Introduction
Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles,
and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. – Heb 12:1
The teachings of Jesus Christ are not just nice words; they are commands that must be followed if we are to count ourselves as true disciples, worthy of eternal life, and life to the full here. However, as we begin this journey, there are obstacles in our way. If they are not identified and removed, “Christians” may spend years exhausting themselves in a joyless, fruitless, busy, but going nowhere walk. Many experience this and do not even realize it. But, when they can finally see and remove the obstacles, their faith and joy flourish. Naturally, our flesh, the world, and Satan conspire to work against us. But let us cover nine major obstacles that seem to impede most of us.
• Religious Legalism or Hyper Grace
• Fear of losing/giving up the things you love
• Not being able to find enough time
• Exhaustion from trying to live by self-effort
• Current sin or guilt from past sin failures
• Unforgiveness towards self or others
• Poor discernment and understanding
• Poor understanding of evil and Satan
• Distorted or incomplete view of God
Obstacle 1: Religious Legalism or Hyper Grace
I currently live in the Bible belt in America, and after talking to countless people over 4 years in Starbucks, I saw two major religious extremes that are robbing people of life to the full in Christ. As I have shared my testimony with people about how intentional obedience to Christ’s commands radically changed my experience with God, many showed internal resistance to the idea. They grew up under religious legalism, where external religious appearances in their family never matched the brutal private reality. They felt the pressure for righteous rule following, but what they experienced in the home was abuse and hypocrisy.
Unfortunately, many that grew up in these types of “Christian” homes turn to atheism, but even more turn to the hyper grace movement. They finally hear the message their itching ears long to hear, that God is all love, all mercy, all grace, and they are covered under it all. This is the false message (Jude 1:4) that suits their desire to love God without having to fight against or be conscious of the sin they are still living in. The devil wins either way because neither of these extremes leads to life to the full now, or eternal life later. There is a much better path and it is the one we are on right now!
Obstacle 2: The Fear of having to give up things you love, to truly follow Jesus
Most people become fearful when they see some of Jesus’ teaching such as “…any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.” -Lk 14:33 or “The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.”- Jn 12:25
If I were trying to help someone quickly get over their fear of this, I might say, “Hellooooooo, we’re talking eternal life in exchange here….!” But, in some cases that does not seem to be enough for people who are still living according to their natural man, or who have been uninformed by lack of teaching, or misinformed by false teaching. So, let us consider the following five perspective-changing insights.
• Jesus is asking us to trade up, not give up
• You cannot lose something that is not yours
• Nothing you possess will bring true fulfillment
• You lose everything to strangers when you die
• The only way to lasting treasure is through faith
Jesus is really asking us to trade up, not give up.
At first glance of the Gospels, it often seems like Jesus tried to chase people off rather than to gain followers. He often emphasized the extreme costs of becoming His disciple, over the benefits. It soon becomes clear that He is not interested in spiritual “gold diggers”—people who come to Him only because of what they want Him to do for them.
A good first base with Jesus is to understand the real purpose for His coming. The main reason He came was to save us and reconcile us back to God for all of eternity, preparing us for the heavenly wedding, not to make us happy, healthy, and wealthy in the here and now. (1Thes 1:10, I Tim 1:15, Heb 2:14, 1 Jn 3:8).
Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed: a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” – Luke 12:15
We love the idea of “free” eternal life, but our flesh or natural man, hates the idea of suffering and of having to give up its temporal “candy bars”. The flesh is adamant about not losing its false sense of security and artificial happiness! When you fear losing something, recognize that as your flesh waging war against the Spirit (Gal 5:17). You will feel internal conflict if the Spirit of Christ is in you, and you should recognize that whatever you are afraid to lose is likely an idol (false god). God sees idolatry as adultery. Idolatry stunts our spiritual growth and robs us of God's very best.
I want to let you in on a little secret though. Jesus does not ask you to give up anything in the natural without having plans to give you something even better in the Spirit. (Jn 4:13-14, Jn 6:35) This is often true in the natural as well. God may close a door or remove something from your life and then, in His timing, replace it with something far better. It may not be what you think, or when you think, but it is always better (Mk 10:28-30).
The sign of the Old Covenant was material prosperity for those who obeyed God (Deu 8:18). We are not under that covenant anymore and God is no longer obligated to provide guaranteed material prosperity in response to our faith and obedience. He still chooses to bless some with material prosperity, but so does Satan who has been given the power to do so (Lk 4:6), so prosperity is not a sole proof of God’s blessing—think Bernie Madoff.
The word success appears 42 times in the OT (NIV) and zero times in the NT. The word prosper appears 80 times in the OT, but only three or four times in the NT (depending on Bible version).
Many still claim the OT prosperity promises and end up frustrated with God. They keep claiming the promises, but external prosperity eludes them.
They fail to see that while God still prospers some, according to His will, we have been given a better covenant with better promises (Heb 8:6) than just prosperity which never even lasts. Obedient followers of Christ are given the kingdom of God and the Spirit of God to live in them, a level of soul prosperity that no one in the OT ever had.
