“Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you – guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.” 2 Tim 1:14.
I am finishing up with the study of the Book of Daniel. I love this book as it provides an endless reservoir of Scriptural application for our lives. Daniel 5 ends with the relatively effortless toppling of the Babylonian empire. To give some history, Babylon was surrounded with fortified walls so secure that the need for watchmen was little to none. They were prideful, self-sufficient and self-reliant within their walls not needing anything from the outside world…or so they thought.
The Euphrates River ran through the center of Babylon providing one of the greatest assets of their kingdom which eventually became their downfall. The Persian army, credited for this defeat, overtook the most powerful kingdom of this time by simply diverting or rerouting the water by digging a canal from the river to a nearby lake. This diversion created a gap under the wall at which point they infiltrated the city and overthrew the administration.
The security of their kingdom was in the strength of their own fortified walls. Nowhere on their radar screen could they have ever imagined the enemy would enter through this means. They were caught completely off guard!
What the Persian army did in the earthly realm Satan attempts in the spiritual realm. We build walls of false security that our faith cannot be derailed and rerouted. We become complacent in our spiritual lives never imagining that Satan is digging in the weak areas. If we are harboring bitterness, anger or jealousy we provide the perfect spot for the enemy to enter into our hearts. If we are not focusing on the strengthening of our walls through the help of the Holy Spirit we can expect Satan to enter through the gaps.
Ignoring areas of weakness that run through the middle of our lives basically hand the shovel to the enemy and dares him to dig. Instead we must hand our emotions over to the Holy Spirit and ask Him to heal…and this will guard the precious deposit for which God has entrusted His children.
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
No Distinctions...
“God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us. He made no distinction between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith. Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of the disciples a yoke that neither we nor our fathers have been able to bear? … We have heard that some went out from us without our authorization and disturbed you, troubling your minds by what they said. Therefore we are sending…to confirm by word of mouth what we are writing…” Acts 15:8-10; Acts 15:24
The Book of Acts is one of those books in the Bible that I have scanned through with minimal concentration…until now. I have always perceived this book as a book of politics within the church. God led me to the Bible Study of James, the brother of Christ, who was a leader in the church. What I am finding in Acts is a parallel to what I see occurring in 2011…Christians drawing lines in the spiritual sand in attempts to define who is chosen by God. These invisible lines are man-made and not God-drawn.
It is the work of the enemy to set up man-made divisions within the children of God. We view others who may not go to church as less than ourselves ‘in the name of God.’ We criticize people who contradict our view of a perfect Christian ‘in the name of God.’ We proclaim our belief that it is by faith we are saved and not by works, all the while judging what he or she is not doing. We assign faith to those who look like our design of a Christian and discredit those who do not.
God did not sacrifice His only Son to cover some people. His Son hung on the cross lifeless for that man who doesn’t go to church but believes in God. He took on the sins of the addict, the prostitute and the sexually immoral. God is God for all once a child is brought into the family through the acceptance of Christ Jesus.
We must realize that putting other Christians to the test is the same as putting God to the test as in the early church. Just as in the early church, we as Christians must stand up and right the wrongs of the stinging judgment of others. We must encourage those who are new to the faith by reminding them of the truth. When our actions as Christians discourage, cast judgment upon or tear down the attempts of others trying to build their faith we become stumbling blocks for them. 'We put no stumbling block in anyone's path, so that our ministry will not be discredited.' 2 Co. 6:3.
The only spiritual lines drawn by God are the intersecting lines of the cross – those whom accept salvation through Christ Jesus and those who reject the cross.
The Book of Acts is one of those books in the Bible that I have scanned through with minimal concentration…until now. I have always perceived this book as a book of politics within the church. God led me to the Bible Study of James, the brother of Christ, who was a leader in the church. What I am finding in Acts is a parallel to what I see occurring in 2011…Christians drawing lines in the spiritual sand in attempts to define who is chosen by God. These invisible lines are man-made and not God-drawn.
