Take Your Inheritance!

While taking philosophy in college, I had a professor pose the question, “Is God good because the things He tells us to do are good, or are the things God tells us to do good because God is good?” Basically, the professor was asking if goodness was a quality that God possessed (does goodness exist in and of itself) or is goodness defined by God Himself (are other things good because they are like God)? To explain the question, he asked, “What if God told you to destroy an entire race of people — to commit genocide? Would that command still be good? If so, would it be good because God commanded it?” The professor thought he was speaking hypothetically — he thought he was asking, “Suppose God asked you to do something completely abhorrent. Would the command still be good? Would God still be good?”

Unfortunately, the professor apparently was not familiar with the Bible, because this is not a hypothetical question. God commanded the Israelites to do exactly that in Deuteronomy 20:16-18:

…in the cities of the nations the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, do not leave alive anything that breathes. 17 Completely destroy them—the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites—as the LORD your God has commanded you. 18 Otherwise, they will teach you to follow all the detestable things they do in worshiping their gods, and you will sin against the LORD your God.

This passage, and others like it, have troubled me for a long time. As I have said over and over again on this blog, I believe God is always, always, always good. He cannot be otherwise; it would be contrary to His very nature. As James writes, "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.". But this leads to an apparant contradiction. If God is always good, how could He command the Israelites to utterly destroy entire nations of people — men, women, children, even babies — when they moved into the Promised Land? What justice — what goodness — is there in slaughtering the defenseless? How does that picture reconcile with a belief in an "always good, always loving" God?

The answer, I believe, is that God knew what the outcome of not following His command would be. Judges 2:1-3 tells that God rebuked the Israelites for failing to follow His directive:

The angel of the LORD…said, "I brought you up out of Egypt and led you into the land that I swore to give to your forefathers. I said, ‘I will never break my covenant with you, 2 and you shall not make a covenant with the people of this land, but you shall break down their altars.’ Yet you have disobeyed me. Why have you done this? 3 Now therefore I tell you that I will not drive them out before you; they will be thorns in your sides and their gods will be a snare to you."

If you read the later history of Israel in 1st and 2nd Kings, you will see that this is exactly what happened. Even Solomon strayed, worshipping Ashtoreth, Molech, and Chemosh, gods of the people that Israel failed to drive out of Canaan.

This may not be a completely satisfactory answer to the question of God’s goodness — and perhaps at a later date, I will explore that answer in greater detail — but it is good enough for what I would like to discuss right now. You see, the Torah is rich in detail and foreshadowing, and this story is no exception. Under the Old Covenant, the descendants of Abraham had a promise from God for a land of their own. Under the New Covenant, we have the same thing…only our Promised Land is our heart.

Just as the inhabitants of Canaan drew Israel away from their Covenant relationship with God, the inhabitants of our heart — our lusts, our desires, our sinful nature — want to draw us away from our Covenant relationship with God. Furthermore, just as the Israelites were commanded to utterly destroy the inhabitants of Canaan so that they (the Israelites) might remain pure and holy, we are commanded to utterly destroy the old, sinful nature that was in our hearts before we became followers of Jesus so that we might remain pure and holy. Colossians 3 tells us to "Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry," and Ephesians 4 tells us, "…put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness." If we do not completely root out all of these "inhabitants" of our old heart, we, like the Israelites, will find ourselves chasing after things that are not of God.

God wants all of our heart; He will not settle for 99% of it. Therefore, I can give no quarter to even a root of evil in my heart. As someone said to me when I was still a teenager, "If you are trying to find out how close you can get to sin before crossing over the line, you’ve already crossed it."

Rather, we MUST pray like David did: "Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my…thoughts. 24 Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life."

The Goodness of God’s Heart

One thing I often hear people say is that the God of the Old Testament and the God of the New Testament seem so opposite to each other. In the Old Testament is all of the prophets prophesying doom and judgment upon people, while in the New Testament, you have Jesus teaching mercy and forgiveness. How can the harsh, judgmental God in the Torah be the same God that we as Christians, under the New Covenant, worship today?

