Please know, this is not about me sitting on some lofty perch feeling smug and self-righteous. I know…where God brought me out of and it was no doing of my own. Which just adds more fuel to my fire in me not wanting to shy away from sharing what He is trying to awaken us to. I’ve said it before…this is probably more serious than most want to admit.
Paul was explicit when he wrote there would be a ‘falling away’ from the faith in the end times. (2 Thess. 2:3) He only echoed what Jesus warned Himself as recorded in Matt. 24. And do you recall how Peter mentions that ‘all the prophets from Samuel on spoke or foretold about these days’. (Acts 3:24-26). So the same warnings that Jeremiah uttered hundreds of years ago have a spiritual layer of truth relevant to us today as well. Let’s read from the 23rd chapter in his book:
“Thus says the LORD of hosts: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you. They make you worthless; They speak a vision of their own heart, Not from the mouth of the LORD. They continually say to those who despise Me, ‘The LORD has said, “You shall have peace” ’; And to everyone who walks according to the dictates of his own heart, they say, ‘No evil shall come upon you.’ (23:16-17). (You might flip over and read Eph. 5:6 now)
When he talks about ‘walking according to the dictates of his own heart’, what do you think this means? Perhaps an unsurrendered heart that that has no intention of making Jesus Lord? Jesus Himself asked “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord’ and not do the things I say?” (Luke 6:46). Did Jesus not say ‘if you love me, keep my commands’? So all those teachers who are telling you ‘peace and safety…you have nothing to worry about’…read what happens to them in 1 Thess. 5:2-3.
I know yesterday’s post may have been difficult to digest. Believe me… I understand. Many of these verses I point out can be a shock to our system…well, our flesh at least. And they should be! What the word will start to do is challenge your core beliefs and IF…you have allowed a ‘doctrine’ to capture your heart and provide you ‘peace and safety’ and not Jesus, then you will find yourself trying to refute and oppose the word. And let’s not forget just ‘who the Word is’. It’s Jesus. (John 1:1, 14) Then the battle really begins to take shape. All these ‘thoughts’ begin to come to mind trying to bring up questions and scenarios that might explain why the word could not possibly mean what it says. (Hath God said?- Gen. 3:1)
Then there will be a ‘round of artillery’ from the enemy that wants you to get bogged down questioning whether you are even ‘saved’ and what about ‘so and so’…they ‘did such and such in church’…are you suggesting they aren’t/weren’t saved? Then the spirit of offense and rage really ramps up. Hence…the reason I am not being directed to discuss who is ‘saved or not saved’. God will sort that all out later. The question we need to address as I have stated all along is…are we abiding in Him?(John 15) If you are, that is a very good place to be. If you are not…then just the opposite. You don’t want to be like that guy in Matt. 7:21-23 who faced the greatest nightmare any professing believer could face…to be ‘busy doing things for God….only to hear He never knew you.”
Believe me…we should be ‘giving all the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away’ (Heb. 2:1) and since we ‘have these promises…let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirt, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” (2 Cor. 7:1)
I recently came across a post on FB that really resonated with me. It was a meme, actually, that showed a bunch of those big traffic cones that are used to turn a three lane highway into two. The wording on the image struck a nerve we have all felt about ‘those folks’ who try to squeeze in at the last second ahead of you and how there is no way you are going to let them in given how patiently you have waited. I honestly cannot remember who posted it as I would have re-shared it here today for my picture I usually add to my daily postings. I may have glanced at a few comments… where everyone was chiming in with agreement though with that sentiment.
I encounter this scenario weekly when I drive in to Dallas. For years, I could sense my blood begin to boil…you see those ‘devils’ coming up in your side mirror after you finally merged. And there is no way you are going to reward their self-centered behavior by pausing to allow them in ahead of you when they hit their turn signal at the last moment.
