At the very heart of man is the self-centered desire to rule and reign in his world and of that around him; he has a natural bent against the things of God because of the sin nature.
He is the king of his little kingdom. And there is no natural inclination in his heart to the things of God, but of the maximum pursuit of control, power, wealth, prestige and material goods. The protective shield of his ignorance breeds the mindset: “All I want is a warm bed and a kind word and unlimited power!” However, his plan is just a tangent vector on the manifold of reality.
Jobs insight: Job 31:24-28
“If I have made gold my hope, or said to fine gold, ‘You are my confidence’; If I have rejoiced because my wealth was great, And because my hand had gained much; This also would be an iniquity deserving of judgment, for I would have denied God who is above.”
In the spiritual realm, God warns us that “there is a way that seems right unto man, but its end thereof is death.” It will be seen that a man must calibrate the compass of his spiritual walk with the Word of God, not with the ways of the world or the doctrines of liberal theologians past who never really knew God; there’s were a set of beliefs that “seemed good”, but they were not in concert with the Word of Truth. There’s were man’s creation, not Gods!
In the big picture of life, God created mankind for His pleasure. And in the beginning, God used to walk face-to-face with his creation. But when sin entered in, man’s new rebellious will led him to be self-ruled and thus separated from God. But God had a backup plan to redeem man, and reconcile a man’s heart back to himself. And in the end, God will again walk, face-to-face with his creation, those who chose to receive Christ and serve him will all of their heart.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
The spiritual life of a person now seeking to know God is a life-long journey into the deeper understandings of what the “walk in the Spirit” is all about. There are sequential steps and some parallel steps, with each building on the other, and should those steps be interrupted,.. then the spiritual growth stops. From there a person can remain a “babe in Christ”, never appropriating the fullness of the abundant life that God had in store.
-
- THE PATH: Let’s visualize a man taking a daily trip on a path through a forest and coming up to various “gates” along the way. As he comes to the gates, his duty is to take his cross and use it as a “key” to open the gate. As long as he continues to open the gates journey further, he makes new discoveries, and his knowledge and understanding of God and the Bible increases. However, if he refuses to open a gate, or prevented ( distracted) from doing so, then his journey stops, and he enjoys only the discoveries that he has made thus far.
If you remember, the Israelites had a very similar journey when they came out of Egypt. Moses led them on a path to the Promise Land. They were redeemed by the blood of the Passover lamb, and then were baptized in the Red Sea. After crossing the red Sea, they were less than two weeks away from the land of promise, yet it was 40 years before their children were permitted to enter the promised land while they (the grownups) gradually died off in the wilderness after years of murmuring, and not trusting God. Obedience and faith were the stumbling stones.
Most Christians do the same thing today. They were early on “saved”, being led in a prayer and baptized while young, and then spend at least another 40 years wondering around in the wilderness of sin. Some see the error of their ways and then repent in their “golden years”, but some never do. The problem with Israel was that they refused to go forward for God. In fact, they longed for the decadent world they were taken out of, reminiscing of its pleasures and false gods they could see with their eyes.
Most Christians never complete their journey of fully grasping God’s vision and ultimate purpose for their lives. They simply go through one or two gates and then start trying to take “shortcuts” and detour through the world’s wilderness. When they do, they are greeted with all sorts of undesirable challenges. Instead of enjoying the riches of Christ and the treasures of God’s Word, they spend their lives wrestling with or coping with unruly children, Christian rock music, pornography on the internet, unsaved boyfriends and girlfriends, unhappy, marriages, divorce, remarriage, alcohol abuse, credit card debt, bankruptcy, church splits, crooked TV preachers, and ultimately get doctrinally confused by denominational teachings that edit God’s Word, teachings that treat the Bible like a sort of spiritual buffet, choosing some verses to focus on while ignoring others and making light of others.
For sure, scripture speaks of this life being a journey, and you must have faith and courage to take that journey and go through all the doors that God opens for you. It is God’s will for us to keep moving forward; in fact, He refers to it as a race that we are in that has a finish line. Paul taught in Philippians 3:13, “Bretheren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reach fourth unto those things which are before me, I press towards the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”
FALLING AWAY – scriptures have countless warnings about a new believer falling away in his faith; starting on the right path with excitement, but then being diverted off that path by the world’s allurement of countless offerings of pleasure, power, and material pursuits. Paul presents our spiritual walk as a “race” we are on with the ultimate Goal in sight. Yet one can veer off that path if he does not stay focused on the ultimate prize, the “upward call of Christ Jesus into his presence”. The world’s sirens are most powerful, and they give instant gratification! And that is most addictive. Whereas, our spiritual walk must be dedicated to day -by-day hard work at denying the flesh and seeking that which is eternal.
These token Christians are identified:
“These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ ” (Matthew 15:8-9)
Falling away:
“But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons…”(1 Timothy 4:1.)
“You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked.” (2 Peter 3:17)
~~~~~~~~~~~~
May we desire all that God has for us in his word. May we truly be a people of the book – A people who know the Bible and know it well. And may we take a deep breath and faithfully go through each one of the gates with praise and Thanksgiving. Merely having a Bible, does that mean you know the Bible, and taking the Bible to church? Does it mean you know the Bible. It is when you zealously read and study the Bible do you begin to know it, and this is impossible without the indwelling of the Holy Spirit taking you through the gates understanding and wisdom.
Joshua grew to know this and wrote: Joshua 1:8-9 “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”
Take this deep into your heart:
We are stewards of the time and talents He gives us. Keep sharing your life, for it is eternal; this day we are in is just the preview to the real show, the eternal one!!! And, we are in the 4th quarter of this earthly dispensation, standing in the red zone with His goal post in sight;
Press on for that upward call! THAT is the blessed hope for which we are called!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Credits: I give strong credit to the writings of Pastors James Melton, Gary Hamrick, Jack Hibbs, David Jeremiah, Allen Jackson, A.W. Tozer, Author Pink, Ray Stedman, John Walvoord, Chuck Missler, Derek Prince, J. Vernon McGee, Dr. Charles Ryrie and Dr. Ken Boa as I intertwined their teachings with understandings I have gleamed over this past 50 years of studying God’s profound Word.
