Tag: bible study

Living Under Judgment and Loving It

living under judgment
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At one point or another you’ve probably heard a Christian talk about God’s judgment falling on some person, place, organization, or even on yourself. Biblically it is the great equalizer that reminds us that one day we are all to stand before God for our celestial hearing (Revelation 20:11-15) before we either enter Heaven or eternal punishment. But this idea has been abused and misunderstood to the point that people inside and outside of the church have become numb to the concept of God’s judgment, or they even believe that it vanished after the cross.

What gets lost in our understanding of Scripture is that God is not just storing up all of His judgments for the last day like some vindictive squirrel, but He is watching and judging the world, the church and ourselves constantly. A fact that many people no longer accept thanks to overzealous doom and gloomers. In Micaiah’s encounter in 1 Kings 22 he shows us God’s judgments in action. Here the prophet witnesses God passing judgment on the kings of Israel and Judah by relaying a scene from the heavenly courtroom of the eternal King who made judgment against them, and sent out someone to enact it.

God is not just storing up all of His judgments for the last day like some vindictive squirrel.

Far too often we become fatalistic with the concept of judgment when it comes to God but at the same time our everyday lives paint a different story. From what I can tell by the primetime TV schedule it seems that a lot of people have a love of reality TV shows featuring performers and Judges. I’m not exempt as even my wife and I watch America’s Got Talent. There the judges are an intricate part of the show as they act as coaches and gatekeepers of the talent.

Without them anyone could make it onto the show and the ones who are actually talented and could win may be blocked out by the sheer number of people. Without these judges it would better resemble the Gong Show than a talent competition. The judges are there in that show to (for the most part) separate those who are talented from those who just think they are. That is the first judgment, the second judgment comes when trying to encourage those who have talent to improve themselves so they can survive in such a competitive arena.

At times in these shows they will mock and ridicule the contestants but in the finale you always see the ones who took their criticisms seriously and consistently bettered themselves and their craft throughout the process. It was less of a process of condemnation and expulsion and more of a refining process which was brought about through the challenges set before them.

Perhaps this is how we should be looking at God’s judgment in our own lives. Going forward I want to you only look at yourself and your own situation. Don’t think about how so and so needs to read this, or I wish _______ would get a hold of this. No, first of all you must apply this to yourself rather than running out as some sort of Divine Justice Warrior imposing your pet peeves upon others and calling it holiness.

Spared From The Great Judgment But Awaiting Debriefing

Facing judgment while we are part of this world should be seen as process of refinement and not condemnation. How we respond to God’s judgments and critiques of our life today will determine our final judgment. It is like someone staring at their phone while walking, they keep their heads down and keep scrolling but with each step they get closer to the edge of a pier. People may try to yell at the person to “watch where they are going” or God could speak to their heart and say “look up” or even “look up, or else!”

If the person doesn’t look up they’ll eventually fall off of the pier and might even blame God or others for what happened. This is how God’s continual judgments of our lives work, we set upon a course that could lead in destruction, ruin, pain, frustration or vanity and He tries to correct us before we plummet down our own proverbial pier (whether you land on the ground or in the water varies). God has a higher perspective than we do and uses that vantage point to judge, correct, direct and counsel us.

How we respond to God’s judgments and critiques of our life today will determine our final judgment.

At the same time God is not just looking to provide course corrections but He is looking to correct the issues in our heart as well. The personal excuses we come up with for different behaviors or even the ideas of “that’s good enough” does not equal a job “well done” in the eyes of Jesus. God through Jesus uses His judgment which comes from a place of love and mercy to refine us as individuals into the image and shape of Jesus (working this process through a church is usually done in conjunction with the five-fold ministry).

Jesus was not quick to condemn but spoke out in immediate judgment so that they would be spared future judgment and condemnation.

We see this process of judgment and refinement in action with Jesus’s words to the seven churches in Revelation chapters two and three. Here Jesus tells these groups of believers the good, the bad and the ugly of how He sees them operate. Jesus was not quick to condemn but spoke out in immediate judgment so that they would be spared future judgment and condemnation. Here Jesus was speaking out of love to preserve these parts of His body, He wasn’t looking for an excuse to amputate them. Jesus was looking to restore them and to purge them of any evil influences and the barnacles of the world and its ways.

When we talk about the Judgment of God it is something so much higher and powerful than anything we could see on a reality TV show. It has to do with our eventual debriefing of our natural life on Earth. I’m not talking here about the judgment which separates those in Covenant with God from those outside of it. I want to talk about the second judgment which falls upon us who have received and follow Christ.

2 Corinthians 5:9-11 “9 Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. 11 Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are well known to God, and I also trust are well known in your consciences.” (NKJV)

John 5:22 and 9:39 paints for us a picture of how Jesus came into this world as not just at simple lamb but also as the eternal King and Judge of the universe. We see that God’s judgments flow through Jesus and that Jesus is testing the hearts of the people to see who will actually recognize and follow Him. From that point on those who do recognize and receive Jesus are not excused from any further judgment but rather begin to live a life filled with the encouragement, judgment and refinement of God to make us into what we were originally created to be.

Paul in 2 Corinthians 5:14-15 shows us how our lives which have been redeemed through Christ are no longer dictated by our own desires, but they are to be directed by Jesus. Given all that Jesus has done for us it is a very reasonable request. It would be no different that if a person was rescued from a nomadic lifestyle where they lived outdoors without shelter and was suddenly transported to the most expensive penthouse in Vancouver. They would have to undergo a process of change and adaptation to match their new living environment. The nomad couldn’t set rabbit traps by the bus stop, go to the bathroom in a hole he dug in the boulevard, have a campfire in the living room and so on. The same picture can be applied to a day care worker, they could not get away with acting like a four-year-old for eight hours a day and keep their job. They are working among the children, but they are not acting like a child while they are working.

Heaven is not the absence of consequences, it is the ultimate consequence and what we do here and now lives forever there.

We must understand that Heaven is not the absence of consequences, it is the ultimate consequence and what we do here and now lives forever there. This is what is meant by a heavenly debriefing that we are to give account for what we did in this world, and that includes given an account as to why we did not listen to God when He spoke to us about a great many things. It is one thing to say that you made an honest uninformed mistake it is another thing to say you willingly made a mistake even though you were warned that doing it was a mistake. I fear many people will be facing that judgment more than the former.

