Tithing vs. Giving 9am Sat — “CONSEQUENCES: A Matter of Control” Continued
[Hedz Up!] “Rope-A-Dope” & “Secession”
Earlier this week, I was thinking about our present turmoil, both nationally and globally. I heard two phrases from the Lord, “Rope-A-Dope” & “Secession”. When I asked what He meant, here’s what He said:
“Rope-A-Dope” refers to a tactic in which one party feigns, or pretends weakness in order to throw their opponent off-balance and to wear him out, making him more likely to make a mistake. In the movie, “The Patriot,” the revolutionary militia was known for breaking ranks and running from the battle field when things got rough. This known fault was used to their advantage, as a tactic, to lure the British into following their retreat into an ambush which included not only the militia but the ‘standing army’ as well. The subsequent defeat of the British Army, in the movie, turned the tide of the war.
I believe the Lord has feigned weakness and drawn the enemy onto the battlefield of His choosing, where he is being ambushed, exposed and defeated. Everything is perfectly orchestrated and under His control, though it may seem like we are losing battle after battle. Yes, the Lord has a Day of Judgment planned, but it will be for our good, not for our punishment. Judgment exposes BOTH the Good AND the Bad.
So many Christians are stressed out over temporary circumstances (yes, whatever situation you are in, it is temporary, even if it is ‘life and death’). The more you are able to hear the Lord’s voice clearly and specifically in the coming months, the more you will be able to enjoy our victory over the enemies of freedom, truth and justice. Peace comes from hearing His Voice, His direction to you.
The Lord is presently asking us as individuals to find the balance, to “secede” from dependence on these organizations, ceasing from relying on them for direction, guidance and motivation, even while maintaining involvement in the natural, political fight. This is not an ‘either/or’ situation. We depend on the Lord for direction and opportunity to fight the supernatural fight, even while engaging in the natural conflict. We must do both, though it will take effort to remove ourselves from depending on the government (i.e., tax-exempt status for non-profit groups will likely be revoked soon), societal movements, individual leaders, political parties, etc. and develop our own ability to hear and act in all these areas.
The natural strongholds will not be conquerable until the supernatural strongholds have been overcome. When they have been brought down ‘in the heavenlies’, we will have to know when and how to exploit our advantage ‘in the earthlies’.
Bottom Line: DON’T DEPEND on a political party or movement to change laws, grow the economy, etc. DEPEND on God, He will train you to engage in supernatural warfare, even as you are naturally involved in a political party or movement.
P.S. I was also reminded that the State Constitution of Texas includes the right to secede from the Union.
Tithing vs. Giving 9am Sat — “CONSEQUENCES: A Matter of Control” Continued
How Can We Recognize Success?
Because of the nature of Christian success, it is often hard to recognize. So our motivation should not be derived from how we’re doing, how we’re measuring up. But measuring our success IS one way God encourages us; we just need to know what His standards are (again, His standards will be based on bringing us into dependence on Himself).
First of all, the Kingdom of God is entered, not built. His work is complete. Our spiritual walk and work is complete in Him. So where is the activity and change? In the soulical realm, with the physical following after. Our goal is to enter into His rest, not to become more productive, build His Kingdom, or even to make disciples of all nations (remember Jesus didn’t send out everyone, only those who had first come to Him, and had learned dependence on His Father).
So recognizing success will be a private thing, centering around a restful dependence. That’s not to say that a successful Christian walk is passive; far from it. It’s just active in a different way. Jesus’s walk on earth was the perfect example of a dependent life, yet the last thing we would say was that He was passive. But His motivation to act, His ability, His power all came through His depending on His Father.
This dependence must be experienced to be truly understood, and as we cooperate with the Lord we can be confident that He is working it into us, but a common example of dependence is the vine and the branch. All the branch has to do is be still and receive the life coming through the vine. In its season, fruit is borne, effortlessly, though through the branch. It is the vine that produces the fruit, the branch simply receives the life. As the life passes through its being, what was already there is en-livened and creates after its own kind. So we as the branches needn’t be concerned with how, or how much is being produced through us by His life flowing through us, unless the Lord specifically brings it to our attention.
Here’s an example the Lord gave me to remind me to rest on a regular basis: On my sliding glass door I’ve got a birdfeeder that’s held on by a couple of suction cups. The birdfeeder keeps the birds from hitting the glass, as well as feeding them up-close and personal so I can enjoy them. But what makes it work is the suction between the glass and the suction cup. All the suction cup needs to do is nothing; its purposes are being fulfilled without it doing a thing but being what it was meant to be. It just hangs in there! (You may want to ask the Lord to make this concept real to you; He’s a personal God, and knows what has meaning for you!)
What Does Success Look Like?
For the world, success will be outwardly measurable. For the Christian, it will be more subtle. In some ways, it will be a very private thing, between each individual and God. In familiar terms, the outward evidence of a successful Christian walk will be love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control, which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God. But what these look like will vary from person to person, often depending on what particular circumstance God has placed a person in at a particular time, and what is being dealt with. So a person could appear to be depressed, anxious, angry or may have just failed at a job and yet be successful — because he is not relying on his own strength to deal with these things, but on the Lord. This is an incredible mind-shift for many of us, but one that needs to be made, since our basis for success often drives us away from the very thing that provides true success, thus making us vulnerable to manipulation from leaders, vulnerable to attack from the enemy, and at the mercy of our flesh. We need to be careful when judging either ourselves or others as to what success looks like.
Having said this, we can look at the example of Jesus Himself to see what His success looked like to others. Somehow He stirred an entire nation with His words and His actions. What did it look like? Jesus said that if they had seen Him, they had seen His Father. What did it sound like? Jesus said that He spoke only those things that He had received of His Father. So what is the standard of success we want to look for? Do our actions and words reflect our Father, His Nature? Do our actions and words reflect contentment, wholeness and dependence on our Father alone? What this specifically will look like will need to be determined on a case-by-case basis, but as our soulical senses are tuned, we will learn to recognize those who are walking in this dependence, as well as recognize it in ourselves. Those that have eyes and ears quickened by the Lord Himself will see and hear.
For Christians, What is Success?
For many of us this is a pivotal question, since our motivation is often based on how we think we’re doing in terms of how successful we are. We want to know how we compare, if we’re meeting some standard. Worldly success is measured in terms of what is produced or accomplished: achieving great things, like the Nobel Peace Prize or earning great wealth or letters after our name. Worldly success can also be measured in terms of recognition; such as climbing Mount Everest or winning gold in the Olympics. Or even achieving and maintaining certain personal goals, such as being a good parent, spouse, or even a good Christian, according to whatever standards are accepted.
But as in so many areas, true Christian success is measured in radically different terms. For Christians, success is simply actively depending on God to live His life in and through us, on His terms. Success is our true nature working its way out into our soul and body in His time. Success is not about our spiritual relationship with God, which is completed already, but about our soulical and natural walk for our time here on earth. It is not about spiritual attainment, but about soulical and physical dependence and wholeness.