God's Pleasure - October 27, 2013

Psalm 41:11 - By this I know that You are pleased with me, because my enemy does not shout in triumph over me.

Next time you are at your local bookstore, take a moment to do a quick comparison. First, check out how many books are devoted to religion. There will undoubtedly be a section on Islam, Buddhism, Taoism, Hinduism, and of course, Christianity. All these so-called "religious" books will probably take up a few shelves of retail space. Next, check out the psychology and "self-help" section. It is staggering how much space is devoted to self-diagnosis and cure! Shelf after shelf of titles ranging from self-realization to theories on Transactional Analysis and the latest Gestalt therapy boil down to a very simple yet naive assumption -- "I'm okay, and you're okay" if we simply "find" ourselves. The truth of the matter is this ... we're not "okay" otherwise the plethora of self-help titles provided by the secular book market would be providing solutions rather than merely cataloging more ISBN titles. The reality is that the vast majority of people have feelings of guilt and shame from lives devoid of anyone or anything that might successfully remove these gnawing realities from their respective souls. Their childhood religions often gave them feelings of shame as they tried to live a good, moral life, but in so doing, they most often failed miserably. They could not live the life they felt God required which in turn produced shame. Rather than seeking out a spiritual solution to their guilt and remorse, they chose instead to blame God for setting a standard so high that they nor anyone else could attain. They turned their back on God and all religion, not knowing that a Savior had already fulfilled the Law for them and had died to set them free. Rather than accepting this eternal relationship, they chose instead the road of "self-help" which is a broad highway consisting of merely the enlightenment that one blind man might provide for another.

I often speculate how differently people's perspective would be of God if they truly understood His Nature. Then again, most folks would need to read the Word of God with "eyes to see and ears to hear" rather than seeking out the worldly pontifications of puffed up professors. If these "seekers" would but read God's Word with an open heart, they would find out that God is ecstatically in love with the human race. In our opening scripture, David uses the Hebrew word chaphets (khaw-fates') to describe God's pleasure with those who call upon His Name. The implication of its origin and meaning is to have "intense pleasure or strong desire toward". David's epiphany as a warrior-king was knowing the intense pleasure the Father has for those whose ... enemy does not shout in triumph over [them]. This was a situational reality (one battle to the next) in David's day because Christ had not yet come to bring the total victory to believers. Of course today, believers in Jesus Christ can be in a place of constant victory because of the finished work of the cross. The sad reality is that the vast majority of people who have disdained God for being too judgmental and demanding have not been listening to God. They have mistaken the voice of their Heavenly Father for that of the father of lies. Satan, through his continual bombardment of the human soul, seeks to convince mankind they will always be defeated and there is no use coming to God. He continues his lie, telling God's greatest treasure that they are doomed because God has forsaken them. Therefore, they must seek out their own salvation because the God they seek (he tells them deceitfully) will never be there to provide for those He has "orphaned". This could not be more untrue. In reality, the scripture is quite clear that our Heavenly Father loved the world SO much that He chose to crush His own Son on our behalf (Isaiah 53:10; John 3:16). Unfortunately, the god of this world has blinded the minds of the those who will not believe (II Corinthians 4:4), stating there is no victory over shame and guilt but only through one's own self-discovery. The only remedy for this deception is to understand our victory in Jesus Christ and our standing in God's pleasure as sons and daughters of the Most High.

