Disarmed

I know very little about disarming anything.  I’ve never disarmed a bomb.  I’ve never disarmed an armed assailant.  I may have disarmed a few self-righteous church people, but likely for my own self-righteous reasons.  And sadly enough, disarming much in this life seems quite foreign to me.

As a little kid I loved to watch television shows where the good guy would knock the gun out of the bad guys hand and totally disarm and subdue his would-be aggressor.  Then I would spend hours in my back yard or basement subduing and disarming imaginary bad guys.  Kicking and swinging at nothing but what I saw in my imagination.  I know it sounds silly, but it made me feel tough in a child-like way.

About two thousand years ago, a very important “disarming” occurred, and for that I am deeply and eternally grateful.  Paul the Apostle writes in Colossians 2 verse 15, “And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.”

This is a description of a very important and powerful event that we may be prone to forget.  Prone to forget because, we still live with the vestiges of judgment and condemnation that often echo in our minds from past efforts at self-righteousness, not to mention from the mouths of Well-intentioned Dragons.  You know the kind of people I’m talking about.

They are the ones who by their own insecurities and bondages ply a pseudo-biblical-works dogma to the unsuspecting and often innocent “little ones” among us.  And if we stiffen or seem to chafe under their idea of righteousness we are considered rebellious, disharmonious or even back-slidden.

But may I respectfully challenge that kind of dogma.  For what Christ did on the cross, gives me the power and liberty to stand victorious over my old sin nature – it is gone.  He disarmed all the powers and authorities that held any claim over my past sins and failures.  And even more He disarmed the power of the lies that would hold sway over my present and my future.

So with gratitude and humility I embrace the canceled debts and charges against me.  Because of His suffering, His death on the cross, and His triumphal resurrection from the grave I will never be governed by a sin-based, lie-based, works doctrine or dogma ever again.

Debt-free people are the freest indeed.  They are also a threat to those in bondage to a debtors-ethic.  For though I owe Christ my all and everything, and I willingly give it, I can never nor should I ever attempt or consider “repayment” as part of my relationship with Him.  For that would then rearm our enemy and resume the cycle of self-righteous works and thereby put to shame the cross of Christ our only hope.

Once and forever Christ disarmed the enemies of our souls and led them as public spectacle down the permanent road of freedom and life.  So may we never concede to their influence again, nor rearm them with a lack of assurance and faith in Him alone.

Remember, they are Disarmed – forever.

Sanctification Happens

For years I lived and believed that the process of sanctification was mostly about the cessation of wrong doing on my part.  And that may be partially true.  But over the course of time I've come to understand that my sanctification has little to do with my will power to cease wrong behavior, and everything to do with me living in God’s truth.

For if and when I use my will to curtail wrong behavior, I am not being sanctified, I’m only seeking to justify myself before God – and most often before man.  And likely I’ll repeat the offense over and over, each time trying harder and harder to break the cycle.  Can anyone say hamster wheel?

If indeed personal sanctification were all about will power and self-discipline to cease wrong behavior, why did Jesus need to be sanctified?  “For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.” (John 17:19)

May I propose this thought?  Albeit I will participate in the process of sanctification, it is not about the cessation of wrong doing, given over to right doing, that sanctifies me, but it is first and foremost about submitting to the truth of God.

^“Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.” (John 17:17)

If I am willing to submit myself to all of God’s truth, via His Word and His Spirit, I can rest in knowledge that the power of His truth will change me from the inside out.  And that has nothing to do with my outward displays of right or wrong behavior, but everything to do with an ongoing and ever increasing relationship with a Living Savior.

Sanctification happens from the inside out, and never the other way around (Daniel 11:35).

The Risk of Release

I believe I've been taught that I am saved by grace, through faith in Jesus Christ alone, not by works lest the wealthy and able alone could boast of their great exploits.  Thank God for that fact – I think.

But when it’s all shaken down and I begin to peel back the layers of my personal theology and my church experiences, the reality of Ephesians 2:8-9 is somewhat clouded.

I was 23 years old before I learned and even began to understand that verse.  I was a young adult Christian man, full of pride, anger, lust, fear and vengeance.  I had become a product of a works culture where I was rarely if ever a straight A Christian; let alone a straight A student.

