After writing recently on “Introspective Idolatresses”, I truly felt compelled to research the probability that both “Introspective Idolatresses” and “Introspective Idolaters” feed off of each other, but ‘bottom-line’, that ‘spirit’ of ‘fleshly introspection’ has a benefactor called the “powers of darkness” that feeds and celebrates in the ‘curse’ of self-importance and self-indulgence in its basest display!

In fact, in Ephesians 5:1-7, Paul enlightens us between ‘imitators of God as dear children’ or the extension of the fleshly, devilish, self-promoting of ‘the idolater’! Paul wrote: “Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. And walk in love (is that ‘laying down one’s life willingly without regret, like Jesus at the Cross’?), as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God FOR A SWEET-SMELLING AROMA (not a soured countenance of disappointment in child-care!).

But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints; neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.

Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not be partakers with them.”

Much or most of the inter-action between “introspective idolaters” and “introspective idolatresses” is ‘being fed’ or ‘feeding’ one another in the fruit of flesh, not the “fruit of the Spirit”! And there is definitely an eternal difference between the two, but, sadly, some look upon “feeding off ‘flesh’ or the ‘old sin-nature’ as normal and natural until one gets to Heaven one day in the ‘far-off future’”! How biblically wrong is that? Yes, there is a massive spiritual difference between living in “the best of motherly or fatherly faith” and living in “the fullness of the blessing of the gospel of Jesus Christ” as a mother or a father!

Have YOU ever wondered what ‘rock’ some “moms” or “dads” drink from? In 1 Corinthians 10:4b-5 Paul wrote of both the “gathered” and the “scattered” when he said of those ‘gathered’, “For they drank of that Spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ. But with most of them God was not well pleased, for their bodies were scattered in the wilderness,” challenging us in the 21^st Century, Verse 6, “Now these things became our examples to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted,” – “my way of parenting or God’s way”? [Paul later said in Verse 14, “Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry”! And one can only pray, “Holy God, instill Christ-like, selfless service in both moms and dads, and tear down their altars to the ‘flesh-way’, even at its ‘best’!”].

Yes, I know Paul, in 2 Corinthians 6:16, was speaking about ‘temple priests’, not only before Christ but after His crucifixion, and about ‘temple’ idolatry when he wrote: “And what agreement has the temple of God with idols?” But… has there been, in some, a blinded devotion to ‘mothering or fathering as I see fit’ apart from, “Lord, what would You have me to do?”, even blinded to the Christian walk as a life that was crucified with Christ at the Cross, and, “my ‘faith-walk’ IS Christ in me and through me to His glory, honor, and praise, my life as mother or father reflecting His presence, purpose, and power”?

I would be amiss if I failed to point out that the author of Hebrews 11:4-5 shared the major difference between, yes, a “mother’s best effort” and the “more excellent way”: “By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks.”

The righteousness of “motherhood” or “fatherhood” is imparted, implanted, impacted by the mother’s awareness or the father’s awareness, understanding, desire for, need of, the “obtained witness” of the ministry of the Indwelling Holy Spirit who honors and magnifies Christ through the emptied vessel of flesh, whether father or mother! The ‘Cain-ish way’ of fatherhood or the “Abel-way” through faith and obedience TO the fruit of the Spirit? Do you understand, realize, or comprehend through examples from others, examination of “best effort failures”, or suddenly ‘dumb-founded’ because of no devotion at all to the ways of God in Christ for fathers and mothers, or simply: “Who needs God’s help as a father or mother? I can do it on my own.”

Are future fathers and mothers ever trained or equipped to be “representative parents of Holy God” or is it a ‘best-effort’ philosophy? I wrote a teaching in November of 2004 in which I said: “Even though we are immortal in Christ, as human followers, we have tendencies to fallibility, to failure, and to futility – and sadly some of us accept that and settle in to being our petty little selves! And sadly, some of us settle for religious spasms every now and then, but fail to press in to the High Calling.”

Fathers, mothers, grandparents, friends, neighbors, co-workers, professing Christians, I challenge you: reflect upon 2 Timothy 1:9 where Paul wrote: that God “has SAVED US and CALLED US with A HOLY PURPOSE, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given us in Christ Jesus, BEFORE TIME BEGAN.”

Holy God has had an eternal plan for marriage and parenting even before the world was created? And whether it’s parenting, pastoring, participating in the present world and kingdom living as fathers and mothers, is there an eternal word of hope for moms and dads who trust in Christ alone for parenting skills and parenting ministries? Psalm 138:7-8 says, “Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You will revive me; You will stretch out Your hand against the wrath of my enemies, and Your right hand will save me. THE LORD WILL PERFECT THAT WHICH CONCERNS ME; Your mercy, O Lord, endures forever; Do not forsake the works of Your hands.”

And I have to ask: Do you, parents, see your present parenting ministry as the works of God’s hands? Are YOU confident in Him when it seems the “candle” has been burned at both ends, and the fire of parenting is about to die out, in you? But, we just read: “THE LORD WILL PERFECT THAT WHICH CONCERNS ME.”

In the previous message on “Introspective Idolatresses” I made mention of Ezekiel 22:6-7, and it’s just as relevant here. “Look, the princes of Israel: each one has used his power to shed blood in you. In you they have made light of father and mother…”. Making light of marriage or parental responsibilities is a sad commentary in this 21^st Century! And one wonders: “In marriage, in parenting, do marriage couples and/or fathers and mothers nonchalantly take marriage and parenting without a clear biblical equipping, alerting them to both pleasure and/or problems, or do they allow themselves to be fully aware of both weaknesses and strengths, dangers and glorious times, its insignificance as seen by some or it’s heavenly ministry, day by day, as formulated, instituted, and empowered by God Himself?

