We (Karen, Joshua, Jenna, and I) just returned from a wonderful time spent with Karen’s family up in New Jersey. John and Mary (Karen’s sister) are always gracious hosts going out of their way to ensure a great time was enjoyed by all. It is always good to see family over the holidays. The older I get the more I see just how important our decisions are. What we choose to do in the present (that becomes the past with a short passing of time) have great eternal impact on our spouses, our children, and others future. It is interesting to know our present day choices most often have a greater impact more on the well-being and future of others more than with us directly. This is why it is critical we pay attention to our spiritual perception and awareness at all times. I think one of the greatest areas of lack in most Christians (or maybe it is just me) today is the slow, but gradual drifting away from the things of God. Paul warns us to “take heed” to this slow, but deliberate slide away from God, “Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.” (1 Corinthians 10:12) Twelve times in the New Testament Paul warns the Church to “take heed” even Peter joins Paul in this warning in 2 Peter 1:19. “Taking heed” is one of the most important messages of the New Testament to the Christian then and even more now, but today I do not see this warning being heeded. I know in my life I see areas that need greater attention. This gradual drifting off track from righteousness, integrity, and truthfulness in our lives is always seen best though the clear prism of time. Remember in God it does not matter how we start, but how we end. So many Christians start out zealous with good intentions in God, but because they do not pay close attention to the things God holds dear (communion with Him in time spent and in His word, Godly order in relationships, or having a Godly example to present to the world) instead often we focus on things that add to our self-strength and self-ability (compromising to keep the peace, making money for a greater life of ease, or being all we can be and not what God wants us to be) and in time we seemed to get waylaid along the way God has for us to go. More of a concern is we do not know we are getting off track. You know it is sad to get off track, but it is even sadder not knowing we do not know we are getting off track. And the longer we go off track the harder it is to get back on. It is really strange how that works. The longer we go in our denial of what God is saying about our obedience to His word the stronger we grow in our self-strength and hard-hearted attitude.
As is seems to becoming a custom we made our family trek to New York City. John (Mary’s husband) was the tour guide and did a great job. We went to some of the usual tourist stops in the City: Staten Island Ferry to Battery Park, Ground Zero (once was the World Trade Center). Wall Street, China Town, Time Square, Rockefeller Center, back to Wall Street to see the bull, back to the Staten Island Ferry, and then off to Poppy’s (Karen’s father) home for pizza and pictures. Of course we took buses and the subway to get the entire flavor of the culture. When we stopped in the M&M Store up on Time Square and 7th Avenue to use the bathroom I asked Jenna, our son Joshua’s girlfriend, what was missing and she replied I did not know. Well all along the many miles we walked and rode I noticed how God had been conveniently erased from the landscape. From one stop to the next the glory of man’s self-strength and ingenuity was on display through skyscrapers of steel and concrete, building after building screamed of man’s ability and achievement, but God was no where to be found. The stretch limos dotted the roads. The lavish apartments of TV and Broadway celebrities and of course the Barons of Wall Street filled the tops of the high rise apartments to the stars. The glory of man’s marketing and greed was seen from store to store. The finest man could offer was seen in the finest city in the world, but God was absent. On the streets people peddled second and third hand goods as they lied saying they were selling Rolex watches or quality handbags. My friend the Bible says, “Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people.” (Psalms 14:34) No matter how you spin it people hustling a lie on the street to make a living is just wrong before God. Sin is sin no matter what the color of skin or their social condition or status. New York City may be nice to look at to the eye, but if God is not included in the picture it is nothing more than a dung heap. I am sure the Tower of Babel was nice too. No where was God to be found. Not one mention of His name, not one sign that even remotely spoke of God, not even someone on the corner wearing a sign that reads the end is near repent. People rushed about their daily lives, from one store to the next not noticing God was absent. The entire time we walked, talked, rode, and looked was all about the glory of man and his achievements. So my reply back to Jenna at the M&M Store was God. God was missing from all of the places we visited. She was kind of shocked I made such an observation after all we were just out for the day to have a good time. But in God it is never just out for the day to have a good time, it is always about doing His will and being sensitive to His Spirit. Now here is where it really gets interesting. After teaching Jenna a good lesson (or so I thought) I was feeling good about myself, but later as we walked God asked me what was missing. And of course I replied You. And He replied correct, but where am I missing? I replied, in New York City and He said wrong in your heart. Now when God says we are wrong we better pay attention. I was stunned and shocked, in my heart I asked. And He said yes. You have allowed the glamour and glory of New York City to replace the glory of My Spirit in your heart. Oh how ashamed I was. The terror, panic, feeling of loss, and shame I felt. I did not even notice the absence of God’s Spirit. I asked God to forgive me for my waywardness. You know we go after the things we want. Either we hunger and thirst after the things of God or we will hunger and thirst (even unknowingly) after the things of the world. It is our choice. It all depends on our desires and heart condition. Now you may not agree with me, (that is okay with me) but I believe there is a demonic spirit over New York City that magnifies and exalts the ambitions and self-strength of man. After I finished repenting, the Lord brought these verses to my heart, “And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. 12The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.” (Romans 13:11-12) It is our choice whether or not we “put on the armour of light.” How do we “put on the armour of light?” By “casting off the works of darkness.” My friend we will either be filled with the things of the world (works of darkness) like all of the self-strength and glory of man or the things of God (the armour of light) like the fruit of the Spirit of God and His ways. It is our choice. What a lesson in God. Please do not think you can skirt the fringe in God and taste of the world. Samson did this and paid for it with his life and something more precious, the anointing of God in his lives. All of the people who say, they love to go to New York City, for the museums, the parks, the shopping, the crowds, etc. know not the things of God. God is not involved with such things. God is involved with the affairs of man’s heart and how man adjusts to the things of the world. We preach time and time again we are not of this world we are strangers just passing through, but dig our heels in and hold on to our 401K and financial portfolio with everything within us when God begins to rip us out of this world.
