A Modern Woman's Perspective On The Kingdom of God on Earth


Showing posts with label Spirit of Wisdom. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Spirit of Wisdom. Show all posts

May 31, 2022

Do You Know You Are Part Of The Tree?


"If you don't know history, then you don't know anything. You are a leaf that doesn't know it is part of a tree". This is a quote from Michael Crichton, famed author of such fabulous novels as Jurassic Park, The Andromeda Strain, and The Great Train Robbery. It's a great quote, and one that relates to my thoughts today.

I want to discuss why I often get frustrated with Christians who don't seem interested in studying the past of our faith in order to understand the significance of God's truth for today or the future. If we're honest with ourselves, we can all see that things aren't right with the world. Some are able to face the dreadful possibilities without fear, while others would rather cling to the knowledge that our destiny is to be in the presence of the Lord at the end of this world. If we don't look too closely at the present, nor make the effort to study the past, then the image of that heavenly future helps us to sleep better at night. But does it benefit our commission from Christ and our responsibilities as citizens of Heaven on earth?

I think we are focused on where we're going instead of where we've come from for a couple of reasons: 1) the Church uses terms like Victory, Hope, We Win, and Glory to describe the environment of the earth at Christ's return because 2) it's too scary to contemplate what the Word of God in the Bible has to say about what will be a harrowing time on earth before His glorious return. And who voluntarily wants to think on the darkness of soul and spirit among earth's inhabitants that will inspire us Believers to adhere to our Hope and Faith? 

So, that brings me to the importance of knowing our history... knowing the history of our families, of our nation, of our Christian faith, of our Bible. True knowledge comes from our experiences; from having gained physical or practical understanding of a subject. If something has not been experienced, how can we say we really know it? Take our faith, for instance. We all agree with the writer of Hebrews who says, "faith is the assurance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen". We may not be able to point to something concrete or tangible and say, there .. that's my faith. But when you share your experiences of trusting God in something you can't explicitly prove, it is the history of those experiences that provide evidence for your ability to have faith and hope.

Which brings me back to Michael Crichton's quote ... If you don't know history, then you don't know anything. You are a leaf that doesn't know it is part of a tree. It is important that we study and understand the history of the Old Testament and the entire Bible. We must not focus only on the end of the story when we are translated into the glorious Presence of our Savior! If we believe that there is purpose and meaning to our lives for the Kingdom of God here on earth, then doesn't it serve us to understand and comprehend how God has evolved His relationship with man from the beginning until this very moment in our lives? And don't we want to learn from the history He shares in His Word about that journey? Doesn't even the leaf on a tree have a connection to the whole system of a tree?

Let us contemplate that whole structure in nature for just a moment. The function of a leaf is to help the plant produce food by converting the energy that comes from sunlight into chemical energy that the tree can eat. But the life of the tree is dependent on so much more! The leaf is supported by a branch, which provides a way for leaves to act as a net for the sunlight. Tree branches will grow to give the leaf the most light, even if that means growing sideways. But branches don't just exist on their own. They grow from the trunk, which provides structure and protection to the delicate network of branches and leaves, and which grows from the root system. The roots support the tree by absorbing water and storing nutrients for the tree. They also anchor the tree to the ground. A healthy root system is essential for the survival of the tree. And then finally, the roots grow from a seed that is planted. The most basic function of a seed is keep the species of the tree in existence. In His extraordinary plan for the world, God designed all the different functionality mechanisms of a tree to work together to keep the tree's embryo inside the seed alive until conditions are optimal for that seed to germinate with some chance of the seedling's survival.

So, can you see that the existence of the tree isn't just dependent on a leaf and it's singular reality and function in space and time? There's a history to its existence... an interdependent synergy between that leaf and all that came before it. It exists because at some point in time a seed was planted that, at just the right time for its survival, it sprouts and forms a root from which the tree springs forth from the earth, forming a trunk that supports the branches and leaves. In a poetic sense, the trunk is the part of the tree that connects the leafy crown to its roots. There is a history of any leaf on a tree that goes all the way back to a seed that was planted. So it is with our existence in God's plan for the earth and His creation of man. And the Bible is that roadmap. How can we possibly think that just focusing on the end game is all that we need to know? 

Just like that leaf on a tree, there is an interdependence in the history of the Bible; the experience of God choosing Abram to be the seed of a faith that would sprout and grow, developing a divine root system that was destined to overcome the obstacles it encountered in the world. And as those roots spread, they grew into a tree and anchored the True Vine that was Christ. And from the foundation of that Vine would grow branches designed to bear much fruit for the Kingdom. But if we don't understand how it all came about, then how can we truly understand that we are part of the whole system and understand what came before us? We cannot simply say we know who we are based on what we look like when we look in the mirror. We are the fruit that was born from all that has happened to that seed of faith that sprouted from Abram! And if we don't understand all the obstacles and battles that came against that faith, then how are we to learn from those struggles and avoid the same pitfalls that the history of the Bible clearly tells us the long line of faithful suffered? 

