Tag: Bible

Posted on

Silver or Gold

During this joyous time of the year, when we crave peace, prosperity and goodwill, we are really sensitive to anything that steals our peace. Things that disrupt, and diminish the quality of our lives, or the lives of our loved ones, have a very profound effect upon us.

In general, and in particular, during this time of year, it’s as if, we paint an idealistic picture of life, and anything that distorts this image causes confusion, depression, and anger to rise up in us.

In an attempt to remediate this confusion, depression, and anger, we look for reasons, answers, and solutions that will restore our peace.

We search for information that will give meaning to our sufferings, so that we can be at peace with what is happening, in our lives.

Information, by its very nature, is contextual, which is why it can not be understood properly, unless it is considered “in context.”

This is exactly the problem.

The material universe establishes the context in which the natural mind functions, and derives meaning from objects and events.

Yahweh (God) created the universe, but He is outside of it.

Consequently, we can not know Yahweh, and His plans and purposes by assigning meaning to objects and events, which are viewed through the lens of our experiences in the material realm.

No, when it comes to the ultimate meaning, we do not have the “global context”, which is needed to assign meaning to objects, and events, because we live outside of that global context, and if we assign meaning to objects and events based on our limited material context, we will be confused, bewildered, angry and discouraged.

This problem has perplexed men for 6,ooo years, and some have lost their faith over it (or shall I say, this problem tried their faith, and their faith was found to be superficial, and not of the saving kind).

C.S. Lewis called this perplexing problem, “the problem of evil”. How could our loving, all powerful God permit suffering and evil, on the earth? Charles Darwin could not understand suffering and evil, so he renounced his faith in the Creator Jesus Christ, and His Father.

Darwin could not understand how an all powerful, all loving God could stand by and permit such suffering and evil, in the world.

The reality is that Charles never had saving faith, and this trial proved it, because he walked away from Christ. (1John 2:19)

We must realize that the trying of our faith is far more more precious than silver or gold, because it shows forth our saving faith.

Yahweh tried Job’s faith, and, during his trial, he experienced suffering on a grand scale, but, still, his confession was that he knew that his Redeemer lived, and would save him. Job’s saving faith shinned through the darkness of his trial, for all to see.

Job was honest about his feelings, and many misconceptions about Yahweh, and his circumstances spewed forth from his mouth, but He did not hold it against him, because he never wavered in his faith.

Again, we do not have the “global context” that is needed to make sense out of these things. Job learned this painful lesson, along with his well-meaning friends, and each of us must learn it also.

We have an advantage over Job, and his friends, we have the Bible, which establishes a context that will allow us to be at peace with our very limited knowledge, and accept whatever comes our way.

The Scriptures reveal a God, who is aware of a sparrow’s death, and certainly knows everything that is happening in our lives.

The Scriptures reveal a God, who has a purpose behind everything, and everybody He creates.

The Scriptures reveal a God, who takes suffering and evil, and makes something good come from it.

The Scriptures reveal a God, who loves us enough to become one of us, and die the most painful spiritual and physical deaths possible, in order to reconcile us to Him.

The Scriptures reveal a God, who is perfectly righteous in His ways.

Using the context that Scripture establishes, we can assign meaning to the objects and events of our life, and be at peace with them.

Here is what I mean.

We can not possibly understand how the suffering and evil that we experience is changing us, and equipping us for eternity, but we know the One, who is permitting this suffering and evil to afflict us, AND WE TRUST IN HIM 100%. AND WE TRUST THAT WHAT HE IS PERMITTING IS THE VERY BEST FOR US, IN THE LONG RUN.

That doesn’t mean that it is easy, or fun, and we have to enjoy it.

When I was bringing my kids up, I had to spank them. I had to let them suffer the consequences of their behavior. I had to let them do things that I knew were wrong. I had to make them work.

In short, I had to let them experience suffering and evil. Did I take pleasure in doing this? No, I did it so that their experiences would form them into men and women, who would be equipped to function in this world, and prosper. Sometimes love isn’t pleasurable.

In the same way, the Lord takes no pleasure in permitting us to suffer and face evil. No, I am sure it greaves Him, but the Lord lets us experience suffering and face evil, here and now, because it will form us and equip us to function in our eternal existence with Him.

So, here is the bottom line: We may not always know the why, but we certainly always know the Who, of our circumstances.

If you are mourning over a loss, during this season, I mourn with you over your loss, but I also rejoice with you in the trying of your faith, because, through these trials, you are receiving the assurance of your salvation, which is far more precious than silver or gold!

Email, RSS Follow
Email
Print
Posted on

Walking in the Spirit

In the last post, we learned that life is a test. The Primary test is whether or not we will submit to Yahweh (God), and crown Him as Lord , by crowning Yeshua Messiah (Jesus Christ) as Lord of our life.

