SEARED

I Timothy 4:1-2 – But the Holy Spirit distinctly and expressly declares that in latter times some will turn away from the faith, giving attention to deluding and seducing spirits and doctrines that demons teach,

through the hypocrisy and pretensions of liars whose consciences are SEARED (cauterized).

When I think of the word “seared” I think of the first step in preparing a pot roast. You first have to sear the outside of the meat before you begin the slow process of roasting. Webster’s definition gives a perfect definition of the word “sear” where it pertains to our spiritual lives as well: To burn the surface of, to wither, to brand.

In Paul’s letter to Timothy, he is giving him pastoral instructions regarding the church and its members. These words were for believers. Yes, even believers can be turned away from the faith by seducing spirits, and thus have their conscience seared.

I’ll give you a practical example so we can all stay on the same page here. There are many examples I can use such as lying, stealing, cheating, and lust. But from my memory bank I will pull from the file of alcoholism. Say I decide to start having a few cocktails during the week (besides my weekend drinking which is totally justified simply because it’s the weekend) because I feel I deserve it. I’ve had a long day with the kids and my husband is working late. So even though my conscience, which is governed by the Holy Spirit, is telling me that this is a mistake, I continue on anyway. Phase one in the searing process has begun and I have effectively burned away the outer layer of my conscience.

Then I find that I must have that nightly drink despite what my husband or my peers or my conscience is telling me. I decide that I will have the final (and only) say in the matter. Phase two, withering begins. My heart begins to wither and shrink. My relationship with God and with others and even with myself has started to deteriorate and dry up.

Before long I feel branded. I have become the alcoholic, the very thing that I swore I would never become. My conscience has been seared, withered, and burned. I no longer can hear with ease the gentle and loving voice of my Heavenly Father as spoken through the Holy Spirit. I can only hear the enemy now, my new taskmaster, accusing and condemning.

But alas, this condition is reversible! Unlike the pot roast that is forever seared and eventually cooked, your conscience can be redeemed and renewed. The healing of the heart begins the moment we invite Christ back into that place of Lord in our lives. As we heed His voice and bring every thought captive into His obedience, we will find restoration. The Holy Spirit will gladly bring the conscience back into its rightful place in our lives and we can find peace and purpose once again.

NETS

Luke 5:4-6 – When He had stopped speaking, He said to Simon (Peter), Put out into the deep [water], and lower your NETS for a haul. And Simon (Peter) answered, Master, we toiled all night [exhaustingly] and caught nothing [in our NETS]. But on the ground of Your word, I will lower the NETS [again]. And when they had done this they caught a great number of fish…

I love this account in scripture because it’s as practical to the fisherman or businessman as it is to the housewife. Here we see Peter having toiled all night “exhaustingly” and now cleaning his nets and calling it a day. Fishing was his job and what was pulled up in his net was his income. Peter worked the night shift, a good 8-10 hours, and came up empty. No pay for a tiresome day's (or night’s) work.

At the beginning of Chapter 5 we see Jesus preaching to a large crowd on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. The people were so numerous that they began to press into Him and literally push Him towards the water’s edge. In verse 5, Jesus sees that Peter’s boat has been shored, and climbs aboard. Peter’s boat represents his career, his livelihood. Christ then tells Peter to put out for the deep water. Put yourself in Peter’s position for just a moment. He has just worked exhaustingly all night long and caught nothing. Now Jesus climbs aboard his boat unannounced and tells him to set out for deep waters and lower his nets …. again. Peter had just cleaned the nets, folded them, and was about to put them away and probably go to bed, dejected and downcast. I can just see the look on old Peter’s face. This rugged, tanned, weary fisherman probably grouching under his breath, but doing it anyway.

Now imagine yourself in the same boat. Maybe your job is low paying and unrewarding, or finds you surrounded by fussing and cussing all day long. Maybe your full time job is to stay home with young children and tend to the affairs of the home. But you find yourself weary, coming up empty, dejected, and downright ready to call it a day. Then Jesus comes aboard and tells you to put out into the deep water and let down your net, again, for a haul. Peter could have said no thanks, no way, or buzz off. So can you. The Bible says that when Peter surrendered to Jesus’ request that he caught so many fish that his nets were to the point of breaking and that his boat was in danger of sinking! Talk about abundance! Peter had to call to his partners in another boat to help them with the catch.

Think of what would happen if we were to not only allow Jesus in our lives but also yield to His requests. We will have to go into possibly uncharted deep waters, maybe places we’ve never been before. We will have to let down our nets, employ our talents, roll up our sleeves, and obey with all that’s within us. But, oh my goodness, the abundance that will follow. The miraculous blessings that will be brought in by our obedience, so much so that others will benefit as well. It says that Peter’s partners James and John as well as the surrounding crowd saw this miracle and believed. What if our lives reflected the works of God to the degree that even innocent bystanders believed! Then we would truly be fishers of men.