The answer is found in Ezekial 33:10-11:

Son of man, say to the house of Israel, ‘This is what you are saying: “Our offenses and sins weigh us down, and we are wasting away because of [a] them. How then can we live?” ‘ 11 Say to them, ‘As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die, O house of Israel?’

The heart of God is not to punish, destroy or kill. The heart of God is to redeem, to save and restore life. Why do you think God sent the Old Testament prophets? God wasn’t sitting in Heaven looking down on sinful man and cackling with glee because He was about to destroy nations over and over again. God was sending warning after warning — "Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me." (Ezekial 3:17). This is also shown in Matthew 23:37, when Jesus says, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing." Despite her (our) many sins, Jesus (God) still wants to gather us under His protection. This is not the heart of a vengeful, wrathful God — this is the heart of a Father who wants His children to love Him and to live under His protection.

We have been told a lie by Satan, and we have believed it. God is not against us; He is for us and jealous for us. He is patient and long-suffering towards us, and when we fall, He will be there to pick us up again…if we will only let Him.

Shalom

I ran across an interesting quote today…:

The stream of human knowledge is impartially heading towards a non-mechanical reality. The universe begins to look more like a great thought than a great machine. –Sir John Jeans

…which immediately reminded me of the account of the creation in Genesis, when with a word, God breathed the universe into being. When I read this quote, I found a sense of peace settle over me — "All is well; your existence is in the thoughts of Jehovah." Whether you choose to take that literally (I exist only in the thoughts of Jehovah) or figuratively (Jehovah is thinking of me), it is immensely comforting.

The Future of Christianity?

I received an e-mail from my uncle today, describing an event where a Christian with a prison ministry is confronted by Muslims in the prison who are trying to stop him from preaching Christianity. The e-mail is very interesting, and, although I would like to, I am not going to post it here because I do not wish to infringe upon the original author’s copyright on his work.

However, I will touch upon some of the salient points from the e-mail. First, the author describes what sounds like a very successful prison ministry — even in physical bondage, i.e., jail, hearts are being set free from sin. That’s awesome! Second, now that the ministry is becoming successful, Satan has begun to interfere with this man’s — and God’s — work in the prison. The author describes how, being in a room in the prison with several Muslims who are attempting to disrupt the Christian Bible study and worship service, he faced fear, both for the situation he experienced and for the future:

At that point some of the Muslims came over to me and the other elders and started calling us Satan worshippers, white pigs and evil. They vowed to stop our preaching and teaching of Jesus…I believe that If it were not for the presence of the guard it would have become very violent, and possibly deadly. It will not surprise me that our continued visits will eventually lead to our being attacked and harmed…Our guard was a female about the age of 50, and it is my firm belief that if those men had wanted to, they could have harmed or even killed us yesterday before she could have received the help needed to squelch the attacks. It is my conviction that yesterday was a glimpse of the future for all Christians in America. I also believe that any faith that is not deeply rooted in Jesus will not survive the future when the attacks come.

I have a couple of thoughts about this. First, let me say that, in my experience, if you are experiencing opposition in your work for God, be encouraged. Satan only attacks those who are a *THREAT* to him. As my wife and I have become more active in our ministries, we have found the spiritual attacks on us have really ramped up. Five years ago, things were pretty mellow. Now…well, by the end of last week, I was feeling pretty spiritually beat up. Anyway…having said that, let me get a little more controversial

The church that my wife and I have been attending teaches some things that I believe are true but that I think have escaped most Christians. The New Testament records several times and in several ways that we (the Church) are the body of Christ, and that Jesus is the head of the Church. Think about that for a second…what is the purpose of the head and of the body? The head provides direction and leadership, and the body carries out the work, right? Okay, nothing controversial there. The Bible also tells us that all dominion and authority has been given to Jesus and that his enemies have been placed *under his feet*…which are part of the body, no? Seems to me that this implies that Jesus’ enemies have been placed under the feet of His body, which we’ve already agreed is us! Okay, that’s a bit of a stretch, so if you don’t agree with that connection, I understand. Let’s take another tack.

