Rejection and Beating the System – Wisdom from Dr Neil Anderson - Purity 1214

To see today's photo, go to mt4christ.org or follow me, M.t. Clark, on Facebook or Twitter. Good morning. Today's photo of an oversized boat gliding over the blue waters of Spencer Gulf that are reflecting the blue sky above comes to us from Dave Bond Photography, who shared this scene from his visit to Cowell, South Australia back on August 11th. Well, it's Tuesday, and I've been looking back to August recently as I'm rejoicing over the positive changes that I have made with my health and how the decision to actually treat my food addiction as an addiction has resulted in more than proverbial weights being lifted off my shoulders. I am in the best physical shape of my life, but at the same time, this year has challenged my resolve as I was summarily deemed to be rejected by people I had idolized. There's a mistake make, and for something I had put a lot of pride in obtaining. That's another mistake. And I had spent considerable time, effort, and money and worked hard to accomplish. No regrets there. I gave it my all. But I have accepted loss and I'm moving forward to the next things that the Lord has in store for me. Uh, the best analogy I can make in regards to my disappointment, uh, is that sometimes you can make all the shots during basketball tryouts and still not make the team. Oh well, I got other responsibilities and commitments to take care of, and instead of lamenting over what could have been, we will thank the Lord for the lessons learned and move forward to follow him. The new year has me leading another Freedom in Christ course for men online for Freedom in Christ Ministries, and I am signed up for a class to get additional training, um, additional discipleship council counseling training with FICM. So, uh, in spite of disappointments, I have a hope and a future for ministry, and as always, with Jesus as my Lord and Savior. Rejection can sting though, and it can cause all kinds of responses like anger, bitterness, depression, and for some of us, it can cause us to press in and work harder. While the last response is admirable, it also has its inherent dangers, as our desire to "beat the system" may lead us to play a game we cannot win. Freedom in Christ Ministries recently shared, um, this message from Dr. Neil Anderson via email that addresses how overachieving as a response to rejection may not lead to victory and only lead us astray. I found Anderson's words to be wise, and I'm sharing them on the blog today. Dr. Neil Anderson writes, "Beating the System." He shares Luke 14:11, which says, "Everyone who exalts himself shall be humbled, and he who humbles himself shall be exalted." And Anderson writes, a small percentage of people defend against rejection by buying into the dog-eat-dog system of the world and learning to and learning to compete and scheme to get ahead of the pack. These are the movers and shakers, people who earn acceptance and strive for significance through their performance. They feel driven to get on top of every situation because winning is their passport to acceptance. They are characterized by perfectionism and emotional insulation, and they struggle with anxiety and stress. Spiritually, the beat the system individual refuses to come under God's authority and has little fellowship with God. This person is committed to controlling and manipulating people and circumstances for their own ends, so it is difficult for them to yield control in their life to God. In our churches, this person jockeys to be chairman of the ruling board or the most influential member on a committee. Their motivation is not to serve God in this position, however, but to control their world because their self-worth is dependent on it. Beat-the-system controllers are some of the most insecure people you will meet. Sadly, the controlling individual's defense— defensive strategy only delays inevitable rejection. Eventually, their ability to control their family, their employees, and their church diminishes, and they are replaced by a younger, stronger controller. Some survive this midlife crisis, but many who make it to retirement don't enjoy much of it. Studies show that high-powered executives live an average of 9 months after they retire. They base their lives in the world system they seek to conquer, but inevitably the world claims its own. And then, um, Anderson shares Colossians 2:8, which says, "See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ." And Neil Anderson ends with, "Gracious Lord, teach me to be in this world but not of it. I choose your kingdom to be my standard." Yes, Lord. And that, that was— concludes Anderson's portion of today's message. Yes, Lord, teach us all to choose your kingdom to be our standard and to not place the approval of other men above you. Help us to accomplish your will for our lives and to not make idols out of the things of this world that will one day prove not to be of you and will only pass away. Help us to follow you into your purposes and peace always. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Today's Bible verse comes to us from the Quick Scripture— well, Bible verses come to us from the Quick Scripture Reference for Counseling by John G. Crews. This morning's meditation verses come from the section on the church and communion of the saints, and it's a lengthy passage today from 1 Kings 22:1-4 in the New King James Version, the word of God says, now 3 years passed without war between Syria and Israel. Then it came to pass in the 3rd year that Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, went down to visit the king of Israel. And the king of Israel said to his servants, do you know that Ramoth in Gilead is ours, but we hesitate to take it out of the hand of the king of Syria? So he said to Jehoshaphat, Will you go with me to fight at Ramoth Gilead? Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, I am, I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses. Also Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, please inquire for the Lord, for the word of the Lord today. Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, about 400 men, and said to them, shall I go against Ramoth Gilead to fight, or shall I refrain? So they said, 'Go up, for the Lord will deliver it into your hand— into the hand of the king.' And Jehoshaphat said, 'Is there still not— is there not still a prophet of the Lord here that we may inquire of him?' So the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, 'There is still one man, Micaiah the son of Imlah, by whom we may inquire of the Lord, but I hate him.' Because he does not prophesy good concerning me, but evil. And Jehoshaphat said, let not the king say such things. Then the king of Israel called an officer and said, bring Micaiah the son of Imlah quickly. The king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, having put on their robes, sat each on his throne at a threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria. And all the prophets prophesied prophesied before them. Now Zedekiah, the king of— the son of Chananaah, had made horns of iron for himself, and he said, 'Thus says the Lord, with these you shall gore the Syrians until they are destroyed.' And all the prophets prophesied so, saying, 'Go up to Ramoth Gilead and prosper, for the Lord will deliver it into your king's hand.' Then the messenger who had gone to call Micaiah spoke to him, saying, "Now listen! The words of the prophets with one accord encourage the king. Please let your word be like the word of one of them, and speak encouragement." And Micaiah said, "As the LORD lives, whatever the LORD says to me, that I will speak." Today's verses fall under the 16th point of our Counseling Reference Guide's resource section on the Church and Communion of the Saints. The 16th point is God's office bearers must say all and only that which he requires of them, even when they are under great pressure to do otherwise. Today's verses set the stage for a dramatic moment regarding prophecy and the reality of the fact that God may use the spiritual forces of darkness to accomplish his will on earth. For Micaiah went on to say in 1 Kings 22:19, 19-23, then Micaiah said, therefore hear the word of the Lord. I saw the Lord sitting on his throne and all the hosts of heaven standing by on his right hand and on his left. And the Lord said, who will persuade Ahab to go up that he may fall at Ramoth Gilead? So one spoke in this manner and another spoke in that manner. Then a spirit came forward and stood before the Lord and said, 'I will persuade him.' The Lord said to him, 'In what way?' So he said, 'I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.' And the Lord said, 'You shall persuade him and also prevail. Go out and do so.' Therefore look, the Lord has put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these prophets of yours, and the Lord has declared disaster against you. That's a tough message to share—that King Ahab's hopes for a victory will fail and that demons, lying spirit, are speaking through your trusted advisor. But Micaiah eventually shared it regardless of the pressures on him to say otherwise. And so we too must share the gospel of grace that declares Jesus as the only way to peace with God and that calls sin for what it is. But let's remember to say all and only what the Lord would have us say and to hold off on sharing our personal opinion if it does not come from God's Spirit. We want to speak the truth and we want to do so in love, but sometimes we are charged to bring conviction and should speak the hard truths that others need to hear. So, follow the Lord and listen to His voice to make sure you say all and only what He calls you to speak. As always, I invite all to go to mtforchrist.org where I always share insights from prominent Christian theologians and counselors to assist my brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk. Today we are sharing from God is in the Manger: Reflections on Advent and Christmas by Dietrich Bonhoeffer. As I said, we're not really on schedule with the Advent calendar, so you have to forgive us, but we wanted to read all the messages we could from this devotional before Christmas, and we— so we started early. And, uh, so this is actually coming from, uh, what, what is called Advent Week 2 