Growing Through Sanctification

Eventually God will ask you the question “How did you live your life?” This begs us to ask ourselves right now questions such as: “How have I contributed to the work of the Great Commission?” “Have I been forgiving and loving?” “Am I a living witness of Christ to others?” “What have I done to build and strengthen the kingdom?” “Am I a benefit or a hinderance to the Holy Spirit’s work here on Earth?” “Do I tolerate habitually sin in my life?” “Am I judgmental, prideful or selfish?” “Do I obey God am I too busy to pay attention or follow through on what I heard?

To be able to answer these questions positively we each need to go through the process of sanctification, the process of God reforming us into Jesus’s image. When we become a believer in Jesus the Bible says that we are reborn, we are made into a new creature (2 Corinthians 5:17-19), we have been changed from death to life, and so on. Accepting Jesus as who the Bible says He is comes at a cost, a high cost – it costs you your life.

Much like how a caterpillar goes through the process of transformation from something that crawls around into something that can fly, so to have we been transformed by the cross and the resurrection. The process of sanctification can be seen as our battle to break out of the cocoon of grace God places us in after we receive Christ. It is that struggle to once and for all cast off the way our life used to look because once it has been shaken off you are able to fly.

By accepting God’s various judgments about our life, thoughts, actions and intentions we are being helped in our process of sanctification. In reality, by listening to God we are able to avoid greater judgment through our commitment to sanctification. This is why we have to continually ask God to refine ourselves and to point out what needs to change or improve in lives. The best place to look for advice on how to grow in sanctification and avoid judgment is to look at the life of Jesus. He is our example and the root of our identity, everything God tells us to do and think comes from how Jesus acts and thinks.

The Three Main Areas of Judgment

In the process of sanctification we need to continually look at the three areas I believe God is most concerned about judging and refining us in the most: our thought life, our interpersonal life, and our Kingdom life.

1) Our thought life has to do with everything that goes on inside of us, what we think, feel, desire, believe and so on. It the part of our lives which is hidden from others but not from God (Hebrews 4:12) and we are promised (Romans 2:16) that God will judge this inner life within us. This is the part of our being which Jesus said is the source of evil thoughts and actions (Matthew 15:19, Acts 8:22), and it is the battlefield of the “War Within Our Heart.”

Just because no one can see or hear our thoughts does not mean that we are not guilty of displeasing God.

Just because no one can see or hear our thoughts does not mean that we are not guilty of displeasing God. Jesus said that lust was equal with adultery and that hatred was equal with murder (Matthew 5:22, 28). This internal part of our life is where fear, pride, selfishness and unforgiveness dwell. However, when we allow God to judge us and lead us through the process of sanctification and Christlikeness those wicked traits are replaced by faith, hope, love, forgiveness and the rest of the “fruits of the spirit” (Galatians 5:22-26).

2) Our interpersonal life has to do with how we live and interact with our family, friends, coworkers, church members, strangers and so on. In these cases we are judged in how we treat others, how our thought life becomes a reality, what we value in people and whether or not we walk in love (I don’t mean as a push over but actually caring for people). Matthew 5:22 and James 5:9 speak warnings about how we are to conduct ourselves with others, in that we are to avoid hatred, judgmentalism and baseless complaining (Matthew 12:33-37). God will judge our actions according to our heart’s intentions (Romans 14:12-13). Even if we do a “good deed” for a person it will be disqualified if our intentions were not pure, such as helping someone today to take advantage of them tomorrow.

The lack of sanctification and welcoming of God’s judgment in our lives is what produces most of the strife and interpersonal issues in the church. Why would a person want to go to a church if they just see the people acting as cold, political, argumentative as the secular world? The issue is the many Christians are unwilling to allow the renewing of the Holy Spirit to happen in their hearts because they either believe the they don’t need to, they already know everything, or they use grace as an excuse to act however they please. Grace is not a crutch to excuse our old nature, it is a new leg for us to stand on (Revelation 21:7-8).

Grace is not a crutch to excuse our old nature, it is a new leg for us to stand on

3) Our Kingdom life has to do with whether or not we did our part to contribute to the Great Commission. I’m not talking about everyone joining the ministry, but each individual has a responsibility to share the gospel, disciple other believers and to move in the spiritual gifts God has given to them. This is the parables of the Talents and Minas in action whereby God asks us what we have done with the gifts, talents, and opportunities He has given us to proclaim Christ and bring glory to Himself. Paul called us ambassadors (2 Corinthians 5:20-21) not spectators, we are representatives of the King in a foreign land and it is our duty to share the culture and power of Heaven in this world. Our Kingdom life also must deal with matters such as worship, reading and studying the scriptures, prayer, intercession and other matters. God created us for relationship, and Jesus became a sacrifice to restore that relationship. Our Kingdom life is not just proclaiming the Gospel but it is also our living relationship with God. Everyday God is looking for us to spend time with Him as a loving Father and His judgments are not out of anger or malice but to help us in bringing others into the same relationship that we have.

Kingdom life is not just proclaiming the Gospel but it is also our living relationship with God.

All of this is a progression from what our heart thinks, to what our body does, then all the way up to how we will use those two facets of our being to proclaim the gospel, so others can be freed from eternal judgment.

Stanley’s Cup

What would happen if we took on a worldview that said everything is awesome and perfect all of the time and you never need to improve? What would your life look like? What would the church look like? This is a life without sanctification or the concern of judgment, it is what happens when we erase these parts of God’s nature and expectations of us.

Let me put it this way, this way of life is like a hockey coach who has accepted a philosophy that no one needs to improve because everyone is already the best version of themselves that they can be. As long as they can express themselves and their desire to play that is all that matters. The coach then goes about placing the intentions of the players above their physical performance, it’s the “as long as you tried” approach which allows people to avoid having to work and improve.

Now imagine if there was this mentality where you had a bunch of people who had never played hockey before and were allowed to think that they were the greatest and there was no reason to improve because they expressed the very best they thought they could do. Then somehow you place that team up against one from the NHL. What would happen? They would be crushed and defeated to the point where they would never want to play again.

Hope In Judgment

This is a ridiculous example but it paints a picture of what it is like when we reject sanctification and God’s judgment on our lives. We never progress spiritually, and we end up like the congregation which the book of Hebrews was written to, one that was dependant on milk and unable to eat the spiritual meat of the Bible. We need to seriously take 1 Corinthians 11:31-32 to heart: “31 For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged. 32 But when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world.” (NKJV)

For us as believers judgment does not have to be about condemnation or punishment but it can be about refinement and becoming more like Jesus so we can be a better witness in this world. However, when we ignore God there are consequences for rejecting His warnings of judgment and His calls for sanctification. We can see the consequences clearly throughout the New Testament in place such as 1 John 3:36, Acts 5:1-16, Acts 13:8-11, 1 Corinthians 5:1-13, 1 Timothy 1:20 and so on.

