Chapter 11 Meanings
Being Taken
Watson’s face goes white at the news that his dear sister has been “taken.” Being taken by the little ones represents becoming captive to sin. Paul refers to our former life as unbelievers as the time when we were slaves to sin (Romans 6:20). That enslavement ends at conversion (v.22), however, even believers can voluntarily re-enslave themselves. When we give control to the flesh, we find our best efforts to forsake certain sins unsuccessful (Galatians 5:17).
Note: While Escape from Paradise is a parable of coming to salvation, At War with the Wind is a parable of a believer trying to escape bondage to a sin to which she has enslaved herself.
Giants and Children
Apparent physical size, in the story, represents greatness in the eyes of men. The “great ones” were seen as giants by the people in the lowlands because those people had such high regard for them. The same men were seen as small in the high country because people there saw their true stature.
In our society, the “great ones” are the celebrities. It’s not uncommon to hear them described as “larger than life”—even at their funerals!
But from a biblical point of view, pop stars, athletes, and movie stars who reject Christ are not great in any sense. They are fools with such miniscule souls that they care about nothing beyond this world.
The truly great ones are people who are lowly and unimportant in the world’s eyes. This is why I depicted believers as children.
The small stature of the mountain people in the story illustrates not only the low opinion the world has of believers, but also our humility. Jesus was clear that we cannot enter heaven unless we become like a little child (Matthew 18:3).
The War, the Warriors, and the Wild Animals
The conflict between the cottage people and the warriors represents spiritual warfare—the battle between believers and demons.
While the lowlanders (unbelievers) see the cottage people (Christians) as enemies, the cottage people understand their opponents are the warriors (demons), not the lowlanders. Our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against spirits (Ephesians 6:12).
The wild animals, who are the regional powers ruling the warriors, represent demons in the hierarchy of authority in the spiritual world. These beings are mentioned in Ephesians 6:12, Colossians 1:16, 2:15, 1 Peter 3:22, and possibly Romans 8:38.
Study Questions
EXCERPT
| “There are far worse fates than what happened to those people.” “Worse than having your chest ripped open?” -p.92 |
QUESTION 1
What does it mean to be afraid of God as the one who can destroy both soul and body in hell rather than fearing those who can kill the body? (Matthew 10:28)
MY ANSWER
It means if I face a decision between facing physical harm or even death, or crossing God, I would be more afraid of the latter than the former.
QUESTION 2
Consider the logic Jesus uses in Matthew 5:29—30. Is there some area of your thinking that needs to be corrected by that logic (It would be better to lose _____ than to have an eternally negative outcome)?
MY ANSWER
For me, I need to be reminded that it would be better for me to lose some of my time than to disobey God. Sometimes I’m reluctant to do things I know God wants me to do because of the time it will cost me.
EXCERPT
| “Isn’t it irrational to believe in things that can’t be observed?” “It would be if observation were the only form of evidence. But to say that is to revert to the mentality of an infant who thinks the world disappears when he closes his eyes. Just because something is unseen does not disprove its existence. Nor is observation the only means of obtaining knowledge. It is useful for matters pertaining to the body, but not for matters of heart or soul.”–p.93 |
QUESTION 3
What are some realities we know exist but that cannot be discovered through scientific study?
MY ANSWER
The Creator, our own thoughts, the human mind or soul, logic, morality, evil, reason, insight, angels, demons, history, and the elements of the creation that are not observable (such as the reaches of space beyond our reach and particles too small for scientific observation)
EXCERPT
| “But observational knowledge can be verified. What other form of gaining knowledge can be trusted?” “Testimony,” said Watson. “Of all the things you believe, what percentage is from your own experimentation, and how much is from what you have read or been told by a reliable source?” -p.93 |
QUESTION 4
How would you answer Watson’s question: “Of all the things you believe, what percentage is from your own experimentation, and how much is from what you have read or been told by a reliable source?”
MY ANSWER
Probably 90% or more from reliable testimony, 10% from scientific experimentation.
QUESTION 5
How would you respond to someone who draw a distinction between that which is “faith based” and that which is “evidence based”? See John 14:11 (Do you regard testimony from God as reliable evidence?)
MY ANSWER
It’s a distinction that shows a misunderstanding of the meaning of “faith.” Faith simply refers to believing something. Everyone who believes anything has faith.
There are two reasons why we believe things: 1) because of evidence, or 2) because of superstition. Believing something unsupported by any evidence is superstition. If the best evidence points to a conclusion, the only rational response is to believe that thing. That is faith because it involves trusting the validity of the evidence.
