizing and creating in you the power and desire], both to will and work for His good pleasure and satisfaction and delight.”

Phil 4:7

“And God’s peace [shall be yours, that tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and being content with its earthly lot of whatever sort that is, that peace] which transcends all understanding shall garrison and mount guard over your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”

Isaiah 26:3

“You will guard him and keep him in perfect and constant peace whose mind [both its inclination and its character] is stayed on You, because He commits himself to You, leans on You, and hopes confidently in You.”

Two parting thoughts:

A favorite theologian, Oswald Chambers, once remarked that “when a person fails in his Christian life, it is usually because he has never received anything.”

It is so easy to get sped up in our Christian walk and forget our posture is one of continually receiving the redemptive life of Christ through the Holy Spirit. It is staying humble, and hungry, but realizing there is a flow and pattern to this Christian life. Like the river Jordan it is first flows into us, and then flows out as a witness and ministry.  This is not a passive reception but an active engagement by faith with thanksgiving!!!

The second thought arose as I was meditating on Psalm 139:7-10…

“Where could I go from Your Spirit? Or where could I flee from Your Presence?  If I ascend up into heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in Sheol (the place of the dead), behold You are there.  If I take the wings of the morning or dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there shall Your hand lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me.”

Do you truly understand you cannot get away from God?  Yet we become convinced He has left us. We are so enamored with our actions to pursue God… but wait, instead begin to claim Him as the God of your heart. Worship Him, draw near by faith, realizing you deserve nothing, but He has already made the way for you to enter in to His presence. 

If you were an airplane… He has laid the runway, created the heading, structured your frame and set your flaps.  He is the light before you on the runway,  and He provides the loft and lift under your wings….

Simply come before Him and believe…

“Light is sown for the righteous and strewn along their pathway, and joy for the upright in heart [the irrepressible joy which comes from consciousness of His favor and protection].”  Ps 97:11

Most importantly here, am I telling you to not pursue God…?

Not exactly, I am saying you will find Him when you believe, lean, and trust that He is there… near you, within you, and hopefully upon you.  You don’t need to make it happen.  He already has!

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Day 147, Cornerstone Influence

Posted in Under-the-Influence, tagged , , , on December 9, 2024| Leave a Comment »

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“But be doers of the Word [obey the message], and not merely listeners to it, betraying yourselves [into deception by reasoning contrary to the Truth].” Jas 1:22“There is a way which seems right to a man and appears straight before him, but at the end of it is the way of death.” Prov 14:12

“To you then who believe (who adhere to, trust in, and rely on Him) is the preciousness; but for those who disbelieve [it is true], The very Stone which the builders rejected has become the main Cornerstone,…” 1Pet 2:7

“Because of and through the heart of tender mercy and loving-kindness of our God, a Light from on high will dawn upon us and visit us to shine upon and give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death to direct and guide our feet in a straight line into the way of peace.”  Luke 1 78-79

The Dangers:

– Reasoning contrary to the Truth

– A way which seems right

– For those who don’t believe

– A Light that gives light to direct our feet

…(These are points to consider as we progress)

Is where we started our journey with the Lord different than where we are today? (Talking about the quality of your heart here and remaining tender.)

Like a race where a baton is handed off from runner to runner have we been handed a baton of error? A tactic of the enemy …? Am I in the wrong lane and running for the enemy?

It is time for the Body of Christ to understand that we have an enemy who prowls around like a lion, seeking whom he may devour – and he does not cease.

He wants you to become hardened in your heart by trials, and difficulties and to take offense.

He wants your mind to stop being renewed by the word of God, and instead for you to no longer go on with God, but rather be stuck!

More important than what you think you know in the word of God is the quality of your heart before God. Your trust in the character of God. Your willingness to submit….

The day you were saved your mind received the light of God, and thus you knew what you didn’t know before, because of His light.

But when life rushes in, deals with us harshly, when we are battered and broken…we can become hardened. We think we are just becoming savvy and careful, but truly we are becoming cynical, distant, and hard, not to only situations and people – but actually to God Himself.

Our greatest need at that time is to recognize we have become hardened. We have closed ourselves off and moved into independence.  We need to repent and turn around and change our thinking, not only about our situations, but about our orientation and focus on God.

