Preparing the Bride of Christ For His Return By Janet Van Hierdan
A Tale of Two Brides is now available on Amazon.com:
Sunday, July 27, 2014
Another
Coffee Break:
Dealing With Fear, Part 3
July 18, 2014
We start
again with II Timothy 1:7, amplified from the Greek text: "For
God has not endowed, or committed to our being and existence the spirit (the
very breath and speaking forth) of fear, timidity and faithlessness; but of
miraculous power, might and strength, and of agape love, and of a disciplined mind (under control and not
subject to "flights of fancy")."
(RAC
Translation and Amplification)
The fear
that took hold of Adam and Eve in the Garden did NOT come from their
relationship with God: it came as a direct byproduct of yielding to the
serpent's lies and disobedience to God's command. As we have already noticed in the previous
Coffee Break, no sooner had Eve eaten of the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge
of Good and Evil with Adam following suit, The Fear of Evil gripped them both.
A chain
reaction was set in motion and the Fear of Evil opened the door to the Fear of
Man. As we will see in the following
sequence, the Fear of Death became the third family of fear to invade their
beings.
You see the
working of these spirits already, do you not?
The Fear of Evil affects our relationship with the Lord directly. In Adam and Eve's case, the first thing they
did was to run and hide from the Lord.
The Fear of Man contaminates the way we relate one to another. We saw the "blame game" begin as
Adam and Eve were confronted by God and challenged as to their
disobedience. The first thing Adam did
was to avoid his own responsibility and point his finger at God for having
given a "faulty" Eve to him.
Then he proceeded to point the finger at Eve and instead of
acknowledging responsibility for his own actions, he put it all off on her.
The Fear
of Man, you see, infects our perceptions of our spouses, our family members,
those with whom we connect on a daily basis such as our neighbors or those with
whom we work at our jobs or in our careers.
We live in an era in which the Fear of Man has literally taken hold in
every segment of society.
Our
politicians live under the Fear of Man.
They run their elections based on how they are perceived by the
electorate instead of basing their electioneering on the real truth of what
they stand for. Then when they are
elected, depending on their polling of public opinion regarding an issue, they
compromise themselves and their votes rather than standing up and being counted
for who they are and what they believe.
Excuse me
for a minute while I digress. Our
society today is being groomed by people in places of authority who,
themselves, suffer from the Fear of Man.
Folks are being taught to avoid responsibility, to point the finger at
someone else or something else in order to avoid taking personal responsibility
for their actions or their statements.
If a person has failed in some area or committed a crime, the finger gets
pointed at their parents for failing to raise them correctly; or maybe some
lame brained excuse is made that their act or remarks were justified because of
someone else's act or words.
This issue
has permeated the body of Christ and has manifested itself in a variety of
ways. Let me demonstrate for you with
some examples of doctrines which have been part and parcel of some major
segments of the body.
Apostles
and prophets died out at the end of the first century.
Why introduce a heresy like that when Ephesians 4 clearly specifies that
Jesus gave these ministry functions "For the perfecting
(the complete furnishing) of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the
edifying (the architecture, the structure and the confirming) of the body of
Christ: Till we all
come in the unity (the oneness and agreement together) of the faith, and of the
knowledge (the full revelation) of the Son of God, unto a perfect (whole and
complete) man, unto the (required) measure of the stature (maturity) of the
fulness (the completion) of Christ." ? (Ephesians 4:12-13, KJV with my amplification) Let's see...the last time I checked, we
weren't there yet.
So why
ignore that very important part of our destiny in Christ Jesus? The simple answer is that when folks
recognize that the Lord has given certain authority, certain revelation, and
specific anointing to lead, to teach, to direct, to correct, to admonish, to
warn and to provide overall guidance from and through Holy Spirit in the growth
and development of the body of Christ, if they suffer from the Fear of Man,
they fear having someone in authority over them. The practices within the body of Christ that
led to this "doctrine of cessation," are found in what John refers to
in Revelation 2:6 and 2:15 as "the doctrine (and deeds) of the
Nicolaitans." The doctrine of the
Nicolaitans is two-sided and is rooted in the Fear of Man.
The
doctrine and deeds of the Nicolaitans manifest either as "power over the
people" or as "power to the people." As I have noted in previous Coffee Breaks,
for those who fear power being vested in a few people, they choose a form of
government within the structured church world we know as
"congregational" government.
We call it "power to the people." Another, more specific term would be
"democratic." (I'd like to
take this discussion a lot further, but won't today for the sake of staying on
track.)
The other
side of this doctrine fears power or authority being vested in the so-called
"common people," and instead chooses power or authority being vested
in a few." We know this within the
structured church as "hierarchical government" with tiers of
leadership beginning with a pastor or priest and moving upward through various
diminishing tiers until you reach the point at which a single leader speaks for
God. That single leader determines what
should be taught, transmits the teaching through the various tiers until it
reaches the pastor or priest who, for all practical purposes, becomes the
puppet of the governing authorities above him with little or no sensitivity to
what Holy Spirit is saying.
