Spiritual Ponderings

I am compiling a list of fascinating texts that seem to be stringing together something profound I have not noticed before. It is partly the emerging effect of a number of other insights I have learned over the past few months and their intersections are opening up some new things that make much more sense. Since it will take some time to process this, longer than what I want to wait right now, I am simply going to very briefly outline what I am seeing so far. The prisons that Jesus speaks of in His parables and stories all seem to have something very much in common with the trap of Satan as outlined in the book, The Bait of Satan by John Bevere. This book has gone very far in opening my eyes to see many things in the Bible I never noticed until I understood this as one of the most central issues that prevent most people from really entering into a successful connection with God. What came to my mind not long ago in connection with this is the several references Jesus made to pri...

All that the Lord has said, we will do. (Exodus 19:8; 24:3,7) Really? We smile when we think about how naïve the Israelites must have been when they spoke these words around Mount Sinai after God delivered to them the perfect standard of righteousness in His law. We knowingly remember how in just a few days they were found dancing around a golden calf in a sex-crazed drunken orgy. But then I am quickly sobered when I suddenly realize that I may not be that much different in my own response to God's words to me. Surprise? Am I headed for a drunken orgy of abandonment to wild flings into sin from the place of a pious position of a spiritual leader in the church? How could that be? But there is a very serious warning here that I cannot afford to ignore except at the peril of my own soul. I was reminded of this just a few minutes ago when I sat down and began to peruse over the Sermon on the Mount by Jesus in Matthew 5. I read things about being blessed if I am poor in spirit, ge...

Behold, I have given you authority ... over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will injure you. Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven. (Luke 10:19-20) Upon reading today's selection from My Utmost for His Highest , it is becoming clearer to me that God's government is free of the contamination that comes from the use of force. Because of our counterfeit definitions it is often hard for us to discern many of these clues, but it is here for those who listen to the Spirit speaking to the heart. This is even highlighted a few verses later in Jesus' own words. Authority from heaven's perspective looks and acts very different from authority as perceived and practiced by most people in this world. We are very familiar with the use and abuse of so-called authority by those in power who want to exercise control over those under their charge. But in these verses Jesus makes it very ...