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Day Forty-Three, Under-The-Influence

July 25, 2012 by insolomonsporch

Day Forty-Three

 

YOUR

Offerings…

( God’s Worst Nightmare?)

 

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

Gen 4:4 Amp

 

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

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Day Forty-Two, Under-the-Influence

July 11, 2012 by insolomonsporch

Day Forty-Two

 

Why We Lack Power!

 

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

           

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Day Forty-One, Under-the-Influence

June 30, 2012 by insolomonsporch

Day Forty-One

 

Of Particles, Beams, and Hypocrites

 

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

 

 

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

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

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

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

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

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Day Forty, Under-the-Influence

May 14, 2012 by insolomonsporch

Day Forty

 

Where Your Test Will Come

(Where your thinking trumps obedience to God)

 

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

1Sam 13:12 AMP

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

         

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Day Thirty-Nine, Under-The-Influence

May 1, 2012 by insolomonsporch

Day Thirty-Nine

 

So You Think God’s Unfair?

Our Right – Not Our Obligation

 

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

 

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Day Thirty-Eight, Under-the-Influence

March 31, 2012 by insolomonsporch

Day Thirty-Eight

 

Force of Power:

The Drawing Power of Faith

 

“[Urged on] by faith the people crossed the Red Sea as [though] on dry land, but when the Egyptians tried to do the same thing they were swallowed up [by the sea].”  Heb 11:29 Amp

 

 

          There is no ability to counterfeit true faith.  The substance of true faith has no counterpart in this or any other realm — so the enemy cannot whip up his own dastardly corrupted counterfeit version.  It simply cannot come into being.  That is why the Egyptians were swallowed up by the Red Sea.  They lacked true faith – because faith arises from a belief that God is, and that He is the rewarder of those who earnestly and diligently seek Him.  True faith in God would have taken the Egyptians across the Red Sea on dry ground – just like the Hebrews coming out of captivity – except that they didn’t have it.  That’s because true faith always draws us to God, draws us to seek, draws us to follow, draws us to know, draws us to receive.  Faith – as an incredible force of God — draws us!  So when the Egyptians tried to do what the Hebrews did in crossing over – they died.  In a very elementary sense, having no faith is like being dead.

          In Matthew 22:32, Jesus identifies God the Father as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. He says He is “… not the God of the dead but of the living!” In Luke, two angels asked of the women looking for Jesus at His tomb, “Why do you look for the living among [those who are] dead?” (Lk 24:5)  The angels tell the women that Jesus is not there – He has risen!

          From 1Corinthians Chapter 13 we see that three things will remain – faith, hope, and love: the greatest of these being love.  These are substances that come from Jesus, and are components of His Kingdom.  They fill us, they anchor us, and they change us.  They make it possible for us to move from glory to glory as we seek the Lord through His word.  They are a force of God’s Kingdom and they cannot be destroyed.  They are potent with life and the power of God.

          In the days ahead, and even now – there will be shakings.  In the beginning when God began establishing His Presence with the Hebrews His voice shook the earth at Mount Sinai.  The people cried out in terror.  But there is a promise that in the days ahead He will once again not only shake the earth, but the heavens as well!  Hebrews 12:27 explains that this future shaking will be the removal and transformation of all that can be shaken.  That is so the things that cannot be shaken will remain.  Only three things cannot be shaken as they are in and of Christ.  Those three things are faith, hope, and love.

          This season is the time to reflect where and what you stand upon.  If you are not standing on the Rock (Christ) – if you do not know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you stand on shifting sand.  This is not a good place to be when the shaking starts.  But more than just because you will be secure in Him, I recommend you come to know Jesus now.  He is worth every thought you can direct towards Him.  His is your Creator, Lord, and King. Beyond any future security – don’t waste another moment not knowing Him.  No one is more worth it than He. 

         

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Day Thirty-Seven, Under-the-Influence

March 16, 2012 by insolomonsporch

Day Thirty-Seven

 

First Threads of Rebellion-

The Pain of Cain

 

“If you do well, will you not be accepted?  And if you do not do well, sin crouches at your door; its desire is for you, but you must master it.”  Gen 4:7 Amp

 

 

          This story is rich with application for much that we see in the world today – especially as it relates to confusion over why certain people feel so rejected by God, even when they seem to have a heart that desires His acceptance.   So we look for a moment at Cain.

