The God Wall » Carnality

I’m Not Getting What I Want!

Jim Norman — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 16:49:56 +0000

The ability to distinguish between what I want and what I really need is one of the most valuable spiritual tools a Christian has to work with. It is a valuable tool because for most people it holds the key to gratitude, which is the attitude that makes personal peace possible. The Bible talks about Christians being able to possess a type of peace that “Passes Understanding”. In other words, there is an ability believers have to achieve personal serenity in the most challenging and difficult circumstances.

Personal unhappiness is usually rooted in a perception that we are not getting what we really need. The problem is that most of our opinions on this matter are based on some fairly selfish attitudes that really translate into being upset about not getting what we WANT. So, distinguishing between what we WANT, versus what we really NEED is critical. If we believe we are getting what we need and get rid of the thinking that pursues what we WANT…then we can become grateful in any an all circumstances.

The problem with getting unhappy about not getting what we want is that it always involves our feelings and when we begin to base our happiness on the way we feel we are stepping into the deep waters or fear, resentment and a host of other negative emotions. Then, all those negative feelings begin to connect and they become self-perpetuating. In other words, if we surrender to all those kinds of feelings then the way we view our lives becomes even worse!

The only way out of this spiraling, emotional disaster is to become grateful for the good things we have in our lives, regardless of our circumstances. The simple solution is to just thank God for his grace and mercy and then make a gratitude list – a simple list of things that God has given us to produce the “peace that passes understanding”. Even in the darkest moments of our lives there are things to be grateful for.

The Events of our Lives

Jim Norman — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 11:00:26 +0000

Everyday of our lives we experience the events of our lives. The events range from the profound to the mundane. Events involve all of the people we encounter, the places we go and the things we think we have to have. It is in responding to the events of our lives that the sins of self take over and produce repeated difficulties for us. These difficulties always happen in the present and must be dealt with in the present. The crucifixion of self happens in the present and taking our thoughts captive must happen in the present. In the midst of temptation, anger or jealousy we must learn how to respond with something that will stop the temptation, end the anger and overcome the jealousy.

Self must be crucified when it is actively raging. To deal with self on any other basis is fruitless. When self has calmed and the battle of the present has been lost, the opportunity for victory and grace will have passed. The only thing left will be lingering resentment about what has happened, or fear of what may happen in the future. Difficulty is in the present. Self is in the present. God is in the present. Therefore, our problems and our solutions will only be found in one place: the present!

Step 4 of Crucifixion: The Fixing of Feet to the Cross

Jim Norman — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 11:00:43 +0000

During crucifixion, as gravity pulled the body down, the natural response of the victim would be to push the body up and produce respiratory relief. To prevent that, the feet were also nailed to the cross and the legs of the victim were broken at some point. Pushing up to relieve the respiratory distress became very painful and soon impossible as the pain and exhaustion took over. The fixing of the feet was another mechanical technique in crucifixion that produced a forced obedience to the process and guaranteed the end result: Death.

The crucifixion of self becomes a reality as three things happen:

We acknowledge the truth of God
We accept the truth of God by faith and keep our hands out of His business.
We affirm our faith in God’s truth by becoming obedient to it. It is the living practice of what Jesus said in the Garden of Gethsemane on the night of His passion: “Not my will but thine be done”.

It is by obedience that the power of faith in God’s truth is experienced. It is obedience that is sorely deficient in the lives of Christians today. As Christ’s feet were fixed to the cross, so must our own feet as we walk in obedience to God’s truth. The obedience requirement of the crucifixion of self requires us to walk through our sin and turn from it by the power of Jesus living in us. In other word, we allow him to walk out and live our lives for us, by faith.

The unwillingness to obey causes spiritual difficulty and produces the disasters and the spiritual beatings of daily living. We are commanded to love but we don’t. We are commanded to forgive but we don’t. We are commanded to be humble and poor in spirit but we remain haughty and proud. Without obedience, faith has no life. The book of James puts it this way: “Faith without works is dead”. The works of faith flow from obedience. Obedience is the final matter in the death of self. Without obedience, the Three Holy Lies continue to live and the life of Christ in us is suppressed.

The Sin of “Self-Righteousness”

Jim Norman — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 11:00:20 +0000

Self righteousness involves making judgments about what other people need to do, based on decisions we made for ourselves. Because something was good for us, we righteously believe others need it too. Our good becomes another man’s duty! I quite smoking, therefore all smokers should be forced, intimidated and coerced into becoming like me. I quit eating meat so those who eat meat are a danger to society and cruel to animals. I found a church that seems to agree with everything I want to believe, so all other churches are wrong! The examples of self righteousness are endless. The command from Jesus is ‘judge not lest you be judged’ and the Apostle Paul said this in Romans 2:1

Therefore you have no excuse, everyone of you who passes judgment, for in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things.

Self righteousness is a huge block to the filling of the Holy Spirit. The work of the Spirit is to judge us and lead us into truth. If we are involved in judging others this vital work of the Spirit can’t be performed because we believe we have become righteous in our own thinking and in our own flesh. The Holy Spirit urges us and convicts us to change and to be humble and meek in attitude. A self righteous person resists change and resists information that conflicts with what they believe. The self righteous believe the are a source of truth unto themselves and they have all the answers they need for themselves and for everybody else as well.

The Sin of “Self Confidence”

Jim Norman — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 11:00:45 +0000

Oh my goodness! How can self confidence be a sin? Well, self confidence is a sin because Jesus said we are incapable of doing anything apart from Him. The sin of self confidence is the sin of pride and an inflated ego. Self confidence from the sin perspective involves believing we are superior and better than others. Self confidence embraces an attitude of entitlement and claims to have many rights that supersede the rights of others.

