A Comfortable Separation

A Comfortable Separation

2/11/18

Do we have the courage to ask ourselves how many times we have become comfortable with being away from family members or some other close relationship, to the point where we do not even place these figures into our hearts on a regular basis?  And when we ask ourselves this question do we recognize exactly what is transpiring while these ways of ours are parted?  It is easy to pose modern life as the characteristic placement that serves as such a boundary but in truth, it really is the shading of the heart that lies as the foundation of such horror.  A greater tragedy occurs when we step into this state with our Creator pushing Him aside for the more physical and suitable replacement all the while deepening our lives from the One who can give us all the answers we need in order to survive this wicked place we call the world.  It is vital that we recognize such a separation for if we do not our enemy gains a great advantage when the battle for our eternity flares.

Over the past month, the community that I live in has been “rocked” by two youth suicides.  Any suicide is considered abhorrent to God and should be placed in the same category in our hearts as well, yet somehow we tend to dismiss these issues as minute details that slipped through the cracks and once the immediate effects of such activities have passed we return to our mindless ways until the next tragedy strikes.  It is these “minute” details that completely define the attitude of a holy representative that has gone to sleep or if awake only concerns about keeping the spiritual peace long enough for her to return to sleep.  See, both of these young people were born and raised in church and knew what it meant to be alive and how important it was for them to have a relationship with Jesus.  But, somehow we lost that important Truth and allowed these precious lives to slip into eternity through a very selfish and careless act of personal violence.  Are these harsh words?  Yes, they are, but we need to understand that eternity is NOT a game to be played with and that it is now more than ever important to understand this truth.

I cannot escape nor am I immune to this type of sinful state.  A few days back I was coming into work and about to enter my building for the first time for the day when an uneasy yet familiar feeling and a thought came across my heart.  At first, I believed that something was going to occur but it soon came to me that I had not prayed that morning for some ridiculous reason, and as I was about to open the door to my work area I realized this error and almost immediately God placed this topic into my heart.  I realized that I was not as close as I needed to be to God and that when I do not consider His Ways at all times my comfort level with the world becomes greater and that my sinful separation status from God also increases at the same time; a Kingdom principle that we miss so often.  I was horrified that I had allowed myself to become in such a manner that it did not seem to matter if I prayed and talked to God or not that morning.  I know it is a tad far stretched but at the same time it is this beginning that continues its course, if allowed, to where we do not talk to God at all, placing Him in the back of our minds and continued out of our hearts.  This is the perfect setting for our enemy and the ultimate definition of a comfortable separation.

The world and its establishment have grown into a complex entity that believes it can thrive on its own, develop its own ways and flourish through its own laws.  This is a logical process but when the truth is set about it always proves that living on one’s own without any true guidance always results in a failure of some type of magnitude.  The ruler of the world has the job of making sure that we figure out this lie to a truth and that we do not need to have any supernatural power to hold our lives accountable.  Funny, as each day breaks we find that someone somewhere in this globe has found themselves in a setting which is not favorable to their liking because they have failed to hold themselves accountable for the truth.  We do this because of the false sense of security that this lying belief has upon our lives for no matter what the setting may be that when we live like there is no accountability but ourselves we shall surely fall to the rock bottom.  This pattern was set into motion way back in our history and it continues to be set in stone today.  Living in a comfortable position is a great quality that comes to many of us and it is an honor to live in such conditions but one cannot forget that there is always a higher power that resides over us and even in this comfortable living that the world promotes only chaos, pain, anger, and death resonate.