          The first thing you must see is the choice Cain makes for his livelihood:  he is a tiller of the ground.  However, just over in Genesis 3:17 we see that the ground is under a curse because of Adam and Eve’s sin.  Now, they shall eat in sorrow and toil of the fruits of it – all the days of their life.  It is one thing to have to eat of it, it is another altogether to bring this as an offering to God.  Yet this is exactly what Cain does.  He brings fruit from ground that is cursed – expecting that it will be received.  Cain brings produce that is a product of ground that is cursed because of his dad and mom’s rebellion – and brings it expecting God to be pleased with it. 

Another point is, as part of the product of having eaten from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil – man now knows how to distinguish between good and evil – between blessing and calamity.  So Cain knows this as well.  He knows what is good and what is evil.  He also knows God’s prescriptives for offerings.

          God had already demonstrated for Adam and Eve the kind of sacrifice that is acceptable and pleasing to Him. God Himself had made the first kill to shed blood to cover them from their nakedness.  God Himself made — for both Adam and Eve — long tunics of animal skins to clothe them.  This was also well known to Cain.  Thus, animal sacrifice for covering and atonement had been inaugurated to cover man’s bad choices (even freedom to choose badly) – even his choice to choose evil and calamity.  This too would have been known to Cain.

          Yet, Cain brings an offering of cursed ground and is angry and indignant, sad, and even depressed when his offering is rejected by God.  That is when God speaks words of eternal wisdom which also apply to circumstances even today!  His says:  “If you do well [Cain], will you not be accepted?”  Translation:  “Cain – if you follow what I have shown you is My way and My will – it will please Me and it will be accepted.  Is that not enough?”

          God continues: “But if you do not do well [choose My way and will] sin crouches at your door; it’s desire is for you, but you must master it.”  Translation:  “Not choosing My way, Cain – is you giving into your way — which is not only rebellion, just like your mom and dad did, but it is a poorer choice.  It cost greatly – but you still have the same choice.  Sin is now waiting for you, hungry to consume you – My desire is that you master it Cain – not that it master you.  Whatever you surrender to, will rule over you.”

          Now what I want you to see and interject in this same scenario, is a young couple, believers – living together but not married, yet expecting the Lord can bless them.  They believe they love the Lord with all their hearts, yet their love is not framed in obedience.  Thus, they become perplexed and saddened when the Lord does not bless their lives, or recognizes their prayers.  They become dejected in spirit.  Yet like Cain – they approach God according to their own ways, ignoring God’s commands.

          Think now of the young man who has grown up, knowing and following the Lord, who becomes confused concerning his sexual orientation.  Deceived, he pursues that life-style only to become isolated and bankrupt in his relationship with the Lord.  Thinking he has been made this way, but deceived, he finds himself rejected by God.  Failing to understand how he got there, he too is angry, sad, and depressed.  This young man felt he loved the Lord genuinely and even served him, but he also did not frame his love in obedience to God.        

          To all of these – God says:  “If you do well, will you not be accepted?”  There is a way by which we come to God – it is according to His word.  There is also a way by which He has said He recognizes our love – it is by our obedience.  John 14:21 says, “The person who has my commands and keeps them is the one who [really] loves Me….”

          Perhaps Cain said in his heart (or even these others), “That’s just too rigid, too impossible, too narrow to expect someone to live that way.”  And yet, it is the rigid bridge that can support our weight and bring us safely across a great chasm, would we reject it as rigid as well?

          The key to removing such heart-break and disappointment in each of these cases is to actually see how intransigence and rebellion will never get us the acceptance and approval from God that we desire.  The very thing that we hold onto so adamantly – is the very thing blocking us from His acceptance.  It is our way, our rights, our will which we cling to so steadfastly.  We think we should die if we cast these aside – but truly we will die if we retain them.  It is our submission and obedience to Him which will bring us His approval; it is the true knowledge of Him which ushers in eternal life.

          There is indeed an elimination that is necessary! The solution, however, is not to eliminate our brother, like Cain did.  Nor is it to eliminate God – as so many unfortunately do when they feel like they are unaccepted on their own terms.  The solution is to eliminate the very thing which makes us unacceptable!  “If you do well, will you not be accepted?”  If you come on My terms, according to My way – will you not be accepted?  Indeed you will – and it is the will within us which needs to engage.  It is the will which needs to say, “I will obey.” It is there we will find the acceptance of God which we all need.

