Psalms 4:4  Tremble, and sin not; speak within your own heart on your bed and be still. Selah.

Quite often that urge to respond and react is the most dangerous and most destructive. There may be a time for an appropriate response or action, but at the time of trembling life or death is possibly riding upon what is said and what is done. Though there is definitely a moment when action is necessary, while the enemy is approaching your place of hiding, when the bottom has fallen out from under your financial security, when that family member has failed to please, or when that driver has invaded your space there is an emotional response that, while demanding and insisting on expression, will only make matters worse if allowed escape. Trembling may not be an option, but whether or not that trembling dictates action is a critical choice that needs control. Better it would be to remain still and quiet, even steal away to a place of repose, where the heart can get in its two cents worth and wisdom can prevail, than to deal with the consequences of a tremble-imposed sin.

I was recently given the privilege of taking a defensive driving course that allowed me to avoid a penalty incurred by a case of lead foot. The state of Texas graciously provides this option and there are several different schools where a qualifying course can be taken. I chose this online version that was actually presented in a humorous and enjoyable format. It included several videos and illustrations of the dangers associated with reactionary driving- where the actions and behaviors of other drivers could cause you to respond in a less than safe way. As the course progressed this seemed to be the prevailing theme, that the most common danger on the road is that of emotional response, where anger, fear, frustration and impatience become the basis for driving decisions. While you may be able to get away with it for quite some time, this kind of behavior places you in a very volatile and precarious position where accidents are probable and punishment of some kind eminent. The course encouraged counting to 10, staying focused on your own course and destination and staying away completely from any reactionary response. As is most clear on the road- this can be a matter of life or death and a functioning vehicle or a dented and totaled one.

The heart really has something to say if the din of tremble inspiring fear and frustration can be suppressed by stillness and rest. It is the heart alone that will have the right course of action, the correct path and the appropriate word, but until the still small voice that it uses is heard, there will only be an atmosphere of danger and probable destruction. On the road and in the car this danger is apparent, but this reactionary behavior will also have a similar effect in relationships, business dealings, and personal gratification.  That learned response of a harsh word or yielding to emotional demands can wreak havoc on a family, bank account, and personal psyche leaving a dented or totaled vehicle with little means of reaching a significant destination.

There is a secret place, a place of rest, though, where the heart volume is turned up and the hubbub of the world’s influence is shut out. It is here is the presence of the Prince of Peace where the right words of faith and love can be formed and the steps of confidence and boldness can be taken towards a righteous and productive end. This place is forever the refuge and the hope for the time of trembling, when sin is so near in an emotional response. All the threats and all the arrows are made to be insignificant in the quietness where the Christ counseled heart is given voice.

Joshua 14:10-15 KJV
(10)  And now, behold, the LORD hath kept me alive, as he said, these forty and five years, even since the LORD spake this word unto Moses, while the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness: and now, lo, I am this day fourscore and five years old.
(11)  As yet I am as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me: as my strength was then, even so is my strength now, for war, both to go out, and to come in.
(12)  Now therefore give me this mountain, whereof the LORD spake in that day; for thou heardest in that day how the Anakims were there, and that the cities were great and fenced: if so be the LORD will be with me, then I shall be able to drive them out, as the LORD said.
(13)  And Joshua blessed him, and gave unto Caleb the son of Jephunneh Hebron for an inheritance.
(14)  Hebron therefore became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite unto this day, because that he wholly followed the LORD God of Israel.

And it wasn’t like he was just sitting back in sweet repose this whole time. No, this was a man who, at forty, chose to go completely against popular opinion and actually believe the promise of God – that he would possess the land he went to spy out. Then, after outliving all the unbelievers in the in the ultimate survival of the wilderness, he was right in the middle of the battles for occupation. And finally, while many of the ‘athletes’ half his age were having knee problems and other ailments of activity and conflicts, he was no less functional or powerful at 85, and ready to take personal possession of his real estate inheritance.

A few things came to mind while reading about Caleb this morning: While first in line for the trusting game, he was dead last for the whining and complaining game; His ability to eventually qualify for the land was completely dependent upon what he did in the mean time, otherwise he would have died off or have been so stowed up he could never enjoyed it at all; Because he wholly followed the Lord it directly affected the discipline of his lifestyle and the maintenance of his health- it wasn’t just by the Spirit that he was still strong, but also by the exercise, diet and care applied to his God-given body; Though not in possession of any landscape for those forty five years, he was in continual possession of a promise that would sustain and preserve him more than any other- His relationship and nearness to His God; And finally, what would have happened even after all those years had he not reminded God of His promise, as it wasn’t until he placed his claim that he possessed it?