The Bible and its history are as much a cautionary tale as they are a promise of an eternal life;  they are a guide for those of us who are the descendants of that first seed of faith. Why would we ever think that this history is unimportant to us -- that all we need to know is the ending to the story? We don't need to stay mired in the failures we find in the history, but we should learn from them so we recognize the strategies of the Enemy and can warn others. Yes, our victory is in Christ; and yes, we win in the end. But if we can avoid some of the temptations and circumvent the mistakes God is gracious enough to show us in His Word .... why wouldn't we? And how are we to avoid the traps that those who came before us fell into, if we do not learn from history? "My people perish for lack of knowledge" goes hand in hand with this dynamic. Let's not just be happy to exist as a leaf in the 21st Century, but let us be fed and strengthened in the wisdom and experiences of the whole tree of our faith.

1 Corinthians 10:11   Now these things happened to them as an example and warning [to us]; they were written for our instruction [to admonish and equip us], upon whom the ends of the ages have come.    


July 12, 2021

Inquiring Minds Want To Know...

I've always loved the study of history, both in the modern age and ancient Biblical history. I've got an inquisitive mind and am not likely to accept a tradition or ritual simply because the masses are willing to believe whatever explanations are given to them. And I have been guilty of spending hours and days chasing down meanings of words and the cultural context of ideas and philosophies. In the past week, here are two that have kept me occupied ...

I'm always fascinated when new terminology seems to take the Body of Christ by storm. All of a sudden, it will seem as if a word or phrase comes into vogue and it becomes the latest buzzword in Christian circles. It may be a term that has been around for awhile, but it is as if it suddenly has a light shined on it, and its popularity soars. Such a word (to me, at least) is kairos. If my understanding is correct, this word (in Biblical terms) refers to "an appointed time"; ostensibly by God. It represents the right season or a fitting opportunity. 

Crosswalk.com gives an excellent example of how the Body of Christ would understand this word in Scripture. For example, in Luke 1:20, Zechariah didn’t believe the news when God’s angel revealed Zechariah’s wife, Elizabeth, would give birth to a prophet, so the angel told Zechariah he would not be able to speak until this miracle did indeed happen. As the angel said, “And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their appointed time” (Luke 1:20). The original Greek used here was kairon, a version of kairos, translated by scholars into English as the “appointed time [or season].” Further in the article, it is explained that kairos is also seen as "the time seen from the divine side." 

I have also heard it referenced many times that this season we are in, the season of birth pangs leading up to the Day of the Lord, is a kairos time -- fixed [in time] by Him, and to be used for His purposes. We may not know the day or the hour of these specific God-ordained times, but we should be sensitive and discerning of them; knowing that they are favorable opportunities given to us [by God], and recognizing that they are given to us to share God's will and His glory.

So, I found it interesting when Crosswalk referred to seeing kairos "from the divine side". Of course the word divine recalls a meaning of "godlike". But, did you know that there is a significance to the word kairos that is not Biblical? Did you know that Kairos was celebrated as a god in Greek mythology?  According to several websites I researched, he was usually considered the minor son of Zeus, and half-sibling to Hermes. The website, Greek Gods and Goddesses, says that Kairos was the Greek god of opportunity, and was in fact, considered a spirit. He personified the favorable moment which comes and passes quickly.

I also found it interesting that in front of the ancient stadium at Olympia there were two altars, one dedicated to Hermes and the other one to Kairos. The stadium was a holy place to the ancient Greeks, where all the sports activities were dedicated to the god, Zeus. Kairos was seen in the intelligence of Athena, in the love of Eros and even in the wine of Dionysus. Later, in the genealogy of the gods, he seems to be associated with all of them, as a manifestation of a specific moment. Now, I do not point out the association of a false god in the Greek pantheon as a way to discredit our Christian notion of a kairos moment; and I do not mean to suggest that the connection equates our Most High God with the worship of false gods. I merely wanted to show you that we in the 21st Century are not always the innovator of our theology. Nor do we always have a full understanding of the context of our belief system.