Sometimes Christians are accused of having faith that isn’t evidence-based because there is no scientific evidence. But scientific evidence isn’t the only kind of evidence. It’s not even the best kind. Most of what all people (including scientists) believe, they believe based on the evidence of reliable testimony, not scientific evidence.
EXCERPT
|
“Mere observation of events without comprehension of meaning is not a discovery of truth. It is half–truth. Less than half, in fact. What good is awareness of objects and processes while remaining ignorant of their purpose and meaning?” –p.93 |
Scientific study reveals processes, but not meaning or purpose. Only Scripture can reveal that. What do we learn about the meaning/purpose of the following elements of the creation from Scripture?
QUESTION 6
What is the purpose of the earth? See Genesis 1.
MY ANSWER
Each of the days of creation are descriptions of how God transformed the uninhabitable earth into an ideal home for mankind. The earth is for man.
QUESTION 7
What one the purpose of the sky? See Psalm 19:1.
MY ANSWER
There are multiple purposes. In Psalm 19, it is to bring glory to God. in Genesis 1, the purpose heavenly bodies is to provide light for man and to enable man to mark time.
QUESTION 8
What is one purpose of birds? See Matthew 6:26.
MY ANSWER
To serve as daily illustrations of God’s generous provision. Every day God feeds trillions of birds, which requires about 100 million tons of food every single day. And caring for his children is a far higher priority to God than the birds.
QUESTION 9
What is one purpose of marriage? See Ephesians 5:32.
MY ANSWER
Marriage is designed to teach us about the nature of the relationship between God and his people.
QUESTION 10
What is one purpose of food and drink? See 1 Timothy 6:17.
MY ANSWER
Human enjoyment!
EXCERPT
|
“To truly know what is seen one must also know the unseen.” –p.93 |
QUESTION 11
What are your observations about the relationship between the seen and the unseen from 2 Corinthians 4:17–18 and Colossians 3:1–2?
MY ANSWER QUESTION
2 Corinthians 4—Visible things are light, momentary, and temporary verses the eternal, weighty, and glorious nature of the unseen.
Colossians 3—-Eternal things are worthy of our thoughts and affections; earthly things are not.
That’s a basic answer. I urge you to read Austin’s response in the comments. He took it deeper than I did.
QUESTION 12
We can discover a great deal through scientific study, but there are limitations to science and other forms of human wisdom. What are some areas where human wisdom is inadequate? See Jeremiah 9:23—24; 1 Corinthians 1:20—21; Psalm 119:99—100.
MY ANSWER
Jeremiah 9 – Science cannot reveal the knowledge of God. One can reason logically from what can be scientifically observed (based on what we learn from scientific study, it stands to reason there must be a Creator), but God’s delight in his kindness, justice, and righteousness cannot be studied in a test tube.
This is striking, because the same passage tells us that this is the most important knowledge there is. It can’t be obtained apart from divine revelation, we have no access to it through merely human study, and yet it is far more important than all the wisdom that can be obtained through scientific study.
1 Corinthians 1:20-21 – Human wisdom cannot bring a person to know God in a saving way. Not even the smartest person in the world can come to know God unless God reveals himself to that person.
Psalm 119 – Spiritual insight and understanding can never come through human study or reasoning. Only through revelation. And that kind of insight makes one wiser than the wisest of people who have only human knowledge.
QUESTION 13
What happens when we try to use human wisdom, rather than wisdom from above (God’s Word), to discern spiritual things? See James 3:13—17. Have you observed any examples of this?
MY ANSWER
It results in disorder and every evil practice.
I’ve seen it many times in churches when God’s way seems counterintuitive. It happens a lot in church discipline situations. Thousands of churches fail to carry out church discipline at all for fear that God’s way is too harsh.
Others use church discipline as a weapon to punish people who have committed especially egregious sins, even after they have repented. They don’t want to forgive for fear that God’s way is too merciful.
EXCERPT
|
“Did you ask them what powers gravity? Or magnetism? Are they cognizant of its source? Or purpose? “Did you inquire as to the law of cause and effect? When did it begin?” |
QUESTION 14
Naturalists believe the universe powers itself. Deists believe God embedded power in the creation at the beginning, and now it runs on its own. What does the Bible say about God’s day-to-day involvement in the workings of nature? See Psalm 104:10—30. List some things God exercises direct control over.
MY ANSWER
God is sovereign over every detail of nature, no matter how small (see Austin’s response in the comments). He determines the path of every leaf falling from a tree, every whisp of a breeze, the flight path of every mosquito. What we observe as “laws” are only laws because God runs that aspect of the creation in a consistent way. The workings of nature are not laws dictated by the creation that God must obey. Rather, they are laws dictated by God that the creation obeys.
