Jonah 2:8: Those who
regard worthless idols forsake their own Mercy. (NKJV)
1 John 5:21: Little
children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.
On June 7, 2011, right at the
beginning of the festival of Shavaot (Pentecost), I began to have serious heart
arrhythmias combined with classic symptoms of heart malfunction – shortness of
breath, chest pain, etc. I believe we are entering a new season where, if we
will position ourselves biblically, we will have a great refreshing, infilling
release of the Holy Spirit. This is to prepare us for a new season described in
scripture as the “season of the restoration of all things” (Acts 3:19-21). I
was expecting a great release of deep repentance and power to come. I still
have those expectations, but with the state of my heart problems at that time,
the Lord radically altered my conception of what is required.
After spending a day in the
hospital and gladly returning back home, I spent the morning following my hospital
stay seeking the Lord on what was happening to me. I sat down in my little
place in the “prayer cave” and prayed, “Lord, You have my attention. What is
happening?” His reply was quite shocking to me….
He told me that He so wanted to
bring me into a deeper experience of intimacy, power and friendship with Him
but He could not because I had “murder” in my heart. 1 John 3:15 states that if
we hate our brother we have murdered them. I had not realized how much
bitterness, anger and hatred had built up in my heart since my early years, specifically
toward one person in my life, and had been compounded by the years spent in
intercession and dealing with members of the body of Christ. I had literally
“deified” my own personal problems and wounds for years, and after many years
of intense spiritual warfare and stress, like a beach ball held under the
water, there was no way to “manage” them any longer. Ignoring the promptings of
the Holy Spirit in my soul, they were now manifesting in my physical health. What
had been “managed” through soul power could no longer be held under the
surface. My tares were apparent, and unless I allowed my Husbandman to remove
them, there was no way to move forward, much less live a life without severe
internal and health ramifications.
One of the greatest revelations
to come to me over the next few weeks was the depth of idolatry that existed in
my life and in the lives of those who name of the name of Jesus. We have so
embraced the culture and spirit of the world in the church, that the idolatry of
self just about permeates every facet of our lives…even our worship and
“ministries.” One of these extant idolatries that the Lord began to deal with
in me is that of “compartmentalization,” or how we live our lives according the
standards and dictates of the age, with “Jesus” added to them, literally
believing that this is biblical Christianity. It took a major health breakdown
to awaken me to just how deep these tentacles had rooted in me. May the Lord
grant us grace to not have to “train wreck” to allow the Holy Spirit to uproot
and remove these idols of self that have overtaken us!
In continuing this journey, I
have come to realize more than ever that there is no such thing as “secular”
and “sacred.” Such compartmentalization of our lives is rooted in and bears the
ugly fruit of idolatry. All things are sacred, if they can be ruled over by the
Lord Jesus Christ. If it is something over which He cannot rule because of His
intrinsic holiness, then it is not “sacred” and it is definitely not “secular.”
It is evil, ruled over by a creator-wannabe.
The earth and all it contains
belong to the Lord (Psalm 24:1-2), but the purpose to which our human spirit
yields them, including the internal thoughts and reasonings of the soul,
determine if they are ruled by Jesus Christ or Satan. There are things we will
not do, will not look at, will not listen to, etc. If the soul is submitted to
the Holy Spirit, His grace will permeate our souls and bodies by experimental,
consistent practice (Eph. 3:14-22). We stand and overcome because our spirits
have been filled with, consistently yielded to and obeyed God’s Spirit in soul
and body. If not, then the breakdown of all these components of our lives is
inevitable.
The central factor in this is
something or someone is receiving more attention and obedience than the Lord
Jesus. Idolatry. This is a season of re-thinking everything and
allowing the Lord to completely rearrange the thought processes and furniture
of our lives. Another word for this is repentance. Idolatry permeates our
society and we can have no power over it if there is something we allow more
control over us than Him.
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