Recovered In Christ

Walking In The Dust Of Jesus
By Layla Nadda
Friday, April 5, 2013

“Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly.Never be wise in your own sight. Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” (Romans 12:9-21)

Hold on one second!! Is Paul saying I get to throw burning hot coals on my “enemy’s” head?? On a bad day I may want to sign up for that – or in the past I’d have used that statement to hold something against the Bible, or just try and ignore it – thinking I’m doing God a favor by overlooking some harsh statement!

But what is the truth here? With our individualism, secularism, materialism, and biblical and cultural illiteracy I am surprised that we can read and understand the Bible at all! No – textbooks and research and a PhD in Jewish culture are not necessary to accept Christ as Savior and be filled with the Holy Spirit that WILL open the scriptures for us to understand and give us the power to live according to God’s laws. But so much of our difficulty in understanding and delays in living God’s Way of life, not only come from ignorance of the cultural context of scripture – but comes from our cultural self-centeredness to not even wonder about these things – it does not even occur to us that we are not to just “apply” Christ and biblical morality to our lives – but to instead fit ourselves according to God’s plan! What does this mean – should I trade the subway train I take to work for a camel ride? No. It means being willing to cross the cultural gulf through whatever means I have available.

Many years ago my mother used to tease me that my “watered down” knowledge of our Arab culture was that of a pheasant visiting a King’s palace for the first time! How was she able to preserve our Arab heritage and way of life and customs and morality into my very DNA? She didn’t give me a book. She didn’t send to “Arabic” class or seem to teach me anything. She simply lived that way of life. It is who she is. “I walked in her dust”. A term that comes from Jewish discipleship. Men who walked so closely in their Rabbi’s way of life, that the Rabbi’s dust kicked up from their daily walk would cover the disciple walking with him!

I ate my mother’s food, I listened to her stories – told through her understanding, I was raised in her interpretation of her Arabic culture – and it is now as much a part of me living in downtown Toronto, Canada as if I had stayed in Damascus, Syria. She crossed and covered the gulf for me. She was my bridge.

Interestingly enough – she as a Palestinian Muslim woman who had never studied Jesus Christ or read a single book about Him – seemed to know so much more about Him than I did at the time, as I was studying and reading and researching!! It was like she knew His family, like he was a distant relative rather than an ideology! Many of the biblical customs and morality that stumped me and my friends; she waved away the confusion and explained in 5 minutes in between sips of tea!

I began to see that the difficulty and struggle for so many “westernized” Christians to live according to God’s word comes from this gulf that needs to be bridged.

I am not suggesting taking a sabbatical to live in Jerusalem or living in a tent to “feel” closer to Jesus – I am also not suggesting reducing the word of God to cultural context only. The Bible has a historical framework. Its characters are real people that lived in verifiable locations during historical events. It also reveals God’s eternal plan of redeeming the fallen human race.  It is the account of God’s action in the world and his purpose with all creation.

My point is that whatever gets lost in ‘translation’ that seems to put Christ in such a dusty dry box for so many people won’t be fixed only by focusing on your singular, individual experience and understanding of Christ, but it will also not be fixed by taking a crash course in biblical culture! The REAL solution is to allow the Holy Spirit to do His job! He is the Bridge, the Teacher, The Comforter, The Helper…He is the one who will lead you into all knowledge and understanding! He will be able to help you not only learn and apply what it means to place coals on your enemies’ heads – but He will progressively change us into His likeness that His life may be lived in and through us.

Paul says that if we give food and drink to our enemies, we shall be heaping “coals of fire on their heads.” To us this doesn’t sound like forgiveness, but like taking vengeance.

In the Bible lands almost everything is carried on the head – water jars, baskets of fruit, vegetables, fish or any other article. Those carrying the burden rarely touch it with the hands, and they walk through crowded streets and lanes with perfect ease. In many homes the only fire they have is kept in a brazier, which they use for simple cooking as well as for warmth. They plan to always keep it burning. If it should go out, some member of the family will take the brazier to a neighbor’s house to borrow fire.

