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Divine guidance can save you much grief

“The Lord will guide you into all the truth” applicable to you. (John 16:13)

To live by the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and be led in all your most beneficial ways one must learn the discipline of ongoing listening for the direction of the Lord and acknowledge His methods of opening up our viewpoint to see the right way to walk. David won most of his battles because he always wanted to hear God’s view first (Psalm 27:7, 11)

We live in a world order which is becoming increasingly difficult to hear God speak to us through His Word, or the “still small voice” (Isaiah 30:21)

This is increasingly true when you are surrounded by excess talking and clamour while facing a choice when in need of information that may be yet unknown or purposely held back from you by men who feel superior in education, religion, or health care. For example, it was found out that many hysterectomies were unnecessary in the 60s yet many a doctor ran ahead with multiple surgeries even when it was known it was unnecessary. No one should hold back pertinent information because money per operation is a primary goal. I see this mindset continues today in some disciplines.

We must not trust every word of others or the feeling within ourselves, but cautiously and patiently try the matter, whether it be of God. Do not give ready heed to every news-bearer, for they know man’s weakness that it is prone to evil and deceptive in dialogue. It is supreme wisdom, not to be hasty in action, or stubborn in our own opinions. It is essential wisdom to not believe every word we hear. An obedient life, submissive to the Lord, makes a man wise toward God and gives him experience in many things. The more humility and obedience within and without to God’s will, the more knowledgeable will he be in all things, and the more shall his soul be at peace. 1

Amidst others of rank, where you cannot hear yourself think let alone hear God speak it is hard to make a rational decision. Montaigne noted in his essay on presumption: “occasions surprise me and move me contrary to my premeditation”. The smartest contemplative person can be derailed from original rational thinking in a few minutes of chaos under decisional pressure.

This is particularly true if we replace the guidance directly from God with an: if, then, else flowchart, which I am prone to do because I have been trained in writing computer code. I learned the hard way that this can be like rolling the bones or tossing the dice without rational thought versus the leading of God directing as we pray for guidance in His Word and discern what light He has on the subject at hand. Dreams even if frightening, where warnings can come in the wee hours can save you from a bad decision. If the Spirit of Christ leads in either of these two methods sit up and go to your journal and immediately write down the leading and ask what this means – it is vital to do this before it is lost. Carry your journal and ponder the guidance and take it to heart and change course if necessary.

As a Christian resist the temptation of trying to find things out only on your own.

When the founder of Buddhism was bidding his followers farewell, he said: “You must be your own light”. When Socrates was about to take that fatal cup one of his disciples mourned that he was leaving them orphans. When Jesus was about to ascend to heaven He said of the Holy Spirit, “if I go I will send him to you” (see John 14:18; 16:5-7,13; Luke 1:79; John 10:4)

Divine guidance is only available to Christians, who obey the directives of and rely on the Father in Heaven. Such obedience offers: Peaceful quietude (Psalm 23:2), good decisions (Psalm 25.9, 32:8), lifetime guidance (Psalm 48:14), wise counsel (Psalm 73:24), internal divine directions (Isaiah 30:21, John 16:13), lead amidst uncertainties (Isaiah 42:16,48:17).

Praise the Lord for His amazing grace. May He lead you into the paths of a peaceful life in all your decision making away from the chaos of mankind who can ruin your choices and bring regret for not taking the time to listen in the quiet hour with the Lord Jesus Christ in His sacred scriptures daily.

1 Thomas a Kempis, The Imitation of Christ, Glen Jackman modern edit

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Humility: Exemplified by Jesus

‘I am among you as one who serves.’—Luke 22:27 NLT.

In the Gospel of John, we see Jesus frequently speaking of His relation to the Father, presenting the spiritual motives that guided Him. His consciousness of the power and the guidance of the Holy Spirit linking Him to his Father’s mind — echoed by how He acted kindly and gently among men — proved the clearest picture of humility ever lived among humankind.

Though He is the Son of God in heaven, as a man upon earth, He took the place of entire subordination, giving God the honour and the glory which is due to Him. And what He taught so often was made true of Himself: ‘everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.’ (Luke 14:11; 18:14)

Listen to the words by which our Lord speaks of His relation to the Father — see how frequently He uses the words not, and nothing, of Himself. The not I, in which Paul expresses his relationship to Christ, is the very spirit of what Christ says of His relation to the Father: “The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (see Galatians 2:20) Jesus taught self-abnegation by the way He lived. Hover over these texts to see each one of His statements relating how the Father led Jesus as He sought to reconcile humanity to God: (John 5:19, 30, 41; 6:38; 7:16, 28; 8:42, 50; 14:10, 24)

The above scriptures reveal insight into Christ’s life and work. They tell us how it was that the Almighty God was able to work His mighty redemption work through Jesus. They show what mindset Christ’s enlightened consciousness viewed His dependence as a man, respectfully reliant as the Son upon the Father. They teach us about Christ’s essential nature and life as a man while His work of redemption was accomplished. He was nothing, that God might be all. Jesus resigned Himself, His will and His powers entirely for the Father to work in and through Him — as He offered us reconciliation, mercy and grace. Of His own power, His own will, and His own glory, of His whole mission with all His works and His teaching,— of all this He said, It is not I; I am nothing; I have given Myself to the Father to work; I am nothing, the Father is all.