It is the work of the enemy to set up man-made divisions within the children of God. We view others who may not go to church as less than ourselves ‘in the name of God.’ We criticize people who contradict our view of a perfect Christian ‘in the name of God.’ We proclaim our belief that it is by faith we are saved and not by works, all the while judging what he or she is not doing. We assign faith to those who look like our design of a Christian and discredit those who do not.
God did not sacrifice His only Son to cover some people. His Son hung on the cross lifeless for that man who doesn’t go to church but believes in God. He took on the sins of the addict, the prostitute and the sexually immoral. God is God for all once a child is brought into the family through the acceptance of Christ Jesus.
We must realize that putting other Christians to the test is the same as putting God to the test as in the early church. Just as in the early church, we as Christians must stand up and right the wrongs of the stinging judgment of others. We must encourage those who are new to the faith by reminding them of the truth. When our actions as Christians discourage, cast judgment upon or tear down the attempts of others trying to build their faith we become stumbling blocks for them. 'We put no stumbling block in anyone's path, so that our ministry will not be discredited.' 2 Co. 6:3.
The only spiritual lines drawn by God are the intersecting lines of the cross – those whom accept salvation through Christ Jesus and those who reject the cross.
Monday, November 28, 2011
Our Spiritual Scales
“But you his son…have not humbled yourself, though you knew all this. Instead, you have set yourself up against the Lord of Heaven…you did not honor God who holds in his hand your life and all your ways…Therefore he sent the hand that wrote the inscription…Mene: God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end. Tekel: You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting. Peres: Your kingdom is divided and given…” Daniel 5:22, 23, 26-28.
This king was the son of King Nebuchadnezzar who undoubtedly knew the history of the seven year temporary insanity that God brought to his dad. His father had made a very public proclamation regarding the way God humbled him. Anything that occurs in our family history that brings on despair and devastation is generally communicated to the following generation. In this case, the next generation heaped more on the family scales instead of using them to balance his life.
We have the opportunity to witness to others in an effort to encourage them to avoid our spiritual pitfalls. We can communicate how God has moved in our lives to transform a heart of ‘anything goes’ to a heart of ‘He reigns.’ God will look at each of our hearts in an effort to weigh its motives. ‘All a man’s ways seem right to him, but the LORD weighs the heart.’ Prov. 21:2.
We cannot load up our scales with the things of this world which will never honor God. Our lives represent a set of scales which God will keep in balance. If one side gets too heavy God will determine that it is time for a new season to be ushered in – a season to regain balance. These seasons seldom bring comfort and peace but rather a realignment of His ways. Any area of our life that God determines we are spiritually off balance will be reworked, reshaped and molded into a more balanced life in Him.
We must be so aligned with God and His ways that our spiritual scales only move when He moves.
This king was the son of King Nebuchadnezzar who undoubtedly knew the history of the seven year temporary insanity that God brought to his dad. His father had made a very public proclamation regarding the way God humbled him. Anything that occurs in our family history that brings on despair and devastation is generally communicated to the following generation. In this case, the next generation heaped more on the family scales instead of using them to balance his life.
We have the opportunity to witness to others in an effort to encourage them to avoid our spiritual pitfalls. We can communicate how God has moved in our lives to transform a heart of ‘anything goes’ to a heart of ‘He reigns.’ God will look at each of our hearts in an effort to weigh its motives. ‘All a man’s ways seem right to him, but the LORD weighs the heart.’ Prov. 21:2.
We cannot load up our scales with the things of this world which will never honor God. Our lives represent a set of scales which God will keep in balance. If one side gets too heavy God will determine that it is time for a new season to be ushered in – a season to regain balance. These seasons seldom bring comfort and peace but rather a realignment of His ways. Any area of our life that God determines we are spiritually off balance will be reworked, reshaped and molded into a more balanced life in Him.
We must be so aligned with God and His ways that our spiritual scales only move when He moves.
