There are doors that only a few people ever use.
One of the things about working somewhere in that you see a side of the business that only people who work there see. You go into rooms and drawers that no one else has access to.
We are curious creatures. We want to see what is underneath and behind things but that isn't always good.
"Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, I am the LORD your God. You shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt, where you lived, and you shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan, to which I am bringing you. You shall not walk in their statutes. You shall follow my rules and keep my statutes and walk in them. I am the LORD your God. You shall therefore keep my statutes and my rules; if a person does them, he shall live by them: I am the LORD. None of you shall approach any one of his close relatives to uncover nakedness. I am the LORD. You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father, which is the nakedness of your mother; she is your mother, you shall not uncover her nakedness. You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father's wife; it is your father's nakedness. You shall not uncover the nakedness of your sister, your father's daughter or your mother's daughter, whether brought up in the family or in another home. You shall not uncover the nakedness of your son's daughter or of your daughter's daughter, for their nakedness is your own nakedness... You shall not uncover the nakedness of a woman and of her daughter, and you shall not take her son's daughter or her daughter's daughter to uncover her nakedness; they are relatives; it is depravity. And you shall not take a woman as a rival wife to her sister, uncovering her nakedness while her sister is still alive." - Leviticus 18:2-10, 17-18 ESV
I only quoted part of that passage but more categories of people are listed. It may seem a bit vulgar to quote from this passage but it is important that we understand where lust comes from. It doesn't start with wanting something. It starts with seeing something.
A thief is looking in his or her mind in places they are not allowed to be and thinking of things that don't belong to them. An addict has often opened a door that should never have been opened and some part of their mind longs for some taste that should never have been tasted in the first place.
Perhaps you have seen something you shouldn't have seen. Now what? We live in a time where images are everywhere and neon signs point to doors no one should enter.
"Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. But avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness, and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have swerved from the truth, saying that the resurrection has already happened. They are upsetting the faith of some. But God's firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: 'The Lord knows those who are his,' and, Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity. Now in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, some for honorable use, some for dishonorable. Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work. So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels." - 2 Timothy 2:15-23 ESV
Flee youthful lusts. Be washed in the water of the word. Decide what you are going to be. God sees everyone who is washed in the blood as a vessel of honor. What does a vessel of honor see? Where do they go? What do they think about?
"And take not the word of truth utterly out of my mouth, for my hope is in your rules. I will keep your law continually, forever and ever, and I shall walk in a wide place, for I have sought your precepts." - Psalm 119:43-45 ESV
"For who is God, but the LORD? And who is a rock, except our God? - the God who equipped me with strength and made my way blameless. He made my feet like the feet of a deer and set me secure on the heights. He trains my hands for war, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze. You have given me the shield of your salvation, and your right hand supported me, and your gentleness made me great. You gave a wide place for my steps under me, and my feet did not slip." - Psalm 18:31-36 ESV
Grace is the wide place. There are no doors there. Jesus is the narrow gate but once you pass through you and I enter into a wide place of freedom that is open and has purity.
"On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, 'Peace be with you.' " - John 20:19 ESV
Jesus didn't use the door. He doesn't explore hidden places because nothing is hidden to Him. In Christ we have that also. We have a purity that isn't looking to uncover. We are in the wide place of grace.
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Showing posts with label Lust. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lust. Show all posts
Friday, April 20, 2018
Friday, March 16, 2018
True Wealth
If I had 1 million more dollars I would have some options I don't have now. Let's then make it 10 million. Ok, 100 million. But would I be happier? Would I be richer or would life just get infinitely more complicated?
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory." - Ephesians 1:3-12 ESV
I am a rich man.
How many people who win the lottery lose what was important to them because of it. Unfortunately, most of them do.
Some money would be great. I am going out to make some today. I need things. We all do. I want to have options and security for myself and for the people around me who might need my help. I want to see people go places and present Jesus in places where He Is needed all over the world.
At the same time, I look around me today and realize in a fresh way that I have many wonderful people in my life and God in Heaven who keeps giving me more. One day we will be before Him and get a better idea of what is really in our Heavenly bank account.
100 million won't look like very much and it won't be nearly as complicated to deal with as it would be for us now.
--
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory." - Ephesians 1:3-12 ESV
I am a rich man.
How many people who win the lottery lose what was important to them because of it. Unfortunately, most of them do.
Some money would be great. I am going out to make some today. I need things. We all do. I want to have options and security for myself and for the people around me who might need my help. I want to see people go places and present Jesus in places where He Is needed all over the world.
At the same time, I look around me today and realize in a fresh way that I have many wonderful people in my life and God in Heaven who keeps giving me more. One day we will be before Him and get a better idea of what is really in our Heavenly bank account.
100 million won't look like very much and it won't be nearly as complicated to deal with as it would be for us now.
--
Wednesday, January 31, 2018
Powerful Scriptural Triads - Part 3
This triad idea is so huge. I find that making lists can be helpful in studies like this one but there is a point where you realize and say, 'Wow, This is going to be a very long complicated list.'
Here is one gem I found this morning that I hope is a blessing.
"For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world." - 1 John 2:16 KJV
"This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth. For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one." - 1 John 5:6-8 KJV
Three things that are not of the Father but then there are three that are witnesses here on Earth and in Heaven.
Lust and pride involve self-orientation apart from God. They are three very deep things that came with the fall of mankind. God didn't design creation and include those things. They are a dynamic added after Adam exited the garden of Eden.
The three witnesses on Earth came after the fall also but center in on Christ Himself. They are Christocentric witnesses involving His incarnation. God becoming a man produced three visible witnesses that can speak to us.
Who will we listen to? Will it be lust or will it be redemption? They both call to us and pull us in different directions.
"And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." - Romans 12:2 KJV
The good, acceptable and perfect will of God is that we take heed to the three witnesses we have been given.
--
Here is one gem I found this morning that I hope is a blessing.
"For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world." - 1 John 2:16 KJV
"This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth. For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one." - 1 John 5:6-8 KJV
Three things that are not of the Father but then there are three that are witnesses here on Earth and in Heaven.
Lust and pride involve self-orientation apart from God. They are three very deep things that came with the fall of mankind. God didn't design creation and include those things. They are a dynamic added after Adam exited the garden of Eden.
The three witnesses on Earth came after the fall also but center in on Christ Himself. They are Christocentric witnesses involving His incarnation. God becoming a man produced three visible witnesses that can speak to us.
Who will we listen to? Will it be lust or will it be redemption? They both call to us and pull us in different directions.
"And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." - Romans 12:2 KJV
The good, acceptable and perfect will of God is that we take heed to the three witnesses we have been given.
