Have you ever told someone to believe in him/herself?
You are looking at their eyes, their fear, their sense of self in a situation, and you know - you know absolutely - they don't see and feel in that moment what they ought, what is real. You tell them at that moment that they really need to believe what you say, to lay claim to the truth about themselves, to shake off feelings of doubt, of insecurity... And you are right! How about the flip side - ever told someone (or just seen and noted) that they are not who they think they are? Someone basing 'self' on perceptions and perspectives that are not true, just not real? The Bible tells us a story about a God who created life, the earth beneath and the people on it. Then it lays out the truth about who this God is, and who people truly are, and what lies within, what is true without, and where it has come from, where it is going. We come to this 'report' with different languages, different experiences, different perspectives, different feelings. Day in, day out, our experiences change, our feelings about 'self' and others change, our fears ebb and flow. It is here we so desperately need that 'anchor' (Heb 6:19-21), that 'door' (John 10:9), that safe place (Col 3:3), that healing touch (Is 1:18), that future (Jn 11:25-26), that true, new, pure, safe and 'secret name'. (Rev 2:17) 'We take captive every thought and make it subject to Christ...' (2 Corinthians 10:3-5)
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This is hard for me. We say, 'Forgive and Forget', but we struggle to forgive, and we really struggle to forget. Really struggle!
It is interesting how we genuinely forget wrongs we've done to others. But with offenses done to us, we freeze the frame and use it as a lens filter for all dealings with that person going forward. This is, actually, understandable. We were not made to be offended, to carry hurt. So to 'remember' offense, is natural. There are some hurts in life that rank with Christ's suffering. Know this, and be free to own this. Paul in Philippians 3 looks to 'fellowship with Christ in his suffering'. Some of you have a very special place in the courts of God, when you bring what you have suffered and simply sit with Jesus in his suffering, in his loneliness, where the rest of us abandoned him. (Mt 26:43) God will exalt you, and heal you, honor and reward you for this faith. (Mt 20:16) There are other hurts, lesser ones. These are ones that God has given us the right to 'forget'. I say 'right', because I think there is a part of us that feels we owe it to ourselves, maybe to others, to not forget, to not let go. We feel to 'forget' is to surrender under abuse that we should not, to lose a grip on our very selves. But actually, God has made a way for us to be hurt, even 'crucified', to lose battles, so to speak, but to win the war! Because of what Jesus did - taking all sin on himself, and taking it to the grave - he has created a 'being' for us that is no longer defined by what we do, nor what is done to us. Paul writes, 'I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live...' (Gal 2:20) Paul also tells us that our lives are now 'hidden with Christ in God.' (Col 3:3) In Jesus, we can truly let go of any offense done to us, and in doing so - in forgetting their sin the way God has forgotten our sin - we draw nearer to Christ, and we draw nearer to our truest, newest self in Christ. (Ps 103:12; Mt 6:9-13) Words wound and heal. A famous proverb reads, 'The tongue has the power of life and death...'