Like David in this psalm, we must understand the lie of the devil regarding his supposed victory and triumph over us. Only then will we understand our position in Christ to fully acknowledge the Father's pleasure in our individual lives. As mentioned, David understood that God was there to save when He cried out to Him. Many times in the Psalms we see King David pouring out his heart for God's deliverance. As with all Old Testament saints, there was a continual need to invoke God's deliverance through faith while they looked forward to the promise of the coming Savior who would give all mankind the total victory (Hebrews 11:13). Even as the Law could not justify any Old Testament believers such as Abraham, Moses, or David they all looked forward to the day when the Law would be fulfilled in the Person of the Messiah. Those who believed God in faith (read Hebrews chapter 11) knew that one day constant victory would be the heritage of everyone who believed in God. Whether they truly understood the full implications or not, they were all looking forward to life either in this world or the one to come of life victorious. That's why it is so important to transpose David's words in Psalm 41:11 for our lives today. If one has accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Savior then they have come into agreement with His victory on the cross over Satan and all evil that would ever seek to beset us (Colossians 2:15). This agreement affords us, most importantly, a positional understanding that we truly are ... more than conquerors through Him who loves us (Romans 8:37). This is true whether we believe it or not and will be for eternity. That is why God is pleased with us! Those of us who know Christ and have accepted Him have come into a place of continual victory and God knows it, and the devil knows it, and we should know it. When we don't believe it in particular instances and we allow Satan to tell us otherwise, it does not belie the fact that God still loves us and is pleased with us because His Son dwells within us. How can God not love us and be pleased with us if His very Son lives within? He rejoiced over His chosen with joy and gladness in the Old Testament (Zephaniah 3:17). How much more does He love us now since we are victorious in His Son (Romans 8:37-39).

Beloved, God has taken away all shame and guilt by placing the sin of the world on His Son the Lord Jesus Christ. As the Savior of mankind bled, died, and was raised into newness of life, those also of us who have accepted His life have likewise embraced His victory. No longer do we need to live life on our own; there is no need to self-diagnose or self-actualize our inner healing or our state of well-being. In order for us to be pleased with ourselves we must first recognize that He is pleased beyond measure with all those who know Him as Father. He has truly defeated ALL our enemies, both real and imagined whether we acknowledge this reality or not. His pleasure for us will never cease even if we sometimes fail to recognize it, for He cannot deny Himself who so faithfully dwells within (II Timothy 2:13). However, once we truly know Him who forever triumphed over Satan, that is when we begin to walk in our true inheritance. May we all understand that we have not merely won a battle that will make us feel good about ourselves for a while, but we have won the war through the Eternal Son of David who will rule and reign forever.

Heavenly Father, may we know that You are pleased with your sons and daughters, because Your Son dwells within us. Through His abiding in our earthly vessels, we know that we have the victory everyday until eternity. Help us never to look beyond your passionate love and pleasure for us all to feel complete. For only in You is life and life abundantly. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

Your Barefoot Servant,

Rick

Fullness of Joy - October 20, 2013

Psalm 16:11 - You will make known to me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.

King Solomon states in Ecclesiastes 7:8 that the end of a matter is better than its beginning. The implication is that there are many unknowns in the beginning but all is revealed at closure. For example, when a woman learns of her pregnancy (especially if it is her first), she may feel a mixed bag of emotions. While there is excitement there is also trepidation regarding all the particulars of her pregnancy. She will often carry these emotions up until her delivery day. However, with proper medical advice and pre-natal care, she patiently progresses through each trimester until the end of her pregnancy is at hand. Unfortunately, many women throughout the world will not have the opportunity of proper nourishment and medical care during this critical time of their baby's development. Some will be born sickly while some mothers will tragically miscarry before that expected day. However, for many who are blessed with healthy pregnancies, the big day will one day finally arrive! Through the birthing of her child, she is able to see and hold the treasure she has so faithfully carried for nine months. As a father, I've experienced and shared in that joy that a mother most certainly experiences. (However, even as a joyous father, I'm sure I can't truly comprehend the joy of a mother as she brings forth this incredible gift!)

The unbridled happiness of bringing this new human being into the world produces a joy that is not uncharacteristic to that which we experience when we are brought into God's presence by our drawing near unto Him. Every believer that calls upon the Name of the Lord should desire His fullness of joy. In Psalm 16:11, David explains how we too must allow the Holy Spirit to "mother" us from the point of conception in the womb of regeneration (e.g. to be born again), to a place of living a joyous, Spirit-filled life that bears fruit for the Father. The first of three steps as outlined in this verse is to acknowledge that God has made known to all who call upon His name "the path of life". Without knowing, understanding, and walking this path we will never know what it means to experience true joy. Solomon states also in Proverbs 10:17 that ... He is on the path of life who heeds instruction, but he who ignores reproof goes astray. This upward journey for the upright of heart (Proverbs 15:24) comes by giving ourselves to God's wisdom through humble acceptance of His commandments. Jesus stated if any wished to follow Him they must deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow Him (Matthew 16:24). It is a simple plan but not always an easy path to follow, for Christ states earlier in Matthew 7:14 that the path is narrow to Life and there are few who find it. However, if we are diligent to keep His commands then we will experience His friendship as we walk this upward path (John 15:4). And, it should not be an arduous journey, beloved. Along the road with Jesus there will be joy as we obey His command of taking up our cross. I venture to say if there is not, then we have taken up the burden of legalism and the Law which has never and will never perfect anyone. We must experience His joy along the way or we have certainly strayed from HIS path.

