Your Life Filtered and Strained

1 Corinthians 15:3-4 ‘. . .how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the scriptures.’

To begin with, despite its critics and its hypocrites, Christianity truly is unique in the sphere of religion.  It is the culmination of Yisrael’s exercise of belief in Yahweh, a belief at which they failed.

Romans 11:20-21 ‘Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith, Be not highminded, but fear:  For if the Creator spared not the natural branches, take heed lest He also spare not thee.’

While this is another perfect argument against the ‘Once Saved Always Saved’ lie, I don’t want to go in that direction with this.  Basically, Yisrael was the original branch and He broke them off – Yahweh divorced them.  If we get too highminded as Christians, we can be put away also.  Humility is so important.

Jeremiah 3:8 ‘And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Yisrael committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also.’

This biblical fear is reverence; it is a desire not to make the one we love mad at us.  It is sad we live in a world now that believes in a “god” of such overwhelming compassion and love, he allows himself to be treated like dirt, lets his brides run wild, fornicating and drunk, playing foolishly like whores.  As Christians, this should be unacceptable to us.  Reverent fear should help keep us balanced and grafted in.

Isaiah 1:21 ‘How is the faithful city become an harlot!. . .’

When the writers of the New Covenant speak of things as ‘according to scripture,’ we must remember that there was no New Covenant written.  While many Christian sects have embraced the New Covenant and discarded the Old, they miss the beauty and truth that all scripture is really only the Old Covenant.

Isaiah 1:22-23 ‘Thy silver is become dross, thy wine mixed with water:  Thy princes are rebellious and companions of thieves:  everyone loveth gifts, and followeth after rewards:  they judge not the fatherless, neither doth the cause of the widow come unto them.’

Dross is the pollution, the impurity, the scum that forms on the surface of molten metal, the thing or things that are not supposed to be there.  If you want to make something pure, you have to filter it, strain it, or fire it.

Isaiah 1:25 ‘And I will turn My hand upon thee and purely purge away thy dross, and take away all thy tin.’

Matthew 3:10-12 ‘And now also the ax is laid unto the root of the trees:  therefore every tree which bringeth forth not good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire.  I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance; but He that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear:  He shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire:  Whose fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly purge His floor and gather His wheat into the garner; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.’

Christianity is unique when it follows scripture and stays in tune with the whole truth proclaimed by the Creator.  Yahweh sent His only begotten Son, Yahshua, into this world to suffer and die in order to save us.  By faith, we not only believe in this great sacrifice, we imitate it, we follow it, and we do as He did – we walk the walk.  The only way we can possibly walk this walk and proclaim this truth, is to filter our lives with the scriptures.

1 Timothy 6:12 ‘Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life. . .’

Remember, in Romans 11:20, we were told it was because of ‘unbelief’ Yisrael was broken off. 

What causes unbelief?  What causes people to lose their faith?

Matthew 21:19-20 ‘And when He saw a fig tree in the way, He came to it, and found nothing thereon but leaves only, and said unto it, Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward forever.  And presently the fig tree withered away.  And when the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, How soon is the fig tree withered away!’

Belief and faith are more than things we keep to ourselves and constantly reassure ourselves we have.  Belief and faith are works, they are things accomplished to edify the Creator.

Matthew 21:21-22 ‘Yahshua answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed and be cast into the sea; it shall be done.  And all things whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.’

Yahshua was pure.  His life was completely filtered unlike any man who ever walked the earth and there was no dross or contamination in His mind causing Him to doubt.  He told us that if we could ever get to this point of pure believing, of having no doubt, we could do as He did.  Take a moment and really think about that.  Did you ever really believe that all the miracles you read about in the Bible were not only true, but you yourself could be capable of performing them?  Did you ever really believe you could part the sea, walk on water, heal the sick and resurrect the dead? 

These deeds come by faith without doubt, and truth be told, we all have way too much doubt.  That power of the Holy Spirit seems just a little bit too awesome for us to comprehend fully, so it scares us.  And sadly, when people actually exercise and use spiritual power, or try too anyway, we as Christians can be just as cynical and critical of them as the unbelievers.  What can we do about this doubt?