EXCERPT
|
“I do not doubt their voluminous knowledge of this world, Adam. However, their knowledge is limited to this world. Unhelpful for someone who belongs to another world—an unseen world, wouldn’t you say?”–p.92 |
QUESTION 15
What are some limitations of science as a means of discovering truth?
MY ANSWER
Science is great for studying physical things. The scientific method of discovering truth is to observe a phenomenon, develop a hypothesis to explain it, test that hypothesis, and then analyze the results. This is an excellent method for studying observable, testable things such as gravity or chemical reactions. It is not useful for non-observable phenomena, such as history, morality, the human soul, or any other spiritual realities.
EXCERPT
|
“True size. It is the measure of a man as judged by the Ruler. The Ruler considers great those who are small in their own eyes. Such people appear as children to those who are great in their own eyes, but who lack greatness in the Ruler’s eyes.” –p.97 |
QUESTION 16
What is the difference between those the world looks up to and those God highly esteems? See Luke 16:15; Mark 10:42–44; 1 Samuel 16:7.
MY ANSWER
The world esteems the famous, those who have titles, those who have power and wealth, and those who are physically impressive.
God esteems the humble.
QUESTION 17
What kinds of people are most highly esteemed in your church? By you? And how does that match what God tells us in Philippians 2:29–30 and Matthew 18:5?
MY ANSWER
The church also highly esteems the humble (at least more than the world does). However, they also tend to elevate those who are specially gifted in music or people skills. Extraverts tend to be more highly valued in the church than introverts.
I try to follow God’s heart in who I esteem. I do highly esteem the humble and those who love the Lord. However, I am susceptible to esteeming attractive people or people who have something to offer me more than unattractive or needy people.
QUESTION 18
Are there any areas where you have been striving for the earthly kind of greatness rather than the kind God calls us to?
MY ANSWER
Yes. I recently realized that I tend to put too much stock in external markers of success. Especially ministry success. I claim that my main concern is what happens in people’s hearts, whether I see it or not. But judging from how my emotions respond, it’s clear that what I really believe is that the external markers are often more important to me.
QUESTION 19
We are constantly tempted to measure ourselves by the assessment of people—so their opinion of us matters more to us than God’s assessment. Who are those people in your life? (Friends, strangers, parents, yourself, etc.)
MY ANSWER
This one is easy. For me, it’s MYSELF! I don’t care much what other people think of me. I never really have. In fact, as a teen I even took pride in the fact that the “in” crowd didn’t like me. But in recent months I’ve realized that there is one person I really do strive to impress, and it’s myself. I have clear markers of success in my mind, and if I fall short of them, I’m miserable. If I meet them, I’m happy. I need to learn to set those aside and focus only on God’s assessment of me.
QUESTION 20
How might one go about pursuing the right kind of greatness?
MY ANSWER
Through humility and servanthood, with an eye only on what God says about what I’m doing, thinking, and feeling.
EXCERPT
|
“Their souls have shrunk so small that their appetites can be satisfied by mere gold and fruit.” –p.95 |
QUESTION 21
God designed us with appetites for him and his grace. He placed eternity in our hearts (Ecclesiastes 3:11). What kinds of influences might shrink your soul so that instead of craving eternal glories, you crave only temporal things?
MY ANSWER
I think all forms of idolatry do this. Whenever I use some temporal thing to satisfy a spiritual craving, any pleasure I get from that trains my soul to think that thing is real “food.” For example, if I get into a bad mood and become irritable because my soul is starved for fellowship with God, and I turn to an earthly pleasure (such as entertainment, sex, or food), the momentary pleasure I get from that will train my soul to think that temporal pleasure really does satisfy the soul’s cravings.
EXCERPT
|
“Why do you appear as children?” |
QUESTION 22
in what ways must one resemble a child to enter the kingdom? See Matthew 18:1–4.
MY ANSWER
One must become humble and lowly in the eyes of the world.
QUESTION 23
In what ways should we avoid being like children? See 1 Corinthians 3:1–2, 13:11, 14:20.
MY ANSWER
1 Cor.3 – We must avoid the immaturity of being unable to digest “solid food” (spiritual principles that go beyond the basics).
1 Cor.13 – We must avoid childish reasoning and speech.
1 Cor.14 – We must avoid the tendency in children to be dazzled by superficial things while oblivious to more important realities.
EXCERPT
|
“You’re dealing with powers you know nothing about. And if you’re taken … –p.91 |
QUESTION 24
What is Satan’s objective in coming after you? See 2 Timothy 2:26.
MY ANSWER
He wants to take me captive to do his will. Those are both startling thoughts. There are some horrible slaves owners in this world. But none more horrific than Satan.
And the idea that I would be carrying out the will of Satan–achieving his desires–is sickening.