Then she will lift the brazier to her head and start for home. If her neighbor is a generous woman, she will heap the brazier full of coals. To feed an enemy and give him drink was like heaping the empty brazier with live coals – which meant food, warmth and almost life itself to the person or home needing it, and was the symbol of finest generosity. – B.M. Bowen, Strange Scriptures that Perplex the Western Mind

We, Westerners, usually picture vengeance when we think of pouring hot coals on someone’s heads. The Semites pictured something completely different … We, Westerners, must break some of our traditions, if we are to ever come to a deep understanding of the God of the Bible. It is full of beautiful pictures like this one. – Gary Amirault, Tentmaker

“It’s hard not to wonder if the early Jerusalem church might have had a few advantages in understanding Jesus that can help us as disciples today. In the first chapters in Acts we read of their amazing passion — their Spirit-filled prayers, their joyful gatherings, their loving generosity, and their dynamic witness to their neighbors. Until a few years ago, it never occurred to me that the first believers of the infant Jerusalem church in Acts were all observant Jews, men and women who continued to study the Torah and worship in the Temple, even after they came to faith in Christ. In fact, for the first half of Acts, the rapidly expanding church was almost entirely Jewish. It was only after God pushed Peter out of his comfort zone to witness to the Gentile centurion Cornelius that the church considered the possibility that the gospel was for Gentiles too (Acts 10).

We Christians often neglect this as we retell the stories of the early believers’ joyful fellowship. We assume that the remarkable success of the Jerusalem church came from the fact that believers were freshly filled with the Holy Spirit. But Paul’s Gentile church at Corinth had experienced the same outpouring, yet it struggled with immaturity, division, and sexual immorality. Why the difference? As wonderful as it was that the Corinthians found Christ, most had come out of a pagan reality, and their lives had not been saturated by the Scriptures that Jesus read, our Old Testament. They lacked the Torah’s training in moral laws that Christ built upon. They had a lot of catching up to do. Moreover, while the Gentiles worshiped Jesus as their Savior and God, the Jewish believers also knew him as their rabbi. As Jesus’ disciples, they knew their obligation was to memorize his words and live according to his halakha, his interpretation of how God’s Word teaches us to live.” – AR

http://dailygoodies.wordpress.com/2010/01/04/heaping-coals-of-fire-a-figure-of-speech/

And He’ll Huff And He’ll Puff and He’ll Blow Your House Down!

Sometimes I love thinking about old children’s stories – like the 3 little pigs. I also love when God connects something so deep and profound with something so simple. 3 little pigs – 2 were lazy and half assed and built their houses out of straw and sticks…and got eaten by the wolf. The 3rd piggy built his house out of brick and not only didn’t get eaten…the wolf trying to come through another entryway…fell to his death in a fiery pot in the piggy’s house!!

I wonder if the other 2 piggy’s while alive felt  judged by the 3rd? Did they sit around dissecting complex socio/political ideas – and felt insulted by what they perceived were self-righteous “bricks” that Mr.3 was using to build his home?

Did they fight for their right to insist that straw and sticks were EQUAL and valid choices to the brick? Perhaps they weren’t even lazy. Perhaps they simply didn’t believe in a silly wolf who was on his way to devour them! Perhaps they had concluded that he was nothing more than a remnant of a popular “archetype”. Perhaps they did believe in the existance of the wolf – but felt he was misunderstood, he was just a gentle vegetarian who’d been falsely accused of eating piggys! Perhaps they clung to their ideology that there is no “us” versus “them”…there is only love!! Or maybe they really thought they could reason with him, live in harmony with him, perhaps they even sent Mr. 3 some books and articles on love and tolerance of wolfies! I wonder what they thought as he swallowed them?

I believe with all my heart that God uses time and kindness to convince you to leave your house and philosphy of straw and knock on Mr.3′s door – he’ll let you in! God has not left you without a Mr.3 piggy in your neighborhood. The house of brick fits way more than just one little piggy.

“Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; for the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.” Psalm 1

Amen.