All of which ultimately gave a graceless power to those in authority over me; power to manipulate and control me and my behavior.  Because God forbid a church full of free people actually led by the Spirit and the Word; versus being led by traditions and autocratic leaders.  That wouldn't look good.  It might look like the religious leaders weren't doing their job correctly.  That is, if the church folks were not piously different from the rest of the world – at least on the outside.

Rules, regulations, principles extrapolated from Jewish law and holiness traditions left over from the post-Civil war era taught me I was nothing more than a “sinner” in the hands of an angry God.  And rarely if ever a saint called out of darkness by the voice of grace.

Fast forward to the present and what the Lord is continuing to do in my life and my heart.

I have carried the traditions of men and religion that had little to no basis on New Testament (new covenant) teachings.  But they were definitely what we've always done, so we must continue to do them or else there would be hell to pay.

While driving home today, I was discussing with my dear and wise wife, all of the thoughtful responses to my Facebook question regarding tithing as a New Testament mandate or not, and I came to a marked conclusion.  Although in word we teach we are no longer under the law – we practice something altogether different.

Nowhere in the New Testament is tithing mentioned as a mandate or protocol for salvation or even blessing.  Giving and generosity are encouraged, but why is it that Paul the Apostle never cited Malachi chapter 3 when he often cited other Old Testament references?

Could it be like many other things we've carried over from the Old Testament, that biblical knowledge in the wrong hands can become a devilish lever to alter the behavior of fearful and ignorant constituents?

There are many principles and even precepts that are carried over from the Old Testament that are good and beneficial – but as I recall the only Law’s that Jesus commanded us to obey were to love God with our entire lives and to love others as if they were ourselves.  Now granted there are a lot of things that we can do that are stupid and could ultimately end in loss or total destruction of self or others, but isn't the Holy Spirit powerful enough to reveal those foolish behaviors?

Could it be possible that The Risk of Release is too scary for us to teach and preach?  Could it be that The Risk of Release to live our lives by grace through faith would tend to decentralizes power and control over church folks?

There are plenty of clear cut mandates in scripture that we must follow.  Forgive if we are to be forgiven.  Do not lie or steal.  Do not lust and thereby become an adulterer.  Just read the Sermon on the Mount to see the Lord’s keen delineation of the Law.

But I do believe there is a mandate to “tithe” in the New Testament, but it is couched in the language of generosity and cheerful giving.  I believe it is hidden in the law of sowing and reaping.  In other words, people who desire to truly obey the Lord in all matters will most often surpass any percentages, and find power and joy in the law of reciprocity.  As a matter of fact I believe that law can be seized and used by even the unredeemed; because it’s a law that transcends the saint or the sinner.

So what’s my point?  Can we stop using words and references that don’t fit into God’s current plan?

Living by grace will always create The Risk of Release.  I desire to live by grace, and to teach others the same.  And that will mean a great risk to me, because I will NOT be able to control others.  I must leave that up to God.  Oh I must disseminate the truth of God to the best of my ability as led by the Spirit, but never to be overshadowed by the traditions of men and religion.

I’m not a rebel in my heart.  But I will NOT be a slave again to man-made religion.  I WILL be a slave and bond-servant to the Christ who rescued me and saved me that I might live in truth and freedom.  There alone will any of us ever truly find the blessings and favor of the God who deeply and eternally loves us.  Trying to love and obey Him out of compulsion is not true love.  As a matter of fact it might just be a grotesque example of some religious Stockholm syndrome.

I believe in The Risk of Release.  Eventually we all have to grow up – right?

A Cluttered Closet

Recently I noticed something about my inner world.

It seems that most of us have enough storage and closet space, at least until we get more stuff.  Then we pack the shed, we pack the other side of our two-car garage, or we pack that spare closet where everything seems to disappear like a black hole.  It seems to be a common condition, the conspicuous consumers that we are.  We tend to amass more and more stuff.  Until one day we are forced by age, failing health, or divine sanity, to simply downsize and purge all the unnecessary stuff we've accumulated over time.

