I was never very good at taking TESTS!

I have not written for a few days. I was busy taking a test. In fact, I am still in the middle of taking this test (metaphorically speaking), but thought I would step out of God's classroom for a moment to at least share that much with you. Perhaps later, I will share with you more about this particular test I am in the middle of!!

The Israelite's Wilderness experience was a test: “God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not.” The wilderness is the time for your faith to be tested and built up through trials by removing all the props (things that sustain you). You don’t know how much you depend on these props, until they are removed. When God takes them, your temptation is to doubt His goodness, His faithfulness, and His provision. Moses continues: “He humbled you, allowed to hunger, and fed you with manna…that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord.” When you go through your wilderness, you are supposed to get hungrier for the Lord. The Israelites grumbled in their tents because they missed the “leeks and onions” of Egypt. Our whining and complaining are no less petulant! While you are in your wilderness, you will “grumble” and struggle until you let go of your will. But your will must go if you are to be ruled by the Holy Spirit, not by your “self.” Like the Israelites, you cannot get to Canaan while your heart is in “Egypt.” God tests you (deprives you) to show you what is in your heart!

Taking tests is a normal part of life, isnt' it? Tests show you what you know, that is, how much you have learned. In school, a test is given to qualify you for promotion to the next grade. In the workplace, a test is given to qualify you for advancement to greater responsibility. So don’t be surprised when God brings you into a wilderness experience. Tests are a normal part of growth and promotion. And fortunately, God doesn’t give “F’s.” You never really fail God’s tests; you just keep taking them until you pass!

Salvation of the Soul is a Daily Discipline

In the Gospels, Jesus endorses the “little by little” or “step-by-step” process of salvation of the soul. When speaking of self-denial and cross-bearing, Jesus uses the word ‘daily’.

And it is exactly at this point that we need to distinguish between the two “workings” of the cross: 1) Paul’s declaration that the cross ends, once and for all, our domination by sin (Romans 6:6), and 2) the continuous work of the cross to put to death our self life. Paul says “[we are] always carry about the dying of Jesus in order that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh…” (2 Cor. 4:11), and then, even more directly, “I die daily” (1 Cor. 15:31).

So how does this daily dying work, you ask?

Renouncing our self-life is not something which is done once and forever (don’t you wish it were!). No, the self-life (the life of our soul) must be overcome step by step. Each day, the Word of God penetrates (Hebrews 4:12) our hearts, exposing the self life, and this deeper work of the cross separates us from self and unites us in spirit with Jesus.

This is why reading and studying and meditating on the Word of God is so important to the salvation of the soul—it must be a daily discipline. Daily, God’s Word is used by the Holy Spirit to probe deeper and deeper into our self life. Jesus made no provision for a day off; He said “If anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me” (Luke 9:23). Then “when Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory” (Colossians 3:4).

Little by Little, Your Soul is Saved, in Time

I am tempted to be discouraged when the things I would like to change take a long time. You know that expression, "two steps forward, one step back"? That's how we all feel, isn't it!

God told Israel they would conquer the nations before them “little by little.” Taking possession of your “Canaan”—the salvation of your soul—is also accomplished “little by little.” Our soul’s faculties—mind, emotion, and will—are gradually changed by the Holy Spirit as we give Him control. Our “new self,” under the Spirit’s control, is available for His use—and it is less and less under the control of “me.” Paul employs the same “little by little” concept in his writings with the term “walking.” But using Paul’s language, we might say we grow “step by step.” “Walking” means one’s conduct, behavior, and general manner of living—all that makes up a person’s philosophy, values, and consequent choices and actions. Just as we learned to walk in the natural world, step by step, with more than a little stumbling, we learn to walk spiritually. But this requires faith and patience.

And TIME!

Divine work and “time” partner together. God put us “in time” for a reason. He uses “time” to build character. He uses “time” to accomplish His purposes, i.e., Jesus was born in the “fullness of time.” It will take time for you to “know” the truth. And time to practice the truth. And, by the way, there are no shortcuts. Again and again, Paul uses the words “endurance” and “patience.” If it was not going to take “time” for us to grow and change, there would be no need of “endurance” and “patience.” Squash plants sprout overnight and grow to maturity within weeks. Great oak trees take years to mature. What do you want to be: a squash or an oak?

