May 2005

“ONE VOICE”

Part One

            Is only one voice in our head dictating our thoughts and actions; or do many voices jam the airwaves of our judgment, causing confusion when we make decisions? The curse of carnal minds is never having a sure word! And what closes man’s hearing ear to the “Sure Word of prophecy--which we do well to heed--that God gives as moonlight shining in a dark place till the Day dawns, and the Daystar arises in our hearts!” (2 Pe 1:19) Our wisdom is flawed by flesh and unreliable, but it is all we’ve got, without Christ! Hindsight is the only way we can measure the effectiveness of our words and deeds; but Jesus possessed foresight! Natural man has only hindsight to assess the reward of his reason; but spiritual man walks in divine wisdom of foresight- which is that vision, without which, God’s people perish! (Pr 29:18) Foresight means making informed decisions! It is godly foreknowledge that enables us to count the cost- and prepare for- the outcome of situations just as Jesus magnificently did in the garden at Gethsemane. He foresaw the immensity of the great sacrifice that lay before Him, and His preparation made Him sweat blood. In light of this spectacle, Jesus tells us “The Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do”; then He adds, “Without Me, you can do nothing!” (Jn 5:19; 15:5) Thus we are advised, “If anyone lacks wisdom, let him ask God Who freely gives to all without *upbraiding (reproach, rebuke, harsh scolding) and He will give it to him; but let him ask with steadfast faith; for he that wavers is as a seawave that is driven and tossed by wind. Such a man need not think he will get anything from the Lord; for a double-minded man is unstable in all his ways!” (Jas 1:5-8)

*Upbraid, is seen only one other time in the NT.

“Jesus arose early the first day of the week, and appeared first to Mary Magdalene,

the woman from whom He had cast seven devils. And she went and told those who
had been with Jesus as He mourned and wept. But they did not believe Mary when
she reported that she had seen Him. After that, Jesus appeared in a different form
to two of His disciples as they walked in the country. The went and told the others,
but they didn’t believe them either. After that, Jesus appeared to 11 of His apostles
as they sat eating. He upbraided them for their unbelief and hardness of heart
when they did not believe the reports of them who said they had seen Him after He
had risen from the dead!” (Mk 16:9-14)

We suffer great tribulation as we are being purged from our unbelief and hardness of heart. As in Jerusalem’s “den of thieves”, Jesus is ridding our temple (our body, His House) of its weak dependency on flesh, instead of faith! The “bottom line” for natural man is money! Men of flesh worship mammon, as men of spirit worship God! Man adores what he deems greater than himself! He exalts what he most admires, desires, or aspires toward. God created mankind with a triune soul of intellect, emotions and will; and a triune spirit of conscience, intuition, and a desire to worship!
             Adam’s spirit must have lacked Anointed Foresight or he would never have wreaked such havoc in that first garden, that would later demand the deplorable suffering of his Savior in that final garden!
             Why must men suffer? Suffering produces the necessary provocation to lay bare the heart! “A good man produces good from his heart’s good treasure; an evil man produces evil from his heart’s evil treasure! The mouth speaks out of the abundance of the heart!” (Lk 6:45) Jesus said, “While this people draw near Me with their mouth, and do honor Me with their lips, nevertheless, their heart is far from Me! They worship Me in vain, teaching the mandates of men as doctrine!” (Mt 15:8-9) David said this about unbelievers, “The wicked in his pride does not seek God, for GOD IS NOT IN ALL HIS THOUGHTS!” (Ps 10:4) What a sad commentary on the creation of an all-wise God of love! But the day is come when God is causing ALL thoughts to focus on Him! The earth is being impacted by “Acts of God”- which unbelievers choose to call “acts of nature”! The disastrous event now dubbed simply “911” may have been labeled “acts of terrorists”, but it nonetheless produced a long-unheard outcry from our nation’s heart, “God bless America”!

[TO BE CONTINUED]