Random Blog Clay Feet: 2006-07
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Monday, July 31, 2006

Intimidation and Peace

Paul and Silas interacting with the jailer/prison warden. (Acts 16)

When they arrived at the prison in a swirl of angry passions and evil lies about them, their own spirit remained untainted of the dust of resentment or self-pity. Satan had used his weapon of force and cruelty both physically and emotionally on them but they insisted on remaining in the peace of God and maintaining an atmosphere of ever-present forgiveness and grace to everyone around them.

The warden was trained to be uncaring and inconsiderate of pain both physical and emotional. Even so, Paul and Silas immediately offered him an opportunity to discover his own freedom which he instantly scoffed at and rejected out of hand at first. Instead, he perpetrated the pattern of cruelty and intimidation by increasing their pain and sneering at their integrity. To protect his own reputation and life the roughly secured them with the harshest confinement at his disposal, the stocks.

The other prisoners as well, at first accepted the dark judgment that society had heaped on Paul and Silas and assumed they must be very deceitful con men to receive such stigma and treatment. But all this social darkness only served to more clearly couch the stark contrast of the inner light that burst forth in prayers of forgiveness and intercession for their enemies and joyful songs of praise for a faithful and wonderful God Who transcended their own circumstances and more than compensated their pain with His presence.

Friday, July 28, 2006

Spiritual Indigestion

When our body does not digest our food properly the food becomes toxic to our body. When we receive information that brings light to our minds but we don't digest it in our heart, it too becomes toxic to our soul. EGW says the gospel is dangerous when it is not acted upon after being received. Hebrews says it must be mixed with faith or we cannot enter into rest.

There are many things that prevent good digestion of the Word:

We sometimes immediately think of someone else who should hear and apply this to their life, thereby hardening our own heart.

We sometimes become instantly defensive and feel attacked thereby creating great stress and producing indigestion.

We may fill up on junk food leaving little room or appetite for real food that truly satisfies.

We may dwell excessively on our fears, regrets, pain, resentments, guilt etc. leaving no time or willingness or desire for saving truth.

Enzymes aid in digesting food in the stomach. What are spiritual enzymes that can assist us in better digesting the Word so we don't get a sour stomach like John? (Rev. 10:9,10)

Monday, July 24, 2006

Fault Lines

“Therefore confess your faults to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man has great power in its effects.” James 5:16

Faults are like systemic foundational weaknesses and lies that undermine our life and cause repeated sinning. They are often well hidden except for the surface symptoms which may not be obviously the same as the original cause.

To map out a fault line takes a caring community guided by the Holy Spirit. Others can see our blind spots and help us see what we cannot if we will humble ourselves. But only the Holy Spirit can bring true conviction without condemnation. Even then our own heart may condemn us, but this too is symptomatic of an underlying fault line that needs healing.

Faults are areas in our heart and emotions where there is a lack of correct bonding. Fear bonds are unstable and faulty by nature. Only truth and love can repair a deep fault line by cementing our hearts with peace and bonding us securely to God and other believers with joy.

Sunday, July 23, 2006

Damage Management

I am in active warfare but unaware of the munitions of the enemy. God is trying to remove all foreign objects from my laser lens, all resistors from my circuit board, all shrapnel from my body to prepare me for the day of fuller exposure to His presence and power. Any impurity allowed to be left in me at that day will become suddenly obvious and also fatal.

But I keep exposing myself to shells that explode at my altitude and fill me with more flak and shrapnel. I step out of God's protective restrictions and catch more shrapnel from hidden mines. These munitions are almost always camouflaged in appealing ways that draw me to come close to them before they explode. Watching videos has become the most effective munition known today. They come in different altitude calibrations to target people at different levels of weakness. Sometimes I am drawn in by the deceptive benign wrapper of advertisement or recommendations from others. Other times I am drawn in by my craving to spend time close to friends more than the quality of the entertainment.

This is usually the method used to lure me into the stronger explosions that create much more damage in my soul. I am filled with mixed feelings of regret and contamination from the shrapnel of lies and lust received from the movies along with confused feelings of supposed satisfaction for pleasing my close friends by spending time with them. Whatever the depth of damage, it sets me back spiritually and requires more remedial time for new repairs and emergency surgery that should have been spent in additional building on what God was trying to construct in me.

The walls need to be built and finished before the full-scale battle is engaged. My fraternizing with the enemy keeps blowing holes and breaches in the walls that use up valuable time for repairs and rebuilding of areas already repaired.

Saturday, July 22, 2006

Deferred Seed

When I hear the Word and in my mind apply it to someone I know “who needs to hear this”, the Word is not allowed to take root in my heart. I believe it is good seed and do not deny our need of it. But if I do not “exclusively” apply it fully to my own heart first and allow it to take firm root and perform its work of conviction directly to me, then I am hardening myself and stiffening my neck and leaving the seed exposed to be soon removed from my opportunity to benefit from it.

The hard path can be hardened by abusive conditioning by others for a time. But ultimately I choose whether to stay hardened in my familiar identity or submit to the ever-persistent softening efforts of the gentle rain of the Holy Spirit. If I will humble myself and pray and release my grip on my old identity and seek His face to see who I really am, then I will allow the Word to sprout and take root in me. When the Word has first grown and matured in my heart, then seeds from my plants can fall on other soil and I have become an example to them of how to respond properly to the reception of the seed.

Tuesday, July 04, 2006

Loyal Intimacy

The truth about God has been condensed into His word. It needs to be reconstituted in me by the liquid of the Holy Spirit.

James 4 says friendship with the world is disloyalty to God. I make myself an enemy of His. He is passionately jealous for my spirit to be intertwined in intimacy with His heart and Spirit. This is what I was created for. When I desire friendship with the world or steal the affections of the Bride, I am really in adultery. I am trying to satisfy my real needs for intimacy outside of intimacy and loyalty with God.

Sunday, July 02, 2006

Turtle Wash

Yesterday we pried a small box turtle off the hot tar on our road and took him home. He was very hot and buried with very sticky tar. It took us hours of careful cleaning and scrapping with paint thinner to free his legs and clean the bottom of his shell. It took awhile for him to trust us enough to push his legs out so we could reach in with damp Q-tips to loosen the globs of tar stuck on his legs and all around his toes.

Yesterday I had a good talk with Kim Hoffman at potluck about many things I have been learning. One of them was wiping the dust off your feet and what that means in the Bible. This morning I realized that for me the dust feels more like the tar on that turtle. It does not just wipe off easily; it has to be softened, scrapped and repeatedly rinsed to remove layer after layer of criticism, bitterness and self-righteousness.

Then it occurred to me what “washed in the blood” really means. Washing involves the transference of contaminants from one surface to a liquid and removed. If I allow, my guilt, pain and garbage can be softened and removed and given to Jesus. Then His identity and merit can be transferred to me.