No matter
how you slice it, you get the Fear of Man -- one way or the other. If you fear power being vested in a few, you
choose democracy in the body of Christ.
If you fear power being vested in "the congregation," you
choose hierarchical church structure.
Either way, you have man in charge -- NOT God!! The miracle that I see is that Holy Spirit
has overcome centuries of this kind of error and fear being propagated in order
to bring about a people in this day and this hour who could care less whether
folks will like them, or receive them, or reject them. They are more interested in what Holy Spirit
is doing and saying, and what Jesus gets out of the bargain in the end.
Here's
another screwball doctrine that permeated the body of Christ for centuries --
and again, one based in the Fear of Man: The Baptism of the Holy Spirit with
Speaking in Tongues is of the Devil.
Another variant of this is not quite so severe, but it goes like this: If
God Wants Me to Speak in Tongues, He'll Give it to Me. The corollary to this argument is that Speaking
in Tongues is Not Really Necessary in Order to be Baptized in the Holy Spirit.
I know
some of you are looking a bit cross-eyed at me right now, wondering how in the
world I come up with this as being based in the Fear of Man. Let me explain something about the Fear of
Man: this spirit of fear wants you to be in complete control of yourself, your
normal senses (such as seeing, hearing, speaking, touch, and smelling) and your
surroundings. This fear focuses on the
way you perceive yourself, the way you think folks perceive you, and the way
you perceive those people around you. It
is all the more magnified when the people around you are your closest friends,
your family members, the people you associate with on your job, and especially
those who may be in authority over you as far as your career is concerned. (I've only scratched the surface here.)
When one
is baptized in the Holy Spirit, speaking in tongues is the (super) natural
evidence of it taking place. Many people
fear speaking in tongues -- most of them subconsciously -- because they have
absolutely no control of their tongue.
What comes forth when they yield to Holy Spirit in many cases comes out
as something strange -- even gibberish -- and for folks who are afraid of
losing that control of their tongues, this becomes an absolute no-no! For many, they are afraid of how it makes
them look or how they sound; and if they spend a lot of time around non-Spirit
filled or non-Spirit baptized believers, their concern is that they will appear
foolish to them.
There have
been a fistful of articles written by Christians who've tried to analyze
speaking in tongues by eating of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and
Evil. Those articles will criticize or
even try to state that it is all emotion, that it is nonsensical, that the
words have no meaning whatever, that it really isn't any language being spoken
and/or that the sounds coming forth are all made up in the mind of the person
speaking.
Before I
continue, let me make something abundantly clear. NO ONE who has been truly baptized in the
Holy Spirit and is seeking an ongoing daily filling by the Spirit will ever
argue against speaking in tongues. By
the same token, anyone who argues against speaking in tongues, or makes the
argument that it isn't really a necessary part of one's walk with the Lord, has
NOT been filled with the Holy Spirit.
Let's get
to the heart of this issue. Satan does
NOT want believers to be baptized in the Holy Spirit, and he certainly doesn't
want them to go onward to the daily experience of being filled with the
Spirit. Satan does NOT want believers to
speak in tongues because he is absolutely threatened when believers can
circumvent his ability to interfere with their prayers and their
intercession. He is threatened when
believers can use a language and a stream of communication directed by Holy
Spirit which tears down his places of power and influence.
When a
person speaks in tongues, their mind is totally unengaged in the process
because they can't control what is coming forth, and what is being prayed or
spoken comes directly out of and by Holy Spirit. The tongues-speaking believer simply becomes
a vessel and a willing channel for the Spirit of God to work His will in us and
in the world around us because of the creative power inherent in His speaking.
Let me
illustrate with a couple of Scriptures before we move on.
Psalm 8:2:
"Out of the mouth of babes (metaph: those who lack the
ability to speak coherently, intelligently, with clarity) and
sucklings (metaph: those who've yet to be weaned from milk)
hast thou ordained (established, appointed and set in place)
strength (force, boldness, power and might), because of thine enemies (adversaries),
that thou mightest still (cause to cease) the
enemy and the avenger." (KJV, with my amplifications from
Hebrew)
I Corinthians 2:7-8:
"But we speak the wisdom [*see note] of
God in a mystery (a way that conceals it), even
the hidden wisdom, which God ordained (established and pre-arranged)
before the (beginning of the) world (and
this time-space period) unto our glory: Which none of the
princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have
crucified the Lord of glory."
[**Note: J. H. Thayer, in his
Greek-English Lexicon identifies the context of the Greek word, sophia,
in this instance like this: "the wisdom of God as evinced in forming and
executing counsels in the formation and government of the world."]
That said,
let's consider Paul's statement (and David's prophecy) like this: When we speak
in tongues we are executing the counsels and governance of the Lord in the
affairs of this world, whether it pertains to us directly in our immediate
circumstances, or whether it effects change in the lives of people we don't
even know, or -- again -- in the governing of affairs within our local, our
state or our national governments.