John 14:12-14 says “I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.” If you believe that, and take it to mean exactly what Jesus spoke, He is giving us the power to work miracles and take authority over the enemy! Whoa!!!

2 Timothy 1:7 also says “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” There are two things important in this passage. First, Wellspring (the church my wife and I are going to now) teaches that that is exactly right — fear is a spirit of Satan meant to cripple us with intimidation and keep us from doing God’s work. What the man in the prison ministry described sounds *exactly* like a spirit of fear and intimidation to me. The second thing is that, rather than a spirit of fear, God has given us a spirit of POWER. It is power that is softened (i.e., made gentle, but no less potent!) by love and reigned in by discipline (in other translations) or a sound mind (in NKJV, which I quoted from). Elsewhere in the New Testament, it says that “greater is He [the Holy Spirit, i.e., God] that is in me than that which is in the world [i.e., Satan]“. But knowing that God has given you power and that God is greater than the enemy is why we need not fear.

Now for the practical application…

At Wellspring, we are taught that when an evil spirit, for example a spirit of fear and intimidation, manifests itself, such as when these Muslims attempted to disrupt and interfere with the Christian Bible study, *we don’t have to put up with it*!!! What happened to Paul and Silas in Acts 16?

One day as we were going down to the place of prayer, we met a demon-possessed slave girl. She was a fortune-teller who earned a lot of money for her masters. She followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, and they have come to tell you how to be saved.”

This went on day after day until Paul got so exasperated that he turned and said to the demon within her, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And instantly it left her.

Paul and Silas were able to silence the unclean spirit in the woman because they were filled with the Holy Spirit and had faith that God would uphold His promises. We can do it too; in fact, *I have* and *it worked.* The man who started Wellspring Ministries tells how he has often been threatened and ridiculed, but commanded the spirits of fear and intimidation to cease…and they did. When the enemy tries to discourage us from our work our reply should be, “In the name of Jesus Christ, I command you (spirit of fear, intimidation, oppression, etc.) to be silent and depart.”

So is this, as the author of the e-mail that was forwarded to me claims, really the future of Christianity in America? Yes, and no. If we are active in God’s work, I believe Satan will do his best to intimidate us, and he will use other human beings — Muslims, athiests and, for that matter, possibly even other “Christians” who are threatened by those who are on fire for God — to do so. Does that mean that Christians are looking at a grim, bleak future of persecution? Not if we really put on the armor of God and believe what He tells us to do in His word!

Earlier in this post, I commented that "…by the end of last week, I was feeling pretty spiritually beat up." I want to stress that, while I felt like I had been engaged in some pretty heavy fighting and that I definitely took some blows, I *also* felt like I gave at least as good as I got. It was a rough week, but I emerged from that week VICTORIOUS! I was not a victim, and I was not defeated. I believe that is what God desires and expects from all who call themselves Christians — nothing less than victory! As a kid, I used to sing the hymn "Victory in Jesus" in church. Isn’t it ironic that we sing about "Victory in Jesus" in our worship services, but live, act and talk like we expect suffering and persecution? Is it just me, or is there a disconnect here?!?!

I recommend the book “Victorious Eschatology” by Harold Eberle and Martin Trench for those, like me, who are tired of the victim’s mindset. I haven’t read the whole book yet, but I’ve read pieces of it. The authors do a neat analysis of the point of view that “things are bad and are only going to get worse”, which I really enjoyed. I don’t know about you, but I personally feel much more empowered when I believe that things are going to get better — and that I can play a part in making it happen!

