Power of Attorney or Identity Fraud

Following on from the last post . . .

What is the Holy Spirit’s answer to the problem of our flesh always answering for us?

The children of Israel came up out of the Red Sea. They had just left Egypt and terrible bondage. They were emotionally scarred as a result of that time. All of their arguing and complaining and fighting amongst themselves that followed was an evidence that Egypt and Pharaoh had left a stain on their heart. They were like orphans, fighting for survival, as if they were still there. To interact with them was to communicate with that brokenness. It answered for them, but it was not really their true selves. The brokenness needed to be broken before they were ready for the blessings of the Promised Land.

We hear many stories of people in poverty that win big at lotto or in some gambling game. They become instant millionaires! Six months later it is all gone. What a tragedy. How could that happen? What were they thinking? The truth is that their brokenness was driving all their decisions. Their brokenness, which brought them into poverty in the first place and kept them there was being entrusted with a million dollars! Of course, it would choose to return them to their original state.

The Israelites could not enter straight into the Promised Land. If they had of, they would have quickly ended up as slaves to a new master – the Canaanites. Why? Because, in their brokenness they were still acting as slaves.

The Holy Spirit has the same answer for them and us. The first step to maturity is to learn to follow the cloud and eat the manna. He was not going to ask them what they wanted to eat or where they wanted to go. They wouldn’t have answered. They would have abdicated the answer to their flesh and brokenness. It was time for that brokenness to lose some of its power over them. The Holy Spirit effectively rendered it mute. All it could do was whinge and complain. He would never let it have its way.

If you find your brokenness answering for you, and if you are ready. Then you will find the Holy Spirit wants to take you on a journey where you learn to depend on him. It won’t be comfortable. Your flesh will cry out in despair. But deep within your soul will begin to feel again. You will find that deep down you were a little different from what you thought. Your desires were not those of your tormentor.

When the Lord calls us to submit to him and follow him unquestioningly, he is not trying to squash us underfoot. He wants to uncover the real you. In the short-term, he can’t let you make your own decisions, because you are not really making them. He will speak for you for a while in place of your brokenness.

“What?” you say, “Swap one person that speaks for me for another. What use is that?”

Actually the difference is vast. It is like the contrast between a power of attorney and identity fraud! The difference is that he has your best interests at heart. He wants you in the Promised Land. Your flesh wants you back in Egypt.

And it’s not forever . . .

The manna ceased the moment the Israelites entered the Promised Land in Joshua 5:12. The last reference we have to God leading them in a cloud is near the end of Moses' life recorded in Deuteronomy 31:15. As we mature, there will come a point where the role of the Holy Spirit directing and guiding us, gives way to the abundant life of the Father’s house.

Unfortunately, in the beginning, we are unable to speak and choose for ourselves. The question is: Which of these two will we allow to speak for us?

Don't Answer for Me

I have a dear friend who describes a time in her life when one of her parents continually spoke in her place. Someone would ask her a question, and before she had time to answer, another voice would cut her off. It was so frustrating. She was silenced. Someone else thought that they knew her. Perhaps they didn’t want her to make a mistake in her answer. Maybe it was so unconscious that they didn’t even know they were doing it. But it hurt. She wanted to cry out, “Hey, wait a minute. I have an opinion! Let me answer the question.” I guess to varying degrees it has happened to us all, and even though her case was extreme, we can feel the angst that she would have felt. Sometimes we have seen it done to other people. We feel like saying, “Can you hold on a moment? I asked them. I want to know what they think, first hand. That’s why I asked them and not you.”

We would all agree, I think, that the one who answers for another is a villain, and the one without a voice is a victim. Okay, there are some exceptions, but it is natural and proper that every person have their own voice. If this is a crime that stirs us up, what would you say if you learned that a hidden crime spree was taking place under our very noses? That sounds strange, but there is. And I would go so far as to say that someone is answering for you without you realising, not just once but all the time . . .

That got you interested, but what do I mean? Who do I mean?

Let’s start with someone else. Go to the nearest bar and find a drunkard and alcoholic. Ask him what he wants. What does he say? Nearly inevitably he replies, “Another drink would be nice, maybe two.” Think hard. Who is really speaking? Isn’t it his brokenness? Isn’t it his addiction and alcoholism? Somewhere deep within there is a mute soul with desires so deep and real. Slowly he has been rendered mute, and his brokenness answers for him.

Saint Paul was no low-living outcast from society. He had it all together, yet he had the same problem. In Romans chapter seven he describes his difficulty. He was doing what he didn’t want to do and not doing what he wanted to do. He called it his flesh. Sometimes it is also known as self. Paul is very clear that who he was different from this unwelcome intruder answering for him. He asks himself what he wants and his brokenness answers for him. Someone else enquires as to what he likes and doesn’t like. Again his brokenness speaks for him. How irritating. What could he do? He asks the question, “Who can get rid of this unwanted thing that keeps answering for me?”

Fast forward to today. Marketing campaigns and wealthy multinationals exploit this anomaly. Consumerism is out of control. Addiction is rampant. Obesity is everywhere. Perversion is accepted and becoming the norm. We are trying everything to satisfy our souls, but asking another to answer for us. As we feed our insatiable brokenness with the empty pleasures they demand of us, it just becomes stronger and more tyrannical. Our true selves become more oppressed and unhappy. And our brokenness will never let go, until it can drop us into the gutter.

