Polaroid vision

 Mark looked into the eyes of Christine who was sitting across from him on a swing in the park. The sun was hot so the two teenagers moved under the shade of a large elm tree to escape the fierce summer heat. Mark looked around before he filled his pipe with some hybrid marijuana he had purchased from a local cannabis dispensary which had been laced  with something.

Soon after the drugs began to take effect both of the teenager’s hearts began to race as they began to see and feel things that had been veiled from their perception just minutes before. They had opened a gateway into a spiritual realm between this material world and a higher spiritual dimension in which their normal physical eyes couldn’t see. As the drugs took effect, Mark felt the stress and tension of school and living with parents begin to fade, his vision  blurred and he began to see into a new world between the shadows.

Mark tried to remember what it was his mom had told him earlier this morning but his mind was wandering and becoming more and more out-of focus. It was like an image from a Polaroid camera but only in reverse where the once clear picture began dissolving as it lost its visual acuity and became blurry. Mark had inadvertently opened a gateway into the spirit world and now his mind was the target to a whole host of negative input from the spirit world.

From this higher plane of existence Malus watched the teens as they felt the effect of the drugs intensify. He began to put lustful thoughts into Mark’s mind and pushed him to act upon them. Malus had been assigned to attack and devastate Mark’s family life. He was a mighty demon from the sixth ream of Lucent, who had already been successful at driving a wedge between Mark and his parents. Mark’s parents had been worried about him ever since they noticed him beginning to withdraw from a once productive life.

Malus was able to exist in Marks’s life and influence him because of the gateway that Mark had opened up into his world. The demon was a detestable, hideous creature that rather enjoyed causing pain to God’s creations and loved to visit the physical world as often as naïve humans would let it in. Once in, he had only to influence the teen’s thoughts by merely speaking into his mind. As the drug continued to be absorbed into his system, Mark began to become aware of the demon’s presence.

A few days earlier, while under the influence, Christine had stolen several video games from a local electronics store. After leaving the store she stopped for coffee as another demon coaxed her to take out a pack of Tarot cards she had ordered from an on line bookstore. Christine was fascinated by colorful pictures on the cards and was strangely drawn to them. It was almost as if they called to her and she began to listen each time she turned one over. 

Unfortunately, Christine couldn’t sense the demon as it intentionally pushed several cards out of the deck where they fell face side up in front of her. Intrigued she began to assign random meanings to their order. Strange thoughts began tumbling into her consciousness but little did she know that the demon was choreographing the whole event by whispering several words into her ear.

The sun was setting below a hill behind the park as almost six hours had vanished from Mark and Christine’s’ day. Now, the teens were having a hard time just standing up and when they tried to speak only gibberish came out. This lack of coherent speech frightened Christine who bolted out into the street. Her shortsightedness led her into the path of an oncoming distracted driver who looking up at the last second didn’t have time to hit his brakes.

So, while this story is totally fictional, it illustrates what can happen when we do things that open gateways into the spiritual world. God warns us not to speak, conjure or have anything to do with the spirit realm. The reason is a simple; we are not yet equipped to navigate there. God is protecting us by warning us to tune into Him in this physical realm and walk with Him here.

We must first believe that there is a spiritual realm out there and that both good and evil inhabits it. God inspired Paul to write “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” Take heed to stay clear of things which might open a gateway into the spiritual world.

Put on your armor! Ephesians 5 

 

True conversion

With clenched fists Saul left the temple office with letters of condemnation for all Christians living in Damascus. The High Priest had sensed his hatred towards Christians and granted his request to bring them back bound. He hated “The Way”, as it was known in Jerusalem, because they believed that that the Nazarene was the anointed son of God. Saul vehemently opposed them in view of their belief that Jesus was the true Messiah and that He had risen from the dead. 

Saul was looking forward to quenching the expansion of this growing phenomenon and it’s all he could think about as he started his travels that would take a week to reach his intended destination. For the first fifty miles he breathed threats to himself regarding these followers of Jesus and imagined dragging these cult members shackled back to Jerusalem and into prison where they belonged. 

Saul’s donkey kicked up a cloud of dust as he made his way over the rise. The scorching sun was just a dot hanging directly overhead as he lifted the goat skinned bag and poured water down his parched throat. Several other men were traveling with him but were not as focused on persecuting members of “The Way” as was Saul. They were merely part of a paid contingent that would help escort the prisoners back to Jerusalem. 

On the third day, as he neared Damascus, a bright column of intense light beamed around him illuminating and temporarily blinded all who looked at it. Disorientated Saul fell to the ground, closed his eyes and covered his face.

 “Saul, Saul why are you persecuting me?” thundered a magnificent voice which echoed through the partially clouded midday sky.

“Who are you, Lord?” replied Saul as he took away his hands from his face and opened his eyes. He was completely blind as the thundering voice returned “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.”