See (Ecc 5:10, Lk 12:32, Jn 7:39, 14:17, Phi 3:7-8)
Unfortunately, this truth cannot be discovered by just reading it. It can only be understood by experience, because of having the faith to act on it. (Jn 7:17)
You cannot lose something that is not yours to begin with.
Who has a claim against me that I must pay? Everything under heaven belongs to me. – Job 41:11
People are so afraid of losing “their” stuff or “their” plans if they fully surrender “their” life to Christ. However, even if He takes it all, you cannot lose anything that was never yours to begin with.
Satan loves it when we say and think, “mine”. No matter how many times your name is on it, or how many payments you have made, it is a complete lie to think we own or have control over anything in this life. As soon as we claim “mine” against something God really owns, we have just erected another spiritual barrier between us and Him.
We are stewards and we must understand that God literally, not figuratively, owns everything we have ever had or will ever have. (Ps 24:1)
Despite this, God is so unbelievably kind that He gives us temporary use of His resources and then says, "Now go use this to invest and store up treasures for yourself in heaven." (Mt 6:19, Lk 16:9) This is amazing…what kind of God is this?
Nothing you possess will bring true fulfillment.
“I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure…yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun.” – Ecc 2:10-11
Nothing we possess brings any lasting fulfillment, and when our focus is on stuff, we never have enough stuff (Ecc 5:10). We constantly feel the need to buy something new (even small things). When the Spirit of Christ is not in us or we are missing out on sweet fellowship with Him through neglect, sin, or disobedience, we are left with a deep hunger in our soul that demands to be fed.
Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income. This too is meaningless.
– Ecc 5:10
The stuff we purchased the last time we had that hunger no longer does it for us, so now we need something else. As we accumulate more and more stuff, it requires more time and resources to use and maintain them. Do not be fooled; there is an intentional evil purpose behind this. Satan, who the Bible says is in control of the whole world (1Jn 5:19), exploits our hungry souls. In the end, he is the only one who wins if we do not break free from this deceitful trap. (2 Cor 11:3)
Jesus pleads with us to trust and obey Him so that He can give us life to the full—a true peace, rest, joy and contentment that all the wealth in the world could not equal, and that rises above any level of loss or suffering we might face in this life.
“I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish that I may gain Christ.” - Phi 3:8
You lose everything to strangers when you die.
“But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ -Lk 12:20
I think many “Christians” who love their “stuff” would be cut to the heart if they could see their “estate sale” before they die. They would see complete strangers (some almost like vultures) descending on their beloved home, pilfering through and swallowing up their most prized possessions for pennies on the dollar.
Your estate sale and my estate sale are getting closer each day. Perhaps now we should consider the treasure principle in (Lk 12:33, Mt 6:19-21, Lk 16:9), and begin sending some treasure to heaven ahead of us, where we can enjoy it forever, rather than merely losing it to strangers.
“Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near, and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also”. – Lk 12:34
(Feel the fear when you read that? That is your flesh raging against the Spirit. Jesus can help you crucify that fear!)
The only way to lasting treasure is through strong faith.
We come into the world with a bent away from God, not towards Him. Our focus is on the natural man, self-sufficiency, and temporal satisfaction NOW.
However, as a Spirit-filled disciple under the New Covenant, having received the kingdom of God within us, Jesus commands us to be wise enough to focus on and prepare for our time in eternity.
To receive God’s best for us, now and in eternity, we must seek Him with a faith that is willing to take risky actions of obedience, wait patiently when it hurts, and to keep going even when circumstances completely contradict our faith. These prove our faith to be genuine. 1Pet 1:7
“And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” – Heb 11:6
Most Christians know what they need to do, and they know it requires faith to do it, but they remain paralyzed by fear and miss God’s best blessings.
Strong faith is built on seeing God come through for you; not just by saying you have faith. If you will obey God in the small or obvious matters that He has brought to your attention, in His timing, you will see His loving-kindness and faithfulness to you. Each subsequent action of obedience will yield greater amounts of God’s blessing and soon He will have an unshakeable track record of faithfulness in your life.
Putting it all together:
Because we want to feel good now, we spend most of our time striving to possess things that we will never really own and that won’t provide lasting fulfillment, but instead bring stress and responsibility. And instead of obeying Jesus’ command to trade it all up for lasting treasures in heaven, we death grip it until our last breath, whereupon it is all taken from us anyway, and given to people we never even knew. This is foolishness.
“He is no fool, who gives what he cannot keep, to gain that which he cannot lose.” – Jim Elliot, on Luke 16:9
These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. – Deu 6:6-7
Obstacle 3: You cannot find the time
This seems like such a good excuse to some because some people, such as working moms, are legitimately terribly busy. However, Jesus will not accept this as an excuse for not following Him because He knows that the real issue is not a matter of time, but of prioritizing the desires of our heart. He knows that we can always find time for the things that are truly important to us, and those are usually things that will quickly make us feel good.
