Is God Angry When We Fail?

Recently, I was reflecting on the Angry God narrative, and was thinking about the revelation of the Father, as shown us by Jesus, and how the church often times leans towards the angry God based theology and world-view.  There is no doubt that Jesus talking about Judgement and any theology  we embrace must include that, but that was by no means the main focus of His ministry or message.  I did a review a while back of the different themes in the New testament and judgement, hell and sin were very low occurring topics compared to healing, the Kingdom, the Father, etc.  I have also done plenty of thinking about the angry God narrative and even wrote some other reflections - http://amomentwithgod-srh.blogspot.com/2017/03/understanding-when-god-is-described-as.html

Suffice it to say that this topic is one that brings much confusion and concern amongst us and is one that it is acceptable to grapple with in our thinking and conversation.  I think I would be accurate in saying that none of us can fully understand God, or understand His ways, and as such, hopefully none of us take the approach that we know exactly what this all means.

I think that much of our perception of the Gospel and God is based out of the theological frame-work we were raised under, not to mention our own maturity and growth.  I find that as I reflect back on my life, that I was quite convinced I knew exactly how things worked together in my 20s and 30s, only to find out that I really understood very little.  I am now of the opinion that I need to constantly be learning and revisiting what I think, for often I am finding that my thinking is inconsistent and even disconnected.

Recently I have been doing some reading on the topic of Theology and disability.  One of the things that a particular author talks about is revisiting the narratives in the scripture with a different perspective or focus.  He speaks about reading the bible from a disability narrative, and revisiting some of the earliest stories and how changing one's focus slightly can open up new understanding and insight into the ways and character of God.  This has been very helpful to me in allowing me to step out of my own historical perspective and thought and allowing me to open my eyes to a much broader view of what God is saying and how His words are understood and embraced.

Another personal reading theme has been Eastern Orthodox theology, not because I want to convert, but more to open my eyes to another way to view key themes that we find in scripture, and understanding how there might be alternative views to those I learned under the western Church.  The Eastern Church has the exact same roots and scripture, but a whole additional body of literature and centuries of thinking with a slightly different perspective, and I again find this very helpful to me as I revisit my own beliefs and thoughts.  I have discovered that I really don't know everything!  :-)

So back to the theme of my latest reflections, I was thinking about God and the way His plan and the revelation of His plan has unfolded in time and history.  I was thinking about God's primary revelation of Himself, how He describes Himself and how He revealed Himself through Jesus.  I was thinking about the Jews and their attempt to follow the Law and their constant struggles and rebellion and such.  I was reflecting on how God was definitely not surprised by their inability and constant rebellion and sin.  He expected it, and He paid for it all with His life!  So, my question is whether God's anger, as described in the Old Testament, is an accurate description of His emotion, or more of a human perception of His feelings?

Let me give an analogy.  If I am a teacher and I give my students a very difficult test, one that I know none can pass, let alone accel at, would I be angry if none passed?  If my students didn't know me well, and they failed miserably, how would they think I would react?  Imagine if I, as the teacher didn't tell them anything about the test being rigged?  The students would likely feel like failures, would likely be angry about my hard test, they might even assume that I was angry at their failure.  (It is sort of a lame example but the best I can do on one cup of coffee)

Now, I was also thinking about the example of caring for a long-term very sick person.  I have worked in a nursing home where we cared for people with a whole range of disabilities, infirmities and struggles, from strokes to Alzheimer's to brain-stem injuries.  At times the work was very difficult, and people had many issues that required extreme compassion, caring and mercy, and sometimes I was exhausted and yet required to care for these people.  I was never angry with them, for they couldn't help themselves, but I was at times angry about the situation, tired and short of patience.  From the outside, I could have been seen as angry.  From the patient's perspective, especially those who didn't know me well, might have thought I was mad as I moved them and cleaned up the mess, or dealt with whatever issue required my attention, but Iw as never mad or angry at the patient.  For reference, I only worked at this home for a relatively short time, but there were those people that had worked there for many years who definitely could be described as angry, or maybe callused would be a better description.  My point is that from a patient's perspective, they would likely not be able to fully comprehend nor communicate my exact feelings and emotions, and possibly would misinterpret my true thoughts and feelings.