As we experience the joy of walking this path of life with our Savior, we must be careful to grieve not the Holy Spirit along the way by succumbing to worldly pleasures. Jesus has promised us that in God's right hand ... there are pleasures forever. Daniel and his young Jewish counterpart denied themselves the delicacies of this world (Daniel 1:8-21) for the delicacies of God -- His wisdom, knowledge, and understanding. In doing so, they experienced the fullness of God by keeping their spirits and souls in tune with the purposes of God. The Heavenly Father was delighted to reveal His wisdom to these young men because they had given themselves to God and denied their flesh. Would Jehovah have revealed His wisdom to Daniel to interpret dreams if he hadn't denied himself? Most certainly God would have spoken to him (for God cannot deny Himself [II Timothy 2:13]), however, the young man's spiritual senses might not have had the sharpness to understand and receive with the same clarity (Daniel 2:19-45). It's not by works, but by faith working through our submitted actions that God will do for us just as He did for Daniel if we will but pursue Him passionately in faith.

If we do not desire a life that is given to the pursuit of living in His presence and longing for His unspeakable joy, then possibly we have somehow experienced a miscarriage of faith along the way. If our hearts as believers are not turned toward Him in all out love, then we may need to test ourselves to see if we have truly been brought through the womb of the new birth (II Corinthians 13:5; John 3:3). Are we experiencing His joy? Are we living for His pleasures that He so freely gives instead of those of the world? To live constantly in His presence on this side of eternity is very possible if we hunger enough for Him (for one example, see the online book The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence). It will take a passion and desire to remain on the path of life, experiencing His joy while indulging only in the pleasures and delicacies that He offers. While this path may look arduous and daunting in the beginning, we soon experience the words of Jesus if we will but diligently keep to the narrow road before us ... that truly His yoke is easy and His burden is light (Matthew 11:30). Beloved, that we would all find Him on this path called "Life" and that we would find seasons of joy and pleasure in Him that would turn into a constant abiding in His presence. Oh, what a God we serve!

Heavenly Father, a glorious path is laid out for all who would call upon Your Name -- a path of life that is adorned with joy and pleasures from Your right hand. Help us to walk this joyous road with Jesus our Savior. For only in Him, will we find our way. In Jesus' Name, the Name above all others, Amen!

Your Barefoot Servant,

Rick

Peace Beyond Comprehension - October 13, 2013

Philippians 4:7 - And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Have you ever been in the midst of a turbulent or tumultuous situation and the Spirit of the Lord seemed to brood over your heart and life with the care of a loving mother? Circumstances may be screaming at you to react in a carnal, worldly manner yet there is such a placidness within your being that you feel that Jesus has lifted His holy hand and spoken, "Peace, be still" to the storm raging all around. This is the peace that Paul describes in this passage. It is a peace that defies any logical natural explanation, but is so simple in its spiritual definition that many often overlook how to enter into this glorious abiding. The peace given by God is born out of a position of death to self which ultimately results in the peaceful fruit of righteousness. The apostle gives us a direct path to this place of peace through the preceding verses. The key to perfect peace is indeed a life given to worship -- a three-legged stool of praise, humility, and trust which allows us to be seated with Him through all aspects of this earthly life. While some might relate worship to an act of adoration and praise toward the Creator, it is much more as Paul relates both in his letter to Philippians and also to the church at Rome.

