Independence Is An Illusion

The great dream of a lot of people is to be their own boss. Starting from childhood we strive to be independent, capable of looking after ourselves. As teens we dreamed of the day we would be out on our own, making our own rules. As adults we looked for some way of creating our own business so we would not have a boss to whom to answer. But it is all just a great illusion.

There is no real independence because there is always some kind of authority over us. We have the laws of society. We have the government and all their regulations. If we own a house we are subject to the municipal by-laws. If we are renting we are subject to the landlord. If we buy a car and finance it we are subject to the bank. The same with a house. If we are married we are governed by our responsibilities of relationship with our spouse. If we are parents we are governed by our responsibilities to our children. Even as pet owners we subject ourselves to the governance of responsibility. Independence is an illusion.

Christians should clearly understand that if this is true for a physical world it is even more so for the spiritual. No one is free and independent. Everyone is subject to their sinful nature. Those who have been freed from this bondage have become subject to Jesus' righteousness. Paul, the apostle, told us we have a basic choice: We can be slaves to our sinful nature or we can be slaves to Yahweh's righteousness. Whatever our choice, we are slaves to whatever we serve.

When Satan tried to tempt Jesus by offering him a short-cut to ruling over the earth, avoiding the cross, Jesus quickly put him in his place by reminding him of the order of things:

“Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ ” (Luke 4:8)

Jesus had not illusion of independence. Here is the Word of God incarnate, the Son of God, who set aside the divine to come as one of us, to die in our place, all at the will of Father. Jesus could not do this unless he kept his place and attitude as a servant. No short cuts. No easy fixes. No subjecting everything to the approval of his own will. He came to serve. In fact. we find these same words when Peter tried to dissuade Jesus from the cross. If you remember, Peter had just confessed Jesus as the Messiah, the Son of God. When Jesus started explaining how things were going to play out, Peter got after Jesus and told him that this was not the way. He wanted Jesus to avoid the cross. Jesus turned to Peter and said:

“Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.” (Matthew 16:23)

Seeking individuality, independence, our own glory, is a sign of spiritual immaturity and a lack of understanding concerning our relationship with Father. We are his children but we are children who serve the Father. Our concern should not be for ourselves but for the will of the One we serve. We should not be trying to achieve greater independence but instead we should be striving to learn greater dependency on the Spirit, learning to do the will of the Father. We need to begin to say to many things and people in our lives "Get behind me, Satan" as we worship the Lord our God, and him only serve.

Why We Fail With Jesus

Independence is the great sin of mankind and by mankind I mean you and me. It is what led Adam to his act of disobedience. He operated independently from Yahweh, making a decision that was contrary to Yahweh's expressed will. Ever since then we have been living in direct opposition to Yahweh, acting independently, wanting to live without a relationship with our Creator. We don't even want to see a Creator/creation relationship and so try to dismiss the existence of the Creator, instead promoting the idea that we are all here by chance.

This idea of independence is so deeply ingrained in us that even though some of us have returned to our Creator, through the Creator's work and invitation, we still find it difficult to be dependent on him. Even though he takes great delight in guiding us, providing for us, fighting for us, blessing us, walking us through hard lessons, strengthening us, and at times rescuing us, we still act as if we want to do it on our own. We fail to understand our relationship with Yahweh.

Dependence, absolute dependence is what he is looking for in us and so desires to see the letting go of our desire and actions of independence. To be independent is to shut Jesus out and opens us again to disobedience because we cannot live for and serve Jesus while separate from him. Jesus described us as a branch of a vine. We gentiles are a grafted in branch. We get all our sustenance from the vine so that fruit can be produced through us. That is a healthy, dependent relationship. Jesus also said that those branches that are not connected to the vine dry up, are gathered together and then discarded in the fire; not a healthy relationship.

