The following continues to be a reminder to us to bolster our understanding and grasping of His ways. Let us keep in mind the Lord calls us to obedience, He calls us to keep His order, He calls us to worship Him as I Am and He calls us to seek Him daily to receive a fresh revelation of Him. If we seek Him, then He will go ahead of us to prepare a favourable path.
Of late, I have had this longing in my heart: Lord, let what we do in the temporary resound for eternity in the heavenly courts. Lord, let what I do be so that my name shall forever be on though lips.
How then have I pondered do we do this. How do we reach such a truth in our walk on earth? Since it doesn't matter if we do all the works yet can't walk like Jesus did and know Him truly, then works is not the answer. True works should always be the outflow of our walk with God. How then? Simply through what extend we have allowed the Father, Son and Holy Spirit to change us to become more like Him. It is only when we love like Him, walk like Him and like Jesus have a true and living relationship with the Father that would cause our names to resound. It is when we do this that we will in our existence glorify Him. For this reason our eyes are not set on the temporary, but the eternity, yet it is in the temporary where we need to make a statement that will resound forever.
It is only our character that proves if we are truly children of God, not our works. No matter what works we do, it can be without the character of Jesus and can easily fool and deceive. Preaching to millions, evangelising, baptising or whatever form of work unto God could have the appearance of Godliness yet it can be without true power or anointing. Sons and daughters are truly known by their fruits.
Character is the key to making an eternal difference. For only through character, implying the way we behave, the way we react, our attitude and so forth serves as the key to what extend we have submitted and allowed God to change us. None better of this is the illustration of the temptation of Jesus in the desert.
And here we take a pause for a second, for if we can grasp the following in Spirit, it will change a lot about our spiritual walk. It is the same if we can grasp the true extend of God's order and how we need to follow Him, it is the same when we can understand that if we truly live like Him then all authority in Heaven guides us.
In the desert, Jesus could have destroyed the devil with one quick word. Here was Jesus, face to face with a fallen angel. He could have said to the devil be gone and be bound. Have we ever thought how easy it could have been for Jesus to do this? He could have swept the devil aside, marched out of the wilderness full of glory, angels by His side. He could have picked up His crown, forced everybody to worship Him, crushed the Roman Empire, enforced His laws, sparing 2000 years of suffering. He could have made a massive spectacle and statement in the desert. He could have performed all kinds of wonders and miracles. All the grains of sand could have turned into bread and fish. Wine and water could have flowed out of the rocks in streams. Yet He didn't. He let the devil taunt Him for forty days then left.
He chose the crown and the cross.
The devil tempted Jesus with fame and glory. He tempted Him to make bread and be provided for without having to deal with the hunger and pain. He tempted Him to ask for His Father with divine protection without having to fear and to be insecure. He tempted Jesus with instant fame, wealth and riches. He tempted Jesus to a human without the added implications. He wanted Jesus to pick the crown without the cross. He wanted Jesus to make a triumphant statement that He is God. When Jesus chose not to submit to instant fame and glory, when he chose not to submit to instant glorification and quick answers, then Jesus ran the risk of losing appeal. Later on, He would risk loosing His disciples and a great following. Jesus chose not power, fame and glory on earth. He chose love and divine truth. He chose the cross, and for that His glory resound for eternity in heaven.
Why did the Father not allow for such quick action? God the Father throughout the Old Testament knew that by power and dominance you could have people who obey through law, yet truly a man's nature and character is only changed through love. Love responds to love. Wonders and signs and miracles builds not character. It only provides for a quick kind of faith. It is temporary and fleeting. It gets the blood running: that's all. Jesus chose to leave the dessert humble and pure, embarking on a three-year journey during which His character was on display to the world. He chose not to rule with a hammer, but with love. He chose to allow man's free will to be protected. The reason why Jesus has had such an impact is because the lost, the sick, the sinners and the rejected were drawn to Him because of His righteous character that represented the ideal nature of the Father. Because of His Holiness, because of His love and because He did not judge but stood for mercy and grace is why the lost found strength in Him.
He made an impact because He chose to die on the cross, choosing to suffer in love so that His character and His holy nature and His righteousness serves as an eternal example of how we should walk with God. Jesus embarked on a three-year character journey of righteousness. His contagious and infectious nature and character that spoke of purity and holiness and love affected the hearts and minds of those who sought Him, especially the sinners, the sick and the lost. His contagious nature affected a sick society.
Jesus was only interested in the invincible eternal Kingdom. He was not interested in the kingdoms of this world. He hardly gave any political advice. He didn’t slam the Roman Empire. His ways are the ways of the Father. His ways speak of those poor in Spirit, those righteous, those pure, those humble, those meek and those contrite in Spirit - in other words, those whose character reflects the ideal nature of the Lord.
Jesus did not place much emphasis on signs, wonders and miracles. It is not character or faith building. He rather wants us to walk like Him in character and nature. For that, a journey of struggles, a journey of decisions, a journey of choices and a journey of trial and tribulations exist. It is so in order for us to walk like Him in character. Quick fixes, quick solutions or a dominant signs from above was not the way of Jesus. A journey was involved of love, of drawing ever more closer in trust and faith to the divine King.
Three times Jesus was tempted to betray the cross by the devil: in the desert, in the garden and on the cross. When he faced Pontious Pilate, Jesus did not act with power and glory. He was tempted by the government of this world and by the people to quickly fix His problems. Jesus didn't. He chose love and the cross. He chose character and faith and trust above the circumstances and above the ridicule. He chose to complete he journey despite the persecutions. Jesus held onto His path.
