"THINK" SERIES: PART 4 - "BRING IT IN"

"Casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ" (2 Corinthians 10:5)

I can tell you what's not in captivity, it is this one - we could be in the middle of the most uplifting conversation, bible passage, morning devotions, and/or prayer, and the most vile thought will appear out of nowhere. This kind of spiritual ambush is nothing new. Great men of the Faith, like the late giant of a preacher Dr. Charles Stanley and Swindoll, have both mentioned being invaded by the troll from the dark side, while we are in the most secret place with our Heavenly Father.

(There is encouraging news. What I have discovered, in my almost four-decade-long walk with King Jesus is this - the more I press into my daily exercise of prayer, praying the Scriptures and walking with Him, the less those evil thoughts are allowed to come across.  I think this happens to everyone who is maturing in the Faith, as we saturate every fiber of our being with His Word.)

So, how about this one? You may be reading an online newspaper and an image for a new diet smoothie comes across the computer screen. You are concentrating on the devastation caused by California fires, but your eyes are pulled astray and you recall some preacher in the past saying "The first look is free, but the second one is a sin". Forget the joke about some guys taking a longer first look so they don't think they are committing a sin. That too is a sin.  How about this other one - "you can't stop a bird from flying overhead and depositing something on your head, but you sure can stop him from building a nest there".

It is the same with our thoughts. Every living human being has a battle with temptation or some form of invitation to the dark side, sometimes being caught completely unaware/blindsided/bushwhacked or what have you. The believer has the upper hand in this battle, primarily because we are indwelled by the Spirit of God Who, in my case, quickens my heart rate to let me know - "get out of here now"! 

NOTE: Since these are short articles and not epistles, we may split Part 4  into two or three pieces to rightfully examine "taking every thought captive" in light of Sola Scriptura (Scripture alone).

The original word, in Biblical Greek, for "bringing" is aichmalótizó which has the inference of subduing a subject, thought, or even a person (for instance the enemy on the battlefield when in combat), and then bringing it under our control. Folks, we have the power to do this thing....and do it well. If you or I receive an invitation to go out with the office gang after work, to an adult beverage establishment to celebrate somebody's birthday, no matter how much you like or respect the person - we DO have the power, authority, and absolute RIGHT to decline, turn down, nix, say no and bug out.

While not as beautiful and divinely constructed as the Paleo-Hebrew of the Old Testament, the inspired New Testament has the same power in words, that enables our neurons to fire up Critical Thinking. At this point, the "flow-chart" in our minds should kick in right away, as we remember this part of the Lord's Prayer "do not allow us to fall into temptation".

The Book of James, written by the half-brother of Jesus says in James 1:15 "Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death". Let your Critical Thinking go immediately into a "what if" overdrive as in "what if you swear off the wagon and have a drink and then one too many... Then what if that loosens things up and everyone is whooping and hollering. Then God knows who could forget their morality and/or vows etc. etc....then before you know it - someone has crossed that line which is not meant to be crossed.

Before it even gets to the point where you let your guard down and potentially sin, - bring or take that flowchart in, recall every Scripture you have ever memorized, and then, resist the devil and he will flee. It is the most beautiful, liberating thing to say no to sin! You don't even get to the James 1:15 point and God is honored.

It is THAT simple.

Father, In Jesus' Strong Name, I pray that You will continue to guide, guard and protect our hearts, minds and souls, so that every living thought, action, choice and potential deed will NEVER ever bring anything but Glory to Your Name and honor and shalom to our loved ones and those whom we love. We ask these things in Your Precious and Holy Son's Name amen.

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WORD OF LIFE, PART 5: FORTIFIED BY THE WORD

Maybe you have been in an extremely tempting situation, where one more step on your part will lead your life, your family, your career and more over cliff. Similarly, you may have been faced with what looked like a “can’t miss” opportunity. In fact, it looked so good, or he or she looked so good, that you incorrectly think “God wants me to have a good time” or “I can really score big here and not have to work so hard”! Each time, we ignore the very Spirit  of God, Who is sometimes shoved aside as we go our own merry way, thinking we have free will and reign to do as we please.

Each time, we are dead wrong and our conscience knows it. In the first example of temptation, if we turn around and flee at the crucial “moment of truth”, then our integrity remains intact….not to mention our testimony and peace of mind. Each time, for the Christian, it is the word of God which rescues us. We are told to “flee immorality”. James – who grew up in the same household as his half- brother – the Lord Jesus Christ – warns us to “resist the devil and he will flee from us”.  “One little word shall fell him (the devil) and that word is – JESUS!
In Psalm 119:33-40, we read:
Psalm 119:33-40
He (pronouced "Hay")
33  Teach me, O Lord, the way of Your statutes,
And I shall observe it to the end.
34  Give me understanding, that I may observe Your law
And keep it with all my heart.
35  Make me walk in the path of Your commandments,
For I delight in it.
36  Incline my heart to Your testimonies
And not to dishonest gain.
37  Turn away my eyes from looking at vanity,
And revive me in Your ways.
38  Establish Your word to Your servant,
As that which produces reverence for You.
39  Turn away my reproach which I dread,
For Your ordinances are good.
40  Behold, I long for Your precepts;
Revive me through Your righteousness.

