Across the line

The day before, the day after. Movie and song titles, which suggest life-changing moments of wonder.

In 1982, Abba released the song, “Before you came”. Though relatively unsuccessful in the US, with only one chart-topper, Abba became a world-wide phenomenon through the seventies and eighties.

“Before you came”, traces the recollections of a woman to the day before a lover entered her life. It reminds me of the day John F Kennedy died. I was a kid then, but I remember lying on the lounge floor reading about his assassination and marveling about it all. I also remember hearing the first news of 911 on my car radio. Initially the reports indicated a light plane had crashed into the World Trade Centre, but by the time I got home it was apparent that the US was under attack – so I grabbed my family and we rushed to the television to watch the unthinkable – before it had yet become an oft-replayed recording, we watched live feed of the towers collapsing into Manhattan dust. In both cases I know of many tales from many people that recount “the day before …”.

Well the singer in “Before you came” also recalled a hum-drum, predictable life of “bed by a quarter after ten (she likes to be in bed by then) with a book by Marilyn French” and a whole lot of other things that she could recall because of the predictability of her life. Then “he” came along and her life was never the same again.

She could have been singing about Jesus, for, although I cannot recount how my life was, “before He came”, I can say that my life changed forever after I met Him. It was a watershed moment that gripped my imagination, harnessed my passions and captivated my senses for the rest of my life. He is so real, so relevant, so faithfully accessible, that I could never live without Him. That was as true during the darkest years of my life when He was the last man standing: He never left me in my shame, but faithfully accompanied me through the vale of sorrow, to a new day.

In the game of cricket, the line or crease that defines the limits of a bowler’s run-up, can result in a penalty for the bowler: called a no-ball. He is not allowed to step over it, but he can even be penalized for standing on the line. The penalty call is reserved by the umpire. In cricket terms: “the line belongs to the umpire”.

In recent articles, I have referred to the law of precedence, that line crossed by Adam and many others, which brought misery on their descendants. I compared that line with the line that Jesus crossed to restore life and hope. Well that line also belongs to the umpire, the Father, the sole arbiter of His laws and the blessings or curses that derive from them.

The day before Jesus came, sin ruled and remained unchecked. The whole of humanity was in the relentless grip of Satan’s oppression, due to the precedence of Adam’s transgression. At Calvary, a new precedent was set and that line defined a past, present and future. Satan could only rely on the past, for the future was out of his hands: notwithstanding his ongoing influence over this world. The key to what I am saying relates to rights: Satan may still cause trouble, but he has no precedence, no legal standing. At best, Satan is only a liar, for the substance of his claims against us was revoked by Christ and the line belongs to the judge of all hearts.

In the next article I will show how Calvary implies a general victory and the foundation for all breakthroughs in our lives. But I will also show that the principle also applies to specific breakthroughs, where trouble in our lives will meet its Waterloo and become a thing of the past so that we can go on into an unhindered, liberated future.

(>(c) Peter Eleazar at www.bethelstone.com<>

By one man ...

A river alters course in response to key events or moments, just as historic incidents changed life.

The law of precedence is a powerful biblical principle.

When one man, Adam, broke one law, he brought an immediate end to his status quo and imposed a curse on all succeeding generations, you and I included.

Similarly, when one man, Esau, despised his birthright, he changed history and disqualified himself and succeeding generations from all participation in the Abrahamic covenant. However, in a similar act, one man, Jacob, stepped up to the plate, wrenched the blessing away from his brother and became the patriarch of Israel.

Later, one man, Saul, made one foolish blunder and invalidated his life and the lives of his descendants. It was just a single moment of madness, but it changed everything.

These are sad realities. I perceive that certain things happened in my own past, some of which generally impacted my family, whilst others impacted me personally. I am not entirely sure what happened, but I carried all kinds of burdens in my life as a result of a transaction that opened my life to spiritual oppression.

The principles behind all of this come from the laws of God, in terms of which curses and blessings are invoked by individual acts and inherited by succeeding generations. A right reading of scripture suggests that the laws and their implications preceded the articulation of the laws at Mount Sinai, for sin reigned from Adam to Moses (Romans 5). The laws merely came to reveal what was not known or understood about sin, namely that sin carries consequences, whether committed in ignorance (prior to the law) or deliberately (with full knowledge of the law). To that end, Paul says in Romans 1, that the gentiles who were without law, had the laws of God written in their consciences.

The curses are ingrained within the laws, so God does not subjectively respond to each incident of sin and decide to curse us. Sin is a curse and it invokes curses over our lives. Moreover, even if we exceed all the laws and fail only in one law, we are guilty of all sins under the law: such is the principle of precedence.

The perpetuation of sin leads to iniquities, (Hebrew: bent) which are the long-term distortions that result from sin: a bit like the reaction of plastic to fire. Iniquities are the sin-characteristics that become habitual and self-recurring in our lives, often exceeding our own awareness. Others may see the flaws in our personalities and psychologists may classify them into personality disorders or syndromes, but sin is still the route cause. Thus, sins set the precedence for long-term problems and distortions of our lives.

This brings me to another precedent. At the cross, one man died for all and in Him all died that we might appropriate His risen life. For as much as death came through one man, Adam, so the second Adam set a new precedent by which life came by one.

In a separate study, I have shown that time exists in heaven – read more at www.4u2live.net. A key implication of time is that it is always progressive. It has a past, present and future. That is also true of divine time. There is such a thing as yesterday and by way of confirmation we read that the angels worship “day and night”. If there is a divine yesterday, then the work of the cross is the marker that separates today from yesterday and concludes our past. God is saying through this, that the claims over your soul, the curses of sin, can only go as far as the cross. There they can be resolved and become a part of our yesterday.

That is a vital part of spiritual warfare. If we really want to be free, we must understand that in the cross we are birthed into a new day, free of the past. Romans 6 and 7 further clarifies God’s intent, showing that because of death (our death in Christ), we sever the jurisdiction of the law in a way that compares with a widow’s termination of all obligations to her marriage.

So I declare that in Christ you live in a new day. A precedent was set at the cross that is as fundamental as the bad precedent set by Adam. All who trace back their lives to the cross are heirs to the precedent of righteousness and mercy in Christ. That precedent revokes the foregoing precedence set by Adam. We are a free people and we are exempt from sins committed under the old covenant, because of what Jesus did.

(c) Peter Eleazar at www.bethelstone.com

Death by one, life by one

Death came on all of us by one man, even so shall not life and that abundantly come through one man?

When Jesus went to the cross, Revelations 1:18 tells us that He took away the keys of death and hell. The writer to the Hebrews reminds us that, through death, Jesus slew him who had power over death, that is the Devil (Hebrews 2:14).

These scriptures are generally interpreted from an eternal perspective and assure us of ultimate victory over death.

However, death, as used, in the scriptures has two tenses, namely an eternal tense and a present continuous tense.

The eternal tense is well appreciated. We will rise again and experience the power of an endless life.

However, the present continuous tense of death, as used by the scriptures, refers to separation, rejection, nakedness and torment of the soul. Adam and Eve were beguiled by Satan, who knew God’s meaning but nonetheless misled those two souls into believing that they would not die if they ate of the tree. In the eternal sense, death would yet come to them, but their disobedience introduced human mortality and ended their eternal bliss.

The other aspect of the lie, namely “the day you eat of the tree you will not surely die”, obscured the present continuous or ongoing experience of death. Indeed, by way of confirmation, God immediately separated them from Himself and banished them from the garden. That was also a death: separation death as opposed to physical death.

The good news is that, just as sin introduced both deaths, so it is reasonable to conclude that Calvary resolved both deaths. Romans 5 says that if sin entered into the world by one man, and death by sin, how much more shall eternal life and mercy redound to one man, that man Paul referred to as the second Adam.

So the keys taken from Satan are keys to your eternal destiny and your ongoing life. The key to abundant life now and eternal life then, is no longer in Satan’s grasp. He has no power to impose death or hell on you.

You may well go through hell, to which Winston Churchill said, “If you are going through hell keep going”. But of importance is that the key to such “hells” or “deaths”, does not vest with your enemy. Does that mean that Jesus casts you into such pains? No it doesn’t. It just means that the key to deliverance vests with Jesus and your future is no longer a fait accompli. Satan may well attack and bring all kinds of troubles into our lives, but He has no legitimate power to sustain such darkness, for the keys were lost to Jesus.

Certainly God often leaves us in our difficulties so that we can grow and discover His power, but the initiative still rests with Jesus and He, at the Father’s behest, will deliver us in due course. Do not be beguiled again by Satan.

