Near Brush with Death

 

Near Brush with Death

© Johnette M. Moore

I had a near brush with death last night…. Hmmm.

Everyone has stopped what they are doing and staring at the screen in awe. “Oh my!” they exclaim. “What is this near death experience?” they wonder as they curiously pull their chairs up close to the screen to read on.

The near death experience was simply a ‘moment in the flesh’.  Let’s look at Romans chapter 8.

“⁶ For to be carnally minded is death…”  Yes a moment in carnality is as dangerous as being in a lion’s den without God… or being in a fiery furnace without Jesus… It is like jumping from an airplane without a parachute… A moment in the flesh is a borderline suicide in the making.

^“7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be...”

Carnality is enmity against God… wow. How often have we said “well that’s just me”?  Guess what! “Just me” is God’s enemy. That’s right. God is spirit and “those who worship Him, follow Him, subscribe to HIM and His kingdom MUST worship Him in SPIRIT and in truth” Flesh cannot and will not please God. He has no communion with carnality. He is a spirit being and so are we. If we will commune with Him, it must be from our spirits. It is like going into a room of people who speak only Russian and trying to communicate with them using our English dialect. It will not work. However, if we have taken time, gone through the painful process of learning the language AND the customs of the Russian kingdom before entering the room filled with Russian nationals, we can interact with them with understanding and they will embrace us for honouring their culture.

^“8 So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.”

Those who are in the flesh cannot please God!!!! What greater incentive to strive to kill the flesh then this truth! I WANT TO PLEASE GOD!!! What about you my brethren? Flesh is selfish and self centered focusing always on what it has or doesn’t have; what it feels or doesn’t feel… who did this to it or who didn’t do that to it. Flesh is fleshy and wants to be worshipped, adored, pampered … What is referred to as flesh is a mind set, the mind that we inherited from the fall of Adam, the reason we are born in sin and shaped in iniquity. To be carnal minded is enmity against God. CARNALITY is like full blown HIV… it is DEADLY!

What the law could not do for the requirement of righteousness because of our sin nature, God did by sending us a Saviour, Jesus the CHRIST, the Messiah, the Light of the World, our Advocate for righteousness, our Redeemer, our LORD!

Now He has made a way for us to move from our INHERITED SIN NATURE into our INHERITANCE… our DIVINE NATURE, that which was given to us from the time of creation. We must remember that we are fashioned after GOD’s own image and likeness and purposed to have dominion over all the earth and every living thing. (Genesis 1:26) However because of the fall of Adam, we were born of a woman (conceived in sin) and shaped in iniquity (unrighteousness). How do we recapture our Divine Nature and walk in right standing with God? God has made a way through the shedding of blood and the redemption of sin. The ultimate blood sacrifice was made on the cross giving us a path back to God where we can come boldly to the throne of grace, and obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Still we must work out our own salvation with fear and trembling by entering in at the strait gate, the difficult place.

At the point of salvation the Spirit of God takes up residence within us, yes, however the only thing that is made new is our spirit. Our mind, souls and intellect now need to be restored to God’s original intent so the spirit of God in us can rule and reign. They will need work.

If u have ever seen any precious metal restored, it is stripped, scraped, filed, sanded, burned, put in acid… you name it, all for the sake of removing the buildup of rust and residue of the effects of the elements in order to bring it back to life and likeness of its original state. I can only imagine that if these metals had feelings much the same as we do, it would be a painful process although a necessary experience to obtain a glorious result.

Our aim is to walk after the spirit so as not to fulfill the lust of flesh and ultimately to PLEASE GOD. Hmmm. Let us get moving then, through this strait gate. Why then is this gate so difficult to enter and why do so few find it? Self has a very strong nature and loves to reign. Self is never eager to relinquish its throne however when we begin to seek God through Prayer, worship and study of His word, transformation begins and the renewing of the mind is now in progress. The renewed mind will see us being led by the Spirit of God out of darkness and into His marvelous light. As we study and apply this life changing word, obeying in faith, God will take us from faith to faith and from glory to glory. He will bring us into close proximity with Him, wetting our appetites more and more for the fulfillment of fullness of our Kingdom purpose for Kingdom’s sake.

The process, though not pleasant is both necessary and rewarding. Processing will lead us through a series of tests and challenges. It will take us through valleys and wilderness experience, to mountaintops and back to the trenches. This process will train us to seek, to press, to forge our way through in search of the secrets of the deep in pursuit of TRUTH and He who is truth. As we answer the call of the deep a whole new world is opened up to us as God begins to open us to us HIS good treasure. Our obedient faith fueled participation will bring us our just reward. This race is not to the swift but to those who endure to the end. It is a race of endurance that builds spiritual character, backbone and muscle bringing us to a place of no return. Let’s enter His gates with thanksgiving in our hearts and enter His courts with praise.

 How then do I liken this ‘moment in the flesh’ give me a near death experience? I tell you, when your eye is stayed on God He will keep you in perfect peace. In that place of peace you hear His voice, see His face, enjoy in His presence, strengthened by His joy and provided for by His hand. This is experience by way of the spirit as we rest in Him. When your focus (eye) is shifted, your peace will withdraw, your hearing will draw dim, your joy and strength will diminish and His provision will not be in your view… Why? Because you have in a twinkling moved from your place in the spirit, a place of life and life more abundant, into the flesh… a dead place.

My beloved, Deuteronomy 30:19 says
This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live.

I choose life! ~jus sayin~