It struck me that as I was taking time to intentionally praise God, that so much of what we do in our American culture is driven by what we feel. Most media (advertising), political speeches, many sermons, religious and ministry appeals, advertising for food, restaurant atmosphere, and even the church atmosphere can be about appealing to how we feel. I had recently visited with a Naturopath who explained to me why we eat what we eat over the centuries and it had a lot to do with taste, look, texture, and how a person felt eating the food. Unfortunately most of this has nothing to do with what is really life-giving to our body. In the middle of praising the Lord I felt like He was giving me a revelation of the difference between living by faith and living by your feelings. When you offer up the "sacrifice of praise" when you don't feel like it pretty soon if you continue praising God your feelings change and you are seeing things differently. But if at this time I did what I felt like, I would tend toward discouragement because there are lies in my soul that are producing some feelings. Feelings are not bad they are just the fruit of what I am believing and experiencing. If my feelings are coming from experiencing being united to Christ and being one in spirit with Him, then there will be fruit of the Spirit. On the other hand if my feelings are coming out of my beliefs rooted in my soul from past experiences and memories than the fruit is not going to be fruit of the Spirit. If you stop and think about how much of our lives are lived from our feelings and how much of our culture is focused on trying to get me to feel something, this is a sober line of thought. I believe feelings are a gift from God otherwise Jesus would not have felt every human emotion to its very depth. Yet if I guided by my feelings rather than the Holy Spirit I will be ruled by the earthly realm and not experience the heavenly realm which I was born again to walk in. Believe me I am not pointing any fingers because I have been a person who has lived by their feelings rather than the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I believe that part of the difference in being a follower of Christ is that we actually understand the human condition and find real answers in Jesus Christ and His finished work. We live in a day and age where so many people seem to be on autopilot ruled by their emotions and reactions to situations, Christ followers are to stand out as people who respond to the leading of the Spirit and dwell in the heavenly dimension. I don't believe that we were seated "in Christ" in the heavenly realm (Ephesians 2:6), just to have God save us a spot for when we die but for this to be the reality that we dwell in daily. You can't experience that reality by feelings first but by faith and revelation first, then the feelings will come.
It is interesting that most of the Fruits of the Spirit are feelings/experiences but most of the time are not just something we experience without making decisions (often sacrifices) based on faith. I think of the analogy of our journey with Christ found in the history of Israel. When Israel was in bondage in Egypt they cried out to the Lord and He delivered them by parting the Red Sea, this is analogous to us coming into a Salvation experience (forgiveness of sins). The Israelites cross over the Red Sea on dry land only to enter the Wilderness and end up wandering 40 years. Most of us as believers spend time in the wilderness where we are still trying to live by our own resources rather than the indwelling Christ, also in the wilderness God provides but we have just enough. Then finally Israel comes to the Jordan River and prepares to enter into the Promise Land, yet the priests must step into the Jordan River at flood stage with the Ark of the Covenant (the Presence) going before them. In the same way we as believers must appropriate our new life and identity "in Christ" by faith through Total Surrender. In the wilderness the Israelites were fed not by faith but the mercy of God to give Manna & Quail, they only needed to collect it and had to trust it would come the next day. In the Promise Land the Manna & Quail are done after 17 days, then Israel must take the seed God provided for them and plant it so they can have a harvest. In the same way I believe we must take the Seed (God's Promises, dreams He gives us, and promptings of the Holy Spirit) plant it in the soil of our souls so it will bear fruit (James 1:21). This comes through meditating on His promises, spending time in worship, prayer, reflecting on the Psalms, or many other ways till I come into an encounter with Him.
