SUBMIT TO GOD
Kay Keith Peebles 11/06/2020 20.42
While Gerald Ford was President of the United States, Donald Rumsfeld served as chief of staff from 1974-1975. He was also his Secretary of Defense from 1975 to 1977. He served in the same position under George W. Bush from January 2001 to December 2006. Prior to that he was in the U.S. Navy for three years as an aviator and elected to the House of Representatives in 1962. He worked in various other key positions for Presidents Ford, Bush and Nixon. During his tenures he worked on the B-1 strategic bomber, the Trident ballistic missile submarine, and the intercontinental ballistic missile programs. He was once asked a question on the subject of terrorism and his response was classic: “You don’t know what you don’t know”. When we don’t know, we haven’t seen or heard.
J. K. Simmons is the main spokesperson for the Farmers Insurance Company. His entertaining commercials usually end with the same phrase: “We know a thing or two because we’ve seen a thing or two”. When we do know, we have seen or heard.
One of the biggest blocks to our spiritual hearing and seeing is pride! The Bible says, “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.” Proverbs 16:18. James, the brother of Jesus wrote: “You adulteresses! Do you not know that being the world’s friend is being God’s enemy? So whoever chooses to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you think that Scripture says to no purpose that the spirit which He has made to dwell in us lusts with envy? But He gives us more and more grace [through the power of the Holy Spirit to deny sin and live an obedient life that reflects both our faith and our gratitude for our salvation]. Therefore, it says, ‘God is opposed to the proud and haughty, but [continually] gives grace to the humble’ [who turns away from self-righteousness].” James 4:4-6.
The prophet Jeremiah charged the Israelites with a warning from the Lord: “Hear this now, O foolish people, without understanding, who have eyes and see not, and who have ears and hear not.” Jeremiah 5:21.
Isaiah 6:9-10 says, “And He said, ‘Go, and tell this people: Keep on hearing, but do not understand; Keep on seeing, but do not perceive. Make the hearts of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; Lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and return and be healed.’”
We as human beings have the capability of hiding sin in our hearts making us conveniently unaware of it. We can fool ourselves when we ignore sin long enough and find we can forget it’s even there until judgment comes. We must not become so relaxed in our faith that we never evaluate our heart and motives. On the other hand, we don’t want to do self-examination continuously causing us to become over-laden or obsessed by our weaknesses. When we dwell in constant communion with the Lord, the Holy Spirit can alert us to those things we have said or done which are not pleasing to God. If we find ourselves far from His manifest presence during the day, we may need to take an inventory of our actions.
The Holy Spirit is attracted to our Christ-likeness, but our “fleshly or worldly” behavior grieves Him. Without the close presence of His conviction, we can lose sight of our words and actions that are not pleasing to the Lord. We can hurt and offend others without knowing it, but even more importantly, we can quench the Holy Spirit’s influence in our lives without realizing it! When we seek the wisdom and presence of God, He gives to us liberally but when we ignore His wisdom and presence, He will back away and let us do our “thing”.
“Rejoice always and delight in your faith; be unceasing and persistent in prayer, in every situation be thankful and continually give thanks to God; for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus. Do not quench [subdue, or be unresponsive to the working and guidance of] the Holy Spirit. Do not scorn or reject gifts of prophecy or prophecies [spoken revelations—words of instruction or exhortation or warning]. But test all things carefully [so you can recognize what is good]. Hold firmly to that which is good. Abstain from every form of evil.” 1 Thessalonians 5:16-21
A few weeks ago I posted a teaching entitled: THE UNFAILING LOVE OF GOD on our website. It is completely true that the Lord’s love for us is unfailing but it is also true that we can ignore the correction of the Lord to the degree we are full of pride and deaf to His voice of instruction. The Old Testament is filled with stories about the people of God falling into the sin of idolatry repeatedly. The Lord would call an intercessor/prophet like Moses or Jeremiah and the other prophets to warn the people before destruction came. God offers the opportunity to repent but if it is refused, destruction will surely come.
Chapters 2 and 3 of the Book of Revelation are warnings to the seven churches before the Lord returns. All but one church were given a warning and a path to correction before judgment. The lukewarm church is the most disturbing because of Jesus’ comments. “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot. So because you are lukewarm (spiritually useless), and neither hot nor cold, I will vomit you out of My mouth [rejecting you with disgust]. Because you say, ‘I am rich, and have prospered and grown wealthy, and have need of nothing,’ and you do not know that you were wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked [without hope and in great need]. I counsel you to buy from Me gold that has been heated red hot and refined by fire so that you may become truly rich; and white clothes
to clothe yourself so that the shame of your nakedness will not be seen; and healing salve to be put on your eyes so that you may see. To those that I [dearly and tenderly] love, I rebuke and discipline [showing them their faults and instructing them]; so be enthusiastic and repent [change your inner self—your old way of thinking, your sinful behavior—seek God’s will]. Behold, I stand at the door and continually knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him (restore him) and he with Me. He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit beside me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down beside my Father on His throne. He who has ear let him hear and heed what the Spirit says to the churches.” Revelation 3:15-22
It is important to note here that this lukewarm church did not know what they did not know. They thought they had properly examined themselves and were in right standing before the Lord. They could not have been more wrong. He said they were disgusting and He would vomit them out of His mouth. How could they have been so deceived? They had relaxed in their faith over time and it was so gradual they never detected how far they had fallen from the faith. Thank God He loves us enough to warn us and give us the opportunity to repent and return to our first love status!
The Lord does not send us pandemics and disasters to correct us but when they come, they can cause us to re-evaluate our lives, our choices and our beliefs. May we allow this time we have been given to put our hearts under the microscope of the Holy Spirit so that He can show us what we do not hear or see. When we submit to God, it is the beginning of our healing. Then we are given the tools to resist the devil so that he must flee from us. “So submit to God. Resist the devil [stand firm against him] and he will flee from you. Come close to God and He will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinner; and purify your
hearts, you double-minded. Be miserable and grieve and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves [with an attitude of repentance and insignificance] in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.” James 4:7-10.
Those who believe in Jesus as Savior and Lord are on a journey of faith which requires us to be light in this world drawing others to Him. If we abide in darkness we cannot shine His light toward others and our witness is lost. When we abide in His presence, He will speak to us, commune with us and remain in us so that we can know that we belong to Him. Oneness with the Lord is imperative for us to be His proper witnesses. Through oneness with Him our love for others will manifest into action. Our hearts will be filled with peace and contentment in His presence while His will becomes our will. Then we will know a thing or two because we have seen and heard a thing or two.
