One Year Bible, September 20

ISAIAH 33:14 - 36:32                                                                                                     
WHAT ARE "SINNERS" DOING IN ZION?  Zion represents the Church within the Church - just like Zion is a place within Jerusalem.   In their midst were living "sinners"(chaff) who live according to the flesh....and believers with "chaff-y" areas of their lives...and all the chaff will be burned away (1 Cor 3), leaving only the righteous few (a stripped-down believer, in some cases).   The moral of this story?   Repent of EVERYTHING that's not right before you get tried by fire.  Judge yourself!   Purify yourself!  Be obedient to God without being threatened!

THE STANDARD FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS: "Walks uprightly; speaks with sincerity; rejects unjust gain; does not take bribes; stops his ears and eyes from hearing or seeing bloodshed or evil" (on TV or movies).

THE BENFITS OF BEING RIGHTEOUS: He will dwell on the heights (in God's Presence); He is protected from His enemies there; His refuge is the impregnable Rock which no one can penetrate; God will provide all his needs; he will be watered financially.   During judgment, we will see the "King in His beauty."  Jerusalem is a type for the habitation of the righteous - God's manifest Presence.   We will not be moved - God is the lawgiver AND the judge, and preserves His people in His Presence.

"THE NATIONS" - THERE'S A NEW KING IN TOWN!:  In the OT "the nations" refers to heathens - unsaved, unbelieving, persecuting, devil-influenced people AND the world-spirit of antichrist.   It also refers to imagi-nations, specu-lations, denomi-nations, opinio-nations, - - - you get it.   We have un-sanctified areas of our lives that need to be exterminated or "cut off" (Mat 18:8).    The only way for His Kingdom to come in holiness (Lord's Prayer), is for wickedness to be removed.   Whenever a new king came to the throne, he destroyed all his enemies in order to establish his own kingdom; it is right that God would do the same!  "THE HOSTS OF HEAVEN":  The "second heaven" is inhabited by Satan, by demons, "principalities and powers".  They will be displaced by believers.  The lights of the night sky are a type of worldly leaders: potentates, movie stars, movers-and-shakers.   Edom is the descendents of Esau, a type of the FLESH. (The last known Edomites were the Herods!)

"THE HABITATION OF DRAGONS":  As you read this, think of the stench as being the smell from your own flesh.   Determine to walk by the Spirit from this day forward!   Only weird animals will be drawn to dead flesh.

THE NOW KINGDOM OF GOD:  The Invisible Kingdom.   No wicked live there (in God's Presence)   There is joy and rejoicing, singing and shouting.  "They will see the glory of the Lord..."   We encourage the exhausted, strengthen the feeble, and tell the fearful to be strong.   In the Kingdom, before God's Presence, everyone can dance, everyone can leap and shout, and everyone can sing.   And do.   Death gives way to Life.   The Highway of Holiness is in God's Presence, and nothing evil can touch us there. (1 John 5:18)

WHEN THERE IS NOTHING LEFT BUT GOD:   After paying "tribute" (bribes) to Egypt and then to Assyria in an effort to save themselves, Jerusalem is surrounded by the treacherous Assyrians with no way out.  Egypt and Assyria represent the flesh and the world-spirit that hates God.  If we have compromised with our flesh, we have to repent and cling to God or be destroyed.   When God judges "the nations", if we are "on the playing field", we'll be destroyed along with them!   Our own substitutes for God will be burned up along with everyone else's.   We must teach our hearts to trust God and God alone. The enemy will try to intimidate us, to make us fear that God won't be enough.  (Anyone with any kind of addiction will tell you that this is true.)   Our own flesh will even use psychology to try to trick and manipulate us, and undermine our faith in God's sufficiency.   These are called "arguments" and "high things" in 2 Cor 10:5.

RESPONSE:  It's clear that we are no match for the enemy. But "the Greater One" lives in us. The Holy Spirit wars against our flesh, and warns us of enemy traps and lies. I think it's interesting that when the King wouldn't listen to the enemy, the enemy tried talking to the people on the wall (people on the periphery). He could scare them, and maybe they would talk the King into capitulating. But this King is too much for them. He prayed.

