Depth

 I’ve been living with the Book of Jude going on a couple of months now. The more I ponder his writings, the more respect I have for his body of knowledge, especially regarding the spiritual, as well as the enemy’s ongoing war with the household of faith. It’s not easy to encapsulate the origin and ultimate destiny of evil in one verse, but Jude did it without breaking a sweat.

Jude 6, “And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day;”

The devil doesn’t just hate you. He’s not exclusive that way. The devil hates everyone and everything that God ever created. He roams, seeking to devour the children of God because He knows their destruction is the one thing that will hurt God worse than anything else.

It’s one thing to defile, pervert, and mutilate the things God created, whether man or woman, natural desire, or maternal instinct. It’s another to warp and twist the minds of those from within His family.

Lions don’t care what they eat. Meat is meat. They stalk, hunt, and bring down whatever’s available at a given time. The enemy, however, having awareness, not only seeks to devour but also to devour those whom God’s heart would hurt at seeing felled the most.

Why do you think the devil takes such perverse pleasure in corrupting innocence? Why do you think the wholesome and virtuous are his number one target? The person seeped in sin and depravity is already his. Their destruction brings him no particular kind of pleasure. The death spiral is just the consequence of sin and indulging in it. Sin is death and has a 100% mortality rate. Jesus is the cure, and He has a 100% survivability rate.

When you are saved, your nature is transfused from the old man to the new man, from the nature of the sinful creature to one of a child of God. This doesn’t mean the devil leaves you alone, never to bother you again. From that point forward, he is looking for a way in, a crack, a chink, a compromise, something that will allow him to transfuse the old man back in and the nature of Christ back out. He can’t force the reverse transfusion on anyone; it’s not like he’s some kidney harvester in the Philippines. Some, however, for whatever reason, volunteer for it. As heartbreaking as it is to witness, when people backslide, it is with their full knowledge and consent.

The human heart is not an ever-expanding container. There’s only so much room in it, and it’s either full of Christ or the world. When the old gets pumped out and the new pumped in, we usually extend a season of grace to the new believer who is learning to walk, see, and hear for the first time. The process, however, the transfusion, must be completed at some point, and the new man must emerge whole, equipped, and ready to do exploits on behalf of the kingdom.

If the process never concludes, if there is no terminus, then the individual in question shut off the drip coming in so that no more could go out, and they’re in a half-state of being, more commonly known as lukewarm. God’s desire is always to infuse you with His nature. If the process pauses, it’s because there is resistance, and He will not force Himself on anyone.

How do you know when the fullness of God resides in you? When every decision you make takes His glory into account. When what you may have wanted out of life no longer matters, and the only permanent goal is that His will be done in your life instead.

There are exceptions to the rule, such as Paul, where God hoovers out a heart and fills it instantaneously, but usually, it’s a growth process of learning to trust and understanding the nature of Christ. Baby chicks aren’t expected to feed themselves the day they are hatched, but eventually, they are.

It took a minute for Peter to make the journey from coward to being known as the original Rock. Having heard him deny Christ before a servant girl, would anyone have guessed that this was the man upon whom Christ would build His church? Even if they’d heard Jesus declare it so, seeing him now, fearful and cowardly, would they still have believed it would be so?

The presence of God in one’s life is transformative. You cannot remain as you were once you encounter Him and still maintain that you’ve been transformed. There must be less of me and more of Him every day until it’s all of Him and none of me. The inward transformation will manifest outwardly because when Christ is in you, He will radiate from you. Men will know you’ve been in the presence of Jesus without you having to declare it.

If you eat garlic or curry, you don’t have to tell people about it; they’ll catch a whiff and know. If you are imbued with the nature, character, life, and will of Christ, it will show, and those around you will be able to tell. I cannot continue to be as I was if I hope to become what He desires me to be. Transformation, sanctification, growth, and progress are necessary components of our spiritual walk, and if we’re no longer growing or becoming more like Him, it is a reason for concern.

Self-awareness coupled with honesty will aid anyone brave enough to utilize them in determining why their walk has stagnated and why their love has cooled. When you discover the reason, because it becomes apparent, be merciless in removing it from your life. Don’t let roadblocks get in the way of the fullness of Christ in your life. Lukewarm is no way to meet your maker.

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr.