Month: July 2009

No gray areas…

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So, I had posted briefly that there are no gray areas in the spiritual realm: everything is either of God or it isn’t.

This is so simple it becomes complex.  (And, yes, I’m still speaking rationally, just outside the visible box.  We must pragmatically articulate the invisible realm because it exists—one day it will even be visible!)

We know that something is of God if it lines up to the attributes of His nature, and if it doesn’t line up to that standard (even if it’s just minutely off) than it is not of God (or ‘evil’).  This is in the spiritual realm.

As humans we intersect the spiritual realm, whether or not we’re cognizant of it.  We think we come up with our own ideas (and to a certain extent we do), but more often our thoughts are coming from the unseen spiritual realm.  When we repeat or believe something we hear from God (through the Holy Spirit) it’s called prophecy or truth.  When we repeat or believe what we’re hearing in the demonic realm, it’s evil.  Engaging evil thoughts (or acting on them) is sin.  It’s not the hearing of the demonic realm that is sin, but the entering in by believing and thinking on those things.

It’s very important that we recognize good and evil (God and not-God) as occurring on the spiritual level first, because the fruit (the outward ‘doing’ of the good or evil) is totally dependent on the seed itself.  (A good seed blossoms into good fruit and vice versa.)

So, if my actions are an overflowing of the Lord’s love within me, I am doing ‘good’.  If the motivation of my actions is not aligned with the full nature of God, I am doing ‘evil’ and entering into sin.  And it really is that simple.

This is why 1 Cor 13 says that without a foundation of love (God), nothing we do matters—even if we’re feeding the poor, or acting in spiritual gifts, or engaging in other seemingly good activities.  God is love, and everything must be filtered through Him.

In another post I’ll discuss the large variety of choices and experiences we can have within the ‘God’ and ‘not-God’ realms.  There are no gray areas in the spiritual realm, but since we have God-given freedom and creativity, there are multiple manifestations of how we use the gifts and wisdom He gives us—I wouldn’t say this is a ‘gray area’ so much as a colorful spectrum of opportunities.

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Happy anniversary to us!

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Yesterday was Ben and my second year anniversary!

On July 7th, 2007, we had a beautiful and joy-filled wedding and an exciting, adventurous honeymoon in the Bahamas and Florida.  Then enter our first year of marriage…. What we didn’t share with people at the time was that our first year of marriage was very very rough.

Everything each of us brought to the marriage, spiritually speaking, seemed to multiply as soon as we became “one body” in marriage.  I, especially, was very emotionally and mentally awry, and I became violent and difficult to live with–living with myself was particularly hard.  It was at this time that I started seeing a secular psychologist and psychiatrist (again), and attempted to stabilize myself through medications, knowledge, positive thinking,… (again).

The change in our marriage occurred right about the one year mark.  We had each been seeking the Lord with great fervor–not together, though we’ve always prayed together in the evenings, but independently.  And I’d been going through a deliverance ministry with a pastor who was physically pulling the spiritual forces of darkness out of my life a little at a time.

It wasn’t until we each became spiritually stable independently that our marriage fully reached a place of not just comfortableness but intimacy.  And that intimacy keeps growing on a regular basis, and is especially wonderful when our connectivity with God is high.

We can now testify that a marriage anchored in God is very rewarding!  We hold each other accountable to walk worthy of our callings by staying in the Spirit.  And when there’s a problem, we are able to quickly identify that it’s us and the Lord against the enemy–never Ben against me or me against him.  When we approach marriage from the standpoint that we’re always on the same team, with the Lord as our coach, there is no problem that can’t be defeated.  The Lord Himself can always bring perfect peace, joy, and love to a marriage.

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Feeding the Poor

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Tonight, Ben and I went to Target, and in the parking lot met a homeless women and her son.

I wouldn’t say I’ve ever been particularly moved to give to or talk with homeless people, but in the last few months, God has really given me His heart for the poor.  And the Bible makes it quite clear that we are not to neglect the poor, the widows and the orphans.

