Tag Archives: Holy Spirit

Brought to Rest

25 Monday Mar 2024

Posted by in Studies, Whole Armor of God

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Hello, Readers!  Welcome to another week and another post on Renaissance Woman!

In last week’s post, I mentioned I was facing some difficulties.  Storm clouds were gathering on the horizon of my life and I didn’t know what was going to happen.  I still don’t.  There have been a few flashes of lightening and rumbles of thunder but the storm has not erupted in full fury.  It could be the storm has merely been postponed or it could be it will all come to nothing.  I didn’t know what was going to happen last week and I still don’t know.

All of which has got me thinking about salvation.  “Put on the Whole Armor of God,” Paul writes in Ephesians 6.  “Take the helmet of salvation…” What do we think of when we think of salvation?  The Strong’s Concordance lists soterion (G4992) as the Greek word translated salvation in this passage which means “defender, defence, salvation.”  Soterion comes from soteria (G4991) which expands a bit on the definition: rescue, safety, deliver, health, salvation, save, saving.  The Strong’s says soteria is derived from soter (G4990) which means “a deliverer, God or Christ”.  Soter comes from sozo (G4982) which means “to save, deliver, protect, heal, preserve, save (self), do well, be (make) whole”. 

I find all of these definitions interesting and even helpful but what truly matters is what I believe about Jesus and salvation.  Do I believe salvation is something Jesus made available to me before He went off to be with the Father in some far off heaven somewhere and now I must believe and have faith in order to receive the salvation He’s made available?  Or, is He Himself my salvation and thus salvation is my reality as His life is lived in me through and by His Spirit?  To me, these are two opposite belief systems even though they might use the same words.  The first points us to Jesus because He is away from us.  Jesus is in heaven (wherever that is) and that’s where we’ll get to go when we die.  The salvation He has bought for us is summed up in our being saved from hell.

In the second, there is no separation because He is not away from us.  He is not God with us in the way that He was God in flesh walking the shores of Galilee all those years ago but neither is He God in heaven waiting for us to die and join Him.  He is God with us inside of us through the Indwelling Holy Spirit.  Thus, His salvation is not something separate from us we have to receive through our believing and having faith.  Rather, He is our very life (see Colossians 3:4) and therefore it follows that the salvation He is is also our very life.

The scriptures make it plain (to me anyway) that Jesus Christ IS salvation: it’s not something He has and bestows on us.  One of my favorite passages of scripture is found in Isaiah and echoes both Psalm 118 and Moses’ song recorded in Exodus 15.  Psalm 118:14 says, ‘The Lord is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation.”  Exodus 15:2 says, “The Lord is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation.”  Isaiah 12:2 says, “Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid; For YAH, the Lord, is my strength and song, He also has become my salvation.” 

There is a story related in the second chapter of Luke’s Gospel.  “And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was just and devout, waiting for the Consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him.  And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.  So he came by the Spirit into the temple.  And when the parents brought in the Child Jesus, to do for Him according to the custom of the law, he took Him up in his arms and blessed God and said; ‘Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace, according to Your word; for my eyes have seen Your salvation which You have prepared before the face of all peoples, a light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of Your people Israel’.” (See Luke 2:25-32).

My salvation then is a person whose very name means “Yahweh is salvation” (see meaning of Yeshua below).  This person is not separated from me.  I don’t have to go to a meeting place and get a dose of salvation to help me through the week.  Jesus Christ, who is my life, alive in me in and by His Spirit, means salvation is my state of being.  There is no situation I face where His salvation is not because He faces the situation with me.  His presence is always with me therefore His salvation is immediate.

What does that look like?  It looks like Christ in me, the hope of glory.  It looks like my being transformed into His image from glory to glory.  It looks like the peace of God which surpasses all understanding guarding my heart and mind.  It looks like all things being worked together for my good.  It looks like me living and moving and having my being in Christ Jesus.

