DRAW ME CLOSE TO YOU-SONG-LISTEN
Draw me close to You
Never let me go
I lay it all down again
To hear You say that I’m Your friend
You are my desire
No one else will do
‘Cause nothing else could take Your place
To feel the warmth of Your embrace
Help me find the way
Bring me back to You
You’re all I want
You’re all I’ve ever needed
You’re all I want
Help me know You are near
What happens when emotions and conscience fail us as a compass? What happens when their apparent “numbness” or “sharpness” doesn’t indicate the rightness or wrongness of a situation? I’ve seen in myself and others’ emotions and conscience both fail as a compass in being on the right track. Whether it’s the right track of attitude, of assumption, or behavior, or response, or of the teleos (goal) we are living out. Spouting-off in a situation where a loved-one has burnt the roast (metaphorically or really) isn’t God’s way. This has the roast at the center of the universe not a craving, striving, or conscious marshaling of our selves- all of ourselves- to be running a race to lay hold of “Intimacy With Christ.”
Note: only part of that is responding to Jesus when He says, “If you love me you will keep my commandments.” Being “commandment” or “sin” focused misses the mark to as the mark is the High Calling of God– to be “Intimate With Christ.” Otherwise mentioning God’s respect for Moses as humble, of Enoch as “walking with God”, of Abraham as the “friend of God”, or David as a man “after God’s own heart” all fall moot as any kind of Crescendo/Main point.
Every day we are interacting with food, drink, and people. To escape this fact is to basically to be on the moon. No sound, no wind, no food, no drink, no people. That’s not life.
Joel Freeman wrote a book a while back called, “God is not fair: coming to terms with life’s raw deals.” In the book he mentions an art of self-defense, once marshaled, leaves the individual with a built-in response team. A built-in-godly-response. Now, I want to be realistic here– God can allow curve balls, fast balls, or whatever balls to come at us. Being fallen we’re just not “ready” to be exactly like God in every situation and won’t be until we get to Heaven. Being Exactly as God every moment is a role Jesus as God’s Son fulfilling a number of offices. e.g. Mediator, High Priest, Atonement, …..
Last night I was reading in Ephesians 5 and in My Utmost for His Highest for January 4. In Ephesians I came across a verse that used the word “dissipation” in regards to the drinking of wine. It means- “over-doing-it.” Now, remember what I said at the top– our emotions and our conscience can’t be trusted 100%- they just can’t. It’s easy for some to “cross-the-line” regarding drink. It’s not for us to say where God’s line is exactly- but, we do know it never ends in drunkenness.”
Romans 14:17 (New Living Translation)
17 For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, but of living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
Are we a food/drink man or woman? Have they played a long role in our life to “feel good” and have gained the throne of our decision making? Do your/my emotions and conscience just drop off the planet when it comes to measuring rightly where they have gotten a foot-hold in our over-all life-style? Do we get overly irritated when the food and drink aren’t what we wanted/expected to the degree we make a grand exhibition over them? Marshal ourselves back to the question before God’s face, “Father, what does a pursuit of “Intimacy With Christ” look like at this moment.
1 Corinthians 4:20
20 For the Kingdom of God is not just a lot of talk; it is living by God’s power.
Long has the Church lived under the dominion of words/talk. But, I wonder sometimes— how long has the Kingdom of God to us been a matter of power?
2 Timothy 1:7
For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.
I’ve written two articles– one called “Intimacy With Christ- Living Above The Line And Below the Line” and “Intimacy With Christ- The Person- The Holy Spirit” Both articles ought to lead us to some degree to experience Power. The one challenges our “Centeredness” (Have you ever heard someone say, “He’s centered.” That usually means he has a high EQ. The one with the supposed high EQ is not totally controlled by up and down emotions. But, I question this to a degree in regard to just plain, old, numbness. That’s an extreme too.) The Centered Believer according to Paul isn’t controlled by fear of men or circumstances, isn’t timid in witnessing for Christ’s Kingdom mandates, and has power, love, and self-discipline. The second article I wrote on “Intimacy With Christ- The Person- The Holy Spirit” is an invitation to surrender to the Holy Spirit your/my life on a number of levels. It’s the Surrendered Life. “My Utmost for His Highest” the wise saint Oswald Chambers speaks of here in this quote:
He says, “Never run before God’s guidance. If there is the slightest doubt, then He is not guiding. Whenever there is doubt—don’t.” Paul regarding eating food offered to idols or perhaps anything that is “conscience before God” based says, “whatever is not of faith is sin.” (Did you know Oswald was an artist and studied psychology back in his day in the early 1900’s?)
