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| JAMES LESSON #24 Ephesians 4:22-24 Verse 23 reads: �So that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind.� Yesterday we ended the lesson with the reminder that �Your mind is Satan�s number one target.� Don�t forget that. Verse 24: and put on what? The new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of truth. Truth makes you holy and sets you free. This is not a command. This is something that happens when you receive Christ. Ok � so what�s happened? You�ve put on the new self which is created in righteousness. So what does the enemy want to do? The enemy wants to ACCUSE and CONDEMN you. When he comes against you to condemn you what do you do? The accusations are daggers meant to distract and get your mind off of what God has called you to do � they�re meant to defeat you and make you miserable: What do I do? I put on the �breastplate of righteousness,� � �Yes God, I did really blow it � I did hate you � I did do my own thing � I did have an affair � use drugs- steal- commit murder- lie � or whatever it is you want to put in that blank: but God, You knew my heart � and even though I blew it, because of You, I am declared righteous -�not because of me, but because of You. I want to stay connected to You (�joint effort opportunity is already in place because I�m honestly communicating with God about the dagger I just received,�) Help me embrace the truth that when I accepted you as Lord of my life you did indeed make me a �new creature� � that when I confess my sins, you do indeed forgive them (take them away) and cleanse me (wash me clean )- so that I don�t fall into wrong behavior which, in this case, would be a defeated and depressed lifestyle � one that eagerly admits to and �re-owns� the sins that have been taken away because of �accusations� that are no longer credible which I bought. You say, well, that might work for just me � but what about all the �fall out�- the lives that have been effected by everything I�ve messed up? You keep going back to truth. The truth says: Nothing is impossible for God � The truth says: All things work together for good to them that �love� God � to them that are �called� according to �His� purpose: -The truth says: Trust in the Lord with all your heart � and �lean not on your own understanding� in ALL your ways, acknowledge Him and HE will direct your paths: It�s not about you- It�s all about Him. He�s a big enough God to manage the �fall out� � your responsibility in the picture rests in the �joint effort opportunity.� �With� His help � you keep going back to the truth. You fight the daggers with �truth.� When you put on the �breastplate of righteousness� (walk in truth) you�re claiming who you are in Christ. We�ve already covered that �position.� Look at verse 25: Ever been not quite as honest as you could be? � perhaps because of the confrontation it would bring? Ever skirted an issue with a little deception instead of dealing with it honestly? Lies have their root in fear � get that. If lying is your trigger button in terms of falling down on a regular basis, your greatest enemy is �fear.� � the �symptom� is lying. When we lie, we�re either protecting ourselves or making ourselves look better. Look back at any lie you�ve ever told. You�ll find that you were either protecting yourself or you were embellishing a story to make yourself look better. What�s behind those two things? Fear. So � when you approach the �joint effort opportunity� bench you ask God for �help� � in the courage department � in the �bold� department. You ask God to give you the strength to speak �truth� � and �trust Him to manage what happens next.� Scary move: but what follows it is incredible freedom. READ Ephesians 4:26-27 When I sin � (lie, steal, cheat, have an affair, grumble and complain, and the list goes on) I give the devil an invitation to control that part of my life. When I repeat that sin, I not only give him and invitation, but I open the door and ask him to take over. As I continue down that road he gains a �stronghold� in my life and controls that area of who I am. I get caught and can�t seem to break free. If that happens, it�s because I am walking in unrighteousness. This verse is addressing �anger.� Is anger a sin? Nope. Sometimes it�s a sin NOT to be angry. The person who gets angry the most is God � and He gets angry at sin. Why? Because it destroys what He cherishes most.. you. Anger should never control you. This verse says, �Be angry, and yet do not sin.� It�s obviously an emotion we all deal with. What do you do with it? Go into a rage when the mood hits? Take it out on your kids? On your parents? On your friends? On your spouse? Just �feel� it and let it out so that everything is ok? NO NO NO- You take that anger back to God. When Proverbs 3:5-6 says, �Trust in the Lord with all your heart and �lean not on your own understanding� � in all your ways � that�s not just talking about �experiences� � or �choices� � or things you might be confused over: that�s talking about �all your ways� � your emotions, your thoughts, your footsteps, �you� �in �all your ways� what? ACKNOWLEDGE Him: The word �acknowledge� come from the Hebrew word: Yadha: and it means: to admit to and recognize the authority of � In all your ways � recognize HIS authority: take it all to Him � This implies the �reluctant revealing of something one might have kept secret� � trusting His heart with what my heart needs help with most: We take the anger to God. Honestly and openly reveal the anger to God � let Him examine your ways: and let Him give you the direction you need. Don�t own the situation as something �you� need to handle. Remember, Satan works through sin. Warfare is a truth encounter. Satan gains power in your life through sin. We are to put on the breastplate of righteousness.