--
Friday, May 26, 2017
Fresh Curiosity
Curiosity is a big part of my life and I see it as essential to being a good husband, man and disciple of Christ. It is not the main thing that makes me good at my job but it is essential to my work. I long to open my Bible because I want to see what God will say to me. I study my wife because I love her and think she is fascinating.
American culture often associates curiosity and lust as being synonymous but one is pure and childlike and the other is possessive and controlling.
Bondage kills our curiosity. We dread that what was will be again. We flinch at the future but grace produces fertile ground for our healthy desire to explore and know what is knowable.
"Let no one say when he is tempted, 'I am being tempted by God,' for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers." - James 1:13-16 ESV
God didn't make beauty to tempt us but when we move from appreciation to a desire to have and control we experience death. God must become our satisfaction again. If He has never been our satisfaction He must have that place or we will all slip down that slippery slope over and over.
"And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you." - Ephesians 4:30-32 ESV
If we have God we can live a life of constant exploration. We can be fascinated even by the familiar because the need of our soul has been satisfied by God's love, mercy and acceptance.
"Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit." - Psalm 51:11-12 ESV
David lived at a time before the cross. Men weren't sealed with God's spirit at the point of salvation. He saw Saul, his King, lose his joy and security and enter into lustful pursuits and feared what might happen to him in his own life if he wandered too far away.
We live after the cross. If we have believed we are sealed forever but we sometimes need the joy restored. God will give us our innocence back if we seek His face and then we can rediscover the world like little children.
--
American culture often associates curiosity and lust as being synonymous but one is pure and childlike and the other is possessive and controlling.
Bondage kills our curiosity. We dread that what was will be again. We flinch at the future but grace produces fertile ground for our healthy desire to explore and know what is knowable.
"Let no one say when he is tempted, 'I am being tempted by God,' for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers." - James 1:13-16 ESV
God didn't make beauty to tempt us but when we move from appreciation to a desire to have and control we experience death. God must become our satisfaction again. If He has never been our satisfaction He must have that place or we will all slip down that slippery slope over and over.
"And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you." - Ephesians 4:30-32 ESV
If we have God we can live a life of constant exploration. We can be fascinated even by the familiar because the need of our soul has been satisfied by God's love, mercy and acceptance.
"Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit." - Psalm 51:11-12 ESV
David lived at a time before the cross. Men weren't sealed with God's spirit at the point of salvation. He saw Saul, his King, lose his joy and security and enter into lustful pursuits and feared what might happen to him in his own life if he wandered too far away.
We live after the cross. If we have believed we are sealed forever but we sometimes need the joy restored. God will give us our innocence back if we seek His face and then we can rediscover the world like little children.
--
Monday, May 1, 2017
Regard No One According To The Flesh
How do we look at people? In what light do we see their potential? How we see them will influence how we treat them.
"From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come." - 2 Corinthians 5:16-17 ESV
We are not to use the body as our emphasis. The soul is the focus. The spirit is the identity. The content of each soul is unique. We are not bodies with souls. We are souls with bodies.
Lust has a fleshly dimension. This change of focus hinders that avenue of expression.
"Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world -- the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life -- is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever." - 1 John 2:15-17 ESV
Sensuality, materialism, and egotism are the whole ball of wax. How far does just this small principle go to weaken the whole structure what would take us down?
What does a soul have? What does it need? If we have a living spirit it has been made alive by the Holy Spirit. What is that like? What nourishes the connections of body, soul and spirit?
Will 'getting more' help our soul or is it only for our flesh?
Will attaining recognition add to our soul or is it an egotistic high that eventually sends us spiralling to the ground?
Souls need love. Souls need light. Souls need care. Souls need to be filled with good things. Souls need memories. Souls need to know their creator. Souls need healing. Souls need companionship.
This is on my mind lately. I can't know the people I know well after the flesh. It will hurt the relationship. I can't know new people that way either or things will start in an off-kilter way that will need to be fixed later.
God Help us. You are our way of escape. We need your eyes to see people. We need light about what You have done to get the light to see this way. Illuminate our perception. Change our minds. Turn us and we will be turned to see what You see by faith. Thank You God. Give us the gift of repentance in this area. We may need to humble ourselves before the people we have known after the flesh. It might take a conversation or more than one to get this to stick. Give us humility. Direct our steps. Thank You, God.
Praise You Lord Jesus. You walked in perfection as a man and yet we don't know You that way anymore. You are the God-man who sits on a throne in Heaven. You fully identified with us so that we could fully identify with You beyond our bodies. Lift us in our thinking. We know You will. Thank You.
--
"From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come." - 2 Corinthians 5:16-17 ESV
We are not to use the body as our emphasis. The soul is the focus. The spirit is the identity. The content of each soul is unique. We are not bodies with souls. We are souls with bodies.
Lust has a fleshly dimension. This change of focus hinders that avenue of expression.
"Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world -- the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life -- is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever." - 1 John 2:15-17 ESV
Sensuality, materialism, and egotism are the whole ball of wax. How far does just this small principle go to weaken the whole structure what would take us down?
What does a soul have? What does it need? If we have a living spirit it has been made alive by the Holy Spirit. What is that like? What nourishes the connections of body, soul and spirit?
Will 'getting more' help our soul or is it only for our flesh?
Will attaining recognition add to our soul or is it an egotistic high that eventually sends us spiralling to the ground?
Souls need love. Souls need light. Souls need care. Souls need to be filled with good things. Souls need memories. Souls need to know their creator. Souls need healing. Souls need companionship.
This is on my mind lately. I can't know the people I know well after the flesh. It will hurt the relationship. I can't know new people that way either or things will start in an off-kilter way that will need to be fixed later.
God Help us. You are our way of escape. We need your eyes to see people. We need light about what You have done to get the light to see this way. Illuminate our perception. Change our minds. Turn us and we will be turned to see what You see by faith. Thank You God. Give us the gift of repentance in this area. We may need to humble ourselves before the people we have known after the flesh. It might take a conversation or more than one to get this to stick. Give us humility. Direct our steps. Thank You, God.
Praise You Lord Jesus. You walked in perfection as a man and yet we don't know You that way anymore. You are the God-man who sits on a throne in Heaven. You fully identified with us so that we could fully identify with You beyond our bodies. Lift us in our thinking. We know You will. Thank You.
--
Friday, August 12, 2016
Flee Youthful Lusts
"So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels. And the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will." - 2 Timothy 2:22-26 ESV
If you don't sound a retreat from certain situations then 'the slanderer' will have certain latitude to affect you. It is that simple.
In a way it is a good picture of repentance... turning away from one thing to pursue another. A young bachelor who likes having one pretty young thing on his arm after another until such a time as when he decides to settle down is a wrecking ball for young female souls. Youthful lust destroys things and then leaves room for the slanderer because (figuratively speaking) He get a whole notepad full of material for accusation to use and reuse later.
