In meditating on the fears that bind us, I realized that guilt is probably the most common of the results of fear. So many people carry guilt like a backpack, and, no matter what they are doing, the backpack stays in place. I John 4:18 (NLT) Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love. The Phillips translation reads: "fear brings torture of feeling guilt". There is no doubt about it, carrying guilt around is torture.
There is a path to knowing God's love. That path is opened to us by the Holy Spirit dwelling within us. If we have not surrendered to allow the Spirit to live in us, we only have the doctrine of the Holy Spirit. When the Spirit dwells in us and we commune with Him, listen to Him and are obedient to Him, He will open to us the fear of God. This fear is a reverent awe of God. We only begin to know Him when the Spirit makes alive this in us. True worship and obedience are the result of this awe being quickened in you. Look at this passage in Psalm 25. 9 He leads the humble in doing right, teaching them his way. 10 The Lord leads with unfailing love and faithfulness all who keep his covenant and obey his demands. 11 For the honor of your name, O Lord, forgive my many, many sins. 12 Who are those who fear the Lord? He will show them the path they should choose. 13 They will live in prosperity, and their children will inherit the land. 14 The Lord is a friend to those who fear him. He teaches them his covenant. (Remember, "friend" is the term used for those in covenant!)
Knowing how great is His love and power gives understanding of what has been provided. The Creator of all creation has the power to remove even the memory of sins committed, and for which repentance has been made, as far as the east is from the west. He will not remember them. Satan will accuse you of them and thus cause guilt. Guilt will keep you from walking in God's ways. Paul declared we are the righteousness of God in Christ. In Psalm 145, the Psalmist declares "celebrate Your abundant goodness and joyfully sing of Your righteousness!" He continues the same refrain in verses 17-19. "17 The Lord is righteous in everything he does; he is filled with kindness. 18 The Lord is close to all who call on him, yes, to all who call on him in truth. 19 He grants the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cries for help and rescues them."
Let the Spirit of God reveal God's love and mercy to you. When you begin to see His nature, faith in Him is born as you ponder His Word and see His ways. You enter a large place where anything is possible in Him!
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Satan's Tools--Fear
How does Satan cause us to fear? We live in a water realm and there is always danger--from the elements, natural disasters such as avalanches, earthquakes, eruptions and tidal waves. There is disease, accidents and violence from other people, and our own experience with these things cause our nature to develop fear of death, and Satan plays on this. Our fears become a "button" he can push. These fears can be (and must be) overcome by the Blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony, the same way we overcome all the weakness of our nature. We cannot trust until we overcome these fears.
But there is another source of fear that is most deadly to us as the Church of our Lord. Satan attacks the knowledge of God's love for us. When we lose the knowledge and the awareness of God's great love for us, we become the prey of the other weapons that Satan uses. His accusation of God to us becomes our picture of God. The Will of God becomes suspect to us. Instead of loving God's Will and choosing only His Will over our own will, we then begin to doubt His Will. Without knowing how very much God loves us and seeks only our best welfare, both now and in eternity, we hesitate to ask Him for "very big things" as though we are not worthy of having His best. Paul addressed this in his letter to the Ephesians as he exalted the love of God. Ephesians 3:16-21 (NIV) 16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. 20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
From this we see the fault does not lie with God's will but with our lack of asking. We do not ask because we are not confident of His love! Confidence in His love allows us to ask and trust that He will answer in the way that is best for us. We measure God's love by our own ability to love. But the love of God, revealed to us by His Spirit, goes far beyond our own ability to comprehend. If we do not rely on the Holy Spirit to lead, guide and teach us, we are trusting in our own limited capacity. When we first come to God and our spirit is born into His family, we rejoice in His love. Satan goes on the alert and seeks to rob us of this relationship born of the flow of love that brings us into the circle of love. Our worship of God is born out of this flow and we move in the strength of His love. Satan's attack of fear is easily accepted, because, being so new to His realm, and not yet having let go of the pull of this realm, we fall back into the path of doubt. Satan has been "going to school" on mankind for thousands of years and knows which lever in us to pull so we yield to fear. Listen to the Apostle John, who, though he had walked with Jesus, only came to know the depths of the love of God later in life. He became so immersed in God's love that he used that love as his identity in writing the Gospel of John. I John 4:14-19 (NLT) 14 Furthermore, we have seen with our own eyes and now testify that the Father sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 All who confess that Jesus is the Son of God have God living in them, and they live in God. 16 We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. 17 And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world. 18 Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love. 19 We love each other because he loved us first.
