Author: theparacleteshammer

This video is what a Teacher/Exhorter combo looks like leading worship.
 
I think one of the best hermeneutical expressions of Romans 8:31 is found in the Amanda Cook cut, “You Make Me Brave”, from the CD of the same name.

You are for us.
You are not against us.

Rather than drawing the focus to “the big, evil others out there who could be against us”, this simple line maintains the focus on the L-rd, who is definitely in our corner, as at a boxing match, or race, cheering us on.  It focuses on the relationship between the Father and His sons, us.
We have so many expressions of “G-d is on our side” that often let the focus drift to the idea or implication that those enemies of the moment that we have are also His enemies, while failing to realize that “if our enemy has a drivers’ license and a Social Security Number, we have the wrong enemy” (Ed Silvoso).
It is completely needful that we have an understanding that our enemies, as in the demonic forces, are not a match for G-d’s surpassing power.  But if we assume a victim mentality or enshroud ourselves in a victim spirit, and assume that people we don’t like are people that G-d is against, when the L-rd Yeshua died for them, in the same fashion He died for us (while we were yet sinners-Romans 5:8), and we assume that G-d is going to hurt those who hurt us, and we behave as spoiled brats when He does not get them back for hurting us, then we might need to reevaluate Romans 8:31.
Cook, a worship leader in Redding, California, on the other hand, does not have our enemies in view, but rather our relationship with G-d, which is transformed from an adversarial relationship in Romans 5:6-9 to a relationship that is affectionate in Romans 8.
Provided we walk in the spirit….
There is a multifaceted dynamic present in Romans 8 that I covered in brief in my previous post that shows the reality of being “in the Spirit” as opposed to “in the flesh”.
We are transformed from adversaries to friends.  And it is not our adversaries in the natural realm that G-d is against, but rather our adversaries in the spiritual realm.
Let me also put a second spin on it. Repeating from above, G-d is not against our natural adversaries, but our spiritual adversaries.
Further, G-d is against HIS adversaries in the natural realm.
And we should exercise caution in assuming we know who His adversaries are in the natural realm, given He died for all of us while we were against Him.  The handing out of labels is something that G-d takes very, very seriously, and we should exercise caution when considering the option of labeling others when He has not labeled them.
This dynamic right here is one specific reason why developing a hard heart keeps us from seeing clearly.   Hard hearts can clearly see their rights, but they often cannot see the subtleties of G-d in a situation.
Look at the context of Matthew 19:1-10.  The text of Matthew 19:1-10 is in dealing with divorce because of adultery.
Looking at the context, which is Matthew 18:21-35 (and add to this the parallel topic passage of Luke 17:1-5), Yeshua dealt with unforgiveness in interpersonal relationships. This segment that covers offended hearts that have grown crunchy toward the Gracious King leads into the discussion on divorce, and is tied to that passage in Matthew 19 by way of Matthew 19:1’s transition; Matthew 18:21-35 is the frame for Matthew 19:1-10.