Mystery, uh, from Day 3 in Bonhoeffer's devotional. Bonhoeffer writes the message called The Wonder of All Wonders. Bonhoeffer writes, God travels wonderful ways with human beings, but he does, does not comply with the views and opinions of people. God does not go the way that people want to prescribe for him. Rather, his way is beyond all comprehension, free and self-determined beyond all proof. When reason is indignant, where our nature rebels, where our piety anxiously keeps us away, That is precisely where God loves to be. There he confounds the reason of the reasonable. There he aggravates our nature, our piety. That is where he wants to be, and no one can keep him from it. Only the humble believe him and rejoice that God is so free and so marvelous that he does wonders where people despair, that he takes what is little and lowly and makes it marvelous. And that is the wonder of all wonders, that God loves the lowly. God is not ashamed of the lowliness of human beings. God marches right in. He chooses people as his instruments and performs his wonders where one would least expect them. God is near to lowliness. He loves the lost, the neglected, the unseemly, the excluded, the weak, and the broken. This next section is also written by Bonhoeffer. Bonhoeffer writes, that is the unrecognized mystery of this world, Jesus Christ, that this Jesus of Nazareth, the carpenter, was himself the Lord of glory. That was the mystery of God. It was a mystery because God became poor, lowly, low, lowly, and weak out of love for mankind. Because God became a human being like us so that we would become divine, and because he came to us so that we would come to him. God as the one who becomes low for our sakes, God in Jesus of Nazareth, that is the secret. Hidden wisdom that no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor human heart conceived. That is the depth of the deity whom we worship as mystery and comprehend as mystery. That was also written by Dietrich Bonhoeffer. And finally, the resource shares 1 Corinthians 2:8-10, which says, none of the rulers of this age understood this. For if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But as it is written, what no eye has seen, no ear heard, nor the human heart conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him. These things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. And that's the end of our sharing from the Dietrich Bonhoeffer devotional, God Is in the Manger. At Reflections on Advent and Christmas. Well, it is, um, December 5th, so we got 20 days and it will be Christmas. Or, or is it 19? Uh, it'll be Christmas Eve. I'm not sure how you count, but it's coming around the bend, and I for one am looking forward to it, as it's been a long journey, uh, this year as I I don't know, it's a long journey every year, and a lot, a lot of people have gone through a lot of things, including myself. And overall, it's been a great walk with the Lord, and I really have no regrets. So I'll just keep walking and talking with God and look forward to the Christmas season to celebrate the birth of our Savior. And, you know, it's already here, so we just have to figure out how we're going to celebrate in terms of, you know, buying presents and everything. I brought in the tree the other day, and its lights don't work, so I have to buy lights for a lighted tree. And my daughter actually is going to take care of that, I believe, as Haley agreed to. Decorate the tree possibly today. So looking forward to that. That— the manger, of course, is already out. I'm not one of the people who hide Jesus. I put him right out there from the beginning. Some people, you know, basically don't— you know, he's not here yet. So, but you know what? Jesus is here. You know, he did come. Uh, you know, we're not waiting for baby Jesus to come back. We're waiting for, you know, Jesus the King to come back. So we keep that straight. We celebrate the birth, but we look forward to the advent of Christ's return. On earth. And, uh, well, we look forward to walking with him then. But today we're going to have to walk into our purposes for God's kingdom. So let's pray. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. Lord, we thank you so much for what you've done, and that our peace is not found, you know, from the opinions of other men or the accomplishments of what we can do on the earth. Our peace is found in Jesus Christ alone, and our salvation through Him and Your purposes for us, Lord. So we just pray for You to go before us, Lord, and to show us what Your purpose is for us today and to help us. Lord, we also pray for anyone who's listening or reading today's message, that You'd come alongside them and their prayer request and to bless them, to help them as they go. And Lord, as always, we just pray for You to open our eyes, let to the things you want us to see and to move us in the way we should go. Because all we want to do is represent you in your kingdom and bring other peoples to know that nothing is impossible when it comes to, uh, to life when we have faith in Jesus Christ. So Lord, um, we thank you, we praise you, we love you. We pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.