Pain: From Deliverance To Rich Joy
Deliverance
The Israelites were slaves in Egypt. They were set free and they set out for the Promised Land. The Lord led them away from "The Way Of The Philistines" - lest they be led immediately into vicious warfare. God knew they weren't ready to face the Philistines yet.
As slaves in Egypt they had experienced real misery. God set them free. The name "Jesus" means "Salvation" - specifically freedom from oppression.
Let Me Tell You About It
When I was delivered from Satan's kingdom, God filled me with His marvellous Holy Spirit. I'd been a "loser". A rich kid with "high water pants" and geeky glasses held together by tape is going to be a loner - trust me.
I'd dreamed dreams that almost touched the wonder world - this foretaste of Paradise - I was given to enjoy. We'd sung "Kum Ba Ya" and some really marvellous Jesus songs, accompanied by guitar and bongo drums, at a religious camp I went to in my youth. But the adults were fornicating drunks and the kids were lost. But now I found myself in paradise - enjoying the real deal. My mentors lived communally, for the most part, and had all the time in the world for me. For a high school kid, that's heady stuff.
Many of my high school peers viewed me as a mystery to be explored. For the first time I had to avoid the perils of popularity.
I really felt like I'd passed through some magic portal from the Satanic society of this present age into a wonder realm of adventure to be craved and savored.
The Spirit Was Willing But The Flesh Was Weak
I felt willing to suffer anything. I imagined I'd hold up well - even under torture. My ideal was to suffer martyrdom for my Lord. I wanted to wander the earth living out of a suitcase.
But, honestly, I was weak. My parents went into the worst tenements of Kalamazoo, Michigan. They asked my help cleaning up a poor family's apartment. I got there and my mother was cutting cootie infested hair off a filthy little kid's head. The smell hit me like a wall of putrid stench. Dog dung was all over the floor. A pile of clothes smelling of urine was in the hall. I told them, "I'm so sorry! I just can't do it!"
So I left.
In my heart I was willing to suffer torture for my beloved Lord - but in reality I was weak and inexperienced. Swinging a mop and spraying Lysol was way beyond my ability.
So What Level Of Strength Are You At?
I was at the first level of Spiritual Growth as a spiritual infant. My opinion of myself was pretty high. I had no idea what it meant to "Let go and let God." I pictured myself as Peter did when he pledged to die for his Lord. I was the strong disciple type. A baby. And I failed as miserably as Peter did. When you hear that rooster crow and Jesus looks into your eyes - giving you that "I tried to tell you" look - it cuts you down to size.
I went from infant to toddler with that realization.
Are you so strong that you're weak? Maybe you're dazed and confused. That, too, is ALSO a great starting point - as long as you love your Lord.
Fourty Years In The Desert
Moses was called "Pharaoh's Son". He was hot stuff. He left all those riches and all that privilege to join his brother Hebrew slaves. But he began poorly - by murdering a guy.
After that his dreams were crushed to fine dust. He became a shepherd and married a girl who smelled like the sheep. After fourty years of singing to wool bearing critters you sort of climb down off your high horse. You become an ordinary schmuck.
Let me tell you how it feels.
You leave a fancy house on a lake to get a $40 per month room for rent in the slums. Your great mentor Christian friends mostly go back to Detroit - where they came from. And your best friends are those who used to receive care in the local insane asylum. We called it "Migliore's Mansion". Then Migliore got fed up and split.
Before I read a book on nutrition I experienced severe psychological transformation as one of the better byproducts of protein deficiency. Sirens filled the night from the fire department, police station, and hospital - all nearby. I hit a low point when I heard one cat murder another - as the loser fell two floors into a trash can. It's a good thing there was a bathroom in the hall. Tub. No shower.
The South Street Psalmist
It's not like it's all starving on a diet of potatoes. Maybe the "Glory Days" are gone. And I'd crave those "glory days" for years to come.
But I have rich memories of those harder times because God gave me a new kind of pleasure. No longer am I pursued by the popular kids at school. But I did have to fend off a charming black prostitute - who ended up getting gloriously saved.
