Bound to the World's View?
Hi Everyone,
Today I have a vision to share with you, about the spiritual bondage that comes from conforming to the world’s view. When God shows me something about myself that needs to change, he is gentle. But at the same time, his words cut through the nonsense and make us stand up and notice. He loves us as we are, but he wants us to grow and mature. He wants us to reflect his image and his attributes. which only come as we surrender to him and accept his yoke.
“Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” Matthew 11:29
The Vision
The Long Rubber Band
In this vision, I saw a narrow but very long rubber band that was beige in color. It was shown as a continuous loop going every which way, as a loose somewhat circular mass. It simply was presented before me without any surroundings, just the image itself.
A rubber band is an interesting tool. It can hold things tightly together by wrapping the band once or more times around the group of objects. The rubber band, because it stretches, can be loosened in order to take it off and release the objects.
The rubber band can be loosely applied so as to hold the contents gently and allow it to come off easily. Or it can be bound tightly so as to make it difficult to remove.
By contrast, a zip tie is not stretchy, and remains tight. It can only go one direction so it becomes more tight by pulling on it. The only way to remove it is to cut it off. They are very strong and function as semi-permanent tie downs.
The rubber band is flexible and certainly not permanent. It is easily broken. The rubber band in the vision was colored beige, which indicates conformity, and fitting in.
The meaning of the vision is about a comparison between its elasticity causing tightness with regards to conformity, or looseness and breaking free of conformity. In the post, “The Thief Comes to Steal,” I shared about a vision the Lord had shown me years ago, about my desire to “fit-in” and to be “comfortable” by conforming to my own and other’s expectations. In the vision I learned that conforming to the world and its standards just to fit in, did not please God.
“Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” 1 John 2:15
The Lord told me once:
“As long as you are fearful of man, I cannot use you, for you are already being used.”
The fear of man causes us to conform to whomever or to whatever we fear. The Lord didn’t not want me, or anyone for that matter, to fear man or conform to the world’s view. When we seek the approval of others, we become people-pleasers. We see others as those who would judge us. Their opinions matter to us. Rather than concerning ourselves with the Lord and his will for us, we fear man and follow the ways and values of the world. We pick up on the world’s cues for political rationale, what is socially acceptable, and what is popular with the group to which we want to belong. We act and think like them emulating styles, in dress, cars, and even in communication, all the while hoping to achieve favor in their eyes. We fear being rejected, ridiculed, and ostracized, so we conform. That is why the Lord said to me, “you are already being used.”
Fear comes from the devil. It is demonic, and totally contrary to God. The fear of God is where our hearts should rest. Jesus summed it up very well in his statement:
"And do not fear those who kill the body, but cannot kill the soul; but rather fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in Gehenna. Matthew 10:28
The fear of man causes us to deny the Lord. The Lord had prophesied that Peter would deny him three times before the rooster crowed.
Meanwhile, Peter was sitting out in the courtyard, and a servant girl came up to him. “You also were with Jesus the Galilean,” she said.
But he denied it before them all: “I do not know what you are talking about.”
When Peter had gone out to the gateway, another servant girl saw him and said to the people there, “This man was with Jesus of Nazareth.”
And again he denied it with an oath: “I do not know the man!”
After a little while, those standing nearby came up to Peter. “Surely you are one of them,” they said, “for your accent gives you away.”
At that he began to curse and swear to them, “I do not know the man!”
And immediately a rooster crowed.
Then Peter remembered the word that Jesus had spoken: “Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” And he went outside and wept bitterly. Matthew 26:69-75
Thank the Lord that when we become believers, we are given the Holy Spirit to indwell us. Peter had not yet received the Holy Spirit nor the Baptism in the Holy Spirit which would have given him the boldness that he needed to overcome his fear. But in God’s perfect timing, the Lord gave him both.
As we draw close to God and seek his presence, he can choose to baptize us with the fire of the Holy Spirit which is a greater infilling that empowers us to do his will. We begin to see visions, we speak in tongues, we see miracles come as a result of our prayers and we are able to hear his voice.
I have told believers that it is the difference between a pair of roller skates and a Lear jet. Nothing wrong with the roller skates, but the Lear jet is better.
The Lord’s disciples first received the born again experience when on the very first day of his resurrection, they were together with the door shut. Jesus entered into the room supernaturally and then showed them his hands and feet, even eating a piece of bread in their midst, to prove that he was not a ghost, but had risen from the dead and had come in the flesh. ( Luke 24) This is John’s account:
It was the first day of the week, and that very evening, while the disciples were together with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them. “Peace be with you!” He said to them. After He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.
Again Jesus said to them, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent Me, so also I am sending you.” When He had said this, He breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you withhold forgiveness from anyone, it is withheld.” John 20:19-23
It was on this occasion, when Jesus breathed upon them, that they received the infilling of the Holy Spirit, which happens to everyone at the moment they become born again. Jesus appeared to them several more times, and just before ascending into heaven to return to the Father, he gave them this important instruction:
And behold, I am sending the promise of My Father upon you. But remain in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.” Luke 24:49
What Jesus was referring to was the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, which John the Baptist had prophesied concerning Jesus, and which occurred during the feast of Pentecost.
