RHEMA

RHEMA

                I love getting up at 3 AM. It gives me about 4 hours of prime time with the Lord and I wouldn’t trade that for anything.             The bad thing about getting up at 3 AM is that if for one reason or another, you didn’t get to bed until 11:30 the night before, your body still wakes up at 3, but you really need a couple more hours of sleep.

                Along that same line, the bad thing about having a dog that loves his routines is that his inner clock wakes him up at 3 AM as well. So every morning at precisely 3:02 AM Desi climbs up on the bed and begins to lick my face and he won’t stop licking my face until I am up.

                Now there seems to be a bit of poetic injustice involved here because Desi, once having rousted me from bed, promptly curls up at my feet in the living room and goes back to sleep. Oh well, I guess that’s why old men take naps in the middle of the afternoon. The secret is out. They have dogs…slave drivers really, that make them stick to their routines.

                I say slave drivers because, after all, who is it that tows me around the block 3 times a day and makes me pick up after him? I won’t mention names here, but it rimes with Desi. I am the victim in this love affair, but I can’t complain really. He brings me more joy than the average dog should be able to bring and he is faithful and unconditional to a fault. I am smitten.

                Anyway Rhema… what is it? I believe it is a Greek word meaning revelation or enlightenment. I’m sure that anyone who reads their Bible on a regular basis has experienced rhema. You have read the same text a hundred times when suddenly it comes to life with new revelation. Suddenly it means something that you had missed the other 99 times and you sense that the Holy Spirit is prompting you with a fresh message from God’s Word. Hebrews 4:12 comes to mind:

                “For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”

                The Bible is indeed interactive and it elicits a response from us, either to accept or reject what God is saying to us and whether to act on it or ignore it.

                Such was the case concerning my article “The Quandary” As I was reading and meditating upon the Word, the Lord began putting together a bunch of texts in my mind and the enormity of our situation suddenly loomed before me. The church is not being taught the whole truth and so many Christians fall into the foolish virgin category. Many do not know that they have no oil, because they are being taught that everything is okay and that there is no need to press into the Word of God by the Spirit of God and to walk in all that He is teaching us.

                I can understand why pastors don’t want to tell the whole truth, although there may be varying reasons why. For some it is because they built their empires on a soft message and now it takes a hundred thousand dollars a month to run the operation and they can’t afford to tell their prime financial supporters that they may not be ready for the coming of the Lord.

                The quandary for me is in knowing that I write to Christians at all levels of experience. Some are fragile and in danger of becoming discouraged. So at such times I remember that Jesus was tender and understanding of sinners, tax gatherers and prostitutes. In fact, His main controversy was with the religious leaders that laid a burden on the people that they could not bear.

                In prophesying of the coming Messiah Isaiah said: “He will not cry out or raise His voice, nor make His voice heard in the street. The bruised reed He will not break and a dimly burning wick He will not extinguish; He will faithfully bring forth justice.” Isa. 42:2, 3

                So if I receive what appears to be a stern message from God through His Word, it is not to lay a burden upon those who feel like they are hanging on by a thread. I’m sure you know who you are and to you I would say this: “There remains therefore a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His.” Heb. 4:9, 10

                Now some religious types will use this text to prove that the Sabbath is still a requirement of God, but that is not really the message here. The true message here is that victory comes in a state of rest.  When we rest from our own works and trust in His then He is able to save us.

                For the first half of my life I was burdened down with a load of guilt and responsibility that had me running this way and that to get out from the iron thumb of God. Pleasing Him seemed absolutely impossible and the harder I tried, the more desperate my situation became. I couldn’t seem to get any relief apart from drinking and, of course that made everything much worse when I wasn’t drinking. It almost took my life from me until I had an encounter with the real Jesus.

                It was on that day that I was born again and I became absolutely astounded at the absolute power of Jesus over my enemies. He delivered me from them all. Cold turkey I walked right out of my hall of demons and habits, not by any power of my own, but by the power of my loving and almighty Savior… and life has never been the same since.

                Legalism will destroy you and Jesus used every opportunity to demonstrate the difference between what He taught and what the Pharisees taught. And Isaiah was right. Jesus came down hard on the Pharisees because they were placing burdens on the people that God never intended; but when it came to the woman caught in adultery, Jesus treated her with tenderness and understanding saying, “Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more.” John 3:11

                Likewise the prodigal son did everything wrong and yet the Father welcomed him back with open arms, kissing his neck and restoring him to his position as a son. Everywhere Jesus went He told stories of compassion, love and forgiveness.

