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Small Things

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2 Samuel 1:14-15 David said to him, Why were you not afraid to stretch forth your hand to destroy the Lord’s anointed? 15 David called one of the young men and said, Go near and fall upon him. And he smote him so that he died.

Throughout Scripture from the fall of Adam and Eve to the crucifixion of Christ, from the writings of Paul to the end of the Book of Revelation – one fact remains: the wages of sin is death! The Amalekites had proven themselves enemies of God since the Exodus as described by Moses in the Book of Exodus: And the Lord said to Moses, Write this for a memorial in the book and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under the heavens.…And he said, Because [theirs] is a hand against the throne of the Lord, the Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation. (Exodus 17:14,16) On the surface David’s response against this messenger of doom seems to be a little extreme. But underneath this narrative lies a larger monster that hides beneath the shadows lurking along the edges like a ravenous wolf ready to pounce upon its prey. First of all, this Amalekite is lying. He did not slay King Saul. Saul had taken his own life. Secondly, the messenger had looted what belonged to King Saul and the people of Israel – Saul’s kingly crown, and the bracelet on his arm. Thirdly, this man exposed his greed and lust for more. It wasn’t enough that he had plundered the crown jewels. His plot was much more twisted and devious. He had reasoned that there must be an even greater reward for the one who would kill Saul. Rather than taking the crown and bracelet and cashing in on his prize. He chose to up the ante. Finally, this man failed to realize that David was God’s man – God’s anointed – and God’s enemies were his enemies. But there is an even greater story unfolding before our eyes and Exodus 17:14,16 gives us the clue: I will utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under the heavens.…And he said, Because [theirs] is a hand against the throne of the Lord…

Did you catch that last part? The Amalekites had not simply lifted their hand to destroy God’s people. They had actually lifted their hand against God Himself. Against His Throne, Kingdom, and Reign. Consciously or unconsciously, this Amalekite was participating in the sins of his fathers and mothers. Ultimately, he was reflecting the heart of his spiritual father – Satan himself. For you see, the Amalekites, and their descendants could be traced all the way to King Herod himself, an Idumean (a descendant of the Edomites from which Amalek had come). Amalek had come from Esau’s son who had married a descendant of the Horites – and they were descendants of the demonic hybrid of the Nephilim (half-demon, half human. Think Goliath)

King Herod sought to kill Jesus – God’s Anointed King of Israel. Why had God said that He would personally fight against Amalek? Because they represented an Anti-Christ spirit. An anti-Christ agenda.

But how does all of this apply? Romans 8:7 states the carnal mind is at enmity with God. The carnal mind being our soulish mind or our propensity to rely more on our thinking, will, emotions, and personality or temperament to have things our way. This way of doing things is an enemy to God and the things of God because it hearkens back to the Garden of Eden, and you shall be gods. In other words having it our way is not doing it God’s Way. God’s Way obviously being Jesus Himself – The Way. But rest easy: the Lord will have war with (it) from generation to generation.

In Mark 8 Jesus warns of the leaven or yeast of the Pharisees, Herod, and the Herodians. (Matthew 16 adds the Sadducees). Leaven is a small thing – but it’s the small things that lead either to the anti-Christ rising in our lives or Jesus, the Bread of Life. Question is, Are we utilizing the yeast of the Kingdom of God or the yeast of satan himself? Remember it’s the small things that make all the difference in the outcome of what’s reigning in your life. What we sow into will determine the “rain” that falls in our lives.

Jeckyll or Hyde?

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What’s happening to the Church in America? Would our normal Christian experience be considered abnormal to the Apostles and the Christians of the 1st century? Why is it becoming progressively difficult to distinguish a Christian from a non-Christian? Why are Scriptural references to anything related to the Holy Spirit ignored, pushed aside, or dismissed altogether? Why are things of the Spirit stranger and stranger for a 21st century church attender to grasp?