To come into a relationship with God is to come into a realm of promise that is not without its share of unpopularity, wilderness, opposition, and passage of time. Not one of us is without an assurance of not only a heavenly possession, but also victory, provision and possession here on this earth. So much of our ability to actually and eventually enjoy much of what is ours, though, has everything to do with what we’re doing with the promise of His presence right here and right now, and how it is affecting our life discipline and character. Where there is true belief and trust, there is an ability to act as if it is already done and the identity of the ‘owner’ is who we are long before the claim is made for the land. The body and existing possessions are treated with the honor and appreciation of a treasured gift just as significant as any other to come, while potential discouragements and setbacks are hardly even noticed compared to the largeness of the existing yet to be seen promise. For the one who hast chosen to cast the care of the wilderness and opposition upon the One who is their continual possession there will be the capacity to possess with joy and health the fullness of all that is rightfully theirs at the appointed time and when they so choose. Every moment to that point, though, will be filled with the contentment of one who has wholly followed in unwavering strength and confidence.

John 6:66-68 KJV

(66)  From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.
(67)  Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away?
(68)  Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.

As long as there is still another option or another route to take, when the road begins to look rather challenging there will be a tendency for the ‘many’ to beat a retreat to the more understandable, comfortable and predictable. But, will there really be victory there? I’m sure those disciples who went back no longer had to deal with the risky business of following the Messiah who was talking about eating His flesh and drinking His blood. They probably got to return to their old jobs, families and social life, continuing with the ‘security’ of the way things used to be. Somehow their ‘seeking’ had brought them to a place of offense when they found out what Jesus was really about and they could seek no more. They, after all, still had something else to which they could turn.

There is a term, however, that describes the condition of those twelve that remained- they had ‘burned their bridges’. Their pursuit of Jesus had separated them from the rest in that all other routes had been burned behind them. There wasn’t even an option for them other than going forward to the truth they had found in Christ. Like the military strategy of removing any options other than victory, all other routes or alternatives in life had been destroyed. For almost all of them this strategy would lead to martyrdom and what might appear to be the opposite of success in life, but there was an ultimate victory in Christ for them that none of the ‘retreaters’ would ever know. Theirs was a fulfilled purpose and a completed cause in the kingdom that they could never have found back where they had come from.

There is victory for today and definite direction to be taken that will lead to it. Whether or not this victory will ultimately be ours, however, will have everything to do with the burning of other bridges in our lives, whether or not there are still any other options. As long as the greenness of the grass is still looking good somewhere back there across a bridge that is left standing, determination to go forward will be compromised and victory disabled. When, though, there is no longer any other voice that is speaking anything close to the truth coming from the mouth of our Savior, the path to the triumph in His truth will continue to be taken to its glorious end. May another leg in this journey be taken this day with a joyful eye on the prize and no looking back.

John 6:35 And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.

For some reason I have this distaste for having to stop and get gas, especially if I’m coming home after a long day of work and am just looking forward to consuming the wonderful meal Kim has prepared for me. If I can sort of turn my head and justify that the needle is indeed still on the “E” mark, I feel that filling up can just wait till tomorrow. The problem is, though, that the gauge isn’t always all that accurate, and I have proven this too many times by having to pull over to the side of the road after having run out gas within just a short ways of home. The good part is that I’m not usually all that far from home, but the bad part is that it doesn’t matter how close you are to home, being out of gas is being out of gas. You’re just not going any further until you take a walk for the gas you could have obtained by just pulling up to the station.

This same tendency is way too common among those that are traveling through life. While it is such a good feeling to be completely topped off and ready to go for the long haul, too often the fill up time is just passed up with an assumption that there’s enough there to last for another moment, day, week or year. The problem is that life’s gauges aren’t very accurate at all, and while it may seem that passing up that devotional time or coming together with other believers will be all right, oftentimes the tank runs out even when we may not be all that far from the source. Instead of pulling right in when access is so convenient, it may then require a bit of walking or working it out.

God says that we never have to get below the “Full” line– that we can remain filled and running over. He’s put a station on every corner with a special credit account funded by Him. Salvation, wholeness and fullness are ours today and every day. Why not just stay full rather than hover around “E”.

