The Supreme Climb

April 26th, 2016 by Dave Leave a reply »

Take now your son…and offer him…as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you. —Genesis 22:2

A person’s character determines how he interprets God’s will (see Psalm 18:25-26). Abraham interpreted God’s command to mean that he had to kill his son, and he could only leave this traditional belief behind through the pain of a tremendous ordeal. God could purify his faith in no other way. If we obey what God says according to our sincere belief, God will break us from those traditional beliefs that misrepresent Him. There are many such beliefs which must be removed– for example, that God removes a child because his mother loves him too much. That is the devil’s lie and a travesty on the true nature of God! If the devil can hinder us from taking the supreme climb and getting rid of our wrong traditional beliefs about God, he will do so. But if we will stay true to God, God will take us through an ordeal that will serve to bring us into a better knowledge of Himself.

The great lesson to be learned from Abraham’s faith in God is that he was prepared to do anything for God. He was there to obey God, no matter what contrary belief of his might be violated by his obedience. Abraham was not devoted to his own convictions or else he would have slain Isaac and said that the voice of the angel was actually the voice of the devil. That is the attitude of a fanatic. If you will remain true to God, God will lead you directly through every barrier and right into the inner chamber of the knowledge of Himself. But you must always be willing to come to the point of giving up your own convictions and traditional beliefs. Don’t ask God to test you. Never declare as Peter did that you are willing to do anything, even “to go …both to prison and to death” (Luke 22:33). Abraham did not make any such statement— he simply remained true to God, and God purified his faith.

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Journal DJR
Good Morning Lord,
It is interesting that much of the evil that us humans get ourselves into is rooted in religion, everything from Salem witch burnings, to ISIS beheadings, and KKK racism, all claim godly motivation. Even the more godly sounding explanations of why You allow cancer or earthquakes. Today Chambers identifies perhaps the main reason for these errors… An incorrect understanding of You and your ways. And that if we maintain connection, You will purge us of these incorrect understandings. The more we clearly understand, the better we can obey. As Chambers says, “you must always be willing to come to the point of giving up your own convictions and traditional beliefs.” How do we do this without being “wishy washy” and easily swayed?

Consider Abraham. He was not wishy washy. He was willing to go all the way to obey me. But he was also ready to change his position when I showed him my plan. That is the key. Be ready to give up anything, especially your incorrect religious beliefs, when I reveal a new facet of my character that I want to build in you. A fallback position of staying Curious is it will allow/provide for accepting new revelation. Being positive of your religious convictions, beyond that I love you and have good plans for you… is dangerous. It’s what fueled the Pharisees. I had to spend so much effort trying to shake them loose from those positions that they were sure of. Don’t be so sure that you are right, that you miss a new thing that I am trying to show you. Staying curious and looking at your life objectively, like a balcony view… will be helpful in this. Visualize that. Standing on a balcony with Me… looking down at the scene. Seeing yourself there. But stay up here with me. Watch that guy. What is that? That tone that came along with those words… From down there in the thick of it, you’ll miss it. But from up here on the balcony with me, you can easily see that judgmental spirit or (fill in the blank) Just stay up here on the balcony with me and stay open and curious and I will show you great and wonderful things. BTW most of these are not for you to run out and share or beat your brothers and sisters over the head with…. Just saying…

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