We need to lay hold of what Paul has said:

2 Corinthians 7:9-10 “9 Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance. For you were made sorry in a godly manner, that you might suffer loss from us in nothing. 10 For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.”

God does not bring to His children warning, correction or judgment for the sole purpose of hurting or condemning us, He does it so we avoid condemnation, the consequences of sin, the judgment of Himself and others. God does not want to bury us in depression but instead wants to set us free, but this only happens when we are willing to confront the issues God brings into the light. Repentance leads to sanctification and sanctification helps us avoid any negative judgment by God, and it strengthens our witness to this world.

Now what will you do? What has God been speaking to you that needs refinement? What do you need to change or improve? What will you do?

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Creative Commons LicenseLiving Under Judgment and Loving It. Cameron Conway is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
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The Secret Name of Jesus Christ

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As Christians we declare that we follow the one and only true Son of God called Jesus Christ.  We believe that He came from Heaven through a virgin birth, lived in Judea two thousand years ago, performed miracles, was crucified and resurrected from the dead so we can be part of the New Covenant and receive atonement. Everyday thousands of people utter the name of Jesus, some in prayer, others in worship, while others use the name to display frustration.

We open our Bibles and see the name Jesus, we go to church and (hopefully) hear the name Jesus being spoken from the front. We assume that everyone over the past two thousand years has called out to the name of Jesus Christ as well. Even back when He was walking the earth the crowds went out to hear the words of Jesus Christ and to witness His miracles, or did they?

The Secret No One Is Telling You

Today we just assume that because we call Him Jesus Christ that everyone else throughout history has as well. It is the belief that the way it is now is the way it has always been because we are always right and nothing really changes in the world. It’s like how people assume that places such as New York city, Istanbul, or France have always gone by those names. However, that’s not true; New York used to be called New Amsterdam, Istanbul was called Constantinople, and France was called Gaul. Be it because of changes to a language, invasions, or a differing of opinion names change over the decades and centuries.

Even if there aren’t the changes mentioned above, differences in language can change a simple name into a myriad of variations. Take Germany for example, that isn’t the nation’s actual name it’s the English version of it, in French it’s called Allemagne, while the Germans themselves refer to it as Deutschland. The same goes for nations in the Bible, what we call Egypt the ancient Jews called Mizraim, or that Tarshish is southern Spain and Yavan (Javan) is Greece.

Isn’t Jesus His one and only name and isn’t that what everyone called Him during His ministry, first name Jesus, last name Christ?

We see then that names may change over time but the things they identify remain the same, but what does this have to do with Jesus? Isn’t Jesus His one and only name and isn’t that what everyone called Him during His ministry, first name Jesus, last name Christ?  Have you ever questioned why Christ his last name, I don’t remember there being a Mary and Joseph Christ in the early pages of Luke, no there’s something missing here, something that’s been forgotten.

If Christ isn’t His last name then Jesus is still His first name right?  It may shock you to know that no one ever referred to Him as Jesus when He walked the earth.  In those days He was called by fellow Judeans “Yehoshua.” That name was the one given to Him when He was eight days old during His circumcision ceremony. It is the name Mary called Him by as a child, the name He was known by in the synagogue, and it was the name the apostles would have recognized Him by: Yehoshua from Nazareth the Messiah.

Lost In Translation

If Yehoshua is His name what does it mean? Yehoshua is interpreted from Hebrew/Aramaic as “Yahweh the Savior” or “Yahweh our deliverer.”  While the name Christ is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew word Mashiach (Messiah), which literally means the anointed one and his anointing. To be anointed means to be covered and/or soaked by either oil or the Spirit of God, David being anointed by Samuel for example (1 Sam 16:12-13).  Therefore, when we casually say the name Jesus Christ we are literally saying “Yahweh our savior and deliverer from Nazareth (literal definition varies between “branch” and “guard”) the one covered with the Spirit of God.”

How then did we go all the way from His name being Yehoshua to Jesus? In Jesus’s time because of Roman (and earlier Ptolemaic Greek) rule it was customary to for Jews to have two names. They would have their Hebrew/Aramaic birth names and an alternate Greek name which was either a direct translation or something unique. Take Peter for example, with his multiple names, he was Simon (Shimon; to hear and one the twelve tribes) in Hebrew, Cephas (stone) in Aramaic and Petros (stone) in Greek. We see this with other disciples as well as Matthew who was called Mathaios (gift of God) in Greek and Levi (to be joined and one of the twelve tribes) in Hebrew and with Judas (not Iscariot) who was called Yehuda (praise and is one of the twelve tribes) in Hebrew and Thaddeus (courageous heart) in Greek and Aramaic.

The reason for these double names is that while the people of Judea would speak Aramaic or Hebrew at home and among themselves, while Greek was the primary political and business language in the Roman Empire. If you did any business in the Roman Empire outside of what we know today as Italy you did it in Greek.  Even in our day we see the same phenomenon with English (and to a growing extend with Mandarin), where people and businesses will learn English to access new markets and to grow in the global markets.

To the Jews Jesus was called Yehoshua and to the Greeks and Romans He was called Iesus.

Through all of these political and linguistic influences which Jesus’s home country was facing we see then that to the Jews Jesus was called Yehoshua and to the Greeks and Romans He was called Iesus.  At its core both translations of the name carry the same meaning just in different languages, but how did it become the Jesus we know today?

We already know that the Greek translation of Yehoshua was Iesus, when the name was translated into Latin (the language of the Romans) it remained the same. It wasn’t until centuries later after the fall of Rome when the Latin language fractured into Spanish, French and Italian that things started to change. When Iesus was translated into French the “I” was turned into a soft “J” and would be pronounce as Jeyzu., This was because of the German influences of the language, as in Germans all of the “Y” names in Hebrew were turned into “J” names, such as Yirmeyahu to Jeremiah (for reference is was Ieremias in Greek). Later as the English language developed as an amalgamation of Latin, French, German and other languages the soft “J” was turned into a stronger German type hard “G” type pronunciation leaving us with the Jesus we know and love today.

But this is where things begin to get very interesting, if we were to make a direct translation from Hebrew to English of the name Yehoshua would not be Jesus but Joshua.

It’s hard to accept I know, but even in older King James Versions of the New Testament we see in two instances where Joshua and Jesus are used interchangeably.  In these two verses the writer is clearly speaking of the Joshua who came after Moses.  Yet His name was translated as Jesus because of the Greek texts which read Iesus.

