Omega Message – April 1985
Cecil J. duCille
The people of God are scattered on every hill like sheep without a shepherd. Everyone who has spiritual eyes to see will be weeping with me for the condition of Our Father’s business. They are being hunted by hunters and caught by catchers; where are the shepherds that should protect them? Disease and death are taking their toll; where are those who care? I will tell you where they are; they are busy feeding themselves and getting fat upon the things which God has provided, destroying the people by “prosperity” (Dan. 8:25) mistaking gain for Godliness.
The Diseased Have Ye Not Strengthened:
We will begin this by expanding on the seven thoughts which were expressed in the last issue under this heading. Let me state them here:
- Is there some evil or error in my thinking?
- Is there some sin or error in my emotional life? (This does not need much explanation, since wrong feelings and wrong emotional experiences are both secret and common among believers.)
- Is there some weakness in my will to serve the Lord?
- Do I lack the will to pray or to do the things which I know will make me spiritual-like fasting, or being quiet to meditate on the word?
- Are my desires God’s desires for me, for my family, for the Body of Christ?
- Are my desires still yearning after the leeks and garlic of Egypt (figuratively speaking)?
- Am I still being drawn into fantasies of the imagination which are not of God?
The soul of man is the eventual seat of Christ, or the Throne of God. If we are expecting Jesus Christ to Come Suddenly Within Our Souls, then we need Now to become very diligent regarding the things we allow to occupy this area.
The Mind:
The mind is the head of the soul, and the soul will react to the mind as a servant obeys his master. It is imperative therefore that the mind be rid of every spiritual disease which might alienate it from its God consciousness. The scriptures declare that His thoughts are higher than our thoughts as the heavens are above the earth, therefore the thought process of the natural man is like an alien creature to God and cannot be conformed to Him not having been created by Him. The first step therefore in the healing of one’s mind is the rejection of all human thinking and even the psychological process of the mind. This is easier said than done, but is abundantly possible. As the individual goes deeper and deeper into the belief in God, one finds it easier to lose faith in his own ways and the ways of man. Logic and reason become non-conclusive in one’s mind, and the basis of truth shifts from ‘thought about thing’ to being Christ centered. There are some basic principles to hide within the heart:
God Is Good – No Evil Can Proceed from Good:
Good cannot construct evil except in its reverse concept: If I make the car for transportation, then the pollution has to be dealt with as a consequence of my making the car, but only as a necessary evil. I did not make pollution, but it was created when I made transportation.
In life there are daily occurrences in the human realm which seem to suggest that God is not good. Nevertheless those of us who know God should know that this is a lie. The believer should install in his thinking a block against every suggestion of anything to the contrary. If the devil speaks the words of the bible then it is a lie, because it is spoken divisively and with the intention of corrupting the hearers. In the scriptures we are told never to use the milk of the mother to seethe the kid. Many use the word of God to boil His children.
Think Scriptural:
The basis of right and wrong is God. The Word of God therefore is the basis for proper thinking. Honesty and a desire for truth will activate God himself to meet the believer no matter where he is with truth. (John 7:17). The responsibility to discover truth is not the prerogative of the believer. It is the prerogative of God to make the believer understand the word of God. The heart that is right with God will receive and believe truth, but no matter how much of the truth comes to a person whose heart is not right, he will still find reason to eventually reject it and believe the lie.
Love:
The opposite of love is hate. Everything which falls short of love is called hate, no matter how much dressed up it might be. Love is the very nature of God himself and everyone who loves is a son of God. There are however more counterfeits to love than anything else under the sun. Sometimes when some say they love you, it is like saying you love chicken. The tender mercies of the wicked are cruel. Therefore if a selfish person loves you, then it is for some selfish reason. If a Christian loves you and his is not obeying Christ, then he will love you to be a part of his disobedience. Sisters in the Lord need to understand that the love for their husbands will lead them to disobey him if obeying him means disobeying Jesus Christ. This is true love. The other kind of love will let her disobey Jesus Christ to keep the favor to her husband which will sink both of them. If a person treats God badly, why should he treat me better. I do believe he will do me worse than he does his God. The love that we are talking about therefore, is not an emotional thing, nor is it a thing of the soul. It affects the soul, but it is not of the soul, it is of the Spirit.
Sin or Error in the Emotional Life:
The disease of some specific sin or sins, can stick to a person’s emotions like tuberculosis to the lungs. If it is allowed to remain, such damage can be done to the individual that it leaves him/her impaired for the rest of his life. In this case the sin becomes a part of the person and his personality. For instance, a person who has given himself to sexuality, changes the metabolic function of his/her body to produce certain hormones, and at the shake of a skirt or pant, the body is excited into involuntary action without much mental effort. That is the natural reaction, but the spiritual is even worse: Such a person attracts demons to himself which enhances his senses to sense and pick up otherwise indiscernible traits of the opposite sex. The body language of these persons speaks louder than words. Sitting, standing, walking, even these activities speak of the possession of the mind by a force which is not of God.
