If The Gospel Is The Power Of God Unto Salvation, Then Why Are We So Powerless Today?

I was reading this morning the story of when Solomon died and his son Rehoboam took over his reign. Rehoboam was an unwise man. He sought counsel from those who gave counsel to Solomon, and asked how he should treat the people. The wise counselors told him that if he were to treat the people with kindness and servitude, he would have their allegiance forever. Instead of following this advice however, Rehoboam chose to treat the people with a heavy hand. Many decided to leave Israel and live without a king over them, at least for a while. The ones who stayed faithful to Rehoboam were the ones who lived in Judea.

I was thinking of how we as Americans might respond to the evil that is now being manifest in our country's top leaders. We live in a country where there still are people who want to do what is right. I remember the incident a couple of years ago when the owner of Chick Fil A wrote a letter saying that he believed marriage was made of one man and one woman. The uproar was amazing. Those who stood on the right side decided to encourage those who believe marriage is made up of one man and one woman to support Chick Fil A by visiting this restaurant. The Chick Fil As were flooded the next day. But the other side also was angry. They decided to protest Chick Fil A by going there the next day and showing support from their side (not by ordering food, but by being on the property and causing a rukus). The next day, there were very few who turned out.

But why do the righteous seem so powerless? Why do the evil seem so strong? Why does a judge who has the 10 Commandments on his courtroom wall get removed from the bench? Why do florists and bakers who will not bake a wedding cake or provide flowers for a gay wedding be penalized? Why do companies like Target continue their aggressive pursuit of providing restrooms where people can choose to go into, based upon their sexual preference instead of their genitals, without relenting their stand while losing an enormous amount of money and customers?

There are probably a lot of answers to this question, and we cannot tackle them all here, but, regardless of the reasons why evil is so successful, is primarily due to the fact that we have not been fighting well in the spiritual battle we are involved in.

Many professing Christians come to Christ by asking Jesus into their hearts. They think it is ok to continue to live selfish lives and have not been told that they need to repent and turn to the Lord, as well as trusting in Him for salvation. Many aren't really trusting in Jesus as their Savior from sin because they don't really know what sin is and how it affects their relationship with God. Their trust is in the fact that they have asked Jesus into their hearts, and now they think they are good to go, or at least they think they will be in heaven one day. Many do not realize that they are in a real spiritual battle, and they need the power of God to fight the Enemy with. If we don't get this right, we will lose. The Enemy is too powerful for us to fight against on our own. We must be empowered by the Holy Spirit and use the weapons God has given us to fight with. One of those weapons we can use is prayer.

We think, many times, that we really are praying. But what are we praying for? Do we look at God as some kind of Genie in the Bottle? Can we push the right buttons and make Him do what we want? Or, is there a bigger picture of our lives that we are missing, which includes prayer as a spiritual defense? There's nothing wrong with praying for our needs, as long as we are abiding in Christ. God promises to take care of us, and we should ask for what we need. But if we are living for ourselves instead of for Him, then how can we pray and expect God to hear our prayers?

We need to pray that God will unravel the network of evil-doers who are planted in our government. We need to stand up for what is right and true, and defend those who are standing up for the truth. New laws are being written and the basic laws that our country was founded upon are being rewritten. We need to promote God's word and do the work of evangelism, so our country can be saved, and so we can continue the work of the ministry here in our country, to serve us, but also to serve those in other countries around the world.

Meditation: Good Or Bad?

  I have to admit, I am not an expert on meditation, chakras, and other such things in this category. Many articles are written about meditation, and how to meditate properly and get the most benefits from doing so.

    Much of this stuff seems to be tied in with Eastern medicine and medical practices. For many, this is a way of life, and this is what the gurus teach in order to help them function well.

  One time, I was listening to a coach teaching us how to do business selling essential oils. Well, I have to be honest, there was not much about the essential oil aspect. She wanted us to get a candle out first, then empty our minds and meditate on something particular, having to do with our greatness. These people really do trust in a higher power. It doesn't appear that the higher power is the God described in the Bible. The coach taught us to have a focal point, which (she says) could be Jesus, or the universe. So, what or who are we trusting in to change us?