Husbands and/or fathers? Vessels of the Indwelling Christ? Purpose-driven marriages and parenting? Solid witnesses or insensitive husbands and fathers? I often am confronted with guys who have not treated their parental responsibility as a “God-representative father” or their ministry as a God-ordained husband but both as totally insignificant to their “life’s pleasures” – and I want to cry, but I do definitely pray for insensitive fathers and husbands!

It was Sir Charles Villiers Stanford who wrote the following – let it sink in ‘dads’ and husbands! “Human excellence apart from God, is like the fabled flower, which, according to the rabbis, Eve plucked when passing out of paradise. Severed from its native root, it is only the touching memorial of a lost Eden – sad while charming and beautiful, but dead.”

There are a number of truths that I feel vital to share in order not to be “Introspective Idolaters” as fathers in, sadly, a world of ‘fathers’ in America who are absent, away, yes, forsaken “the family fires and gatherings” under the Sovereign administration of King Jesus!

FIRST, THERE MUST BE A REVIVAL AND RETURN OF “TRUSTING” IN CHRIST JESUS TO OVERSEE AND ADMINISTER GODLY FATHERING! In Psalm 22:4-5 David, yes, sang these words: “Our fathers trusted in You; they trusted, and You delivered them. They cried to You, and were delivered; they trusted in You, and were not ashamed.” Is Holy God a respecter of persons?

Trust is visibly and spiritually witnessed as one “leans not to his/her understanding, but trusts in the Lord with ALL of one’s heart; (but) in all ‘the father’s way’, as a father, he sees he must acknowledge the Lord, allowing Him to direct the father’s path”- in child-care with spiritual nurturing!

But the heart-breaking reality? Christ Jesus KNOWS whether an earthly father is truly trusting Him to oversee the care of his children in, yes, cooperation with that father! In John 2:23-25 we find a powerful, awakening, convicting few verses. It says: Now when Jesus was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name when they saw the signs which He did. BUT Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men, and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man. (Rather than just a ‘mind-reader’, Christ Jesus was and is a ‘heart-reader’ – He Knows every man’s “heart” – unredeemed or redeemed, fleshly or spiritual, out to pump ‘self-image’ or a heart and life to glorify Holy God through Christ by the ministry of the indwelling Holy Spirit)!

SECOND, THE ATTITUDE OF “TRUSTING” LEADS TO THE MINISTRY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IN ‘BIRTHING’ AND ‘BLESSING’ THE NEW-BORN FATHERS IN THEIR PARENTAL MINISTRIES! What did Jesus say in John 3:3? “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus questioned that, (he was a highly religious Pharisee in the Jewish hierarchy!), and in Verses 5-7 Jesus responded to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water (the water of the Word of God!) and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’”

How shocking that ‘religious leaders’ needed to be born again – we understand the ‘out and out, fully committed unbeliever to his/her sin nature – but even the religious’? Religion is NOT a redemptive relationship, but one’s fleshly devotion – and that crucified Christ as well as the darkest sinner! “YOU MUST BE BORN AGAIN!”

THIRD, THERE MUST BE IN GODLY FATHERS THE DAILY HUNGER, FEEDING, APPLYING AND EMPOWERING OF GOD’S HOLY WORD! After Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness, tested by the devil himself, Jesus said in Matthew 4:4, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’”

And our Lord reaffirmed the historical validity of seeking men and fathers when in John 6:63-64 He said, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh (even the “best efforts” of human flesh that fail to birth Sovereign life?) profits NOTHING (redemptive or eternal!); The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life. But there are some of you who do not believe.”

The wise author of the book of Hebrews, anointed and inspired by the Holy Spirit, wrote in Hebrews 4:12, “for the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”

The Word of God, inspired by the Spirit, is like the “Master-Surgeon” of the ages, applying divine skills in “saving” men from living in ‘death’, cut away at the Cross, and granted Resurrection Life, Resurrection Power, and Resurrection Hope!

You are aware, I’m sure, that it is in every man’s mind, heart, and will to decide for himself whether or not he’s even interested in the things, ways, truths of God concerning himself – and he will leave open or eternally shut the door as the Lord knocks! I’m even sure that there can be a counterfeit of outward allegiance apart from brokenness, hunger, or desire to be all God has revealed to them even in their ‘pre-birth’ stage of spiritual journeying!

In fact, to the early disciples of Christ, in Luke 6:46, Jesus asked, “But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say?” And concerning marriages in general, whether we look at husbands and fathers or wives and mothers, is there that daily consideration, “Lord, what would You have me to do?” Is parenting to be, as disciples of Christ, of faithful feeding and digesting of His Holy Word to honor Him or the ‘pumping’ of “best-effort flesh”! Be careful dads about asserting, “I have no time to be in the Word!” That is a self-destructing word of ‘flesh’! Be guided, inspired, directed, empowered by His never-dying Word!

FOURTH, DOES FAITHFUL INTERCESSORY PRAYER DAILY, AS FATHERS, FOR MOMS, KIDS, AND SELF PLAY A VITAL ROLE IN, YES, AN OVERCOMING FAMILY MINISTRY? In 1 Timothy 2:1-8 the Apostle Paul was truly such a powerful equipper of men about the care of themselves and those around them. He said:

“Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one Mediator between God and man, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time, for which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle – I am speaking the truth in Christ and not lying – a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth. I desire therefore that the men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting…”

Even to the church at Ephesus, and us in our modern day, in Ephesians 6:18, Paul said: “praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints.” Is there to be an attitude of prayer throughout your day? I believe so with all my heart! Without hesitation I’m convinced it’s how we begin our days, continue our days, and end our days! Prayer is the invisible pillow upon which the true “set-aside-saint-of-God” lives his/her life! I love the statement Henry Ward Beecher once made: “It is not well for man to pray cream, and live like skim milk.” A “skim-milk prayer life” short-changes some too often!