Man’s emotion is a living creature as depicted in Ezekiel 1 and Revelation 4 and 5. This living part of his soul is directly joined to his mind and his will. It has a mind, desires, and a will of its own and if out of control will act as if it is an independent entity. The emotion of man cannot please god. This means that every act which is done through the prompting of the emotions is not of God. Anger, hate, charity, and even acts of love one to another cannot please God if they are emotionally motivated. Even the sinners do acts of this kind to their loved ones, but they do not necessarily please God. God can get His glory out of anything, but it does not necessarily mean that the act was His will. The scriptures describe the emotions of man as a lion – strong and savage – I want you to notice the nature of the beast which would maybe kill your child and make a meal of him without any conscience to disturb him. This therefore is the nature of the fallen man.
How Can I Control This Nature?
The emotion is controlled by the mind. It seems we feel what we think. If a man or woman has temptations in the flesh, then the control must be found in the way he or she thinks. Sexual urge comes from the mind. Before you disagree with me pray about it. When this mind flicks the switch the lights go out or on. Sometimes however the spirit is not in control of the mind, and other influences come in and control the body. If a person therefore can get his mind under the power of the Word of God, then he will find that God’s life, or energy, or light will enter into His thinking and be defused through the whole soul system. The body is a willing servant of a man’s soul.
In the same manner but to a lesser degree the will is joined to the emotions and affects its operation. When one wills to do or not to do because of emotions, then both the emotions will be wrong, and the will. We must make sure that our thoughts are not controlled by what we feel. Sometimes discouragements seem to come like a flood, but do you know that many times discouragements are coming from some physical cause rather than any thing spiritual. Of course, the enemy of our souls will leave no vacuum. He steps in wherever there is an opening. When we are led emotionally our whole life is out of divine order. The order of God is: Spirit over the Spirit of Man, over the Mind of man, over the emotions.
The will is greatly motivated by Desires, but it should be ruled by the Mind:
Man’s will is the third of the living creatures seen by Ezekiel in Ezekiel 1 and by John in Revelation 4 and 5. The nature of the will is that of an ox – strong, without reason and almost senseless. Its function in the soul is to work as an anchor to a ship. It locks into position and will even affect the subconscious, that is, people will subconsciously act upon a prior will. A strong will to serve God comes from the way a person thinks. Priorities must be in divine order before one can will to make Jesus Christ absolute Lord in his life.
Without this commitment one has the tendency to take God and all his goodness for granted and never feel the necessity to reciprocate. It is one thing to be saved but it is another to be a part of the great Body of Christ and to function as such.
This area can be damaged and need the Great Physician. Its power to operate divinely can be eroded by the power of sin and by the constant drudgery of selfwill. When this condition persists, the believer loses the strength of character which is needed to make Godly decisions. Sometimes fasting and prayer helps.
If one should find that it is hard to will to do that which one ought, then one should immediately search one’s desires and emotions to find the cause of the lack of the energy of God in the will to perform His purposes. Calling upon Him for help will certainly make a change. “Thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against thee.” (Ps. 119:11) The word of God strengthens the will of the believer to resist temptations. For example: Jesus said “Lo I am with you always.” Could you commit sin if you could see Jesus standing over you? The answer is No! If then the believer can meditate on the word “Lo I am with you always” then he/she would be completely disarmed and unable to sin even when under severe temptations.
The Desires:
The scripture interchangeably refers to the soul of man as four “living creatures” and four “beasts”. I would like to use the liberty to call the desires of man a “beast” instead of a living creature. Once I asked God to give me a que as to how I might conquer Satan in my life, and the answer He gave was, “Desire Nothing.” Since then I have been cutting my desires down to nothing as much as I can with His grace, and trying to be grateful for all things which I receive. Satan can only tempt us when we desire something. If we desire nothing we cannot be tempted with anything. When Jesus was hungry, what a hunger that must have been. No food or water for forty days; the scripture records that Satan tempted him. He first tried him with bread, then he tried Him with power, but he never tempted Jesus with anything which Jesus did not himself desire. Jesus longed after the love and affection of the people of Israel, so Satan tempted him with gaining their favour by jumping off the temple pinnacle as a great show of his power. (that was a real foolish one!).
The desires is closely associated with the mind. People generally think about their desires, and by thinking fantasies are created which affect the emotions. Desires can be so strong that they create their own god in the consciousness of the believer. I know a young man who so badly wanted to be an apostle that he got visions purportedly from God which seemed to say so. Man is a creature of desire. He desires to be good and yet he desires to hold on the some evil ways; thus within him meets heaven and earth and hell. Man’s desire is such a powerful instrument that God said from the first century after the flood, man would have been able to build a stairway to the stars if they remained united as one, under one leader. Since then the world has never been under one leader, neither the church. If, in our time we see this thing come to pass, then we will be looking at the Antichrist.
When the desires are tamed under God the scriptures call him, “Son of Man.” God will pour fire upon our desires and purify them for His purpose. Tribulation will work its perfect work within us. It is better however to submit to God and be cleansed rather than to allow Him to have to cleanse us with His purifying fire. He said he would purge the Sons of Jacob with the refiner’s fire. This will cure us of all the spiritual diseases and there shall be then shepherds worthy of their name.
Those who have been wounded in our midst are mostly the ones we shun. Instead of tending and caring for them, we seem to despise them. We need to begin to care for the wounded in our midst. Generally the person who is wounded is the one trying to wound others. In Christ we will quickly discern a wounded person who will come against us without a cause. Very often such a person is under the influence of an evil spirit. Let us pray for the ministry of the shepherd in the Body of Christ for we believe it is the time when God is appointing men under Christ to feed and nourish and tend the sheep.
Sonlight Devotional 