Spiritual Maturity

I was speaking to a young man, who I admire and love, the other day when he said something that was startling to me. He told that he had gone to his friend’s church and he said something to the effect that the Spirit wasn’t there. I took what he said to mean that the Holy Spirit was not present at his friend’s church, at least not as powerfully as He is at this young man’s church.

In the past I have been associated with, and for a while, I was taught in the same “belief system” that the young man is now in. It is common to hear those in that “belief system” to say things like “I went this or that church and I didn’t feel the Spirit there” “that church doesn’t have the Spirit” or “We didn’t feel the Spirit when we sang in that church.”

In reality what is being said is “our church is Spiritually superior to those other churches”
and “that other church does not give me an emotional high like mine does.” I have two things to say to this.

First, Jesus and His Spirit are wherever two or three are gathered. Our faith tells us this is true. Even though we never see the Spirit or Jesus we know that they exist, by our faith. Even though the music might be the old songs our grandparent listened to and do not stir us up, our faith should tell us that God is among the body of believers that we are with. The person who wrote Hebrews wrote, “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” We need to understand that the certainty of our hope is not in what we see or feel, but in the promises of God. Jesus does show up because a certain kind of music is played or clothes are worn.

The second point I would like to make is about the similarities between us thinking, “our church is spiritually superior to that church” and the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector. The Pharisee did not know the heart or life of the tax collector and judged on what he saw and felt about the man. Another similarity is the Pharisee lacked true godly humility and the way he judged the tax collector was based in pride.

If a church or a body of believers has doctrine or teaches things that are against scripture then we must speak out against those things. But, if a church’s music and services are different than what we are accustomed to and they don’t evoke the same emotion and feelings that we are accustomed to, we need to understand that they are not wrong. They are only different. Being different is not wrong. Understanding this and accepting our brothers and sisters who are different is a sign of our Spiritual growth and our Christian maturity.

Peace, Steve

“Jesus told a story to some people who thought they were better than others and who looked down on everyone else:

Two men went into the temple to pray. One was a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood over by himself and prayed, “God, I thank you that I am not greedy, dishonest, and unfaithful in marriage like other people. And I am really glad that I am not like that tax collector over there. I go without eating for two days a week, and I give you one tenth of all I earn.” The tax collector stood off at a distance and did not think he was good enough even to look up toward heaven. He was so sorry for what he had done that he pounded his chest and prayed, “God, have pity on me! I am such a sinner.” Then Jesus said, “When the two men went home, it was the tax collector and not the Pharisee who was pleasing to God. If you put yourself above others, you will be put down. But if you humble yourself, you will be honored.”

Luke 18:9-14

Peace is Un-American

I just want say a word about living in peace.  Really it goes against everything we’re taught.  We grow up in America where competition is fed to us like a mother’s milk is fed to babies.  If you had brothers and sisters you probably felt compelled to compete with them for everything.  As a result many feel that they can’t rise to the top, without walking on others.  Some have the unspoken opinion that they only succeed when others do not. This competitive attitude makes us critical of others, aggressive, judgmental against those who appear weak or in need. It makes us arrogant, uncaring and cold hearted, unwilling to lift others up.  It’s a lie we’ve all been taught all our lives.

We should ask ourselves what it matters if we’re better and richer than anybody we know, but we lose our souls.  Jesus teaches us that the first will be last and the last will be first.  There are so many references to peace in the Bible that I couldn’t read them all at one time.

Life is not us against them, life is us and them.  Success is not rising to the top on the back’s of others, success is rising to the top together with mutual respect and help.  All for one, one for all.

Our prayer for each other and ourselves:  Father teach us to continually bless each other in deed and in prayer.  Teach us that true success comes when we learn to put others before ourselves.  Give us your wisdom and heart Oh God.  Makes us feel silly if we look down on others.  Destroy that lie, in us, that competition is good.  Heal us and destroy those ungodly strongholds we’ve been taught.

Matthew 5:9
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.

Philippians 2:3 Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. 4 Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.

Galatians 6:4 Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else…….

Mark 9:50
“Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with each other.”

John 14:27
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.

Acts 10:36
You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, telling the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all.

Colossians 3:15
Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace.

James 3:17
But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.