Prayer, faithful prayer, is the evidence of a finely ‘fermented in- the- Spirit life’ of a disciple who knows that he/she is the bottle and Holy God pours in the ‘wine of Holy Presence’ to fulfill through an available vessel His eternal will! I believe this is why Robert Burns, in “The Cotter’s Saturday Night,” (st.6), wrote: “They never sought in vain that sought the Lord aright!” And I’m sure there is no “arightness” to a prayerless disciple, parent, church, or pastor!

I often wonder how many see “prayer” as simply an adornment of a professing Christian rather than the absolute necessity of requesting, receiving, and resting in the revealed will of God as father or mother – as one said from a long time ago, “to preserve the web of life from unraveling.” (Robert Hall).

Is it possible that some fathers do not see the “prayer ministry” as an absolute essential of being a “God-blessed” husband or father, but just “gut it up and do what you think is best or right” rather than, yes, the will of God?

I need to share a statement by G. Ashton Oldham that I came across in “The Encyclopedia of Religious Quotations, “ (p.345), where he said: “Prayer is the chief agency and activity whereby men align themselves with God’s purpose. Prayer does not consist in battering the walls of heaven for personal benefits or the success of our plans. Rather it is the committing of ourselves for the carrying out of His purposes. It is a telephone call to headquarters for orders. It is not bending God’s will to ours, but our will to God’s. In prayer, we tap vast reservoirs of spiritual power whereby God can find fuller entrance into the hearts of men.”

I would be praying faithfully, dads or moms, “Holy God, Lord Jesus, I pray for those I’m most concerned about for only a seeking of the good, acceptable, and perfect will of God in ‘parenting’ and ‘child-responsibility’ in the ‘raising-up’ ministry of dads and moms.” Let’s close with challenging words for personal examination as parents in Romans 1:20-21! It says: “For since the creation of the world the invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.”

Let’s pray for ‘darkened’ hearts and minds to biblical child-caring to be enlightened by the “King of Parenting-Care, the Lord Jesus”! Amen?

BY:J.FARRELL FISHER,MAY 20-21,2019

IN THE RANDOM HOUSECOLLEGIATE DICTIONARY OF 1975, THE WORD ‘AFFIRMATION’ IS DEFINED AS “THE ACT OF AFFIRMING,THE STATE OF BEING AFFIRMED,AN ASSERTION OF TRUTH OR EXISTENCE OF SOMETHING; A PROPOSITION OR IDEA SUPPORTED BY SUCH AN ASSERTION; CONFIRMATION OR RATIFICATION.”

‘ASPIRATION’? SAME DICTIONARY: “STRONG DESIRE,AIM OR AMBITION; A GOAL OR OBJECT DESIRED”! SO, WHAT ABOUT “THE AFFIRMATION TO ASPIRATIONS?” 1 TIMOTHY 3:1 SAYS, “THIS IS A FAITHFUL SAYING: IF A MAN DESIRES THE POSITION OF OVERSEER, HE DESIRES A GOOD WORK.” BUT…IF ASPIRATIONS ARE NOT INSPIRED BY GOD,THOUGH ZEALOUS, BECOME NOTHING MORE THAN ‘FLESH-EFFORT ZEAL’ WITHOUT AN OUNCE OF “SPIRIT-ANOINTING & APPOINTING& AFFIRMING”!!

IT WAS JOHN ARBUTHNOT, IN HIS WRITING “GNOTHI SEATON” (L.3), THAT SAID: “TO BLISS UNKNOWN MY LOFTY SOUL ASPIRES, MY LOT UNEQUAL TO MY VAST DESIRES.” ABSOLUTELY! BECAUSE “GIFTINGS,CALLINGS,

TALENTS,AMBITIONS,DREAMS OR VISIONS, THAT COME IN MAN ARE NOT GOD’S DESIGN, INTENT, CALLING, & EQUIPPING” – THERE MUST BE: “FATHER-GOD, WHAT WOULD YOU HAVE ME TO BE, WHAT WOULD YOU HAVE ME TO DO?” DESTINY IS A MAN’S PEACEABLE BUT GODLESS CHOICE OR TROUBLED ‘SEA OF LIFE’ IF HE/SHE CHOOSES TO “GO IT MY WAY”,RATHER THAN THE GOOD, ACCEPTABLE,& PERFECT WILL OF GOD!

JOHN MILTON,IN HIS “PARADISE LOST”,(BK.X11,L.64), WROTE: “EXECRABLE SON! SO TO ASPIRE ABOVE HIS BRETHREN, TO HIMSELF ASSUMING AUTHORITY USURPED, FROM GOD NOT GIVEN.” THAT STATEMENT ISN’T EVEN STRANGE TO YOU IS IT? OR,ARE YOU A SINATRA, “I DO IT MY WAY” KIND OF GUY OR GAL?

SO, FALLEN MANKIND, THE UNREDEEMED, THE ‘SEPARATED FROM GOD CROWD’, THE SELF-CENTERED, YES, ‘god unto myself’ guy or gal, BRUTALIZING, BRUTIFYING, BLASTING,BATTERING DIVINE TRUTH TO SETTLE FOR THE “HIGHWAY OF THE WORLD, THE FLESH, & SATAN HIMSELF”!!

BUT,I’M SURE IF YOU’RE READING THIS MESSAGE, THAT YOU KNOW THERE IS SUCH A VAST DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ‘FLESHLY AMBITION’ & THE ASPIRATION TO BE OR TO DO WHATEVER “GOD” DESIRES FOR YOUR LIFE! AN ASPIRATION OF LEADERSHIP WITHOUT A WILLFUL CRUCIFIXION OF ‘SELF-GLORY’ BECOMES NOTHING MORE THAN A CORONATION TO VAINNESS & SELF-IMPORTANCE. THE ASPIRATION OF LEADERSHIP THAT HONORS GOD IS NOT CARNAL AMBITION BUT SPIRIT-ANOINTED PASSION TO BE FREE OF “SELF”, FULLY YIELDED & SURRENDERED TO THE LORDSHIP MANAGEMENT OF “CHRIST IN YOU, THROUGH YOU, FOR YOU”, STILL PRESENT IN YOU TO BE HIMSELF, THE “SACRIFICIAL, CRUCIFIED, RAISED-FROM-THE-DEAD JESUS” BEING HIMSELF!!!

