Prophetic Curses

In a recent posting, I wrote of what I think might have been the "anguish" of Moses in following God's commands to destroy a race of people, including what he called "the little ones" or the children. I believe that the anguish that Moses might have felt is symbolic of the anguish that God Himself feels when the nations are destroyed, even when He Himself gives the order to destroy. The total destruction of men, women and children is pointed to by those who do not know God as a REASON why they will not trust and acknowledge God. They misinterpret these actions as being that of a vengeful, hateful God that has no love in Him. They entirely miss God's goodness, love and forbearance towards all man. They see only evil, when in fact, there is only love. Even judgment, when fairly administered, is a display of love, although many refuse to accept this truth. And so I'd like to explore these frequently misinterpreted aspects of God in this posting and possibly the next.

Let's begin with what the sons of Noah and the events that led up to Noah speaking what appears to be a curse over his grandson, Canaan:

"After the flood, Noah became a farmer and planted a vineyard. One day he became drunk on some wine he had made and lay naked in his tent. Ham, the father of Canaan, saw that his father was naked and went outside and told his brothers. Shem and Japheth took a robe, held it over their shoulders, walked backward into the tent, and covered their father's naked body. As they did this, they looked the other way so they wouldn't see him naked. When Noah woke up from his drunken stupor, he learned what Ham, his youngest son, had done. Then he cursed the descendants of Canaan, the son of Ham: 'A curse on the Canaanites! May they be the lowest of servants to the descendants of Shem and Japheth.' Then Noah said, 'May Shem be blessed by the Lord my God; and may Canaan be his servant. May God enlarge the territory of Japheth, and may he share the prosperity of Shem; and let Canaan be his servant." (Genesis 9:20-27 NLT)

Noah's curse seems like an over-reaction to something that, by today's standards at least, would be something embarrassing for sure, but not worthy of a generational curse on all of Ham's grandson's descendants. After all, why curse Canaan's descendants when it was Ham who did the misdeed? And, many people will ask, why was Ham's deed worthy of a curse at all?

Some things we just don't see clearly in this day and age; the culture of that generation of Noah and our own has such vast differences, they cannot for the most part even be compared, and even less, understood. But what we can clearly see from the passage is that Ham's brothers, Shem and Japheth understood the vital importance of not viewing their father's nakedness; and therefore, we must understand that Ham also understood. Thus, he had no excuse to view his father's nakedness, unless he happened to come upon Noah's nakedness unexpectedly upon entering his tent. But even if that were the case, why then did he go and speak of his father's nakedness to his brothers? If he knew the "wrong" of such an act, why would he then go and discuss it? Why wouldn't he stand guard to make sure no one else unexpectedly came upon Noah in that condition and thereby protect his father from shame? And was he merely mentioning it to his brothers (I don't think so since they did not appear to discuss it with him at all, so quick were their actions to protect their father); or was he perhaps discussing it in such a way as to bring more disrespect to Noah, and more shame to Ham – if Ham had a conscience that viewed the deed as shameful at all? And was there perhaps something illicit about Ham's portrayal to his brothers of Noah's nakedness; after all the generations of Canaanites became known for their sexual impurity and gross depravity. Did the origin of that long line of sins have their root in Ham?

But let's look at another aspect of this. Let's look at who Noah was in God's eyes just prior to the flood:

"…Noah found favor with the Lord….Noah was a righteous man, the only blameless man living on earth at the time. He consistently followed God's will and enjoyed a close relationship with Him." (Genesis 6:8-9 NLT)

Did you know that Noah was not only a righteous and blameless man, but he was also a prophet of God? 2 Peter 2:5 tells us that "Noah warned the world of God's righteous judgment" prior to God destroying the evil inhabitants of the earth by flood. Noah was a prophet. What do God's prophets do? They speak as God gives them words to speak.

We know that God is omniscient: He knows what we will do before we do it. He can see far ahead; He has foreknowledge of events that will happen. But another characteristic of God is His forbearance as demonstrated through another prophet of God, Ezekiel. Through Ezekiel, God spoke these words to a sinful nation:

"As surely as I live, says the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of wicked people. I only want them to turn from their wicked ways so they can live…nor will the sins of evil people destroy them IF they repent and turn from their sins….and suppose I tell some wicked people that they will surely die, but then they turn from their sins and do what is just and right. For instance, they might give back a borrower's pledge, return what they have stolen, and obey my life-giving laws, no longer doing what is evil. If they do this, then they will surely live and not die. None of their past sins will be brought up again, for they have done what is just and right, and they will surely live." (Ezekiel 33:11-16 NLT)

So let's lay all of this information out properly in terms of the curse of Noah upon the descendants of Canaan:

1. God, being omniscient and able to see what lies ahead (whereas we do not), saw sin in Ham, and even in Canaan and his descendants. The curse did not "cause" Canaan's descendants to sin, make no mistake about that. God does not put evil in men's hearts, even in those verses that speak of hardening a heart such as happened with Pharaoh. But the fair and just judgments of God will cause a sinful man's heart to harden even more than it already is simply because of man's own sin. It is not God's judgments doing the hardening; it is sin in the person's heart that causes it to become even harder against God when just punishment is dispensed.
   
2. Noah, being a prophet of God, in proclaiming the curse, was simply prophesying what would happen with the descendants of Canaan; his words were the very words of God Himself, I believe.
   
3. Even though all of these things came true regarding the Canaanites (not because God created them, but because the sin of the descendants caused them to happen just as God foresaw that they would), this did not for a moment mean that God would not have willingly and gladly received each descendant to Himself if they would only have repented and turned from their wicked ways. The Canaanite prostitute Rahab (Joshua 6) is an example of God's protection extended to those who do right according to God, rather right than according to man.
   

The point of this posting is to try to show that God's heart never changes towards us, while also showing that God's foreknowledge is not pre-determinism. Man is not then FORCED to sin because God "prophesied" through His prophets, or because He "foresaw" the wickedness of men's hearts. Thus, when God's just and fair judgment falls on man, man has no one to blame but himself. For if man would only turn and repent, judgment need not fall. Our God's promises are true and eternal. As is His love for each and every one of us.

In the next posting, we will look at the reason that God commanded the Israelites to completely destroy the Canaanite nations, whereas with other nations He allowed them a chance to surrender peacefully rather than face annihilation.

Mighty Through God, Part 10 - Final

Praying in the Spirit

"And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; and for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak." (Ephesians 6:17-20)

Every now and then, the Holy Spirit "reveals" something to us through the Word. When I say "reveal" I mean that He gives us understanding about a passage that we have not had prior to His "showing" or "revealing" its meaning to us. That is, after all, His job: to reveal the Word of God to us – the Word of God being JESUS. And to bring the Word to its destination of creating life in us.

One such "revealed" passage is the one that I discussed in Part 3 of this study that speaks of Genesis 1:2 in which it can be seen that the Holy Spirit "hovered" over the dark void that existed prior to creation, "waiting" to carry the Word of God to its destination in creation, bringing about life at the very beginning of life as we know it. Not bringing about life as though the Spirit Himself was that life, but as a vehicle of the WORD OF GOD Who IS Life (John 1:4); always glorifying the Word of God: Jesus Christ.

