I'm writing this follow-up without even waiting to field any response to that last post. I know there are some who will read that challenge with conviction. If it hadn't happened yet with respect to the hair braid challenge, the gold challenge will be read by many a man seized upon with fear. To consider the response that would surely result from taking such action as I proposed is a huge threat and immensely terrifying. Single Moms with daughters who love braids and bling, you can surely relate to this situation, too. If you think I've walked into this confrontation being blind or stupid, guess again. I've walked the walk down this path and now I'm talking the talk. The very first thing you're going to have to do is openly confess the error of your former ways and seek forgiveness.
You may gasp for air and grasp for loopholes, for some way out, any way at all where you might be able to justify continuing to dismiss what you know in your heart to be true. I pray you will find no such escape from the light into the darkness. That darkness is where Jezebel lives and thrives, consuming the life of a saint. In the matter of hair braids and gold there's nothing subjective involved. It's not hard to identify these things and there's no cultural relativity to factor into the equation that might cloud the issue. If you must justify doing what pleases you, like insisting that it's really the principle of the thing that matters, well, you'll do so and that will be that. Sooner or later, though, you and I will give account of ourselves before the Lord. Judgment is even now at the door.
I pray, Lord, let it come now to us, while there is an opportunity to repent. Shine the light of great love upon us and hold us in the light until it has done its work. Help us, Lord, to submit to you and to resist the devil until he flees from us. In Y'shua's holy name I do pray and confess this urgent need.
So, I ask you not to write and try to convince me that you cannot follow through because of the certain consequences. "My daughter will lock herself in her bedroom!" "She'll run away from home!" "She'll never speak to me again." "My wife will hit me with a frying pan." "She'll cut me off from sex!" "She'll humiliate me with the most embarrassing truths and lies to all my friends, family and co-workers!" "She'll lock me out of the house!" "She'll sue me for divorce!" "She'll empty the accounts, take the kids and leave!" Or, "My husband will order me to put on those earrings, that necklace, bracelet, watch or ring, and then what shall I do?"
If these thoughts are going through your mind, you've hesitated on doing what I proposed, and that's probably a good thing. The reason I say that is because you have to weigh the cost and be genuinely willing to pay the price.
When you are led by the Lord you are a servant, not the boss. You're not in charge, you're not calling the shots. You're following, where, you know not. This is where faith and trust comes in. Scary, maybe, but this is what it's about.
Breathe. Inhale, exhale. Whew. Intense, isn't it?
Either we trust the Lord or not. We obey, or not. Jezebel cannot go there. She puts on a fine show, but she cannot go there. If you can honestly consider the consequences of following the Lord's simple directions and accept whatever it might cost, and then actually follow them, can Jezebel continue to rule in your life? No, you have sent the rule of flesh and claims for self-preservation, desire for self-rule and carnal ambition to the cross. Light has come in His presence and the darkness of Jezebel's control has no place there. You may not yet have fully arrived, but you're on the path to being free indeed, my friend.
So, my dear brother or sister, count the cost. As a practical matter, the Lord may be directing you in the details of how to proceed in this matter of rising up to accept His invitation to a more holy life, a closer walk with Him that is free from control issues and the deception of wicked Jezebel. If the Lord is asking you to bring a confrontation in such matters as I write, trust that He will direct you in how this should be done. It may be simple, direct and immediate, or, it may be less so. If He is able to open your eyes to the triple-helix DNA reproductive scheme that's been right under our noses all along, He's surely able to direct you in this matter.
Perhaps there is some friend you can trust for help or helpful encouragement. If you request and the Lord provides none for you, surely none is needed, but He Himself.
Part 6: Jezebel vs Sarah - The "Adorning with Gold" Challenge
Continuing from Jezebel and the Hair Braid Challenge, it's a wonderful work the Heavenly Father is doing among us, preparing us for His Kingdom and further Kingdom work, and the coming of the Bridegroom. Hallelujah!
Amidst the fearsome shaking taking place in our midst comes the most precious fruit. For example, quoting from one email, "However strangely enough in resisting I am becoming stronger and the adversary's fear based hold getting weaker." The point of what I'm writing is very personal, it's for you reading this right now. Yes, it's far, far less about fixing your neighbor than fixing you and I. It's quite true that when we get rid of the beam in our own eye, we may then be able to help our neighbor with a mote in their own, and this will be a natural outcome, but this work is first about you and I.