This life of entire self-abnegation, absolute submission and dependence upon the Father’s will, Christ found to be one of perfect peace and joy. He lost nothing by giving all to God. God honoured His trust, and manifested all for Him, and then exalted Him to His right hand to administer the kingdom, beside Him, reflecting the majestic glory of this fact: When God reaches out to us to bring us to Himself, by seeing Jesus, we recognize that the Father is waiting in love, to bind you to Him in love. And because Christ had thus humbled Himself before God, and God was ever before Him, Jesus also found it possible to humble Himself before men, and to be the Servant of all. His humility was simply the surrender of Himself to God, to allow Him to do in Him what He pleased, whatever men around might say of Him, or do to Him. The primary purpose of this demonstration of humility was to draw all men to Himself and thereby to the Father.

It is in this state of mind, in this spirit and disposition, that the redemption of Christ has its virtue and potent effectiveness. It is to bring us to this disposition of self-abnegation that we are perceptive to and taking on the mind of Christ. This is the true self-denial to which our Saviour calls each of us: the acknowledgement that self has nothing good in it, except as an empty vessel which God must fill, and that any claim to be or do anything self-warranting may not for a moment be allowed. It is in this, above and before everything, in which the conformity to Jesus consists, the being and doing nothing of ourselves, that God may be all.

Here we have the root and nature of true humility. It is because this is not understood or sought after, that our humility, individually and in the church is so superficial, and lacks vitality. We must learn of Jesus, how He is meek and lowly of heart. He teaches us where true humility rises to find its strength—in the knowledge that it is God who works all in all, that our place is to yield to Him in perfect resignation and dependence, in full consent to be and to do nothing of ourselves.

Christ came to reveal and to impart to us, by example—a life which fully honours God, that came through death to sin and self. If we feel that this life is too high for us and beyond our reach, let this felt inability, drive us to seek it in Him; it is the indwelling Christ via His Spirit who will live in us, this meek and lowly life. Without abiding in Christ, we can do nothing useful in His kingdom. (John 15:5)

If we long for this, let us, above everything, seek the secret of how God works on this earthly plane among humanity. Every moment God works all in all; the mystery, of which, every child of God, is to be the witness — that we are nothing but a vessel, a conduit of lovingkindness, through which the living God can manifest the riches of His wisdom, power, and goodness.

The root of all virtue and grace, of all faith and acceptable worship, is that we know that we have nothing but what we receive from our Creator, and bow in most profound humility to wait upon God for it.

Christ’s life manifested a pure conscience, an existential humility witnessed by the very spirit, demeanour and tone of His whole life. Jesus was just as humble in His intercourse with men as with God. He felt Himself the Servant of God for the women and men whom God made and loved. As a natural consequence, He counted Himself the Servant of men, that through Him God might do His work of love. He never for a moment thought of seeking His honour or asserting His power to vindicate Himself. His whole spirit was that of a life yielded to God to work. 1

It is not until Christians study the humility of Jesus which he taught as the very essence of His redemption, as the very blessedness of the life of the Son of God, as the only true relation to the Father, that we will begin to understand the first and the chief of the marks of the Christ within us.

1 Glen Jackman’s summary edit of Andrew Murray’s thinking. From chapter three of the book Humility: The Beauty of Holiness New York; London; Glasgow: Fleming H. Revell; in the public domain.

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Sanctification: The Predominant pre-2nd Advent Message to Christ’s church

We are told that to enjoy the presence of the Lord and the Holy Spirit’s indwelling, we must overcome sin in our lives: “He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son.” (Revelation 21: 7)

Paul articulates the same thinking, “You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.” (Romans 8:9)

In the same context, we find the first mention of the New Jerusalem in the Book of Revelation, conjoined with a compelling warning — the need to overcome sin in our lives. “Him who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will he leave it. I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on him my new name”. (Revelation 3: 12)

Again in the last chapter of Revelation, we find the same direct warning that articulates a period prior to the Lord’s descent from heaven, on the final day of Judgment. A clear preparatory close of probation warning prior to the pre-Second Advent of Christ cautions strongly to not close our minds to this vitally important message:

“Then he told me, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, because the time is near. Let him who does wrong continue to do wrong; let him who is vile continue to be vile; let him who does right continue to do right, and let him who is holy continue to be holy.” (Revelation 22: 10-11)