Zechariah 9:13  Judah is now my weapon, the bow I’ll pull, setting Ephraim as an arrow to the string. I’ll wake up your sons, O Zion, to counter your sons, O Greece. From now on people are my swords.” (The Message)

 During the conflict in Korea in the early 1950′s there was a great restriction on the resolve of the US military to actually occupy or gain total victory over North Korea. An advance north beyond a certain point was considered a direct threat on China. What made this a particularly significant consideration was that the Chinese approach to war was to utilize massive numbers of soldiers that could overwhelm just by sheer numbers. Although they might not have the amount or quality of guns, rockets and tanks, their greatest weapon was the soldiers themselves. With little regard for the individual, masses of men would be thrust into battle by officers that were fully aware that most might perish, but victory would be won as a result of lives that had become mere weapons of war. Each Chinese soldier brought with them a projected awareness that there would be many more to follow. Though small individually, they were part of something much greater that would not be defeated in an any normal fashion. A nation of apparent superior conventional weapon strength was forced to give in to the nation of men-weapons. 

 We are in a conflict with an enemy that is bent on total occupation and annihilation of all opposition members. As his attacks are launched at the full range of our emotional and fleshly vulnerabilities, there is an opportunity to become overwhelmed by the magnitude of what might appear to be strategic superiority. When things begin to be seen as they really are, though, through the field glasses provided by our Superior Commander, there is a realization that ours is a power that will not be overcome by those limited attempts at weaponry. Where satan sends in a flood of accusations, temptations, lies,  and oppressions, the Spirit of the Lord raises up what is presented by Him as the far superior and invulnerable shield and weapon- his glory filled child and soldier. Whereas the Chinese may have used precious individuals as mere statistically necessary pawns, God sees each one of His divinely chosen offspring as an empowered, equipped and eternal weapon that will be more than able to pull down strongholds and areas of enemy territorial occupation. When the world was totally lost and without a savior, God didn’t send weapons that would somehow miraculously wreak havoc and win freedom; He sent His weapon of choice, a man- in fact, His very own Son. Defeating satan right on his own turf, Jesus won a victory that would make way for an endless stream of man-soldiers. When He showed up on the scene, He brought with Him a projected awareness that there would be many more to follow.

 Today God is wielding His sword and bringing deliverance, freedom and provision to many that are yet lost, sickly, defeated, bound and in great need of a victory over their oppressor. To the field of battle He is sending His weapon of choice, men, to carry the light of His glory in the power of His Spirit and crush the scheming liar, pulling down all of his strongholds. Concepts, methods, disciplines, rehabs, institutions and even churches alone will not bring dominance over the destructive forces. Many times it may be tempting to look around for some other means that would make sense to a reasoning mind, but true deliverance and complete liberation will come through the touch, the voice and the very presence of His precious chosen weapons- His sons and daughters, speaking His Word, imparting His provision and carrying His glory. To each of our areas of need God has a weapon He is sending our way, but also to the needs and strongholds that are infinite around us He is sending none other than you and me. More than able and fully equipped, His purpose and our greatest fulfillment will be realized when we show up to inflict destruction upon the enemy and bring joy, gladness, and freedom to hearts that have been imprisoned for too long.

 We are His weapons and through His Son living in and through us, there will be victories won and hearts converted. Where the scene once appeared hopeless and without any resolution, a complete and total turn around is coming to those situations. Prayers, bible study and personal worship will be a part of the attack against the enemy, but the real impact will come as those times are preparation for when we actually arrive on the scene in person, ready to be His voice, His hand, His heart and His weapon.

Mark 2:27  Then Jesus said, “The Sabbath was made to serve us; we weren’t made to serve the Sabbath. (The Message)

There’s this main street that passes the entrance to our neighborhood, and just about 150-200 yards from our entrance this street tees up to a main highway. There is, of course, a traffic light at the intersection and just around the corner, or in the bank parking lot right on the corner, a policeman has found his home away from home. It so happens that many people have become used to those turning lanes at many stoplights, where you can just keep moving around the corner into a merging lane of the street to which you’re turning. Lanes like those have actually become very common and useful where we live as they help tremendously to keep traffic moving and reduce backup at intersections. The problem with our little intersection, though, is that no such lane exists, and while there is a turning lane, a complete stop must be reached whenever the light is red before progress can be made around the corner. Well, enforcement of this little rule has been turned into one of our city’s most revenue generating operations. Not only is there the possibility of violating the ‘complete stop’ rule, but if the turn isn’t executed correctly by turning into the nearest lane there is another reason for the donut and coffee to be set down and the siren and lights turned on. To the great frustration of so many, there is a very expensive driving school taking place on the side streets right after this intersection where motor vehicle operators are getting to know their well-fed instructor and pay highly for the little lesson he mercilessly gives. While there are very definite safety reasons for the details of the laws about making the turn, there is this growing perception that what has been written and designed to serve the people on our streets has become a means by which the people can serve the monetary needs and ticket quota of the city.