How Much Time does it Take to Save a Soul?

I am always amazed at God’s patience. A counselor for 25 years, I confess I have often been impatient with some counselee’s slow growth. At those moments, God lovingly reminds me how long it has taken for me to learn and respond to His truth, especially in those stubborn parts of my flesh. One of my favorite verses in Isaiah (30:18) says “the Lord longs to be gracious to you … He waits on high to have compassion on you…” Imagine that! The Lord is waiting for me. Or put another way, I am keeping the God of the Universe waiting for me to grow up!

I am glad for this passage which assures me that the Lord knows it takes time for my “soul” to be saved. After all, He sent Moses into the desert for 40 years; and Israel too was in the Wilderness for 40 years. David had his wilderness period. Even Jesus was tested in the wilderness for 40 days.

While our spirit is saved in an instant, once for all, our soul is being saved gradually. Obviously, this requires time in the Wilderness.

In the Wilderness, God humbled and tested Israel. He allowed them to be hungry and thirsty so He could feed them supernaturally with bread from heaven and water from rocks. In other words, to be totally God-reliant. What a great picture this is of the saving our souls—learning to trust God alone, willingly submitting to Him, thus, growing in faith—and, as Paul says having as “the outcome of our faith, the salvation of our souls” (1 Peter 1:9).

Be patient with yourself. God is. Give yourself time. God does. But don’t be like Israel, who because of unbelief, spent more time in the wilderness than God intended. Do you want to be in the wilderness for 40 years or 40 days? God is waiting for your answer.

Listen to my teaching on Salvation of the Soul at http://www.well-of-life.org/audio/tot_t22_salvation_of_soul

Is Jesus the Source of Your Life?

At my seminar last week, I discovered that many of the students had no prior knowledge of the “salvation of the soul.” What is it, you ask? In a nutshell, it means this: when we are born again, our spirit is saved, but afterward, our soul is “being” saved: our un-renewed mind is changed, our damaged emotions are healed, and our willfulness is changed to willingness! (For a detailed teaching on this subject, please visit my website and listen or watch the audio/video teaching called “Salvation of the Soul.”)

Why is this teaching important? Because if a Christian does not understand the difference between his spirit and his soul, he can be deceived into thinking he is “walking by the Spirit” (Galatians 5:16, 25) when he is really following his own natural (soulical) way of thinking (un-renewed), his own desires (selfish), and his own will (self-serving).

So, you ask, how does one discern when he is operating out of his soul rather than his spirit? How is the soul to be saved? The answer: by the Word of God, which acts like a knife, separating (and thus revealing) that which is of the soul (our natural thoughts and desires) from those of God’s Spirit in our spirit (Hebrews 4:12). When we read and study the Words of God, they change us: our thinking lines up to be congruent with the “mind of Christ," with His compassion and joy, and with His willing submission to the Father. We are operating as "spiritual" persons; we are "walking by the Spirit." Holy Spirit is the source of every thought, emotion, and act. Our soul and spirit are properly aligned.
There were two trees in the Garden, representing the two sources of life. The Tree of Life represented the life of Christ; the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil represented man’s self-life (the soul). Of the fruit of which tree are you eating? We need to ask ourselves each day: what is the source of my life?

http://www.well-of-life.org/audio/tot_t22_salvation_of_soul

Looking For a Good Place to Invest?

Are you bothered that the interest rate on your bank savings account doesn’t even keep up with inflation? Are you worried that your 401K is losing value to poor returns from your portfolio? Would you like to know where can you find a safe and secure place to invest yourself and be guaranteed of a good return?

Have I got your attention?

Well, it certainly is not in the American banking system. Nor it is on Wall Street. Where then?

Listen to what Paul said about investments: “I am convinced that God is able to guard what I have entrusted [invested, deposited] to Him until that day… [Therefore,] guard through the Holy Spirit … the treasure which has been entrusted [invested, deposited] to you” (2 Timothy 1:12, 14).

God promises to take whatever you have deposited in your spiritual, eternal “bank account” and turn it into a treasure. And Holy Spirit will guard it for you! Who can find a better guarantee than that: God’s Holy-Spirit guaranteed return on our investment in the kingdom of God?

“Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches… instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works… storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is life indeed” (1 Timothy 6:17-19).

Sanctification means Expansion

On Saturday, forty students attended the Dying to Live Seminar. I always get excited when I am presented with new students, many of whom will hear the presentation of the death-to-life principles for the first time. I can see Holy Spirit at work. As I am teaching I know that He is instructing, correcting and revealing. And in ways beyond our understanding, these personal revelations are expanding the kingdom of God.

Do you know that God wants to expand you? That is the nature of spiritual growth. A. W. Tozer said, “The widest thing in the universe is not space. It is the potential capacity of the human spirit—unlimited extension in all directions.” The Israelites’ conquest of Canaan was about possession and expansion. God wanted them to multiply and bear fruit. It is no less true of you. Jesus said, “By this your Father is glorified: that you bear much fruit” (John 15:8). What is this fruit? It is the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control) which can only be accomplished as we grow in faith (2 Peter 1:5-7). If we increase in faith, Peter promises that “the eternal kingdom of Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to [expanded in] you.” And of this expansion, Isaiah says there will be NO END (9:7).

Sanctify Means to Dedicate

Sanctification is not only a separation “from,” but a separation “to.”

I recently had breakfast with a friend who has just been promoted to a position of greater responsibility and opportunity (and prosperity)! He commented that he did not feel he deserved it. Of course, he is right! He does not deserve it, in the sense of God owing him something. The deserving one is God. God deserves it. God deserves the best of us. And when we are separated from our own purpose to serve Him, He is glorified. While my friend is benefiting from this promotion, it is ultimately God who is benefiting: He is at work in my friend’s life to expand His kingdom. “God is able to do exceedingly abundantly beyond what you could ask or think, according to the power that works within you (Ephesians 3:20)… because you are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works that He prepared [for you] before the foundation of the world that you might walk in them (Ephesians 2:10).

The idea of sanctification is to be set apart for God’s intended purposes. (“my” sanctification is not about “me,” but about God accomplishing His purposes.) When God finds someone whose heart is wholly His, He is able to accomplish His will (for the eyes of the Lord move to and fro that He make strongly support those whose heart is completely His—2 Chronicles 16:8). Sanctification means we offer ourselves to God for His absolute ownership, that He may possess us, and employ us for His purposes. It is for God’s purposes that the Bible appeals to us to walk in holiness, because “you are not your own; you are bought with a price and should glorify God in your body which is God’s” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).

When we are sanctified, God is glorified.

Sanctify Means to Separate

What does sanctify mean?

Sanctify means to "separate." This idea of separate is pervasive in the Bible. Significantly, the first employment of this word is found in the Creation account. God separates the light from the darkness—a symbolic foreshadowing of His plan to deliver His creatures from the domain of darkness. God separated Noah from the ungodly. He separated Abraham his family and inheritance in Ur. He separated Israel from Egypt. The very word “church” means the “called out” ones—“come out from among them and be separate.”

What does this mean, practically speaking to you and me? Listen to the words of A.B. Simpson, in his book “Wholly Sanctified.”

“Sanctification means our voluntary separation from evil. It is not the extinction of evil. It is the putting off, the laying aside of evil by the detaching of ourselves from it and placing an impassable gulf between us and it. We are to separate ourselves not only from our past sins but from sin as a principle of life. We are not to try to improve and gradually ameliorate our unholy condition. We are to put off the old life, acting as if it were not longer our self, and separating it from our sinful self as the wife is divorced from her husband, and as the soul is separated from the body by death. We are to reckon ourselves dead indeed unto sin just as much as though we were no longer the same person, and the old heart was no longer that true self.”

…May the God of peace Himself sanctify you entiredly (1 Thesalonians 5:23).

What Does the Cross Realize for God?

Like many others before me, when I first came into an understanding of what the cross had accomplished for me, I reveled in “my” new identity in Christ, a son of God. I delighted in the promise of “my” inheritance with all the saints in Christ. Focused on “my” transformation and what God had done for “me,” I inadvertently fell into the snare of self-orientation, focused more on what the cross had done “for me” than for God!