I realize
that I've gone around a 40-acre field here, but what I'm trying to show is that
the power and authority of God we execute when we speak in tongues is a deadly
threat to the dominions of Satan and his demonic realm. He fears the believer intensely who readily
permits Holy Spirit to use his tongue and the creative power of speech to enact
the will and purposes of God. Hence, the
Fear of Man works both consciously and sub-consciously to intimidate the
believer and keep him/her from responding to Holy Spirit in this way.
Let's get
back to Adam and Eve in the Garden. Taking
our cue from the responses we saw in Adam and Eve once they were confronted by
the Lord for their disobedience, they pointed their fingers at one another, or
at God, or at the serpent. Sure, the
serpent lied to Eve. He fed her
deliberate mis-information so as to entice and deceive her. (That, by the way, is exactly what
mis-information and the campaigns of disinformation are all about! But that's another topic we'll get to at some
other time.) The issue at hand wasn't
that the serpent lied to her. The issue
was that she knew God had specifically instructed them to avoid eating of the
Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.
When she
ate of that fruit, a dawning was taking place in her, and she didn't want to be
alone in her disobedience. She gives it
to Adam who knowingly eats of the fruit for reasons we've already
discussed. Again, Adam's issue wasn't
that he didn't know: he DID know! As
soon as he ate of the fruit, he knew he was in trouble. Both of them saw the Glory of the Lord
stripped from them as their covering.
Now they had no covering whatever.
They saw each other in a carnal way for the first time and it scared
them.
Into this
moment comes the Lord. They hear Him
walking as they have heard Him before.
Instead of rejoicing and running toward Him, they run away and
hide. Fear has taken over. We've already talked about the Fear of Evil,
and that's something we'll explore more in the days ahead, but let's get to the
confrontation that takes place between God and Adam, and then Adam and Eve, and
then Eve and the serpent.
"What
have you done," God asks Adam.
"Have you eaten of the tree I specifically commanded you to
avoid?" What's the first thing Adam
does? "It's that woman YOU gave
me! It's your fault, God! If you hadn't given her to me in the first
place, this wouldn't have happened!
She's the one who picked the fruit.
She ate of it and then gave it to me, and...by the way...Yes, I did eat
of it."
Adam
avoids taking personal responsibility for his actions and instead first points
the finger at God, and then points the finger at Eve. Do you see what happens when the Fear of Man
takes hold?
Next, God
speaks to Eve. "What is this that
you've done?" Eve is stricken by
the same fear that has gripped Adam and avoids personal responsibility for her
actions. "The serpent deceived
me. He pulled the wool over my eyes and
tricked me into eating the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil."
We'll get
to the next sequence of events momentarily, but consider what we've just seen
take place.
The Fear
of Man causes people to avoid taking personal responsibility for their actions
or statements. In a husband-wife
relationship, if the wife confronts the husband, or the husband confronts the
wife with some act or word they consider wrong, evil, or simply offensive, the
husband or the wife will respond with some characterization of the other which
denigrates them, places the fault at their feet or accuses them of similar
offenses.
There have
been many marriages or personal friendships which have been broken or dissolved
because one or more of the parties have avoided personal responsibility for
something they've said or done and instead passed it off on someone else.
Why didn't
Adam simply say to the Lord, "You're right, Father! I really blew it! Eve did fail but I should have covered her
and canceled her disobedience rather than participating in it myself. I'm asking you for forgiveness, Father! I take full responsibility for what took
place."
I rather
suspect that we'd have had a VERY different outcome in the Garden had Adam
responded that way. The same holds true
of Eve. Had she responded with
acknowledgement of her disobedience instead of pointing fingers, I believe
forgiveness could have taken place.
That's an opinion, you understand.
What God
is after in each of us is to face our fears and to overcome them. Revelation 2 and 3 take us through seven
specific descriptions of things we need to overcome. The Fear of Evil, the Fear of Man and the
Fear of Death are clearly included. The
crown of the Lord is for the overcomer -- NOT the avoider! We are going to face things we don't
like. We are going to be confronted with
issues we need to overcome. Avoiding
them will only prolong the agony, and keep us from achieving the goal that the
Lord Jesus Christ has set before us.
Well, I
didn't get as far into the Genesis narrative today as expected, so we will
continue with it next week.
If you need
deliverance from fear, please join our prayer conference calls on either Monday
or Wednesday of each week at 7:00 PM Eastern. The number to call is (805) 399-1000. Then enter the access code: 124763#. To get into the queue for prayer, hit *6-1 on
your keypad. Let us minister to your need for healing!
Blessings on you!