The true issue can be seen in giving someone the choice between eating a cookie or a piece of broccoli when they are really, really, hungry. Even though the cookie has no health benefits whatsoever, and causes harm to your body, most will choose the cookie because it provides a quick “high” which makes you feel good. Even though it is an artificial high and it will not last long, and even though there can be long-term health consequences for making this a habit, most still choose the cookie over the broccoli (my favorite vegetable). The broccoli leads only to good benefits, but they are long-term, and we cannot feel their effect immediately. The cookie provides fast, but temporary pain relief, at the expense of long-term health.
This exact same principle applies to our walk with God. Walking with God is a lot like eating broccoli. It is always good for you and leads to true life and health, but it does not always provide instant pain relief and pleasure to help numb our daily emotional pains and unmet desires. It takes time.
Twenty minutes of pornography yields a much quicker “pleasure” benefit than twenty minutes of prayer. The long-term consequences are devastating and will even lead to the loss of eternal life for many who keep this habit (Mt 5:27-30), but so many foolishly ignore the long-term consequences because they are starving for short- term so called “relief”.
Each time we choose short-term pain relief, we are choosing to walk farther from Christ and into deeper darkness. This is the truth, not a metaphor.
We say we do not have time for daily Bible study and prayer, but God looks down from heaven and sees “busy” people still finding plenty of time for eating lots of “cookies”. They are spending hours on Facebook, watching T.V., drinking, socializing, exercising, recreating, watching sports, shopping, building their business, etc.
Just as broccoli eventually yields tremendous health benefits, eventually creating inner satisfaction from doing the right thing, so it is with putting God first. There are tremendous rewards for doing so, but they do not always happen right away, and the very best will be waiting for us in heaven. The more you keep yourself full of good stuff like broccoli, the less you will desire and want to yield to the temptation of the cookies. Got it?
It has never been an issue of time; it’s always an issue of priorities. Wisdom says, “The future pain of regret far outweighs the present pain of discipline.” Wisdom also knows that if it stays filled up with broccoli and does not allow itself to get too hungry, it’s much easier to avoid the temptation from the cookies. And so, Wisdom chooses to eat the broccoli regularly; will you?
Obstacle 4: Frustration from trying to follow Jesus in your own strength
To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me. – Col 1:29
As disciples, we know we are supposed to “strive to enter the narrow gate” (Lk 13:24), and so we set out enthusiastically to do so. Then we wake up one day and feel completely exhausted in our battle against sin, our efforts to serve, or our efforts to find joy or produce fruit. We know something is wrong.
Our striving is killing us and then we read Mt 11:28-29 and we go….huh? Where is that rest that He promised and how do I get in on some of that light burden that Jesus is talking about?
If you feel this kind of exhaustion, you can know for sure that you are striving to follow the “law” in your own strength. If you stay this course, you will crash and burn, possibly even giving up and walking away from Christ altogether. God forbid!
Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. – 2 Cor 1:9
The greatest evil of religion is that it tries to achieve righteousness apart from an actual relationship with God. The focus is on religious tradition and rule-following, rather than on being in actual relationship with Christ learning to live by and be empowered by His Spirit. As we move through this study, we will learn the John 15 secret of abiding in Jesus and how that is so different than trying to follow the external regulations of the law, which were abolished (Eph 2:15) and fulfilled by Christ. (Gal 2:19)
Salvation is by faith, not by works, but that does not mean that you don’t have to obey God’s commands. It means you aren’t saved by following them alone. You are saved by faith, but true saving faith is evidenced by obedience. (1 Jn 2:4)
Do we then nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather we uphold the law. – Rom 3:31
If you have truly trusted Christ as your Savior and have obeyed His command to repent and you have turned from your sins, He has placed His Holy Spirit in you. However, there are many people that call themselves Christians, but who do not actually have the Holy Spirit living in them. They only believe in Christ through intellectual assent rather than a sincere obedient, maturing faith. (2 Cor 13:5)
Do not be deceived.
If you are really struggling to live the Christian life, it could be that you are not maturing (Lk 8:14) or because you have not yet truly been born again. Either way, you would not inherit eternal life (Lk 13:6-9, Rom 8:9). Despite what you may hear in some circles, the Spirit is given to those who obey (sincerely turning from sin), not those who just so happen to be at the right conference with that “anointed prophet” who will lay hands on you or blow on you. That’s nonsense! (Jn 14:15-17, Acts 2:38, 5:32, 1 Jn 3:24)
You could shut yourself all alone in a closet and if you pray to the Lord and truly turn from your sin, putting your faith in Him, as the Lord of your life, God will send His Spirit into your heart, right there.
It is impossible to live the Christian life without the Holy Spirit.
He is the One who works and empowers you for service and godly living, but He doesn’t overpower your flesh and just take over. You must learn how to walk according to the Spirit, obeying His initial promptings in your heart.