But then when that same young person has a new identity in Christ they heed a different voice... this mature voice talks about value and not escape... It highlights full grown ideas... it isn't looking to set fire with matches or with ideas just to watch something burn... that is what little boys do... peace becomes important because death is no longer abstract.
"...along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart." - 2 Timothy 2:22b ESV
This kind of pursuit requires companions who are doing the same thing. Iron sharpens iron. The womanizer's conquests are solitary fleeting satisfactions but the one who pursues righteousness is like an Olympic athlete. The whole country rejoices with each win. Even competitive teammates rejoice that their team took home a medal even if they weren't the ones to do it.
Do we know how to retreat? Can we say, 'I'm out of here.' in certain charged situations. If we don't then it is very very profitable to learn. Youthful lust is just a few clicks away in an internet browser. It is an isolated conversation away with a needy vulnerable person.
Don't do it! Run away.
Pursue righteousness. I would say, 'No one ever regretted pursuing righteousness.' but I'm sure some have because of deception. I will say that when a person stands before God any regret is going to flee because He loves it every time we seek Him or His priorities. He is blessed beyond measure by the smallest expressions of faith. When we are finally in His presence we will see just how much it means to Him in a much fuller way.
--
If you don't sound a retreat from certain situations then 'the slanderer' will have certain latitude to affect you. It is that simple.
In a way it is a good picture of repentance... turning away from one thing to pursue another. A young bachelor who likes having one pretty young thing on his arm after another until such a time as when he decides to settle down is a wrecking ball for young female souls. Youthful lust destroys things and then leaves room for the slanderer because (figuratively speaking) He get a whole notepad full of material for accusation to use and reuse later.
But then when that same young person has a new identity in Christ they heed a different voice... this mature voice talks about value and not escape... It highlights full grown ideas... it isn't looking to set fire with matches or with ideas just to watch something burn... that is what little boys do... peace becomes important because death is no longer abstract.
"...along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart." - 2 Timothy 2:22b ESV
This kind of pursuit requires companions who are doing the same thing. Iron sharpens iron. The womanizer's conquests are solitary fleeting satisfactions but the one who pursues righteousness is like an Olympic athlete. The whole country rejoices with each win. Even competitive teammates rejoice that their team took home a medal even if they weren't the ones to do it.
Do we know how to retreat? Can we say, 'I'm out of here.' in certain charged situations. If we don't then it is very very profitable to learn. Youthful lust is just a few clicks away in an internet browser. It is an isolated conversation away with a needy vulnerable person.
Don't do it! Run away.
Pursue righteousness. I would say, 'No one ever regretted pursuing righteousness.' but I'm sure some have because of deception. I will say that when a person stands before God any regret is going to flee because He loves it every time we seek Him or His priorities. He is blessed beyond measure by the smallest expressions of faith. When we are finally in His presence we will see just how much it means to Him in a much fuller way.
--
Wednesday, September 30, 2015
Water On Mars' Hill
Water on Mars? Not surprising. Nor does the method NASA used sound very conclusive either.
"So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: 'Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, 'To the unknown god.' What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, for 'In him we live and move and have our being'; as even some of your own poets have said, 'For we are indeed his offspring.' Being then God's offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man. The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.' " - Acts 17:22-31 ESV
I see NASA as a great example of man 'feeling their way' towards God. The Greek word used there is pselaphao (Strong's G5584) and it means to grope or look with your hands for something.
Man tries to put God in a box but it is God who has limited us in our place and time but He did not limit us to keep us limited. Just as we are wise not to limit Him we can truly move and have our being in Him.
Here Paul is speaking to Greek philosophers and people who had gathered from other people groups. It was a place where ideas were presented before people who were curious. Many of them had a type of 'wisdom lust.' You know those people just as I do. They crave news and new ideas all the time but that knowledge does not seem to change them very much. They have become immune to it.
Paul's Spirit inspired approach is good for them and for us. Maybe we think more knowledge will save us. We grope along the terrain of ideas looking for something lost or a switch that will illuminate the room but all the while God is very near. God understands our groping and actually has designated a time for it in His plan but now it is time to repent (turn to Him) because there is One who was raised from the dead. There is One who has ventured into the greatest unknown terrain and returned with a message.
Perhaps there is water on Mars. Maybe it is some low gravity multicolored sand sculpture. I'm sure man will continue to grope for answers as long as we have the resources and means to do it.
Those of us who have found Jesus because He looked for us first have also found a light switch for the dark places. He becomes our spiritual illumination.
God isn't far away and beyond our imagination. He is here in the room. The room is in Him. Knowing that we can begin to converse with Him. He has things to say if we will pour out our hearts and listen.
--
"So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: 'Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, 'To the unknown god.' What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, for 'In him we live and move and have our being'; as even some of your own poets have said, 'For we are indeed his offspring.' Being then God's offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man. The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.' " - Acts 17:22-31 ESV
I see NASA as a great example of man 'feeling their way' towards God. The Greek word used there is pselaphao (Strong's G5584) and it means to grope or look with your hands for something.
Man tries to put God in a box but it is God who has limited us in our place and time but He did not limit us to keep us limited. Just as we are wise not to limit Him we can truly move and have our being in Him.
Here Paul is speaking to Greek philosophers and people who had gathered from other people groups. It was a place where ideas were presented before people who were curious. Many of them had a type of 'wisdom lust.' You know those people just as I do. They crave news and new ideas all the time but that knowledge does not seem to change them very much. They have become immune to it.
Paul's Spirit inspired approach is good for them and for us. Maybe we think more knowledge will save us. We grope along the terrain of ideas looking for something lost or a switch that will illuminate the room but all the while God is very near. God understands our groping and actually has designated a time for it in His plan but now it is time to repent (turn to Him) because there is One who was raised from the dead. There is One who has ventured into the greatest unknown terrain and returned with a message.
Perhaps there is water on Mars. Maybe it is some low gravity multicolored sand sculpture. I'm sure man will continue to grope for answers as long as we have the resources and means to do it.
Those of us who have found Jesus because He looked for us first have also found a light switch for the dark places. He becomes our spiritual illumination.
God isn't far away and beyond our imagination. He is here in the room. The room is in Him. Knowing that we can begin to converse with Him. He has things to say if we will pour out our hearts and listen.
--
Monday, March 9, 2015
Two Antibacterial Classifications That Have Spiritual Applications
There are two basic antibacterial classifications bactericidal (agents that kill bacteria) and bacteriostatic (agents that retard growth or reproduction).
