He didn't feel like going to bed yet so he went to his office and sat down in the chair.
In April 15th's post, Relinquishing Life, my friend, Katie Stone, mentioned that we should be removing things from our lives which may be hindering our pursuit of Christ. Sin is not the only obstacle that can stand between us and a life that is fully surrendered to God's will. Katie used the illustration of a marathon to demonstrate that things which may not be 'against the rules' can still hamper our ability to preform well. She spoke of how many Christians are 'trying to run a marathon in high heels'. In the case of David Wilkerson, that meant he was watching TV in the time that God had given Him to be praying.
"Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul." (1 Peter ii. 11)
What are these passions that Peter is urging, or begging (as the NKJV says) us to abstain from? I recently looked up the definition of the word passions and found that Miriam Webster's Dictionary actually gives four, separate definitions for the word:
1. The state or capacity of being acted on by an external agent or force.
2. Emotion as distinguished from reason
3. Intense, driving, or overmastering feelings.
4. A strong liking, desire for, or devotion to an activity, object, or concept.
The passions that 1 Peter ii.11 is talking about are things that we have a strong liking, desire for, or devotion to as the fourth definition states. The other definitions portray a slightly different aspect of the word and yet I think that they fit into the meaning of the verse as well. The first three definitions reveal that the person who has these passions does not necessarily have control over them; the passions are 'acting on', 'driving', and even 'overmastering' the person. This is not the way many of us have viewed our passions. We see them as things or activities that we choose to take enjoyment in. They serve us and we use them as it is convenient to us... but is that actually true? The first time that I tried to give up a 'passion of the flesh' I found, as David Wilkerson did, that it was not an easy task. I had emotions that bound me to that activity apart from reason and I found myself regularly participating in things even after I knew they were not beneficial to my relationship with Christ, or to my life in general. Before long I realised that I was actually enslaved to my own passions!
"Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey..." (Romans vi.16)
Many Christians are being controlled by things that were never meant to be their masters. We are to have only one master and that is to be God Himself. It is He who has purchased us with the precious blood of Christ that we might be His own possession (1 Peter ii.9 & 19). We are the possession of the One who calls Himself a jealous God (Exodus xxxiv. 14).
Luke xvi. 13 says, "No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other." We can not serve God well when we are clinging to fleshly passions using the excuse that they are not 'technically' wrong. We need to be willing to hear Him when He asks us to set them aside so that we might pursue Him even better. David Livingstone prayed, "God, send me anywhere, only go with me. Lay any burden on me, only sustain me. And sever any tie in my heart except the tie that binds my heart to Yours."
Peter said, "the passions of the flesh...wage war against your soul." The Bible makes numerous references to warfare, teaching the Christian that he or she is in a very real battle. A battle in which they must behave as soldiers. Imagine that a man of war could cause the soldiers of the enemy troop to be distracted every time that their commander was giving them orders. That man would quickly gain the upper hand in the battle because without the strategy and instruction of their leader the unit would fall into disorder and be unable to perform any mission on which they were sent. If he could distract them for long enough they might even forget the purpose of their fight altogether. Does that sound familiar? This is a very real tactic and our enemy, Satan, is wielding it against us! Distracted by other things we regularly miss the conviction and prompting of the Holy Spirit and we stand around wondering why God isn't speaking to us. The truth is that God is speaking but we just aren't listening. God's instruction usually comes in a still, small voice (1 Kings xix. 11 - 13) and if we are distracted by entertainment or other worldly passions that which our Lord is telling us will easily be missed.
“How can you pull down strongholds of Satan if you don't even have the strength to turn off your TV?” - Leonard Ravenhill
"How many hours do I spend in front of that television every night?" He said aloud. It's a couple of hours at least. Two hours a day, seven days, that's fourteen hours a week! His eyebrows rose at the realisation. What would happen if I spent that time praying? His thoughts instantly filled with objections: I watch TV at night because I'm tired. I can't be a pastor all the time! A pastor needs to keep up with the things his people are seeing and talking about.
David Wilkerson was in the habit of praying whenever he had a major decision to make. So once again he knelt to place 'a fleece' before the Lord. Gideon had laid an actual fleece out on the ground and prayed God would confirm what he wanted him to do with a sign - the fleece he left out being dry in the morning though the ground was wet with dew. God answered this prayer of Gideon's and though Pastor Wilkerson wasn't laying out a literal fleece he too would ask for a sign of confirmation.
"Lord Jesus, help me to know if this idea is from You. I'll post an add for the television set in the paper tomorrow and if it's your will for me to sell it have a buyer call for it within the first hour, no, the first half hour, after the paper gets out on the streets."
...
"Half an hour! David Wilkerson, I don't think you actually want to spend that time praying!" His wife, Gwen, said the next morning when he told her his plan. She was right. The truth was that he didn't really want to get rid of the set and if God didn't send someone in the first thirty minutes he would have an excuse to keep it. Perhaps his motives weren't the best but he posted the add anyhow.
Gwen and the children, all greatly amused by the experiment, watched with him as the minutes ticked by. David's eyes moved back and forth between the television set and the clock on the wall. When twenty- nine minutes had passed he was preparing to breath a sigh of relief. Then the phone rang.
