- araratchurch
- Oct 24, 2022
- 3 min read
“For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,”
II Corinthians 10:4-5 NKJV
In the book, Pilgrim’s Progress (John Bunyan, 1678), Christian, the main character, becomes aware that where he is living will eventually be destroyed. In order to escape the wrath of God he sets out to make it to the Celestial City. Sadly, his wife and children make fun of him for wanting to leave their home. He finally decides that he must go, even if it means leaving them:
“In my dream the man began to run. He hadn’t run far from his own door when his wife and children noticed what he was doing and cried out to him. ‘Come back! Come home!’ The man put his fingers in his ears and ran on. ‘Life! Life! Eternal life!’”
Here, Christian is literally running for his life and closes his ears to his family’s calls to stay.
Now, this story is an allegory, but correctly portrays the struggle toward our ultimate goal. The above quote, in describing Christian as putting his fingers in his ears while running on, illustrates what we must do when bombarded with thoughts—whether from within or without—contradicting the imperative of fleeing sin (and the destruction coming with it) and pursuing an eternity with the Lord.
“I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.”
Philippians 3:12-14 NLT
As we journey from this realm to the next, our quest toward spiritual enlightenment will be greatly resisted by the enemy of our soul. One of the things he uses to thwart us is to contradict God’s word. Now, it’s important to understand that these thoughts (contrary to God‘s word), although often coming from outside sources, may also come masquerading as our own thoughts.
In the case where thoughts contrary to the word of God, or contrary to the new life in Jesus Christ, come masquerading as our own thoughts, one of the worst things we can do is to accept the thought as our own and fall into shame or confusion as to how such a thought could have come across our mind.
“And the devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.” But Jesus answered him, saying, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.’ ””
Luke 4:3-4 NKJV
Remember, the devil even tempted our Lord. But notice, Jesus did not get sidetracked by the temptation, but rather, met it with the word of God. I’ll offer another quote from The Pilgrim’s Progress:
“I focused on the fact that what God says is indeed best. It doesn’t matter if all the men in the world are against it. So seeing that God prefers his religion, seeing that God prefers a tender conscience, seeing that those who make themselves fools for the kingdom of heaven are wisest, and that the poor man who loves Christ is richer than the greatest man in the world who hates him, I turned to Shame and said, ‘Depart, you who are an enemy to my salvation. Should I listen to your words which are contrary to my sovereign Lord?‘”
This is such wonderful advice! In this case the enemy was “Shame.” But where ever words or thoughts come from contrary to our sovereign God, they should be rejected.
In our opening scripture we see that Paul is talking about casting down arguments, and taking every thought contrary to God‘s word, into captivity. Here, he is actually referencing the thoughts and words of other people; but the same applies to contrary thoughts coming from within. They must be taken captive (rendered powerless) by the word of God.
Please remember, as you seek a deeper walk with the Lord so as to know what you need to know, to be able to do what you need to do, you will not avoid the fiery darts of the enemy’s words. And, sometimes, the enemy speaks from within.
We light a twenty-third candle of illumination today by knowing this:
Whether they come from within or without, thoughts contrary to our sovereign Lord must be cast down and taken captive.
- araratchurch
- Oct 22, 2022
- 3 min read
“But God’s truth stands firm like a foundation stone with this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and “All who belong to the Lord must turn away from evil.” In a wealthy home some utensils are made of gold and silver, and some are made of wood and clay. The expensive utensils are used for special occasions, and the cheap ones are for everyday use. If you keep yourself pure, you will be a special utensil for honorable use. Your life will be clean, and you will be ready for the Master to use you for every good work.”
2 Timothy 2:19-21 NLT
I have actually known people who taught that the more spiritually mature you are, the more sin you can handle. Now, they didn’t put it in those words; but what they do say is that the more spiritually mature person “understands” that what they do with their flesh does not affect the condition of their spirit. They basically take scriptures and distort them to ultimately say that if you aren’t convicted about something, then it is not wrong. Therefore, they contend that as you know more spiritually, you will be less convicted about things you do with your flesh. This, or any other teaching, that separates spiritual purity from pure living, is false.
“God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.”
Ephesians 2:8-10 NLT
Whereas we know that our salvation is a gift from God and is not based on what we have or haven’t done, we also know that our salvation is just the beginning of a life lived for God. Therefore, our behavior should definitely reflect the newness of life we have received through Jesus Christ.