Most agents that kill bacteria on contact are used topically not internally for obvious reasons. If it can kill bacteria it can also kill healthy cells. A common bactericidal agent is wood alcohol. It is a main ingredient in those clear antibacterial gels that we see everywhere. It not only kills bacteria effectively but it also evaporates away quickly leaving only the gel that was used to carry it on a person's skin.
Most of the things that kill bacteria inside an organism are bacteriostatic in nature. They damage or impede the cell in some way so that it can not grow or reproduce leaving the bacteria an easy target for the immune system.
It is also good to keep in mind that not all bacteria is harmful. We need certain kinds of bacteria in our digestive tract in order to be healthy.
I am not a biologist and it is easy to over simplify these concepts and come to strange conclusions. But just looking at this subject it is easy to see the wide range of spiritual applications. Everything from fostering lust and the spreading of gossip all the way to the persecution of the Church and attack on the Gospel message to make it palatable but not reproductive.
"For lack of wood the fire goes out, and where there is no whisperer, quarreling ceases. As charcoal to hot embers and wood to fire, so is a quarrelsome man for kindling strife." - Proverbs 26:20-21 ESV
"That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies" - Genesis 22:17 KJV
"And he said to his people, 'Behold, the people of Israel are too many and too mighty for us. Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and, if war breaks out, they join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land.' Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with heavy burdens. They built for Pharaoh store cities, Pithom and Raamses." - Exodus 1:9-11 ESV
"The LORD your God will clear away these nations before you little by little. You may not make an end of them at once, lest the wild beasts grow too numerous for you." - Deuteronomy 7:22 ESV
This study can go in many directions but it has me thinking of the things in my life that foster spiritual growth and the ones that seem to inhibit it. On the other hand what causes carnality to get a foothold in my life?
Does television have bacteriostatic influence on our spirituality? It can under certain circumstances for me. Teaching on the tongue regularly at church can have that same affect on gossip in that Church.
"And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you." - Ephesians 4:30-32 ESV
"Pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit." - 1 Thessalonians 5:17-19 ESV
Our spiritual life is a right now kind of thing. Communion is present tense. At the same time the decisions we make today affect the potential spiritual climate of tomorrow.
Our minds are like gardens. What is growing there?
---
Most agents that kill bacteria on contact are used topically not internally for obvious reasons. If it can kill bacteria it can also kill healthy cells. A common bactericidal agent is wood alcohol. It is a main ingredient in those clear antibacterial gels that we see everywhere. It not only kills bacteria effectively but it also evaporates away quickly leaving only the gel that was used to carry it on a person's skin.
Most of the things that kill bacteria inside an organism are bacteriostatic in nature. They damage or impede the cell in some way so that it can not grow or reproduce leaving the bacteria an easy target for the immune system.
It is also good to keep in mind that not all bacteria is harmful. We need certain kinds of bacteria in our digestive tract in order to be healthy.
I am not a biologist and it is easy to over simplify these concepts and come to strange conclusions. But just looking at this subject it is easy to see the wide range of spiritual applications. Everything from fostering lust and the spreading of gossip all the way to the persecution of the Church and attack on the Gospel message to make it palatable but not reproductive.
"For lack of wood the fire goes out, and where there is no whisperer, quarreling ceases. As charcoal to hot embers and wood to fire, so is a quarrelsome man for kindling strife." - Proverbs 26:20-21 ESV
"That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies" - Genesis 22:17 KJV
"And he said to his people, 'Behold, the people of Israel are too many and too mighty for us. Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and, if war breaks out, they join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land.' Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with heavy burdens. They built for Pharaoh store cities, Pithom and Raamses." - Exodus 1:9-11 ESV
"The LORD your God will clear away these nations before you little by little. You may not make an end of them at once, lest the wild beasts grow too numerous for you." - Deuteronomy 7:22 ESV
This study can go in many directions but it has me thinking of the things in my life that foster spiritual growth and the ones that seem to inhibit it. On the other hand what causes carnality to get a foothold in my life?
Does television have bacteriostatic influence on our spirituality? It can under certain circumstances for me. Teaching on the tongue regularly at church can have that same affect on gossip in that Church.
"And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you." - Ephesians 4:30-32 ESV
"Pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit." - 1 Thessalonians 5:17-19 ESV
Our spiritual life is a right now kind of thing. Communion is present tense. At the same time the decisions we make today affect the potential spiritual climate of tomorrow.
Our minds are like gardens. What is growing there?
---
Monday, November 3, 2014
Let The Loud Things Wait
The urgent matters of the flesh can wait. The weighty matters of the Spirit can wait but should not be kept waiting.
Lust should be made to wait. It can wait forever as far as we are concerned. It can grow old and die waiting. But, It demands attention. It's need is urgent. Let's just leave lust in the waiting room until it dies of starvation.
"For lack of wood the fire goes out." - Proverbs 26:20a ESV
When we speak of the flesh we aren't speaking of the physical body. Our body has needs and we should attend to them but our body is linked to our soul and we understand that correct desires have been influenced and twisted by the fall and wrong desire can be created by chains of bad decisions.
"For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God." - Romans 8:13-14 ESV
The natural method of avoiding bad things is to do good things instead but that also has it's pitfalls.
"I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me." - Romans 7:21 KJV
This is a verse that is used as a building block in the argument for the depravity of man but it also exposes the flaws of mankind's effort based methods that put would put wood on the fire of lust.
Trying to good is the problem because when we try intrinsic evil is right there with us.
The quiet weighty matters of the Spirit are the answer. A life occupied with God's light and God's purposes will function in love.
"Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law." - Romans 13:10 ESV
"As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world." - John 9:5 ESV
"You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven." - Matthew 5:14-16 ESV
Worship is a weighty matter of the Spirit. Caring for souls is weighty. Meditating on grace is. Believing in Jesus' character and finished work on Calvary and knowing we are justified and made holy by God apart from our effort or performance is a quiet truth that does not scream for our attention but it has so much value that if we are wise we will make it our focus again and again.
We do what we do to the glory (revealing) of God. We know that how we are affects people's capacity to hear our words and we want to reveal Christ to people. We want to reveal Him to people that are lost and also to ones who already know Him. We are lights revealing the Gospel of Grace just like Jesus was a light revealing His Father's character and will.
In our weakness and in our strength we live in excellence not perfection or goodness. Why? Because God is excellent. Rebound (bouncing back after defeat or failure) reveals God. Love reveals God. Being unashamed of our Savior is excellent. We do all that we do and use all our might and creativity basking in God's light and God uses us as a light to lead people to Himself.
All the while lust can sit out there forgotten rereading old magazines for all I care.
Lust should be made to wait. It can wait forever as far as we are concerned. It can grow old and die waiting. But, It demands attention. It's need is urgent. Let's just leave lust in the waiting room until it dies of starvation.
