Daniel 4:1-3, “Nebuchadnezzar the king to all the peoples, nations, and men of every language that live in all the earth: ‘May your peace abound! It has seemed good to me to declare the signs and wonders which the Most High God has done for me. How great are His signs and how mighty are His wonders! His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom and His dominion is from generation to generation.’”

There is something called buyer’s remorse after purchasing something, like an automobile, and then wondering the next day if the right thing were done. If the doubt lingers long enough, it will turn into fear. Sometimes this is a valid experience. Many find that they have been pressured into making a purchase they later regret; they actually did make a bad decision. However, the problem is that an emotion like buyer’s remorse can have at its source fear or a lack of peace, and both will feel the same way. When I purchased my house (the best investment I ever made), I was filled with fear. “How will I make the payments? What if I lose the house?” I had the peace of God when I bought the house, but the enemy and my humanity (wanting to be a success at playing God) attempted to prompt me to surrender my peace to the situation. Fear began directing me rather than the peace of God. I can have fear and the peace of God at the same time; I just need to recognize the difference. I must ask myself, “Was God leading you? Did you not lift the situation up to Him? Is it not impossible to lead sheep that are not moving? Isn’t it His job to take me to the right place?” Then I can see that my decision was made in peace, and I cannot let fear drive me, even if the situation does not work out as I thought that it should. For example, what if I lose my job and cannot make the house payments? That does not mean that I was not listening on the day that He led me to buy it. Some will say that this is a cop-out. Well, amen. We Christians are the only ones allowed a cop-out, because our God causes all things to work together for the good.

Christians have made mistakes and at times been bad witnesses of the Truth, but they are the only positive in a negative world. Again, the world takes someone that is a .5% success, puts him under a magnifying glass, and tries to make it look as if he were a 100% success without Christ. I have been accused of tearing down the accomplishments of non-Christians. Well, amen. I do not do it by way of judgment, but to prove the point that these people were not the successes without Christ that we were led to believe they were. Also, those who accuse me of this do the very same thing with anyone and everything Christian. I do not buy it. Without Christ’s life in man, we would be in the dark ages. It is also interesting that Christians are the only ones whose belief system allows for them to take criticism. Try to criticize a Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, or a communist, and see how far it goes. It will not be heard or accepted. Since Christians are the ones who listen, they get the majority of complaints directed toward them. Watch a group like Amnesty International make more noise about a single instance of discrimination within a Christian country than it does a wholesale slaughter in a non-Christian country. Why? The Christian has a higher standard, that being the behavior of Christ. The Christian is sensitive toward others because he is cognizant of having received mercy, and he will show it in return. The problem is that the world is constantly making an appeal to the wrong people. Christ and His family simply are not messing up the world.

James 1:14, “But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust.” Galatians 5:16-17, “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please.”

I am starting to believe that people are deceived because there is something in them desiring the deception. First, if Satan has the ability to deceive all men, then all men would be deceived. Obviously he does not have that kind of power. So what does he look for in a man that would allow for a deception? Satan is looking for something in the heart of man where the deception can begin. It would be impossible for Christ to deceive any person, for there is nothing in Christ that the flesh desires. True Christianity cannot deceive, for again, nothing in the flesh wants anything at all to do with Christianity.

Christianity has one message for my flesh: “Move over!” So what is it that makes man’s heart open to deception? I believe it is the desire of a heart that says, “I can be God.” Rephrased, it is the desire of the heart to be independent from God. This is why the Mormon religion is so successful; it is cleverer than the early Catholics who embraced the local gods of the people, or just gave them different names. As you know, many “Catholic” countries are rife with blends of Catholicism and witchcraft. Haiti is an example. However, the Mormons offer something more: man can actually become a god. Man can invite his wife to his celestial kingdom, where she can be eternally pregnant. This “deception” has incredible drawing power to those who have suffered under the hand of their unjust god, or who have served a god all of their lives. After all, who would not want to believe that he could become the one who hands out punishment and receives gifts from others?