Regner
Regner A. Capener
CAPENER MINISTRIES
CAPENER MINISTRIES
RIVER WORSHIP CENTER
Sunnyside, Washington 98944
Sunnyside, Washington 98944
Email Contact: Admin@RiverWorshipCenter.org
Our book, A
Tale of Two Brides, published by Destiny Image, is now available on
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Friday, July 11, 2014
Another
Coffee Break:
Dealing With Fear, Part 2
July 11, 2014
We have a
lot of ground to cover today, so without any preliminaries, let's get underway
again today with the verse from II Timothy 1:7, amplified from the Greek text: "For
God has not endowed, or committed to our being and existence the spirit (the
very breath and speaking forth) of fear, timidity and faithlessness; but of
miraculous power, might and strength, and of agape love, and of a disciplined mind (under control and not
subject to "flights of fancy")."
(RAC
Translation and Amplification)
As noted in
our last Coffee Break, the door to three families of fear opened up in human
genesis when Adam and Eve ate of the fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of
Good and Evil. Return with me to the
Garden and watch what unfolds. This will
be a bit lengthy so bear with me as we go through Genesis 3. The tactics and responses we see are
revelatory of the way fear gains a foothold.
"Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field
which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye
shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the
trees of the garden: But of the fruit of
the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall
not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye
shall not surely die: For God
doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and
ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
"And when the woman saw that the tree was good for
food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to
make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also
unto her husband with her; and he did eat. And the eyes of them both were opened,
and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together,
and made themselves aprons. And they
heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day:
and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst
the trees of the garden.
"And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him,
Where art thou? And he
said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was
naked; and I hid myself.
"And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked?
Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not
eat? And the man said, The
woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did
eat. And the LORD God said
unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman
said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.
"And the LORD God said unto the serpent,
Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above
every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat
all the days of thy life: And
I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her
seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
"Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow
and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall
be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.
"And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast
hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I
commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground
for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring
forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat
bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for
dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.
"And Adam called his wife’s name Eve; because she was the
mother of all living. Unto Adam also and
to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.
"And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of
us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also
of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever: Therefore the LORD God sent him
forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. So he drove out the man; and he placed
at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned
every way, to keep the way of the tree of life."
You see
how things unfolded, right? The serpent,
Satan, uses the same kind of craftiness with Eve that he uses today on
folks. His M.O. hasn't changed one
bit! He worms his way into Eve's
confidence with subtlety. As anyone
knows, "subtle" isn't an overnight proposition. The serpent obviously had engaged in numerous
conversations with Eve prior to the day in question and had gained at least a
conversational confidence with her.
For some
folks the question arises, "Wouldn't Eve be surprised at the serpent
carrying on a conversation with her?"
Let's not forget that Adam and Eve's entire existence was supernatural
-- at least by comparison to what we know today. If a serpent began talking to us today, we'd
just KNOW that there was something really weird going on! We would definitely be on alert. Not so in the Garden -- but that's another
discussion for another day.
The
serpent begins this day's discussion with the same tactic he uses today, "Hath God
said?" This is where the Fear of Evil begins. Once you begin to question whether God has
said something or not -- even when it is abundantly clear that He HAS said it
-- you open the door for doubt and uncertainty; and with that uncertainty comes
fear.
The
serpent's questioning, however, goes way beyond that simple piece of
doubt. I will paraphrase what he said: "You mean that
God restricts you from eating from one tree in the Garden?" Eve, of course, answers back and says, "Of course we
can eat of all the trees in the Garden, but that one tree we can't eat, or else
we will die."
Now Satan
opens the door wide with his lie: "You're not going to die! That's stupid! The only reason God says "Don't
touch" is because He knows that if you do, you will become just like
Him. In fact, you will become gods with
the ability to see just like He does, knowing good and evil."
So
now God's integrity has been questioned.
Now it's OK to question God. It's
OK to doubt God's motives. God is just
trying to keep you from seeing and knowing what He knows.
Tell you
what, folks! The moment God's integrity
is questioned, the moment His motives are questioned, you've thrown the door
wide open for the Fear of Evil. And THAT'S exactly what takes
place! Disobedience follows and Eve eats
of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil despite the fact that the Lord
has clearly warned that to ingest the fruit of that tree will induce death into
the human frame.
God
designed us and molded us into His image and likeness. That's an eternal likeness! We were designed for revelation -- NOT humanly acquired or
academically-learned knowledge.
Knowledge which is acquired through human endeavor WITHOUT the revelation that flows
by, through and from Holy Spirit poisons our spiritual DNA. It becomes the HIV of the human spirit.
So.....instead
of giving the fruit on the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil just a
passing glance, Eve gazes at it now with longing and consideration. "Wow! That fruit REALLY looks good! It looks luscious and yummy! If I eat that, it will make me
intelligent!"
And, sure
enough, Eve picks a piece of ripe fruit from the tree and takes a bite. "Mmmm...Mmmm...Mmmm, THAT tastes
goooooooddd!!!" Adam comes onto the scene just as Eve is
taking the fruit off the tree and horror rips his being as he realizes what is
just taking place. You can almost feel
the shaking inside as his mind races, "NOOOOOOO!! Eve!
You can't!" In a flash, his mind takes over
and a human reasoning process unfolds.