Acts 7:45 Which also our fathers that came after brought in with Jesus into the possession of the Gentiles, whom God drave out before the face of our fathers, unto the days of David; KJV

Hebrews 4:8 For if Jesus had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day. KJV

The writer is clearly speaking of the Joshua who came after Moses.  Yet His name was translated as Jesus because of the Greek texts which read Iesus.

We even see this exact same translation in the Septuagint, the Greek version of the OT which was the most popular translation used in the time of Jesus. There it also translates the name of Joshua/Yehoshua into Iesous.

I guess that does it, I broke the church as we know it and we don’t worship the Son of God called Jesus, but the Son of God called Joshua. I guess its time to rewrite all of those popular worship songs. I can’t wait to start singing songs such as “Joshua Lover of My Soul,” “Joshua Freak,” “Just Give Me Joshua,” and “Turn Your Eyes Upon Joshua.” It also looks like anything from U2’s Joshua Tree album is now fair game for Sunday mornings, who knew? We can also use this knowledge to launch a hip new rebranding campaign; “are you hurting, and looking for purpose in life then come to the church of Joshua the Soaked and find love, peace and eternal life.”

Promised Land Parallels

With this new understanding about Jesus’s name being Joshua things begin to get very interesting. Jesus lived out His earthly ministry according to the prophecies and scriptures written about Him (1 Corinthians 15:4).  God planned all the way back at the beginning what Jesus would do on the earth and how He would use prophets and other writers to declare what was to come, even if the true measure of what they received were veiled to them and their readers at first.  We see this same kind of divine planning which went into the life of Joshua, as many of the things he did were prophecies and guideposts towards the the second Joshua that would later come. These two lives are in many ways direct parallels of each other.  Just as the coming Messiah was hidden in the Law given to Moses, His destiny was revealed through the life of Joshua.

Joshua’s name in Hebrew was originally Hoshea which means “a savior deliverer”, (Num 13:8) but later his name was changed to Yehoshua, no longer a “savior/deliverer” but “Yahweh the (is my) savior/deliverer.” This name change happened after he spied out the land of Canaan and came back along with Caleb with a good report (Numbers 14:6) and tried to motivate the people to go and take the Promised Land.  That day he was renamed Yehoshua, no longer to be a savior/deliverer in his own strength but a declaration that Yahweh is the savior/deliverer of the people. That name “Yahweh is the savior & deliverer” is exact the name given to the Christ/Messiah and it is a continuation of the name Immanuel “God with us”.  Just like Joshua, Jesus came after Moses (a picture of the Law) to lead the people into a Promised Land, Joshua was appointed to lead the people into the physical land of Canaan while Jesus came to bring us into our Heavenly Promised land.

That name “Yahweh is the savior & deliverer” is exact the name given to the Christ/Messiah and it is a continuation of the name Immanuel “God with us”.

The parallels don’t stop there:

-Joshua sat in Moses’ tent and watched as God and Moses talked (Ex 33:11); Jesus sits at the right hand of God in the heavenly tabernacle and talks with God directly.

-Joshua refused to worship the golden calf at Mt. Sinai (Ex 32:17); Jesus refused to worship Satan in the wilderness.

-Joshua called on the people after spying across the Jordan to go and fight the giants of the land (Num 14:6, 30); Jesus conquered the Devil and calls His followers to go reclaim souls from the enemy.

– Joshua waited three days before crossing the Jordan (Josh 1:10-11) into the Promised land; Jesus remained in the grave 3 days before ascending to glory.

-Joshua crossed the Jordan on dry land (Josh 3:1-17) through a miracle of the Spirit; while Jesus was baptized into it and the Spirit appeared as a divine witness.

-Joshua who unlike Moses (the giver of the law) led the people into the promised land (Num 26:65, 27:18-23, Deut 31:14-15); Jesus who fulfilled the law leads us into the promised land of forgiveness, righteousness and total relationship with God.

-Joshua after crossing the Jordan circumcised every man (Josh 5:1-7); Jesus after crossing from death to life has circumcised our hearts and has written His law upon it.

-Joshua led the armies of Israel to capture the Promised Land (Deut 31:1-8, Josh 1:2-3); Jesus leads the armies of heaven and the church to expand the kingdom on earth.

-Joshua who uttered a cry and the walls of Jericho fell (Josh 6:16-20); Jesus who made His cry on the cross and the veil of the temple was torn in two.

-Joshua spared the life of the harlot Rahab (Josh 6:25); Jesus spared the life of the woman caught in adultery.

-Joshua who prayed that the sun should not set until he had completed the battle (Josh 10:12); Jesus upon the cross brought darkness over the land until he had declared “it is finished”.

-Joshua and the people faced betrayal and defeat because of the greed of one man Achan (Josh 7:19-26): Jesus was betrayed because of the greed of one man Judas Iscariot

-Joshua made a covenant with the heathen Gibeonites to spare them from the Judgment of God on the land (Josh 9); Jesus made a New Covenant for both Jew and Gentiles to spare them from the eternal judgment of God.

-Joshua made a public display of the fallen kings he had defeated (Josh 8:29, 10:24-26); Paul says that Jesus made a public spectacle of the spiritual forces He has defeated (Col 2:15).

-Joshua commissioned the 12 tribes to continue the fight and claim their territory (Josh 23:3-5); Jesus commissioned the 12 apostles to preach the gospel to every people, tribe and nation so the Kingdom would be spread.

Of all of these parallels the most important one is that Joshua came after Moses to bring the people out of the wilderness and into the promised land.

There’s Something About That Name

Jesus, Iesus, Yehoshua, Isa, Jezu, Yesu, Hesus, Iosa, Ihu or how it appears in any other language how we pronounce His name is not the issue as long as we know the power behind it.  The name in itself isn’t a magic word, the power comes from His actions, sacrifice, resurrection and in who He is.  Our faith in who truly He is will move mountains not whether we use an I or a J, or if we pray in Greek, Aramaic or English.  His blood, authority and dominion go beyond simple words. At His name, His true name “Yahweh our Savior the One covered with the Spirit of God.” every knee will eventually bow.

The name in itself isn’t a magic word, the power comes from His actions, sacrifice, resurrection and in who He is.

Where do we go from here? Understanding Jesus’s true name should awaken you even further to the purpose of His coming to earth, that we can see the parallels and previews of the life of Joshua and see its fulfillment through Jesus. We are to take this knowledge and use it to take that next step in understanding who Jesus is and how our lives revolve around that truth. That true name of “Yahweh our Savior the One covered with the Spirit of God” should be what we think about whenever we say His name, or read about Him, or pray, or even try to understand what it looks like for us to follow Him.

