Truth

Nicole, you've opened a whole can of worms here with your questions, and I'm loving it!
I asked my wife for her input regarding what you wrote in response to my piece I wrote, so the following are her thoughts and I will be adding mine later. I want to say that I am in agreement though with what she has said here.

I am in no way saying the following is the gospel truth; it’s just how I see things.

I think that anything that presents itself as ‘truth’ outside of knowing the Lord is merely an illusion, much like how Neo abruptly realized that his prior life was not the ‘real’ reality. The truth is that all of humankind was ‘born in sin and shaped in iniquity’. Our outlook on life has been distorted from birth because it’s based on lies; the scriptures state unequivocally that the entire world lies in the power of the evil one. It’s only when we come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ that we begin to question what we had once so firmly believed to be true. But even then, there are degrees and limitations to the extent of ‘truth’ one is willing to perceive.

I think that our choices don’t necessarily define our reality but they do play a role in how much truth we eventually see. For example, several times in my life I’ve accepted ‘the red pill’. I knew the Lord would not love me any less had I taken the blue pill, but if I had I knew I would have missed out on God’s best. Choosing the red pill has resulted in much pain, suffering and sorrow, but I know without a doubt I would never have come to know the Lord the way I do today otherwise. Consider the folk who are content to sit in a pew. It’s a comfortable, familiar place – for them. Maybe at some point in their lives they were offered a red pill and turned it down, preferring to live a life with as little drama as possible. There’s no doubt they’re born again, but the ‘truth’ they see is limited to the secure confines of their safe little world.

On the other hand, there are others who are willing to have their eyes opened no matter what the cost. As was the case with Neo, this process is extremely painful. Why? It’s because the enemy of our soul does not want us to know the truth, and he will do his diabolical utmost to keep us blind and in bondage. The problem is, we don’t have eyes to see how he’s twisted and perverted our thinking.

I think that the bottom line is that truth is available to anyone willing to receive it…and not everyone is.

Margo/Rich

Definition

The following is from a brother, Mike Rule, you can view his blog here.

What he shared here is something in my opinion that was birthed out of his life being reduced to one thing, and in my opinion that one thing is, “That I might know Him”!

None of us who think we know our inner motives, reasoning’s, and heart attitudes know any reality apart from His divine untameableness blessing our lives by working utter devastation in them.
Jesus is NOT an add on to what may already be working so wonderfully well in your already smooth sailing life, He has come as a Ruling Prince, bearing a sword, His intent is division, separating the flesh from the spirit, and therein lies the unpronounceable pain.
Out from this prolonged agony is birthed the living ecstasy of knowing Him and wanting nothing more than for that burning reality to consume the wood, hay and stubble that I have known as living in the “real world.”

Rich


I am realizing more and more that our hope cannot be in what God is going to do in our situation. It cannot be in Him changing the circumstances; it cannot be in Him changing us IN the circumstances. Our hope can only be in Him, and Him alone. I teach, preach, and counsel that Jesus is enough, but in daily life I really struggle to believe it when God makes so little sense. Amen. I am glad to participate in His life, to be involved with a God who is not predictable, who really is not safe. But I am so thankful that He is good, all the time. However, there are SO many times when it does not FEEL like He is good.

Recently, as He and I were having a discussion, He point blank said, "Mike, I love you as you are. Flesh and all. Stop expecting yourself to change. Stop expecting me to do some miraculous thing to save you from your circumstances. Stop expecting me to do so miraculous thing to save you IN your circumstances. Am I not enough for you?" As I have continued to walk this journey and argue with God, I still continue to pray as He has led, "ENOUGH". During one of these discussion/arguments, He recently revealed something very profound. One of the Hebrew names of God - Shaddai - is translated into English as, "Almighty God", but it can also just as easily be translated to mean, "That's Enough." I find that interesting to say the least. The timing of His revelation is quite profound to me and not a coincidence I am sure. What does it all mean? I have no clue. In the past I would have made many assumptions about what it meant. Now? As I said, I have no clue. However, I trust Him to teach me in spite of all my kicking and screaming and cussing.

We all want so much attention from God. We want Him to make things go OUR way. We have huge temper tantrums when God does not do things the way we want, in the time we want. Most of us have made God into an idol, and we attempt to craft Him after our own designs, but He cannot be crafted. He cannot be forged. He does not play the game according to our rules, and so often He does not play the game according to our perception of His rules. Did it ever occur to you that your frustration is a revelation about your situation?