"For lack of wood the fire goes out." - Proverbs 26:20a ESV
When we speak of the flesh we aren't speaking of the physical body. Our body has needs and we should attend to them but our body is linked to our soul and we understand that correct desires have been influenced and twisted by the fall and wrong desire can be created by chains of bad decisions.
"For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God." - Romans 8:13-14 ESV
The natural method of avoiding bad things is to do good things instead but that also has it's pitfalls.
"I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me." - Romans 7:21 KJV
This is a verse that is used as a building block in the argument for the depravity of man but it also exposes the flaws of mankind's effort based methods that put would put wood on the fire of lust.
Trying to good is the problem because when we try intrinsic evil is right there with us.
The quiet weighty matters of the Spirit are the answer. A life occupied with God's light and God's purposes will function in love.
"Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law." - Romans 13:10 ESV
"As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world." - John 9:5 ESV
"You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven." - Matthew 5:14-16 ESV
Worship is a weighty matter of the Spirit. Caring for souls is weighty. Meditating on grace is. Believing in Jesus' character and finished work on Calvary and knowing we are justified and made holy by God apart from our effort or performance is a quiet truth that does not scream for our attention but it has so much value that if we are wise we will make it our focus again and again.
We do what we do to the glory (revealing) of God. We know that how we are affects people's capacity to hear our words and we want to reveal Christ to people. We want to reveal Him to people that are lost and also to ones who already know Him. We are lights revealing the Gospel of Grace just like Jesus was a light revealing His Father's character and will.
In our weakness and in our strength we live in excellence not perfection or goodness. Why? Because God is excellent. Rebound (bouncing back after defeat or failure) reveals God. Love reveals God. Being unashamed of our Savior is excellent. We do all that we do and use all our might and creativity basking in God's light and God uses us as a light to lead people to Himself.
All the while lust can sit out there forgotten rereading old magazines for all I care.
--
Friday, August 8, 2014
Love For Our Enemies - Part 2
This is the second part to yesterday's blog so if you didn't read that it might be good to go back and read that now. Today's thought is where I started yesterday but I needed to set the foundation first.
Sometimes the enemy is us and the ones who we think are our enemies, perhaps because of discomfort we associate with them, really are not against us at all. Our perception is off. Our ego is involved. Our judgement is clouded.
How many teenagers wake up one day after they become young adults and realize. My parents, flawed as they were, loved me and wanted the best for me when up until that realization that had on some level thought of them as enemies.
What do we do if we suspect we are our own enemy in a situation? We do exactly what we would do with our external enemies. We give ourselves grace.
We seek God's mind through various avenues to have our thinking illuminated... The Bible... The pulpit... The body of Christ... Prayer and counsel... but all of it is bathed in grace.
"Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, 'Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.' To the contrary, 'if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.' " - Romans 12:19-20 ESV
Feed that hungry soul of yours... not the flesh in sentimentality but the soul in spirituality. Leave revenge to God and double-mindedness at the door. Self interrogation is not valuable. Revenge against self is not our right. Grace is what is needed... grace will convict us... grace will teach us... grace will convert us.
Sexual attraction is not sin. Acting on it outside of marriage is.
"I have made a covenant with my eyes; how then could I gaze at a virgin? What would be my portion from God above and my heritage from the Almighty on high?" - Job 31:1-2 ESV
Because of a lack of agreement with truth that forms a conviction within our soul prompting people to adopt a habit the individual ends up feeding a fire of self contradiction. The truth must pass through a personal realization of the cross and what it has accomplished in order to be effective. Without truth our flesh continues to flare up leaving only destruction in it's path.
This is true for all types of lust not just the sensual variety.
If a projectile hits armor it is deflected. If it hits an unprotected area it causes damage.
In our pain and weariness it is easy for us to become enemies to our self, others and of the cross itself.
It could be ego, blindness, pain, weariness or any number of natural causes that might prompt us to say, 'I am the enemy in this situation.'
Letting God love us is the answer. Receiving grace makes us overcomers. Living in and confessing the finished work of the cross proactively redeems time.
So love that enemy... even if the enemy is you. Because in truth we have a new identity to live in.
"You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you." - Romans 8:9a ESV
This is the mystery that only grace reveals. Although we sin and fall short those actions are not our identity anymore. A believer in Christ is 'in the Spirit' but we must stand in grace to walk in the Spirit.
Standing in grace we can pray and make decisions not second guessing our motives. God knows and has all of that covered anyway.
--
Sometimes the enemy is us and the ones who we think are our enemies, perhaps because of discomfort we associate with them, really are not against us at all. Our perception is off. Our ego is involved. Our judgement is clouded.
How many teenagers wake up one day after they become young adults and realize. My parents, flawed as they were, loved me and wanted the best for me when up until that realization that had on some level thought of them as enemies.
What do we do if we suspect we are our own enemy in a situation? We do exactly what we would do with our external enemies. We give ourselves grace.
We seek God's mind through various avenues to have our thinking illuminated... The Bible... The pulpit... The body of Christ... Prayer and counsel... but all of it is bathed in grace.
"Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, 'Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.' To the contrary, 'if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.' " - Romans 12:19-20 ESV
Feed that hungry soul of yours... not the flesh in sentimentality but the soul in spirituality. Leave revenge to God and double-mindedness at the door. Self interrogation is not valuable. Revenge against self is not our right. Grace is what is needed... grace will convict us... grace will teach us... grace will convert us.
Sexual attraction is not sin. Acting on it outside of marriage is.
"I have made a covenant with my eyes; how then could I gaze at a virgin? What would be my portion from God above and my heritage from the Almighty on high?" - Job 31:1-2 ESV
Because of a lack of agreement with truth that forms a conviction within our soul prompting people to adopt a habit the individual ends up feeding a fire of self contradiction. The truth must pass through a personal realization of the cross and what it has accomplished in order to be effective. Without truth our flesh continues to flare up leaving only destruction in it's path.
This is true for all types of lust not just the sensual variety.
If a projectile hits armor it is deflected. If it hits an unprotected area it causes damage.
In our pain and weariness it is easy for us to become enemies to our self, others and of the cross itself.
It could be ego, blindness, pain, weariness or any number of natural causes that might prompt us to say, 'I am the enemy in this situation.'
Letting God love us is the answer. Receiving grace makes us overcomers. Living in and confessing the finished work of the cross proactively redeems time.
So love that enemy... even if the enemy is you. Because in truth we have a new identity to live in.
"You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you." - Romans 8:9a ESV
This is the mystery that only grace reveals. Although we sin and fall short those actions are not our identity anymore. A believer in Christ is 'in the Spirit' but we must stand in grace to walk in the Spirit.