To follow the path of righteousness is to encounter intersections and passages with very clear directives that have really been formed to serve us in our safety and preservation. Just as the rules to correct turning will, for the one who embraces and practices them, greatly increase the chances of safe passage, so keeping of the Sabbath, paying tithe, holding fast to confession and many other things will enable us to successfully fully our purpose and enjoy the blessings and healthy fruit of righteousness. To fully appreciate the purpose for which directives have been given in Christ, though, is to remain in a position and understanding that each one of the rules of the spiritual, holy and righteous rules are in place to serve us and not we them. When they become a means of wielding a sense of hopeless condemnation, where an exorbitant price is being continually being extracted with a wary and worried eye ever out for the violation police, their purpose of improved and liberated living is being undermined and dislodged. With a constant consciousness of what might be wrong or even how much might be right, there is misplaced focus from the One who designed them and who will best teach, help and motivate us fulfill and enjoy their true purpose. Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath (verse 28) and it will be from Him that productive and encouraging correction will come that will not depress of condemn, but will propel and free those who become consumed with knowing Him and His ways.

There is a way of living today that is meant to serve and produce an incredible, bountiful, and blessed life in Christ. Serving this way alone, though, is to miss its purpose and become a servant and in bondage to it. As each embraced directive, however, becomes a means and part of knowing, loving and serving Jesus, there will be a joy and freedom associated with its compliance that will, as it becomes worship to Him, enhance and magnify a relationship with the Lord of all. Instead of being consumed and dominated by compliance to the details of behavior, their true purpose and function will be fulfilled in the heart that has embraced their Designer. To be in Christ is to know no condemnation (Romans 8:1) and His grace is sufficient (2 Corinthians 12:9) so that the way to all that is promised in Him will be known not by our successful keeping of every law and rule, but by our heart felt submission to His leading in every way. Serving not a way that is subject to interpretation and debate, but a Lord who has our welfare, future and purpose in His hand is to safely and joyfully experience the abundance of life He came to give us.

Genesis 25:34  Then Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentiles; and he did eat and drink, and rose up, and went his way: thus Esau despised his birthright.

It just really seems unfair. You wouldn’t think something as important as Esau’s legal right to the blessing and inheritance of his father could so easily be bartered away. How legitimate could this really be – the spouting off of a famished hunter, blinded to the gravity of his decision by the magnitude of his hunger? His father favored Esau, after all, and he couldn’t possibly see this as any more than brotherly jesting. It was just a figure of speech you know- ‘I’d give my birthright for just a bowl of oatmeal’. It couldn’t possibly hold up in a court of law. All these arguments would seem to be somewhat valid, and yet for them to even be considered is to greatly devalue the greatest asset/treasure/virtue that was Esau’s privileged possession. Something as precious as this should have been kept far away from any possibility of compromise or loss. If it were really seen as the incredible heart treasure that it should have been, there would have been nothing that could have persuaded him to let go of it.

So, how did it come to this, that the first born could come in after a long day’s hunt, quickly trade his birthright for a bowl of porridge, eat, and get up to walk away without even a contention over the details of the transaction? (I’ve often wondered if this were the only food available, because Esau’s foggy reasoning makes it seem to him that unless he had just the food Jacob had prepared, he would surely die and the birthright would be no good to him anyway. You would have thought that other food was surely nearby, though, as Jacob was probably cooking this at their home where there should have been a sufficient supply. Esau should have been able to just go to the store house and get something, but he wanted this prepared meal and he wanted it now.) Maybe after having grown up with the concept of a birthright, but never really getting to experience its benefits yet, it had come to be more of a fantasy than a reality? Maybe his passion for hunting and for the life of the field had lessoned his appreciation for things of the camp and all those ‘city folk’ ways, along with what would be defined as his birthright. And most certainly he, like the rest of us so often are, was caught up in the expediency of the moment and the importance and value of ‘now’ over any extended worth. The greatest tool in closing the deal was the belief that it had to be done right there at that moment. Life itself was hanging in the balance. For whatever reason or for many of them, Esau had come to this place that he would reveal his true valueless feelings regarding the right to great privileges and wealth that was his from birth. His actions would declare that in reality, compared to other passions in life, he despised it.