The Goodness of God

How often have we said, "It is God’s will," or "It was an act of God," when tragedy strikes? Remember…Pat Robertson, I think it was…saying that Hurricane Katrina was God’s punishment on the United States for its sinful ways? Or have you ever heard someone say that the kind, loving God of the New Testament seems to be a totally different personality than the harsh, wrathful God of the Old Testament? I really don’t think that’s the case. The Bible tells us that God is good; God is love.

Check out this link — the author explains God’s goodness as written in the Bible better than I can.

Oh No You Dih-nt!

Okay, you’ve gotta see this:

Now that’s what I’m talking about! This is what Christianity is supposed to look like! So, if that’s what the church is supposed to look like, then why doesn’t it?

I was brought up in a church that taught that miracles were for the time when Jesus and the Apostles walked the earth. I was always taught that miracles didn’t happen anymore. Unfortunately, this is pretty common, even in so-called "spirit-filled" churches. Father God, forgive us! How did we forget what Jesus did and said?!?! Heal the sick…and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God is near you.’"

One of Satan’s favorite tactics is to convince us that we are powerless, that we cannot oppose him, that miracles have ceased and God no longer provides for His people. If the church doesn’t believe they they have the power and authority to destroy the works of Satan, then who will oppose him? Have you ever felt that small, quiet voice whispering to your spirit, "C’mon, just go for it. I know you’ve got what it takes! Just take a step in faith!"? When you feel the faith begin to well up inside you, what happens next? As soon as faith begins building up in my soul, I start hearing another voice whispering to me, "What do you think you are doing? What if it doesn’t work? What if you witness to this person and nothing happens? They are going to think you are nuts! Besides, they don’t want to be bothered by some religious wacko…" and on it goes. Just like in the cartoons I watched as a kid, there’s an angel on one shoulder encouraging me to be like Jesus, and a devil on the other, reminding me of my past failures and playing on my fears.

Fortunately, however, I’ve got a rebellious streak in me that I have long since learned to channel in a good way. When I was in ninth grade, I had a biology teacher who…well, he was kind of a jerk. One day in class, the teacher asked us to get out our textbooks. I had lost my book a day or two before, so I didn’t have my book in class. Oops. That earned me a lunch detention. During detention, the instructor asked how I studied for tests without the textbook. Truth was, I really didn’t study much in high school — I didn’t need to. Sure, I could have moved from a B-average to an A-average with a little more bookwork, but I’ve always had a practical approach to things. At that time, I didn’t think it was worth the extra effort to get a slightly better grade (I’ll cover that topic in another post some time…), so I rarely studied for tests. So, I said, "Usually, I don’t. However, if I need to, I use the notes from class." My biology teacher, however, was singularly unimpressed with that answer. "Yeah, and your grades reflect that," he said. First, that was pure bovine scatology. If I was a solid "D" student, that answer might have been warranted, but you’re going to try to slam me for earning A’s and B’s in your class?!?! Like I said, he was kind of a jerk ("Father God, I purpose and choose to forgive Mr. Maier…." lol). Second, the whole point behind the answer he gave me was to sting my ego. Nine times out of ten, that’s a really poor way to motivate people. It rarely is a good idea to rag on people if you want them to do better. In my experience, mean-spirited criticism almost always only serves to beat people down.

I happen to be that tenth time, however.

When my biology teacher lobbed that smart answer back at me, I thought to myself, "Oh, really? Wanna bet?!?!" I thought a few other things too, but I won’t repeat them here In any case, I ended up with an "A" in biology that semester…and I still didn’t crack the textbook at home except to do homework.

The trick is to take this attitude and apply it to spiritual matters. When Satan tells me, "You can’t do that — you aren’t smart (or strong or spiritual or faithful….) enough to oppose me!", something in my soul goes, "Yeah, whatever…watch me!" When he tries to play on my fears, I say, "Are you seriously trying to scare me? Looks to me like you’re scared of me!"