Once you have received the Spirit, you must participate with Him. His presence and power must be cultivated and continually welcomed by godly living and steadfast faith, lest we grieve or quench Him (Eph 4:30). This is how we stay filled with the Spirit (Eph 5:15-18).
Once you know that the Spirit is living in you, the secret to avoiding a powerless, exhausted walk with Christ is found in John 15. We must abide in Christ whereupon He does all the heavy lifting. This happens as you remain in close relationship with Him through humble, childlike faith and dependence (Jam 4:6). To abide in Christ means you are daily renewing your mind in His word, meditating, and reflecting on what He is saying, storing His words up in your heart and obeying them, and any other direction He gives you, to the very best of your understanding and current ability.
Think of a 3-year-old who drops a loaded bowl of cereal. He wants to clean it up and he tries and tries, but on his own it stays a mess. “Daddy, I need help!”, he says. Daddy comes and lets the boy continue to help, but now Daddy comes behind his little smear job and gets it all just perfect. It was teamwork. The boy needed help and He asked for it and got it. Our “Daddy requires that we too must have this same childlike humility and dependence.
Obstacle 5: Current sin or past failures
No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him. – 1 Jn 3:6
When we knowingly live in sin, it robs us of God’s best blessings now and of eternal life later if we stay in it. If we call ourselves “Christians” and we are still living in or “struggling” with some stubborn known sin, Jesus says, “Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you." (Jn 5:14).
We must call sin, “sin”, and stop making excuses. This is VERY serious and if we ignore this, Jesus says we are flirting with hell (Mat 5:29-30). We must not allow watered-down or false teaching to deceive us into thinking we’ll be ok because we’re "covered under grace". The Bible teaches the exact opposite of this. It amazes me that so many pastors are not teaching the whole Bible. (Heb 10:26-31, Jude 1:4)
The man who says, “I know him, but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But if anyone obeys his word, God’s love is made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him; whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did. – 1 John 2:4-6
God does not expect sinless perfection, but He demands that we hate sin like He does, and if His Spirit is truly in us, we will hate it. In Christ, we are slaves to righteousness, not sin (Rom 6:16-18). We may occasionally stumble into a sin, but we are no longer practicing or living in lifestyle sin (Gal 5:19-21). As He sanctifies us, we should sin less and less. The grace of Christ is the power to set us free from sin, not the permission to stay in it.
True Spirit-filled Christians cannot continue in sin, and they don't want to! I know because I tried it for a time, and it was too painful. I am a slave to righteousness now, not sin. The reason so many say they just can’t stop sinning is because they don't want to stop. They aren't afraid of losing life to the full because they've never had it. So, they stay in sin, remaining deceived, saying "I'm covered under grace". This issue has been confused by so many false teachers, but the Bible is crystal clear. (2 Tim 2:19, Heb 10:26-31, Jude 1:4, 19)
The real issue is a lack of spiritual motivation due to false teaching and poor understanding. I’m confident if God held us by a thread over the pit of hell for one split second, we would find instant spiritual sobriety and the motivation to finally STOP whatever sin we are still in. In an instant, the excuse, "I just can't stop", would be done away with and proven wrong. If you are still struggling with sin, please start believing in the flames of hell now, lest you believe through experience upon your arrival. You say, “Wow Michael, you’re preaching hell, fire, and damnation.” Yes, I am because so did Jesus. The truth of God’s word has never changed, only our cultural intolerance to hear it has (2 Tim 4:3). Satan has done a great job offending people with the idea of hell—ironically the very place many of the offended will end up. Please, I beg you in tears to take this seriously!
Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. He who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. He who does what is sinful is of the devil because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work. No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God… – 1 Jn 3:7-10
Obstacle 6: Unforgiveness towards self or others
“But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” – Phi 3:13
Are you struggling with the shame and guilt of a sinful past? I understand firsthand how defeating this can feel. One time I put myself in a dangerous place and fell into sin, yielding to a temptation that I felt for sure I was strong enough to avoid. God had even warned me in my spirit beforehand, but because of my pride, I continued and suffered terribly for it. After I fell, I begged God in tears for His forgiveness which He gave me instantly. However, even months later, I found myself still putting my hands around my own neck (figuratively speaking), trying to punish myself for what God had already forgiven. Satan was trying to keep distance between God and I, with my guilt.
Even though you can’t see them, it is clear in Scripture that Satan and his fallen angels are lying spirits and they can send flaming arrows of guilt-ridden, shameful, tempting, and accusatory thoughts right into your mind (1 Sam 16:15, Jn 13:2, Acts 5:3, Eph 6:11). Their goal is to create distance between you and God, rendering you spiritually impotent, robbing Him of His glory, and you of your blessings and mission in Christ.