(prayers and posts – 2012 – a year in review)

These prayers were born out of the greatest suffering I lived through – in the relentless task of being broken down into something that God could build up. Painful and necessary. They were not “incantations” to produce a spiritual fertilizer, or some kind of process to avoid pain, the pain of being carved out from the inside out to produce the depth that is required to not only endure the race that is the faith, but to be able to contain the love that is poured into our hearts. Thank God for the great teachers and mentors who walked with me during this time, and thank God for Christ who is in complete control.

“More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” Romans 5:3-5

With God’s help today I am willing to be teachable, and a proper student. I am willing to take direction. I am willing to accept the truth that I am a student.

With God’s help today I will not censor my thoughts and feelings, I will express them truthfully, ignoring the urge to “tidy up” the scene in my heart or mind before “snapping the Polaroid”, expressing only the accurate snapshot of my true thoughts and feelings.

With God’s help today I do not require the attention and approval of others in order to be at peace with myself.

With God’s help today, I renounce all pride, vanity, and the need to be perceived as spiritual and wise.

With God’s help today, I will not hide my painful defects and weakness and cowardice behind spiritual “specialness” I will face up to the painful truth that I am afraid, awkward, and needy, and will not move to hide these things about myself from others or God.

With God’s help today I will pray honestly to Jesus Christ, telling him exactly what I feel and think, never telling him what solution I need, asking Him to tell me what I should next to be more AUTHENTIC, and how to heal on a deeper soul level.

Dear Holy Spirit of God, please go deep into me, deep into the cellular memory, and heal the cellular imprint that is lodged there connected with this pain. I ask in Jesus’ holy name that you bring it up and out, to be released, removed and dissolved by the Holy Light of your Love, and replace it with your Holy Spirit, and do so now.

Dear Lord Jesus Christ, I offer you every single part of me, my memories and pain, and everything that has imprinted on my soul. I commit my soul into your hands. I offer you every cell, and every strand of raw energy vibrating in my existence. Mold me in any way you so choose. I give you complete control of my thoughts, emotions and will. I command every part of me, conscious and unconscious to submit to God, and obey only the Will of Lord Jesus Christ.

Dear Lord Jesus, I ask that you ignore any request that I have that is not perfectly aligned with your Will. I ask you for the miracle of forgiveness; please forgive me for everything I have ever done to hurt people and myself. Please forgive me for hating the people who hurt me, and for hating myself. Release us all in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and let the white Light of God himself shine down on us and fill every single cell with Love and Light, and heal every single iota of hurt.

Dear Lord Jesus Christ, you said that if I call out your name I will be saved. From the deepest part of who and what I am I call upon you Lord Jesus. From the secret pocket of my heart I call your Name Lord Jesus. From the deepest recess of my mind I call out your Name Lord Jesus Christ. From the loneliest desert that my soul has been hiding, I call out your Name, Lord Jesus the Christ. Dear Jesus of Nazareth, from the feeblest fragment of my will, I call out to you. I call out to you. I call out to you Lord Jesus. With every beat of my heart, and breath of my lungs, may each be a calling to you, oh my Lord Jesus Christ. Lord Jesus Christ convict my heart unto repentance. Let me not hide any secret hate or shame from you. Let me eat of your flesh and drink of your blood, this day Lord Jesus, that every single part of me may be reborn in your image and likeness extending into Eternity. Soften the hardness of my heart Lord, that the words may flow easily from my mouth to your ear. In you I Trust Lord Jesus, in you I hide, in you is my deepest call answered. I call out your Name; I call out your Name Lord. I call out your Name, my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

“But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Romans 10:8-13

The Grave is empty! After Jesus was crucified and before his followers saw Him resurrected they were in despair – having not truly understood or believed his words when He was alive that this would happen! They thought that maybe someone had stolen His body – who knows what they were thinking after going through the horrible experience of knowing that their teacher had died a brutal and vicious death on the cross!!

