Wilderness Christianity

[Gideon]

When I was writing a letter to a friend this afternoon, I used that phrase for the first time.... wilderness Christian...and just typing it, it hit spot on. I have for many years known that something was amiss with our whole ‘Christian system’ here in the west, and sadly, we have imported it to many other parts of the world. I have addressed it as Laodecia, and I believe that for the most part, we are walking the very same path as they did, content but without possessing godliness. The fact that we want to vigorously defend what we have tried to pass off our idea of church as God’s best, assuring ourselves  that we are just fine because of grace, and cannot acknowledge that we need a major spiritual infusion into our hearts, is, ironically, a core characteristic of Laocedia. We have need of nothing., right? 

We, whether we can admit it or not, are wilderness Christians.  Oh, we are no longer in Egypt. For many of us, our escape from the grip of the world and the guilt of our sins was as miraculous as the parting of the Red Sea was for the children of Israel. They were God’s children, no doubt, and so are we now. The issue is not our salvation. We have been delivered from the punishment of our sins and the bondage of Satan. 

And yes,God is ours. But..... are we His? The children of Israel did not ever understand that the goal of their being delivered was not just to escape the bondage of Egypt but to fully enter the land of Promise He had prepared for them. . The wilderness was meant to be but a temporary journey.... theee to four weeks. Not over 2,000 of them. But when they arrived at the river Jordan, their unbelief made them permanent residents of  the wilderness. 

Was there ever a doubt that God loved them? No. He provided totally for them. Water from rocks, manna for food, clothes that never wore out. He gave them divine leadership in Moses and all those years was a cloud by day and a light by night. God was no doubt with them, but that did not mean He was pleased with them.  They were the poster children of “ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge o& the truth.” They were content with freedom from Pharoah’s rule,  but that is not free indeed. That is only found in the land of Promise. 

Is that not us in a nutshell? God has promised not just to forgive us of our sins but to set us free indeed.... free from the love of the world, free from defeat to the devil, and yes, free from the real culprit, our old nature, our flesh. Is this not why we were saved.... to let our God actually live inside us, causing us to walk in real victory,  without fear, in full fellowship with Him through the Spirit?  

And what have we done? We have assumed that the promised land is Heaven, and been taught that victory is impossible in this life. We have come to believe that the promised land is not for us here and now. After all, there are giants in the land, right? Truly walking above sin, truly loving not our lives to the death is impossible. Hey, we are only human. Sound familiar? 

Like the Israelites bitten by snakes, we too are being robbed of our spiritual health and the joy of our salvation. We have not yet learned the lesson God gave us through the wilderness journey that His people endured. Instead of looking to the God who promises to set us fre indeed, to cause us to walk as overcomes, victorious over the world the flesh and the devil, if we will but believe, we have instead focused on us...our weaknesses, our infirmities, our propensity for sin, our inability to walk holy. Is this not our guilt.... “having a form of godliness but denying the power there of” ? Israel choked on their unbelief when confronted with giants standing in the wY of their inheritance. And up till now, like them, we too have choked on our excuses as to why abiding in Him all day, every day is impossible. 

Listen, dear brothers and sisters. All that happened to Israel was for our benefit. What they endured were types and shadows for OUR benefit. And we are about to see God’s will for us played out in full reality. God is not finished with us yet. He is not returning for a wilderness bride, in tattered clothes, but a bride resplendent in holiness, with lives that testify to the reality of Christ indwelling His children. 

In the coming days, we will not only witness, but be a part of, the final awakening. Yes, we who are His have oil, but without God’s fire inside, purifying us,making us glow with the light of His amazing presence so that others can clearly see Christ in us, we find ourselves content to mark time, running laps in our wilderness Christianity. 

 Is it any wonder that the true seekers in the world do not want what we have to offer? Is it any wonder so many in the church long for the leeks and onions they once enjoyed in Egypt? We think we are rapture ready, and that we will assuredly  hear  “Well done, though good and faithful servant” as we approach Heaven’s gates. Oh, I pray you listen closely. Wilderness Christians will perhaps make Heaven but will we be able to look our Master in the eye, confidant that we have run our race as He asked of us, as if there is but one prize? 