You’ve seen the movies, possibly even read the book written by Robert Louis Stevenson, about     a Doctor Henry Jekyll. The fictional doctor who produced a serum enabling him to transform into a monster he called Mr. Hyde. In this fictional novella, Mr. Edward Hyde, the doctors alter ego, is permitted to indulge in unstated vices, evil, and self-indulgence living solely for himself. Unfortunately the ravenous appetite of the self-centered monster, Mr. Hyde, can not be slaked. Dr. Jekyll’s veneer of sophisticated, self-control is wrenched from his grasp as Mr. Hyde emerges as the stronger of the two. And Dr. Jekyll? He is seen no more. What’s startling about the 19th Century allegory is that it’s not far being an allegory of the spiritual condition of the 21st Century Western Church. But why is that? What has caused the average church attender’s disconnect? How is it that it’s becoming progressively difficult to distinguish a Christian from a non-christian?

Galatians 4 provides us with a clue: But we, brethren, are children [not by physical descent, as was Ishmael, but] like Isaac, born in virtue of promise. Yet [just] as at that time the child [of ordinary birth] born according to the flesh despised and persecuted him [who was born remarkably] according to [the promise and the working of] the [Holy] Spirit, so it is now also. But what does the Scripture say? Cast out and send away the slave woman and her son, for never shall the son of the slave woman be heir and share the inheritance with the son of the free woman. So, brethren, we [who are born again] are not children of a slave woman [the natural], but of the free [the supernatural]. Galatians 4:28-31 

In this passage, the Apostle Paul, is using Scripture as an allegory painting for us a portrait of the two sons of Abraham, Ishmael and Isaac. Christians are seen as the true sons of Isaac whereas sons of Ishmael only live to satisfy their carnal, or soulish man (composed of mind, will, emotions and personality. The disturbing truth is that the church, along with the cultural Christian, has been taught to cater to Mr. Hyde’s hunger blinding us to its horror. Like Dr. Jekyll we’ve been attempting to live a double life whose hunger knows no bound or equal. We’ve assumed with the proper “formulas” the beast within can be controlled, squelching its behavior. Unfortunately avoidance of Truth (Truth is a Person) has led us to our present condition. For years I read the Scripture, Jacob I loved but Esau I have hated, being offended by its implications. (Romans 9:13) I puzzled over Israel’s behavior as he crossed his arms to give prophetic blessings to the sons of Joseph. And I pushed aside the nudges of curiosity as to why David, the youngest of all his brothers, was ignored and left to tend sheep, as Israels’ prophet Samuel sought to discover God’s chosen one, King Sauls’ replacement. Truth had been staring me in the face all these years, that is, until now. 

1 Corinthians 15:45-48 Thus it is written, The first man Adam became a living being (an individual personality); the last Adam (Christ) became a life-giving Spirit [restoring the dead to life]. But it is not the spiritual life which came first, but the physical and then the spiritual. The first man [was] from out of earth, made of dust (earthly-minded); the second Man [is] the Lord from out of heaven. Now those who are made of the dust are like him who was first made of the dust (earthly-minded); and as is [the Man] from heaven, so also [are those] who are of heaven (heavenly-minded).

From Paul’s writing we can deduce, First comes the physical then the spiritual. The first Adam represents or symbolizes the earthly-minded or soulish man, whose offspring find themselves  ruled from within by their souls – mind, will, emotions and personality. Yet, the Last Adam, the younger Jesus, represents those born of the Spirit and Promise. These son’s of our dread Champion, the Last Adam – Jesus, live for the things of the Spirit, being spiritually minded, inclined and focused. 

Unfortunately, as in the fictional allegory, the conclusion is that the building of God – the Church, along with its attenders have been overtaken by the sons of Cain, Ishmael, and Esau. The Good News is that Jesus’ Body, sons and daughters of the King’s Dominion, know His Garden is growing on the inside refusing to ingest self-serving formulas to live duplicitous lives. No, choosing to be crucified daily with their Savior, they have relinquished their rights for their Beloved, seeking to be filled and empowered – DAILY – with His Precious Holy Spirit. These over-comers know that it’s not by might, nor the power of carnal man that will achieve their victory. No, they know that in their weakness, and foolishness He is their strength and wisdom. They grow the Garden for their Beloved seeking for it to bear fruit for HIs Name.