This Means War

Once upon a time there was a girl and the girl became a young woman and the young woman became a, well, shall we say, more aged woman. This, well, matured woman began to understand that many of the things she had held as “truth” were actually less than full truth. Just as water is neither water at all if it has one atom removed nor considered pure if even one drop of dirt (or fertilizer of some variety) is in it, she came to recognize that the compound she had been brought up to label as “truth” was less than pure knowledge, less than pure truth. As the water with one drop of anything other than water becomes contaminated, so, too, does the truth if it is plus or minus anything other than its full essence. 

Some of the truths this girl received included words from scripture such as:

“For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all. (James 2:10)”

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23)”

“The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, who can know it? (Jeremiah 17:9)”

“…as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment… (Hebrews 9:27)”

“I have loved you with an everlasting love. (Jeremiah 31:3)”

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)

The partial truth she had received was sound, but it was not full. It helped the girl to understand that she was lost and in need of a Savior (for if we don’t know we are lost we have no need of being found) and even that this Savior had love for her and even came to die, but it didn’t impress upon her a more sound analysis on the nature of this Savior. Its illumination was incomplete, lighting only one corner of a gloriously intricate architectural exemplar. It nicely summarized what Christ had done, but it didn’t give much insight as to who He is.

And the woman’s heart was grieved. How many abuses were administered and were suffered because of the limited scope of truth accessed by the girl? By God’s people of today in general? For if God were only these things: judgmental, reckoning, critical, viewing people as wicked, yet still loving in spite of said wickedness, then why should she expect anything different or more (which was frankly then inconceivable) from people? Especially people who called themselves “Christians”? If this was the sum total of God, then it was also the sum total of what the “best” could be in His created beings.

This woman then began to wonder why she hadn’t been equally impressed upon as a child with scriptures showing some of the other dimensions of who God is. Scriptures such as:

“So the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. (Exodus 33:11)”

“No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.
(John 15:15)”

“And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking (in a habitual form according to the original Hebrew) in the garden in the cool of the day, (Genesis 3:8a)”

“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. (John 10:27)”

“Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (Hebrews 4:16)”

“The righteous cry out and the Lord hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles. The Lord is close to the broken-hearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. The righteous person may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all. (Psalm 34:17-19)”

“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. (Isaiah 41:10)”

“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
For My yoke is easy and My burden is light. (Matthew 11:28-30)”

“And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. (Luke 15:20)”

"But you, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and
faithfulness. (Psalm 86:15)"

"For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the
future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39)"

“For judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment. (James 2:13)” 

Or consider all the beautiful things promised in these verses from Isaiah 61:1-3!

“​The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me,
Because the Lord has anointed Me
To preach good tidings to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives,
And the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord,
And the day of vengeance of our God;
To comfort all who mourn,
To console those who mourn in Zion,
To give them beauty for ashes,
The oil of joy for mourning,
The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness;
That they may be called trees of righteousness,
The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.”

Much has been written about the wars that have been waged and the atrocities enacted throughout history in the name of “god” and it occurred to her that perhaps THIS was yet another crusade from the pit itself against the people of churches today. And so she continued to grieve over the ongoing lack of understanding in regards to the relationship God is seeking with each of His children. Yes, she and many others had heard the phrase, “having a personal relationship with Jesus,” but until recently her experience of these things of God remained lacking. She hadn’t had the opportunity of knowing God as a friend, or being known by Him as one, hearing whispers straight from the Holy Spirit about what Father God was discussing (no secrets), walking daily with Him as a companion, having Him run to close the distance between them when she made a move in His direction, knowing that Mercy
was prized over judgement, knowing that He was in the business of healing, liberty, comfort, offering beauty, & even garments of praise (what might those even look like?!?), as opposed to how she had functioned (or pretended to) all these years with just sucking it up, working harder, and getting by as best she could.

As a result, these words of Isaiah 61 now became deeply, personally, her own. A battle cry from her knees in heavenly places against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in Jesus’ name.

1 Corinthians 13:11-13

When I was a child, I spoke as a
child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man,
I put away childish things. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to
face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.
And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

Ephesians 6:10-18

Finally, my brethren, be strong in
the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you
may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle
against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the
rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in
the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be
able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the
breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of
the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will
be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of
salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying
always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this
end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints.

Under New Management

What do you think of when you hear this term? Is it an instant positive; Woo-hoo, what great things are coming for this organization? What is “new & improved”? Or, for those of us prone to being a little more nosey, does it perhaps make you wonder what transpired that necessitated the need for the change?

Interestingly enough, our nosiness isn’t reserved just for business transactions. Oh, no, we offer equal opportunity to the people in our everyday lives, wondering, even speculating our expert opinions, as to how the need for whatever change occurred arose. Then based on these speculations we begin charting a well-thought out course for how they could recover. Now, if only we could take these adept skills and begin applying them to our own lives rather than the lives of others.