When He "revealed" that understanding to me years ago, and even up until two weeks ago when I published that understanding on this blog, I had never heard another living soul speak of this particular job of the Holy Spirit in the creation process, of this understanding of that particular passage in Genesis. And even when I spoke it to others, as I felt it was of significant importance to share with others, I sometimes got only a blank stare in return. But, for me, at least, it was a pearl that just opened up so much more of who the Holy Spirit is and what He does: not only back in the beginning, but even today.

Then last week, the Lord blessed me considerably by allowing me to hear that same revelation coming out of the mouth of a man, whose name I had heard, but whom, until a few days ago, I had never heard speak, nor had I ever read anything he might have written. This man's name is: Reinhard Bonnke.

All I knew of Reinhard Bonnke was that he was an evangelist in Africa and that he was anointed by the Holy Spirit to preach. Well, actually, I only "assumed" that he was anointed, having never heard his preaching myself, and that assumption was based on the fact that I heard that "millions" were being saved in Africa. That sounded like God at work to me.

And one day, as I was stalled in posting this last segment of the study onto this blog, I decided to "google" his name. It led me to his website: www.cfan.org and that led me to see that he had videos of his preaching for sale. So I purchased a couple. And while I was watching him preach, he spoke the very revelation that God had also given to me years ago. He spoke of the Holy Spirit "hovering" in order that it might at the proper time "carry" the spoken word of God to its destination of creating life. I was amazed to hear it coming from someone else and I was blessed to have confirmation of my correct understanding coming from such a man of God: a man whose "Spirit-anointed preaching" saves millions; a man who then makes sure they have all received the "baptism of the Holy Spirit" so that they can go forth and "speak boldly" as they ought to speak – just like Paul did – just like Reinhard does - just as we ALL are to do.

And all of that is just another example of the workings of the Holy Spirit. It begins with the baptism of the Holy Spirit and of fire that John the Baptist was the first to speak of:

"I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire…" (Matthew 3:11)

It has always been amazing to me that the very gift that the Lord left with us to help us overcome, is the very gift that so many saved believers hide from; and I believe it stems mostly from one of two reasons: 1) because we mistakenly believe that too much of the Holy Spirit detracts from Jesus Christ, and 2) because of the fear of something that cannot be logically explained: tongues.

To address the first issue: the Holy Spirit speaks only of JESUS. Jesus is the WORD OF GOD. The Holy Spirit illuminates for us the WORD OF GOD. All that He does is about Jesus and what He hears from Jesus; for Jesus said:

"Howbeit when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth: for He shall not speak of Himself; but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak: and He will show you things to come. He shall glorify Me: for He shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you." (John 16:13-14)

The Holy Spirit is all about glorifying Jesus. If we want to speak more boldly of Jesus Christ, the Good News Himself, then we need more of the Holy Spirit! There is nothing to fear in having more of the Holy Spirit. There is something to concerned about, however, if we manifest the gifts of the Spirit and have no love of God in our hearts for one another:

"Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity it profiteth me nothing." (1 Corinthians 13:1-3)

Paul said he spoke with tongues of men, meaning he spoke in his native and learned languages such as Hebrew and Greek; and he said that he also spoke with tongues of angels – that would be another language, a heavenly language coming from the Holy Spirit of God, that the Bible simply calls "tongues." He instructs us to be "praying always…in the Spirit." I don't believe this means that Paul spoke only in that heavenly language of "tongues" when he prayed, never praying in his own native language; but I do believe that he means in every avenue that the Holy Spirit has given us to pray, we should pray: in the Word, in power, in love…and yes, even in tongues. The Bible tells us that tongues "edifies" us (1 Corinthians 14:4) and that the Holy Spirit "groans" through us those things which are fitting to be prayed for us as only He knows best (Romans 8:26-28). Paul says that besides tongues there are many other gifts of the Spirit that we are to covet as well (1 Corinthians chapters 12-13). But nowhere does he tell us to pick and choose those which we want only and discard any that we don't either understand or agree with.

It is time for the church world-wide to be a FULL gospel church: FULLY acknowledging the Father, the Son, AND the Holy Spirit.

There is an excellent article about praying in tongues and a video about tongues at these two links from Charisma magazine that might help those of you who are still doubting Thomases: http://www.charismamag.com/index.php/features/2010/august/28937-evidence-of-the-gift and http://www.charismamag.com/index.php/online-exclusives/august-2010/28879-the-science-behind-tongues

Believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God who died to conquer death and the enemy, Who paid the penalty of the wages of our sin for our sakes because He loved us more than He loved His own life; be filled with the power of the Holy Spirit – the same power of God that raised Christ from the dead – the same power that will cause us to live in the resurrection power and life of Jesus; so that we might go forth boldly proclaiming the Good News of Jesus Christ through the testimony of our changed lives, changed by the power of GOD – the one true and living GOD who loved us so much He gave His only-begotten Son for us as the eternal and everlasting atonement of sacrifice for OUR sin.

The Baptism of the Holy Spirit will light a fire under your easy-chair and you will leap up with "passionate compassion"…to quote Reinhard Bonnke….for the LOST.

"Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down,, which accused them before our God day and night. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death." (Revelation 12:10-11)

Mighty Through God, Part 9

Speaking Evil of Authorities, Part 3

"…unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both their's and our's…" (1 Corinthians 1:2)

I'm sad to say that so much of what the Lord has shown me through this teaching was revelation of my own sins of the past concerning authority. Sins that I had to confess and repent of as this study progressed, prior to sharing it at the Women's Retreat; sins that had to do, most specifically, with my criticism of the church, whether it was past churches I've attended or the early church of the 2^nd and 3^rd centuries and forward. I have looked back and found myself to be quite critical of these even in my blogging, and have, as a result, gone back to those blogs and tried to remove that criticism wherever I have been able to find it. (If anyone is aware of any criticisms that I missed, please alert me to it so that I can remove it.)

It seems as though criticizing other churches, or other church members or church leaders, can take hold of us quite easily if we are not on our guard to prevent it. We all have that human tendency to believe that our church is the best; yet, we prove by our criticism of others that we are far from perfect as well.

It might help us if we can remember this one thing about the "church." No matter where the church is, no matter the denominational barriers or faults of specific individuals within the church, IF they are witnesses of Jesus Christ and proclaim Him to be the risen Son of God, then they are the BODY of JESUS CHRIST HIMSELF….and I don't believe any of us would want to risk criticizing HIM. We need to stop thinking of churches as just another building containing some folks of some other denomination that we just don't happen to agree with. We need to instead remember that they are the body of Christ….flaws and all….as are we…flaws and all!

"And He [Jesus] is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things He might have the preeminence." (Colossians 1:18)

Now, if we can think that way about other churches, that they are the body of Christ, then perhaps we can also begin to think that way about individual church members, especially those of our own church. Would we want to criticize even a part or portion of the Lord's body? Should we criticize His foot or His hand or His mouth? Would we dare to criticize any part of the Lord Himself? Of course not! So why do we think nothing of criticizing members or leaders of the church?

