"IN THE LAST DAYS PEOPLE WILL . . "

IN THE LAST DAYS PEOPLE WILL …




Beth Moore does it again. Using one of my favorite verses, 2 Cor. 10:5, she emphasizes that we have divine power (are “mighty through God” according to the NKJV), to demolish strongholds. The weapons we are fighting with are not carnal, or natural, they are supernatural. Why do we need supernatural weapons? Because we fight a supernatural, other-worldly, evil, enemy. Our weapons are divinely powerful for this fight. We are Mighty Through God to tear down the strongholds of the enemy.


Again, in 2 Tim. 3:1-5, Beth cuts through the “prophecy-info fatigue” (my description), of the subject of the last days and presents 2 Tim. 3 in an entirely new light. “In the last days, people will …” “Other prophecies refer to natural disasters in the last days. This verse refers to people.” This verse defines the times as ‘terrible’ and will be a social phenomena rather than natural or environmental. We will fear people more than the natural disasters because of the condition of the people during this time.


“Seventeen characteristics fall between two profoundly purposeful bookends. ‘People will be lovers of themselves…rather than lovers of God.’ Bookends. Lovers of self means ‘friends of self;’ lovers of God means ‘friends of God.’


“It is the great war between the great I AM and the little ‘i am.’”


Have you noticed the frequency of the “i” in almost every item on the market? i-pod, i-pad, i-phone, i-touch, etc. etc. The little “i am” is everywhere it seems. What I wrote in yesterday’s blog about the real battle—between my glory and God’s glory—is evident in these verses.


Beth dissects the words found in 2 Tim. 3:1-5:


“Abusive—a word in Greek that especially emphasizes speech.” The growing phenomena of abusive speech. I know for a fact that abusive speech is a product of the baby-boomer generation because my Dad was constantly dismayed at the movies from the 60s on because they portrayed the military of the WWII years as using foul language, such as had become the norm in the 60s. He said they didn’t talk like that when he was in the war. Imagine, going through the horrors of WWII and not hearing that kind of abusive speech, at least not having every sentence peppered with the “f-bomb”. Yet today, it is a second language, you can’t escape it. You hear it wherever you go and it has become an acceptable norm. But it wasn’t always so. This phenemona began in the cultural revolution of the 1960s. I can attest to it; I was there.


“Without Love (Greek astorgoi)—hard-hearted toward kindred.” This phrase is referring to a specific type of love—that of love toward family; family love. This, according to the passage is something that will intensify as the return of Christ draws close. The abortion tragedy shows itself in this second generation since the Roe v Wade ruling. Children are subconsciously conditioned now to believe that their lives were worth very little if their parent could have opted to kill them before they were born. Life has lost its value because of the abortion tragedy. People feel less valued, so they value others less. This passage of scripture defines a lack of even the normal compassion linking families together.


“Unforgiving—irreconcilable … without treaty. To the degree that we are selfish and self-centered we will be unforgiving. The bigger we are to ourselves, the more unforgiving we will be.” I believe that if I could name one core stronghold that holds more Christians in bondage than any other thing it would be unforgiveness. In discipleship of Christian women, it is almost always necessary to work through the process of Godly forgiveness before any other issues can be dealt with and healed. Unforgiveness not only holds the unforgiving person in terrible bondage, it holds the unforgiven person in bondage. Until the ties that connect them are severed, both suffer in the “above-the-line” and in the “temporal” realm.


“Slanderous—diabolos—accusatory (see also Titus 2:3). When we slander people, we are doing the devil’s work”, for he is the accuser of the brethren. When we accuse and criticize others, we are co-workers with Satan himself. The same word is used in Titus 2:3 when referring to the older women teaching the younger women. They are not to be slanderous, which could also translate “she-devil.”


“Brutal—untamed. Translated from the Greek which implies animal life. Base, natural instincts, loveless sex, lack of manners, rude.


“Treacherous—traitors, ready to betray their friends. Selfish people are betrayers of friendships.” When they have got what they need from a friendship and their needs are no longer being met by you, they will leave you behind without any regret. Combine this with being “hard-hearted toward kindred” and you have the recipe for most of the break-ups of marriages. Add in “without treaty” and you can see why it has become so easy for the “treaty” or “covenant” of marriage vows to be so easily broken in today’s culture. It wasn’t always so. This is a “last days” phenomena, which also began in our culture during the 60s revolution.