Such a person is deceived with a ludicrous teaching, but moving past the cobweb to the spider, we see at the root a heart that says, “I want to be God.” Deceptions all offer the flesh something, and Christ is always taking something away from the flesh. When someone converts to Mormonism, or any of the other “-isms,” I never feel that the Mormons won one while the Christians lost one. Instead, I believe that the person, in believing the deception of Mormonism, actually revealed a heart previously hidden that is anti-Christ. Again, we see that nothing is working against us. God is permitting all the “-isms” for the revelation of hearts. The germ of every cult is this promise of keeping the flesh alive through some kind of God-playing. The amazing thing is that it holds any attraction, when it is so much easier to have a God than to play God.

Romans 6:6-7, Knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin.

Many view slavery to sin as analogous to a machine and a driver. A machine has no will of its own, being completely dominated and controlled by the driver, who turns it on, moves the handles, expects response from the machine, and turns it back off. This is the “life” of a machine; its state of being without a will, without the ability to choose, shows a true example of passivity. Many unbelievers and believers alike have embraced the philosophy toward the slavery of sin wherein sin is the driver and the unbeliever or believer is nothing more than a machine. Sin has complete control over the unbeliever or the believer, who in turn must yield to its dictates. This view of life is soul killing in that it strips man of all hope. If one cannot choose, why even get out of bed? Why keep moving forward to a pre-determined judgment? When those in the world say that their sexual orientation is pre-determined, they have just confessed to being a hopeless machine slave. To convince a believer that he has an addiction is to persuade him that he has no choice. What, then, is there to do but allow sin to turn his switch to on, move him in its direction, and turn him off at its bidding? Oddly, the heterosexual is told that he or she can say no to sex, but the homosexual cannot.

We are not machines, and sin is not the driver. Unlike the piece of machinery, we have free will. However, our Creator, the Master, has set the parameters of our choices. Though thus limited in our choices, we still have choice. As a slave a person can work or not work, live or be killed, eat or not eat, sin or not sin, love or not love. There is a lot that a slave can do and a lot that a slave cannot do. Certainly he cannot leave. Spiritually, sin might be the master, but still the person can choose to do good (follow the Law) or choose to sin (disobey the Law). Now, sin does not sit on a believer or unbeliever controlling; instead, sin manipulates by appealing to pride and the desires of the flesh. Sin cannot control; it is not allowed to do so. Sin gets its adrenaline rush from manipulating someone to choose against God, choose sin, or choose the keeping of the Law. Anyone can simply say “no” to sin. I have seen and met unbelievers that one day said “no” to this or that sin; they meant it and it stuck. How much more empowered is the believer? Sin is a big annoyance, it has the power to deceive, and it is relentless. When someone is the slave of sin, all choices are calculated by sin to serve sin. However, the capability is still there to choose, or how could an unbeliever choose Christ? Once Christ is chosen, a person is taken out of the dominion of sin and placed in the Kingdom of God. He is still a slave (serving a wonderful Master!). However, the parameters are much grander and the choices far more varied. A slave still must choose. We read in John 5:19, “the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner.” Jesus did do something; He chose to do nothing on His own. That is not passivity.

I once finished a meeting and was verbally attacked by another. I did something: I prayed, I listened, I rested, and I heard nothing from Jesus, so I said nothing. It appeared to others that I did nothing, but I was actually doing a lot of choosing. As a slave of righteousness, I can do a lot of choosing. At other times I have actively done nothing by waiting and listening, and He spoke. In those instances I spoke what I heard, and it was redemptive, as Jesus always is. Again, it is soul killing if as a believer I think I am a machine without free will. I am a slave to Christ, but I do not just sit around waiting for Jesus to get in the driver’s seat. I work within the parameters He has set for me, his slave, and I have so many choices and freedoms that He actually calls me His friend, His beloved, His brother, and His bride. This slave must put one foot in front of the other and walk by faith. This slave must deny his lying emotions. There are many things that my Master will not do for me, because it is His will that I do them for myself, and I am to obey my beautiful Master. What a wonderful kingdom is His; what a great day it is to be a slave. Now, the old slave died, so sin can no longer lay any claim whatsoever on me as a believer. If sin wants to grab back the old slave, it will just end up with a handful of spiritual dust.