I upgraded to a $60 room in a mansion on South Street - with a SHARE KITCHEN - YEAH! It turns out that a Communist was recruiting guys my age - and bought the mansion with Russian money for that purpose. He read "First Easter" by Paul Maier. It convinced him intellectually. I hope he got out and lived to talk about it.
I'd write up to three songs a day. So those who visited me in my sweet loft apartment called me "The South Street Psalmist".
But the greatest pleasure was the hours spent in prayer. I'd feel the presense of God so strongly as I sat cross legged - a sweet summer breeze gently moving the hanging tapestries.
I'd embraced some very tough training - almost like the Marine Corps. I lived on a commune and learned Greek. I also got to travel all around the country - seeing God do miracles. A cult turned from their error and had Jesus revealed to them as he truly is. I visited them on their main commune. They comforted me with brotherly affection - and teaching me I could rely on the Holy Spirit.
No more Mr. Tough Guy. I was content to be ministered to by the Comforter. The Holy Spirit cared for me. But I still ended up getting married and having five kids.
Being "Rad" Just Makes It Fun
Where are you at? Did you move on to Phase Two - the eager embrace of training and discipline? You learn to yield to the comfort of the Holy Spirit. You learn more and more about how screwed up you are - until you yield to God and let him flow through you.
So in phase two you are indeed getting stronger. Training and discipline have their effect. But watching God do amazing things really encourages your heart. That's the big thing.
You can get into Phase Two without being a nutcase - like I was. But it helps. Why not live while you're alive? I was finding out what it meant to "Let go and let God".
Praying in the Spirit becomes a true joy. Your mind isn't so much active. Mostly it's your Spirit. You got saved in "Sweet Surrender". This surrendering of control to God - yielding and letting him inside - this is how God becomes more comforting than a friend or lover.
And He will normally use spiritual music - so that the "movie of your life" gets a super "sound track". Music is a vitally important part of spiritual training.
Don't tell me you aren't an emotional person. I don't even want to hear that. You just don't know how to yield to God - if that's where you're at. Drop those walls. Drop those insecurities.
You Are His Masterpiece
I'd love to hear your story. God does beautiful things. If you've not had the kind of adventure in Christ I've described - in some measure - you're probably the victim of Churchianity. Churchianity keeps you in a straight jacket. The doctrines are two dimmensional and black and white. God's truth is 3D and in vibrant color.
You are his masterpiece. You belong to Him. Use wisdom. But say "yes" more often - if you feel any stagnation. Disruption, pain, suffering - all of these will be yours. But don't try living without love. It won't work. Saying "yes" to people and to God will transform your life.
Which Phase Are You At?
Is God still steering you away from warfare so He can nurture you as a child - still on milk? Are you doing more receiving than giving? Are you still a spiritual infant?
That's okay if you are. I'd gladly pray with you, listen to you, and teach you about how Jesus sets us free. Cherish these times. He'll show off His Might and Power.
But if you're a Christian, you've yielded all to Him and you're already Christ-Like in some precious ways.
You don't want to get trapped in spiritual infancy. Pride and avoidance of suffering us our natural state. If you're stuck, it's not weakness holding you back, it's strength. You must yield control. You must be broken at the foot of the cross. You must rend your heart - rip it. When the tears begin to flow, He will be able to get into your heart.
The Third Phase Of Maturity
As a maturing Christian you've humbled yourself, submitted to discipline, learned to pray in the Spirit and yield control to God. What can you possibly do to move to a more excellant Christ-Like state of mind?
You've already embraced these principles - but at an embryonic level. Now we will be crystal clear.
Embracing The Wounding Of Your Soul
The highest level of Spiritual Maturity involves embracing pain and the wounding of your heart as a loving act of intimacy between you and your Lord.
Human intimacy in marriage involves a great deal of pain. Women in particular are in a constant state of readiness, in their prime, to bear new life. Consider the wounding and difficulty involved in the entire process - considered from beginning to end.
And we call it "love". In Christ it truly is. And beyond all the love I have for my precious wife - we are one flesh. One flesh!
Romantic love is just a weak picture of something far more marvelous - the SPIRITUAL union and procreation which occurs in the joining of God and Man. We are, together, His Beloved Bride.