Hebrews 10:12-14 says, "But our High Priest offered himself to God as a single sacrifice for sins, good for all time. Then he sat down in the place of honor at God’s right hand. 13 There he waits until his enemies are humbled and made a footstool under his feet. 14 For by that one offering he forever made perfect those who are being made holy." Even better, Jesus, "our High Priest", has given us authority and power over Satan and his demons: "Look, I have given you authority over all the power of the enemy, and you can walk among snakes and scorpions and crush them. Nothing will injure you." (Luke 10:19) Therefore, the only power Satan has over us is what we give to him by coming into agreement with his accusations or by giving in to fear. "You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world." (1 John 4:4)

So, when Satan tries to intimidate you, get your hackles up and reply, "Oh, no you dih-n’t!"

Pray for our nation? Well, yes, but…

My aunt in Texas recently forwarded me an e-mail urging Christians around the country to pray on behalf of the United States. The impetus for the e-mail was a passage in 2nd Chronicles: if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

This is good — I believe that we as Christians should indeed pray for our country and for our elected leaders. However, one thing troubled me as I read through the e-mail: the overall tone of the e-mail seemed to be, "pray, so that God will do something about the mess this country is in!" This is a common theology in modern Christianity. We pray for deliverance all the time. Okay, I don’t necessarily have a problem with praying for deliverance. After all, even Jesus prayed, "…and do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil…" (emphasis mine).

The e-mail I received asks, "Would you please send this to people in your address book? Ask them to pray EVERY DAY…If you do and they comply, we will lift up millions and millions of prayers a day to our Creator. He will hear us, and in faith will answer." If you can accept that prayers are a demonstration of faith (why pray if you don’t believe God can or will answer your prayers?), then getting on our knees and praying for change would be an expression that God can and will change things. I agree that this is true, and this is certainly a good start. But it is not enough. It is necessary, but it is not sufficient.

You see, there unfortunately seems to be a tendency to look only to God to fix things. This is nothing more than a tactic of Satan to make the church powerless. Growing up, I was taught, "God helps those who help themselves." Throughout recorded history, sages have wondered, "Why are we here?" The answer, or at least part of it, is right at the beginning of Genesis: "Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule…over all the earth…’" We were created to rule over all the earth! That is our raison d’etre. Tell me, do we take dominion of the earth by hiding in our churches or living rooms waiting for God to bring the lost to us? What does the Great Commission say? "Wait in your churches for the lost to come to you so that you may preach the Gospel to them?" No, no, no, a thousand times NO! The Great Commission says, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you." (emphasis mine).

Likewise, James writes, "What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him? 15If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, 16and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,’ and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself…are you willing to recognize…that faith without works is useless? 21Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar? 22You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected…" You see, the problem is that it is not enough for us to look to God to fix things for us. God has empowered us to do his work, to be the hands, feet and mouth of the his kingdom: "I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you." (emphasis mine). Jesus gave us authority to overcome all the power of the enemy, and He gave us the job of going into the world to reach the lost. If this is the case, then not only should we be praying to God on behalf of our nation, but we should be out in our communities bringing the lost to Jesus!

As Jesus made His triumphal entry into Jerusalem, he wept and lamented, "How I wish today that you of all people would understand the way to peace. But now it is too late, and peace is hidden from your eyes…Your enemies will not leave a single stone in place, because you did not accept your opportunity for salvation." The United States — and much of the rest of the world, for that matter — is in a similar state. If we, the church, do our jobs and the world remains hard-hearted, then in the end, God’s judgment will fall upon them, as it did on Jerusalem. However, if the church fails to do the job that God assigned to us, then we will stand under God’s judgment. "Even now the ax of God’s judgment is poised, ready to sever the roots of the trees. Yes, every tree that does not produce good fruit will be chopped down and thrown into the fire."