The Grave is empty! Not only had Jesus come back to life – He Defeated Death! He overcame it! And kicked the Devil’s ass! He destroyed his claim on humanity. Jesus was more than another Lazarus – He wasn’t just brought back to life, He is LIFE, He will never die again! …and His sad disciples had no idea – not yet! I wonder what they felt like looking into that empty grave? When I think about the empty grave in my life – there are no accurate words to say thank you. What you have done for me has created in me an irrevocable loyalty to you! I should be dead in the ground but I’m not. I should be in prison, but I’m not. I should be depressed and anxious and full of shame, but I’m not. I should be overwhelmed and discouraged, but I’m not. I should be intimidated to be quieter and more subtle about who you are Jesus – but I’m not. I should be lost to hell, but I’m not.

Why? Because The Grave is empty! It took Mary Magdalen a few minutes to realize why the tomb was empty, it took some of Jesus’ other followers a few hours. It took me years. Years to realize who you really are Jesus. To realize why it is that the grave in my life is empty, and that it is ONLY possible because you walked out of yours over 2000 years ago!

Brothers and sisters rest your heads in peace today in the knowledge that the Lord’s Grave is empty!!! This is the good news!!! I love you! Amen.

This is so incredibly helpful and bang on….READ the whole thing!!!

CLAIRVOYANCE AND CLAIRAUDIENCE AND THEIR CAUSE

It is said that clairvoyance and clairaudience powers are “natural gifts,” but they are really the result of an evil state, in which evil spirits are able to manifest their power and presence. Crystal gazing is also merely a means of inducing this passive state, and so with all the various methods in vogue in the East and elsewhere, to bring about the manifestations and workings of supernatural powers. The principle is the same. The key to all these, and other Satanic workings in the human frame, is the need of the suspension of the mental activity; whereas in all Divine revelations, the mental faculties and powers are unchecked, and in full operation.

The people at the foot of Mount Sinai “saw God,” yet they were not “passive.” Vision–whether mental or physical–is really active and not passive, that is, separated from volition and personal action; and “visions” may be either physical, mental or spiritual.

SUPERNATURAL WRITING AND SPEAKING

In writing under the control of evil spirits the same principle is manifested, i.e., the suspension of volitional and mental action:–

1. The person writes what he hears dictated audibly in a supernatural way.
2. He writes what he sees presented to his mind supernaturally, sometimes with rapidity as if compelled.
3. He writes automatically, as his hand is moved, without any mental, or volitional action.

In descriptive writing, or writing from what is supernaturally presented to the mind, the words may pass before the mental vision as clearly as if they were seen by the physical eye, sometimes in letters of fire, or light. The same may take place in public speaking, when the speaker may describe what is presented to the mental vision–that is, if his mind is in a passive state–thinking that all is “illumination by the Holy Spirit.”

This may take place in some, in such a refined degree, that the man is deceived into thinking that it comes from a “brilliant mind,” “gifts of imagination,” “delicate power of poetic description,” whilst none of it is the real product of his own mind; for it is not the outcome of thought , but the seizing of subtly presented “pictures” given at the moment when writing or speaking. It can be tested by its fruits; being (1) empty of tangible results, and sometimes (2) mischievous in suggestion; certain sentences intermingled with words of truth, being subversive of the pure gospel; whilst the whole has no spiritual substance at the back of the beautiful words, or any permanent result in the salvation of the unregenerate, or the building up of believers.

PREACHING FROM MENTAL PRESENTATIONS

It is possible that this may be the hidden cause of the evanescent character of Missions carried out on a wide scale, which seem at the time to be fruitful, but which pass away like the morning cloud in a few brief weeks. The speakers gave the truths of the gospel, but may have preached from mental presentations, and not from the source of the spirit in co-operate action with the Holy Spirit. The powers of darkness have nothing to fear from words–even words of gospel truth–if there is no fructifying life in them from the source of the Spirit of God; and that there are spurious conversions on a wide scale permitted, if not brought about, by the spirits of evil, is now beyond question. It is easy for them to, apparently, let go their captives when it suits their plans to deceive the people of God, and there is much in the religious movements of to-day which absorbs the energy of Christians, and appears to extend the Kingdom of God, but leaves undisturbed the kingdom of the spirits of the air.