There are just so many things I see people struggling with these days- whether they know it or not regarding some of the most important points in the scripture like; guidance, power to do, power to think rightly, power in following God and seeing His supernatural acts…..they/we sometimes just can’t see the tree through the forest in modern day Evangelicalism. These terms like “guidance” are a mystery, or a stranger to us. Many just grunt in their spirit and think nothing. A blank comes up to these questions or the question of what “Intimacy With Christ” looks like or is for that matter. (Secret: Pick out some Biographies of men/women who were intimate with Christ as, perhaps, your Mentors. At very least you’ll have hints of what it is.)There’s been little teaching on what it is and so, little idea how to get there. Yes, spiritual disciplines in the bulk of modern day Evangelicalism are out–so, me thinx the book by Richard Foster “Celebration of Discipline” would be out or not that well studied. Anyway– here’s a link– haven’t read it all and don’t know for sure if I would endorse everything. LINK My point—the bridge to guidance, power, love, a sound mind might just fall in the “spiritual disciplines” department and definitely in our faith/unbelief deparment. No matter how shredded or numb we have gotten our conscience, emotions, mind, will-power or no matter how broken life has made us— we must find that bridge.
We must enter the forest to get to “the tree”- “see the tree through the forest”- to taste and see that the Lord is good. To taste how deep and far, and wide the Lord loves us.
Ephesians 4:18 (New Living Translation)
“Their minds are full of darkness; they wander far from the life God gives because they have closed their minds and hardened their hearts against him.”
Ephesians 3:16-19 (New Living Translation)
I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. 17 Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. 18 And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. 19 May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.
OH-HOW HE LOVES US-OH
So, what about people in all this? Alban Douglas, a professor at PBI at one time used to say, “God usually doesn’t blow a trumpet– do dooo doooooo, do, dooo, dooooo– just before a trial comes.” Note: “usually”– yes, God’s not in a box and so He can and does warn at times—but, on the most part– no. And, on the most part those trials involve people as we are people-ish. People we interact with can also find their way/be forced to the throne of our life source. We become “centered” on fallen men and women.
(Do they like being treated like they have to take God’s place in our live’s. Do they like us demanding they do so?)
They be our central thoughts when we wake and thoughts when we fall asleep. Now, Paul had a great love for his people and said that he experienced unceasing sorrow deep in his heart regarding their rejection of The King- Jesus. Still, did you notice that Paul didn’t become bound by people? He says in Galatians that if he wanted to be bound by people again he’d just stop preaching the cross of Jesus Christ as the only way. He had a choice and so do we. Letting or forcing anyone into the position only God can play is just wrong. Having them at the center to use to feel loved or respected by way of manipulation or attitude is just wrong. It’s wrong. It’s really, really wrong. Are you? Am I? Really?
The Shift: How then will believers shift away from making the Kingdom of God a matter of food, drink and people? Well, the beginning of the bridge may look or feel rickety as though there’s a chasm below and the wood is rotting and scant to step onto. This means– discomfort. That’s usually how deep change begins. But, to get to discomfort that leads to “Intimacy With Christ” by the Person- The Holy Spirit- we really need to understand how deep, and far, and wide and limitless is the Love of Christ for us. Only it can unthaw our numb conscience or emotions that now have little desire to be “Intimate With Christ”. Also, only it can remove the fear and emotional intensity or overly-sharp conscience (Off-track conscience: That has nothing to do with the Good News of total forgiveness, the power to live a holy life, or a song and dance buried deep in our heart.) Really, today as The Person- The Holy Spirit and Jesus Christ (as He is everywhere) stand at our door knocking- we must understand that this can be the first step across that bridge– a whisper from you or me again– “I want it. I need it. (Another New Best Old Song- Listen- It’s Great!!!) I long for You Holy Spirit- You- Lord Jesus to be at the throne not food, drink, people.” Another whisper- “Father- I long to be fathered. In some sense I am fatherless for all fathers have sinned and (present continuous in the Greek) are falling short of Your perfections as a Father.”
Father God, I pray today for all of us that the Kingdom of God to us would not be a matter of just great food, drink, or people at the throne of our life source. Father, we need to see how far, how wide, how deep, and how infinite are the ways in which You love us–the ways in which Your Son demonstrated He loved us. Father, we need the “faith” OF/Flowing Continuously in/through us- Your Son’s – His Faith- not our pitiful attempt to “faith-up”. Yes, Your Son’s– the One who loved us and gave Himself for us. Father, inspire us by the Person- The Holy Spirit- to latch onto Jesus’ Faith which never fails to start the journey towards “Intimacy With Christ/God the Father”, to return again and again to that journey, and then to finish the course. Father help us to not be anything Other centered (people, food, drink, clothing, our good or bad looks, sin, good-times, past bad-times) other than having this in our mind’s eye- “I want to be Intimately walking with Jesus. I want help to enter the forest to see “The Tree” through the thicket of life, my own fallen nature and false teaching (not that anyone I know wants to teach falsely Father) or no teaching. Help me to lay hold of that for which You have laid hold of me in calling me, washing me, setting-me-apart for U, ……….. the High Calling in Christ Jesus. Father, let me not let important concepts like “letting patience have it’s perfect work” (waiting until Your provision of my needs/not wants). Father, help me not to be “wants” centered and like a cry-baby to grumble at You under my breath when wants are many and having them met is little. Lord, we need Thee, every hour we need Thee. Pour out a blessing we can’t contain. We need eyes to see and ears to hear before we can bless You Lord. Yes, we need to be bless to bless You. In Jesus Name I pray. AMEN
No comments:
Post a Comment