He succeeded in convincing Adam and Eve that they would not die if they ate of the tree of knowledge, yet they did, but let him not now convince you that you shall not live if you eat of the tree of life, Jesus. It is not for Satan to determine your times and seasons, that is the sole purview of the Father and it is not for Satan to keep you from the life that Christ bequeathed you through His death – that, I am sorry to say, is only possible if you allow it, for His life is your life and your irreversible inheritance.

Don’t give your enemy undue credit in times of difficulty. Rather cast your cares on Jesus. The bible says, “His name is a strong tower, the righteous run in and are safe”. Jesus lifts us above our struggles when we flee to Him and He will give you a right perspective, high above the melee, where you will gaze out from the tower to see the right perspective: a fallen enemy cowering at the feet of a conquering redeemer.

© Peter Eleazar at www.bethelstone.com

The carnal mind

Self-centeredness is the playground of the devil, where Godliness is eroded and souls are enslaved.

In the past few articles, I have touched on issues of: personal power versus Godly authority; doing things our way; and the yoke of learning.

All of these point to the crux of human disempowerment, yet they also highlight a great contradiction. Humanism places our locus of power within us. It argues that we are gods: the so-called “little gods” philosophy that underpins the new-age movement.

My youngest son, who loves mediaeval warfare and adores the Lord of the Rings, once observed that the real power of the rings given to men, lay not in the power acquired by people, but in the power that wearing the rings ceded to Sauron, a picture of Satan.

As we see in the great temptations, Jesus was offered all the kingdoms of the world, but the price was His soul. In return for bowing to Satan, Satan offered a cease-fire and power to rule the world. It had some appeal, surely, for Jesus had a heart for a suffering world and Satan’s deal offered some peace or release from suffering. It also offered Him a chance to do what He could to help the world, but the price was too high.

Had Jesus conceded, death would not have been conquered. You may recall that death came through Adam after Satan had deluded him into believing he would not die from the fruit. But he did die. He was immediately cut off from the garden and from that moment he became subject to corruption, which ultimately brought him down to the grave where he was subject to the power of Satan. Satan had no power to defeat or prevent death, yet he had the power to enforce death (Hebrews 2:14) by obliging God to do to men what had been done to him because of sin – this is what the bible calls, “The keys of death and hell” (Revelation 1:18).

So if Jesus had conceded to Satan, death would never have been destroyed and salvation for humankind would never have materialized.

Thus, humanism, whilst conceding power to the human soul, is no more able to offer solutions to the greatest dilemma we face – it cannot circumvent death, yet it involves a ring that gives some power in return for power over our souls. It argues that “we will surely not die” if we take such rings, but that only alludes to physical death. Thus it suggests a better, more prosperous life whilst we are alive, whilst obscuring both the inevitable consequences of our choices and the shorter-term implications for lives that trade their souls for a taste of power.

The gateway of Satan is “Self”. Our self-centeredness is the ring of power and humanism will provide all kinds of ways to empower the soul, including relatively safe philosophies such as religion, status and politics, plus darker metaphysical and occultic offerings. Such powers and the demand for them are real, hence the popular appeal of Harry Potter and the increasing availability of witchcraft or occultic publications.

But at the heart of all this darkness is really just a simple factor – “Self”. Self awareness alienates us from God and exposes us to the darkness of Satan. Good people are as vulnerable to this as bad people are and many innocent lives have been ruined by it. Teens have a huge surge of self-awareness that makes them vulnerable to all kinds of social and commercial exploitation, as Satan targets them during their most susceptible years. Advertisers have been able to push impressionable minds into buying things that have done little to help but lots to damage such young hearts, often permanently.

Our biggest cry relates to “Self” and our sense of power relates to “Self” but the lie behind all this is that “Self” is the key to disempowering and disarming us, as it makes us captive to the other team. It is a problem for the un-regenerated soul but it is also the key to the spiritual battles raging around all believers.

The way out is to allow the Life of Jesus to rule in our hearts. God’s provisions for our needs include: His Word, revealed truth, the indwelling Christ and the provision of the Holy Spirit. These provisions are not an endorsement of self nor do they lead us down other oppressive roads, but they will liberate us so we could live life abundantly.

Our carnal minds (self-centeredness) alienate us from God (Romans 8:7), but they that walk in the Spirit (follow Jesus in the way that He leads us out of the ways of the world back to His Father), they will be the Sons of God.

© Peter Eleazar at http://www.bethelstone.com

My yoke is easy

It was Jesus who said: Take my yoke on you. Learn of me for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

In Isaiah 10:27, we read that “the anointing breaks the yoke”. This scripture has been misused, so I will just stick to the principle. Wherever the bible refers to a yoke, it speaks of a casting off of restraints, things that hold us down.

The restraint that Jesus applies to us is a restraint or yolk of learning, thus He says “learn of me”. Clearly God is not at odds with Himself in anointing us to break the restraint He imposes on us. Nor would it be correct to interpret the yoke as coming from Jesus, even though He said, “take my yoke on you”. Rather He is referring to a yoke that was also on Him throughout His long seasons of preparation for ministry.

The concept relates to growth and maturity, a process that parallels the growth cycle of children, who are subject to a yoke of learning until they mature into adults. When we were young, the yoke subjected us to the instructions of parents and other adults in our culture. It was not a heavy burden and Jesus confirms that saying, “For my yoke is easy and my burden is light”. It involved real learning and growth, combined with fair doses of frustration, to equip us for life.

However, Jesus refers to spiritual life and the burden of discipleship. It is frustrating because we understand so little of God’s heart and keep on running into His unmovable, unyielding ways. We bash around as we compensate and over-compensate in our desire to understand and outgrow spiritual childhood.

Jesus never offers to relieve us of the yoke of learning. It is not His to impose or remove. In many ways He is also limited, for our times and seasons are appointed by the Father alone (Acts 1:7). Thus Jesus does not have a special right to intervene on our behalf and have the yoke removed.

However, we know that He prays for us, thus petitioning the Father on our behalf for grace and mercy. He also invites us to come to the throne of mercy (Hebrews 4) to obtain just that: Mercy and grace to help in our times of need.

Romans 8, is a reference often used to describe the Holy Spirit even though the entire context of Romans (or Romans 1 to 8 at least) is about Jesus and His indwelling life (Romans 8: 9-10). Paul defines that the mark of sonship. In Romans 8: 26-27, we read about the Lord interceding on our behalf with groanings that cannot be uttered, because He really does know the heart of God and what is at work in our fragile hearts.

Jesus is the sustaining life within us, the well from which we may drink and never thirst again, the rock that follows us through the wilderness and the good shepherd of the sheep. His life in us is a powerful and real interpretation of what He said when suggesting that He would share our yoke of learning.

The implication is that He makes our burden His burden. He does not cast it off but shares it. He walks with us to lead us to maturity and the ultimate approval of His Father: the only significant man who can validate our maturity.

In essence He walks next to us and says, “I cannot take away your burden of learning, for you must go through deep experiences in order to grow up and reach maturity. There is no short cut, no easy way. You must go through it, but I love you so much that I will share your burden, pray for you and sustain you through my indwelling Spirit”.

The Father is aloof of the process: how else could He validate us except by remaining neutral and objective. But, as God said to Joshua, “the way you go you have not been before, so follow the ark (a picture of Jesus)”.

When the process does reach its climax, the anointing or life within us will strain against the yoke until it breaks to assert our claims to sonship. That is a real process and must become the quest of every believer. The seed of God is Jesus, who is sown into our mortal frames and then germinates until it breaks through its restraining shell to become a tree of righteousness, the planting of the Lord.

Fortunately God has covenanted in Hebrews 9 to write His principles in our hearts so we can expect to grow in understanding, but it is useful to confirm that your present struggles are not mindless and goalless. God has allowed us to struggle out of our cocoons so that we can learn to fly and thereby surmount the restraints of life to be free-spirited sons of the Most High God.

So take His yoke willingly – and learn of Him.

© Peter Eleazar at http://www.bethelstone.com/

I did it my way?

Humanism challenges our theology right where we first stumbled with God - in our self-centeredness.

The first consequence of the fall and arguably the only real consequence thereof, was knowledge of self. The tree of knowledge did not imbue intellectual awareness, for knowledge of life and its workings, is a virtue of God, celebrated by many biblical writers. Knowledge of sin was also not given by the tree, in fact knowledge of sin really only came through the law, as we read in Romans 5:20.

