MY LIFE: #46 Christ's-Efforts in Me

Unless we use our mind, will, and emotions to “allow” or release the Spirit, we end up choosing our own way, having defiled emotions, and fulfilling the desires of the flesh.

CHRIST’S EFFORTS IN ME

Christ is the source of my life, my strength, my purpose, and my identity. He lives in me and works through me by His Spirit. He empowers me to do His will and to serve His kingdom by releasing His efforts through me. He enables me to love the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, which empowers me to love others as He has loved me. He transforms me into His image and His likeness. He fills me with His very Life through the Holy Spirit. He is my Lord, my Savior, and my Husband.

Therefore, if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. (Colossians 3:1-3)

JESUS DOING THE DOING IN THE BELIEVER

Our next diagram has become the clearest and most used for our ministry in explaining what it looks like to walk in and after the Holy Spirit. It all starts with Christ placing Himself at the very core of the believer. Our Lord purified, redeemed, and perfected one-third of our being. Jesus, through representation of the Holy Spirit, is able to live and function in righteousness in and through the believer. Walking after the flesh is choosing to believe that our thoughts, feelings, and appearance define who we are.

While it would be great if we could stop here, there remains a darker side to the believer’s predictable behavior when walking after their flesh.

In the pictorial below, we will see the details of a believer walking after their flesh. In the above diagram, we discover it truly is possible to walk after and in the Spirit by choosing to believe in the renewal of the MIND that Christ provides as He flows from the Spirit and into the human mind. Once that happens, the WILL then chooses to process the thoughts of Christ as Truth. Since the EMOTIONS always support what the will decides, the excitement of renewal flows into the BODY. This is how we get Christ as Life behavior.

All the things God says are true about us and come from the Life and mind of Christ from within. Unless we use our mind, will, and emotions to “allow” or release the Spirit, we end up living off of our own thoughts, choosing our own way, having defiled emotions, and fulfilling the desires that are embedded in our bodies. What Paul said to the Romans (in chapter 7), left them with a deep understanding and clarity about what is really going on within us when we do things we really don’t want to do.

“For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that the Law is good” (Romans 7:15-16).

FEAR OF GOD VS. THE FEAR OF MAN:

One of my greatest struggles throughout my childhood that carried over into my walk as an indwelt believer is being in bondage to not only to fear but fear itself. I certainly understand how this stronghold could reside in my childhood but how, and why, did it carry over into my life as a believer?

I have done enough Biblical study on the topic of fear to know that God has built into our human frailty two kinds of fear – a fear that leads us to the knowledge of God and a fear that leads us into the likeness of Satan. Allow me to explain.

The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; the judgments of the LORD are true; they are righteous altogether. (Psalms 19:9)

The word fear in the Old Testament is used in three separate ways “aymah” (what happens when there is no mother), “yara” (the hand you see, reverence) and “arats” (hook clearly seen). When you combine the meanings of these three definitions, you have the following:

The hook in the man is clearly seen when he is not disciplined and shown reverence of authority by the hand of his mother because she cannot be found.

In studying the topic of “fear,” it is easy to see from the Hebrew that both types of fear are firmly implanted in the child through the mother – not the father. All three Hebrew words are feminine derivatives. It was customary in the Hebrew culture for the mother to build into the child a proper fear of their father and God himself. Most cultures have twisted this original premise into teaching that fear comes from the directives of the father. Women are given the same responsibilities in family life that the Holy Spirit has been given to the believer – one being forming fear in the child of the father. When the mother is not present, or she refuses to instruct the child effectively, the child inherits the second kind of fear – being hooked by the man. This clearly sets the child up for the “dread” of authority figures. Because of this dread, the fear of punishment from an authority figure is formed.

There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love.  (1John 4:18)        

The Greek word for fear in this passage is “phobos,” which is where we get the English word “phobia.”  The primary definition of this word is “to force one into alarm or fright by use of terror.”  The word “punishment” is “kolasis,” which is to “inflict torment or to force self-payment for one’s own sin.” 

This kind of fear (phobos) was embedded in my life growing up. My mother spoiled me due to the dynamics of being a “bubble boy.” The only kind of discipline I remember from her was when she was upset, and that was usually in the form of the back of her hand. Most likely, due to her lack of Godly training and her abuse from her father, she was unable to develop in her children a proper fear (reverence) for authority. Adding to that, my father spent most of their marriage physically abusing her, which obviously resulted in a lack of respect for the role of a father and husband. My poor mother was doomed to form “phobos” into her children. As for me, the consequences of this were a deep-seated struggle with the terror of man and God.

This fear became so intense that I spent the majority of my childhood suffering all types of fear, which resulted in what the world classifies as anxiety attacks – the fear of having a fear reaction. This fear caused me to stutter, tremble, and mentally/emotionally freeze up when around people – that advanced well into my early years of ministry. However, I learned the benefits of fear.

I have learned that reverent fear in Christ is the attitude of awe, respect, and submission to God, who is Holy, powerful, and unafraid. I have embraced that it is the recognition of God’s authority and sovereignty over all things and the desire to walk confidently in Him and obey His will. Reverent fear in Christ is not a servile or slavish fear but a filial or childlike fear that stems from trusting in God as my Father who has control over all things. In this, I discovered that human fear breeds distrust. In the end, my earthly fears have been converted into reverent fear. My motives are purer; my worship is exhilarating, and I tend to avoid sin all the more. As the Bible says, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.” (Proverbs 9:10)

One time, I remember being asked to give my testimony. I told the pastor I would tell my story only if he put me behind a pulpit where the audience couldn’t see my knees shaking and place a glass of water at the pulpit for my dry mouth – a shame though, my hands were shaking too much to take a sip of the water! Interesting note: that night, my fear was interpreted as humility, and several youths came to know Christ (Rom. 8:28). The bottom line is fear produces dependency - and this fear-bound teacher needs plenty of that. Today, I know that I have had a “love” problem, not that of fear.

Coming up next is #47, “Chasing Away Fear with Love.”

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