In like manner, early on in my walk of faith, my prayer closet was relatively free of clutter and comfortable – almost spacious.  It was a place where I could have some room and get alone with God.  It was small but accommodating in a Holy kind of way.  It was a place where I would regularly go to escape the clutter of my day to day life and routine.  It was indeed a place to breathe and be in communion with my Lord and my Maker.

But something happened along way.  As time and life began to accumulate around my ankles like a rising tide, I began to take more stuff into my prayer closet.  I began to split my communion time with complaining time.  Then I added all my burdens and fears.  Then I brought in my baggage from the past and the baggage of others.  Somehow thinking God was supposed to carry all my burdens and cares and likewise give me a light yoke and an easy load.  Right?

I mean, He did promise that kind of benevolent relief from the cares of this world.  So eventually my prayer closet – like most of the closets in my house, became full of junk.  Stuff accumulated over the years that I off-loaded to God.  All that stuff that seemed impossible to carry on my own, and rightly so.  The Lord indeed wants me to cast my cares upon Him.

But something was drastically wrong.  I used the place that was meant to be an intimate spot of communion, love and refreshing, as a dumping ground for all the things I couldn't handle on my own.  How could that be so wrong?

I’ll tell you.  God want’s all my burdens and cares.  He wants me to boldly come before His throne of grace to find mercy and help in time of need.  But above and before all of those provisions – He wants me.  He wants my love and my time.  And He wants to reciprocate.

My prayer closet was NEVER supposed to be a dumping ground, yet that’s what it became.  It became a cluttered closet too full of my junk and the junk of others.  Too cluttered and full for me to find room for rest and comfort with my Lord and my Maker.

So I've decided to clean out my prayer closet.  I’m going to collect all that junk and take it to the altar of God’s immeasurable grace.  Oh there is a place for my junk and all that stuff, but that place is NOT my prayer closet – my secret place with God.

For only by purging and maintaining a Spartan prayer closet will I gain the wisdom and power needed to haul all the other junk to it's proper altar and place of petition.

Dear Lord please forgive me for having A Cluttered Closet.  Forgive me for a cluttered prayer closet that was no longer a place of rest and restoration, but a place that had become a distraction from the one who I need most – You.

A Cluttered Closet, do you have one?

The Comfort of Discomfort

One of the most profound stories in the gospels is the account of where John the Baptist (BTW not really a Baptist but don’t tell them) was confronted with his disciples going over to follow Jesus.  He understood something that I am still growing to fully understand.  God’s increase is predicated upon my decrease: The Comfort of Discomfort.

It doesn't make much sense that we could gain any comfort from being discomforted, but that tends to be what the Kingdom and our relationship with God is all about.  And no I’m not suggesting that I must somehow pay penance so as to be blessed or so God can be exalted.  That is not the case, but I am suggesting that God will not share His glory with anyone or anything.  So as a result, in my soul I hear the Spirit of God reminding me that my true comfort will be found as I am discomforted; only and all for His sake and not my own.

I admit that it seems very counterproductive and counter intuitive to place discomfort before comfort, but as we observe life we find this principle in place, and rarely if ever do we argue with its premise.  A good example is health and fitness: no pain no gain?

But why is it that I struggle with this principle when it comes to my soul life?  Is it that my soul is so enamored with self-seeking comfort and satisfaction that I fail to understand the “no pain no gain” principle?  Likely it is.

My hope is that a day will come when I finally and fully understand with great peace and contentment the power and freedom found in this principle set forth by Christ’s own life – The Comfort of Discomfort.  As Jesus moved closer and closer to His primary purpose for coming to this earth, He gained great joy and comfort as He ran headlong into His very own discomfort - death.  For the joy set before Him He endured the cross that He might declare it is finished and find the true comfort of the Father.

The Comfort of Discomfort – an elusive doctrine indeed, but an essential one nonetheless if I am to ever live in the fullness of His perfect and comforting will.

The Domino Effect

Through my entire adult Christian life I’ve contended for the freedom of others as well as my own.  And I fully understand that Jesus Christ alone, by His grace through my faith in what God has done, is the only formula for true freedom from the curse of sin, death, and the grave.  I have confidence in that truth, and it has granted me solace and deep peace since the day I trusted in Him alone for my eternal salvation.  I believe it’s all said and done deal, based upon His promise and His action on my behalf.