Something actually happens to us when we are put under the enemy's weapons of sin - we sometimes either panic spiritually or feel abandoned. If you are honest with yourself, you will know this is the truth. So what can the righteous do in this case? We actually need to double down and hunker down in our Mighty Fortress, Who is our God! We can protect our flanks like the ancient Roman soldiers, not just from sexual sin by literally running from it, but thinking globally. This is not global thinking in the sense of a secular global agenda, but a going outside of the immediate oppression from the enemy of sexual sin or lust and bringing to mind the other sins of greed, covetousness and other such arrows from the pit which have the potential to be fired at us. We gather all that can cause us to fall, in full knowledge of how destructive they are. Then we seek God in the most strategic way possible (verses 33-34).

This is what verse 35 tells us! The Word here calls for God to bring His truths and commands to full consciousness so we can bring all this spiritual attack under that umbrella and defeat it mightily, But note that this defeat is not only for the sake of defeat. God created a purpose for defeating sin, as Defeat becomes Delight!

Delight leads to our spiritual heart leaning to the right side of the ledger and we see bright clear daylight (verse 36). The clarity of the cleansing power of His Word averts our eyes from the morass of the mundane to the miracles of the Mighty one. He has turned our eyes from seeing death and darkness to a revival of the Spirit in anticipation of an exploding, over abundant joy which the heart cannot contain (verse 37)! 

The exuberance which cometh from being fortified by His Word, accompanied by the oil of joy, reminds us (if we are completely in sync with God) that He is not just worthy to be praised but deserving of our respect and reverence. He is God Eternal, wise and powerful (verse 38) and everything in us should require wonder and worship of He Who sits on the Throne.

In troubled times of spiritual oppression, we are able to defeat the enemy by His Spirit and the Word of God. This is our defense. We shall not be moved or hurt if we are armored up and protected on all sides by the Word and Wonder and Will of God - if we obey Him and do not fall short into reproach (verse 39). 

The letter under which this portion of Psalm 119 falls under is "HE" ...pronounced "Hay or Hey". In Biblical Hebrew, this signifies "breath" - i.e. the very Breath of God. It is used several times in the Creation account from Genesis chapters 1 and 2. It is also used for the words "light" as in Genesis 1:3-4 ("let there be light"). It is no accident that the Lord is giving us the weaponized response to spiritual attack by naming this portion of Psalm 119 by the word "Light" as in the original "He". Yahweh is the Light (the two "H's" in Yahweh are the same letter - "He"). In Him there is found NO darkness. He has breathed His Words and commands into the human authors of the Bible so that we can understand how He uses humans to do His Will. We can choose to remain under His protection, and allow His Spirit to guide us away from darkness back to the lighted path and we can long for this (verse 40)....if we are wise. Amen.

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PRAYERS OF THE BIBLE SERIES - THE BOOK OF JAMES, #4

TRANSFORMATION IN PRAYER- SUBMIT, RESIST, DRAW

(James 4:7-8a)

7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.
In the previous post on prayer (#3) we examined the Protocols of Prayer, where the absolute foundation was built on the twin pillars of humility and repentance. But Transformation only begins there as intentional ACTION must follow. 

Again, we have to look at the Model of The Man who is teaching these truths on behalf of God. We know James, the head of the Christianity's "head office" in Jerusalem, is speaking for God and the only way James knows how to listen, teach and obey - (L.T.O.) is to pray. His very instructions in today's passage from James 4 are predicated on prayer...to wit:
- Submit to God (verse 7): How do we submit to God unless we surrender directly to Him. This can ONLY be done in direct conversation or as we call it - prayer! To submit to the Will of God, we have to know Him intimately, His Word inherently and His plans instinctively. There is not getting around it. This has to be done through Prayer and reading the Bible. Morphing into the image of Christ starts when we say, in earnest prayer, we are nothing without Him, and we surrender to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

- Resist the Devil (verse 7): Nobrainer here! The devil hates us and any shiny or tempting object he sets before us is to aid us in life, but to completely ruin everything we are, say, think do. He wants to destroy our testimonies, our marriages, our families, churches, communities and countries. He has succeeded tremendously in every single one of them. Why should he succeed with us? He is a filthy destructive being and we resist in prayer by reminding him of his destiny; his defeat at the Cross and his lack of any hold over you and I. God has already told us how wise it is to literally RUN away from Temptation and Evil. That's it - resist by running and resist by rebuking in the Name of Jesus, in prayer, fast thinking and surrender to the Lordship of Christ.

- Draw near to God (verse 8): Another nobrainer here! Can you and I hear the skeptics now? "How can you draw near to someone you can't see?"...and some such configuration? First of all, a person can only draw NEAR to God, whom God has called near to Him! This is an explicit reminder of the special dispensation granted the Redeemed who are saved by His Grace and called to eternal life by the King! So we already have positional salvation in the Kingdom. Therefore the power, richness and intensity of that Walk with Him, depends on us alone. 