SPIRITUAL ASPIRATION IS NOT THE ‘BEST EFFORTS OF FALLEN FLESH’ BUT REDEEMED, BLOOD-BOUGHT MEN & WOMEN AS “TEMPLES” IN WHICH THE HOLY SPIRIT LIGHTS THE FLAMES OF CHRIST’S RESURRECTED PRESENCE EXTENDING HIMSELF THROUGH “YOU”!! SPIRITUAL ASPIRATION IS NOT BASED ON HOW MANY SERVANTS I HAVE IN THE LITTLE KINGDOM I’M BUILDING, LIKE A ‘STREET-GANG BOSS’ RUNNING HIS CRIMINAL ‘ENTERPRISE’, BUT THE NUMBER I SERVE IN JESUS’ NAME BECAUSE THE SAVIOR IN ME DESIRED THROUGH ME TO POUR OUT TO THE ‘THIRSTY’ A DRINK OFFERING. SPIRITUAL ASPIRATION IS ALSO NOT AN UNSATISFIED THIRST FOR POWER & PROMINENCE, BUT A SATISFIED THIRST FOR MEETING OTHERS’ NEEDS EXPECTING NOTHING IN RETURN. SPIRITUAL ASPIRATION IS NOT A CONSIDERATION FOR A PLACE OF RANK OR TITLE BUT AN INWARD PASSION TO SEE THAT CHRIST IS UPLIFTED & HONORED AS I BOW AT THE FEET OF OTHERS TO DO AS CHRIST STILL DOES!

OSWALD CHAMBERS, IN “SPIRITUAL LEADERSHIP,” (P.16) MADE A POWERFUL STATEMENT ABOUT THE NEED OF THE CHURCH: “THE OVERRIDING NEEDS OF THE CHURCH, IF IT IS TO DISCHARGE ITS OBLIGATION TO THE RISING GENERATION, IS FOR A LEADERSHIP THAT IS AUTHORITATIVE, SPIRITUAL, & SACRIFICIAL…(LISTEN!)…AUTHORITATIVE, BECAUSE PEOPLE LOVE TO BE LED BY ONE WHO KNOWS WHERE HE IS GOING & WHO INSPIRES CONFIDENCE. THEY FOLLOW ALMOST WITHOUT QUESTION THE MAN WHO SHOWS HIMSELF WISE &STRONG, WHO ADHERES TO WHAT HE BELIEVES…SPIRITUAL, BECAUSE A LEADERSHIP THAT IS UNSPIRITUAL, THAT CAN BE FULLY EXPLAINED IN TERMS OF THE NATURAL, ALTHOUGH EVER SO ATTRACTIVE & COMPETENT, WILL ONLY RESULT IN STERILITY & MORAL & SPIRITUAL BANKRUPTCY…SACRIFICIAL, BECAUSE MODELED ON THE LIFE OF THE “ONE” WHO GAVE HIMSELF A SACRIFICE FOR THE WHOLE WORLD, WHO LEFT US AN EXAMPLE THAT “WE SHALL FOLLOW HIS STEPS.”

ALWAYS REMEMBER WHAT JESUS SAID ABOUT THE ESSENCE OF TRUE LEADERSHIP, MATTHEW 20:25-28: “BUT JESUS CALLED THEM TO HIMSELF & SAID: ‘YOU KNOW THAT THE RULERS OF THE GENTILES LORD IT OVER THEM. YET IT SHALL NOT BE SO AMONG YOU; BUT WHOEVER DESIRES TO BECOME GREAT AMONG YOU, LET HIM BE YOUR SERVANT. AND WHOEVER DESIRES TO BE FIRST AMONG YOU, LET HIM BE YOUR SLAVE – JUST AS THE SON OF MAN DID NOT COME TO BE SERVED, BUT TO SERVE, & TO GIVE HIS LIFE A RANSOM FOR MANY.”

SECOND: I WANT YOU TO SEE THE AFFIRMATION OF THE ASPIRATION OF THE PLEASURE OF GOD! IN 1 THESSALONIANS 4:1 WE READ, “FINALLY THEN, BRETHREN, WE URGE & EXHORT IN THE LORD JESUS THAT YOU SHOULD ABOUND MORE & MORE, JUST AS YOU RECEIVED FROM US, ‘HOW’ YOU OUGHT TO WALK & TO PLEASE GOD.” TO THE GALATIANS PAUL MADE IT EVEN CLEARER: GALATIANS 1:10, “FOR DO I NOW PERSUADE MEN OR GOD? OR DO I SEEK TO PLEASE MEN? FOR IF I STILL PLEASED MEN, I WOULD NOT BE A BONDSERVANT OF CHRIST.”

DO YOU REALIZE HOW FOREIGN A CONCEPT THIS IS TO FALLEN HUMANITY? THE WHOLE BENT OF MOST FOLKS IS THE APPROVAL OF MEN MORE THAN THE APPROVAL OF GOD! RECEIVE ROMANS 15:1-3! “WE THEN WHO ARE STRONG OUGHT TO BEAR WITH THE SCRUPLES OF THE WEAK, & NOT TO PLEASE OURSELVES. LET EACH OF US PLEASE HIS NEIGHBOR FOR HIS GOOD, LEADING TO EDIFICATION. FOR EVEN CHRIST DID NOT PLEASE HIMSELF; BUT AS IT IS WRITTEN ‘THE REPROACHES OF THOSE WHO REPROACHED YOU (GOD) FELL ON ME.”