You win this battle like all other spiritual battles, by faith (Eph 6:16). You access, receive, and walk in God’s forgiveness by faith. No matter how many times you messed up or how bad it was, if you are still alive, God is being merciful to you and giving more time to get right with Him. Satan wants you to say, “I messed up so bad…I’ve done it so many times…I feel too shameful to go back to God again, so it’s actually less painful to just hide from Him or go sin some more to numb the pain.”
This will become the kiss of eternal death if you allow it. Fear the Lord and shake yourself loose by faith. Humble yourself before God. Show Him you are taking His word and prayer seriously and He will lift you up and restore you. Unforgiveness is a sin and it's just as wicked to withhold forgiveness from yourself as it is from others. If you need help fearing the Lord, read Revelation 8 & 9 & Heb 10:26-31.
As obedient children do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.” – 1 Peter 1:14-16
Unforgiveness of others
I believe unforgiveness is the biggest obstacle preventing "Christians" from experiencing life to the full. So many are in denial of the role this could be playing in hindering their walk with Christ. Could it be that someone is benefitting from our denial? Indeed, because three times the Bible connects anger and unforgiveness directly to Satan and his tormentors (fallen angels). See Mt 18:33-34, Eph 4:26-27, 2 Cor 2:10-11
Because of my public transparency with my own story, I have had the unique opportunity of having hundreds of people contact me over the last few years to share intimate details of their life story with me. I concluded that there are two kinds of “Christians”—those who are free from sinful behavior, patterns, thinking and addictions, and those who are not.
Common to all that were free, I saw wholehearted obedience to Christ. Common to all that were in some sort of bondage or mental torment, I saw unforgiveness.
Tragically, most of them were not consciously aware of their deep rooted unforgiveness! Most thought they had already forgiven. However, we must remember that true forgiveness is defined by God, not by us (Pro 21:2). If He thinks we haven’t forgiven, that’s all that matters, regardless of how we think or feel, or how easily we can talk about it.
The inability to STOP certain sins, mistakes, patterns, or behaviors in your life, is not always a lack of self-control. In John 8:31, Jesus said (to believers), "Anyone who sins is a slave to sin." A slave does not have the ability to free himself, regardless of how much self-control he may have. A slave is in bondage, and according to Jesus in John 8:34, can only be set free by the Son (Him).
I have even concluded, after hearing the torment that people are under, that Jesus may very well be saying in Mat 18:34-35, that we are turned over to spiritual tormentors now when we withhold forgiveness from our brothers or sisters. I also see evidence of this in the story of King Saul where he disobeyed God and then was turned over to the torment of an evil spirit from God. (1 Sam 16: 14-15)
Major signs you haven’t forgiven as God forgives:
· You say, “I’ve forgiven them, but I haven’t forgotten what they did.”
· You continue to look for agreement with others about how horribly they treated you
· When you see them or hear their name, you experience (an increase in aggressive/negative thoughts, volume or rate of speech, tension, heart rate, sweat, upset stomach, etc.)
· You still demand that they make restitution
· You still want to see them punished and if given the opportunity, you punish them
Major Biblical consequences for unforgiveness:
· Robs you of God’s presence, blessings, and truth Pro 3:33, Mt 18:35, Jn 15:10, Gal 6:7-8,
· Tormented in your thoughts by evil spirits which leads to other sins and bondage. Mt 18:34
· Opens the door for Satan to attack you, getting a stronghold on your life and taking you captive to do his will. Eph 4:27, 2 Cor 2:10-11, 2 Tim 2:26
· Willful unforgiveness is wickedness which will prevent you from entering eternal life. Mt 6:15
Keys to Forgiveness:
· Remember that God’s continued forgiveness of your sins is conditional upon your forgiveness of the sins of others. Mt 6:15
· Forgive out of obedience to God, not your feelings. Jn 14:21, Mt 7:24
· Forgive fast before Satan gets a foothold and turns it into a root of bitterness which will defile you. Eph 4:27, Heb 12:15
· Trust that God sees all wrongs committed against you and leave all vengeance and justice to Him. Gen 31:12, Pro 15:3, Rom 12:19,
· Remember that your real enemy is Satan, and he simply uses the disobedience of others, to get and keep you offended (Which removes Gods favor from your life) 2 Tim 2:26
Struggling to forgive? Ask yourself this. "What part of eternal life and God’s best, do I still not want?"
Does not wisdom call out? Does not understanding raise her voice? You who are simple, gain prudence; you who are foolish, gain understanding. Blessed is the man who listens to me…for whoever finds me finds life and receives favor from the Lord. But whoever fails to find me harms himself; all who hate me love death. – Pro 8:1, 5, 34-36
Obstacle 7: Poor Discernment/Understanding
I am very sensitive to this subject because I lived for so many years as a simple-minded fool, who thought the only keys to life success were enthusiasm and a positive attitude. I was the “poster child” for Pro 19:2-3.
