Double the Dose
By Phil Scovell
She was a self mutilator and just 15 years of age. As an intercessor, I
deeply wanted to reach her, through prayer, with the
truth that would set her free. My mind was touching on all she was
currently facing and I wondered what I might do to make it easier
for her. My thoughts, therefore, were on God and what He could do to reach
her where she was.
When I saw it, I smiled. It was a pleasant memory. Shortly after losing
my sight at 11 years of age, my mom found a used
tandem bicycle. Friends and family all took turns with me so I could still
enjoy bike riding. It had been my all time favorite thing to
do as a kid, besides flying kites and fishing and ice skating and climbing
trees and playing ball and swimming and building model cars
and, well, you get the picture.
When I was outdoors, I normally was on my bike. I rarely walked anywhere,
even to school, but instead rode my bike. I lived
too close to school to be allowed to ride but since I was a member of our
traffic patrol squad, protecting the little kids crossing the
streets, in other words, I was granted a waver. Thus it was I was able to
ride my bike the four blocks to school.
When banana seats came into style, my uncle purchase for me a red stripped
down stingray bicycle with butterfly handlebars
and a long banana seat. Now I was able to give my girlfriend from church a
ride.
I well remember, shortly after getting my new bike, riding several miles
out into the country to see my girlfriend. I just
couldn't wait to show off what my new fire engine red stingray could do with
its fancy speedometer, tremendous speeds, laying rubber
power stops, the long banana seat so she could rid with me, and popping
wheelies as I navigated just on the back wheel. She was, I'm
sure, spellbound. She lived at the bottom of a very long, and high, hill.
I remember the first, and only time, time I got my bike up to
40 miles and hour, Becky holding on to me for dear life from the back, as I
did my best to keep the bike from tipping over due to the
sensitivity of the fast downhill speed. I never was able to accomplish 40
MPH again unless I was on that hill near her home.
"What does all this have to do with Jesus?"
I'm glad you asked. To refresh your memory, I was thinking about my up and
coming prayer session with this 15 year young
teenage girl who had become a self mutilator. My heart went out to her and
I wanted the Lord to direct me in every way possible in
order to help her to the best of my ability. The only way I knew of doing
such a thing was to make sure God was in charge of the
prayer session. So, again, I was thinking about the prayer session soon to
come when a childhood memory of the tandem bicycle
popped to the surface of my thoughts. It was a pleasant memory and one I
often enjoyed in my array of adolescent memories. This
time, the memory event, for some reason, was different. First, I saw just
the picture of the tandem bicycle in front of me. Then, as I
peered into the memory, or what I thought was a memory, I focused on what I
was seeing. I assumed, and rightfully so, I would be on
the back seat of the bicycle built for two but I wasn't. I was on the front
and doing the driving, as it were, and, believe it or not, I saw
Jesus, yes, you heard me, Jesus sitting on the back seat peddling. I could
see a large shining headlight mounted on the handlebars for
conditions of darkness, obviously, and an old fashion horn, twisted like a
pretzel, sporting a large trumpet bell for the sound to exit as
you squeezed a big rubber bulbous ball to make it honk loudly. I smiled
again but in my thoughts, I protested. "Lord? Shouldn't you
be on the front and my place should be on the back? After all, you are the
Lord of my life so you should be doing the steering,
directing, driving, and leading."
To my amazement, the picture in my mind remained the same and the Lord
said, "No. What you see is correct. I am on the
back and you are doing the navigating; I'm along for the ride. I see where
we are going; don't worry."
I attempted to protest further because this picture had to be backwards.
When the Holy Spirit reminded me of the truth, I
accepted what I saw with understanding and greater appreciation of the
Lordship of Christ.
If you've ever heard me teach, read anything I've written, or even listened
to some of my online audio recordings, you likely
have heard me teach on this familiar passage of Scripture:
?Trust in the LORD with all your heart; and lean not unto your own
understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct your
paths,? (Proverbs 3:5-6 AV).
Quite simply, this passage of Scripture clearly teaches that Jesus wants to
do whatever we want to do, (I.E. It is His will for our lives)
Let's read this passage again and examine carefully its individual parts.
Outline
1. Trust in the LORD with all your heart.
2. And lean not unto your own understanding.
3. In all your ways acknowledge him,
4. And he shall direct your paths.
The meaning of the passage is self evident.
1. Trust in the LORD with all YOUR heart. (Attitude).
2. And lean not unto YOUR own understanding. (Agreement).
3. In all YOUR ways acknowledge Him. (Awareness).
4. And he shall direct YOUR paths. (Application).
Did you notice the word "YOUR" is used in all four statements? If not, go
back and read it again. In every case, this passage refers to
"YOUR heart," and, "YOUR" own understanding," and, "All YOUR ways," and the
final statement of, "YOUR paths." It is impossible, therefore,
to interpret this passage without putting focus on yourself.
Attitude (Trust in the Lord with all your heart).
This is a position of total belief; "With all your heart." "Trust" is who
you are in Christ and no one can take that relationship with God
away from you because it has been sealed by the Holy Spirit. The attitude
is where we stand, that is, what we believe. Do you believe God can do
the things you ask of Him? If not, then you haven't a good understanding of
a covenant relationship with Him through Jesus Christ who is, by the
way, God's covenant with us.
Agreement (And lean not unto your own understanding).
The word for "lean" is (rely) and the word for "understanding" is
(discernment). In other words, don't try and figure things out on your
own, using your own logic, or judgment. Trying to understand God's is like
asking the question, "Can God create a rock so heavy, He can't lift it?"
Agreement is much more easily understood, or should be, because it is a
simple position of submission to Christ. No, it doesn't mean He is above
us; that's a given. It means we are in agreement with Him through personal
identity, thus, submission to his will, or, agreement with Him in
identity.
Awareness (In all your ways acknowledge Him).
God consciousness, which creates spiritual intimacy, is through prayer.
Prayer is exchanging your thoughts for God's. Trying to use our
own discernment is a waste of spiritual energy and creates circular
reasoning. In short, don't bother trying to reinvent the theological wheel
to
confirm what you already think is truth. Quite simply become aware of His
present through prayer. No, you don't need to say it out loud; your
thoughts are good enough for Him. Likewise, it is your thoughts where you
will hear Him.
Application (And He shall direct Your Paths).
When I realized the Lord was telling me that He wanted to do what I wanted
to do, this final phrase of the passage came to mine. I
wouldn't have believed it otherwise but there it was, big as life, and
offering total theological confirmation of what He had just said within my
thoughts as I prayed. You see, I always thought it was the other way
around, that is, we gave up things, and sacrificed things, in order to be
closer
to Him. We, in other words, wanted to be with Him when the real truth is,
He wants to be with us. "Why?" You are going to hate yourself for
missing this one. Because He loves us.
Conclusion
When I share these things I see in the Spirit, I'm referring, of course, to
the Holy Spirit, people often find what I say ridiculous. This is
due to being taught the opposite of who, and what, Jesus is, and what He
wants to do. He wants to be with us. He wants to do what we want to
do.
Let me target something I want to point out. If what I'm saying is true,
wouldn't believing God, and His promise in His Holy Word, be
that much easier to embrace? Hence, answers to our prayers; our petitions,
the things we ask of Him through prayer. He will direct our paths, not
His paths; He knows where He is going. He confirms, in this passage, He
will direct our paths. What happens if we make a wrong turn? That's
easy. He will point us in the right direction because He is our Director.
It's like riding a bicycle; you never forget.
Your Fear Of Demons Is Due To Lies; Their Fear Of You Is Due To Truth.
www.SafePlaceFellowship.com
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