QUESTION 25
What are some ways Satan accomplishes that objective? See Acts 8:23; Colossians 2:8; Titus 3:3; 2 Peter 2:18.
MY ANSWER
Acts 8 – Bitterness can lead us into captivity.
Colossians 2 – Human wisdom and philosophy can lead us into captivity.
Titus 3 – Passions and pleasures can lead us into captivity.
EXCERPT
“They aren’t animals. Animals can be defeated with much lesser weapons. What you saw were the powers that control the little ones.” –p.94
QUESTION 26
What are the weapons we use in spiritual warfare? See 2 Corinthians 10:4–5; Ephesians 6:17.
MY ANSWER
The weapon in both passages is the truth from Scripture. In Ephesians 6, the Word of God is depicted as the Holy Spirit’s sword—in our hands.
The weapon that demolishes strongholds in 2 Cor.10 is the act of correcting unbiblical ideas. This passage is often understood in terms of controlling one’s own thoughts, but in the context, the idea is that we confront the unbiblical ideas propagated by unbelievers and force those ideas into obedience to Christ. We do that by correcting them using the Word of God.
QUESTION 27
How might a person win a spiritual battle using these weapons?
MY ANSWER
Personal battles with temptation can be won using the sword of the Spirit. Jesus exemplified this in his temptations in Matthew 4. He quoted Scripture to counter the enemy’s lies. This required skilled use of Scripture because 1) Satan quoted Scripture in his temptations, and 2) the passages of Scripture that helped Jesus were passages that applied to his exact situation (being tested in the wilderness in a time of hunger).
An example of winning a spiritual battle in the 1 Cor.10 way would be a letter to the editor exposing the errors of common unbiblical thinking using the truth of Scripture.
EXCERPT
|
“Why did the powers only appear when they saw you?” |
QUESTION 28
what are some specific examples of how one might obey the command in Ephesians 5:11?
MY ANSWER
If a group conversation goes in an ungodly direction (such as gossip, off-color jokes, or complaining), rather than joining in, Eph.5:11 calls me to say something that exposes the evil of what’s going on. That can be done either directly (“The Bible forbids this kind of conversation”) or more subtly by countering their words with godly remarks. Respond to gossip by speaking well of the person, or to complaining with words of gratitude.
Another way to expose evil is to overcome it with good, like repaying an offense with an act of kindness or forgiveness.
EXCERPT
|
Adam turned away, clasping his hands behind his head. The more they explained, the more his confusion increased. Could such a story be true? He couldn’t bring himself to believe it. But what did he believe? His imagination searched in vain for a more plausible alternative. –pp.95–96 |
One of the best ways to handle nagging doubts about Christianity is to ask, “What is the alternative?” As hard as some elements of Christianity are to believe, every other worldview has elements that are even harder.
QUESTION 29
What are some elements of naturalism that are impossible to believe? (Naturalism is the belief that only the physical world exists.)
MY ANSWER
If I were a naturalist, I would have nagging doubts about the human mind. It’s impossible for me to believe that my mind is nothing more than my physical brain.
I would also have huge doubts about how the natural world could have created itself, since the scientific knowledge we have shows that matter is not eternal, and there is no such thing as a self-perpetuating anything. Everything eventually runs down.
QUESTION 30
What are some elements of evolutionism that are impossible to believe?
MY ANSWER
If I were an evolutionist, I would have nagging doubts about the following belief: “If there is nothing in existence except hydrogen gas shooting through space and gravity, eventually it will turn into humans.
QUESTION 31
What are some elements of agnosticism that are impossible to believe?
MY ANSWER
Agnostics claim it’s impossible to know for sure if there is a God (which means they believe that even if there is a God, it would be impossible for him to communicate truth things about himself to us).
If I were an agnostic, I would have nagging doubts about the idea that not even a God of infinite, perfect wisdom and power would be incapable of communicating truth about himself. If we can communicate, why wouldn’t a Supreme Being be capable of communicating?
QUESTION 32
What are some elements of Christian liberalism (belief in the morals of the Bible but not the supernatural elements) that are impossible to believe?
MY ANSWER
If I were a liberal, I would have nagging questions about all the evidence for the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. If that never happened, how did a group of disciples go from not believing it happened to being so convinced that they were willing to die for the claim? We have a lot of information about these witnesses, and everything we have points to them being extraordinarily honest men and reliable historians. People don’t make up stories that make them look like buffoons, and no one dies for something they know to be a lie.
I would also have a nagging thought, “If there is no supernatural, how did everything come into existence (since there is no natural process that could explain it)?
