Crocodile Sent Back to the River
Greetings in the Lord!
Well, after 2 years of living and working in Saudi Arabia, there is a natural adjustment period to returning to live in the United States. Probably the biggest change is the amount of freedom available to a person on a daily basis, especially for a female. "Duh," you say, "everyone knows how restrictive life is there." OK, granted, but what I'm learning from the Holy Spirit are the spiritual causes that perpetuate such an oppressive environment, namely, the wicked religious spirits of hypocrisy and self-righteousness.
Yes, there is hypocrisy everywhere and always too, people who think they are more righteous than others. But in the Middle East and especially in Saudi Arabia, there is a demonic principality of hypocrisy and self-righteousness that dominates the culture there. Because these principalities are so strong and have actually woven their demonic lies into their governing laws, the environment is one of continual injustice and a pervasive hate and violence towards anything construed as "unrighteous." And how subjective is that? By its very definition, "self-righteousness" is determined by each and every individual in his heart. That is why the social landscape there is becoming more and more varied everyday. It never surprised me to hear of the most liberal or conservative viewpoints coming from the locals--it just depended on their personal opinion of what was righteous. Therefore, I was more interested in seeing how they dealt with the by-product of hypocrisy and self-righteousness: the stifling intolerance (arrogant hatred) those demonic mindsets bred. It was altogether different than what I had seen in Syria.
In Syria, you had to be very careful of your words because your enemies would take the most benign statements you made and use it against you for their advantage. You would suffer demotion, be ostracized, or sometimes physical abuse, but overall, you'd still manage to live on. Not so in Saudi Arabia. There, the demonic powers and principalities that be dictated the complete silencing of "unrighteousness" by death. But, of course, as we are humans, actual decisions and behaviors did not always end up in death as other factors like family influence and social position also came into play.
So, from this extreme environment I am learning more about the nature of religious hypocrisy and self-righteousness and can recognize its growing dangers within the American Church. From Luke 13 the Lord tells us not to think that some one's troubles or disasters or untimely deaths were because they were unrighteous people. "I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish." (Luke 13:3) We are not better than those who are suffering from whatever circumstance, and we certainly cannot endorse wickedness by thinking, 'They got what was coming to them.' If we re-write the definition of what is righteous to our own standards, then there will be no standards at all. But as it stands, all have fallen short of the glory of God and need to repent of sin.
Further on, in verses 10-17 we read about the synagogue ruler who became indignant with Jesus because he healed on the Sabbath, i.e., broke a religious law. Jesus rebukes the man's hypocrisy and self-righteousness: the man gives water to his beasts of burden on the Sabbath, but Jesus couldn't free a woman, a child of God, bound by affliction for eighteen years? Clearly Jesus is making the point that strict adherence to religious laws do not make room for the true loving nature of God. Instead, religious rules promote man's thinking and ego and attempt to deny/distort the true ways of God. So at this point we have to self-examine and ask: What fruit am I bearing in my life? Do I love and care for people as Christ did, or do I follow a manmade (or personal) set of rules for obtaining righteousness? Chances are we are not bearing as much good fruit, if at all, as we could.
In continuing to read verses 22-30, Jesus urges, "Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to." Though they knock on the closed door and say to the owner of the house, 'We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.' "But he will reply, 'I don't know you or where you come from. Away from me all you evildoers!'...Indeed there are those who are last who will be first, and first who will be last." Jesus is saying in effect that self-righteousness and hypocrisy will be a stumbling block for many.
As I confessed my own sin in this area, I began to feel a literal swinging from side to side in my spirit and head & heart, growing more swiftly and violently as I prayed. My prayer was that the Lord would draw me nearer to Him and never let me stray or fall away from truly knowing and living like Christ did. Before long, in my mind's eye I was looking face to face at a huge snake/crocodile creature that was hissing open-mouthed in anger while being taken away from me. The rocking I felt was its tail, trying to wrestle loose from the sturdy grip of hands and arms that were pulling it away. Recognizing the deliverance that was taking place, I prayed that the Lord would bind this creature and render it powerless, and all at once it became stiff like a mannequin on the shoulders of those taking it away. Wow. I finished by praying that it would be put under the feet of Jesus until the day it would be cast into the lake of fire. Amen.
So today, I encourage you to re-read Luke 13 and glean from the wisdom given there. Repent of all self-righteousness and spiritual hypocrisy and pray that the Lord would open the eyes of your heart to see Him, know Him, and bear good fruit in all the power of the Holy Spirit. I pray that the Holy Spirit will deliver all who ask to be free of these religious spirits of hypocrisy and self-righteousness. May there be an awakening in their hearts, an opening of their ears to hear and proclaim God's true righteousness in faith in Jesus Christ alone. Amen!
