Enemies Within
Wednesday, March 04, 2009, 6:02 p.m. – I went out to lunch today, followed by a walk inside the mall (for exercise), which was then followed by grocery shopping. While at the restaurant for lunch, I happened to see (by divine appointment, I believe) 3 individuals or sets of people that I have known from 3 various churches we have attended in town over the years.
Each one of these individuals or sets of people represented some difficult experience we had at each respective church. The Lord had placed me in a situation in each of those respective churches where I had to confront sin in the life of the pastor or an elder-deacon serving in the capacity of pastor while the church was without a pastor. So, I thus became an enemy to some people from each one of those churches.
As I sat down to eat and was contemplating this meeting of these 3 individuals or sets of individuals and what that represented to me, the Lord brought this song into my mind:
Cry Out To Jesus - Third Day (2005)
To everyone who's lost someone they love
long before it was their time.
You feel like the days you had were not enough
when you said goodbye.
And to all of the people with burdens and pains
keepin' you back from your life.
You believe that there's nothing
and there is no one who can make it right.
For the marriage that's struggling just to hang on
They lost all of their faith in love.
and they've done all they can to make it right again
still it's not enough.
For the ones who can't break the addictions and chains
you try to give up but you come back again.
Just remember that you're not alone
in your shame and your suffering.
When you're lonely and it feels like the whole world is falling on you
you just reach out, you just cry out to Jesus
To the widow who suffers from being alone,
wipin' the tears from her eyes.
For the children around the world without a home,
say a prayer tonight.
There is hope for the helpless, rest for the weary,
and love for the broken hearts.
There is grace and forgiveness, mercy and healing
that meets you wherever you are.
Cry out to Jesus. Cry out to Jesus.
So, I sat there in my seat and I cried out to Jesus. And, I gave him my loneliness, my rejection and my enemies, and I accepted the life he has planned for me again. Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read I Corinthians 10:1-13:
Warnings From Israel's History
1For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers, that our forefathers were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. 2They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. 3They all ate the same spiritual food 4and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ. 5Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered over the desert.
6Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did. 7Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written: "The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in pagan revelry." 8We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did—and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died. 9We should not test the Lord, as some of them did—and were killed by snakes. 10And do not grumble, as some of them did—and were killed by the destroying angel.
11These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come. 12So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall! 13No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.
My Understanding: I believe that meeting of these individuals or sets of people was by divine appointment and that the Lord has a lesson he wants me to learn and then to share from this. The passage of scripture talks about our “forefathers” and how God was not pleased with most of them. Yet, the Lord uses them as examples of what not to do and to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did. And, the things that they did are not only to be used as examples of what not to do, but they are recorded (written down) as warnings to us of how not to live.
I believe the Lord allowed me to be reminded of these 3 church situations and their respective pastors or elder-deacons, because they, too, are examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did. And, the scripture list four categories of evil – 1) Idolaters, 2) sexually immoral, 3) testing the Lord, and 4) grumblers.
So, I considered what manner of evil these men did. Collectively, the list includes:
1) Seduction, i.e. attempts at trying to tempt another towards sexual immorality
2) Applauding a public display of sexual immorality
3) Judging the evil in the world while refusing to judge the evil in his own church
4) Lying to protect their reputations
5) Refusal to acknowledge sin and to repent
6) Passing the blame on to another – refusal to accept responsibility for actions
7) Non-denial denials (lies) – for instance, neither denying or accepting as truth the allegations against him, but saying “I would never do that”, instead
8) Honoring of man over God – more concerned about man’s opinions over God’s words
9) Showing favoritism
10) Rejection of and desire to replace believers in ministry based upon level of talent and stage presence and ability to “draw in large crowds of people” with other more super-talented individuals
11) Belief that man must put forth only those with stage presence and super talent in order to draw in large crowds of people; in order to grow a church
12) Abuse of power
13) Coercion; intimidation; and bullying to try to force another to do something that was wrong, i.e. to tell a lie, in order to further the pastor’s personal agenda
14) Double-Dealing, i.e. telling one group one thing and another group another thing in order to use them to cooperate with each other to further the pastor’s own personal agenda
15) Making the person confronting the sin out as the “enemy”
When I read the news, I saw a few articles that appeared to suggest that our government was involved in some of these same kinds of practices:
ENEMIES LIST: Dems step up attacks on Limbaugh: Obama team admits input – www.drudgereport.com and http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/mar/05/feeding-the-beast-on-rush-attacks/?page=2
The Obama Administration caught Double-Dealing on Israel. http://jewishworldreview.com/0309/bayefsky030309.php3
I believe the Lord allowed this in my life this day because he wanted to encourage me through this passage of scripture with regard to those situations, and also he wanted to let me know that those things happened in my life to teach me how not to behave, so they were for my good and for my strengthening, even though they were difficult and even though I am still hated by some of the people in those churches.
And, I believe it is also a reminder that if any of us thinks we are standing firm, that we need to be careful that we don’t fall. Not one of us is immune. We need to daily test our own hearts and attitudes, and we need to daily put on the armor of God in order to fight off the devil’s schemes. And, we need to remember that God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.