EXCERPT
|
“To apprehend truth requires both mind and soul. The mind cannot accurately process information without proper attitudes—attitudes it needs to interpret and absorb the information it receives. The way the little ones became so small was by severing the cord that connects mind with soul, leaving their souls to wither. And the mind, no matter how intelligent, cannot draw accurate conclusions when there is a diseased soul.” –pp.95–96 |
QUESTION 33
What attitudes in your heart threaten to cloud your thinking on spiritual matters?
MY ANSWER
I think the bad attitude I struggle the most with is self-pity. When things get especially difficult, I often descend into thoughts of self-pity which clouds my thinking about God’s goodness, kindness, generosity, and love.
QUESTION 34
What do we learn from Ephesians 4:22—24 and Philippians 2:5 about how to change the attitudes of the heart?
MY ANSWER
Eph.4 – Renewing of attitudes is part of the process of displacing the old self with the new self. The sins of old life must be pushed out of one’s life by replacing them with the corresponding virtues.
Php.2 – We transform our attitudes by following the example of Christ’s attitude of humility.
QUESTION 35
In what ways does faith function as a two-way cord connecting mind with soul (delivering necessary information from the mind to the soul and necessary attitudes from the soul to the mind)? See John 8:31—32; Colossians 3:9—10.
MY ANSWER
Col.3 – The new self is being made new “in knowledge.” Knowledge is required for the renewal of the inner man to take place.
Jn.8 – Before the mind can know the truth, there must first be a prior commitment to Christ’s teaching in the heart.
EXCERPT
|
“What he means is you can’t know the truth unless your heart is receptive to it.” –p.96 |
QUESTION 36
Write a brief summary of what the following passages teach about new birth: John 3:3–8; Titus 3:3–7; 1 Peter 1:22–25.
MY ANSWER
Jn.3 – New birth is invisible, like the Spirit (and the wind). But one must be born again in order to enter the kingdom of God.
Titus 3 – Rebirth is the means by which God saves us. It happens not because of our righteousness, but because of his mercy.
1 Peter 1 – Life from the new birth is eternal, not perishable because it happens by means of the eternal Word of God.
Qs. 35-36 – The link between the mind and the soul is an incredibly interesting one. I had never made that connection with these verses before, how you tie a diseased soul to the little ones’ size is awesome.
Yes, it makes perfect sense – the soul is the filter through which our mind processes information. So if the soul is diseased, the filter is broken, which means it’s impossible for the mind to process information accurately. So obvious once it’s stated so simply.
As for the verses, I’ve always understood them to mean that God must act on our soul first, otherwise we remain blind, and no matter how much “good” information we receive about God, our filter will remain broken, so we’ll *never* arrive at proper conclusions about him. At least this seems to me what the John and Titus passages are saying.
Then the 1 Peter passage, now that God has shown us this grace, we have a responsibility to continue growing in it. We could still think the wrong way, so we need to continue to practice how we think by remaining pure and obeying the truth that we now know.
Qs. 33-34:
I think for me, the attitudes I struggle with the most are anxiety and negative assumptions about others when it comes to some of my relationships at work.
If I have work relationship break down or if there’s friction, it greatly disrupts my spirit.
The “put-off/put-on” principle has helped me *immensely!*
I actually realized I needed to change my job because I was strengthening the flesh every time I got caught up in it, which made it even harder to escape.
So for me, one of the tangible things I had to do, to be able to start weakening the flesh, was to simply remove myself from the situation, so I would be less tempted.
This, and renewing my mind and really trying to have the mind of Christ (and they’reall intertwined), have changed everything.
Q. 31 – My favorite Christmas song is, “I Heard the Bells On Christmas Day.”
There’s one stanza that goes:
“And in despair I bowed my head
There is no peace on earth I said
For hate is strong and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men
But the bells are ringing
Like a choir they’re singing
IN MY HEART I HEAR THEM
Peace on earth, good will to men”
I could always have nagging doubts if I were an agnostic for this reason.
The idea of peace on earth and goodwill towards men is imprinted on our hearts. It was put there by God and it causes even the most jaded among us to scream, “This is not how it should be!” when we see that peace violated.
Even Kant, who thought that if there were a God, he would be unknowable, put it this way: we all have a natural sense of right and wrong.
That sense of rightness and wrongness comes from our sense of justice and reflects that there is imperfect justice in this world.
But for us to have any sense of this rightness and wrongness, we must know that there is an absolute standard of justice beyond this life and a perfect law-giver and a perfectly just judge.
Without that sense of absolute justness, how can we *know* that something is wrong?
But we do *know* that things are wrong!
We all know – *know* – that school shootings, pedophilia, genocide, and other evils are wrong.
The fact that we know this reaffirms in our hearts that there is a perfect law-giver and a perfectly just judge who will one day swing the scales to set all the wrongs to right.