Jesus didn’t just come to make us good moral people, He came to save us from sin and its eventually outcome of death and separation from God. Like Joshua He leads us into enemy territory to retake the land in the name of God’s kingdom, but now rather then using swords we use faith, prayer, testimony, good works, love, compassion, power and the fullness of the Holy Spirit to do so.

It also means that we today as Christians must look at the life of Joshua and the people he led and do all that we can so that we don’t end up like they did in the book of Judges. Those who claimed a relationship with God but looked and acted even worse than the Canaanites they allowed to remain in their land, or those who would worship God only when they felt that Baal had failed or ignored them.

The secret name of Jesus must be known to us so we see Him as He truly is, our savior, deliver and King. We must take this knowledge and spread it to all people in all places that “Yahweh our Savior the One covered with the Spirit of God” has come to set us free and to bring us into the Heavenly promised land. The Law, our good deeds, or even our hearts desires cannot carry us into the Promised Land only Jesus can.

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Are you looking to develop your relationship with God and better understand the Bible? Pick up a copy of one of my books today.

Understanding Who You Are: A Survey of 21st Century Christian Beliefs
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Praying Into Another Universe

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As Christians one of the great revelations that we are faced with is that there is more to this universe than we can see with our natural eyes. Beyond the veil of our physical universe lurks another parallel world, one which is able to interact and influence the world we see around us. It is here in this invisible and supernatural realm that forces of God and the forces of the Devil contend for control of the realm of mankind. With all of this spiritual activity going on around us the natural question is then, how can Christians participate in this unseen world?

Before we can talk about how to participate in this struggle we must look at why we can be an influence in this trans-dimensional battle.

Jesus The Invader From Another Universe (Presented In Technicolor)

In the gospels, we see numerous examples of Jesus using His divine authority to cast out demons and bring about physical healings for the people. Jesus was operating in a power and influence which reached beyond the world around Him. Jesus (through the power of the Holy Spirit) was able to bring about the reality of the supernatural realm into the natural and override the problems He was witnessing among the people.

Jesus operated in a power and influence which reached beyond the world around Him.

Jesus often spoke about another world, being born of the spirit (John 3:5-8), a place called Heaven, and about beings from another realm called angels and demons. Jesus in John 8:23 spoke about how He came from above and wasn’t of this world as opposed to those confronting Him who were from “beneath” (or below in other translations). Jesus demonstrated a clear divide between the world He was physically walking around in and the world that He originated from.

One world was broken, rebellious, decaying and consumed with the failings of humans, while the other realm was one of power, peace, holiness and is overwhelmed by the glory of God. It is no wonder that wherever Jesus went the world and people around Him were changed for the better. Thieving tax collectors became disciples, the sick were made well, the lost had found a loving shepherd, and those seeking God came face to face with Him.

Universes Collide (In 3-D)

It is one thing for Jesus to move in this power and to have an awareness of a realm beyond what the people could see, that is easy to believe. What becomes difficult to accept or comprehend came about during the middle of Jesus’ ministry. In an unexpected step Jesus took the power and authority He had as the Son of God and extended that same authority to the twelve disciples in Matthew 10:1. From then on we hear of the disciples going out and moving in the same power demonstrated by Jesus as they preached about Him (Luke 9:6). Now because of what Jesus did (even before the cross) those who followed Him in this world were able to do the same things Jesus did.

Not only did Jesus transfer that authority to the twelve but He also extended it to seventy other followers as well in Luke 10:17-19. It is these extensions of authority that give Christians today the right to engage with spiritual forces in the same manner and to the same degree that is recorded in the Gospels and in the book of Acts. Not only were a select few permitted to replicate this authority but all who believe in Christ. We see this in John 14:12-14 and in the account of someone outside of Jesus’ followers casting out demons in His name (Luke 9:49-50). It is through our Christ given authority and our relationship with Him which gives us the right to engage in the same acts of power and demonstrations of the Kingdom that Jesus operated in.

It is through our Christ given authority and our relationship with Him which gives us the right to engage in the same acts of power and demonstrations of the Kingdom that Jesus operated in.

In A World Under Siege Only One Thing Can Save It: Prayer

Once we understand the authority we have in terms of the unseen realm we must now look at our primary weapon, prayer. Not only is prayer our primary weapon it is also the lynch-pin in our living relationship with God. Our prayers can be compared to artillery shells begin fired off in the field of battle, they are launched from a great distance and can cause a great deal of destruction. However, we cannot just blindly fire off these artillery rounds of prayer without coordinates or a proper target, that is where our fellowship with God comes into play in our battle against unseen forces.

We now see that prayer is a mighty weapon and it is the vehicle through which we exercise our authority. To continue the metaphor the artillery gun is our authority the projectile is our prayer, the gun powder is our relationship with God and the explosion is the working of the Holy Spirit. Now that prayer has been identified as a powerful weapon our target must come into sight. It is not flesh but the spiritual forces which influence the natural world. Paul sums this up in 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 as he speaks of the unseen battlefront moving against the Kingdom.

Understanding that our battle is against spiritual forces is only the first step in this conflict. We must develop our personal relationship with God, through that relationship we receive not just authority but the “coordinates” we need to effectively pray for God’s will to come into a situation. If at any point you think you’re unaware what God’s will is, you can always fall back on John 10:10 “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” (NKJV) 

Let’s All Go Through The Lobby To The Deadliest Battlefield In The Universe

The final key in our ability to have an influence on the unseen realm is in our lifestyle and day to day actions. The fiercest battlefront we each face is the one for our own minds. It is the battle within ourselves which will determine if we either engage in the global spiritual battle or if we will retreat and go AWOL from our spiritual responsibilities to pray the Kingdom of God into this world.

This is why Paul spoke so candidly about our lifestyles in Romans 12:1-3 and taught about us not being conformed to this world and resisting how our flesh wants us to operate. There is a reason why Paul began his discourse on the Christian Armor with the call to first stand. If we cannot rise up or are under the oppression of the enemy we will never be able to properly fight in the great spiritual battle. Most people don’t realize it but our actions matter, our sins or lack thereof matter, our everyday conduct matters, our thought life matters! It’s these everyday decisions that will attempt to either usher in the Kingdom of God or the kingdom of the enemy. If we are broken, in sin and without faith we will not be able to pray with power, or at times even at all.

If we cannot rise up or are under the oppression of the enemy we will never be able to properly fight in the great spiritual battle.