"Give none offence, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God, even as I please all men in all things, not seeking mine own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved." (1 Corinthians 10:32-33)

I think Paul hit the nail on the head when he said in this passage above "not seeking mine own profit." That often seems to be the motivation we have when we find ourselves criticizing others in the church, yet we seldom seem to see it at the time. We each have our own thoughts, our own desires, our own ideas of how a church should be run. And when we set ourselves up higher than the Lord Himself (who is the HEAD of THAT CHURCH and is therefore aware of all that goes on in it), and determine that we can do things better or more efficiently or more eloquently, that is when the criticism begins to surface. And before long it has left our thoughts and been birthed into words….words of criticism that are directed to the Lord Himself whether we will acknowledge it or not.

If you have learned anything from this study on authority, I hope you have learned that we are not to speak evil of ANY authorities, as ALL authority has been established by God. How much more so His church, whom Jesus Christ Himself died for?

There is one last thing to be said about this body of Christ, and to get to that point I draw your attention to these two scriptures directed to those Christians who believe it's ok to be loners, isolated from the body of Christ, when it fact it is a dangerous thing, even a sign of your lack of sincerity in Christ, no matter how much you rationalize your reasons for not assembling together with the body that you have been called to:

"Let us consider one another to provoke unto love and good works: not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching." (Hebrews 10:24-25)

"They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us." (I John 2:19)

The first scripture is our biblical command to assemble together; and it is a command, it is not an option. The reason why is stated in the second scripture. If we are not living in community with the body of Christ, then how can we say that we are OF Christ? John states just prior to this passage of scripture that "even now there are many anti-christs; whereby we know that it is the last time [last days]."

The question has to be asked of each of us: are we walking by the spirit of Christ and in obedience to His Word…or not? If we are not walking by the spirit of Christ, if we are instead being disobedient to His Word…then what spirit is driving us?

"…work out your own salvation with fear and trembling…" (Phillipians 2:12)

Are we ready yet to recognize God's authority…completely and without question? If we grasp this properly, there will be a good healthy fear of the Lord, as well as a love of Him, that will cause us to walk obediently….thereby "working out [our] own salvation."

In the next and final posting of this series, Mighty Through God, Part 10, we will take a look at what it means to be "praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit" (Ephesians 6:18)

Mighty Through God, Part 8

Speaking Evil of Authorities, Part 2

"Likewise ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives; while they behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear. Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; but let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price. For after this manner in the old time the holy women also, who trusted in God, adorned themselves, being in subjection unto their own husbands: even as Sara obeyed Abraham, calling him lord: whose daughter ye are, as long as ye do well, and are not afraid with any amazement." (1 Peter 1-6)

So today we will look at what it means to be subject to the authority of our husbands; an authority given to husbands by God, but an authority that so very many wives, as I once did myself, so easily forget about (or even deliberately set aside) for a variety of reasons. I am going to give a few that I have heard:

"He does not keep a job for long thereby putting us into financial straits; he doesn't handle money well, thereby putting us into financial straits; he just doesn't seem to have any common sense; I make much better decisions and more quickly than he does; he's too emotional; he's a push-over; he's too cold-hearted; he's too stern; he's lazy, I have to do everything or it just won't get done; he's too slow, nothing will ever get done unless I do it myself; he doesn't understand children's self-esteem issues like I do; he's not their natural father, he's their step-father, therefore he can't possibly love them as I do, and so he can't really make the best decisions regarding them; he doesn't "understand" the children the way I do, he's too harsh in his speaking to them; he doesn't care what our house and yard look like, not like I do; if I don't maintain this great job, we'll never get ahead, we can't rely on his salary alone."

How many other reasons are there? Probably too many to list here, and I know I missed some equally good ones! Aside from "speaking evil" of this authority that God has established to be the head of our households, how does this talk or thinking reject GOD Himself? For it does indeed.

The point is this: we wives abduct our husband's authority (and become rebellious to God) because of our "fears." That's what it all boils down to, if we will just face the facts. Fear of not having enough material things. Fear of going bankrupt. Fear of our children being wounded emotionally because our husbands believe discipline is a good thing. Fear of what others might think. It's all about our fears. And we all should know by now that those who are fearful will not have a place in the kingdom of God.

Once we acknowledge that our fears cause many of the problems between us and our husbands, perhaps we can then look at the example Peter gives us of Sarah. It's an excellent example: of Sarah's obedience to her husband and therefore to God; and it's an excellent example of a bad decision that a self-centered Abraham made (not once but twice!) that put his own wife in danger, and why? To save his own skin! Listen to the first example in Genesis 12 (remember, they were still Sarai and Abram, God had not yet added the "h" or spirit-breathed sound to both of their names):

"And there was a famine in the land: and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there; for the famines was grievous in the land. And it came to pass, when he was come near to enter into Egypt, that he said unto Sarai his wife, Behold now, I know that thou art a fair woman to look upon: therefore it shall come to pass, when the Egyptians shall see thee, that they shall say, 'This is his wife': and they will kill me, but they will save thee alive. Say, I pray thee, thou art my sister: that it may be well with me for thy sake; and my soul shall live because of thee." (Genesis 12:10-12)

And as you read on in this passage, you will see that indeed, Abram told the Egyptians that Sarai was his sister, rather than his wife, and sure enough, the Pharaoh wanted her for his own; obviously she was a beautiful woman! Sarai could have told the truth, but she was obedient to her husband, even in this bad decision, and was led away to the Pharaoh's house. Peter tells us that this is because Sarai trusted God. And I believe at this particular time, she trusted God more than Abram did; for just a few verses prior to this passage is where God covenanted with Abram to make him the father of many nations. Abram should have known that God was not done with him and would not have allowed him to be killed by the Egyptians. But, then again, who am I to point out Abram's lack of faith, right? When my own is often equal to Abram's rather than Sarai's.

My point is, that this bad decision did not have to be made by Abram, but once it was, for better or for worse, Sarai submitted herself to his decision…BECAUSE she trusted God completely. And who saved Sarai from the Pharaoh's unwanted attentions? GOD. She was right to trust Him to take care of her, not matter what her husband did. And, in Genesis 21, Abram did the same thing again to Sarai. And again, God protected her.

So what does this say to us? Of all the excuses given above of why we wives feel we have to "take over" – which of these reasons is as devastating to us as what Sarai experienced in being handed over to a complete stranger with the potential of now becoming his concubine? None that I can see. So why do we trust God less? Why do we take from our husbands their God-given place of authority and assume it for ourselves? And when we do this, is it sin?

YES! But it isn't sin against our husbands. It's sin against GOD!

That part of the passage above that says "while they [your husbands] behold your chase conversation couples with fear" speaks of us wives having fear of the Lord; enough fear of the Lord to remain obedient even at times of "amazement" which is another way, in the Greek, of saying "terror." So, when those times of "terror" strike your heart, just as your husband is about to make a bad decision (or so you believe), try to remember Sarah's calm trust in the almighty God, that allowed her to be obedient to her husband, and therefore obedient to God, no matter how bleak things appeared to be.

God CAN be trusted…in ANY situation!!!

Tomorrow, Part 3 of "Speaking Evil of Authorities" in Mighty Through God, Part 9.