“If any one has anything to do with Christ Jesus, let him/her have His humility first”. I make this sweeping statement in every Abiding Life Basic Training Course. It is stating that No one can do anything in Christ Jesus without His humility.
In the ‘One Example’ He gave His disciples on the day before He was crucified, He told them “Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you will do it” John.13: 15,17. That ‘one example’ was washing the feet of the disciples.
Refering to the happening in the upper room on that day Paul says ” Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus” Phil.2:5. Jesus Himself referred to His attitude “Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am gentle and humble in heart” Mat.11: 29

I often wonder how is it possible for Jesus to manage this level of humility! It came to me on last Sunday (10/24/04) afternoon while I was teaching a group of Secular Counselor Trainees in a ‘Christian’ Counselor training facility run by Catholic priests. We were discussing marital oneness and how a wife/husband can accept the spouse without conditions. Unless a person is fully himself/herself, that person will never be able to accept others fully. Then I was asked how does one know he/she if fully himself/herself?

We can see ourselves only when we are in front of an appropriate background.

I turned to the white board and on that board was a pictorial repesenation of marital oneness. On indicating this picture they all agreed they could clearly see the two black parrellel lines with a circle for a head.
“How does it become clear enough to be seen?” After some hesitation and a few wild guesses someone said it is because the whitboard is behind. Through that we established the principle that without the background the foreground does not become clear.

We can see ourselves only when we are in front of an appropriate background. We have no existence if we miss our background. Therein we know what we are and in whom we are. Our fullness in Him is visible only when we see ourselves in Him. In Him we are fully ourselves. A person fully himself/herself and knows that he/she is fully himself/herself can afford to be humble. It was not easy getting across this idea to a secular audience. I feel very comfortable presenting this fact to you who are Abiding in Him.
Therefore, if we are in Christ we are bound to be humble and all that we do would be from that base of humility.

Q.Do you agree with the otherside of Col. 1:27; that is, I in Christ, the hope of glory?

II Cor. 5:21 “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

That sin was great that it drove the very life out of him.

How? Take two magnets and try to hold them together. It will be opposites that attract not the positives. As you try to hold the positives together the magnets wiggle and move about trying to escape each other. As they flip they fit together nicely and tightly. Jesus is the invisible nuclear glue that is holding all things together. He is the positive. Man, attempting to be like God believes that man is the positive. Therefore, man invites sin into his being. The glue and the sin are repelled by each other. The glue withdraws and man becomes less and less in the image of God. If sin is continued to be invited in the man will, in time, no longer resemble the image of God. Therefore, God allowed a fix. The sin could be taken out of a man and placed on an animal. Man is in the image of God and the sin makes him sick. However, that sin placed on an animal, not in the image of God, will so distort the animal that it must be killed. The animal represented what man had lost in his sin. For example a dove, for a dove represents freedom, song, and peace. A sacrifice of man was never required. Not required until the fullness of time when the sins of the whole world (past, present, and future) had reached their culmination. On the cross God broke the divine umbilical cord that ran from Himself to the Son and placed on the Son the sins of the whole world. That sin was great that it drove the very life out of him. When the life was out of him, sin, Satan, the World, Death, Captivity, and Hell encased Him. He sank to the depths of Hell and there to the surprise of all there broke out! He conquered all that had encased His life, ripped open the gates of hell, preached, and even took Captivity captive so that it no longer could take captives. He then waited until God raised Him back into the body where the sin’s of the whole world lay. This time He entered back into the body with the power of an indestructible life, meet the sin, and conquered Sin in the body! His Life was so powerful that it even transformed his earthly body. Now, I believe that He has done all that in His body but the next step is believing that He can do it in my body!. He can, He will, and He has.

Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God.