"Well, aren't you going to pick it up?" Gwen asked. It had only rang twice but she doubted his resolve to follow through with the plan. Without replying he reached for the phone. A man's voice came over the line.
"Hi, you had an add in the paper for a TV set."
"That's right." Dave was watching Gwen's face as he gave the man the details about the set.
"And how much do you want for it?"
He hadn't even thought about a cost! "A hundred dollars."
He hadn't even thought about a cost! "A hundred dollars."
"I'll take it."
"Don't you want to come look at it first?"
"No. If you can have it ready in fifteen minutes, I'll be there with the money." David felt like laughing as he hung up the phone. Clearly God wanted him to pray instead of watch TV!
Beginning that night, David Wilkerson went to his office, closed the door, and knelt to pray. The two hours a night that had previously been wasted became working hours. He knew it was a glorious opportunity but it felt more like a dull and tedious chore.
For the first several nights he ran out of things to pray for within the first half hour. Then, slowly, he began to learn how to pray. To pray praise as well as petition. He started reading through his bible as he prayed - he read it from cover to cover. From this time of prayer David Wilkerson gained a new perspective that changed the other hours of his day as well.
For the first several nights he ran out of things to pray for within the first half hour. Then, slowly, he began to learn how to pray. To pray praise as well as petition. He started reading through his bible as he prayed - he read it from cover to cover. From this time of prayer David Wilkerson gained a new perspective that changed the other hours of his day as well.
"All things are lawful,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up." (1 Corinthians x. 23)
In April 15th's post, Relinquishing Life, my friend, Katie Stone, mentioned that we should be removing things from our lives which may be hindering our pursuit of Christ. Sin is not the only obstacle that can stand between us and a life that is fully surrendered to God's will. Katie used the illustration of a marathon to demonstrate that things which may not be 'against the rules' can still hamper our ability to preform well. She spoke of how many Christians are 'trying to run a marathon in high heels'. In the case of David Wilkerson, that meant he was watching TV in the time that God had given Him to be praying.
"Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul." (1 Peter ii. 11)
What are these passions that Peter is urging, or begging (as the NKJV says) us to abstain from? I recently looked up the definition of the word passions and found that Miriam Webster's Dictionary actually gives four, separate definitions for the word:
1. The state or capacity of being acted on by an external agent or force.
2. Emotion as distinguished from reason
3. Intense, driving, or overmastering feelings.
4. A strong liking, desire for, or devotion to an activity, object, or concept.
The passions that 1 Peter ii.11 is talking about are things that we have a strong liking, desire for, or devotion to as the fourth definition states. The other definitions portray a slightly different aspect of the word and yet I think that they fit into the meaning of the verse as well. The first three definitions reveal that the person who has these passions does not necessarily have control over them; the passions are 'acting on', 'driving', and even 'overmastering' the person. This is not the way many of us have viewed our passions. We see them as things or activities that we choose to take enjoyment in. They serve us and we use them as it is convenient to us... but is that actually true? The first time that I tried to give up a 'passion of the flesh' I found, as David Wilkerson did, that it was not an easy task. I had emotions that bound me to that activity apart from reason and I found myself regularly participating in things even after I knew they were not beneficial to my relationship with Christ, or to my life in general. Before long I realised that I was actually enslaved to my own passions!
"Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey..." (Romans vi.16)
Many Christians are being controlled by things that were never meant to be their masters. We are to have only one master and that is to be God Himself. It is He who has purchased us with the precious blood of Christ that we might be His own possession (1 Peter ii.9 & 19). We are the possession of the One who calls Himself a jealous God (Exodus xxxiv. 14).
Luke xvi. 13 says, "No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other." We can not serve God well when we are clinging to fleshly passions using the excuse that they are not 'technically' wrong. We need to be willing to hear Him when He asks us to set them aside so that we might pursue Him even better. David Livingstone prayed, "God, send me anywhere, only go with me. Lay any burden on me, only sustain me. And sever any tie in my heart except the tie that binds my heart to Yours."
Peter said, "the passions of the flesh...wage war against your soul." The Bible makes numerous references to warfare, teaching the Christian that he or she is in a very real battle. A battle in which they must behave as soldiers. Imagine that a man of war could cause the soldiers of the enemy troop to be distracted every time that their commander was giving them orders. That man would quickly gain the upper hand in the battle because without the strategy and instruction of their leader the unit would fall into disorder and be unable to perform any mission on which they were sent. If he could distract them for long enough they might even forget the purpose of their fight altogether. Does that sound familiar? This is a very real tactic and our enemy, Satan, is wielding it against us! Distracted by other things we regularly miss the conviction and prompting of the Holy Spirit and we stand around wondering why God isn't speaking to us. The truth is that God is speaking but we just aren't listening. God's instruction usually comes in a still, small voice (1 Kings xix. 11 - 13) and if we are distracted by entertainment or other worldly passions that which our Lord is telling us will easily be missed.
“How can you pull down strongholds of Satan if you don't even have the strength to turn off your TV?” - Leonard Ravenhill
In Christ
quiana
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