Book 2 of Musings Looking to Jesus
Jesus is not a metaphysical principle but a living Person having tremendous authority and power.
One can notice, at least in Charismatic circles, and it well may be the case in other persuasions, that the believers like to discover spiritual principles that they can employ in order to get what they want. Oftentimes it appears as though the Lord Jesus is not in the picture.
Give God a hundred dollars and someone will send you a thousand dollars. (This appears to be a favorite with evangelists. Why don't the evangelists give a hundred dollars to the poor? That is a form of giving to God. Just think how rich the evangelists would be in a short time! But don't hold your breath waiting for it to happen.)
Forgive everyone and your arthritis will disappear. Maybe even cancer!
Speak what you want and it will become true.
I know a distressed Christian who came to me for counsel. It seems he felt he had blasphemed against the Holy Spirit (which he hadn't, I assured him). Somehow he began to feel he was the Antichrist.
Well, he went to a believer for advice. He (the distressed Christian) said he was worried that he had become the Antichrist.
The believer informed him that since he had said he was the Antichrist, he had made it true.
At least, this is how the distressed man tells the story.
One time when I was ministering in Illinois, as we were leaving, I noticed a small child's hand was in the crack of the door where the hinges are. Being a former grade-school teacher, I notice such things.
I yelled "Watch out! He is going to have his fingers crushed when the door is closed!"
If you can believe this, his mother said to me words to the effect "Don't say that because then it will happen."
I have a saying: "When your religion interferes with common sense, do what your common sense tells you. You will be right most of the time."
Another gem is, "If you are nearsighted, smash your glasses and the Lord will heal you." When I was in Bible school, one of the students attempted this on the advice of an evangelist. The only result was she had to buy another pair of glasses.
I know the Lord spit on the ground and put the mud on a blind man's eyes. That why I said you are right most of the time when you trust common sense, but not all the time. Sometimes the Lord leads us in ways that are a bit strange.
There was a time when we needed to build a new sanctuary. Our regular monthly income did not permit payments on the necessary loan. After about ten years of prayer the seven of us, all hard-nosed business types, felt we should take out the loan, that it was the Lord's will. This we did, and the new sanctuary (by an astounding miracle and without any begging for money) was paid off in four or five years.
Ordinarily, however, it is as I said. When common sense and your religion come into conflict, your best bet is to choose common sense. If you are open before the Lord, and He is requiring something unusual, He will show you that you are to act in faith. But watch carefully the fruit of what you are doing, because Satan is a master deceiver.
Religious people do all kinds of crazy things!
"Step out in faith," we are told. "Put God to the test!" "Dare to be a Daniel!"
I don't think even Daniel would dare to be a Daniel.
Write out a check for what you want and the money will appear in your account. If you do this you better get ready for jail.
"Speak it!" "Image it!" "Jump off the pinnacle!" "Go to Indonesia by faith and God will help you start a church."
Unless God is sending you, you probably will get diarrhea and have to write to someone, maybe your mother, to get enough money to get home.
Lately there have come in the mail slick brochures that advertise this or that program for church growth, or how to get more money. It is seldom that the name of Jesus is even mentioned on the brochure.
Sometimes it is a seminar which, if we attend, will make us God's man of faith and power, the outstanding leader in the local community. Again, one looks in vain for the name of the Lord Jesus.
Do you suppose that this pattern can be found throughout the Western world? Perhaps so. I heard of one evangelist in another country advertising "faith handkerchiefs," I think it was. Carry one of these handkerchiefs and you will be healed.
Another one is, send for an anointed cloth and include a donation of one hundred dollars. You will be healed and all your children will be successful.
The problem with all of the above is that we are seeking to use spiritual principles, principles that we can control at our will, to get what we want, and live our life in the manner that pleases us. This really appeals to Americans, who always are looking for a way to eat as much as they want and still lose weight.
How removed all this is from the Lord Jesus! How utterly ignorant of Him who is seated on the highest throne of the universe!
