Obnoxious!

The word of the day is obnoxious. Okay, actually, no its not. You see nowadays 'obnoxious' merely implies more of an irritant or annoyance such as a rude or obnoxious person or an obnoxious smell. I felt the need to state the obvious due to our affinity to try to understand things according to what we know or what’s generally common. The danger in that is we assume that what we know is enough. The word of the day is really noxious. Now noxious “without the ob” carries with it the idea that you may personally not be ‘irritated’, yet there is a very present danger in play: Early in my military career, I spent time in South Korea where a substantial portion of the in-brief dealt with the dangers of ‘The silent killer’. Many areas in Korea do not have central heating, as is commonplace in much of rural America. When I was there, many Korean homes used a floor heating system called “Ondol” which is an effective system depending on what fuel is used to generate the heat. The danger was introduced when coal briquettes are used. The heated floors are usually well constructed and sealed to vent any exhaust away from the occupants but all it takes is one crack in an unsuspecting place to turn a warm and cozy siesta into a tragic situation. Carbon monoxide is odorless and colorless but no less "noxious".

The truth of the matter is that it’s very easy to mistakenly end up at the wrong conclusion with little or no indication that a misunderstanding is taking place. I’m sure with this explanation, you see how obnoxious is different from noxious because I have a confession to make; Noxious also is not the word of the day.

Here’s The Word;

2 Peter 2:2 And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.

This verse in Scripture exposes the reality of Satan's desire to render the Church impotent through the infiltration of false teachers and persuasive saboteurs who subvert the Truth and influence others to stray as well. The REAL word of the day is pernicious. Though its etymology is where we get the word noxious, but how many of us really know what pernicious means? It’s not a word we use on daily basis and like I said earlier, we tend to define (or try to understand) the uncommon by the common and because of this, we can often lose much of the original implication. Here are words used for pernicious in other translations;

NIV uses “depraved conduct” ESV & NASB uses “sensuality” ASB uses “lascivious doings”

The original Greek word here is ἀσελγείαις “ahs - Elg(as in get) - eeahh” but it also implies undetectable YET unrestrained . It’s only when we add this idea of subtlety to the outwardly expressed ‘depravity’ that I think we actually get closer to what this passage is saying. It’s not hard to imagine what sensuality, depravity, and lasciviousness look like and most of us “church folk” know that we would run from such behaviors. But what about when it’s in the beginning stages?.. Subtle. Even only “slightly” detectable, if at all. I believe that this identifies the capacity for which The Spirit gifts those able to “discern spirits” to expose those who would start at truth and bend it to error to the destruction of many who would unknowingly follow such a way. Sadly, I really don’t see us living this way. In our day, the push for relevancy has given way to unbridled “tolerance” and has watered us down to the point where we’re often ill-equipped to handle blatant violations, let alone ‘pernicious’ ones.

As always, this is not meant to be an indictment as much as it’s meant to be an encouragement. I sure hope we give serious consideration; that we may be able to prevent ourselves from becoming victims of such subtle destruction. I pray that the when the Holy Spirit exposes error, that we be emboldened to do what’s necessary that the church would continue to bless, strengthen, and enlighten us to recognize and embrace The Truth.

In Him,
Cros

Check Your Pockets

Well, I don’t keep much of anything in my pockets. However, I do carry a lunch bag to the office everyday that ends up toting much more (or less) than food. In my bag now I have my Albuterol inhaler, Airborne, Carmex, an assignment from Chip’s school, a pen, 2 green apples, a Chobani yogurt and one of those plastic dental floss thingies. That’s basically it. You might say I have “assurance” as to what’s in my bag. More than likely, if you carry a bag or things in your pockets, you also know what’s in them. This is the example of assurance that would always come to my mind whenever I would hear the story in Acts of Peter and John who’d gone up to the temple at prayer time. They were presented with a beggar who had been lame his whole life. Peter, John and the man locked eyes.

Here’s The Word;

Acts 3:6 Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.7 And he took him by the right hand, and lifted him up: and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength.

I’m moved to goosebumps at Peter’s assurance in that although his pockets were empty, he “knew” that he had been given the command and gift to heal this man as did the rest of the apostles Matthew 10. We seem to have relatively few stories of the miracles of the Apostles, and we know more about Peter’s affinity to be on the wrong side of situation but this is the example I use in my prayer time as I seek to be a vessel fit for The Master’s use: That I would be as boldly assured as Peter. I believe that God wants us to walk in that kind of assurance and command when we realize and live in whatever Spiritual gift He blesses us with.

Here are some other things that should form the foundation of our assurance;

1 Corinthians 15:58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.

Colossians 4:6 Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.

James 1:3 Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.

1 John 5:13 These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.

How wonderful it would be that the people of God would stand up in bold assurance to be about Our Father’s business -and a good caveat to add as I say this; “Let it begin with me.” I pray that when my moments come that I would operate in the gift of The Holy Spirit and The command of Christ without having to check my pockets.

In Him,
Cros