Cyber Truths By E-mail
8. Addendum: God's Will For You (May 16, 2005)
This is a two-part email.
First, we both appreciate the feedback
we've received from our last email, God's Will For You. And,
thank you for the wonderful kindness of you who have offered to
proof our revised and expanded Demolishing Strongholds. It's
getting very close to completion! One thing we both recognize
is how much the Holy Spirit has shown us since we first wrote
Demolishing in 1995. We've included other strongholds of which
we've become aware and some new symptoms to ones we've already
included.
Also, the last part of the book has been
expanded to help you walk in godly ways after you demolish the
strongholds. We've done this because we have observed over the
years that people lose the freedom they once experienced
because they don't "fill in the ruts" of their sinful
choices with ways our Lord intends. We expand on the biblical
foundations that will not only help you stay free but grow in
your service to Jesus Christ. And isn't that what our life on
earth should be, serving our Lord in loving gratefulness?
Second, A Little More On the Why
As a result of some feedback from our prior
e-mail, we wanted to write a little more about how important
the question "Why" is over "What". We want
to affirm that your answers for the why's in your life
have far more eternal consequences than any of the what's .
Let us give you some examples and questions
to consider that will help you in your determination to press
on with Jesus:
1. The crucifixion of Jesus
You know the "what" that Jesus
did on our behalf through His sacrifice. It's plainly spelled
out in the Gospels and somewhat more in the Epistles.
But can you articulate WHY He became
incarnate and died on the cross? We don't mean the pat answers
like, "He died for my sins." The answer to the why is
found in the Older Testament in the 333 prophecies that pertain
to our Lord's incarnation, death and resurrection! In our
almost 3 decades of following our Lord, we've found few
"Christians" who have truly sought as a treasure the
tremendous significance of why God became man to be crucified
by His creation.
Please note this observation: To the degree
to which a person understands why, is the intensity with which
He clings to Jesus and serves Him rather than himself on earth.
When you get the why's answered, you'll gladly embrace the
freedom and boundaries of God's commandments. The why greatly
increases your appreciation of Jesus — out of love for
Him you want to apply His Word to your life and bring glory to
our Father.
Sadly, so many "Christians",
especially those in the mega-churches, are guided away from
knowing why. As a result they are deterred away from walking in
obedience in God's commands into a life of "greasy
grace" ("I'm forgiven by grace, so I don't have to be
concerned with all those bothersome laws."). Such a
deceptive so-called "good news" is actually "bad
news" which leads to a greasy hell. They're taught to live
lawless before God. However, the truth of the Bible is,
"The opposite of the law is lawlessness."
We know from the Word that all humans are
born with a propensity for sin. And, the Law makes them aware
of their deep desire to sin!
Man's sin-bent nature loves this
easy-believism of lawless-preaching by clergy who need warm
bodies to pay mortgages. Entertaining preaching lets sin-bent
people think they can be "Christians" without any
personal cost or change in their lives. They don't have to
fight their sin nature, because without the law, there is no
sin. Paul certainly appreciated the law, as he expressed in
Romans 7: "Indeed I would not have known what sin was
except through the law; in order that sin might be recognized
as sin... so that through the commandment sin might become
utterly sinful; For in my inner being I delight in God’s
law; but I see another law at work in the members of my
body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a
prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members.
What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of
death? Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our
Lord!".
Jesus never removed even a "jot or
tittle" from the Law. Rather, He revealed its true
purpose, "Don’t think that I have come to abolish
the law or the Prophets. I have come not to abolish but to
complete them" (Matthew 5:17).
We're never justified by God for keeping
the law. On the contrary, we keep His commandments out of love
for Him and our fellow man. "Jesus replied: 'Love the Lord
your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with
all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest
commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your
neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets
hang on these two commandments” (Matthew 22:37-40).
Jesus warned everyone who would teach His
Word for all ages, "Anyone who breaks one of the least of
these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be
called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices
and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom
of heaven" (Matthew 5:19);
"If you want to enter life, obey the
commandments” (Matthew 19:17). And again, "If anyone
loves me, he will obey my teaching" (John 14:23a).
Closely examine Jesus' Sermon on the Mount
and you'll see that He deepens the Older Testament commands for
a life that pleases His Father! Those aren't just suggestions!
And He also knows that we must wholeheartedly depend on the
power of the indwelling Spirit to walk these out day to day.
And it's as we walk out His ways in obedient trust that we grow
more in His character and bring praise to Him as we stand out
as light in the midst of the dark lawlessness all around us.
2. Your family
When people call or write us with problems
they're experiencing in their family, they talk about what
their family members and relatives are doing. (Yes, a certain
amount of what is necessary to understand the nature of the
problem.) But the solution, God's solution, will NEVER come
about if you don't find out why they are doing what they're
doing.
Twenty-seven years ago we attended a Basic
Life Principles Seminar for the first time. The teacher, Bill
Gothard, pointed out that there were three root causes to why
people sin: Bitterness, Temporal Values, and Moral Impurity.
Bill shared that the why behind all sin people commit are found
in one or more of these three motives.
Over the years we've found that Bill was
right, as far as he went. But we also discovered that demonic
strongholds in the souls of people induce them to sin. That is
why we wrote Demolishing Strongholds.