It has come to my attention that many of us have completely forgotten who our enemy is and what he desires from our lives.  How has this come to my attention?  Look around you and it will not be hard to understand, for even if a person does not believe in God can figure out that there is a lot of anger and trouble that swarm our eyes and ears each second of our day why can’t the people who say they know God understand and then proclaim the eternal truth of why conditions are the way they are?  The enemy of God is Satan, or if you wish to refer to him as Lucifer go right on ahead for either of the two names describe him perfectly.  Satan is the eternal and arch enemy of God which means whether or not you believe in him or not he is your enemy for he is alive and for those who do not believe in this evil entity he already has won a huge victory concerning your life.  Satan is the ruler of this world and he is confident that he can persuade humans to believe in his ways instead of God’s Ways, for as stated many times previously Satan hates God and that means he automatically hates you too.  So, it is not unusual at all for this comfortable separation process from God to be a specific instrument in the destruction process of your life.  With God, there is no such thing as separation (division) for He still looks at His prized creations in the sense of “The Definition of We”.

This title of this article presents two distinct words that we use on a regular basis, the word comfortable and the word separation but how often do we place these words together in a common tense?  The definition of comfortable says that it is a process of physical ease and relaxation mainly referring to the personal items and furnishings that we absorb into our daily lives.  The definition of separation means the action or state of moving or being apart, the division of something into constituent or distinct elements.  Both of these definitions have direct physical attributes and while the given meanings of each word do not directly refer to the spiritual aspect of our lives it is the spiritual that is most important when these two words are combined, for the physical is already been sentenced but it is the choice of the spiritual that has eternal consequences thus deemed the ripening fruit that the enemy wishes to destroy.

Who am I to believe that my single spirit can make a difference in someone else’s life?  I am a complete and true sinner and if there ever would be the absolute definition of such a sinner my picture would be right there as the visual example.  It is through this condition that I cannot change that presents me to God as a failure no matter how I look at it or try and change that status.  When Adam and Eve chose to separate themselves from God our physical existence changed permanently but the spiritual aspect of our lives was still intact, a brilliant and life-saving detail that God placed into our lives.  In Genesis 3:7 it states that Adam and Eve then knew what was going on around them concerning their physical status and through the next few actions of theirs became ashamed of this status.  Why did this occur and how come such a small single act now displays a permanent separation?  Their relationship with Satan became more important than the one they had with their Creator, a state that many of us now reside in and refer to as being comfortable.

Being human, it is easy for us to imagine the guilt and sorrow that Adam and Eve had after that terrible choice of theirs came to fruition but while their feelings rose to new heights there was absolutely nothing they could then do to change their status.  Their bodies and spirits up until that moment knew no separation from God nor could they feel the pain that this separation automatically brought with this feeling.  I can almost hear them beg for peace and mercy once again but at the same time I can also see and read about their pride being shoved into the forefront as they hid before the face and presence of God.  When God spoke to my heart that morning concerning my separation status from Him He was not angry with me but reminded me of this state of mine as any mother or father would do concerning any despairing issue with their child.  I immediately felt this separation and I knew that I had to do something about it right then for the grief that struck my heart at that moment was quick and intense.  It is also a feeling that I did not want to continue in either and while I understand that as long as I am in the physical position that I am in I cannot change this position of mine but that does not mean I cannot strive to allow God to search me and to know me so that He can drive away these separation factors from my life.

We have a great example of this type of acknowledgment from King David in Psalms Chapter 51.  The entire chapter is one that is commonly heard, taught on, and many people can say they know it by heart for its content has been presented in a common worship song.  From the initial word of this chapter to the last, David is contending that his life is a true mess in the sight of God but while he understands this state he is in he will not allow the world to overpower his life and destroy him.  David understands this separation yet more confidently knows that God wants to search his life and to make him clean before His eyes.  The specific verse that God wants us to tell us about is verses 10 & 11 that state: “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.  Cast me not away from thy presence, and take not thy holy spirit from me.”