THIS IS WHY PAUL STRONGLY AFFIRMS “SPIRIT-ANOINTED LIVING” AS IN ROMANS 8:8 WHEN HE SAID, “SO THEN, THOSE WHO ARE IN THE FLESH (OLD ‘SIN-NATURE PROMINENCE’!) CANNOT PLEASE GOD.” SPIRIT-ANOINTED LIVING IS TAKING WILLFULLY, DAILY, THAT SENTENCE OF DEATH UNTO OURSELVES THAT THE RESURRECTION LIFE OF CHRIST MAY BE MANIFESTED OR RELEASED IN OUR MORTAL BODIES! LISTEN TO JOHN 8:29, JESUS SAYING, “AND HE WHO SENT ME IS WITH ME. THE FATHER HAS NOT LEFT ME ALONE, FOR I ALWAYS DO THOSE THINGS THAT PLEASE HIM.” I’M GOING TO TALL YOU, 1 SAMUEL 12:22 OUGHT TO RATTLE THE RAFTERS OF YOUR REDEEMED LIFE! IT SAYS: “FOR THE LORD WILL NOT FORSAKE HIS PEOPLE, FOR HIS GREAT NAME’S SAKE, “BECAUSE” IT HAS PLEASED THE LORD TO MAKE YOU HIS PEOPLE.” (THAT’S HIM “MAKING YOU”, NOT YOU TRYING TO INTERPRET HIM!!).

ARE YOU THE POSSESSOR OF A WHITE-HOT AFFECTION TO PLEASE GOD? AND THAT WHITE-HOT AFFECTION TO PLEASE GOD IS ALWAYS BECAUSE OF GOD’S GRACE WHICH FAR TOO MANY PROFESSING BELIEVERS HAVE MISINTERPRETED AS “GREASE” – JUST SLIDING INTO HEAVEN DOING THE SAME THINGS THE DEVIL GOT KICKED OUT FOR!

TRUE GRACE IS SO MUCH MORE THAN “PARDON” – IT’S POWER! 2 THESSALONIANS 1:11-12 SAYS, “THEREFORE WE ALSO PRAY ALWAYS FOR YOU THAT OUR GOD WOULD COUNT YOU WORTHY TO THIS CALLING, & FULFILL ALL THE GOOD PLEASURE OF HIS GOODNESS & THE WORK OF FAITH WITH POWER. THAT THE NAME OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST MAY BE GLORIFIED IN YOU, & YOU IN HIM, (LISTEN!) ACCORDING TO THE GRACE OF OUR GOD & THE LORD JESUS CHRIST!”

GRACE THAT IS POWER? TITUS 2:11-14 SAYS: “FOR THE GRACE OF GOD THAT BRINGS SALVATION HAS APPEARED TO ALL MEN, TEACHING US THAT, DENYING UNGODLINESS & WORLDLY LUSTS, WE SHOULD LIVE SOBERLY, RIGHTEOUSLY, & GODLY IN THE PRESENT AGE, LOOKING FOR THAT BLESSED HOPE & GLORIOUS APPEARING (OR FULL MANIFESTATION) OF OUR GREAT GOD & SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST, WHO GAVE HIMSELF FOR US, THAT HE MIGHT REDEEM US FROM EVERY LAWLESS DEED & PURIFY FOR HIMSELF HIS OEN SPECIAL PEOPLE, ZEALOUS FOR GOOD WORKS.”

(GOOD WORKS? “BEST EFFORTS” OR THE ‘GOOD WORKS’ OF DAILY DEATH TO SELF THAT CHRIST MAY BE MANIFESTED IN & THROUGH YOUR MORTAL FLESH, YES, YOU, DYING DAILY, THAT CHRIST MAY BE RELEASED TO BE HIMSELF THROUGH YOU, WE THEN “WITNESS” HIS PRESENT MINISTRY & CARE OF OTHERS THROUGH US?) I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THE TRUTH JOHN PIPER WROTE WHEN HE SAID: “WE ARE HIS PLEASURE WHEN HE IS OUR TREASURE.” (THE PLEASURERS OF GOD, MULTONOMAH PUBLISHERS, SISTERS, OR.,97759, P.250.). WE’RE NOT “IVORY TOWER” INHABITANTS, BUT INITIATED TRUSTEES OF THE INSPIRED TRUTH OF GOD THAT, THAT WHICH TRULY PLEASES GOD, IS A LIFE LAID DOWN DAILY CHOOSING “CHRIST IN US AS OUR ONLY HOPE OF GLORY”!

IN ISAIAH 55:11, GOD SPEAKING, “SO SHALL MY WORD BE THAT GOES FORTH FROM MY MOUTH; IT SHALL NOT RETURN TO ME VOID, BUT IT SHALL ACCOMPLISH WHAT I PLEASE & IT SHALL PROSPER IN THE THING FOR WHICH I SENT IT.” (ARE YOU ‘PROSPERING’ BECAUSE YOUR PASSION IS TO PLEASE GOD OR YOUR PASSION IS.. “THE SENTENCE OF DEATH DAILY TO YOUR OLD SELF THAT THE RESURRECTED LIFE OF CHRIST MAY BE MANIFESTED DAILY THROUGH YOUR MORTAL FLESH”?

THIRD, THE AFFIRMATION OF ASPIRATION MUST BE YOUR ASCENT TO HEAVENLY LIVING IN THE HERE & NOW- NOT AFTER YOU DIE! THE PASSION OF TRUE BELIEVERS? IT’S THE PASSION OF SEEING, REALIZING, SUBMITTING TO SEEING CHRIST ON HIS THRONE NOW, IN YOU, BEING HIMSELF,NOT SEEING HIM AFTER YOU DIE & ‘GO THE HEAVEN’! PSALM 37:4 IS SO CLEAR: “DELIGHT YOURSELF IN THE LORD, & HE SHALL GIVE YOU THE DESIRES OF YOUR HEART.” DO YOU REMEMBER THOSE HEROES OF THE FAITH IN HEBREWS 11? VERSE 16 SAYS, “BUT NOW THEY DESIRE A BETTER, THAT IS, A HEAVENLY COUNTRY…”

