Nothing like a new year and a bout of unemployment to give oneself time to reflect. I've been pondering many things over the past few days, trying to gain perspective.
So what exactly did Adam and Eve lose in the garden? What if what was lost was simply perspective? It says in Genesis "there eyes were opened." Opened to what? Their nakedness. They weren't covered. Fear. What if all that occurred was that there eyes were opened to fear? Instead of being totally enamoured with the goodness of God, they were now had fear, fully engage in the fear of lack, fear of evil, fear of God witholding every good thing....which that would be a lie, right?
Where does this battle reside? The mind. I believe that is why Christ died at Golgatha - the place of the skull. Symbolic - His triumph coming by way of a cross at the house of the mind. We must crucify our minds, taking our natural reasonings - our thoughts - captive.
Jesus said, "I am the Truth." Reflecting on the events in our last couple of years, I can't help but ask the question, "What did I learn?" A friend of mine said, "You'll see the beauty in time." For the longest time I thought to myself, "yeah right," and told God to take a seat while I sorted things out. But now - I can see it. I can see the beauty. But what exactly is that beauty? I know the Truth. The Truth was with me through circumstance. The Truth carried me through circumstance. The Truth has taught me who I am. The Truth has set me free.
For years, I bought into a lie of thinking that freedom came by way of knowledge. Sure, I dressed it up in a much more spiritually gorgeous cloak, but at it's root - I wanted knowledge about the truth. In doing so, I missed knowing the Truth. I would study scripture to learn the rules, understand the principals of the kingdom, then apply them to my life, thinking that if I abided by the truth, clung to an expectation of an outcome, things would work out. See, my definition of this journey hinged on acquiring knowledge of truth, all the while not really knowing the Truth. Faith meant conceiving an outcome that I desired, then clinging to that outcome and praying for it will all I had.
It left me empty, exhausted, and ultimately mad at God.
In time, I discovered what was at it's root. It's no different than what Adam and Eve fell victim to in the garden. Fear. Someone once said to me, "Fear is faith for things you don't want." Isn't that so true? So why is it so easy to have faith in the things we don't want, but yet so hard to have faith in the Truth? Every good thing comes from above. He wants us to know how intimately He knows and loves us. He wants to shower us with blessing! The cross gets us back to the garden - no seperation. So why do we still live in fear? Why do we think God is trying to withold something from us? Why do we think God is waiting for us to slip up, just to rip away a blessing? Fear. Wrong perspective.
Jesus said, "I am the Truth and the Truth will set you free." He also said He'd leave behind the helper which would "guide us into all Truth." Jesus didn't say, "I have a truth." Jesus didn't say, "I have the truth/" Jesus didn't say, "I know the truth." He said it as if it were a state of being. He *is* the truth. Paul said we're dead and Christ indwells within us.
So why is this so hard to understand? I couldn't help but wonder, "How many of us are free? Why aren't we free in the church?" We're still afraid He'll keep us in the dark. We're afraid we'll miss something and He'll withold some sort of blessing. So to distract ourselves, we do all sorts of stuff - some "good", some bad. But we fill the void with stuff. All the while, trying to navigate that tightrope will of God....fear. Paul said there are two forces - love and fear. Which one rules us?
I'm begining to realize what Truth is. I'm discovering who I really am in Him, peeling all the layers away of fear, seeing who I was created to be in Him. I was created in His image. He is pleased with me. That's enlightenment. That is True freedom!
So what exactly did Adam and Eve lose in the garden? What if what was lost was simply perspective? It says in Genesis "there eyes were opened." Opened to what? Their nakedness. They weren't covered. Fear. What if all that occurred was that there eyes were opened to fear? Instead of being totally enamoured with the goodness of God, they were now had fear, fully engage in the fear of lack, fear of evil, fear of God witholding every good thing....which that would be a lie, right?
Where does this battle reside? The mind. I believe that is why Christ died at Golgatha - the place of the skull. Symbolic - His triumph coming by way of a cross at the house of the mind. We must crucify our minds, taking our natural reasonings - our thoughts - captive.
Jesus said, "I am the Truth." Reflecting on the events in our last couple of years, I can't help but ask the question, "What did I learn?" A friend of mine said, "You'll see the beauty in time." For the longest time I thought to myself, "yeah right," and told God to take a seat while I sorted things out. But now - I can see it. I can see the beauty. But what exactly is that beauty? I know the Truth. The Truth was with me through circumstance. The Truth carried me through circumstance. The Truth has taught me who I am. The Truth has set me free.
For years, I bought into a lie of thinking that freedom came by way of knowledge. Sure, I dressed it up in a much more spiritually gorgeous cloak, but at it's root - I wanted knowledge about the truth. In doing so, I missed knowing the Truth. I would study scripture to learn the rules, understand the principals of the kingdom, then apply them to my life, thinking that if I abided by the truth, clung to an expectation of an outcome, things would work out. See, my definition of this journey hinged on acquiring knowledge of truth, all the while not really knowing the Truth. Faith meant conceiving an outcome that I desired, then clinging to that outcome and praying for it will all I had.
It left me empty, exhausted, and ultimately mad at God.
In time, I discovered what was at it's root. It's no different than what Adam and Eve fell victim to in the garden. Fear. Someone once said to me, "Fear is faith for things you don't want." Isn't that so true? So why is it so easy to have faith in the things we don't want, but yet so hard to have faith in the Truth? Every good thing comes from above. He wants us to know how intimately He knows and loves us. He wants to shower us with blessing! The cross gets us back to the garden - no seperation. So why do we still live in fear? Why do we think God is trying to withold something from us? Why do we think God is waiting for us to slip up, just to rip away a blessing? Fear. Wrong perspective.
Jesus said, "I am the Truth and the Truth will set you free." He also said He'd leave behind the helper which would "guide us into all Truth." Jesus didn't say, "I have a truth." Jesus didn't say, "I have the truth/" Jesus didn't say, "I know the truth." He said it as if it were a state of being. He *is* the truth. Paul said we're dead and Christ indwells within us.
So why is this so hard to understand? I couldn't help but wonder, "How many of us are free? Why aren't we free in the church?" We're still afraid He'll keep us in the dark. We're afraid we'll miss something and He'll withold some sort of blessing. So to distract ourselves, we do all sorts of stuff - some "good", some bad. But we fill the void with stuff. All the while, trying to navigate that tightrope will of God....fear. Paul said there are two forces - love and fear. Which one rules us?
I'm begining to realize what Truth is. I'm discovering who I really am in Him, peeling all the layers away of fear, seeing who I was created to be in Him. I was created in His image. He is pleased with me. That's enlightenment. That is True freedom!