One last example, since the Hebrew and Greek words most commonly translated as "sin" have a definition of missing the mark, or missing the way, I was thinking about teaching archery to young campers at a camp I used to work at in Minnesota.  Most of the campers had never shot a bow before, nor were they strong enough to shoot the bows I shot.  When I would demonstrate the correct form and technique, I would often hit the bulls-eye.  The kids would cheer and then try to replicate my technique and form and then shoot at the targets.  I don't think a single student ever hit the bulls-eye the first time they tried.  In fact hitting anywhere on the target was celebrated!  It was only after shooting all week and being constantly corrected and encouraged, that they might hit the bulls-eye a few times per round.  I was never angry with them for missing the mark (the bulls-eye) because I didn't expect them to be able to hit the mark.  If I had handed them my bow, I wouldn't have expected them to even be able to shoot a single arrow, let alone hit the bulls-eye, and I certainly wouldn't have been angry.

When I think about these themes, I am always brought back to God's description of Himself in Isaiah 55.  I know this is somewhat self-contradictory, to question the emotions described in scripture as pertaining to anger (Due to our own human limited perspective),  and yet accepting those that describe love, compassion and mercy without question.  However, I think that I am focusing mostly on the revelation of the Father as shared by Jesus, which is still recorded by humans, but strengthened by many eye-witnesses, and memories as recorded in the Gospels.  So back to the verses from Isaiah where God is describing His response to sinners and the unrighteous - here are the verses found in Isaiah 55:6-9 NIV:

[6] "Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near.
[7] Let the wicked forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts.
Let them turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.
[8] “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord.
[9] “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."

Notice how the theme is encouraging wicked and unrighteous people to turn towards God, and promising an experience of God's mercy and compassion, and pardoning their sin!  God (through Isaiah) then goes on to say that this is because His thoughts are not our thoughts, nor are our ways His ways.  In other words, we would likely not pardon sins, nor embrace wicked and unrighteous people with compassion and mercy.  We wouldn't think that was right or just, and we wouldn't act that way!  If we were to project our thinking onto God, we would be wrong!

Going back to the verses from Psalm 103 that I was reflecting on a few days back, it is interesting that the Hebrew word that is translated anger (Ps 103:9) is the word 'natar" and its primary definition is "To care for or tend" according to the Zondervan Exhaustive Concordance.  My conjecture (or at least my questioning thought) is that those that were translating the Bible, Greek and Hebrew scholars, were reading the original language with a particular narrative in mind, one that they had been raised under and one that influenced their interpretation of what was being said and thus, how to translate those words.  In this case the word "natar" could be translated to care for or tend, but a secondary definition "angry" was chosen instead because it fit their narrative.

In summary, I am learning to open my perspective, looking to other theological perspectives to better understand this God whose thoughts are higher than ours!  I know that I don't understand even a percent of His character and ways, but I am certain (as I can be) that He loves me!  I am very aware of how little I know, and how limited my life experience is regarding God and His sovereignty and power!  I know one thing as well, I have never encountered "the Angry God" when I have failed, but rather I am always embraced in love, mercy, compassion, patience and gentleness!  I see God the Father in much the same light as Jesus described Him, and that gives me hope!

Blessings - Sam

Rethinking the Angry God Narrative

This morning I have been refelctingon some verses from Psalm 103.  I was reminded of a couple of themes that have been rumbling around in my brian over the last days and thought it would be good to do some digging into these verses.

Psalm 103:6-22 NIV

[6] "The Lord works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed.
[7] He made known his ways to Moses, his deeds to the people of Israel:
[8] The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.
[9] He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever;
[10] he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.
[11] For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him;
[12] as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
[13] As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him;
[14] for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust.
[15] The life of mortals is like grass, they flourish like a flower of the field;
[16] the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more.
[17] But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord's love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children's children---
[18] with those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts.
[19] The Lord has established his throne in heaven, and his kingdom rules over all.
[20] Praise the Lord, you his angels, you mighty ones who do his bidding, who obey his word.
[21] Praise the Lord, all his heavenly hosts, you his servants who do his will.
[22] Praise the Lord, all his works everywhere in his dominion. Praise the Lord, my soul."