Far too often we give unnecessary attention to Satan and his forces when what we are dealing with are heart and sin issues. Not every frustration, conflict, dark emotion or problem comes from demons or the like. It is concerning that we try to shift all of our responsibility to live according to Jesus’ teachings off of our shoulders and instead go off and chase the shadows of supposed demons because it is easier to blame them than it is to renew our minds and change ourselves.

I’m not discounting the harassing nature of demons or downplaying their desire to cripple and mute believers. Rather I am advocating that there are times when the only force that is working against us is really just ourselves, our desires, our stubbornness and our own wants.

This grand battle requires real work on our part, as we are to be both defensive and offensive against the enemy. James 4:7-8 makes this internal battle abundantly clear and highlights what is available for those who endure: “Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” Once our hearts are right then our minds can become ready for the battle and then and only then can we engage in a prolonged effort to expand the Kingdom of God through prayer and actions.

Coming Soon To A Kingdom Near You

The initial question of how can a Christian participate in the unseen world should be answered with another question in light of what has been shown to be available to the believer. The question we should be asking ourselves now is, “how much will I participate in influencing the unseen universe?” Throughout this battle we must realize that Christians are already members of the victorious army of Christ, we must have a personal revelation that the war is won but the skirmishes continue. Satan and his minions still have power and an agenda to cause death and chaos but they are already defeated. They are a retreating army trying to set as many fires as they can while they run from their previously held territory.

We are to be aware of the spiritual universe and its impact on our own but we are not to fear it or what dwells within it. Now the words of Paul once again ring true from Philippians 2:9-11 because the name and authority of Jesus calls on all those not just on the earth but those above and below it to bow down before Him.

By the authority Christ has given us, through the power of prayer, combined with the ability to live holy lives we must no longer think of if we can, but yes we can. Yes, we can have relationship with the Father, yes we can live holy lives here on earth, yes we can heal the sick, and yes we can see the forces of evil defeated and chased away. We must see ourselves  as children of two universes We were physically born into a natural universe of matter and decay, but we have also been adopted into a spiritual universe of power and unending life. It is our job now to pray for God’s will and His Kingdom to spread throughout our world so the physical realm looks more like the Heavenly universe each day.

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Faith That Transforms A Mustard Seed Into A Mustard Tree

Faith That Transforms Mustard Seed Into Mustard Trees
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If you’ve been in or around church for any length of time you’ve probably heard someone quote the parable of the mustard seed in one context or another. Often it is used when speaking about faith, or prayer, or even the preaching of the gospel. It’s one of those parables and sayings of Jesus that we just seem to take for granted and believe that we already know all there is to know about having faith as a mustard seed. Just because you have a jar of mustard in your fridge doesn’t mean that you understand everything that Jesus was saying in Mark 4:30-32 (see also Matt 13:31-32, Luke 13:18-19), because there is so much more here than you could have ever imagined.

Throughout the gospels we have at least three instances where Jesus uses the humble mustard seed to make a point to the disciples. Since repetition is such a significant means by which God speaks to us through the scriptures (Gen 41:32) we need to pay extra attention to what Jesus is saying about these little seeds. But first let’s look at most recognizable place Jesus talks about mustard seeds:

Mark 4:30-32 “30 Then He said, “To what shall we liken the kingdom of God? Or with what parable shall we picture it? 31 It is like a mustard seed which, when it is sown on the ground, is smaller than all the seeds on earth; 32 but when it is sown, it grows up and becomes greater than all herbs, and shoots out large branches, so that the birds of the air may nest under its shade.” (NKJV)

What Is A Mustard Tree Anyway?

Through this parable Jesus is trying to explain to the disciples different pictures to describe to them what His Kingdom looks like and how it operates. In this case Jesus choose the smallest of the seeds in the region to show how something so unassuming can grow to be large and important. We look at this story and think that a mustard tree must grow to something large like a cedar, an oak, or even a pine. The thing is most of us have never actually seen a mustard tree, so we tend to imagine other trees we are familiar with when we read this story.

Jesus choose the smallest of the seeds to show how something so unassuming can grow to be large and important.

The reality is though is that it was less of a tree and more of a shrub. The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament (USA CANADA) speaks of how for the most part this tree was probably only four feet high, although some are able to reach over 12 feet in height. This is far from the picture that most of us think of when we read this story of a mighty tree filled with birds and fruit.

What is also interesting is that mustard trees are annual plants, so every year they die off and have to grow up all over again, it is not a plant which endlessly endures like the might cedar. This need to constantly regrow is probably why Jesus compared the mustard seed to our faith in Matthew 17:20, where he speaks about mustard seed sized faith being able to move mountains. The disciples had just failed to heal a demon oppressed child so they run to Jesus for help, and after healing the child He once again spoke to them about mustard seeds.

This idea of an annual tree and our faith are one in the same, both require constant regrowth, and both are unable to just sit back and relax while waiting for the next season. The mustard tree must grow and drop fresh seeds which will grow the next year. If it doesn’t grow there are no seeds for the next season and eventually there are no more trees in the area. Our faith must be constantly built up through prayer, scripture, relationship with God and going outside our homes and doing either the great commission or the discipling of believers. Faith must be constantly refreshed or one day we will find the garden of our hearts has become barren because we neglected our faith and relationship with God by relying on the cold hard stones of our natural ways.

We must resist the temptation to become complacent in our relationship with God, our prayer lives, our studying of the scriptures and the work we do to spread the gospel and build up the Kingdom. It is a hard thing to say but victories in life don’t produce faith, it is faith which produces victories in our life. When we realize that our faith is like this mustard seed and not a great cedar we can then begin realizing that what you did three years ago won’t benefit you today in what ever situation you may be in. You can’t draw water from a well once and expect that bucket to sustain you for months on end.

Victories in life don’t produce faith, it is faith which produces victories in our life

The Mustard Seed Is Only Doing Its Job

In Luke 17:5-10 Jesus puts an extra spin on his discourse on mustard seeds and trees, here the disciples are asking for their faith to be increased after hearing about their requirement to be forgiving. The disciples were asking for the ability to forgive according to Jesus’s standards and instead get a statement about faith as a mustard seed being able to throw mulberry trees miles away into the sea.

Then Jesus goes on and speaks about how servants are not praised or rewarded for what is expected of them to do. This is quite the contrast, in the same breath Jesus speaks about demonstrating supernatural power and being held responsible to do what the disciples as servants are expected to do; be forgiving in this context.