The text of Genesis ascribes the knowledge of good and evil to the tree, but as that knowledge did not do the work of the law, in giving us the knowledge of sin, we must look into the context and examine the implications of eating the tree. There were two implications: death, which implies separation from God, and awareness of nakedness.

These two ideas are linked, for self-awareness begets alienation from God. Thus Paul teaches in Romans 8, that the carnal mind is enmity from God. God may have thrust us from His presence, but we actually alienate ourselves from God through our carnality (self-centeredness).

Humanism looks at our weaknesses and regards them as purely circumstantial: a function of learning, upbringing, context or social predispositions. God does not see it that way. He blames sin and when Jesus hung on the cross He set aside all human solutions to world problems by pointing back to sin and its consequence, a consequence that was supremely borne by Christ on His cross.

Humanism also proposes all kinds of solutions to our innate vulnerabilities, which Paul refers to in Romans 8, as vanity. We need to cover our nakedness, because of our self-awareness, but fig-leaves are hopelessly inadequate. Modern proxies for fig leaves include: status symbols, careers, wealth, material possessions, cosmetics, self-improvement philosophies, etc. But they never address our underlying vanity, rather they fuel it.

Marketers have learnt that giving some sense of wellbeing through commercially available fig-leaves, provides a broader incentive for the masses to part with their hard-earned billions in desperate search of a better fig-leaf. I must ask, do you really think the marketers of such products want you to feel fundamentally whole and fulfilled – never, that would destroy very valuable markets? Do you really think modern medicine want you to get better – never, that would wipe out the wealth or the wealthiest segment of our population. But as long as you have some perception that wellness is possible, you will spend, spend, spend and then suffer the resulting stress or debt-induced disorders that will recycle your spending into another round of fruitless waste.

Hey, the Pharisees sent Jesus to the cross because he threatened their well-developed trade in human vanity. Jesus is the single greatest threat to materialism and capitalism, because He offers real freedom and fundamental wholeness.

I have been deeply challenged about my current circumstances and have had a lot of input relating to my own sense of self-confidence. I accept, in part, that lack of self-confidence is not helpful and there is a form of self-deprecation that is as carnal as pride and as alienating as any other sin. It can sometimes do more harm than pride, for it not only excludes God, it excludes people from our inner worlds. To this end, we at least need to redress the ways we respond to God, for negativity is a cancer to the soul.

But, Paul said in Philippians 3 that he would put no confidence in the flesh. He had more than enough personal credence to put confidence in his own flesh: his impressive resume included an outstanding education, noble birth and Roman citizenship. But Paul said, “I count these things but dung (there are modern substitutes for dung that might convey how strongly Paul felt when he wrote this). He cast it all aside, not for self-knowledge, but for the surpassing knowledge of Christ.

He conceded to an ambition, a shrewdly-worded counter-trend to human ambition, which is fuelled by self-awareness. Paul’s ambition was to know Christ and the power of His resurrection - that quest consumed his soul. He accepted that he had not yet achieved his goal or attained to the fullness of his faith, but he was committed to fighting for supremacy, just as a runner might do in a race.

The secret to his power lay not in his human presence, powerful words, learning, intellect or a forceful nature. Paul’s power and authority lay exclusively in His knowledge of God. He mastered a sense of God-confidence that far exceeded the best of human confidence.

Human confidence is fragile and based on passing fancies. What works for a season, rarely works throughout life and what bolsters us in our youth, rarely sustains us in old age. Human confidence is a life-sapping, tiring, wearisome effort that brings limited fulfillment, but God-confidence is peaceful and joyous, because its departure point is the clothing of our nakedness by a great, heavenly Father.

Satan will exploit and weaken us as long as our centre-of-gravity is self, for self-awareness is the gateway of sin and the principle lever of Satan. But the devil stumbles in the dark or clutches at straws, when Jesus becomes our centre-of-gravity and the foundation for a divine sense of personal wholeness.

(c) Peter Eleazar at www.bethelstone.com

Personal power vs Godly authority

We stumble in spiritual warfare when we rely on personal power. But we prevail in divine authority.

How often we confuse personal power and charisma, with divine authority. How predictably we advance leaders who would probably have made it anyway. It is a cause of great resentment in many that they are like Cinderella’s, left at home, whilst the same notables get their pickings in the team and in places of favor.

Saul is a great example of someone with the external attributes, which those who confer power love to affirm. But Saul, in relying on his personal power, forsook legitimate power: for all authority comes from God. If Saul had humbled himself under God’s hand and submitted to the mandate of His God, to do what God had commissioned him to do, his legacy would have been perpetual. But he chose to go his own way and therein is no power, certainly not the power of God.

Real power and authority comes from the Word, the revealed heart of God. It defines who we are, our rights of way or prerogatives, and our divine mandate.

Who we are. Thhe first vital pretext of our authority is our position and identity in Christ. Christ triumphed over sin, hell and the grave and extended that victory to us. If we appropriate what is ours we will prevail, but if we concede legitimacy to Satan’s words, we will succumb to the weakness and inadequacy he speaks over us. Those with apparent personal power, have no power at all except it comes from God, but those without apparent power can be powerful indeed if they live within God’s Word.

Our rights of way or prerogatives. God has commissioned us to live out our lives within His purpose. We are called to do His will. Jesus conceded that to be His life mission. He only came to do His Father’s will. He was challenged, but the real challenge of Satan related to His reference point (It is written: The Lord is one and Him alone will we serve), His boundaries (It is written: we shall not tempt the Lord our God) and His principles or ethos (It is written: man shall not live by bread alone but by every Word of God). Those three pillars were inviolate and became the foundation of His authority. He asserted His place in the Father, through obedience to the truth. Satan could not resist or fault Him on that and thus He did not walk in personal power, but divine power.

Our mandate. All are mandated to be priests and kings of God. You have a place in His household and no one can deny that. Many are called to be husbands and fathers or mothers, and with that comes authority to fulfill God’s mandate. Satan seeks to undermine your role and if you concede ground to him or renege on your mandate, you will be progressively disempowered. You will also disempower the next generation. Satan lost all legitimate pretexts against us, at the cross. You, however, have abundant pretexts for victory, conceded through the cross.

We are also empowered to fulfill God’s specific mandate for our lives within His household, to actively share in the life and thought of the Kingdom. Such invovement will rely on personal power to the extent that you either miss His calling or sin, but if you know His calling, then your authority vests in His authority, notwithstanding any other disadvantages.

We need to determine who rules our hearts.

Israel asserted her national identity as long as the King, the Priesthood and the Prophetic pillars of the kingdom were sustained at the centre: in Jerusalem. Battles at the borders of the kingdom were determined by what happened at the centre, in the heart of Israel. That is no less true for our lives. If Jesus, our Prophet, Priest and King leads us, restores us to God and rules through His Word, we will prevail in other area of our lives.

Stop limiting yourself to your personality, stature or charisma, or lack thereof. Those considerations are not, nor ever shall be, the basis of authority. Those who depend on such things will be found wanting, but those who allow His authority to define their lives, will prevail and become history makers, for all authority comes from God, not men (John 19:11).

(c) Peter Eleazar at http://www.bethelstone.com/

Divine perspectives

I can see clearly now the rain is gone. Gone are the dark clouds. It is going to be a sunshiny day.

My youngest son has a wonderful ability to remember places. We have traveled through towns that we may have last seen years before, but as we came across familiar scenes, he could recall the past: “This is where we had a puncture or this is where we laundered our holiday clothes.”

Unfortunately, Dan is still young, so he still has a limited perspective. He cannot see a whole city, region or country in perspective. He can tell us exactly how to get to school or church and a few other places, because his neural pathways are developing and maturing. But as he grows and fills out, his perspective will change, the gaps will close, the loose ends will come together and he will have a full perspective on the world he lives in.

This principle is true in the spiritual world as well. When we are novices, we have a somewhat binary relationship with God. We ask, He gives. He asks, we obey. Our perspectives on sin, satan, the world and other spiritual landmarks are also disjointed and incomplete.

But, Solomon (Proverbs 18:10) spoke of God’s name being a high tower that the righteous run into and are safe. He also found perspective through lifting himself above his surroundings, but he gained that perspective through the name of God. In the process he found safety or refuge from the storms of life.

Much of our insecurity results from wrong perspectives. We tend to fear what we don’t understand, which is what spurns superstition and misunderstandings of God’s heart for us. When we retreat into the fortress of His name, it lifts us to a new vista and restores our perspectives. It makes the struggle of life and the enemy of our souls relatively small, but the vastness of God and of His power, very great.