“Conceited—swollen with self-importance” Beth paints this in descriptive language “A Big, Bloated ME.” When we are driven by “ME,” we are bloated, swollen.


“Interestingly, 11 out of 18 vices begin with something in Greek called an ‘alpha-privation,’ an ‘a’ at the beginning of a word corresponding with our English ‘un’” It is the “un” of everything we were designed by God to do and be. Unloving, unforgiving, un-humane, un-loyal, etc.


People will argue that these things have always been around, that nothing which we see happening today is any different than any other time period in history. Yet, speaking as one who was growing up in the 1950s and early 1960s, I can say with absolute certainty, that the world I live in today is not the same as the world I lived in then. I seemed to have been aware, even at the time when I was 17 years old in 1967, that something terribly wrong was happening. There was a sense for many of us that a cultural shift had taken place. All of the norms and more`s were changing before our eyes. I recall how slowly and progressively, young people who had never used the “F” word, were trying it out, embarrassed and awkward at first, but gradually it became a part of their vocabulary.


So, it seems that, as I have always believed, since the 1960s and specifically since the 1967 six-day war for Jerusalem (since Israel is God’s time-clock for prophetic happenings), the last of the “last days” may be upon us and if this is true, then this generation, this peculiar description of culture gone wrong listed in the 2 Tim. 3:1-5 passage, is evidence of this.


But, we are “Mighty through God” Write that on the tablet of your heart—it is the truth that will get you through these times.

That I May Know You

"You are my witnesses," declares the LORD, "and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor will there be one after me” (Is. 43:10).

“The best grapes are those which have been held in a delicate balance between life and death. Stress produces the best wine.” (Wells)

“The true test of faith is not how much we believed for and received from God, but by how long we have waited while receiving nothing.” (Wells)

Beth Moore lists five benefits of our covenant relationship with God based on the book of Isaiah: 1) To know God and believe Him; 2) To glorify God; 3) To find satisfaction in God; 4) To experience God’s peace; 5) To enjoy God’s presence.


“Any benefit missing in our individual lives for any length of time is an indicator of a stronghold, an area of defeat.” (Moore)


“The first benefit of our covenant relationship with God is to know God and believe Him. Isaiah states the primary purpose of a witness: ‘Let them bring in their witnesses to prove they were right, so that others may hear and say, ‘"It is true."’


“We are never more beautiful portrayals of mortals who know and believe God than when others can look at our lives, hear our testimonies, and say ‘It is true.’” (Moore)


Beth asks in the workbook that we list someone who helped authenticate some part of God’s Word as a witness to us. I thought long and hard and was surprised to realize that those who have helped authenticate some part of God’s word as a witness to me were those who had suffered yet still believed God. There is a quality about this that haunts my mind, the radiant faces of those who have suffered loss, sometimes loss after loss, yet because they “knew their God” they believed Him and waited patiently for Him. They allowed the cruel irons to become a part of them and the pain became their healing; the pain burned off the dross of the self-life. (Speaking of Joseph, the psalmist writes, "His feet they hurt with fetters; he was laid in iron" (KJV). The Greek translation of this verse renders a different view of this Scripture: "Joseph’s soul entered into iron—entered, whole and entire in its resolve to obey God, into the cruel torture.") Those who have embraced having their souls enter into the iron, radiate the face of Jesus in their countenance. They know Him. They don’t love Him because of what He may do for them. They love Him because they know Him.


“. . . that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death. . .” (Phil. 3:10 NKJV).


I emphasize “that I may know Him” and “the fellowship of His sufferings” in this verse because most of us desire with all of our heart, mind and strength to know the “power of His resurrection.” We desire to see Him operate in powerful and miraculous ways—we want to prove to the world how powerful our God is and we mistakenly believe this is accomplished by demonstrations of the power of His resurrection; “Look! Look what God has done. He paid my bills. He got me this amazing job. He healed my child. He helped me to become a success in my business!”


Yet, it is really the two bookends of this verse that have all the power for life. Bookend number one, chief and foremost “that I may know Him.”


When I came back to Him after wandering away for eight years, bitter over a failed marriage and lots of unanswered prayers, that was my only request of Him. "I have to Know You! I don’t want to know about other’s experiences of You. I don’t want to hear another sermon about You. I don’t want to read another book about You. I have to know YOU.”