II Timothy 1:7 (NLT) For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.
God's love is imparted to us as we receive His love. When we turn aside to view anything in our own ability and rely on our limited capacity, we are denying God. He will not push against our free choice. Satan knows and understands this, so he approaches us as he did Eve, to reason out and decide what is best for us. Because we are a covenanted people, we only need to call on God--ask! That frees His hand to move in our behalf. Instead of keeping the control the adamic nature loves, we freely give our self into His hand and His love flows to us. We learn to live in His love. The more we worship, letting our love flow back to Him, the stronger the flow of His love reaches into us and the greater the flow of love out to those around us. We know a greater burden for the lost, have more mercy for fellow Christians and the more clearly we hear the Voice of the Spirit. We grow in love.
But there is another source of fear that is most deadly to us as the Church of our Lord. Satan attacks the knowledge of God's love for us. When we lose the knowledge and the awareness of God's great love for us, we become the prey of the other weapons that Satan uses. His accusation of God to us becomes our picture of God. The Will of God becomes suspect to us. Instead of loving God's Will and choosing only His Will over our own will, we then begin to doubt His Will. Without knowing how very much God loves us and seeks only our best welfare, both now and in eternity, we hesitate to ask Him for "very big things" as though we are not worthy of having His best. Paul addressed this in his letter to the Ephesians as he exalted the love of God. Ephesians 3:16-21 (NIV) 16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. 20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
From this we see the fault does not lie with God's will but with our lack of asking. We do not ask because we are not confident of His love! Confidence in His love allows us to ask and trust that He will answer in the way that is best for us. We measure God's love by our own ability to love. But the love of God, revealed to us by His Spirit, goes far beyond our own ability to comprehend. If we do not rely on the Holy Spirit to lead, guide and teach us, we are trusting in our own limited capacity. When we first come to God and our spirit is born into His family, we rejoice in His love. Satan goes on the alert and seeks to rob us of this relationship born of the flow of love that brings us into the circle of love. Our worship of God is born out of this flow and we move in the strength of His love. Satan's attack of fear is easily accepted, because, being so new to His realm, and not yet having let go of the pull of this realm, we fall back into the path of doubt. Satan has been "going to school" on mankind for thousands of years and knows which lever in us to pull so we yield to fear. Listen to the Apostle John, who, though he had walked with Jesus, only came to know the depths of the love of God later in life. He became so immersed in God's love that he used that love as his identity in writing the Gospel of John. I John 4:14-19 (NLT) 14 Furthermore, we have seen with our own eyes and now testify that the Father sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 All who confess that Jesus is the Son of God have God living in them, and they live in God. 16 We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. 17 And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world. 18 Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love. 19 We love each other because he loved us first.
II Timothy 1:7 (NLT) For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.
God's love is imparted to us as we receive His love. When we turn aside to view anything in our own ability and rely on our limited capacity, we are denying God. He will not push against our free choice. Satan knows and understands this, so he approaches us as he did Eve, to reason out and decide what is best for us. Because we are a covenanted people, we only need to call on God--ask! That frees His hand to move in our behalf. Instead of keeping the control the adamic nature loves, we freely give our self into His hand and His love flows to us. We learn to live in His love. The more we worship, letting our love flow back to Him, the stronger the flow of His love reaches into us and the greater the flow of love out to those around us. We know a greater burden for the lost, have more mercy for fellow Christians and the more clearly we hear the Voice of the Spirit. We grow in love.
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Satan's Tools--Accusation
I Peter 5:8 (NLT) Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.
Revelation 12:10 10 Then I heard a loud voice shouting across the heavens, “It has come at last—salvation and power and the Kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters has been thrown down to earth—the one who accuses them before our God day and night. 11 And they have defeated him by the blood of the Lamb and by their testimony. And they did not love their lives so much that they were afraid to die.
Divide and conquer are tactics of Satan. His tool to separate is accusation. He wants to separate you into isolation so that you feel alone and forsaken by friends and God. From the time you first realize how much God loves you, Satan begins to erode that certainty. You begin to lose that awareness of His love that had driven you forward and upward into that relationship that was above all other desires or relationships. Other things crowded out the thought of God or the time to spend with Him. The delight began to fade. Tragically so does trust and faith. Long-time Christians belittle that childlike faith until the numbness of unbelief begins. The accusation of Satan against God becomes lodged in the soul and soon you doubt the very Love that brought you to freedom.
