Part (II) Why do you spend money on what is not bread?

If I were to be honest and ask myself if I could describe my Christian life as “life in all its fullness” (John 10:10b), I would have to say that I know there is more, a lot more. There is always a lot more! But I would also have to say that I have come a long way, and this was actually confirmed in a prophetic word I received recently. By “coincidence” as I write today I am celebrating (to the day) five years of victory over a major addiction in my life. I keep mentioning that twelve-step-programs deal with much more than substance abuse. The Christ based version “Celebrate Recovery” for example deals with many other, often hidden addictions, even in church. Actually perhaps “hidden” is especially rife in church. I’m talking about such things as judging, gossiping, overeating, overuse of media, anger etc., etc. The list is clearly not complete, I could mention shopping or pornography which, I am told, is at epidemic proportions among men and, increasingly in the pseudo hyper sexuality of our culture, in women too.

I am not saying this to lay a guilt trip on anyone, but rather continuing last day’s post, to help us see the sort of thing that prevents our soul from delighting itself in “fatness” (Isaiah 55:2), in the abundant life. There is a deception that the Evil One is perpetrating on the Church, and it is that we don’t need to deal with the past, because it is “all under the blood.” Certainly as we walk in the light “the blood of Jesus Christ keeps on cleansing us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). However sanctification, deliverance from the power and the pollution of sin, as the Greek tenses in this verse imply, is an ongoing process (see “I am being saved” May 4). And the problem is, that if my struggle and my wounding are “all under the blood,” already dealt with, then I likely will hide my struggle and my pain. And I am afraid to come out of hiding because clearly I am the only one with problems, and if I confess (James 5:16), I am likely to be judged. Please don’t try and tell me this is not happening.

Please do not misunderstand me, I am not condoning living in the past. I have found however, that I need to visit the past (not camp there) to allow the Lord to redeem it. In an “issue focused” session in a ministry called “Restoring the Foundations,” the Lord took me back to a particularly painful incident in the Church where, from my point of view, I was being verbally attacked publicly, and falsely accused. As I asked Jesus where He was at the time, He showed me that He was standing between me and my accusers, absorbing the “fiery darts” that were being aimed at me. And when the session was over, it simply didn’t hurt anymore. This would not have happened if I had simply told myself “It’s all under the blood.”

Father in my prayer/exercise walk just now, the verse “You can’t heal a wound by saying it’s not there” (Jeremiah 6:14 NLT) came to mind. Yet that is what I see many in Your church are doing. I know it’s scary Lord, but as You have shown me when we push through the pain Your way we, like Jesus, come to joy (Hebrews 12:2). Give us courage and wisdom Lord to face the pain so that You can restore unto us the years the locust have eaten (Joel 2:25), and we will give You the glory in Jesus Name Amen