A
sinking feeling fills the pit of Adam's stomach. The words spoken by their best friend, God,
ring in his ears. "In the day you
eat thereof, you shall surely die." Oh, Eve! What have you done? If you are separated from God, you will be
separated from me. If you are separated
from me, you will have no one to protect and watch over you. I will be lonely and incomplete again. You will be lonely and incomplete in the same
measure that I once knew. I will not --
I cannot permit you to know that kind of agony.
And
Adam reaches to take the fruit from his beloved, Eve, to the utter horror and
surprise of the serpent. He will partake
of it, and in so doing, redeem her from the separation from him which would
otherwise surely come. Though Eve will
know death, it will not be the kind of death which would have come had she been
ripped from his fellowship, companionship and protection. Adam will gladly take the death to himself,
and in so doing, prevent the serpent from having her to his exclusive
domain. At the same time, in the moment
Adam ate of that fruit, he brought the human race under submission to that old
serpent, Satan.
OK, so
I've somewhat dramatized this picture, but I wanted you to see and experience
what I saw and experienced personally when I was transported in the Spirit to
the Garden and watched this event unfold.
Even before I got to share this event with Della, the Lord showed her
the exact sequence of these events and what Adam did. (But that's another story that will have to
wait for a different time.)
You've
seen the sequence of events as they unfolded thus far, but we've yet to touch
the consequences of what Adam and Eve did.
No sooner
had they partaken of the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil
when fear set in. Suddenly the Glory of
the Lord, which had clothed them from the moment He had breathed His life into
them, vanished and they realized that they were seeing each other for the first
time stripped of God's presence. That
was a scary proposition. They had never
known each other except with the Glory covering them. The Glory of God brought a peace and love and
a sense of protection they'd never been without.
So Adam
and Eve tried to "fix" the situation using their own un-anointed
imagination. They took a bunch of fig
leaves and stitched them together (Imagine that! Brother, that took some doing!) to make loin
coverings to protect themselves. Why do
you suppose they needed protection -- especially for their private parts? Nobody tries to protect themselves unless
they fear danger or injury or death?
There's a whole lot more here that we could go into, but we will save
that for another time.
Now, the
Lord shows up on the scene. Following
what had become a normal daily event, God shows up for their daily walks, their
fellowship and sharing. Adam and Eve
hear the sound of the Lord walking in the Garden. (By the way, that is a very distinctive
sound! For folks in union and fellowship
with Him, that sound brings great joy and excitement. For people who are NOT in fellowship, or who
have disobeyed a very specific command of His, that sound brings.....the Fear
of Evil!)
THAT is precisely what took
place. The very sound of the Lord
walking in the Garden provoked such fear that they ran and hid from Him amongst
the trees. And here we see the evidence
of a wicked spirit which they've opened the door to by their disobedience: the
spirit of the Fear of Evil.
Consider
the nature of that spirit for just a minute.
The Fear of Evil specifically targets a person's relationship with
God. If you hide from God (or at least
think you can hide from Him), it's because you are afraid He's going to bring
down judgment upon you. Folks try to hide
from God in the midst of religion -- and religion is a direct product of the
Fear of Evil. One of the ways people try
to hide from God is to involve themselves in a lot of "good
works." They attempt to shield
themselves from what they perceive as the expected wrath or anger of God
because of their failures by doing something that they think will compensate
with God so that He doesn't execute judgment on them.
The Fear
of Evil causes folks to miss out on what Jesus did on their behalf. This fear blinds them to the fact that there
is nothing they can do that will add to the price that Jesus paid with His
suffering, His death on the Cross and His resurrection -- for them! It's one thing to minister to the widows,
the orphans, the needy and to do these things because Holy Spirit has specifically
directed you to do them; and it is another thing altogether to do these
"good works" because you are trying to "please God."
This may
shock you, but God isn't impressed with "good works" that are done
just because folks are trying to please Him.
The Fear of Evil drives those kinds of good works. God isn't looking for folks to
"help" Him! He's looking for
people who will respond to Him in a place of absolute love, trust and faith in
His Word to them. Faith and
love-motivated obedience pleases God, NOT the doing of "good"
works. "Good" works motivated
by eating of the Tree of the Knowledge of "Good" and Evil produce
nothing of spiritual benefit when it comes to one's relationship with the Lord.
Getting
back to Adam and Eve in the Garden, the Lord calls out, "Where are
you?"
Adam's
response is very telling: "I heard your sound in the Garden as you approached, and was
fearful of you because I was naked; so I concealed myself amongst the
trees."
God's
response to Adam gets right to the heart of the issue: "Who told you
that you were in the nude with no covering?
Have you eaten of the tree I specifically instructed you to NOT eat
from?"
Now we're
going to see the "blame game" get underway as the Fear of Man
manifests.
"It's THAT woman you gave to me who did it!
(Get it? All of a sudden, it's
God's fault for giving Eve to Adam!?) She gave me the
fruit of the tree and I had to eat it!"