Then God asked me just what exactly was that which was ‘rising up inside of me’. You see…we all can identify with ‘that which rises up in us’. But because most everyone else experiences similar feelings and emotions…we tend to laugh it off or dismiss it as not being a problem. But it is to God. You are being ‘tested’ to reveal what is in your heart. James said you should be ‘counting it all joy’ when you face these tests. (1:2-4). So instead of ordering some T-shirt that reads “They won’t merge ahead of me on My watch!”, you should be thanking God for this ‘test’ to reveal some more of that ‘old man’ who needs to ‘die’ and then pray for that driver and ask God to bless them since He is ‘using them to perfect you’…as you slow down and wave them ahead of you. And your flesh nature will recoil at doing this and will actually ‘suffer’ as you die to irritation and selfishness. But this is the kind of suffering we were called to. (1 Pet. 4:1-2,12-13)
And No, this is not where you quote Ephesians 4:27 citing where it reads to ‘give no place to the devil’. …nice try though. Lol ;-)
Do you think it is at all possible that for the most of us…we were led astray …or lulled to ‘sleep’ into believing that as long as we were not involved with those really big, glaring, bad ‘sins’, that we get a free pass on all that other stuff that we have allowed to prevail in our lives. I mean, if the grace of God can enable you to overcome those really big sinful temptations, can it not help you overcome all the small, petty sins as well?
For example, where in the bible does it teach that when you go home at night and close the door and pull the window shades…that you can let that bad fruit fly with the ones you should be loving most? You know what I’m talking about. The ‘snipping’ and the ‘snapping’ and the ‘digs’ and ‘glares’ and yelling and arguing and ….need I go on? Sadly…many could add to this list and the severity of ‘fruit’ that migh increase in some homes. As James wrote: ”Brethren…these things should not be this way.” (3:9). Can both fresh water and salt water come from the same spring? Did Jesus not teach that “a good tree cannot produce bad fruit”? (Matt. 7:18). And what about all that grumbling and complaining and fault-finding and nit-picking that we just assume everyone does? What kind of tree do you think that fruit is coming off of…one rooted in Jesus…or something/someone else?
“Do all things without grumbling and complaining.” (Phil. 2:14). Would you mind looking up 1 Cor. 10:6-11 and reading that aloud right now…paying close attention to vs. 10.
You might also make note of Acts 1:8. This is where Jesus was with His disciples just prior to His ascension back to heaven. He had told them to tarry there until they were ’endued with power from on high’. THEN…they would go forth and ‘be witnesses first in Jerusalem, then Judea, then Samaria and eventually the ends of the earth.’. It’s important to see here that the first place we are called to be a witness is right there in your own home. If we cannot demonstrate the surrendered life to those around us who we love and influence the most, how can we possibly be an effective witness to anyone else beyond that scope?
Interesting side note here…that word ‘witness’ comes from a Greek word where we get our word ‘martyr’ from. What better place to learn how to ‘die for our faith’ than right there in our own home with our own family where there can be no shortage of tests to reveal all that ugly sinful nature that resides in us all. If only…I had had truly seen and embraced this early on in my own walk with the Lord... It is so easy to ‘drift’ and fall away from following Jesus with all our hearts yet maintain a ‘form of godliness’ that is superficial and void of the power that should be evident in a transformed life. Becoming a Christian…a follower of Christ has nothing to do with having a likeable and pleasant personality. It has everything to do with being conformed to the image and nature of Jesus. (Rom. 8:29)
I’m not sure how you are processing all this at the moment, but if you are feeling convicted….or downright discouraged…can I remind you this has nothing to do with ‘trying harder’? You can’t ‘do better’ until you make Jesus Lord…stretch out your arms and let Him lead you to die to self. Only then…will you see His resurrection power quicken within you and as you die to that old fruit, …new fruit becomes apparent. Then…you will better understand Paul’s claim that “I am crucified with Christ, it is no longer I who lives but Christ who lives in me…” (Gal. 2:20)
If you walk away from this post today telling yourself that you ‘really need to do better’ with a renewed resolve to ‘try harder’…maybe read your bible more and work on your temper…then you are missing the point. We cannot ‘fix’ ourselves. “Ourselves” need to get out of the way and die. That’s been the problem. There is so much more that many of us have been blinded to. And I don’t write this in a tone to suggest ‘nobody else gets it besides me’. I really don’t. I just struggle at times wanting so badly to convey how much more there is to this walk than any of us could ever have imagine. If you are still ‘sinning’, then you remain a ‘slave to sin’. (John 8:34)
You. Can. Truly. Be. Set. Free. (John 8:36). That is…if you want to.
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