“God’s will is for you to be holy, so stay away from all sexual sin. Then each of you will control his own body and live in holiness and honor— not in lustful passion like the pagans who do not know God and his ways. God has called us to live holy lives, not impure lives. Therefore, anyone who refuses to live by these rules is not disobeying human teaching but is rejecting God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you.”
1 Thessalonians 4:3-5, 7-8 NLT
Some people’s rejection of the concept of holiness is the result of a misunderstanding of what holiness is. Being holy means that you surrender your life—every part of it—to God‘s sacred usage. Additionally, you do those things, think those things, want those things, conducive to growth in the spirit.
In other places in our “25 Days of Illumination,” we have clearly shown that what we do is a reflection of where our heart is. If we look for excuses to sin, what does that indicate about the orientation of our heart?
In our opening scripture we see a discussion of the fact that vessels unprepared for special usage are not used for special uses. Our search for the deeper things of God should render us more inclined toward His righteousness and less inclined toward “worldliness.” Worldliness simply means that our lives are lived according to the world’s standards rather than according to God’s righteousness as manifested to us through His word.
Make no mistake, any “spiritual enlightenment” leading christians to live just like people in the world, is not enlightenment, but DECEPTION.
We light a twenty-second candle of illumination today by knowing this:
Enlightenment should lead to holiness.
- araratchurch
- Oct 21, 2022
- 3 min read
“Brothers, if anyone is caught in any sin, you who are spiritual [that is, you who are responsive to the guidance of the Spirit] are to restore such a person in a spirit of gentleness [not with a sense of superiority or self-righteousness], keeping a watchful eye on yourself, so that you are not tempted as well. Carry one another’s burdens and in this way you will fulfill the requirements of the law of Christ [that is, the law of Christian love]. For if anyone thinks he is something [special] when [in fact] he is nothing [special except in his own eyes], he deceives himself.”
Galatians 6:1-3 AMP
When I was a little girl I remember that there were several movies I watched where people were trekking through the jungle while being assisted by some local person acting as a guide. The guide would speak to the other natives for the jungle explorer. Additionally, the guide would warn the explorer about poisonous foods and animals as well as helping the explorer negotiate many other seen and unseen dangers.
When the Louisiana Purchase needed to be charted, Lewis and Clark were chosen for the task. However, it is unlikely that they would have survived the trip through native territories without the leadership of their Native American guide, Sacagawea. In fact Sacagawea was only 17 years of age when her knowledge helped the expedition survive the treacherous 7,000 mile trip!
In 1953, Sir Edmund Hillary was the first person to ascend Mount Everest, an achievement made possible by Tenzing Norgay, a sherpa who had previously led six other expeditions.
Roald Amundsen, the first person to navigate the Northwest Passage in 1903, was assisted by his native Inuit guides. In the process, he learned a number of vital survival skills. These survival skills would also help him a few years later when he became the first person to reach the South Pole in 1911.
Guides are important. Indeed, the Lord, before leaving, promised that He was sending an expert guide for us to follow.
“There is so much more I want to tell you, but you can’t bear it now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future.”
John 16:12-13 NLT
It is important to know that we—under the leadership of the Holy Spirit—can and should become guides for those who do not yet see or know the way as well as we do.
“From the tribe of Issachar, there were 200 leaders of the tribe with their relatives. All these men understood the signs of the times and knew the best course for Israel to take.”
1 Chronicles 12:32 NLT
When the army that gathered itself to David was enumerated we see that those from the tribe of Issachar had the special ability to be able to guide others in the way they should go.
Jesus excoriated the religious leaders of the day because, whereas they should be guiding the people in the way they should go, they were blind in terms of what God wanted.
“Leave them alone; they are blind guides [leading blind followers]. If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit.”
Matthew 15:14 AMP
Make no mistake, your personal enlightenment is not just for the purpose of your own successful journey in this life; it is also for you to come alongside others, guiding those who may not yet know the way.
In our opening scripture we see that Paul is instructing the church at Galatia, telling them that those who are further along in their spiritual development, should be able to shepherd those who have fallen, onto the path of restoration.
The Lord has given us such a wonderful gift by sharing His heart with us by way of the Holy Spirit. As we walk the ever-brighter path, we should remember that we have the responsibility to provide guidance and light to those who don’t yet know the way as well as we do.
We light a twenty-first candle of illumination today by knowing this:
We must humbly guide those who don’t yet know what we know.