Paul urges the believers at Rome in the twelfth chapter and first verse of the book of Romans ... to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship (Romans 12:1). According to this scripture, the apostle implies that a life of worship entails a surrendering of one's self on God's altar -- a living sacrifice that He can use to glorify Himself through on this earth. In the book of Philippians, Paul defines a yielded life of a believer that has presented their entire being to God as a worshiper. In verse 4, Paul states: Rejoice in the Lord always, again I will say, rejoice! (Philippians 4:4). His emphasis by repeating himself is God's way of telling us that this is EXTREMELY important in order to live a life as men and women of peace. This is the defining catalyst of a worship-filled believer that is living to serve the Father. Without thanksgiving and praise, the Holy Spirit within is hamstrung to fulfill His ministry through us. He delights to rejoice in the Father and the Son and is functioning in His God-vocation in the heart of a believer when we allow Him to do so (John 15:26). Therefore, we empower the Holy Spirit to equip us through praise and adoration to fulfill Paul's additional admonitions that will complete us as spirit-filled worshippers.

In Philippians 4:5, Paul tells us to let our gentleness or meekness be known to all men. A gentle, humble spirit is molded and crafted by a heart of thanksgiving and an understanding of what the Lord has done on our behalf. By consecrating ourselves as a living sacrifice to continually offer up thanksgiving to Him, we find that the alabaster box of ointment within us all as believers (Luke 7:37) begins to exude the very fragrance of Christ to others (II Corinthians 2:14-16). No more are we decaying from within by the putrefaction of sin but we are allowing the aroma of Christ -- His gentleness and humility -- to waft out His life-giving breath to those desirous of His Person. Finally, a life given to praise and thanksgiving and to humility and meekness must be adorned with complete trust of God and His ability to meet all our needs. Paul states in verse 6: Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God (Philippians 4:6). This "three-legged stool" that Paul has constructed of praise and humility is incomplete without the trust or faith that God will meet us in every area of our lives. As we trust Him with hearts of prayer birthed in thanksgiving, He meets us in every circumstance causing us to be well-seated on this seat of worship that we have allowed Him to create in our lives.

As we are seated securely on our "three-legged stool of worship", God does a remarkable thing. He gives us a peace that is both immeasurable and incomprehensible. Peace is the very fruit or direct product of a life of worship. It is the absence of complaint, murmuring, anxiety, or turmoil of any type. It is a life that is seated in worship and alive on God's altar of sacrifice and yet is never consumed for God continues to restore and resurrect His life within us continually. It is a life filled with an eternal knowing that He is to be adored, He is to be imitated in His humility, and He is to be trusted in all things. This ultimately gives us a God-given position in this turbulent, chaotic world that is unexplainable to those who know not the Risen Lord or the power of worship. Oh, that we would all find that place of praise, humility, and trust that would bring us into that perfect peace that defies all comprehension. Only then will a peace-starved world find a true and lasting peace to be secured only in the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen!

Holy Father, we invite you to build within us a seat of worship, a three-legged stool of praise, humility, and trust that will bring us to that perfect place of peace. Cause us to find this resting place in You so that we can invite others to find this place of restful abiding. Thank You Lord, for enabling and helping us. In Jesus' Name, Amen!

Your Barefoot Servant,

Rick

Joyous Authority - October 6, 2013

Luke 10:19 - I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.

When the seventy returned from their commission to the cities where their Lord would soon preach the Gospel, they were overjoyed with the results. The scripture tells us in Luke 10:17 that they returned with joy stating that even the demons were subject to them in Jesus' Name. Quite possibly, this group of disciples went forth with the desire to minister in their Lord's Name, yet did not come into the true realization of their ministry until they stepped out in faith. Once they began to minister in the Name of Jesus, they were both surprised and delighted that even the demons were subject to them in the Lord's mighty Name. To experience this epiphany, they merely had to obey Jesus as He sent them out to perform the miracles of God with the same authority that He received from His Father in heaven.

