Spiritual Ninjas

When I was young my sister and I would often fight. I knew just what to do, to make her get irritated. If I got perturbed with her I would initiate it. Sometimes you hear this referred to as knowing how to push your buttons. I've realized in life we are in a constant war with our enemy the devil and other spiritual forces. It's not much fun to think about, but if we don't the danger is greater. Our enemy slowly carefully and strategically lives to push our buttons. Sometimes a gnat or fly will come and buzz in my ear. Generally, I shew it away with my hand and hope it doesn't come back. After a while I forget about it, but then it returns. If I leave it undealt with and just keep shewing it each time it comes. My anger rises exponentially each time! The solution is generally for me to put my mind to seeking out the location of the fly and then swatting it. Or if all else fails to just leave the room and go somewhere else. When you notice yourself getting angry mentally step back and examine why. Seek out the irritation and try to squash it flat before you errupt with anger. If all else fails get yourself away from the source of irritation. Something Carl Medley mentioned in one of his men's sessions I attended recently was that when we find ourselves offended and angry or on the verge of a sin we should say to ourselves, "something is wrong with my identity". You see we died to sin, we no longer live... "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." Gal. 2:20 We died. In our flesh we are dead. But in our spirit we are alive. If you walk up to a corpse in the morgue and punch it in the face does it get offended? Does it get angry and curse or strike back at you in anger? No, it's dead. Neither should we if we are truly dead in our flesh. Dead men don't get offeneded. (This is another tidbit of wisdom from Carl.) When the Holy Spirit lives in me and when I am walking in that Spirit it is unnatural for me to respond as I would when following after the flesh. So, I am struck by the fact that we are constantly under assault. "Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." 1 Peter 5:8 This seems to be my biggest problem. I am inconsistent in being alert. The devil left Jesus to come back and tempt him at an opportune time. Our enemy searches for points in time when our guards are down. He looks for points when we have grown weary because of pressures and may be more susceptible or vulnerable to a pushing of one of our buttons so to speak. He tempts me to not write on this blog, to not think about God each day, to not pray or read the Word and at the time my failure to do one of these things seems minor, but their cumulative effects are devastating. I must have a habit developed of actively focusing my mind on God daily. I must also practice and become accomplished in being aware of His presence in all things constantly. This is a skill to be developed that I believe is a gift from the Holy Spirit. There is a funny thing about gifts from God. It seems you aren't really able to receive them until you really want them. Preparing ourselves for defense and even offense against our enemy is no different than training in Taekwendo or some other martial art. We are called to be spiritual ninjas. This is not by our own strength but by the strength of the One living in us. I really liked the movie called the Matrix, because it has so many spiritual parallels. The second and third movies kind of dropped the ball in my opinion, but the first one is worth seeing. It reminds me of Pilgrim's Progress in many ways although not quite as obvious. Neo begins his journey realizing there has to be something more to life. This is not unlike a non-Christian searching for meaning. Then someone external to his world seeks him out because they believe in him. God chose us in a similar way. He is the author and perfecter of our faith. (Heb 12:2) He has a new name, Neo, symbolic of his liberated self. Mr. Anderson is the name of his enslaved self. In much the same way God is always giving people new names in the Bible when they make a transition. Later on in the movie Neo meets with an "Oracle" and he speaks with Morpheus about believing in fate he struggles with the idea of whether he is in control of his own destiny or not. The answer seems to be yes and no. The Oracle new just what to say to help him along his journey and ultimately it seems she knew his destiny. Did he break the vase or did she make him break the vase. Christians struggle with this same paradoxical conundrum in trying to comprehend the predestination and the free will that God has given us simultaneously. All through the movie he tries to determine if he is the "One". Now, I know you could see this as though