The issue is not whether we can divorce those who have cheated on us and remarry, there is no question that we can.  The more sensitive and subtle issue in this passage is making sure our hearts are in a soft and tender place.
Consider this, which formed the basis for our discussion in home group this past Sunday on the Bait of Satan.
Abishai, in 1 Samuel 26, was ready to run Saul through with the spear.  The L-rd had put Saul, Abner, and the entire army with Saul into a deep sleep from the L-rd (1 Sam. 26:12). He was poised with Saul’s spear over the king.  And at this time the L-rd had departed from Saul.
Why did the L-rd put this army, and this wicked king, into a deep sleep?
“Answer: to test David.”
“To see if David is going to be another Saul.  Is he going to remain a man after the heart of G-d, or is he going to take matters into his own hands?” (John Bevere: The Bait of Satan Lesson 3, “My Father, My Father”).
The L-rd never spoke during this passage, and David, who knew the heart of G-d because of all of those years with the sheep getting close to G-d, understood what the silences of G-d meant, and what a deep sleep means.  He had the opportunity to be delivered from this wicked man, and yet, he chose to honor him as the L-rd’s anointed.
As a matter of fact, when Saul was slain, David commanded all Israel to learn a song that said, “SAUL and Johnathan, beloved and lovely…”.
Now, does that sound like the heart of a man who was offended (knowing Mercies the way we do, no one usually takes up an offense faster for another party than a Mercy)?  Not at all.
David still treated Saul with an above-and-beyond attitude even when Saul pursued him.
And his heart remained soft.
Our hearts as well, in dealing with our enemies, should not grow dull.  But remain soft and pliable.  Tears, weeping, mourning, brokenness are what help that process.  When we turn from our adversaries and turn to G-d, then in that moment we can receive clarity as we are laying in Papa’s lap dealing with our strong emotions (Psalm 39:12, 56:8).  This is how we transform pain into productive pain, by asking G-d to step into the midst of our pain and helping us to process it in order to see where He is at work in it.
If we can step away from a betrayal or from an adversary with a heart that seeks G-d and what He is doing in the midst of a painful process, then we can grow, and that process will help to ensure our hearts stay soft.   But so many people get wound up in their rights as believers, that the heart suffers, which is a major reason why subsequent relationships falter beyond the first.  And this is not just in marriage, but also in friendships with college roommates, brothers, best friends, family members, etc.
This that I have written is the one hand.  On the other hand, I will concede there is a time and a place for sarcasm, for mocking, for responding with a sharp response to those who have hurt us.  But these responses should not come at the expense of our hearts hardening.  It was a hard heart that decimated the nation of Egypt.
Thus, as we are engaging with the L-rd being for us, let us remember to keep the focus more on our interaction with Him rather than focusing on how vile is the person who wounded us, and lest we turn someone into G-d’s adversary that G-d does not treat that way.
 

