- araratchurch
- Oct 14, 2022
- 3 min read
So Delilah said to Samson, “Please tell me what makes you so strong and what it would take to tie you up securely.”
Then Delilah pouted, “How can you tell me, ‘I love you,’ when you don’t share your secrets with me? You’ve made fun of me three times now, and you still haven’t told me what makes you so strong!” She tormented him with her nagging day after day until he was sick to death of it. Finally, Samson shared his secret with her. “My hair has never been cut,” he confessed, “for I was dedicated to God as a Nazirite from birth. If my head were shaved, my strength would leave me, and I would become as weak as anyone else.””
Judges 16:4, 6, 15-17 NLT
There have been many elaborate bank heists; as a matter of fact, there have been very entertaining movies made, based on actual thefts.
The heist holding the Guinness Book record for largest “pure” heist (no insiders used or embezzlement), happened in 2006 at Banco Central in Fortaleza, Brazil.
The heist was carried out by a gang of dozens of criminals. The gang posed as landscapers working nearby, while digging a 250 foot tunnel to their intended target: the foundation of the bank. Over the course of a weekend, they bored into the bank, taking off with an estimated $70 million.
Although a majority of the gang was eventually rounded up and brought to justice, only 10 percent of the stolen funds were ever recovered.
It doesn’t matter what security systems or barriers exist, if there is a vulnerability, a clever thief will exploit it. In this case, the otherwise well-protected bank was entered and looted through a place of weakness.
The fact is that we are up against a would-be thief we cannot see.
“For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.”
Ephesians 6:12 NLT
This enemy is a very clever thief who never tires of seeking out vulnerabilities to exploit in order to rob us of our joy, our peace, our health, our substance, or even our soul.
“The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.”
John 10:10 NLT
As we are seeking the deep things of God we must remember that failing to receive enlightenment in any area of our lives, leaves a vulnerability to the enemy of our soul. Nothing is insignificant. Ignorance in any area of your daily walk is automatically a vulnerability for the thief to enter.
“Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith….”
1 Peter 5:8-9a NLT
Paul—in speaking to the church at Corinth—explains to them that the reason he is being so specific about how to deal with a person who is being forgiven and reinstated, is because he doesn’t want to leave any openings for the devil to exploit. He explains his rationale this way:
“so that Satan will not outsmart us. For we are familiar with his evil schemes.”
2 Corinthians 2:11 NLT
In our opening scripture we see portions of the famous story of Samson and Delilah. As you probably know, Sampson was gifted by God with supernatural strength and had won many mighty victories against the enemies of his people. But Sampson had a vulnerability: women. His enemies were not ignorant of the fact that Sampson was a womanizer and they used that fact to get the secret of his strength and cause his covenant with God to be broken. Thankfully, in the end, Sampson had one final great victory. But not before being captured, blinded, and enslaved by the enemy.
Only the enlightenment that comes through the Holy Spirit can enable us to become aware of—and “harden”—our vulnerabilities which Satan may be using to rob us!
We light a fourteen candle of illumination today by knowing this:
The thief will exploit weaknesses found in unenlightened areas.
- araratchurch
- Oct 13, 2022
- 4 min read
“When we tell you these things, we do not use words that come from human wisdom. Instead, we speak words given to us by the Spirit, using the Spirit’s words to explain spiritual truths. But people who aren’t spiritual can’t receive these truths from God’s Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them and they can’t understand it, for only those who are spiritual can understand what the Spirit means.”
1 Corinthians 2:13-14 NLT
During World War II the United States military ran into a problem. At that time communications concerning battle plans were sent and received using the radio or telephone. Because of the potential for interception of the messages, the military used coded language. The problem was that the Japanese were breaking all of the codes. The surprising solution came when a Navajo man suggested that they use the Navajo language, a language basically limited to the Navajo people and (at that time) had no standardized written form.
In 1942 the Marines recruited 29 Navajo men and gave them the task of creating and memorizing a code system based on the Navajo language. Eventually, 400 men were taught to send and receive messages using the Navajo language. These specially trained men known as “code talkers,” had the ability to give and receive messages without being intercepted by the enemy. Indeed, the code talkers probably made the difference in the outcome of the war.
Now, I have an Armenian daughter-in-law whose family still lives in Armenia. Sadly, although my father was born to Armenian immigrant parents and spoke fluent Armenian, the language was not spoken in our home. So, my knowledge of the language is limited to a few phrases and a couple of songs.
There are times when I would love to be able to directly communicate with my daughter-in-law‘s mother, as she has become a sister in the spirit. Yet, she speaks no English, and I don’t speak Armenian. So, if there’s something I want to say to her, it has to go through my son or daughter-in-law. Otherwise, although we have much love for one another, our communication would be very limited.