There is a divine spiritual principle that comes into play here in Romans 13:12, we must meet before we can walk in the truth of this verse. Please notice we must first “cast off (or take off) the works of darkness” before we can “put on the armour of light.” The works of darkness do not just fall away as some teach. I hear many teach just walk with the Lord and in time your sins and bad habits (works of darkness) will just fall away and be replaced by the things of God (the armour of light). Well my friend this is just wrong denominational and religious teaching. We must take off, we must “cast off,” we must stop doing the things of darkness before we can put on the things of God. James tells us, “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist (flow in the opposite direction) the devil, and he will flee from you. 8Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. 9Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. 10Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.” (James 4:7-10) If the devil (sin or evil) is going to the left then we must go to the right. Resisting the devil is not saying I resist you in the name of Jesus, but putting physical movement away from sin or evilness. Resisting is action not words. We will never be able to “draw nigh to God” unless we first flow in the opposite direction to resist sins and evil. Now these verses make little sense to our human thinking and ways. The condition for us to be lifted up by God is for us to first, “humble ourselves in the sight of the Lord” and “be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.” Who would think all of this has to happen before we can be lifted up in God? So too, we must take or cast off to put on in God. And God is waiting on us to do our part before He can do His part. I wonder why we think God has to do all of the work in our salvation. Here in Romans we see a picture of a person sleeping, “And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep:” not knowing what time it is, because they are asleep. They have drifted off and now are asleep. So too are many in the world today. They have been rocked to sleep by all of the singing, dancing, sermons, and worked centered religion in most churches and are drunk with the glory and beauty of the things worldly religion offers. “Take heed,” wake up! Before it is too late!
The words “salvation” in Romans 13:11, is the same thought conveyed in John 17:3 when Jesus said, “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” (John 17:3) “Salvation” and “life eternal” both are all about knowing God. If we desire to know God we will not be so concerned about seeing and knowing about all of the beauty and glory of the world. Our heart thoughts will be on knowing Him. Remember John 17:3 is not talking about the church coming into unity with each other this can never happen unless we all allow God to deal and judge in our lives as the same degree whereby God’s dealing and judgment become the basis of our unity and not what we believe or not believe. And it will also be what tells us when something eternally important is missing in our lives. Written by David Stahl
As is seems to becoming a custom we made our family trek to New York City. John (Mary’s husband) was the tour guide and did a great job. We went to some of the usual tourist stops in the City: Staten Island Ferry to Battery Park, Ground Zero (once was the World Trade Center). Wall Street, China Town, Time Square, Rockefeller Center, back to Wall Street to see the bull, back to the Staten Island Ferry, and then off to Poppy’s (Karen’s father) home for pizza and pictures. Of course we took buses and the subway to get the entire flavor of the culture. When we stopped in the M&M Store up on Time Square and 7th Avenue to use the bathroom I asked Jenna, our son Joshua’s girlfriend, what was missing and she replied I did not know. Well all along the many miles we walked and rode I noticed how God had been conveniently erased from the landscape. From one stop to the next the glory of man’s self-strength and ingenuity was on display through skyscrapers of steel and concrete, building after building screamed of man’s ability and achievement, but God was no where to be found. The stretch limos dotted the roads. The lavish apartments of TV and Broadway celebrities and of course the Barons of Wall Street filled the tops of the high rise apartments to the stars. The glory of man’s marketing and greed was seen from store to store. The finest man could offer was seen in the finest city in the world, but God was absent. On the streets people peddled second and third hand goods as they lied saying they were selling Rolex watches or quality handbags. My friend the Bible says, “Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people.” (Psalms 14:34) No matter how you spin it people hustling a lie on the street to make a living is just wrong before God. Sin is sin no matter what the color of skin or their social condition or status. New York City may be nice to look at to the eye, but if God is not included in the picture it is nothing more than a dung heap. I am sure the Tower of Babel was nice too. No where was God to be found. Not one mention of His name, not one sign that even remotely spoke of God, not even someone on the corner wearing a sign that reads the end is near repent. People rushed about their daily lives, from one store to the next not noticing God was absent. The entire time we walked, talked, rode, and looked was all about the glory of man and his achievements. So my reply back to Jenna at the M&M Store was God. God was missing from all of the places we visited. She was kind of shocked I made such an observation after all we were just out for the day to have a good time. But in God it