WHEN YOU’RE PRESSED IN THE FLESH, YOU’RE ASKING, “IS THERE ANYTHING OF THE SPIRITUAL WORLD WORTH LIVING FOR OR DYING FOR?” WHEN YOU KNOW YOUR “LIFE IS A VAPOR THAT APPEARS BRIEFLY & THEN VANISHES AWAY,” YOU’RE ASKING, “IS THERE ANYTHING OF ETERNAL SIGNIFICANCE?” WHEN YOU BECOME AWARE OF HOW INFANTILE, FLEETING, & UNIMPORTANT YOUR FLESHLY THOUGHTS ARE, YOU’RE ASKING, “WHAT IS THERE OF VALUE TO RENEW MY MIND?” WHEN YOU SEE THE DOWNGRADING, THE DEGRADATION, THE DARK SIDE OF A “BRITTANY SPEARS,” YOU BEGIN ASKING YOURSELF, “IS THERE A BETTER REFLECTION TO LIVE OUT BEFORE MY WORLD?”

RECEIVE COLOSSIANS 3:1-4! “IF THEN YOU WERE RAISED WITH CHRIST, SEEK THOSE THINGS WHICH ARE ABOVE, WHERE CHRIST IS, SITTING AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD. SET YOUR MIND ON THINGS ABOVE, NOT ON THINGS OF THE EARTH. FOR YOU DIED (DID YOU?), AND YOUR LIFE IS HIDDEN WITH CHRIST IN GOD. WHEN CHRIST WHO IS OUR LIFE APPEARS, THEN YOU ALSO WILL APPEAR WITH HIM IN GLORY.”

MANY YEARS AGO IN A CHURCH I PASTORED SOMEONE CAME WITH A BROKEN HEART…”PASTOR, YOU KNOW ‘SO&SO’,A LEADER AMONG OUR YOUTH BUT SHE’S FAST GAINING THE REPUTATION OF BEING PROMISCUOUS & I’M REALLY CONCERNED FOR HER, FOR OUR YOUTH, BUT MOST OF ALL THE CAUSE OF CHRIST SINCE SHE’S SO VOCAL ABOUT HER FAITH.” I TOLD HER, ‘I’M GLAD YOU CAME.I’LL REACH OUT TO HER.’

I ASKED HER TO COME BY MY OFFICE FOR A VISIT. AND WHEN SHE DID I TOLD HER OF HER FAST-GROWING REPUTATION THAT WAS NOT GOOD. I ASKED HER, “WHEN YOU GAVE YOUR HEART TO CHRIST DID YOU BELIEVE THAT DIDN’T INCLUDE YOUR GLANDS? DO YOU NOT KNOW THAT YOU’RE FAST BECOMING LIKE A TACKLING DUMMY ON AN ATHELETIC FIELD THAT BOYS LIKE TO HIT ON OR…DO YOU NOT REALIZE GOD MEANS YOU TO BE A JEWEL, A ROYAL TREASURE, A HOLY GIFT OF THE HUSBAND HE’S PICKED OUT FOR YOU?” AND SHE BROKE DOWN & WEPT & SOBBED & REPENTED & GAVE HER GLANDS TO GOD! HER REPUTATION CHANGED & SHE BECAME A GLOWING WITNESS OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST!

LIFE IS MADE OF CHOICES: THE GLORY OF GOD OR THE GORINESS OF A MANGLED, MESSED-UP, MISDIRECTED, SELF-INFLICTED SICKNESS CALLED ‘SIN’? THE CURSE OF ONE’S FALLEN SIN-NATURE OR THE BLESSING OF GOD’S PRESENCE? THE WRECK & RECKLESSNESS OF A MISSPENT LIFE OR THE “LIFE” OF ETERNAL PRESENCE, ETERNAL VALUES, & ETERNAL PROMISES?

I REALLY LOVE WHAT WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT WROTE LONG AGO: “SO LIVE THAT WHEN YOUR SUMMONS COMES TO JOIN THE INNUMERABLE CARAVAN WHICH MOVES ON..TO THAT MYSTERIOUS REALM WHERE EACH SHALL TAKE HIS CHAMBER IN THE SILENT HALLS OF DEATH…YOU GO NOT, LIKE THE QUARRY-SLAVE AT NIGHT, SCOURGED TO HIS DUNGEON, BUT SUSTAINED & SOOTHED…BY AN UNFALTERING TRUST, APPROACH YOUR GRACE LIKE ONE THAT WRAPS THE DRAPERY OF HIS COUCH ABOUT HIM, & LIES DOWN TO PLEASANT DREAMS.” ISN’T IT SAD THAT SO MANY DO NOT LIE DOWN TO PLEASANT DREAMS BUT NIGHTMARES BECAUSE THERE IS NO ASPIRATION OF THE ASCENT TO HEAVENLY LIVING ?

FOURTH, THERE IS THE AFFIRMATION OF ASPIRATION TO THE APPROPRIATION & ASSIMILATION OF YOUR GOD-APPOINTED, GOD-ANOINTED SPIRITUAL GIFT & MINISTRY! 1 CORINTHIANS 14:1 SAYS, “PURSUE LOVE, & DESIRE SPIRITUAL GIFTS, BUT ESPECIALLY THAT YOU MAY PROPHESY.” DID PAUL SAY, “DESIRE SPIRITUAL GIFTS”..? IT OUGHT TO BE AN ALL-CONSUMING PASSION THAT THROUGH THE WORD OF GOD & THE HOLY SPIRIT YOU DISCOVER THE SPIRITUAL MOTIVATION OF YOUR LIFE AS DEFINED BY GOD!