                So if I say that people are not being taught the whole truth today, I am not saying to become strict or to try harder. What I am saying is to enter into His rest...to come into a relationship with the Almighty Jesus that I encountered so many years ago. It is He who has the power to save.

                Hebrews 7:25 tells us that He is able to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. Jesus became a High Priest after the order of Melchizedek. Melchizedek was a priest that came before the Law. He made covenant with Abraham on the basis of faith and not Law. Therefore Hebrews 7:15-19 tells us the truth saying:

                “ And this is clearer still if another priest arises according to the likeness of Melchizedek who has become such not on the basis of a law of physical requirement, but according to the power of an indestructible life, for it is witnessed of Him. “Thou art a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.” For on the one hand, there is a setting aside of a former commandment because of its weakness and uselessness (for the Law made nothing perfect) and on the other hand there is the bringing in of a better hope through which we draw near to God.   

                So you see what happened? Being burdened with the Law, I found it impossible to please God and my life was overwhelmed with a burden of guilt and failure. But when I finally had my encounter with Jesus, I encountered a power far greater than the Law and infinitely greater than Satan. So it is in this walk of faith with Jesus that we overcome the world. Without Him I can do nothing. He is my new life. He is my Salvation. He is my everything.  I live by His power and not my own.

                It is in this way that the Law is fulfilled in me, not by struggling to keep it, but in living by the power of an indestructible life, the life on Christ flowing from my innermost being like rivers of living water. In bearing the fruit of the Spirit the demands of the Law are satisfied and I do it all in a state of rest, just as the Sabbath points out.

                Paul said to the Colossians: “Therefore let no one act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day- things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ.”

                Until Jesus Christ becomes our all in all, we will struggle to please Him in our flesh… and yet Jesus is not calling us to lawlessness. Rather He is saying to us that the requirements of the Law will be fulfilled in us who walk not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.

                What I am saying is that many of today’s preachers are teaching victory through compromise. They are saying: “Maybe repentance isn’t important. Maybe the blood of Jesus is no longer needed. Maybe we no longer need to take up our cross and follow after Him. Maybe we no longer need to overcome sin. Maybe we no longer need to pay close attention to the sure word of prophecy.” BUT THOSE ARE LIES OF THE ENEMY!

                All of those things are absolutely essential. We don’t win by ignoring God’s Word… we win by being filled up with all the fullness of Christ.

                 “As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed and overflowing with gratitude. See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the traditions of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ. For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form and in Him you have been made complete and He is the head over all rule and authority.” Col. 2:6-10

                Jesus is absolutely everything we need; but He works from inside of us, not from the outside. He is not just a name we call on when we are in trouble; He is the life within our life that transforms us into His image. He is the Spirit that brings life for the flesh profits nothing. John6:63

                “And if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness.  But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who indwells you. Rom. 8:11

                The entire package of salvation is both based on and accomplished by the Spirit of Christ dwelling in us, transforming us by His power and fulfilling His Word in us. It is His sinless life, both imputed and imparted to us. It is what He did FOR us as well as what He does IN us and the two must work together for our salvation.

                So stop carrying burdens that you were never intended to carry. Enter into His Rest. Ask Him to come in and to do in you that which you could never do. You will be astounded by the power of Jesus Christ over your enemies and you will be set free.

                Jesus never told us to do anything without Him; in fact He told us that without Him we can do nothing. He is the Vine and we are the branches. We need to learn experientially what that means and then walk in it. It is the way of rest. It is the way of salvation.

                Jesus said: ”If you keep My commandments you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My father’s commandments and abide in His love… This is My commandment that you love one another just as I have loved you. This I command you that you love one another. John 15:10, 12, 17.

                It is interesting how quickly we fall back to the letter of the Law, whenever the word “Commandments” is used and yet everywhere Jesus uses the word “commandment” it is followed up with instruction to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, or to love God with all of our hearts and to love one another even as He has loved us. And yet we often treat love as if it is somehow optional. And while we may have enough backbone to keep the letter of the Law, only the Spirit of Jesus Christ dwelling in us can cause us to love God and each other with the kind of love that we must have.

                So if at times you feel like you are hanging on by a thread, let go of that thread and fall back into the arms of the only One who can save you. Enter His rest and trust in Him. Whatever His Word says, He will do. Every promise ever written was written specifically for you. More accurately, all of the promises were written to Jesus Christ and when you have Him, you have the promises as well. Think on these things.

                This is God’s Rhema Word for us today. Love is not a fluffy emotion that we sometimes feel. It is the very presence of Christ living in and through us that fulfills His Word of salvation in those who believe.