is never just out for the day to have a good time, it is always about doing His will and being sensitive to His Spirit. Now here is where it really gets interesting. After teaching Jenna a good lesson (or so I thought) I was feeling good about myself, but later as we walked God asked me what was missing. And of course I replied You. And He replied correct, but where am I missing? I replied, in New York City and He said wrong in your heart. Now when God says we are wrong we better pay attention. I was stunned and shocked, in my heart I asked. And He said yes. You have allowed the glamour and glory of New York City to replace the glory of My Spirit in your heart. Oh how ashamed I was. The terror, panic, feeling of loss, and shame I felt. I did not even notice the absence of God’s Spirit. I asked God to forgive me for my waywardness. You know we go after the things we want. Either we hunger and thirst after the things of God or we will hunger and thirst (even unknowingly) after the things of the world. It is our choice. It all depends on our desires and heart condition. Now you may not agree with me, (that is okay with me) but I believe there is a demonic spirit over New York City that magnifies and exalts the ambitions and self-strength of man. After I finished repenting, the Lord brought these verses to my heart, “And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. 12The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.” (Romans 13:11-12) It is our choice whether or not we “put on the armour of light.” How do we “put on the armour of light?” By “casting off the works of darkness.” My friend we will either be filled with the things of the world (works of darkness) like all of the self-strength and glory of man or the things of God (the armour of light) like the fruit of the Spirit of God and His ways. It is our choice. What a lesson in God. Please do not think you can skirt the fringe in God and taste of the world. Samson did this and paid for it with his life and something more precious, the anointing of God in his lives. All of the people who say, they love to go to New York City, for the museums, the parks, the shopping, the crowds, etc. know not the things of God. God is not involved with such things. God is involved with the affairs of man’s heart and how man adjusts to the things of the world. We preach time and time again we are not of this world we are strangers just passing through, but dig our heels in and hold on to our 401K and financial portfolio with everything within us when God begins to rip us out of this world.
There is a divine spiritual principle that comes into play here in Romans 13:12, we must meet before we can walk in the truth of this verse. Please notice we must first “cast off (or take off) the works of darkness” before we can “put on the armour of light.” The works of darkness do not just fall away as some teach. I hear many teach just walk with the Lord and in time your sins and bad habits (works of darkness) will just fall away and be replaced by the things of God (the armour of light). Well my friend this is just wrong denominational and religious teaching. We must take off, we must “cast off,” we must stop doing the things of darkness before we can put on the things of God. James tells us, “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist (flow in the opposite direction) the devil, and he will flee from you. 8Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. 9Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. 10Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.” (James 4:7-10) If the devil (sin or evil) is going to the left then we must go to the right. Resisting the devil is not saying I resist you in the name of Jesus, but putting physical movement away from sin or evilness. Resisting is action not words. We will never be able to “draw nigh to God” unless we first flow in the opposite direction to resist sins and evil. Now these verses make little sense to our human thinking and ways. The condition for us to be lifted up by God is for us to first, “humble ourselves in the sight of the Lord” and “be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.” Who would think all of this has to happen before we can be lifted up in God? So too, we must take or cast off to put on in God. And God is waiting on us to do our part before He can do His part. I wonder why we think God has to do all of the work in our salvation. Here in Romans we see a picture of a person sleeping, “And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep:” not knowing what time it is, because they are asleep. They have drifted off and now are asleep. So too are many in the world today. They have been rocked to sleep by all of the singing, dancing, sermons, and worked centered religion in most churches and are drunk with the glory and beauty of the things worldly religion offers. “Take heed,” wake up! Before it is too late!
The words “salvation” in Romans 13:11, is the same thought conveyed in John 17:3 when Jesus said, “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” (John 17:3) “Salvation” and “life eternal” both are all about knowing God. If we desire to know God we will not be so concerned about seeing and knowing about all of the beauty and glory of the world. Our heart thoughts will be on knowing Him. Remember John 17:3 is not talking about the church coming into unity with each other this can never happen unless we all allow God to deal and judge in our lives as the same degree whereby God’s dealing and judgment become the basis of our unity and not what we believe or not believe. And it will also be what tells us when something eternally important is missing in our lives. Written by David Stahl
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