My guess is than most Christians believe they have the right to be happy and that making us happy is God’s main priority. It would shock most believers to learn that such an idea can’t be supported from scripture. God is only interested in making us like Jesus and along the way He promises that we are going to suffer! It is true that mature believers eventually experience the ‘peace that passes understanding’ but that is not the kind of happiness most people pursue. They pursue happiness for the flesh. The peace of God comes only after a believer has learned they must have no confidence in their flesh.

Faith and dependence on Jesus Christ is the only basis Christians have for confidence from a Biblical perspective. If we believe we can do anything on our own we are not allowing Jesus to live His life through us. On that basis, self confidence is a serious sin and it blocks the Holy Spirit from filling us.

The Sins of Self

Jim Norman — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 11:00:53 +0000

There are seven specific sins of self that are at the root of all that God wants us to crucify in our lives. The complete removal of these self-sins is the objective work of the Holy Spirit in the life of every believer. It is the way God goes about conforming us to the image of Jesus Christ in this earthly life. God is not trying to create a hoard of tithers and evangelists who will attend Purpose Driven Life seminars so they can get what they want from God! God purposes His children to be like Jesus in motive and in thought so they may reflect Him in all they say and do. This requires the death of self and the crucifixion of the sins of self. The seven sins of self are:

Self Love

Self Seeking

Self Confidence

Self Righteousness

Self Enhancement

Self Defense

Self Pity

the following scripture needs to be burned into our minds and it needs to become a foundational truth in our Body of Truth.

For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. (Rom 8:5-8) NASB

What Does it Mean to be Filled With the Spirit?

Jim Norman — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 11:00:37 +0000

There is no question that the New Testament teaches a doctrine of being filled with the Holy Spirit and the filling is something that happens throughout the earthly life of a Christian. The filling of the Spirit has nothing to do with being “more saved” but it has everything to do with the extent that we surrender control of our lives to God. The filling of the Spirit is possible and is the will of God for every Christian. The filling of the Spirit is not just for preachers, teachers or any group of specially gifted believers. The filling of the spirit is not about spiritual gifts or signs and wonders. The filling of the Spirit is about allowing the Spirit of God to completely invade our soul and spirit and have His way with us. Simply put, every Christian can have just about all of God in them they really want! The truth of the matter is that most Christians really don’t want that much of God in them because the price of being filled with the Spirit of God is very high. The price is the death of self.

Over The Top Christians?

Jim Norman — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 11:00:18 +0000

Recently a man who is very close to me said, “I’m a Christian, but I’m not one of those ‘over the top’ Christians.” I asked him what that meant and he went on to say that there were things he enjoyed doing and he didn’t want to stop doing them. Drinking was one of those things he liked to do. He resented some Christians suggesting that his drinking might not be too pleasing to God. He believed their attitude to be a bit ‘over the top’. Sadly, I have personal knowledge that this man doesn’t just take an occasional drink. When he drinks he gets drunk and it happens several times a week. This man’s focus is on pleasing himself – not God! His attitude is not uncommon in the American Church.

External and Internal Christians

There are two types of Christians: The external and the internal. The external Christian approaches their relationship with God as a matter of doing what they think a Christian is supposed to do. It’s almost as if they keep a checklist of things they must do to be a good Christian. The checklist may include tithing, volunteering, attending church, reading completely through the Bible every year, obligatory public praying and a host of other religious activities. An external Christian approaches their faith as an system of works. External Christians don’t change much – they just make adjustments to their lists as their opinions change about what constitutes Christian behavior.

An internal Christian is a believer who has an intimate personal relationship with Christ and is continually growing in the knowledge of God and His word. An internal Christian understands that the Christian life is about Christ living in and through them supernaturally. An internal Christian realizes that pleasing God involves the death of self, not the keeping of a religious checklist. Which type of Christian are you?

Look Into Your Heart

Jim Norman — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 11:03:39 +0000

Are you willing to look deep within and ask God to show you what is really going on in your heart? Do you really have the peace of God? Do you love others as God would have you love them? Do you have marital difficulty and conflict? Do you struggle with some kind of addiction? Do you suffer from fits of anger and resentment. Are you jealous of others? Do you lack a sense of spiritual wellness and a true sense of spiritual purpose in your life? These are issues reasonably expected in the lives of those who do not know Jesus Christ. Unfortunately, they are also realities in the lives of Christians who continue to live by their own power. They are the fruits of self-seeking and the spiritual torments of the lukewarm and the carnal.

No Christian will totally eliminate the fruits of carnality in this life but God asks that we press on with our fight against carnality “until the day”. The question is this: Are you pressing on with the fight, or have you surrendered to certain fruits of carnality? The answer is in your heart – if you are willing to seek it.

Church Activities

Jim Norman — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 11:00:27 +0000

Factually, there are few churches and congregations in America that are not carnal in many respects. Even churches who are mighty in support of missions and conduct evangelical outreaches are frequently carnal to the core. They are impressed by their own works and their own efforts. They fail the test of love and they are driven by self-interest and self-glorification. They are busy conducting educational events that urge people to develop a purpose-driven life that has no connection to God’s real purpose for their lives.

You do not find seminars and teaching in these churches that call and exhort Christians to crucify themselves and accept that their lives are none of their business. You do not find seminars teaching that we have no rights in our flesh and that we must give up our life if we are to find it. The cross has become a cheerful symbol to be worn around our necks and decorate the bumpers of our automobiles, rather than an instrument of death!