Off the top, for those of us that believe Romans 7:14-23 still applies in fullness to those who are in Christ, we do not understand that Romans 7:25 and ALL of chapter 8 applies to those who are in Christ way more than the lion’s share of Chapter 7.
Good, now that I have that off of my soulish chest….heh, I will move onto the point of this post.
Romans 8 shatters the lies that we are made to believe that we are under the bondage of sin as believers.
Romans 8 says that we are NOT OBLIGED to sin.  That means we are not bound to the obligation to sin.   Again, let that sink in, gang.
Verse 12.
Imma post it in Greek first because the Greek is just lovely.

Ἄρα οὖν, ἀδελφοί, ὀφειλέται ἐσμὲν οὐ τῇ σαρκὶ τοῦ κατὰ σάρκα ζῆν,

And my translation:

So therefore, brothers (including sisters), we are not debtors to the flesh, to live according to the flesh.

You are not a debtor to the flesh.
You owe the flesh nothing.
You are not required to sin.
You are not guaranteed to sin or required to sin a little each day in order to certify your humanity.   Now, will we screw up.  Yes.  And for that, we have 1 John 1:9.  But is it your doom to live and dwell in sin as a sinful screw-up the rest of your redeemed days.  Let me savor this response.
Nnnnnooooooo…….
Just no.  Just stop it.   Stop with the incessant thinking that you are required to sin because you are a human.  Stop with the idiotic mindset that sin is your usual way of existing.  Yes, we all know there is going to be the mess-up, but the reality is as you become more Christ’s and become more IN Christ, you will sin less.  Moreover, our position in Christ is seated in the heavens above the fracas of the natural realm and above the fracas of the demonic realm.
Following our initiation and baptism into Christ, water baptism being the primary means of healing and deliverance for new believers, sin goes from being something to which we are in bondage, to something that is a choice.  Your will is released from bondage following your conversion and baptism, and now sin becomes a choice rather than a destiny.
The other nature gets kicked out increasingly and the process of increasing being-set-apart begins to take hold.  And yes, you are faced with hundreds of choices and decisions with respect to sin.  Are you going to let it have its way or are you going to choose in the direction of your destiny.  As you progress in Christ, a natural affect of that consequence is that you will indeed sin less.
Therefore, we are moving from a place where sinning is the rule to a place where sin is the exception.  We were designed to flow in a victorious and overcoming lifestyle of being his bride and his son.
Gang, this is not even a contest.  We were redeemed, and we need to begin pushing the envelope and instead of settling for a lifestyle where we tolerate a little bit of sin ans normal and natural each day, we need to challenge ourselves and begin pushing to see how far we can go in affection, depth, holiness, sanctity, tenderness, and height of relationship.
Sin is not a guaranteed destiny of yours, but rather it gets reduced to an option.
If any one is in Christ, they are a…
New creation…
Beloved friend, you are new in Him, and he adores you a whole lot.
You are not required to sin, but now you have the capacity and the anchor that will stabilizes you in order to enable you to choose the right path.
Just as the Holy Spirit enabled the Upper Room Disciples to speak in tongues, so you to have the power and enablement within as a follower of Jesus to walk in the manner that befits a son of the King.  In Romans 8, you are given a litany of exhortation that shows what it looks like to be in Christ.

1. Freedom from sin’s legal hold and right to your life. 8:2
2. A capacity to live by the Spirit. 8:5
3. The mind controlled by the Spirit. 8:6
4. Capable of pleasing G-d because you are in the Spirit. 8:8
5. Belong to the Father. 8:9
6. Alive and in righteousness. 8:10
7. Indebted to no flesh or to sin. 8:12
8. Capable of putting to death the deeds of the flesh. 8:13
9. Capable of being led by the Spirit. 8:14
10. Capable of being sons of G-d. 8:14
11. Adopted is your relaity. 8:15
12. You have the inner witness of the Spirit if you are in Christ and in the Spirit. 8:16
    1. Now, you need to follow the Spirit and cultivate a relationship with the Spirit in order to strengthen this inner witness and discernment, but He is present and able to provide you with that inner witness.  But it is something that you have to be sensitive to and cultivate.
13. You are heirs. 8:17
14. You are capable of handling suffering. 8:18
15. You are what all creation longs for. 8:19
16. We are expressions of the hope of creation. 8:20
17. We are being redeemed in our bodies. 8:23
18. We are assisted by the Spirit when we are weak. 8:26
19. You have a friend who will help you to search your heart for everything G-d wants to fix or repair in you.  All that is damaged or wounded or out of alignment, is on G-d’s to-do list. 8:27
20. You are not subject to the enemy’s accusation or condemnation.  You do not have to be subject to your own condemnation.  G-d has such a lovely and strong and multi-facted destiny of hope for you.  G-d, being on your side, means the enemy of your soul, the devil himself, and all of his hordes, cannot and will not ultimately prevail, while there is still a “yes” in your spirit to the L-rd, no matter how weak that “yes” is.
21. That is what is meant by the inability of the enemy to separate you from the L-rd.  It’s not merely a separation to hell.  It is a capacity of the L-rd to tighten the relationship He has with you and you have with Him so that there is not a seperation in this life.  Paul is not merely talking about condemnation to hell.  He is talking about the interactions you have with G-d in the here-and-now. 8:38-39.

Gang, This, this right here, is the power in Romans 8.  We are not merely secure in His hand and made safe from hell, but we are secure in the present moment, from one moment to the next.
 