GALATIANS 5:13-26                                                                                                    
(See yesterday's blog.)

FLESH vs SPIRIT: The deck is stacked.  The Holy Spirit wars against our flesh; what chance is there that the flesh will "win"?  When we love God, we WANT to live right.   What we are dealing with is "the affections and lusts of the flesh."  Unlawful longings that satisfy our flesh.  Titus 2:12 says we "deny" them. Gal 5:16-17, 24 say to "crucify" them. 1 Jo 2:16 says that they are "not of the Father, but of the world."   1Co 10:6 says that lusting after "evil things" will disqualify us for the Kingdom of God.   James 1:14 says that "human lust" will draw us away from godly living and cause us to sin.

The flesh wants what is wants and hinders the spirit from fulfillment in us.  There is nothing of spiritual value in the flesh.   In fact, it is marked for destruction.  The Spirit wants what He wants and hinders the flesh from having sway over our behavior.   As a result, we can't do anything - - - "BUT..." "IF we are led by the Spirit, we aren't under the law" - so we don't have to follow the dictates of our flesh.  If we walk in the Spirit, we WILL NOT fulfil the lusts of the flesh - because they are the antithesis of one another.   But that doesn't mean that our flesh gives up!

WORKS vs FRUIT:  The flesh produces nothing but trouble and mean-spirited attitudes.   The spirit produces characteristics that look like God.   It is FRUIT because we don't grow it ourselves.  It is a product of a Spirit-filled Life, walking by the Spirit.   It is not produced by willpower or self-effort.   It is EVIDENCE of Jesus living in us.  We draw energy from the Life of God in us, and the evidence is "the fruit of the Spirit".   This evidence is strengthened by the joy of purpose, which is the desire to please God.

RESPONSE:   There is no Law that can stop Jesus from manifesting Himself in me.   Self-control is NOT WILLPOWER, it is a RESULT of "walking by the Spirit".   (If you are like me, you are adding....."whatever walking by the Spirit means".)  We know what it is NOT: not willpower, or trying to APPLY the Word of God like camouflage.   Or even trying to apply the principles of the Word like rules of conduct.   The flesh is incorrigible and cannot be trained!  It can only be "mortified" (killed).  The Holy Spirit is our only source of Life.   We draw our "energy" to live from Him by faith.   To do this, we MUST dispossess the flesh (set it aside as dead) - we have no rights, no reputation, no dignity, nothing of "our own", we are "crucified".   As I intentionally live with the Presence of God in me, communicating with Him continually, I will not fulfill the lust of the flesh.   Our spiritual union becomes a practical one as I begin thinking of the flesh as selfish, rebellious, sinful, proud, disgusting, rude, self-centered and reject its claims on me.   Sanctification is a series of new habits.  It becomes my habit to defer to the Spirit.

PSALM 64:1-10                                                                                                                  
SECRETS OF THE ENEMY (world-spirit of antichrist - the flesh): 
(v.2) His plans: There is a conspiracy among the lusts of my flesh, to overtake my soul.
(v.3) His weapons:  Bitter words used against my joy, against my spirit, against God, against my faith, against the "knowledge of God".
(v.4) His methods: Sneak up on me, spring out of nowhere, shoot from behind trees. Subtlety.
(v.5) His thoughts: They think no one sees them or knows about them. God won't find out.
(v. 7)  His "reward": God will "suddenly" (without warning) destroy them. Their curses come home to roost.

PROVERBS 23:23                                                                                                         
Truth is all that proceeds from God's mouth and God's throne. Wisdom, instruction, and understanding constitute our ability to live successfully. Not necessarily in wealth, but successfully.

RESPONSE:   "Preserve my life from fear of the enemy".  A long time ago, I was in the position of having to make a decision: fear God or fear death.  All phobias find their power in the fear of death.   But Jesus has rescued phobics and delivered us from fear: "Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death-that is, the devil- and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death." (Heb 2:14-15)