" I'M AN ANIMAL,YOU'RE AN
ANIMAL"
The True Confessions of a Writing Evangelist
This story begins on a cold wintery day in March of 1980. While
searching intensely for the cure for my drink and drug habits, I began reading
the Gospel of John on advice from my older brother. He told me once "If
you have any questions about God, just read the Gospel of John."
Although this was not my first experience with the Bible, I was feeling
intense sin-causing guilt, brought on by a Bible seminar I had attended almost
a year earlier where for the first time I began to understand God's Word.
I had now reached a point in my life at age 35 where sin causing guilt
was bringing on thoughts of suicide. It seemed to be the only logical cure for
my condition! I had tried every other "feel good" solution known to
man, well at least every one known to this man, and still no peace!
So, I listened to the still small voice speaking to me, rather than the
loud, brazen voice of suicidal thinking, and I began reading the Gospel of John
from the Bible my wife had given me a few years earlier.
To my amazement this Book began to live before my tear soaked eyes.
Verse by verse, and chapter by chapter, my life was somehow rehearsed before
me, and my entire being was consumed with a repentant spirit, weeping aloud
most of the morning for the way I had lived these thirty something years until
finally I came to the thirteenth verse of the fifteenth chapter, and there the
Lord Jesus on the Cross was revealed to me as the Suffering Saviour for my sin,
and I received Him by faith as my personal Saviour, that seventh day of March,
1980.
"Greater love hath no man than
this, that a man lay down his life for friends."
Wow, God died for me, and all because of His great love for me! A seemingly worthless mound of human flesh
without even the will to live, and yet here the Greatest most Glorious Person
to ever walk the face of the earth gave Himself for me!!
You are probably saying Amen, praise the Lord, for this marvelous,
miraculous testimony of His love, but how does that fit in with " I'm an
animal, you're an animal" theme? Well, trust me after we get finished with
this story, I think it will be as plain as the noses on our faces.
You and I, providing you are a "born-again the Bible way"
Christian, have been transformed from children of darkness to children of Light
at the point of our conversion, but, if we have not continued the process of
transformation God's way our "old man" is in charge of our every
thought and action and we are behaving as animals, consumed with self and our
desires, instead of behaving as a "new creature in Christ". It's just
that simple!
It is my desire and prayer to God your eyes will be opened, as mine
were, those many years ago, to this foundational Truth. Let us continue with
the story from that glorious day in 1980. God immediately gave me a
super-natural hunger for His precious Word.
I began memorizing verses, and rehearsing them over and over to be able
to keep His Truth with me while I was at work. His Word was the complete focus
of my life. I longed to serve Him, this marvelous, loving Saviour who gave
Himself for me, and it was not long until I enrolled in a local Bible school's
night program.
I signed up for a Personal
Evangelism course, not really knowing what it was about. I was drawn by an
advertisement in the local paper, and the word ‘Personal’ drew me because I was
overrun with personal problems.
This course emphasized Scripture memory for the purpose of fulfilling
our #1 priority as Christians, Soul-winning!
My personal problems, drugs/alcohol etc. literally disappeared, as my
focus was on ministering to others who were in the same helpless, hopeless
condition as I had been.
The Holy Spirit continued to lead and guide me to consume the Word of
God in mass quantities! My life was
transformed! It was culture shock! Can you imagine, a Harley riding madman
turned into a soul-winner for the Lord? I was abiding in Christ!
He literally was my life! My communion with Him was continual! His
thoughts were my thoughts, and my heart was filled with songs and hymns and
spiritual songs, I was singing and making melody in my heart to the Lord!
Well, to make a long story short, the "Animal" within little
by little began to take control of my life. Oh, I didn't return to the drugs
and alcohol or the outwardly wretched lifestyle, I was a member of a church now
"you know".
I could go to church and put on the "wolf" that was now used
to wearing "sheep's clothing" outwardly, but inwardly I was a
"ravening wolf"-the "animal" was in charge!
How in the world could this happen to a man who was miraculously
delivered from the certain death of drugs, alcohol, and suicidal thinking? It
happened step by step, little by little, one thought at a time.
The sins of omission!! Like, I
don't really need to memorize Scripture, there's no Bible command that says
"Thou shalt memorize Scripture", or "Ye must meditate on the
Word of God".
Or, "I have to be careful I don't offend this guy, so I'll just
wait for a more convenient time to witness to him". Isn't it amazing how
we can justify our apathetic condition?
It is always the sins of omission that get me in trouble. If I am
actively memorizing and meditating on the Word of God, I will be witnessing.
But, if not I will be justifying my apathy! How about you? How is your
"animal" doing?
Your pet sin, or maybe your pet vice, or maybe it is just your pet! Are you actively witnessing? We're not
talking about lifestyle evangelism, no, if we wait until our life tells him how
to get saved, he might end up spending eternity in hell!
Sure, there is a place for waiting on the Lord in certain situations,
but how do we know if this will be the last time we see this person?
It could be God's appointment for you and for them! When Nicodemus came
to Jesus, The Lord didn't talk about the weather and how beautiful the stars
and moon were that night, no, He went right to the point of Nicodemus' need!
"Ye must be born again..." was His answer to this religious man's
questions.
When Paul went to Athens
his heart was burdened for the people of this great city, he preached to them
of the God they knew not, and some mocked, others said, "We will hear thee
again of this matter", but there is no record of them coming again to hear
the message of Paul. It certainly was God's appointment for them!
Well, let's get back to the "Animal", the focus of our story.
There is lurking within us a creature Paul describes as the "flesh".