So, yes, pray for our nation. Pray for our leaders. But then pray that our churches would be mission-oriented, that we would be involved in our communities. And don’t expect for the church leadership to do all the work. Look for opportunities to witness to others yourself. Teach your children to love God. Read to them from the Bible. In your own life, be an imitator of Christ. Jesus tells us what He expects of us:

‘For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

Healing Again

I had an interesting insight into healing this morning. One of the coolest stories about healing — well, about all spiritual life, actually — occurs in Matthew 6:22-33. "Wait a minute," you say. "Those verses aren’t about healing! They are about Jesus and Peter walking on water! What does that have to do with healing?!?!" Let’s read the story:

Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. 23After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, 24but the boat was already a considerable distance[a] from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.

25During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. 26When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. "It's a ghost," they said, and cried out in fear.

27But Jesus immediately said to them: "Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid."

28"Lord, if it's you," Peter replied, "tell me to come to you on the water."

29"Come," he said.

Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, "Lord, save me!"

31Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. "You of little faith," he said, "why did you doubt?"

32And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. 33Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, "Truly you are the Son of God."

The important portion of the story is that while Peter had his eyes on Jesus, he was able to walk on water. Once Peter stopped focusing on Jesus and began focusing on the wind and the waves, he began to sink. Because we live in a fallen world, we will be buffeted by wind and waves.

I have had eczema on my hands for about five years now. My wife has periodically suffered from dizziness for as long as I’ve known her (over ten years). Just this morning, I was talking to my wife about these struggles. She was wondering why we seem to have so much trouble kicking this problems out of our lives, since we both believe that 1) all such diseases are caused by Satan, 2) Jesus has already won the victory and taken all authority over Satan, and 3) Jesus has given this same authority to all believers. If we are right on all three counts, then my wife and I, as followers of Christ, should have the authority to rebuke these diseases and be healed. However, we still struggle with them from time to time. What gives?

As I was talking to her, however, the Holy Spirit began to speak through me, and brought the story of Peter and Jesus on the water to mind. When my eczema flares up, or my wife begins to get dizzy, we take our eyes off of Jesus and focus on "the wind and the waves." Just as Peter began to sink into the water when he took his eyes off Jesus, we begin to sink into disease when we take our eyes off Jesus.

I was reading "Epic" by John Eldredge (rapidly becoming one of my favorite authors — I cannot recommend his books enough!) last night. In this book, Eldredge talks about the villain in God’s glorious epic of creation. Satan is not the prancing devil-figure in red tights with a pitchfork that western culture imagines, Eldredge says. Satan was one of the most powerful angels in Heaven before he let pride enter into his heart. He is strong, cunning, intelligent and dangerous. We reduce him to a mischievous imp at our peril. Like a cobra, we must give Satan the respect that any dangerous creature deserves. Don’t get me wrong — I am not saying that Satan is worthy or deserves any form of worship. We are most emphatically not to respect Satan in the same way that we respect God. I am only saying that it is mortally dangerous to underestimate our enemy.

However, do not fear. Though Satan is strong, God is stronger. Though Satan is cunning and intelligent, the Holy Spirit is more so. The he is dangerous, Jesus has already defeated him. When we align ourselves with God, Satan becomes like a cobra behind a plexiglass window at the zoo. When we are under God’s protection, Satan has no power and no authority to harm us. However, if we reach into the cobra’s cage, it can and will bite us. Likewise, if we remove ourselves from God’s protection by taking our eyes off of Jesus, we can fall into sin and disease.

So what I said to my wife about defeating the eczema and dizziness this morning is simply this. When Satan strikes at us with the first symptoms of our physical ailments, we have a choice to make. We can begin to focus on the symptoms, we can fear the disease that we think might follow. Or we can remain outside the cobra’s cage, keep our eyes on Jesus and walk on water.

Identity

I have been reading John Eldredge’s books lately, having just finished "Waking the Dead" and now being about mid way through "Wild at Heart". If you haven’t read anything by John Eldredge, I highly recommend you pick up one of these books (or both!) — they really are that good. Anyway, back on topic ("SQUIRREL!")…a common theme in both of these books is discovering who you really are at heart. What is the identity God had in mind when He created you?