While this is the truth of Christ in us and us in Christ, we still live in a world that abides by thought processes and ways of being that do not conform to-or even recognize-the life of Jesus Christ.  This world lies in the power of the evil one and those whose minds are still conformed to the patterns of this world will behave accordingly.  I read something in William Gurnall’s The Christian in Complete Armour which I do agree with but only partly.  Speaking on Ephesians 6:12, William Gurnall writes, “we wrestle not against flesh and blood…The Christian’s state in this life [is] set out by this word ‘wrestling.’…It is single combat.  Wrestling is not properly fighting against a multitude, but when one enemy singles out another, and enters the list with him, each exerting their whole force and strength against one another…The permanency or duration of this combat…lies in the tense we wrestle. Not, our wrestling was at first conversion, but now over, and we passed the pikes; not, we shall wrestle when sickness comes, and death comes; but our wrestling is; the enemy is ever in sight of us, yea, in fight with us.” (Gurnall, Vol 1. Pgs. 112-114).

 I read this and felt tired.  There is a modicum of truth to it.  We believers head everyday into a spiritually hostile world.  If Jesus were in some far off heaven somewhere bestowing salvation on us, it would mean we would have to conduct the warfare in our own strength to the best of our own ability with moments of refreshing from heaven.  Perhaps there would be victories but there would be the inevitable failures as well.  Since He is not: since He is in us, He is in our experiences with us.  He is our deliverance from the place we find ourselves.  He is our armor and He is the Victorious One.  I’ve already studied the word “stand” in Ephesians 6:10-18a but it doesn’t hurt to be reminded that the word is a covenant word and it means “made to stand”. 

“In the world you will have tribulation,” Jesus tells us, “BUT! Fear not!  I have overcome the world” (exclamation marks mine).  He gives us rest, even in the midst of the battle.  He is our armor.  He is our salvation.  He is all of these things to us right this very moment because His Spirit is in us and we are thus joined to Him.  The Spirit is the One who makes everything of Christ ours in every moment of our lives.  And so, my closing message for this week is Quench not the Spirit!  Let us cast all our cares on Him!  We may have to remind ourselves we have done so but there is nothing wrong with that.  We remind ourselves as often as we need to that, in this moment, Christ is our strength, our song, our light, and our salvation until we no longer need reminding.  He is our Helmet of Salvation, transforming us through the renewing of our minds!

It is so!  Amen.  

Unless noted otherwise, all Scriptures are quoted from The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee, 1982

References

Yeshua (יֵשׁוּעַ) – What is the Meaning of Jesus’ Name? – Path of Obedience

Gurnall, William, The Christian in Complete Armour, Seventh Printing, Hendrickson Publishers, Peabody, Massachusetts, 2021

Strong, James, LL.D., S.T.D., The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville Tennessee, 1990

A Time For Words

18 Monday Mar 2024

Posted by in Personal Essays, Studies, Whole Armor of God, Writing

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Welcome, All, to Renaissance Woman and the post that almost didn’t happen!

I did NOT feel like writing this week.  I love words but I find them utterly useless at times, especially when I am at my most vulnerable and emotions are raw.  Better to wait until the experience is over and it can be considered in a less emotional light.  There are few Christian teachers who speak of their experience while still going through it.  Most testimonies are after the fact, shared from the other side of the experience.  These testimonies-knowing how someone got through their experience-are valuable and I am grateful for those willing to share.  However, there are times where these same testimonies can feel like a dash of cold water.  I wonder if a testimony shouldn’t be the testifier crawling to the front of the room, screaming until he or she runs out of breath, and then stating, “But, in Christ…”

I am not on the other side of my experiences.  I have no idea what is going to happen in the upcoming days.  I don’t know what sort of situation I am going to walk into.  I can imagine them.  The last few weeks have provided enough fodder for my imagination recognize very real possibilities of ruination and despair looming on the horizon.  Will the clouds gathering be ones bringing storms and chaos or will they dissipate into nothing?  I don’t know.  I do know I do not face impending storms alone or unarmed.  I know Jesus Christ.  I have a past full of situations and experiences where He has proved Himself faithful.  Why then, do I still struggle?  Why have there been moments over these past weeks where I have dissolved into tears?

To answer that, I return to my recent study on obedience.  Hebrews 5:8 states that Jesus, “though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered.”  The Greek word translated as “obedience” in this passage means “attentive hearkening, compliance, submission, to listen attentively, to hear under as a subordinate, to heed or conform to command or authority”.  I think about Jesus having to learn to hear the voice of His Father.  I think about the words “compliance” and “submission” and I imagine Jesus having to choose to listen to what His Father was saying.  I think about the words “heed” and “conform” and I imagine Jesus having to not only hear and choose but then do those things the Father was saying.  God has not been silent in the things I have suffered over the past weeks.  My problem is He hasn’t been saying what I want to hear.  “Let this cup pass from me,” is my cry.  My Father’s answer is “no” and then He sends me Romans 5:1-5:

“Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.  And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope.”  “In the world you will have tribulation,” my Lord and Savior says, “but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world” (see John 16:33).  He also says “lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (see Matthew 28:20). 