Absolute and perfect justice *will* be achieved.
We hear it in our hearts.
This is why I could never be an agnostic.
Q. 30 – There are a LOT of elements that are simply beyond common sense and too ridiculous to believe. The fact that evolution is even still perpetuated testifies to the fact that the human heart is not neutral and, in its unregenerated state, actively tries to avoid the things of God.
The one immediate example that comes to mind is something I read once in a pamphlet one evolution. And this was a pamphlet written by evolutionists for evolutionists, so this was their *own* explanation (as opposed to an opponent’s caricature or strawman of their explanation).
The pamphlet asked the question (and I’m paraphrasing both the question and the answer):
“If evolution is true, why is there no evidence in the fossil record of one species changing into another?”
Here was their answer:
“While it’s true no evidence has yet been found, the reason is because the act of evolution takes thousands upon thousands of years, too slowly to be shown in the fossil record. However, when the change does take place, it happens so rapidly that it’s too fast to be captured in the fossil record.”
UNBELIEVABLE!!!
It would be comical if it weren’t so tragic.
That’s hilarious! The process is too fast/slow to be leave observable evidence. By saying that, they are admitting that it’s outside the realm of science. If there is no observable evidence, science has nothing to say because the scientific method requires observable evidence.
Q. 28 – Not sure if this fits this exactly, but I remember once I viewed myself as the victim of a perceived injustice.
Negative thoughts took over!
I started imagining revenge and vengeance, I started making all sorts of negative assumptions about the situation, I started justifying myself in my own mind, etc.
It was ugly.
Then I remembered Gen 50:20.
In an instant my entire thoughts were transformed and I was truly at peace. God had sent this. On purpose and for a good purpose.
It was like someone threw open the shutters and my dark thoughts had no choice but to retreat, as shadows do before the sun.
Qs. 26 and 27 – our weapons are the word of God and, accordingly, making sure our thoughts are obedient to Christ.
We can use these weapons to win spiritual battles by thinking about what is true. The second book does an *EXCELLENT* job of illustrating some of these principles, and the spiritual consequences of right vs. wrong thoughts.
The stronghold being built or demolished brick-by-brick according to the trajectory of our thoughts, and the mirror being clamped in front of our faces are just two ways you brilliantly illustrated this principle.
But alas, I better keep my full thoughts on those for the next book!
Q. 24 – He wants to capture us so that we can do his will. We’re either fighting on behalf of God’s kingdom or Satan’s. There is no in between (Matt 12:30).
Q. 23 – While we must be humble and unconditionally trusting, we cannot be like a child in *every* way.
We must learn, accumulate knowledge, wisdom and insight, be disciplined, strive for and grow into maturity; we must be able to bite off, chew, and digest the “meatier” parts of God’s word all on our own.
We can’t expect to be spoon fed, or to have our meat cut up for us or to have the crust removed from our sandwiches. We need to grow up, and we need to take the initiative to do it ourselves.
Q. 22 – I’ve always thought of being like a child as having unconditional trust in God, just like a child (hopefully) never has to worry about where his next meal will come from or if he’ll have clothes to wear. He just knows mom and dad will take care of it.
Q. 21 – Our metabolism can be a good illustration of our souls here, I think.
When you’re active and eating well, your metabolism ramps up, allowing you to keep taking in food and keeping you healthy. The more good food your body gets, the more it craves.
But, in contrast, if you persist on a very low calorie diet, your body goes into “starvation mode,” your metabolism slows *way* down, preventing you from craving food your body knows it can’t have, and your stomach literally shrinks.
Since, as you describe, our souls are our spiritual “stomachs,” the exact same thing happens to us spiritually when we starve ourselves of the things of God. Our soul “turns off” its cravings for those things because it knows it won’t get them. Scary!
So as far as what types of influences cause this, I think in the second book you describe worshiping the creation rather than the creator – I think this is what causes it. The goop in the eyes and becoming near-sighted and blind is a good way to describe this.
There’s one guy at our church, Sam, who for *years* has always, rain or shine, every *single* Sunday, faithfully and cheerfully helps direct cars into the parking lot.
I think about Sam a lot. I love Sam. I hope Sam’s reward in Heaven is HUUUUUGE!
I often wonder how Sams there are that virtually nobody notices; yet God does and I’m sure they make him so happy.
Accidentally posted in the wrong spot.
Q. 16 – God looks on and cares about the heart and the motives of the inner man.
If our actions are in any way motivated by outward appearance or for the praise of man, then God tells us over and over that we “will have received our reward.”
That sentence really scares me. I’m always taking inventory of the motives of my heart. If if find I have the wrong motive, keeping this principle in mind makes it easy to let go of something I had been thinking was important and so was clinging to.