In automatic writing, and in the more refined presentations referred to, the mind is passive in greater or lesser degree; and the man writes, or speaks, not what comes from the normal action of the mind, but what he sees presented to him.

Ignorant of the existence of evil spirits, and their unceasing schemes to deceive every child of God; and equally ignorant of the danger of fulfilling the conditions for their working; a great number of believers do not know that in the ordinary circumstances of life they can be opening themselves to the deceptions of supernatural beings, who are keenly watching to gain admittance, and to use the servants of God, e.g., a public speaker who seeks to depend on “supernatural help,” and does not keenly use his brain in alert spiritual “thinking,” practically cultivates a passive condition which the enemy may make use of to the fullest degree; and thus unknowingly gain an influence in his life, which is manifested in unaccountable attacks of all kinds, with, apparently, no ground given by him in life or action.

The same may be true of an author, who in some way, unknown to himself, has become passive–or bluntly put, mediumistic –in some faculty, or part of his inner life, and thereby has opened himself to the supernatural “presentations” of evil spirits, for his speaking or writing, which he thinks is illumination from God.

TRUE WRITING UNDER THE HAND OF GOD

In writing under Divine guidance, three factors are required:

1. A spirit indwelt by, and moved by the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1: 21).
2. An alert and renewed mind, acute in active power of apprehension and intelligent thinking (See 1 Cor. 14: 20).
3. A body under the complete control of the spirit and volition of the man (See 1 Cor. 9: 27).

In writing or speaking under the control of evil spirits, a man is not truly “spiritual,” for his spirit is not in use; what appears “spiritual” being the work of supernatural powers manifesting their spirit power on, and through, the passive mind of the man, apart from his spirit. But in writing under the guidance of God; since it is not given by dictation, as to an automaton, but by the movement of the Holy Spirit in the man’s spirit; the man must be truly spiritual, the source being in the spirit, and not in the mind, as it is when men write the products of their own thoughts. The Scriptures bear the marks of their having been written in this way. “Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost (2 Pet. 1: 21). They spake from God,” but as men they received and uttered, or wrote the truth given in the spirit, but transmitted through the full use of their divinely enlightened faculties.

Paul’s writings all show the fulfillment of the three requirements mentioned; of his spirit being open to the movement of the Holy Spirit, his mind in full use, and his body an obedient instrument under the control of the spirit; his letters also revealing the capacity of the renewed mind for apprehending the deep things of God.

PAUL’S POWER OF SPIRITUAL DISCERNMENT

In Paul, too, we see the clear discrimination possessed by a spiritual man, able to recognize what came from God in his spirit, and what was the product of his own thought in the exercise of his judgment as a servant of God.

The records of most “supernatural revelations” today, almost entirely show (1) the absence of the requirements for true Divine manifestations; and (2) of having fulfilled the law for the workings of evil spirits; i.e. , the suspension of the use of the mental faculties, with the consequent emptiness, and sometimes childish folly, of the words said to have been “spoken by God,” and the purposelessness of the “visions,” and other manifestations.

Let the conditions necessary for evil spirits to work in the human frame be fulfilled, and then no experience of the past, no dignity of position, no intellectual training, or knowledge, will protect the believer from their counterfeit manifestations. Consequently, the deceiver will do anything and everything to engender passivity in the children of God, in any form whatsoever, either in spirit, soul or body; for he knows that sooner or later he will gain the ground then given. It can therefore be said unhesitatingly, that if the law for evil spirits to work is fulfilled, in the non-use of the mind and faculties, evil spirits will work and deceive the very elect of God.”

SOME WAYS OF DELIVERANCE FROM POSSESSION

Much depends upon the cause of the possession. In China, among the heathen, demons are cast out immediately after the simple prayer of faith by the Christians. In Germany, an evangelist of ripe experience, speaks of men delivered from demon-possession after one prayer, but others who were “weeks, months, years, before they got free,” and this only after much wrestling in prayer by men of God, mighty in faith.