I hadn’t really thought much about my identity for about 20 years. In my late teens, I had just left the Baltimore, Maryland area and moved to Anchorage, Alaska. In high school, I was pretty much preoccupied with finishing high school, playing or listening to music…I dressed like a teen-age wannabe rock star because I was a teen-age wannabe rock star. After I moved to Alaska, I began working on my pilot’s license and as a result, I could feel a shift in who I was. I stopped wearing torn jeans all the time. I started wearing flannel shirts over (or instead of) my t-shirts. I traded the black leather jacket for a military style green flight jacket. I started wearing my hair shorter. It felt really weird giving up the headbanger persona I had so carefully cultivated in Maryland to become a rather conservative pilot type in Alaska, and there was a point in time where I really felt the pangs of letting go of the old "me."

Unfortunately, the "pilot" me wasn’t any more who I really was than the "headbanger" me was…or more accurately, both identities were part — but not the sum total — of who I really am.

In both "Wild at Heart" and "Waking the Dead", Eldredge spends a lot of time talking about our identity in God. This goes beyond, "Yeah, I’m a Christian, I’m a follower of Jesus, I belong to God." Eldredge goes to great pains to point out that, if we are to reach our potential, if we are really to please our Father in Heaven, we have to discover who God created us to be. Eldredge starts "Waking the Dead" with a discussion of the the role of myths in the human psyche. He claims, and I agree, that the reason we crave heroic stories is that they appeal to the call that God has placed in our lives. Even though modern, western society seems on the whole to be at peace, in reality, humanity is born into a world at war. In Ephesians 6:12, Paul writes that "We do not battle against flesh and blood but…against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms."

The spiritual realm around us is a battlefield, and the physically sick, the depressed, the overstressed are all casualties of that war. I think we as Christians have forgotten that fact. We’ve forgotten who we are. We have forgotten who God created us to be. We have forgotten our identities.

All the way back in Genesis 1, God tells us who He created us to be: "…fill the earth and subdue it." Jesus echoes this command — with a component of spiritual warfare as well — in Matthew 10 when He sends his disciples to rescue the "lost sheep of Israel." You and I were created to rule with God.

This shouldn’t surprise us, however. After all, Genesis 1:27 tells us that we were created in God’s image. But what does God "look" like? Do we want to be in His image?

A while ago, I was reading a comment on a web page on the Internet where someone said that they weren’t impressed with the God of Judaism and Christianity. This person thought the Norse gods were cool — strong, tough, Viking warrior gods — but that the Judeo-Christian God was weak and boring. I mean, in popular culture, Thor is a superhero. We paint Jesus as a kind, gentle long-haired, peace-and-love hippie type who talks about us being sheep or being like little children if we want to get into Heaven. Likewise, Nietzshe wrote that Judiasm was evil because it fostered a "slave mentality" and taught that it was better to be oppressed than to be strong.

The truth, however, is that this view of God is a lie of Satan. There is a scene in the movie "The Incredibles" that is very, very cool. The femme fatale (I forget her name) confronts the nemesis, Syndrome, after Syndrome calls Mr. Incredible’s bluff. "Compassion is not weakness," she says. "Nor is disregard for human life strength."

Yes, God is love, but He is also terrifying; we forget that at our peril. When God visited Moses on Mt. Sinai, the Israelites were afraid to be near Moses because God’s presence was still upon him. Does that sound like a weak, mamby-pamby God to you? God is so awesome that His chosen people were afraid to come near another man simply because he had been in God’s presence. When was the last time you heard something like that? "Dude, that guy is so scary, I’m afraid to come near you because you’ve been talking to him…" Or consider the book of Job…Job starts out griping at God because of the things he (Job) has suffered. However, at the end of the book, God says, "Okay…you’ve got something you need to say to Me? Let’s go." And when faced with his Creator, Job backs down: "I am unworthy—how can I reply to you? I put my hand over my mouth. 5 I spoke once, but I have no answer—twice, but I will say no more." Job recognized the might and strength of the Lord, and acknowledged that He was without equal in all the earth.

