Your Spiritual House, A Palace for Whom? 4

About a year ago my youngest brother was living on his own.  A friend came over with an acquaintance (a person my brother did not know) to play video games.  My brother played video games for a while with them but then told them he was going to bed.  

Sometime later that night my brother awoke to a knock on his bedroom door.  My brother asked who was it and his friend answered.   Come to find out the friend’s friend was acting strangely.   My brother got up and indeed something was very wrong.   The young man was talking with a different voice and his behavior was anything but ordinary.  After several times of asking the young man to leave and him not doing so my brother called the police.   

When the police arrived they too asked the young man to leave.   The young man grabbed a knife from the kitchen.  The police seeing the threat drew their guns and ordered the young man to put the knife down.  He said, “ok” but resumed coming towards the officers with knife in hand.  Again the officers told him to put down the knife.   The young man rushed the officers and shots rang out in the night.
 

The young man incurred several serious gunshots was rushed to a nearby hospital.  I don’t know what came of him... if he survived his injuries he is probably in some mental hospital somewhere.

Knowing some law enforcement officers and being related to several these aren’t unfamiliar stories.                    

Jesus says, “For when a strong man like Satan is fully armed and guards his palace, his possessions are safe— until someone even stronger attacks and overpowers him, strips him of his weapons, and carries off his belongings. Anyone who isn’t with me opposes me, and anyone who isn’t working with me is actually working against me.

When an evil spirit leaves a person, it goes into the desert, searching for rest. But when it finds none, it says, ‘I will return to the person I came from.’ So it returns and finds that its former home is all swept and in order.  Then the spirit finds seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they all enter the person and live there. And so that person is worse off than before.” Luke 11:21-26
 

This scripture has repeatedly come to my mind often these past few weeks as we have discussed our spiritual house.

Jesus refers to a person influenced by evil as a “palace for Satan".

Only by the power and name of Jesus can one cast out and over power Satan and strip him of his weapons and free the people in bondage to Satan.

Jesus says "These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues; they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover."

Jesus then says the evil spirit leaves the person to seek rest in the desert.  Interesting is the word “desert.”

A desert in most cases is a dry place almost entirely void of water. 

But water is also an illustration of the Holy Spirit, Who is the Living Water.

Jesus says the evil spirit goes to the desert to get away from God but can’t because God is everywhere.

“Who can hide in secret places so that I cannot see them?" declares the LORD. "Do not I fill heaven and earth?" declares the LORD.” Jeremiah 23:24

David said, “Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?” Psalm 139:7

So finding no place to hid from God, it returns to the person it left.  Interesting it goes back to the person from in which it came.   It goes back to the person who can deny God as LORD of their life. It’s like a person can be a stronghold for an evil spirit and they, blinded by the evil spirit, aren’t even aware of it.  They are blind to what is real and God who is not only real but life giving.  

“And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” 2 Corinthians 4:3-4

A human, created by God, is given the ability to choose to love God or not love God, to accept God or deny God, to trust God or not trust God, to obey God or not obey God, to find life or stay lost to life.  He is either a vessel for God or a vessel against God.

When I gave my life to the Lord I remember looking for those dark influencing “feelings” I once had before but they were gone.   They were instantly gone but what had come of them?  I didn’t know at the time but the living power of the Spirit of God chased them away and kept them from coming back.  He then supernaturally put a seal on me telling evil I was now a child, possession and temple of the living God.

“And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation.  When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promise of the Holy Spirit.” Ephesians 1:3

^“Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.” 2 Corinthians 1:21-22

When the Holy Spirit comes into us, who believe Jesus as Lord and Savior, He fills us up like a glass of water to the top so nothing else can be poured in and He, being Living Water, continues to keep that glass full. 

Jesus says “but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life." John 4:14

This is not true of someone who doesn’t give his or her life God.   

I have often wondered about those who hear the life saving news of Jesus Christ and they seem to accept it with joy in their hearts.  There is this moment of clarity in their life and they seem relieved of their spiritual pains but after a short time they go back to their old way of life and live more rebelliously then they had before.  So even though they had their spiritual house “swept and put in order” there was no genuine acceptance in their heart- so no seal was given by God and the seven more evil spirits then the first come in to their lives and they are worse off then before.  They live as the rest of the world or worse.

So a word of caution here... when praying over those burdened by evil.  Are they "only" wanting relief from the burden of evil or are they wanting Jesus Christ to be Lord and Savior over their life?  If they are only wanting relief from the burden of evil then you are doing them no favor but could be be making their situation worse off then before.      

Jesus continues his thought with:

“But even more blessed are all who hear the word of God and put it into practice.” Luke 11:28

I find “putting the word of God into practice” is not just reading the word of God and trying to orchestrate those things on our own but us seeking and surrendering God to make those things become a reality in our life.  Where our spiritual house is His palace.   

