Christian Simplicity; Thought & Consideration #12

12. One of the themes of Christian simplicity, that I've been trying to grasp and explain clearly is the joy of denying ourselves, surrendering and humbling ourselves, and acknowledging our complete and total helplessness without the salvation and grace of God and calling on God to lead us where He will; on a constant and eternal basis. Maybe it is indescribable; I certainly feel that way. One part of calling on God for His leadership and governing is also asking that He give the Revelation of His Will to us each day and what He would have us do.

On a personal level, I can guarantee the imperishable peace and joy that you will feel and experience when you have done the things that I just mentioned. This does not just happen at baptism; when one accepts Christ and His salvation into His life. This is meant to be carried on into the new born-again life. It is a constant needed reminder and guide to us about the presence of God that we live in and the loyalty and faithfulness we owe to the Bridegroom.

The experience and after-effects I felt when I did this, was unnaturally amazing. Guaranteeing from the Bible, I can say that when you constantly make this a practice in your life, and are faced with the life and daily difficulties, mysteries, questions, and concerns; you will experience heavenly joy and peace; knowing that God has a great purpose and plan that will reap up fruits.

Submitting to God's will, also requires a recognition and acknowledgment that God will reap up fruits and rewards for our blessing and benefit, one way or another. There are two good passages to keep in mind, that would be a good addition to the armor of God. One passage is by a Christian poet named William Cowper.

“God moves in a mysterious way, His wonders to perform; He plants his footsteps in the sea, And rides upon the storm. Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take, The clouds ye so much dread are big with mercy, and shall break In blessings on your head. Judge not the Lord by feeble sense, But trust him for his grace; Behind a frowning providence, He hides a smiling face. Blind unbelief is sure to err, And scan his work in vain; God is his own interpreter, And he will make it plain.”

The other passage, can be found in the Bible which says in Hope,

“For I know the plans that I have for you,” declares the Lord. “Plans for welfare, and not for calamity; to give you a future and a hope.”

This calling, along with the hopes, the promises, and the guarantees, I must conclude; is indescribable. Which is why I will probably make mention of this thought at many other times later on; for this is a thing that is hard to grasp.

Christian Simplicity; Thought & Consideration #11

 

11. One of the misunderstandings and interpretations we can make about Christian simplicity, is the “freedom” from our physical and spiritual responsibilities. In some ways, it is more easy to have such a misunderstanding in physical responsibilities. Sloth and laziness, can easily be mistaken and unintentionally covered with honest intentions and thoughts of trusting in God and fully surrendering to Him. Take this for example,

For the past month, I was living my life in the path of a mistaken foundation, that for me to live in Christian simplicity and ignoring independence and pride, I should not care about my health or how strong I was because I was ultimately trusting in God to provide for my needs. It was not until recently, that God's grace and revelation showed me that I was not ignoring “independence and pride”, but rather my responsibilities. As much as we are called and commanded to surrender to God and ultimately, He has created us in His image and commanded us to seek His Holy Spirit. Let us not misunderstand another concept. God has not called us to a state of independence. If that were so, it would be our own death sentence since “in Him we move and live, and have our being.” And yet, the commission that God gave to Adam, is a generational vision and command that we are to obey and pass down. God called us to be “fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it” and rule (as stewards) over all creation. Man's heavenly commission is as heavily packed and “thickly branched”, as the Ten Commandments. Being healthy and strong, is one of the built-in responsibilities God has given us. When we are not fulfilling our physical responsibilities, we are not trusting in God but instead, are treading the path to the sluggard's house, with Sloth and Laziness as our guide. We are not to treat ourselves as babies who need to be served (a.k.a spoon-fed) and God as our babysitter, when we have capabilities that the Creator gave to us. Now, in the biblical sense, Christ has called us to have a child-like spirit, in that, we deny ourselves, surrender and humble ourselves, and acknowledge before the presence of God (when we pray) that we are utterly helpless to make change in our lives and that He is the Head and Controller of our lives, and to lead us wherever He purposes us to be; this is submitting to His Will and predestined Plan.