Solomon’s words suggest that we can bypass normal growing up cycles by ascending to a higher point, through our knowledge of His name. We can lift ourselves, but my son can only wait for his turn. That said, Danny has taken to sitting on the kitchen floor to listen to worship CD’s, so he too has lifted his spiritual perspectives even if his life perspectives remain stunted by his youth.

Paul, in Ephesians 6 said concerning our spiritual struggles, that we are equipped to stand. Our spiritual armour enables us to hold our ground and resist the devil (James 4:7). Satan cannot easily push us off our position in Christ, but will use every trick in the book to lure us away from our position of strength and authority: in the high tower of His name.

The devils also believe in Jesus name and they tremble. Believing His name can be purely theoretical if it applies that name as a kind of mantra. But a proper understanding of His name and what it represents is a sure tower of refuge where we are safe and blessed with a proper perspective of our life struggles. Part of our battle is won simply in seeing our struggles in context, understanding that we are in a war and that so much is at stake. But with that perspective comes an understanding of how much was secured in the death and resurrection of Christ, the foundation of our faith. Those contexts give us real stature in the face of dark contradictions and they push back our enemy, for his one great hope is to confuse our thinking and darken our minds about who we are and what we have in Jesus.

Paul also had a high tower, which is explored in Ephesians 2:5-6, saying “We are alive in Him and seated with Christ in heavenly places.” This flows from Ephesians 1:22, where God shows that He put all things under His feet. So the place of seating (not even standing, but seating as a ruler would do), is on top of a pile of ruins that represent the victories of Christ over our enemies. He has divided His spoils amongst us and given us a place of authority at His side, above a fallen foe.

That is God’s perspective, even if it is not always our own perspective.

(c) Peter Eleazar at www.bethelstone.com

You are my God

You are my God, there is none other. With Him we make a majority and where He is, grace abounds.

In Hebrews 8, we read of the New Covenant, something I feel has not been adequately covered in theological teaching.

A pivotal clause of the New Covenant is God's promise to be our God, as we shall be His people. The subject here is not us. It should not read "I shall be your God" because God is the subject. Thus it should be, "I shall be your God". God entered into a covenant of His making, he did not become a willing participant in a man-made institution.

When Abraham mounted Moriah he was asked to do what other gods would typically have required of him: to offer his child. The pagan world was characterised by such barbarism and now Jehovah God demanded the same from Abraham.

In that moment, Abraham's concept of "My God", was deeply tested. The idea of "My God" or "My Faith", is something personal rather than fundamental. It alludes to our personalised concept fo a divine icon. It somewhat reduces God to a talisman. People invoke the notion of "My God" in times of trouble or when facing anything that confronts their value system. Americans seem to invoke the term for just about everything.

But when Abraham stood alone on that hill with his son, he had to examine whether "His God" was just a colloqialism, a peculiarity of his own world view, a product fo his own thinking. Indeed God removed all His own distinctions so that to all intents there were no notable differences between Himself and other Gods.

Jesus was also tempted on the central divinity of God, when satan offered Him the kingdoms of the world. To this he replied, "The Lord our God is one and Him alone shall we serve".

Both these great men had to confront their faith in the face of huge contradictions. They emerged with a real faith, not in a contrivance of their own imaginations, nor in a God amongst gods, but in the only absolute: Jehovah.

That is the crux of the New Testament. God is not saying I will be your personal crutch or designer God. He is saying that as the only sovereign He will be yours. You, your values and your world view will be defined by the Great I am, who is and was and ever more shall be.

When Abraham finally obeyed God, God intervened. His sovereigty was displayed openly as He said, "No, don't touch the boy, there is the lamb of sacrifice." Thereafter God effectively said, "Your people have become my people, for becaus eyou did not withhold your only son, that son who by implication became mine, is the instrument with which I will make a nation, a people as the stars in the sky: and I will be their God".

The idea of God's centrality to our faith was fundamental to Jesus victory of satan in the wilderness. You will also find victory when God assumes His place as God, not merely your God. It is when He is there to be worshipped and obeyed for whom He is, that we will finally know the heart of our struggle against satan, which is about affirming our absolute dependence on the one, true God.

As long as you waver on this point, you will falter in your battles. But when it is settled and you overcome satan in this, God will do what He did for Abraham: He will declare you as His people.

(c) Peter Eleazar at http://www.bethelstone.com/

Becoming a fool

Fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom or discipline: Proverbs 1:7.

In Biblical wisdom literature, the pupils of the sages and mentors are the unwise, often termed "fools" (Prov. 1:7) or "simple one" (1:22). In wisdom literature, the different levels of fools - both young and old - are the raw material on which the sages had to work, and they represent the varying degrees of rawness. Perhaps as much as anything else, the term fool is descriptive of an attitude, bent of mind, or direction in life, which needs correcting. The various Hebrew words for fool occur more than a hundred times in the book of Proverbs. [Marvin Wilson, Our Father Abraham (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1989), 284-286.]

The reference to someone being a fool was not necessarily a negative term. A simple fool, or peti, was a person who made mistakes, but quickly righted them and was restored to fellowship with God and with others. King David was a simple fool, one who made mistakes, but kept a repentant heart toward God. This is why God did not turn away from him for his many sins.

The hardened fool, kesil and ewil, makes mistakes, but never learns from them and will not listen to others. Such people can expect God's reproof to continue and will eat the fruit of their own way (see Prov. 1:31-32). The hardened fool "returns to his own vomit." King Saul was a hardened fool, one who made mistakes and continued in them even after realizing he was wrong. We're going to err in our ways. The question is, once we know we have made a mistake before God, do we make the necessary adjustments that will allow Him to intervene on our behalf? And will we avoid the same course of action in the future? God says that if we do, He will pour out His Spirit on us (see Prov. 1:23). He will make known His words to us.

The third level of fool mentioned in Proverbs is the mocking fool or letz. The mocking fool mocks the things of God. This word means "scoffer" or "scorner." When you encounter cynical people who disregard the things of God, you know these people are "mocking fools."

The fourth level of fool is the God-denying fool or nabal. This term relates to the morally wicked person who ignores the disgrace he brings on his family and who despises holiness (see Prov. 17:21). This person says, "There is no God." By failing to acknowledge God for who He is, the nabal declares himself to be a "God-denying" fool.

I have found that it is helpful to try to understand if people are teachable. Are they simple fools, those who make mistakes but seek to learn from them? I can work with those people. But if I sense I am working with a hardened fool, I know I should not spend much time on that person. Jesus did not spend much time trying to convince the rich young ruler. He presented truth, and let him make his decision.

Some people must get broken before they can become simple fools. Sometimes it is simply better to let satan chew on people until the ground is fertile enough to present truth to them.

Source: John Hall at www.pleasantplaces.co.za

Catch the wind

God displays His power in a refined and channeled way despite His boundless capacity for raw power.

There was a time when the concept of manned flight involved a lot of raw power or brute force (and ignorance). Flapping of feathered limbs, in the way of birds, was one approach. Others jumped off bridges and cliffs or used exertion to launch themselves into the air. Even the pre-flight era muscled along in brute force and ignorance, believing that a wing should be designed to ride the wind and batter its way into supremacy over the air. Other attempts focused on making lighter-than air vehicles, which was inherently frustrated by the inclusion of the “man” component of “manned flight”.

Then the Wrights realized that the secret to flight lay in harnessing the wind and using its physical properties to carry the aircraft aloft. The secret lay in the shape of the wing, which exploited the laws of aerodynamics.

Sailors had similar joys in harnessing the power of the wind. The concept of catching the wind soon gave way to the better idea of riding the wind, which enabled sail boats to actually face the wind and be drawn forward by the venturi effect of aerodynamics. The alternative was to rely solely on following winds as they pushed you around the earth, a long way to go if you needed to go a bit upwind for a loaf of bread.

The power of God is also depicted in scripture as a wind, for good reason. It is accessible to all, free and abundant, but its power can only be harnessed by applying appropriate principles of spiritual dynamics.

We need to shape our lives to catch His breath and live in His power.

A sailor tacks to get the optimal angle of attack into the wind, but opens the sail when sailing with the wind. When sailing upwind, the sail is trimmed to its optimal shape, enabling the wind to draw the boat through the water.

Two things are needed for sailing upwind: tack and sail trim.