Amen!
Wednesday, March 04, 2009, 6:02 p.m. – I went out to lunch today, followed by a walk inside the mall (for exercise), which was then followed by grocery shopping. While at the restaurant for lunch, I happened to see (by divine appointment, I believe) 3 individuals or sets of people that I have known from 3 various churches we have attended in town over the years.
Each one of these individuals or sets of people represented some difficult experience we had at each respective church. The Lord had placed me in a situation in each of those respective churches where I had to confront sin in the life of the pastor or an elder-deacon serving in the capacity of pastor while the church was without a pastor. So, I thus became an enemy to some people from each one of those churches.
As I sat down to eat and was contemplating this meeting of these 3 individuals or sets of individuals and what that represented to me, the Lord brought this song into my mind:
Cry Out To Jesus - Third Day (2005)
To everyone who's lost someone they love
long before it was their time.
You feel like the days you had were not enough
when you said goodbye.
And to all of the people with burdens and pains
keepin' you back from your life.
You believe that there's nothing
and there is no one who can make it right.
For the marriage that's struggling just to hang on
They lost all of their faith in love.
and they've done all they can to make it right again
still it's not enough.
For the ones who can't break the addictions and chains
you try to give up but you come back again.
Just remember that you're not alone
in your shame and your suffering.
When you're lonely and it feels like the whole world is falling on you
you just reach out, you just cry out to Jesus
To the widow who suffers from being alone,
wipin' the tears from her eyes.
For the children around the world without a home,
say a prayer tonight.
There is hope for the helpless, rest for the weary,
and love for the broken hearts.
There is grace and forgiveness, mercy and healing
that meets you wherever you are.
Cry out to Jesus. Cry out to Jesus.
So, I sat there in my seat and I cried out to Jesus. And, I gave him my loneliness, my rejection and my enemies, and I accepted the life he has planned for me again. Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read I Corinthians 10:1-13:
Warnings From Israel's History
1For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers, that our forefathers were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. 2They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. 3They all ate the same spiritual food 4and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ. 5Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered over the desert.
6Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did. 7Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written: "The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in pagan revelry." 8We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did—and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died. 9We should not test the Lord, as some of them did—and were killed by snakes. 10And do not grumble, as some of them did—and were killed by the destroying angel.
11These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come. 12So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall! 13No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.
My Understanding: I believe that meeting of these individuals or sets of people was by divine appointment and that the Lord has a lesson he wants me to learn and then to share from this. The passage of scripture talks about our “forefathers” and how God was not pleased with most of them. Yet, the Lord uses them as examples of what not to do and to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did. And, the things that they did are not only to be used as examples of what not to do, but they are recorded (written down) as warnings to us of how not to live.
I believe the Lord allowed me to be reminded of these 3 church situations and their respective pastors or elder-deacons, because they, too, are examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did. And, the scripture list four categories of evil – 1) Idolaters, 2) sexually immoral, 3) testing the Lord, and 4) grumblers.
So, I considered what manner of evil these men did. Collectively, the list includes:
1) Seduction, i.e. attempts at trying to tempt another towards sexual immorality
2) Applauding a public display of sexual immorality
3) Judging the evil in the world while refusing to judge the evil in his own church
4) Lying to protect their reputations
5) Refusal to acknowledge sin and to repent
6) Passing the blame on to another – refusal to accept responsibility for actions
7) Non-denial denials (lies) – for instance, neither denying or accepting as truth the allegations against him, but saying “I would never do that”, instead
8) Honoring of man over God – more concerned about man’s opinions over God’s words
9) Showing favoritism
10) Rejection of and desire to replace believers in ministry based upon level of talent and stage presence and ability to “draw in large crowds of people” with other more super-talented individuals
11) Belief that man must put forth only those with stage presence and super talent in order to draw in large crowds of people; in order to grow a church
12) Abuse of power
13) Coercion; intimidation; and bullying to try to force another to do something that was wrong, i.e. to tell a lie, in order to further the pastor’s personal agenda
14) Double-Dealing, i.e. telling one group one thing and another group another thing in order to use them to cooperate with each other to further the pastor’s own personal agenda
15) Making the person confronting the sin out as the “enemy”
When I read the news, I saw a few articles that appeared to suggest that our government was involved in some of these same kinds of practices:
ENEMIES LIST: Dems step up attacks on Limbaugh: Obama team admits input – www.drudgereport.com and http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/mar/05/feeding-the-beast-on-rush-attacks/?page=2
The Obama Administration caught Double-Dealing on Israel. http://jewishworldreview.com/0309/bayefsky030309.php3
I believe the Lord allowed this in my life this day because he wanted to encourage me through this passage of scripture with regard to those situations, and also he wanted to let me know that those things happened in my life to teach me how not to behave, so they were for my good and for my strengthening, even though they were difficult and even though I am still hated by some of the people in those churches.
And, I believe it is also a reminder that if any of us thinks we are standing firm, that we need to be careful that we don’t fall. Not one of us is immune. We need to daily test our own hearts and attitudes, and we need to daily put on the armor of God in order to fight off the devil’s schemes. And, we need to remember that God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.
Amen!