We are in great need of a revival in America. We have become apostate. We are backslidden.
When we do have what we hope is a revival, it seems to end up in another program to get what we want out of God. These last for awhile, and then seem to diminish.
I would love to experience an outpouring of the Holy Spirit in which thousands were saved, healed, and filled with the Spirit.
But there is something else that seems to me to be more needed. That is, those of us who are Christians need to return to the Lord Jesus. We need to get back to the Bible and start leading righteous lives.
We need to come to know the Lord Jesus. We are guessing that He wants us to do this or that, to undertake this project or that missionary endeavor, but we are not hearing directly from Him. We are assuming that this is what He wants, and so we have to plead for money to accomplish our objectives.
I think we American Christians need a fresh glimpse of the almighty Christ. I believe it is time for us to deny ourselves, take up our personal cross, and follow the Lord Jesus Christ wherever He leads us.
Christ does have all authority and power in Heaven and upon the earth. He is not short of money. There is no door that can close in His face.
I know the cynicism with which this statement may be met, but the truth is, when we are doing God's will He provides the necessary money. If we find we do not have enough money, we go to God about it. We do not try to use devices such as "speaking the word of faith," or sending the evangelist a hundred dollars, or cashing a check when there are not funds to cover it.
Things do not come to pass just because we say them. If you are sick, don't tell God you are healed. If you say you are healed, why should the Lord come down and heal you? Tell the Lord you are sick and feel terrible. The Word says He heals all our diseases. Blow the trumpet in His ear. Call on the Lord in Jesus' name. Don't try to be your own little psychologist, call on the mighty Christ!
If a child is in danger, notify someone. You don't have to worry that because you spoke of the danger a disaster will occur. This is nothing but superstition!
If you think God is telling you to do some strange things, it probably is not the Lord. But in any case, pray, pray, pray. Talk about it to someone you trust, hopefully your husband or wife. If another sincere Christian thinks it is strange and not the Lord, that is most likely the case.
Watch your environment and your circumstances carefully. When God speaks the rooster crows. If this strange action you are being asked to take goes against the New Testament, then you know for certain it is not God no matter how it feels. Satan knows how to use the Scriptures. If your impression is all in the subjective realm, and other Christians whom you trust feel it is wrong, it probably is.
Don't make a move until you have a deeply settled peace. Watch out for the exotic Hagar. The inheritance comes through good ol' Sarah.
Running off to the "mission field" won't solve anything. If you do not have a successful ministry here you won't have one in Ethiopia.
Beware of all forms of prayer clothes. These are amulets.
Beware of promise boxes. How are these different from tea leaves? The only good that comes from promise boxes, as far as I can see, is that they remind us of the scriptural promises. But I don't think we should use them like Chinese fortune cookies. However, there are groups of dedicated Christians that seem to be blessed with their little cards that they hand out with promises on them.
But how much better it is to present our body a living sacrifice until we hear from the Lord Jesus!
We are not to "step out in faith." This is presumption and is contrary to God's will. It was the third temptation of Christ.
As far as seminars that tell us how to be a great minister, it is my opinion that if we would spend the corresponding amount of effort seeking Christ we would profit a great deal more. We might find out what He wants us to do; what He wants us to be.
How wonderful it is to walk hand in hand with the Lord Jesus. It seems to me our church efforts today, at least in America, are much too horizontal. They are human to human instead of human to God, or God to human. Our services and efforts should be firmly vertical before they are horizontal.
I know we offer a prayer at the end of our seminar, or perhaps after the coffee break. What would it be like if we got together until we heard from the Lord? I suppose if we did, some ambitious person would jump up with a new plan to get the world saved, build a bigger church, or raise more money.
How the high hills do jump. But God has chosen Zion.
I am all for dumping the whole program and getting back to the Lord God of Israel. I want to feel His Presence. I want to see Him in action. I want to hear His voice and know He is walking with me and directing me.
And it is my humble intention to not settle for anything less.
How does this sound to you?
Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD. (Psalms 27:14)