Standing in grace we can pray and make decisions not second guessing our motives. God knows and has all of that covered anyway.
--
Wednesday, April 2, 2014
The Spirit Of Wisdom And Understanding
I hope to park in Isaiah 11 for awhile. There is so much to be learned here. Our mind is the primary battlefield. Partial or surface understanding leads very easily to misunderstanding and disappointment. Understanding is a treasure map that points us to the grace of God. It proceeds from, and always returns, to the Son of God. Wisdom brings us home.
Knowledge can impart the structure of something to a person. Understanding can show the function of something but it takes wisdom to see the value of a thing or a dynamic.
Recently at a question and answer time after a men's meeting P Butch Veader gave a great practical example of this principle. He talked a learning how to use a tool from an old craftsman. The experienced man makes it look easy but it is not until you have the tool in your hand try to use it that you see the nuances of it's use. If you are just handed a tool you have never used before you analyse the structure. There is a certain way you hold it... maybe you turn it over in your hands and try to process the structure of the tool. Understanding is putting it to use correctly. Knowledge moves into understanding. The skilled craftsman shows you and corrects your technique. If you are wise you listen to the man with years of experience. The arrogant but zealous young man who will not listen will make many mistakes. The passive man may not make as many mistakes but will also not have a great volume of results. The wise person with both knowledge and understanding can have great success in applying that knowledge.
"And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear" - Isaiah 11:2-3 ESV
A spiritual person has a different value system. Structure, understanding and value have a divine aspect to them. The Spirit reveals a creator behind everything in nature... a natural man looks at a beautiful woman and may see an object to be possessed, lusted after or appreciated but a spiritual man see a Heavenly Father standing behind that woman and focuses his eyes of the divine which places the natural in perspective. Wisdom does not change the structure or something or someone but it can change the use and assessment of value radically.
Smart people look and hear and process information in practical insightful ways. Wise people process value.
Grace amplifies and reveals the value of each human being. Jesus' love manifested on the cross shows a value system that must be grace oriented... the Father's love to send Him... the Spirit's love to reveal it to us... to pay so much for so many who will never respond must be grace.
The Spirit of Grace is the Spirit of truth.
God fill us with your Spirit today. Make us wise people who discern structure and function in wisdom. People who see grace and learn it from the master craftsman... not independent and not passive... strangers and pilgrims moving through life following Jesus and hearing His words each step of the way.
--
Knowledge can impart the structure of something to a person. Understanding can show the function of something but it takes wisdom to see the value of a thing or a dynamic.
Recently at a question and answer time after a men's meeting P Butch Veader gave a great practical example of this principle. He talked a learning how to use a tool from an old craftsman. The experienced man makes it look easy but it is not until you have the tool in your hand try to use it that you see the nuances of it's use. If you are just handed a tool you have never used before you analyse the structure. There is a certain way you hold it... maybe you turn it over in your hands and try to process the structure of the tool. Understanding is putting it to use correctly. Knowledge moves into understanding. The skilled craftsman shows you and corrects your technique. If you are wise you listen to the man with years of experience. The arrogant but zealous young man who will not listen will make many mistakes. The passive man may not make as many mistakes but will also not have a great volume of results. The wise person with both knowledge and understanding can have great success in applying that knowledge.
"And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear" - Isaiah 11:2-3 ESV
A spiritual person has a different value system. Structure, understanding and value have a divine aspect to them. The Spirit reveals a creator behind everything in nature... a natural man looks at a beautiful woman and may see an object to be possessed, lusted after or appreciated but a spiritual man see a Heavenly Father standing behind that woman and focuses his eyes of the divine which places the natural in perspective. Wisdom does not change the structure or something or someone but it can change the use and assessment of value radically.
Smart people look and hear and process information in practical insightful ways. Wise people process value.
Grace amplifies and reveals the value of each human being. Jesus' love manifested on the cross shows a value system that must be grace oriented... the Father's love to send Him... the Spirit's love to reveal it to us... to pay so much for so many who will never respond must be grace.
The Spirit of Grace is the Spirit of truth.
God fill us with your Spirit today. Make us wise people who discern structure and function in wisdom. People who see grace and learn it from the master craftsman... not independent and not passive... strangers and pilgrims moving through life following Jesus and hearing His words each step of the way.
--
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
Free From Gravity
I love verses like this... in just a few sentences they get down to the root of the issue. No muss. No Fuss.
"Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world - the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life - is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever." 1 John 2:15-17 ESV
Bam!
Those three things are the root of everything that is wrong. Our flesh interacts with a fallen world system at these three junctures... what my fallen body wants... what my fallen mind wants... and 'the pride of life' can be translated 'the boastfulness of biological life'. These three are then broken down in different ways and categories but at the root we have these three. The need for praise, control, sensual fulfillment, riches, revenge, boasting, lying, jealousy and even our need to perform so that we can have good things to say about ourselves all narrow down to this small group.
"But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy." James 3:17 KJV
Grace gives us free interaction with God's kingdom and that interaction is pure. Shalom is fulfillment. It does not need to steal to get it. It does not rob God of glory. Peace just is. Peace dwells in love.
All of that other stuff has an expiration date. Not love. God's love never expires.
We can't disconnect ourselves from the three operations by which the world interacts with people but God has disconnected us by giving us a new nature to function in when we believe. That new nature has nothing to do with those interactions.
"Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you." Philippians 4:6-9 KJV
Daily death, burial and resurrection is the key to functioning in the new man and freeing us from the old one.
"For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace." Romans 6:7-14 ESV
I am confident that if the Gospel of Grace lives in me then the love of the Father will be in me also. Living in love is living in freedom. Heaven is free from the gravity that holds things down in the world.
Our freedom becomes a witness. Our peace and love shine a light that comes from God. Our words can then explain to others how they can have what we have.
"Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world - the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life - is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever." 1 John 2:15-17 ESV
Bam!
Those three things are the root of everything that is wrong. Our flesh interacts with a fallen world system at these three junctures... what my fallen body wants... what my fallen mind wants... and 'the pride of life' can be translated 'the boastfulness of biological life'. These three are then broken down in different ways and categories but at the root we have these three. The need for praise, control, sensual fulfillment, riches, revenge, boasting, lying, jealousy and even our need to perform so that we can have good things to say about ourselves all narrow down to this small group.
"But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy." James 3:17 KJV
Grace gives us free interaction with God's kingdom and that interaction is pure. Shalom is fulfillment. It does not need to steal to get it. It does not rob God of glory. Peace just is. Peace dwells in love.
All of that other stuff has an expiration date. Not love. God's love never expires.
We can't disconnect ourselves from the three operations by which the world interacts with people but God has disconnected us by giving us a new nature to function in when we believe. That new nature has nothing to do with those interactions.
"Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you." Philippians 4:6-9 KJV
Daily death, burial and resurrection is the key to functioning in the new man and freeing us from the old one.
"For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace." Romans 6:7-14 ESV
I am confident that if the Gospel of Grace lives in me then the love of the Father will be in me also. Living in love is living in freedom. Heaven is free from the gravity that holds things down in the world.
Our freedom becomes a witness. Our peace and love shine a light that comes from God. Our words can then explain to others how they can have what we have.
Wednesday, September 25, 2013
Going After It
A message we often hear is, 'Go after what you want.' Passivity is made out to be the greatest character flaw. If the pursuit is done in a moral way that is fine but becoming more and more optional. Nothing should stand between a person and what they want (need, love, etc...). The hero is the person that steps up and goes for it. Doing this is supposed to complete a person somehow.
The religious hero is one who puts what their God wants first. That sounds better... selfless. Several questions then arise:
Who is their God?
What does this God want?
Religion has wrong answers for one or both of these questions. It can't get them right. What people want themselves always seems to get in the way. How they think they should be or think becomes a hindrance.
"Let no one say when he is tempted, 'I am being tempted by God,' for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers." James 1:13-16 ESV
"But if your heart turns away and you will not obey, but are drawn away and worship other gods and serve them, I declare to you today that you shall surely perish." Deuteronomy 30:17-18a NASB
If a person lives pursuing what they want they will be tempted and drawn away. That direction always leads to death and emptiness.
Being good doesn't help much. Trying to be good just produces evil.
"Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me." Romans 7:20-21 KJV
It is not just that I can't be good. Trying to be good is a flawed act in itself and produces flawed results.
That just brings us to religion of some kind. It is so safe. We can just honor someone else's wishes. If they are wrong for wanting what they want the blame is off of us and on them. It could be God's wishes. It could be our family's wishes. It could be our country. That way is the way of darkness.
"Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. But that is not the way you learned Christ! - assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness." Ephesians 4:17-24 ESV
Take Ananias and Sapphira from Acts chapter 5. They tried to have their cake and eat it too.
"But Peter said, 'Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land? While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to man but to God.' When Ananias heard these words, he fell down and breathed his last. And great fear came upon all who heard of it." Acts 5:3-5 ESV
Here the word for Satan means adversary. What did the adversary do? He filled their heart with what they wanted and got them to commit (or conspire) to some outwardly religious act. Their lust made them blind to the real person they were lying to.
"The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot. The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance. I bless the LORD who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me. I have set the LORD always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken." Psalms 16:5-8 ESV
What a stunningly simple passage. It is spiritual... not moral or bogged down in self. This is where joy and peace live.
God said this to David after lust had drawn him out into la la land.
"And I gave thee thy master's house, and thy master's wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things. Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the LORD, to do evil in his sight?" 2 Samuel 12:8-9a KJV
The path to life is in dying to what we want and living a transparent life before God. We receive grace upon grace in freedom. What we want is dead already. We are dead already. The cross killed that life so a new person could live today.
"For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions." Romans 6:10-12 ESV
"But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world." Galatians 6:14 ESV
What is the true selfless act? The thing that pleases God that we all know we should be doing but can't find in morality.
"What shall I render to the LORD for all his benefits to me? I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the LORD, I will pay my vows to the LORD in the presence of all his people." Psalms 116:12-14 ESV
It is to receive grace! Grace makes our measuring lines fall in pleasant places. Grace gives us a cup that overflows. When what Christ has done on the cross is 'always before us' and 'at our right hand' of approval then we will not be shaken.
God knows what we want and He knows what we need. He sees things in clarity. If we go after Him it will all fall into place in time.
The religious hero is one who puts what their God wants first. That sounds better... selfless. Several questions then arise:
Who is their God?
What does this God want?
Religion has wrong answers for one or both of these questions. It can't get them right. What people want themselves always seems to get in the way. How they think they should be or think becomes a hindrance.
"Let no one say when he is tempted, 'I am being tempted by God,' for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers." James 1:13-16 ESV
"But if your heart turns away and you will not obey, but are drawn away and worship other gods and serve them, I declare to you today that you shall surely perish." Deuteronomy 30:17-18a NASB
If a person lives pursuing what they want they will be tempted and drawn away. That direction always leads to death and emptiness.
Being good doesn't help much. Trying to be good just produces evil.
"Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me." Romans 7:20-21 KJV
It is not just that I can't be good. Trying to be good is a flawed act in itself and produces flawed results.
That just brings us to religion of some kind. It is so safe. We can just honor someone else's wishes. If they are wrong for wanting what they want the blame is off of us and on them. It could be God's wishes. It could be our family's wishes. It could be our country. That way is the way of darkness.
"Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. But that is not the way you learned Christ! - assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness." Ephesians 4:17-24 ESV
Take Ananias and Sapphira from Acts chapter 5. They tried to have their cake and eat it too.
"But Peter said, 'Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land? While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to man but to God.' When Ananias heard these words, he fell down and breathed his last. And great fear came upon all who heard of it." Acts 5:3-5 ESV
Here the word for Satan means adversary. What did the adversary do? He filled their heart with what they wanted and got them to commit (or conspire) to some outwardly religious act. Their lust made them blind to the real person they were lying to.
"The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot. The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance. I bless the LORD who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me. I have set the LORD always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken." Psalms 16:5-8 ESV
What a stunningly simple passage. It is spiritual... not moral or bogged down in self. This is where joy and peace live.
God said this to David after lust had drawn him out into la la land.
"And I gave thee thy master's house, and thy master's wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things. Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the LORD, to do evil in his sight?" 2 Samuel 12:8-9a KJV
The path to life is in dying to what we want and living a transparent life before God. We receive grace upon grace in freedom. What we want is dead already. We are dead already. The cross killed that life so a new person could live today.
"For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions." Romans 6:10-12 ESV
"But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world." Galatians 6:14 ESV
What is the true selfless act? The thing that pleases God that we all know we should be doing but can't find in morality.
"What shall I render to the LORD for all his benefits to me? I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the LORD, I will pay my vows to the LORD in the presence of all his people." Psalms 116:12-14 ESV
It is to receive grace! Grace makes our measuring lines fall in pleasant places. Grace gives us a cup that overflows. When what Christ has done on the cross is 'always before us' and 'at our right hand' of approval then we will not be shaken.
God knows what we want and He knows what we need. He sees things in clarity. If we go after Him it will all fall into place in time.
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Those Things
I woke up in the middle of the night and thought of this verse and had to go look at it in the original language.