But in like manner, through my entire Christian life, I’ve regularly battled lies that have laid siege to my mind, will, and emotions.  All by way of the misinterpretation of life events, a poor understanding of biblical truth, and even twisted views of Christian faith and practice handed down from one generation to the next.

Often in those times when my faith and feelings collide and spiritual gridlock seems inevitable, well intentioned Christians will ply the standardized messages of encouragement or even chastening with the hope of helping.  I’m grateful for their offerings of succor to a freeman who by the very nature of modern religion is starved and in need of God’s entire truth so freedom can finally be actuated, and not just seen as an ideal for hope on the horizon of harder, and harder religious work - grit.

Some may even say that we battle demons, and truly some do, but most of us battle lies we believe to be true about ourselves, others and even God.  And it doesn’t take a hoard of minions from hell to derail or sidetrack us from the life of peace and freedom we actually have in Christ – but only one well-placed and strategic lie.  And that can come from our own misunderstandings or even the words of others – all without our cognitive awareness.  Keeping in mind we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the only weapons hell has to fight with – lies.

Jesus came into the world, shed His blood and die for the payment needed to cover all our sins.  But further and often overlooked, is the other reason He came.

Hours before Jesus’ death on the cross, for the payment of humanity’s sin, while being interrogated by Pilate, our Lord states this secondary reason for His coming into the world.

John 18:37 “…I was born and came into the world to testify to the truth.  All who love the truth recognize that what I say is true.”  (NLT)

Because Jesus is here to testify to the truth, and we who are redeemed by His blood have immediate access to His ear and His voice, our entire freedom in Christ (the evidence that God has actually done something in us) pivots on our willingness to FACE the lies that wrestle for our allegiance, and engage Jesus in a discussion of what is true and what is false.  And that can only be accomplished by paying close attention to what we are FEELING at any given moment of duress.

Yesterday I received some very distressing news.  It caused very bad feelings, and I rapidly traveled downstream with those bad feelings.  Fortunately love, grace and a new day finally came.  But my freedom from those bad feelings only came when I faced the lie that had caused them, and consulted with Jesus as to what was actually true – versus what I felt was true (the lie).

By identifying what I was feeling (I felt cheated), I then was able to go to Jesus and tell Him that very thing.  “Jesus this feels very unfair and I feel like I’ve been cheated in a really big way!”

I told Him what felt true – I’d been cheated and it hurts.  Then I asked Him where that feeling came from and to show me it’s origin.  He showed me a time and a place where I was taken advantage of and how I felt alone and at risk.  And so I asked Him was I alone and at risk in that memory and time, and He said I was not and that He was with me the whole time.  I asked Him to tell me the truth – not just what I “felt” was true and He did.

At that very moment, the bad feelings that were sourcing from a lie I believed to be true about myself deflated and peace actually arrived.  My heart was filled with His words, His truth, His love, and His peace.  No longer did a lie hold sway over my mind, will and emotions – but His truth had set me free.

Now during my time of duress and bad feelings was my salvation in question or jeopardy?  Of course not, but gone unchecked, as they often do, those bad feelings based upon a lie would have compounded as the next lie was encountered, and the next and the next.  All of which tend to pile up and will eventually derail our faith.  And when our faith is derailed we wander around as freemen appearing to be bound and confused – and we are – with piles and piles of lies left unchecked.

Yet the fact remains: If I deal with that one root lie, many other lies and misinterpretations begin to fall like dominos.  Oh we may think it’s the demons, but most often it’s the lies.

Please see it this way.  If we knock down the very first or root lie that has been seated in our soul, countless, if not all the other lies will fall, because lies beget lies, and bad feelings beget bad feelings.  And only the most stalwart people of faith can “fake it” until they get to the next challenge and the pressure compounds and compounds and eventually they burst – everyone does.

And I will NOT fake it till I make it, because that makes me a fake and feel good addict and I will bounce from one experience to the next, never actually dealing with the root cause of all my bad feelings, but only moving from one coping mechanism to the next.  Good feelings junkies pepper the pews of our churches and tend to migrate from one “good” experience to the next – because they’ve never fully dealt with the cause of their good-feeling-addition (their bad feelings based on lies believe to be true about self).