While this euphoric boon to my self-image and self-esteem may be a normal first step, we must be careful not to remain in that initial phase, especially considering the post-modern trend toward what-I-call the “psychologizing” of the gospel—whose therapeutic goal is self-actualization. We should be thus cautioned that we are not more concerned for ourselves than for God’s purposes.
So the question is: what does the cross mean for God?
In Romans 6, Paul states repeatedly that we are dead to sin and alive “unto” God. Let us pay attention to the word “unto.” As natural persons, we lived “unto” ourselves, our own interests. As born again, we now live “unto” God, His interests and purposes.

What the cross realizes for God is this: God separates man from his old center in order to bring him unto Himself and His purposes. We are now at His disposal to do His will and work. The very moment we become alive “unto” God, the door has opened for God to accomplish His work in us and through us.

“For none of us lives for himself, and no one dies for himself; for if we live, we live for the Lord, or if we die, we die for the Lord; therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s…and He died for all that they who live should not longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf” (Romans 14:7-8; 2 Corinthians 5:15).

Learning by Failure

If the axiom that we "learn from our mistakes" is true, then I must be one of most learned men in the world! I have lived long enough to have made many mistakes. In my attempts to be the perfect husband and father, and the son whose heavenly father says "well done", to say I "missed the mark" would be an understatement! But thank God I am not defined by my failures. And I have learned to thank God for the failures that have been used to bring me to the end of my self. God has used my failures, miraculously, to accomplish His purposes (Romans 8:28). Think about this: Adam and Eve's failure led to God's greatest act of love and mercy.

So what have I learned from my failure?

• I have learned that I am not defined by my failures. I am defined by God's view of me--that I am loved and valued by Him as He sees me through the finished work of Jesus.
• I have learned that these humiliations are necessary to break me, to humble me, and keep me humble!
• I have learned that God's mercies are new every morning; with Him I get a fresh start everyday.
• I have learned that God is faithful and will not give up on me. He can make the worst things you have ever done work for your good, if you have faith in Him.
• I have learned that God uses those who have failed.

While these lessons learned are true, the problem is that sometimes our past failures show up on our doorstep, taunting and harassing, and embarrassing us. They make us look at ourselves and our limitations. They can paralyze us and make us ineffective in our ministries.

Thank God, we are not defined by the past, but by the eternal 'present' that Paul calls the "newness of life" (Romans 6:4). Though Paul had reason to be ashamed of his past, he says, "...forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on to the prize of the upward [high] call of Christ Jesus..." Let us do the same.

Remember: your failure is God's opportunity.

Houses, Cars, and Faith

I was having coffee with a friend yesterday, and about half-way through, our conversation turned to politics and the current financial crisis. It’s not our usual subject matter. We usually talk about what we are hearing and learning from the Lord. Please don’t get me wrong, I read three newspapers a day and am quite a news junky, but I couldn’t help thinking that our conversation was no different than similar discussions going on at other tables in the restaurant. Instead of having what I would call a “higher” conversation, we were speaking of “houses and cars.” Now the reason I am characterizing it as a conversation about “houses and cars” is this. It seems to me that the base of our economy is the housing market and the auto industry. Why? Because everyone in America needs houses and cars. And aren’t those the two industries the economists keep talking about. Get the banks to loan more money to people so they can borrow more money and buy houses and cars.

In talking about people’s anxiety over the material concerns of this world, Jesus said, “Take no thought, saying, what shall you eat or drink or with what shall you be clothed? For all these things the Gentiles eagerly seek.” Bringing it into our modern vernacular, the Gentiles (unbelievers) spend their energy (and their money) on houses and cars. But Jesus says don’t have anxious thoughts about houses and cars. In fact, He says we shouldn’t speak with anxiety about them either. If we, like the unbelievers, speak out of fear that we won’t have houses and cars, are we not just like them? Houses and cars are what they “eagerly seek.” But Jesus says we ought to “seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness.” Today’s perilous economy is an opportunity for us to show that we belong to a higher realm, the realm of faith where we see everything in the context of God and eternity. Let us not betray our faith in our conversations of houses and cars; let us walk by faith, not by sight.

What is the Most Important Word in the Bible?

Yesterday, I wrote that I awake every morning with expectation that I will learn some new thing about God. There is something else I do every day, or at least I try to: I listen! Do you ever have a problem being quiet enough in your quiet time with the Lord? There are too many thoughts (voices) in your head. But you have to get quiet in order to hear Him, don’t you!