We think we are Heaven-ready.  We are not. God is by no means finished with His bride to be. We are about to discover the joy and freedom of  putting on our new man by faith alone. We think we have faithfully finished our calling as the church, and brought the gospel to the whole world. But have we lived the gospel out before their eyes? Have our lives displayed the very character of God living in us? Not yet. To those who think the harvest is past and the next thing awaiting us is the rapture, think again. The final harvest is now just beginning.  

Wilderness Christianity is not enough. It is not enough to fill us with real joy. It is not enough to give us victory over the world, the flesh and the devil., especially in the dark days that are on the horizon. It is not enough to light the path for real seekers of God in the world to know we serve the true and living  God through His son Jesus Christ. What is needed? Crossing Jordan. Leaving our limits we put on our God in the rear view mirror. Looking away from us and our inabilities and looking to God and His amazing promises, believing that it is impossible for Him to lie. 

We are told that without faith, it is impossible to please Him. We are told  to believe that He IS. Check! But if that is the limit of our faith, we are still wilderness followers. Do we have ears to hear? We are promised that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. Our land of Promise awaits us, just as Israel’s did for them. Do not be afraid. Do not look to your weakness, nor  your inabilities. Gaze on Him, and what He says He not only can to but WILL do for each one of us, no matter how bound we may be, no matter how weak our faith right now.  He WILL make us overcomers in these last troubling days.  Eagles wings await us. Are you ready to soar? 

Blessings,

Gideon

[Sower]

http://wildernesschristianity.net/

[Willa]

I never assumed that the promised land was heaven as you did.  To me it is the land of God's promises to be claimed as we follow Him step by step.  It is a land of battles that are often fought and won by God Himself as we walk in the Spirit.  Usually our battles are with self threatening us in a weak moment.  As we continue to die to ourselves and follow Christ we do overcome the enemy.  We claim and rest in the finished work of the Cross, praising Him for victories still being won.

Heb 3:17  Now with whom was He angry forty years? Was itnot with those who sinned, whose corpses fell in the wilderness? Heb 3:18  And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who did not obey? Heb 3:19  So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.

Heb 4:1  Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it. Heb 4:2  For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it.

Heb 4:9  There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. Heb 4:10  For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His.

Our faith is built as we pray for God's help in the little daily things of life.  I pray about where I left my car keys--yes occasionally while putting things away they get placed in the freezer or left in a pocket.  God is so faithful in opening my eyes and my memory to where they lie.  Little problems are laid at His feet so that when the challenging ones come along we know how to find our guidance and help.  We have been in the habit of talking to and listening to our Heavenly Father and following our Good Shepherd throughout each day.  So we cling all the closer to Him, trusting and resting in Him in tough times as well.   

As we walk with Him we are ever looking for a face with whom we might share the Gospel, or at least give an encouraging smile and a comforting word.  The world is in so much need of God's love.  So just as He has led me to lost car keys, I now pray He leads me to lost souls that are hungry for Him.

[Neighbor]

7 hours ago, Gideon said:

Is that not us in a nutshell?

Hi,

No, no it is not me in a nutshell.

Don't know about all those "we's" They each would have to answer for themselves  individually I guess. 

Led to an interesting for me review this morning though. So thanks.

[Heleadethme]

Amen, there are lots of lessons to learn from that epic saga of the children of Israel.  One thing to consider is that entering the Promised Land of rest is not necessarily in the same chronological linear way that is depicted in the bible.......for us it is also a "going from glory to glory" concurrent kind of situation.....we are entering it as the Lord drives out our enemies little by little, in different areas of our life and heart.   We can still be in the wilderness in some respects while receiving victory in other areas.   I see the wilderness as the carrying of our cross and following Jesus, a crucifying and denying of the flesh in order to put it to death.  

[Gideon]

2 hours ago, Heleadethme said:

Amen, there are lots of lessons to learn from that epic saga of the children of Israel.  One thing to consider is that entering the Promised Land of rest is not necessarily in the same chronological linear way that is depicted in the bible.......for us it is also a "going from glory to glory" concurrent kind of situation.....we are entering it as the Lord drives out our enemies little by little, in different areas of our life and heart.   We can still be in the wilderness in some respects while receiving victory in other areas.   I see the wilderness as the carrying of our cross and following Jesus, a crucifying and denying of the flesh in order to put it to death.  