the "One" is symbolic of Christ, but I like to look at this another way. He is the "first one" to really, truly wake up from the matrix and realize who he is (Just as Christians wake up and realize who they are in Christ). Granted others are awake, but he realizes the power he has from another realm like none other. I'm not claiming there are perfect parallels, but there are many cool symbolisms we can draw from this. The situation of Neo going to the Oracle because he wants her to tell him who he is resembles our own struggles with identity. The answer to that question tempers our entire lives. We will never be anything more than who we believe we are. This also reminds me of how believers begin to doubt themselves and if they are really who God says they are. Morpheus is symbolic of God to me in that he never stopped believing in Neo and who he believed Neo was. The Oracle told Neo he was waiting for something. Many times we as Christians have immense and incredible authority over our enemy through Christ, but we don't believe who God says we are. Or if we do, we feel like we have to grow into it or something. We are waiting for something. The truth is we are already seated in heavenly places with Christ Jesus. (Eph. 2:6) We are more than conquerers through him who loved us. (Rom. 8:37) "You know that road Neo, you know where it leads." Trinity encourages Neo to long for a new life, just as in Christ we have a new life. Another compelling part of the movie is when Neo is in a sparring room with Morpheus. Morpheus is encouraging him to see beyond the physical. All his power and strength and speed were predominantly grounded in another realm. In much the same way, all of ours is grounded in another realm. It is grounded in Christ and the Spirit in the Spiritual realm. A famous line from a small boy to Neo is, "Do not try to bend the spoon, that is impossible. But rather try to realize there is no spoon." In much the same way many times Christians try to "be good" or just focus really hard on getting better and not sinning to avoid condemnation from God. When really we should simply realize there is now no more condemnation for those who are in Christ and the bending of our behavior that takes place is rooted in another realm. Every miraculous power Neo had available to him was rooted in another realm, just as every miraculous power aka gift given to us from God is rooted in another realm. If we walk by the spirit we live in this spiritual realm and not in the world. Then toward the end of the movie Neo dies physically when trying to stand up to his enemy... and then he resurrects rooted in an entirely different realm awakened by love (a kiss from Trinity) just as we as Christians are beckoned and called to and ultimately awakened as new creations by the love of the Holy Trinity in our lives. He is dead in a way to the way of thinking and the life he once lived and alive in another way, more alive than he's ever been before. This is what it is like for Christians when they are baptized and then become a new creation. They die to the flesh and are raised with Christ in the Spirit. Neo isn't really the savior in this movie, he's the saved and his mission is to liberate all the other human beings in the world just as he has been liberated. He is symbolic of a Christian who has become a new creation in Christ Jesus. I feel like the most powerful assault our enemy can throw at us as Christians is the same as one Captain Picard sent to the Borg in a Star Trek episode... sleep. (If you're a Star Trek fan, maybe you'll remember that one. :) This is the same thing that happens to Prince Rillian in the Silver Chair... it's as though he's asleep to who he is during the day. Our enemy distracts us with daily activities and we lose sight of who we are. We must learn how to live as who we are in Christ throughout all the daily activities we face. And when a temptation comes to us, which will feel like our own idea or thought, that we might enjoy ourselves more if we did something in a way contrary to the spirit, we must step back and ask ourselves who are we? Is that who we are? Are we one that walks according to that nature that pleases itself and ultimately results in death, or are we one that walks according to the Spirit. John 8:32 (You will know the truth and the truth will set you free.) We will never find the power to conquer the temptation of the flesh in our own strength... for that is like trying to bend a spoon with your mind, but rather we must realize there is no condemnation for us, we are already seated in heavenly realms with Christ Jesus, we are not of this world, our home is in another place ... We are more than conquerers through him who loved us. Know it... Be it... Live it.

Connect with God

I've found that usually when I get an idea for a habit and try to start it things will go great for a while, but eventually it stops. They say you have to repeat something X times (21 days?) before it becomes an official habit. I'm not sure what that means. I guess just that you've officially developed a tendency or familiarity with doing it. I think some things always take self-discipline to make yourself do though, habit or not. One habit I am hoping to develop is to write on this blog every day if I can. It seems to me that it helps when I express myself for me to think about things. I've noticed sometimes when I tell people things I really just want to tell myself, but hearing myself tell someone else makes the ideas sink in better for me. Another habit I've tried to acquire, but has proven difficult is to read the Bible every day. I don't want to just read the words though, I want them to read me. I want to meditate on each verse and hear what God wants to say. (The Word of God is living and active sharper than any two-edged sword.) God is always communicating in different ways if we keep our eyes, ears and hearts open. Praying continually is what Paul says we should do. This is a constant conscious awareness of your communion with God through the Spirit. Sometimes when I try to focus on this I get a feeling that kicks back saying, "but wait, you can't be close to God... you're sinful... and dirty." I don't think it is wise to ever even remotely take the seriousness of sin lightly, but I know God never ever ever wants sin to be the reason for my separation from Him
ever again. Because when Christ died on the cross the temple curtain tore! Praise God! This symbolized that I don't have to be separated from Him ever again because of sin. "But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away." (2 Cor. 3:16)

Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. (2 Cor. 3:15-18)

Our enemy is sly and he assaults in subtle ways. His main goal for any human is one thing... disconnect from God. If we are separated we are cut off from strength, power, joy and life. Cut off from every good thing. It's important for it to sink in that God's acceptance of us has nothing to do with how much or little we have sinned, but rather it has everything to do with the condition of our heart. "Anyone who comes to me I will never turn away." "Seek him and you will find him, if you seek him with all your heart." "Guard your heart for it is the wellspring of life." "Their lips praise me, but their hearts are far from me."

Sometimes I feel distant from God even when I understand these things. In my life, I find that I think a lot about the power of my focus and the value of my attention... which is priceless. Sometimes I wonder about how I can hear from God without constantly looking at His Word. It's true His Word is vital and an awesome way that He uses to communicate with us, however the whole world is His. I think that when I'm on a walk and a leaf happens to fall to the ground in front of me... God dropped that leaf and was in control of my exposure to it. Every thing I see or hear can be a tool for God to communicate something to me if I keep my mind and heart open. I love God and want to commune with Him constantly. I want to know who I am and claim authority over deception. I believe that their are many things in life I don't understand. Their are many things about God I don't understand. But, I also have faith that He created me in my vast complexity and the universe and that he orchestrated the heavens and the laws that govern them. And, the most important things that I have faith in about God are that
He loves me, He is able to accomplish anything He wants, and that He is faithful.

Our God, is an awesome God, he reigns from Heaven above, With wisdom power and love our God is an awesome God. He is faithful... and He will rule, so bow before Him, and praise His name.... Our God is an awesome God.

I've also realized it's important to praise God. Just to sing verses to a praise song in your head from time to time not even out loud, help to focus your mind and tap into the communion or the "connect" with God that fuels our strength and joy in Him.

Walking in the Light

I studied Galatians this morning. It was early and still dark. I couldn't quite see the pages. I had to tilt the lamp towards me and move into the light to see. Then it occurred to me, the farther I am from the light the weaker my vision is. I am talking about my familiarity with the Word and the Spirit of God and how the farther I am from that the harder it is to see anything. To see that I even need it, to see hope, to see how to trust even when I don't understand because of the love that I see, know and experience in Him.

"But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin." (1 John 1:7)

The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love. That's what it says in Galatians 5:6. It doesn't say the only thing that counts is baptism or the 5 steps of salvation, but faith expressing itself through love. Not that those things aren't important, but when it all comes right down to it what matters is whether you have faith that is being expressed through love. That expression is a reflection of your heart. Faith and obedience are interconnected and not really seperable. True faith is expressed through corresponding action. False faith is when I say I believe something, but don't act like it. This is the kind of faith our enemy wants us to have. "You were running a good race. Who cut in on you and kept you from obeying the truth? That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you. A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough. I am confident in the Lord that you will take no other view. The one who is throwing you into confusion will pay the penalty, whoever he may be." Gal. 5:7-10 I realized from reading this verse that the voice of persuasion in my mind calling me to consider gratifying a desire of the sinful nature is real and may not always just be me. I find it interesting that though I have studied the Bible and been a Christian for most of my life and know many truths about how we have an enemy called the devil and other demonic forces striving to coax us to sin and how sin though it looks good really hurts and destroys in the end that I still find myself struggling with it. In verse 24 it says "Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires." Yet right after this in verse 25 it says "Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit." My first thought is if I have crucified the sinful nature how could I not keep in step with the Spirit? Does this mean I haven't and I don't belong to Christ? This sounds like reasoning my enemy would love me to buy into. He is the accuser. This goes back to the idea of identity again. When the devil accuses me or anyone my identity is called into question. I must be prepared to respond with an answer. When I am in step with the Spirit the passions and desires of the sinful nature are no where to be found in me. So here I am walking along in step with the Spirit and along comes the sly voice of a tempter that says... "you're alone". This is where it all begins. When I begin to believe this, usually its almost subconscious, I begin to sever relationship with the Spirit. When I begin to believe this I get out of step with the Spirit. When I am out of step with the Spirit all bets are off! My identity has slipped away from me and I begin walking according to the sinful nature. There is no middle ground. Either I'm walking with the Spirit or I'm walking according to the sinful nature. What the devil specializes in is trying to get people and especially Christians to walk according to the sinful nature without them realizing it. So, if I start going this wrong way do I suddenly no longer belong to Christ? No, only if I deliberately go on sinning to a point that my guilt and remorse for sin are gone do I endanger salvation. This comes straight from Heb. 10:26. In 1 John 2:1 we are told, "My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world." Sin is deadly, addictive and serious, but if I stumble on my journey through life while I am attempting to keep in step with the Spirit, I have one who intercedes for me. However, "Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows." (Gal. 6:7) If you continue to live in sin nonchalantly taking advantage of God's amazing grace you will reap what you sow... and be careful not to be one who fulfills Heb. 10:26. Yet if I walk in the Spirit, sin is of no danger to me. "Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?" (1 Cor. 15:55) "We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the one who was born of God keeps him safe, and the evil one cannot harm him." (1 John 5:18) Why does it seem sometimes like this verse isn't true? Because we get out of step with the Spirit. We begin walking according to the sinful nature. The child of God walks according to the Spirit. That's who he (or she) is. That's his identity. If ever we lose sight of our identity, we lose who we are. Who we are is dependent upon who we know ourselves to be... by faith. So, my greatest fear now is that I will get out of step with the Spirit. Ah, but as a child of God we have so many verses that speak of our power in Christ Jesus that is able to keep us away from this fear and its threat. But these verses are weapons that we must come to know and love and weild when we are assaulted, when our identity is assaulted. "For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline." (2 Tim 1:7) When we are in step with the Spirit there are so many verses that speak the promises of God which we have available to us to speak in authority over any accuser or assailant, which ultimately provide us with the means to remain in the Spirit. So, here I am and I have stumbled, what should I do now? Get up! Press on toward the goal. Do not fight like a man who beats the air, run in such a way as to win the prize. Wake up to the fact that our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against the spiritual forces of this dark world. Do not be deceived into believing that your stumbling makes you even the slightest bit less precious to God. If you stop now all that Christ did for you is lost. Never give up. Become well versed and familiar with your weapons of war, the Word of God which is the Bible, and with your creator and lover of your soul which makes the whole struggle against sin in life and the pains we face worth it, also through reading the Word of God. "For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all." (2 Cor. 4:17)

"But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin." (1 John 1:7)

