- Jun 26, 2015
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What will it take? An economic meltdown? A World war? Anarchy in the streets? Empty grocery shelves? Th stock market falling into a death spiral? How badly does the foundation under our feet have to be shaken to cry out to Him with ALL of our hearts to save us from sin, from self, from the pull of the world, from the wiles and accusations and temptations of th devil?
We Christians are for the most part “good people”. What is wrong with that, you ask? Well, we were never called to be good. We were called to be holy. And not only are we not walking in holiness, as living sacrifices, we are not really bothered that we are not. Truth? You bet.
Do we not see? The promises of God are meant to be our stepping stones to abiding in the vine, where we walk pleasing to Him, where we ask whatsoever we will and it will be done for us, where we do not fulfill the lusts of the flesh.
But instead of crying out for God to do as He has assured us He will do, we have set ourselves under preachers and teachers assuring us all is wonderful, and rallied around our mantras of unbelief and logic, our human wisdom. What mantras? Here’s two. We have espoused our excuses that no one is perfect and that we are only human, and with one fell swoop, we have gutted the promises of God to fill us, change us, set us free indeed and to plant our feet on the highway of holiness, making us victorious over the world, the flesh and the devil. Welcome to modern day Christianity, possessing the basics of truth in our doctrines but lacking life overflowing.
And you know what? Actually, our mantras are right. We aren’t perfect. And yes, we are only human. We do still reside in bodies of flesh. So where have we erred? We have rested content in our prison cells of self, and quoted Romans 7 as our scriptural backing to excuse the one attribute that Paul did not possess in his battle with the flesh. Contentment to remain there.
Listen. Paul HATED his old carnal nature. He did not use it as an excuse to continue to sin every now and then. He did not rest short of what God had promised him.... free indeed. No, guys, he bemoaned the fact that his sins still ruled him. He longed to please God in everything he did and the fact that he could not left him in a dark place as he tried to defeat the sins that defined him. .
In fact, his struggle against the self-loving old carnal nature brought him to the point he despaired of life itself. He saw himself as a wretched man, declared innocent but still incarcerated, a prisoner to a fallen lower nature that refused to climb down off the throne of his life. He did not rejoice that grace allowed this. He wailed that for some reason, he failed to apprehend what the grace of God promised Him.... a brand new nature that not only wanted to obey, but actually DID obey!
How few there are in these ever darkening last days who are walking in real victory. How rare it is to find souls hungry for the secret of abiding in Jesus, in real victory, and for the love of God to actually flow through them. We are told that contentment with godliness is great gain. We have settled for modest gain and contentment, but without that pesky, elusive, impossible-to-actually-walk-in godliness.
And of all our sins, it is this contentment in our fleshly religious efforts and constant failings that has kept us from the answer we so desperately need. We have made our Christianity a huge machine that cannot have its course corrected because we have refused to heed all the warnings and exhortations God has given us. It has taken on a life of itself and if a major course correction is not taken soon, our end will not be a pretty one.
Do we not see? We are the people spoken of who are healed ‘only slightly’, saying ‘peace, peace’, when there is no peace. We are the ones spoken of in the last days heaping to ourselves teachers that will tickle our itching ears. We are the ones having a form of godliness, but with our lives denying the power of it. We are those who have turned the grace of God into lasciviousness, a license to sin with no fear. Oh, we may not be bold enough (yet) to say that out loud, but the thought has been planted and taken root in the hearts of millions, and with no way to get rid of the weeds, it is going to take a moldbore plow to break up our fallow ground. Delicate weeding will no longer cut it.
We are told that in the last days, men are going to love their own selves MORE than they love God. Their true treasure will be self, pleasure, security, and not God alone. Can we shake ourselves enough to awaken from our religious stupor? I pray so. But know this, if we will not do it willingly, God will do it for us for everything that can be shaken will be. Everything holding us back from absolute surrender and total faith in him to keep us, to change us, to free us from US will be shaken out of our lives.
Do you doubt that the God that loves us would do such a thing? Do not. It is because He loves us so that He will do so. The hour is late. The darkness approaches..... fast. Our doctrines or our error in our doctrines is not the issue and getting them corrected will do nothing to protect us from the coming whirlwind. You see, the problem lies in the condition of our hearts, because our continued sins have allowed a hardness to cover them.
There is an answer to our dilemma. Paul found it. Why? Because he sought it with ALL of his heart. He sowed in tears. And so he reaped in joy, just as God has promised him... and us. Blessed is the one who does not need an economic collapse or roving armed gangs in the streets before he or she turns to the Lord and cries out for God to do what He has so very clearly promised. And what is that? To set us free indeed!
Perilous times are ahead. We can continue to be religious ostriches, burying our heads in the sand, thinking that bing part of the TRUE church or denomination and having our doctrines all neatly sorted out will somehow make us impervious to falling. How we hope that all will continue as it always has, as we enjoy our Sunday services and then return to OUR lives. But it shall not be.
It is that ‘OUR lives’ part that is the problem. We are not our own any longer. We have been bought out of the hand of the devil by the precious blood of the Lord Jesus, to let Him live and love through us. He wants to be the potter of our lives. He wants to fill us with fruits of His own nature. He wants to cause us to obey Him, and smile doing it.
impossible you say? Well, get ready for impossible, ‘cause ready or not, here it comes. We are about to be amazed.... or terrified. It all depends upon who we want to own us and rule over us..... US or HIM in us.