Well,
folks, once the blame game starts, it's going to swing like a pendulum back and
forth. Obviously, the Lord isn't going
to let this go. "What have you
done?"
And Eve is
going follow Adam's example and pass the buck just like he did. "The serpent seduced me. He led me astray and convinced me it was OK
to eat of the tree."
What's
with this "blame game," anyway?
Once fear gets a foothold in a person, it begins to manifest in multiple
ways. We've already talked about the
Fear of Evil, which is the granddaddy of all spirits of fear. The Fear of Man, however, cannot stand to be
seen as responsible for any contrary actions or blunders in the sight of other
men or women, and when confronted will immediately point the finger at someone
else.
In the
case of Adam and Eve -- and even today in husband-wife relationships -- the
finger will generally get pointed at the opposite spouse when tensions arise or
one is confronted with an issue. We'll
talk more about this in the weeks ahead, but let's pick up the rest of this
Garden event in our next Coffee Break.
Again, if you are in
need of healing -- especially if you have some terminal disease or prognosis of
a very short time to live from the doctors -- please join our prayer conference
calls on either Monday or Wednesday of each week at 7:00 PM Eastern. Once
again, the number to call is (805) 399-1000. Then enter the access code: 124763#. To get into the queue for prayer, when Randy
opens the call up for everyone, hit *6-1 on your keypad. Let us minister to
your need for healing!
Blessings on you!
Regner
Regner A. Capener
CAPENER MINISTRIES
CAPENER MINISTRIES
RIVER WORSHIP CENTER
Sunnyside, Washington 98944
Sunnyside, Washington 98944
Email Contact: Admin@RiverWorshipCenter.org
Our book, A
Tale of Two Brides, published by Destiny Image, is now available on
Amazon.com as an E-book: http://www.amazon.com/Tale-Two-Brides-Relationship-ebook/dp/B00BSV6HZC/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1363139096&sr=8-8&keywords=A+Tale+of+Two+Brides#_
All Coffee Break articles are
copyright by Regner A. Capener, but authorization for reprinting, reposting,
copying or re-use, in whole or in part, is granted –provided proper attribution
and this notice are included intact. Older Coffee Break archives are available
at http://www.RegnersMorningCoffee.com. Coffee Break
articles are normally published weekly.
If you would like to have these articles arrive each morning in your email, please send a blank email to: Subscribe@AnotherCoffeeBreak.com.To remove yourself from the mailing list, please send a blank email to Unsubscribe@AnotherCoffeeBreak.com.
If you would like to have these articles arrive each morning in your email, please send a blank email to: Subscribe@AnotherCoffeeBreak.com.To remove yourself from the mailing list, please send a blank email to Unsubscribe@AnotherCoffeeBreak.com.
CAPENER MINISTRIES is a tax-exempt church ministry.
Should you desire to participate and covenant with us as partners in this
ministry, please contact us at either of the above email or physical addresses,
or visit: http://www.RiverWorshipCenter.org.
Thursday, July 3, 2014
Another Coffee Break:
Independence Day
July 4, 2014
Today's Coffee Break is a departure from our new series on Dealing with Fear. Because we celebrate Independence Day as a nation, I just felt to make some comments and observations and requests to all of you on this 4th of July. We will return to our series on fear next week.
Today's photo is a bit unusual, I know. Most folks have normal grandchildren -- don't they? Some folks, like the Capeners, have kids, grandkids, and even great-grandkids who just don't fit the mold! Today's picture was on the front page of the Anchorage Daily News. This is our grandson, Joseph Picasso, who was yelling "USA" chants at the USA-Belgium World Cup soccer match.
Joseph, and his brother, Anthony, are both nationally-recognized soccer players, and they are sports fans of every stripe (pun intended)! Because many of the attendees at the soccer match had painted their faces with USA flag colors, Joseph decided to do one better and paint the upper half of his body and then drape the flag, Superman style. No accounting for what some folks will do, I guess. (grin) Joseph is normally a very sober-minded, focused young man. Normally! Guess he just HAD to be different at this soccer match.
During the past few days I've been remembering some of Benjamin Franklin's writings, his speeches, and the importance he placed on our nation's foundations as being rooted in our relationship with God. Perhaps his most famous oration occurred when he was addressing the Federal Convention in 1787 as the delegates were struggling to come up with a Constitution for the new nation:
"Mr. President:
The small progress we have made after 4 or five weeks close attendance & continual reasonings with each other—our different sentiments on almost every question, several of the last producing as many noes and ays, is methinks a melancholy proof of the imperfection of the Human Understanding. We indeed seem to feel our own want of political wisdom, some we have been running about in search of it. We have gone back to ancient history for models of Government, and examined the different forms of those Republics which having been formed with the seeds of their own dissolution now no longer exist. And we have viewed Modern States all round Europe, but find none of their Constitutions suitable to our circumstances.
