I’ve been journaling here sharing of my own personal ‘divine moment of awakening’ that took place two years ago. It only continues to get better. And I feel peacefully confident when I say that not only are there many of you yearning and desiring for your own personal divine moment...but God is wanting to make that happen as well. But this time, He wants it to last for you and for your ‘fruit to remain’. (John 15:16)
But there are some things we need to understand before He ‘lights that spark’ and ‘opens our eyes’. God is not some ‘spiritual arsonist’ who lights fires just for the thrill of it. There’s a purpose in everything He does. Not only does He want our ‘fruit to remain’, but He also wants the fire to remain lit. He actually confirmed this to me by prompting a friend to send me a verse Sunday morning and they had no idea what or why but felt impressed to send it. It’s in Leviticus 6:13- “A fire shall always be burning on the altar; it shall never go out.”
Despite singing that children’s church song for years...”won’t let Satan blow it out, I’m gonna let it shine”... we let Satan blow it out. If you are serious about this, you’ll drive that proverbial stake in the ground and say ‘No More!” But be prepared knowing that God WILL...test your heart.
I wrote months ago sharing my personal testimony of conversion that occurred 42 years ago about this time. And on Day 1, the very first lesson I was taught was that I was in a spiritual world with a spiritual enemy and would do good to be aware of it and him. Let me just say that being ‘aware’ of spiritual forces of evil does not suggest we are ‘consumed’ or ‘obsessed’ with them. I wish now I had been more diligent in applying that lesson over the years.
It is important to understand that when God begins a new work in us...transforming and conforming us to His image (Rom. 8:29), that He starts with our heart and our will. He’s not going to just give you a quick glossy spray paint coating to look religious and holy. He wants new wineskins...out with the old. A ‘form of godliness’ is just that...a cheap knockoff imitation that has no value. I think we are all tired of that.
I wrote yesterday that this new walk...sparked by a divine moment will require a casting off of ‘old cloaks’ and baggage that God knows weighs our hearts down and will hinder fruit production in our lives. (2 Cor 7:1; Heb. 12:1). That rich ruler only had ‘one thing’ left to lay aside if he ‘wanted to be perfect’. (Matt 19:21). He didn’t. He was apparently satisfied with status quo and having a divided heart. He missed out.
So let me share a personal ‘revelation’ that God brought to my own attention two years ago. Please understand that I don’t expect anyone to rush out and follow suit or agree with me on this or even implement this in their own life. All I can offer up is this is what happened with me and the fruit that came from it and even further understanding. I’ve touched on this briefly before but want to delve off even further in sharing with you here today.
I knew in those early weeks of ‘His tapping me on the shoulder telling me it was time’, I felt as if I was sitting under a spiritual fire hose of washing and cleansing. Scales were coming off my eyes...my heart was softening...and a lot of ‘spiritual wax’ was being cleaned out of my ears. And my gosh...the peace and joy of His presence ...had to be what Peter was talking about in Acts 3:19. My heart was in full repentance mode and His presence was washing all over me. Now keep in mind, this was during all the world turmoil of the virus spreading mixed in with all the political and election campaigning and drama associated with that.
I remember one afternoon coming out of my back office where I had been studying and thought I’d turn on the TV to see what all was happening that day in the world. It was more background noise if anything as I was getting something to eat in the kitchen. But I became aware of such a heaviness of darkness descending in the house. (My wife was at work in Dallas so I was home alone). It was obvious enough to where I stopped and just asked God what was happening...it was as if I lost my peace and awareness of His presence. My attention was directed to the large flat panel screen we have set up on a cabinet and it seemed as if on one side of the TV set, I saw this dragon’s mouth open and the TV screen seemed to be coming out of its mouth and in that moment, all the noise and words and confusion that was pouring out of that screen reminded me of that verse in Revelation 12:15...where the serpent opened its mouth and “spewed water out like a flood after the woman that he might cause her to be carried away by the flood.”
It was a defining moment...for me. I remember so vividly thinking to myself: “I don’t need this in my life”. I turned the set off and with the exception of a time or two to maybe catch a pending weather bulletin, it has remained off. I also realized that the hours of ‘talk radio’ I would listen to when in the car, was nothing more than a spiritual ‘sewage’ truck emptying its contents in to my mind/heart on a daily basis...nothing but words, words, words to keep my mind on anything but God. So no more of that for me either. And it was liberating. You have no idea.