In our opening scripture, Jesus doesn't say that He will give us authority to timidly tip-toe around the enemy of our souls with fear and intimidation. He doesn't say that we should create some sort of detente' with the power of hell, establishing a sort of quasi-truce with respect to one another. He DOES say that He HAS GIVEN all power by His jurisdiction to tread or to literally trample upon demonic strongholds of serpents and scorpions. There is no possibility of negotiation or diplomacy with the enemy of mankind. Nothing is to move us to the right or to the left from our walk with the Lord and the ministry He has called us all to fulfill. We are to trudge confidently and with determined resolution a straight path, not concerning ourselves with what might be ready to strike at our heels, for it has no power over our lives. In ancient Palestine, serpents and scorpions were a source of constant fear and continual vigilance to protect both human and livestock from their deadly poison. A variety of snakes such as puff adders, pit vipers, and cobras were a constant plague to farmers and shepherds. Of the various Middle Eastern scorpions, many possess more venomous toxicity then those in any other area of the world. So, when Jesus proclaimed that His authority commanded the ability to trample the most notorious and nefarious creatures afoot, He was comparing these loathsome reptiles and arachnids to demonic principalities. Our ability to exercise God's authority over the so-called powers of hell renders them powerless in comparison to the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe (Ephesians 1:19).

To first comprehend and then to walk in the authority that the Lord has given to all who call upon His Name, is to begin to experience the joy of the Lord and the strength of that position. Even as the seventy "returned with joy", so we too can live in a place of joyous victory once we begin to walk as the Lord has ordained for us all as believers. The Holy Spirit is present in our respective lives to fulfill His great commission through us. He is a joyous being that rejoices in the vanquishing of Satan as we move with faith and power against our ancient foe. To be in God's presence is to understand the fullness of joy (Psalm 16:11). To know His authority and to walk in it, trampling upon all the power of the evil one, is joyous authority. It is a place of victorious understanding that God has already won the battle and He rejoices with us over the defeat of our enemy (Zephaniah 3:17). And a remarkable phenomenon occurs once we begin to live in this new found authority. The joy we experience from the presence of the Most High God gives us a spiritual strength that defies explanation. We will find that our spiritual confidence and boldness to minister the Lord Jesus will take on a new power and resoluteness. The joy of living in His authority will energize our lives and strengthen us to live for Christ in a whole new way (Nehemiah 8:10). Quite literally, it will propel us into a new dimension of Christian living that we never dreamed possible.

So, how does one get to this higher existence in Christ? How does one begin to live in His authority to trample upon all the power of the evil one without injury? The answer is simple but it's not necessarily easy -- we must believe! One might say that they have sought God on this very point and yet He failed them. I would counter that they did not believe until the breakthrough or the epiphany flooded their life with this truth. God is not a respecter of persons. He has given us the same authority as He did to the seventy, but we must believe. Like the disciples He sent forth, it will take a walk of faith to begin to materialize before the realization of the reality becomes a part of our lives. Satan fears that we would even start to make movement towards this end. He trembles when a believer begins to agree with God's word that he has Jesus' authority on this earth. When believers start stepping out in faith and speaking life and hope into a dying world, it causes the demons to run for cover in anguish. Conversely, those who set out with the power of God have Holy Spirit joy as their strength. What would this world look like tomorrow if today every saint (true believer in God) would speak boldly the Gospel to the lost, lay hands on the sick and trust that God would heal them, or pray over those demonically oppressed? We would see a world turned upside down for Jesus in short order.

If joy is the evidence of being in God's presence (Psalm 16:11), then we should all desire a continual dwelling place close to His bosom. As the seventy demonstrated, joy came by exercising Jesus' authority to a devil-ridden world. In like manner, the Holy Spirit desires to bear witness to Jesus Christ's victory over sin and the devil by continual shouts of joys through the accomplished work of Calvary. He can only do this as we submit to the joyous authority established for us through Christ's death, burial, and resurrection. What could be simpler? To walk with joyous confidence, trampling down all devils and demons as one would not give a thought to crushing serpents and scorpions with the steps of our feet! He has given all who know the Risen Lord this authority. It is our responsibility to then exercise this authority with the joy that comes from abiding with Him.

Heavenly Father, we thank you for Jesus' authority to live as our Savior lived when He walked this earth. Anything less than this is an affront to what Jesus and the Holy Spirit accomplished. Lord, help us to believe that we are "authorized" to command hell to do the bidding of heaven -- that we are empowered with the authority of Jesus to trample down all the power of the evil one in our respective lives. Thank you Lord. In Jesus Name, Amen!

Your Barefoot Servant,

Rick

The Gaze of the Soul - September 29, 2013

Exodus 19:21 - Then the LORD spoke to Moses, "Go down, warn the people, so that they do not break through to the LORD to gaze, and many of them perish."

