Hi all,
Once
in a while I get in the mood for a bowl of oatmeal for breakfast, and
this was one of those days. We had some Irish 'Steel Cut' oatmeal on the
shelf, and though the expiration date on the box had already passed, I
didn't see any worms crawling around in it, so I fixed a big bowl, lol.
After
pouring some milk on top and mixing it around it didn't take me long to
devour the whole bowl along with 4 slices of hot buttered toast. I
thought it tasted rather funny, it had a tart, sharp taste to it, sour,
but I figured that was because the Irish version of oatmeal must be like
that.
Knowing
Barb and knowing she would want to sample whatever I was having (see
the first in this series), when I made my oatmeal I had fixed enough for
her to have a bowl once she was up and around. She poured it into a
bowl, poured a little milk on top and mixed it in, sat down, put a big
spoonful in her mouth...and then spit it out right away: "Yuck! That
oatmeal has gone bad. Oh, that's just horrible. It's rancid. Throw it
out; I hope you didn't eat any! It could make you sick, you need to eat
something else!"
I
replied; "Too late, I already had a big bowl. I thought it tasted funny
but poison can't hurt me since I didn't know it was spoiled - so lesson
learned, no harm done. I guess that funny taste wasn't because it was a
different brand." She ended up eating a cold bowl of cereal instead. I
went on about my day just fine.
Old thoughts that need to be taken to the cross and poison
I've
shared when Peter told the Lord that He should not go to the cross,
Jesus told him he was thinking man's thoughts, not God's thoughts, and
he needed to crucify those thoughts and take up God's thoughts.
Last week I shared how the first thoughts one should crucify based on revelation
are those of self-hatred, as the command to love God and love our
neighbor as ourselves cannot be done if we don't first love ourselves.
I
shared how some believers never really received that revelation before
jumping ahead to 'deeper' truths. If they rush ahead seeking and
receiving revelation on other subjects in the faith before truly knowing
the Father's revelation of love for them, due to the flawed foundation
they can get off balance in their faith.
Like
putting together a big spiritual breakfast, they may assemble spiritual
toast, spiritual milk, spiritual oatmeal, yet never realize 1 of those
elements is poison mixed in with the others. On the outside they look
spiritually healthy, but in reality they are including poison.
Once I have those revelations, what is next?
Peter stated in II Peter 1, starting in verse 5:
"...applying your diligence in exercising your faith to develop moral excellence, and in moral excellence, knowledge, and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, steadfastness, and in your steadfastness, godliness, and in your godliness, brotherly affection (love), and in your brotherly affection, develop Christian love (agape') that is to learn to unselfishly seek the best for others and to do things for their benefit."
Notice
that 'moral excellence' is the first character trait to be developed
after those basic revelations of Jesus is Christ and that we are
unconditionally loved.
A
person who knows Jesus is Lord and we will each stand before Him one
day to give account of our lives, and knows He loves them
unconditionally, will no longer want to steal, lie, cheat to get their
way. Moral excellence is therefore the first character trait to add to
one's faith after those revelations.
Where old thoughts die and new thoughts take life
Let
us say a newly born again teenager WITH those amazing revelations
energizing their thoughts meets up with his old friends who want to go
shop lifting (stealing from stores) after school. Right away this young
man is faced with being accountable to Jesus, and that because he loves
himself and knows he and his friends are so loved, enters into a battle
in the mind about going out on a minor crime spree with his old friends.
There
no longer remains any motivation for stealing even though he could use a
new pair of shoes. The drive to steal isn't there so he must develop
the backbone to tell his friends 'no', and be wiling to be made fun of,
to be called names, to be ostracized from the group. He is adding moral
excellence to his faith by crucifying old thoughts to allow new thoughts
to become his own.
What about the teenage girl who was abused as a child
She
came to the Lord as a last attempt at happiness and discovered God is
real and He loves her, but she struggles with loving herself. She can't
forgive herself and therefore has a hard time believing He loves her.
