V-MAIL TO THE FRONTLINE

PART 21

THE DESPERATION FACTOR (III)

I am embarrassed much of the time with what I present to God as my loyal service to Him. I want to please Him and know Him and I think about it constantly but am I really willing to obey and serve Him according to HIS will? I’ve come to the conclusion that I do not mind to serve Him my way and when it is convenient to my schedule, but I become frustrated when He wants me to do something irritating or unsuitable. For example; it is relatively easy to attend a regular weekly church service but what if it was 2 hours away on a weeknight? See what I mean? Allow me to ask “us” a question; how much are we “altering” His desires for us into similar deeds that are easier and that we feel more comfortable with? Instead of obeying The Holy Spirit when He nudges us, we are quick to argue our case with “reasons” (or excuses) that attempt to justify our own views (which is technically disobedience). I thought that being a sold out believer meant to abandon this life and have God at the top of our priority list all the time. I thought it was religion that molded Christianity to “fit” the carnal nature so they could flow together (compromise) like pie and ice cream? We would hate to think or admit that we are religious sometimes…wouldn’t we?

Technology has made our lives so self-sufficient, convenient and comfortable that if we are not careful we will design our own idea of “easy” Christianity instead of following God’s personal instructions. Most of us live in a nice house, drive nice cars and are blessed with lots of “stuff”. We are warm in the winter and cool in the summer. We eat well and can go out and buy clothes or whatever we need – whenever we want. My point is that we (for the most part) live without being desperate. Does our lifestyle of relaxing and enjoying our independence bleed over into our spiritual life? I believe it does. Maybe sometimes our life is gets in the way of truly living. When we control how we live for God, it means we look for divine appointments when it suits our frame of mind? I thought we were supposed to be “LED” by His voice and to “FOLLOW” His Spirit! I thought we were bought with a price and that He was Lord and we were servants? Remember Cain brought a load of vegetables to God because he must have thought they were very nice looking examples of what a gifted farmer could produce. But IT DID NOT MATTER how awesome his corn and beans was – it was all about being obedient to God’s perfect will and His conclusive demands. This is why the world of religion is inferior to the absolute truth of God and another reason why God lives in us – to LEAD US into doing what He has “called” us to do. Religion wants to create ideas and concepts of how to represent God’s Kingdom with good deeds but instead it always ends up being a manmade presentation that is based on mans effort, strength, creativity and glory. If anything we say or do does not have the aroma of heaven on it – it is just another example of man trying to impress God with his acts of human righteousness. Why would we need God if we could develop our own “works” and make our own decisions about what to do? And why would Jesus need to shed His blood if there was another way to “earn His approval and why would Jesus need to send the “comforter” to help us do God’s will if we could do it in our own ability? We could wrap-up our life in a pretty package and present it to God as we walk through the pearly gates, beaming with pride on a job well done. I believe that many will be surprised to find that having a burning (desperate) love for God and His Word along with the faith to obey Him in humility was what God was looking for.

Now brother Billy, let’s not become obsessed – you talk like a fanatic! There needs to be a balance – – – a balance of what??? We are already more logical than we need to be! We are more dignified, fearful and more knowledgeable, with more common sense and more doubt than ever! Are these the buttons and switches that cause our flesh to be cold and uncaring? Who is telling us to calm down and not worry about getting too serious, the Spirit of God or the enemy of our souls? If we allow our human carnality to rule us – we will slide down into a hypocritical pit where lifeless Pharisees brag about how beautiful their buildings are. The truth is; the church is asleep, the world is blind and ignorant and the devil has opened His floodgates of poison at an alarming rate – and somebody thinks we need to calm down? Our economy is collapsing and the anti-christ is very near to stepping onto the world’s stage which means there is no time to stand around and just watch the depression on the news every night. We cannot afford to allow our minds to become saturated with darkness like being addicted to a soap opera and become convinced that we cannot make a difference. We must spend our time “doing” our mission instead of just talking about it! Let me ask a question, is being desperate for God an emotional “feeling” or a spiritual calling? I believe that being desperate has always been a part of the spiritual humility that Jesus lived in and that is also crucial for our victory. We are not to be self-governing! We fall on our face and cry out to Him because we realize we are (and can do) nothing without Him – that is the beginning of wisdom in the fear of God and the holy revelation of spiritual desperation!