(Walk in truth) What does Satan want me to walk in? Disobedience. Why? That�s the way I walked all my life � that�s the way he walks. Why does he want me to walk in sin? Because sin gives him power. Sin gives him opportunity. He works hard to trap you. Look at II Timothy 2:24-26 Circle the word �truth� here. Be apt to teach � be patient with these people � instruct them � so that they can come to the knowledge of what? �How to let somebody have it?� No � Truth. What for? So that in coming to the truth they can escape the snare of the devil who has held them captive to do what? HIS WILL. Sin gives the devil power. Sin holds you captive because it�s addictive. How do we break free? First, you agree with God that it IS sin. Second, you �I John 1:9� it (peanut butter story) � and ask God to set you free: �joint effort opportunity� again- you can�t do this one on your own. Third, READ Ephesians 4:28-32 � you ask God to forgive you and confess your sin: He removes it � BUT, there�s an additional part you need to be aware of. When you say to God, I did this or that � It�s not that He says ��What are you talking about?� He�s �all knowing� remember? He knows everything. It�s that He will never hold it against you. THAT, is a key thing to know. Why? Because when He asks you to forgive others oftentimes you come back with the question and problem of memory. �If I forgive them, does it mean I haven�t forgiven them if I still remember what happened?� No- It means that you no longer hold it against them. I want to tell you a few things about forgiveness to prepare you for the next lesson. 1) Forgiveness is not an issue between you and the offender. It�s between you and God. Get that. Whether I forgive you or not is not really an issue between you and me. Nothing you do or don�t do is to depend on whether I forgive you or not. Whether you respond, whether you apologize, whatever you do, it�s an issue between me and God � why? Because God has commanded me to forgive. If I�m going to walk in righteousness I have to walk in truth. If I am walking in truth, I have to forgive. In the Lord�s prayer He says, �Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors-� and then later on He says, if you do not forgive others, God will not forgive you. What�s this �kingdom� made up of? Forgiven people. Who have they sinned against? God. What did Jesus say? �Father forgive them.� 2) God commands us to put on righteousness and obey. You don�t have to be at peace to forgive somebody. You walk in obedience FIRST � the peace follows. When we choose to not forgive, we are doing that because we are afraid we are going to let them off the hook. We think that if we forgive them they aren�t going to get what they deserve. The funny thing is, we don�t have the power or the ability to �keep them on the hook� and ironically, if they got what they deserved, it still wouldn�t be enough according to our measurements! We may �let them off the hook� so to speak when we forgive them � but remember, God doesn�t. He is a �just� judge. 3) Unless you forgive, your unforgiveness will tie you to �past tense.� You�ll get stuck in yesterday and be unable to move forward. It will harness you inside pain and you won�t be able to get out. If you will forgive you�ll find that God will unlock the pain and you will begin to move on with your life. 4) You forgive by agreeing with God that what they did was sin � or,what you did was sin. Don�t deny that it was sin � that it hurt- don�t deny the pain or how angry everything made you. Did Jesus deny the pain when He was on the cross? No. You see that in Psalm 22. He was in terrible pain that He didn�t deny. When you forgive, you aren�t standing back saying �I forgive you� � and then expect �no more pain.� Wrong- it doesn�t work that way. It�s a process. It takes time. You will feel the pain for awhile. Jesus did. Even though you may hurt for awhile, you don�t hold it against them � You let go, and allow God- Jesus suffered what He forgave. You will suffer what you forgive. You have to forgive because God commanded it. You�ve got to put on that breastplate of righteousness ( walk in truth) and stand in the �joint effort opportunity.� 5) Let God redeem the consequences. He will take the pain and will use it to build you and make you strong. Just make sure you put it in His hands. Forgiveness is usually not a one time deal: It�s a process: - a continual �letting go of my rights� � and a yielding to His. Remember that warfare is not a power encounter, it�s a truth encounter. As you know the truth � you�ll walk in the truth (putting on the breastplate of righteousness) and find peace. Trust His heart- More tomorrow. Loving you, Robin �2001 Robin and Jim Hibschman |
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