Romans 13:1-3 “Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. 2Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves. 3For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same.” A just government has the moral authority from God to punish an unjust government. However, the passage can be confusing. I write from Nepal, where it is illegal to become a Christian, illegal to baptize, and illegal to preach. This Scripture passage was used by the Communists for years to manipulate Christians to come under their absolute authority via subjection. Rebellion against communism was said to be rebellion against God. As I have mentioned before, we Christians stand and fall on our definitions. What exactly is a “governing authority” that gets its authority from God? I have been in numerous countries where the “government” is nothing more than a mob imposing its wicked will upon the people. “Laws” are passed that are nothing more than excuses to steal from the poor. “Taxes” are imposed to take even more. Every angle is worked to take and take and take. In some distorted way these crooks seek to decriminalize their behavior by seizing power and naming themselves “elected” officials. The role of government in the Bible is to protect the people through laws that are of benefit to all, not to support a band of immoral thieves. Solomon is the greatest example of a governing authority that was established by God; he sought wisdom to help and guide the people. Punishment was meted out in the light of this wisdom. I do not think a criminal can demand subjection on the basis of having biblical authority to do so, when he does not fit the definition of a governing authority. Well, amen, I know many have had to suffer under such criminals. Though they are not true government and we are not bound as Christians to be in subjection to them, we are bound to love, pray for, and bless our enemies, as well as bless the criminal, give to them that ask, and go the second mile. However, the action taken is not out of compulsion from the belief that they are a government. Rather, it is out of something much higher, the life of Christ within.

God works slowly.

John 14:27“Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.”

Of course, bipolar manic-depressive is a label that is misdiagnosed more than it is correctly diagnosed. The problem with labels is that they receive the treatment, not the individual. Well, amen. At any rate, as the world sees it, a bipolar person is one whose emotions swing abnormally from a depressive low to a giddy high in a matter of moments. Normal emotions are to roll slowly according to events within and without a person. For example, in the presence of the death of a loved one, the emotions of loss, loneliness, and even anger can take many months to level out at a place called normal. Here is my point: I wouldn’t look at a woman who had just lost her husband of 50 years and ask, “Why don’t you laugh?” It would be abnormal; if she did laugh, she would be bipolar. However, many Christians are praying that God would, in essence, make them bipolar. They have experienced a negative event, a failure in their lives, a disappointment with another, or an offense; then they forgive and want their emotions immediately to go from the bottom to the top. That, to me, is completely unrealistic. I can forgive in a moment, but the emotions must take their time in coming back to a place of normalcy. I can acknowledge God in a death, move in faith, put my eyes on Him, and rejoice for the departed loved one, but the deep feeling of loss will take time to subside and give way to the feeling of hope. God works slowly. We are not to be praying to be bipolar. In forgiveness, we must let our emotions calm down after the fact, not try to be a bipolar up and down in an instant. Our spirit will soar, but emotions will take awhile.

The fearful person is the perfect person in whom God can be creative.

Mark 2:22, No one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost and the skins as well; but one puts new wine into fresh wineskins.
God can only do something creative through a weak, unknowing person. Familiarity with a job encourages doing it the same way and not, in humility, seeking Him for His way. For example, a person with 50 years’ successful experience with missions, teaching, or church building will not, generally speaking, seek the Father for how He wants things done in a new place. It will be done the same way, without thought, and the person will find himself in a rut. The problem with many churches is that they either stay in a rut or go examine other people’s ruts instead of going to the Lord and discovering whether there is something new that He would do. I meet many people fearful to take up the call of God. They don’t know how to preach, they don’t know how to lead, and they don’t know enough about the topic. But here is a secret: water cannot be put in a full cup; new wine cannot be put in an old wineskin. The fearful person is the perfect person in whom God can be creative. If you can’t do something, admit it, and let Him do something new. This message of Christ in you is old, and yet with each generation God would make it fresh. In your weakness, allow Him to do just that, make it fresh.

“Why didn’t Jesus tell me?”