A few weeks after that...I felt like the Lord gave me more insight to cutting that out of my life and I chronicled those insights on a journal page where I will share here now. -More of bullet points than anything else. I simply share for your consideration. I titled it: “While Men Slept”.
Matt 13:24 Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. ...You should read the rest of that parable.
On a recent visit to a Sam’s Club, I was struck with a site that is not uncommon when you enter the doors. It is the enormous display of flat screen TV’s. But the size in which are now available was what stopped me in my tracks. Not only has the size of the screens increased, but so has the graphics…the clarity…4K and 6K vision…sound bars…and their affordability have all made them that much more alluring and tempting to own.
What is it about our love affair with the TV screen?
Every year, on the day after Thanksgiving, we see the news reels of folks lined up for ‘Black Friday’ shopping bargains. Countless people will literally camp out for days beforehand in horrible weather so they can be the first ones in the store and secure the discount on the prized trophy of a new large flat screen TV at some ridiculously low priced set.
Even in those unfortunate events where disaster or riots strike a city and we see looters breaking in to get what?…among many things…TV sets. (Remember Katrina?)
Years ago…there was that first home/family to own a set….and people would gather and watch with fascination some event crackling through the tubes and screens. It was one thing for just one house on the street then to have a TV set. Now days…most homes in any given neighborhood…will have 2,3, or 4 sets mounted on walls throughout the house.
Walk into most living rooms…and there mounted over the center place/fireplace…with all the chairs and sofas positioned around it…is the TV set.
How many times have you passed a mini-van on the highway at night…and there mounted on the back of the driver’s seat…is a small screen TV for the kids to watch.
Long gone are the days when you had just 3 -4 channels to select from. Now you have at the hand of your fingertips an intricate remote that allows you to access literally hundreds of channel options offering you anything your mind/heart desire to watch…a plethora of options from news…to sports…to movies…to porn…to shopping…to ‘educational’…to travel… etc.
We now have ‘smart’ TV’s which offer even more possibilities to streaming and inter-active entertainment…to even more movie channels. You can record and edit and bypass commercials…you can hit replay and pause and record. Your phones now can access your TV provider and you can watch from any location your phone receives a signal.
Why do companies spend millions of dollars a year on TV ads? They know the effectiveness of being able to manipulate the viewers to spending money on whatever it is they are selling. Super Bowl ad pricing is a point of discussion annually.
Think about the addictive nature of TV programming that peddles your poison of choice…news…suggestive porn…action and murder…… why do we allow ourselves to be ‘entertained’ by ‘simulated’ sin?
Why do we binge and/or feel drawn to ‘veg’ in front of the TV for hours on end? To rid our minds of our problems…or boredom…etc. Amazing how the world can be captivated by Oprah interviewing a prince and his wife….or anxiously await who the bachelor will extend the next rose to.
I use to buy into the line of watching news programs to ‘stay informed’. But the manipulation of ‘news’ is so blatantly biased that after awhile you realize that somewhere behind the screen, someone or something is pulling the levers to alter the way you perceive things happening in the world around you. How many times have you watched a newscast only to be looking for something to throw at the screen when the image of a person who causes your blood to boil…or you hear of some outlandish stunt a politician pulled…or a law that was enacted, etc.
I also used the TV to ‘help me go to sleep’ late at night. Little did I realize how much ‘asleep’ I have been.
How is it that believers can easily coast through a 2 hour movie (even a harmless Hallmark film) that captures our attention and imagination…with little effort…or a 3 hour football game… But then giving the same amount of time to reading the Bible? How crazy to even suggest a thing!?
We all are familiar with TV being broadcast worldwide over the ‘air waves’. Have you ever stopped to consider who the ‘prince of the air’ is? (Eph. 2:2). We feed on hours and hours and hours of images of crime and passion and violence and conflict. Then we quote a single verse about ‘greater is He that is in me’ before we go to bed at night. And we wonder why there is such an absence of true peace in people’s lives today.
See you tomorrow?
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