Be careful. When we fulfill our physical responsibilities, it is not to be to our own glory; for we have no glory in of ourselves. We are to do it to God's glory, and a big part of that, is doing so in humility and humbleness; submission to God's majesty. When we exercise our physical strength, we should reject and despise all thoughts of pride and self-glory. When we eat healthy, we should reject and despise all thoughts of pride and self-glory, next time we see a fat person walking past us. The spirit we must eternally have, is God's Spirit. Humbleness and humility is a big essence of that. The thought we must have, when in these situations, is to keep in mind that God holds and controls our lives. He can take away our blessings and the grace He has bestowed, from us in a flash. He can, the next day, make us fat or skinny, malnourished, and hammered with aches and sickness. The thought that we must have, next to that, is to thank God for His unrelenting and merciful grace, that He has chosen to lead and guide us in the right way and not leave us in ignorance. He has blessed us by providing us strength and revealing more ways to be healthy and better suited for His Kingdom. When we thank and praise Him for His blessings, it is so easy to have pride and self-glory, once more, creep in; if we are not watching and guarding our thoughts. We can exalt ourselves, amazingly enough as it is, when thanking God for His blessings. Such thoughts as, “Thank you God that you have chosen me to be strong and better mobile for Your Kingdom and not like such fat people as I have known before.” This is where Christian simplicity can come in. In conscientious and honest humility before the presence of God, thank Him and praise Him for His blessings and primarily for His grace, that He chooses to bless us in the way that we are; and does not forsake us but instead, stays with us in every step of the way.

So the whole of this thought, is that when living in Christian simplicity; we are not excused from our physical or spiritual duties. When fulfilling our physical and spiritual responsibilities, we must keep in remembrance to give thanks and praise for God's blessings and grace; and in all of this to reject and despise all thoughts of pride and self-glory from our lives and instead, strive to live in all conscience and action, humbleness and humility before the presence of God; who ultimately and always at all times, gets the glory, in everything. This is Christian simplicity.

Christian Simplicity; Thought & Consideration #10

10. There are many opportunities that exist in all areas of Christianity, where we can and eventually will (if we haven't yet) misunderstand or misinterpret the concepts, points, and fundamentals. It is just as easy to misunderstand what Christian simplicity is trying to tell us. It is not a sin when we misunderstand Christian simplicity, because we are all growing, by God's grace and our Faith in Him, into biblical maturity and it is clear, that we don't have a full grasp on anything; and God does not see us as being people who should understand His Mind in a lightning-bolt. But we must attempt and strive to understand and see His purpose and His glory, better. As the bride of the bridegroom and the children of the Father, we are to understand better what the will of God is; by prayer, supplication, request, and a humility of our hearts.

Christian Simplicity; Thought & Consideration #9

9. If someone has promised us a gift as a reward; and as time goes by, we are not receiving it; we still must wait on God in patience, knowing that He has lain up a reward for us in heaven, and will add to that, if we continue in the fruits of the Spirit. Let us not walk in pride as we wait on Him.

Christian Simplicity; Thought & Consideration #8

8. When we pray to God, we must apply the second greatest commandment there, also. God fulfills our needs all the time, throughout our lives; sometimes fulfilling more then we asked for by giving an excess of blessing. He finds pleasure, as our father, when His children come before Him and lift up their petitions, requests, cries, and prayers. When we pray, we are in direct communication before God our Father. And it is such a privilege to know Him and confide our lives in ultimate surrender and faith to Him.

One way we can apply the second commandment, while praying to our Father, is to consider, remember, and bring up before the Lord in prayer and petition, those who are helpless and captive and are being oppressed. One way God has given me grace in doing this, is by bringing to mind, specifically, those who are victims in human and sex trafficking; the young, the weak, and the helpless who are held captive and are abused with terrifying cruelties, being raped, and violated; and are being afflicted, and many, among them, have not heard of the grace and salvation of God; those who do, have their faith tried on an ongoing basis. God has been gracious to me, and I thank Him for helping me regularly to remember the victims of human and sex trafficking. My mind keeps to thought, the hundreds and the thousands who are right now, at this moment, being abused and afflicted as I write of this. It is non-stop. If one “light blinks out”, there's another to replace it. If one case of cruelty has paused, there's another one, somewhere in the world that has started.