This is not what I want to hear.  I am tired.  I am in pain.  I do not want to glory in any tribulations.  I do not want perseverance or character produced in me.  I want Him to make all my difficulties go away.  The fact that His answer is “I will go with you,” means I still have to go through the difficulties and there have been moments where I have broken down and cried.  I am not ashamed of having done so because Jesus also cried.  Hebrews 5 speaks of the necessity of a high priest needing to “have compassion on those who are ignorant and going astray, since he himself is also subject to weakness.”  This chapter describes Jesus as “a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek who, in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death…” 

“Vehement cries and tears”.  I find that beautiful.  He does not scorn me for my having cried.  He knows tears.  He knows what it is like to receive a “no” from His Father.  He had to learn obedience.  And, being perfected, He is the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him.  What does salvation look like in each specific difficulty?  I don’t know.  I don’t have any idea what Jesus is going to do and that is incredibly hard.  If He’d just tell me exactly how He was going to bring me through…

Exodus 14:13 says, “Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord.”  Moses speaks these words when the Israelites find themselves in dire straits.  Death is certain whether at the hands of the Egyptians or in the depths of the sea.  Did any one of them imagine the waters of the sea would part for them?  The scriptures certainly appears to answer with a resounding “no!”  Did Daniel expect an angel would come and shut the mouths of the ravening lions?  This story is told from the king’s perspective and he certainly believed Daniel’s God could save him from the lions but the story makes it clear the king wasn’t sure if Daniel’s God would.  Daniel 6:18 describes the king spending the night sleepless and fasting and verse 20 records him asking, “…has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to deliver you from the lions?” 

I find a similar thought in the answer Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego gave to a different king.  Facing death (a fiery one this time), they say; “…our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king.  But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.”  These two stories show an unshakable belief in that God can deliver His people from any situation, but there is still the question of will He?  I would add what form can we expect that deliverance to take?

I do not expect to face death in the upcoming week so am not seeking to be dramatic.  I have the same questions though as I face difficulties that can’t be ignored.  I know our God is able to deliver me but will He and what form will that deliverance take?  I don’t know.  He doesn’t say.  His assurance is that He is with me. 

There has been another facet to my experiences I feel it’s important to address.  The enemy has not ceased his attacks during these times.  If anything, I feel as if they’ve intensified.  I cannot stress too often how the battlefield is in our minds.  The Accuser sought to bring me down using my own thoughts.  “Hath God said,” didn’t work because I know the Voice of my Shepherd and yes, He hath said indeed.  So, the enemy used another tack.  “We don’t deserve the love of God…” I had heard a Christian teacher say.  The enemy picked up on the word “deserve” and the onslaught began.  My thoughts were something like this: “You can’t expect deliverance.  In fact, you should expect bad things to happen to you because you’ve sinned in the past and your sins have hurt people.  The Bible says, ‘if you sow the wind, you will reap the whirlwind’ and that is what you should expect.  Oh, He will go with you certainly but He won’t deliver you because you don’t deserve it.”

The rest of the Christian teacher’s quote was “He loves us, not because we deserve it, but because He is love” which was something the enemy left out.  The only way to combat these attacks is with words and in these instances words are critical. “It is written!” was the battle tactic Jesus Himself used when facing the Adversary in the wilderness.  It is written, because I am in Christ I am a new creation: old things have passed away and behold! all things have become new.  Love keeps no record of wrongs.  As far as the east is from the west, is how far my transgressions have been removed from me. Nothing can separate me from His love.  Jesus was delivered up because of my offenses but was raised because of my justification.  I am justified by faith and have peace with God through my Lord Jesus Christ.

I still have no idea what the next days hold for me.  It could be storms and chaos or it could be the things I have feared never come upon me.  I know I am not alone.  I know He is Faithful and True.  I know He has promised never to leave nor forsake me.  I know He has promised there is nothing that can take me out of His hand.  I know that He will work everything for my good because I love Him and am called according to His purpose. I know I will emerge on the other side more conformed to His image than I am now.