Identity

I've been going to a series of classes led by Carl Medley for men. It has been really enlightening to me. One of the main themes we've been hitting on over and over again is the idea of identity. Everything in life hinges on it. Who do we perceive ourselves as? What do I identify with? Also important is what do I really believe? People say a lot of things when you ask them about their beliefs, but there is a big difference in what a person says they believe and what they actually do believe. The way you can see the difference is when your beliefs are actually put to the test, do you act according to what you say you believe or some other way? If you act some other way then this reveals the heart of what you really believe. Our beliefs and perception of identity are grounded in one concept which is faith. Another thing that I knew, but we have talked about is the power of the spoken word. The way I speak influences the way I believe and correlates with my perception of my identity. My spoken words can strengthen my beliefs or tear them down. Regardless of whether my words are true. Thoughts I think to myself in my mind are like this as well, but spoken words are thoughts put into action which is always more powerful. Even more powerful than this is when I act in ways that line up with the asserted truths according to the concepts behind the words I think and speak. (Aka. Faith put into action.) There is a saying a friend/mentor of mine used to say a lot when I was growing up. His name was Roc Moore. He said what your mind thinks on your body will seek to act out. This saying stuck with me because it is very true and powerful. Another word for this idea of conscious thought is focus. I am convinced that everything I am or have been or ever will be is connected to things I have focused on in the past and am focusing on now. My attentions define me. This is why it is so important that I learn to choose what thoughts I will or will not allow my mind to entertain. I believe this concept is generally foreign to most people in America's culture today. Our society is full of things begging for our attention. Television and other media are designed to appeal to our attentions. What is appealing however is not always beneficial. Back to this idea of identity. If I am in highschool and notice that all the "cool" kids are wearing green t-shirts and I want to identify myself as a cool kid, I will go and buy a green t-shirt and wear it. Why would I do this? Because I have a belief. I have a faith that if I imitate those that I perceive as cool if I act like they act that maybe hopefully I will become one myself. So, I buy the shirt and I play the part. My identity is a cool kid. Then someone sees me with an uncool person who is wearing a brown shirt and labels me as uncool. My identity has been attacked! I adjust my behavior to not associate with that person to protect my identity. When I act like this I am allowing my identity to be defined by what others think. Now suppose I say to myself, I already know I'm cool and I don't have to wear a green shirt or imitate those supposedly "cool" kids to prove this to anyone. I will just be myself, because that is enough. Then my identity is grounded in my personal faith of who I believe I am, rather than in what someone else says I am. The problem is though, that sometimes its hard to really know if I am cool or if I just want to be and so am telling myself that I am. In other words how can I really know who I am and walk in it regardless of what others say about me. This is directly related to my faith. If my faith is grounded in myself then it isn't very strong. But if my faith is grounded in something bigger than myself it can be more sturdy. The Bible makes some awesome claims about who a person is when they become a Christian. When they leave their old selves to become a new creation in Christ they take on a new identity. The Bible tells us about our new identity. If we beleive this and act according to it and speak according to it an impressive thing begins to happen. We see benefits being reaped from our beliefs and actions. There is a passage that says "You will know the truth and the truth will set you free." This is powerful and true. Our knowledge of the truth is what enables us to act according to it. If I believe a lie then I will act according to what the lie asserts and I am therefore in bondage to its deception. The Bible tells us of our enemy the devil. He is labeled as the deceiver and the father of lies. Deception is the enemy's most powerful tool and in a way his only tool. Every assault is grounded in it some way or another. I asked the question is it ever presumptious for me to ask God for something in prayer and expect him to do it? What happens if God doesn't do something I asked him for? I discovered our one and only task in life is to learn to believe God, period. When I pray for something I pray in belief of the promises I see given to me in the Bible. Whether or not I receive what I asked for should not affect whether or not I will beleive Him again, but rather I should have already resolved that I will believe him back when I first became a Christian, back when I first became aware that he loves me and wants the best for me and is trustworthy. When Abraham was promised a son he didn't see it happen. His belief that God was trustworthy did not change because he didn't see it happen. His belief in God's goodness wasn't grounded or proportional to his understanding of how God fulfilled his promises or answered his prayers, but rather he simply believed God regardless of what he saw happening around him. God finally gave him a son and then told him to sacrifice the son! Abraham didn't fully understand how this could make sense, but he tried to understand and resolve to believe God regardless of what he saw or was asked to do. In the end God proved faithful. Life is about learning to believe God and to believe who we are in Christ. Life is about coming to know our identity and freedom in Christ and walking in it.