She Considered Him Faithful . . .

I know faith has been used, at times, like a club that beats someone up further who hasn't been healed or seen a prayer answered and heard the words, "You don't have enough faith." That is sad. Faith is a beautiful word when used in the context of our confidence and trust in God, His Word, His character, His goodness, His promises. And, yes, faith does, often, play a role in God moving—the Bible is filled with stories of people whose faith caused something to happen—and it also records God moving in other times when it seems no faith was involved.

I have been teaching recently on the amazing, divine invitation we have from God as Christians to surrender our will and "kingdom" to His will and "kingdom" and to let His will be done where we have a realm of influence. It is amazing and awe inspiring and exciting that God invites us to colabor with Him and to be a part of His will and work—that He dwells in us, leads us, and offers Himself to us to partner in plans eternal, and to be a part of His kingdom driving back darkness. How could we ever buy the lie that we can somehow, on our own, make decisions for our life that will give us more happiness, meaning, purpose, joy, security, etc. then partnering with our Creator in the very plans and works He created us for?! Yet, how often each day we decide we can better secure our happiness or security or meaning than He can. It is so foolish . . . and yet, a lie we fall for far too often.

These last few Sundays I've been talking about some of the reasons we don't surrender to His will. Sometimes we don't want to give up control—our lives are already so regulated and to give up even more control of them seems to diminish us. Or, maybe we don't trust God—I know we'd never admit that, but it is true at some level for most of us. Maybe we don't trust Him to make us happy, or to speak to us, or to take care of us. Maybe we are afraid that what we think we need isn't what He thinks we need when He promises to take care of our needs. Maybe we are offended or angry at God because of something that happened to us once, or a prayer that wasn't answered, and it makes it hard for us to trust Him. There are so many reasons we might resist His will and choose our own in any given moment of our life.

One of the most powerful and revealing verses in the Bible to me is Hebrews 11:11. It says, "By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised." Sarah, who mocked and didn't believe, had a promise from God for a child. At some point, after her mocking, it seems she stopped and took her unbelief captive to something and that gave her faith. Her faith brought out the life and power that was dormant in God's promise, waiting, and it came to pass. So, what did she take her unbelief captive to? To God Himself. To His character. Somewhere in there she stopped, recognized the lie and the error of her thinking, and realized just who it was that promised her. It was God! The God who created the Heavens! And, by taking her doubts and, maybe, fears, captive to the person of God Himself they melted away and were replaced by a faith that brought life to God's promise and she received the power to conceive. Her faith brought power, and life.

When we look at ourselves, we find, I believe, one of two things. If we are arrogant and proud we find a false confidence built on frail and temporal bodies and minds. If we are self-critical and even honest with ourselves we find little confidence because we realize how limited we are and how fragile we are. But, when we look at God we find something else, altogether! We find an all powerful God who loves us beyond measure and who never leaves us or forsakes us. We find a God who invites us to colabor with Him and to partake in the Kingdom's resources to bring His will and plans together. We find a Creator who created us for special works and leads us in fulfilling them, hence fulfilling the very purpose we were created for. We find a God who breathes out stars and yet says to us, "I want to spend eternity with you!" Suddenly, when we consider Him and not ourselves, His capability and not ours, His wisdom and not ours, His power and not ours, our faith is increased and the impossible becomes possible when it is Him leading us.

Sarah was bound by the world and her experience and her limitation. If formed the basis of her expectation, and in those boundaries she had no expectation of a child. But then she considered Him, and who He is, and His character and nature and power, and she realized that, while she is frail, He is faithful, and He has promised, and she was filled with faith and believed. And the power to conceive came upon her.

What has God invited you to colabor in? Are you considering yourself, or Him, in your assessing of it. When our own capability and resources form the outer boundary of our expectations the boundaries are small . . . but when He leads and we surrender and His capability and resources form the outer boundaries of our expectations, we find there are, in fact, no boundaries that exceed His capacity. He is faithful, even when we are not. Let us consider Him . . .

Captives Don't Obey or Submit Easily!

I am reading a book by Derek Prince called War in Heaven and in the early chapters he is making the case that we are a people at war within the spiritual realm. Did you know that the Hebrew word for "hosts" which is "tsaba" has as its primary definition "that which goes forth, army, war, warfare, host" or "a mass of persons (or figuratively, things), especially reg. organized for war (an army)". Thus, when the Bible calls Him the "LORD (or GOD) of hosts," which Derek says it does over a hundred times, it is saying He is the LORD or GOD of armies. As Derek said, when a country goes to war its citizens are automatically at war, the individuals do not need to make that individual decision. Thus, because our "government" and our "country" (God and Heaven) are at war, we, as its citizens, are also whether we like it or recognize it or not—and the Bible identifies our enemy as the "...rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places." (Ephesians 6:12).

In making his case Derek uses a multitude of warfare scriptures, one being the following passage (2 Corinthians 10:3-6) which says: For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ . . .

As I read that passage I was struck by something I had never really seen or thought of before, but which really adds an important piece to my June 30, 2009 post on "cages" or taking thoughts captive. In that post (and that two that followed it in early July) I talked about the essential need to take our thoughts captive, and the "cages" which I constrain my thoughts to. As I read the Corinthians passage above suddenly I saw the word "captive" in the verse "...and take every thought captive to obey Christ..." in a way I hadn't seen it before. I don't know if I can explain clearly the difference, but I'll try.

In the past I have seen the passage there to simply be that I take my thoughts and I make sure that they are consistent with God's Word or Promises, His character, and His testimony (see the June post). That still holds true, but I saw a dimension to the word "captive" that I hadn't seen before. I saw it as it truly is, an unwilling prisoner. I need to take my thoughts captive so that they obey Christ—but they aren't going to go easily or willingly. They are going to fight me the whole way and if I don't keep vigilant guard over them they will disobey or sabotage or even escape and wound me at the first chance they get.

When I was at West Point I spent one summer in a school where it trained us to evade behind enemy lines and, if captured, how to resist. It included being incarcerated in a mock Prisoner of War camp where an enemy tried to break you and you tried to resist. The next summer I went back to the same school—this time as an instructor . . . an interrogator to be specific (see my photo from then above). My job was to get as much information as I could from the prisoners. I can tell you that a prisoner will do all they can to resist, deceive, and if possible escape and wound you. As the "capturer" it requires constant vigilance and rest and warfare to keep them prisoner and obedient.

What this showed me, as it clicked for me last night, was that taking my thoughts captive to obey Christ is part of my warfare, and it suddenly made sense why it is so hard to take them captive and to keep them captive. I am in a war and there is a very real enemy trying to stir up my thoughts to rebellion and escape. I must TAKE them captive, MAKE them prisoners, and MAKE them obey Christ—and then, doing so, I must be vigilant to keep them there as they fight me, seek to resist and deceive me, and ultimately try to escape. It is, truly, a living, active, dynamic battle to keep my thoughts in captivity and obedience to Christ—making sure that all that I think and believe and expect is consistent with my Lord and His character and His heart and His Word. It is not a game. It is war. And the cost of dropping our guard in a war can be deadly. The lion paces about, looking for the one who has dropped their vigilance and given him a slight opportunity or advantage.

Part III of "Cages" . . .

As I have reflected over these weeks on the necessity and urgency of taking our thoughts captive to God's Word, God's promises, God's character, and God's testimony (see last two posts), I have been struck with the underlying, critical foundation for this, which is accurately KNOWING God's Word, His promises, His character, and His testimony. It doesn't do us any good (in fact it may hurt us more) to take our thoughts and feelings captive to a misconception about God. That is one of the reasons I so value looking at the life of Christ in the Gospels because He is the image of the Father—the representation of the Father's nature. He is a wonderful focal point for people who have trouble relating to a "good" Father. He is the perfect representation of the Father's love, His goodness, His compassion, and His embracing of people who turn to Him no matter where they have been or what they have done. He shows the heart of the Father in all that He is, says, and does.

God tells us to study and meditate on His Word, and diligently doing that is the only way to determine the full (and accurate) picture of our Father's character and heart (I say "full" knowing that we won't know His "full" picture, but in the context of knowing all that we can). Just like we make a major mistake to take God's promises out of context and apart from the precepts and conditions attached to them, we make a major mistake to ignore parts of God's character. It is only in a full picture of God that we start to understand His holiness, His awesome majesty and power, His jealous nature, His hatred of sin, and His love that sent His Son to die to fulfill the covenant-breaking curse of death we should have fulfilled. As we understand His different names we start to understand different aspects of His character. As we see Jesus we see Him. As we study His Word we see His heart expressed.

The more accurately we can know God, the more accurately we can take our thoughts and feelings captive to Him. If we take them captive to a false idea about Him we have set ourselves up to follow a lie and take a fall which can actually lead us to bitterness or anger toward God because we feel like He "didn't come through" or "didn't do His part" when, in fact, He never gave us a true reason to believe He should or would. Another danger of not accurately knowing God and His Word and His character is that we tend to blame on God things the devil did, and accept things thinking they are from God that are in fact from the devil. Just as I am blessed and honored the more I learn about Mary Ann and her heart, or my girls and their hearts, I am most blessed and honored when I learn more about God's heart. Isn't He awesome!

Cages, Part II . . .

I had no idea there would be a "Part II" to my last post, but it was pretty amazing how God opened my eyes to the exact topic of that post in the portion of the Genesis study I was going to teach next at church, and that I hadn't remembered before. Genesis 18 tells us how Sarah laughed (and lied!) when God said she would have a baby in a year. Genesis 21 tells us she had the baby. A reading straight from Genesis would seem that God did it despite her unbelief.

But, reading most of the major translations (other than NIV), we find Hebrews 11:11 telling us something like this (which is from the ESV): By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised.