Let me give some perceived background of context for this post:
We have might have an idea that covenants are nothing more than the exchange of goods and services enhanced by an agreement. That is a very shallow understanding of the concept of covenants
Anne Hamilton is a woman to whose works I was introduced by a precious Exhorter:
She raises some fascinating points here. And for clarity’s I will be happy to answer questions about this post.
Get ready, gang as this is a little more abstract than most TPH offerings. You might need to read it a few times. I know I had to, but there are some real gems for the miners who persevere:

At the risk of clearing out my entire friends’ list, I must express my deep concern over the confusion between covenant and trading. I’ve read the books. I’ve watched the videos. I’ve been to the seminars.
And at the end of the day, I have realised that “trading” is being used indiscriminately, as if it sometimes means “covenant” and sometimes not.
Covenant is essentially and radically different to trading. Covenant is about oneness. That’s what differentiates it from contract, pledge, vow, exchange or trade. ONENESS. Covenant happens to be about exchanging gifts as tokens of love, so it might look like trading in some respects. But the difference is ONENESS. If I buy a car, I don’t want to trade money for vehicle and wind up having to take care of the seller’s family for life. In a trade, it’s not about gifts – it’s hopefully about “ethical” exchange.
Much spiritual trading in my view (here goes my friends’ list – just unfriend me, don’t abuse me because that will open at least one of us up to retaliation by the spirit of Leviathan) is simply about unbelief in the atonement.
It’s a natural human inclination to want to help Jesus out when we’ve prayed and prayed and prayed and still things haven’t gone the way we wanted. What can we “do”? Confess? Repent? Forgive? Renounce? Trade? Go to the courts?
We are so inventive in finding ways to enhance the atonement. Repentance and forgiveness only “work” by the grace of God. He requires them but, in truth, they don’t add a single thing to the all-sufficiency of the sacrifice of Jesus. They are more about tokens of love than anything else – about telling God that, yes, broken as I am, I am committed to the relationship. And that, in my heart of hearts, I cannot believe in the atonement without wanting to “do” something to help Jesus solve my present crisis.
The only fallback position in this case is, I think, encapsulated in the words of the centurion: “Lord, I believe – help my unbelief.”

The context for this piece and my remark that seemed probably out of context was attending as part of a Sociology class called “Aging and Society” (The Sociological impacts of gerontology on cultures). Hence, my remark seemed to offend a whole lot of people in the audience in which I was sitting, but it did amuse Dr. Goodall, who, as a Teacher, was capable of responding with some good wit. I am sure she enjoyed responding as much as I, a student in a class who was curious, because here was a card-carrying old lady, who had spent DECADES on her feet and butt working with primates, and I was truly curious what had changed for her between when she started to that point in her life.

Anyway, without further adieu, here is the article from the Orlando Sentinel, recopied here, with the link below…

Famed Lady Of Chimps Enthralls Audiences

Jane Goodall Can Give A True Jungle Yell

February 17, 2000|By Charlene Hager-Van Dyke of The Sentinel Staff

DELAND – After squinting to notice the small figures high in the back of the 2,500-seat Edmunds Center at Stetson University on Wednesday night, famed primatologist Jane Goodall welcomed them with a unique greeting: a chimpanzee distance call.

Dressed in a green turtleneck, tweed pants and a camouflage-patterned jacket, Goodall offered a low gruntlike sound that escalated to a resounding high-pitched squeal. 

This was as close as Goodall could get to Africa’s Gombe National Forest on her lecture tour.

A few hours earlier – on her mother’s 95th birthday – the world’s foremost authority on chimpanzees offered a similar hello to a large group of Stetson students and faculty in Elizabeth Hall Auditorium.

I talked to my mother yesterday, and she asked me to send her love to all of those people in Florida. So here’s love from my mother,” she said with arms outstretched. 

Goodall is the fifth in Stetson University’s Stewart Lecture Series, which began in 1991 with Archbishop Desmond Tutu and continued with former President Jimmy Carter, journalist Bill Moyers and Nobel Peace laureate Elie Wiesel. 

At both of Wednesday’s venues, Goodall explained some of the programs provided by the Jane Goodall Institute, including the Roots and Shoots environmental education program for schools and the continuing work in helping both chimpanzee and human populations in the Gombe National Forest. 

Goodall, her varying shades of gray hair pulled neatly back into a ponytail, went straight to work at the afternoon session as she dropped to her knees near the edge of the stage. She said she wanted to get closer to her audience, which ranged from teenagers to senior citizens. Afterward, she opened the floor to questions and got comfortable. 