In that regard, I direct your attention to the Cornerstone Principal in Architecture.  1Peter 2:6-8 discusses the Chief Cornerstone, Who is Jesus Christ.  But there are some things that will help us to apply this Principal…:

The architectual example of the Cornerstone in building had three distinct characteristics from other stones used in construction. Knowing these will open our understanding to this metaphor for Christ.

Historically, the Cornerstone was the very first stone to be set in the building process.  Measurements were taken to ensure proper alignment of the rest of the structure. While in earlier times alignment was based on astronomical points of the compass, for sacred structures the alignment should be based on the word of God and the leading of the Holy Spirit.

The same principal then applies to the Body of Christ and being a abode for God.  Our orientation always cues off of Jesus our Lord, and the Holy Spirit’s leading.  This is something we never outgrow, but its absence can cause independent  action and decisions which will lead us astray.

So as a Body of Living Stones being built up into the abode of God we never cast off or leave our Cornerstone!  He is the continual Light that shines so we may not sit in darkness, and He guides our feet to the way of peace.

In ancient building rituals, often a sacrifice such as wine, grain, or water or even blood was poured atop the cornerstone as it was dedicated to the gods…. Even in later times, those stones were hollowed out and documents or literature was placed inside them. Sometimes the stones were inscribed with the name of the owner, or the builder and the year it was built.

Imagine now, as your are a living sacrifice, your life being laid down on the Cornerstone, so you can pick up His life and walk it out.  He has chosen you and put His Name in you for His glory and identification. Inside you are hidden vital documents concerning His eternal word…! But is is important, to keep this Cornerstone continually before you, even as the focus of your life.  All things are to proceed from His word and Spirit and His will! 

There is not a day where we dictate to Him the plan or the action.  This would be reasoning contrary to the Truth which would bring us into deception!

The concept of a Cornerstone was also to lead one into celebration. The cornerstone placement was one of prominence, leading to a recognition and valuing of the structure. In the same way, we recognize our Cornerstone, Jesus Christ, as our Head and Chief among Ten Thousand.  He is the Alpha and Omega. The First and Last. He is the Firstborn among all creation, worthy of all our praise. We take our placement, our array, our position and orders from Him. Like a Divine Guide-on, we are arranged via Him. As He is, so are we in this world! 

Think of the Tabernacle structure as it revealed the placement of the Tribes of Israel around the Arc of the Covenant.  In the same way, we find our place and identity in Christ, in deference to Him. 

It is not my gifting’s that determine what I do, but it is Him through the Holy Spirit that determines both my gifting’s and their subsequent divine opportunities for manifestation.

Most intriguing, concerning the Cornerstone, that is Jesus, is that it was the very builders of the Temple who rejected Him.  I cannot imagine that occurrence during any building project of a natural, historical origin. The builders would simply set the cornerstone that was prepared.

Here, however, for the Temple of the Most High, the Jewish builders thought better. They were offended at Christ and would not put their trust in, or believe in Him. Sadly for them. He became the Chief Cornerstone regardless, and they had to deal with that spiritual truth, eternally.

There was a day when you and I became saved, and on that day Truth and Light entered our hearts. We thus began to know God.

But where are we today?  Is that Truth and Light still fresh and welcome and present in our hearts in the same manner?

You see it is we that change. Our perceptions of truth, our openness to receive: these can change. We reflect the conditions of the Parable of the Sower in the soil of our hearts (Luke 8:12-15), and our very thoughts about those situations can either harden our hearts to God, or make us humble before Him.

The choice is ours, but it is a choice with eternal consequences that is borne out over and over again by Biblical examples.

Have I heard truth but it is being carried away by the devil that I may not believe?  Have I fallen into trial and temptation because of not developing a root in the word of God and Christ? Or have I heard the word but it is being choked from bearing fruit for the Kingdom because of my attending and caring more for the pleasures and riches of this life?

Or against all others am I like the seed sown in good soil of the heart, holding the word fast in my heart and steadily bringing forth fruit with patience?

The diagnosis of all these soils can be readily seen when we look at what position and elevation the Cornerstone occupies in their heart.  Given proper focus, belief, and obedience we will serve our Cornerstone with joy and gladness and not reject Him.

But there is always before me because of life situations, a danger that lurks. Will I try and slide into the seat of the Cornerstone? Or will I allow Him to take and retain His rightful place in my heart?

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