Spiritual tacking implies a need to face God, spend time with Him and humbly seek His ways. It’s about aligning our lives to His Word and life. Clearly if we just wait for down winds, we will slowly drift away from the source. To head back to God, we need a different approach. His Word is powerful and life giving, but if we don’t expose ourselves to it or skillfully navigate our lives into the wind, the power of His Word will be lost to us.

Of course we also need to shape our lives, through application of His truth. It is not enough to just face God and enjoy His wind in our faces. We must apply ourselves to His truth if we ever hope to tap into the power of the life that blows through our lives. We can go to church and busy ourselves with many things, yet never really progress as we wallow around in dead water. Or we can deliberately respond to His truth to stop that noisy flapping in the wind.

There is an unsustainable, tiring and inefficient way to walk with God, but there is also a way to tap into His rhythm, know His heart and feel His heartbeat.

The vision in Ezekiel 47, of a river flowing from the temple of God, speaks of a tide that we can immerse ourselves in. We may start off at ankle- or knee-depth or even stay on the banks to watch the kingdom flow past us, but the best place to be, is in mid-river where the current flows strongest. The river that Ezekiel saw eventually flowed out into the fullness of the Promised Land and that is where we will end up if we go with its flow: we will experience its power, realize its boundaries and see His promises fulfilled.

There is no doubt that the wind or tide of God’s Spirit describes vast power, but it is not the raw power that we normally associate with power in everyday life. It is not explosive or kinetic or pneumatic or any other kind of power. It is spiritual power, capable of transforming ordinary lives into history makers. It challenges the gates of hell and raises us from the uttermost to the uttermost to equip us for eternal life. It is a healing, restorative and quickening power.

It may be subtle and often almost imperceptible, but no one who has trusted in His truth has ever been put to shame, for His truth will always win the day and prevail against the darkness. In the immortal words of the Battle Hymn of the Republic, “His Truth is marching on”.

(c) Peter Eleazar at www.bethelstone.com

I see you

If our faith in God looks for a visible face, does our understanding of the devil look for the same?

The use of symbols, buildings, statues or golden calves to depict God and make Him more accessible to humans, has led to dangerous distortions and a corruption of real faith. It is a powerful ruse of Satan to vest our ignorance in symbols and images. For although they make one feel warm inside they do nothing for the war of the soul.

It is no less futile to try to put a human face to the devil. We often allow bad or horrible people to become the target for our fears and superstitions, but we then end up beating the air.

Paul said in Galatians 5:7 that “our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers in heavenly places”. When we use human instruments of darkness, regardless of our pretexts, we merely fight the instrument, not the force or logic behind them. That is analogous to warring against shields or swords or guns, which are quite incapable of spontaneous action and devoid of any will of their own.

So when we find ourselves in conflict with individuals, we are really wasting time. The problem is behind them. The objective of Chess is to take out the King, not to eliminate the opponent’s resources. I accept that a war of attrition against the other player would render the King very vulnerable, but in spiritual warfare the “men” at Satan’s disposal are innumerable. Attrition would only favor his cause as it would bog us down in a highly inefficient and pointless distraction. We must target the King or more specifically the spiritual forces behind what we see on the ground.

I am not about to advocate that we run off wildly berating or rebuking the devil, for as the seven sons of Sceva found out, such naiveté is foolhardy. But I am saying that unless you understand what is behind your struggle, you will be quite ineffective.

So blaming your parents, your boss, the schoolyard bully or other oppressors in your life is not going to cut it. It will just frustrate you or turn your own feelings into instruments of your spiritual enemy.

Joshua and David were two great Old Testament warriors. Their approach to war was first to inquire of God and ensure that His favor was with them. That sounds quite routine, but it isn’t. Satan’s pretexts against us are significantly linked to our own position in God. If we are in sin or have opened up a spiritual door through past activities, Satan will exploit our spiritual vulnerability. When Joshua or David found battles going against them, it inevitability pointed to some sin or offence that had to be corrected before they could advance.

So if we are to win against an unseen but virulent force we must restore our divine position in the greater unseen force. We must know God and walk with Him if we are to see our enemy is perspective and we must obey Him if we want to walk in His authority. Then, in His timing, God will lead you into a meaningful engagement and deliver the enemy into your hands.

(c) Peter Eleazar at www.bethelstone.com

God is great

Our need for tangible symbols of God offers false comfort that frustrates our ability to overcome..

Mohandas Ghandi said, “To a poor child in Calcutta, a piece of bread is God”. To the children of Israel, “A golden calf was God”. To modern believers, very often money or a provider or a pastor, is God. Church has been an incarnation of God for many and there has been a strong historic dogma for turning the Church into the centre of our faith. Others turn to symbols like a crucifix or even try to evoke life out of dead bread. All of these behaviors stem from a desperate need to have and hold God on human terms. The invisibility of God frustrates us, but it need not be that way.

When Jesus met the woman at the well (John 6), she said “some say that we ought to worship God in Jerusalem, others say in Samaria, what do you say?” Jesus replied, “It’s not about time or place, for God seeks us to worship Him in Spirit and Truth.”

Israel got into deep trouble when they depicted their concept of God as a golden calf. Their idea had some credence, for Ezekiel 1 depicts one of the faces of the four living creatures around the throne of God, as an ox, symbolizing the strength of God. Although the image used by Israel was drawn from Egyptian pagan practices, I am fairly sure that most of the people naïvely sought a symbol or replica of God or their concept of God. I am also fairly sure that depicting God as a calf was no less an issue as the idea of depicting Him as a building, an iconic leader, a crucifix or a statue.

The Samaritans got into different trouble when they allowed themselves to become alienated from the rest of Jewry, because they perceived that the well of Jacob at Shechem had a greater sense of God or God's presence, than did Jerusalem. How many religious groups have tried to sentimentalize places to evoke the presence of God or out of a misguided sense of service that does nothing to fill our empty wells. Muslims go to Mecca, Christians and Jews flock to Jerusalem and all come away with an experience yet without a lasting reality of God.

All of this may sound a bit gobbly-gooky, but sadly it is exactly what happens to our faith when we displace an intimate relationship with symbols for that reality. God is very real, but His voice is still, small and almost imperceptible, whilst the way He works in our lives is subtle, almost invisible. We can enjoy a very deep, very real relationship with Him if we connect with Him at a spiritual level, but we get into all kinds of problems when we try to reinterpret the invisible God in physical terms.

One of the sad consequences of this is an oppressive relationship with church through a form of service that comes close to guilt-induced slavery - the kind of thing that should only happen in the corporate world.

Such activity may be rooted in theology, but it still amounts to a relationship with objects and a dependence on others for approval. That is where we get lost, but we get lost, according to Romans 8, because we are made subject to vanity. Our vanity cries for approval through our deeds and associations, rather than through our divine position in God’s eternal purposes.

The tragedy of a symbolic faith is that it neutralizes our power to overcome sin or the world. Jesus said, “The devils believe and tremble”, but He referred to a fear for a living, regal God. When we trust symbols of that reality, we end up with a form of Godliness that denies the power thereof (2 Timothy 3:1-5) and become the laughing stock of the enemy. We become like lions without teeth, going through interesting rituals of service and applied clichés, whilst achieving squat in our war against evil.

We must restore spiritual connectedness and fellowship with God to overcome and extend that relationship into a vital expression that makes us the church, not church goers. We must have His life in us so our cups can overflow and make a vital difference to the world around us. We must win our fight in the air, not beat the air using physical symbols of God to war against flesh and blood fronts for the unseen darkness.

© Peter Eleazar at www.bethelstone.com

Don't beat the air

The reduction of our struggles to everyday concepts, minimizes the greater war for our souls.

When things go wrong in our lives, it is easy to put a human face to our woes, to rationalise our struggles in everyday times. When Moses disappeared into Mount Sinai for an extended period, the people asked for a golden calf to be made. There are many angles to this request, but it must at least be seen against the background of a departed Moses.

Moses was the tangible expression of the unseen God seated beyond the swirling mists above and the pillar of fire below. They needed a physical presence in order to cope with the unseen. Moses had become a kind of linus-blanket, a comforting presence in an otherwise uncertain, confusing dilemma.

His absence demanded a proxy, without which the people risked falling apart. The golden calf would become a proxy for Moses and for God. I am not altogether convinced that the calf should be seen as a specific return to the gods of Egypt, but they may well have stolen a concept from Egypt to rationalize God. It partly explains our own need for buildings, priests, symbols, statues and proxies for God.