Friday, November 25, 2011
Shadow Puppets
“Don’t be deceived…Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” James 1:16-17.
When I was a little girl there was a french door off of my bedroom leading onto a balcony. We lived in the middle of five acres with many large trees around the house. There were nights when I would fall asleep to shadows on my wall that had been cast through the trees and glass panes. Through the night I would awaken only to find the benign shadows on the wall had shifted and plastered scary and disturbing images. I can remember the paralyzing fear as I tried to determine if the subject of the shadow was real or just that…a distortion. The more intensely I would focus on the image the more my mind would determine it was real.
When going through the eight years of my daughter’s drug use I lived in the constant shadows of paralyzing fear. What God had promised in the light of day was not what my faith reflected in the darkness. The shadows would shift from hope to despair and the distortion in my mind made it crippling. My focus was on the scary shadows of what may be than the promises from God of what was! In addition to my own fear was the vulnerability that gave the enemy a stronghold. He took pleasure in making shadow puppets with my circumstances. Focusing on fear over faith took him on a thrilling ride that he wanted to keep on enjoying.
Praise be to the heavenly Light who made the ride stop and threw him out of the park. I was deceived by my circumstances and allowed the enemy to shift the truth of who God was to how He was absent. The shadows were tall and ominous but the daylight returned and the truth was revealed once again…hope, promise, a miracle and restoration.
While our circumstances may change, our God will never shift. He is the same God in the daylight as He is in the darkness, despite the shifting images of our situation.
Don’t be deceived!
When I was a little girl there was a french door off of my bedroom leading onto a balcony. We lived in the middle of five acres with many large trees around the house. There were nights when I would fall asleep to shadows on my wall that had been cast through the trees and glass panes. Through the night I would awaken only to find the benign shadows on the wall had shifted and plastered scary and disturbing images. I can remember the paralyzing fear as I tried to determine if the subject of the shadow was real or just that…a distortion. The more intensely I would focus on the image the more my mind would determine it was real.
When going through the eight years of my daughter’s drug use I lived in the constant shadows of paralyzing fear. What God had promised in the light of day was not what my faith reflected in the darkness. The shadows would shift from hope to despair and the distortion in my mind made it crippling. My focus was on the scary shadows of what may be than the promises from God of what was! In addition to my own fear was the vulnerability that gave the enemy a stronghold. He took pleasure in making shadow puppets with my circumstances. Focusing on fear over faith took him on a thrilling ride that he wanted to keep on enjoying.
Praise be to the heavenly Light who made the ride stop and threw him out of the park. I was deceived by my circumstances and allowed the enemy to shift the truth of who God was to how He was absent. The shadows were tall and ominous but the daylight returned and the truth was revealed once again…hope, promise, a miracle and restoration.
While our circumstances may change, our God will never shift. He is the same God in the daylight as He is in the darkness, despite the shifting images of our situation.
Don’t be deceived!
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Our Spiritual Storehouses
“While Belshazzar was drinking his wine, he gave orders to bring in the gold and silver goblets that Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken from the temple in Jerusalem, so that the king and his nobles, his wives and concubines might drink from them.” Daniel 5:2.
Imagine the scene. Many years after King Nebuchadnezzar left the throne, his son is ruling in his place. He is throwing a huge party and the wine is flowing. He invites the women which is extremely uncustomary and remembers that his dad plundered the temple of God many years before. He considered how in his father’s storehouse of treasures there were many expensive things. He summoned his officials to get a few of the things dedicated to the God of the Israelites from his dad’s possessions. I am sure he thought that it was a good thing his father left them lying around.
What is it that we possess as parents which we have stored up for our children to borrow…prejudice, pride, emotional abuse, anger? The list goes on and on. They have grown up knowing it is there even if we are not around. Belshazzar could have stopped the legacy, the legacy that served himself over God. Instead, he continued the cycle of self first, all else second. Not only did he borrow his dad's sin but built on the sin that already existed.