The most important thing that we can possibly do in life,  is pass the Primary test.  Passing the Primary test imparts life, and life eternal to us. The most tragic thing that can possibly happen to us, is for us to live our life for ourselves, and fail the Primary test. Failing the Primary test ensures that we remain dead, dead eternally.

It doesn’t make sense, to the natural mind, how we can live, and yet be dead, but nevertheless, this is the case when we fail the Primary test. Have you ever heard someone speak, and yet didn’t hear what they said? Have you ever looked at something without really seeing it? Sure you have. In the same way, you can live, without truly living.

Everyone of us is born, dead, dead in trespasses and sins, not our trespasses and sins, but Adam’s. We are all separated from God. We are all born onto the Serpent’s (the Devil’s) slave market, and he owns us. Hence, in our natural state, we serve Satan, and sin.

As we live in the world, in a body of flesh and blood, Satan shapes us. Satan equips us to do his bidding, and oppose Yahweh and His Kingdom. Satan uses the things of the world to satisfy the desires of our flesh, the desires of our eyes, and the pride of life. (1John 2:16)

As we walk (live) in the world, in a body of flesh and blood (in the flesh) satisfying the desires of the flesh, eyes and ego, we program (or train) our flesh, eyes, and ego. This programming is cognitive (in the mind), neurological (in the brain), and biological (in the body). Once we train ourselves, we operate on autopilot, and we are wide-open to the suggestions of our master, and we do his bidding.

In a sense, we are zombies. We are alive cognitively, neurologically, and biologically, but we are dead to God, and His insight and leading. We are without God, and without hope in the world. A sad state.

Once we pass the Primary test, this all changes. God unites Himself with our human spirit, and becomes one with our human spirit. Since, God is love, light, and life, we begin to live and embrace the light, and love one another. We are now truly alive forever.

Now we enter into the Secondary test.

 

The Secondary Test

The blood of Messiah has paid our sin debt, and ransomed us off of the Serpent’s slave market, and His Spirit has made us alive forever! The issue of Heaven and Hell is settled. We can rest assured that God is with us, and He will never leave or forsake us! (Hebrews 13:5)

Now we begin the Secondary test. This is a test to see how aggressively we will live out God’s purpose for our life. What purpose? Well, God has assigned each of us a task in His Kingdom, and foreordained some good works for us to do. (Ephesians 2:10) God tells us to take off the old man, and put on the new man, who He created in His own image, and likeness, in Christ Jesus. (Col 3:10)

So, the Secondary test is to live out God’s purpose for our lives, and conform ourselves to the image of Christ Jesus. There are rewards for passing this test, which are proportional to our performance. Our performance on this test determines our eternal rewards, and the degree to which we enjoy our salvation, here in this world.

It is very important to always keep in mind that we are striving to fulfill our purpose, and do good works, and conform to Yeshua’s image, in order to enjoy our salvation, and earn eternal rewards, not to earn our salvation, or even keep it. Salvation is a free gift that Yahweh gives us, and He will never take it back. (Rom 5:15, 11:29)

This may seem like a trivial point, but it is not. It is easy to forget  that we are doing good works because of who we are, and not to become, who we are. That is, we do good works because God has saved us, not to get Him to save us or let us keep our salvation.

Some people conflate the concepts of salvation, and sanctification, and the Scriptures that describes these two distinct concepts. As they do, they confuse themselves, and then confuse others. These people teach others that “eternal life” is not eternal, and that if we do not measure up to God’s expectations, He will reject us.

This is the same error the Jews made in the “Old Testament”. Yahweh cut an unconditional unilateral covenant with Abraham, which was the covenant of redemption. The covenant of redemption was based on faith, and it brought salvation. Later, Yahweh cut a covenant through Moses, which was the covenant of sanctification. The covenant of sanctification was a conditional, bilateral covenant that related to blessings, and the enjoyment of salvation.

An “old testament” person was saved by believing Yahweh’s promises, and that person enjoyed the blessings of his salvation by doing good works, and conforming to Yahweh’s image (keeping the law).  In time, however, the Jews conflated theses two covenants, and began to teach that salvation came through good works. This is what Yeshua came to demolish, He did not come to demolish the law.

The flesh loves to feel like it has earned salvation or somehow merits it (deserves to keep it). There is no greater boost to the ego! This is a constant danger that we must be on guard against, because it will steal your peace, energize the flesh, and destroy your witness.

In the next post, we will talk about how to score high on the Secondary test. That is, we will talk about how to keep the flesh under control, so we can enjoy our salvation, and accumulate eternal rewards. So, in the next post, we will talk about walking in the Spirit.

 

Email, RSS Follow
Email
Print
Posted on

The Primary Test

Recently, a young man contacted me through the internet, and asked me about my next book, and  wanted some pointers on how he could  beat drug addiction. I will be giving this young man some of my views on  drug addiction, and recovery in the next few blog posts.