Now, what ties the two stories I have just presented together? Both stories illustrate that some things cannot be understood unless there is a translator. Thankfully, a translator can take a message in a language we don’t understand, and interpret it into a language we do understand.
““Don’t be afraid!” Elisha told him. “For there are more on our side than on theirs!” Then Elisha prayed, “O Lord, open his eyes and let him see!” The Lord opened the young man’s eyes, and when he looked up, he saw that the hillside around Elisha was filled with horses and chariots of fire.”
2 Kings 6:16-17 NLT
In the above story we have the servant of Elisha being overcome with fear when he sees that they are surrounded by the Syrian army.
You see, Elisha had been thwarting all of the Syrian Army’s efforts by telling the King of Israel about the plans of the enemy. Elisha received this information by way of the Spirit of God. Here we see that Elisha asked the Lord to open the servants eyes so that he could see that they were actually not outnumbered at all. When the Lord opens the servant’s eyes, he sees the horsemen and the chariots of fire. What the servant could not see or know before, he could see when it was revealed—or translated—by the Spirit of God.
Jesus made clear that He would send His Holy Spirit to interpret—or translate—everything He wanted us to know.
““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. He will bring me glory by telling you whatever he receives from me.”
John 16:12-14 NLT
In our opening scripture we see Paul explaining to the church at Corinth the nature of his communication with them. He was speaking to them by the Spirit concerning the things of the Spirit and the only reason that they could understand them was because they were spiritual (because of their union with Jesus Christ, they could now hear the Spirit speaking in the inner person).
“Then he asked them, “But who do you say I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Jesus replied, “You are blessed, Simon son of John, because my Father in heaven has revealed this to you. You did not learn this from any human being.”
Matthew 16:15-17 NLT
When Jesus asked His disciples who they thought He was, Peter proclaimed that He is the Christ, the Son of God. Jesus then acknowledges to them that this information would have been unknowable to Peter unless the Spirit had revealed it to him.
As we continue to pursue enlightenment and the deep things of God, let us remember that the only way we can receive the things of God, is by the Spirit. There is no other translator or decoder for what the Lord wants us to know.
We light a thirteenth candle of illumination today by knowing this:
Without the Spirit to translate, the things of God are unknowable.
- araratchurch
- Oct 12, 2022
- 3 min read
“For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable.”
Hebrews 4:12-13 NLT
The aspect of something being sacred is found throughout God’s word. When something is deemed as sacred it is something that is set apart for special use in terms of activities associated with the worship of a deity.
Now, we know that nothing is truly sacred unless the Lord has made it so. However, the fact is that different religions—in that they are worshiping different “gods”—find different things sacred. Indeed, the Hindu religion reveres cows as being sacred.
Now, there is actually a surprising amount of disagreement as to where the phrase “sacred cow” originated; but for our purposes, a sacred cow is anything that an individual protects as being above any sort of criticism, examination, or evaluation.
Given enough time in relationship with most people you will stumble upon a topic that is met with surprising defensiveness. The person with whom you are interacting may suddenly change the topic, clam up, or even seem agitated or angry. Often we view that scenario and think, “I must’ve touched a nerve.” But there’s a very good chance that what you touched was their sacred cow.
Now, if you want to continue having a relationship with that person, I would suggest that you not set in to giving their sacred cow a full body scan. If it has something to do with their walk with the Lord, you need to pray about how the Lord would have you deal with that. But—as difficult as navigating around another person’s sacred cows may be, that dynamic pales in comparison to what happens when we limit the Lord’s access to our sacred cows.
In our opening scripture today we see the writer of Hebrews talking about the fact that nothing is hidden from the Lord. The Lord—through His spirit and His written word—will seek out every dark corner of our being. Nothing is hidden and nothing can be held as untouchable in terms of His dealings with us.
The scripture found just before our opening passage gives more insight into its meaning:
“So let us do our best to enter that rest. But if we disobey God, as the people of Israel did, we will fall.”
Hebrews 4:11 NLT
The context is a warning against allowing disobedience to cause us to fail to enter into the rest God has offered through Jesus Christ. Then comes the scriptures speaking of how nothing can be hidden from the Lord. In other words, the Lord knows where you’ve stalled your sacred cows.
Now, what does all of this have to do with enlightenment?
Make no mistake, if you continue to hold any area of your life as being above God’s scrutiny or control you will greatly inhibit—if not prevent—any enlightenment concerning other areas in your life. With the Lord, in terms of His transforming power (part of which is our process of enlightenment), it eventually will become an all or nothing prospect. Either you want to know what God wants or you don’t. Oh, let’s go on to know the Lord and present all of our sacred cows on His altar!
We light a twelfth candle of illumination today by knowing this:
Enlightenment must slay the sacred cow.