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Mighty Through God, Part 7

Speaking Evil of Authorities, Part 1

"Put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates, to be ready to every good work, to speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers, but gentle, showing all meekness unto all men." (Titus 3:1-2)

Once we grasp the true meaning of "authority", specifically, God's authority, we will be brought up short at the first beginnings of any evil-speaking in ourselves, hopefully, taking captive the evil thoughts themselves long before they have a chance to reach our mouths and cause us to "bite and devour one another."(Galatians 5:15)

But, once again, we need some practical insight as to what is meant by evil-speaking against man, and especially against man (or woman) who is in a place of authority over us.

Evil-speaking against government:

Along with the scripture in Titus that instructs us to be "subject to principalities and powers", are these additional two, which speak not only of being subject to, but also of praying for and, yes, even of giving thanks for those in authority:

Romans 13:1-2 "Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation."

1 Timothy 2:1-4 "I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; for kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth."

In the Greek, "principalities" indicates those in a "principal" or "first" place of authority, or "leaders." While we know that God is the "supreme" authority over all, it is His will that we submit to those who are in an "earthly" place of principality or authority; knowing that they would not be in that place had not God ordained it to be so. "Powers", in the Greek, simply means the power of rule or government; or the power of such authorities.

That God uses such principalities and powers for His purposes in our "refining" and that we are not to resist His will even in this area, is shown in Jeremiah 38:14-18, in the instructions Jeremiah gives King Zedekiah (who unfortunately did not heed the prophet's words and thus died). And even in the New Testament (Matthew 23:1-3), Jesus instructs his disciples that while they are NOT to DO as the scribes do, which are the opposite of their teachings, the disciples ARE to "observe and do" whatever "they bid you observe" as they sat in a seat (a principal place of authority) that had been ordained by God. While we could not look to either Nebuchadnezzar or the hypocritical scribes as examples of righteousness (although I do believe Nebuchadnezzar repented under God's persuasive power Daniel 4), still we are clearly told not to resist them, nor to speak evil of them, for in speaking evil of them, are we not, in fact, speaking evil of God who has established them in their roles? This is critical to us to understand: that if we resist or speak evil of authority of any kind, knowing that all authority is established by God who is sovereign, we are in fact resisting or speaking evil of God Himself!

In practical terms, the leader having principal-place here in America is our President. Whether or not we voted for him, whether or not we believe his decisions to be right in the eyes of God, we must bring our thinking in line with the Word of God that tells us to make "supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks" for him. (How can thanksgiving and evil-speaking both come out of the same mouth?) And these biblical actions are to be applied, as well, to our state leaders, and city leaders equally. In these days of social outcry, it is difficult to do one and still do the other, is it not? I always remember the words of J. Vernon McGee, a biblical pastor and teacher, deceased now, who said: "God has called me to fish…not to clean up the fishbowl." Truly, I do not see the example, biblically, of Jesus leading social reform meetings. He spoke of "individual and personal" reform through repentance of sin; He exemplified holiness, as we are also to be holy. Perhaps if more Christians were witnessing to more individuals about the Good News, there would soon be so much individual reform (as in returning to God), that the cities and countries as a whole, would in fact, become spiritually (and thus socially) reformed….all through the power of God Himself.

Evil-speaking against husbands:

This is one of my favorite subjects; probably because I have had so much to learn in this particular area. Here are the three passages of scripture that made it most clear to me:

1 Peter 3:1-6; Genesis 12; Genesis 20. If you have a chance, I hope you will read them so that perhaps God will show you in advance what I learned through Sarah and Abraham, before we discuss them further tomorrow.

Next posting: Part 2 of Speaking Evil of Authorities, in Mighty Through God, Part 8.

Mighty Through God, Part 6

[To receive the most benefit from this study, please begin at Part 1 which can be selected from the menu to the right.]

Love of the World and Worldly Love

"…but God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world." (Galatians 6:14)

This is a powerful and telling statement about the apostle Paul. I believe it is the key to the power of his ministry in Jesus Christ….that because of Jesus Christ, the world is dead to Paul and Paul is dead to the world; meaning of course, that even though he lives in the world, he is dead to the draw of worldly things. Paul speaks a lot about dying in his letters; and about our true identity being found in Jesus Christ alone.

We hear the words, but we don't always act upon them. Paul is giving us instruction, showing us that we MUST die, in order that Christ might live in us. Sometimes we begin on the right course, but are drawn off course by the bright lights of a distant city as it beckons to us.

I speak of this world, of course. And of our society, with whom, perhaps we have a close identification. Sometimes, it is difficult to tell the Christians from those of the world. That wasn't a problem in Paul's case.

So, let's try to put this into practical terms with.

What is the most frequent subject of our conversation? What do we speak about more than anything else during the day? Some people spend a lot of time talking about their children. Others about their animals or pets. Others about their jobs. Still others about politics, whether on a national level or within the community. Others speak about their talents, or their hobbies. Others speak about their travels. Some just spend a lot of time talking, about anything and everything, but seldom about the Lord.

The things we speak about are the things we "glory" in.

The thing that Paul gloried in was the cross of Jesus Christ. That is what he spent his time speaking of.

"But I say unto you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned." (Matthew 12: 36-37)

Will our words justify us because they bring glory to Jesus; or will they condemn us because they showed that our hearts were focused on things of the world? And what about the love that we have shown one to another? Will that love justify us or condemn us?

The Lord showed me something in scripture recently that I had not seen before, but which gave me some understanding into a question that I had long held in my heart concerning the destruction of the pagan people, especially the children. Love as the world knows it would never harm a child. But in the passage below, we will see that in obedience to the command of the Lord, Moses led the Israelites into a campaign against Sihon, king of Heshbon, in which all living persons, subjects of this evil king, were destroyed:

"And the Lord said to me, Behold, I have begun to give Sihon and his land before thee: begin to possess, that thou mayest inherit his land….and we smote him, and his sons, and all his people. And we took all his cities at that time, and utterly destroyed the men, and the women, and the little ones, of every city, we left none to remain…" (Deuteronomy 2:31-34)

What struck me about this passage, the last time I read it, was the use by Moses, of the term "little ones." It sounded like an endearment to me. I saw for the first time, that Moses took no joy in slaughtering the people, perhaps especially when it came to the children. How it must have actually grieved him to do so, and yet he knew that God knew better than he did. He understood that God knew what He was doing and why. And he understood that no matter how painful the command might be, he could do no other than obey. I don't believe Moses was cold, heartless and unfeeling when it came to destroying the pagan children. But he trusted God more than his own heart.

We, on the other hand, who at times seem to be so far away from being excellent examples of unquestioning trust in God….we lean to our hearts, rather than to the Word of God, in so many things. For us mothers, especially, we rely on our "motherly instincts." And many times the love we offer our children, or others around us, is not that which God would have us offer, for we dare not ask God: He might tell us to do something that our hearts could not bear to do. Better not to ask! Better to trust our own instincts!

But this posting does not apply to mothers alone. Whatever manner with which we have chosen to show love for one another, whether to the brethren within the church or to the lost outside of the church, must have as its source, obedience to God, rather than what we, or the world around us, consider to be love. Because of this lack of understanding, we again see many fleshly forms of love being distributed amongst believers. Not in illicit ways, but in ways that on the surface appear to come from a good heart, but underneath, the source is really only the desire to be seen and recognized; having nothing to do with the love of God at all. Many of us are "people-pleasers" rather than "God-pleasers". And, as for the world, do we love as the world loves, supplying all types of "good works" but not necessarily "Good News"? So that, once more, the works we do are not born out of faith in God, but out of wanting to "out-do" the world? We are not in competition with the world. We are simply servants of the Most High God.