The calf not only symbolized the hopes and dreams of Israel, it also explained away their worst fears and misgivings. It had become a kind of talisman. If they could just see something representative of their concept of God, they felt that things would be okay.

By way of contrast, when Moses descended again they asked him to wear a veil, because of his glow. 2 Corinthians 3 explains that in effect they rejected the glory of the law, the bigger story behind current events. Having already worked through to a workable concept of God, the people were happy to take the written law as their new symbol of comfort and adopt it in a way that would give them a tangible religious experience. The truths behind the written laws were lost to them.

Now when we try to personalize our own struggles, grasping for meaning or symbols of hope to reassure our faith, we too miss the real point. Our struggles are not an end in themselves, but part of a greater journey with a surpassing conclusion. We must take our wrestles to a higher level, seeking God’s face and His heart for our lives without settling for symbolic gestures. Standing in prayer queues and falling over, nice sounding prophetic words and all the other jargon that characterizes our faith are not the real thing, they are at best just poor substitutes for intimacy with God.

We may fear what a real knowledge of God would imply in terms of exposing our nakedness or the costs of knowing God, but anything less is just a cop out. Sooner or later we must stop trying to put a face to our struggle or relying on symbolic gestures to make ourselves feel better, even if we aren’t. We must go up the hill and meet the lawmaker, not the laws and find intimacy with the savior not just the benefits of salvation.

© Peter Eleazar at http://www.bethelstone.com/

First win the battle in the air

The battlefields of the heart and mind need a strategic perspective just as human battlefields do.

US military doctrine largely hinges on airpower. Ground wars are dangerous and technology can be countered by sheer numbers, as Napoleon and Hitler learnt in their wars against Russia. Technology can also be a hindrance in battle as it breeds an over-dependence on a vulnerable resource.

So, as happened in most post World War II US theatres of war, airpower was the key to tilting the balance in favor of US ground forces. The plan has been well honed. During Desert Storm, General Norman Schwarzkopf used air-cover in the first wave of attack, to neutralize missile emplacements and other fixed artillery points. This provided safer passage for mobile ground forces.

Most military forces have focused on building significant strike capabilities using exceedingly sophisticated manned and, more recently, unmanned super-sonic and super-cruising aircraft. Stealth bombers like the B2 have enabled previously dangerous aerial targets to be engaged with relative impunity, whilst longer-range standoff weapons have enabled remote engagement from ships or aircraft operating outside the radius of fire.

The principle behind these strategies is to win the war in the air before trying to win it on the ground.

There is a powerful spiritual principle here. So often we engage our spiritual enemy in hand-to-hand combat, fighting wars of attrition at a tactical level. We engage and fight daily issues using everyday ideas and weapons. Of course, as we all have found, that is exactly where the enemy wants to meet us, because his resources are enough to tip the scales in his favor. Satan has nothing to lose, you have much to lose. He doesn’t care a hoot about hitting you every way he can and the Geneva convention means nothing to him. He will fight dirty and aim to kill wherever possible.

However, we can tilt the balance in our favor by resorting to an aerial war. By that I imply spiritual warfare waged through prayer, fasting and intercession. It is there that we fight with God, as Joshua once did, to take out the strongholds that dominated the landscape of Judea. In a later article I will explore those strongholds, but suffice to say that Joshua was very strategic in his approach. He picked his enemies and his timing, to break the resistance of the enemy, sow confusion and uproot strategic strong points.

The fact is that most of our ground struggles relate to symptoms of deeper issues, pretexts that give the enemy advantage over us. Prayer and fasting helps to expose the underlying issues so we can remove those pretexts and upstage the enemy. The idea of strategic pretexts will also be explored later, but it reflects traditional military thinking.

Often we are more like a boxer beating the air, using strong language to rebuke and resist the enemy, yet making no headway. It is interesting that Paul, in Ephesians 6, contends that the weapons of our warfare are for standing, not for offensive action. James concurs, saying, “Resist (not attack) the devil and in due course he will flee”.

© Peter Eleazar at www.bethelstone.com

Power for all

The power of God is accessible to everyone. It is able to save, heal and transform ordinary lives.

Peter spoke of the divine power of God, in 2 Peter 1: 3. He said that it has given us all that we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness.

All power has utility value else it is of no relevance. The heat of a fire is useful and harnessed to heat food, water or cold bodies. The glow of the sun is useful for photosynthesis and maintenance of a viable biosphere. Electrical energy is not totally efficient, because what is not used cannot be stored, but what is used has changed our world. Whilst sophisticated first world societies are very well developed, crisis would even the scales and potentially kick lesser cultures back to prominence, because their systems are less vulnerable, more able to bounce back from disaster. Such is our dependence on electrical energy in every aspect of modern life.

God’s power also has utility value. There is raw power, just as the heart of a power station consists of the raw, unbridled power of the furnace. God possesses awesome power and if the universe expanded from an infinitely massive singularity of infinite density, I can imagine Him picking that grain up to blow it out of His hand. The idea that God spans the heavens with His right hand (Isaiah 40) comes to mind here, for at some stage a very small universe was blown out of His hand to become the vast expanse that now stretches across the heavens.

The power of God cast stars into space and introduced the four fundamental forces of nature within one second of the big bang. But, God has harnessed and distilled His awesome power to us to enable life and godliness. Sometime His power is so subtle, so deft that we often miss the point and thereby miss God. He is able to rule the heavens and overthrow His enemies, yet is equally capable of such finesse. His creativity crafted delicate beauty in flowers, insects, microcosmic matter and the wonder of sunsets, soaring mountain vistas, pounding oceans and exploding galaxies.

But He has also made it accessible to everyday human reality. His love and power relates to our daily struggles and persists with us even when we reject Him. It transforms wretched lives and lifts others from the gutters, to carry us on the wind of His Spirit until we reach the distant shore. Out of such transactions will emerge everyday heroes, people who will overcome all kinds of odds to reach glory and be crowned with His everlasting blessing.

Glory describes the ecstasy of the winning runner in a marathon or the afterglow of a mother who has just given birth: that is partly what is meant by divine glory. But it is also a share in His glory, the ecstasy He feels in His finished work and the realization of His power to save us from the uttermost to the uttermost. It suggests an embrace of lover and beloved or the arm-in-arm celebration of fellow combatants in the glory of victory.

Everyone who truly walks with God will emerge with a living testimony of His faithfulness.

(c) Peter Eleazar at www.bethelstone.com

The power curve

Does the power of God vest in our practices and structures or in our knowledge of the heart of God?

Energy has a tendency to surge and stabilise, with peaks and troughs throughout its lifecycle. Various things are used to smooth power curves so we can use energy efficiently in our everyday lives.

Spiritually we also face a power curve. When we come to the faith, our locus of power and influence is rooted in the world, and ultimately in sin. We respond to what we see, hear, touch, taste or feel in our emotions. We apply logic and emotional responses to work successfully navigate the world. Those are the skills we are born with and that is all we know, so we do the best with what we have.

Our responses are of course moderated by cultural, cognitive and experiential factors. Thus Abraham, despite his roots, was influenced by his pagan culture. It shaped his traditions, values and responses.

Then God called him: it was the strting point that would trace the two influences of his life. From that moment the still, small voice of God was on the ascendancy and the prevailing voice of his culture began to recede.

Over the ensuing years, the voice of God emerged from the background clutter to become his dominant influence. During the phase of his life that led to him siring a half-son, Abraham faced intense competition between his established concept of truth and his emerging consiousness of the divine. It posed deep dilemmas for him as he wrestled with a relatively unknown God, whose light exposed all his real flaws.

Slowly the voice of God gained the upper hand and through his struggles, clarity and certainty of faith emerged. Then, when his heart was sufficiently renewed, God tested Abraham. In effect the LORD said, "You came out of that pagan world and reached thus far in your walk with me. But now that you can discern between these two world-views, it is time to finally decide which value system to adopt for you and your descendants".

It was an agonising moment for Abraham as he looked truth in the eye and confronted the crux of his faith. He had to dig deep to determine whether the God that he followed was the real thing. In his heart he knew that the sacrifice of children harked back to his pagan roots and confronted the unspoken regrets of his past. "LORD, why do you ask me to do this? This is not you. Have I grown so familiar with you that when you remove your distinctions I can no longer separate you from paganism?"

This is a deep issue. If the things that you presume to define your faith, such as church life, prayer, praise or whatever, was removed, would your faith still stand. The ecumenical movement would argue that our differences are not enough to sustain the divisions between faiths.