Blessings,
Gideon
We Christians are for the most part “good people”. What is wrong with that, you ask? Well, we were never called to be good. We were called to be holy. And not only are we not walking in holiness, as living sacrifices, we are not really bothered that we are not. Truth? You bet.
Do we not see? The promises of God are meant to be our stepping stones to abiding in the vine, where we walk pleasing to Him, where we ask whatsoever we will and it will be done for us, where we do not fulfill the lusts of the flesh.
But instead of crying out for God to do as He has assured us He will do, we have set ourselves under preachers and teachers assuring us all is wonderful, and rallied around our mantras of unbelief and logic, our human wisdom. What mantras? Here’s two. We have espoused our excuses that no one is perfect and that we are only human, and with one fell swoop, we have gutted the promises of God to fill us, change us, set us free indeed and to plant our feet on the highway of holiness, making us victorious over the world, the flesh and the devil. Welcome to modern day Christianity, possessing the basics of truth in our doctrines but lacking life overflowing.
And you know what? Actually, our mantras are right. We aren’t perfect. And yes, we are only human. We do still reside in bodies of flesh. So where have we erred? We have rested content in our prison cells of self, and quoted Romans 7 as our scriptural backing to excuse the one attribute that Paul did not possess in his battle with the flesh. Contentment to remain there.
Listen. Paul HATED his old carnal nature. He did not use it as an excuse to continue to sin every now and then. He did not rest short of what God had promised him.... free indeed. No, guys, he bemoaned the fact that his sins still ruled him. He longed to please God in everything he did and the fact that he could not left him in a dark place as he tried to defeat the sins that defined him. .
In fact, his struggle against the self-loving old carnal nature brought him to the point he despaired of life itself. He saw himself as a wretched man, declared innocent but still incarcerated, a prisoner to a fallen lower nature that refused to climb down off the throne of his life. He did not rejoice that grace allowed this. He wailed that for some reason, he failed to apprehend what the grace of God promised Him.... a brand new nature that not only wanted to obey, but actually DID obey!
How few there are in these ever darkening last days who are walking in real victory. How rare it is to find souls hungry for the secret of abiding in Jesus, in real victory, and for the love of God to actually flow through them. We are told that contentment with godliness is great gain. We have settled for modest gain and contentment, but without that pesky, elusive, impossible-to-actually-walk-in godliness.
And of all our sins, it is this contentment in our fleshly religious efforts and constant failings that has kept us from the answer we so desperately need. We have made our Christianity a huge machine that cannot have its course corrected because we have refused to heed all the warnings and exhortations God has given us. It has taken on a life of itself and if a major course correction is not taken soon, our end will not be a pretty one.
Do we not see? We are the people spoken of who are healed ‘only slightly’, saying ‘peace, peace’, when there is no peace. We are the ones spoken of in the last days heaping to ourselves teachers that will tickle our itching ears. We are the ones having a form of godliness, but with our lives denying the power of it. We are those who have turned the grace of God into lasciviousness, a license to sin with no fear. Oh, we may not be bold enough (yet) to say that out loud, but the thought has been planted and taken root in the hearts of millions, and with no way to get rid of the weeds, it is going to take a moldbore plow to break up our fallow ground. Delicate weeding will no longer cut it.
We are told that in the last days, men are going to love their own selves MORE than they love God. Their true treasure will be self, pleasure, security, and not God alone. Can we shake ourselves enough to awaken from our religious stupor? I pray so. But know this, if we will not do it willingly, God will do it for us for everything that can be shaken will be. Everything holding us back from absolute surrender and total faith in him to keep us, to change us, to free us from US will be shaken out of our lives.
Do you doubt that the God that loves us would do such a thing? Do not. It is because He loves us so that He will do so. The hour is late. The darkness approaches..... fast. Our doctrines or our error in our doctrines is not the issue and getting them corrected will do nothing to protect us from the coming whirlwind. You see, the problem lies in the condition of our hearts, because our continued sins have allowed a hardness to cover them.
There is an answer to our dilemma. Paul found it. Why? Because he sought it with ALL of his heart. He sowed in tears. And so he reaped in joy, just as God has promised him... and us. Blessed is the one who does not need an economic collapse or roving armed gangs in the streets before he or she turns to the Lord and cries out for God to do what He has so very clearly promised. And what is that? To set us free indeed!
Perilous times are ahead. We can continue to be religious ostriches, burying our heads in the sand, thinking that bing part of the TRUE church or denomination and having our doctrines all neatly sorted out will somehow make us impervious to falling. How we hope that all will continue as it always has, as we enjoy our Sunday services and then return to OUR lives. But it shall not be.
It is that ‘OUR lives’ part that is the problem. We are not our own any longer. We have been bought out of the hand of the devil by the precious blood of the Lord Jesus, to let Him live and love through us. He wants to be the potter of our lives. He wants to fill us with fruits of His own nature. He wants to cause us to obey Him, and smile doing it.
impossible you say? Well, get ready for impossible, ‘cause ready or not, here it comes. We are about to be amazed.... or terrified. It all depends upon who we want to own us and rule over us..... US or HIM in us.
Blessings,
Gideon