I will close with this:  “I sought the Lord, and He heard me, And delivered me from all my fears.  They looked to Him and were radiant, And their faces were not ashamed.  This poor man cried out, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.  The angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear Him, and delivers them.  Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!” (Psalm 34:4-8).

Note: The passages quoted in my “It is written!” reply are 2 Corinthians 5:17, 1 Corinthians 13:4-8, Psalm 103:12, Romans 8:31-39, and Romans 4:25-5:1

Unless noted otherwise, all Scriptures are quoted from The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee, 1982

References

Strong, James, LL.D., S.T.D., The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville Tennessee, 1990

Outside the Camp

11 Monday Mar 2024

Posted by in Poetry, Writing

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I’m taking a brief break from my study for this week’s post. I had a busy work week and couldn’t devote the study time my subject deserves. Instead, I am sharing a poem I wrote some years ago (reworked a bit for this post). I was reminded of it as I have conducted this study and especially as I have seen the Greek word translated “obedience” means “attentive listening”. Hearing the Voice of God, knowing that He is revealing Himself, is wonderous. I can remember when He began to teach me about Himself some 20 years ago. There was a period of time when all I could do was marvel that the God I had learned about was real and alive and talking to me. He wasn’t some artifact I went to a museum called “church” to reminisce about nor was the Bible a textbook used to study Him like a specimen.

However, not everyone responds to God’s revelation of Himself in the same way at the same time (See 1 Corinthians 15:20-23). Trusting and following after the revelation we receive can be lonely and even painful when those we wish to have close relationships with aren’t seeing the same things we are. It can feel.

Except…He will never leave us nor forsake us. His Spirit lives in us and it isn’t possible for us to ever be alone. It’s important to test everything because not every spirit is from God (1 John 4:1-5) but God isn’t out to trick you: He is patient and He is kind and He will confirm His word to you. If the time ever comes when you have to rise up and walk in the light you have been given and no one else will walk with you, know you do not so alone. God Himself goes with you and in you and there are many of us already outside the camp (Hebrews 13:13). I hope this poem both blesses and encourages you all.

Outside the Camp
I am one of many sheep at rest
The others are asleep, I think
I alone lie here, distressed
The Voice won't let me sleep a wink.
Come out! Come out! Come out to me!
Abandon the darkness and the damp!
Oh, the song I will sing to thee
My life is warmth: my word a lamp!
The other sheep all laugh at me
They all have heard the calling too
"The voice is that of the enemy
A wolf who will devour you".
The Voice does not make me scared
He assures me I won't be alone
But I don't know if I'm prepared
To go outside on my own.
I can already hear His song
I'm sure His Voice is one I know
Something so beautiful can't be wrong
Oh, does no one else desire to go?
There is not one who'll go with me
They all say I've been led astray
If it's devoured I'm to be
So be it. He calls. I must obey.


“He Also Has Become…”

04 Monday Mar 2024

Posted by in Studies, Whole Armor of God

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Hello Readers and welcome to another post on Renaissance Woman!  If this is your first post, I am currently in the middle of a study on the Whole Armor of God as described by the Apostle Paul in Ephesians 6 verses 10-18a.  My current focus is the Helmet of Salvation so, as you read on, you may wonder why I am (still) writing about obedience.  There are two passages of scripture that have convinced me that understanding what the Bible means by obedience is crucial to understanding what it means for Jesus Christ to be our salvation.  For that is what I believe: salvation is not something Jesus did for us before disappearing into some far off heaven somewhere.  He Himself is salvation.

That is a thought I want to focus on in future studies.  For this week’s post, I must take another look at obedience.  2 Corinthians 10:4-6 says, “For the weapons of our warfare  are not carnal but  mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and  every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and being ready  to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.”  Hebrews 5:8-9 says that Jesus, “though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered.  And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him.”

In these two passages, I see a connection between obedience and both Spiritual Warfare and Salvation.  There is a third passage that comes to mind as I meditate on the first two.  I am going to quote an extensive portion as it all pertains to the point I will attempt to make in this post: “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.  And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.  Therefore God has also highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:5-11).

