Overcoming the Tyranny of Self

Mark 8:34, Deny himself. The inordinate love of self is the greatest obstacle to following Yeshua wholeheartedly.

The chief characteristic of a life dominated by self is possessiveness. Evidence of this is that to one degree or another one has forced Elohim out of the center of one’s life and has crowned himself as his own king and has given himself over to the coveting of things and the exaltation of self.  To such a person, self-life has become their main focus and fiercest passion.

Moreover, surrounding oneself with many physical possessions causes one to feel elevated in that it makes one the ruler of one’s own kingdom—the kingdom of stuff and self. With such a person, the pronouns I and me are constantly heard from their lips, and they have becomes their own god and the leader of their own religious sect—the religion of self.

To the tyranny of things that largely monopolizes most men’s endeavors, Yeshua says “Deny yourself, take up your cross and follow me.” Elsewhere he says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matt 5:3). Finally, our Master leaves us with these words to ponder,

For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it. (Mark 8:35)

Mark 8:36, Profit …gain. When self is the king of one’s life, one’s chief goal becomes profit and gain. As Yeshua suggests in verse 34, the opposite of this is to deny oneself and to follow Yeshua, no matter the cost. For example,

He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it. (Matt 10:37–39)

No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve Elohim and mammon. (Matt 6:24)

 

Dealing With the “Leavening” in Our Lives—Overcoming Sin!


Exodus 12:15, Remove leaven from your houses. Leaven is a biblical metaphor for sin. How do we remove sin from our spiritual lives?

Throughout Scripture, leavening is a spiritual metaphor for sin, pride, hypocrisy, malice, bitterness and false religious doctrine (Pss 71:4; 73:21; Hos 7:4; Matt 16:6; Mark 8:15; Luke 12:1; 1 Cor 5:8–6; Gal 5:9). Even as a small amount of leavening agents in bread (e.g. yeast and various chemical agents) will quickly permeate bread dough causing it to rise, so a little sin can rapidly infect our lives (or like a quick spread cancer disease) and take us away from Elohim’s path of righteous-living.

The Scripture teaches us to be overcomers (Rom 12:21; 1 John 2:13–14; 5:4) eradicating the leavening of sin from our lives. We must overcome the world, the flesh and the devil (Jas 3:15). Yeshua admonished each of the seven Messianic assemblies to be overcomers (Rev 2:7,11,17,26; 3:5,12,21; see also Matt 24:13). For those who overcome, there will be great rewards—a spiritual inheritance; they will be sons of Elohim (Rev 21:7).

The Greek word for overcome is nikao meaning “to conquer, to get the victory, prevail” and Continue reading

 

Do you live in a “God” bubble or a fortress of Self?

How to Create Your Own “God” Bubble to Deal With Life’s Attacks

 

May everyone reading this take careful note and pay close attention to the following: Creating a “God”-space bubble around you is a biblical strategy to protect yourself from the attacks of our spiritual enemy. Without it, you may not survive theses attacks.

Who is the enemy of our soul that is hell-bent on turning each of us into a spiritual casualty and a notch in his gun belt? Who is the one who is inexorably determined to pull you off the straight and narrow path that leads to Yeshua and his eternal kingdom? Who works tirelessly to pull your spiritual focus off Yeshua and his Word? Actually, the Bible reveals that the disciple of Yeshua the Messiah has three such enemies: the world, the flesh and the devil.

How do we deal with such rabidly determined enemies? There is the natural way and the supernatural way.

Most people choose the natural way to deal with adversity. It’s the default mode that, because of man’s fallen sin nature, one automatically and involuntarily chooses. It’s the way of self and flesh. The natural reactive tendency of humans when attacked is to create around themselves a fortress of pride, self-justification, self-righteousness where they blame others and seek pity as a form of defensive protection. The focus of this self-defensive strategy is on self and simply yields to path of least resistance dictated by one’s sinful nature. It is merely a natural, automatic and thoughtless default response of man’s fallen sin nature. If we don’t catch ourselves, we will automatically find ourselves doing this.