The mustard seed has one job and one job only, to grow into a shrub so other seeds can be developed and dropped into the ground around it. We as believers also have a singular job, to serve Jesus and see ourselves developed from seeds to trees which can reproduce and see the land around us transform from barren rock to a lush garden. It is our duty to live this way and to serve Jesus in whatever capacity He has called us in.

We can have all of the spiritual power there is but if we are not faithful in living out our lives as Jesus commanded us to then we are still in darkness, and often are doing more harm to the Kingdom than good. When we stand before Jesus we won’t gloat over the number of visions we have seen, or healings we have performed, or the number of books we have written.

No our statement will be “we have done what was our duty to do.” That is how faith works, we serve Jesus and we go out and do what needs to be done so our master is glorified and others can see Him in His true light. Be it through preaching, compassion, miracles, prophecy, service, conversation, leadership, forgiveness, love or any other means.

To accomplish this we must be like mustard trees which must be continually refreshed and regrown so that our seeds never stop being produced. Our faith may begin small as a mustard seed but as Jesus has said it can have immense impact on this world.

But Wait There’s More!

This is where most people stop when they speak about the parable of the mustard seed, we focus just on what it means for us and how we can develop our faith. You see everything we have seen so far is only half of the story. The entire picture about mustard seeds and trees is not just about our faith or what we can do, but it paints a picture of who Jesus is. In all of the instances of the mustard seed Jesus was painting two very different but interconnected pictures. He was teaching us how our faith works but at the same time He was revealing not just the Kingdom but how He was the long-awaited King of the World.

Jesus was not revealing just the Kingdom but how He was the long-awaited King of the World.

We dedicate our lives to being like the servants in Matthew 17:20 not just because of the nice things Jesus has done for us but because He is our King. This isn’t just a theological idea it is reality, by confessing Jesus as your savior and Messiah you have declared Him to be King of Heaven and Earth. In the parable of the mustard seed Jesus was speaking to the disciples who He really was, but today we are oblivious to what Jesus was saying.

A Mustard Flavored Kingdom

Throughout the age of the Old Testament and into the time of Jesus it was a common metaphor to speak of a kingdom as a tree. We see this in scriptures such as Ezekiel 17:22-24, 31:6 Daniel 4:10-12 which use a picture of a tree to describe a nation or a kingdom. The Commentary on the New Testament Use of The Old Testament (USA CANADA) talks about how “Mark 4:30-32 is an ironic fulfillment of Ezekiel 17:23 the lowly annual shrub rather than a might cedar, lamb not a lion maybe. The people expected a mighty cedar, but God came as a lowly shrub which would be exalted over all else.”

The lost message of the Kingdom of God hidden here in the parable of the mustard seed, Jesus the great shrub has come to rule the world. Not a mighty cedar or acacia, or mulberry the humble mustard shrub despite its size and appearance had sprouted and would rule over all. Jesus didn’t come as a superpowered reincarnation of King David, He came as the suffering servant and laid hold of a greater kingdom then anyone of that time ever imagined.

The people and religious leaders were looking for a cedar but got a shrub, so they rejected Him. They were looking for a warrior but got a shepherd, so they persecuted Him. They were looking for an angel of death but got the forgiving Son of God, so they killed Him.

They forgot about Isaiah 11:1 and Jeremiah 23:5-6 where God spoke about a humble branch which was coming to rule and exercise judgment on the people. Jesus executed judgment on sin, He rules over His covenant people and one day He will judge those who rejected His Kingship.

We can’t have the benefits of mustard seed faith until we bow down before the mustard tree of Christ.

We can’t have the benefits of mustard seed faith until we bow down before the mustard tree of Christ. None of what we claim to believe matters at all if Jesus isn’t the King of not just the universe but our individual lives. Our faith doesn’t matter, the miracles we see doesn’t matter the lives we see changed doesn’t matter if Jesus isn’t our King and if we don’t act as grateful adopted servants.

Finding a Nest in His Branches

The last part of the parable has Jesus speaking about the birds of the air making nests in the branches of the fully-grown mustard tree. We take this statement for granted and don’t realize that to the disciples this was ridiculous. You see because the mustard tree regrows every year it can’t be developed enough to be ready for the time when birds make their nests. If one tried the branches would be too small or tender to support just a bird on it let alone a nest.

Here Jesus is again speaking in irony, just as the lowly shrub is King of the forest, so to is this tree which couldn’t before support dwelling places for the birds now be able to provide shelter and covering for them (Daniel 4:12).

We see then that Jesus has come to bring us a covering for our lives and that it is a foundational part of our faith. That covering of grace and atonement is our constant reminder that we can trust Him and remain committed to Him despite the problems of the world. Ezekiel used this same picture of birds finding rest in a tree to describe Egypt in Ezekiel 31:6, so how much grander and wonderous should that covering and shelter be for us who follow Christ our King.

Through faith we are able to go from mustard seeds to mustard trees and see great and mighty things happen in our lives. But we are only able to see such a transformation because Jesus the first seed which fell into the ground then died and came back as a King who has brought us under His covering of atonement. Now as redeemed, adopted servants we go out into the world and deposit new seeds into the ground so the whole world can be covered by the offspring of the great mustard tree.

Question: What can you do today to recognize Jesus as the King of your life?

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The War Within Our Heart

the war within our heart
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DOES IT EVER FEEL LIKE there’s a conflict that constantly takes place inside of yourself? As if there’s a “war” taking place in your heart between the part of you that wants to do the right thing and another part which wants to do the wrong or selfish thing? Right now there is constant battle inside over how we are to act, think and believe. When we have been wronged or even when people have done the right thing to us we can have many different thoughts on how to respond. Some thoughts are good, others bad, even if they appear good in our own eyes.

This is all important as we continue our growing understanding of not just the Holy Spirit but our daily life as believers of Jesus. When we declare that the Holy Spirit is a regular part of our lives we must accept that He is not just some abstract fragment of God far away somewhere. For Christians the Holy Spirit is the living part of God that is housed inside of us. When we learn to hear His voice over that of our own then we can truly have fellowship with Him and live among others as a good witness for Christ. When we learn to listen and trust His voices then we can have the advantage in this war for our hearts.

Where does this whole conflict come from?

In Galatians 5:16-17 Paul shows us the source of this struggle: it’s the war between our flesh, which is our fallen nature and our spirit, which is the part of us that has been made alive through Jesus.