James 4:8-10 ‘Draw nigh unto the Creator and He will draw nigh unto you.  Cleanse your hands ye sinners; and purify your hearts ye double-minded.  Be afflicted, and mourn and weep:  let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to heaviness.  Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord and He shall lift you up.’

As Christians, we are often times too worldly, too proud.  We are not straining out or filtering pollution from our lives; our hands are not clean and we believe half in what we see, and half in what we don’t see.  Remember, faith is the substance of things hoped, evidenced by things not seen.  We are caught with one foot in this world and one in the next.  We are straddling the fence, a little bit hot and a little bit cold.  We are scared to death to take the full out plunge into the foreboding depths of blind faith and obedience to His will.  Every last one of us is here and we all know it. 

1 John 4:18 ‘There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out all fear:  because fear hath torment.  He that feareth is not made perfect in love.’

Yahweh is perfect love; and this love is not a love that allows itself to be abused and taken advantage of.  Yes, this love is merciful and kind, it is longsuffering and it is patient – but it is also righteous and just, and it knows that there is a time when the foolishness must end because there is no intent to be wise.  The harlotry must cease because there is no desire to be committed.  The rebellion must stop or the war will never end.

Romans 8:5 ‘For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.’

When we start filtering our life with the scriptures, we find that everything is not funny anymore; that everything is not simply entertainment and our eternal living is dependent on a great deal more than our happiness now. I recently sat through a newer film called ‘The Invention of Lying.’ It was written and directed by comedian and atheist Ricky Gervais. While the film does have its funny moments, the foundation of everything it stands for still makes the belief in an Almighty Creator an unnecessary fiction, and it holds that lying is a necessary color-additive for the dull landscape of brutal bland honesty. Basically, lying can be good.

James 4:8-10 ‘Draw nigh unto the Creator and He will draw nigh unto you. Cleanse your hands ye sinners; and purify your hearts ye double-minded. Be afflicted, and mourn and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord and He shall lift you up.’

We as Christians have to stop letting our beliefs become a joke. Now I am not calling for a boycott or a rally or a protest or anything like that. As always I am addressing the individual. We all need better filters. We all need to capture more of these impurities that are getting through and infecting us, weakening us – causing us to doubt. Life is not all laughter and more often than not, we need to draw back to humility and soul search our faith, find and remove the viruses that injure our conviction.

We want to be happy but we can’t be happy about everything. We have to find joy in the things the Lord finds joy in; and we need to denounce and filter out the awful ridicule the world uses to destroy our faith, to destroy Christianity.

Perhaps I am watching too much film lately but I also watched Gentleman’s Agreement with Gregory Peck. As a writer, he pretends to be a Jew for several weeks to see how it feels, to experience anti-Semitism first hand. The amazing thing he discovers is, it really has nothing to do with all the big promoters of anti-Semitism, or race hating. It is actually the nice people, the regular people, the ones who go along with the moronic jokes while attesting later to have loathed it; the ones who can’t make a simple stand because they know it will make them be perceived differently and make their lives a bit more difficult. Most people know it is wrong, but the fear of being ostracized and judged makes them cower their belief to that of the majority present.  The agenda today is to silence Christian preaching by making our words and beliefs sound hateful.

1 Corinthians 15:3-4 ‘. . .how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the scriptures.’

When I read that, I read nothing to joke about and I see nothing to be silent about. The blood, the pain, the humiliation the Son of Yahweh suffered for our evils deserves so much better from us. We should mourn and weep for having been so willingly to walk in the foolish pleasures of this world – but then, emerging out of that humility and tears, we find joy – true and honest joy that comes from the Spirit and not the flesh.

Romans 8:6-7 ‘For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace, because the carnal mind is enmity with the Creator. . .’

We can’t prevent the world from behaving worldly. They will continue to produce entertainment that is sin from beginning to end, from alpha to omega, but we don’t have to consume it or be party to it. The beautiful uniqueness that comes with being a Christian is the ability to grow and change. When we take to heart the scriptures, His word progresses and develops the filter in our spirit. The filter matures and gets better as we get older.