If I am understanding you correctly, you are talking about progressive sanctification, and indeed God promises to change us into His image from glory to glory. But I fear we have misunderstood the truth. We are not fleshly natured people who are changed into Spiritual natured ones little by little. We cannot bring forth both good and bad fruits, progressively producing less bad ones and more good ones. That is sewing a new patch on the old wine skin. The two are incompatible and  it cannot hold wine.

We are told that when Christ died, so did we. Our old nature, the carnal us, the one where self is in control, the one that finds it impossible to love God with the whole heart, it died. We are not asked to kill it, but to reckon it already dead. 

This may seem a small point but I cannot emphasize enough that it is at this exact point where we as His people have been led astray. We do not grow from old men to new men, we do not gradually stop producing unholy fruit and start bearing Godly ones.

We are not told to gradually change the type of fruits we are producing. Rather, we are told to make our tree good. And how do we do that? By faith alone! The ax must be laid to the root of the tree. Self must be reckoned dead, for it is the only way to get freed from its grip. Only then can the Lord truly begin to change us from the inside out. And this is an act of faith, believing it to be true even when we do not see how it is possible. That is reckoning faith... believing that we receive it Nd then we shall have it. 

As we as His bride awake to this truth, hidden from our eyes until the last days, these last days, and by faith clothe ourselves with our new man..... Christ in us.... we will discover that walking as overcomers, victorious over the world, the flesh and the devil, is the land of Promise God has already given us. It is the rest that God has had for us since the day we were first saved. Yes, battles await us. But praise God, we have been planted on the high ground. We are not told to obtain the victory, but to clothe ourselves with it, believing, as the Israelites did, that every step they took would be their possession. Unbelief is the enemy of our soul, and the old man is famous for it, limiting what our God can do. It is time we believed our God, that His goodness can truly eliminate our badness and make us overflowing in fruits that bring glory to Him. 

But sadly, like the Israelites in the wilderness, we have thought it is just a matter of time and that if we just remain Christians long enough, we will eventually somehow  become holy. We too have spent years, and for some like me, decades, wandering in our own wilderness, lap after lap, Sunday after Sunday, ever learning and yet never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. And what truth is that?

It is that we need new natures to do new natured things,

And  glory to God, He has already given them to us. Our job is simply admit that ur old fleshly natures can never truly please God, agree to let it die,  and  to put our brand new natures on. 

God is even now awakening us to this amazing truth, and as we awake and light our lamps, and by faith reckon our old nature as dead, we will discover what the land of Promise actually is. When we finally humble ourselves and admit to God that unless He lives our life through us, we cannot please Him. Romans 7 will be the best we can do. But that is not our birthright, is it? Romans 8 awaits each one of us, and as we clothe ourselves with our new natures, which can and will be caused to obey Him, we will find our feet planted on the highway OF holiness and.... it will be glorious. 

Blessings,

Gids

[Heleadethme]

I wasn't trying to disagree with you brother.  But just that I wanted to mention another  layer of truth to these things concerning the wilderness.  The part that I was talking about has to do with this:

Exo 23:29-30

I will not drive them out from before thee in one year; lest the land become desolate, and the beast of the field multiply against thee.

By little and little I will drive them out from before thee, until thou be increased, and inherit the land.

And even though in the scripture it is linearly depicted as being after they had crossed over into the Promised Land, for us in reality this is normally HOW we are crossing over, little by little, until finally the last stronghold is overcome and conquered.  At least that's how I understand it.  This doesn't rule out the Lord acting in a sovereign way to hurry things up (make a short work) in the end, as I believe He is going to....for one thing to make sure the members of His Bride (those who paid the price for extra oil) are all ready together at the same point in time that He comes back for her. 

[Gideon]

1 hour ago, Heleadethme said:

I wasn't trying to disagree with you brother.  But just that I wanted to mention another  layer of truth to these things concerning the wilderness.  The part that I was talking about has to do with this:

Exo 23:29-30

I will not drive them out from before thee in one year; lest the land become desolate, and the beast of the field multiply against thee.

By little and little I will drive them out from before thee, until thou be increased, and inherit the land.

And even though in the scripture it is linearly depicted as being after they had crossed over into the Promised Land, for us in reality this is normally HOW we are crossing over, little by little, until finally the last stronghold is overcome and conquered.  At least that's how I understand it.  This doesn't rule out the Lord acting in a sovereign way to hurry things up (make a short work) in the end, as I believe He is going to....for one thing to make sure the members of His Bride (those who paid the price for extra oil) are all ready together at the same point in time that He comes back for her. 

