the “hooked” hypocrite

When we have become “hooked” it can feel like we have been caught in a spiders web- every move that we try and make to become free seems to wrap the web around us more securely. It has such a grip and hold on us that it can shock us as we didn’t realise that taking this certain “bait” would have such a stronghold. But it is not long before the hook can start to feed us poison that is like a delicious drug that soothes us before bringing the after-effects of shame, and then another drip of ‘happiness’ before the next shame-wave..

In times like this, we need God more than ever (although we always need Him more than ever!). God knows exactly where we are, what we are doing and why we are doing it. He knows our depths that gave us the reasoning that we would even consider the bait… and He knows that there is nothing that can turn His love off towards us.

What we need to know- is that His blood that was shed on the cross has paid for EVERYTHING. There is nothing that His blood does not cover.

All that is needed is the honest exchange- that we give Him our everything, including all our addictedness and shame- and receive His amazing forgiveness, Truth, and love for us. A continual exchange- lies for Truth, pain for peace.. This is the journey of faith and acceptance that Jesus has done everything and there is nothing we can do to add to our salvation.

jealousy is not a love language

There are people who claim to love others, and yet become so jealous. They confess that seeing their “loved” ones talking with other men (or women) makes them feel angry- even when it is part of their job. They may also try to then in turn make the partner jealous by playing games and flirting with other women (or men)!

They believe that this shows their deep feelings for the other.

This is not love. Nor is it healthy for either person.

The Bible says that love is not jealous.

In this world, there are many cultures where ‘love’ is expressed and felt very differently. But there is One True expression and this is the strongest and most secure love ever. It does not use witchcraft to get what it wants (control, manipulation) nor is it weak, hidden or passive.

Love is costly but it is not dangerous.

Let us get to know Love so that we can know what isn’t.

the example of the father

The father in this parable shows us that he has such a higher value and understanding of love than most (if not all!) of us. And this comes from the pure security and love that the father has within himself. He is so secure he is able to give money to his son who disrespects him to his face, and he has nothing to prove to anyone; no defence of himself, no personal justice to fight for; but a life laid
down to live by a higher law, and an Authority to be accountable and submitted to.

There must have been people advising him on how to deal with the son and probably none of them would have come to the same conclusion as the father- to welcome him back with open arms and a pure heart!

What an incredible example of pure security in identity- that offence has no place and love is loud and clear within and from him.

An example that is way beyond our best efforts in our own strength!

Imagine!!

the very annoying little brother

Last week as I was reading Luke 15, I felt my annoyance grow against the younger brother; he not only cussed his dad by wishing him dead and taking his money, but he only wanted to go back to his family home because he was thinking about his stomach! There was no remorse or consideration about how much pain he had caused- both to the hearts of his family, the reputation, the relationships..

I come to this chapter a few times during a year and he has been getting more and more on my nerves! I find him selfish and self- absorbed, without any cares about hurting anyone else- just as long as he gets what he wants. I think he probably brings up all my personal annoyance towards those in my own life who I have felt hurt and offended by! (Mirror, mirror in the Word!) So when I read about how the son was then making a script about becoming one of his dad’s servants, I thought how merciful that would be on a human level for the dad to accept this. His dad even thinking of accepting him back into the house- even to serve- would be human’s high mercy… But then we read that his dad doesn’t even respond to the son’s script but goes WAY above and beyond and invites him back to come and live as his SON!!

How challenging is this to us- when our great mercy would look like allowing the son back in our lives at all!

This parable shows us the kind of standard of love that God is showing us the example to live by- that we should love others so much that we hold nothing against them including unforgiveness and offence.

This higher law is beyond feelings and ‘our truth’, and even beyond what others will say and opinionate about our dealings with such matters, it is beyond how we will look to others (weak, pathetic, doormat, walkover, etc).

It was such a cold smack in the face as I was reading this as this is the Truth that we need to live by if we want to be fully free and fully secure and active in our true identity. But as the smack started to fade in its sting(!), I consider how much I need God to help me in absolutely everything, and how amazing that He desires to help me in everything!

the offence of Love

God is Love.

He wants us to have life in all fullness so He is not afraid to challenge our unforgiveness, bitterness, anger, selfishness, pride… but in a world where challenging someone is seen as not loving them and as hate-speech, this is now totally twisted.

If someone you love is planning on slowly dying would you really be loving them by agreeing that “that is what they want so I’ll respect that”? Is love truly that insincere and weak, feeble and pathetic??

Does love really look like agreeing with something that sees people binge on selfishness and be totally consumed by self? 

Doesn’t love look more like being kind when we totally disagree? Or staying friends and respecting people while having opposite ideas in life?

Love shows itself best in hard times. In times where we have to make decisions.. to lovingly call out the crap we see in each other as well as the gold.. To stay faithful to our word when we want to run, to be committed and fully respecting to our spouse when they are not as ‘exciting’ as so and so..

Love is absolutely resolute. It is not weak or flimsy. It is strong and painful. It is patient and faithful. It is being honest when that will create pain instead of a fleeting pleasure.

Let us never make the mistake that agreement equals love. It absolutely does not.

Love is self-sacrificial, truth, challenging, patient, kind, compassionate, painful, persevering, clear, uncompromising with death, faithful.

Remind you of Anyone?

love makes the tough decisions

As I read the Word of God, and also Watchman Nee’s ‘The Spiritual Man’, it is so strongly clear that love is hardly anything to do with feelings and so much more
to do with decisions and the will of man.