First, I think it is important to establish a “global context” for the problem of drug addiction. A global context will allow us to see the big picture, and help us navigate through the maze of drug addiction.

When thinking of drug addiction what framework guides our thoughts? Do we see drug addiction as a disease? A biological phenomena? A neurological phenomena? What we believe drug addiction is, will influence how we attempt to overcome it.

Drug addiction, at its core, is a spiritual problem. And I do not use the word, “spiritual” as a concept tag, which points to principles that are beneficial for us, and our community. I use the word, “spiritual”as a tag that points to our ontology. In other words, for me, “spiritual” refers to our state of being, and the realm in which we have it.

The Scriptures point to the philosophy of substance dualism, and it is in this sense that I use the word, “spiritual”. There are two categories of “stuff” in the philosophy of substance dualism: Subjects and objects. We are a spirit (a subject), who lives in a body (an object).

The spiritual realm is the realm in which all subjects dwell. There are two camps in the spirit realm: Yahweh’s camp, and Satan’s camp. Without exception, every spirit dwells in one of these two camps.

The spirit realm is real. It is more real than the realm of objects, because the realm of objects (the physical universe) came out of the spirit realm, when Yahweh (the Subject) spoke it into being.

Thanks to Adam, we are all born in Satan’s camp. Our spirit man is a slave to Satan, and his demons. Thanks to Yeshua (Jesus), we can escape from Satan’s slave camp, and enter into Yahweh’s camp to live as kings and priests. This message is the essence of the gospel.

The spirit realm and the physical realm converge in order to fashion the human body, and the human soul. The spirit man lives in this body, and functions in the physical realm through this soul.

Yahweh puts every human spirit in a body, which is confined within the physical universe in order to test it, and refine it. Currently, we are all in Yahweh’s testing, and refinement arena. Yahweh is testing each one of us to see if we will choose to follow Him, and submit to His refinement process, or choose to remain in Satan’s camp.

Our primary spiritual problem is that we have not submitted to Yeshua, and allowed Him to remove us from Satan’s camp. Hence, we continue to do Satan’s will: We love the world, build up our pride, please our physical bodies, and feed our eyes what they crave.

If, when we hear the gospel of the Kingdom of Yahweh, we submit to Yahweh’s King (Yeshua), His Spirit comes to live in our earthly body with us. When Yeshua’s Spirit joins Himself with our human spirit, He removes us from Satan’s kingdom (camp), and places us in His Kingdom (camp). If we do this we have passed the primary test.

Yahweh gives us all the opportunity to submit to King Yeshua, and if we do not submit to Him, before we leave our physical body, and the arena of testing, we will remain in Satan’s camp forever. And, this is real bad, because Satan has made his camp in the depths of Hell!

Passing Yahweh’s primary test is the most important thing in life.

Passing Yahweh’s primary test is also the first step in recovering from drug addiction. When Yahweh removes us from Satan’s camp, He recreates our spirit, and gives it the desire to please Him. This intense desire to please Yahweh, and live according to His instructions is the hallmark of a Christian, and it is the force that keeps him or her striving towards the goal of His high calling.

When Yahweh removes us from Satan’s camp, some of us, leave drug addiction behind, and never return. These “lucky” people get delivered immediately. The rest of us “poor souls” have to submit to the painful refining process, and grow out of drug addiction.

Why does Yahweh deliver some from drug addiction immediately, and walks with others, and grows them out of drug addiction, over time? It’s because Yahweh has an eternal assignment for each of us, and He knows which refinement process will equip us to fulfill it.

In the posts that follow, we will examine the refinement process, and how we can cooperate with it in order to overcome drug addiction. The refinement process is the secondary test, and our eternal rewards depend on how we perform in this phase of our testing.

Don’t be ignorant of Satan’s devices; he uses deception to keep us in his camp, or keep us living in bondage even though we have escaped from his camp. A strong deception of our day is this: Satan offers a refinement process, which promises freedom from addiction. And Satan has clothed his program in God garb to make it look Godly.

Of course, I am talking about A.A., and N.A. These programs consist of a set of “spiritual principles”, which are beneficial to you and your community. If you live by these principles, you may indeed overcome drug addiction, but you will nevertheless, remain in Satan’s camp.

A.A. makes the same mistake that the religious people made in Yeshua’s day. In Yeshua’s day, the Jewish leaders placed Moses ahead of Abraham, and tried to know Yahweh through their works. Paul told these men that they had to submit to Yeshua to know Yahweh, and enter His Kingdom. The same is true for A.A. members.

A.A. without Yeshua is a ticket to Hell.

A.A. with Yeshua is just another form of bondage.

Don’t be deceived. Refining yourself with a set of spiritual principles will not bring you into Yahweh’s Kingdom so that you can know Him. There is only one way into Yahweh’s Kingdom, and only one way to know Him. This is the way: We must pass the primary test.

Email, RSS Follow
Email
Print