Can you take up the challenge to embrace this God who is untameable? It will be the greatest challenge of your life. He will not necessarily change you; He will not necessarily change your circumstances. Isn’t it arrogant of us to think He even wants to? We stress and fuss about our circumstances and think they are the problem. But the problem is rarely if ever the problem. WE fuss and stress about ourselves too, we conclude that maybe WE are the problem. Did it ever occur to you that it may not even be about your comfort or happiness?

Again, I ask, can you take up the challenge to embrace this God who is untameable? You will learn things about yourself that will make you shudder in revulsion. You will learn things about Him that you will not like. Yet you will also find encouragement and hope in spite of it all. Is it worth it? Honestly, I don't know. For me, the verdict is still out. But this I can say... just as the disciples said to Jesus, "To whom else can we go? Only You have the words of eternal life" Amen? Amen!

“May all your expectations be frustrated, may all your plans be thwarted, may all your desires be withered into nothingness, that you may experience the powerlessness and poverty of a child and sing and dance in the love of God who is Father, Son, and Spirit.”

A Better Mouse Trap

What Did You Say the Flesh Is?

We should not misinterpret the cravings of the flesh as mere physical desires such as hunger or thirst. The cravings of the flesh are the illegitimate physical and psychological desires that we experience. The difference between the longings of the body (the satisfying of physical need) and the desires of the flesh are moral differences. There is nothing at all improper or immoral about feeling hungry for instance. This is a physical need. The illegitimate fleshly craving that parallels this would be gluttony or the desire to consume beyond the satisfying of any reasonable physical need. This is the characteristic of all Satan’s activity in the world. The evil one cannot create anything new; he can only mutate what God has created.

Furthermore, the flesh is not a collection of inanimate desires or cravings. The flesh is, in reality, a personality. The flesh is the personality of Satan in our physical bodies. (Gal.5:16)
If you limit your view of the flesh to the one meaning of the Greek word sarx translated “meat” you will have difficulty interpreting this verse. Hamburger cannot lust. It requires a conscious being to engage in lust or hate or envy. Yet often in Scripture the flesh is attributed with having active functions and desires such as these.

The only possible explanation for the way the Bible uses this concept of “flesh” is that it refers to an attribute beyond our physical bodies. As we have stated before, Scripture uses the word flesh to refer to both physical tissue and to something that is an active and living personality in our bodies. Further, the Bible often uses the “flesh” to indicate something that is in active and ongoing opposition to God. The only entity in creation that fits the characteristics assigned to the flesh is Satan. (1John2:16)
From the verse in 1John above, I believe that it is clear that the personality of the flesh comes from Satan. It is Satan who is the “prince of this world” (John12:31).
Pride was the sin that led to Satan’s downfall and is one of principal character traits (see Ezekiel 28:17). I am quite convinced that the flesh, when spoken of in Scripture as an active force, is the evil one residing in our physical bodies. It is my belief that when humanity fell in the Garden of Eden, this allowed Satan to infest our bodies or allowed God to exile him there. The part of our physical being that was corrupted by the devil’s indwelling became “the flesh.”

An additional indication that Satan was allowed to indwell our physical bodies at the fall comes back to the issue of the redemptive status of our physical bodies. Paul states in several places that our physical bodies are not redeemed but replaced: (1Conrinthias15:50).

Our souls and spirits are made immortal by salvation but our bodies are considered by the Father to be unrecoverable. The only person that Scripture shows to be beyond redemption is Satan. The only reason I can see for God’s refusal to resurrect our physical bodies is that they are spoiled by the presence of Satan: (1Corinthians15:42). I believe that it was the Father’s intention from the beginning to use the body as a trap for the evil one. This is why the physical body was designed from the beginning as a temporary part of us. We are raised with a body but it is a different kind of body from the one we have now. I believe that it is a body without “flesh.”

From the flesh, the evil one now tempts, condemns and accuses us. It is from his perch in our flesh that Satan wages war on our minds and emotions in an attempt to gain influence over our thinking and thus lead us into doing that which is harmful to God, destructive to ourselves and harmful to those around us.This is the principle method Satan employs to try to oppose God and His working in our lives and in the physical world. This is the way that Satan attempts to hurt the Father by corrupting His creation and harming His children. Interestingly, this is also the way that God chose to deal with Satan in this world.

Next Part, “Exiled to the Flesh.”

Rich