Where Are You?
and after he brought them out, he said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” Acts 16:30 NASB
Saved – “Religions may be classified as those of self-satisfaction, of self-annihilation or of fellowship. In the first worship is a quest for satisfaction of personal needs like salvation or desire for immortality. In the second all personal needs are discarded, and man seeks to dedicate his life to God at the price of annihilating all desire, believing that human sacrifice or at least complete self-denial is the only true form of worship. The third form of religion, while shunning the idea of considering God a means for attaining personal ends, insists that there is a partnership of God and man, that human needs are God’s concern and that divine ends ought to become human needs. It rejects the idea that the good should be done in self-detachment, that the satisfaction felt in doing good would taint the purity of the act.”[1]
Heschel continues: “The sense of moral obligation remains impotent unless it is stronger than all other obligations, stronger than the stubborn power of self interests. To compete with selfish inclinations the moral obligation must be allied with the highest passion of the spirit. To be stronger than evil, the moral imperative must be more powerful than the passion for evil. An abstract norm, an ethereal idea, is no match for the gravitation of the ego. Passion can only be subdued by stronger passion.”[2]
If we are going to find deliverance from the clutches of the yetzer ha’ra, we must find a passion for God. Since the yetzer ha’ra already commands our sense of self-entitlement and controls our desire for self-fulfillment, we cannot turn to those avenues for help. They have already been co-opted by the enemy within. We will have to enlist a force stronger than our craving for pleasure and self-protection. We will have to enlist the force YHVH has already supplied in hidden abundance—awe. Awe in the face of the fecundity of life itself. Awe over the enormity of existence. Awe thar shatters our pretentions to power, our penchant for personal attestation. We will have to run to the fields and stare into the heaven on a moonless night. We will have to contemplate the construction of a lily, the flight of a butterfly, the shocking reality of a lightening bolt. We will have to taste the rain, breathe the scent of lilacs, feel the skin of a newborn, hear the roar of a lion in order to appreciate the wonder of living for it is the wonder of living that overpowers our self-centered yetzer ha’ra. No man can sin in the midst of awe. Humility, gratitude, exhilaration, fellowship come from awe-full saturation. The revolt of the yetzer ha’ra attempts to numb us to the reality of the magnificent.
You and I are religious people. But which religion is ours? Have we worshipped in order to fill some need? Are we “saved” because we have obtained something from our God? Did we practice the rituals because we wished to deny the complexity of our human reality, because we wanted to rid ourselves of the thorny branches of choice? Unless we enter into fellowship, into the searing convolutions of struggle with partnership, the idea of God will never deliver us from the passions that direct our lives. Salvation is discovered, not obtained, by participating in the wonder of His purposes. We will have to enlist in the cosmic conflict if the power of the Spirit is going to resurrect us.
Topical Index: save, wonder, awe, passion, Acts 16:30
[1] Abraham Heschel, Man Is Not Alone, p. 250.
[2] Ibib., p. 251.
No Fig Leaves
When God asks, (and He will!..) ” ______, —Where are you?,” there is only one right response for each and every man. “Heneni,” — “here am I.” This, is the encountering, “beginning” prayer of presentation. When God presents Himself (reveals Himself) to us, we present ourselves, our real selves, the hidden man of the heart, to Him.
Victory is through exposure and surrender.
And here is (the daily) Step #1: “I surrender ALL.” The prayer of presentation: “Here am I”- (in Hebrew)- ‘Heneni”. Adam?
~ “Here am I.” LORD, this is me (in totality), and today I present my “self”, I yield my “self” and EVERY part of me to You, as a animated clay vessel, ready to be (first) cleansed, then filled, – then used. Used by You, LORD to accomplish today whatever is pleasing to You. And I know, without You, “I” can do nothing! Therefore, I yield my “members” (all of them) to the service of the King. Today, it is my heart’s desire, to be cleansed of every blot and blemish, every stain or spot of sin, to be totally clean in the sight of my LORD, and to be filled to overflowing with the Comforter, the Enabler, the very Breath of God, the Ruach HaKodesh. The very One who will bring into my remembrance, Your comforting, strengthening, empowering, life-giving, life-imparting words, for we now know, with gloriously blessed assurance, the word of the LORD endures forever. Today, it is my desire, it is this man’s (adamah’s) desire both to know and to do what is pleasing in Your sight, therefore, before I even start to live and move and have my being, I will take this moment in time to pray, and to ask this one request: “Cleanse me- fill me- use me,” my Father. May this be so, these are my words and my prayer, – and I too, will delight to do your will, my LORD and my God. Amen.”
~ Choose you, this day, Who you will serve ~ And as for me and my house? We will serve the LORD. (Today) ~ You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind, and, – Love your neighbor as yourself ~
(And because) this, is the day which our LORD has made, (therefore) I will rejoice and be glad in it!
Adam, abad and adore ADONAI always! Amein!
~ Let the rivers clap their hands, let the mountains sing together for joy!! ~ Psalm 98:8
“We will have to enlist in the cosmic conflict if the power of the Spirit is going to resurrect us.”
What is the purpose that is bigger than me? It is the purpose of my Creator. What is He engaged in? Is He indifferent to the evil in His realm, or did He not send His Man into the thick of the fray? And if He is engaged, then does He not call me to enlist in His service, and can I not then expect to stand shoulder to shoulder with Him in the recovery of His kingdom on this earth? If I am going to relate to Him, then His interests must become mine.