WRESTLING

Ephesians 6:12 – For we are not WRESTLING with flesh and blood [contending only with physical opponents], but against the despotisms, against the powers, against [the master spirits who are] the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spirit forces of wickedness in the heavenly (supernatural) sphere.

My eighth grade son was just recently on a wrestling team which has given me a new definition of the term. I don’t know if you have ever witnessed a middle school wrestling team in action but it is a thing to behold. There are youngsters in the 90 pound weight class and giant hulks in the 190 pounds weight class. These half dressed, sweaty, angry, Lord of the Flies teens are disturbing at best and downright terrifying at worse.

They skulk out against their opponent with shear intimidating terror on their faces. Then they proceed to circle one another in an attempt to locate the greatest spot of weakness in which to initiate their strike. After the first strike is made the battle is on, whether the other opponent is ready or not. It is a grizzly, grunting, gruesome sport to watch. It’s unlike basketball, football, or soccer where you have the team to turn to in moments of weakness. Wrestling is strictly one on one, to the death (well, that’s a bit of an exaggeration).

But what is not an exaggeration is the desire of your enemy. He has no other purpose but to steal from you, kill you, and destroy you and all that you hold dear. He too comes out against you one on one, encircling your life, looking for weak spots, and then pouncing unmercilessly.

The sixth chapter of Ephesians is dedicated to this spiritual warfare, our adversary, and our only chance of survival. We are commanded to put on the whole armor of God which includes the shield of faith, the breastplate of righteousness, the belt of truth, and the shoes of peace. My favorite piece of armor is the sword of the spirit which is the word of God. This is our only offensive piece of battle equipment. With the word of God (his promises and his commandments) we are able to cut our enemy down to size.

Most Christians unfortunately fail to follow through with the donning of the armor, either out of ignorance, stubbornness, disobedience, or just plain apathy. Going back to the middle school wrestling match analogy, what kind of a fool would just stand there and let their opponent pummel them? Would they cower in fear and claim they were a victim? Would they run in terror and confusion and hide their head in the sand? I can describe these scenarios because I know them well. I also know that empowered with the spirit of the Living God and with all the resources He has provided us for our Victory, we CAN have an undefeated season against our enemy!

TRUST

1 Corinthians 1:9 - God is faithful (reliable, TRUSTworthy, and therefore ever true to His promise, and He can be depended on).

March is a very unpredictable month. Spring has sprung yet the weather can't quite make up its mind. There can be frost warnings at night while we don shorts during the day. I've changed clothes three times in one day, and not because I was a diva on tour. How can one month be so uncertain? We don't like uncertainty, do we? Certainly not! No one likes being caught off guard. Sorry March, but I just can't trust you.

But then again, who can we trust? I used to think that I could trust my parents, my spouse, myself. After all, aren't these the most important relationships we'll ever experience in a lifetime? It all begins at childhood. That word alone brings a smile to some and visions of horror to others. Same holds true for the next word – marriage. Why is this? Is it because we are all, and I do mean all, human and fallible? The longer you live the clearer this truth will become. "For we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." - Romans 3:23.

There is only One who can be trusted, who will never fail us, who is faithful, and who keeps his promises. Someone who won't catch us off guard or leave us cold and alone. We may know this truth in our heads, but only when we totally believe it with our hearts will we begin to rise each day with a new song, knowing that our Creator and Savior is always there and always will be. No more doubts, fears, or worries.

And don't you think He designed it that way?! Think with me for a moment. If there were just one human being on this planet, one month on the calendar, one pill on the shelf that could be trusted infallibly, wouldn't we worship it instead? There is ONLY ONE who can be trusted and that is our Creator and Sustainer. The day you surrender to that One will be your Independence Day.

REPROACH

Joshua 5:9 – And the Lord said to Joshua, This day I have rolled away the REPROACH of Egypt from you. So the name of this place is called Gilgal [rolling] to this day.

God makes this declaration to the Israelites after the circumcision of the new generation and just before the battle at Jericho whereby the Israelites would victoriously march into the Promised Land. This same protocol is still used for God’s people today. Cut the flesh away (better known as dying to the flesh), then the reproach (or shame) will be rolled away, and finally you may march triumphantly into your promised land.

So often we come to God with our dreams and demands, yet we wonder why we are still living in bondage in Egypt. Why is our past still haunting us? Why do we still feel the shame and reproach and judgment of our past? God’s recipe for success must be followed in order to take hold of our promised lands.

Let me give you a more modern, personal example from my own life. I gave my life to Christ as a teenager allowing him to be the Savior of my life but not the Lord of my life (big difference between the two, by the way). For the next 20 years I proceeded to live as the captain of my own ship, the master of my own destiny. Twenty years of bad choices and wrong decisions heaped on mountains of shame and disgrace (reproach). I diligently went to church every Sunday, attended Bible studies, and clung earnestly to the promises in God’s word. Yet, things got worse instead of better. My guilt and bitterness over my past was still there, I still was walking in bondage in many areas, and I saw no hint of any Promised Land in my horizon.