If we are submitted to the authority of God in Jesus Christ, then our love will spring up out of a desire to please God and not man. When we walk in obedience to God, the world will see in us a love that bears little similarity to that with which they are familiar; because our love will "glorify" God rather than man.

"…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)

Tomorrow, part 7 of Mighty Through God: "Speaking Evil of Authorities"

 

Mighty Through God, Part 5

[To receive the most benefit from this study, please begin at Part 1 which can be selected from the menu to the right.]

Under Cover of Darkness

"For God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved. He that believeth on Him is not condemned; but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved." (John 3:16-20)

We know from the earlier passages in the Gospel of John that the "light" was Jesus Christ, the Word of God made flesh (John 1:1-14). This passage above has great bearing on our study because it gives us some key insight into what it is that causes mankind, even some who are believers, to continue in weakness, never displaying the power of God in their lives. The key is seen in the last six words of the passage above: "lest his deeds should be reproved." This speaks again to us of PRIDE (fear of reproval), and that all deeds hidden in darkness are SIN.

"Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 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." (I John 2:15-17)

As "born-again" believers, created new by the power of God, we can no longer derive any nourishment from the flesh. We can only be fed and grow when our nourishment comes from the Spirit of God to our spirit, for we are to be alive in the spirit and dead to the flesh ( Romans, chapter 6). Those who live by the flesh rather than the Spirit, are called "carnal" in the Bible. I think this word is related to "carnivorous" and rightly so, as these Christians are being "fed" by the flesh, rather than by the Word of God.

"Ho, everyone that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Wherefore do you spend money for that which is not bread? And your labor for that which satisfieth not? Hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. Incline our ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live…." (Isaiah 55:1-3)

Self-sufficiency and independence, born of PRIDE, prevents us from coming to get that which is freely given. In order for us to come and to receive, we must step into the light. We must place ourselves into a position of exposed vulnerability. What has been hidden in darkness, must be brought into the light.

But we know that the things hidden in darkness, once brought into the light, will show the world that we have been "liars," that we are not as "spiritual" as we appear to be. Even in our deception, we know that God see these lies, but that is not important to fleshly Christians. What IS important to those full of the pride of life and the lusts of the flesh is what MAN thinks of us, not GOD. For the PRIDE of our flesh rules us. And we desire greatly to be seen, to be known, to have a reputation. Unlike Jesus, who was of no reputation.

Yet there is no healing for us until we become vulnerable and exposed to the light. If we do not willingly expose our sin, it will be exposed at another time, bringing only shame to the name of Jesus Christ. And we fool ourselves if we think that the truth won't be known.

The Bible tells us that the works of the flesh are manifest, in other words, clearly seen:

"Adultery, fornication (illicit sex), uncleanness (the impurity of lustful, luxurious, profligate living), lasciviousness (unbridled lust, excess, wantonness, insolence), idolatry (the worship of false gods), witchcraft (the use of or administering of drugs, poisoning, sorcery, magical arts), hatred (enmity), variance (contention, strife, debate), emulations (rivalries, jealousies), wrath (rage), strife (a desire to put one's self forward), seditions (division), heresies (opinions varying from Christian doctrine), envying, murders, drunkenness, reveling (nocturnal feasts and drinking parties, carousing), and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. (Galatians 5:19-21)

I think gluttony would be classified under lasciviousness, along with any excessive behavior. Does that include excessive television watching? Excessive sports viewing? Excessive internet surfing? Excessive computer game playing? Excessive house cleaning? Excessive gardening? Excessive cooking? Excessive or unbridled talking? Excessive or unbridled spending?

You see, the things that are of the flesh, can, in and of themselves, not necessarily be evil. But they become evil when they consume us and our time, so that rather than "redeeming the time" as we are instructed to do, instead, our time (and life) is wasted. And all in doing what the flesh wants us to do, not God. James has something further to add to this:

"Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? Let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom. But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work." (James 3:13-16)

Interesting that James tells us to show our works by our good conversation that is in meekness of wisdom. "Good conversation"….just the opposite from the carnal Christians who want to make sure everyone sees their "good works", and yet whose unrestrained tongues "bite and devour one another" (Galatians 5:15).

The thing is that these excesses within us, these envyings, these rivalries, these divisions, all the things that tell us our flesh is NOT submitted to the authority of God….ALL will continue to rule us, keeping us captive (we may think we are free to do what we want, but we are not free, we are slaves to the flesh)…until we humble ourselves, and bring them into the light of confession before one another. THEN and only THEN, will the Lord heal us of these bondages to the flesh. We MUST humble ourselves, we MUST confess to one another, and we MUST pray for one another. If we cannot bring ourselves to confess, and pray for one another, then we must acknowledge that we are bound….by pride. And we will find ourselves living in fear of judgment instead of in freedom and peace.

"If we say that we have fellowship with Him [God], and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: but if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us." (I John 1:6-10)

Tomorrow, part 6 of "Mighty through God": "Love of the World and Worldly Love."

Mighty Through God, Part 4

[To receive the most benefit from this study, please begin at Part 1 which can be selected from the menu to the right.]

Great Faith Recognizes the Authority of God's Word

"And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching Him, and saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented. And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him. The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest comes under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. For I am a man under authority having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth: and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it. When Jesus heard it, he marveled, and said to them that followed, Verily, I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no not in Israel. And I say unto you, that many shall come from the east and the west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven. But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way, and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour." (Matthew 8:1-13)

As many years as I have read the Bible, I must admit that I did not ever quite understand this passage of scripture; at least not until the Lord began to show me the meaning of authority and its purpose in my life. Now this passage is rich in meaning and full of truth for me – of the kind that produces new life.

This is a detailed explanation, perhaps one of the clearest definitions given of what "great faith" looks like. The passage illuminates the key elements of this "great faith" in such a way that, by the work of the Holy Spirit, we can see it; and for some of us, like me, perhaps for the very first time.

"Lord, I am not worthy":

When authority is truly recognized, we will humble ourselves in the face of it. Where there is no humility, there is only rebellion against authority. The centurion made a public confession of his unworthiness. He was not alone with Jesus, there was a multitude of people surrounding and following Jesus as He had just come down from the hillside on which he taught what we now know as the Beatitudes. Therefore this was not "lip service" humility, this was true humility displayed in the centurion. Such as the kind that we must have if we are to obey the commandment to "confess your faults one to another, and pray for one another, so that ye may be healed." (James 5:16) Pride will not allow such an action. And the result will be: continuation of the disease of which we need to be healed which is SIN.

If we look at this in terms of our Christian walk, we have all seen those who call themselves by the name of Christ, and yet in which the flesh is strong. The thing we will see lacking in these folks will be humility. There will be, instead, a boasting of fleshly or worldly things because where humility is lacking, pride is present. We can clearly state then, that the problem in this one's life is rebellion to the authority of the Word of God. But rather than apply this diagnosis to others, let us first look to the disease rampant in ourselves. If our gaze remains on others, never looking to our own hearts, we will never receive the healing of the Word in our lives. In this humbling of ourselves, first and foremost, we are to follow Jesus.