(Pr 18:21) Words originate and formulate in the heart and mind - and far more than ever come out the mouth. Words - or thoughts and judgments - saturate the 'spirit waves' of our lives, relationships, generations. There is a 'report' over your life all the time by others, by spirit powers (Eph 6; Rev 12:10), by your own heart. (1 John 3:20) I recently had a conversation with an upset man. Two things occurred to me while talking to him. First, anything I say will be heard as an affront, and will be used against me. Everything! It was a very upsetting experience. Secondly, I saw - and felt - that I had been this person to others. Proverbs 27:4 says, 'Anger is cruel...' And I have been cruel through anger to many. Scripture tells us of 2 very critical and powerful - and opposite - reports that are over our lives. Both are true. But one is truer. We lay claim to this truer report only through faith, and only justified to do so by the blood of Jesus. The devil 'accuses' us of our sin, and he does this before God 24/7. (Rev 2:10) The devil is a liar, but he also is an accuser, laying claim to our wrongs and highlighting them. Such is the force of this kind of dark and incriminating 'truth'. The most powerful false reports, are ‘true’ reports that are void of love, and void of God's higher report. Your parent, or boyfriend, for example, may have spoken words to you that were 'true', but so false. Let's consider how God speaks a truer report, than the 'truth' of our wrongdoing. First, it is important to understand that he 'bought' the right to do this, by becoming our 'wrong', becoming our 'sin', and dying with it on the cross. (2 Cor 5:21) Our wrongs are true, but have lost their power, because they are debts that have already been paid. This leaves us with a new report, a new start, a new name. There are many and exciting scriptures that capture this 'gospel' message, but I want to fast forward and plumb deep to the 'individual' report that God speaks to just you. Jesus tells us that his sheep know his voice (John 10:27), and Jesus himself speaks to the individual and says that if and when we persevere in our faith walk with him, he will give us a new and 'secret' name, that is known only to the individual and God. (Rev 2:17) This name, therefore, is safe and untouchable by the accuser - and by any other mortal, and even by your own heart's 'condemnation'. (1 John 3:20) I love this story in Scripture and leave you with this: Elijah, when waiting on the voice and word from God, he heard the rip and roar of winds that split rocks and mountains, but the Lord was not in the wind. He heard, saw and felt other powerful expressions of 'truth' and reality, but the Lord was not in them. Then he heard a whisper, and he knew this to be the voice of the Lord. (1 Kings 19:11-13) Much of our walk in peace with God is to know his whisper - and to acknowledge the power and authority of this whisper - over the loud, powerful, persuasive other reports that simply are not the voice of God to you in this moment. We say time is a healer. But in this respect time can also be a destroyer. We need to go deeper.
Time serves the healing process and power well, this is true. Where healing is at work, time passing is progress. But what is this healing power? Today you sit shattered, a broken heart, gasping for air. Will I emerge from this pain? A couple verses come to me in this place of spilt blood and mist of terror. Psalm 34:18 says, 'The Lord is close to the broken-hearted, and saves those who are crushed in spirit.' God is not far from the broken, the rejected, or even the mocked and crucified. In fact, the lower you go and the lower you are, the closer you can be to Christ, 'fellowshiping with him in his sufferings.' (Phil 3:10) His kingdom is upside down, giving preference of faith to the poor (James 2:5), preference of honor to the despised (Mark 14:1-11), preference of revelation to the persevering, weeping. (John 20:11-18) Secondly, the prophet Ezekiel cries out God's heart and mission to us all, 'He will give you a new heart, and a new spirit!' (Ez 36:26) The appearance, death and resurrection story and spirit of Jesus Christ is so that we, too, can stand firm in pain, sorrow and even sin-stained clothing, and experience a new self emerge. This is God's story and promise to each one of us. Jesus said, 'I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live.' (John 11:25-26) There is a 'blood that speaks a better word' (Heb 12:24), which will pour over and into your broken heart, and give new life in and through your veins. You will emerge healed. You will emerge whole. Cry out to Jesus today in faith, and time will serve his healing purposes in you. We live in an age where we're all right all the time. Your opinion is as valid as my opinion, and they may be polar opposites. We think this is 'avant guard' or a sign of our progression as a people. Relative. Subjective. Post-Modern.