 

Be-loved, follow His way.    

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Day Thirty-Six, Under-the-Influence

March 14, 2012 by insolomonsporch

Day Thirty-Six

 

 To Gaze upon the Vision

 

“Where there is no vision [no redemptive revelation of God], the people perish;…”

Prov 29:18 Amp

 

 

 

          How can I share with you the power that is exerted by the Lord, His Word, and His vision on my life?  How can I convey the quotient of the spiritual vigor that resides within me for His purposes?  How can I explain the reasoning behind (when no reasoning is involved) in the sense that I know I am His and He is mine?  Yet – to this I am called, to try and share.

          When you drive in traffic and something on the side catches your eye – you look, for some — gawk, and if you are not careful – you will begin to drift in that direction.  We are unconsciously moved toward that which we gaze at.  The same is true in our spiritual life.  If we gaze upon the heart of Jesus Christ through His word – we are transformed from glory to glory – and this is from the Lord, who is the Spirit. (2Cor 3:18) In essence, we become what we behold.  The more we gaze at Him, the closer He draws us, the more like Him we become. 

Remember the account of the fiery serpents in Numbers 21? The Israelites had begun to speak against God and Moses because of the difficulty of their way.  The Lord sent fiery serpents among the people.  Some people were bitten.  Some died.  As the people repented for their rebellion, the Lord had Moses craft a serpent out of bronze to be raised up on a poll.  As the Israelites gazed upon that bronze serpent steadily, with attentiveness and expectancy – they were healed.

This trial of the serpents is about more than just receiving healing.  It is about the power of what we look at steadily, with expectancy – what we gaze upon that can not only hold our gaze, but also holds our heart.  Other than the Lord, there is not one thing I trust as able to be gazed upon with duration – that does not ultimately corrupt us.  Not money, not position, not power, not beauty, no thing. 

The redemptive vision of the Lord is perfect – as He is perfect.  It is our spiritual fuel cell, our compass, our finder, our internal navigator that spurs us on to gaze, to search, to pursue, to hunger for the Lord.  It is the Lord’s blessing in us, stoked as a fire, tended by the Holy Spirit that draws us to look, listen, learn, love – to behold that vision and to be led by it, and to be changed by it, from glory to glory which is from the Lord Who is the Spirit.

Be loved – be drawn to gaze upon the redemptive vision of Christ, without which we perish.

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Day Thirty-Five, Under-The-Influence

February 27, 2012 by insolomonsporch

 

Day Thirty-Five

 

Before He will “Dwell” With Us-

The Agreement

 

“What agreement [can there be between] a temple of God and idols?…”

2Cor 6:16

 

                Both the Old Testament (Lev 26) and the New Testament (2Cor 6) form Scriptural bookends which speak of the Lord desiring to dwell in and with us and among us.  In both locations things are detailed that must be done before God’s “dwelling” can happen.  There are changes required in us!  Whether under the law (as in the Leviticus account) or under grace (as in 2Corinthians) – there are vital things that must change in you and I.  In both of these places (again even though one is under the law and the other grace), the requirement for us can be summed up as “agreement.”  It is our continuous movement into greater and deeper agreement with God which brings us into the reality of becoming the temple of God.

          The agreement required from the Old Testament Leviticus Chapter 26 was – agreement with God’s posture on the statutes and commandments.  If the Hebrews would agree to walk in obedience to them, they would gain the rain in due season, full seasonal times, peace in the land, and overwhelming victory over the enemy. They would also gain God’s dwelling – but the best that could be had was His dwelling among them externally.

          The agreement required for the New Testament (in 2nd Corinthians) was agreement internally (within our very souls) with the grace of God and to not receive it in vain.  We were to receive His grace – His Life (to wit His merciful kindness and influence on our souls – keeping and strengthening them), which is essentially agreeing with and becoming one with His soul (His will, intellect, and emotions) about things. 

