"Lord, love me just as I am.
Lord, love me beyond being 'just as I am.'
Lord, love me to bear the image of the great I AM."
-CJ
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Meditations On The Word, Faith...Part 4 - Deals With The Devil
(If you haven’t already, please take a moment to read through the previous posts. This one is the fourth in a series on the word: “Faith.”)
Many years ago, my father instilled in me a love of history. In fact, the infection went so deep that history became my chosen major in college. There is not a lot one can do with a history major. Very few “Help Wanted” signs are posted for someone looking for a candidate with a B.A. in History. But, for this journey that I am on as a minister of the Word, it has proven helpful time and again with granting me the gift of perspective.
One important truth that I learne
d in regard to history was this little dictum: “Appeasers never learn lessons from the history of tyrants. Tyrants always learn from the history of appeasers. “ To put that truth into context, one need only remember the now infamous picture of Lord Neville Chamberlain descending the steps of his airplane, waving a document signed by Adolph Hitler and proudly announcing, “Peace in our time.” Hitler understood that with an appeaser you can offer the false hope of peace while continuing to press the advantage of a heartless and well-armed war machine. Had Chamberlain read history he would have known that the appetite of a tyrant is never quenched by the promises scratched out on a piece of paper. Tyrants will continue to be a tyrants and will use the ruse of peace agreements to buy more time to push for their domination.
Now, I have spoken with a lot of Christians over the years in regard to the issue of faith. Many times people will relate to me a story about how they began to diligently pursue the things of the Lord and were beginning to make progress and experience real growth, when all of a sudden – their world came apart. The stories I heard varied in degree and in severity. Some had lost friends or family members to death. Others had lost income and jobs or relationships. Regardless of the relative severity of each story, the impact on each was remarkably the same. The good intentions of spiritual advance had been stalled, or frightened into submission. There was, in their minds, a clear connection between spiritual advance and attacks from the dark, nefarious world of the enemy, i.e. satan. (I refuse to capitalize his name.) Impressed with the devil’s history of success, they began to cower and negotiate their way out of a life of spiritual vitality hoping for a better outcome. In a phrase, they thought that they could “make a deal with the devil.”
Such thinking is understandable but terribly unwise and naive. As Lord Chamberlain found out, a tyrant will offer a false peace as part of a strategy to gain ultimate victory. And, satan’s history of tyranny is much more pronounced and impressive than even the millions that Hitler managed to slaughter in his egoistic quest. The strategy of the enemy is, in Jesus’ words: “To kill, steal, and destroy”. And, no amount of negotiations and concessions will change that. In fact, I have found that such fear will actually attract even more hellish attention.
So, what is the remedy for all of this fear and appeasement? The very thing that we have been talking about in the last few posts, the little word: “Faith.” Listen carefully to this: Fear is actually a perverted form of faith. To fear something - the future, the past, a dog, or whatever – is to actually place one’s faith in that object and its ability to bring harm. Fear, as a misguided form of faith, actually brings bondage and makes us freeze up and become even more vulnerable to the very thing of which we are afraid. Perhaps the worse thing that we can do with fear is to try to overcome or to talk ourselves out of it. It simply cannot be done. The barking dog can and may yet bite. The past or the future cannot be accessed. All of the fears – the devil included – exist as real threats. No amount of reason can make them go away. But, there is a better way…
The better way is as simple as changing the object of our attention to something that is worthy of our faith – namely, the Lord Jesus Himself. An intentional gaze upon the Lord Jesus and even the faintest glimpse of His kingdom simply inoculates our spirits against the screams of hell. Everything, according to the Apostle Paul, has been placed under the feet of Jesus. Allow me to quote from the Book of Ephesians: “Now, He is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else – not only in this world but in the world to come. “ Ephesians 1:21. And, to drive the point home further, Paul says this in Ephesians 2:6: “He raised us up with Christ and seated us up with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ.”
As children of God we begin to understand that we live with a shared and imparted authority. A glimpse of our heavenly position has a wonderful way of neutralizing our fears. One who walks in a revelation of this authority has no desire to compromise, negotiate, or to cower before an already defeated enemy. There are no terms of peace. Total surrender to the Name of Jesus becomes the only sane option.
Now, I have waxed a bit poetic. Let me bring it down to real terms that we can all understand. When we think about the kingdom of God, can our imaginations grasp a place where there is no poverty, no war, no sickness, no division, no lies, no murder – nothing of which makes the evening news each night? And, if we can imagine such a kingdom and wed that vision to the declaration of Jesus that we are to pray: “His kingdom come, His will be done on earth as it is being done in heaven,” then, we can begin to move into our rightful positions as brokers of this good news. Why tolerate a tyrant when the advance of a better kingdom – an everlasting kingdom – is in our hands?
On the successful completion of D-Day, the war was over. It didn’t mean that there were not many battles still to be fought – and bloody ones at that. But, once the beaches at Normandy were secured the inevitable victory was assured.
So it is with our faith journey. On that surprising day when Jesus rose from His place of death and entombment – a day foretold and telegraphed many times by Jesus prior to His death – the war was won. Many battles would follow. Each of us – in his or her own way – is in the middle of one of these battles right now. But, with ultimate victory less than a lifetime away, who of us would choose to bow a knee to the rants of a soon to be deposed tyrant?