This is not a statement on the evil of society. I am not against commercialism. This is not trying to convince you to stop sinning. I don’t want you to try harder, and please don’t misunderstand me and start feeling guilty. I am not trying to manipulate you or control you. My point is that someone else is. What do you really want. No, not you. Let them answer for themselves. You, yes you, what do you really want?

Isn’t that the most difficult question that you have ever had the pleasure of answering for yourself?

Discipleship: Purpose

Jesus spent three and a half year with twelve disciples. He seemed to be focussed on their progress and sometimes frustrated by their lack of it. How would you summarise his purpose and plan for them. There was some teaching, some prac, lots of hanging out with him. With those that are following behind us, what are we trying to achieve in their lives? How are we going about accomplishing that? What can we learn from the master discipler?

Jesus talked a lot about the Father, and the kingdom. I believe if we can pass on the Father and the kingdom, that is enough theory. And all that is left is loving those we disciple and allowing them access into our lives. Discipleship is the Father, the Kingdom and those hours. The Kingdom is a place, and a journey to that place. That place is also called the Father’s house and the Father is the real destination. The time we spend is an investment in another generation, as guides on that narrow way – We can lead because we have passed that way before.

As we disciple others our purpose is to:
·    Show them the Father;
·    Live the Kingdom before them;
·  Teach them the Kingdom;
·   Guide them on the Kingdom trail;
·    Help them to mature, step by step; and
·  Encourage them until they gain the Kingdom for themselves.

Caught Between Two Places

It happened to us recently . . . We were caught between two places. Moving out of our friends home, where we had been living for nearly nine months, and into a new house in a village. On the one hand we were trying to get the old place ready for our friends to return. At the same time we wanted to get established in our new home. So I would patch up the paint in some rooms at the old place, and come home to a growing list of stuff to do at our new home. Then there was a couple of days ago when we cleared out all of the shelves and brought all our books home. When they arrived, there was nowhere to put them. I had to put up some new shelves, so they had somewhere to go. When we worked on one place, the other would fall behind.

Jesus says some confusing things about the kingdom. The statements appear a little paradoxical . . .

He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it.

Matthew 10:39

For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.

Matthew 16:25

But many who are first will be last; and the last, first.

Matthew 19:30

So the last shall be first, and the first last.

Matthew 20:16

But when you introduce the idea of there being two places, it is not so difficult to understand. There are two places – The world and the Father’s house. They are in opposition and in competition. We have to choose. If we want to save our lives and prosper in this world, we will lose out in the other place. If we strive to be first in the kingdom, it will take all of our attention and the world’s recognition will slip from our grasp. We can dwell in one realm or the other. They are at war and we cannot sit on the fence. Where do you want to save your life? Where do you want to prosper and succeed? The question is not whether we can be first. The question is where we will pursue greatness and recognition. We are all caught between two places, just as much as I have been lately with our move to a new house. The Father longs to welcome us home and prosper us in his house. The world seduces us to spend all our energy and lifeblood in pursuit of its praise. It’s as frustrating as that. We just have to choose!

Women's Eyes

I am looking for something. It happens often enough. It might be the car keys or a piece of paper with an important phone number on it. I go from room to room, around the house, looking under things and opening every cupboard and drawer. Nothing. It isn’t anywhere. Naturally, I ask my wife for help. And as she hands it to me, in next to no time at all, she might say something like, “You have to look with a woman’s eyes”. I am left mumbling things under my breath and asking myself how that happened.

I thought of this when my wife was talking to me about her friend and her talk on the parable of the lost coin. She was using the parable to suggest that we need to be open minded in the way we look at God. After all, in that parable he is pictured as a woman. I think she may be making a little too much of that, I don’t know exactly. What I do know, is that the whole parable would not have worked if Jesus has used a guy in place of a girl. I can imagine the people listening to him. “Hey, teacher. Men don’t clean the house. We play dominoes, down in the square.” Jesus answers, “The day is coming, when those who marry a woman will clean, and with spirit. It is truth.” The crowd look incredulous.

The thing is, apart from the whole culture thing back then, men look for stuff with their commitment held in reserve. As I search I am formulating a plan B. If I don’t find the #?&% keys, then I will  take the bus or my bicycle. That would make me only . . . about ten minutes late. If I take the bike, I will need a backpack. Where was that backpack? If a woman doesn’t step in, the man will be so distracted by plan B, that it all becomes self-fulfilling and he will end up on the bicycle. Of course, the man may also feel compelled to take a trip to the local hardware store to purchase the correct tool for the job, to aid his search. He might return with a high pressure water blaster or vacuum, or a metal detector. That would happen only after he has carefully weighed up all the options.

So when Jesus was looking for a picture of the Holy Spirit he needed to use a woman searching and not a man. Otherwise, I’m sorry, but he could have left out the rejoicing part at the end. She looks with single-minded determination . . . with woman’s eyes, and with a funny sort of intuition that I don’t understand. Amidst the grime that you and I have been tainted with the Holy Spirit is looking for . . . well, he is looking for us. Who we really are has been lost, hidden beneath our brokenness. He has no plan B! He is undistracted. He knows what he is looking for and will stop at nothing. To him, you are so precious . The Holy Spirit will succeed, just as women tend to succeed when they are searching for things that have gone missing. He searches with women’s eyes, and that means there is hope for us all.