In this situation of this Assembly, groping as it were in the dark to find political truth, and scarce able to distinguish it when presented to us, how has it happened, Sir, that we have not hitherto once thought of humbly applying to the Father of lights to illuminate our understandings? In the beginning of the Contest with Great Britain, when we were sensible of danger we had daily prayer in this room for the divine protection.
Our prayers, Sir, were heard, and they were graciously answered. All of us who were engaged in the struggle must have observed frequent instances of a Superintending providence in our favor. To that kind providence we owe this happy opportunity of consulting in peace on the means of establishing our future national felicity. And have we now forgotten that powerful friend?
I have lived, Sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth, that God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without his aid? We have been assured, Sir, in the Sacred Writings, that "except the Lord build the House, they labor in vain that build it."
I firmly believe this; and I also believe that without His concurring aid we shall succeed in this political building no better, than the Builders of Babel: We shall be divided by our partial local interests; our projects will be confounded, and we ourselves shall become a reproach and bye word down to future ages. And what is worse, mankind may hereafter from this unfortunate instance, despair of establishing governments by human wisdom and leave it to chance, war and conquest.
I therefore beg leave to move that henceforth prayers imploring the assistance of Heaven, and its blessings on our deliberations be held in this Assembly every morning before we proceed to business, and that one or more of the clergy of this city be requested to officiate in that service."
Franklin, as well as all of the Framers of the Constitution, realized the value of religion in society. And they realized the value of prayer in the weightier matters of politics. As it turns out, Dr. Franklin was not senile at all as some have suggested in more modern times; he was simply asking for divine assistance in what proved to be the formation of our American system. Perhaps there were no "official" prayers during the Convention, but denying that the delegates wanted God's blessing and direction—now that would be senility.
Was that simply a political expression, or an attempt to curry favor with his outspoken Christian compatriots? Was it a "deistic" expression? I hardly think so. You hear the ring of conviction in Benjamin Franklin's plea; and it is a notable shift from those things we read from Franklin's writings in his earlier years. My personal sense is that as he sat there in that Federal Convention, the words he had heard the fiery Evangelist, George Whitefield, preach years before rang in his ears. There was indeed a realization on his part that except the Lord order the establishment of America as a nation, this country would soon fold under the weight of the anarchy of Godlessness.
It was on November 4, 1800, that Charles Carroll of Carrollton -- the one Roman Catholic who signed our Declaration of Independence -- wrote to another of the founding fathers, James McHenry, and said in part,
"Without morals a republic cannot subsist any length of time; they therefore who are decrying the Christian religion, whose morality is so sublime & pure, [and] which denounces against the wicked eternal misery, and [which] insured to the good eternal happiness, are undermining the solid foundation of morals, the best security for the duration of free governments."
He might just as well have been writing to today's ACLU -- an organization which has gone out of its way to "decry the Christian religion" and "undermine the solid foundations of morals, the best security for the duration of free governments" under the premise that government has no right to enact morals and Biblical standards for behavior.
There's a quote I find eminently appropriate for our 4th of July celebrations. It comes from Leviticus 25:10 , and appears as a quotation on the nation's Liberty Bell: "Proclaim Liberty throughout all the land to the inhabitants thereof."
In looking for the name of the individual(s) who commissioned the making of this bell, I was trying to find out who called for the inscribing of the Scripture verse. It appears that our history has omitted the name of the person who actually proposed this, but the order for the casting of the original bell with scripture verse intact came from an order of the Assembly of the Province of Pennsylvania for the State House in Philadelphia (also known as Independence Hall) in 1751. Although we have no concrete evidence to back it up, it would appear that the commissioning of the bell was to commemorate William Penn's Charter of Privileges written 50 years before.
To put the quote from Leviticus in context, here is the first paragraph of William Penn's preamble to that Charter of Privileges:
"BECAUSE no People can be truly happy, though under the greatest Enjoyment of Civil Liberties, if abridged of the Freedom of their Consciences, as to their Religious Profession and Worship: And Almighty God being the only Lord of Conscience, Father of Lights and Spirits; and the Author as well as Object of all divine Knowledge, Faith and Worship, who only doth enlighten the Minds, and persuade and convince the Understandings of People, I do hereby grant and declare, That no Person or Persons, inhabiting In this Province or Territories, who shall confess and acknowledge One almighty God, the Creator, Upholder and Ruler of the World; and professes him or themselves obliged to live quietly under the Civil Government, shall be in any Case molested or prejudiced, in his or their Person or Estate, because of his or their conscientious Persuasion or Practice, nor be compelled to frequent or maintain any religious Worship, Place or Ministry, contrary to his or their Mind, or to do or suffer any other Act or Thing, contrary to their religious Persuasion."
The Whitechapel Bell Foundry in London cast the very first Liberty Bell, but its metal composition was so brittle that the very first time the bell struck, it cracked. John Pass and John Stow, who were local Philadelphia founders, offered to melt and recast the bell and strengthen its composition. The new bell was completed and hung in March, 1753. The first time it rang, however, the city fathers didn't like its tone, so Pass and Stow recast it a third time. They completed the work in short order, and in June, 1753, the bell was re-hung. Although some of the city fathers still didn't like the tone of the new bell, the majority of citizens agreed that it was a good sounding bell, and this time the bell stayed.