Satan is also the accuser of your family relationships. This accusation of another to you enhances your feelings of self protection. Protecting yourself becomes a deception, for you can no longer follow closely the Lamb Who gave Himself for you. Following afar off gives you more room to follow your own desires. The problem is that agreement with Satan becomes more comfortable than your agreement with God's Word. Voicing blame, criticism and even antagonism becomes a weapon of self-defense against viable or imagined wrongs. It is easier to see wrong in someone else than face it in yourself. Opinions formed in such a climate are very hard to break or be forgotten. These chains that bind you become as uncomfortable to you as to those around you. Bridges are formed that no one wants to cross. Families become disfunctionable. This happens also in the Family of God. Opinions of ritual, doctrine and what is considered sin begin to erode connection between individuals and churches. We do not realize we are working for Satan and not for God. We become accusers.
What is the answer? The love of God. God loves. Because He loves, we, too, are enabled to love. When we listen to Satan and lose sight of God's great love for us, we begin to lose that ability to love. Go back to that first realization of God's love for you and how He revealed it in Jesus Christ, and follow the Lamb.
Revelation 12:10 10 Then I heard a loud voice shouting across the heavens, “It has come at last—salvation and power and the Kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters has been thrown down to earth—the one who accuses them before our God day and night. 11 And they have defeated him by the blood of the Lamb and by their testimony. And they did not love their lives so much that they were afraid to die.
Divide and conquer are tactics of Satan. His tool to separate is accusation. He wants to separate you into isolation so that you feel alone and forsaken by friends and God. From the time you first realize how much God loves you, Satan begins to erode that certainty. You begin to lose that awareness of His love that had driven you forward and upward into that relationship that was above all other desires or relationships. Other things crowded out the thought of God or the time to spend with Him. The delight began to fade. Tragically so does trust and faith. Long-time Christians belittle that childlike faith until the numbness of unbelief begins. The accusation of Satan against God becomes lodged in the soul and soon you doubt the very Love that brought you to freedom.
Satan is also the accuser of your family relationships. This accusation of another to you enhances your feelings of self protection. Protecting yourself becomes a deception, for you can no longer follow closely the Lamb Who gave Himself for you. Following afar off gives you more room to follow your own desires. The problem is that agreement with Satan becomes more comfortable than your agreement with God's Word. Voicing blame, criticism and even antagonism becomes a weapon of self-defense against viable or imagined wrongs. It is easier to see wrong in someone else than face it in yourself. Opinions formed in such a climate are very hard to break or be forgotten. These chains that bind you become as uncomfortable to you as to those around you. Bridges are formed that no one wants to cross. Families become disfunctionable. This happens also in the Family of God. Opinions of ritual, doctrine and what is considered sin begin to erode connection between individuals and churches. We do not realize we are working for Satan and not for God. We become accusers.
What is the answer? The love of God. God loves. Because He loves, we, too, are enabled to love. When we listen to Satan and lose sight of God's great love for us, we begin to lose that ability to love. Go back to that first realization of God's love for you and how He revealed it in Jesus Christ, and follow the Lamb.
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Satan's Tools--Deception
Because Satan was deceived by his own greed, he has become the great deceiver. He despises mankind as being beneath him, yet he fears those who walk in covenant obedience and are empowered by the Spirit of God to do the will of God. It is because of this and the tragedy this deception works in so many lives, I have sought the Spirit to show me deception. There are tentacles of deception that reach into every facet of our lives.
Our human, adamic nature is very susceptible to deception. Our response to the circumstances and events that come into our lives opens us to Satan's weapon of deception to disrupt and destroy the path that would lead us to God's fullness and best. So many start out with hunger and humble zeal to walk with God but make choices that detour them off that straight path. The desire to walk with God, to worship Him are still there, but they have been relegated to a "back burner". I have looked at some of the elements within our nature that open us to this danger.
We all have a desire to succeed. We want the best for ourselves and our loved ones. When we see the opportunity for that we begin to seek ways to take advantage of that opportunity. Very good, very human and worthy of appreciation, but how do we know? Eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil looked like a very wise and worthy decision, but, at what cost? Seeking God, yielding your own wisdom to the guidance of the Holy Spirit is our safeguard.