The Greek word translated “obedient” in the Philippians passage is of the same family as the word translated “obedience” in the first two quoted.  “Obedient” is hupekoos (G5255) and is an adjective.  “Obedience” is hupakoe (G5218) and is the noun.  The Strong’s Concordance says both words come from hupakouo (G5219) which is the verb.  The word itself means “attentive hearkening, compliance, submission, to listen attentively, to hear under as a subordinate, to heed or conform to command or authority.”  I’ve already gone through these definitions and performed some study on just what “the obedience of Christ” means so I don’t want to take too much time performing what would amount to repetition.  And yet, if these are the meanings of the words, what does it mean for Jesus Christ having to learn to attentively listen to God?  What does it mean to my understanding of who Jesus is if I must think of Him in terms of being subordinate to God?  Who is Jesus, really?

The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke record Jesus asking a form of that question to His disciples.  Jesus first asks, “Who do men say that the Son of man is?” or “Who do men say that I am?”  The disciples give their various answers and then Jesus asks: “But who do you say that I am?”  This question is just as pertinent now as it was then.  I have asked people who wish to share their belief system with me this same question: “who do you say Jesus is?” and the answer I receive most often is “we believe He is the Son of God.”  That answer does make it sound as if we would be of one mind regarding the foundation of our belief but different people mean different things when they say “He is the Son of God.”

R. H. Ben-Shalom makes this point in his book Papa’s Last Words: They Lied About God.  In his chapter titled “Christ” he writes: “The phrase the “sons of God” has many meanings.  It can mean spirits without flesh, spirits in flesh who trust and obey God, or those who have been resurrected into their glorified bodies” (Ben-Shalom, Pg. 88). 

Those who answer me with “we believe He is the Son of God” can potentially mean many things but a great many of the answers boil down to this: whatever they mean by “the Son of God”, they do not intend to suggest Jesus is equal to God nor is He God.  They will use scripture to undergird their belief.  One such is John 5:30 where Jesus Himself says, “I can of Myself do nothing.  As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me.”  Another passage I hear quoted a great deal is Mark 10:18: “…Why do you call Me good?  No one is good but One, that is, God.”  A third is John 5:19: “…Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.”

If these were the only passages of scripture we ever heard, who could blame us for doubting that Jesus is the divine Son of God: the Eternal Word made flesh?  But, these aren’t the only passages.  We must consider John 8:58 where Jesus declares, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.” We must also consider John 10:24-33: “Then the Jews surrounded Him and said to Him, ‘How long do You keep us in doubt?  If You are the Christ, tell us plainly.’  Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe.  The works that I do in My Father’s name, they bear witness of Me.  But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you.  My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.  And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.  My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand.  I and My Father are one.’  Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him.  Jesus answered them, “Many good works I have shown you from My Father.  For which of those words do you stone Me?’ The Jews answered Him, saying, “For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God.”

On Jesus’ claim to be Divine R. H. Ben-Shalom writes; “C. S. Lewis, in Mere Christianity, is correct in his deduction: Y’hoshua the Anointed One (Jesus the Christ) was either who He claimed to be, or a demonic false prophet, or a madman.  The Instruction of Yah, blessed be His Name, and the ancient Jewish legal system did not condemn you for being a “son of God” in the sense of being a human devotee of God.  It did not condemn you for being a Torah-keeping anointed one.  The ancient Jewish legal system, however, condemned you for blasphemy, such as claiming to be the Son of God in reference to being God, or of God, meaning divine.  The Sanhedrin, the Jewish court, condemned Y’hoshua the Anointed One for only one reason: He claimed to be the Son of God in the sense of being God.  History attests to His existence.  History attests to the only accusation that led to His execution and death on the cross” (Ben-Shalom, pg. 90).

The divinity and humanity of Jesus is a vast subject and one I cannot possibly address in a short blog post.  1 Peter 2:7-8 says, “…The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone and a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense” so I am certain the debate on Jesus’ identity will no doubt rage until the day “every eye sees Him”.  However, truly knowing Him is possible to whosoever wishes it.  I would draw your attention back to Matthew 16.  “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” Jesus asks, and then He asks; “But who do you say that I am?”  Simon Peter answers, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God”.  Jesus’ reply is: “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.”  If any of us want to know who Jesus is, we have the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation, the Spirit who testifies of Jesus, the Spirit who leads us into all truth, the gift of God, living inside of us.  We do not need flesh and blood to tell us who Jesus is: His Spirit in us will reveal to us who Jesus is.