Saved From All Things Mortal Part 4

THE DAY

Recently I had a dream where the world was cheering on “death” not knowing death was in disguise.   

Can you see “this great dragon-the ancient serpent, called the Devil, or Satan, the one deceiving the whole world-….”? (Revelation 12:9)

We can see the evidence of his works and influence and confusion. Unmistakably the days are evil.
 

“Then the dragon became angry at the woman, and declared war against the rest of her children- all who keep God’s commandments and confess that they belong to Jesus.” Revelation 12:17.
 

We see the woman (Israel) in these days.  We see the rest of her children, those of Judeo Christian faith labeled as haters and old fashioned, and close minded because we believe in what God has said and believe Jesus is the only way to heaven.

We see there is only a narrow door in which we can pass through into heaven, which is Jesus Christ, but the rest of world believes in a highway to heaven but that board road leads straight to hell.  

Jesus said,  “You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way.  But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it." Matthew 7:13-14

Why do you think it is difficult?  We live in a world that thrives on values and understandings that are the opposite of God.  We see what the liberal world calls “progress” but it isn't "progress" but leads to slavery and condemnation of people's souls.
 
Who is greater? Who has the most influence?  The one who is the world? Our flesh? Or the one who's Spirit that live in us?

Who redeems our days in the end?  What will deem them of any worth?

Surely it is not ourselves or the one who is the world.  For it is only by Holy Spirit is their life, peace, assurance and redeeming fruit.   We can't control what happens in the world but we can walk in the path of the goodness of God seeing and submitting to our need in Him..  

We see the darkness but imagine if you and I still walked in the darkness and evil of this world?  Let us use the darkness as a thorny hedge to keep us on course.  And when we see no path to walk let us sit, seek and listen until God comes along side and leads our us beside instances of calming waters and green pastures.

  

Let us remember God the Father has kept perfect count of each second knowing that exact moment He will send His Son, the day when we, the believers of Christ, will be transformed from our mortal bodies of Adam to immortal bodies of Christ.  And the nagging of this earthly body will be swallowed up in death and we will finally be rid of all the weaknesses of the flesh FOREVER!

Let us remember God has made it possible to be saved from all things related to the mortal even death.

1 Corinthians 15:48-58 “Earthly people are like the earthly man, and heavenly people are like the heavenly man. Just as we are now like the earthly man, we will someday be like the heavenly man.  What I am saying, dear brothers and sisters, is that our physical bodies cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. These dying bodies cannot inherit what will last forever. But let me reveal to you a wonderful secret. We will not all die, but we will all be transformed! It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever. And we who are living will also be transformed. For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies.  Then, when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die, this Scripture will be fulfilled:

“Death is swallowed up in victory.
O death, where is your victory?
    O death, where is your sting?”

For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power. But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ. So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless.”

Amen! Amen! Amen!

Saved From All Things Mortal Part 2

Did Eve and Adam disobey God? Of course they did!  But did Eve and Adam eat the forbidden fruit in “the understanding of evil”?  Most likely, the answer is “no”.   It was more a sin of omission or oversight.  In God’s eyes however a sin is a sin and God gave them consequences for their act of disobedience.

Let’s look at Genesis 3 more closely.  Imagine having a “conscience” with no scruples or awareness of good or evil or who is Holy and who is Evil.  

Here is naked Eve without a care in the Garden of Eden and here comes Satan in a disguise.  He is in a disguise that would make most people want to grab a shovel or run the opposite direction but not Eve.  Satan doesn’t come as some cuddly, fluffy animal but a cold slithery snake.  Eve, unafraid, gives the “Serpent” a grand tour around the garden and before she knows it, Satan leads her into his trap to have her and Adam eat the forbidden fruit of good and evil. 

Considering Adam and Eve’s mindset, Satan might as well been a hungry fox in a chicken coop with two fat blind chickens. 

We know Eve eats the fruit from the forbidden tree, gives some to her husband, and before they know it they are stringing fig leaves together to cover what they deem the more “private” areas of the their body, hiding from God and pointing accusing fingers.  Adam sulks.  Eve... now fearful is staying as far as she can away from the snake she just had lunch with a few moments before.

No wonder why God says, “From now on, you and the woman will be enemies, and your offspring and her offspring will be enemies. He will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” Genesis 3:15

Talk about the mind job… Talk about saying bye bye to Kansas. Talk about tumbling down the rabbit hole.

The Knowledge of Good and Evil 
Satan accomplished these things that day.

• First, he managed to have Adam and Eve to become instruments of evil by having them disobey God.
•  Second, like a pregnant woman whom is a drug addict passes her addiction to her baby, the forbidden fruit did not just poison Eve and Adam’s conscious’ but every generation since.
• Third, the fruit set up a “logic or reasoning” dictated by the severely ill equipped understanding of flesh.  Man and women took the knowledge of good and evil and started defining it by the instincts of the flesh. 
•  Fourth, Satan unknowingly destined a greater system of prudence in the Spirit-filled believer, knowing the predisposition/bias of the flesh. (What the enemy intended for evil God turned to good.)   