Then we hear Jesus speaking directly to us of the coming day when He will sit in Judgment over all creation and mankind: “Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End”. (Revelation 22: 12-13)

Once again the blessing of those who overcome sin, and turn from the allurements of Satan, is pronounced by Jesus:

“Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood”. (Revelation 22: 14-15)

Pay careful attention to this verse. Jesus is indicating the importance of allowing the Holy Spirit to sanctify and cleanse your mind body and soul from all sin (see Romans 8:9), using the symbol of washed robes, to depict those who enter the city, and have the rights to the benefits of the work of the indwelling Spirit; have a right to the tree of life, which is the source of all Life.  Those purified among the Christian church’s remnant are contrasted to the ones who have not entered into a relationship with Christ and remain outside of a holy unity with Him, during the time others have entered the gates of the “New Jerusalem”, a term primarily used for the entire church as a temple of people within whom the Lord’s Spirit dwells, individually and collectively.

The message is of such importance that Jesus sent His angel to give this message to the apostle John:

“I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star.”  Revelation 22: 16

This is a pre-Second Advent direct warning to the church because warnings make no sense after the divine verdicts are in.

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An important prophecy in Revelation to the church

There is an invitation to those who will hear this message given to the apostle John. It is given to the church of Jesus — anyone that has a true abiding connection to Jesus Christ. We know this because it is a message to the churches that Jesus noted is to be read to the assemblies. Further, Jesus indicates, those that read the message will be blessed. (Revelation 1:1-3) This is because it is clear that those who care about Christ’s message to his church will obey and proclaim and share this message to the members of his church. This indicates that they are in sync with his Spirit.

The message is proclaimed in unison by the teachers and preachers in Christ’s church and is shared in meetings and seminars with interest worldwide among his people. Many people will both hear and heed the call to come to Jesus Christ as Lord to allow Christ’s Spirit to guide their lives to: “take the free gift of the water of life” which He taught is the Holy Spirit’s indwelling, which is the divine Guarantor’s seal of life eternal (John 4:14;7:37-38; Revelation 7:17; 21:6; 22: 1; 17; 2 Corinthians 1:22; 5:5; Ephesians 1:14; John 3:5; 20:22) Further it is the Spirit which initiates, and proclaims this message through His gifted teaching evangelist-teachers. The teachers/preachers work in unison led by the Spirit. The term “the Spirit and the bride” means the Spirit and Christ’s church members — who are His disciples who are very involved in this proclamation:

“The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life.” (Revelation 22:17)

The gift of the Holy Spirit is being offered to those who will hear, to those who chose to come into union with the Lord, as One people, prior to his second advent to the earth as both judge and saviour.

“Behold, I am coming soon! Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy in this book.” (Revelation 22: 7)

Further, in Revelation 22: 10-11 he makes it very clear that this is an either/or message. Either you are for him or against him which is indicated by an ongoing lifestyle of obedience to the Royal Law: doing right, by expressing loving behaviour, while omitting the allurements of Satan; versus the opposite: doing wrong by expressing harmful motives, while omitting love and kindness towards others, craving the allurements of the world over knowing and obeying God.

The following scripture presents that those who follow Christ, reflect His character and abide in Him via the Holy Spirit. These people are progressing in a lifestyle of holiness obedient to the scriptures. Some may think that holiness is a better-than-thou term for legalistic or fanatical Christians. No. Rather, holiness is only possible when led by the Spirit and we are following the Gospel message of God’s love to man via Christ’s propitiation on the cross for mankind’s sin. (Romans 8:14)

Holiness is a lifetime process of separating from the world’s values and influencers while dedicating your life to walking in the light, with no part dark. This means abiding in Jesus because without him we can achieve nothing truly holy (John 15:4, 5-6).

“Then he told me, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, because the time is near. Let him who does wrong continue to do wrong; let him who is vile continue to be vile; let him who does right continue to do right, and let him who is holy continue to be holy.” (Revelation 22:11)

Jesus prayed that the church would enter into a sanctification process in order to become one with Him — to live in holiness reflecting his influence. Sanctification is the process of moving into a closer walk with Jesus, of allowing the Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ, full sway in your life. It also means repenting, confessing sin, and turning to Jesus to abide in Him (John 15:4-6), versus following the wickedness in the world. Here Jesus is praying to his Father prior to his crucifixion — notice Jesus said he is not of this world, being sanctified, and that he is asking the Father in heaven to continue sanctifying his apostles and the members of his church:

“They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them, I sanctify myself [see note], that they too may be truly sanctified”. (John 17: 16-19 [author’s emphasis])

Truly sanctified ultimately means to be holy as the Lord is holy (1 Peter 1:16) which is a process, not an absolute obtainment of perfection in this world (Philippians 3:12-14)

Note: Jesus expressed sanctified, holy obedience to his Father as a man when going to the cross when he prayed submissively in the garden of Gethsemane: ‘not my will, but thy will be done’.

