Stand Your Ground

"...give no opportunity to the devil."  Ephesians4:27

The 2nd chapter of Ephesians explains our seat with Christ.  We are seated, present tense, in the heavens with Christ.  Obviously, this is not our physical bodies, but our spirit.  This is why Paul always directs us to live by the Spirit and not the flesh; because it's much better to acknowledge our position in Christ than our position in this world. 

The enemy's attacks are in attempt to get us to relinquish our position with Christ in the heavenlies.  He attacks our flesh to get us to respond in the same way; the flesh.  He knows that if we will respond on his terms, we give up our heavenly positioning to fight on his terms, where we have no power over him.

We have to be watchful, giving him no opportunity in which to catch us off our post.  Often it is a storm aimed to blow us physically off our post.  Other times there are distractions and curiosities that lure us away, seemingly harmless, but they cause us to relax our watch.

Then there is the secretive attack on reason when the enemy uses "good sense" to reduce our perspective back to earth and dethrone the Almighty God in our minds.  This is a most covert attack, and is often the most effective. Be careful how much thought you give to reason.  Reason cannot accept the dead risen to life. 

In all these things, the natural response is that of the flesh: fear, worry, sickness, stress, arguments and dissensions.  Whenever we respond in the flesh, our post is abandoned, giving opportunity to the devil to take yielded ground.  He cannot take ground unless he is offered it by our flesh.  Resist him and he will flee from you.  Stand your watch, using the Sword of the Spirit as your weapon. 

"So I say then, walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh."  (Galatians 5:16)

Presented Blameless

"Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh (or bitter) toward them." - Colossians 3:19

Wow!  I was convicted this weekend about the above verse.  The Lord showed me that this harshness and bitterness is not about actions or words as I have always believed; it is about the condition of my heart and my thoughts toward my wife.  It starts with my thoughts of her.  Ouch.  Ephesians 5:27 tells me to present my wife to myself as though she is to be blamed for nothing; that she has no faults, no sin, nothing that would cause me to lower her status in my mind of reigning queen.

How can we do that?  Because we have the example of Jesus Christ and the Spirit of Jesus Christ alive inside of us.  The Lord "does not treat us as our sins deserve" (Psalm 103:10).  This is the grace of God.  Not only that we don't get the punishment that we do deserve, but that we do get the reward that we have no right receiving.  In His mind He has elevated us, despite our corruption, and counted us worthy to be in right relationship with Him.  The whole reason that He has overlooked our faults and rebellion toward Him is because He wants to be with us!  The God of Creation desires you! 

Following the Lord's example, my thoughts, actions, words, and everything about me is to be in love with my wife, in the same way that Jesus Christ is in love with the Church.  Yes, I believe it is my choice to continue to fall deeper in love with my wife.  It is not up to anyone or anything but me, by the fruits of the Holy Spirit.  Once we make that decision, there can be NO CONDITIONS.

God often relates the rebellion of His people to adultery.  Yet He has always been there, in love with us.  The Cross of Christ has solidified my place in the Kingdom.  In the same way, following His example, I will be crucified to this world that my wife may be in right relationship with me; even to the point of adultery.  Her position in my life is not based on her actions, but it is based on who she is: my wife.  This must begin in my mind.  It is up to me to present her to myself, in my thoughts first, without any blame or fault.

"...and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless."  Ephesians 5:27

Have you presented your wife to yourself as a spotless and blameless bride today?

Weeds

"He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing...By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples."  John 15:6 & 8

"Weeds are anything in your life that is taking up valuable resources but does not produce fruit." - Pastor Brady Boyd

I so want to be someone  who is not caught up in the things of the world.  My spirit longs for the simplicity of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and life in His Spirit.  I love the quote above about the weeds in our life.  Pastor Brady goes on to say that these weeds are not necessarily bad things; they are just using us up without any good produce.  Great sermon - watch or listen to "The Law of the Farm" here: New Life Sermons. 

Pray for me tonight, as I struggle through the worldly decisions of life, that I will remain "unspotted from the world"; that I may bear good and acceptable fruit from the resources of the Holy Spirit. 

Rachel and I, as I wrote a few posts ago, are partaking in The Whole 30.  It's basic purpose is to take 30 days to eat only things that produce good things for our body.  We're learning that this is so true in our lives as well.  Rachel has been reading!  Our hope is that our lifestyle, as well as our diet, begins to feed us with things that only produce good fruit.  Sometimes we have to do natural things so that we can better understand the spiritual things (1 Corinthians 15:46).  I'm thankful that the Lord is showing us spiritual things as a result of taking care of our natural things. 

So I say, get in shape!  I said it.  Get off your butt and go work your body out.  Make it hurt; discipline it unto subjection (1 Corinthians 9:27).  When you learn how your body grows in strength and endurance, you'll also learn how your spirit and mind grow in strength and endurance.  Use your resources for the things that produce good fruit.  Lord, help us to see with Kingdom eyes, that we may partake in Kingdom activities, thoughts, and prayers. 

P.S. - this is a good song: I Will Exalt 

Selfish Pursuit

“If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.  He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”  John 7:37-38

I've recently pulled out my old journals that I write in during my time spent with the Lord.  If you were to read through them, you may think I'm a little selfish.  You'd be right!  My desire for the past 6 years has been to selfishly pursue the nature of God.  It hasn't been about praying for others or learning what is right and wrong.  If anything, those things have often gotten in the way of my pursuit of Him.