We all have events that cause us sorrow and grief of soul so deep that it is difficult to do daily responsibilities. Nothing seems to us as it had been and it is difficult to be motivated. We find solace in God and try to give it into His hand, but the flesh is so in tune with the soul that it feels like symptoms of an illness. We know we have to give ourselves time to recover but there are times of hopelessness. This is when Satan moves in to take advantage. Here the "fork in the road" appears and the choice is not always considered for the comfort presented is grabbed as a "light in the tunnel". Sadly, the realization only hits years later at a great price. But at the time of such devastating grief, anything that will distract and give ease is grabbed. I have seen people who cocoon themselves in God's comfort grow and develop because of their grief and are not detered by people's sympathy and efforts to distract, but these are few. Our prayers for guidance are very important for those who face these times of grief.
Sucess and praise are often sandtraps and open us to more deception than difficult times. Joseph went through terrible testings of the Word God gave him in dreams. They sustained him and kept him "on course" during that time. Because he lived in the time when God was revealing Himself to man through the family, his dreams involved his family. Yet, when he finally arrived on the throne of success, he gave up on his family and named his firstborn son, Manasseh. (Manasseh means, I will forget my past and my family and be content.) I believe this is why he went by himself and wept bitterly when his brothers came to him in Egypt, for he realized he had abandoned the important part of God's Word to him.
These are just a few of our human responses, but I hope it reveals to you how susceptible we are to deception if we do not walk closely to our Lord and rely on the Spirit's guidance in all our ways.
Proverbs 3:5-6 (NLT) 5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. 6 Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.
Our human, adamic nature is very susceptible to deception. Our response to the circumstances and events that come into our lives opens us to Satan's weapon of deception to disrupt and destroy the path that would lead us to God's fullness and best. So many start out with hunger and humble zeal to walk with God but make choices that detour them off that straight path. The desire to walk with God, to worship Him are still there, but they have been relegated to a "back burner". I have looked at some of the elements within our nature that open us to this danger.
We all have a desire to succeed. We want the best for ourselves and our loved ones. When we see the opportunity for that we begin to seek ways to take advantage of that opportunity. Very good, very human and worthy of appreciation, but how do we know? Eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil looked like a very wise and worthy decision, but, at what cost? Seeking God, yielding your own wisdom to the guidance of the Holy Spirit is our safeguard.
We all have events that cause us sorrow and grief of soul so deep that it is difficult to do daily responsibilities. Nothing seems to us as it had been and it is difficult to be motivated. We find solace in God and try to give it into His hand, but the flesh is so in tune with the soul that it feels like symptoms of an illness. We know we have to give ourselves time to recover but there are times of hopelessness. This is when Satan moves in to take advantage. Here the "fork in the road" appears and the choice is not always considered for the comfort presented is grabbed as a "light in the tunnel". Sadly, the realization only hits years later at a great price. But at the time of such devastating grief, anything that will distract and give ease is grabbed. I have seen people who cocoon themselves in God's comfort grow and develop because of their grief and are not detered by people's sympathy and efforts to distract, but these are few. Our prayers for guidance are very important for those who face these times of grief.
Sucess and praise are often sandtraps and open us to more deception than difficult times. Joseph went through terrible testings of the Word God gave him in dreams. They sustained him and kept him "on course" during that time. Because he lived in the time when God was revealing Himself to man through the family, his dreams involved his family. Yet, when he finally arrived on the throne of success, he gave up on his family and named his firstborn son, Manasseh. (Manasseh means, I will forget my past and my family and be content.) I believe this is why he went by himself and wept bitterly when his brothers came to him in Egypt, for he realized he had abandoned the important part of God's Word to him.
These are just a few of our human responses, but I hope it reveals to you how susceptible we are to deception if we do not walk closely to our Lord and rely on the Spirit's guidance in all our ways.