Do you buy that? In some ways they are right. There are good people in all persuasions, hard workers, generous, socially active souls that contribute very meaningfully to the world about us. So Christianity most certainly does not have a monopoly on the virtues we deem to define us.

Indeed, if your faith was stripped down to the bones you would feel very insecure, because a lot of Christian practice has become a linus blanket for keeping our faith intact. But, as for Abraham, the stripping away of the veneer represents the tipping point of our faith, where we must finally realise that if God is anything, He is everything and the faith we have is distinguished in the life, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus.

When we get to the heart of our faith: the heart of God and His deep values relating to love and truth, we can finally say that the curve which describes our faith has become the only voice in our lives, silencing every alternative view. God is not a relative concept, He is the only true absolute by which all truth will be measured.

Knowing Him in such a riveting, personal way is the key to our power: it removes energy sapping distractions, focuses our lives and taps into the zeal of God that consumed the passion of all bible characters.

(c) Peter Eleazar at http://www.bethelstone.com/

We have the power ...

Power is not an irrational force, as science sees it? It is an expression of divine truth & light.

In 2008, an experimental fusion reactor in France plans to demonstrate a viable and sustainable thermonuclear fusion capability. If successful, humankind will have found the ultimate, self-sustaining energy resource. Fission, the splitting of atoms, has defined nuclear technology to date. But fusion, the flip-side of fission, would reconstitute Helium atoms, releasing enormous energy: the fusion of atoms results in a loss of mass that is expressed as energy, consistent with Einstein's energy formula.

The amount of concentrated thermal energy required to induce a fusion reaction is enormous. Experiments like the Tokomak reactor in Russia, used immensely powerful magnets to contain the reaction at the centre of a containment vessel, because existing materials could not bear the heat created by converging high-energy lasers.

Fusion power initiates futher fission reactions, which also release energy. The result is a chained energy system based on the sun, that is perpetually self-sustaining. It is also immensely complex and expensive to achieve.

However, there is another energy source in our universe. It is complex, immensely powerful and completely unrestrained. I refer to the Spirit of God.

The earth was a dark void until the light, released by God in the Big Bang, initiated a sequence of events that created the four known forces of our universe: within less than a second. Those forces were the key building blocks of the universe, providing the gravitational and nuclear forces that aggregated matter into planets and stars.

Genesis 1, however, has a double meaning. For when God said, "Let there be light", He also referred to spiritual light, the great power that governs the laws and dynamics of all things. That light ensured an ordered universe, but it was the same light that brought order to the world. Moses was the channel through which God introduced the first constitutional dispensation, ensuring that universal egality, objectivity and fairness displaced the subjective, relative and barbaric systems of the pagan world.

That same light also illumines the human heart: for every person that calls on His name. The dark void of our hearts is a place of relative chaos until His light shines into the void to bring meaning, value and purpose to all.

Humankind has achieved incredible things, yet has never nor will ever transcend death. The power of God, by implication, exceeds the best we can achieve. It miraculously transforms corrupt lives into noble sons and sets within them the power of the resurrection: for "if (Romans 8) the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead, dwells in you, He shall also quicken your mortality through His indwelling Spirit."

For all that man has achieved, humanity is effectively regressing. Sure there has been technological advancement, but socially we have passed our peak. Anarchy and lawlessness pervades our planet and the love of many waxes cold. But the kingdom of God, despite centuries of repression and opposition is reaching her finest hour as the church prepares for the return of the King.

So what power will you tap into? Where will you find your centre and who will sustain you when the world lapses into inevitable chaos?

(c) Peter Eleazar at http://www.bethelstone.com/

Get the better connection ...

For all the power God gives us, of what use would it be if we chose not to plug in and be connected?

It takes a vast amount of energy to generate the electricity we consume in our homes and offices. It may all be just a flick of the switch away, yet it requires vast resources to bring it all the way inside your living space.

Of course it would be no big deal if energy was required for you alone: then the cost would be nothing more than the price of a generator, unless you converted to alternative energy. But to deliver a thousand kilowatts of energy to one home for one hour, requires an infrastructure capable of delivering megawatts of energy for twenty four hours of every day.

The cost of a power station can cost over a billion Dollars: the same again for maintenance. But it depends on fuel and that fuel needs to mined at great cost: be it nuclear or fossil fuel. The fuel also needs to be transported to the power station.

A large power station can take five years to build, but to deliver its energy to living areas, vast networks of cabling and related management systems are needed. That also costs $billions to build and maintain. And of course local authorities need to also link you to the power grid. Lastly suppliers of electrical goods need to build and deliver appliances and tools that are able to convert the energy into useful work.

The fact that it takes a lifetime to build all of that is lost on all of us who take the availability of energy so for granted. Yet it would still be utterly meaningless if we opted out of the system. Power can only come to the plug points and switches in your living space, leaving you with the small task of flipping the switch – but if you don’t and for as long as you don’t, the energy delivered is forever wasted, as it cannot be stored.

To bring salvation to humankind, God invested His own life and the sacrificial offering of His beloved Son. That sacrifice represented the culmination of four millennia of human history and God’s patient, deliberate work to provide the resources we need for salvation and eternity. It was not easily or cheaply given: the cost was beyond measure and it has taken a further two millennia of maintenance through the handed down traditions and teachings of apostles, martyrs, theologians and faithful hearts, to bring it right into your own personal living space.

But if you fail to plug in or connect to that heritage, it will pass you by and do you no good. Yet if you call on Him, he will answer you.

For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not in cleverness of speech, that the cross of Christ should not be made void. For the word of the cross is to those who are perishing foolishness, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God ~ 1 Corinthians 1:17-18

For I am not ashamed of the Good News of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation to everyone who believes; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek (Rom. 1:16).

(c) Peter Eleazar at www.bethelstone.com

Imagine, no power

No one has seen electricity. Few have felt it. Once a novelty, we now just take it all for granted.

Something of everyday utility value, from what has for years been one of the world’s most reliable and affordable electricity utilities, has suddenly become a major newsmaker. We face daily blackouts now and the economy is hurting.

But God is a greater reservoir of power that we also take for granted. He has always been there and we also take that for granted. The sun will surely rise tomorrow and life will continue much as it always has. Many will find personal strength in their knowledge of God, through prayer or meditation, His Word or other sources of inspiration. He will reach us through everyday moments and extraordinary experiences: sunsets, deaths, births, marriages, changing seasons and artistic expressions.

But what if He took a day off, or shut down the system for maintenance or reached an overload? Just think what happens when electricity fails and you will get some idea of how we will miss Him.

If power fails, lights fail and we are left in darkness. If God fails, the light that guides the conscience of humanity, our sense of right and wrong and our awareness of the implications of death would all cease to exist. We would be reduced to the instinctive existence of lesser animals, bereft of higher thought and reason. Without a conscience, could we truly appreciate beauty, innocence, love, artistic expression or music?

If power fails, security systems are compromised. If God fails or we lose connection with Him, our ability to transcend corruption and sin would be compromised. The influences of the world would no longer stop at the gates of our lives, but would overwhelm us. Our sense of being would be undermined, because human worth and dignity would have no residual currency in a Godless culture.

If power fails, hot water ends and we battle to keep ourselves or our clothes clean. If God fails or we disconnect, we will lose the cleansing, refining influence of His presence in our lives. The noble instinct to rise above the cesspool and aspire to a fuller life would be displaced by a one-dimensional instinct for survival. Expedience would rule, principle would die.

If power fails, heating and life support systems, including hospitals may also fail. If God fails, life will fade and we will retreat into a marginal existence. Our sense of community would die and we would become totally self-centred, fighting for personal survival. Our health and lifespan would be compromised and life would become cheap.

If power fails, traffic systems fail. If God fails, we lose all sense of direction and order in our lives. We will not know when to stop, go or turn and the probability of colliding with other lives would increase. Peace, stability, order and personal direction would fail and we would stray off course.

If power fails, aircraft cannot safely land. If God fails, we cannot find our way back home. We will wander through the night with no place to rest or set ourselves down, until we burn out and fall into a heap of ruins.

I could go on … but if you can imagine a society with no power for any period of time, you will get some sense of how bad life will get when God withdraws His spirit from our world. That is exactly what will happen in what the bible calls, “the great tribulation”, when humankind will be given over to its depravity and divine restraints will be removed (2 Thessalonians: 6-7).

Oh how we need Him. Malachai 3:6 says, “God never changes”. He has always been there and will always be there. He never fails and they that call on Him will be saved, for Power belongs to God, Psalm 62:11.