Comfortable for Goodall meant a familiar position: buttocks and feet on the floor with her arms wrapped around her knees as if she were ready to settle in for a day of observing chimpanzees. But, instead of binoculars, on this day she would hold a microphone. 

Despite occasional sound problems in the auditorium, Goodall fielded questions about topics ranging from chimpanzee language, psychotic primate behavior and medical research to zoos as natural habitats, her motivation to persevere and her evolutionary beliefs. 

One male student’s question – “How has your aging affected your research?” – seemed to stun the audience but to amuse Goodall, who will turn 66 on April 3. 

“I spend 300 days a year on the road and usually the most exercise I get is climbing the stairs at a hotel and then finding that the door is locked and having to walk back down,” she said. “But,” she shot back, “I find I’m usually more fit than most of the people I work with, even if they’re in their 20s.”

That comment drew much applause from the audience, many of whom had a copy of her latest book, the new bestseller Reason for Hope: A Spiritual Journey, planted in their laps, awaiting her autograph.

Goodall also talked of her English childhood, telling the story of an incident when she was 4 years old and wanted to know how an object as large as an egg could come out of a chicken. When no one answered her question, she hid in a henhouse for more than four hours to find out for herself.

When Goodall was 11, she fell in love with Tarzan (she always thought Jane was a wimp), she told the delighted audience.” 

I thought I was a better mate for him than Jane – which I would have been,” she said. 

Goodall attended secretarial school and then got a job with a documentary film company before being invited to Kenya by a friend. To save money for the trip, she worked as a waitress, stowing away her wages and every nickel she received in tips. 

When she was 23 years old, Goodall met paleontologist and anthropologist Louis Leakey, who hired her as his assistant on a three-year fossil-hunting expedition in Olduvai Gorge. 

After receiving her Ph.D. in ethology – the study of behavior patterns in animals – from Cambridge University, Goodall went back to Africa to begin what has evolved into a 40-year commitment to chimpanzees and their well-being. 

Goodall made history in 1960 when she discovered that chimpanzees made and used tools to collect termites for food. She also has brought to light the similarities between chimpanzees and humans, including their passive tendencies of holding hands, kissing and hugging as well as their more aggressive behaviors of fighting, killing and even cannibalism. 

As head of the Jane Goodall Institute in Silver Spring, MD., she spends much of her time doing what she did at Stetson: spreading her message of conservation and awareness of our relationship with chimpanzees. 

“Instead of sitting in the Gombe Forest doing what I love most, now I’m traveling the world talking to people and trying to raise money,” she said. 

She left the afternoon audience with a vision of one of her first memorable encounters with the chimpanzee she named David Greybeard.

“I thought I had lost him in the forest, and then I crawled through some branches and found him. I offered him a nut from my opened hand. He took it and then dropped it onto the ground, and then he touched my hand with some pressure. He told me that he didn’t want it, but that he knew what I was offering.”

http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2000-02-17/news/0002170040_1_jane-goodall-chimpanzee-stetson-university

Okay, gang.
I have been harping on this a little bit on another place on Facebook land, thank you Sheila Galvez and Amanda Damon.
So here goes.

“στῆτε οὖν περιζωσάμενοι τὴν ὀσφὺν ὑμῶν ἐν ἀληθείᾳ καὶ ἐνδυσάμενοι τὸν θώρακα τῆς δικαιοσύνηςκαὶ ὑποδησάμενοι τοὺς πόδας ἐν ἑτοιμασίᾳ τοῦ εὐαγγελίου τῆς εἰρήνης,ἐν πᾶσιν ἀναλαβόντες τὸν θυρεὸν τῆς πίστεως, ἐν ᾧ δυνήσεσθε πάντα τὰ βέλη τοῦ πονηροῦ [τὰ] πεπυρωμένα σβέσαι·καὶ τὴν περικεφαλαίαν τοῦ σωτηρίου δέξασθε καὶ τὴν μάχαιραν τοῦ πνεύματος, ὅ ἐστιν ῥῆμα θεοῦ.    Διὰ πάσης προσευχῆς καὶ δεήσεως προσευχόμενοι ἐν παντὶ καιρῷ ἐν πνεύματι, καὶ εἰς αὐτὸ ἀγρυπνοῦντες ἐν πάσῃ προσκαρτερήσει καὶ δεήσει περὶ πάντων τῶν ἁγίων”