The point of this, is that, God calls us to remember and pray for our neighbor; especially the helpless who are afflicted, and those in need, who are being held captive. God delights in our prayers and requests, and there is no prayer which God holds as insignificant. If He did so, He would not be our Father. A Father delights and rejoices in the communication of his children; those from the smallest of the world, to the greatest of the world. And yet, to mix into all of that, He wants us to consider, to remember, and to pray for others, our neighbors. God sees all, and remembers everyone's needs. We have freely received of God. Christian simplicity, calls us, to freely give unto others. (Matthew 10:8)

Christian Simplicity; Thought & Consideration #7

7. We are called forth, by Christian simplicity, to live our lives by the unity of the two greatest commandments, “Love God” (honor, obey, fear, and live in His ways) first, and then under that commandment obey the second one which is “Love thy neighbor as thyself” (honor, extending the grace, love, and mercy of God onto others). If we are to be honestly, and in all purity of mind and righteousness, to be passionate for God; then we must learn to put God as ultimately the first in our lives, and under God's love, love our neighbor as ourselves. If we do these things, the Bible shows, we are obeying God and honoring Him.

Christian Simplicity; Thought & Consideration #6

6. If we are striving to live in Christian simplicity, then we must not worry or be provoked to jealousy about others who may not live in the terms of our simplicity; for then we are promoting hypocrisy, and have stepped out of the bounds of Christian simplicity. As new arrivals and beginners for this walk, learning, study and maturity in Christian simplicity; it calls to us to not at first, be the judges of other men or situations which we may or may not fully understand. Christian simplicity calls us to be the judges of our own hearts, before we start judging others. Judging our own hearts, is a way of keeping it in Christian check. We cannot learn how to judge our own hearts in a lightning-bolt or a flash of time; not in one hour, one day, one week, or even one month. It may take a year upon year till we finally lay down the foundation for learning to judge and watch over our own hearts through the eyes of God's Word. Once we have this foundation laid, and is not threatening to shatter or crumble, or shake out of place, or even have to rebuild or refurbish it; then we can, with Christian simplicity, are in the place to judge others; and judging may not just be in a court of justice (personally or publicly), it can be in a way of witnessing also. We are not ready to witness, if we are not prepared and on a daily basis (perhaps even an ongoing basis) checking our hearts and calling on God to bring about His revelation. We stand in His presence all the time; let us lay down the foundation and life-binding practice; of judging ourselves, before we start judging others.

Christian Simplicity; Thought & Consideration #5

5. God blesses us and watches over us by continually pouring out His grace and love on us. We can't be like the Dead Sea, where we receive and receive and receive, but never share or transfer on to others. We are to be like the Sea of Galilee, where we receive and then pass on to others. Obeying the second commandment, is by extending the grace and love of God that we receive, on to others; our neighbors.

Christian Simplicity; Thought & Consideration #4

4. If it is our hunger and desire to be passionate for God, then we must follow the second commandment. It is as 1 John 4:19-21 says:
“We love because he first loved us. Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.”

Christian Simplicity; Thought & Consideration #3

3. Let us not misunderstand or misinterpret Christian simplicity; when it comes to obeying the second commandment. It can be a real tendency for anyone to creating a blind-spot for himself and get caught up into the thinking that he is striving his all to be passionate for God; and yet, be missing the second greatest commandment. "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself."

Christian Simplicity; Thought & Consideration #2

2. One thing to be cautious and wary about, when it comes to Christian simplicity; is to not sub-categorize or build upon it; laziness and carelessness. God wants us to be leaders. And to be a leader, is to take initiative, to be faithful in responsibility, and to serve. If we are careless in our physical growth (e.g health, exercise, strength) as well as our spiritual growth (e.g humility, holiness, prayer, perseverance, love); then we have just stepped past the bounds of Christian simplicity. And the thing to consider along all these standards, is that we despise all pride and self-glory.

Christian Simplicity; Thought & Consideration #1

1. The fundamentals that make up the whole foundation of Christian simplicity, are; patience, humbleness & humility, prayer & requests to God, love & obedience of the two commandments, holiness, and purity of righteousness.