Rule Your House

I’m having the strangest morning. I feel wonderful.

I always feel good in the morning, but not like this. When I say I always feel good, I mean I always feel good physically, and I mean I don’t hate getting out of bed the way I did for the first few decades of my life. I don’t mean I always feel good inside. I’ve felt considerable stress lately. I had to fix it with prayer before I got started with the day. Today I felt stressed when I woke up, but now I feel like I just had a massage.

False doctrine is always a problem. Men who don’t know God make things up, usually because they love money, glory, and power. As a result, Orthodox Jews believe in reincarnation, and Catholics think priests shouldn’t marry. Charismatics believe God will give them a hundred dollars for every ten dollars they give Kenneth Copeland. Our religious authorities have made up a lot of poisonous doctrine, and we suffer because of it.

Testimony is better. If a truthful person testifies, we know that what he says happened actually happened. Testimony isn’t perfect, because people are often deceived by evil spirits and miracles performed by the devil; the Mormon church may have gotten its start through the appearance of a lying spirit. A person can give truthful testimony that misleads people. But when testimony is truthful, and it lines up with scripture and the inner witness of the Holy Spirit, it can’t be beat.

You can’t testify about something you didn’t witness. Nearly all of the world’s religious leaders haven’t witnessed anything. They repeat hearsay or deliberate lies. They give us strategies that don’t work. Instead of calling us up to walk on the water, they tie millstones around our necks. When we take their advice and fail, we are likely to give up on God altogether.

Why did I suddenly veer off into the area of false doctrine? Because I believe I feel good today because I gave up a cherished belief of Christians everywhere.

We believe that a human being has three parts: flesh, mind (or soul), and spirit. I accept that. Some churches teach that you can command your flesh or your mind, in the name of Jesus. I accept that, because it works pretty well. Many churches teach that the spirit of a saved person is perfect and doesn’t need any improvement. They teach that it’s supposed to be exalted above the flesh and body, with no need for input from anyone but God. That, I do not accept.

The Bible tells us the spirit of a prophet is subject to the prophet, meaning it has to obey him. On the cross, the mind of Jesus sent his spirit to the Father. In English, the verse says, “I commend my spirit.” In Greek, it means something like, “I place my spirit beside you.” It comes from Psalm 31, and the Hebrew word used there appears to mean something like “commit” or “entrust.” He was sending his spirit to the Father. His mind had that authority.

A person who prays in tongues has the power to turn it on and off at will.

It sure looks like our spirits have to listen to us, but if preachers tell us our spirits are perfect, and that they’re in charge, we are not likely to take authority and get things done.

Today I started commanding my spirit to do this and that, and to stop doing other things. I can’t tell you how much better I feel.

I live in Miami, which is full of rude people, and I spend time on the Internet, which makes Miami look like a Care Bears picnic. I am constantly subjected to provocation. I don’t want anger in my life, and I don’t want to live with the sensation that I am always balled up in a defensive stance. I developed the habit of commanding my flesh and my mind not to be angry. I commanded them in other areas. It works, but the effect is not as powerful as it could be. I think that’s because I wasn’t going far enough upstream, to where the problem really starts.

I used to blame other people for my anger, and it was not a hard thing to rationalize. People are a mess. Under the polite surface, there’s always a food fight going on. People say and do nasty things all the time. Eventually, I learned that I could not blame other people. Anger is a choice, and it becomes a habit. If I blame other people, I cede power over my heart to them. That’s a bad idea. I have a responsibility to be an authority over myself. Why would an intelligent person give control of his heart to someone who is against him?

I know people who love talking about “righteous anger,” as if it’s okay to be enraged all the time. I don’t know if anyone is immune to anger, and I doubt such people exist, because we know God gets angry. All the same, it seems obvious that if anger has to exist, it should be brief, and it should serve a purpose. It should not be in control. If you pet it and feed it and shelter it, it sits inside you and eats you alive while the people you’re mad at enjoy life, oblivious.

This morning I felt unwanted anger and stress, and I commanded my spirit to knock it off. I commanded it to forgive and to submit to the Holy Spirit. I did this along with the other spiritual warfare strategies I use every day.

Commanding your mind and your flesh produces results, but it’s different when you command your spirit. It works better. That shouldn’t be a suprise. Jesus said the spirit was willing but the flesh was weak. I think the spirit is quicker to obey.

When I was living in Israel, my kibbutz gave the volunteers a bus tour. I’ve written about this before. We went to the northern end of the country and visited the Banias, Mt. Hermon, and the nature preserve at Tel Dan. We went by the Sea of Galilee. The Banias, Mt. Hermon, and Tel Dan contain origins of the Jordan River.

Pure snow falls on Mt. Hermon, and it melts and goes into springs that contribute to the Jordan. The Banias is an old heathen shrine (named for Pan) at the base of the mountain. Its Latin name is Caesarea Philippi. There used to be a bubbling spring there, and pagans threw sacrifices into it, polluting the Jordan for the rest of its length.

Mt. Hermon (“Baal Hermon,” or “Lord of the Curse”) is where rebellious angels came down when they descended to earth and polluted mankind’s genes by fornicating with women. “Baal Hermon” is said to be the name of a false deity that was worshiped under the mountain.

The Sea of Galilee (farther down the Jordan) represents the earth, and the fish are people. The waters are the voices of men and spirits. The pollution of the Jordan is the spiritual pollution that bathes mankind.

When you command your spirit, it’s as if you’re going to the Jordan’s source and cutting off the unclean sacrifices.

I know that sounds strange, but God designed Israel to confirm his word.

Human iniquity starts in the spirit. If you don’t address it until it’s in your mind and flesh, you’re just stopping up a leak with chewing gum. What you want is to cut off the flow at the source. If your spirit is with you, then you don’t have to rely on your weaker parts to fix your problems.

The spirit is like a man in a marriage. It should be the head, not the tail. If a husband and father is screwed up, there isn’t much hope for the family. If he’s doing what he should be doing, the family will usually prosper. You have to get your spirit to wake up and move. That’s what I take away from this. You have to give your spirit feedback and call on it to live up to its obligations.

I don’t care if people think I’m crazy; that’s par for the course. The world will be against me no matter what I do or say, so I might as well be truthful.

Right now I can read the news without having to battle anger. I can think about my obligations without anxiety. I can consider the defeated state of the world without feeling despair. I want to hold onto this.

It’s nice to resist your counterproductive emotions, habits, and opinions, but it’s better to be rid of them.

Man-created doctrine tells us resisting temptation is the best thing we can do. Forcing ourselves to obey God, using willpower, makes us righteous. That’s not true. It’s better to have your heart changed so you don’t want to do evil. This is what God is talking about when he says he will write his law on our hearts.

Who would you rather have live in your spare room? A repentant pedophile who fights temptation every day, or a former pedophile who no longer has any interest in children? Which person would you say is “better”?

Before the crucifixion and Pentecost, we didn’t have much ability to change our hearts. We could choose to obey, but we couldn’t rewire ourselves. Now we can hack our character. That’s a much bigger blessing than a set of laws.

The things God is trying to give us are exponentially better than the worldly garbage we pursue every day. They are worth giving up ambition, pride, and pleasing the flesh. Earthly pleasures are like thin scabs on festering wounds. The Holy Spirit cleans the wound out and eliminates it. We are too deceived to realize this.

If you’re struggling with yourself, consider what I’m saying. No one expects you to carry everything by yourself.