He sat me down, handed me only the Bible and said to me, “You will find me here.”


And I began to read. I sat for three years, only reading His word. I read it through new eyes, not eyes desiring to find arguments for my case or to back up my theology and doctrines or even to find comfort and guidance. I read it with His eyes. I saw Him. I saw Him giving and giving and giving to His chosen people; loving them and pleading with them to see Him, to believe Him, to remember the things He had done for them in the past, to love Him back! Yet they only could look at their present circumstances and murmur and complain that He wasn’t doing anything for them now.


Still, He loved them.


I saw myself maybe for the first time as I read. I saw that I was one of them. I was a murmurer and complainer. And then I saw the most marvelous and amazing truth—a truth that transformed me. I saw that He still loved me. He loved me not because of my goodness, but because He is love and I am not. I saw my true self and at the ripe age of 40 years old, I repented in dust and ashes for the first time in my life because of His love, not because of His discipline. “…the goodness of God leads you to repentance” (Rom. 2:4b) I cried out to Him “Oh God, I don’t love You. I have wanted You to love me, but I have never loved You. My heart is small and hard—I am asking one thing of You now—enlarge this heart of mine to become a heart of love for You and only You.”


And, I fell in love with Him. Isaiah 26:9 and Ps. 63: 1-7 became my life verses and remain so to this day as day by day I ran into His great arms and told Him everything as soon as I got up in the morning. He began to read the Word to me, so that I would see what He really wanted me to see and understand; reading it became the joy of my life. Isaiah 26: 9 and Ps. 63:1-7 became my prayer to Him. All other prayers, supplications and petitions fell under this one single request “That I may know You!”


If we are honest with Him, our prayers will sound something like this: “Lord, please fix my circumstances. Lord, use me powerfully. Direct me in obvious ways today. Make me successful Lord, so that I can glorify You.”


Listen carefully to Jesus in these verses, meditate on them. Ask Him to conform you into this, no matter the cost, make this your one desire and only prayer in life.

“With my soul I have desired You in the night, Yes, by my spirit within me I will seek You early” (Isaiah 26:9)

“O GOD, You are my God; early will I seek You; my inner self thirsts for You, my flesh longs and is faint for You, in a dry and weary land where no water is; so I have looked upon You in the sanctuary, to see Your power and Your glory. Because Your loving-kindness is better than life, my lips shall praise You. So will I bless You while I live; I will lift up my hands in Your Name. My whole being shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatnesss; and my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips, when I remember You upon my bed, and meditate on You in the night watches. For You have been my help, and in the shadow of Your wings will I rejoice. My whole being follows hard after You and clings closely to You; Your right hand upholds me” (Ps. 63:1-8 AMP).

Living Above the Line

Most of us who call ourselves Christian have been conditioned to believe that once we are saved, then we will begin what they call the “sanctification” process. Sanctification is biblical. Our belief system however, of the meaning and the process of sanctification is mostly Christian tradition passed down from one generation to the next. We have been taught from a belief system of “working for” the approval of Jesus. I would like to suggest that we move into a new belief system, that of “working from” His approval. We are already approved by Him. Ephesians 1: 6 tells us that we are already accepted in the Beloved, based on His finished work on Calvary. It is an amazing chapter, but we tend to think that it is for some future period of time, after we have been sufficiently sanctified.


If we have been accepted in the Beloved Now—already accepted, already approved— why do we think we now must work to sanctify ourselves to gain His approval. What this really translates into is that we are working to gain the approval of the people at Church. Why would we work “for” Him when it was His design for us to work “from” Him.


The Gospel according to Jesus Christ is that He chose us from the foundation of the world, He has already blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Ephesians 1 is a love story written on His heart and handed to us free of charge! Why don’t we believe it?


For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal (2 Cor. 4:18, 19).


“That verse contains two truths. One truth talks about things that are seen and temporal, or temporary. The other truth talks about things that are unseen and eternal. Above the line is the unseen and eternal; below the line is the seen and temporary. The unseen and eternal is going on in the midst of the seen and temporal. As believers, we have the privilege of living an unseen and eternal life in the midst of this seen and temporal world. The realm above the line is invisible and eternal. It is changeless and timeless. The realm below the line is visible and temporary. We call it the natural realm. Whereas the unseen and eternal is the realm of 'I AM,' the seen and temporal is the realm of 'I am becoming.' (Stone, pp. 28, 29.)