When this couple approached us, without hesitation we talked to them, gave them money and a Bible, and told them that the Lord loves them–and they were very excited.  The young boy, especially, said, “A Bible!  Is that where it talks about God and stuff?!”  And when I told him that yes, and God loves you as much as He can possibly love, his face was glowing with joy.

Afterward, I felt so deeply for them that we prayed on their behalf in the store, and I wished I could have spent more time talking with them and sharing the good news of the gospel in its full depth.  Lately, it seems, I am often moved to weeping when the Spirit shows me glimpses of His love for the poor.  It is so important to me that everyone know that the Lord is enough to sustain us–physically, emotionally, and spiritually, no matter how poor or rich or what our circumstance.  He really is all we need.

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Review of The Bondage Breaker by Neil T. Anderson

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I highly recommend The Bondage Breaker; it is one of the only books I buy in ‘bulk’.

Jesus promised that if we continually read His Word (the Bible), we will become His disciples, we will know the truth, and the truth will make us free (John 8:31-32)!  But it can be really hard to press in to the Lord and hold on to the truth–especially when we are tormented by negative thoughts, nightmares, addictions, depression, and so on.

This is probably the BEST book on how to achieve complete freedom in Christ.  It is so dense in scripture and spiritual truths that it can be read over and over again.

It exposes the spiritual battle going on behind every psychological disorder, addiction, negative thought, et cetera, and teaches Christians how to fight and win those battles through Jesus.  As a spiritual counselor and University professor, Anderson came alongside many people in deep bondage and recalls their stories, battles, and successes.  He also outlines a concise guide to personal freedom based on the structure used in his own deliverance ministry, and includes a Biblical list of how to intercede for the possessed and tormented.

Whether you are in bondage yourself, or just desire to help others find freedom from the only one who can give it completely, this book will be a powerful aid.

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My Spiritual Independence Day

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Happy American Independence Day!  Today is also the anniversary of my baptism in water!

I was baptized, first,  as an infant in an ELCA Lutheran church, per German tradition.  I won’t say there’s anything wrong with baptizing infants, but true baptism is a personal choice.  As I began to understand my own relationship with the Lord, I wanted to demonstrate my commitment to Him through baptism.  I didn’t have a home church at this time, so I went back to my family’s Lutheran church and met with each of the pastors until I had convinced one to baptize me ‘again’–this time by immersion, since the word baptism literally means ‘to immerse, to submerge, to cleanse, to overwhelm’.

I consider that this “second” baptism was my ONE baptism, as Ephesians 4:5 says (“one Lord, one faith, one baptism“).

The baptism in water is a baptism of repentance (Matt 3), an appeal to God for a good conscience (1 Peter 3:21), and a baptism into death as we symbolically (and in our hearts) lay down our lives for the Lord that we may be resurrected in Him with a renewed mind (Rom 6).  Baptism in water isn’t the only baptism (there is also the baptism in the Holy Spirit and the baptism in fire; Matt 3:11), but the baptism in water is special because it marks our heartfelt commitment to God the Father and the significance of our decision to follow Jesus by sacrificing ourselves.  And while we should continuously ask for more of the Holy Spirit and to be refined by His fire, it only takes one heartfelt baptism in water to enter into a covenant commitment with the Lord.

Being baptized in water was a very special day for me–as it should be.  I was baptized in the bay at my parent’s summer property with only a handful of close friends and family.  I cried through the whole ceremony because I was so moved by the gravity of my commitment to Jesus.  I could barely say the vows I had chosen.

I didn’t plan to be baptized on the Fourth of July, but the symbolism is perfect!  Just as we celebrate our country’s freedom, I am celebrating my personal freedom through Christ.  Praise the Lord!

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Wake Up Sleeping Giant!

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Tonight I’m asking the Lord:  How long will your people value the world over You?  What will it take, O Lord, to wake up the Western church?

We who call ourselves Christians have forgotten to love the Lord with all of our hearts.  We have a large bubble of “permissible but not beneficial” activities that we choose over our God.  We pray for His blessing, and forget that He’s all we need–literally!

The problem is not that we aren’t thinking about others, it’s that we aren’t thinking about God.  Connecting with God’s heart overflows into a love of others, but if it doesn’t start with a fear and knowledge of God Himself, it’s worthless.

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