1 Corinthians 13:11 ‘When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.’

When you look at the entertainment industry, you see grown people that have never matured, never grown up. These are the people, the fools preaching their religion to the next generations. Their movies and their music tell kids that fornication, homosexuality and adultery are the most special experience they will ever have in life. Kids not even in high school can’t wait to try it, experiment and experience it. These serpents are convincing children that great sums of money are just waiting for them if they are willing to show a little skin, behave a little raunchy and act really proud and priggishly self-righteous. In this carnal world of bliss, everyone gets high so they can tap into their talents and speak with elusive spirits in another world. Drinking and drunkenness are simply rites of passage all adolescents must try at least once.

All of these things go completely against what we as Christians supposedly profess, and yet way too often, they pass through our filters undetected. As nice, moral people we know it is bad and wrong but we just can’t go out on a limb and denounce it. We are afraid we will be ostracized for making a stance.

Jude 1:17-20 ‘But beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken. . .How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts. These be they who separate themselves sensual, having not the Spirit.’

Lastly before closing I must touch on those things that do get through. We are human and we are sinners, we are not pure or perfect. There will always be things, impure things that get through our filters and we will like them simply because we like them.

Those who are still caught up in ungodly lusts and living sensual and worldly ways will attempt to accuse us of these things and use these things that got through to their advantage.

I have always taught that Christianity is about you – that you are the Temple – and it is up to you to do what you believe is best according to the scriptures. Those that say, “Well you like this and you like that, so who are you to say anything about this other thing,” are only trying to justify themselves too you. They are looking at themselves as a Temple and they don’t hold the Scriptures in any regard at all. They are pretending to be moral when in fact they have no filter except the flimsy one they have created for themselves. This self-serving filter never gets better. It lets through nearly everything and without the scriptures to help it mature, never will change.

People like this want to convince you that your imperfections limit your rights to speak about perfection.

Jude 1:3-4 ‘Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you, that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our Creator into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord Creator, and our Anointed Messiyah Yahshua.’

When I speak of the perfection to come, I speak from the grace that has been extended to me through His suffering and His blood on that pole. They can attack the messenger. This is nothing new. Mankind has been doing it for generations.

Luke 11:47-48 ‘Woe unto you! For ye build the sepulchers of the prophets, and your father’s killed them. Truly ye bear witness that ye allow the deeds of your fathers: for they indeed killed them, and ye build their sepulchers.’

I am a sinner. I don’t justify myself and the things that I allow.

Romans 7:19 ‘For the good that I would do, I do not; but the evil which I would not, that I do.’

Romans 7:24 ‘O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?’

Yahshua has promised to deliver me. The more I humble and remind myself of the wretched man I am, the more powerful I become to speak of His grace and mercy towards me. Remember, when I am weak I am strong. In this strength of Spirit, not flesh, I can refute the works of man that are evil; I can even deny the immorality of my forefathers and not justify their behaviors and build to them temples and sepulchers.

Romans 8:8-9 ‘So then they that are in the flesh cannot please the Creator. But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be the Spirit of the Creator dwell in you. . .’

I have a flesh body, I am stuck with it - but I am not in the flesh when I am telling, preaching and teaching the Word, the Scriptures. It is then that I am in the Spirit and all the failings of my flesh cannot prevent the light from shining, the truth from being told. And in this frame of mind, in this power of the Spirit, the truth is not grey or dull but it is wonderful and vibrant and glorious.

Anyone who cannot see the truth as a breathtaking light is someone trying to stay in the dark.

John 3:20 ‘For everyone that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.’

My filter is not perfect but its particular failings will never justify anyone else from not using one at all.

I already took my heart to the Lord and told Him that some “crap” still gets through and I am wretched.

He knows this about me already and He doesn’t hold it against me. He is working with me every day to get better, to strain a little more doubt from my mind. He loves the fact that I am willing to improve myself, not according to the world, but according to His Word. And as long as I earnestly contend for my faith, His grace will forever give me strength.

And maybe, just maybe, one day, when I don’t doubt so much – a mountain will be moved.

Amen