"And I gave thee thy master's house, and thy master's wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things." 2 Sam 12:8
The phrase 'such and such things' is the same word repeated twice... Hennah (Strong's H2007)
It is the word used here (and a few other interesting places)
"For he performeth the thing that is appointed for me: and many such (H2007) things are with him." Job 23:14
"Seek ye out of the book of the LORD, and read : no one of these (H2007) shall fail , none shall want her mate: for my mouth it hath commanded , and his spirit it hath gathered them." Isaiah 34:16
Lets say we have two bunches of grapes... one in front of us that we are eating from and one over on the counter. The one in front of us we categorize as 'these grapes' and the one on the counter would be 'those grapes'. The word Hennah is speaking about 'those grapes'. In 1 Sam 12:8 God is saying to David, 'I would have given you those and those.'
As people we tend to worry or carry burdens regarding 'those things'... things not in our immediate control or reach. God wants us released from the burden and attachment. Lust can draw us away and it will involve 'those things' detached from God.
Our souls will naturally cleave to the dust and be drawn in various different directions and worries... but if we 'face God' and cast our care on Him 'those things' become 'these things' because even though they are still out of our reach we have found consensus with God that they are not outside of His reach.
"Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity" Ps 32:1-2a
"Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin." Rom 4:8
Notice how God is not dealing with David according to his sin or iniquity. His relationship with David was big enough to deal with 'those things' and if we know Christ that is true for us also.
"And I gave thee thy master's house, and thy master's wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things." 2 Sam 12:8
The phrase 'such and such things' is the same word repeated twice... Hennah (Strong's H2007)
It is the word used here (and a few other interesting places)
"For he performeth the thing that is appointed for me: and many such (H2007) things are with him." Job 23:14
"Seek ye out of the book of the LORD, and read : no one of these (H2007) shall fail , none shall want her mate: for my mouth it hath commanded , and his spirit it hath gathered them." Isaiah 34:16
Lets say we have two bunches of grapes... one in front of us that we are eating from and one over on the counter. The one in front of us we categorize as 'these grapes' and the one on the counter would be 'those grapes'. The word Hennah is speaking about 'those grapes'. In 1 Sam 12:8 God is saying to David, 'I would have given you those and those.'
As people we tend to worry or carry burdens regarding 'those things'... things not in our immediate control or reach. God wants us released from the burden and attachment. Lust can draw us away and it will involve 'those things' detached from God.
Our souls will naturally cleave to the dust and be drawn in various different directions and worries... but if we 'face God' and cast our care on Him 'those things' become 'these things' because even though they are still out of our reach we have found consensus with God that they are not outside of His reach.
"Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity" Ps 32:1-2a
"Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin." Rom 4:8
Notice how God is not dealing with David according to his sin or iniquity. His relationship with David was big enough to deal with 'those things' and if we know Christ that is true for us also.
Thursday, December 27, 2012
High Stakes
The stakes must be high in a cause in order to engage us. The danger must be real or the reward must be great to make it worth our while. Most stories or biographies we remember hearing had high stakes. Loss of life or love... saving the world or risking a fortune.
This weighing of events is something we do in the visible and the invisible portions of our thought life. Fear may assault us when the personal stakes are high even though we may not understand the reasons and the reaction seems illogical. Our soul senses a potential loss. The higher the perceived loss the greater the fear.
On the other hand lust perceives a great reward. Cycles of sin can plague a person because even though they grow to hate the thing they do... deep in the recesses of who they are part of them sees a great, if only momentary, pay off.
Here is a great quote:
"The battle is lost or won in the secret places of the will before God, never first in the external world. The Spirit of God apprehends me and I am obliged to get alone with God and fight the battle out before Him. Until this is done, I lose every time. The battle may take one minute or a year, that will depend on me, not on God; but it must be wrestled out alone before God, and I must resolutely go through the hell of a renunciation before Him. Nothing has any power over the man who has fought out the battle before God and won there." -Oswald Chambers
In the light Grace and Truth trump any Earthly reward. Love and absolute acceptance make us brave. Our flesh will still cleave to the dust but the Spirit of God elevates us to the heights.
A steady diet of truth and sparring matches with God ready us for the battle that lies ahead.
It is said that every battle is a "battle of the mind" that the more we sweat in training the less we will bleed in battle. There is truth in that.
Christ has won the war. The victory has been declared in a land far away. It has been declared in the Book He has given us. I must hear it is my soul. It must be settled in my being. Sometimes we must go toe to toe with God and struggle with Him in order for it to be real to us. In this arena of discipleship God waves us on and says, "You want a piece of Me. Come and get it. Let's settle this once and for all." When the sun rises in us we find that miraculously God has not lost yet we have been declared the victor. The teacher has changed the student and the lesson has changed the stakes of our decisions forever.
If you think you will survive this life based solely on strength you are wrong. You will be enticed by a fable and not even know why. The battle needs to be won before you go... and it has been won. Our victory is the cross.
This weighing of events is something we do in the visible and the invisible portions of our thought life. Fear may assault us when the personal stakes are high even though we may not understand the reasons and the reaction seems illogical. Our soul senses a potential loss. The higher the perceived loss the greater the fear.
On the other hand lust perceives a great reward. Cycles of sin can plague a person because even though they grow to hate the thing they do... deep in the recesses of who they are part of them sees a great, if only momentary, pay off.
Here is a great quote:
"The battle is lost or won in the secret places of the will before God, never first in the external world. The Spirit of God apprehends me and I am obliged to get alone with God and fight the battle out before Him. Until this is done, I lose every time. The battle may take one minute or a year, that will depend on me, not on God; but it must be wrestled out alone before God, and I must resolutely go through the hell of a renunciation before Him. Nothing has any power over the man who has fought out the battle before God and won there." -Oswald Chambers
In the light Grace and Truth trump any Earthly reward. Love and absolute acceptance make us brave. Our flesh will still cleave to the dust but the Spirit of God elevates us to the heights.
A steady diet of truth and sparring matches with God ready us for the battle that lies ahead.
It is said that every battle is a "battle of the mind" that the more we sweat in training the less we will bleed in battle. There is truth in that.
Christ has won the war. The victory has been declared in a land far away. It has been declared in the Book He has given us. I must hear it is my soul. It must be settled in my being. Sometimes we must go toe to toe with God and struggle with Him in order for it to be real to us. In this arena of discipleship God waves us on and says, "You want a piece of Me. Come and get it. Let's settle this once and for all." When the sun rises in us we find that miraculously God has not lost yet we have been declared the victor. The teacher has changed the student and the lesson has changed the stakes of our decisions forever.
If you think you will survive this life based solely on strength you are wrong. You will be enticed by a fable and not even know why. The battle needs to be won before you go... and it has been won. Our victory is the cross.
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