The part of our being wherein lust, covetousness, and all ungodly thoughts and
evil desires reside.
It is this great enemy of the Holy Spirit with which we must contend,
for Paul tells us in Galatians 5:17 "For the flesh lusts against the
Spirit" waging war against our souls. It is the "flesh", the
voracious animal instinct, that seeks to control our attitudes/thoughts,
actions and our appetites.
That is why we are commanded in v.16 of this same passage "Walk in
the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh." Romans 13:14
also commands us "But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not
provision for the flesh to fulfill the lusts thereof."
Again Ephesians 4:23,24 tells us "That ye put off concerning the
former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful
lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; Put on the new man, which
after God is created in righteousness and true holiness."
Herein lies the Truth we need to defeat the "Animal" lying
within us, waiting to consume our soul! But how do we obey these seemingly
simple yet mystical commands, Walking in the Spirit, putting on the Lord Jesus
Christ, and putting on the new man?
In Galatians 5, Paul surrounds "the works of the flesh" with
two significant statements: v.17b tells us we cannot do the things that we want
to do when the "animal" is in control.
This word control is a key word in understanding how to defeat this
formidable force. In v.24, 25 he again gives us an additional key to victory.
"And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections
(passions) and lusts."
The negative action of crucifying the flesh and the positive action of
actively walking in the Spirit v.16 and v.25 is the simple formula to victory.
Crucifying the flesh, how is this accomplished? Sounds pretty painful to me!
Yes, as the contemporary slogan goes "No pain, no gain". It takes
painstaking, disciplined work! We might as well face it up front, there is no
victory, no spiritual success without this familiar but seldom utilized
word-work!
If we expect to "Walk in the Spirit" we must feed the Spirit
the diet that will give Him the control of our minds! Feed Him a steady diet of
the Word of God!
How else will we have the simple
child-like faith we need to believe and apply these marvelous, mystical Truths,
except we include in our diet "mass quantities" of the precious Word?
It is significant, that in the place when we are commanded to be filled
with the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18) immediately in v.19 the result is:
"speaking to ourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing
and making melody in your heart to the Lord". However, in the sister
passage, Colossians 3:16.17, this same result is accomplished by letting
"The Word of Christ dwell in us richly"!
So, if we expect to be filled with the Holy Spirit, allowing Him to
control every attitude and action, then we better be willing to set aside time
to memorize and meditate on the Scripture, which is in reality, the Living
Word, the Saviour Himself! He said " It is the Spirit that quickens, the
flesh ("Animal") profits nothing, the Words that I speak unto you,
they are Spirit, they are life"!!! (John 6:63).
These have to be some of the most powerful Words spoken on this subject
of controlling the "Animal" by the Spirit through the Word. This
Word, the Holy Scripture, as spoken by Jesus in this verse, reveals the essence
of the power of His Word! It is the Living Holy Spirit of God in written form!
And as we digest this Word, as we saturate our minds with this Word, the
Holy Spirit Himself controls our thinking, our attitudes, our actions, our
appetites, yes, He takes complete charge of our life!
As we "renew our minds" the "Animal", the old man is
"put off"! Renewing our minds, our thought processes, we are
"putting on the new man" through the Living, All Powerful Word of
God!
Ah yes, I remember it well, the "culture shock" I experienced
when the Holy Spirit demanded I give Him the diet He most certainly
deserves! I was rightly amazed and
awestruck by this dramatic change in my appetites!
No longer craving the alcohol, the drugs, the bizarre Jeckyl and Hyde
lifestyle, but now, by this single act of God, His redeeming my life through
faith in Him, I now longed to be with Him, to study and to know His Precious
Book, my life was truly revolutionized!
And, I made it my business to find out just how this miraculous change
took place. After all, I was a project engineer for a major corporation,
it wouldn' t take me long to figure out His formula! I just wanted to know how
He did it!
Ha, Ha! This was not just "your average" simple engineering
task! No, the One Who spoke the worlds into existence, and breathed the breath
of life into my nostrils is not to be "figured out" through
engineering processes! No, His Divine
Methods are revealed by the Holy Spirit, through faith!
Well, my only explanation to date, even though I searched high and low
to figure out His "Divine Secret", is, it's not my
explanation! It's His! Yes, His formula for the miraculous transformation of a
"ruined" life can be found by simple child-like faith, which is
produced by His Holy Word! How simple can you get?
To the degree that you digest His Word, to this same degree He will
control your life! You yield control to this One Who created you to begin with,
and He will make you like The Perfect Man, His Darling Son! The Lord Jesus
Christ! The "Animal" does not have even an opportunity to think about
pouncing on you when He is in control! What a Saviour!
That's right, we have the privileged opportunity to become like Jesus, complete,
fulfilled, just like Him, the Greatest Man to walk the face of this planet, and
all it takes for us to be molded, formed and shaped into His image, are these
simple child-like acts of faith.
Digesting the Word, giving out the Spirit! Breathing in the Christ of
the Bible exhaling the Powerful Holy Spirit of God! This simple breathing in and
out of the Holy Spirit in the memorization/meditation process is the only Bible
way to Spiritual success (Joshua 1:8)!
So, brethren, let's not forget the great simplicity that is in Christ
Jesus. After all, it doesn't take a "rocket scientist" to realize
that this Life, this breathing, living Spirit of God, the Life that is in The
Lord Jesus Christ is available by faith for every believer!
As we yield ourselves to Him and
expect Him to take control we thereby exercise our faith in His promises and
the "Animal" that once controlled our life is now rendered helpless
by the blessed presence of the LORD Jesus Christ!
No comments:
Post a Comment