Yet, how can we humble ourselves and submit ourselves to an authority that we do not truly believe is greater than ourselves? For that is often what our lives declare: that we have no need of a great God for we are sufficient unto ourselves. Until, of course, that giant appears before us that we are unable to conquer, then, sometimes only momentarily, we look for One greater than ourselves.

If we have truly grasped the creation power of God, how can we continue to exalt ourselves above God? How can we continue to replace His will with our own? Has anyone, even the most skillful of doctors, been able to recreate from nothing all that our own bodies are composed of, and to do so by merely speaking it into existence? We are hugely deceived until we can see that all authority in the universe belongs to God alone. We are hugely deceived until we submit fully and completely to that authority.

The submitting of Jesus to the complete and full authority of the Father is given testimony to first by His humility and meekness….and then by His power. The centurion, a Roman Gentile, not even a Jew, recognized the creation power of God in Jesus Christ.

"…speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed":

How did the centurion come to recognize this creation power of God in Jesus? The first few verses of Matthew 8 explain this for us. Jesus had just healed a leper as he was coming down the mount on his way to Capernaum. I've been to that area. It is a short walk between the grassy hillside known as the Mount of Beatitudes to the poor fishing village of Capernaum (now only in ruins, perhaps as a sign of the judgment Jesus pronounced over it in Matthew 11:23-24). It was as Jesus was entering Capernaum that the centurion came up to him. I suspect that the centurion, perhaps assigned to the area for "crowd control", had witnessed the healing of the leper. Being a man who understood authority, far better than those of us in today's rebellious society, the centurion obviously recognized that Jesus could not have healed the leper, literally rearranging the molecules of his diseased flesh, by merely a touch of his hand and speaking the words of healing, except by the authority of the God of the universe. Jesus literally "commanded" those molecules to rearrange themselves into new flesh! The centurion recognized the "commanding" voice of the authority of the Creator in Jesus. And the centurion's faith was obviously aided by the Holy Spirit as well, even though we are not told that. We know that helping our faith is His job and He performs it in each of us who are willing and in need, as was this centurion.

How much this speaks to us of the need for us to understand this authority! For because of the centurion's understanding, Jesus pronounced him to be of "great faith." Faith, therefore, is not some ethereal superstitious belief. It is simply an acknowledging of the authority and therefore the power of GOD, OUR CREATOR!

I never understood that prior to beginning this study. I never understood how great was my own rebellion against God! I never even saw it AS rebellion until the Holy Spirit illuminated these passages for me and the ones in the preceding post, part 3. But once I saw it, I repented. And I am still finding areas that have not been surrendered or submitted to the authority of God, and I repent of these as well, as the Lord reveals the depths of my sin. There is more to be said about defining those areas of rebellion in our lives that will be discussed further into this study. But there is still one key element that remains for us to examine in this passage of Matthew.

"…but the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth."

Jesus is speaking to those who consider themselves to be part of the kingdom of God. That could be us as well, could it not? I don't believe we can simply lay this charge at the feet of the religious Jews of Jesus' time. Perhaps these are folks who believe they are safe and secure in the Lord, when in reality they are not, because they have not submitted themselves to the authority of God in Jesus Christ. There are many passages using this terminology - found mostly in Matthew: 8:12; 13:42; 22:13; 24:51; 25:30 with one final passage found in Luke 13:28. Keep an eye out for "unfaithful servants" in these passages and then ask the Lord to show you what is meant by "unfaithful servant". Obviously, a servant is not a stranger, but is part of the master's household. How did he get there, unless he was brought in by the master himself? But the question is: will he be allowed to stay if he is unfaithful? There is a warning here; something for us to heed. And we must endeavor to pay close attention to all warnings that the Word gives us. We must not skip lightly past them.

It is Jesus who gave us access to the Father; and all that He IS has been given to us through the Holy Spirit to be utilized in glorifying Him. What Jesus accomplished for us could not be accomplished by ourselves. It HAD to be accomplished through Him alone. Without Jesus Christ we have no hope. But there is also scripture that says "he that endures to the end will be saved" (Matthew 10:22) which tells us that something is required of us; not in terms of paying for our sin, for only Jesus could do that. There is no other sacrifice for sin but His (Hebrews 10:26) that the Father would accept, certainly not our own works. That would be putting ourselves back under the law again, instead of under the Spirit of grace by faith. But we can choose to yield ourselves to Him, to yield ourselves to the Holy Spirit believing (as in Jude 1:5) that HE can and WILL accomplish in us that transformation into holiness, known as sanctification, which happens in us only as we are willing to submit to the leading of the Holy Spirit so that we may walk in obedience to the Word.

Those who believe we are on a "free ride" to heaven have misinterpreted the grace of God. We have been purchased with a great price, a priceless price, and are not our own to live as WE please. We are to be slaves, not to sin, but to the One who paid the price for our rebellion with His own Life.

Remember the passage where our works (our building materials) will be tried?

"According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. For other foundation can no man lay that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire." (I Corinthians 3:10-15)

It is the fire of the Holy Spirit that tries the things with which we build on the foundation of Jesus Christ here and now: are those materials of the flesh or of the Spirit? If we do not allow that fire to refine us here in the process known as sanctification, then perhaps we can expect that refining to happen later. At a time when we should be rejoicing, we might find ourselves weeping instead. At greatest risk are those who believe that just because they have believed in the name of Jesus, they are saved, all is done and they can now sit back and let the flesh rule. They do not understand that "the name of Jesus Christ" is another way of saying the "authority of God as displayed through Jesus Christ". It is not just the words "Jesus Christ" that saves us. They are only words until we understand (and submit to) the authority that backs the name. Remember those folks who tried to cast out demons "in the name of Jesus" (Acts 19:13) and were instead beaten up by them? They learned a difficult lesson in humility that day! Seems the demons know more about true authority than we do! And these "pretend disciples" were no threat to the demons because they were not walking in the authority of Jesus like Paul was; they thought only speaking His name was enough. They were wrong! We see a lack of this understanding all around us. But it does not have to be so. We may not fully understand all scripture yet, but it takes very little effort to know that we have a responsibility – and that is to walk as Jesus walked in every way; including humility that submits to the authority of God.

All that is required of us is to acknowledge the authority of God in Jesus Christ, repent and pray, and humble ourselves in complete obedience to His Word, allowing the will of the Lord to accomplish in us what He will, submitting our own will to Him completely (2 Chronicles 7:14). Then will our rejoicing be made complete in Him.

"There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." (Romans 8:1-4)

When we understand the authority of God in Jesus, all scripture takes on new meaning…speaking life to us instead of judgment and death.

Tomorrow, "Under Cover of Darkness", in part 5 of "Mighty Through God."

 

 

Mighty Through God, Part 3

[To receive the most benefit from this study, please begin at Part 1 which can be selected from the menu to the right.]

Authority by Virtue of Creation:

As I began to think about why it should be God that we trust, and as I began to explore the true meaning of authority, specifically God's authority, I returned to some scriptures that the Lord had made very important to me over the past couple of years. I may have shared them on this blog somewhere along the way, but I feel it necessary to do so once more throughout this posting. While I had some understanding of what these scriptures meant, I certainly did not, until recently, begin to see these scriptures in a new light – as pertaining to the authority of God.