This  Psalm reminded me of some conversation I had this weekend with a friend of mine.  In these verses we read of God's anger (verse 9) above, but then the rest of the verses are how God treats us anyway but in anger.  He has mercy and compassion and loves us with an everlasting love!  It is interesting that the Hebrew word that is translated anger here is the word 'natar" and its primary definition is "To care for or tend" according to the Zondervan Exhaustive Concordance.  The word here translated accuse, is the word 'riyb' which can be translated-  strive, wrestle or contend - and in the sense that this is over a long period.

On Sunday I was thinking about how our idea that God is angry comes from an understanding of our own disobedience, and rebellion against God's word and ways.  All of the Covenant of the Law was to point to Jesus, and the need for Jesus, and the Promise of the Holy Spirit.  When we look at the stories of the great men of God in the Old Testament, they were all broken, and failed many times, yet God had mercy on them!  The Prophets were inspired to constantly call people back to God's ways, to His plan, to His purposes, and at best they (the Jews) seemed to walk that path for a few years, maybe even a generation, but they always failed to persevere.  In that light, as humans, we look to God and we can think of no other response than Him being angry at our failures and our rebellion.  If we look at the way the original Hebrew words are translated, they tend towards the negative connotation.  If we look at all of the surrounding text we see a loving and compassionate God, that fits the primary translation of a God who cares or tends after those He loves, and is undeterred even if He strives or wrestles with an unruly patient (Jews).

Looking at Jesus and listening to His parables, especially concerning the Father, I just don't get that feeling or understanding of an angry God, but rather the loving, caring and long suffering (striving) Father.  Take His parable about the Prodigal Son as a great example - Luke 15: 11-32 - the Father is anything but angry with His son who blows his inheritance on wild living.  When that son comes home, the Father runs to embrace him, and immediately restores to him all he had thrown away, his identity, his authority and their relationship.  In fact the only angry person in the story was the older brother who was angry about how the Father treated the younger son.  I wonder if this older son doesn't represent the prophetic picture of the angry God, those who just couldn't see God responding any way but in anger to the Jews constant rebellion and wandering?  Regardless, Jesus uses that point specifically to show us that is not how the Father responds to us, even in our sin!  He loves us and wants relationship with us!  He understands exactly what we have done, and yet when we return to Him, He runs to embrace us, not in anger but in love!

It is the older brother who wants the younger son to be punished. Luke 15:28-32 NIV: “The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. [29] But he answered his father, 'Look! All these years I've been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. [30] But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!'

[31] “ 'My son,' the father said, 'you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. [32] But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' ”

The older son was focused on rules, the Father was focused on relationship.  I wonder how often we have, in our shame and guilt about our own sin, projected the older son's response on the Father?? If we look to this portrayal of the Father, told to us by Jesus, the one whose purpose was to reveal the Father (Matt 11:27), we see a Father who is slow to anger, compassionate, merciful, loving and long striving (in this case going out every day looking for him) with His son in his sin and waywardness.  He is faithful, even when his son was not faithful.

This morning I am encouraged to revisit this "angry God" narrative.  I am encouraged to come to God in my brokenness and sin and believe that rather than punishment, His desire is relationship.  I am encouraged to look to the Father in love and hope and listen to Jesus, the one who knows the Father and reveals Him to those He chooses (us)!

Amen!

Expectations vs. God's Ways

This morning I am reflecting on some verses out of Luke's Gospel.  Recently I have been reflecting on how sometimes the Lord is at work in ways we don't understand, or in ways that don't fit our expectations.  Jesus has a very specific commentary about that type of perspective in these verses from Luke 7:31-35 NIV:

[31] "Jesus went on to say, “To what, then, can I compare the people of this generation? What are they like? [32] They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling out to each other: “

'We played the pipe for you, and you did not dance;
we sang a dirge, and you did not cry.'

[33] For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, 'He has a demon.'
[34] The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and you say, 'Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.'

[35] But wisdom is proved right by all her children.”

These verses always seemed a bit strange to me, but as I read them this morning I had a brief flash of fresh insight.  The image that came to mind was the image of spoiled children who wanted to control others through their desires and expectations.  Jesus was comparing that generation to these type of children, one wonders what He would compare our generation to?

Jesus goes on to address how certain people discounted John because of his strange behavior, his radical and fasted life-style.  Their history was full of prophets who were called to strange behaviors and actions, and yet when John comes they discount Him, likely because they didn't like His message of repentance.  Rather than let his message find a home in their hearts, they discounted John as having a demon, and rejected him wholly. Note: not all people responded this way, for many people followed John and were baptized by Him - see verses 29-30).