This knowledge of good and evil that pulses through our weak and ill-equipped helms of the human understanding - ultimately causes all men and women to sin and violate what they know as good and right.  One might say, the make-up of our “system” was unable to digest or process the knowledge (of good and evil) in a constructive means and the output came out corrupted. 
  

The body made a corrupt law of it’s own.  This law continues until this day, where we see people and culture deliberately disregarding and violating and putting down what God put in place for stability and prosperity of the soul.  The law of sin has become a cancer to society… a cancer- society is willing to let spread allowing it to destroy itself.  It’s as if society- by accepted one evil has caused-welcomed “six” more evils- more hideous then the first. 

The book of Jeremiah 17:9 says, "The human heart is the most deceitful of all things and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?"   

The human heart also has to do with the understanding of the heart.  That is why the bible tells us to not depend on our own understanding for even though the heart has been changed in the Christian the "human" understanding is still corrupt. 
 We know from our unchristian past, the sinful ways of the flesh that echo and resonate in the world became the counsel over our lives until Christ came into our life- changing our heart and giving us His Spirit.  WE, humanity, were appointed by the Father God to care for and populate the earth but we became slaves to the ways of the corrupt/wicked understanding of the flesh until we sincerely surrendered our lives before God and accepted Christ.

Galatians 4:1-7

 “Now I say that the heir, as long as he is a child, does not differ at all from a slave, though he is master of all, but is under guardians and stewards until the time appointed by the father.  Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world.  But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.  And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!”  Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.”

  

Saved From All Things Mortal Part 1

Ephesians 1:3-14

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us acceptable in the beloved.  In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which he made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth- in Him.  In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory.  In Him you are trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.

Adam and Eve

(Genesis 3) Some may want to argue that Eve ate the forbidden fruit out of some evil and selfish desire but how could she if she had no concept of what was good and evil until after she ate of the forbidden fruit?  And since she did not know evil how could she on act upon “evil” reasoning in her disobedience?

 Adam and Eve had nothing to base evil upon.  They didn’t know what was “selfishness”.   They didn’t understand what a lie was.  They had no comprehension of what it meant to be deceived or to deceive.

Genesis 3:6-7 says: “So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate.  She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.  Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.

The word “wise” in translation is “to have insight, understanding, comprehension, and to act prudently”.

So what kind of conscious did Adam and Eve have before they ate of the fruit of knowledge of good and evil?  I found this word in the concordance as I was studying: “Scruple.”

Scruple is a feeling of doubt or hesitation with regard to the morality or propriety of a course of action.  Having reservations, second thoughts, misgivings or reluctance.  Hesitate or to be reluctant to do something that one thinks may be wrong.

I believe God had me “zero in” on this word “scruple” because he was showing me, even thought Adam and Eve had “consciousness” they had a consciousness that wasn’t “scrupled”.  They had no reservations, second thoughts, misgivings, or reluctance.  They lacked the understanding and insight to act prudently.  There was no wickedness in their heart.

Didn’t Eve say to Satan, “God says we must not eat it or even touch it, or we will die”?

My question is:  “Was she parroting what she had been told?”  Can a person repeat something without any conviction or real understanding?  Can a person be proficient in reading text but not comprehend what they have read?   

Can a child parrot a curse word without knowing it is a curse word?

We must look at Eve as “innocent” or “simpleminded” in her understanding.   Eve is approached by Satan- “one of the shrewdest of all the creatures the LORD God had made.” (Genesis 3:1) Satan “directs” her to the fruit she has ignored up to this point.  Eve evaluates the fruit by what she knows of fruit.  It looks fresh and delicious.   Satan speaks of “good and evil” but she doesn’t know or understand what is “good and evil.”

Is the simple minded Eve curious? Were Adam and Eve creatures of curiosity?  Are children curious? Do they touch things and examine things?  Do they ask curious questions?  Obviously if she saw the fruit was pleasant to her eyes and the tree was good for food, she was “inquisitive” in her observations.  Isn’t that how Satan gets many people hooked and ensnared, he uses their curiosity.  What we might consider “common sense” doesn’t seem to be there in Eve’s case. 

Satan also used one other thing against Adam and Eve; he used their lack of fear towards God.  If Adam and Eve, were as indifferent, innocent, and unapologetically sincere as I perceive and we compound that with the lack of knowledge of good and evil- How would they fear God? They would know God as their creator but would they have “wisdom” of Him being Holy?  Where does “wisdom” BEGIN?

    

 Proverbs 9:10 says,

“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.”

Where is the fear? Where is the wisdom? Where is the knowledge of God being Holy? Where is the understanding of God being “supreme ruler over” all creation?