Ephesians 6:14-18

Oops, wrong text, need to grab something y’all can read.

“Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.  Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace.  In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication.  To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints,”

Ephesians 6:13–18

There. Much better.

Now then.

Let me make some addenda

I am studying out the concept of giving throughout Scripture, given that we have an…ahem…interesting theology of giving in the church, and one that is pretty weird in many places.
During this reading, I figured I would punch up a search that deals with giving ideas.  Think max frame:

 
I have to point this one out.
“The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave and I ate.”
How do we know there was an issue here and that the perception of both was twisted?
G-d used the same word, natan, to describe that which he gave us in Genesis 9:3.  “I have given you everything.
So, man cursed the gift G-d gave him.
And no, I am going nowhere near that idiotic bull**** joke that talks about blameshifting.
The problem is that they wrecked the entire package of human existence.
And our issue is that, as believers, we act like idiots if we participate in this garbage.  And we have no excuse if we are believers.
And, its not just one side of the coin or the other side.  It is the whole enchilada.
Without Christ, you are wholly incapable of seeing the opposite sex and anything but wrongheaded.
Which means, in our woundedness, after we come to Christ, we have got to simply hunt for the win/win with the opposite sex on a constant basis.
We dare not squander the grace of G-d by making cracks at the opposite sex.
And we dare not squander the flavor of G-d’s grace by taking on a victim spirit that says we can’t recover.
Is there a place for dealing with wounds and expressing pain?
Yes.
But at some point do we have to take ownership of and responsibility for things that are not ours.  You better believe it.
Let me add to this.
Read the following blog post by my friend, when you have some time, and then read the following quote here.
https://noblesubjects.com/2018/09/08/hello-12-all-because-of-a-gas-can/

-Spartanburg is Teacher Redemptive Gift and the principle is Responsibility.  One high point of responsibility is to voluntarily clean up other people’s irresponsibility, even when it is not your fault.

Sometimes our job, and the way we earn some beefy authority is by taking care of things that are not our responsibility.
Sometimes, in order to gain authority in your own life, you have to be willing to do some things that are flat-out not comfortable.
Sometimes, you have to refuse the bait of calling a man a chauvainst, or a woman a Jezebel, or pick your demeaning term, and own a problem that isn’t yours, endure some pain, and do some gym time in order to easily smack down some crap that has been hindering you and your friends.
And recall, you have been given way more than that spouse who will not behave rightly.
Every good and perfect gift.
So, find the gifts among the trash.
And work with those limited materials.
Chances are, G-d wants to play chess and brinksmanship with your life as the playground in order to whack the enemy a good one.
The question is, in order to earn high authority that He has had for you for a long time, are you willing to become a bit perplexed for a season in order for the L-rd to demolish your and His ancient enemy?
 
 

Text:

“A little balm, a little honey, gum, myrrh, pistachio nuts, and almonds. Take double the money with you.”
From Genesis 43:11-12

-The capacity to stretch a dollar into excellence, beauty, and ultimately things that lend themselves to flow.
“It is amazing how [a Mercy] can take limited resources, be they finances, decor items, etc, and with those limited resources, decorate or set up in such a way that it adds to the flow of an environment. Those items are blessed and arranged in such a way that they improve the spiritual quality of whereever they are.”
It creates that lead-with-your-emotions, Mercy, intangible wow factor that is difficult to language.