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You have an anointing of the Holy Spirit

‘But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all know’ (1 John 2:20) 

You have received the anointing from the Holy One.

Yahweh is the name of God as revealed to Moses as he was commanded by God to free the Israelites from Egyptian bondage. He also referred to himself as “I am” – “tell them ‘I am’ sent you”(Exodus 6:2 HCSB; 3:14 NLT). Jesus said, “before Abraham was, ‘I am’” (John 8:58). The apostle Paul referred to Jesus as the “rock that followed” or was with the Jews in the wilderness during the miraculous deliverance in the Exodus (1 Corinthians 10:4).  From the Exodus story, it is also evident that Yahweh is the one who gave the anointing though it was symbolically noted as a ritual process. The priests of the old covenant in Moses’ day were anointed when setting them apart for the service in the tabernacle. The oil used then was a metaphor for the anointing of the Holy Spirit, of the Trinitarian God, Yahweh: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Jesus told the parable of the ten virgins, five of whom were wise, having their lamps full of oil, ready and burning, waiting for the groom’s late arrival (Matthew 25:1-13). Only five were prepared to meet the bridegroom, the new covenant’s metaphoric term for Jesus Christ, who will return to earth to receive his bride, his church, sealed individually by the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:30, 1:13; 2 Corinthians 1:22), symbolic of a mindset born anew of the Spirit, to align entirely sworn allegiant to God. This carries from symbolism of the anointing oil of the ancient tabernacle priesthood to the day of Jesus, to the true antitypical meaning: the anointing of the Holy Spirit given to each brother and sister in Christ.

Holiness does not consist of specific righteous actions, though it may motivate ethical behaviour and good deeds. No, holiness is the unseen, yet the manifest presence of the Holy One resting on His anointed ones. Only gifted from God — issuing directly from Yahweh, the Holy One — is the anointing of the Holy Spirit received. 1 It is evidence of being born again into an abiding fellowship with Christ, resting unified to Christ, abiding in Him: with Yahweh, the Holy One — the Father and the Son and the conjoining Holy Spirit — as the Three-in-One God — now one with each Christian together in God’s family as One. (1 John 2:23-25; John 10:30; John 17:21)

And who receives it? Only the man or woman who has given himself entirely in mind, body and soul to be holy as God is holy. Only he who is wholly consecrated to the service of the Holy One, to the work of the ministering to sinners seeking their God, sharing the Gospel truth, offering reconciliation with God. Holiness is the energy that only lives as holy among those dedicated to Christ via holy living. (Leviticus 11:44-45, 20:26,1 Peter 1:16)

In the time of Moses, the anointing of the Holy One was for the priest, the servant of God Most High. It was given to conjoin in the intensity of a soul entirely committed, given up to God’s glory, God’s kingdom, God’s work, where that holiness becomes an existential reality. The anointing of the Spirit was given from the Father via Christ who breathed the Spirit on the apostles before His ascension to heaven: “he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit” (John 20:22).

Each member of the church is called to holy living, to work to guide others into God’s kingdom, and as such, are a royal priesthood. Christians are the antitypical reality of the anointing preparation of the old covenant priests referred to in the wilderness tabernacle. These men were the symbolic representatives as a type of today’s ministers of reconciliation to the Lord. Today, abiding in Christ we are the new priesthood, each one.

“You have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all know” (1 John 2:20) Yes, Oh Lord we know this truth, our calling and election is certain, we are your royal priests, we are set apart as your holy kingdom, your church, your reconciling connection to your redemptive calling others as your children. You are the Holy One, and we are your very own possession, your children. We are grateful to your Son’s redemptive calling to Himself via the Holy Spirit working among your minsiters; and concomitantly to you Father, as we abide in your anointing of the Holy Spirit, to join our souls supernaturally to you as One.

“You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light”. (1 Peter 2:9 NLT)

1 The Greek word for anointing would be rendered in Acts 10:38: ‘Jesus of Nazareth, whom God christed with the Holy Ghost and with power.’ In the Hebrew prophecy of Christ in Psalm 45: ‘God has messiahed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows’. Andrew Murray, Holy in Christ

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Understanding Regeneration by the Spirit

“If you are not born again you cannot enter the kingdom of God” Jesus (John 3:3–8).

Regeneration enables being born again

The doctrine of Regeneration is a Calvinistic term used by the reformers inspired by John Calvin, early Puritans, and today among many Baptists, Presbyterians, and Reformed churches. It refers to a secret act of God in which he imparts new spiritual life to us. This is more often known by the biblical term used by Jesus: “being born again” of the Spirit’s motivating influence (John 3:3–8).

Regeneration Is the entire work of God

Though we play an active part in sanctification and perseverance; in the work of regeneration, we have no active role at all. Rather it is in entirety the work of God. John teaches that Christ calls people into His church at a specific time in their life to reconcile with God. He enables them with the power of the Spirit to become children of God (John 1:13). Those who are “born … of God” are not operating by “the will of man” to bring about this kind of birth.