And yet so profoundly pre-evolutionary. Don't all animals think they are the right one? Doesn't every toddler think they are the right one? Oh, but we ‘agree to disagree.’ Really, do we? I think we agree to hate tacitly, subvert holistically, abuse shrewdly, betray secretly. I'm a teacher and today we had parent-teacher meetings. Oh my, what an eye opener! To self, primarily. I am also a parent... and have been the child of 'advocating parents'... Oh my. One verse that comes to my mind today is about my 'advocating' to God about my life. Proverbs 19:3 states, 'A person's own folly leads to their ruin, yet their heart rages against the LORD.' I have often gone to God, walked into his courts, completely overlooked his voice, his word, his ways, and completely overlooked my own choices, values and actions, and raged at him. I have an issue with God (who I think he is), and I have a powerful case and cause (for who I think I am). Secondly, this verse challenges me this day, and I have seen its workings: '... a gentle answer breaks bones.' (Proverbs 25:15) The most powerful moments and breakthroughs in my life, were never persuasive rationally. I have memories of tones, touch, quietness, forgiveness, even people allowing themselves to be broken by my wrongdoing. I lived on ships for 4 years as a kid. That's another story. But let me say this, the image for me where water meets sky is all things: both terrifying (did you know the deepest part of the ocean is 7 miles down?), and exhilarating!
I imagine floating on top of crystal clear waters, glass smooth surface, waters 100 or 1000 miles deep, as deep as the sky is high. These waters are the sky, the sky breathed into being. Like the air's breath on a cold morning, air seen. I think of God 'speaking' life into being, his breath breathing water into waves. This is how the Bible opens, Genesis chapter 1. And then throughout the Scriptures and the years (and authors and genres of writing and prophecies), this same God maintains that he sustains physical life by his spirit. God claims his identity as simple and pure being (Exodus 3:14), and 'sustains all things by his powerful word.' (Hebrews 1:3). Jesus - God's Word expressed in flesh (John 1:14) - said his words were 'spirit and life' (John 6:63), and we are told that 'without him nothing was made that has been made.' (John 1:1-5) Jesus himself tells us that 'God is spirit', and he wants worshipers in 'spirit and truth'. (John 4:24) Heaven - like earth - will always be 'sustained by his powerful word', and for this reason we need to rest, relax, let go and let God hold life in the palm of his hand, like a feather in the wind, like a lilo on a bottomless sky. Jesus hated evil. (Psalm 22; 5:5) But Jesus did not fear evil.
This is a key, powerful truth embedded in the spirit and gospel of Jesus Christ. This is 'upside down' reality, kingdom of God vs. kingdom of the devil. Jesus did say, 'The prince of this world stands defeated.' (John 16:11) Jesus confronted evil and darkness, and asked that it be taken from him (Mt 26:39), admonished us to do the same (Mt 24:20), and the apostles did also. (2 Thes 3:2) To hate evil and walk against it, is a good thing, a holy thing, and honors God. I love Psalm 94:16 where we see a 'warring' spirit of God against darkness, and a challenging call to us: 'Who will rise up for me against the wicked? Who will take a stand for me against evildoers?' We are told that perfect love casts out fear. (1 John 4:18) Jesus brought peace into every storm - every time saying, 'Peace be with you!' or 'Do not let your hearts be troubled.' (John 14:1) Sometimes people were afraid of something else, and he spoke peace to them. Sometimes they were afraid of him. (Mt 14:22-33) His peace is different. (John 14:27) He brings it sometimes and quells the storm with it, and other times he brings it and wants us to stand, to see him, to know peace in the storm. (John 16:33) Rage against the darkness in the power of the spirit (Ps 94:16), but honor God by casting out the fear. (Ps 11:1; Is 12:2; Ps 23:4) There is so much pain in life - just in our personal lives and inner circles. Then we also have the pain of the world, flooding to and through our minds and homes through the news and social media.