In the book we write about generational
strongholds. Why? Because so many people today are captive to
certain patterns of sin that have been passed along for
generations in their family. In both Sue's and my families the
strongholds of Rejection and Deceit have hurt so many for
generations. The demonic stronghold of Deceit kept us from
fully acknowledging our deep sense of rejection. And, Rejection
influenced many among our relatives into alcoholism,
promiscuity, and doggedly pursuing the things of this world
rather than God. We sat in churches every week, but were no
closer to God for doing so. None of us experienced His love,
but we were quite religious.
Why?
As much as our family and relatives
repented and confessed their sins, we couldn't get out of our
captivity — the demons in our souls imprisoned us because
we gave way to their lies. When Sue and I learned about the
influence of the strongholds of deceit and rejection, and
renounced them in the Name of Jesus, we were free. As we
learned about the seven needs God created all humans with, and
began to have them met His way, we began to live as a couple
free in Jesus.
Take some time and answer these questions
for yourself:
• Why would God give you each parent
you have, each sibling you have, each child you have? Can you
explain to Him why? Your answers to these questions will help
you appreciate your Lord more and help you discover His
sovereign purpose for your life. Then you can cooperate more
fully in His plans for you within your family.
Sue and I have had to ask why about our
marriage many times so that we could update God's purpose for
us. Over the years His purposes have changed as He has
sanctified us. We strongly encourage you who become
grandparents to answer why. Grandparenting is a whole different
world than parenting, and many fail to impact their
grandchildren with the Living Jesus because they didn't learn
why from God. We encourage you to take time away with your
spouse, even if only a walk, to pray and find out why.
• Do you know why you aren't
experiencing the victory and freedom that Jesus promises His
own in the Bible?
• Why do you think Jesus says,
“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and
broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter
through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that
leads to life, and only a few find it" ?(Matthew 7:13,14).
When you truly answer why, you will live differently here on
earth.
3. Why Are You Going Through Your
Struggles?
Every one of you who has sought to be true
to Jesus and follow Him no matter what it cost has endured
struggles you never experienced before, including isolation. We
want to encourage you that what you are going through is God's
plan for you at this time. We hope you've gotten onto David
Wilkerson's mailing list to receive his monthly mailings. Here
is an excerpt from his latest letter, "It's Harvest Time:
Tsunamis, Earthquakes, Drastic Weather Changes —What Do
These Have To Do With You?":
"The truth is, if we're not capable of
reaping souls — if our lives don't reflect the gospel we
preach — then we have discounted ourselves as laborers.
Our walk with Christ should offer proof to the world that God's
promises are true.
As laborers, we are the harvest instruments
in the Lord's hand. In the days of Christ, such an instrument
was a scythe, a long, curved, single-edged blade with a long
handle. It was forged by a blacksmith, who put it into the
fire, then placed it on an anvil, where he pounded and bent it
into shape. Then the whole process was repeated again and
again, until the cutting edge was filed with a rough-edged
surface.
The parallel is clear: God is forging
laborers. He isn't just pounding away at sin. And his forging
process explains why the laborers are few. The majority of
churchgoers are like the thousands who volunteered to go with
Gideon in the Old Testament. God saw fear in many of them,
knowing they wouldn't endure the fire, the pounding, the hard
times. And out of the thousands who followed Gideon, only three
hundred were chosen.
The same thing happens today. Those who are
truly called to harvest are called to endure refining, shaping
fires and the continual hammering. Yet not many do...
Dear Saint, Jesus knew what we were going
to face in these last days: a generation steeped in sin far
more than any other...stress and loneliness such as has never
been experienced by man...financial disasters, rampant divorce,
militant homosexuality, immorality that would bring a blush to
even the worst sinner just thirty years ago.
This is why Christ seeks laborers who have
submitted to the fires and forgings. He wants a people who'll
stand before the world and proclaim:
God is with me! Satan can't stop me. Just
look at my life. I've been through fire after fire, pounded
again and again. But I've come through it all more than a
conqueror through Christ, who lives in me."
We encourage you to ask the Holy Spirit for
the joy you need to endure the fires and forging you're going
through. No, it isn't easy to find joy in suffering! But your
suffering has a divine purpose, and that's why you need to find
joy in the midst of your refining. Have confidence in this!
Use this time to find the answers for why
God placed you in your workplace, why the friends you have, why
your neighborhood, and why your faith community. If you do this
in earnest, the Holy Spirit will guide you into our Father's
perspective of those around you. Ask our Father to do whatever
is necessary in you so that you can truly represent His loving
concern for the people around you as His agent. Isn't that what
He wants for you — to be like His Son, Jesus, and
lovingly representing Him so that others will find eternity in
heaven? That's why....
Why do Sue and I do as we do?
1. In our spirits our Father has given us a
perspective of life that looks back at it from the Judgment
Throne. We know from His Word what He will require in order to
welcome people into heaven. And, His requirements for being
welcomed are more stringent than the false so-called gospels
call for. He has also burdened us with the eternal outcome of
those who are walking in the Hebraic truths He revealed to us
in Israel — truths He's quickened to others around the
world. They and their families mean much to us! If only you
could hear our list of intercession! What joy to entrust their
lives and needs into His faithful hands!
2. It isn't what we do that matters to us,
but why. Our Father commanded us in Israel, "Share this
message!" When you think of us, now you know why....
We want to close with this word of
encouragement from a devotional that has been ministering to
both of us, God Calling:
"Your motives and aspirations can only
be understood by those who have attained the same spiritual
level (i.e. have embraced similar fires and pounding). So do
not vainly, foolishly, expect from others understanding. Do not
misjudge them for not giving it. Yours is a foreign language to
them."
Mike & Sue Dowgiewicz