In almost a complete opposite expression, Jesus comes feasting, drinking, and spending time with "sinners".  Clearly this is not all Jesus did, but His life-style, at least publicly, was nothing like John's.  Rather than welcome Him, these same people rejected Him as not possibly being from God, because of His lack of a "pure" life.

I think that the people who were rejecting John and Jesus would have rejected anyone that God sent, unless they fit the exact mold of what they thought a Messiah, or man of God should look like.  We can expand this to say that they would have rejected any move of God that didn't fit their expectations, and that is my point of focus today.

The question for me is how open am I to God working in my life in some unexpected way??  Am I only going to accept Him if He does things the way I think He should do them??  Am I so convinced of my right view of God and His ways that I reject anything that doesn't fit my mold, or should I say, box?  Am I only willing to see God move in ways that I find comfortable?

Going back to the initial verses of Jesus' comparison, He says this attitude is like spoiled (my word) children.  I know that I don't want that to be how He describes me!

Taking this attitude and applying it to our experience of God in our churches, does this attitude then cause me to want to control, or have a controlled experience of God?  Am I uncomfortable when God doesn't act the way I think He should act?  Am I uncomfortable when church services get unusual?  Do I fret when God seems to upset the apple-cart of a nice orderly service??  DO I want a preacher who preaches the way I think a preacher should preach??  Do I want worship teams to sing only songs I like?  Do I want things my way??

Sadly, I think this describes many churches and brothers and sisters in the Body of Christ!  We have become so accustomed to a life-less and tidy service that when God shows up in power, people run for the door.  We see ministries that are experiencing the visitation of God, seeing people healed and delivered, called out as cults or influenced by the devil.  We have people who are pursuing God, called into question because of their excesses and extremes.  It seems that many of us in the Body don't want messy, we want nice controlled and safe church services.

The question is safe from what??  Do we want services where only saved and cleaned up Christians are welcome?  Are we comfortable with "sinners" in our midst?  Do we want to leave church without ever having been confronted with a need for our own repentance?? Do we want a God who acts and thinks like us? What if God's way isn't like ours?

I ask these questions of myself, for I know that there is much in me that wants to maintain the status-quo.  I don't like having opportunities for repentance, especially in public.  I like things to make sense and seem right to me - in other words I prefer God to act and think like me!

I think it is right to apply this theme to our corporate gatherings as well as to my own life.  I want to be ok with God moving in my life in whatever way He decides, regardless of whether I am comfortable or not!  I want to see God move!!!  I don't want to miss Him because of my incorrect expectations!

This morning I am encouraged to look beyond my expectations, to lay down any that I know I hold!  I am encouraged to be open to God moving in ways I have not seen, or heard!  I am encouraged to embrace repentance (change in the way I think and act)!  I am encouraged to think differently about the way God might want to move, or is already moving in my life!  Come Lord Jesus and have Your way!

Amen!

God is Faithful, Even When We Don't Understand or Care

This morning I am reflecting on a few short verses form Paul's letter to the Philippians 1:4-6 NIV:

[4] "In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy [5] because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, [6] being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."

Recently I have been spending many hours praying for guidance and direction and understanding God's purposes for me!  I am in the midst of some significant employment transition, and I have been in a waiting state for about a year and half.  I felt like I had promises from the Lord, and I just wasn't seeing things work out the way I thought they would, in fact things seemed to be going in the opposite direction.  I was tempted to try and fix things on my own, but have been working very hard to allow God's timing and plans to unfold.

Many years ago the Lord instructed me through the story of Abraham, Sarah and the promise of children, to not try and work things out on my own. Abraham tried to make God's promise of himself being the father of many nations come to pass through sleeping with Sarah's maidservant Hagar, and ended up fathering Ishmael, which ultimately caused much conflict and discontent, and difficulty.  The child of the Promise, Isaac, was born through God's miraculous intervention and in true fulfillment of God's Promise.  The problem for Abraham, and for most of us, is that we look at God's promises, and see the impossible nature of them (promises) and then settle for something less, through our own efforts.

Waiting on God is difficult!

Trusting God's word is trying!

Understanding the fullness of God's promise is almost impossible in our finite minds!