That brings me to this curious question: What is the most important word in the Bible?

LISTEN!

From the beginning of time, God has been trying to get His children to listen to Him! God attributes Adam’s fall to a listening problem—“because you listened to the voice of your wife,” who by the way had been listening to the Serpent!

And in the Old Testament, God warns the Jewish people: “[you] have not listened to My words, declares the LORD, which I sent to [you] again and again by My servants the prophets; but you did not listen” (Jeremiah 29:19); ”you sinned against the LORD and did not listen to His voice” (Jeremiah 40:3).
In the New Testament, Jesus repeatedly says, “He who has an ear to hear, let Him hear.” Jesus employs this phrase again in His letters to the seven churches in the book of Revelation.

Jesus said my sheep hear my voice. Mind you, He did not say my ‘lambs’ hear my voice, but my sheep! Mature Christians who know the Scriptures and walk in obedience are able to discern the Lord’s voice. Let me ask you (and me) this question? When you read God’s Word every day, do you expect Him to speak? Are you listening?

What Have You Learned Today?

When I awake every morning to my ‘quiet time’ with the Lord, I get out my notebook. I expect that I will have some ‘new’ truth to record. I expect to learn from the Holy Spirit as I study the Bible.

The word ‘disciple’ derives from the word to “learn” and means, literally, a ‘learner.’ We are all called, as His disciples, to be LEARNERS! Do you have such an expectation? When I meet with my friends, I almost always ask the question: “what are you learning in your quiet time?” Since I have come to know the Holy Spirit as the “Teacher,” I am eager to know what He is teaching my friends— because whatever they have learned, I can learn too!—some new insight about Jesus, or maybe something about me that needs to change. In his first letter to Timothy (1:5), Paul says: “…the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.” As we study the Bible, we learn what it is to have a pure heart, a good conscience, and to grow in our faith.

Jesus said to His disciples (His learners): “Come unto me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest…come and LEARN from me” (Matthew 11:28-29). We have all learned ways of dealing with the stresses of life that are not very effective. We have to UNLEARN these things if we are going to “learn” from Jesus. As I read the Word, I see how Jesus lived peacefully in a world full of conflict. I am learning how to live like Jesus. And I have much more to learn. That’s why I approach every morning with an expectation of what I will learn today. After all I am a “disciple,” i.e., a learner. How about you? Are you truly a disciple? a learner?

How Does Oprah Define Faith?

Everyone these days is using (or abusing!) the word “faith.” You know something is off when people as diverse as Oprah, Dr. Laura, George Bush, Barak Obama Joel Osteen, Benny Hinn and John MacArthur are all using this word—obviously it cannot mean the same thing to each of them. In our post-modern era, “faith” has been redefined to mean a “CONNECTION” to the immaterial, spiritual realm. This ‘new’ spiritual realm or “faith realm” includes person of any religious persuasion: Christians, Jews, Moslems, Hindus and Buddhists, turning it into a “universal principle.” They all are referred to as ‘people of faith.’ Even people who believe in no god at all, can use the word “faith,” this universal principle of “connecting,” if they believe there is some kind of ‘positive energy’ inside (or outside) of themselves to which they can connect. Kind of creepy, isn’t it!?

How do we explain to people what’s wrong with this!

The word “faith” has been stolen from us! Faith is not a universal principle of connecting. Faith is a biblical concept, and can only be defined by the Bible. Faith defined as a universal principle by these post-modernists makes God and the Bible to be irrelevant. The Bible says we grow in faith by hearing (obeying) the Word of God. There is no other way. Great experiences in the Lord are not going to grow your faith. The Lord Jehovah demonstrated His power through many miracles to the Israelites, but it did not make them people of great faith! They were still afraid to enter the Promised Land and ended up in the desert for 40 years.

Faith grows by hearing the Word of God (Romans 10:17). True faith is founded in the finished work of God through Jesus Christ. Faith that does not originate from Jesus and His work of redemption is no faith at all. Be careful how you use the word “faith.” And the next time you hear Oprah, or even Joel Osteen, speak of faith, remember it may not be “faith” as the Bible defines it.