Functioning at 100%

On August 23, 2006, my mother was diagnosed with cancer of unknown origin. For the previous month she was unable to get out of bed without suffering severe pain. This was strange for anybody that new her because she was always on the go. Less than 90 days later, on November 10, 2006, she passed away. At the time of diagnosis, the cancer had spread through out her entire body. Nobody will ever know how much pain she was in prior to being bedridden, but up to that point you wouldn't have thought anything was wrong. I was reminded of my mothers story because of something written on a board in my Chiropractor's office. He had a line graph that had 0% function written on the left and 100% function written on the right. In the middle was, of course, 50% function with the word, symptoms, written just to right of it. Underneath this graph he had written "death" under 0% function, "health" under 100% function and "drugs" written underneath symptoms. The point being made was that the average human doesn't feel any symptoms of what ails them until their immune system is operating at between 50% and 60% of its normal capacity. And at that point we are usually given drugs which may relieve the pain, but only mask the real problem. Eventually, you risk dying from whatever it is that ails you. That makes me wonder about my mom and what she didn't feel when cancer was destroying her body. By the time she felt anything, and was treated, it was too late.

"And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ; having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God." Philippians 1: 9-11

How many Christians are out there who are "functioning" at less than 100% of their capabilities when it comes to their discernment of biblical truth? We sit back and lament how so-called Christians can fall so easily into false teachings and beliefs without the slightest hesitation. For those of us who can see a false teaching a mile away is it any wonder that you question the salvation of these brothers and sisters? All of us can quote a verse or a passage that seems to support whatever it is we claim to believe. Even unbelievers will talk about the Bible as if they are the authority on it and that Christians are somehow duped by taking a literal stance on it. But, if you don't have any discernment how will you be able to recognize truth, much less stand on it and defend it? God does have an opinion on what He has written down for us within the pages of scripture. He is not the Author of confusion or the Father of lies. That is satan. Yet, there are millions of people out there that decide for themselves what is truth and what is not and use the same Bible we use.

"We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn. In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil." Hebrews 5: 11-14

What is elementary school used for? Is it not to instruct children in the basics of reading, writing and arithmetic? Yes it is. Children, because of their youth, don't understand much. They are led mostly by emotions and instinct. While this is a good thing in the sense that it shows they are inquisitive and have a desire to learn, without proper instruction, it will eventually lead to their destruction. If you don't teach a child to look both ways before crossing the street, they will run out in the street and be struck by a vehicle. If you don't teach them to brush their teeth they will eventually lose their teeth and destroy their health. The examples are endless. That is why the frustration of the author of Hebrews is apparent at the lack of growth demonstrated by his audience. We all know the frustration of having to constantly go over the same material with someone who never seems to grasp it, much less put it into practice. When we as Christians don't rely on the Holy Spirit of God to instruct us on His Word, we end up relying on our own understanding or that of someone else. The risk of that is we don't know if what we are being taught is the truth. The result is immature Christians who fall hook, line and sinker for every wind of doctrine man can devise. They are unable to distinguish good from evil and end up falling for all sorts of evil schemes and teachings.

"We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned." 1 Corinthians 2: 12-14

The truths God wants to reveal to us can only be revealed by God. That makes perfect sense. The Bible is the Word of God, not the word of men. There is only one God and, thus, only one book written by Him. There are countless books written by men and countless ideas and philosophies that come from it all. Who are you going to believe? As I have said before, mankind seems enamored with the "pursuit" of truth, but reluctant to ever find it. The Christian knows the Truth, and that is Jesus Christ. His Spirit indwells every believer and teaches us what the Father wants us to know and understand. That is why unbelievers, those natural men without the Spirit, think the Bible is foolishness or requires man's own wisdom to decipher, which is no wisdom at all. As Christians, when we completely rely on the indwelling Holy Spirit to teach us the truths of God, we are functioning at 100% of our capabilities. And just like a completely healthy person can fight off disease and sickness, a person operating in complete dependence on the Holy Spirit can fight off false teachings and error.

"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand." Ephesians 6: 10-13

It is the spiritual forces of evil that our true war is against. If the things of God are spiritually discerned then it makes sense that the devil would try and attack us in that way. When we are not grounded in truth, anything that comes our way can give the impression that it is true when it is not. The reason spiritual things are spiritually discerned is because without the Spirit of God teaching us, all we have to go by is our feelings and experiences. And those change by the second and cannot be trusted. That is why the lost and the immature Christian fall for the devil's schemes without putting up much fight. The armor of God is His truth, found within scripture, and is taught to us by the Holy Spirit. It allows you to recognize the evil of the devil long before it takes advantage of you. It is in this way that you are able to stand unmoved by the error of the devil and his various rulers, authorities and powers of this dark world. We need to do whatever is necessary to make sure we are operating at 100% of our spiritual health so that we will notice evil before it is too late.