That bell cracked almost a hundred years later, although the date of its initial crack is in question. That crack, however grew in proportion on February 22, 1789 in honor of George Washington's Presidency when it tolled for several hours. An attempt to repair the crack some 57 years later resulted in only extending the flaw, and the bell has not been rung publicly since. The bell was recast and a replacement donated by Henry Seybert in 1876 at the Centennial Anniversary Celebration.
The name, "Liberty Bell," however, was not the name the bell was known by until 1835. In fact, the bell had no name per se until R. G. Williams published Volume 1, No. 2 of The Anti-Slavery Record in February of 1835. His comment is worth reprinting here:
"The Liberty Bell. Being in Philadelphia a few days since, I was invited after viewing the room in which the Declaration of Independence was signed, to ascend the tower of the State House, to take a view of the city. The view was delightful. On our ascent, we did not fail to examine the celebrated Bell. It weighs 2300 pounds, and was cast 23 years before the Declaration of Independence was signed. On that occasion it was rung, and has been run every 22d February and 4th of July since. It is remarkable that the following inscription was on the bell when it was cast. It was considered a sort of prophecy: "PROCLAIM LIBERTY THROUGHOUT ALL THE LAND, AND TO ALL THE INHABITANTS THEREOF." May not the emancipationists in Philadelphia, hope to live to hear the same bell rung, when liberty shall in fact be proclaimed to all the inhabitants of this favored land? Hitherto, the bell has not obeyed the inscription; and its peals have been a mockery, while one sixth of "all inhabitants" are in abject slavery."
In fact, Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation almost 29 years later fulfilled the prophecy, and the Liberty Bell became a prophetic symbol of the freedoms we enjoy in Christ as Americans. It commemorated to a certain degree the words of those Mayflower settlers whose compact and covenant began, "In the name of God…Having undertaken for the glory of God and advancement of the Christian faith… "announcing the fact that this nation's very beginnings were undertaken "for the Glory of God, and advancement of the Christian faith."
The signs and symbols, the Scripture references that abound in our founding fathers' commentaries, and their labors of love and covenant to establish this great nation make abundantly clear that they purposed to have "one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."
America has, because of its degeneration and promiscuity, fallen into the hands of the lawless who think nothing of ignoring our foundations, the Constitution which was written to provide checks and balances against the tyranny of a few, and the blood of our founding fathers who bled and died in order to see that this nation was founded in and with a covenant relationship with God through the Lord Jesus Christ. Never has there been a greater crisis for this nation's existence in its 238 year history than we face today.
This is why I call upon every believer to join in daily prayer and intercession for the removal of the wicked and the raising up of righteousness at every level of governance and influence across this nation: from the White House (and its various cabinets) to the Senate, to the House of Representatives, to governors and state legislatures, to city and county governments.
We have been a free and independent nation, but our independence has caused us to stray from our dependence upon the Lord Jesus Christ for His governance in this land. It's time to reverse thing, folks!
Happy Independence Day, America!
Healing conference calls have resumed with our normal schedule. If you are in need of healing please join our prayer conference calls on either Monday, Wednesday or Friday of each week at 7:00 PM Eastern. Once again, the number to call is (805) 399-1000. Then enter the access code: 124763#. Let us minister to your need for healing!
Blessings on you!
Regner
Regner A. Capener
CAPENER MINISTRIES
CAPENER MINISTRIES
RIVER WORSHIP CENTER
Sunnyside, Washington 98944
Sunnyside, Washington 98944
Email Contact: Admin@RiverWorshipCenter.org
Our book, A Tale of Two Brides, published by Destiny Image, is now available on Amazon.com as an E-book: http://www.amazon.com/Tale-Two-Brides-Relationship-ebook/dp/B00BSV6HZC/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1363139096&sr=8-8&keywords=A+Tale+of+Two+Brides#_
All Coffee Break articles are copyright by Regner A. Capener, but authorization for reprinting, reposting, copying or re-use, in whole or in part, is granted –provided proper attribution and this notice are included intact. Older Coffee Break archives are available at http://www.RegnersMorningCoffee.com. Coffee Break articles are normally published weekly.
If you would like to have these articles arrive each morning in your email, please send a blank email to: Subscribe@AnotherCoffeeBreak.com.To remove yourself from the mailing list, please send a blank email to Unsubscribe@AnotherCoffeeBreak.com.
If you would like to have these articles arrive each morning in your email, please send a blank email to: Subscribe@AnotherCoffeeBreak.com.To remove yourself from the mailing list, please send a blank email to Unsubscribe@AnotherCoffeeBreak.com.
CAPENER MINISTRIES is a tax-exempt church ministry. Should you desire to participate and covenant with us as partners in this ministry, please contact us at either of the above email or physical addresses, or visit: http://www.RiverWorshipCenter.org.
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