Our passivity in regeneration is indicated in Scripture by referring to the occurrence as being “born” or being “born again” (James 1:18; 1 Peter 1:3; John 3:3–8). We did not choose to be made physically alive, and we did not choose to be born—it is something that happened to us; similarly, “these analogies in Scripture suggest that we are entirely passive in regeneration”. 1

The necessity of regeneration by the Spirit

Jesus noted that the entrance to the kingdom, is opened by the Spirit’s power causing this effective experience (John 3:3, 5); there is an equipping of a new heart and new motive to serve God which circumvents death (Ezek. 18:31). Those who do not receive a new heart will die spiritually.

The Bible never reveals one saved person without being born again. Civility, knowledge, tact, living by the golden rule or being externally religious will not achieve it. Nicodemus who was taught about being born again by Jesus was a teacher in Israel without objection (John 3:3–8). Paul, blameless according to the law, experienced conversion pivoting his viewpoint from the hateful murdering of Christians to preaching Jesus with persuasive power. He wasn’t motivated to preach the gospel until he met the resurrected Jesus on the road to Damascus. (Acts 9:4) He was on the way to arrest and persecute Christians.

No one can have true heartfelt communion with God without regeneration by the Spirit. Initially, before being born again we are at enmity with God (Romans 8:7). God, resides in unapproachable light and holiness (1 Timothy 6:16; 1 John 1:5) while the ungodly cannot be in His presence (Psa. 5:5–7). Therefore, in order for a person to have fellowship with God, he or she must be born again and led by the Spirit (Romans 8:14).

1 Wayne Grudem, Bible Doctrine – The Essential Teachings of the Christian Faith

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Biblical Success Priciples 1.1

I succeed abundantly in business.

I confidently trust, lean on, and rely on Yahweh, that I will be supported when I declare His righteousness in His entire kingdom on earth among the nations; because He will not hide His face from me, as He listens to me when I cry out to Him, who alone is my help. (Psalm 22: 4, 5, 9, 22, 28-29; 30)

I joyfully dance in the Lord being established with strength and boundless prosperity. Psalm 30: 6, 7, 11; Psalm 122: 6-7 

I am calm and courageous speaking wisdom from an understanding heart, submitting godly thoughts to musical meditations expressing my inherent redemption as He guarantees to receive me into my inheritance of eternal life.  Psalm 37: 30-31; 40: 3, 9-10; 49: 3-5; 7-8; 15 

The Lord increases my family’s peace, protection, and firm prosperity increasing in proportion as we trustingly take refuge in Him; He makes our right and just behaviour shine like the noon-day sun in all effects of causation. Psalm 37: 4-7; 11, 19; 22-24; 25-26

I am committing my works unto Yahweh and my thoughts and plans are established and succeed. Proverbs 16: 2-3 

I order my thoughts, conduct, conversation, and actions in the will of Yahweh’s Word and his entire revealed will, and manage my decisions to not wander from his commandments; and I, therefore, am rewarded by inheriting all your promises. Psalm 119: 1-3; 5-7 

I am succeeding, increasing my business sales, selling continuously and vigorously in the marketplace, making entire penetration in my field of business expertise, because as a partaker of the divine nature, all my natural springs issue from you and you are able to make all grace abound toward me that I may have abundant provision in all good things. 2 Peter 1:4, Psalm 87:7, 2 Corinthians 9:8

God reveals my moment of timing with regard to my life purpose with all the plans clear before me as with Moses, including what I am to preach regarding His current truth. John 9: 3, 4, 22, 13-34; Jeremiah 29:11

God keeps His secrets and protects my business and life purposes from idea-theft of ungodly men. 1 Sam 21: 12-13

I trust Yahweh to give me Spirit led insights like David when he said “I knew it” regarding anyone who would tell one of my business secrets. 1 Samuel 22: 22; 23: 9-12

I am waiting to see what God is going to do for me in all my business ventures. 1 Samuel 22:3; Genesis 31: 10-16, 50: 18-21

As a sinner, I have an advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the righteous. 1 John 1:9

I am a son of Yahweh attested to and confirmed by Jesus Christ. Psalms 82:6; John 10: 34-36; Romans 13: 1-2

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Ask God’s Spirit to Guide: Turn problems into solutions

“When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.” (John 16:13)

You think “problems” are roadblocks to achieving what you want when in reality they are pathways. One of the wisest Roman Caesar’s, Marcus Aurelius 1 — he was also a deeply insightful Stoic philosopher noted: “The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.”