I read the account of the conflict on Mount Carmel this morning; the conflict between Baal worship and the worship of YHVH. The people wanted it both ways. They wanted the benefits of both; they wanted to mingle the divine with the profane. Elijah wanted to bring this terrible cause of the drought to its head. He wanted a contest between the two, so that they would no longer be confused. So, he devised a test of power. It was a test that moved the worship of both into the supernatural realm. The top of Carmel was neutral ground in that neither worship had a source there: neither worship had an altar fire already burning. The altar fire was going to have to be kindled anew. We know the story. After trying all day, by efforts both in faith (praying and self-mutilation) and in secret (they surely tried to light that fire in secret themselves, which Elijah had to watch out for), they gave up.
The fire from heaven was a fire that consumed both the sacrifice and the altar, along with the water (anti-fire). The fire from heaven is a fire that baptizes with the intent to consume all of the profane in my life. It will overcome the feeble efforts I make in self-defense against it, it will burn the fleshly altar I build to offer my sacrifice on, too. In fact, I am promised that if I bring the sacrifice that is pleasing to Him, which is the “Sacrifices of God is a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.” Psalms 51:17, He promises to burn all the dross and leave only the pure. Only that which cannot be corrupted is pleasing to Him. When His image is perfected in me, He is satisfied. Can I build such an image? No. Can I offer the best of my efforts, like Cain? No. Can I sacrifice what I please: can I INVENT the worship I wish to worship Him with? No. What does He want me to bring? He does not even want me to show up until I can come with that “broken spirit”! Why? Because my spirit must be replaced with His. Only contrition and repentance create the condition in which my heart can be safely transferred out, and His be transplanted in, for it is only in the turning away from sin that I am safely separated from my interests and alliances with that sin. Why is this necessary? Because when I am delivered from my disobedience and freed from the curse of that sin into the opportunity to obey, my sin gets destroyed, but He will not make a move to hurt me, so He waits until I turn loose; until I turn around. David prayed that the Spirit of YHVH be not taken from him, when he sinned. He brought his broken and contrite spirit to that request. He turned around. He knew the sacrifice that pleased the Lord.
The yetzer ha-ra knows nothing of awe, for awe is humility in the face of that which is bigger than I, but the yetzer ha-ra will admit nothing into its kingdom bigger than itself. The desires of my flesh consume me on the altar I build to worship myself. Both religions, if you will, demand the sacrifice of ME. Both will consume me: both are going to kill me, but only one can give me a new birth. “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” John 3:6. When my fleshly heart, which is hard as a rock because it is completely inhuman(!) gets traded for a heart that is built out of flesh (I am returned to who I really am, like Ezekiel 36:26 promises), that verse also promises that I will be given a new spirit in my nephesh: I will be re-powered with the baptism of fire from heaven, and Pentecost will be my continual reality. This is the heart that is big enough to comprehend His purposes, and is connected to the Source of the love necessary to carry them out. Further, because I will have that Spirit of complete submission, which is His, for my own, the awe that comes as the side effect of true submission will be the awe that fills my days and is the worship that is acceptable to Him. I will be reflecting Himself back to Himself, then, which is my acceptable service. Halleluah!
“Salvation is discovered, not obtained, by participating in the wonder of His purposes. We will have to enlist in the cosmic conflict if the power of the Spirit is going to resurrect us.”
This certainly fits in to the whole scheme of things as I understand the situations of life. Conjectures and assumptions populate and thrash around my mind continually seeking clarity, explanation and expression. These words, these observations give body to that ‘stuff’ and resonate of truth to me.
To be a voluntary conscript driven by a passion to attest in action of the awe of all our senses, in all our ways that which reflects YHWH’s image. In my attempt to understand this, I can see how a strong passion would eclipse the power and urges imagined for us by yetzer hara. Such a passion would, as in Yeshua himself, provide no choice by torah obedience to follow and execute. Such a potent and strong passion to embrace all that is YHWH is the only solution. Such a passion would view an evil intention not as a viable and pleasing option, but for what it is, a token of death.I can see how this would describe “a broken and contrite heart.” It would be a heart, a soul that would be enamored with but one resolve, setting all others in exclusion.
I yearn to know what that looks like in my life. I am not there but want to be.
I think I will go for a walk in search of awe. I will have to look with effort as there is all around me a collection of clutter. I will sign up my enlistment for this cosmic conflict.
Thanks, Skip, for some great insight. You’ve given me a push toward recognizing awe.
“but” torah obedience
I’m in awe.
AWESOME.
“Awe that shatters our pretentions to power, our penchant for personal attestation. We will have to run to the fields and stare into the heaven on a moonless night. We will have to contemplate the construction of a lily, the flight of a butterfly, the shocking reality of a lightening bolt. We will have to taste the rain, breathe the scent of lilacs, feel the skin of a newborn, hear the roar of a lion in order to appreciate the wonder of living for it is the wonder of living that overpowers our self-centered yetzer ha’ra. No man can sin in the midst of awe. Humility, gratitude, exhilaration, fellowship come from awe-full saturation. The revolt of the yetzer ha’ra attempts to numb us to the reality of the magnificent.”
The best response I can possibly have is to do this!
Ditto
Agreed brother!!
Go look for awesome. It is everywhere for those with eyes to see!
I took a picture today in a neglected corner of our pasture. There are huge nodding thistles grown up and flowered. Big beautiful purple/pink blossoms. These are considered a noxious weed here in MO. They stand about 5-6′ high and are awesome. My picture captured about 4 gold finches perched on those “weeds” snacking on the seeds the flowers produce. What a glorious color-filled feast for my eyes!!
Now to convince my hubby to leave that corner alone!
Tonight, the night our little group that meets in our house once a week have been reading Gruber’s Copernicus book while listening to Skip’s tape series on Gruber’s same book. We left the book and audio and ran down a rabbit trail tonight about today’s TW. Nice discussion and our brains and hearts were stretched and motivated in new ways. Had a few somewhat “aha” moments together.
It was fun.