Proverbs 3:5-6 (NLT) 5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. 6 Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
A Covenant Enemy
As we saw earlier there is an exchange of enemies in covenant. The purpose is for protection and security. The covenant-making and keeping had many advantages but it was never undertaken lightly, especially between city governments, tribes or later, nations. The curse of broken covenant was too severe. We can understand Abraham's hesitation when God approached him with covenant language, the precursor of a covenant ceremony. What is more difficult to see and understand is the length of time involved in cutting the Abrahamic Covenant. Many years lapsed between the "walking among the pieces" part of the ceremony and the final response of Abraham offering Isaac, but this time allowed Abraham to walk in a relationship with God that increased the release of all other responsibilities that could justify Abraham's failure to give God the response of covenant. His obedience to ignore everything but to answer God's covenant request was the final permission God was seeking to allow Him to send Jesus to this realm. Abraham's total obedience and faith cut off Satan's opportunity to prevent this final step. This gives understanding of how important is our response to God in resisting the enemy. Abraham had learned much in his walking with God in covenant. The lack of knowledge and understanding of covenant today, gives rise to religious response to God's Word of Covenant. We speak of "Old Testament" and "New Testament" but do not understand they are the covenants of God with His people and we are responsible for giving covenant response to that Word. The response is always to the person giving the required response and is not up for personal interpretation. Abraham's response in taking Isaac to a certain mountain shows us this. He did not excuse, justify or explain his action. He just obeyed. Satan did not have a chance to deny God. God's enemy had become Abraham's enemy and Abraham responded to God. Do you see what this means to us?
We must rid ourselves of the "religious" response to God's Word and respond to God's Word in spirit and truth. A pure worship of our omniscient, holy, omnipotent Jehovah, Who ministers to us in completion, denies the enemy his effort to hinder God from accomplishing His will on earth. Satan became the enemy of God when he chose to resist God's purpose to make man in His image. Lucifer had everything--wisdom, power, and opportunity for he ruled from earth, but he became jealous of God's purpose to make another creature in the image of God. He saw it written in the stars and so determined to exalt himself above the stars. (Isaiah 14:12-13) He uses religion to accomplish this. The religions of the ancients, roman and greek gods and other myths have changed the names of the stars and so dictated a different purpose. The greed for money, power, and knowledge have become a religion for Satan's use. Man's interpretation of Scripture and man's desire for control have perverted the message taught, so that even the desire for God is chained by ritual and regulations that seem to justify.
Jesus told His disciples that He would send the Holy Spirit to teach and guide them into all Truth. Jesus is The Truth, Way and Life to Whom the Holy Spirit guides us, teaching, correcting, and revealing the way of Truth.
Listen to Paul's admonitions: "Let no one deceive you with empty words.." "Let the peace of God rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly.." Agree with God's purpose for you to be in His image, follow Jesus and let the Spirit guide you. Above all, let praise and thanksgiving in all things be your response.
Philippians 4:8-9 (NASB) 8 Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. 9 The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.
Fight the good fight of faith.
We must rid ourselves of the "religious" response to God's Word and respond to God's Word in spirit and truth. A pure worship of our omniscient, holy, omnipotent Jehovah, Who ministers to us in completion, denies the enemy his effort to hinder God from accomplishing His will on earth. Satan became the enemy of God when he chose to resist God's purpose to make man in His image. Lucifer had everything--wisdom, power, and opportunity for he ruled from earth, but he became jealous of God's purpose to make another creature in the image of God. He saw it written in the stars and so determined to exalt himself above the stars. (Isaiah 14:12-13) He uses religion to accomplish this. The religions of the ancients, roman and greek gods and other myths have changed the names of the stars and so dictated a different purpose. The greed for money, power, and knowledge have become a religion for Satan's use. Man's interpretation of Scripture and man's desire for control have perverted the message taught, so that even the desire for God is chained by ritual and regulations that seem to justify.
Jesus told His disciples that He would send the Holy Spirit to teach and guide them into all Truth. Jesus is The Truth, Way and Life to Whom the Holy Spirit guides us, teaching, correcting, and revealing the way of Truth.
Listen to Paul's admonitions: "Let no one deceive you with empty words.." "Let the peace of God rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly.." Agree with God's purpose for you to be in His image, follow Jesus and let the Spirit guide you. Above all, let praise and thanksgiving in all things be your response.
Philippians 4:8-9 (NASB) 8 Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. 9 The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.
Fight the good fight of faith.
Thursday, July 7, 2011
God Is Rich
In my meditation this morning, the Spirit reminded me that "My God will supply all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus." The Spirit emphasized the "riches in Christ Jesus." I want to contemplate the idea of the riches that are in Jesus Christ.