In the last two years, I’ve been intimately exposed to the life stories and Christian walks of at least 100 people, from all different places. After seeing my personal testimony, they reached out to me for advice or encouragement, and openly shared their struggles. I learned a lot from listening, but I was very disturbed to discover the widespread lack of wisdom and biblical understanding, among so many “Christians”. I had thought that I was largely unique, in the folly of my past simple mindedness. By this, I mean my lack of discernment to detect good vs. evil, in everyday life situations, and my inability to respond the right way at the right time, in accordance with God’s thinking.
Today, I see that a lack of godly understanding is the greatest danger to most “Christians” and it will certainly be the greatest cause of spiritual death for many. It’s so devastating because most don’t understand that they don’t understand. (Pro 8:36).
This leaves the door wide open, in countless ways, for Satan to sift and destroy a person’s walk, or to render them completely fruitless. Fruit wise, many are no better off than the lost sinner on the street corner. Sure, they get emotional during worship, they know church talk, they serve, and they talk about how much they know and love God, but the fruit in their lives proves that they do not actually know Him. When they let down their hair, so to speak, the fruit of their lips or their actions display a temperament that contradicts the Spirit of Christ (Mt 12:33, Mk 7:6).
Sometimes this is because they are false disciples (Jn 8:55, 1 Jn 3:10, 4:6, 2Tim 2:19, Titus 1:16, Jude 1:18-19), but sometimes it’s the result of not being discipled (Lk 6:40, Acts 2:42, 8:30-32, 1 Cor 9:25, Heb 5:14, 1Tim 4:7).
This is what happened to me. My seed was sown among the thorns, and I was not taught the importance of becoming spiritually mature by training myself to be godly (1 Tim 4:7).
Instead, I opened the door to things, people, and decisions that ultimately ruined my life.
I can see this clearly now that I have better understanding. But at the time it seemed like everything I was going through was just life and that if I just endured long enough, it would all go away. This kind of poor understanding is what kills even the most well meaning of “Christians”.
It prevents them from seeing the thief (Jn 10:10) in their life. Instead, they dismiss the warnings about spending too much time on Facebook, getting drunk, the pain pill addiction, pornography, their favorite sport team or exercise becoming an idol, their heretical view on salvation, staying off the dating sites until they are healthier, being unequally yoked, inappropriate relationships with the opposite sex, putting too much focus on money, their unforgiveness or anger issue, going to see the TV evangelist who took up a $400k offering for maintenance on his jet, listening to a false prophet who tells them to sell their business, partnering with someone who only talks about money, extreme neediness that opens doors to bad people using them, having Séances, etc.
One time a lady emailed an invitation to about 200 people, inviting them to watch a video series that her church had purchased. I read the email and the vague description, and I instantly had this sinking feeling in my stomach, sensing that this was a video series by a dangerous false teacher named Rob Bell. I replied, asking if I was correct, and included a gentle warning. It turns out they were getting ready to expose hundreds to a terribly deceived false teacher. I sent a few videos to confirm his heretical teaching and she forwarded them to her pastor. They were very appreciative for my pointing this out, but the lady admitted to me that her pride was bruised, because she felt like she should have known better. Imagine how many things like this are taking place in churches all over the place, while the devil is just licking his lips!
Unfortunately, there is nothing benign about deception. It is always intentional and destructive.
Discretion will protect you, and understanding will guard you. – Pro 2:11
Fools die for lack of judgment. – Pro 10:21
Do not be like the horse or the mule, which have no understanding but must be controlled by bit and bridle or they will not come to you. Many are the woes of the wicked, but the Lord’s unfailing love surrounds the man who trusts in him. – Ps 32:8-10
Now, look at what Jesus taught about having good spiritual understanding, using our “eyes” as a metaphor. Good eyes in this passage refers to good spiritual eyes of understanding (Mark 8:17-18).
Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are good, your whole body is also full of light. But when they are bad, your body also is full of darkness. See to it, then, that the light within you is not darkness. Therefore, if your whole body is full of light, and no part of it dark, it will be completely lighted, as when the light of a lamp shines on you.” – Luke 11:34-36
So, how do we get good understanding?
“But where can wisdom be found? Where does understanding dwell? Man does not comprehend its worth; it cannot be found in the land of the living.” – Job 28:12-13
God determines who gets to see (Acts 16:14) and who stays blind (Jn 12:40, Acts 26:17-18). You cannot get good understanding simply by studying the Bible, going to church, or by someone preaching to you (all of which are important, but of themselves, not enough). Some have memorized entire books of the Bible, but still lack the understanding to apply it and thus benefit from it (Jn 5:39-40).
The Bible teaches that understanding is imparted to us by God because of our fearing Him, studying His word, and more importantly, obeying His word. Sound familiar?
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding. – Ps 111:10
See also: Heb 5:14, Ps 32:8-9, 119: 104,125,130,169
Fearing the Lord does not mean we are afraid of God, but rather that we are afraid of being on the wrong side of God—we are afraid of offending Him or hurting Him through ungodly thinking and behavior. We have reverence for Him.