As to what I believe about Jesus learning obedience, meaning He had to learn to listen attentively to His Father’s voice as one subordinate; I return to the passage in Philippians.  My NKJV renders verse 7 as, “but made Himself of no reputation”.  The Amplified has it, “But stripped Himself [of all privileges and rightful dignity]”.  The New American Standard says, “but emptied Himself” and the New International says “but made himself nothing.”  I cannot imagine what it was like for the Word, the One by whom everything was made, the One who is-according to the wording of the Amplified Bible-“essentially one with God and in the form of God” (Phil. 2:6), to empty Himself in order to become one of us.  As one of us, He had to learn to listen attentively to the voice of His Father, the same as we must learn to listen attentively to the Voice of Jesus Christ, the One who has the name which is above every other name.  I cannot express how grateful I am He did so, because, being made perfect, He is both the author and Captain of our Salvation.

There is a fantastic declaration in Isaiah 12:2: “Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid; For YAH, the Lord, is my strength and my song; He also has become my salvation.”  Behold, Jesus the Anointed One, the Unique Son, the only begotten of the Father, the Word made flesh!  He limited Himself to a flesh body and became one of us!  He died but the grave could not hold Him!  Behold, He liveth forevermore and sits at the right hand of the Father!  Behold Jesus, the One who is our salvation!  He is eternal salvation now to all who obey (attentively listen to) Him!

Hallelujah! 

Amen.

Unless noted otherwise, all Scriptures are quoted from The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee, 1982

References

The Comparative Study Bible, Zondervan Bible Publishers, The Zondervan Corporation, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1984

Aland, Kurt, Synopsis of the Four Gospels, United Bible Societies, USA, 1982

Ben-Shalom, R. H., Papa’s Last Words: They Lied about God, ERAS Press, 2020

Strong, James, LL.D., S.T.D., The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville Tennessee, 1990

Ready to Vanish Away

26 Monday Feb 2024

Posted by in Studies, Whole Armor of God

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Hello Readers and welcome-or welcome back-to Renaissance Woman!

I continue this week in my study on the Whole Armor of God with my particular focus on the Helmet of Salvation.  As I have begun my word study on the Helmet of Salvation, I have concentrated on the word “obedience”.  Why?  Because of two passages of scripture.  The 1st is 2 Corinthians 1-:4-6; “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.”  The second is Hebrews 5:8-9; “though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered.  And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him.”  There is a direct correlation between obedience, salvation, and spiritual warfare in these passages and it is something I want to understand.

I spent the week praying and meditating and a sentence I would have sworn was a portion of scripture kept coming to mind.  It was, “I desire obedience rather than sacrifice”.  However, when I went to the scriptures in order to find it, it wasn’t there.  I realized I was mashing together two passages of scripture.  The 1st was Hosea 6:6; “For I desire mercy and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings” and the 2nd was 1 Samuel 15:22; “So Samuel said, ‘Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, As in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams.” 

There is a valuable lesson here which I was reminded of and which I am going to briefly share with all of you: Test Everything.  I was sure I was remembering a portion of scripture.  Perhaps I had heard someone quote it using those words or perhaps I was indeed simply mashing together two passages of scripture on my own but we Christians have it hard coded into us that the Bible is the final word on all subjects.  If I hadn’t checked but had trusted I was remembering correctly, what would “I desire obedience rather than sacrifice” led me to believe about the character of God?  Perhaps it wouldn’t have been negative but it would have been inaccurate.  I cannot stress it enough: do not unquestioningly believe anything anyone tells you about what the Bible says, especially if they are doing so in an attempt to direct your life in any way.  Test it.  Does the Bible really say it?

I find the Ancient Languages fascinating and am constantly adding to my library in order to increase my knowledge of them but I don’t believe we have to be Greek and/or Hebrew scholars in order to accurately fact check scripture.  Many people put down the Strong’s Concordance but I find it to be a useful tool.  Let’s take the word “obey” as an example: I pointed out last week there are six different Greek words translated as “obey”.  They can’t all mean the same thing and a Strong’s Concordance reveals that at a glance.  If you find you have an interest in delving deeper into the Ancient Languages then do so but, again, it isn’t necessary for fact checking what you hear.  I fact check every Bible teacher I listen to.  I fact check myself (which is a good thing because I don’t always remember correctly!).  I hope and pray all of you are doing the same.