I baptize you with water for repentance, but after me will come One more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. His winnowing fork is in His hand to clear His threshing floor and to gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” Matthew 3:11-12
Jesus came to empower his church with the fire of the Holy Spirit to withstand the heat of persecution and to share the gospel in spite of the threat of death. He came not to bring peace, as so many had hoped, but a sword:
“Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person's enemies will be those of his own household. Matthew 10:34-36
Today there is persecution in many parts of the world. And if we are truly living for him, we will experience trouble from those who think and operate as the world does. There is no doubt that when we have people in our own families and among our friends, neighbors, co-workers and established communities who are not believers there will be conflicts and demonic influence. We will have trouble:
I have told you these things so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take courage; I have overcome the world!” John 16:33
The fear of man comes to us when we take our eyes off God and look to the world to see what others are doing. This is a recipe for failure. If we follow the world who is blind to the things of God, we will surely lose our way.
Jesus was criticized by the Pharisees for not teaching his disciples to wash their hands and follow the traditions of man. They wanted Jesus to conform to the pattern that they taught and was handed down to them. But Jesus regarded them as hypocrites, saying that they were blind guides.
Then some Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, “Why do Your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They do not wash their hands before they eat.”
Jesus replied, “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’ and ‘Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.’ But you say that if anyone says to his father or mother, ‘Whatever you would have received from me is a gift devoted to God,’ he need not honor his father or mother with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition. You hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied correctly about you:
‘These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. They worship Me in vain; they teach as doctrine the precepts of men.’” Matthew 15:1-9
Then the disciples came to Him and said, “Are You aware that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this?”
But Jesus replied, “Every plant that My heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by its roots. Disregard them! They are blind guides. If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit.” Matthew 15:12-14
Those that do not follow the Lord, but merely give him lip service are “Christians” who are worldly, not so much interested in the presence and fellowship of God, as they are in appearing holy, devout, and honored by others in the church. This is what the Lord hates. He hates when his believers attempt to persuade others that they are righteous, but fail to see that from a spiritual standpoint they are: “wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.”
These strong words of warning having come from Jesus and written by John, were addressed to the 1st century Christians at Laodicea in the book of Revelation:
To the angel of the church in Laodicea write:
These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Originator of God’s creation. I know your deeds; you are neither cold nor hot. How I wish you were one or the other! So because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to vomit you out of My mouth! You say, ‘I am rich; I have grown wealthy and need nothing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked. I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, white garments so that you may be clothed and your shameful nakedness not exposed, and salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see. Those I love I rebuke and discipline. Therefore be earnest and repent.
Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in and dine with him, and he with Me. To the one who overcomes, I will grant the right to sit with Me on My throne, just as I overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” Revelation 3:14-22
When we fear man rather than fear God, we can become complacent, and lukewarm. By taking our cues from the world, we begin to regard the world as having equal and sometimes more importance than our relationship with God. No wonder the Lord said, he would spit them out of his mouth! That is not exactly a commendation for the church. How often do we compromise, or justify a decision, knowing full well that the Lord would not be pleased? Do we give greater importance to our child’s secular education more than the word of God filling their minds? Do we teach them to dishonor the law or to cheat when we give an example by saying that a 12 year old is only 11, just to get a better price on a ticket?
Hypocrisy, and conforming to the world’s values dishonors God. We cannot love money and what it buys, more than God. We cannot put anything before him. God is first, if we belong to him. We need the Holy Spirit to reveal our own shortcomings and faults and to help us overcome besetting sin.
The rubber band in the vision shows us two things: It can be wound tightly, so that we conform to the world and its patterns. In this case, we no longer are free but are trapped by the enticements and the callings of the world. “Buy this!” “Don’t help them–help yourself!” If we listen to the voices of the world we lose our way. We become skeptical, critical, bitter. We only love those who love us. We become selfish; judgmental and hypocritical. We justify our actions and hold to our opinions. We become unteachable. We reject truth and we conform to the world so as to avoid criticism and we lie and spin stories to avoid condemnation. This is how the world operates. We are to disown the world and live for the Lord.
Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership can righteousness have with wickedness? Or what fellowship does light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? What agreement can exist between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said:
“I will dwell with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be My people. Therefore come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.”
And: “I will be a Father to you, and you will be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.” 2 Corinthians 6:14-18
But the rubber band is also stretchy. One can be set free, and if necessary the band can be broken. Jesus is our deliverer. We look to him and the truth of his word, to set us free. We do not have to conform to the world and its values. We can choose instead to read his word…
“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12
His word is the word of truth. It is the truth that sets us free.
So He said to the Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, you are truly My disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:31-32
It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not be encumbered once more by a yoke of bondage. Galatians 5:1
The Lord paid a great price for our freedom. But we must now live for him to experience all that he has for us. He wants us to have the victory over sin, and over death. We can have it all with our surrender to the will of God. Let us be clay in his hands. Let us submit to his strong but gentle touch. Let us be filled with his Holy Spirit and live for him, to live as he chooses.
Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20
Freedom is all about surrendering our will to him. When we conform to the world we become like the world and its sinful ways. When we deny the world and hold fast to the Lord, we will have life, and have it abundantly, for Jesus said:
I am the gate. If anyone enters through Me, he will be saved. He will come in and go out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come that they may have life, and have it in all its fullness. John 10:10
Thanks for reading. Please share this post with others. We all need to know God, and what pleases him. Let us read and study the word, and pray for his insight and understanding. He is good, and he knows everything about us. Let us know him, and make our peace with him this day!
God bless you all.