But
in times of study of the Word, and more so, in times of worship and
prayer getting to know the Word Himself rather than merely ink on a page Word which flows by extension from Him, she gradually stops fighting those new thoughts that she is loved unconditionally, and lets them fill her mind with assurance.
And
so when on a date with a boy who wants to have sex with her, in times
past she would give in because down inside she was hoping he would truly
love her for who she was, unconditionally, hoping the next boy would be
'the one' to fill the void inside her heart.
But
now she has that revelation that Jesus is Christ and that she is
unconditionally loved. She is no longer seeking to have a void in her
heart filled with love, she has it already. Gone is the desire to have
sex to win over the boy who may be 'the one' to fill that void - and she
tells this boy 'no', and she means it. She is adding moral excellence
to her faith by crucifying her old thoughts in order to think God's
thoughts.
The business owner
This
person owns a small plumbing business and for years when the
opportunity has presented itself, he has asked the customer for cash
payment, which he pocketed without reporting it as income, thereby
side-stepping the filing of paperwork and tax payments.
But
now he is born again, and knows he is loved unconditionally. He starts
to look at customers differently, with the knowledge that Christ is in
him and when he fixes that toilet or sink it is Christ in him fixing
that person's plumbing, and he is His hands extended to do good for
people.
One
day he is about to ask for cash payment if they have it, and he stops.
It is as if Jesus is watching from within him, and in truth, He is.
Suddenly the revelation of his corruption hits him hard, and he tells
the customer if they want to use their card or write a check that is
fine too. He is adding moral excellence by crucifying old thoughts on
how he runs his business, and based on revelation thinks new thoughts
and ways.
Here is where the poison enters...
If
each person above decides to go against the revelation they have
received, and against what they know to do and what they know God
is dealing with them about, to add to their faith moral excellence,
their conscience becomes seared over like a piece of meat being grilled.
That searing seals in the juices, the life, and doesn't let it manifest
outward to their lives, bringing God's Life to their life.
Not
only is their conscience seared a bit, but by allowing a little
stealing, a little promiscuity, a little tax evasion, they are allowing
themselves to consume a little poison along with that which is good and
healthy for their spiritual life. They look like they are great
Christians to all who see them, but on the inside they are allowing a
poisonous tree to grow alongside their faith.
This
is where they start to get off balance because by ignoring the Spirit
of Truth inside them, each time they do this they sear their conscience
just a little bit more, losing a bit of sensitivity to the Holy Spirit
telling them x behavior is wrong, and that leads to insensitivity when
x teacher or x teaching is off balance...and they start to get off the
path.
At
some point they either rise up and do the right thing, killing man's
thoughts on their internal cross which is what Jesus told Peter to do
with his thoughts of Jesus not going to the cross. Or they keep a little
of man's thoughts alongside great teachings they receive along the way.
Often like me accidentally ingesting poison oatmeal, God's grace is
there preventing no eternal harm IF they see their error, and correct
it. If not, they will reap what they've sown and suffer accordingly,
though grace is always there if they turn to Him...
And...I've run out of room today, we'll pick it up here next week.
Until then, blessings,
John Fenn
www.cwowi.org and email me at cwowi@aol.com
New CD/MP3 Series
(2 cd/MP3, $12/set or MP3 $10)
In
part 2 we will look at a couple of types in the Old Testament of God’s
overall plan, and then share about Yom Kippur which will be literally
fulfilled at the return of Christ, and the Feast of Tabernacles, which
will be celebrated annually during Jesus’ 1,000 year reign from
Jerusalem. The 6 days of creation are a type of the rule of man, the day
of rest is a type of rest for the planet – which will be when Jesus
rules. But not all nations will like Him as King…this series lays out
the Days of Awe, between Rosh haShanah and Yom Kippur, what is happening
on earth when the body of Christ is in heaven, and the conditions of
the millennial age!
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