   Why do we need change? The symptoms of needing help are revealed in the fact that we don't get along with each other. We usually think the other person is to blame for the difficulties in the relationship. Because each one of us has a fallen nature (see Genesis 3), we are, by default, self-centered. Self-centered people do not get along with others.

   I remember looking into getting fish a long time ago. We learned that Siamese Fighting Fish do not get along with each other. They have to be alone or they will hurt each other. We are much like the Siamese Fighting Fish. We need help so we can stop loving ourselves and start loving others.

   The greatest command is to love God with all our hearts, souls, minds, and strength. The next greatest command is to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. We can only do that if we have the power of God living in us. We can only have this power when we are born again. Otherwise, we will continue to live in darkness and think we are really good and loving when we are really only selfish and self-seeking.

   The practice of meditation seems to focus on what's inside the person. It doesn't look at sin, and it looks for good things inside us. Meditation will supposedly bring out the good things and make us feel good about ourselves. This is sad. It is a deception.

  My concern is that this teaching on meditation seems to be all over the Internet. I get several emails a day from different health groups, and there are a lot of articles out there on meditation. I went to one tonight to try to understand what meditation really is all about. I don't want to assume I know everything about this, so I looked at a couple of articles as well as the testimonials. Many seem to think this is the answer to problems such as insomnia or bad relationships. Doesn't the Bible have any answers for problems like these?

   Listen carefully to what I am writing here. The Bible actually tells us to meditate. But we are not to meditate on lies about ourselves. We are to meditate on the truth of God's word. That is our only help and hope for life's problems and dilemmas.

   Meditating on God's word (and actually thinking about what it says to my heart) is how we grow spiritually. This is entirely different than meditating on certain assigned things dictated by a guru on the subject.

   While we do not intend on making fun of people who do wrong things, we do have to show others what they are doing and why it is wrong. Here is an excerpt about a man named Charlie Noles. See if you can see the problem here, looking through Biblical eyes:
Charlie Knoles is a Vedic Meditation teacher and the director of The Veda Center. He was taught Vedic Meditation at age 4 by his father, Maharishi Vyasananda Thom Knoles. Following in his father’s footsteps, Charlie‘s has devoted his life to innovative teaching. He studied at the Australian institute of Music, The Sydney Conservatorium of Music, and attained his degree in Biology at Maharishi University of Management, where he helped create their multidisciplinary degree in Sustainable Living, now one of their most popular programs. In his decades of teaching, Charlie has helped thousands of people learn the practical steps necessary to become the change that they wish to see in the world. He has worked with people from all over the world, in a wide range of professions, and his clients include teachers, nurses, A-list actors, and Fortune 500 CEOs.*

This is not a practice to bring us closer to God. It appears to be intended to find answers within ourselves. 

Here is another excerpt from a woman named Suzanne Heyn. Again, we are not making fun of these people. We are pointing out that there is nothing that they are doing that points us to the Cross and our need of a Savior. 

I typically practice my signature technique, the Feeling Awareness Meditation. It’s a process of focusing my awareness on my heart center and tuning into whatever emotions or energy is present, entering any areas of density or heaviness as if they were a fine mist.

It’s commonly said you’ve got to feel it to heal it, and the Feeling Awareness Meditation is a powerful way of feeling objectively, without the story that keeps so many people trapped in pain. It’s also a powerful way of heightening your intuition and amplifying the whispers of your heart, making them easier to hear.**

We do need to be careful in both the Eastern medicine studies and religions that seem to be infiltrating our land and churches. Some churches have picked up on using meditation, yoga, and the like. Whenever we see these things pointing to an 'energy' or inner power, we need to back off. The word of God needs to be incorporated in everything we do. If God's word does not fit into the practice, then don't practice whatever it is that is so highly recommended. Let's learn to discern!

* http://www.mindbodygreen.com/course/5-guided-meditations

** http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-25047/how-i-meditate-spirituality-teacher-suzanne-heyn.html