LOOK AT 1 CORINTHIANS 12:11, “BUT ONE & THE SAME SPIRIT WORKS ALL THESE THINGS, DISTRIBUTING TO EACH ONE INDIVIDUALLY AS HE ( GOD) WILLS.” ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING IN HER “SONNETS FROM THE PORTURUESE”,( NUMBER 26), WROTE: “GOD’S GIFTS PUT MAN’S BEST DREAMS TO SHAME.” SO TRUE! EXAMINE ALSO 1 CORINTHIANS 12:7-10 & 18-31! IT SAYS: “BUT THE MANIFESTATION OF THE SPIRIT IS GIVEN TO EACH ONE FOR THE PROFIT OF ALL: FOR TO ONE IS GIVEN THE WORD OF WISDOM THROUGH THE SPIRIT, TO ANOTHER THE WORD OF KNOWLEDGE THROUGH THE SAME SPIRIT, TO ANOTHER FAITH BY THE SAME SPIRIT, TO ANOTHER GIFTS OF HEALINGS BY THE SAME SPIRIT, TO ANOTHER THE WORKING OF MIRACLES, TO ANOTHER PROPHECY, TO ANOTHER DISCRNING OF SPIRITS, TO ANOTHER DIFFERENT KINDS OF TONGUES, TO ANOTHER THE INTERPRETATION OF TONGUES.

VERSE 18-31, BUT NOW GOD HAS SET THE MEMBERS, EACH ONE OF THEM, IN THE BODY JUST AS HE PLEASED. AND IF THEY WERE ALL ONE MEMBER, WHERE WOULD THE BODY BE? BUT NOW INDEED THERE ARE MANY MEMBERS, YET ONE BODY. AND THE EYE CANNOT SAY TO THE HAND, ‘I HAVE NO NEED OF YOU’, NOR AGAIN THE HEAD TO THE FEET, ‘I HAVE NO NEED OF YOU.’ NO, MUCH RATHER, THOSE MEMBERS OF THE BODY WHICH SEEM TO BE WEAKER ARE NECESSARY. AND THOSE MEMBERS OF THE BODY WHICH WE THINK TO BE LESS HONORABLE, ON THESE WE BESTOW GREATER HONOR; & OUR UNPRESENETABLE PARTS HAVE GREATERMODESTY, BUT OUR PRESENTABLE PARTS HAVE NO NEED. BUT GOD COMPOSED THE BODY, HAVING GIVEN GREATER HONOR TO THAT PART WHICH LACKS IT,THAT THERE SHOULD BE NO SCHISM IN THE BODY, BUT THAT THE MEMBERS SHOULD HAVE THE SAME CARE FOR ONE ANOTHER. AND IF ONE MEMBER SUFFERS, ALL THE MEMBERS SUFFER WITH IT; OR IF ONE MEMBER IS HONORED, ALL THE MEMBERS REJOICE WITH IT.

NOW YOU ARE THE BODY OF CHRIST, & MEMBERS INDIVIDUALLY. AND GOD HAS APPOINTED THESE IN THE CHURCH: FIRST APOSTLES, SECOND PROPHETS, THIRD TEACHERS, AFTER THAT MIRACLES, THEN GIFTS OF HEALINGS. HELPS, ADMINISTRATIONS, VARIETIES OF TONGUES. ARE ALL APOSTLES? ARE ALL PROPHETS? AREE ALL TEACHERS? ARE ALL WORKERS OF MIRACLES? DO ALL HAVE GIFTS OF HEALINGS? DO ALL INTERPRET? BUT EARNESTLY DESIRE THE BEST GIFTS. AND YET I SHOW YOU A MORE EXCELLENT WAY.”

LISTEN TO CHUCH SWINDOLL IN “THE QUEST FOR CHARACTER”, (P.146), “MARBLES OR GRAPES, WHICH WILL IT BE? EVERY CONGREGATION HAS A CHOICE. YOU CAN CHOOSE TO BE A BAG MARBLES, INDEPENDENT, HARD, LOUD, UNMARKED, & UNAFFECTED BY OTHERS. OR YOU CAN BE A BUNCH OF GRAPES..FRAGRANT, SOFT, BLENDING, MINGLING, FLOWING INTO ONE ANOTHER’S LIVES. MARBLES ARE MADE TO BE COUNTED & KEPT. GRAPES ARE MADE TO BE BRUISED & USED. MARBLES SCAR & CLANK. GRAPES YIELD & CLING.” SO TRUE! GRAPES MAKE SWEET WINE – MARBLES BANG AROUND & MAKE NOISE! WHAT’S CALVARY MADE OF? LOUD MARBLES OR SWEET WINE?

FIFTH, THE AFFIRMATION OF ASPIRATION IS AN ARRIVAL OF BEING WHAT, WHERE, & WHY GOD WANTS ME TO BE, WHO I AM “IN CHRIST”& WHAT CHRIST WANTS TO DO IN ME & THROUGH ME, WHICH IS WHY WE CHOOSE DAILY, “DEATH TO SELF – THAT CHRIST’S MANIFESTED PRESENCE MIGHT BE RELEASED THROUGH US! IN ROMANS 15:22-24,29,32, WE READ: VERSES 22-24, “FOR THIS REASON I ALSO HAVE BEEN MUCH HINDERED FROM COMING TO YOU. BUT NOW NO LONGER HAVING A PLACE IN THESE PARTS, & HAVING A GREAT DESIRE THESE MANY YEARS TO COME TO YOU, WHENEVER I JOURNEY TO SPAIN, I SHALL COME TO YOU. FOR I HOPE TO SEE YOU ON MY JOURNEY, & TO BE HELPED ON MY WAY THERE BY YOU, IF FIRT I MAY ENJOY YOUR COMPANY FOR A WHILE. VERSE 29, BUT I KNOW THAT WHEN I COME TO YOU, I SHALL COME IN THE FULLNESS OF THE BLESSING OF THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST, VERSE 32, THAT I MAY COME TO YOU WITH JOY BY THE WILL OF GOD, & MAY BE REFRESHED TOGETHER WITH YOU.”