Sadly, this verse is often used to encourage thoughts toward the human idea of riches. Having traveled and lived in other countries, I realize the concept of "riches" is not always shared with those of us who live in America. There is a constant "upward" trend in our country of what is considered rich. When I was a child, living in the great depression, any one who had new shoes and carried a full lunch sack to school was considered as "rich". I think of the parable Jesus gave of the rich man who tore down his barns to build bigger barns when I see the race of some to have "bigger and better" than what the neighbors have.
But this is not the riches in Christ Jesus, nor is this the need we all have. Sunk in the limitation of our human nature, we do not fully comprehend the full measure of our need. I know this verse is in the passage of the epistle of Paul to the church at Philippi and concerns their giving. But Paul is addressing something beyond the physical element of their giving. He is reaching to the mercy, the compassion, the generosity of spirit and the motive in the giving of the gift. His speaking of the attitude toward money and being content with what one has, seems to be almost a parenthetical thought. But it is the essence of an overflowing life in Christ Jesus.
Jesus spoke of the widow's gift of the mite as being greater than the "show" of greater amounts, for she gave all she had. This speaks of a lack of fear in the widow. Giving beyond the fear of not having enough for one's self, speaks of a trust in God to supply our human needs, that reaches in to the riches in Christ Jesus. Reckless abandonment to live your life in Him, to trust Him for the supplying of your needs, opens the door to His riches. This goes far beyond money, the need for food, shelter, clothing, etc. This reaches in to the care God has for all His creation. His mercy, compassion and love flows freely to this realm. It is blocked only by those things in our nature that we justify. These things are born out of the fear that is so hard to shake. Fear generates carefulness of self, greed, criticism, lust and all the lacks of mercy and love. Fear holds us captive to our human nature.
Yielding ourselves in trust to lean on the everlasting arms of the One Who gave Himself for us, opens us to the Spirit's guidance into all truth. That truth, abiding in us, yields the harvest of the nature of God in us. Isn't that the covenant response to His desire to make us in His image? Don't hoard your poverty in the fear of "what if?" but release it in trust and acknowledgment of His great riches of mercy, love and compassion. Live in Him and know the victory He has won over all of this realm, even your nature!
Sadly, this verse is often used to encourage thoughts toward the human idea of riches. Having traveled and lived in other countries, I realize the concept of "riches" is not always shared with those of us who live in America. There is a constant "upward" trend in our country of what is considered rich. When I was a child, living in the great depression, any one who had new shoes and carried a full lunch sack to school was considered as "rich". I think of the parable Jesus gave of the rich man who tore down his barns to build bigger barns when I see the race of some to have "bigger and better" than what the neighbors have.
But this is not the riches in Christ Jesus, nor is this the need we all have. Sunk in the limitation of our human nature, we do not fully comprehend the full measure of our need. I know this verse is in the passage of the epistle of Paul to the church at Philippi and concerns their giving. But Paul is addressing something beyond the physical element of their giving. He is reaching to the mercy, the compassion, the generosity of spirit and the motive in the giving of the gift. His speaking of the attitude toward money and being content with what one has, seems to be almost a parenthetical thought. But it is the essence of an overflowing life in Christ Jesus.
Jesus spoke of the widow's gift of the mite as being greater than the "show" of greater amounts, for she gave all she had. This speaks of a lack of fear in the widow. Giving beyond the fear of not having enough for one's self, speaks of a trust in God to supply our human needs, that reaches in to the riches in Christ Jesus. Reckless abandonment to live your life in Him, to trust Him for the supplying of your needs, opens the door to His riches. This goes far beyond money, the need for food, shelter, clothing, etc. This reaches in to the care God has for all His creation. His mercy, compassion and love flows freely to this realm. It is blocked only by those things in our nature that we justify. These things are born out of the fear that is so hard to shake. Fear generates carefulness of self, greed, criticism, lust and all the lacks of mercy and love. Fear holds us captive to our human nature.
Yielding ourselves in trust to lean on the everlasting arms of the One Who gave Himself for us, opens us to the Spirit's guidance into all truth. That truth, abiding in us, yields the harvest of the nature of God in us. Isn't that the covenant response to His desire to make us in His image? Don't hoard your poverty in the fear of "what if?" but release it in trust and acknowledgment of His great riches of mercy, love and compassion. Live in Him and know the victory He has won over all of this realm, even your nature!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)