"For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shown it unto them. For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: because that, when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools." (Romans 1:18-22)

Paul is telling us here that mankind is without excuse. We KNOW that God IS, by virtue of all that we see in creation around us, including our own bodies and minds. His eternal power (authority) and right as God is displayed for all to see through all that He has created. Man can choose to deny God; but the penalty for that choice to rebel against the displayed and known authority of God will remain in place; a most fearful expectation of judgment will await all who rebel against their Creator: GOD.

But now, let's get even more specific about the authority that we know is GOD's. And to do this, we will start at creation:

"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon [or hovered over] the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light." (Genesis 1:1-3)

After reading this scripture for many years, one day about a year ago, or maybe two, I saw that the triune Godhead is clearly stated here. Do you see the triune Godhead, the three in one? There is God, there is the Spirit. What about the Son? I promise you He is there also. And here is how I know that:

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made." (John 1:1-3)

"And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory) the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. John(the Baptist) bare witness of Him, and cried, saying, This was He of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for He was before me. And of his fullness have all we received and grace for grace. For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared Him." (John 1:14-18)

Here is what was just stated:

1. The Word of God was present at the beginning (meaning the beginning of creation at the very least, but most likely at the beginning of God Who has no beginning as He is eternal);
   
2. The Word was WITH God;
   
3. The Word WAS God;
   
4. Everything that was created was created by The Word of God.
   

Let's stop there for a moment and go back and look at the scripture from Genesis 1 above. Do you see the Word of God? It's right there: "and God
SAID." In other words, God spoke. Words came out of His mouth. When the words left his mouth, what was spoken was done. The word of God was with God because the word of God WAS God. My words are my words. They come from my mouth, from the working of my mind and vocal chords together. In some eternal manner that we cannot in all reality even try to explain using ourselves as an example, such is the Word of God. The Word of God therefore IS God. And this Word of God, once it left God's mouth, caused creation to be created. It is by the Word of God that life of all things came into existence. What kind of power is this, that can, from nothing, create something – a very living something? Try to comprehend the power of the Word of God. It's very difficult for us to comprehend, but we must know that it is indescribable power.

Where there is that kind of power, there is authority.

So, now let's go back to the passage in John and continue in our list of what is being stated in John:

1. The Word of God was made flesh;
   
2. The Word of God, after being made flesh, lived and walked among us;
   
3. The glory of the Word of God made flesh was that of an only begotten child of God the Father;
   
4. Because John uses "He" to describe Him, we know the only begotten child of God the Father, was a Son;
   
5. And in this only-begotten Son of the Father, the Word made flesh, was grace and truth;
   
6. And this Son declared the Father to those who had never seen the Father.
   
7. And His name was Jesus Christ.
   

Restated:

Jesus Christ is the Word of God that was begotten of the Father by the Holy Spirit, and became flesh such as we are, and walked among us, declaring to us who the Father is. Jesus Christ, being the Word of God made flesh, is therefore GOD. He was with God, and He IS God. It was by Jesus Christ that everything that was created, was created, because He was the Word of God who was with God in the beginning, pre-incarnate, not yet made flesh, but with God. The power of new life is in the Word of God. Therefore the power of new life is in Jesus Christ. Therefore Jesus Christ is the authority of God in the flesh.

But we must also carry this one small step further: the Word of God, what we know as the Bible, is then, the authority of God to us, for it also is the Word of God, inspired by the Holy Spirit, declaring Jesus Christ in both old and new testaments. For us to neglect the Word of God, to neglect the Bible, to set it aside in favor of our own opinion or authority is to deny the authority of God in our lives. To deny the authority of God: is death.

It may take a few times studying this to fully grasp what is being stated, but it is critical that we each fully grasp this truth. It is a matter of life or death to us. Once we understand this truth, rebellion will have less fertile ground to grow SIN in us.

After you have grasped it, let me give you something more to think about.

We Christians know that the work of the Holy Spirit is to take the Word of God (the Spirit testifies of Jesus) and plant it in us, making it fruitful to our spirit; in other words, the Holy Spirit carries the Word of God to its fulfillment and destination in us, creating new life in us. It isn't the Spirit that creates life, God the Father through the Word of God creates life, but the Spirit hovers over us, ready to carry that Word to us when needed, right? Now, let's recall the birth of Jesus Christ, in which the Word of God was sent by the Father, carried by the Holy Spirit, and implanted into the womb of a young virgin named Mary; thus, the Word was carried to His place of destination by the Spirit and new life was created. Now let's look at creation. Was the Holy Spirit hovering over the void or the waters waiting to catch up and carry the Word of God to its destination in creation? I think that is possibly so.

Regardless of my little theory, not doctrine, just my theory, it should be clear to you now that the triune God is present at creation, and is being written about in the first three verses of our Bible, or of what the Jews call The Torah.

It should also be clear to you, that it is by virtue of being the power that created creation that God has the ultimate authority to declare: "I am the Lord thy God…thou shalt have no other gods before me."(Exodus 20:1-3)

In the next posting we will look at the authority of The Word and what that means to us, in "Great Faith", part 4 of "Mighty Through God."

Mighty Through God, Part 2

[To derive the most benefit out of this study, please go back to previous posting to begin at Part 1.]

Two Kingdoms in Conflict:

"Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness! No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon." (Matthew 6:19-24)

There can never be two final authorities. We might think it is possible to have two, but in fact, there can only be one. For, unless they agree completely so much that they are in fact one authority, it will be necessary at some point to choose one over the other; in which case, only one is the final authority. So I say again, there can only be one final authority.

The problem is that many Christians live as though there are two. They pay homage with "the praise of their lips" to one authority, but their hearts are ruled by another. In the scripture above, Jesus addresses this very problem.

I looked up the word "mammon" in the Greek the other day, and although it is used here to denote wealth or riches, the actual definition in the Greek is "confidence" or "that which is to be trusted." It's a bit of a shame that the King James (and perhaps other translations) make it appear to be all about money, when it fact it is rather anything in which we place our confidence or trust. That can be money, of course, but it can be any number of other things as well.

We can have confidence in our careers or job titles, in our houses or automobiles, in our intelligence and our opinions. We can place our trust in any one of these things and so much more, but if our trust is in these things, it cannot also be in God. For the confidence, trust or final authority can only be found in one place at a time for us Christians: either in God or in ourselves, in God or in the world, in God or things.