GALATIANS 4:4 TELLS US: “BUT WHEN THE FULLNESS OF TIME HAD COME, GOD SENT FORTH HIS SON, BORN OF A WOMAN, BORN UNDER THE LAW, Verse 5, TO REDEEM THOSE WHO WERE UNDER THE LAW, THAT WE MIGHT RECEIVE THE ADOPTION AS SONS.” GOD SENT FORTH HIS SON –RIGHT TIME, RIGHT PLACE, RIGHT PURPOSE!

RECEIVE JESUS’ RESPONSE IN JOHN 4:34! “MY FOOD IS TO DO THE WILL OF HIM WHO SENT ME, & TO FINISH HIS WORK.” WHAT IS THE “FOOD” THAT YOU’RE PARTAKING OF? THE “FOOD” OF SELF-WILL OR THE “FOOD” OF THE MASTER’S WILL? IN JOHN 5:30, JESUS SAID, “I CAN OF MYSELF DO NOTHING…I DO NOT SEEK MY OWN WILL BUT THE WILL OF THE FATHER WHO SENT ME.” IN JOHN 6:36 JESUS SAID, “FOR I CAME DOWN FROM HEAVEN, NOT TO DO MY OWN WILL, BUT THE WILL OF HIM WHO SENT ME.” AND HE SAID IN JOHN 10:18, “NO ONE TAKES (MY LIFE) FROM ME,BUT I LAY IT DOWN OF MYSELF. I HAVE POWER TO LAY IT DOWN, & I HAVE POWER TO TAKE IT UP AGAIN.” WHAT AWESOME POWER!

DO YOU UNDERSTAND THE GOSPEL? DO YOU UNDERSTAND “ADOPTION AS SONS”? DO YOU UNDERSTAND “PLACED BY GOD ACCORDING TO HIS TIME, HIS PLACE, & HIS PURPOSE”? DO YOU UNDERSTAND WALKING ON THE BASIS OF DIVINE WILL – NOT FLESHLY LIKES OR DISLIKES? CAN YOU REALLY SAY, “YOUR KINGDOM COME, YOUR WILL BE DONE ON EARTH, IN MY LIFE, THROUGH MY SOVEREIGNLY CIRCUMSCRIBED PLACEMENT, AS IT IS IN HEAVEN?” CAN YOU REALLY SAY, “I WANT TO BE WHERE GOD WANTS ME TO BE –EVEN A CROSS ON GOLGOTHA’S HILL?”

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, IN HENRY V111,(ACT 3, SCENE 2, LINE 456) WROTE: “HAD I BUT SERVED GOD WITH HALF THE ZEAL I SERVED MY KING, HE WOULD NOT IN MINE AGE HAVE LEFT ME NAKED TO MINE ENEMIES.” OH, HOW MUCH TRUTH IS IN THAT POETRY? WE SERVE OURSELVES ABOUT WHERE WE’RE GOING TO BE & WHAT WE’RE GOING TO DO, RATHER THAN THE WILL OF GOD –AND,AS A RESULT, WE GO “WELL-DRESSED” IN OUR OWN WAY WHEREVER WE WANT TO BE…BUT DO NOT KNOW, BEFORE GOD, WE’RE STRIPPED NAKED! PROVERBS 16:7 SAYS, “WHEN A MAN’S WAYS PLEASE THE LORD,HE MAKES EVEN HIS ENEMIES TO BE AT PEACE WITH HIM.”

IS YOUR HEART-CRY, “GOD, I WANT TO BE EXACTLY WHERE YOU PLACE ME, WHERE YOU WANT ME, WHERE I WILL BE A VESSEL UNTO YOUR HONOR & THAT THROUGH ME THE RESURRECTED CHRIST CONTINUES TO HONOR HIMSELF & YOU IN THE GREATEST FASHION OF HIS RESURRECTED PRESENCE, RESURRECTED POWER, & RESURRECTED PURPOSE?” CAN “YOU” SAY AMEN TO THAT?

IN THE “BROADMAN HYMNAL”, PUBLISHED IN NASHVILLE,TENN.,IN 1940,(P236),IS A HYMN ENTITLED “LEAD ON, O KING ETERNAL.” IT SAYS: “LEAD ON, O KING ETERNAL, THE DAY OF MARCH HAS COME;HENCEFORTH INFIELDS OF CONQUEST YOUR TENTS SHALL BE OUR HOME;THRO’ DAYS OF PREPARATION YOUR GRACE HAS MADE US STRONG, & NOW,O KING ETERNAL, WE LIFT OUR BATTLE SONG.

LEAD ON, O KING ETERNAL, TILL SIN’S FIERCE WAR SHALL CEASE, & HOLINESS SHALL WHISPER THE SWEET AMEN OF PEACE; FOR NOT WITH SWORDS LOUD CLASHING, NOR ROLL OF STIRRING DRUMS; WITH DEEDS OF LOVE & MERCY, THE HEAVENLY KINGDOM COMES.

LEAD ON, O KING ETERNAL, WE FOLLOW, NOT WITH FEARS; FOR GLADNESS BREAKS LIKE MORNING WHERE’ER YOUR FACE APPEARS; YOUR CROSS IS LIFTED O’ER US; WE JOURNEY IN ITS LIGHT: THE CROWN AWAITS THE CONQUEST;LEAD ON,O GOD OF MIGHT.”

WHAT’S THE SONG YOU SING IN YOUR PRESENT DAY JOURNEY OF FAITH, OR SONGLESS BECAUSE YOU STAND ON A FAULTY FOUNDATION OF FAITHLESSNESS, UNBELIEF, & EVEN RESENTMENT THAT “GOD” KNOWS YOU NEED TO BE SAVED, WASHED IN THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB, BORN-AGAIN, & COMMISSIONED AS, YES, THE ROYAL AMBASSADOR OF CHRIST JESUS? OR ARE THERE JUST NO SONGS IN YOU TO DESCRIBE A FAITHLESS LIFE?