Facing a “problem” forces you think calmly, discern wisely, pray for guidance, to take action to resolve it. That action will inevitably lead you to continue to think differently, behave differently, and choose differently. The “problem” becomes a catalyst for you to actualize the life you always wanted. It pushes you from your comfort zone, that’s all. Facing a problem takes deliberate deep thinking, deep focus while praying trustfully for God’s direction.

Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take. (Proverbs 3:5-6 NLT)

Write your problem down honestly. Get rest, pray and work on seeing the real obstacle, the bottlenecks, the restraints, the corroborating gaps that halt progress, that bind the problem to a fixed stalling point. Then disassemble the causative forces, one by one with all the attendant grace you can apply. Rest, meditate, maintain a sober clear mind, continue to face the problem until it disperses or is arrested to your mind under the Spirit’s control.

My child, listen to me and do as I say, and you will have a long, good life. I will teach you wisdom’s ways and lead you in straight paths. When you walk, you won’t be held back; when you run, you won’t stumble. Take hold of my instructions; don’t let them go. Guard them, for they are the key to life. (Proverbs 4: 10-13 NLT)

Jesus faced great challenges. Yet He said I must achieve my cause in the will of the Father. I must work while it is “Day”. “Night” is coming when no one can work. Problems can mean facing dark forces of temptation, stress-induced substance reliance, fears, political bullies, business worries, family troubles, marital discord, yet we must engage our heart and minds to overcome each problem we have, face them, and surmount them, or sidestep them.

Why bring Jesus into facing our problems? Because He said, “My Spirit will lead you into all truth”. Determining truth is conducive to all reason and good judgment; to all discerning judicial evaluation. Jesus also said very clearly, “without me you can do nothing” and “…the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things”  (John 14:26 – Jesus teaching)

1 Marcus Aurelius was a man who was so open-minded he could see the power of God when Christian prayed for the rain to stop on his battlefield. He then exacted laws to protect Christians.

Spiritual Guidance

Marcus Aurelius: Awed by the Supremacy of Christ

Studying history I came upon: The Epistle of Marcus Aurelius to the Senate, in Which He Testifies that the Christians Were the Cause of His Victory. I have noticed reading the works of Aurelius over the years an absolute belief moment by moment that nothing occurs without the intervention of God, which he refers often as Divine Providence. It makes sense that he went down in history as one the most revered Caesars of Rome. Here is a quote emphasizing his faith reckoning that there is a divine cause working the ordering of life:

There are three types of relationships: the one to the body which surrounds you; the second to the divine cause from which all things come to all; and the third to those who live with you. 1

Another longer quote from The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius reveals his understanding of the power of the Spirit to govern all events in life:

All things are implicated with one another, and the bond is holy; there is hardly anything unconnected with any other things. For things have been coordinated, and they combine to make up the same universe. For there is one universe made up of all things, and one God who pervades all things, and one substance, and one law, and one reason. 2

Aurelius recounts being in need of divine assistance and notes the faith of Christians to which he turns as they pray:

The Emperor Caesar Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, Germanicus, Parthicus, Sarmaticus, to the People of Rome, and to the sacred Senate greeting: I explained to you my grand design, and what advantages I gained on the confines of Germany, with much labour and suffering, in consequence of the circumstance that I was surrounded by the enemy; I myself being shut up in Carnuntum by seventy-four cohorts, nine miles off.

And the enemy being at hand, the scouts pointed out to us, and our general Pompeianus showed us that there was close on us a mass of a mixed multitude of, men, which indeed we saw; and I was shut up by this vast host, having with me only a battalion composed of the first, tenth, double and marine legions. Having then examined my own position, and my host, with respect to the vast mass of barbarians and of the enemy, I quickly betook myself to prayer to the gods of my country. But being disregarded by them, I summoned those who among us go by the name of Christians.

And having made inquiry, I discovered a great number and vast host of them, and raged against them, which was by no means becoming; for afterwards I learned their power. Wherefore they began the battle, not by preparing weapons, nor arms, nor bugles; for such preparation is hateful to them, on account of the God they bear about in their conscience. Therefore it is probable that those whom we suppose to be atheists, have God as their ruling power entrenched in their conscience. For having cast themselves on the ground, they prayed not only for me but also for the whole army as it stood, that they might be delivered from the present thirst and famine. 3

Notice how Marcus Aurelius emphasizes the majesty of the Christian’s God:

For during five days we had got no water because there was none; for we were in the heart of Germany and in the enemy’s territory.