There is a second part of this lesson I also want to share and that is, don’t be afraid of mistakes.  My remembering two passages as one and my searching them out has been an immensely valuable way to spend my time this week because I saw into the heart of our God.  I saw how much He wishes to be known.  And, I saw even more clearly that obedience doesn’t always mean doing what we’re told and/or keeping rules: it means listening to His voice.

I shared in last week’s post the Greek word hupakoe (G5218) which is translated as “obedience” in the New Testament.  The word means “attentive hearkening”.  As I trace it through its related words and compound parts there is also contained within the word the idea of taking action but the action taken comes as a result of hearing.  I was curious what Greek word would appear in place of “obeying” and “obey” in 1 Samuel 15:22.  In “obeying the voice of the Lord” and I found akon (G189) which means “hearing, listening”.  I didn’t find the exact grammatical word for the Greek used in “to obey is better than sacrifice” but I found forms of it in both the Strong’s and BDAG.  The word is epakouo (G1873) and it means “to hearken, to hear, to listen intently.”

One of my Bible Teachers says “you stand and fall by your definitions” and I wholeheartedly concur.  If we believe “obedience” is to do as we are told, to keep God’s law, to adhere to some list of rules put forth by our denomination, we have missed it.  The word means there is one in leadership over us, we listen attentively to all that one says, and we act accordingly.  That One is Jesus Himself for He is the One to whom all authority on heaven and earth has been given.  He is the rightful ruler and King and His is the only voice to which we ought to be listening.

I checked Hosea 6:6 in the Septuagint and didn’t find any of my Greek study words there.  I was struck as I read this passage in the various translations listed on Biblehub.com.  I liked those that used personal language.  The New Living Translations says, “I want you to show love, not offer sacrifices.  I want you to know me more than I want burnt offerings.”  The Contemporary English Version has it, “I’d rather for you to be faithful and to know me than to offer sacrifices.”  The GOD’S WORD Translation says, “I want your loyalty, not your sacrifices.  I want you to know me, not to give me burnt offerings” while the Good News Translation renders this passage as, “I want your constant love, not your animal sacrifices.  I would rather have my people know me than burn offerings to me.”  The Amplified uses the word “covenant” in its rendition: “For I desire and delight in [steadfast] loyalty [faithfulness in the covenant relationship], rather than sacrifice, And in the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.”

There is no substitution for knowing God.  It is the desire of His heart.  What I find so terribly sad is that it is not the widely expressed desire of the heart of a great many believers.  Their singular hope is to get to heaven when they die.  What they’ll do when they get there is anyone’s guess: worship God for all eternity, dance on golden streets…it’s all a bit vague.  There is no such emphasis on heaven as a destination in the Bible.  Rather, the Eternal Life we are all aspiring too is clearly spelled out.  “Now this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent” (John 17:3).  “And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ.  This is the true God and eternal life” (1 John 5:20).

This post is in danger of becoming rather long so I will bring it to a close and continue next week.  I want to close with a passage from Hebrews 8 in which the Writer quotes Jeremiah 31:31-34: “…’Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah-not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they did not continue in My covenant, and I disregarded them, says the Lord.  For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.  None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying ‘Know the Lord,’ for all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them.  For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.’ In that He says, ‘A new covenant’ He has made the first obsolete.  Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away” (Heb. 8:8-13).

We are in Christ and are partakers of this New Covenant.  The desire of our God in establishing this New Covenant is that we would know Him, each one of us, and hear His voice.  May that be our prayer in this upcoming week: Open my eyes to see You that I might know You and my ears to hear Your voice alone!

Amen.

Unless noted otherwise, all Scriptures are quoted from The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee, 1982

References

1 Samuel 15:22 Interlinear: And Samuel saith, ‘Hath Jehovah had delight in burnt-offerings and sacrifices as in hearkening to the voice of Jehovah? lo, hearkening than sacrifice is better; to give attention than fat of rams; (biblehub.com)   

Strong’s Greek: 189. ἀκοή (akoé) — hearing, the sense of hearing (biblehub.com)

Hosea 6:6 For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings. (biblehub.com)

Danker, Frederick William, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (BDAG), Third Edition, The University of Chicago Press, Chicago Illinois, 1957, 1979, 2000

Lanier, Gregory & William Ross, Septuaginta: A Reader’s Edition, Volumes I & II, Hendrickson Publishers, Peabody Massachusetts, 2018

Strong, James, LL.D., S.T.D., The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville Tennessee, 1990