SEEKING THE APPROVAL OF GOD

SEEKING GOD’S APPROVAL

                “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, handling accurately the word of truth.” 2 Tim. 2:15

                It is human nature to want to belong. We join clubs. We join churches. We join philosophies such as liberal, or conservative, Pharisee or Sadducee… so that birds of a feather flock together and whether we necessarily agree with every point we hang in there because we belong.

                Today there are many clubs forming that are in outright rebellion against God and His Word and in their rebellion they find themselves looking for other gods that support them in their beliefs. After all, everyone needs to have a cause to fight for and every war is a holy war.

                So there is the club that celebrates the right to kill babies and as they shout their slogans they knowingly or unknowingly choose a god to fortify their beliefs and to assuage their guilt. So the gods of Molech and Baphomet and Baal, rise to power in a nation that once served and was protected and blessed by the God of heaven.

                Then there are the gods of perversion (probably the same gods as those of baby killing) that now push us to celebrate in the streets shameful things that should never be. But hey, it is now passed into law and so the God of heaven has been overruled by the twisted views of the rebellious and the profane so that our nation becomes the same as society was just before Noah’s flood and before Sodom’s destruction. Judgment is due.

                On a far less sinister level, but perhaps just as deadly, we join a church and we submerge ourselves into its group-think and we put our minds in neutral singing, “This train is bound for glory, this train” and how many people on any given train actually study the Bible diligently, seeking the approval of God and learning how to rightly handle the word of God?

                We tend to parrot whatever beliefs suit our fancy , or that make us a part of the crowd and accepted by men… and so we end up with a church in which only a small percentage actually knows what they believe and why. For the rest its coffee and donuts and ra, ra, ra, and endless activities by which to occupy ourselves with stuff that has the semblance of good purpose and meaningful faith.

                We satisfy ourselves that because of this belief or that point of view, we are surely God’s Remnant people, but in our deep and honest moments we wonder if our marriage to Christ has actually been consummated. Does He really know us? Will He really say, “Well done good and faithful servant? Have we in our study sought the approval of God or just consensus of thought in our group?

                Being born again is the most radical thing we can do on this planet. It is so much more than joining a club. It is death in one kingdom and new birth into another kingdom, with new sources of power, new things to learn, new territory to conquer and a whole lot to learn about how to live by the Spirit… how to hear God’s voice…. how to love with a God- kind of love. And it’s not so much about adopting a certain set of doctrines as it is about becoming like the One who rescued us.

                Being born again is only the first step, because marriage is not for babies. IF we are to become the Bride of Christ then we need to mature into a pure woman of virtue that has become consummately devoted to her Husband and ready to enter into the bed chamber of intimacy so that the man-child may be produced in us. We are sons and daughters in training for royal positions in the courts of heaven. We are training to reign. It is therefore a shame that so many today remain babies, hanging around the outer court, never becoming bride material… always learning but never coming to knowledge of the Truth. We know about Jesus, but we don’t actually know Him as a mature Bride would know her husband.

                “And he who overcomes and he who keeps My deeds until the end, to Him I will give authority over the nations and he shall rule them with a rod of iron as the vessels of the potter are broken to pieces as I also have received authority from My Father and I will give him the morning star. He, who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” Rev. 2:26-29

                When I was drafted into the army in the late 60s I was forced into a regimen that was not natural to me. UP and 4 AM doing pushups and having someone screaming in my face and running for miles in the Texas heat would not have been my choice. Then we went out to the obstacle course where we pushed our bodies to their limit and beyond. Up and down and over and through …  and hand over hand on a cable stretched over a rushing river… that would not have been my natural choice either and it was fear and adrenaline that kept us pushing ahead as if our lives depended on it… and they did.

                We were being transformed from punk kids and into soldiers, combat ready and ready to give up our lives for those fighting around us. And so it is in the Christian life. If we are not learning to overcome…if we are not learning how to become soldiers in the armies of God...If we are not digging deep to know what we believe and what we are fighting for, then how can it be said that we are overcoming anything? How can it be said that we are battle ready?

                King David was a man who was not satisfied to parrot what Israel was saying in his day.  Instead he sought for the heart of God. He dove deeply into the Word until he actually came to perceive the New Covenant in Old Covenant times. He had a New Covenant heart. He shared God’s heart with Him and because of it, He became the king upon whose throne the Messiah will reign and His kingdom will be forever.

                Jesus was called the Son of David and Peter told us during the formation of the early church saying: “After these things I will return and I will rebuild the tabernacle of David which has fallen and I will rebuild its ruins and I will restore it in order that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord and all the Gentiles who are called by My name, “says the Lord, who makes these things known from of old.” Acts 16:16, 17.

                Why did God like David’s Tabernacle even better than the tabernacle of Moses whose design God Himself had given to Him? David supposedly broke all of the rules with his Tabernacle and yet, because it had no veils and no dividing walls it formed a picture of the New Covenant wherein we can come boldly before the throne of Grace.

                We need the same temerity with God today… to push into His throne room and to seek His heart. We need to look beyond the opinions of men and the bylaws that make us part of our particular club and to see as David saw… to know as David knew… to become warriors as David was a warrior… to kill the giants in our lives   and to overcome even as Jesus overcame.

                There is a great difference between wrangling over the philosophies of war, verses actually being on the battle field. We can talk theoretical Christianity until we are blue in the face, but the last great battle of history is about to be engaged.  A time like no other is soon to burst upon us. Have we tested our armor? Are we battle ready, or have we merely sought a comfortable pew and pleasant words?

                Do we know what we believe and why? Remember this: The only truth worth dying for is the truth that we personally own… the truth that we have tested… and contrary to those who, like the Pharisees of old, like to argue endless points of doctrine and tradition in the synagogue, we know truth to be a Person. Jesus Christ and Him crucified and risen from the dead, is within Himself the door into another kingdom. There is no other passage way into God’s kingdom and Jesus said,

                 “Unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.” John 8:24

                “Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God that you believe in Him whom He has sent.” John 6:29

                “He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life; and I will raise him up on the last day for My flesh is true food and My blood is true drink. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me and I in him.” John 6:54-56.

                As far as doctrines and prophetic interpretations go, we only know in part for we see through a glass darkly and it is important that we peer through that glass just as David did in order to perceive as much as possible the plans and purposes of God. But there is one thing that we must be sure about and that is our relationship with the Person of Jesus Christ… for above and beyond whatever organization of man that we may join, we must be joined to Christ with an intimate bond that will carry us beyond this present age and into eternity. We can be wrong about many things, but we dare not be wrong about Jesus.

                And any pastor that is worth his salt will tell you that the best church members are those that are married to Christ and living by His power and love. They are the life of the Body for the blood of Christ flows in their veins. So go to your prayer closet and live your life every day as if seeking the approval of God. You too can be a man or a woman after God’s own heart.

                 I love my pastor and his wife and I love our fellow church members and I love, as much as possible to be in agreement with them, for they are devoted to the Word just as I am. But our love for one another is rather based upon the fact that we are married to the same Jesus and in that relationship we have become one with each other as well. Our unity is in Christ and so we don’t have to see every point of doctrine or prophetic interpretation exactly the same.

                It is pagan Christianity that burns heretics at the stake for the slightest of differences. Paganism loves conformity between people, but true Christianity seeks conformity with One … even Christ. So seek His approval today and in that approval you will find fellowship also with the Body of Christ.