Why would anyone think that they need a clean heart?  When we realize that our lives are dirty and filthy before the Holy and True Creator of everything, it is this sight that our spiritual eyes see that deems us unclean.  It is a time for us to learn that we have been lied to and that we have been deceived well enough to believe that our physical inhabitance on this earth in some way can be shared with our spiritual.  That is a deception marker that Satan loves to use against us and it is one that was successful with Adam and Eve as well.  When we realize that our hearts are not holy, not clean, not true, and not righteous it is then that we can turn to God and ask for forgiveness and for Him to repair the damage that has been done.  When we fail to recognize this status of separation from our Creator it becomes easy to believe that we do not need Him or His Ways, another deception that will lead to our demise, and we continue to fall for this lie.  These two verses alone give us a picture that David is not comfortable with how his heart has become but at the same time, it also demonstrates that his heart has allowed the uncleanness accumulate for an extended period of time.  It is this period of time that he has become comfortable with but something triggered him to realize that his heart was not right and I can understand now how his heartfelt while he was writing this psalm to God.

When individuals or States become satisfied with their surroundings and begin the process of accepting the fact they need nothing yet want everything, they have a tendency to forget the roots of their existence and transform that foundation to their fulfilled lives.  We can see this type of belief system in the pattern of Adam and Eve and in many other peoples’ lives in the Bible.  Comfortable lifestyles are also present in the numerous kingdoms and societies that humanity has experienced throughout history and all of them have fallen when they have taken their comfort abilities to extreme levels and pushed out God of their lives at the same time.  God has no issues with living a comfortable life but He does warn us that our hearts become vulnerable to the world and its ruler if we do not keep the correct alignment in our hearts in the correct order.

Having the assurance of comfort is the most inopportune time one would believe that their heart needs a checkup.  How many of us go to the doctor when we are feeling great or how many worry about money when the bank accounts are overflowing?  It is these types of examples that draw us into a belief that we do not need guidance for when we look at ourselves and our living conditions we cannot see beyond the amounts and have no need to worry which in turn seeks a self-assurance that requires no outside help, especially from above.  It is also through this belief and practice that the knowledge of right versus wrong come into question and if left unchecked eventually becomes precedence, once again I refer you back to Adam and Eve, all of the other biblical references, and human historical references as examples.  What is most striking about this fact is that when all of these foundational truths become in question, obedience to all things moral follows suit.  Most people living in this state ignore the separation factors that are around them and learn to adapt to their environments, which serves as the dividing point between God and man with the world being the divisor itself.

Are you beginning to see a pattern developing here?  I hope so because we have arrived at such a societal belief that our comfort levels have projected us into another existence.  It does not matter if everyone in every society is well off and has no need for money, their attitudes towards such status will always be reflective of the ruler of the kingdom that they represent.  Laws do not mean much in these worldly beliefs and when challenged resistance to such authority follows.  What poses the most threat in this type of living is that those who do not understand what is occurring will be the ones who are in dire need of overall life support when things really go bad.  The world has drained them of all their spiritual ties with God who is the ONLY being that can provide sound advice when hard times occur.  When a person studies the Word of God they will find that God never hides His frustration towards His people, that He gives them multiple warnings and time to change before He must do extraordinary procedures to grab our attention.  But when people rule out God from their lives, only the anger and ugliness that they have allowed into their lives can be the response to such actions by God.

How many times do we see David asking God to clean his heart and restore his status with God in this simple passage?  This prayer of David’s is not a hard one to follow yet its meaning comes from a heartfelt truth about our physical and spiritual separation from holiness.  David understands that he is human and that this life of his cannot stand up to the perfectness of God.  It also provides us with a prayer to God that each one of us needs to have each day that we draw breath because with each cell cycle in our bodies we represent a separatist organization from the perfect condition we were created in so long ago.  David also recognizes that God is the only being that can grant such restoration and cleaning of his heart.  David recognizes that he needs to be clean at all times for he has witnessed Israel’s stability wavering as time marches along, it is this state of security that David portrays here that our hearts need to recognize.