When we come into agreement with God, by loving what He loves and hating what He hates, He rewards rewards us with secret wisdom and understanding. (Ps 25:14, Jn 16:13, 1 Cor 2:10, 1 Jn 2:27)
We must depend on God to give us wisdom, not man. (Jam 1:5) Example: If you share something deep with me that God has shown you, I still won’t be able to understand it unless God gives me spiritual understanding. And that would only be under the condition that I am walking in a reverent, obedient, and growing fear of the Lord.
Therefore, you need to do most of your learning directly from God’s word and His Spirit, not from teachers, and that includes me. I see myself just as a catalyst, motivating and inspiring people to drink directly from The Source. Read (Ps 19:7-9, 119:24, 99,102, Jn 6:45, 1Cor 2:4,10,13, 4:6, 1Jn 2:27, 2 Tim 2:7)
This is one of the biggest reasons I’m so excited about you starting this devotional. Perhaps you've learned or confirmed a few things from the reading so far, but nothing will compare to the soul excitement you will experience as you begin to really study and apply the teachings of Christ. God will begin teaching you, by His Spirit, things you have never known, even though you’ve possibly seen the words many times before.
Do not be discouraged and do not be afraid to jump in. When God sees that we sincerely want to obey Him, He not only blesses us with the grace to do so, but He increases our understanding in ways that no man, or book, or sermon, could ever do.
I was an enthusiastic but simple-minded fool for so many years. My seed was sown among the thorns, but God gave me another chance when I cried out in full surrender to Him.
Then, with His help, I dug around my "tree" (Lk 13:8) and fertilized it with obedience. Today, I am bearing good fruit as I abide in Him, and my soul is full of joy (Jn 15:11). There is nothing special about me; I am not a pastor or an ordained minister of any kind—I’m just a regular person who truly loves and seeks the Lord with all my heart. If He'll do it for me, He'll do it for anyone. As one pastor said, “God doesn't have favorites; He has intimates.” I have found Him to be extremely faithful to His word, and to those that give Him their whole heart. He loves you so much and you’ll experience the depth of His love for you when you return your love for Him through His love language—obedience. (Jn 14:21, 1Jn 5:3)
The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him. – Revelation 12:9
Obstacle 8: Poor Understanding of Satan
I see the following as Satan’s main strategies:
· Make some people think he doesn’t exist
· Make others think he’s behind everything bad
· Perverts the truth or blinds us from seeing it.
· Uses false teachers to preach 99% of the truth which creates the biggest undetected lie.
· Makes things that are evil seem good, and things that are good to seem evil (perversion).
· Uses fear to ensnare people and to prevent them from living a life of faith to please God.
· Creating offense between people which easily leads to a stronghold of unforgiveness/bitterness.
· Elevates our pride which is detestable to God
· Attacks in our weak spots and at weak moments
Those who don’t believe he’s real have already been defeated. But there’s also a group who think he’s behind every bad thing including all sickness. They “bind and loose” every difficult circumstance not to their liking. Never mind the fact that God is often disciplining them with circumstances or illness, and instead of getting the picture and receiving the correction, they rebuke it as if it’s just another dirty attack from the devil. They fail to see that God brings calamity/sickness too. (Gen 12:17, Num 11:33, Deu 32:39, 1 Sam 5:6, 2 Sam 12:15, 2 Kings 15:5, 2 Chro 21:18, 26:20, Job 5:18, Ps 88:15, 90:15, 106:15, 119:75, Amos 3:6, Jn 9:3, Gal 4:13)
Incidentally, many of these folks have some of the most frustrated and dysfunctional emotional and spiritual lives and hearts you can find among Christians. The only thing they have really bound is their joy in the Lord, and the devil is well pleased that he gets the victory and all the glory. Regardless of what we may be taught, we can’t bind the devil and his demons by saying, “I bind you in Jesus’ name, etc.” Think about it, if anyone could truly bind the devil in someone’s life, we could wrap this whole devil business up quickly and everyone would live godly lives. No, the way we defeat the devil is by standing firm, living godly, and resisting his lies through faith and the word of God. A pure heart is the devil’s worst nightmare.
Having been through more than my fair share of calamity, my perspective is now that the devil is a blessing to the maturing Spirit filled child of God. You may say, “WHAT did you just say silly cakes?” Think about this. God made the angel who has become Satan, and God is in complete control of him. I used
to believe we were all just stuck down here in a cage with the big bad lion and our only hope was that he would eat someone else first. Now, I know the truth; the lion can only eat whatever God tells Him to, or what a Christian with poor discernment offers him to eat.
If we truly believe Scriptures like (Ps 103:19, 135:6, 138:8, Pro 16:4, 19:21, Isa 46:8-11, Rom 8:28) then you understand that the Lord is completely in control of everything (including Satan Rom 16:20) and especially of the lives of those who love Him. Then, with Scriptures like (Lk 4:6, Eph 2:2, 1 Jn 5:19, Rev 12:9) you see that the devil is in control of the world system and unbelievers, but only because God is allowing him.