How much we want to look, sound, walk, talk and love like Jesus depends on how close and strong we want our relationship with God to be and this means - you guessed it - prayer! Draw, come close to Him in prayer, know His thoughts, Amazing Mind, Heart and His Word and He will reveal more and more and more and more to you in one verse or one month than ever thought possible in a lifetime. This may sound challenging to many Christians but in over a decade into a more intentional prayer life, what has worked for me is regular fasting and prayer. Many are not pro-fasting, as it is not a command or requirement for Salvation. which is true. However, I can't begin to tell of the incredible power, insight, awe and inspiration which Fasting has brought into my life. Fasting is a topic for another time, but I choose to follow the Words of Jesus and His Lordship here when He said in Matthew 6:
16 “Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance. For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. 17 But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, 18 so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. (Emphasis mine).

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Bible Gateway for all Scripture used

ARE YOU FRIEND OF GOD?

Who am I that you are mindful of me?
Who am I that you hear me when I call?
Who am I that the King would bleed and die for?
Who am I ...just who am I and...who do I think I am anyway?

One thing I know is the Biblically-based self-esteem is a lot different from that of the world.  Another thing I know, all those "Who am I...” phrases above would make some good Christian songs! The Holy Scriptures tell us that Abraham, the father of the Hebrews and Christianity - was a friend of God. (James 2:23 ...and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, "AND ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS RECKONED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS," and he was called the friend of God.")

The great prophet Daniel was well thought of by the God of Heaven and Jesus Christ Who sent him as a messenger. He was just doing what he was called to when God sent an angel to tell the Prophet how important he was to the Kingdom of Heaven....we pick up the account here:

(Daniel10:10-12) Then behold, a hand touched me and set me trembling on my hands and knees. He said to me, "O Daniel, man of high esteem, understand the words that I am about to tell you and stand upright, for I have now been sent to you." And when he had spoken this word to me, I stood up trembling. Then he said to me, "Do not be afraid, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart on understanding this and on humbling yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to your words..."

These two powerful men of God have similar traits - the Lord Himself thought the world of them...yet in different ways. We see above how much Daniel was respected in Heaven, even more so than Abraham, for God did not say those same things to anyone else in history! Daniel was a humble, lowly, sold out, committed servant of the Great God of Heaven.

Jesus did appear to Abraham right before He destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah and the Messiah said in Matthew 8:11 that ""I say to you that many will come from east and west, and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven". The pre-Resurrection "heaven" or paradise was known as the "Bosom of Abraham".

So where do we, in the 21st century fall into, in these two categories? Well, there is absolutely no reason why we cannot have the traits of both these Bible heroes!

The Book of James tells us what being a friend of God IS NOT! James is the half-brother of the Lord Jesus and was the head of the Church in Jerusalem before the high priests murdered him. He said in James 4:1-4 “What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this that your passions are at war within you?  You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask.  You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

So, you want to be a friend of God like Abraham? Well, Mary’s son (and the son of Joseph), James gave you the steps here in James 4:7-10 “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom.  Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you”.

Here are these same steps in bullet points:

1. Submit yourself to God. That is – surrender your entire life to Christ and His leading, through the Holy Ghost. Don’t follow any man, philosophy, thing or even yourself. But follow God.

2. Resist the devil. That is – turn against everything James said above in James 4:1-4…adultery, gossip, backstabbing, ungodly passions, longing for things that you can’t have, can’t afford.

When the devil tempts you to look at that bad stuff in movies or the internet, say NO.

When he tempts you to go out and get drunk with the boys and girls, say NO.

When he tempts you to date that married man or woman, say NO….say NO NO NO and tell him to get lost. Rebuke him and tell him to back to the hell he came from and is going permanently.

Then call on Jesus. The devil can’t stand any of this standing on the Rock of Christ!

3. Draw near to God. This is Daniel –like.  Abraham did what he was told…sometimes to a fault as we found out when he agreed to sleep with Hagar and gave us the current Middle East problem. Daniel prayed and prayed and prayed and obeyed. Among all the Bible heroes, in the face of persecution, Daniel is the humblest and most loved by people like us. So be like Daniel – and pray!

4. Do NOT be double-minded. You and I cannot indulge in watching things like the Satanic performances of Katy Perry or Beyonce at the 2014 Grammy awards and the abomination which took place during that program, give our affirmation to it by even viewing it and then switch back to a mind full of the Spirit of Christ.  This is double-mindedness. When this happens, immediately seek purification, cleansing and repent of that, while staying away from any future things like that. There are so many other worldly things we can be double-minded about, but if we follow the Word of God about the Seven Things He hates as well as ANYTHING which the Holy Spirit checks us on, we can avoid a whole lot of regret.

These are the four basic things to being a complete friend of God – like Abraham and having real significance in Life, like Daniel had.  There is absolutely no reason why you and I cannot be a friend of God and a person whom God favors. This is something which nothing and nobody in this corrupt world can take away from us. This defines both our humanity and our spiritual condition, because such a person walks with the Fragrance of Christ that few possess.

So, now…who am I that You – oh My God in Heaven, would even consider?
Answer – GRACE….GREAT GRACE!