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| "You're coming with me!" |
The knowledge of God is what we know about Him... that He is loving and faithful and compassionate. Sometimes the circumstances in our lives try to convince us that He is not. Our circumstances argue that our Lord is not loving and faithful and compassionate because if He was, He would not be letting these things happen to us. But our knowledge of Him casts down those arguments and brings our thoughts by the corner of the ear into the truth about Him. "Thoughts, you're coming with me." Then proceed over into the truth that we are loved. We are not forgotten. He is faithful and just. He has not left us all alone. This too shall pass and work out for our good.
The prophet Jeremiah had a similar situation which caused him to call God out as a deceiver (Jer. 20:7). He said, "O Lord, You deceived me, and I was deceived because You are stronger than I and have prevailed at fooling me. You told me, 'I have set you over the nation to root out and pull down and destroy and throw down then to build back up and plant.' But ever since I began to speak for You, I cried out violence and plunder and Your words were made a reproach (expression of disapproval or disappointment) and a daily derision (ridicule or mockery) to me." The problem here is not that God lied to Jeremiah, but that he did not fully comprehend what he was in for when he was called to the unpopular ministry of calling people out. So when these things began to happen, his circumstances led Jeremiah to believe God was unjust and unfair in His dealings with him.
This is where "the knowledge of God" comes in. Because we walk by faith and not by sight, our circumstances should not overtake us to the point that we label God as our problem. Even when our thoughts overwhelm us, we take our thoughts by the corner of the ear and say, "Thoughts, you're coming with me. My Lord is not my problem. My Lord is the solution. My Lord is loving and faithful and compassionate and a very present help in trouble. My Lord has me engraved on the palms of His hands and He has not, nor cannot forget about me. I will continue to pray like the persistent person that I am because I know my God will avenge His elect that cries day and night before Him (Luke 18:1-8). He will not abandon me in my hour of need." Instead of being held captive by our thoughts, we hold our thoughts captive based on the truth that we know... not on the circumstances that we are experiencing.
Our thoughts become strong holds if we allow them to deceive us. This is why people go out and commit mass shootings. They are radicalized and deceived by their thoughts and eventually overtaken by them. They believe they are doing what is right, when in fact, it is terribly destructive.
Walter Donaldson composed a song, "How 'Ya Gonna Keep 'Em Down on the Farm After They've Seen Paree?" I say, "You psych them out." Because if you can convince a man that a cause is worth dying for, he will strap a bomb to himself and commit suicide taking with him many innocent souls. It is all in the thought process. That is how you keep them down on the farm. That is how an abusive husband keeps his abused wife from walking out the door. He brain washes her and she stays and endures his abuse again and again. You will never convince me that this is the will of God for her.
The Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 freed slaves held captive in America's southern states. But do you know some refused to leave the plantations, even though they were free to go? They had a slave-mentality and "it" held them captive, not the masters.
I have to constantly remind myself that I have what it takes to be successful. If I am not vigilant and hawkish about it, the strong holds of my low self-esteem will always keep me from trying new things. Then I will never know how much I can achieve, because I will never step out of the boat and try new things. My failures will be the top-dog, constantly invading my thoughts and keeping me in subjection to re-trying or requiring a do over. I am hawkish in the sense that I am aggressive in feeding my faith and starving my doubts to death.
The truth is not that I am a failure. That is the lie the enemy would have me believe. The truth is that I am more than a conqueror and I can do all things through Christ who gives me the strength and if He is for me then that is more than the whole world against me. That is the truth. So when circumstances come against me and attempt to deceive me, I must once again take my thoughts by the ear and drag them over to truth.
Job did not know the truth about his sufferings. So he put the blame on the Almighty, when it was Satan all the time. Job wanted to subpoena God into court for an answer to the charges of his injustice. When Job eventually learns the truth he said, "I am vile. I lay my hand over my mouth... and will proceed no further." (Job 40:4-5)
Jesus said that the thief's only purpose is to steal, kill and destroy us. He does this by any means necessary and every weapon in his evil armament to take us out. The apostle Peter warns us to be sober and vigilant, on the lookout for the devil who walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. If he can take our thoughts, he's got us.
So when you see the lie coming... say, "I cast that down. I don't receive it. The knowledge of God is ___________ (whatever truth is). When I see symptoms trying to invade my body, I cast it down right away and say what the truth is... that I am the healed, with His stripes I am healed. I am washed in the blood of the Lamb. I am the temple of the Holy Ghost." That is truth. The symptoms are lying wonders trying to deceive me. Every time Jesus was tempted by the devil, He said, "It is written." He quoted the written word of God each time, and left us an example to do the same.
I used to say all the time, "It's always something." When something bad would happen I'd say, "It's always something." What I finally realized was, because these were the words coming out of my heart... "something" was always up the road waiting for me to get there. I was fulfilling my own destiny by my words. Allow the Holy Spirit to change your heart and your words will change too.
How many times have I said, "Next year I'm going to do my Christmas shopping early and I never-ever do." I continue the same pattern from year-to-year because my heart has not changed where that is concerned. And until my heart changes, I will continue to be a last minute gift shopper (repeating the same behavior). It is a strong hold that needs to be pulled down. The thief's only purpose is to steal, kill and destroy. But Jesus said, "I came that you may have and enjoy your life, living it in full abundance until it overflows onto others." (John 10:10)
The knowledge of God is like wearing a garment that is way too big. We continually grow into it. Let us pursue the knowledge of the Lord. We will know Him as we follow on to know Him.
Don't believe the hype. Believe His truth.
Go in peace.