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Page 7- The Pride of Life
"For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry." 1Sa. 15:23
"Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding." Pr 3:5
What is fascinating about this is the fact that
there are seven ways we see. Everything in the world that we see is composed of one or more of our seven colors.
Taste and Touch are associated with the flesh - or empiricism - the physical.
See, Hear and Smell are associated basically with emotions - the soul.
For this reason we see two enemies of faith in these perceptions.
1-Empiricism is an orientation where we usually base our opinions, values, beliefs on what we see, hear, taste, touch and smell.
2-Emotionalism is a value system we use to base values on how we feel, which is colored by what we hear, touch or smell.
Although these five senses overlap between the body and soul, (empiricism and emotion) we see a basic pattern in making decisions based on these, and how they affect us.
Everything in our world is reflected light composing blends or combinations of the seven basic colors - red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. Although we know that colors from TV or computer world comes from a blend of red, blue and green - the fact is that, for all intents and purposes, the rest of our world is made from those colors refracted in the sunlight, as demonstrated by a simple glass prism.
There are seven ways we hear:
You no doubt have heard of the "octave" in the musical scale, octave meaning "eight". But in reality, what we have are seven basic notes in the scale:
Do, re, mi, fa, so, la and te. "Do, again, starts the next octave and so forth up the scale. Every sound in our world is composed of one or more blends of these basic notes (without getting into the subject of minors, sevenths, etc.).
There are seven ways we taste:
You no doubt have been told that there are four, however let me illustrate others:
"Some Sea Serpents Swim Better Pulling Floats".
Sweet, sour, salty, spicy, bitter, putrid and fruity.
Thank God for the tongue!
There are seven ways we touch:
"Don't Tell Daddy That Animals Love Mud".
1-Density (hard and soft)
2-Texture (soft and hard)
3-Dullness (sharp and dull)
4-Temperature (hot and cold)
5-Adhesiveness (sticky)
6-Lubricatedness (slippery)
7-Moisture (wet and dry)
There are seven ways we smell:
"Fast Foxes Pick Rough Shortcuts Before Posses".
1-Fruity
2-Flowery
3-Putrid
4-Resinous
5-Spicy
6-Burnt
7-Perfumes
A third way in which we perceive things in the cosmos world system:
3-Rationalism:
Dangers of Rationalism - The Pride of Life:
Three ways Eve misquoted God
We know from Genesis 3, how Eve was tempted in three areas. Lust of the flesh (She saw that the tree was good for food), lust of the eyes (and pleasant to the eyes) and the pride of life (a tree to be desired, to make one wise.) However, in this space I will discuss three ways she misquoted God, and how they relate to three major problem areas that believers get into:
The Pride of life - False teaching, truth mixed with error. This carnal mind of ours wants to "rationalize" by adding to what God says, and wants to add to what Jesus did on the Cross. In Genesis 2:16-17 God told Adam "....Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: [17] But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
Now notice the conversation between the serpent and Eve in chapter 3: Genesis 3:2-3 "And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the FRUIT of the trees of the garden: [3] But of the FRUIT of the tree which is in the MIDST of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye TOUCH it, lest ye die."
God never said anything about the fruit, but told them not to eat of the TREE. Why did Eve add that? For the same reason we add that. The fruit is to show what is going on inside- in the heart - what has already taken place. This creates three problems:
1-Misconception of spirituality: God never said anything about touching it. Why did Eve add that? She must have thought there was something deadly about the fruit, that if she touched it she would die. However, it was not the fruit that was deadly, but the DISOBEDIENCE. It is the heart relationship that is important in the Christian life. Life and death in the relationship is not based on overt acts, but on the heart relationship. We emphasize the mechanics - the overt acts in the Christian life, and equate it with spirituality.
2-Emphasis on legalism: But we make an issue of the fruit, and our mentality is centered around what we DO (this is not to minimize it), but we totally miss the point in the Christian walk about how we think. This is why in I John 3:15, it says "Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him." This is why Jesus said to the Pharisees: Matthew 5:27-28 Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: [28] But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart." He was emphasizing the importance of the heart relationship, rather than the "do's and don'ts" of the law.
3-Imposing the LAW detracts from grace: Eve said to the serpent "...of the tree which is in the MIDST of the garden..." In her thinking, the one single tree which was forbidden, was in the midst of the garden. God never referred to it as being in the MIDST of the garden. Eve did not even refer to it as the "Tree of the knowledge of good and evil." She did not perceive the true significance of what it was - only that part that appealed to her.
A mother is making 10 jars of cookies in the kitchen. She says to her son, "Of every jar of cookies you may freely eat, but of the ONE jar (for Aunt Susie) you may not eat of it..." She leaves him in the Kitchen and he eats of different jars of cookies. But uppermost in his mind is the one jar that is forbidden. He begins to think mommy is holding out on him. He begins to think that one jar has bigger cookies, sweeter cookies, more delicious cookies. He begins to rationalize and lean on his own understanding. Eventually, as providence would have it, he digs into the one jar she told him not to.
