The new Creation (that's you!) -
In the beginning was the word, the word was with God, and the word was God. He was in the beginning with God. Like a branch grafted into the tree of Life are you. That tree that stood in the garden, the tree of life. You are a new creation, given a new life and the old man is dead having been nailed to that cross with Jesus, sin being the old man. You have truly been crucified with Christ. This is not a new concept, this is the message. We need to always seek the testimony of Jesus, anything else is knowledge of good and evil. Again, no new concept, but one we still desperately need. The knowledge of good and evil was the curse, you have been brought back from the dead to the very beginning with Him, since He is seated at the right Hand of the Father on High and we have been made to sit with Him. You, in this very moment though you still see the physical world around you, you are seated with Him, belief is the key to accessing the reality of that, should you stumble because of disbelief He will lift you up. Your sins have been atoned for, the only thing left hanging on that cross are dead works and dead sins, He resurrected unto life eternal, once again I should say His Crucifixion meant nothing unless He rose again. You are brought back to a time before there was ever sin, that is the true nature of atonement.
In America we have replaced the notion of total dependence on Jesus with this ideology "I can do all things" replace the words "through Christ Who strengthens me" with this "through my own will power, strength, education, etc". I am not attacking education, or will power or anything of the sort, I am simply stating that even the very educated are lead astray by sins, and there is no amount of studying, reading, credentials, certifications, or worldly authority that can remove sin from your life, only through Jesus are we made whole. You might not like to think of cavities, you might hate the idea if you have one in your tooth and think it as shameful or embarrassing, but what about your spirit? Your inner man is rotting away with your flesh because sin causes cavities and damage to your life, knowledge of good and evil leads to both good an evil. This is why a drug addict, who snort heroin will say "I am still a good person, at least I don't inject it", what is the sense in that? Even though "common sense" says you can get aids from a dirty needle, it seems to disregard the part about the impact of the use of heroin on your body. How is illicit sex, or lying, or fear any different? Thought they seem to be "lesser evils" we seem to be left with only one choice in the world of common sense that is the lesser of two evils. We weigh consequences, and not the effects. We only think of ourselves in the world, and not the others. We justify this by saying "of course I care what others think of me", this does not equate to selflessness.
The mentality of total, intimate dependence on an "unseen deity" is foreign and frightening to the self sufficient, why would we need dependence? Do we not understand that the only way to true dependence is through the source of it? It is to depend on the source of independence that we will find it, and live in it. This is not a religion, this isn't even just a way of life, this is total dependence, intimate and deep.
Recovery -
The goal of recovery programs should be to get free, as completely and totally as possible, and effectively as deliverance through Jesus. The doors should be shut as effectively as possible, not because of lack of funding or lack of support or mistakes made within how you handle business, but because of absence of the problem. There should be a famine of addiction if you have done your job, there should be no stone left unturned in the pursuit of total freedom in your life. God has given us this freedom through Jesus Christ, the world sees this as a repeated thing and can not understand the magnitude of that statement - Through Jesus.
When the government is aware and supportive of addiction, then even a sponsored program would be "more control" because we see the mentality of the drug addict as one who lives off of measured doses and can control the appetite through dispersion of medications, and certain levels of use are allowed. There is no real liberty in this equation, it is the person who gets off a certain drug and then begins to drink massive quantities of coffee, or drink, or eat too much, an outlet for the still rotting cavity with the soul. The government can not met out the Spirit of the Living God, they can, although, put sanctions on how we feed the homeless, and next will try to say that we can not speak in public spaces without a certain permit, and already have done so suppressing free speech and freedom of religion, the truth is, we do not need "free religion", we need free Jesus. If we would start dispensing the truth about Him in our recovery centers, and not the truth disguised in pamphlets and curriculum, but walking as disciples of Christ, showing preference to one another and not preference to the amount of potential money we could make, then there would be true freedom. You can not say America is a Christian nation, when a "Christian charity" organization charges $1200 a week for help. And the results are only a 15% success rate! That is atrocious, we need to see that Jesus is the only answer, not some leader or pastor who disguises himself as Christ to prey on the hurting and poor, they are the worst of the lot. But to really rely on Jesus with each other, and to sit at His feet with one another, that is the way we will see true freedom reign in this nation, not through government sanctions and government control. If we would show preference to one another, we would be of one mind and one accord.
Common sense vs. Kingdom sense -
Believers struggle so often with many emotional and physical difficulties, being torn between one world and another. If common sense is not so common, how much less is Kingdom sense? How many protesters on the streets and sign holders do we see preaching the kingdom? Or is it a program they have or a book they need to sell. The world sees it this way "you will never get better, but with this drug/therapy/program, you can manage it", and the church "you can never get righteous but with this prayer cloth/program/ counseling/dating site/seminar, you can manage it. We are selling our wares and denying the Spirit of God. The kingdom of God says "be healed, go your way, you will never be under bondage to this thing again and you will not be brought under the power of anything except that which comes from the Spirit of the Living God", the world says "you can never be free of it" the kingdom says "you are free to be rid of it".
No wonder commons sense is not so common. Common sense preaching, and not practical application are more common and less sense. It sounds good and attainable, it is the watering down of the word to conform to the belief structure of the common world system. Christians struggle with conviction and fear and doubt, fence straddlers, backsliders, they live under fear because on the one hand they are being told "you can not attain it" and on the other "you are not good enough", where is the liberty in this? Do you not see that love of the world is animosity towards God? But what is this "love of the world", obviously the more ominous things are pornography, drugs, perversion, and maybe even movies music or drugs, but the more seductive, more dangerous habit of the Christian is to bring each other to court before unbelievers. When I say this, I mean you have been asking advice of worldly people, what seems to be common sense and the right decisions "no brainer" decisions you might call them, but in the end you face calamity and strife. In this way even the church has denied the Spirit of God, for the Spirit searches the deep things of God even "make friends of yourselves with unrighteous mammon", sin distorts this into "make money" the spirit clarifies by saying "be kind to your neighbor" common sense says that the same, but Kingdom sense says "bless and do not curse". Being kind to your neighbor is not just kindness as of watching the dog while they are out of town, it is more than that. It is blessing them, because when you show love to your neighbor you love Jesus, because Jesus is in their house, no matter what your appearance of them may be, do you not know that "God dwells in the thick darkness"? If God is in the thick darkness, and your neighbor is a sinner, then God is ever the more close to you and them, because He loves them and wants to see them set free.
More to come
No comments:
Post a Comment