Take Responsibility. Perfect Your Walk. (The Cure Part 3)

Your walk with the Lord will be more perfect when you stop believing these charismatic urban legends. Start reading your Bible and understand that you are in control of your mind and your thoughts. You, and only you, own your mind and your thoughts, angels do not and Satan does not. Your mind is your property and you are the property of Jesus. Faith comes from God’s word. “So faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ.” The Word is the foundation of your Armor. Without the the Word you have no Armor. Read Ephesians 6 and you’ll see that every piece of the Armor comes from knowledge of God’s Word. Faith does not come from books about the Bible, it’s comes from the Bible.

How do you get rid of evil thoughts? It’s easy, you don’t need to read ten books, unless they are books in the Bible. Here’s how. Read Colossians 3. “….put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you….” How do you do that? “…set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand. Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth.” Also you “…must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you.” I know it sounds so easy and so “Joel Osteen” but think about heavenly things and forgive others. Look at this scripture from Paul and see that peace of mind doesn’t come from going to deliverance ministry or binding some imagined spirit. Peace of mind comes from praise, prayer, reading the word and then doing what you have read.
“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.
And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.” Philippians 4

This is an excellent piece to read, “Can Christians be demon possessed? How can Satan influence believers?”

Take responsibility for yourself, gain knowledge, be relevant, Steve

Take Responsibility. Perfect Your Walk. (Part 2)

Christians often try to give the devil powers he doesn’t really have. For instance some Christians believe the devil can be everywhere at once. Only God is able to do that. He cannot read our minds and he cannot put thoughts in our heads. All Christians need to understand that only God is omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent. Satan is none of these.

None of us wants to believe that we are really capable of thinking some of the things that we do, which is possibly why we would rather believe Satan is able to put thoughts in our minds. Our sinful nature is truly that bad, God said, “”Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood.” (Genesis) Every inclination we have is evil, every one. So yes we are capable of thinking those things. God also said “The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9) The word deceitful is translated from a Greek word that means “crooked, deceitful, polluted.” The words “desperately sick” are translated from a Greek word that means “desperately wicked, incurable, sick, woeful.” What kind of thoughts can a mind that is deceitfully polluted and incurably sick think of? One can not even imagine.

God said in Jeremiah 17:10 “I the Lord search the mind, I try the heart, even to give to every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings.” He doesn’t say Satan, all the angels and I. He says “I” search the mind. Solomon prayed in 1 Kings 8 and said (speaking to God) “for you alone know the hearts of all men”. What could be more clear than this.

Not understanding these things has led some Christians to believe that Satan can read our thoughts and interject or insert thoughts directly into our minds. Some Christians believe there are spirits inside us that cause us to think evil thoughts. I recently heard about a spirit of pride and a spirit of suicide. This is called “demonic oppression.”

Born again, repentant believers of the Risen Christ are free from demonic oppression when we are saved. The blood of Jesus redeemed us. We are sanctified, set apart. We are children of God. I’m not saying there is instant translation. We all know it’s a renewing process. Our spirits are regenerated and we are renewed. (Colossians 3:10 2 Corinthians 4:16 Ephesians 4:23) Our sinful thoughts are our own; but the Spirit of God will renew us to repentance. Satan did not put those thoughts in our heads, we did. We may not want to believe we succumb to Satan’s influence, which is outside of our mind, but we do. Carefully read what James wrote, “When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.” Look at how sin happens, it forms in what we desire. Read it again and notice it says “..by his own evil desire”. Not something placed in our mind, it’s our own desire. Desire conceives sin, which if left unchecked gives death. So unrepentant sin will lead to death. Now read what Peter wrote, “Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” Think of the scenes from the Wild Kingdom we’ve seen where the lion is chasing a herd and the weakest in the herd falls behind and is then picked off by the lion. This is what Satan does; the weakest are those who are unrepentant.
1. We have desires, which are sinful.
2. Satan puts what we desire in front of us or call it enticement. (Sex, drugs, more money, etc.)
3. We sin by making the choice to follow our desire, and committing what we have desired. (Take the drugs, have sex, do anything to have more money)
4. We choose to continue the sinful behavior, leading an unrepentant life.
5. We can then be, devoured by Satan and suffer spiritual and maybe physical death.

Read part 3 for the solution to the pollution.