A LIFE WELL LIVED, Part 4 - AWE

Webster's dictionary describes AWE as an emotion variously combining dread, veneration, and wonder that is inspired by authority or by the sacred.Another dictionary defines awe as "a feeling of reverential respect mixed with fear or wonder". In both cases, we see two things - the use of the words "feeling (or emotion)" and secondly - "sacred (or reverential)".

Both definitions include the words "dread and fear" and both have the same word, wonder, at the end of their respective definition. So that does that mean to us? No one could have said it better than the great prophet Isaiah in Chapter 6 of his book. Remember, as you read this short passage, Isaiah was already a servant of the Lord - as we are! Remember also, and then search your own soul, that we are no better than Isaiah!

Why do I say that? Well, we live in the same corrupt and profane world as Isaiah. Just like when King Uzziah was reigning, we live in relative prosperity, ease and comfort. Just like that time in Judah's history, we are a corrupt, foul-mouthed and perverse generation. Just like these early days of the ministry of the great prophet, the people of God are tolerating perversion, misrepresentation and misapplication of the Word by politicians and pastors who are no more sons of God than the fig tree that Jesus cursed.

ISAIAH 6 (NKJV):

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. 2 Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one cried to another and said:

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
The whole earth is full of His glory!”

4 And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke.

5 So I said:

“Woe is me, for I am undone!
Because I am a man of unclean lips,
And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips;
For my eyes have seen the King,
The Lord of hosts.”

6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the altar.7 And he touched my mouth with it, and said:

“Behold, this has touched your lips;
Your iniquity is taken away,And your sin purged".

When we have an encounter with the Living God like this, it is all we could do to react in the same way as the Prophet did in Verse 5 (re..."woe is me, for I am undone..."). The Word which is used in the Hebrew for "undone" is "DAMAH". In the AWESOME Presence of the Great God of Heaven, he became completely "destroyed physically, emotionally, mentally, spiritually and any other "-ly" you can think of!

In using the word "Damah", the Holy Spirit Who wrote this Scripture through Isaiah is recounting exactly what happened to Isaiah in the awesome presence of God! He was not just "undone" but was brought to the end of his corrupt earthly tradition! The word also means "silenced" and "ceased". The profanity and cultural "Christianity" (to put it in today's terms) which Isaiah was living had now been silenced and ceased/destroyed/wiped out and cancelled forever!

Isaiah was sanctified, literally sanctified, right in front of God...and it was confirmed in verse 6b, when The Seraphim touched his mouth with the hot coal to now, physically purge his mouth from speaking the world's stuff, so he could now speak clearly and cleansed for God!

The key to a Life Well Lived is being in that same place as Isaiah - UNDONE! DAMAH! It is only the cleansed and transformed vessel that God, through Jesus Christ, can send to the World, to speak and live and minister for Him. But it begins as with falling at His feet in completely awe, reverence and submission and then saying to the King - "Here I am, send me"!

A LIFE WELL LIVED, Part 3 - UNDERSTANDING, DISCERNMENT

Wisdom is the best friend you will ever have in this life- Godly wisdom, that is.  Every decision, choice and more, comes out of process where at least some measure of wisdom has been applied to the decision. It all goes back to your Perception (as we saw in Part 2). Your perception is your worldview, and hopefully - for your own sake - it is a Biblical worldview. Now Wisdom is the outflow of that worldview. Therefore, again - for your own sake - it is preferably the Wisdom that comes from God!

A perfect example is a man who just became the head of a favored organization and was set to undertake one of the most amazing projects in History. All he had to do was follow his beloved late father's plans and execute. Being a very young man (he called himself a child), he needed guidance and in 1 Kings 3:5, God Himself appeared to Solomon in a vision and offered to give him ANYTHING he asked for! Here is the rest of how that conversation with God went: "7 Now, O Lord my God, You have made Your servant king instead of my father David, but I am a little child; I do not know how to go out or come in. 8 And Your servant is in the midst of Your people whom You have chosen, a great people, too numerous to be numbered or counted. 9 Therefore give to Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people, that I may discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of Yours?” (1 Kings 3:7-9).

Two things from this prayer of Solomon, who is now the head of millions of God's people in Israel will guide us to a place where we ourselves can have the very SAME mind of Wisdom God gave to him. We would be wise to follow this same prescription for attaining true wisdom, the kind which made Solomon the wisest man in the world for a time. We condemn his lifestyle after he fell prey to sexual immorality and idolatry, but this is because of his own human foolishness. He did the same thing Adam did - walk away from the Wisdom of God and let his passivity take him down.

Verse 9 of 1 Kings here, has two very important criteria  (in bold red) for the kind of wisdom we need for the "Good Life":

1. An Understanding Heart -the words God uses in the Scriptures here for  is "Shama and Leb" They go together in this Hebraic context because the "Leb" or the "Heart" is the conscience, the inspiration. the imagination, the skill, the intelligence, the mind, the spirit and heart you need to do anything! 

The accompanying adjective - "Shama" - tells you how to use the heart effectively. God said in this word, pregnant with meaning, we are to have understanding in the sense of obedient, listening, truly listening, hearing, truly hearing, really obeying, witnessing, taking heed, processing, taking really good notes, comprehending and more!!

It is obvious here that, in our lives, we would be a lot smarter and function with clarity and power, if we listen more than we speak! A truly wise man is an understanding man whose conscience and spirit are focused on comprehending a situation before acting on it

2.Discern - the king wanted an "understanding heart" that he might be able to "DISCERN" and thus, make the right decision. We are to seek the same. The word God uses here in Hebrew is "BIN" -(pronounced 'bean'). This word, like EVERY word God uses, is FULL of all kinds of meaning from acting with care and caution to learning the full scope of a situation. Then you interpret the evidence correctly because you have an understanding heart full of "Bin", so you can observe, ponder, explain (to someone else if you have to), be prudent, clever and more to be just the smartest person in the room!

God, in His Magnificent Grace and Love, has given us the three simplest forms or elements we need to walk as the wise in this evil world - if only we would pay attention to Him! We do not need the systems devised by the corrupt minds of men and women, who are flooding the airwaves, bookstores and culture with their ungodly imaginations to follow and still think we will have a fully engaged life. Following those people will lead to despair, depression, confusion and one day - destruction.

Following the beautifully simple recipes of the Lord will lead to peace, love, joy, contentment and eventually eternal life in the Kingdom of Heaven.