Please do not misunderstand what God is saying here, He will listen to any heart at any time when it cries out His name and truly asks for repentance but why does that cry have to arrive to God’s ears when we are in trouble?  This pattern of only responding to God when we are in trouble is reflective of how we believe in God and how serious we are about His Ways.  The old saying that concerns the vertical and horizontal relationships ring true here and the brokenness that results from such deviation is hard to describe because of its deepened sanctions within our hearts.  But it does not matter what type of life a person has led or what a nation has done to become comfortably separated from God for He is quick to forgive a true heart and absolutely thrilled to restore such a repentant heart.

It is a fair question to ask why David prayed such a deep meaning prayer about his heart.  The answer is because he understood the ups and down and the ins and outs of how Israel’s heart was swaying, David also understood that as the chosen leader of Israel he needed to be in constant communion and contact with God in order to lead God’s people properly.  Yes, here comes the crust folks; the reason why this nation is in such disarray and that is because the leader of the representative of God is in gross disarray herself.  Jesus made it perfectly clear what He wanted His Church to do and we have done an excellent job at failing to perform His command to us.  Ever since Constantine the Great came to the throne in Constantinople the comfort levels of the Church have been in decline.  I am not saying that the Church must always be in peril in order to be doing the work of Christ but I am saying that if the Church is doing the command of Jesus they should (shall) be in an uncomfortable position no matter what the worldly standards of living present at that moment.

So how come the Church has become comfortable with the world and accepts it as her friend instead of the kingdom of her arch enemy?  The Church has forgotten that Satan seeks to destroy people while feeding them lies and when each new human-produced cause appears for some reason the Church backs them instead of shedding light on the sin.  This is a devastating process and a sin that will cost billions of people their eternal lives if the Church does not wake up and once again start to teach the eternal Truth about God, sin, and what occurs after we draw our last breath.  The Church can no longer afford to spend ANY time trying to dictate her policies while ignoring God’s, what is so profound about this action or lack of action is that it is this policy that the Church is now following is 100% the reason why Lucifer fell and is now eternally separated from God.

I do not know if you are familiar with the worship group “Planetshakers” or not but one of their song entitled “Here’s My Life” demonstrates how we are to worship and pray to God on a daily basis.  The first portion of the song goes as follows:

                                   

Create in me
            A heart that is clean
            ‘Cause I want to be
            Who You want me to be
            The depths of my soul
            Are yours Lord to mold
            ‘Cause I want to be
            Who You want me to be

These words from this song define how we should approach God each day as we speak to Him for if we do not recognize that our hearts are continually dirty and filled with sin we will not be able to proceed in life as He created us to be.  Now, I am not saying that we must recite Psalms 51 with every prayer that we complete but God wants us to know that it is this Psalm of David that we need to have in our hearts as the foundation of our prayers for forgiveness.  I cannot tell you how many times my daily prayers have been silent on this issue and have been totally self-centered in nature, and what is more disheartening to me is that I have not thought about this action of mine until the other day when God had to remind me of my words.  As stated above He did not do this to chastise me in any way but because I do want to have a clean heart in His eyes He showed me how important it is for me to ask for forgiveness and to allow Him to search my heart so that He can draw out its sin.

If our prayer life becomes stagnant, disappointing, or even boring then we need God to remind us that prayer itself is the lifeline to our survival and that we need to continually ask for cleaning of our hearts so that this connection remains 100% intact at all times.  We cannot afford to become complacent with anything that the world has to offer for when we do it means that our prayer conversations with God have become weak and inattentive.  When God speaks to your heart or tugs at your spirit it is for a reason and we need to stop and stay still long enough for Him to show us what we need to understand for that moment. 

Church, we need to return to the uncomfortable position that is guaranteed concerning our placement in society.  We need to stand up and fight for the salvation of those who do not know Christ by being a true witness through our words of truth and our actions of kindness towards other sinners.  There is only one way to God and that is through the blood of Jesus Christ which is the ONLY separation status that we need to have in our lives.  If our lives are not fitting into an uncomfortable position when it comes to the world we shall never know or understand real eternal peace which means our lives are in serious eternal trouble.  Let us step up and proclaim the eternal call of Christ Jesus to the dying world.

DLB