As believers, we are invited to a process of being increasingly under new management. You know that business that has a “going out of business” sign up? For the third time? This month? Shameful, right? Who do they think they are fooling? What if I told you that if we are to be viable Christians, we are actually called to be that business? We are being invited to participate in the process of peeling back one distorted, marred layer of “less than God’s design” at a time from the masterpiece He originally intended us to be.

Have you ever been at the point that you fully believed you had surrendered every piece of your will that stood in abject refusal to the Lord, only to have Him gently point at another area, “And what about this?” I’m dumbfounded by the Creator of the Universe’s gentle inquisition, “What do you want to do about this?” I’m humbled by His consistent respect for my choices. If my answer to his inquiry is “Nothing.” His response is, “I can wait.” And He does so without losing an inch of love for me. I marvel at the perfect balance He is of patience and of passionate pursuit.

Have you endured pressures beyond your capabilities in this life? Have you felt like you were less than favored by God because of these struggles? Have others, even believers, seemingly delighted at scenes from your delectable story and provided you expert testimony on how to move forward? I dare say we all have. Why would God allow such things?

Here is my deepest thought to date: I don’t know. For you. I’m reforming my nosey, “figure it all out for everyone else” ways and I’m going to be fine with the fact that I’m not God and I do not know.

All I can speak of with any degree of authenticity is my own challenging experiences and the words of comfort God has given to me through these seasons. Consider Jesus’ foreshadowing of things to come for Simon Peter, “And the Lord said, “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren (Luke 22:31-32).”

So many nuances of the reality of the spiritual battle in which we are engaged daily are depicted in these two verses. First, did you notice that Satan had to ask permission? His having to ask permission inherently demonstrates the authority of God. Next, consider with me, why is wheat sifted? What will remain following this process? Only the choicest grains, clean, and ready to provide nourishment.

I am reminded of the struggles in my life where I left all I had in the battle, even when all I had may not have been that much to begin with. God reminds me that just as the widow who gave her single coin was named by Jesus as “generous,” even beyond the measure of those who had quantitatively given much more, He also sees my heart and perfectly knows my situation. God knows. And honestly, the rest of us need to shut up and keep our “truth” to ourselves.

Not only do we need to stop trying to control other people with our opinions, we actually need to stop trying to control ourselves, too. I’m not saying we should live in lawlessness. What I am saying is that I am to be completely yielded to His control, only acting in submission to His authority through well-trained spiritual ears that are able to detect His voice for me. I am then filled with His power, fully equipped for the tasks to which He has called me. I am meek and malleable, completely at His service. John 10:27 says, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.” Strangely enough, it does not say, “my sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they tell everyone else what they need to get busy doing.”

I find it beyond touching that in the passage in Luke, next Jesus comforts Simon Peter with the words, “But I have prayed for you.” It delights my heart when I get a message from someone saying they have prayed for me. Partially because it means they were thinking of me, partially because it means it is likely that God brought me to their mind, which is a reminder that He is thinking of me. Can you even imagine looking into Jesus’ eyes across that Passover table? The man who had just washed your feet (although you originally refused), and who had fervently desired to have this perfect, deeply significant meal with you, and then hearing from God’s own lips, “I have prayed for you.” I think my heart would have stopped.

Most people I know keep their prayers to themselves. They quietly tuck them away, and for good reason, as they are often intimate, heart matters. “It’s just between me and God.” But consider this, Jesus boldly made known the content of His prayer to Peter; for his faith to remain, for him to return, and then for him to offer support to others. You see, grain that is sifted is grain that is ready to nourish others. And I wonder, does Jesus pray the same thing now for you and me?

In this story, I so clearly see that what Satan uses for misery, God would use for ministry. But Satan will try to disqualify and keep us from it, especially through the wagging tongues of others. Perhaps you, like I, have a list longer than measure of the ways you (even unconsciously) chose to walk away from God. Perhaps He is bringing them one by one to your mind, beginning His work of installing new management in every area of your life. I only hope that in this process you do not feel shame. Do you remember what Jesus said of the woman who was criticized for even touching Him as she washed His feet?  Jesus said, “Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little (Luke 7:47).”

Again, I can’t speak for you, but I’ve been forgiven much. And I’m actually hoping there will be another going out of business sale again sometime this week because with each revamping, I’m both experiencing and then flowing much love into my life. Bring on the “new & improved!” Based on the verse above, it appears that our ability to experience love comes in degrees. I believe that those of us who willing participate in this process of coming under new management (again. And again. And… well, you get the picture) will experience PASSION that will simply escape others. I have known a little passion in my life. Enough to know that I don’t want any that I may have coming to escape me. And so, instead of shame, I hope that you experience greater degrees of freedom and of love, and that your heart can’t help but sing.

2 Corinthians 4:7-9, 16-18

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed.

Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.