The nation of Israel had problems with dependence. They had moments of great brilliance under kings like Hezekiah but they also had moments of great ugliness as they turned away from Yahweh and sought help from others. That was king Asa's great sin. At one time trusting the Lord in the face of an army three times the size of his own and then seeking help from an enemy neighbour against a much smaller army. The Lord warned Israel against the folly of trusting anyone but him:

Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help,
And rely on horses,
Who trust in chariots because they are many,
And in horsemen because they are very strong,
But who do not look to the Holy One of Israel,
Nor seek the Lord! (Isaiah 31:1)

Our God is the great "do not fear" as he reminds us time and again that he is with us; always with us. It was one of Jesus' last promises, that he would be with us until the end of the age. Why? Because we are dependent on him for everything, including completing the mission we have been assigned. We are a brilliant people who on our own can accomplish a lot, but we can't do our Lord's work. We can do something that looks like it but it is lacking the element of eternity because only he can give it that element.

If we are not trusting the Lord with the mission then we certainly are not trusting him with our daily living. We fill ourselves with worry, fear, anxiety. We lose sleep trying to come up with a plan. We turn to everyone else for help and advice. We almost destroy ourselves with the wrong decisions and choices we make. We may even ask Jesus for help but we don't wait on him. We ask and then we lose patience and act on our own. Woe to us when we turn to "Egypt" for help, when we trust someone else's strength instead of the Lord's.

Our God doesn't need us but he wants us. We have nothing to contribute to him but he can work through us to accomplish a lot for his own glory. He is not trying to mature us into independence. He is growing us into maturity which is complete dependence on him. Anything else is only a pretend relationship. He loves us and wants to see that love completed in us but that isn't going to happen when we are trying to live outside of him. It is time to set aside all notion, action and desire for independence and decide to trust Jesus with every aspect of our lives. No more complaints, resistance, worry, fear, anxiety or stress; just the free flowing river of trust.

Blessed For Eternity Are The Poor

A morsel to chew on as you progress through your day:

"Blessed are you poor, for yours is the kingdom of God." (v. 20)

The Spirit tells me this is exactly as Jesus said it. Blessed are the poor, happy are the poor, smiled upon are the poor. You are lacking nothing. We are lacking nothing because we are right where Father can interact with us the most.

The poor have no resources. They have no support. There is no one to back us up. When we are sick Jesus is the only one who can bring healing because we can't afford anything else. This is a good thing because we are forced to do exactly what Father wants us to do, to lean on him, to turn to him, to trust, to hope, to cry out.

When we have no food, when we can't pay the bills, when we can't do what we need to do, we are right where he wants all his children to be: completely dependent on him. It is not a position of shame but one of strength. The poor have much greater spiritual muscles than the rich because we have to exercise them far more. We are more often upon our knees. We have no pride left. We are desperate enough to believe, to trust and to live in faith; praising him for everything we have, with thankful hearts.

Being poor is not a position of weakness but a place of strength. Scripture again and again tells us that Father looks to glorify himself through our weakness and when we don't have the things of this world to lean on we are in a better position to see him glorified through us. But we really are not poor. Far from it. We are rich beyond understanding. We lack nothing because he is our provider. Only to this world do we look poor but in the Kingdom we are rich because we have Jesus.

"Woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation." (v. 24)

What a sad life to live, to have only what is seen and miss out on the greater things that cannot be seen. What a sad existence if this is all there is. It is easier for a camel to fit through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom. There is so much stuff filling up a rich man's existence. So much harder to let it go. So many more options. So many different thoughts and perspectives. So much garbage filling their heads.

To follow Jesus we have to be willing to lose it all, to give it away, to become nothing so he can become everything. How much easier it is to do this when you already have nothing than if your life is filled with possessions and perverse thinking. Those who rely on such things had better enjoy them while they can because that is all they are getting.

Rich or poor, the only way is Jesus Christ. Rich or poor, it will still require your death. Rich or poor, it still costs your all. It is the realization that the only thing that satisfies is Jesus. The only blessing is Jesus. The only peace and joy is Jesus.

It isn't impossible for the rich to possess the kingdom, it's just easier for the poor.