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I have a confession
dogcombat:
Reading again part 14 of the "Lake Of Fire" series on the BT home page, I have come to realize that the Beast within me has overwhelmed me. I don't like WHAT I am, inside me is NO good thing. Latley, by focusing on trying to cope with this economy, I've failed to realize I can't tame the beast within. The hope is that all is of God, and He has me where he wants me. A couple of sections in the "Beast Within" paper really hit home with me
EXCEPT THERE COME A FALLING AWAY FIRST
What an astonishing truth it is, that God CAUSES all those destined from the foundation of the world, to be chosen in Christ, that they should "fall away" from the Truth and "leave their first love" before they can be truly spiritually converted. Yet this is the plain declaration of Scripture.
Peter fell away:
"Jesus said unto him [Peter], Verily I say unto thee, That this night, before the cock crow, you shall deny me thrice [three times]" (Matt. 26:34).
All the apostles fell away:
"Then said Jesus unto them, ALL YE shall be offended because of Me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad" (Matt. 26:31).
"And they ALL forsook Him, and fled." (Mark 14:50).
Paul fell away:
"As for Saul [renamed Paul], he made havock of the church…" (Acts 8:3) [while at the very same time he was "blameless" in keeping the Law of Moses] (Phil. 3:6).
ALL the Churches in Asia fell away after being in full support of Paul’s ministry. First:
"The churches of Asia salute [greet] you…" (I Cor. 16:19).
Later near the end of Paul’s ministry:
"This you know, that ALL they which are in Asia be TURNED AWAY FROM ME…" (II Tim. 2:15).
Paul warned the Ephesian Elders about the "flock—church" falling away:
"For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock [the whole flock]." (Acts 20:29).
Jesus prophesied that all who will become overcomers will have first fallen away temporarily by leaving their first love:
"Nevertheless I have somewhat against you, because you [the seven-in-one golden candlestick church of God that is, was, and will be] have LEFT YOUR FIRST LOVE" (Rev. 2:4).
Jesus Himself calls this leaving of our first love, a falling away:
"Remember therefore from whence you ARE FALLEN, and REPENT…" (Rev. 2:5).
Whenever we "fall," we leave our "first love." For spiritual falling IS, LEAVING LOVE. Jesus said that when we leave our first love we are to ‘remember from whence we are FALLEN…’ Love itself has not failed us, but we have failed love, for true love is not capable of failure or falling:
"Charity [Old English for ‘love’] never fails…" (I Cor. 13:8).
Jesus reprimands us for "falling" from love in Rev. 2:5. Interestingly, the word translated "fails" in I Cor. 13:8 is the very same word translated "fallen" in Rev. 2:5. And so, "love never FALLS," but before we are saved, we will fall.
Why is it that this Scriptural truth is not taught in the Church? Simple: Most in the church have not as yet experienced "leaving their first love." Therefore, they are still deceived, and CANNOT see the beast within. They are still in the process of constructing their spiritual house upon the sand. Most will never see the beast in this lifetime.
Yes. I've FALLEN and I can't get up. I, like Peter, tried to walk on water on my own strength and failed. In the past few weeks, I have seen some well-meaning christians follow such god AWFUL traditions, such as "say to the person next to you....... and then a bible study where the leader repeated Joel O'steen's nonsense about the bible "I am what it says I am.... and so on. The beast that is me partook in some of that, and only now do I see what happens not only when we leave our first love, but HOW we can do so. Taking your eye off Christ in the midst of your circumstances gives you NO chance of overcoming them. He can walk us through any situation and transform us into that which He intends for us to be.
TURNING OUR IDOLS OF THE HEART INTO POWDER
In Ezekiel 14:7 we read:
"For every one of the house of Israel [WE {Gentiles} are now the circumcision of God, Phil. 3:3. WE {Gentile believers} are the true Jew, Romans 2:28-29. WE {Gentiles & a remnant of racial Israel} are the spiritual Israel of God, Gal. 6:16] or of the stranger that sojourns in Israel, which separates himself from Me, and sets up HIS IDOLS IN HIS HEART…"
We all have "idols of the heart." Whenever we disobey God, we are giving allegiance to and manifesting idols in our heart.
When ancient Israel turned from God, they too manifested the idols in their hearts by building a literal golden calf idol with which to worship. And what did God do through Moses?
"And he [Moses] took the calf which they had made, and burnt it in the fire [don’t forget I Cor. 3:15], and GROUND IT TO POWDER, and scattered it upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it" (Exodus 32:20).
How many understand our Lord’s statements in Luke 20:17-18?
"And He beheld them, and said, What is this then that is written, The Stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the Head of the corner? Whomsoever shall fall upon that stone shall be broken; but on whomsoever It shall fall, It will GRIND HIM TO POWDER."
When we fall on the Stone (Jesus), we are broken. Or as John tells us in Revelation,
"And I saw one of his heads as it were WOUNDED TO DEATH…" (Rev. 13:3).
Yes, when we fall on Christ we are broken, we are wounded (by the "sword" of God—Rev. 13:14 vs. Heb. 4:12). This is our human attempt at salvation. But then we fall, and our "deadly wound [which we received by the Word of God] was healed" (Rev. 13:3), we went back into the world, back into Babylon, thus leaving our first love. When the wound of the Sword of God’s Word that had slain us, is healed, we fall from the love of God, and we again turn our love to the world from which we came.
But here’s the good news concerning this stone. If we are among the chosen that overcome, then the Stone falls ON US, and our spiritual house built upon the sand comes crashing down. And when Jesus falls on us, He GRINDS US [along with all of our idols of the heart] TO POWDER!