We see that Jesus sweated blood as He prayed for the cup to be taken from Him. This shows that the greatest act of Love- Jesus laying His life down and dying a criminals death- was not out of “feeling good” about how gorgeous humanity was; but that He prayed, “yet not My will, but Yours be done”… and submitted Himself wholly to the Father’s plan- a plan in which love was the most painful choice and decision to make.

How many of us (especially in the west) believe that love is more to do with happiness, feelings, emotion…, rather than tough decisions, painful commitment,
faithfulness that hurts, lifestyle that costs..

If we are true followers of Christ then love will cost us everything and be (very likely) painful in the process. It will be mocked, laughed at, cause offence, and cost us more than we desire to pay… which is where our will needs to come into the submission of our lives not being our own.

Maybe that is why marriage is so weak and broken- because we are all looking for something (or someone) to serve us, rather than living with our lives laid
down for others, and ultimately God.

Love has very little to do with feelings and we would benefit to remember this especially when we have decisions to make, or when there are people who are vying to get our attention and affection outside of the boundaries of love. 

Love can also seem to repel those around us who are wanting yes-men instead of honest friendship and relationship.. 

Keep love bold, alert, and ready to engage.

love makes us bold

When we have a greater sense beyond self- and love is the greatest example of this- then we can become bold, even if we are naturally timid.

When we love someone or something then we can find confidence to stand up when we would otherwise shrink back. This is amazing to me. I find that when we live beyond ourselves then we have access to an overriding of our normal preferences, and this then enlarges our lives, capacity, mind and heart.

notches on the bedpost- the christian version

Recently I’ve felt that as Christians we can have the same spirit of the world- but just with a different manifestation. Our manifestation will bring us the same spirit of ‘conquering’ others though.

As a christian, I totally believe that we should be spreading the amazing news that everyone is loved beyond any love ever known, and that the price has been paid for each and every man, woman and child to come into the very presence of Almighty God by accepting that Jesus Christ came to live, die and rise again for the sins of all humanity. This is amazing news to each and every soul.

It is the cry of every spirit to be seen, known, and loved. The cry that no man, woman or child can ease. Only God. Our Creator and Father.

I believe that the closer we walk towards and with God, the closer we will be to His heart, and in His heart is the yearning for every single one of us to come to Him and be loved by Him- a Love that transforms the most cold, wicked, indifferent, self-sufficient hearts..

So, please don’t misunderstand me- I totally believe in not being quiet about this Love. However, people are never projects. Sharing the gospel is not about how great we are, or how many we have conquered, how much ‘work’ we have done..

Sometimes, I feel as though there is a spirit that rallies the troops to “go get ’em” and it can become like the competition of people sleeping around; “how many have you slept with..?” (With the more notches/people, the greater the stud/respect/accolade.)

I have such painful issue with this. What person wants to be a stat or a notch on a bedpost, or a trophy head that’s been hunted and now hanging on the wall for everyone to see how great the hunter is?

Let us not have the same spirit of this world; the spirit that is deceiving, dark, self-centred and self-serving. We are to test the spirits. If the devil himself presents as an angel of light, we need to be very sensitive to which spirit we are being ‘moved’ by.

May God Himself lead us with overwhelming love for the lives of others- to pray fervently for their adoption as sons and daughters of God and our brothers and sisters in Christ. May God fill our hearts with His heart, and break our hearts for what breaks His. So that we are aware of the urgency as much as His love, and His love as much as the urgency.

perversion of submission

We seem to have such a perverted mindset about submission- that it takes away our freedom and we become like slaves and not able to think for ourselves. But the truth is, if submission is to Love then we will be the most alive ever, and the most protected ever as we are accountable to someone who is then accountable for us. But if the submission is to man (human) who has no love, then it is truly an abuse and oppression as this is then about control and power.

We have to understand that when we are told to submit to God then this is the ultimate care that we can come under. This is not an abusive or powerless place, but a safe and protected place.

As man(kind), we have such a thirst for control that submission becomes a horrendous abuse of power in relationships- rather than being safe, it is unsafe.

We must get to know the God of the Bible so that we can see that He hates religion and the hypocrisy and abuse of people. We need to see that when He talks about submission it is from a very different place- which is Love and not control. There is no control in Love. The very fact that we have free will is because God Himself does not want to have us “controlled” into living for Him, “loving Him”, or anything else that is a farce. He is pure and requires our purity of choice- unmanipulated, uncontrolled, unforced.

performance or character

Are we being bossed into “saving souls” and feeling the pressure to respond to man by telling others about Jesus, or are we having our character transformed to being so aware that we are so loved and are alive for way beyond ourselves, that we offer our lives as living sacrifices and have a heart expanded for those who Jesus came to save..

The same act can be done but the spirit behind the act can be very different. 

Do we have the Spirit of God or of man?

Are we building from love or fear?

Are we ourselves being transformed or just adapting our behaviour to the current performance value of the church?

We need to be honest with ourselves.

God is not mocked. He is not taken in with awe when we give a great performance and yet our hearts are far from Him. 

Love God, love others. Pursue God, pursue others.

We cannot love God and not have our hearts changed for what He loves.. which is people.

In the wise words of Watchman Nee, let us have God as our Resident Boss, and no other. This will keep the spirit behind everything we do as the Holy Spirit and no other.