Please forgive me if I seemed argumentative. It is just that many misunderstand what God has done and Satan will use any logic to sway the children of God from believing that they are new creatures.

I do agree with you though. When we enter the promised land by faith, the battles do not cease, they begin! Amen? Before, our fight was with us, but now in the taking of the land, our fight is the good fight of faith. It’s purpose is to see us fully established in the faith. Thus, our faith must be tried in order to grow. We are guaranteed victory but nevertheless, we must ourselves walk that victory out until all that is not the Lord is brought to defeat so Jesus can fully reign over us. 

Thank you for your kindness in responding with grace to what might have been seen as uncaring correction for that was not the case at all. You are a blessing here on the board.

Gideon

[Gideon]

12 hours ago, Willa said:

I never assumed that the promised land was heaven as you did.  To me it is the land of God's promises to be claimed as we follow Him step by step.  It is a land of battles that are often fought and won by God Himself as we walk in the Spirit.  Usually our battles are with self threatening us in a weak moment.  As we continue to die to ourselves and follow Christ we do overcome the enemy.  We claim and rest in the finished work of the Cross, praising Him for victories still being won.

Heb 3:17  Now with whom was He angry forty years? Was itnot with those who sinned, whose corpses fell in the wilderness? Heb 3:18  And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who did not obey? Heb 3:19  So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.

Heb 4:1  Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it. Heb 4:2  For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it.

Heb 4:9  There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. Heb 4:10  For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His.

Our faith is built as we pray for God's help in the little daily things of life.  I pray about where I left my car keys--yes occasionally while putting things away they get placed in the freezer or left in a pocket.  God is so faithful in opening my eyes and my memory to where they lie.  Little problems are laid at His feet so that when the challenging ones come along we know how to find our guidance and help.  We have been in the habit of talking to and listening to our Heavenly Father and following our Good Shepherd throughout each day.  So we cling all the closer to Him, trusting and resting in Him in tough times as well.   

As we walk with Him we are ever looking for a face with whom we might share the Gospel, or at least give an encouraging smile and a comforting word.  The world is in so much need of God's love.  So just as He has led me to lost car keys, I now pray He leads me to lost souls that are hungry for Him.

Willa, you have a rare gift, a soft and gentle Spirit, and I thank God for that in you. May He continue to lead you deeper into Him. Your post made my day. 

Blessings, Gideon

[Not me]

10 hours ago, Gideon said:

This may seem a small point but I cannot emphasize enough that it is at this exact point where we as His people have been led astray. We do not grow from old men to new men, we do not gradually stop producing unholy fruit and start bearing Godly ones.

I have often thought the same thing. For it was when the truth that “when Christ died I died” was made real to me. My relationship with Christ became solid,  in such a way I could never have imagined before. It was no longer a couple of weeks, maybe even a month or two, before I found myself deep in sin again. Wishing for a way out. Hating myself and both loving my sin at the same time. Knowning I was displeasing to God, yet could find no victory over my chosen sins. In my life it was when the Lord brought me to the place where I was willing to die, rather than sin, that put me in the right position where God could finally reveal what our salvation in Christ consisted of; “when Christ died I died”. Than all the scriptures that speak of me “being crucified with Christ” and “Christ being my Life” came alive. I knew what was meant by them in such a living way. This is the door to walking a victorious Christian life. Where it is no longer a matter of promising God, I will try harder next time. For my next time would be like my last thousands of times. Failure on a grand scale. But to all that find themselves struggling with sin, there is hope like you can only dream of. I can remember telling God if there was just a button I could push that would make me 100% obedient to Him,  I would push it in a heart beat. But I could never find the button. Till in the course of time, which I have come to learn, it was just a matter of me learning the truth of  “that in me dwells no good thing”. It was when this truth,  was learned that victory was just a matter of “reckoning myself dead”. But this learning had to wait till I was convinced in my heart, that death was better than sinning. When that lesson was learned, “reckoning myself dead” became my joy. To never lose fellowship with Him because of choosing to sin. Than I saw that truly of a certainty “I” or “self” was truly my worst enemy. Blessing to all that won’t let go of God, till He blesses them with a victorious Christian life. For that life is most assuredly for you. 

Much love in Christ, Not me