It's a remarkable thing when a man or woman begins to gaze intently on the Lord and all His goodness. Without exception, the old man within will perish as the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ bears witness with our spirits that we are children of God (Romans 8:16). Even as Moses warned the people before Mount Sinai regarding the holiness of the Lord, even so the Holy Spirit tells us that if we are indeed serious about approaching God, that we will certainly never be the same. Our mandate from God is to be like Him -- to change into His very image as we behold the Lord Jesus Christ within. The sentence of death to self is executed every time we are obedient to the wooing of the Holy Spirit to behold the Lover of our souls. The loving caress of our imagination energized by the supernatural working of Christ's Spirit need never lapse. He is always there to put the beauty of His Person ever before those who would but desire His beauty.

In our fast-paced society, we often can not fully appreciate the need for our souls to gaze upon their Redeemer. It is very much like a flower or a plant needing the sunshine for growth that we likewise need to sit and be given life-giving injections of His holy love. Without these times of refreshing, we too will wilt and droop without the proper stimulation from His magnificent Sonlight. We may pursue these times faithfully for a season, but then the cares of this world will often encroach and demand once again to the point where we languish. It is at this point that we must confess that we are dead to God, but alive to self and that we need a reversal. We need to once again "perish" as the old man dies under the gaze of the soul. This is a discipline that we will all be honing until we go to be with the Lord. A.W. Tozer in his book "The Pursuit of God" wrote regarding the discipline and regular exercise of training oneself to look intently with the gaze of the soul:

Believing, then, is directing the heart's attention to Jesus. It is lifting the mind to `behold the Lamb of God,' and never ceasing that beholding for the rest of our lives. At first this may be difficult, but it becomes easier as we look steadily at His wondrous Person, quietly and without strain. Distractions may hinder, but once the heart is committed to Him, after each brief excursion away from Him the attention will return again and rest upon Him like a wandering bird coming back to its window.

His loving hand will always bring us back to that place of abiding if we will but only submit our affections to do so. The devil will seek to dissuade by his lies, telling us that God no longer can be found because He has become impatient with our failings and many attempts to remain in God's presence. The enemy of our souls will desire our complete dissolution and to despair of attaining any future communion with God, thereby telling us to give up any further attempts. Of course, this could not be anymore further from the truth. Our Heavenly Father is full of patience and mercy toward our sometimes awkward approaches and there is such a rejoicing in His heart when we draw near! He will always reward us with an inward manifestation of His loving, approving countenance if we will but approach Him in faith.

It can be truthfully stated, that whatever we behold or gaze at with intent in this lifetime will kill us! If we stare and lust after sinful desires such as sordid gain, perversion, or any number of things that the world might seek to entice us, then these will certainly lead to a death of our inner spirit, soul, and eventually our own body. This spiritual and physical death devoid of identification with the Lord will most certainly lead to everlasting death. However, if we seek to die to carnal things and to perish from a life lived for self, then the ironic and supernatural begins to happen. Through our perishing to the things of this world we live to God and to the fullness of His life within (Romans 6:11). By gazing intently on the Lord and identifying with His death, we then allow the Lord's resurrection to empower us in every instance. The choice is ours on whom we desire to gaze, for we are hard-wired to gaze upon something. Our Heavenly Father desires that we bring every thought captive in our imaginations (II Corinthians 10:5) and gaze at the Restorer of our Souls, the Lord Jesus Christ. He will lovingly give us life, even as we perish to self in His Holy presence, if we will but only turn both our attention and our affections toward Him.

Heavenly Father, teach us to gaze with intent at your holiness. In so doing, we desire to put to death all that is not of You by taking our imaginations captive to Your beauty. Help us to continually turn toward You, knowing that You are longing to draw us near. Thank You Lord. In Jesus' Name, Amen!