As in the dessert when the devil wanted God to show His full power and betray the cross, so we want so many times God to rather show up as the dominant, powerful and all consuming fire. We want answers now, we want healing now, we want deliverance now, we want and we want and we want. We seek answers immediately, we seek signs and miracles, we want to seek the sick healed now and we to see Him move in enormous power. Jesus was tempted with this and in the dessert as in the Garden of Gethsemane, but God did not move.
We want the crown but not the cross. We want the shortcuts and the quick provisions and the quick solutions. Jesus didn’t offer a quick solution in the dessert. He rather showed that through the journey of character where we learn to love like Him, walk like Him and be like Him is where the truth lies to having a true relationship. Character determines how much we have allowed for the Spirit to be God in our lives. In the dessert God understood free will cannot be compromised and man's loyalty and obedience will not be brought through a display of power and brutal force. Man's obedience unto God has been brought by the shed blood of Jesus who chose to die on the cross as the Suffering Messiah so that we could be set free in righteousness.
Do we still serve today the Jesus who chose both the crown and the cross? Do we only want the cross? It seems man wants what the devil offered in the dessert. Man wants the miracle, mystery and authority. He wants to skip the trials, tribulations, suffering and everything that goes with being human. Man wants to skip the responsibility of taking responsibility for his actions. God's children don’t want the pain of being human. Man wants what the devil offered: provision of bread without the work, protection without the obedience and trust unto Him and man also wants the kingdom of this world by bowing to another master. Jesus chose the hard road and that drew people to Him and that pleased the Father.
Today, we want to serve a God who pours out all kinds of miracles, signs and wonders. Oh yeah, we want that crown, leave the cross. We want to serve the Jesus who is the mighty Teacher, but everything He did was a portrayal of the character of the Father. The entire Beatitude is a portrayal of the Father and the Son and the Spirit. It speaks of character. The ideals of the Beatitudes and all that Jesus spoke and showed cannot be reached upon a journey where we only seek God as the Lord of wonder and miracle. Such ideals we can strive for when we choose to walk the road that Jesus did, meaning taking that walk to Cavalry and resisting the temptations of the devil and this world. Quick solutions, easy answers, powerful displays of miracles lead to weak faith and even weaker character.
The Lords wants strong character and strong faith. Jesus showed us how. He did miracles, but many times He wanted no one to know about it. He may have healed the sick, but Jesus greatest purpose was the healing of the spirit and the soul. He reached out to the lost, the sick and the sinners because they had a different disease, namely rejection and that they were unloved and unwanted. Jesus restored love and acceptance unto them because of His character that was formed on his three-year journey. Jesus raised Lazarus unto the glory of God and display true power of death. Oh yes, the Lord still heals today divinely, but God seeks above all else the true healing of spirit and soul. Our greatest miracle is salvation. Love is God's greatest weapon on earth.
A man is truly tested by his character. We want those quick answers and we want God to show up in fire and fury, but God wants sons and daughters who have sought Him earnestly, who held unto Him in truth and faith during all seasons, who have chosen both the crown and the cross, who have chosen character above wonderful works, who have chosen to resist the temptations of the devil and rather obeyed the Lord.
Jesus chose twelve disciples of character. He chose not the rich, the powerful, the politicians or the even the religious. He chose mere who were poor in Spirit, hungry for truth and righteousness.
It amazes me the backdrop to Jesus giving His Sermon on the Mount. Here was Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, having beaten the devil at his own game, having survived the dessert for 40 days, to truly begin His ministry among the people. The people on the other hand were expecting a Messiah who would tell them to be strong and defeat the Romans. They expected encouragement and a sound Winston Churchill speak to be brave, to be powerful, to be strong, never to give up and to keep on fighting. Jesus was faced with such a crowd at the beginning of His ministry. How easy it would have been for Jesus to stand on the Mount in a display of glory. He could have sealed the allegiance there and then. What Jesus told them must have astounded them. He gave them a sermon exactly the opposite to what they wanted to hear! He told them to love their enemy, He told them to feel blessed when persecuted, to love, to be holy, to be meek, kind, gentle, pure of heart and poor in Spirit. Jesus risked loosing a whole lot of supporters because He didn't put on a performance, didn't seek their approval to what he said or did, didn’t seek to appease the religious authorities and neither was He there to destroy any earthly Kingdom. He stood on the Mount to advance the eternal Kingdom and laid the principal of His constitution that focuses on character and choosing both the crown and the cross.
Jesus took on the religious authorities, not Rome. He took that which corrupts character and obedience unto the Father unto the cross. His focus was not for glory on earth or fame or wealth. He was focussed on the Father's will.
What do wee seek? Do we advance the Kingdom or do we advance ourselves in the failing kingdoms of this world?
We need to abstain from evil, but not abstain from doing good. We must love and be charitable, to the extend we love our enemies. We must be pure, humble and true unto Lord. We must cast aside sadness, doubt and anger, for these speak not of faith. We must be true oaks of righteousness. We must seek modesty, simplicity, charity, faith and truth.
Let us fear the Lord and also fear the work of evil, for it destroys the character of the virtuous. As a stone that is tossed up into the sky will never reach heaven, so is a man without a virtuous character, for he will not touch the heavens. A virtuous character opens the door to the throne room, invited, to speak to the Master.
Let us be those who stand for truth yet we draw the sinners so that they may the Father and His redemption by the Blood. Jesus was a friend of sinners, yet uncompromising in His virtue and holiness. The Church today repels the sinners and struggles in the mire of sin and unholiness. Where is the character?
So, let us then be pure of heart, let us be meek, peacemakers, righteous and poor in Spirit, for then the lost, sick and sinners will be attracted to us. Let us walk thus in true divine character, for the rewards are great in eternity, where our names will be spoken and what we do will indeed have an everlasting impact.