In the process of walking through the valley of the shadow of death for four years, I learned something priceless. I learned that I can live in the “above the line” realm in the midst of unbelievable emotional pain. I learned the value of suffering and the work that suffering produces in a life surrendered to I AM. I learned that I can rest while He works “For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure” (Phil. 2:13).


This is truth. It is for His good pleasure. He works in me to will and to do. This is freedom. This is the abundant life that He promised. And it is available to us all.

Get a Life!

The number one thing on God’s order is not the battle between good and evil; it is my glory fighting against His glory. The purpose of life is: To lose my kingdom, my glory, my image, my strength, my righteousness. God will allow us to be offended until the thing that can be offended is offended to death.

I not Christ = Unbeliever

I and Christ = New Believer

Christ and I = Miserable Believer

Christ not I = Free Believer

God has recently been “stirring me up by way of reminder” (2 Peter 3:1). The teaching, discipling and training He poured into me during the tenure of John’s illness needed to be refreshed. It was the education that He used to save my mind from going into emotional overload—those times when I looked down into that black abyss and wondered if I would ever recover. He gathered up my thoughts and emotions and put them back in order. He saved me. This was not salvation from eternal separation, it was salvation from the hell of my daily life.


And now, He is instructing me to collect my writings and the writings of those whose wisdom was "from above" once more and refresh my soul for the trials of today. I will attempt to compile some of these gems of wisdom to write on these pages, although the words will only have meaning for the sojourner whose life is desperately clutching for truth in a world gone awry. It won’t have meaning for those who are in control or who have it together. I was one of those at the beginning of this journey. Now I can say with the apostle Paul, “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong" (2 Cor. 12:9, 10). Where in the world would you find such advice—rejoice in your weakness! It is foolish to the world, but for me it is powerful. Being weak—I can do that part!


Where is the life Jesus promised? Why is it such a struggle to maintain the Christian life? Why are so many believers still in such bondage? “Having your sins forgiven doesn’t tell you one thing about how to life the life. Most of us go from believing that salvation is a free gift from God and rejoicing in that, and then we move into thinking that we have to work to sanctify ourselves. We begin going to the “how-to” classes, reading the “how-to” books, all in an attempt to become sanctified. This becomes works-based religion. . . .You can’t live the Christian life. Christ is in you and he will live the life—not ‘He will help me live the life’, but he will live the life. That’s good news. I can let Him live the life. I can do that.” (The Rest of the Gospel, Dan Stone, p. 18, 23).


(To be continued)

Free At Last?

This morning in my Beth Moore "Breaking Free" lessons, she addressed one of the subjects I have long been studying myself. Beth has a way of breaking down each piece of a deep passage of Scripture and making it real and applicable in my life, so I am using much of her own work and words here.


Begininning with the passage from Isaiah 26:3(NIV) “You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you.” (Although I prefer the NKJV which says “whose mind is stayed on you.” My mind cannot be “steadfast” unless it is fixed on Him.) The word “keep” is the Hebrew “nasar” which means “to guard, protect, keep.” The word Perfect peace” is from “Shalom” which means “to be kept safe, complete, well, peaceful, whole, secure, friendly, healthy, sound.” It denotes a satisfied condition, a state of peacefulness, a sense of well-being.”


“Mind” is from the Hebrew “yetser” which means “to frame, pattern, image, conception, imagination, thought, device, plans and purposes.” It is to “frame” the mind around something. Frame means literally a picture frame. Our minds work to frame every circumstance, temptation and experience we have. Two people can look at the same experience so differently, putting the event in different “frames” and acting accordingly. Our reaction to people depends on how we “frame” the event.


“Steadfast” is from the Hebrew “samak” which means “to sustain, to be braced, to lean upon, to lay one’s hand upon. “


“Trusts” is from the Hebrew “batach” which means “to attach oneself to, to confide in, feel safe, be confident, secure.”