Your Barefoot Servant,

Rick

The Bare Soul - Consecrated to God - September 22, 2013

James 4:8 - Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

It is quite easy to confuse our responsibility in working out our salvation regarding God's promises in our lives as believers if we are viewing things in a carnal manner. Sanctification, or God setting us apart for His will and desire and empowering us to live a holy life on this earth has never been our task. We could no more make ourselves holy (even by an infinitesimal amount) then if we were able to justify ourselves before God the Father outside of the blood of Jesus and the work on Calvary. The spiritual work of justification, sanctification, and one day glorification when we will one day be like Jesus in all respects (I John 3:2), will always be the work of the Holy Spirit. However, there is an important distinction to understand regarding how God draws us to Himself while we are in these mortal bodies. He will not draw us if we have not invited him to do so. This is the act of consecration, to literally set oneself apart thereby denouncing the sins that so easily beset us and asking God to use us even in our imperfect state. We can never clean ourselves up. That is God's desire and He does it very effectively through the work of His Spirit. We can only come before Him, confessing our faults and giving ourselves to Him and his will.

Even as we may find ourselves in a place of initial humility to God, asking Him to take our lives and use it for His glory, we may later find that we have mistaken a consecrated life for a life of sanctification. As previously stated, God is the one who changes us, sometimes in an instant and other times over the course of days, weeks, months, or even years. For instance, God may have put His finger on an area of our lives, such as sloth. A believer that God has challenged in this area may with exuberance begin to attack the problem by rising an hour earlier and by placing more diligence on their work. After a few weeks or months if they gain some success in this area, it is quite easy to not give God the glory for these apparent victories and to believe that now they've gotten a lot "better" in this area of sloth. When one takes this attitude, they have withdrawn the sacrifice of their consecration from the altar, telling God that their improvement is all that is needed. In this sad reality, this man or woman has not allowed God to finish the work but has settled for a fleshly, carnal substitute. We often do a quick inventory of our seeming weaknesses and then work with a flurry on the obvious, when we should be waiting on the Lord for Him to put His finger on the root cause. Obvious character defects are easy to work on and often show quick results, so we are drawn to seek to please God by getting a supposed handle on these. However, God wants us to submit to him in areas that we KNOW we can't commandeer as easily as rising early or adding a bit more pep to our jobs. He wants to get to the heart of the sin of sloth within our hearts. A life of consecration means a life that is daily presented on the altar of sacrifice so God can speak to the heart and thereby change the heart. It is so much like the flesh to gain the victory in a couple of areas and to self-congratulate oneself with the "seeming" victory. In reality, these are the very things that Jesus accused the Pharisees regarding, that they were beautiful on the outside but inside they were full of dead men's bones (Matthew 23:27).

James the brother or our Lord gives us a concise, step-by-step plan to first consecrate ourselves and then to live in the sanctifying power of the Lord Jesus Christ (James 4:8). We have already discussed the importance of drawing near to God in humility, thus He will draw near to us. In order to not grieve the Holy Spirit once He has drawn close to our present need, we must acknowledge TWO important realities:

Number One -- We are sinners
Number Two -- We are double-minded

The unspeakable joyous reality that Jesus Christ has dealt sin a final blow on Calvary is forever an accomplished fact in heaven and a looming reality in hell for those who do not receive His sacrifice. However, there are still those areas of sin that we live out in the carnal flesh that God wants to deal with as we serve Him on this earth. As we acknowledge that we are indeed sinners, daily, in need of His grace, then we are "cleansing our hands" as James states or we are consecrating ourselves to God and submitting to His sanctifying power. There is no stronger position as a believer to daily come before the Lord and to know that we are consecrating ourselves for God to have His way with us. This is only a strengthened position as we approach the Lord with "single-mindedness", intent on His sanctifying work and all that He can do. If we will but focus on Him and wait for his grace to isolate the root cause of our "sinning", then we will understand that the purifying of heart that James speaks of is merely the work of the Holy Spirit as we consider ourselves as God does. When we see our sin as God sees it, with no excuses or denial, then He will bring the purifying work of His Spirit into our hearts. Paul stated what James said in a different but similarly compelling manner in Romans 12:2. For if we are "transformed by the renewing of our minds", then certainly we shall be purified by the work of the Holy Spirit as He fills our hearts with what we have agreed to with God in our minds.