          Both of these instances require change within us.  But while the Old Testament promised His dwelling among the Hebrews as a result of external obedience, the New Testament promises His dwelling among us as a result of our internal obedience.  Now the obedience required is an alignment with Him from our outlook and ways of perceiving, and our heart to His outlook, His perception, His heart –because of His life now abiding within us and affecting this change.  Certainly the requirement for change is more stringent in the Corinthian’s passage, but the provision for that change is more than extraordinarily equipped to make it possible!  Jesus Christ’s own nature has come to reside within us as we have received Him as Lord!

           With both passages promising God’s dwelling among us why even annotate the difference?  Because between the two there has occurred a major shift!  In the Old Testament – everything was external – and so was the temple location external.  Now, because of the Cross of Christ, we are empowered to have God’s dwelling within us individually – the temple of God within us!  His code which was once external to us is now written on our hearts and we can become one with it (obeying it) as never before.  His dwelling is now within us – as Emmanuel – “God with us.” Hallelujah!

                    The dwelling of God is with His people.  But His dwelling is not apprehended without cost.  Yes – the cost of His life in us, and His redemption, and the Cross – these were paid in full by the Lord Jesus Christ.  But there is a cost for you and me to receive it.  We have to give up something – to be able change.  Even the Hebrews had to give up their way – for the Lord’s way.  They had to agree to follow His code of living. 

Today –what we give up in retrospect seems hardly worth recounting.  We give up our broken lives for His whole life.  We give up pain and wounding for His wholeness.  We give up disease and infirmity for His healing.  We give up small dreams – for the enormity of His dreams and His provision to bring them into being. We give up our meagerness for His abundance.  We give up the sin of our old-man, for the grace of God to move in, to renovate and to secure His dwelling within us.  We give up isolation, loneliness, and insecurity for inclusion, fellowship, and love! We give up a life of uncertain struggle – for a life of certain peace

Indeed – what agreement can there be between a temple of God and idols?  None!  As light and darkness are different — these have nothing in common – but now the uncommon, the out-raying radiance, the sole expression of the glory of God,  the perfect imprint and very image of God – the One Who upholds and maintains, and guides and propels the very universe  — has sought us and abides within us as light eternal, and in the splendor of His light and the beauty of His presence we can only rejoice!

Be-inhabited, be-loved!  

 

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Day Thirty-Four, Under-The-Influence

February 11, 2012 by insolomonsporch

Day Thirty-Four

 

God’s Perfect Cloud-Drive

 

“… and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places…”

Eph 1:19-20

 

         

          I am toying with new technology that is stretching me.  My recent acquisition of a Blackberry Playbook (32GB) has me now learning about cloud storage, cloud readers, cloud security etc.  However what is most fascinating is how the Lord provokes a realization within me … He has the very first and best Cloud-Drive!

          Think of this – in Exodus when Moses was called to build the Tabernacle, he was allowed to see the heavenly tabernacle (the pattern), and instructed to build it all according to the pattern which he saw.  What Moses constructed here on earth was simply a type and shadow of that heavenly reality.  The heavenly tabernacle was the real model. (Heb 8:5) 

          So now let us begin to consider our natural cloud-drives as simply prototypes or copies of the heavenly one.  Here are some things to think about.  We place our files, songs, pictures, etc. in our natural cloud-drive for ease of access, protection, and so our devices aren’t clogged with the clutter.  Our valuables have become our media that we want with us everywhere.  But where are we storing our true treasures?  Matthew 6-19-20 warns us against storing our treasure here on earth where it is vulnerable to destructive forces.  We are told instead to store treasures in heaven “where neither moth nor rust nor worm consume and destroy, and where thieves do not break through and steal.”

          We may think of our media “stuff” as treasure, but what about our very lives?  Where have we made provision for those to be secured?  We jokingly agree “you can’t take it with you!”  But have you made a choice about your destination? Failing to choose is in fact a choice.

          In Luke 23:46 we hear the God of the universe make an astounding statement.  God the Son (Who knows everything, has all wisdom and all power) says: “Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit!”  He placed His eternal spirit into the Father’s hands – into eternal security and eternal communion back again with the Father!  This is the resident location of God the Father’s cloud-drive (if I can speak so colloquially.)  It is in the Father’s hands.  Everything committed into them becomes His – and remains safe.

          May I suggest you take a look at His long-term storage plans?  You won’t find a better deal, a more secure location, or more space – this side of heaven.  The Father’s Cloud-Drive – you’ll have access to everything!

          Be blessed!  Be-loved –eternally in His presence.

           

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