Examples of how God controls and uses the devil and his demons in the life of his people:
· God gives an evil spirit to Saul to punish him, and primarily to discipline David (1 Sam 16:14).
· God used Satan to incite David to take a census for punishment of Israel (2 Sam 24:1 / 1 Chro 21:1).
· God puts an evil lying spirit in King Ahab’s prophets for his punishment (2 Chro 18:22).
· God uses Satan to prompt Judas to betray Jesus (John 13:2-3).
· God allows Satan to sift Peter as wheat to humble him and strengthen his faith (Lk 22:31).
· God torments Paul with an evil spirit to keep him from becoming conceited (2 Cor 12:7).
So, when you truly understand that God is completely sovereign and in control, and when you understand that God is compassionate and loving towards those who fear Him, then you see that the devil is a blessing because however God allows him to touch our lives, it is for our good. This does not dismiss our need to respect him as a formidable foe or our need to diligently live godly lives, depending on God for good discernment (1 Peter 5:8).
Sometimes, in our ignorance, God controls our ability to choose good or evil, but it is the exception not the rule (Gen 20:6). But often God uses the devil and his demons to chastise, discipline, and motivate us to live godly lives and to fully depend on Him. What a beautiful picture of redemption. God wins, and we win. The devil chose rebellion and evil. But God turned it all around and now uses his malevolence toward believers, as a carefully controlled instrument in his hands to shape us, refine us, and make us more like Jesus.
This is what the LORD says: “Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me…– Jeremiah 9:23
Obstacle 9: A Distorted View of God
“What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.”
– A. W. Tozer
When someone is struggling with trusting God and finding peace, it’s usually because they have a distorted view of God’s ways (Ps 95:10-11).
A man contacted me after seeing my story on YouTube. He was a believer in Christ but was in the midst of terrible divorce pain and scared to death about his future. He couldn’t sleep and was ready to give up on life, when suddenly he was prompted to check his email at 1 am. He found a voice recording from me, replying to his email.
He was touched by my reply, but he was completely transformed when his understanding of God changed. Just 2 weeks later he writes, “After listening to your messages Mike, I now look at our trials not as God sitting on a throne seeing what sport he can get by testing us, but more of his way of saying, ‘I need you to change, but also to never forget this lesson.’”
With his new view of God, this man found enough trust in Him to completely surrender his entire life to Jesus. In another email he writes, “To actually give up and trust God with my life, has to be the best thing that has ever happened to me. Yes, I still have all my senses and emotions, but I am not afraid anymore.” He described a supernatural peace that had settled into his heart (Jn 14:27).
The reason that so many people have so many different religious experiences, or lack thereof, is because so many of us have skewed views of God. Every denomination represents someone who sees God differently than others (Judges 21:25).
You might imagine that after thousands of years and millions of test subjects, the devil has concluded, “If we can’t stop them from believing in God, we can at least pervert their view of Him.”
Think about this. How you view God effects how you view His love, His Word, His faithfulness, His ways, yourself, relationships, the world, money, your dreams, suffering, death, sin, grace, mercy, holiness, obedience, the devil, your purpose, etc.
I can’t really say that I’ve ever had low thoughts of God, but they were always severely incomplete. By far, the greatest misunderstanding I had about God was His Sovereignty and His power to work precisely and specifically on behalf of little ol’ me. The size, power, faithfulness, and sheer magnificence of God is continually growing in me, as I experience Him more and more.
I’m learning that our faith only rises to the size of the object that we put our faith in. If my image of God is small, I will have small faith. If you view God as distant or uninterested you will not enjoy intimacy with Him. If we don’t see God as being in total control, we live in fear and anxiety as if everything is up to us. He often only allows our experiences of Him, to match our view of Him.
Experiencing God is the key to understanding Him. If you read the Bible for 40 years straight (and you should) but you never experience God, your faith will remain only paper deep without any substance. He will remain only as an idea or uncertain hope to you, not an actual living personal God, who you can know and enjoy now, like Jesus promised in John 14:21-23.
Throughout the bible we read the words, “And they will know that I am the Lord” or “then He knew that the Lord is God.” Ironically, they are mostly spoken of people (The Jews) who already had faith in God. What God was saying is now they will know me by experience. (Ex 16:12, Ex 18:11, Deu 4:35, Josh 4:24, 1 Kin 20:13, 2 Chr 33:13)
I imagine during the first 19 years of my being a “believer” that if an alien spaceship landed in my backyard to tell me this whole Jesus thing wasn’t real, and that they were the ones who created us, it could have likely shipwrecked my faith. Today, I would know they were a deception from Satan himself. If I ever fell away from the faith today (God forbid), it wouldn’t be because I hadn’t seen enough evidence of Him in my life. I have indeed experienced enough of God’s amazing sovereignty to have a very large view of Him! May it be true of you as well, as you trust and obey Jesus!
“We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true.” – 1 John 5:20