I was so blessed to have a storehouse of spiritual treasures for which I surrounded myself thanks to my grandparents and parents. These treasures glistened so beautifully and were used to glorify God. They were not closed up in some closet but rather displayed for the beauty for which they possessed. These treasures of God were always used to exalt God and to encourage others to build a storehouse of their own with God at the center.
It doesn’t matter what spiritual legacy from which we come, the treasures of God are for all. As I have heard my mother say, God doesn’t have grandchildren. Every child is a direct son or daughter of God and has access to the amazing treasures of our Father. Let us all examine our storehouses and get rid of the things that lead to sin before our children decide to borrow them.
Imagine the scene. Many years after King Nebuchadnezzar left the throne, his son is ruling in his place. He is throwing a huge party and the wine is flowing. He invites the women which is extremely uncustomary and remembers that his dad plundered the temple of God many years before. He considered how in his father’s storehouse of treasures there were many expensive things. He summoned his officials to get a few of the things dedicated to the God of the Israelites from his dad’s possessions. I am sure he thought that it was a good thing his father left them lying around.
What is it that we possess as parents which we have stored up for our children to borrow…prejudice, pride, emotional abuse, anger? The list goes on and on. They have grown up knowing it is there even if we are not around. Belshazzar could have stopped the legacy, the legacy that served himself over God. Instead, he continued the cycle of self first, all else second. Not only did he borrow his dad's sin but built on the sin that already existed.
I was so blessed to have a storehouse of spiritual treasures for which I surrounded myself thanks to my grandparents and parents. These treasures glistened so beautifully and were used to glorify God. They were not closed up in some closet but rather displayed for the beauty for which they possessed. These treasures of God were always used to exalt God and to encourage others to build a storehouse of their own with God at the center.
It doesn’t matter what spiritual legacy from which we come, the treasures of God are for all. As I have heard my mother say, God doesn’t have grandchildren. Every child is a direct son or daughter of God and has access to the amazing treasures of our Father. Let us all examine our storehouses and get rid of the things that lead to sin before our children decide to borrow them.
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Choking on Smoke
“…let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” Hebrews 12:1-3
Ask any firefighter and you will be told that when entering a burning building many times the greater hindrance is the smoke. The smoke chokes, blinds and disorients preventing them from the immediate fire. They must work through the smoke to tackle the fire. The same is with our spiritual life as we battle our own burning buildings. We cannot see God’s fire for all of the smoke for which we have created between us and His will. Our bitterness, resentment and self-will dizzies and disorients causing a barrier between our agenda and the will of God. We become entangled with our own sin of self, depleting our energy and losing sight of our faith. We claim that we believe that God is in control but we choke on our own smoke.
Whether our entanglement with sin is our own doing or the doing of another we are affected by its circumstances. Every one of us approaches our trials with our own agenda, past experiences and preconceived ideas for how we should respond. We build in our minds and hearts what should happen, what had better happen and how we will respond. We will face a crisis of belief when we stand at the crossroads of surrendering ‘what I think’ and picking up ‘what I believe God says.’ Our hearts must be open to all possibilities when approaching God instead of the resolution that we feel we must have. We must pray for God to reveal any stubbornness or tightly fisted power we are holding onto. We must be willing to hear and obey his decision even if it goes against everything we believe should happen. We must recite what we really believe about God.
‘A crisis of belief is not a calamity in your life but a turning point where you must make a decision. You must decide what you truly believe about God. The way you respond at this turning point will determine whether you become involved with God in something God-sized that only He can do or whether you will continue to go your own way and miss what He has purposed in your life…The way you live your life is a testimony of what you believe about God.’ Experiencing God, p. 134.
In the words of my grandmother, God is LORD of everything or LORD of nothing!