Now granted, we all like to feel good, but true and lasting peace CANNOT be faked or even compared to our search for the next good feeling.  Only a peace that surpasses all explanation and comprehension will truly satisfy us; especially when the winds and waves batter our foundations.

So let me ask you: Are you ready for The Dominos Effect?  Are you ready for Jesus to speak truth to you and begin to hear the clatter of all those dominos fall; those lies and bad feelings that have been stacked up in random twists and turns within your soul?  Are you ready to fully experience His peace – real peace?

I know I am and I’m grateful for The Domino Effect of His truth in my life.

The Domino Effect – let it begin now!

But If From There

This morning I am reminded once again of the nature and often hidden will of our covenant God, and that my friend is a good and refreshing thing.

So often in my life, growing up in a culture and community of faith, I was inundated by an over emphasis on strict and tacit obedience to the things of God.  Now mind you, I fully agree with and seek to maintain a life of obedience to God’s Word and His Spirit’s leading.  But somewhere in the midst of all that well-intentioned religious instruction and tutelage, something was out of balance.

And before I move on, let me remind you that God hates scales that are out of balance, because someone always gets ripped off and equity is pushed to the side for the purpose of greed and control.  Religion tends to do that when erroneous leadership finds a doctrinal niche to control and manipulate the penitent – by keeping the facts out of balance – and sharing only part of the truth versus the whole.

Yes, God has called me to obedience and I’m very okay with that.  As a matter of fact I truly love God, and I do seek to obey Him.  But what about those moments or seasons when I fail to obey, or even when I knowingly disobey, because of how I feel or my life circumstances seduce me into self-indulgence or justification?

Let me tell you, the greatest darkness I have lived under is the pall of misdirection by well-intentioned leaders, who for fear of losing control of their constituents, emphasized law over grace.  Now don’t get me wrong, I love the Law of the Lord – it’s perfect and it converts my soul, but the law is only there to remind me of how desperately I need the converse of who God really is – Love and Mercy.

In Deuteronomy chapter 4, Moses is reminding the people of their covenant obligation to remember and obey their God.  To remember that it was Him who did the wonders in the heavens and the earth, for the sole purpose of their salvation and deliverance to a land of blessing and prosperity.  And further to remember when things begin to go well, and their eyes gravitate from heaven to earth, and they begin (they did – so do we) to worship anything else but their covenant God – calamity would befall them.  Divine discipline would bring destruction to them and they would find themselves far, far away from their original relationship and proximity to God their Savior.  Sound familiar?

That’s a very scary thing – and that would preach well.  If my intention was to control and manipulate the behavior of my constituents, but that would be only half of the truth.  That would be an out of balance scale, of which God hates.

But in chapter 4 verse 29 we can see the continuum of God’s whole truth and intention, despite the willful disobedience, failings, and sins of His people.  “But if from there,” from our selfish place of disobedience and wayward proximity to God, we begin to “seek” Him – something happens.

Something amazing happens, if from the very spot where we are in disobedience, we begin to look for or to seek Him – redemption and relationship once again flows from Him to us, in our distant and distracted state.

Do you understand that quality of God?  That if and when we blow it, and we find ourselves like the prodigal son who by his selfish and sinful behavior at a fatal distance from our Father, we simply turn and come to our senses – He rushes to our very side!  He knows and understands and seeks to be right where we need Him, when we need Him.  Even from there, that place, that dark and faraway place that the voice of our enemy told us we could not find light or hope.

Please understand.  No matter where we are, were, or may be going God is extremely willing and ready to meet us.  If from there – from that very place of disobedience and distance from Him we choose to seek Him, and we do so with all our heart, He will restore us.  No penance to pay on our part.  He did it all and it was His Covenant, not ours.  It was His Love not ours.

May we always and ever be reminded of the whole counsel of God.

Deuteronomy 4:29-31 “But if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul.  ³⁰ When you are in distress and all these things have happened to you, then in later days you will return to the Lord your God and obey him.  ³¹ For the Lord your God is a merciful God; he will not abandon or destroy you or forget the covenant with your ancestors, which he confirmed to them by oath.”

But If From There you seek Him, He will once again bring the power and blessing of His Covenant to bear upon your life – regardless of where there is.