One of the most amazing passages in "Wild at Heart" is when Eldredge compares the story of the birth of Jesus in the Gospels with the view of the same event from the spiritual world as described in Revelations 12:

A great and wondrous sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. 2She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth. 3Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on his heads. 4His tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that he might devour her child the moment it was born. 5She gave birth to a son, a male child, who will rule all the nations with an iron scepter. And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne.6The woman fled into the desert to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days.

7And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. 8But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. 9The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.

Eldredge sums it up quite nicely when he said, "It wasn’t ‘Silent Night’, it was D-Day." D-Day, indeed. And just before He ascended to Heaven to take His place at the right hand of God, Jesus commanded the believers (that’s you and me, folks!) to continue the work He started. "Then Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.’" and "’And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.’ 19After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God."

We can’t do these things if we don’t know who we are. We won’t claim the authority that Jesus purchased with His blood on Calvary, if we don’t know that it is our birthright. We won’t be victorious over Satan and the principalities of Hell, if we think suffering is our lot in life. The demons won’t fear us if we don’t understand that it is our destiny and our purpose in life to shake the very foundations of Hell, to rescue the lost and set the captives free. Stories appeal to us because they remind us of our identity. EVERY ONE OF US is a Neo, a Trinity, a Morpheus. We are all Aragorn, Frodo, Gandalf and Legolas. We are created to be Walter Slovotsky, Carl Cullinane, Doria, Andrea or Ahira the dwarf, freeing the slaves from bondage. Within you and me is a Luke Skywalker, a Han Solo, a Princess Leia. Joan of Arc lies within our hearts. Each of us is a John Wayne, a Lone Ranger, a Daniel Boone or a General George Patton. Satan has lied to the church, and we’ve bought into the lie, we’ve become complacent, we’ve gone to sleep. But God is calling us to awaken. Who did God create YOU to be? I guarantee it’s more than you ever dreamed you could be and far more than who you are right now.

Father God, I pray that You would open the eyes of my heart and teach me who I am. Teach me who You created me to be, and give me the faith to claim my identity. Amen.

…But First Seek the Kingdom of God

You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my counsel without knowledge?’ Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know.

I’ve started my mornings all week long by praying for God to show me something new, to teach me something I had missed in my studies. While talking with my pastor, Pat Hadley this morning, God revealed something new to me. I have written quite a bit recently about pursuing spiritual gifts — healing, signs and wonders, etc. — in this blog. I have been convicted in my heart that the church has missed its purpose by taking signs and wonders into the world to give the world an experience with God. Make no mistake — these things are important — but I think perhaps I have somewhat missed the point. Like Job in the quote above, I have been speaking of things I didn’t fully understand.

In Psalm 1, David writes, "Blessed is the man…[who] delights in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers." This is what God desires for us. If we delight in the presence of God in our lives, if we meditate on Him and on His law day and night, then the spiritual gifts will follow. The point isn’t to develop spiritual gifts; the point is to develop a relationship with God. Don’t pursue the spiritual gifts; pursue God. When you do that, the spiritual gifts will follow. They are the overflow, the manifestation of the presence of God in your heart. In the gospel of Luke, Jesus says this himself:

The seventy-two returned with joy and said, "Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name."

18He replied, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. 20However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven."

In the end, the only person that any of us have the power to change is ourselves. God is not calling us to change the world, therefore. He is calling us to enter into a right relationship with Him. Once we are in that right relationship with Him, we will change the world because His power and His glory is manifested in us.

Father God, forgive me for the ways that I have sought after things other than You. Bring my heart into right relationship with You. I desire that Your glory, Your power and Your light would be shown in me, but most of all, I desire that You would live in my heart and that I would honor You in my life. Thank You for continuing to reveal Your heart and Your will to me. Amen.