I seem to have some great prayer times whizzing along on my road bike down the high line canal trail with everything the deep green of Spring. As I was riding and praying I was asking the Lord about upcoming meeting with some people. I sensed Him speak to my heart that every commandment that is given in the New Covenant is really an invitation into our true identity and destiny. I don't know too many people that have feel all warm and squishy inside when they think of being given a commandment, many of us bristle or withdraw. Unfortunately we often read the commandments of the New Testament as if they were the cold, stony, and demanding expectations of a God who is angry with us. Thus when we are told in Ephesians 4:26 "Be angry, AND YET DO NOT SIN, DO NOT let the sun go down on your anger." We have a picture in our minds of a demanding, disappointing, and judgemental look of a teacher who expects us to not handle things well. Another command in Ephesians 4:32 says, "Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you." In this one there is a sense we ought to forgive and the person demanding this has no understanding or compassion for how deeply we have been hurt. Also the person who expects this is also not willing to help us in any way. Now let's look through the lens of Christ and the New Covenant: Jesus has entered being insulted, betrayed, abandoned, and abused then has been united with us so we now have the power to respond as He responded with forgiveness. Christ is a forgiving person and so are you if you have been born-again because you are united to Him. So if you step into forgiving the people who have hurt you, you are actually stepping into your truest identity and in the process being released into freedom and life. Jesus also says at one point in the gospels says to "...Love your enemies, bless those persecuting you...", sounds like a lot of fun when you are pain, yet as I have seen people do this very thing they seemed to launched into an identity of manifesting Christ to others. All this must be taken in the context of understanding every one of these commands are given to the New Nature of who we are "in Christ" (our Truest self) and not to our old nature. Thus when preachers get up to beat us with the Word of God of what we are not doing for God and the implied message is that He is disappointed in us, this is not the New Covenant but the preaching of the Old Covenant. Unfortunately, much of the preaching that is out there is trying to get people's old nature to behave like Jesus. I heard one of our Advanced Training students say as she was learning about her new identity and union with Christ, "This changes everything". It's important that we even look at Scripture through the eyes of the Holy Spirit and the finished work of Christ, then we will see freedom, life, and love rather than condemnation.
Living as a Christ follower I don't have to remind you that there are so many forces that seek to undermine your faith, the Bible tells us to watch out for the flesh, the world (system), and the Devil. As some who know me know I often like to ponder and understand the roots of things, especially things related to people. As I was reflecting on Genesis 3:1 (where it all started), I was struck by this phrase spoken by the serpent "Indeed, has God said...". The serpent is called crafty which from the translation means prudent or shrewd, this same word is used in other places positively in connection with wisdom. Satan here has a line of thinking (wisdom- endowed with reasoning & using it) that starts with this opening statement. In this short jab like the thrust of a sword Satan comes at all the wisdom of God that brought about Creation and holds it together. Satan attacks the Word of God, "...has God said..." sounds like only a glancing blow of the sword but with further investigation we see that this attack on God's Word is an attack on His very character and nature. Interesting that Satan doesn't start with small talk to lure in the relational Eve, he makes this initial thrust of the sword and like an enemy turned friend he parrots back what God said "You shall not eat from any tree of the garden?" Notice though that Satan gives his version which is one that God is really preventing Adam and Eve from eating from any tree, instead of only the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. We can see several of the enemy's tactics here that we need to be aware of as 2 Corinthians 2:11 tells us, "so that no advantage would be taken of us by Satan , for we are not ignorant of his schemes." The first thrust of the sword of the Enemy of our souls is to bring a shadow of doubt about God's character and nature, this especially enters in when there are strongholds in our souls that the Lord is bringing healing in. We see throughout Scripture that God's methods and ways with His people changes from person to person and situation to situation. Clearly Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever, yet does God always use the same way to bring about a breakthrough. No. One time it might be in personal prayer, or worship, or through another person, through a teaching, or own study of the Word. Back to one of the most important if not the most important realities is that God is good all the time, His nature is at the very heart of our faith. If we do not have a revelation of the goodness of God, we will question every action that we suspect Him taking which really is thinking that lines up with Satan's line of thinking in the garden. Adam and Eve before Satan's entrance experienced and knew intimately the goodness of God because this is how they were taken care of and lived in their relationship with God. It is easy to believe you know God is good until you are in a place of suffering, it is the squeezing grip of suffering which reveals what we really believe deep in our souls. Unfortunately in today's Body of Christ there is a tradition of man that will question the goodness of God by seeking measuring the Word of God by our experience, our knowledge, or the science of the day. The Lord awakened me to this reality when out of the blue, I thought how strange it is that we say "is this the Word of God, am I really who God says I am?" How can I as a finite human being seek to be judge and jury on the very Word of God, faith believes the Word of God as reality. It is amazing to me how easy it is to go down a road of thought which is contrary to God's Word and His goodness, especially when it comes to our identity. I believe there is a parallel between the spiritual realm and the natural, it is interesting that there has been so much identity theft in recent years. It seems the Enemy is overplaying his hand.