And simultaneously with their casting themselves on the ground, and praying to God (a God of whom I am ignorant), water poured from heaven, upon us most refreshingly cool, but upon the enemies of Rome a withering hail. And immediately we recognized the presence of God following on the prayer — a God unconquerable and indestructible. 4

Here Aurelius notes that no one is to take the Christian’s God for granted or despise Him for fear of retribution: “Founding upon this, then, let us pardon such as are Christians, lest they pray for and obtain such a weapon against ourselves. And I counsel that no such person be accused on the ground of his being a Christian”. Further, he legislates a law in the Senate on the behalf of Christians to protect them, honours their God and the individual’s conscience in the freedom to worship Him freely — the beginning of the legislation of Religious Liberty handed down to the best democratic nations:

But if anyone be found laying to the charge of a Christian that he is a Christian, I desire that it be made manifest that he who is accused as a Christian, and acknowledges that he is one, is accused of nothing else than only this, that he is a Christian; but that he who arraigns him be burned alive. And I further desire, that he who is entrusted with the government of the province shall not compel the Christian, who confesses and certifies such a matter, to retract; neither shall he commit him. And I desire that these things be confirmed by a decree of the Senate. 5 

Further text is excerpted from the History recorded by Justin Martyr indicating that an edict goes out to enact the above legislation:

And I command this my edict to be published in the Forum of Trajan, in order that it may be read. The perfect Vitrasius Pollio will see that it be transmitted to all the provinces round about and that no one who wishes to make use of or to possess it to be hindered from obtaining a copy from the document I now publish. 6

1 Meditations of Marcus Aurelius

2 Ibid

3  Justin Martyr, History. Text emphasis by myself.

4 Ibid

5 Ibid

6 Ibid

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How deception finds a narrative in our life story

“How much longer will you waver, hobbling between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him!” (1 Kings 18:21)

Over the years, I have been amazed at how people will defend their faith, even if a belief/doctrine is not lining up with scripture.

Where doubt persists, one must be mindfully honest to allow the Holy Spirit sway to open up potential myopic misperceptions to see if any persistent conformity to a group has forged a mind-trap, keeping one stuck in an erroneous loop. With our Lord’s guidance and power, we can be delivered from false opinions, learn from the pain and move out of a false cultic paradigm, if it condones a teaching that has a harmful consequence (moral, intellectual, psychological or physical harm); especially if it hinders knowing Christ as our High Priest in a sanctifying, trusting relationship.

Intellectually, individual ethical freedom can exist only in truth outside of any collective mindset bound to deception. Once truth dawns, act vigorously to escape misconceived views of scriptural truth. Avoid creating a narrative as a defender of an errant faith. If you belong to and support a group with apparent false doctrine, you may find yourself narrativising that meaning into your existence.

We are told very clearly by Jesus that we can ask the Holy Spirit to lead us into all truth. We should never solely rely on a religious stack of doctrine without fully asking the Lord to confirm scriptural dogma.

When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. (John 16:13)

If your life story continues to corrupt with the leaven of injustice due to influencing deception within any religious paradigm, ask five questions:

  1. Is my faith corroborating at a leadership or laity level to cover-up a mistaken history in doctrine (which often leads causatively to a lifestyle failure)?
  2. Is my faith supportive of leadership that holds to and promulgates a false doctrine which could influence harming others, or needs the intervention of civil justice?
  3. Is anything registering as psychological pain in my intellectual life which I had hoped was aiming at honesty and transparency?
  4. Am I procrastinating by not agreeing with a revealed truth?
  5. Can I honestly support the teaching of my church to the extent I would advocate teaching it to my children/grandchildren? (see Deuteronomy 6:7; 11:19)

If when a study compares scripture with scripture, reveals a false doctrine, especially in the context of the Atonement or High Priesthood of Christ, a sound mind will spiritually ascertain a shaking foundation constructed with rotted-out pillars of deception (1 Corinthians 3:12-14).

One must pivot to the primary Truth.

That means for some who have taught others, evangelised an entire set of beliefs in a family or taught or preached in more extensive fields of doctrinal influence inclusive of false doctrine, a radical personal reformation must occur. Pastoral and professorial careers—if resting on a false premise – must address their mistake. Ask: Do I hide or conjoin with the error of the group? Do I rise above my ego built on a collective narrative for many years? For some faiths, a doctrinal error has prevailed for centuries, and such reformation will take a will sanctified unto the Lord’s glory.

When faced, necessarily, with a shifting intellectual paradigm, where psychological, familial, and regulated faith habits are well-established, which could fall apart, then what’s next? Though worrying, it needn’t be terrifying! (Proverbs 3:6 NLT) You can find courage in Christ to think things through and act. For others, I think in terms of our Lord’s patience and grace because each of us as a repentant sinner is in need of mercy and redemption.

Demonstrate Grace, though you reject biblical error.

I understand that most churches have one or two doctrinal discrepancies that seem to be either ambiguous or questionable, perhaps not erroneous. In many such cases, we may not know the absolute truth if it is not clear, or there are two or more views. Insofar as you can hold your view academically speaking, and not be viewed as an insurgent, and can happily enjoy your congregation, praising the Lord with them, and if as a teacher you can teach comparative doctrine therein with other academically-minded brothers and sisters, then you may be able to freely and comfortably worship in this context.