Galatians 5:16-17 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. (NKJV)

We must first understand that we are a being of two realities, therefore we have two natures within us striving for control. One of these natures is the one that desires to please God and the other one that is in constant rebellion against God. This second nature is what was in control of us before we knew Christ, our old flesh/self focused sin nature. The nature that looks out for only me, myself and I, it is our physical needs, wants and desires. It takes the physical needs we require to survive and supercharges them and forces us to go above and beyond to satisfy every desire no matter the cost or consequences.

Our flesh takes the physical needs we require to survive and supercharges them.

However as Christians who have been made alive through the resurrection and have been adopted into the New Covenant we have both of these natures vying for control of our every thought and action. Now our spirit is alive and is trying to live according to God’s standards while the flesh is trying to lead us back to living according to our own standards.

A Heart Torn Between Two Masters

One of the best examples of this dual nature at work in the believer comes from Paul in Romans 7:14-24. Here Paul lays out one of the greatest struggles faced by a believer, that although we are saved, redeemed and made righteous
the flesh’s desire to sin and act selfishly does not automatically disappear. We see and know that we still have struggles to do the right thing at times and at others we have no will to do what we know God wants us to do in a given situation.

The good news for us is found in Romans 7:25 where we see that there is a hope for us through Christ.

Through Christ we have the ability to receive forgiveness of sins when we do follow after the will of the flesh. With Jesus and the Holy Spirit living inside of us we have hope to prevail, as long as we are aware of the battle between the flesh and spirit taking place. That is why prayer and taking moments to stop and wait on God is so crucial in many instances. When we don’t stop for a moment and bring God into the picture we are exceedingly more prone to following the will of our flesh, because it seeks instant gratification and can’t stand playing the waiting game.

When we don’t stop for a moment and bring God into the picture we are exceedingly more prone to following the will of our flesh

Turning The Page

When we come to Romans 8 the secret of winning this war for our heart is revealed. It’s interesting to note that in the original Greek manuscripts there is not a division between the end of Romans 7 and the beginning of Romans 8, it is the same paragraph. Far to often we create and artificial divide between chapters 7 and 8 and tell both others and ourselves that we live in either one of the two chapters. But the reality is that it’s the same thought in action, here Paul is painting not a picture of condemnation in chapter 7 but of one of victory for the believer. That while we still struggle with these issues we also have access to our daily victories through Christ.

Romans 8:5-6 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. 6 For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.

In Romans 8:5-6 we find our first key: what we set our minds to will determine how we act and respond. If we are only concerned about ourselves, our will and our feelings then we will inevitably turn towards acting in a fleshly way. On the other hand, if we are mindful of the Spirit of God living inside of us and thinking about His will and feelings first then we will walk according to the ways of the Spirit. We begin by making willful choices on how we are to live and interact with others and how we follow God.

We see the same truths spoken of by Paul also in Galatians 5:19-21 and Ephesians 2:1-7, in Galatians Paul describes several examples of living according to the flesh. While in Ephesians Paul highlights the spiritual influences which lead many to follow after those selfish ways of the flesh along with the solution to the problem, Jesus and our hope for eternity.

The Soul is the Heart of Our Being

We have talked about how the flesh tries to lead us to sin and how our spirit (and the Holy Spirit living in us) tries to lead us closer to God but there is a third power at work among all of this turmoil, the soul.

The soul is the combination of our mind, will and emotions, in Hebrew it is also called our heart, it is the center of our being here on earth and it is the one which both the spirit and the flesh are trying to dominate. Our spirit is eternal, it is how we communicate with God and this is the point of contact between the natural and supernatural realms. The flesh represents our bodily needs such as food, drink, sleep, sex, self preservation and so on. In its current state these are the only things that the flesh cares for and it does what ever it can to get as much of these things as it can.

The soul is left in the middle to pick and choose which other parts of our being it will submit to and follow.

This leaves the soul in the middle to pick and choose which of these parts of our being it will submit to and follow. Our soul is not just mind, but also our desires, memories, intellect, it’s the captain of our choices and it’s the part of our being that made the choice to accept Christ and receive salvation and forgiveness. Let’s go back to Romans 8 to see how this plays out.

Romans 8:5-8 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. 6 For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. 8 So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

Here in Romans 8 we see the interaction between the spirit, soul and flesh, Paul lays out how desires and urges begin in one place but are acted out in another.

Be it good thoughts, urges and desires from the spirit or from the flesh. It is the soul which casts the deciding vote on how and what we are to act upon. In Romans 8:6 we see clearly that a mind set on flesh will bring about death, be it spiritually, emotionally, intellectually or physically. On the other hand, the mind set on the spirit brings life and peace.

The Greek word for life here Zoe and doesn’t just mean natural life but also the kind of life which makes up the soul and the spirit. When we follow God’s will and ways and live a life under the control of our spirit it brings about life and peace not only in an intellectual sense but also in a spiritual and in a natural way.

On the other hand if we continue to allow our flesh and carnal nature to rule over our lives and thoughts Romans 8 shows us clearly that our mind becomes hostile towards God and will not allow itself to be subjected to the love, power and expectations of God (also Romans 2:5-11). Which is why Paul says in Romans 8:8 “So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God”. Paul can make a declaration like this because of what God spoke in Isaiah 55:8-9. Even Jesus eluded to this contrast between the ways of the spirit and the ways of flesh throughout His ministry when He spoke about the ways of the Kingdom, how He expected His followers to act and in nearly every parable.

The War Of Heart Choices

Seeing all of this we must accept that the ways of the flesh will never be in alignment with how God sees the world and how He wants us to live. If left unchecked our flesh  will always chose the exact opposite of what God would have us do (or at the very least corrupt our motives for doing the right thing), because the flesh is focused on itself, its true god.

Is our current situation hopeless? No for we have been given an unfair advantage in the war over the control of our heart. Our spirit is not alone for we are also in living communion with God and through the Baptism of the Holy Spirit we have the living God present in us to give strength to our spirit so that it can speak loud and clear to our soul (Romans 8:9-14, Galatians 2:20).

The spirit has the advantage over the flesh, but only if we allow it.

We must come at this war over the soul from a mindset that the spirit actually has the advantage over the flesh, but only if we allow it. Through patience we learn the ability to not act impulsively when situations arise, we must always give God opportunity to speak and intervene within our spirit and soul.

At every opportunity we should be in internal fellowship with God so that we will always be aware of how we are to act, speak and believe in any situation. Walking in the spirit requires effort, while walking in the flesh only requires inactivity. Our living everyday relationship with God and our ability to live out the call on our lives will not be decided by natural means but will be decided by the battle raging within ourselves.

Question: How would you act differently in your daily life if you were constantly aware of God’s presence all around you and how would that impact the war within you?

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