The Door...

So then, how can we avoid the pitfalls of religion?


How can we avoid the road that leads to the APPEARANCE of spirituality and truly BECOME spiritual?


First of all we need to humble ourselves and admit that in spite of our best efforts, we are helpless to become truly spiritual by ourselves. We need God's help. In Philippians 1:6 it says that He (God) who has begun a good work in you will complete it....


Let's take a lesson from the Scriptures.
In the book of 1 Samuel it talks about David (who would someday become King of Israel) hiding from King Saul in the Cave of Adullum (the cave that gives this blog its name). While hiding here he is joined by his brothers and other relatives. Then others begin to come,"... men who were in trouble or in debt or who were just discontented- until David was the captain of about 400 men."


Note the state of these men... in trouble, in debt and discontented.


Now, look at these same men near the end of David's life (granted, they might have been joined by others along the way but I believe that this was the core of David's men throughout his reign). In 2 Samuel 23:8-17 we are introduced to David's Mighty Men. Note, these ARE NOT fairy tale characters. These men lived and did the exploits recorded here... Yes, they were real!


The first of David's Mighty Men as recorded in 2 Samuel 8-17 was Jashobeam. Who once used a spear to kill 800 enemy warriors in a single battle.


Next was Eleazar who once stood with David against a Philistine army when the entire Israelite army had fled. He killed enemy warriors until his hand was too tired to lift his sward and the Lord gave he and David a great victory that day. The rest of Israelite army didn't return until it was time to collect the plunder.


Then came Shammah. Who once stood his ground in a field of lentils when the rest of the army fled. He stood alone and beat back a whole Philistine army... an army large and intimidating enough to cause the rest of the Israelites to flee!


These were the most famous 3 but there were others.


Abishai, for example. who once used a spear to kill 300 warriors in a single battle.


Benaiah, who killed 2 champions of Moab, chased a lion into a pit on a snowy day and killed it. He also killed a great Egyptian warrior. Benaiah was armed only with a club but he wrenched the Egyptian's spear from his hands and killed him with it.


There were others still but only their names are given and not examples of their exploits.


Question: What happened to the men who were in trouble, in debt and discontented to make them into warriors like these?


Answer: They died.


No not physically. Read the exploit in 2 Samuel 23:13-17 of how David (their leader and in their hearts and minds, King) remarked longingly of how he would like a drink from the well at Bethleham, then occupied by a Philistine detachment. 3 of David's Mighty Men broke through the ranks of the Philistines, in mid-day, fighting every step of the way, only to draw a bit of water from the well for their King!!


At some point, in the wilderness, these men died to themselves and came alive to their King!
Dead to their selfish motives!
Dead to the plans they made for themselves!
Dead to their pride!
And they lived every moment, from that point on, for the will of their King!


The nation of Israel echoed this as they journeyed through the wilderness for 40 years. All of those who had disobeyed God 40 years earlier laid dead in the wilderness.


What causes us to disobey God? Selfish motives, pride, our own plans, to name a few... in essence our "carnality".


In their place stood a generation who were dead to themselves and alive to their King (God). They crossed over the Jordan River during flood season on dry ground!
They marched around cities and the walls came tumbling down!
So long as they walked in obedience, they crushed every army, every enemy, every obstacle they faced. They were unbeatable, unstoppable! 


They were an entire nation of warriors like David's Mighty Men! Dead to themselves and alive to their King... think about it!


What is the road to becoming truly spiritual?


Jesus commanded (Mark 10:21),"... take up the cross and follow Me." 
Jesus said (Matthew 10:39)," He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life, for My sake, will find it."
Jesus says (Matthew 10:38)," And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me."... wow.
Revelation 12:11 says," And they overcame him (the devil) by the Blood of the Lamb (Jesus' shed Blood) and by the word of their testimony and they loved not their lives to the death."


The door to becoming truly spiritual is the cross.


There are no short cuts and there is no way of faking it. The way to becoming spiritual is to climb up on our own cross and die to ourselves. He lead the way and commanded us to follow.


What does it mean to die to ourselves?


In 1 John 2:15-17 the Bible says," Do not love this world or the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But everyone who does what pleases God will live forever."


This,"... For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions...". Other translations of the Bible say,"... the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life...". This is alive in each of us and it is what we must die to.


In James 1:2-4 it says," My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing."


In Romans 5:3-5 it says," And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance, and perseverance produces character and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us."


These passages of Scripture speak of the road to spiritual maturity; true spirituality. That road is a road of trials just as the cross is a painful way to die. Because its through trials that we see God's faithfulness and through trails we see how shallow our greed, pride and selfish desires really are. Its where we find that the only things of value which are truly worth living for are the things of God.


Understand that life offers plenty of trials and if we ask the Lord to make us what He wants us to be, He will lead us through all we need to accomplish His desires for us... spiritual maturity. We do not need to go out and act foolish to create trials for ourselves and then try to boast that we are becoming spiritual. The process of our maturity is God's business. Let Him take care of it without interfering, hoping to speed up the process. Or worse yet, trying to draw attention to ourselves, by a religious spirit, to get people to notice or admire us. Religion has a way of twisting and putrefying everything if its allowed to weasel its way into.


What it boils down to is this. Live life, do what God has given you to do and when (not if) trials come don't run but stand and endure. Like with the nation of Israel in the wilderness or David's Mighty Men, a "wilderness" season, a time of trials and hardship is normal and necessary in developing maturity in a Child of God. We are changed by the experience. A little each time until we are ready and He anoints us as His Mighty Men or Women.


I know that you may be hurting and I understand that the stuff that I've said here may not make you feel all warm and fuzzy. But the hardships that you're going through are the doorway (the cross) that is taking you to a place where you don't have the courage to dream the kinds of wonders that are awaiting you...yep, its gonna blow your mind, and the pain that you are feeling now will be forgotten in the light of who you are about to become, when its over....... I'll try and explain some of that next time:).