But for believers who have become possessed by evil spirits as a result of deception, the main principle of deliverance is them being undeceived . To deal with “possession” which is the fruit of deception, by commanding the spirits to depart, is to deal with the effect, rather than the cause; and to bring about only temporary, if any, relief, with the danger of the evil spirit returning quickly to his “house,” i.e., the ground which gave him lodgment.

Believers who discover themselves to be possessed through deception, should therefore seek light upon the ground through which the evil spirits entered, and give it up. It is by ground given that they obtain access, and it is by ground removed that they depart.  It is for this reason that emphasis is placed in this book upon the understanding of truth, rather than upon the aspect of the casting out of demons, as it is written for the deliverance of believers deceived and possessed through accepting counterfeits of the working of God.

Deceived and possessed believers should also be taught the fundamental principle of the attitude of the human will in relation to God, and Satan, and his deceiving spirits. The Scriptures are full of this truth. “If any man willeth to do His will, he shall know . .” (John 7: 17); “he that will, let him take . .” (Rev. 22: 17).

Let it be emphasized again: deceiving spirits are obliged to get the consent of the man’s will ere they can enter, and as to how far they enter. This they do by counterfeit and deception. They can only obtain the believer’s surrender to their power, by feigning to be God. In fact, obsession, and possession, in all cases, both of regenerate and unregenerate, is based upon deception and guile; for it is not until a man is very fully under the power of Satan that he willfully, and knowingly, yields himself up to him.

Deliverance, therefore, requires the active exercise of the will, which must, in reliance upon the strength of God, and in the face of all beguilements, and suffering, be kept steadily set against the powers of darkness, to nullify previous consent to their working.

Deceiving spirits also counterfeit God in His holiness, and in His righteousness. The effect in such a case is to make the believer afraid of God, and to shrink away from, and loathe all spiritual things. They try to terrorize those who are timid and fearful; to influence those who yearn for power; or to draw into their control those who are open to the attraction of love and happiness.

– Jessie Penn-Lewis; War On The Saints, Chapter 5

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to  this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” Romans 12:1-2

When I first started highschool I was terrified, from a combination of many things. Being out of my comfort zone, having to figure out where all my classes were, where was I going to sit, who was I going to have lunch with? Would my junior high friendships survive this? All the new smells, sounds and information rushing at me. Definitely a major shock, especially to an emotionally damaged kid like I was! Out of all the pressing issues around me, finding my assigned locker and learning how to operate my combo lock was at the top of the list. In the winding hallways and corners of my huge school – finding and opening my locker was a huge deal! It was a pathetic attempt to stave off the spiraling horror of my life – perhaps an oasis in the desert or maybe nothing more than a mirage. If I could just get myself to that locker and get it open – I could avoid thinking about and dealing with all the questions I was hopelessly lost about. How do I explain my crazy abusive parents to my friends? How could I make myself beautiful and hope that the boys, who’s attention I desperately wanted would not see the ugliness my mother told me was there. How could I focus on the conversation about weekend plans while avoiding thinking about my mother’s suicidal rants? How do I pretend to be normal?

If you’re looking for a story of how I overcame the hellish depravity of my family life, or the narcissistic pressure of self-centered fear..and soared to great heights of confidence and some great spiritual lessons, you’re out of luck! This highschool story does not end in any glory – it was brutal, and it stayed that way – for a very long time!!! I eventually dropped out and stopped playing the double life of being ‘normal’ – I ended my own personal torment of that by abandoning my life to crime, vanity and drugs!! That really cured my highschool jitters and obliterated my self-consciousness!!

Many years later…after my KING in shining armor (God) rescued me and delivered me – and walked through many fires with me – I happened to go back to school – I started University  – in a place with even more winding hallways…and more uncertainty, I was close to a decade older than the students in my class! Was I nervous? Yes. Was I obsessed with finding all my classes and what the boys thought of me? Kind of! LOL!