~Be blessed and be a blessing.
Well, after 2 years of living and working in Saudi Arabia, there is a natural adjustment period to returning to live in the United States. Probably the biggest change is the amount of freedom available to a person on a daily basis, especially for a female. "Duh," you say, "everyone knows how restrictive life is there." OK, granted, but what I'm learning from the Holy Spirit are the spiritual causes that perpetuate such an oppressive environment, namely, the wicked religious spirits of hypocrisy and self-righteousness.
Yes, there is hypocrisy everywhere and always too, people who think they are more righteous than others. But in the Middle East and especially in Saudi Arabia, there is a demonic principality of hypocrisy and self-righteousness that dominates the culture there. Because these principalities are so strong and have actually woven their demonic lies into their governing laws, the environment is one of continual injustice and a pervasive hate and violence towards anything construed as "unrighteous." And how subjective is that? By its very definition, "self-righteousness" is determined by each and every individual in his heart. That is why the social landscape there is becoming more and more varied everyday. It never surprised me to hear of the most liberal or conservative viewpoints coming from the locals--it just depended on their personal opinion of what was righteous. Therefore, I was more interested in seeing how they dealt with the by-product of hypocrisy and self-righteousness: the stifling intolerance (arrogant hatred) those demonic mindsets bred. It was altogether different than what I had seen in Syria.
In Syria, you had to be very careful of your words because your enemies would take the most benign statements you made and use it against you for their advantage. You would suffer demotion, be ostracized, or sometimes physical abuse, but overall, you'd still manage to live on. Not so in Saudi Arabia. There, the demonic powers and principalities that be dictated the complete silencing of "unrighteousness" by death. But, of course, as we are humans, actual decisions and behaviors did not always end up in death as other factors like family influence and social position also came into play.
So, from this extreme environment I am learning more about the nature of religious hypocrisy and self-righteousness and can recognize its growing dangers within the American Church. From Luke 13 the Lord tells us not to think that some one's troubles or disasters or untimely deaths were because they were unrighteous people. "I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish." (Luke 13:3) We are not better than those who are suffering from whatever circumstance, and we certainly cannot endorse wickedness by thinking, 'They got what was coming to them.' If we re-write the definition of what is righteous to our own standards, then there will be no standards at all. But as it stands, all have fallen short of the glory of God and need to repent of sin.
Further on, in verses 10-17 we read about the synagogue ruler who became indignant with Jesus because he healed on the Sabbath, i.e., broke a religious law. Jesus rebukes the man's hypocrisy and self-righteousness: the man gives water to his beasts of burden on the Sabbath, but Jesus couldn't free a woman, a child of God, bound by affliction for eighteen years? Clearly Jesus is making the point that strict adherence to religious laws do not make room for the true loving nature of God. Instead, religious rules promote man's thinking and ego and attempt to deny/distort the true ways of God. So at this point we have to self-examine and ask: What fruit am I bearing in my life? Do I love and care for people as Christ did, or do I follow a manmade (or personal) set of rules for obtaining righteousness? Chances are we are not bearing as much good fruit, if at all, as we could.
In continuing to read verses 22-30, Jesus urges, "Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to." Though they knock on the closed door and say to the owner of the house, 'We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.' "But he will reply, 'I don't know you or where you come from. Away from me all you evildoers!'...Indeed there are those who are last who will be first, and first who will be last." Jesus is saying in effect that self-righteousness and hypocrisy will be a stumbling block for many.
As I confessed my own sin in this area, I began to feel a literal swinging from side to side in my spirit and head & heart, growing more swiftly and violently as I prayed. My prayer was that the Lord would draw me nearer to Him and never let me stray or fall away from truly knowing and living like Christ did. Before long, in my mind's eye I was looking face to face at a huge snake/crocodile creature that was hissing open-mouthed in anger while being taken away from me. The rocking I felt was its tail, trying to wrestle loose from the sturdy grip of hands and arms that were pulling it away. Recognizing the deliverance that was taking place, I prayed that the Lord would bind this creature and render it powerless, and all at once it became stiff like a mannequin on the shoulders of those taking it away. Wow. I finished by praying that it would be put under the feet of Jesus until the day it would be cast into the lake of fire. Amen.
So today, I encourage you to re-read Luke 13 and glean from the wisdom given there. Repent of all self-righteousness and spiritual hypocrisy and pray that the Lord would open the eyes of your heart to see Him, know Him, and bear good fruit in all the power of the Holy Spirit. I pray that the Holy Spirit will deliver all who ask to be free of these religious spirits of hypocrisy and self-righteousness. May there be an awakening in their hearts, an opening of their ears to hear and proclaim God's true righteousness in faith in Jesus Christ alone. Amen!
~Be blessed and be a blessing.
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