How often in life do we look at a set of circumstances and merrily judge them as “good”, believing they are “God” for us, without actually consulting God? It can be a set pattern of learnt behaviour that the Lord wants us to “unlearn.” He wants to teach us His ways. In the very beginning, in the book of Genesis, the record is set there for us to learn from. Genesis chapters 2 and 3 record the events that led to the fall of man. The very first commandment was, “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat of it, for in the day that you eat thereof, you shall surely die,” Genesis 2:17. The Lord was not referring to physical death, but a loss of His presence in our lives and the consequences we have opened the door to, which lead us away from God’s divine purposes.
We have different compartments where we judge and file circumstances without consulting God. We judge “good” as being “God” for us and “evil” as being the devil, and we file our wrong judgements away in our little compartments and further along our journey we wonder where we have gone wrong! As we invite the Holy Spirit of God to search our hearts, He will direct us to the trouble spot in our heart that is out of order.
We consider evil to be easily discerned, but not good. How good is the good that takes me away from God?
IF I DO NOT CONSULT GOD, THEN I INSULT HIM!
Proverbs 3:6 instructs us “In ALL your ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct your paths.” God wants to be wanted! He longs for a deeper, more intimate relationship with us – our birthright. God is seeking to bring us back to our birthright to bring order to our messed up lives and our hearts that are out of order.
James 3: 8-15 describes the evils of the tongue, speaking from a disorderly heart, out of which flows blessing and cursing. James rightly declares that these things should not be, (verses 10-11). My tongue will not be tamed if my heart is out of order as my heart is my trouble spot.
Jesus declared, Matthew 5:8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” Heart purity is seeing God in all things, and not judging them as good or evil, (eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil), but seeking God’s perspective on matters and not passing my judgement on the situation instead. Most of us begin seeking the Lord when we hit trouble, which we term “evil.” How good is the good, which leads me away from God, and how evil is the bad which leads me back to Him?
Psalm 78:34-35 speaking of the children of Israel in the wilderness, “When he slew them, then they sought him and returned and inquired early after God. And they remembered that God was their rock, and the high God their redeemer.” The examples are set on record for us to learn from, but only too often, we make the same mistakes. The love and long-suffering of God patiently woos us, draws us with His chords of loving kindness back to His everlasting arms of love. The children of Israel sought God when He slew them. I do not want God to slay me through circumstance, I want to come the easy way in humility and learn to acknowledge Him in all my ways, yielding to His direction for my life. If my heart is out of order, then it will be expressed in everything I say and do, because the tongue speaks from the fullness of the heart. Whatever is in my heart comes out through the tongue.
God created man in His image but this was corrupted in Adam and the fall of man. Jesus came to this earth to put everything back on track through Calvary. He came to reveal the Father to us and demonstrated a life lived to please and glorify His Father, which is our inheritance in Jesus. We can live the life that Jesus lived, if we allow the Holy Spirit to direct us in our daily walk, one step at a time, unlearning our wrong behaviour patterns and learning to walk in God’s ways.
Jesus always spoke from an orderly heart. His tongue was tamed. He only spoke the words His Father gave Him, He was always tuned in to Heaven on a “direct line” of communication. He never ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, His heart was pure. If He had eaten from “the tree” He would never have gone to the Cross, because He would have judged it as “evil” instead of seeing it as God’s perfect plan to redeem mankind.
We need to take stock of the things which come out of our mouths, under the searchlight of the Holy Spirit. Consider how important environment is. The birds have the air to fly, fish have water to swim, a plant is nourished in the soil along with moisture and sunlight. What then is the environment for the Indwelling Christ in me to thrive? Truth. The Holy Spirit will only witness to truth. Truth is a person in the form of our Lord Jesus Christ. He declared to Thomas in John 14:6 “I am the way, the truth and the life…” My life today is the full expression of what I am believing. If something is not working then I am out of order in my believing in my heart. I need to ask the Holy Spirit of truth to highlight the lie I am believing, in order that I might exchange it for God’s truth. Only what God says is true, am I believing some piece of knowledge I have gleaned from “the tree” and taken it on board, without consulting the Lord? God has the final word, not man. What does God say about my circumstances? He is the Head Consultant, not the tree of knowledge. He is the tree of Life and this is the only tree I should eat from. I need to change my diet if my mouth is full of splinters from eating from the wrong tree! Let God be true!
Jesus learnt obedience on this earth through yielding His will to His Father’s. The journey is the same for us as we learn obedience. Our faith will be tested. What we declare has to go through the fire of God. He will bring us through for the glory of His great name. God will have a people that will learn obedience to His will and go forth in His power and anointing. Adversity will come to test us in order that the mighty Christ will come forth in us. Our goal is that Christ will come forth in us, the purpose of God for all of our lives, and we will declare to the world: HE BROUGHT ME THROUGH! ALL FOR HIS GLORY!
