CITIZENSHIP

CITIZENSHIP

                “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself. Therefore my beloved brethren whom I long to see, my joy and crown, so stand firm in the Lord…” Phil.3:20, 21, 4:1.

                It is quite easy for the world to drag us down into a place where we can’t see the glory that awaits us. The cares of life are like quicksand and once we get one foot stuck the other one is likely to get stuck as it tries to free the other. And even as we get entrapped in this way, it is easy to feel alone in it. We can’t seem to sense the presence of God. We are tempted to think unthinkable thoughts and to entertain questions like: “Am I really alone?  Where is God when I need Him? Have I done something that has offended Him to the point where He has backed off?

                People of the world have gotten used to living life by their own resources, but for those of us who walk and talk with God, there is nothing worse than feeling like we are on our own. We have come to love and depend upon His presence.

                Every one of God’s great servants felt those dry times. King David expressed it frequently. My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me was first uttered by David and later quoted by Yeshua as He hung dying on the cross.  (Mt. 27:46, Ps. 22:1) Elijah, shortly after a great victory on Mt. Carmel found himself trekking through hot desert sands… back to where it all started … back to Mt. Sinai where God had spoken to Moses face to face.

                In the heat of passion on Mt. Carmel, Elijah had started to look to externals for the presence of God. After all, fire had come from heaven and the prophets of Baal had been slaughtered, (850 of them) Then the rains had come in answer to his prayer. Elijah should have been overflowing with a sense of God’s abiding presence, but instead he was running from Jezebel… hiding out in the wilderness… still looking for God in all the wrong places.

                After a 40 day fast in the cave on Mt. Sinai, God appeared to him in a strong wind and then in an earthquake, but God was not in any of those external things.  Then Elijah heard the sound of gentle blowing.

                “And it came about when Elijah heard it that he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. And behold a voice came to him and said, ‘What are you doing here Elijah?” Then Elijah answered: I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the sons of Israel have forsaken Thy covenant, torn down Thine altars and killed Thy prophets with the sword. And I alone am left; and they seek my life to take it away: 1 Kings 19:11-14

                It was then that God commissioned Elijah to anoint Hazael king over Syria and Jehu king over Israel and Elisha as a new prophet to Israel in Elijah’s place. Ah, at last, a sense of purpose restored and a command to go and to do, Elijah set out on a new course.

                We don’t know all that God said to Elijah there on Mt. Sinai, but it seems from that point on, He knew that he was to be taken up to God and it seems that Elisha and all of the prophets from the school of the prophets knew it too.

                There is so much written into these stories. We see Elijah in strength and in weakness. We see God in His silence and then in His commissioning presence. We also see Elisha, who when called by Elijah, killed the Oxen he was plowing with and fed the people with their flesh and then left straight away to minister unto Elijah until the day he was taken up. In other words, when God called Him, he killed the oxen, left the plow in the field and never turned back.

                This may remind us of Israel whom God called out of Egypt. He led them through the Red Sea. There would be no turning back. Like Elisha, they burned their bridges so to speak. And so it is with us when we are born again… we become citizens of a new kingdom. We have crossed Jordon. We have crossed the Red Sea. We no longer belong to this world… and so when the quicksand of life starts to bog us down, we need to return to the place where we had our encounter with God. We need to stop chasing after external things and to wait upon the still small voice.

                At times when we feel so inadequate in the flesh, we need to remember that this flesh will soon be laid down and we will receive new glorious bodies like Yeshua’s resurrection body. We were designed for the eternal, not for the temporary. And we are returning to that original design as we learn to live by the Spirit and not by the flesh.

                And along the way we have certain assurances from Yeshua Himself as to our destiny:

                “This is the Father’s will which hath sent Me, that of all which He hath given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.” John 6:39

                “This is the will of Him that sent Me; that everyone which sees the Son and believes on Him may have everlasting life and I will raise him up at the last day.” John 6:40

                “No man can come to Me, except the Father which has sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.” John 6:44.

                 Whosoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life; and I will raise him up on the last day.” John 6:54

                If we trust in our emotions in order to feel the presence of God, then there are times when our emotions will not be enough. There are times when our emotions will feel the very opposite of what we believe. We feel that we are slugging it out alone and for the moment we cannot feel His presence. But we have something much more powerful than how we feel. We have faith! And we are assured by God Himself that our faith pleases Him and that He is indeed the Rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.   (Heb. 11:6)

                There was a time in my youth when I took flying lessons and learned to fly a plane. I soloed out and then soon after was drafted into the army so I never had opportunity to continue training after that; but had I continued the course I would have had to, at some point, earn my instrument rating. Everything you need to know about your plane is displayed on the instruments. Your relationship to the horizon, your pitch and yaw, your altitude, your compass heading, your fuel… it is all there. So what they do, or at least what they did back in my day is to put a special hood over your head that allows you to see only your instrument panel and not outside the plane. You are flying blind and you can only see the instruments.

                This may seem like a simple thing because, after all, your instruments are all there. But there are times when what the instruments are telling you seem contrary to what you are feeling. You could swear that you are leaning or turning or climbing or descending and everything within you wants to follow your feelings, but you must rely on the instruments or you will die.

                All of this training is done so that when you fly in clouds or fog or extreme conditions… when you can’t tell by looking outside where your plane is headed, you need to trust your instruments over and above what you may feel.

                It is at times like that in our lives as well, when we feel like everything is going wrong and God is nowhere in sight, we need to trust our instruments. The Word of God gives us everything we need to know in order to fly to our destination.

                “By grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourself: it is the gift of God.” Eph. 2:8

                “And My God shall supply all of your needs according to His riches in glory.” Phil 4:19

                “I will never leave you or forsake you.” Heb. 13:5b

                “Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day… The things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” 2 Cor. 4:16, 18b.

                “Truly, truly I say to you, he who hears My Word and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.” John 5:24.

                “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Josh 1:9.

                The Bible is filled with thousands of these directional instruments so that even when we can’t feel it with our emotions we can trust His Word.

                If you have received Jesus as your Savior and Lord and have been born again, your citizenship is in heaven and it is no longer on this earth. By faith we must believe this and learn how to walk in this. Our ticket has been paid in full by Yeshua… now we are in training to live as sons of God and not sons of fallen Adam. We are learning to overcome by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of our testimony. We are learning to walk by faith and not by sight. We are learning to destroy the works of the devil and to tread upon serpents and scorpions, because greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world.

                WE are learning to live by His power and wisdom and not our own. And we do all of those things not in order to be saved, but because we ARE saved! We are children of the King.

                Sometimes it is not so much the enemy without, but the enemy within that gives us the most trouble. Our emotions try to override our faith and when they do, fear creeps in. But it is at such times as this that we need to trust our instruments and wisdom speaks thusly:

                “The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous runs into it and is safe.” Proverbs 18:10

                “He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.” Psalms 91:1

                These promises belong to us because we are citizens of His kingdom. We are His children and He loves it when His children run to Him. He is our Abba Father.

                Just in case your road is a little bumpy right now, I hope these thoughts will help you to reset your compass today.