© Peter Eleazar at http://www.bethelstone.com/

Power to the people ..

Is God merely a resource: a facility we use to get through life, a convenient utility which provides power to the people …

As happened in California not long ago, my country is facing a significant power crisis.

Economic growth has outripped energy capacity resulting in outages, load shedding (planned outages to prevent catastrophic failure) and potential rationing.

It gave me cause to reflect on God. He is not a limited resource, a capacity that must respond to human demand or consumption levels. He is the same whether we draw on His grace or not. He never goes away and as long as we remain plugged into His grace, He will never fail us.

His light never dims: indeed from a dispensational perspective we have more light now than the cumulative course of human history. The problem is that too many of us still choose to live in darkness.

The truth of God has transcended the universe, revealing His power and glory through events and physical realities light years away, without taking anything away from the beauty of a flower, the wonder of a new-born child or the glory of a majestic sunset.

God never sheds power. He never casts of His capacity nor is He is ever overloaded. If all six billion inhabitants of the planet were to cry to Him now, He would hear each person as an individual and know all about them. He would also guide them in a unique and personal way through His mysteries into present and eternal light.

God also never adjusts His tariffs for peaks and troughs in load consumption. Whether we call on Him by day, by night, in sickness or health, in good or bad times, He remains constant and the price of His grace is unaffected: because he already paid all accounts in advance, through the cross.

The price of sin is still death, but the reward for heaven is still glory, all of it: not a pro-rata or discounted share. God loves without prejudice and will receive every single person, from whatever gender, race, creed or culture … if they call on Him. He saves everyone who turns to Him and rejects all who reject Him: it is that simple.

God is more than enough. We don't need or seek another, for He is eternal and unlimited. Read Psalm 73 and see how Asaph almost stumbled becaue he misread God. Then he saw the end of wickedness and knew that God is enough.

(c) Peter Eleazar at http://www.bethelstone.com/

Behold the man

To Abraham Jesus was the sacrifice that God provided, a lamb caught in the thickets. To Jacob, God was the ultimate Father, the tried, precious cornerstone that the builders rejected.

To Moses, Jesus was the God of the burning bush - the unchenchable fire that ignited the passions of his people and gave them a beacon of hope. To Noah He was the olive tree that provided evidence of God's ongoing purpose in the face of judgement.

To David, Jesus was the shepherd, heartsong and the table amongst our enemies. To Elijah He was a swirling wind, a tempest who rides on chariots of fire, yet stirs faith with a still, small voice. To Samuel He was the voice in the night, anointing our heads with oil for the wild adventures He calls us into.

To Isaiah He was the suffering servant, bearing the iniquities of us all. To three young men, He was the fourth, the fellow in our struggles, the friend who sticks closer than a brother. To Paul, Jesus was a blinding light that demanded a response.

To John, He was the one in the midst of the churches, the mystery of the ages, the lamb that opens the seals of the book. He is all of these and more, yet all the perspectives in all the world could never describe Him.

(c) Peter Eleazar at www.bethelstone.com

How Hezekiah found favour with God and men

In everything that he undertook in the service of God's temple and in obedience to the law and the commands, he sought his God and worked wholeheartedly. And so he prospered - 2 Chronicles 31:21

Hezekiah was a godly king. He was also a very talented businessman and builder. He was responsible for many noteworthy projects that are described in detail in the Old Testament. We discover from the passage above that King Hezekiah had two major attributes that contributed to his success and prosperity: He sought God, and he worked wholeheartedly upholding God's laws.

Godly success involves a partnership between you and God. Success in God's economy means achieving the purpose for which God made you. That purpose can never be discovered without seeking Him with a whole heart. You may achieve great things without seeking God, but you will never achieve the things God set out for you to achieve without seeking Him. Unless you seek Him, you may find yourself one day climbing to the top of the ladder only to find it leaning against the wrong wall.

What does it mean to seek God? It means creating time to sit before His throne in quiet places. It means reading His Word in order to know Him more intimately. It means developing an ear to hear His voice so that we know when to turn to the right or to the left. God desires to know you.

Are you willing to take the time to know Him? If so, you can be sure He will guide you into those things that will bring success to every aspect of your life.

Source: John Hall, www.pleasantplaces.co.za

Kings and Priests

And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth. - Revelation 5:10 KJV.

The Bible describes two distinct roles in the Old Testament-kings and priests. Kings were the rulers; priests were the religious leaders. The New Testament reveals we all are kings and priests because of the redemptive work of Christ.

Today, kings are most often represented by business and political leaders, while pastors represent the priestly roles. God calls each of us to fulfill both roles in our lives today. However, our vocational roles often create a division that is misunderstood by both workplace believers and pastors. These misunderstandings have led to a weakened and less effective Church.

Pastors have been guilty of viewing their workplace believers as dollar signs. They sometimes see them for what they can contribute to their ministries instead of equipping them to use their gifts and talents to impact the workplace believer's mission field-their workplace.

Workplace believers have tried to get pastors to operate their churches like businesses, and have used their worldly ways for spiritual purposes. They often view the pastor as the primary ministry worker instead of taking on the responsibility themselves to do the work of the ministry.

This is a grievous sin that exists in the Body of Christ, and it requires repentance from both groups. Unless we recognize this, we will never see the reality of revival that God wants to bring to the business community, and pastors will fail to gain an ally to fully complete the work of the Church in their community.

Are you a pastor who has failed to see the calling that workplace believers have received to the workplace? If so, ask God to forgive you for viewing your workplace believers as those to be used for your own purposes.

Are you a workplace believer who sees your church as another business to be run based on worldly measurements? Do you see the pastor's role as one who is primarily responsible for the work of the ministry? If so, you must repent and ask God to forgive you of this unbiblical view. God has called both of you to fulfill His purposes together through your gifts and talents.

I've never thought about it this way

“This, then, is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name, Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” - Matthew 6:9-10

Imagine that you have never driven a car. You are not aware of all the features of a car. Up to this point, you have had to walk everywhere you go. All you are told is that you are about to receive something that will get you anywhere you need to go. The day arrives and you are given a brand new car. You get in and drive the car. However, the emergency brake is on, preventing you from going faster than 20 miles per hour. No one tells you that you should unlock the brake. Regardless, you are excited because you no longer have to walk to your destination. You are not told that the car has lights, which would allow you to drive at night. Neither are you told about the many other wonderful features of the car. You just know you have a new car that will get you anywhere you want to go at 20 miles per hour. For the rest of your life, you drive this incredible car during the daytime only at 20 miles per hour.

Why would Jesus pray that things in earth would be like they are in Heaven if it were not possible?

When Jesus came to earth, He came in order to penetrate the very kingdom of darkness with light.

He came to bring healing to sickness, replace sadness with joy, and fill meaninglessness with purpose.

He came to change things for the better for a world that had no hope outside of God.

Using the illustration above, Jesus did not come to merely give us a ticket to Heaven (a car that you drive only in the daytime at 20 miles per hour).

He came to bring us much more-the Kingdom of God on earth. Nowhere in the Bible will you find the term, gospel of salvation.

The Church does not exist for Heaven, but for earth. If it existed only for Heaven, then each of us would immediately be taken to Heaven. There would be no reason for us to remain on earth.

So why has God allowed us to receive this new birth and remain on earth?

It is so that we might bring the Kingdom of God into our world-our families, our workplace, and our communities.

God wants you to bring the Kingdom of God into the territory He has given you so that His will can be done on earth as it is in Heaven. Your domain is your workplace, family, and community.

Ask God to show you how He wants to penetrate the darkness of your domain with His light.

Then you will see and experience all the features of this gift that has been given to you.

The book of God

Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful -- Joshua 1:8

We need to be reminded, just like Joshua and the Israelites, that God gave us his Law to be a blessing to his people.

The Law was given to help Israel live the will of God in their daily lives. If they would live God's way, he promised they would be blessed.

In addition, God is the Creator.

He knows the best way for humans to live in harmony with the principles of his universe.

His Law was not intended to hinder or interfere with the happiness and experience of his people.

Instead, it was to help them prosper and find success in life.

As Paul repeatedly reminds us in Galatians, we are no longer under Law.

But, as we live by the Spirit, the character that is produced reflects the character of Jesus, the one who fulfilled the Law and brings us the blessings God has intended all along.

Bottom line: Following God's will and living his character is a blessing to us!

Source: John Hall, www.pleasantplaces.co.za