Over the years I have had similar experiences to yours of people walking up to me and telling me that they had a word from Jesus for me. The words have been as varied as the people. Some have told me I was out of God’s will to be traveling to minister and needed to return home immediately. Others have told me that the Lord was telling me to go out. Go out or come in, which is it? All purport to be speaking on God’s behalf. How do we know the difference? There is no doubt that genuine words from Jesus can come through the conduit of another believer, but His word will not be an attempt to create something in us, but to witness to what is already there. God is a very intimate God and doesn’t tell our secrets to others; He is far too confidential for that. Therefore, someone’s telling me about a “hidden sin” or a “dark heart” is not received. When a word does come that could be construed to be negative, it will–if it is truly from the Lord–lift the spirit, for with the word will come the power and the truth to set me free. There is another problem with some so-called “words of the Lord.” The carnal will use them as a method of manipulation, invoking the Lord’s name and our love for Him to move us in their direction. Saying, “The Lord said . . .” really means, “Keep off the grass and don’t question me.” A sure sign that this is happening is that the one speaking refuses to be questioned. The carnal want theirs to be the last word. Probably the most pertinent question when judging if something is from God or man is simply, “Why didn’t Jesus tell me?” Any parent will tell you that when one child is representing the parent to another sibling, something isn’t right. If I want to tell my child something, I simply tell him, I don’t send another to speak for me. If God wants to tell us something, and we know His sheep hear His voice, why would He send someone else? There are examples of His doing that in the Old Testament, and the people knew exactly what the prophet was talking about; it wasn’t something vague or something that they couldn’t see was wrong. This brings us to one other point, which is that the carnal make things vague to protect themselves. It reminds me of the Indian fortuneteller standing on the corner and saying to each person passing by, “You seem happy, but something is wrong deep inside!” On any given day, he would be spot on for at least half of the people. God has no need to be vague, and the “words of the Lord” calculated to appeal to the flesh are. “You are going to have an expanded ministry!” “You are going to have all your riches returned to you!” “You are going to have healing!” It is all so appealing to the flesh. I would rather hear, “You are in Him, and so being in Him, He will bring the revelation of Christ in you, the hope of glory!” Carnal men want to give a word that is spectacular. Again, always question the motive behind what is being said to you. Is the motive to move you toward Jesus? The “word” should bring neither condemnation nor exaltation; it should be about Him. Now, I have received tremendous encouragement from the words of believers that were not from them but from Him. Therefore, don’t let all the phony words deter you when a blessing is to be had. Simply judge what is being said.

The flesh can continue to develop after we believe in Jesus.

Job 6:11-12, What is my strength, that I should wait? And what is my end, that I should endure? Is my strength the strength of stones, Or is my flesh bronze?
The Bible makes the point that once we have believed in Jesus, the old man is crucified, we receive a new life, and what was true of us is no longer true, what we did we never did, what happened to us never happened to us, for “if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation.” The old man is gone but the flesh–the condition of being under the influence of something other than Jesus–has not changed and will never change; we just abide longer with it under His influence, so it may appear that it has changed. The flesh is not improving, nor does God intend for it to; it is His stronghold to drive us back to Him. In fact, once we have Christ within us, the flesh will make us more miserable than it did when we had Adam’s life in us, for now it doesn’t fit what we are. This brings me to an important point: The flesh can continue to develop after we believe in Jesus. All we have to do is walk after the flesh, and the flesh will find new idols, new ways of coping. It will continue to grow. In Fiji I got a fungus, a very tricky thing that started out very small, but when it would itch, it felt so good to scratch it, and it was in the itching that it spread; soon it covered both feet. The pain was intense in the center, but it always felt good to scratch around it. The flesh is the same. Scratch that itch it and it will grow. A perfect example of the flesh’s continuing to expand is its increase in those (men and women) who struggle with internet pornography. This was something unheard of 15 years ago, and now there are few families not affected. Actually, it is worse among believers than unbelievers, for if unbelievers want sex, they will generally just go for it. But the believer draws an invisible line in the sand and tells the flesh, “You can go this far and no further.” To them, porno is not the same as adultery and therefore allowable. There are many in ministry struggling with this new development in flesh expression. This awareness of the weakness of the flesh and its propensity to grow should not discourage us, but rather encourage us to remain near to Him. For we know the moment the Lord is not our focus, we will move into the flesh, which has not improved. God has orchestrated the whole of the Christian life to center on abiding in Him.