It is not so much that God put Adam and Eve under the law. It is not so much that mommy put her son under the law - but the child's own concentration when he leans on his own understanding - an insatiable appetite for more "knowledge", and thinks "the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence." This is why the "information revolution" is appealing to the humanistic mind on web sites, institutions of higher learning, etc. It will never end, and will never be enough. Mankind will fill his head with knowledge, with little or no wisdom.
Something inside of us struggles to stay alive, and we think God says what we want Him to. This is rationalism. If we don't learn to die to self, the tree will do it for us. "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not on thine own understanding." Prov. 3:5
Methods satan works in a cosmos world system
The following eight points are some methods and principles through which satan operates in convincing humanity to believe a lie - usually something which does not even exist! For this reason it is ironic that mankind may live his/her entire lifetime believing false or mis-information - often finding out the truth after it is too late. Following this list are the general principles through which satan "Cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy." However Jesus said "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." John 10:10
1-The fear of the unknown (which may not even exist) produces the same results - worry, anxiety, terror, etc - as if it were real.
2-Believing a lie about someone may create the same unforgiveness, resentment, grievance - that it would create if it were true.
3-We often center our lifestyle and decisions around things we believe. We may change jobs, relocate, or even commit suicide based on some mis-information.
4-Lies needlessly split up relationships, marriages, even incarcerate the innocent.
5-An entire nation (or the entire world) can be put in bondage, slavery and ultimately destroyed, simply because they were convinced to believe lies.
6-One of satan's goals is cause believers to walk in carnality - thus cheat God out of rewards at the Judgment Seat of Christ - all based on lies and deception.
7-The most sadistic, diabolical tool of Satan is to send humanity to hell forever by convincing them to believe in something that doesn't even exist, (money) and convince them NOT to believe in someone Who does! "Ye cannot serve God and mammon" Mt. 6:24, Luke 16:13.
8-The culmination of his plan ultimately (Rev. 14) is by conditioning the entire human race to trust in "mammon" (money), which, ultimately will have no backing, no material value - but merely a credit balance in a computer - positively worthless, no more than the paper it is printed on, except to be used as a tool to enslave mankind ("The borrower is servant to the lender" Prov. 22:7)
1-Fear
2-Bondage
3-Ignorance
4-Intimidation
5-Guilt/Condemnation
6-Deception
7-Doubt
8-Convince
9-Confusion
10-Division
11-Unforgiveness
12-Pride
Below are others as well, (12 in all), and will go into more detail:
1-Fear:
It's the year 1451. Moses and an entire generation died in the wilderness, and Joshua now takes over as their leader. He sends two spies into Jericho, and Rahab hides them in her house. In Joshua 2:9-11 she gives them the most ironic news: "And she said unto the men, I know that the Lord hath given you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you. For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red sea for you, when ye came out of Egypt; and what ye did unto the two kings of the Amorites, that were on the other side Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom ye utterly destroyed. And as soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man, because of you: for the Lord your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath."
For forty years, the Israelites were convinced that the Canaanites were too powerful for them to overtake, even though God promised to give them the victory. Yet during that whole time they spent in the wilderness, the enemy was petrified that they might attempt to conquer them, knowing that they would be defeated! What a tragedy to believe a lie that cost them defeat and even their lives in the wilderness. All they had to do was believe God and His promises! The true enemy was not the Canaanites, but the lie that they could not conquer them!
2-Bondage:
When I used to live in NYC, there were certain traffic laws that might be peculiar to other cities in the country. One of them was the fact that you could not make a right turn on a red light. When one lives day to day in a city that has certain laws, it becomes second nature to live in a pattern, including driving habits. However, when I went to college in Iowa, it didn't even occur to me that traffic laws in Fairfield Iowa were different than NYC. So I would come to a red light, waiting to turn right. People behind me starting honking their horn, and I didn't know why. I could turn right on a red light in Fairfield, Iowa. But what was I doing? I was putting myself under a law that didn't even exist. Often we as believers do the same thing. We impose laws on ourselves that we have been told exist, yet they don't. One classic one is the Ten Commandments.
Galatians 3:23-25
"But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. [24] Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. [25] But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster." As believers in Jesus Christ we are under a new law - the law of love Mark 12:30-31 "And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. [31] And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these."
This does not mean we are free to break the Ten Commandments. It means we now live in a law of liberty to serve God, never again to be entangled in the yoke of bondage of the law.