So when you embrace the wounding of your heart or body as an act of loving intimacy - you've moved to the highest spiritual level.
You Function As Part Of The Body
Our radical commitment to our Lord, at this point, results in a radical Spiritual Joining with each other. Mary was God's humble maidservant. She typifies the Church since Christ was formed in her by the activity of the Holy Spirit.
So the issue isn't so much what YOU may suffer as what we suffer together.
There's much more that we must say about this in a seperate article. It's a big topic. But much of what you endure you will now endure because you will experience a totally fresh, and much more powerful, experience of Love.
The world won't understand. Religious and irreligious people will revile you and call you a cult. Notice that the word "you" is now plural (y'all).
But when an unbeliever comes into your midst - even if they are possessed by a multitude of demons - they will probably surrender to God. Love is a dangerous thing. It can crack the toughest nut. It can crush a rock. Christians that are new to this level of yieldedness and love will be scared to death - but come running back for more.
The Fear Of God
Hebrews 6 is terrifying - but marvellous. It tells you what happens if you fail to move on to maturity when you should. And if you mess with the Living God - you're playing with fire.
Recently I had the opportunity to deal with an evil cult. They recklessly walked in all manner of sin - thinking this magnified "grace". This story is worth relating in detail. But, for now, I'll just say that I got to see God turn them around.
The detail I need to relate is that they encouraged those who wanted to move on to maturity to pray for an "impartation of the fear of God". I was in the hall, listening to the leader tell me he would gladly die if God could glorify himself best by striking him dead. Then I heard it hit in the other room. I've heard people repent before at camp meetings, and such. But I've never heard a sound like that. They got the point.
But some were new to the faith. People are constantly getting saved there. And one of the spiritual infants prayed for all it would take to become mature. She ended up crying out, "Take it back! Take it back!" And it wasn't funny. You don't want to be Ananias or Sapphira if you can avoid it.
Let Us Love You
Let us love you. Let us serve you. Let us pour out our lives that you might experience life. Your day will come.
Besides, you already had a view of the fear of the Lord sufficient to bring you to salvation. A new weight lifter should not try to bench their weight. It'll crush them. God does miracles in our lives.
Have you noticed that many Christians do not understand this? But it's a simple fact that God teaches us that we need to be trained. The testing of our faith produces perseverance. Hope is the end of a process of training in hardship - as explained in Romans 8.
God wants you to pursue excellance - and eagerly desire to be trained.
The Father And The Son
Jesus learned obedience through the things he suffered. It's true that God turned his back on His Son - in that he delivered him over to death and turned from the sin the Son had taken onto himself.
But the Son was never more beloved of the Father than when he was suffering. The intimate relationship of Father and Son was very strong .
Jesus rose early to cherish this intimacy with His Father, and to be ministered to by the Heavenly Dove - that Holy Spirit which would fill His Bride.
Jesus was constantly motivated by the Love His Bride would give Him. He was a warrior. But he was a lover. He waged war by allowing such horrid things to be done to him as would break our hearts and win our Love.
The relationship of the Father and the Son shows the painful training the mature and maturing embrace. But we must emphasize over and over that it is all in a very precious love and intimacy.
Joy Beyond Joy - And A Love That Defies Words
Joy increases at you humble yourself and gain greater intimacy with God and with each other.
You haven't lived until you've dived into this beauty with complete abandon - holding nothing back.
And I've just scratched the surface of this topic. I've had to hold back SO MUCH that can be better expressed as part of a different aspect of the Pursuit Of God and the Pursuit of Excellance in Him.
Your Assignment
If you're basically in phase one or two of your growth - I highly recommend the album "Revelation", by Third Day. Moving on you can listen to "Songs For The Bride" by John Michael Talbot. But the thoughts in this discussion are vividly (too vividly) expressed in his song "Living Flame Of Love" from the album "The Lover And The Beloved"
Do your best to seek intimacy with Jesus with all your heart, soul, body, mind and strength. This music will guide your heart.
Scripturally, you'll get a big kick out of reading Song Of Solomon, chapter 5. Read it, if you'd like some super sweet thoughts to move your heart and change how you live.
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