Remember we are but "clay" in the hands of the Master Potter, and clay consists of particles of sedimentary silicates of aluminum less than two-thousandth of a millimeter in diameter—in other words, very fine powder. In Ancient Israel, the sin offering, the peace offering, the meat offering, and thank offering all had to be made with fine flour. All of the universe is composed of very fine things.
All of the instructions on what was to be offered to God in the service of the Tabernacle in the wilderness, who was to offer it, and how it was to be offered is not just quaint little stories of history:
"Now ALL THESE THINGS HAPPENED unto them for ensamples: and they are written FOR OUR ADMONITION, upon whom the ends of the world [ages] are come." (I Cor. 10:11).
Christ is representative of all and every one of these sacrifices. And
"Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He [Jesus Christ] IS, SO ARE WE in this world" (I John 4:17).
So, when we read of the fine flour, oil, salt, and frankincense in the Old Testament offerings, we must understand that WE TOO are to be like fine flour—spiritually humbled and ground fine like powder, oil—having the Spirit of God in us, salt—we are to BE the "salt of the earth," and frankincense—our very lives becoming a sweet smelling incense to our God.
Some of the things we must go through seem bad on the surface. But as in all of God’s dealings, what appears at first to be something horribly bad, is in reality, only a necessary stage in the process of overcoming sin and self so as to be qualified to reign with Christ in bringing the rest of humanity into a knowledge of the Truth, redemption, salvation, and finally, glory.
GOD’S WORD SAYS THAT MAN IS A BEAST
"Nevertheless man being in honor abides not [does not endure]: he is LIKE THE BEASTS that perish" and "…he is LIKE THE BEASTS that perish: (Ps. 49:12, 20).
"One of themselves, even a prophet of their own, said, The Cretians are always liars, EVIL BEASTS, slow bellies [lazy gluttons]. This witness is true" (Titus 1:12-13).
"But these, as NATURAL BRUTE BEASTS, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption" (II Pet. 2:12).
"So foolish was I, and ignorant: I was as A BEAST before thee" (Psalm 73:22).
"But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, AS BRUTE BEASTS, in those things they corrupt themselves" (Jude 10).
"I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves ARE BEASTS" (Ecclesiastes 3:18).
So dear forum members, I write this, not to get you to feel sorry for me (My problem has been focusing on ME). But to serve as a reminder that Jesus IS the vine, we are the branch and apart from Him we can do NOTHING of ourselves. I hope that a fresh read of this paper will help you see just how we CAN'T conquer our beastliness (and the idols of our hearts) on our own. But may God enable us to endure today what His will has determined to be done.
May God enlighten you
Ches
Roy Coates:
Thanks Ches.
arion:
--- Quote ---I have come to realize that the Beast within me has overwhelmed me. I don't like WHAT I am, inside me is NO good thing. Latley, by focusing on trying to cope with this economy, I've failed to realize I can't tame the beast within. The hope is that all is of God, and He has me where he wants me.
--- End quote ---
You've nailed in here and God has now shown it to you and your exactly were your supposed to be. For so long I was always under condemnation..'I've got to pray harder, pray longer, pull myself up the the bootstraps and make myself believe, read more of the bible, fast more, ect... And it's all vanity. We can truly do nothing in and of ourselves until God enables it. To me, this provides a lot of comfort. If the work in me is going to get done then God's going to do it in his own way and his own time. He will motivate and influence me to do what he wants me to do and when he wants me to. The pressure is now off me in this area. It's humbling to know there isn't a thing you can do about your situation that will make a difference spiritually and the words of Christ strike home hard 'Without me you can do nothing'. For me it's a safe place to be because everytime I try to make something happen I screw it up.
Deborah-Leigh:
--- Quote ---Yes. I've FALLEN and I can't get up.
--- End quote ---
That is two steps in getting up. Step one. Knowing you have fallen. (Having been deceived and betrayed)Step two, knowing you of your own self, you cannot get up. (Realizing that without Christ, nothing can be achieved or escaped, overcome or resisted. Who can resist God’s Plan. Who can thwart God’s Will?) Thank God, no one. 8)
--- Quote ---I have seen some well-meaning christians follow such god AWFUL traditions, such as "say to the person next to you....... and then a bible study where the leader repeated Joel O'steen's nonsense about the bible "I am what it says I am.... and so on.
--- End quote ---
We know that nothing physical can achieve anything spiritual. Only God and His Spirit can convert us. We know this. They don’t. God has not meant for them to know yet.
--- Quote ---The beast that is me partook in some of that, and only now do I see what happens not only when we leave our first love, but HOW we can do so. Taking your eye off Christ in the midst of your circumstances gives you NO chance of overcoming them. He can walk us through any situation and transform us into that which He intends for us to be.
--- End quote ---
Of course. This is how we enter the Kingdom through trial and tribulation yet it is not easy. Just ask Craig. It is like going to the dentist to have your wisdom teeth pulled out of your skull. You have to go through it and every sinew in your mind strains against the pull of fear. Jesus sweated blood. Non have experienced that. We have to learn that we are not in control of our circumstances. We do not control the author and finisher of our faith. He knows what He is doing.
--- Quote ---may God enable us to endure today what His will has determined to be done.
--- End quote ---
we endure can only be of His Spirit that has overcome. His Spirit is our vital need and necessity. Knowing and being fathomlessly grateful to God, for that, is step three, into His Light.
Arc
Dave in Tenn:
This needs to be tatooed on my forehead backwards. Thanks for posting. I pray we all stumble on the cornerstone and have it fall on us as well. You've been blessed, Ches, and been a blessing.
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