3-Ignorance:
Since 1962, thanks to atheist Madalyn Murray O'HAIR, mandatory prayer or Bible reading is forbidden in Public Schools. "In 1962 State authored mandatory prayer in the public schools of New York was deemed unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. In 1963, voluntary prayer and Bible reading was also ruled unconstitutional." (William Murray, Tulsa Prayer Rally - Tulsa, OK, September 9, 2000). However, over the years a mentality has been adopted that it is illegal to pray in Public Schools altogether. In fact, incidents were teachers and staff have forbidden children to even say grace (even silently) before eating their lunch. Many parents, students and faculty have been duped into thinking certain things concerning this law that are not, and never have been true in the first place. Any student, anytime can pray any way he/she wants to in any Public School. But because of ignorance, we kowtow to threats and warnings of arrest and perhaps even imprisonment over things that simply don't exist.
4- Intimidation:
There is a certain snake found in West Africa called "The Egg Eater" It can unhook it's jaws and completely engulf an egg, swallowing it whole. After the egg is inside, it crushes it with it's inner muscles, and then spits out the shell when through. But this serpent has no venom and no fangs. It even has "teeth" naturally "painted" on it's mouth to deceive people or animals to think it is vicious. This Egg Eater snake can give the impression of being ferocious by coiling itself up and scraping it's scales together to intimidate any animal nearby. But if they knew the truth, they would realize how harmless it really is. How often we are intimidated simply because we don't know who we are in Christ, or don't exercise our rights. If we don't know our rights, it is the same as if we don't have any. If we don't exercise our rights, we may as well not have any. (Request "Who I am in Christ")
5-Guilt:
I once knew a man who I tried to explain the Gospel to, and the fact that Jesus died for his sins, regardless of how many, how heinous, how terrible they might be. He told me that when he was a boy he and his brother were playing in their barn. He would jump off the hayloft as his brother would watch. He then dared his brother to do the same. Finally, his brother mustered up the courage to jump. As a result he apparently landed in such a way that he was killed by the fall. All his life, this man lived with the guilt of feeling responsible for what happened. I explained to him that no sin is so great that God cannot forgive. But he could not accept it. He lived - and died - with that guilt, convinced that it was too great for God to forgive.
6-Deception:
Suppose you are at some carnival or fair, walking down a midway. You notice a magician doing some card trick before a crowd gathered around him. After his act, he sells this trick to you for $10. As you walk away, you open the deck, and read the instructions on how to do the trick. Essentially, you have been mystified by this magician - who makes his living by selling his secrets. But now you know how the trick is done. An hour later you come around again, and he is performing a new trick (with a little variation from the other one) to another crowd. You stand there and say to yourself "How did he do that?" Again you are mystified and buy his "new" trick.
Walking away, you read the directions, and discover that it is the same one you bought an hour ago. Now you feel "conned". All he did was put a new slant on the original deception - and you fell for it - again. This is how Satan works. He will deceive you with some angle on a sin. When you become wise to it, he comes again with a new slant on it. Serpents will "molt" several times a year, shedding their skin, only to grow a new one. His techniques may change, but he promotes the same time-tested deception, just using some new trick to deceive. (No new sins, just new skins).
7-Doubt -
One enemy of faith is empiricism, or a world based on the five senses. Often people cannot believe unless they see, such as doubting Thomas. "The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he (Thomas) said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe." John 20:25.
8-Convince -
Often you may have encountered the following phenomenon: You engage in a conversation with a friend about someone or some subject. He has adopted a particular mind set concerning it. However, during the course of the conversation, you present certain evidence, or perhaps you tell him "your side of the story". At a certain point, you notice his countenance change. Something takes place in his thinking, his opinion and his mind set. What has happened? You have "convinced" him or persuaded him to believe your side of the story.
He has been convinced to believe your version, and no longer believes the original one. But what is so disturbing about this is the fact that it does not necessarily mean your version was true, and the other was false. It only means that you have persuaded him to believe you. You have merely "conned" him, no different than some slick, smooth talking salesman.
It is much like an attorney in a courtroom convincing the jury that his client is innocent of some crime of which he had been accused. But it is based on rationalism, debate, and the ability to "convince" through words, arguments and debate. Titus 1:9 says "Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers." The Greek word for convince is "elegcho" - to reprove, rebuke, tell one's fault, refute, to bring to light, expose.
In our Christian walk, our convictions are based on what the Holy Spirit "convicted" in our hearts, and those we meet. If we can convince others through our integrity, testimony and CONVICTION, people will take notice that what we believe is really the truth. That is when we can "win souls". They know that what we believe is true, and we are willing to die for that conviction. This is one of the main reasons the early new testament church thrived. People knew and were "convinced" that believers in Jesus Christ had the truth.
9-Confusion -
"For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work." James 3:16.
10-Division -
One of the most destructive methods satan uses to destroy is through division and discord. His primary tool is gossip. Incredible as it may sound, there are over 30 destructive principles of gossip:
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