This is the very place where many Christians find themselves …….. stuck, dry, and disheartened. The flesh has not been rolled away so there is no power for victory. Our chains are still intact, our enemies still have the upper hand. Christ must be the Savior AND Lord of our lives. He must be in control. We must surrender to Him in order to find His rest.

The miraculous march around Jericho is probably well known to most of us, but the prerequisites are ignored. We want the power, the victory, and the abundance, but not the cost. There is no victory without Jesus. There is no Promised Land without His presence. And there is no freedom without the power of his Holy Spirit rolling the reproach away.

FAIR

There is no verse for the day because this word is NOT found in God's word. I looked in the Strong's Exhaustive Concordance and found only references to the word “fair” in the sense of lovely and beautiful, not in the sense that we like to use it. The dictionary defines fair as reasonable, unbiased, done according to the “rules.” Okay, then, whose rules?

I get so impatient with my young children when they use this word in the following sentence, "He gets to stay up later that me. That’s not fair!" I wonder if God gets equally impatient when I use that word in like manner. "That's not fair, God. Why should believers suffer with illness and poverty? So and So gets to go on a cruise and have nice things and we’re struggling just to pay our bills." Same immature tone, different perspective.

Instead of "fair" God uses words such as justice and holiness. He alone is perfectly Just and perfectly Holy. We don't have to worry that He's doing something unfair on our behalf. My children may not understand the value of getting to bed at a reasonable hour or being disciplined for disobedience, but they have no choice but to trust my best judgement. Sometimes I am unfair because of my own personal issues such as lack of sleep, anxiety, stress, and the all important bad hair day. I can assure you that we don't have to ever worry about catching God in a bad mood. He does nothing out of selfish motives or with evil intent. He can't because he is perfectly Holy.

It is fair to say that life is unfair, people are unfair, and circumstances are unfair. But not God. He is perfect love all the time. Do our circumstances seem unfair, and can we doubt what God has in store? Certainly. Tell Him so. Tell Him that you don't understand what's going on, and as far as you know you are not involved in sin or disobedience. Then tell Him that you will trust in Him completely anyway. Then step aside and wait to be blessed. God's number one objective for our lives is relationship – not comfort or fun or riches, although He uses those things to bless us.

Once He sees we love him enough to trust His will and His plans, even when they look unfair, then He can trust us with Himself. I want to give my children rewards and gifts but I absolutely cannot when they are in disobedience or walk around all day in a disrespectful attitude. How can God bless us and increase us and show us more of Himself when we too walk around with a chip on our shoulder or rebellion in our hearts? This world will never be "fair" because it is full of imperfect fallen human beings. Surrender to the only Perfect One who is fair in every sense of the word.

ABUNDANCE

John 10:10 – The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in ABUNDANCE (to the full, till it overflows).

This one small sentence speaks volumes to me. First, Jesus is saying that there are two forces in our world. There is an evil force that Jesus calls the thief. The thief comes only, not for any other reason, but to steal (to take things away from us), to kill (to actually murder us), and to destroy (demolish anything of any importance in our lives, including our loved ones).

Then we see another Force in the universe, One that came to give us life because we were dead in our sins before He came. Christ then says something you may have missed. He didn't just come to save you from your sins and guarantee you a free ticket into heaven when you die in 50 or 60 years. He came to give you an enjoyable, abundant life that overflows and spills out of you and onto others. Abundance means plentiful, more than enough. It's sad to see believers walking around in depression or bondage just waiting until they can cash in their "get out of hell free card." If that were the plan then why couldn't Jesus just save us from our sins and zap us straight into eternity with Him? Why does He leave us here?

My guess is that He wants us to learn to trust Him and love Him in a very unique way. One that involves pure faith. Once He sees that we are willing and able vessels then He does something so precious that you have to experience it to believe it. He actually uses us as His ambassadors, as His spokesperson. He trusts us enough with His word and His spirit to send us out into this world (which starts in your own home, by the way) on His behalf. What an awesome job. Is there someone in your life that you would trust to that extent? What if you had a life or death message that had to be delivered to a specific person at a very precise moment? This is deeper and more significant than anything you've ever been a part of. Who would you trust to deliver this all important piece of information? Would they represent you correctly?

When we think of the abundant life we tend to think in terms of the material realm. How about having an abundance of joy, more than enough peace, and overflowing love. This is what it's all about. Let God fill you to the brim with His very presence, with His love and joy until you have enough for yourself and all those around you. The more we come into God's presence for a refill, the more we have for others. This is truly abundant living!