TO LIVE IN CONSTANT PEACE IS POSSIBLE

When you climb a mountain, you have to sometimes stop and turn around to appreciate the view and how far you have come. In our walk with God, we are constantly escalating a spiritual mountain, and I had such a moment this week, where I was forced to a stop to evaluate my progress.

As a matter of fact, I didn’t stop by choice - I slipped on the narrow ledge that I was on, and found myself dangling somewhere between the ecstasy of walking with God and the danger of falling back into the sinful nature that I used to live by… The temptation was so real and so strong that I found myself, like Lot, looking at two landscapes and comparing them to determine my future.

To the one side there was a very inviting landscape, abundant with things that used to satisfy my flesh. To the other side was an arid landscape that seemed totally empty, because there was nothing there that would cater for the flesh. However, from where I was I could not see the thistles and thorns that proliferated with everything else in that seemingly fertile soil to the one side. Neither could I see the Glory Cloud hanging low over the horizon to the other side - it merely looked like a heat-generated mirage.

To be a little more concrete in my comparison :

as long as you cater for the flesh, you will always and constantly have your doze of unlimited frustrations and of offence, anger, sadness, hurt, etc. You might convince yourself that you are getting a “moerse” kick out of “sex, drugs and rock&roll”, but deep down inside you will always have dissatisfaction mingled with loneliness, desperation and the overwhelming desire to be happy and to feel loved. As long as you live in the flesh no-one will be able to convince you that the answer is becoming co-crucified with Christ, because who in their right mind would willingly give up everything in exchange for an invisible ”one-day” reward - right?!

Well, wrong, actually. The reward is much more visible than you can imagine and the benefits come almost instantly after submitting your life (entirely) to God.

In the first weeks after starting this journey of dying to self, I experienced a deep release from past hurts and grudges, from sadness and moodiness, and I noticed how I did not become offended so easily anymore. I even noticed an improvement in my general health, not to mention my relationships with my spouse and other family and friends. But it took an “almost-fall” from grace to allow me to really see the huge difference between living as a carnal being and living as a spirit being.

Now, just to be clear: it was not the temptation at my doorstep that caused me to slip - it was the fact that I considered it as an option. And the moment that I did that, an invisible door flung open in my soul and out came a bunch of demons that I had said goodbye to ages ago. Together with the deceptive enchantment of the temptation, came, almost instantly, heartache and hurt. A sense of insecurity flooded my soul and it was in that moment that I realised how much my life had changed and how good it had been to live without all of these yucky mucky nonsense! It was a huge eye opener and I realised two things simultaneously:

• I did not want to abuse God’s grace. What Jesus had done, deserves worship, and a clean life is one of the greatest forms of worship one could ever give.

• I did not want those things in my life ever again. I wanted to stay my course in perfect peace, passionately pursuing the Lover of my soul.

Do take note:

WHAT DYING TO SELF IS NOT:

Submitting yourself to rules and regulations and do’s and dont’s because you think that you have to for religious reasons and because you don’t want to go to hell, is pointless. The only fruit that a religious mindset will ever bear will be judgementalism, criticism, frustration and eventually burn-out.

WHAT DYING TO SELF IS

your desire to live differently must come from a living relationship with Jesus. The fruit of such a journey of burning passion for God, and an insatiable hunger to know Him more., will be joy, peace , love and much more

If you are a Christian, you have a spiritual mountain to escalate. But beware! Israel wandered in the wilderness because they did not engage into a relationship with God, and they did nothing but going round and round and round the same mountain for many years. The Word says that Israel only knew the works of God but Moses knew His ways. The difference between Israel and Moses was that Moses chose to escalate the mountain in pursuit of relationship with God, when Israel refused…!

To stop and look back on your journey so far, taking a moment to evaluate your progress, is often the best way to motivate yourself toward keeping on climbing…. And if you feel stuck, as if you have made no real progress , it may very wel be that you are simply worn from moving round and round the mountain, instead of climbing it…!

I want to invite you to join me on this amazing journey up this wonderful Mountain which is a relationship with living God…

Oh and, yes, I am back on the ledge - Jesus gave me a Hand!