Please don't misunderstand, we should often pray for one another and should seek to do what's right in the sight of God.  But we can't start there.  We must learn to press through the "wind and the waves" of life to see Him and learn His nature.  We must learn to use the gift of a sound mind to focus all of our thoughts on Him. 

From that place of intimacy with Him will flow all prayer and righteous living.  As the Scripture at the top says, we must first go to Him, then the living waters will flow into the avenues of life.  Selfishly pursue the nature of God.  Know Him for yourself.  Don't let anyone else tell you about Him (as I am doing right now).  Go and see. 

Remember, intimacy with God is right now, not yesterday and not tomorrow.  It must be found in the moment with no agenda of my own or thoughts of what I must do today or even who I must pray for today.  Pray that God will teach you to live right now and not worry yourself with the next thing.  God's Presence is just that; present; now; present tense.  When we learn to live in the present tense with God and seek His nature, we will be greatly refreshed as we immerse ourselves in His Spirit.

Whole Food

"...he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life."  Galatians 6:8

Rachel and I just began an food challenge called the Whole 30.  We are only able to eat meats, eggs, fruits, nuts, and lots of veggies.  Not too bad really, but I didn't realize how much sugar and grains I was taking in.  The basic idea behind the plan is that you cleanse yourself of things that aren't "whole".  After the cleansing you begin to feel like you have a new body - you realize that you were sick and didn't even know it because it felt normal.

Of course, I'm going to go spiritual with this.  Galatians 6 talks about sowing to the flesh vs. sowing to the Spirit.  Our culture has conditioned us to think that constant worldly concerns and activities are what we are supposed to be putting our time into (yes, I mean TV, Facebook, and 401ks).  It's normal and everyday routine so we aren't realizing that the things we're feeding our spirit are making us sick.  We're sick and we don't know it.

"God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap" Galatians 6:7.  We fool ourselves and mock God in the process by thinking that we can spend all of our time on the computer or watching TV and still reap a lifestyle that lines up with a disciple of Christ.  If you eat twinkies all day, you will get fat and sick.  The substance of what you take in will show itself in the fruit of your life, good or bad. 

Think about your day; how much of your time, thought, and energy is sown to the world, and how much is sown to the Spirit?  Are you eating the twinkies of life that the world says is normal?  The fruit of the Spirit is born out of seeds sown to a lifestyle in the Spirit.  It is a constant sowing to be continually filled with the Holy Spirit.  Let's eat the good whole food of the Spirit of God. 

"Why do you spend money for what is not bread, and your wages for what does not satisfy?  Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and let your soul delight itself in abundance.  Incline your ear, and come to Me.  Hear, and your soul shall live..." 
                                                                                                      Isaiah 55:2-3

The Greatest Gift

Read slow and examine yourself...

"Love...
  is paitient
  is kind
  does not envy
  does not boast
  is not proud
  does not behave rudely
  does not seek its own
  is not easily angered
  thinks no evil (keeps no record of wrongs)
  does not rejoice in iniquity
  rejoices in the truth
  bears all things
  believes all things
  hopes all things
  endures all things.
  Love...never...fails"
              1 Corinthians 13:4-8

20 minutes ago I told my wife that I loved her...then I read this section of Scripture...then I repented for lying to my wife.  The absolute only way to have true love is by the fruit of the Holy Spirit in my life.  Without Him I have no hope.

The Wilderness

"But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God."  1 Corinthians 2:10

A man tops out on a low hill overlooking a vast expanse of wilderness.  His own belief has brought him this far, but now he sees into a world that surpasses his own understanding.  He looks out in fearful anticipation of trudging into the wilderness after the Voice that calls him, "Deeper, deeper."  He has nothing with him; no pack, no food, no water, nothing to weigh him down in his journey - all were left at the end of belief. 

A constant stirring of Wind keeps his senses alert.  He knows that with each step into the wilderness he gets closer to the Voice of the One who seeks him.  There are no enemies in the wilderness, but he is aware of a terrible Danger.  Yet from deep within the Danger, overshadowing Danger itself, there seems to be a tremendous Longing that consumes all that he is.  "Fear the Danger," says the Voice, "But do not shy away from it; for its Longing is greater than its Danger."

Many have come to this point and turned back, wearied by the vastness and not wanting to leave their things behind to seek the expanses of Uncertainty.  With each step the Voice on the wind seems closer, drawing him.  His desire is to get lost in the wilderness because he knows that is where the Voice resides.  Not far off there is a River leading into the beginning of rougher terrain; mountains of which he can see no Summit.  He can't explain it, but the River seems to be flowing in both directions.  He is drawn by the Voice to the River.  "Be washed, drink deep, and continue on."

The terrain is rough, yet his foot always seems to fall solidly.  Whenever he looks away from the horizon, he can see out of the corner of his eye what seems to be light from a magnificent Fire.  But when he looks up, he sees only the Rising Sun, somewhat obstructed by thunderous clouds.  It is as if the Fire is diverting the direct vision of his eye because it cannot be directly taken in, and so diverts the eye to the Sun.  Even the the Wind directs him, "Follow the River to the Sun, through the mountains and into the thunder."  With each step Danger increases, as does Longing.   

Many have been called, but few have continued on once a they've glimpsed the vast Uncertainty of the wilderness.  Many believe in the Lord; few have gone beyond belief to search His heart.  The Voice is calling, the Way is clear, and a River of Life is the reward.  Seek Him, you seekers.  One requirement remains: whatever you brought with you to the end of belief must be left  behind.  There are no hindrances here; no burdens; no concerns.  Step out of your own belief and into the Heart of the wilderness.