Based on these expanded definitions, I read Isaiah 26:3 as follows:
“He (God) will guard, protect, keep me safe, complete, well, peaceful, whole, secure, friendly, healthy, and sound, with a sense of satisfaction and well-being, when I frame my images, imaginations, thoughts, desires and purposes, around Him, when I brace myself upon Him, lean only upon Him, lay my hand upon His truth, because I attach myself to Him, confide in Him, feel safe with Him, am confident and secure in Him.”


Beautiful.


The next passage of scripture Beth connects to this one is from 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 NIV, “The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”


Anyone who has been in my Bible studies for any length of time will recall how often I refer to this passage. It is pregnant with meaning and I like the way Beth breaks it down.


“Demolish” is from the Greek, “Kathairesis” which means “demolition, destruction of a fortress--any strong points or arguments in which one trusts.” It is a “divine power.” When did you last try to break a stronghold in your own strength and end up feeling powerless and totally defeated? Human effort is useless in demolishing strongholds. No amount of discipline or determination will do it. Satanic strongholds require divine demolition.


I noticed when I was in Ireland and also in Israel that there are ancient castles and fortresses still standing, partially destroyed. Some of these go back as far as 2000 or more years. Men with all manner of weapons have attempted over the centuries to destroy these fortresses, but have succeeded in only a partial destruction. They stand as broken sentinels, a reminder to me of the ruins in my own life, erected by my own self, which I have attempted to demolish, but have only succeeded in partially destroying, leaving a broken ruin, not useful for protecting me or even to hide within.


Only God can divinely destroy these fortresses; only He can completely tear them down. A “stronghold” is a place of hiding in times of insecurity. What part does insecurity play in my strongholds? Beth asks this question. My answer is “Insecurity is the stronghold!”


From the passage, the word “arguments” is from the Greek “logismos” which means “a reckoning, a calculation, consideration, reflection, which determines conduct.


These “arguments” are our rationalizations for the strongholds we continue to possess in our lives. We maintain excuses for not surrendering areas of our lives to the authority of Christ. Satan persists where a stronghold exists. He supplies us with an endless list of rationalizations for the things we do and refuse to do.


“Pretensions” is from the Greek “hupsoma”, something made high, elevated, a high place, figuratively of a proud adversary, a lofty tower or fortress built up proudly by the enemy—Pride.”


From this, Beth concludes: 1) every stronghold is related to something we have exalted to a higher position than God in our lives; 2) Every stronghold pretends to bring something we feel we must have—aid, comfort, the relief of stress, or protection; and, 3) Every stronghold in the life of a believer is a tremendous source of pride for the enemy. Satan takes pride in the strongholds he has helped us erect, and in which we find security. He will stir pride is us to keep the stronghold from being broken.


Humility is a necessary part of the mind-set for someone ready to be free. The proud are never free.


“Sets itself up against” is from the Greek “espairo”, “to hoist up a sail, to lift up the eyes, meaning to look upon.”


Satan’s goal is to be worshipped; that is what he has always wanted. If Satan can’t get us to worship him directly, he will tempt us to worship something or someone other than God. We worship whatever we fix our mind upon—even someone who has hurt or disappointed us. Even worry is worship, if we are focused on the worry rather than upon God.


God created us to worship. We all worship something—the “epairo”—gaze, of our eyes determines the focus of our worship. Whatever we worship we will also obey. “Arguments” and “sails” serve to propel and determine the direction of the vessel. Strongholds are the cords by which Satan attempts to lead us.


From Hosea 11:4, we see the difference between Satan’s cords and God’s cords: “I led them with cords of human kindness, with ties of love; I lifted the yoke from their neck and bent down to feed them” (NIV).


“Against the knowledge of God” implies knowing the truth about who God is. How do we know who God is? We have His truth in Scripture. Anything that leads us to believe anything about God other than what is the revealed truth about His character in Scripture is setting itself up against the “knowledge of God.” Knowing and choosing to believe truth is the key to liberty. When I am believing that God is not who He claims to be, because my life is not going as I think it should, it must be my decision to choose to believe truth over the lie; only this will ultimately set me free.


“Take captive every thought” is from the Greek “aichmalotize” a “prisoner, captive, to lead captive, to subdue, to bring into subjection.” This implies a continuous action. We’re after a quick fix, God is after lasting change and freedom. This is a lifetime process.


“Make it obedient to Christ”—God wants us to be victors. We don’t become victors by conquering the enemy. We become victors through surrender to Christ.