Years ago, a good friend advised me with this nugget of truth when we were building homes and cabinets: “If you don’t have the time to do it right the first time (as in we like to get in a hurry)...where are you going to find the time to go back and fix it later?
Yesterday’s post brought home the point that in both the OT story of the ‘beginning’ of Israel’s going in to possess the land, and the early church’s beginning that there were some important truths God wanted them to take hold of early on. There were some very sobering consequences experienced by both Achan (Josh.7) and Ananias (Acts 5). Might I also add it is not lost on me that their sins affected not just them, but also their families...and others as well.
Foundational truths...are important. In the sharing of my own personal testimony on how when I first turned my life towards God some 42 years ago, there were three very significant truths that were made quite clear to me early on. God has reminded me many times of late what those three truths were in those early days. The first one was- I was living in a world that had a ‘spiritual layer’ to it and there were ‘spirits of darkness’ that were very much at work and in existence and it would be wise of me to take notice and be aware. The second lesson I learned early on was when God begins to point out sin in my life, either through His word or by His Spirit, it is advisable to deal with it quickly and thoroughly. The third lesson I learned early on was rewarded with some amazing answered prayers as this ‘walk of faith’ works best when your heart is totally in and on board. (As in loving God with ALL your heart). And God does...and will...test Your heart!
We also know from scripture that when God wants to do a new thing in us, that early on, ‘Satan comes immediately to snatch that word from our hearts lest we believe and are saved’. (Luke 8:12). What did Pharaoh attempt to do by decree in the early stages of Moses’s life? Or what about Herod’s command shortly after Jesus had been born?
Nothing has changed. You and I have a spiritual enemy whose only desire and mission is to come in and ‘steal, kill, and destroy’. (John 10:10). Peter makes no attempt to hide the importance of us being sober and alert and on guard as this enemy (who he clearly identifies as the devil) goes about like a roaring lion seeking to devour’. (1 Pet. 5:8) I’ve shared in previous postings how that old ‘serpent’ was cursed back in Gen. 3 to ‘crawl on his belly and feed on dust’ all the days of his existence. (Gen.3:14). Ever heard the expression describing an evil person as ‘being lower than a snake’s belly’?
We are also reminded in Gen. 3 that man’s ‘flesh’ was made from dust...hence the case being made that our ‘flesh nature’ is ‘serpent food’. The reason I repeat this often is so we begin to ‘see the light’ that this old sinful flesh nature is how our spiritual enemy gains access into our lives and brings all kinds of pain and suffering along with spiritual with physical torment and suffering. He can even bring in sickness and disease as well.
This bible begins to make more and more sense when we read it from God’s point of view and not our traditions and man make doctrines, does it not?
Let no one deceive you with empty words, as Paul often reminds us...we do indeed have a spiritual enemy. One whom you are powerless to defend against in your own power and strength. He is the source of all the pain and suffering in this world as he was, in effect, God’s judgment and instrument of wrath against all sin. That is what we are ‘saved from’ when we turn to Jesus...it is the ‘wrath of God’. (Rom. 5:9; Ps. 78:49). Prior to our coming to God through Christ, the ‘wrath of God was on us’ (John 3:36) and it was through the sinful flesh nature and its lusts and desires that this spiritual enemy worked IN and Through us. (Eph. 2:1-3)
These spiritual ‘influences’ (in all reality, they are demon spirits but using terms like ‘spiritual germs’ may help us understand what is at work here) are the reasons so many people are afflicted with physical, emotional, and mental pain and suffering. Modern thought and practices have given many of these ailments different terms that would totally dismiss the idea of there being a ‘spiritual component’ to it. Hence why so many of God’s people today are ‘destroyed for a lack of knowledge’. (Hosea 4:6).
Acts 10:38 tells us explicitly what Jesus came to do, and how He did it. “God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power to go about doing good and healing ALL who were oppressed by the devil.” Can I share some encouraging news with you? Jesus never stopped doing that. Nor has the devil stopped doing what he does as well. And the sooner we open our eyes and wake up to embrace these biblical truths, the sooner people might find relief from their suffering.
Just consider this point alone...if we are admonished to ‘resist the devil’ (James 4:7; 1 Pet. 5:8-9) and we chose to ‘ignore’ him or dismiss the idea all together entirely that he’s even a factor in our lives, then assuming you are wrong on that, what have you given him access and license to do? - to come and go at will to bring decay and misery into your life. If the pest control guy tells you he sees serious signs of termites in your home and you choose to ignore him...what can you expect to happen down the road?
Do you think Jesus was kidding in Matt. 12:43-45 when He spoke of what happens if/when an unclean spirit goes out of a man...that it will seek to come back and bring with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself and the person who ignores it will be much worse off in the end. I just don’t think He was speaking in ‘poetic terms’ here.
Allow me to simplify this and I have no problem bringing in all kinds of scripture to support this line of thinking that should really get all of our attention...
Satan and demon spirits are real and more plentiful than any of us would care to imagine. They ‘feed’ and gain access anywhere they see/find sin. Why do you think they tempt us to sin? And all sin can be traced to the ‘lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the boastful pride of life. This is all that our flesh nature is tied up in and driven by. This is exactly why Jesus leads us to put the whole thing to death- this old man (sinful nature). As I said the other day...get rid of the dead carcass and you get rid of the flies and buzzards. (type of unclean spirits). Jesus came to set us free from sin telling us that if we continued to sin then we were slaves to sin and not heirs to the promise. Those who abide in Him no longer sin. This is how he frees us and shuts the door on the powers of darkness who come to steal, kill, and destroy.
People who have not seen the light of this truth in scripture are quick to rise up against anything that does not ‘fit’ with their current church doctrine and theology. They are quick to say it is impossible for us to ever be free of sin...despite what scripture teaches. Most would have told Peter it was impossible to walk on water but guess what...he did. Until he took his eyes off of Jesus and then he began to sink. Maybe that verse in Heb. 12:2 is there for a reason reminding us of the need to ‘fix our eyes on Jesus’ and to purposefully ‘set our minds on thing above and not on things on the earth” (Col 3:2)
I can’t really see much need for us to ‘walk on water’, but there are plenty of verses that admonish us to ‘walk like Jesus and be holy’ and ‘sin no more’ and ‘give no place to the devil’. If sin is indeed humanity’s problem and Jesus came to destroy the power of sin, then ‘how can we neglect so great a salvation’? (Heb. 2:3) And why is all this so relevant to us today? Because just about every ‘believer’ will readily admit they continue to ‘sin all the time’. And contrary to popular belief, this really is...a problem. Guess what? Jesus is ‘still the answer for the world today.”
Psst...there really is a 'Physician in the house'! ;-)
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