(2Corinthians 10:3) “For though we walk
in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh.”
My thoughts have begun to bud new foliage
and it is rather exciting as they are new to me. I have reached a point in my
walk where the scenery has changed and it is exciting. Third Day sings a song
with these lyrics; “we have to walk through the valley to get to the mountain
top” and once we get through the valley and stand on that mountain top looking
back over the terrain we have travelled, it takes on another dimension and it
is beautiful to behold!
The more I ponder a thought, which the
world propagates about independence and getting ahead in life, the more I begin
to understand what a lie it is. It is fleshly and devilish! The father of lies,
the devil has put this thought into the minds of people and Christians are
lapping it up.
Let’s now attempt to prove that by the
Word of God…
John Piper makes this point; our lives
revolve around stuff and we make the things of this world our treasure when in
fact the Lord Jesus Christ is our treasure. We all have to learn to appropriate
this truth into every area of our lives. There is much work to be done!
For most of us it is Christ and… when
in fact it should be Christ alone! Let’s break it down. Christ is real to every
Christian, He has to be! But much of our Christian walks involve the mundane
things of life: work, food, clothing, cars, holidays, and the like. Although
they are real issues and we all need them what I have come to realize is this; they
take our eyes off our call to obedience. We believe that as Christians we need
to be involved with stuff to survive in this world. Money plays a large role in
our existence. Needless to say the more I examine the scripture the further I
understand that we have been hoodwinked by these types of thoughts. We think
that we are justified by being diligently faithful to our jobs. However if it
is at the expense of our spiritual call to walk in newness of life we have been
deceived. We place far too much misguided emphasis on this verse; “For even when we were with you, we would give
you this command: If
anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat.” (2Thessalonians 3:10) – I am not
for one minute suggesting that we must be slack and lazy, on the contrary, we
must be diligent when opportunity presents itself but God must lead us and not
the other way around.
Pay careful attention and do not miss
this. We worry so much about survival that we miscue the instruction and all it
proves is that we lack faith; “But if God so clothes the grass of the
field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not
much more clothe you, O
you of little faith? Therefore
do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or
'What shall we wear?' For the Gentiles seek
after all these things, and your heavenly
Father knows that you need them all.
But seek first the kingdom of God and
his righteousness, and all these things will be added to
you. "Therefore do not be anxious
about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient
for the day is its own trouble.” (Matthew 6:30-33) – It is our fleshly needs that
rob us of faith!
We believe that we must do paraphernalia
for God, in other words life is about sacrifice when in fact it should be about
obedience. We do not realize as we should that Christ is there for us and not
the other way around; He is the one who looks out for us and intercedes for us!
Our awareness on this is restrained but we need to understand the complexities
of what this actually means; “Likewise
the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we
ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for
words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes
for the saints according to the will of
God. And we know that for those who love God all things work
together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those
whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son,
in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he
predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and
those whom he justified he also glorified. What then shall we say to these
things? If God is for
us, who can be against us?” (Romans
8:26-31)
Faith never needs any other
alternatives, it is self-sufficient! It drives us to depend on God’s provision
and not our own abilities. All the great men of God teach us the same lesson; their
dependency on God and not their own abilities. Read Hebrews chapter 11 and it
will be clear.
Jesus Christ is our treasure and if we
can learn to live like this in totality it will be well with our souls, no more
striving for temporal things and the burden of independent will be lifted from
us. No more competing with the Jones’ will be necessary. God will supply what
is needed I am fully persuaded of this!
The flesh drives us to wage war in the
flesh, it is a deception, put it off child of God as we are no longer children
of the flesh but the sons of God. We have been commanded to walk in the Spirit;
this means that we must trust our God in every area of our lives and the sooner
this becomes a way of life for us the fuller our joy will be. It is not stuff
that determines how blessed we are but rather the joy that beams from our faces
and our lives which proves how well we have learnt to obey.
Signing off
Tyrone
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