Was I in torment? No. Was I LOST? No. Why? You see – I had even worse odds against me, I was a single mother out of my element in this school. I had been out of the ‘habit’ of learning for more than 10 years. It was 10 times bigger than my last school! I knew even less than I did in highschool and yet had way more expected of me. Why was I not tormented? Why did I have the answers and solutions to things that had baffled me before? Why did I have so much confidence in the face of so much uncertainty?

Because I was not following the world anymore – even though I was fully immersed in it! I was not following what was expected of me, I was not following my family or my feelings. I was following God. I was no longer conformed to the world – I was transformed by the renewal of my mind and was THEREFORE able to discern the Will of God.

This is the point I am trying to make, that small example of being back in school is a microcosm of being in the world but not of it. I am surrounded by so many Christians who can’t seem to choose a pair of socks without the crippling doubt plaguing them of “I’m not sure this is God’s Will for me” – they are constantly unsure of what move to make – they can’t seem to make any spontaneous decisions and somehow that’s been spiritualized into them believeing they are deferring to seek God’s Will rather than their own in that situation. But this is far from the truth. In truth – they are still approaching the world with a mind that is still conformed to it – attempting not to be!!! Rather than a mind renewed by being a living sacrifice to God which comes as a response to the mercies of God! A renewed mind that would have the power to test and discern what is the good, acceptable, perfect will of God.

They are like a highschool graduate who has never found their locker in the 4 years they were in highschool! But they can’t seem to see how ridiculous it sounds to keep asking “Where is my locker?” umm..after 4 years of being in that highschool and not finding your locker – I’d start asking something more along the lines of “What’s wrong with me?” – If you’re a real Born again Christian and yet you still keep asking “Is this God’s Will for me” I’d start asking “What’s wrong with me?”!!

Instead of trying to figure out God’s Will for you in each and every step of your life, wrestling with the silliest of questions like whether or not to go to a specific place, or worse, cut yourself off from the world, thinking that’s the only “safe” path to holiness- ask instead “Am I conforming to this world – keeping a carnal mind trying to discern the spiritual?” If so – you’d be better off to start praying the prayer that Jesus Himself prayed for us “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth” (John 17:17)

Jesus’ prayer on our behalf:

“I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth.”

“I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.” – Jesus

The Grave is empty! After Jesus was crucified and before his followers saw Him resurrected they were in despair – having not truly understood his words when He was alive that this would happen! They thought that maybe someone had stolen His body – who knows what they were thinking after going through the horrible experience of knowing that their teacher had died a brutal and vicious death on the cross!!

The Grave is empty! Not only had Jesus come back to life – He Defeated Death! He overcame it! And kicked the Devil’s ass! He destroyed his claim on humanity. Jesus was more than another Lazarus – He wasn’t just brought back to life, He is LIFE, He was completely transfigured, He will never die again! …and His sad disciples had no idea – not yet! I wonder what they felt like looking into that empty grave? When I think about the empty grave in my life – I can’t stop crying at how much I love you God! I should be dead in the ground but I’m not. I should be in prison, but I’m not. I should be depressed and anxious and full of shame, but I’m not. I should be overwhelmed and discouraged, but I’m not. I should be intimidated to be quieter and more subtle about who you are Jesus – but I’m not. I should be lost to hell, but I’m not.

Why? Because The Grave is empty! It took Mary Magdalen a few minutes to realize why the tomb was empty, it took some of Jesus’ other followers a few hours. It took me years. Years to realize who you really are Jesus. To realize why it is that the grave in my life is empty, and that it is ONLY possible because you walked out of yours over 2000 years ago!

Amen!

To Judge Or Not To Judge…

I have been reading alot lately about people’s struggle with not wanting to ‘judge’ anyone, which is good stuff – but that’s not the real issue. The real struggle is their lack of the ability to discern true from false, good from evil, etc. Many people think that not condemning people or not acting hostile and judgmental means that we have been stripped of the ability to make value judgments on what is right and wrong! I find it so strange that people say things like ‘It’s not our place to judge whether people are christians or not’, really? How can you think that – let alone say it? Everything that the prophets and apostles and people of God have left for us in scripture is to help us be able to do just that. Please stop twisting words and ideas. And taking things out of context. It is so unwise.