Going back to Paul's last line quoted above, I am moved by his statement, "being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."  I believe Paul's confidence came from looking back at his own life and seeing the hand of God working powerfully in his life to direct, guide, and help him fulfill his purpose.  Dating of his authorship of this letter has him either writing it part way through his second Missionary journey, or during his imprisonment in Rome.  Regardless of the exact date, Paul had seen God do miraculous things many times, he had been saved and protected, had lived through beatings and stonings, and still had a sense of the God at work in his life faithful to complete the good work He had begun!

This is such an important point for us to remember, Gods plans are perfect, our understanding of them is not, and our understanding of His timing, is severely lacking.  Trials and tests, difficulty and seemingly opposite movements are definitely trying and yet, God is perfectly in control and working everything to fulfillment.  The amazing thing to me is that in all of this, He is also completely honoring our free-will, and giving us opportunity after opportunity to choose our actions, our thoughts and our responses, and never do we throw a wrench in His ability to complete His good work in us.

I imagine our lives as a part of a trillion piece, multi-dimensional chess game, and we all get to choose our moves.  In spite of our own efforts and inability to pursue the perfect game plan, we never are able impact the final outcome negatively.  God works everything out to the fulfillment of His plan and purposes. HE wins!

So  back to my situation, in the midst of all the waiting and trying to understand what was happening the Lord was moving pieces in such a way that I have a new job, at an exciting company, and the opportunity to stay engaged with both of my last two employers, which will multiply the opportunities for increase.  Additionally, I will be working for a good friend who shares my faith.  I could never have worked this out on my own.  I had a God-inspired dream 7 or 8 years ago of something like what this is turning into, but I have not thought about that for years, nor did I consider that dream to be a promise or plan of God, I just thought it was cool and it definitely changed the way I viewed employment and such. It now appears that God is fulfilling promises He made to me that I didn't even consider a promise!  Talk about faithful!

I believe Paul describes this character of God in his letter to 2 Timothy 2:13 NASB: "If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself."   

In other words, God is faithful even when we are not, or don't understand, or don't care!  When He speaks a word, He intends it to complete its purpose, and He honors His word, even if we don't understand it or even recognize it. In other words, God is Faithful to Himself!  I love the verses from Isaiah where God reveals this - Isaiah 55:8-11 NIV:

[8] “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord.
[9] “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."

[10] "As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, [11] so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it."

So this morning I am deeply encouraged by God's faithfulness!  I  am encouraged that even if I can't understand it, He is working things out perfectly in line with the good work He began in me!  I am encouraged that He will complete that good work, despite my own failings and dunder-headedness!  He is so good He will honor every promise He made to me and over me, even if I am totally unaware of them!

What an awesome God we serve!

Remember and Stand!

This morning I am reminded of the famous "Armor of God" scripture from Paul's letter to the Ephesians 6:10-17 NIV:

[10] "Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.
[11] Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes.
[12] For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
[13] Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.
[14] Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place,
[15] and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.
[16] In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
[17] Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God."

I know there have been many reflections and sermons written about these verses.  However, I am just so aware of the truth of these verses.  Lately I have been battling and feeling a bit beat up by circumstances outside my control.  In that place I tend to feel sorry for myself, and take on a bit of a "woe is me" attitude.  One day while recounting to the Lord my worries, I felt like He said, "What are doing sitting there letting the enemy beat up on you? Your are my son, stand up and proclaim my truth over your life!"

I can tell you that instantly my perception of my situation changed and my mind and heart were buoyed up!  I realized that I had been sitting there allowing the enemy to beat me up in my mind and in my spirit.  I was listening to his accusations against the Lord, and His goodness, and finding that I was agreeing with some of the accusations.  What a terrible place to be!

The truth is that I need to learn to be strong in the Lord and in HIS mighty power.  I am not strong but He is! I need to put on His armor, and take my stand against the schemes of the enemy!  He comes to steal my joy, color my perception and sow division, fear and deception.  This is my real battle, and in God I have the right armor and His strength and authority!  My job is to stand my ground!  I am to hold that which He has won and paid for (me).

His Truth, His promises are to protect me, to guard my soul!  His righteousness is to guard my heart!  He gives me shoes that allow me to stand firmly in the Gospel of Peace!