I heartily encourage you to be patient with this work and let it unfold with a willingness and eagerness to receive what the Lord might have for you. Resist the impulse to evade what may be revealed by the holy spirit, or to dismiss the message as merely coming from the agency of carnal flesh, like "just Paul" or James. Strive to bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ and let there be a renewing of the mind.
If you consider yourself to have received little and have indeed received little, you may find comfort in the following revelation. Otherwise, no.
I'm convinced that anyone who finds themselves still reading here is well aware of the extraordinary measure of grace that has surely been meted out. If you don't yet know the fear of God and understand how there is in that no conflict with His love, I pray you will soon come to this place of maturity. This revelation is completely counter to the relationship of abuse Satan has with those in his control, those bound with terror in the spirit of Jezebel.
With that said, let's pick back up in 1 Timothy 2.
When women are directed not to braid their hair, braiding the hair becomes a basis for incurring either a blessing or a curse. When we act according to choice in response to this directive, should we not get what we deserve? Certainly, hair braids seem, of all things, perhaps most trivial. The challenge set forth on this point and the stir it generates illustrates a fundamental governing principle as we move from there to the next item. Now entering into a wider sphere of applicability and scope of confrontation, the same point about simple obedience as the basis for blessing must be kept in mind. Obedience is the basis for love (John 14) and not any feelings engendered, which may be deceitful.
If you thought me insane to point out hair braids, bringing up the matter of women adorning themselves with gold will do nothing to change your view. "What? He's smoking crack! Now crazy Bob is going to tell us women should not adorn themselves with gold?" Well, actually, yes, I'm saying that and, no, I'm not smoking crack.
Am I going too far, expecting anyone to consent to such ludicrous constraints in our day, time and culture? I'm surely going too way far for most "reasonable" folk. However, some of you care less about reason than right, and this is for you, dear saint.
If what I'm presenting here is the word of God, any accusation against me or Paul about being unreasonable or unrealistic or impractical comes rather to rest upon the Lord Himself. Is He unreasonable to actually command and expect our obedience? That's the honest question you must ask, if you've tried to dismiss the matter and find yourself failing. When Paul wrote to Timothy about women, he was not giving suggestions based upon his personal preference and taste. If you allow yourself to draw that conclusion, you've bought a license to sin and, again, to what end will that lead?
Some may write to warn me that if I persist in this foolishness I won't have a friend left in the world. I've been told that before. If I value friends in this world more than to be found pleasing to the Lord as a true friend, quite frankly, I deserve neither. If I write such to give the appearance of being noble it will be to my shame, as my sin will find me out. I do write this in the fear of God, knowing that in my flesh I am entirely unworthy to minister before Him and before you His beloved. But, here we are, and His mercy yet abounds! If I'm unable or unwilling to bring you a reliable and trustworthy report, am I fit to be considered your friend?
So, what I am offering in this post is another simple challenge, if truly the Lord Himself brings it before you. Woman, when you adorn yourself tomorrow, consider whom you seek to please. The adornment of neither braided hair nor gold can be justified from the plain scriptures given to the female saints to govern appearance and behavior. Men, if you accept the Lord's appointment of authority, can the women for whom you will give account adorn themselves with braided hair? Will they adorn themselves with gold in defiance of the Lord's simple direction? Will you excuse yourself and dismiss your responsibility for your wife, daughter or some other for whom you have accepted the role of a covering male?
Ouch. Call me crazy. I look around and what I see informs me that we have invited a curse upon ourselves. If we are controlled by Jezebel or are ourselves Jezebel's eunuchs, who shall we blame? Lord, help us. We have beams in our eyes.
Amidst the fearsome shaking taking place in our midst comes the most precious fruit. For example, quoting from one email, "However strangely enough in resisting I am becoming stronger and the adversary's fear based hold getting weaker." The point of what I'm writing is very personal, it's for you reading this right now. Yes, it's far, far less about fixing your neighbor than fixing you and I. It's quite true that when we get rid of the beam in our own eye, we may then be able to help our neighbor with a mote in their own, and this will be a natural outcome, but this work is first about you and I.
I heartily encourage you to be patient with this work and let it unfold with a willingness and eagerness to receive what the Lord might have for you. Resist the impulse to evade what may be revealed by the holy spirit, or to dismiss the message as merely coming from the agency of carnal flesh, like "just Paul" or James. Strive to bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ and let there be a renewing of the mind.
1) Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.
2) And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
3) For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith.
Romans 12:1-3
2) And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
3) For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith.
Romans 12:1-3
If you consider yourself to have received little and have indeed received little, you may find comfort in the following revelation. Otherwise, no.
From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.
Luke 12:48(b)
Luke 12:48(b)
I'm convinced that anyone who finds themselves still reading here is well aware of the extraordinary measure of grace that has surely been meted out. If you don't yet know the fear of God and understand how there is in that no conflict with His love, I pray you will soon come to this place of maturity. This revelation is completely counter to the relationship of abuse Satan has with those in his control, those bound with terror in the spirit of Jezebel.
With that said, let's pick back up in 1 Timothy 2.
Likewise, I want women to adorn themselves with proper clothing, modestly and discreetly, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly garments,
1 Timothy 2:9
1 Timothy 2:9
When women are directed not to braid their hair, braiding the hair becomes a basis for incurring either a blessing or a curse. When we act according to choice in response to this directive, should we not get what we deserve? Certainly, hair braids seem, of all things, perhaps most trivial. The challenge set forth on this point and the stir it generates illustrates a fundamental governing principle as we move from there to the next item. Now entering into a wider sphere of applicability and scope of confrontation, the same point about simple obedience as the basis for blessing must be kept in mind. Obedience is the basis for love (John 14) and not any feelings engendered, which may be deceitful.
If you thought me insane to point out hair braids, bringing up the matter of women adorning themselves with gold will do nothing to change your view. "What? He's smoking crack! Now crazy Bob is going to tell us women should not adorn themselves with gold?" Well, actually, yes, I'm saying that and, no, I'm not smoking crack.
Am I going too far, expecting anyone to consent to such ludicrous constraints in our day, time and culture? I'm surely going too way far for most "reasonable" folk. However, some of you care less about reason than right, and this is for you, dear saint.
If what I'm presenting here is the word of God, any accusation against me or Paul about being unreasonable or unrealistic or impractical comes rather to rest upon the Lord Himself. Is He unreasonable to actually command and expect our obedience? That's the honest question you must ask, if you've tried to dismiss the matter and find yourself failing. When Paul wrote to Timothy about women, he was not giving suggestions based upon his personal preference and taste. If you allow yourself to draw that conclusion, you've bought a license to sin and, again, to what end will that lead?
Some may write to warn me that if I persist in this foolishness I won't have a friend left in the world. I've been told that before. If I value friends in this world more than to be found pleasing to the Lord as a true friend, quite frankly, I deserve neither. If I write such to give the appearance of being noble it will be to my shame, as my sin will find me out. I do write this in the fear of God, knowing that in my flesh I am entirely unworthy to minister before Him and before you His beloved. But, here we are, and His mercy yet abounds! If I'm unable or unwilling to bring you a reliable and trustworthy report, am I fit to be considered your friend?
So, what I am offering in this post is another simple challenge, if truly the Lord Himself brings it before you. Woman, when you adorn yourself tomorrow, consider whom you seek to please. The adornment of neither braided hair nor gold can be justified from the plain scriptures given to the female saints to govern appearance and behavior. Men, if you accept the Lord's appointment of authority, can the women for whom you will give account adorn themselves with braided hair? Will they adorn themselves with gold in defiance of the Lord's simple direction? Will you excuse yourself and dismiss your responsibility for your wife, daughter or some other for whom you have accepted the role of a covering male?
Ouch. Call me crazy. I look around and what I see informs me that we have invited a curse upon ourselves. If we are controlled by Jezebel or are ourselves Jezebel's eunuchs, who shall we blame? Lord, help us. We have beams in our eyes.
23) Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts;
24) And see if there be any hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way.
Psalm 139:23-24
24) And see if there be any hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way.
Psalm 139:23-24
Light me up
Diffused light
Toronto, ON, August 2010
[Click here for more sepia]
The Festival of Light, better known as Chanukah, gets underway today. Why does this matter? Because it isn't only grey outside my window; it's grey everywhere else. It isn't always something we see, either. It's a feeling, a sense that we can be better to each other, that we can try harder to look out for the other guy instead of for ourselves, that we can be less quick to judge and more quick to let our gentle side come out.
It's not that difficult. It starts with a little light.
Your turn: Fixing the world. In your world, where does it start?
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