Many have been taught the miracles of God passed away when Jesus and His disciples left the earth which has given them the idea that we are on our own. They believe that we are to do the best we can until we go to heaven because there is no super-natural power to tap into. Allow me to say right now that all power of the Father and Jesus – in heaven and earth, lives within the believer and can be released by obedience through faith! The point of living in God’s presence is to hear His voice and respond in faith to obey HIS commands. Unfortunately, I know Christians that seem to live very independent without wanting God to intervene at all. No matter what they are faced with I have never heard them say anything about how they heard from God or if they asked Him about anything concerning personal decisions, finances, healing or direction. It seems they believe that He has given them the intelligence to figure everything out and they will meet Him in heaven someday to discuss how clever they were in their decisions. That might help you survive with living in an attic and eating macaroni but I believe that mans creativity, ability, strength, intellect, vision and aptitude alone cannot plan or guide the “perfect” destiny God has called us to live. I believe “human led” decisions have pulled the plug on many blessings and “wonders” that Satan has stolen. “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In ALL thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy paths. Be not WISE in thine OWN eyes: fear the Lord and depart from evil”. (Proverbs 3: 5-7).

When we were redeemed, we became a tool in the hand of the Master builder. God has a specific task for each of His instruments and never intended His “followers” to blaze their own trail no matter how wise they may seem. The saw cannot do the work of a hammer but each works together toward building the structure. The nails do not tell the builder or plan how to secure the beams. The tools do not get together and create according to their own vision, but stay silent until the builder chooses to use them according to His blueprints. Our mission is to be ready to be used and live so close to Him that we can hear Him whisper as we take each step and speak each word. That is what Him being the LORD of our heart is all about! Since when have we been called to be self-reliant? If we choose everything on our own and make all the decisions about our life then we do not understand anything about being desperate for His presence. Those who live like this have created a religious idea of visiting Him at His Church on Sunday morning or reading a few verses of His Word now and then, but not allowing Him to control their everyday life. JUST GOING TO CHURCH IS NOT TAKING UP OUR CROSS AND FOLLOWING HIM! Being desperate for Him is thinking you are going to die if you cannot get into His Word or His presence. Christianity is a lifestyle of awareness that He is reigning on your hearts throne. Great revivals come because desperate people pray and fast! People are physically healed when they pray with desperate faith! People are saved when loved ones them pray with fervent intercession! God does not always move when He sees desperate need – He moves when He sees desperate faith!

We have heard the term “self-examination” and we usually associate it with repentance and that is good. We spend much time talking about the distractions and temptations of this life and I am not saying it is not true, but no matter how the cards are dealt it will always come down to the personal condition of the heart. Some may call this deepest part of our being a conscious, the mind, the will, our psyche or the seat of our soul and actually it is difficult to pinpoint where it is. But we know we have a brand new spirit that is our true identity and we will live forever after this body stops breathing, but it would seem our spirit and our mind would need to “flow together” in unity for there to be true success. It is true that our spirit has an understanding of the spirit world because that is the realm it lives in but if the mind disagrees – there is little or no spiritual progress. The reason it is so important for our mind to be transformed is so the chain of command between the “triune man” can move under the influence and anointing of the Holy Spirit. The heart is directly connected to what we see and hear and through a mysterious process discerns what to believe and how to respond. Our will makes decisions based on information and develops convictions and the third part (the body) responds to these decisions and automatically carries out the instructions as the servant. The machine is very complex but in the world of human behavior (which is so crucial in the Christians life) I believe this is an exception where knowing what makes the clock “tick” – is essential to knowing what time it is. Selah.