Beloved, God does not desire any of us to change outward behaviors as the "end all" for what He desires. Those things that we seek to change should be getting at the heart of the matter -- the very root cause of the sin that would so easily beset us. If the changes we affect are not driving toward this final goal, then we are no better off then the Pharisees of Jesus' day. If, however, we allow these changes that we seek to be springboards, showing us how we can never clean up our own hearts, then the Holy Spirit has accomplished His desire by shining the light of understanding into our hearts and minds. Once we truly agree with God through our consecration, then He can and will in His magnificent power, begin to transform us more and more into the image of His Son through sanctification. Glory be to to God!

Heavenly Father, as we draw near to you and consecrate our lives to you once again, allow us not to work merely on the "outward" manifestations, but show us the heart of the matter. Take our lives and point out the roots of selfishness, fear, anger, and any other that might be the cause of our "stalled out" sanctification. Give us single minds and clean hands in humility to Your Divine plan for each and everyone one of us. Thank you Lord. In Jesus' Name, Amen!

Your Barefoot Servant,

Rick

Ambitious Living - September 15, 2013

James 3:16 - For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.

When I started barefoot running, my reasons were two-fold. One, I definitely wanted to run pain free. My knees had been giving me fits for months and barefoot running seemed to force proper technique which alleviated the lateral shock to my legs and knees. Two, I wanted to be noticed and applauded for doing something that very few were trying and most wouldn't do. To most sensible folks, the second reason smacks of arrogance and pride. I attempted to masquerade my selfish ambition of wanting accolades for what I was doing with the reasoning "... it was for my health". The truth? I was steeped in selfish ambition which the Lord out of His abundant mercy allowed. God knew, that like anything else of this world, that I would eventually grow tired of it, experiencing its emptiness. In His infinite wisdom, He had other things in mind for my barefoot running. He inevitably wooed me into a place of submission and humility to eventually turn the attention that I was receiving over to Him, in order that He might use it for His glory.

Today, I pray that my heart is more and more His. To assume that I am free from self-promotion would be ludicrous and self-deceiving. As I walk in the ways of the Lord and allow Him to shape His ministry around me, I see the importance -- no, the imperativeness of letting Him be Lord and allowing Him to strip me of all selfish ambition. This is actually going beyond mere submission to Jesus and all He is -- for even an enemy can bow down to his victor and give feigned obedience. Beyond submission, the Lord requires identification and substitution -- the fact of what Christ has done on the cross for mankind, how he gave His life so that I might live through His death, burial, and resurrection. If I am not living a substituted life, identifying with all He has done on my behalf, then I am living a life of self. For truly my only hope is Christ living in me. As Paul so eloquently and profoundly stated in Galatians 2:20, "I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I but Christ lives in me. And the life that I now live I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me."

The horror of living selfishly ambitious is that I put the Lord up for open shame every time I choose to self-promote. As He lives within me and I am not living through His ambitions, He is subjected to this body of selfishness and sin. It is like I make a mockery of the Risen Lord who gave me the power over the body of flesh to walk in newness of life. According to James in the opening scripture, EVERY evil practice exists where envy and selfish ambition reside. One could easily say the so-called Seven Deadly Sins would be as eggs incubating in these nests of hell called envy and selfish ambition. I will go beyond that and state that any and all sin, EVERY evil practice as James states, are ovum gestating in the womb of selfish ambition. Can you imagine every evil practice? This suggests that every disgusting, revolting, sinful practice that you can even imagine is rooted in envy and selfish ambition. For truly, were these not the characteristics of Satan's sin against God? Did it not first start with envy of God's power and then inevitably to selfish ambition where he was cast from heaven? Even today, the Holy Spirit speaks through His scripture telling me that anyone who wishes or desires to be the Lord's must understand and live a life of submission. Otherwise, the opposite is a hellish devotion to self that reeks of spiritual death and self-sufficiency.

What is my desire today? Is it to only satisfy my own ambitions? If so, James through the Holy Spirit states that these desires will lead only to a more "practiced" life of evil. However, the Lord Jesus lays before me this day another choice -- Life -- His Life. It is there for the asking. It is there for the taking. This should be my main ambition in life!

Lord, take my life, my dreams, my goals,
And make my ambition, yours for souls!

Your Barefoot Servant,

Rick



The Bare Soul Archives

"Ambitious Living" was first published on January 20, 2008