I believe it was Jesus who said “wherever your treasure is, that is where your heart will be also.”
Yesterday we looked at getting out from under the oppressive weight of condemnation. It really is ‘a thing’. I was encouraged in my spirit that the lesson would resonate with some folks and that God was truly going to confirm and bear witness. I hope it was You He was meeting with. :- )
There is nothing quite like getting down to business with God as James instructs there in his letter (4:6-10). Some of us take longer getting to that place of brokenness but...at least we got there. And that is where we meet the Great Shepherd and Physician who is the only one that can give you true peace and rest for your weary soul.
I heard someone say years ago when you get up from that spot...and wipe away the tears and snot that have run freely...and you are clothed in His arms of compassion and peace and love...(I’m thinking of that scene where the father of the prodigal son ran out to embrace him and restore him)...that it is in that moment that can best be described as...’the beginning of salvation’.
I know...I know...some of you bristled when you read that - The ‘beginning of salvation’. For some reason, we have gotten in to an unhealthy obsession with trying to convince new converts that they have ‘arrived’ and just been loaded up on the front end with a ‘golden ticket’ that can never be taken away or lost. Then we usher them in to join our group and get busy and involved, do the best they can and hang on until Jesus comes to sweep us all out of here.
But for those who may be confused over the subject...salvation is a ‘walk’. A ‘walk of faith and obedience’ to be exact. (Heb 5:9) And as long as we ‘continue in the faith’ and ‘abide in Him’ and allow the Holy Spirit to compete the work He began in us...then we are in a good, secure place. (Col 1:21-23)
Peter would write in his first letter there how our faith would be tested and refined and that in the end, we would ‘receive the end of your faith- the salvation of your souls’. (1:9)
And who did Jesus say would be saved there in Matt. 24:13? ( Those who ‘endure to the end’)? But I prefer to stay with the focus on abiding in Him. Trying to decide ‘who is in and who is not’ is way above my pay grade. ;- )
This whole walking in faith and obedience to God can truly be a culling experience. Not sure what that means? Well, take a look at 1 Cor. 10:1-11 where Paul describes how God had plans to lead this large exodus of people out of Egypt, through a wilderness and into a promised land of peace and rest where He could bless their socks off. Yet...because of disobedience and lack of faith, God was ‘not pleased with most of them’ and left their bodies in the desert where they were destroyed. Only two (Joshua and Caleb) lead the next generation in to possess the land.
What happens to all those others? Why did they drift or turn away? Well, scripture would teach us that their ‘hearts went after other gods’. (Deut. 11:16,28) They found other delights that captured their hearts to the point they loved them more than God. And what is the first and foremost commandment that Jesus taught would insure eternal life? - That we love God with ‘ALL our hearts’. (Luke 10:27-28)
It's one thing to profess our love and devotion to God. It’s another thing for our hearts to get on board. (Titus 1:16; Matt. 15:8-9)
I was talking with some friends recently about how certain groups of people can get into an unhealthy place of being overly preoccupied with the idea that they were ‘chosen’ by God. Yes...I am familiar with all those verses and have no problem with them at all. He does...choose us. (John 15:16). But I am reminded of lining up to play kickball in the 4th grade and we waited in agony until we were all ‘picked by the captains’. You sure felt good if you were among the first few ‘top choices’. But there was still a game to be played and you don’t just keep sitting around and patting each other on the back because you were ‘chosen’.
Truth be told...you know what exactly we are ‘chosen’ to do? To take up our own cross and die...to self. You were chosen to die. Now that might cull a crowd quickly. “From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more.” (John 6:66)
So when I refer to salvation being a ‘walk of faith and obedience’, it does indeed have a ‘beginning’. Much like the Israelites who crossed over that Jordan River and went in to possess the land. God had made it quite clear prior to this crossing that there were some evil nations that needed to be dealt with and removed from the land. The whole book of Deuteronomy lays this out as to all the good things that await them...provided they continue on in obedience and do as He instructs. But if they don’t...well...the consequences of that are laid out quite clearly as well. (Deut. 28)
All of this was an example for us to take heed to. (1 Cor. 10:6-11). Jesus came to lead us out of Egypt (type of slavery and bondage to the world/Satan). He leads us through the ‘Red Sea’, a type of baptism, and then immediately leads us into and through the wilderness to ‘learn a few things and to test our hearts’. (Deut. 8:2). Oh...guess where Jesus was immediately led to right after He was baptized by John? Into the wilderness to have His heart tested by Satan as well. (Luke 4:1-2). And did you know that those who ‘abide in Him' are going to ‘walk just like Jesus walked’? ( 1 John 2:6) and that God will test your heart as well? (1 Thess. 2:4; James 1:3)
So let me finish up today’s post with a personal learning experience that scripture certainly seems to back up and support. I’ve mentioned in previous postings how this ‘abiding in Him’ is really an essential part of this salvation process of sanctification’. There is a heightened awareness of His presence and His voice. (John 10:27). This is not about going out to ‘keep laws and avoid demons’. It has everything to do with walking in fellowship with Him and walking in His peace...which is provided by this ‘hedge of protection’ that keeps predators out. (Prov. 16:7)
I have, on several occasions in recent times, learned just how our ‘loving Father disciplines or chastens’ us. (Heb. 12:5-14). And interestingly enough, in my case, it has not been regarding ‘overt sin’ or ‘breaking God’s laws’. But there have been a few times when I may have said or done something, that on the surface, the average person would have never blinked an eye at, nor even remotely pointed a finger and labeled it as ‘sin’. But after I did or said whatever, I had a strong sense of ‘losing my peace’. It was as if God ‘lifted that hedge of protection’ that I had been walking in and I was battling with that ‘foe of condemnation’ I spoke of yesterday. When you have been walking in His peace and freedom and then it is ‘lifted’...you know it immediately. And it got my attention.
Ignoring this moment...or ‘rebuking the devil’ or ‘quoting greater is He that is in me’ is not the answer. Running to the Father and asking Him...”Lord...was it something I said or did?” will get you an answer quickly. And when He shows you or brings it to your attention...you repent of it as in...agree with Him in confession and then turn, in your heart, with the intent of not making that mistake again.” When you do, His mercy and grace are in abundant supply to wash over you and the hedge comes down, the peace is restored and you continue on in this walk of faith and obedience.
Why does he ‘chasten’ us? – that we may be partakers of His holiness. Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. And without holiness, no one will see the Lord.(Heb 12:10-11,14). Lord willing...I’ll meet you back here tomorrow. ;-)
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