Q. 14 – God controls everything! What beautiful verses! God directly and momenent-by-moment, exercises *intentional* controls over:
Springs and their flow
Beasts of the field
Wild donkeys
Whether they’re thirsty or not
Birds of the heavens
Their songs
The branches of the trees
The mountains
The rain
The snow
The ice
Their meltwater and it’s flow
The effectiveness of each
The grass and it’s growth
The livestock
Plants
Man
Cultivation
Their effectiveness in bringing forth food
The grapes
The wine and it’s effectiveness
The olives
The oil and its effectiveness
The grain
The bread and its effectiveness
The trees and where they’re planted
The birds’ nests
The wild goats
The badgers
The rocks
Their effectiveness for refuge
The moon
The seasons
The idea and operation of ‘marking’ time and occasions
The sun and its size and heat and brightness
The planets and their size and composition and rotation and distance from the sun
The sky and atmosphere and temperature and timing and colors of the sunrises and sunsets
The darkness
Night
Animals for the night
Young lions
Their roar
Their desires
Their prey
Their food
Their behavior adjustments as the temperature changes
Man’s motivations and work ethic
His work
His rest
The creation of all creatures
The ocean and its composition and size and depth and breadth and smell
The ships and their design and buoyancy and speed and the math necessary to design and build them
Recreation
Enjoyment
Timing every single thing that happens and every single molecule necessary to make it happen perfectly
The idea of goodness
The concepts of being full and empty
Dismay at the lack of His presence
Breath and life and dust
Creation
Renewal
Based on these verses, it seems that human wisdom and God’s wisdom are not only incompatible, they are diametrically opposed to each other.
It seems we either have God’s wisdom, or we have jealousy and selfish ambition in our hearts.
And I think we really need to submit to Scripture here. I think verse 14 is saying, don’t kid yourself: if you have one, you *do not* have the other.
And guess what? Unless your life is unquestionably characterized by the virtues listed in verse 17, then you have jealousy and selfish ambition lurking in your heart, even if you may not know it.
And these hidden sins *will* result in disorder (v. 16).
And I haven’t studied these verses, so not sure how it reads in the Greek and itsimplications, but I find it interesting that verses 14 and 16 use “ambition” singular, instead of “ambitions” plural.
Ambitions, with an “s,” I think we can usually spot because they’re specific and identifiable; we know that thing which we’re pursuing.
But *ambition* – singular- is something much more insidious. It’s hidden, and it covers every other motivation of our heart like a blanket. It’s a settled-state of being that hums almost unnoticed in the background – like an air conditioner that we only notice was on once it gets turned off and we realize the background noise isn’t there anymore.
So until God’s wisdom comes and “turns off” this ambition in our hearts, we can be blind to its existence.
So when Scripture tells us we have either one or the other, we need to recognize that God is perhaps pointing out a blind spot and we’re suffering from selfish ambition even if it doesn’t feel like we are.
So if we try to use this type of “wisdom” to discern spiritual things, we’ll miss it every time because James says, by definition, that type of thinking is *un*spiritual and even demonic (v. 15)! Yikes!
You can never find the thing you’re looking for if you’re looking in the wrong place, and when selfish ambition governs our hearts we’re – again by definition – looking inward rather than outward and upward.
When have I seen an example of this? Unquestionably in my own heart. As I’ve mentioned before, 1 Cor 13:1-3 definitely described me. I had “wisdom” and knew the Bible but had no love. And exactly as James predicts, the result was disorder in my heart, life, and household. Only by God’s mercy did he open my eyes to this.
Sorry, this one was way too long, but the thoughts just came flooding.
Q. 11 – Based on these verses, two things come to mind for me.
First, the transient, temporary, fragile nature of the things that are seen are meant to create a longing in us for that which is eternal and unseen.
Second, ironically, and in a way it seems only God can, he uses the things that are seen to help make the things that are unseen stay real in our minds.
That is, every single thing on this earth is meant to point to, and teach us something about God.
So how can we “set our minds” on things above? Ironically by carefully considering the things that are below and what they *point* to. And it can’t be casual. The deeper things of God are the most satisfying, and we can’t get to them unless we set our minds to do so.
Qs. 9-10: Marriage helps illustrate the relationship between Christ and the church, and how our love for God is meant to be total and exclusive.
Food and drink illustrate how he provides for, nourishes, and sustains us. It also illustrates how he is meant to be our source of joy. Few things are as satisfying as a wonderful, delicious meal with good friends. Even this joy is just a faint glint of the almost-beyond-belief satisfaction that is available to us in the person of God himself.
Question 2. This has been an influential verse in my life at various times.