And depending in whom or in what that trust is placed, that trusted entity becomes ruler of our lives, or I like to think, a king. But choosing a king can be a dangerous thing, especially if you choose the wrong one; as the Israelites did in the passage of scripture to follow. The time period is after the time of the Judges; in fact, at the end of the book of Judges, the Word of God says that it was a time when "every man did that which was right in his own eyes." In other words, they were not living according to God's standards, but according to their own. (Sounds a little like folks today.) God raised up a prophet by the name of Samuel, making him the judge of Israel; but the people determined that they would have a king instead, so that they could be like the other nations around them. Mind you, God had called them to be a separate people, bearing no similarity with those pagan nations of the world, in exchange for which, God Himself would take care of them; but here they were, wanting to be exactly like the world, and prepared to replace God's prophet Samuel with a king instead. This attitude towards God displeased Samuel greatly, but God spoke to him, telling him that it was not Samuel that they were rejecting; they were in fact rejecting God. So, listen to their demands, God said, but warn them of the manner of king that shall reign over them. And here is what the people were told by Samuel, according to what the Lord had spoken to him:

"This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you; he will take your sons, and appoint them for himself, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and some shall run before his chariots. And he will appoint him captains over thousands, and captains over fifties; and will set them to plow his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and instruments of his chariots. And he will take your daughters to be confectionaries, and to be cooks, and to be bakers. And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your oliveyards, even the best of them, and give them to his servants. And he will take your menservants, and your maidservants, and your goodliest young men, and your asses, and put them to his work. He will take the tenth of your sheep; and ye shall be his servants. And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye shall have chosen you; and the Lord will not hear you in that day. Nevertheless, the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, Nay; but we will have a king over us. That we also may be like all the nations and that our king may judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles. And Samuel heard all the words of the people, and he rehearsed them in the ears of the Lord. And the Lord said to Samuel, Hearken unto their voice, and make them a king." (I Samuel 8:11-22)

Doesn't sound to me like such a good trade: the protection of a mortal man versus the protection of God, and slavery versus freedom. But this king idea was "right in their own eyes."

Wouldn't you think they could have seen what they were asking for, what they were getting themselves into?

Do we?

Let me take it to a more personal level. When I began trusting in food, versus trusting in God, did I realize what I was creating for myself? Did I realize that the "king" that I had chosen to replace God in my life was going to make me a slave to him? I could have known, had I heeded the Word of God where truth is found. I have no excuse. None of us do when we allow sin to rule in our lives. And when I cried out to God, He didn't hear me; at least, not until I was ready to recognize and confess my sin. Then He was quick to both deliver me from and forgive me of my sin.

You see rebellion against the authority of God is SIN, it's disobedience to His Word which IS His authority as we will understand as we get further into this study. And it is "our desires" that cause us to rebel against God.

"Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: but every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin; and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death." (James 1:13-15)

These are our lusts, the desires of our flesh, in one form or another, that provide fertile ground for rebellion to grow. It has been that way since the Garden of Eden. Look for the cues for "lust" in this passage:

"Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die. For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her, and he did eat. And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked, and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons." (Genesis 3:1-7)

Eve "saw that the tree was good for food" (sounds like the beginnings of gluttony to me) and that is was "pleasant to the eyes" (lust of the eyes for beauty) and "desired to make one wise" (pride? In one's own intelligence?). These lusts are common to mankind still today. The resulting rebellion is the same today. And the end result for man in rebellion to God today is the same as it was for Eve and Adam: death. No longer life immortal, but death.

"…the carnal mind is enmity against god: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God." (Romans 8:7-8)

Next posting: "Authority by Virtue of Creation" as we continue in Part 3 of this series entitled "Mighty Through God."

 

 

Mighty Through God, Part 1

[This message was first given at my church's Women's Retreat this weekend. It is, of course, not verbatim, but is, I hope, the essence of the message, presented in three parts at the retreat but in several more parts here; the entire message being entitled "Mighty Through God."]

The origin of this study:

"I don't really understand myself at all, for I really want to do what is right, but I can't. I do what I don't want to – what I hate. I know perfectly well that what I am doing is wrong, and my bad conscience proves that I agree with these laws I am breaking. But I can't help myself, because I'm no longer doing it. It is sin inside me that is stronger than I am that makes me do these evil things." (The Apostle Paul in his letter to the Romans 7:15-17 TLB

For 59 years I have struggled with being overweight. (This is not an exaggeration, even my baby pictures show me as "chubby".) I have cried, prayed, begged God, dieted a thousand times, lost 40-50 pounds a hundred times over only to gain it back each time. Last year, I even considered gastric bypass surgery, going through the first segment of the post-surgery seminar given in Reno. But I could not go through with it. And all because I knew that I would be one of those "un-success" stories rather than a "success" story as a result of the bypass. I seriously and completely believed that I would find a way to regain the weight even after that surgery, because I had always eaten not because of hunger, but because food became a comfort to me very early in life. In later years, as a Christian, I felt that my over-eating was sin, but I was helpless to stop it, it seemed. I learned through the years to grow "comfortable" with my size (although I dreaded annual family reunions and have never even considered going to a class reunion!) I have a husband who loves me no matter my size, but who in recent years became concerned for my health. The doctors were really starting to get on me about just attempting to lose even 30 pounds this year. I thought to myself, I can lose 30 pounds. I went in search of a new diet, but I didn't find God in any of them, and I felt I needed God's intervention here. Because the problem was not in being hungry, it was in my head. And I knew it. I just didn't know how to deal with it.

And in just the last year alone, I began to believe that my weight was a terrible testimony of the power of God in my life, or I should say, lack of the power of God in my life. While no Christian wants sin in his or her life, I certainly would have preferred a sin that was not so obvious to one and all. So, I began praying even more earnestly for the Lord to deliver me from this sin. Every time I read scriptures that contained the word glutton or gluttony, I felt such guilt and condemnation.

Then one day, several months ago, during my morning Bible study time, I read, probably for the thousandth time, this scripture in James:

"Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another that ye may be healed." (James 5:16)

And then I read this scripture:

"If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: but if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin." (I John 1:6-7)

And for the first time, I took them very literally, and I determined that these were "commands" that I was to follow – actions that I was to take.

I immediately began confessing specifically the SIN OF GLUTTONY at church and asking for prayer. I submitted prayer requests often, asking for prayer for this SIN – calling it the SIN OF GLUTTONY – not calling it even an addiction or a bad habit or anything else. Just the SIN OF GLUTTONY.

I didn't see any changes, other than in my understanding of the Word of God. But then one day, someone told me about an acquaintance who goes to a church I once attended, who had lost 80 pounds in about 9 months. I was told her weight loss had occurred because of a Christian weight loss program she was participating in and eventually found out that the name of the program was PRISM. So, I went online and found their website and ordered the books they showed available. They sent them to me along with DVDs that were full of good health information. And I began following the instructions in the books.

In time I came to realize that the primary focus of the program was not diet, as much as responding with proper commitment to the authority of the program. I began to realize that I was submitting to the authority of the program as though I were submitting to God's direct authority. In fact, I believed and still do, that it was God who brought this program to my attention as:

1. the result of taking obedient action in accordance with His Word;
   
2. the result of bringing my sin into the light by my act of open confession;
   
3. the result of the body of Christ praying for me as His Word directs us to do one for another.
   

But He didn't stop there, as through this training in how to submit to authority, He began to teach me ever so much more about authority. And He began to show me the tremendous amount of rebellion there had been in my life and still was. Rebellion to all sorts of authority.

And most importantly, He began to show me what His authority truly is. And how sin is anything that is not submitted to His authority.

That's what the next several postings will be about.

By the way, I have lost over 40 pounds since I began the Prism program a little over two months ago.

But what I have found in spiritual treasure far "out-weighs" that particular benefit of weight loss.
In fact, I am finding the weight loss to be secondary to all else that the Lord is changing in my life.

Next posting will be Part 2 of
Mighty Through God
entitled "Two Kingdoms in Conflict." I'll meet you there!