Many years ago, my father instilled in me a love of history. In fact, the infection went so deep that history became my chosen major in college. There is not a lot one can do with a history major. Very few “Help Wanted” signs are posted for someone looking for a candidate with a B.A. in History. But, for this journey that I am on as a minister of the Word, it has proven helpful time and again with granting me the gift of perspective.
One important truth that I learne
d in regard to history was this little dictum: “Appeasers never learn lessons from the history of tyrants. Tyrants always learn from the history of appeasers. “ To put that truth into context, one need only remember the now infamous picture of Lord Neville Chamberlain descending the steps of his airplane, waving a document signed by Adolph Hitler and proudly announcing, “Peace in our time.” Hitler understood that with an appeaser you can offer the false hope of peace while continuing to press the advantage of a heartless and well-armed war machine. Had Chamberlain read history he would have known that the appetite of a tyrant is never quenched by the promises scratched out on a piece of paper. Tyrants will continue to be a tyrants and will use the ruse of peace agreements to buy more time to push for their domination.Now, I have spoken with a lot of Christians over the years in regard to the issue of faith. Many times people will relate to me a story about how they began to diligently pursue the things of the Lord and were beginning to make progress and experience real growth, when all of a sudden – their world came apart. The stories I heard varied in degree and in severity. Some had lost friends or family members to death. Others had lost income and jobs or relationships. Regardless of the relative severity of each story, the impact on each was remarkably the same. The good intentions of spiritual advance had been stalled, or frightened into submission. There was, in their minds, a clear connection between spiritual advance and attacks from the dark, nefarious world of the enemy, i.e. satan. (I refuse to capitalize his name.) Impressed with the devil’s history of success, they began to cower and negotiate their way out of a life of spiritual vitality hoping for a better outcome. In a phrase, they thought that they could “make a deal with the devil.”
Such thinking is understandable but terribly unwise and naive. As Lord Chamberlain found out, a tyrant will offer a false peace as part of a strategy to gain ultimate victory. And, satan’s history of tyranny is much more pronounced and impressive than even the millions that Hitler managed to slaughter in his egoistic quest. The strategy of the enemy is, in Jesus’ words: “To kill, steal, and destroy”. And, no amount of negotiations and concessions will change that. In fact, I have found that such fear will actually attract even more hellish attention.
So, what is the remedy for all of this fear and appeasement? The very thing that we have been talking about in the last few posts, the little word: “Faith.” Listen carefully to this: Fear is actually a perverted form of faith. To fear something - the future, the past, a dog, or whatever – is to actually place one’s faith in that object and its ability to bring harm. Fear, as a misguided form of faith, actually brings bondage and makes us freeze up and become even more vulnerable to the very thing of which we are afraid. Perhaps the worse thing that we can do with fear is to try to overcome or to talk ourselves out of it. It simply cannot be done. The barking dog can and may yet bite. The past or the future cannot be accessed. All of the fears – the devil included – exist as real threats. No amount of reason can make them go away. But, there is a better way…
The better way is as simple as changing the object of our attention to something that is worthy of our faith – namely, the Lord Jesus Himself. An intentional gaze upon the Lord Jesus and even the faintest glimpse of His kingdom simply inoculates our spirits against the screams of hell. Everything, according to the Apostle Paul, has been placed under the feet of Jesus. Allow me to quote from the Book of Ephesians: “Now, He is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else – not only in this world but in the world to come. “ Ephesians 1:21. And, to drive the point home further, Paul says this in Ephesians 2:6: “He raised us up with Christ and seated us up with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ.”
As children of God we begin to understand that we live with a shared and imparted authority. A glimpse of our heavenly position has a wonderful way of neutralizing our fears. One who walks in a revelation of this authority has no desire to compromise, negotiate, or to cower before an already defeated enemy. There are no terms of peace. Total surrender to the Name of Jesus becomes the only sane option.
Now, I have waxed a bit poetic. Let me bring it down to real terms that we can all understand. When we think about the kingdom of God, can our imaginations grasp a place where there is no poverty, no war, no sickness, no division, no lies, no murder – nothing of which makes the evening news each night? And, if we can imagine such a kingdom and wed that vision to the declaration of Jesus that we are to pray: “His kingdom come, His will be done on earth as it is being done in heaven,” then, we can begin to move into our rightful positions as brokers of this good news. Why tolerate a tyrant when the advance of a better kingdom – an everlasting kingdom – is in our hands?
On the successful completion of D-Day, the war was over. It didn’t mean that there were not many battles still to be fought – and bloody ones at that. But, once the beaches at Normandy were secured the inevitable victory was assured.
So it is with our faith journey. On that surprising day when Jesus rose from His place of death and entombment – a day foretold and telegraphed many times by Jesus prior to His death – the war was won. Many battles would follow. Each of us – in his or her own way – is in the middle of one of these battles right now. But, with ultimate victory less than a lifetime away, who of us would choose to bow a knee to the rants of a soon to be deposed tyrant?
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