When attacked, instead of creating a defensive fortification where a focus on self forms the foundation stones in our defensive fortress wall, we need to run to the Rock of our Salvation who is our High Tower in times of trouble. David, a man after Elohium’s heart, writes about this many times in his psalms. David shows us to make YHVH and not self the focus when our enemies attack us, and how to  find refuge in our personal “God” bubble. A bubble seems a fragile, an almost invisible thing with a very thin wall—something that pops easily. So get that image out of your mind. Instead, think of an invisible force-field that can easily repel any incoming projectile no matter its size, speed or destructive capabilities.

Such a bubble or force field will shield and protect us from any of our enemy’s attacks. It will insure that we weather the ferocious storms of life that blow against us. In that place, we are relying on the unlimited power and wisdom of YHVH to aid us in our time of need instead of the weak, faulty and deceptive arm of the flesh. The former leads to light and life; the latter leads to darkness and death. The former brings healing and strength; the latter glosses over pain and is merely weakness feigning as strength.

Since each person is different, each one will furnish their “God” bubble differently depending their spiritual orientation and makeup, tastes and interests. In my times of trouble, I take put up a spiritual force field and take refuge in my won spiritual bubble. This involves turning to the Scriptures for guidance, wisdom and encouragement. Prayer—talking to Elohim—is a vital component of my spiritual bubble or force field. Often I visualize myself either at the foot of Yeshua’ cross or at the before the throne of my Heavenly Father. Often I will myself involve hard physical work (to settle my emotions and to help clear my mind, which helps to destress and get my mind off the problem, so I can think and pray clearly). Many times, I listen to beautiful and spiritually uplifting music, which again helps me to elevate my spiritual focus. Often I find a Garden of Eden in nature where I can imbibe in the beauty of nature. There I can talk with the Creator and find healing. To accomplish this, often I will work in my garden. Sometimes I write Elohim-centered psalms and poetry. David wrote many of his psalms in times of distress—even when his life was in danger. This helped him to get his mind off of his circumstances and onto YHVH, who was is salvation and deliverer. Whatever I do, in all cases, I try to get my mind off myself and onto Elohim who is my source of wisdom, hope and guidance, and my ultimate Savior and Deliverer. Often, I imagine myself falling down at the foot of the cross where I find my strength at the feet of Yeshua. I tell myself that if he endured that for me, then I can endure this for him.

This is what my “God” bubble looks like and what helps me to deal with spiritual attacks. What does your “God” bubble look like?

If you don’t have a “God” bubble, how about making one to help you deal with the pain, stressors and attacks of life?

 

Are you emboldened to sin?

homme d'affaires ddaigneux

Deuteronomy 29:16–19, Emboldened to sin. As we pass through the spiritual wilderness of the world around us (verse 16) on our way to the Promised Land of our eternal inheritance, it’s easy for us sin-oriented beings to justify our personal rebellion, our sinful habits, our lustful and materialistic thoughts on the basis of carnal rationalizations.

Delusions are tempting.

It is all too easy to fall prey to such excuses as, “Everyone around me is doing it,” or, “It feels like it’s okay to do,” or, “If it feels good, do it,” or “YHVH’s laws don’t apply to me … that was for the people back then, not for us today,” or, “That’s not what the church I belong to teaches,” or, “Surely YHVH doesn’t expect us to keep his commandments … they’re too hard to do … we can’t really do all that stuff today,” or, “We’re under grace today … that stuff has been done away … Jesus fulfilled it … nailed it to the cross,” etc. Do these statements square with YHVH’s words of truth?

If we have fallen prey to such excuses to disregard the Creator’s commandments, we have, in reality, emboldened ourselves to continue sinning.

The question each person needs to ask themselves is, “Do what I believe and practice square with YHVH’s Word?” Is YHVH pleased with our excuses or our obedience?

What did Yeshua say would be an identifying mark of those who would love him? (Read John 14:15.)