As just the first example that came to mind, there have times when I’ve been tempted to look up an old girlfriend on Facebook or something, but I know it would be dishonoring to my wife if I were to do so, and may awaken other, more nefarious desires within me.
So in those situations this verse had come to mind. I would MUCH rather just cut that piece out of my life altogether, and live with that “limp” or “missing piece” of never knowing “what might have been,” than indulge that temptation and potentially commit an even greater sin and lose everything.
And I think the right perspective is key here (which you’ve helped me arrive at). If I’m only focused on that thing I’m “missing out on,” it feels like a loss, and I’ll eventually give in to that temptation. But if I recognize that by giving up that thing, I gain something MUCH more valuable – eternal life – it becomes easy, to deny that temptation.
I’m reminded of Gen 17:19, where Lot and his family are escaping Sodom, “As they brought him out, they said to him, ‘Escape for your life. Do not look back or stop anywhere in the valley. Escape to the hills, lest you be swept away.’ ”
When I remember that the choice is between “Escaping for my life” or “looking back and being swept away,” the right choice becomes easier to make.
I think this principle can be valuable when counseling others also, whether it be helping someone escape addiction, lust, workaholic, love of money, etc. Really any idol they’ve given their heart to I suppose.
Well said!
Q. 16 – God looks on and cares about the heart and the motives of the inner man.
If our actions are in any way motivated by outward appearance or for the praise of man, then God tells us over and over that we “will have received our reward.”
That sentence really scares me. I’m always taking inventory of the motives of my heart. If if find I have the wrong motive, keeping this principle in mind makes it easy to let go of something I had been thinking was important and so was clinging to.
First, let me just say that I am SUPER EXCITED that we’re in Chapter 11! This was definitely my favorite chapter, and unlocked the entire book for me. Okay, on to the questions:
Question 1: I agree with Dean, and like Dean, I believe your teaching had greatly influenced my thinking in this area, so my answer is very similar to his.
I’ve come to think of it like a little boy in two different scenarios:
1) In the first, he is playing with his friends outside and is pressured by them to try to throw a baseball over the house, even though he knows he’s not allowed. His aim is off and he accidently breaks a window instead. He is very afraid of his father’s reaction and the resulting punishment.
So the boy, by fearing the wrong thing (losing the respect of his friends, or of being belittled by them) behaved the wrong way by trying to throw the baseball over the house. Had he feared the right thing, his father, who told him it wasn’t allowed, he would have behaved the right way (by not throwing the ball).
The boy’s disobedience, in addition to throwing the ball, was fearing his friend’s approval instead of his father’s. Because he feared the wrong thing, he now actually has reason to be afraid because he is subject to his father’s punishment (along with the consequences he must face for breaking the window).
2) In the second scenario, he is in his room late at night and fears there is a monster in his closet.
He cries out for his father and his father comes in the room. Just having the father’s presence in the room is enough to drive away all his fears of the monster.
Where earlier in the day, he was afraid of his father because he was aware of his power and authority, now that same power and authority comforts him. A monster may be scary, but it is nowhere near as scary as his father. Now the *monster* needs to be afraid because the one to *ultimately* be feared, his father, is for him. When the one to ultimately be feared is for you, all other fears lose their power.
Q11.1: In some of your other teachings Darrell you talked about a bad kind of fear and a good kind of fear. From this verse I see the ‘bad kind’ is being afraid of what is merely of earthly value – harm to our bodies, possessions etc. But God, is in control of what is both earthly (our bodies), and eternal (our souls), and is able to kill them both. Not that He would destroy the soul of a believer (John 5:24; Rom. 8:1) – I don’t think that is His point in this verse, but more so that we should have a healthy fear of God – such as one of a child to their good Father. The fear of God is the fear that cancels fear.
Q11.2: As I considered this, I couldn’t think of any part of me that I would keep, let alone choose one to lose. Maybe I’m wrong, but I thought the purpose of this passage was to remove ourselves from the source of temptation. …as I just wrote that, it came to mind, maybe then what I need to lose then is my desire to please the flesh – to be replaced by a greater desire for God.
When I speak about the good and bad kinds of fear, the reference is specifically to the good kind of fearing God and the bad kind of fearing God. The good kind is the kind that makes me run from sin. The bad kind is the kind that makes me run from God.
An example of both kinds is Ex.20:19-20. The Israelites have the bad kind of fearing God that makes them say, “We don’t want God to speak to us anymore.” It’s a fear of God that makes them run from God. So the Lord tells them not to have that bad kind, but to have the good kind–the kind that keeps them from sinning.
He wants to capture us so that we can do his will. We’re either fighting on behalf of God’s kingdom or Satan’s. There is no in between (Matt 12:30).