With so much need and inequity just down the street, and across the globe, how can we find peace and capacity to enjoy even a quiet place, a safe moment, a comforting, hot beverage? There is always someone else in arm's reach who needs it more... We carry guilt. We do. Something in us knows guilt cannot rule, but cannot - should not - either be dispelled completely. We need our peace and provision, but we also need our souls to be intact, to feel for others. Two insights for us from the life and teaching of Jesus Christ. Jesus was a 'man of sorrows' (Is 53:4), but he was a man of great peace. He 'stayed his mind on the Lord' (Is 26:3), and kept in step with the Father. (John 5:19; Gal 5:25) One moment that impacts me - liberates me - was when Jesus was overcome with 'compassion' for the needs of people around him, seeing and feeling that they were 'helpless and harassed' and 'sheep without a shepherd.' (Mt 9:36) And in this moment of intense emotion Jesus turns to his disciples and rather than admonishing them to action, he directs their attention to the Father. He says, 'Pray, therefore, to the Lord of the harvest, to send out workers.' This upward focus is essential, and always the calibrator of our lateral focus. Remember, Jesus told us the most important commandment was to love God, and secondly to love others. Our love for self and others will come to and through us - with perfect peace - as we hold God as our first love and focus. Secondly, God lives in perfect peace even with disparities in this life, and complete disparity in the afterlife (Heaven/Hell). This is not sanction for 'denial' or turning a blind eye to the pains and needs of our generation, but it does tell us that there is a place of spiritual peace that runs deep, is eternal, is available to us, and is beyond our 'understanding'. (Phil 4:6-7) Do you want this peace? Do you want to be able to know peace, even in a storm, or amidst poverty and brokenness? This is where we need God, through Jesus, to open a road before us, and begin to pour into us, work into us (cf Mk 8:22-26), a new heart and new spirit. (Ez 36:26) This is a road with increasing light and increasing experience. (cf Pr 4:18) This is a process, and God's way. He calls us to believe and walk and seek and sacrifice and 'strive to enter that rest'. (Heb 4:11). It is not a good-works road, but a faith-work road. It is real, and completely rewarding. God, through his Word, will often give the identity, the name, at the end of living that name. (Rev 2:17) Onward, soldier of redemption, and keep your eyes on the prize always! (cf Heb 12:2; Isaiah 26:3) Being positive can be a great thing, like bringing the sunshine on a rainy day. Thank you, positive people! Now, wading out into a little deeper waters...
'Positive', literally, indicates position and direction, not necessarily good or bad. So, you can be positively 'positive', but you can also be positively negative - i.e. genuinely negative. We don't use the word in this literal form much, these days, but sometimes there is a dividing line between our idiomatic use, and truth. The story that jumps to my mind is when a rich (positive?), young (positive?), ruler (positive?), approached a spiritual leader for advice (positive?). So he comes to Jesus, and asks how he can peg on to all this positivity (wait for it... drum roll...) eternal life? Wow, all-good goes spiritual and just keeps on going... Here the positive meets truth. And at this juncture it looks a lot like the negative meeting truth. Jesus pinpoints that in this young man's life, God was not his first love, per the 'most important command'. (Mt 22:36-40) Jesus prescribes for this particular case, a dose of selling all he owned, giving all to the poor, and following Jesus in life. Scripture tells us that this positive man turned and 'went away sad...' (Mark 10:22) As a language major, I can confirm that the 'be' in 'believe' is not etymologically semantic! But, as an embedded part of this English word, it helps illustrate a scriptural and spiritual truth in all languages, for all ages.
From Genesis to Revelation - and in love and life - where there is no 'belief' (in what is seen or not seen), there is no experience of what is - there is no 'being'. You may have love, but not believe you do, and therefore do not experience it. Belief is a powerful thing. There was a time when God was seen and touched and walked with mankind 'in the cool of the day.' (Gen 3:8) What was true was seen, and what was seen was true. Then through belief in the words of the serpent, we laid claim to a lie. We walked through a door to death, and no longer could trust our eyes, our minds or even our heart. (1 John 3:20) For a long time, there was no door back to Eden. But then God, expressed himself into man (Phil 2:7), spilled his blood and with it carved out a door and carved our names on it. (John 10:9; Isaiah 49:16) He now calls us to believe a new report, to believe him as we believed - and often continue to believe - the serpent. Through faith in what the eyes of our heart now see, Jesus Christ, we can truly 'be' again. 'Whoever loses their life for me... will save it.' (Mark 8:35) |
AuthorPeter Walker. I hope you enjoy these reflections. Please feel free to comment!:) Archives
February 2024
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