Yes, of course, we shouldn’t ‘judge’ as in condemn anyone through our own human opinion and rules or decide who gets to be saved and who doesn’t. God is the Final Judge! The power that God has and that He gives his children, is to be able to see sin and evil for what it is – and where it is, to reject it totally, and yet remain steadfast in His Love for people. If you are a TRUE believer, someone who is sincerely governed by the wisdom and power of the Holy Spirit, you will naturally be able to discern who is a follower of Christ and who isn’t. You will naturally be able to make value judgments. You will ‘know’ things that your own human mind did not come up with!

This idea that we are not in a position to ‘judge’ and should stay on the sidelines is at the heart of new age (demonic) philosophy. Yes – there is a time to act/step in, and Yes, there is a time not to.

We are surrounded by wolves in sheep’s clothing. We are surrounded by people wanting their cake while eating it as well! What is the solution? To be judgemental and harsh? Of course not! But is it to be accepting of watered down ‘church-ianity’? No!

How can you strike a balance? How can you have the precision to judge and act in perfect harmony with the true Will of God – in every unique situation? By getting really honest with yourself and God! Do you now have the Spirit of Truth in you? Are you being led by the Spirit? Are your beliefs, actions and outcomes in alignment with the Word Of God? Is the sincere prayer of your heart that you want God to mold you and make you more like his Son? See, the closer you are with Jesus, the more you start being able to ‘see’. The more you will naturally ‘know’ how to judge a situation.

So many christians ‘harm’ other christians by allowing them into their inner circle and fellowship, while knowing full well that person is not repentant and truly seeking Christ!

Instead they should be taking the time to ‘minister’ to these people OUTSIDE of the fellowship of true believers, to plant seeds and show them God’s kindness that leads to repentance but instead they mix it all in and actually act confused when their fellowship/church/group gets watered down!!

To me, this is obviously due to a lack of wisdom. A lack of willingness to learn and do things the right way. A lack of knowledge of the Will of God. Studying the Bible and trying to follow the principles in your own life while navigating through the ‘church’ will be meaningless and futile without real humility. Humility – to truly seek to know and do the Will of God! Are you humble enough in your heart to really say ‘Of myself I know nothing. Of myself I can do nothing. Of myself I am nothing’ that is the ingredient that most ‘christians’ I meet lack! Because if a person really owns those words, God Himself will reveal things to you, God Himself will give you access to His Heart and Wisdom and Knowledge and Power. An amazing trade!
xo…Layla

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go” Joshua 1:9

Don’t misunderstand me, my strength doesn’t come from me. It doesn’t even come from my ‘faith’. My strength comes from God. He strengthens me. My faith is a gift. Yet when I lost my faith, He was still there – with me. With or without it God has strengthened me. Don’t misunderstand me. I am not powerless – a victim to circumstance – simply ‘accepting’ everything that comes at me, without a will of my own! NO! Where does God begin and end in me? That is the brilliant mystery of Christianity! The Father and Son live in me – as I, Layla, live in them. Together – different, but one unit! God has given me His Spirit to comfort me, and help me. Help me how? To do better? Be better? No! To Help me to become more like The Son. Where does God begin and end in me? What a beautiful thing to wonder at! God told me “DO NOT BE AFRAID. DO NOT BE DISCOURAGED. FOR I THE LORD WILL BE WITH YOU WHEREVER YOU GO.” To truly follow God I had to obey that! I had to really Listen to it! DO NOT BE AFRAID. It wasn’t just a comforting slogan. It was a command! DO NOT BE AFRAID! In the Name of Jesus Christ, God The Son, I command you spirit of fear to depart from me. I will fear no evil, for the Lord is with me. I COMMAND every force of darkness coming against me to leave. I seal my mind shut against all accusations, insinuations and condemnations! It is the Will of God that I BE NOT AFRAID. I will obey only the voice of the Lord!!…and that is how I overcame Evil. Through the Power of Christ. Amen.