As I sensed the Lord leading me to read verses in Romans 8:15&16 I love how The Message version states it, "This resurrection life you received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life. It's adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike "What's next, Papa? " I love the simple childlike faith that is displayed, too many times our adult reasoning is really just justification for our doubt and unbelief. How wonderfully disarming for Jesus to invite us to be like little children in Matthew 18:3 & 4, "And said, Truly I say to you, unless you repent (change, turn about) and become like little children [trusting, lowly, loving, forgiving], you can never enter the kingdom of heaven [at all]. Whoever will humble himself therefore and become like this little child [trusting, lowly, loving, forgiving] is greatest in the kingdom of heaven." I love the pictures painted in these two different sets of Scriptures, which I believe are a restoration of the innocence, freedom, and intimacy that Adam & Eve had with God before the Fall. Are you willing to step into that place of sweet trust "What's next, Papa?"
In a culture where we have ever-increasing choices daily, the Bible places two choices before us life and death. This is laid out in Deuteronomy 30:19 "I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you lifeanddeath, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants..." I may be the only one in the United States that often feels overwhelmed with the amount of choices from schools, to cereals, to activities, to churches, and even to websites. It seems to me that we are constantly being bombarded by choices (just the amount products alone can be so much), as a culture we are obsessed with having as many choices as possible. Does the amount of choices increase our freedom or is what God is saying really true that there really are only two categories of choices life or death. We are told by God that He sets the choices but that we are the ones who are to choose life. Many people are looking for God to make the choice for them, where they give over total control and no longer have to make a choice. As I look at Scripture God is not about taking our choice but He is active by the Holy Spirit to point us to life. We find that God is not looking to just give us the resource of life but the person who is Life, 1 John 5:11 & 12 say it this way "And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life."
So this is a paradigm shift to look to the relationship with an indwelling person of Jesus Christ as life, so I am really wanting to see the Life that is in me and on me flow through this earthen vessel out to others through my choices. When I believe that I am going to get life out of my choices means I deeply believe that the choice I am about ready to make will give me life. I think this is best seen through kids who long for some toy, they wait in anticipation to get it as a gift thinking "when I get this then...". They get the toy or the item play with it feverishly getting as much out of it as possible and then not too long later this item is cast aside for something else. I don't believe the drive that is behind this is bad, it is the desire for life itself and to truly be life it must be better than what I am currently experiencing. What is the object or focus of what I am looking for to get life, as adults we are more sophisticated we look towards people, a certain job or level of appreciation, or a certain set of circumstances that will finally bring the rest or satisfaction we so seek. Could it be that a deep relationship with the One who already dwells in us could satisfy the longings of our soul. The Scriptures only point one place for Life and not the same quality of life we maybe experiencing but supernatural Life but this only comes from Heaven not from this earthly realm. Even earthly relationships cannot provide the satisfaction we are looking for if we are looking to them for this Life but they can come alive with His Life if we agree to be vessels and conduits.
I had the privilege of attending a Revival for the mature generation at my Uncle's church, in this I can give you example of life versus death choice. The church sits on the main street with large white columns and weathered granite steps that have seen there share of generations. Inside the rich wooden pews are lined with red velvet seats and the choir is adorned behind the pulpit and two large chairs for the pastors. I am not a Baptist by background and also wouldn't identify myself as Southern. As I listened to the excellent sermon on the Holy Spirit, the seasoned out-of-town pastor succinctly talked about the Spirit-filled life with a few references to the limits he put on the Spirit according to Baptist theology. Death would be sit back judge, be critical, and differentiate myself as lining up more with the Charismatic tradition. Yet this man clearly had a rich relationship and intimacy with the Lord that stands out from others, he was one of God's friends. I believe the other path, which is Life, was to align myself in the Holy Spirit to hear life-giving impartation of the Spirit and the Word even though I don't agree with the Baptist doctrine (which to me limits the manifestation and gifts of the Holy Spirit). It was once said well that "life flows through Honor" but death flows through judgement and division. We often see the results of judgement and division and call it judgement and division but the issue really begins in the heart. It could have even been another step to get prayer from this man to receive an impartation of the grace that was on his life but he had directed prayer to be given by the senior pastor and I did not want to dishonor him.