And speaking of theology, that idea is also evident in the second terminology that I found myself researching with a heart to know more about its origins. It is commonplace among Christians today, during the sacred ritual of baptism to have it spoken over them, "I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost". Yet, when the Holy Spirit falls on the 120 or so disciples of Jesus at Pentecost, the multitudes of Jews who were there for Passover, heard them telling of the mighty works of God in their own languages. They asked Peter and the apostles, "What shall we do?" Peter said to them, "Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." Why would the Bible record Jesus giving His disciples one instruction in Matthew 28:19, and then record Peter, who had received that instruction from Jesus, giving a different command in Acts 2:38? 

Once again, we, in the 21st Century, should not assume that our "formula" is necessarily correct just because we are supposedly an advanced society. I know the differences in these two Scriptures has been a stumbling block within the Body of Christ and caused needless conflict. We can get a historical perspective by understanding the following ... we need to recognize that our Bibles have been translated and re-translated many times. That doesn't mean I am saying the Bible is corrupt. I acknowledge that the Spirit of God will always give us correct revelation and interpretation of God's Word. But it is also true that Satan has influenced men to try to change the understanding of Scripture and it is up to us to search out the truth of what God wants revealed. That being said, in reality, both of the baptism Scriptures can be seen as correct when looked through the lens of historical and spiritual perspective.

Let's look at how the historical and the spiritual intersect. Baptism was nothing new to those participants at Pentecost. It had long been a purification ritual for pagan conversions into Judaism. It was seen and practiced as a cleansing water-washing initiation by different sects of Judaism, by John the Baptist, and by rabbis, who all baptized their disciples. But when Jesus gave His Disciples the Great Commission in Matthew 28, He was distinguishing His baptism from all others, declaring that it was to be conducted with the full authority of God in Heaven, and in all the fullness of Him (as Father, Son and Holy Spirit). It was spoken by Jesus as a command that would bind all nations under the fullness of the Godhead. When Peter was given the opportunity to instruct the multitude gathered in Jerusalem for Passover, his assignment was to bring these Jewish people to and understanding [of], and submission [to] Jesus, the Messiah. Jesus came to the nation of Israel. To expect them to understand that He had ultimately come for "all the nations" would have lost them and impeded the process of their coming to Christ as the Messiah.

So, in theory, both expressions are correct. Jesus is both the Messiah that Israel has been waiting for, and the fullness of God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) in one person that has come to the nations. It is appropriate to baptize someone in either name or names. I am a woman, a wife, and a sister. But I'm not three separate persons. All those "names" identify me as the one person named Pam. They represent different parts of my identity and character. So it is with Father, Son, and Holy Spirit being identified as the ONE, true God. I don't really get worked up over which is the correct usage for a baptism.

But there is another concept I want you to consider. In the First Century Church, Messianic Jews were a significant portion of the "Body of Believers". They accepted Jesus as the Messiah and followed His ways. But as he always does, Satan seeks to cause conflict and division among God's people. That came to a climax in the 4th Century when the Emperor Constantine, who hated the Jews, sought to drive them from Christianity. Knowing their religion was monotheistic (in contrast with the polytheistic nations who worshiped multiple gods), Constantine changed the baptism tradition so that people were baptized in the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, rather than in the name of Jesus. He caused confusion by instituting the religious concept of the Trinity (intimating that Christians worshiped three Gods instead of the one God, YHWH, of Judaism).

I bring these two ideas to you in the hope that you can appreciate how important it is that our spirits be at one with the Holy Spirit; seeking His guidance for the context and the culture of Scripture. In the end, neither of these two ideas I've presented should change anyone's faith. But I have found that a fuller knowledge of history and the Bible can enhance our opportunities to witness to someone who doesn't know Jesus, or who doubts in the importance of faith in Him. As Christians, we must be able to defend our faith and be prepared to answer the sometimes unanswerable questions to bring someone into the Kingdom of God. So do not embrace skepticism, but seek Godly knowledge and wisdom. You just may be the instrument God uses to give eternal life to someone.

2 Timothy 4:2    Preach the Word of God. Be prepared, whether the time is favorable or not. Patiently correct, rebuke, and encourage your people with good teaching.
 

March 29, 2020

Thoughts To Consider....