If you didn't catch that, read it again. It is huge! Somewhere between Sarah's laughter and lie and unbelief, and the conception of Isaac, Sarah took her thoughts captive and chose to believe God even though nothing had changed in her physical condition. I believe her battle occurred on two fronts. One, could God do it? She laughed like, "Yeah, right. That's too hard for even God!" But Genesis 18 records the Lord challenging that and saying, basically, "Is anything to hard for God?" Faced with that blunt challenge we would all agree that nothing is too hard for the God who envisions galaxies and ecosystems and bloodstreams and then speaks them forth.

Then, Hebrews 11:11 reveals the second front of her challenge. God's character. Believing now that God could, would He? She then decided that He who had promised was faithful. That is exactly what the cages I talked about last time are like. I don't even have a "cage" for "can God" because I believe He can. My doubts and fears and feelings originate in trust issues and when I look honestly at God and take my feelings captive to Him using the cages I talked about last time I realize that, yes, I can trust God even when nothing has changed in my physical situation.

The awesome conclusion to all of this is that AFTER Sarah chose to trust and believe God, ultimately choosing to put His character as her highest truth, this faith awakened the power to bring God's word to pass! By faith she received the power to conceive! Wow!

Think of the Israelites who had the promised land "given" to them by God in His spoken Word but who, on the 10 spy's reports, chose fear instead of faith and rejected God's character to fulfill His Word. They wandered in the wilderness and missed their destiny until a new generation arrived that chose faith instead of fear. The enemy hadn't changed. If anything the land was more fully in his hands. What changed was that they chose to believe and trust God. They received the fulfillment of God's Word. Their faith brought out the life in God's Word. So did Sarah's, and it began with taking thoughts captive and not allowing in her heart any thought that she realized didn't originate with God or wasn't consistent with God, His Word, or His character.

Three Cages . . .

Hello! It has been a crazy couple of weeks. With the help of some friends we have spent countless hours working to make part of our garage a "classroom" where we can homeschool Bethany. We really felt God telling us that we needed this outside the home place to go to for "school" time. We have been working long hours, and setting aside a lot of the other parts of daily life to finish it so we can move on and begin researching curriculum, requirements, etc. We are really excited by the way the room is looking, and blessed by the help, but on the other side of it we are really tired and a lot of the "small" things we let go are starting to seem "big" to us (tiredness seems to magnify stuff, doesn't it!).

I write the above paragraph as the context to the following thought, not for sympathy or anything else. As we grew tired, watched money go out quickly, and felt the weight of all the other things that make up normal life and ministry grow, we have started to feel more susceptible to attacks, feelings of being overwhelmed, thoughts that we shouldn't entertain about ourselves (because God doesn't entertain them about us), etc. Discouragement, depression, doubt, fear, etc. are all willing partners that love to latch on for the ride when we (as Christians in general) start to open the doors and allow them.

The Bible says to take thoughts captive. I have found that this is the most powerful tool I have to combat the runaway thoughts, fears, and feelings that want to take over my heart and my walk and to steal my joy and my expectancy of God's hand in my life. Like I told the church one time, Christians have, on one hand, these thoughts that come in to our mind. On the other hand, we have God and what He offers. But, until we take those thoughts captive to what God says or offers, the thoughts run rampant. It is like having a roaming lion, and an awesome cage. The cage does no good until we put the lion in it. Then, the lion is captive in the cage.

I have found that there are three "cages" which I try and take my thoughts to to take them captive. Sometimes all three work, sometimes just one, but usually, if not always, at least one will work if I choose to let it. These three cages are:

Cage 1: God's Word or Promises—what does God have to say for me in the form of a Bible story or a promise that has bearing on this situation or thought? Often it is simply the promise that He will never leave me or forsake me. Often it is the promise that He is faithful to complete the good work He has begun in me. Other times it is often the promise that greater is He who is in me than he who is in the world. Other times it is a different promise, or story, that I realize can be applied to what I am experiencing or feeling.

Cage 2: God's Character—is this thought, fear, etc. consistent with what I know about God's character? I especially look at Jesus' life and ministry and heart because He is the express image of the Father and represents the exact nature of the Father. So, I look to Him to see if what I am afraid of, etc., is consistent with who He has shown the Father to be.

Cage 3: Testimony—have I seen God act in the past in my life (or other's lives) in ways that would apply here? For example, in a fear of finances, I can look back and see that God has never let us down and take that fear captive to that testimony. Christian biography/autobiography is a wonderful place to build the testimony of God in your mind, as is keeping a record of the praises of God's hand in your life that you go back and periodically review. We have a "Praise Jar" where we record praises throughout the year and then open and read them on Thanksgiving.

So, for me, these are the three "cages" I most often use. But, here's the rub (as a Shakespeare character once said). Just like the lion cage does no good until the lion is put in it, these things do no good until we take our thoughts, fears, lack of expectancy, etc. to them and put them in them and take them captive to them. All the truth in the world does us no good until we choose to make it our highest truth. Otherwise we are captives, ourself, to a lie. But, as we all know all too well, taking thoughts captive is not always the easiest thing.

God bless all of you.