Visibly shaken, blind and in shock, Saul had no choice but to allow the men he was traveling with to lead him by the hand into the city. Once there they left him at the house of Judas where he neither ate nor drank for three days. In a vision Saul saw a man named Ananias lay hands on him to restore his sight. Soon the vision became a reality when a man named Ananias laid hands on him as something like scales fell from his eyes.

The conversion of Saul shows us that anyone can be saved no matter what their background, or what they have said or done in the past.  It reveals the sovereignty of God and the purpose of our King to turn the hearts of the lost towards His purpose.

So this oppressor of the church was forced to be led by the hand into a house of a complete stranger, someone who he meant to harm, where he remained for three days in the dark.

So maybe your conversion wasn’t quite as intense as Saul’s. Maybe you didn’t get goose bumps, receive a word from a stranger or begin speaking in tongues but none the less your heart was changed as invisible spiritual scales fell from your eyes. What seemed like utter nonsense before you believed is now the truth that can set all men free. 

In the life of Saul, he went from a hater of Christians and persecutor of “The Way” to a man who was willing to be beaten with rods, scourged to within an inch of his life, lost at sea and shipwrecked, imprisoned and even stoned just in order to tell people that that Jesus Christ died, was buried and rose from the dead back to life!

True conversion will change the way you live your life. If you say you believe in Jesus Christ but worship anything else maybe you still need God to remove the scales from your eyes. The amazing thing about this story is that God cared for Saul while he was yet a sinner and went out of His way to meet him on the road to Damascus. 

The truth is, God loves us and is not angry nor does He desire to punish us. He only wants us to turn to Him, love Him and live our lives in ways that glorify His Son. God loves the world He created and everyone in it. He had a plan before the foundations of this world were formed. So now we have a choice to live in a way that puts a smile on His face or continue to feed our own flesh. 

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that who so ever believed in Him would not perish but receive everlasting life. With God nothing is impossible.

Being available

“We have to get back to the way the early church ran things!” exclaimed Ralph to a group of bible students who had all gathered at the campus coffee shop to study before class.

“Yea, they all shared everything and were always filled with the Holy Spirit” added Jenifer confidently.

“But the church today has become big business, selling books, bibles and T shirts. They are all about the latest and greatest gimmick to draw people in but have lost the power of the Holy Spirit” said Mark while they all sipped their lattes, espressos and assorted refreshers. 

“We need another out-pouring of the Spirit like on the day of Pentecost, when the church was born, where we can get back to the basics and just love one another” replied Ralph as several others sat down to study the third chapter of Acts.

Why do things always look greener on the other side of the fence? While the notion of going from house to house to fellowship and study the bible is a grand idea there will always be problems to overcome no matter the venue. In fact, those in the early church had sold all their property to have all things in common and distribute their funds to the people in need because they believed Jesus Christ was returning any day. However, looking back in retrospect we see they missed that mark by at least a couple thousand years. 

However romantic it sounds to walk to a home fellowship in leather sandals or tear off bread from a freshly baked loaf while pouring wine out of a goat skin bag, the fact is the first gathering of believers had their own problems to overcome.

One couple in the early church, Ananias and Sapphira, lied about how much money they had given in an offering and God took them home. Many members of the church wanted to be waited on and served but in doing so missed an opportunity to give to others. Stephen, the first martyr of the church, was stoned to death for telling the truth about the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Simon, a known sorcerer, wanted to pay for the gift of the Holy Spirit so that he too could work miracles just like the apostles. 

The truth is in every situation God will work out all things for the good to those who love Him and are called to His purpose. His purpose is to send us out into the world to show others His great love for them and explain the way into His kingdom. His ways are perfect and His timing unique, He doesn’t make mistakes so nothing God does is an afterthought or anything you do is insignificant to His purpose. 

An example of this is the story of Philip who is told by an angel of God to go out into the desert toward Gaza where he would find a man from Ethiopia. Philip went and found the man sitting in his chariot reading from the scrolls of Isaiah. When Philip asked the man if he knew what he was reading he answered and said “How can I unless someone guides me” so Philip takes the seat next to him and begins to explain the section of scripture he was reading in Isaiah.

“But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.  He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep before its shearers is silent, So He opened not His mouth.” Isaiah 53:5-7

It’s interesting to see how God choreographed this encounter with the traveler from Ethiopia where he was reading this specific section of scripture Isaiah 53. This section of scripture is a prophecy describing Jesus Christ some 700 years before his birth in Bethlehem.  Philip was directly in God’s will as he begins to explain the scripture, successfully leading the man into the kingdom of God.

So while we all have the choice to discuss the latest worship songs we like or don’t like, argue about scriptural interpretation or what the next church program will be about, we might be better off to make ourselves available to serve others from our church’s kitchen. We might better spend our time praying with someone, comforting someone or just being available for God to direct us into the path of a complete stranger. 

And in the end the love you take is equal to the love you gave…