However, to obstinately stand against a revealed truth (regarding clearly presented Christian truth) for any period is not merely spiritual procrastination. It is beyond an inner psychological struggle of loyalty that generally sincere people may exhibit but may not be held responsible before the Lord. There are many that compromise a doctrinal truth, though quietly disagree among the like-minded, for fear of dividing the flock. For leaders, in some cases, there may be fear of losing a pension, or later in life’s journey, ruining many good memories of working with beloved friends in the ministry, while teaching the best lessons of the gospel to the beloved laity. Personal decisions understandably must be made as you rely on the Lord to lead for the higher good.

To the simpler folk, superceding love trumps doctrine equating to personal inter-relating love to one another, with whom one has travelled on their spiritual journey. For example, I have met several people within the Catholic church who are offended by the news of priests cultically molesting children and women as if it was an ordained right. Yet they are deeply narrativised amidst their church congregation. In these cases, I need to understand the parable of the wheat and the tares that Jesus taught realizing there are very innocent people who love the Lord and will remain stuck in a faith they have been traditionally bound to over the years. We are told by Jesus that the righteous in this context will be saved by the angles at his second advent. (Matthew 13:36-43).

I know many people who worship and love Christ our mutual Lord, who do not care to or are unenabled to venture into any in-depth theological comparison backed by the Bible. There may be a lack of personal devotion, or they are not reading the Word of God through year by year, or it is not their calling to discern scriptural absolutes. For these folks, I relax in the grace that our Lord provides for those misled into a scriptural error by the leadership of their congregation, insofar as the fly in the ointment remains a stench. Such a failure to speak to or correct the problem if possible is wrong to a gifted, reasoning mind.

I usually do not get involved in commenting on a specific religion unless it has affected my family directly, or the doctrine is seriously flawed to the extent it borders on societal injustice. As far as the Catholic priests as mentioned above, active congregants agree: priests should be allowed to marry, because marriage is never prohibited by the Word of God, except in random cases such as Jeremiah whom God called to begin to rebuke the evils of Israel and was directly told not to marry. Paul chose to remain unmarried as he shifted many away from the old covenant mindset to the new in Christ.

Many U.S. Catholics say they want to see the church make significant changes. For example, six-in-ten say they think the church should allow priests to marry and allow women to become priests. 1

God knows our thoughts even before we speak. I know a devout and dutiful Catholic woman who we met walking in the park. We chat often, and I sense her sincerity and love for the Lord. I know she is in Christ. I call her sister. She comes to pray in the park and ask the Lord to help her through many problems, including asking for comforting solace for an ailing lonely Catholic priest whom she visits regularly in the hospital. Add to this; she personally helps the shut-ins and poor where she can. I gently asked her about the news of the priests harming innocent children and women, as they took advantage of their assumed power over them. Then the narrative changed to complete disgust, and horror as she was quite aware of the harm done to others (ruined lives, suicides etc.). Yet I did not push my agenda for truth based on scripture alone, because she herself noted that in her mind, priests should be allowed to marry. She further noted that she has spoken up at church and to others, and made enemies, which to me should be a serious discomforting alarm: that you are being viewed as an insurgent, standing against, yes, in this case, a doctrinal causative to a great degree of sexual promiscuity — often a direct precursor to sexual frustration causing physical abuses within the church. Sexual frustration has caused serial and mass murders — killing sprees — it’s that serious!

My view is that where harm is being done where the law of the land should or does firmly act when harm is done to others, we need to hear God’s view on the need for justice. Moreover, we need to use this as a pivoting inner conviction of the Holy Spirit to part ways, to walk away from the continuum of dogma that is to a great degree causing the problem:

No one calls for justice; no one pleads a case with integrity. They rely on empty arguments, they utter lies; they conceive trouble and give birth to evil. (Isaiah 59:4-5 NIV)

When you see and personally acknowledge harmful error.

There is no fix in aligning the conscience with a mix of false prophecy, false priesthoods, or blatant lying, which is to place yourself at enmity with any Spirit-directed, revealed scriptural teaching.

If we presently promulgate known error, within an old failed doctrinal construct, when our will chooses to stay and justify a mistake, then self-deception whether consciously or subconsciously is admittedly our preferred story.

People are creatures of habit, and they do what they enjoy, and then justify and reinforce narratives of disobedience into faith-life accounts. God disciplines such folly in many ways. Procrastinating in error as perseverant self-discipline after the facts are in, is a sin. Opinions energised by the lusts of cultic egotism, hedonism, and paganism which defy the revealed will of God’s truth found in scripture alone, must be deconstructed, lest we hobble with the masses aboard a hell-bound train to judgement (Isaiah 3:9-10; 11).

Decca Records, Cover of Savoy Brown’s Hellbound Train

1 7 facts about American Catholics | Pew Research Center, Sept 4, 2018

Compliment this article with The Holy Spirit reveals the Truth of the Gospel.