Ask any firefighter and you will be told that when entering a burning building many times the greater hindrance is the smoke. The smoke chokes, blinds and disorients preventing them from the immediate fire. They must work through the smoke to tackle the fire. The same is with our spiritual life as we battle our own burning buildings. We cannot see God’s fire for all of the smoke for which we have created between us and His will. Our bitterness, resentment and self-will dizzies and disorients causing a barrier between our agenda and the will of God. We become entangled with our own sin of self, depleting our energy and losing sight of our faith. We claim that we believe that God is in control but we choke on our own smoke.
Whether our entanglement with sin is our own doing or the doing of another we are affected by its circumstances. Every one of us approaches our trials with our own agenda, past experiences and preconceived ideas for how we should respond. We build in our minds and hearts what should happen, what had better happen and how we will respond. We will face a crisis of belief when we stand at the crossroads of surrendering ‘what I think’ and picking up ‘what I believe God says.’ Our hearts must be open to all possibilities when approaching God instead of the resolution that we feel we must have. We must pray for God to reveal any stubbornness or tightly fisted power we are holding onto. We must be willing to hear and obey his decision even if it goes against everything we believe should happen. We must recite what we really believe about God.
‘A crisis of belief is not a calamity in your life but a turning point where you must make a decision. You must decide what you truly believe about God. The way you respond at this turning point will determine whether you become involved with God in something God-sized that only He can do or whether you will continue to go your own way and miss what He has purposed in your life…The way you live your life is a testimony of what you believe about God.’ Experiencing God, p. 134.
In the words of my grandmother, God is LORD of everything or LORD of nothing!
Monday, November 21, 2011
Losing Our Mind
“For even his own brothers did not believe in him.” John 7:5; “When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, ‘He is out of his mind.’” Mark 3:21; “Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you.” Mark 3:32; “Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.” Mark 3:35.
OUCH! If any of my children were to say this regarding our family my earthly feelings would be hurt. But, at a very tender age of 12, Jesus determined His family to be those who were vertical to God. ‘Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?’ Luke 2:49.
We are told that Jesus experienced everything on earth that we experience so He can relate to our suffering. Introduced in our passage is sibling rivalry in its purest form. The brothers of Jesus did not buy what their oldest brother was selling. To them, He was most likely a renegade…a loose canon. So they ran to their mother and convinced her that her eldest and supernatural blessing from God has lost His mind! Being a mom, she rushes to His side in an effort to save Him. The teachers of the law communicated to the family of Jesus that Satan himself has entered Jesus, giving Satan credit for driving out the demons in the miracles of Jesus.
Jesus immediately drew a line in the sand concerning His true family. Oh, His biological family was accurate in determining He had lost His mind. For the mind He found was the mind of God. Every thought, every action and every word came from our Father in Heaven. Jesus lived the perfect life of a Son aligned with God as His Father and determined His mother, brother and sisters are those who pursued this same family.
If we are to pattern our lives after Jesus, let us lose our mind to God.
OUCH! If any of my children were to say this regarding our family my earthly feelings would be hurt. But, at a very tender age of 12, Jesus determined His family to be those who were vertical to God. ‘Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?’ Luke 2:49.
We are told that Jesus experienced everything on earth that we experience so He can relate to our suffering. Introduced in our passage is sibling rivalry in its purest form. The brothers of Jesus did not buy what their oldest brother was selling. To them, He was most likely a renegade…a loose canon. So they ran to their mother and convinced her that her eldest and supernatural blessing from God has lost His mind! Being a mom, she rushes to His side in an effort to save Him. The teachers of the law communicated to the family of Jesus that Satan himself has entered Jesus, giving Satan credit for driving out the demons in the miracles of Jesus.
Jesus immediately drew a line in the sand concerning His true family. Oh, His biological family was accurate in determining He had lost His mind. For the mind He found was the mind of God. Every thought, every action and every word came from our Father in Heaven. Jesus lived the perfect life of a Son aligned with God as His Father and determined His mother, brother and sisters are those who pursued this same family.
If we are to pattern our lives after Jesus, let us lose our mind to God.
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