     There are a couple of thoughts that have been rattling around in my head for the last week or so, and I'd like to share the first of them today... If we have the ability to be honest with ourselves, how many times have we complained that the distractions of the world keep us from deepening our relationship with God? I know that I have written many times that I see how our jobs, our activities, our social life, the internet, etc. are all ways that rob us of our time to spend with the Father. In fact, I would be willing to say that all these can potentially be used by the Enemy to steal the growth and maturity of our faith life.
     So, what's our excuse now? Many of us across the globe are quarantined or sheltering in place. We have lots of time to spend in worship, or prayer, or reading the Word. It should now be obvious to us if we really have a heart to know our Lord.
     And how often have we quoted Psalm 46:10 ... "Be still and know that I am God?" Well, we're being forced to be still. Are we making the effort to know God? Are we being wise with this newfound time we have? Or are we wasting this opportunity to listen for the voice of God? I see this season in our history as such a great opportunity for the Body of Christ to transform itself; to abandon the ways of the world and enter into the destinies written for us on our scrolls in Heaven -- to truly seek the Mind of Christ.
     It will take wisdom to let go of what the world tells us is important. And that might mean the loss of jobs, aspects of our health and wealth, and yes, even letting go of the internet which has become even more of a robber of our time since the spread of COVID-19. Yes, it will take wisdom -- but not the wisdom the world offers. Rather, God's Wisdom; the Spirit of Wisdom which imparts God's thoughts and His Word in our hearts. If we have ears to hear, we can discern now, more than ever, that it is the time to take advantage of God's Word and His Wisdom. 
     Take a moment and read Proverbs 1:20-33, and see if you don't recognize the current state of our nation and the world:


20 Wisdom cries aloud in the street,
in the markets she raises her voice;
21 at the head of the noisy streets she cries out;
at the entrance of the city gates she speaks:
22 “How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple?
How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing
and fools hate knowledge?
23 Will you turn away at my reproof?
Behold, I will pour out my spirit to you;
I will make my words known to you.
24 Because I have called and you refused to listen,
have stretched out my hand and no one has heeded,
25 because you have ignored all my counsel
and would have none of my reproof,
26 I also will laugh at your calamity;
I will mock when terror strikes you,
27 when terror strikes you like a storm
and your calamity comes like a whirlwind,
when distress and anguish come upon you.
28 Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer;
they will seek me diligently but will not find me.
29 Because they hated knowledge
and did not choose the fear of the Lord,
30 would have none of my counsel
and despised all my reproof,
31 therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way,
and have their fill of their own devices.
32 For the simple are killed by their turning away,
and the complacency of fools destroys them;
33 but whoever listens to me will dwell secure
and will be at ease, without dread of disaster.”

     There is so much in this proverb that I see mirrored in our world ... the Spirit of God's Wisdom has tried crying out to us in the marketplace, but we've been too focused on our jobs and accumulating wealth. She cries out in the streets, but we are too interested in being offended and condemning others. The city gates are our seats of government, and we know she hasn't been heard there!
      And God asks how long will we be content with an absence of Godly wisdom and delight in mocking Him and glorifying our own simple wisdom? And He clearly warns ... because He has called to us and no one listened; and we ignored His counsel and did not heed His offer when He stretched out His hand, He will laugh at our calamity -- even when it escalates to a whirlwind and distress and anguish come upon us. Many are feeling that today!
      It's not as if there have not been prior warnings and danger signs. So much of our moral fabric and connection to God has disintegrated in my lifetime alone. And I believe it is because we dis-invited Him from our schools, our halls of justice, our centers of government, our marriages, and our public square. What did we expect? That we could hate His knowledge, reject the fear of the Lord, and refuse His counsel, and there would be no aftereffects?
      He tells us in this powerful proverb that we will "eat the fruit of our way and have our fill of our own devices". Our rebellion and rejection, coupled with our complacency has the potential to destroy us. BUT, remember ... Jesus has redeemed us ... IF we will turn from our ways and listen to God's Spirit of Wisdom.
      There is still time for the people on the earth to repent for the iniquity that we have plowed, which reaped so much injustice. We have stuffed ourselves on the fruit of our lies because we trusted in our own ways. Those are not my words, friends, but were spoken by the prophet Hosea 2700 years ago. Yet, they are just as true today.
      So, please, I pray that mankind will heed the Spirit of Wisdom who is speaking to us today, telling us that we are now in the midst of a season where it is actually possible to hear the voice of God calling to us. Our marketplaces and businesses have been shuttered and our noisy streets are quieted. The gates of our government are in perpetual turmoil, but we can become unified and rise above their scoffing and scorn. We can respond to the sound of our Father in Heaven, calling us to choose His ways. We can come out of our complacency and smug self-pride and believe in the promise that we can once again dwell securely, without fear of further disaster.
      Ecclesiastes tells us that there is a time to break down and a time to build up; a time to get and a time to lose; a time to keep and a time to cast away. We've all got a lot of time on our hands right now. It seems that things are breaking down all around us. But you were born for this time. What will you choose to build up, keep, cast away? This is a time for great reflection on the rest of your life.

Hosea 10:12    Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap steadfast love; break up your fallow ground, for it is the time to seek the Lord, that He may come and rain righteousness upon you.