The life we’ve been born into in Christ has come with a birthright that touches every part of living. We’ve been given direct access to the supply room and there is no good thing that is withheld from those who walk according to the requirements of this birthright. There are, however, opportunities that come our way throughout each and every day to trade the incredible wealth of our birthright for what might seem to be a requirement for the moment. Our flesh cries out for things to which it has become addicted. Our souls long to taste the sweetness of revenge through actions and simple gossip. Passion for things of this world blinds us to their true value in the eternal perspective. Somehow we’re made to feel that there’s a part of us that will just die if we don’t partake of the porridge. In reality, the partaking itself is what brings death to the greatest treasure and the greatest opportunity of our lives. The price is a great one for things of such menial and temporal importance, and the much better choice is the one that preserves our right that is directly connected to a relationship with the One from whom all true blessings flow. How often do we sit down to eat of what our stomach has demanded at the expense of our righteousness in Christ and thus despise the very thing that Jesus gave His life to provide us?

There is an opportunity today to hold onto and preserve our eternal right in Christ by refusing the demands of the world around us and the stomach pangs that would insist that there is no life without their gratification. True life and real treasure will be ours with the embrace of our righteousness in Christ over every other alternative and we’ll be able to grow in the abundance that is our right in Him.

1Pe 1:13  So roll up your sleeves, put your mind in gear, be totally ready to receive the gift that’s coming when Jesus arrives.
1Pe 1:14  Don’t lazily slip back into those old grooves of evil, doing just what you feel like doing. You didn’t know any better then; you do now.
1Pe 1:15  As obedient children, let yourselves be pulled into a way of life shaped by God’s life, a life energetic and blazing with holiness. (The Message)

One of the greatest challenges of one who’s childhood has past some time ago is to understand the necessity of direction and discipline during that time. Independence and the freedom to choose everything on your own is part of what defines adulthood, but a child left to choose on their own wouldn’t brush his/her teeth, make their bed, eat the healthy stuff, turn off the tv, get off the computer, do their homework, take a bath…. While these necessities in life tend to be accepted somewhat as things that we can enforce upon their little minds and bodies, there is often a reticence to guide them into the discipline of Godly holiness, the greatest and most essential direction that will lead all other disciplines to a successful life. Somehow it is felt that ‘shoving God down their throats’ will only serve to drive them away from Him.

While many memories of childhood are somewhat faded, there are clear ones of the times my actions required redirection and the presence of my parents insured that this would happen. They instilled behaviors and habits in me that I would take into the rest of my life. I’ve since brushed my teeth, taken a bath- everything from the above list and more- because I wasn’t given the option to just choose them as I saw fit. I was also introduced to God, and though I would never be forced to accept Him as my own, there were certain actions pertaining to Him that weren’t presented as options. Just like the hand naturally covers the heart during the national anthem, there are certain ways that the presence of the Almighty Creator were honored and praised. Acknowledging the wisdom from His Word, refraining from actions that would go against what He’s spoken, and taking an appropriate physical position during His praise and worship were all things that I might not have chosen on my own, but became part of my direction for living. By them I’ve frequently been compelled and drawn back to a position where the honor of His presence will bring much needed restoration and renewal.

Since leaving the comfort, care and direction of my childhood, obedience to those trained ways of hygiene and discipline have become my own choice as they’re seen as valid and necessary. If I were to determine, though, that I really didn’t need to brush my teeth any more, there would be evidence of this in the deteriorated state of my teeth before too long. Something that was initially instilled through simple childhood obedience has become for me an essential part of my body’s health. While it is true that I’m this ‘grown-up’ person now with this powerful ability to choose as I will, to successfully live much longer and to find success in this living will require a childlike submission to many regular tasks that insure cleanliness and mental and physical discipline. How I treat and honor my Creator may also be among my ‘mature’ choices now, but this will be the most essential and critical of all the choices I make, and it, like the others will require simple childlike submission to ways that I might not just choose on my own. If I skip a day of brushing my teeth, my breath will tell it, and if I skip a day of prayer or exposure to God’s Word, my heart and my actions will tell it. I may or may not ‘feel’ like it, but the health and condition of my heart require that I remain obedient to the ways of holiness. This may be observed to be just ‘religious’, the adherence to a Godly way of life, but as it reflects a passionionate pursuit of One who has captured the heart, each faithful submission to His direction is an expression of a heart-felt commitment of love.

I’m glad we’ve been shown a better way. I’m glad for the opportunity to live in that way. And, I’m so thankful that His Spirit enables us to walk in the power of His love along the path of holiness. We know better now.