As I wrote those words, I was reminded that for any combatant, whether in the boxing ring, on the football field, in the batters box, or on the battlefield, foot work is one the keys to victory.  It is our footwork that allows us to maintain our balance, that keeps us from falling, that helps us stay focused on our battle. The Gospel of Peace is what allows this, for God has promised the peace that passes understanding, available to us through the Holy Spirit!

Anyone that regularly fights, needs to know how to get into the zone - where they are not distracted, not caught off guard, or off balance, but totally focused and  aware.  This may not sound like peace, but I have heard its like everything else just is shut out, and their ability to focus is greatly enhanced, and time seems to slow down.  The movies always portray this by having everything get quiet and the object of focus becoming the only thing one sees.  It is usually in that place where greatness is remembered and strength and ability are unleashed.  That is what peace can bring us in this crazy busy world in which we live!  

Next, take up the shield of faith that allows us to block and extinguish the flaming arrows of the enemy.  He is trying to enflame us!  He is trying to cause us to be offended, to get angry, to be overcome with fear!  The shield of faith, the knowledge that God is in control, that He is the one whose shield and armor you are wearing will enable you to cast aside those fiery arrows.

I need the helmet of salvation to protect my thoughts, to remind me of who I am and the price that has been paid for me!  I need to protect my thinking, guarding it and keeping the enemy from having access to a strike a deadly blow.  Make no mistake the enemy tries to strike a deadly blow to our minds!

Finally, the Lord gives us the Sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God!  We see Jesus use this mighty weapon during His temptation in the wilderness (See Luke 4:1-12). Oh to be reminded of scripture in the midst of the battle, that we might proclaim the truth and remind the enemy that he is already defeated!

At the end of the day, I just need to remember who I am, and whose I am, and stand on that.  I need to remember that I have God's armor to wear, and it doesn't do me any good if I don't wear it!

Amen!

New Levels of Awareness and Authority

This morning I am reflecting on some verses from Mark's Gospel, the story of the Syro-Phoenician woman.  It has always been a story that interested me, but this morning the last verses are what caught my attention.  Here are the verses - Mark 7:24-30 NIV:

[24] "Jesus left that place and went to the vicinity of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know it; yet he could not keep his presence secret. [25] In fact, as soon as she heard about him, a woman whose little daughter was possessed by an impure spirit came and fell at his feet. [26] The woman was a Greek, born in Syrian Phoenicia. She begged Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter.

[27] “First let the children eat all they want,” he told her, “for it is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to the dogs.”

[28] “Lord,” she replied, “even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs.”

[29] Then he told her, “For such a reply, you may go; the demon has left your daughter.”

[30] She went home and found her child lying on the bed, and the demon gone."

What struck me this morning was the awareness Jesus had of the demonic presence, and how He knew it had left the daughter without ever visiting her, praying for her or even seeing her.  This seems to me to be a whole new level of Spiritual Authority and intimacy being demonstrated by Jesus.  We know of the instance with the Centurion's servant as well, who was healed from a distance (Matt 8:5-13).

Often times when I read these stories, I just think they are normal because Jesus is the Son of God, and of course He would be able to do these things.  What I just don't keep fresh in my mind always is that Jesus had voluntarily emptied Himself of His Divinity (Phil 2:6-8), and came as a humble man.  He wasn't operating in His divine nature here, instead He was demonstrating the power of obedience and hearing God the Father, and operating a simply a man.  In this case we can say He was demonstrating to us what is possible for us to do.  That is certainly beyond my present experience.

We certainly believe God can answer prayers, and that we don't need to be present to the person for whom we are praying, so that is not surprising , but what caught my eye was His sureness that the demon had fled and His clear authority.  He knew the demon was gone and proclaimed it.  He wasn't hoping, He wasn't proclaiming something, for the sake of proclaiming it, He knew.

Lord,  there is clearly a whole level of stuff I am not even aware of in my life.  When I pray for someone, I usually am hopeful, sometimes expectant and even at times confident, but never to the point that I know exactly what has happened and why.  Lord, I am encouraged that this level of awareness and intimacy is surely possible for each of us.  I am encouraged that You called us to do the same and greater still (John 14:12).  I am encouraged that I am not limited to my natural and actual setting, but able to effectively minister even at a distance.  Lord I pray that You would help me to grow in my understanding and intimacy that I might walk in this level of spiritual awareness and authority.

Amen!