Guard That Turf!

Guard That Turf!

It’s almost as if we should have our own cadre of cheerleaders on the sidelines. It’s almost as if we were defending the goal line at the end of a championship football game. The stands are jam-packed and we can barely hear ourselves bark out the signals. It’s almost as if the whole game depended on this one play. In this next moment, this one point in time, our performance will mark eternal defeat and damnation or eternal victory and bliss. This one moment we must defend our turf with the weight of eternity hanging around our shoulders like brass shoulder pads. We are defending honor itself! We must not lose this one. If we do, we will have given up the first line of defense and will have fallen down the slippery slope of the pit of demotion and regression and we will have swallowed the bitter pill of defeat. We will have fallen from the principled stance upon which rock we have carved out a cleft wherein to stand. Therefore, our stance is solidified, our practiced, huddled plans ready, not only in our conscience thoughts but so well engrained as to have become part of who we are. We are ready, not only to defend but to become offensive in our defense. It’s quite simple… We must win!

What must we win? You know, we must guard our own turf. We have carved it out. It’s our specialty. No one else can have it. Didn’t we claim it early on? Weren’t we aggressive in attaching our flag to the pinnacle of the mountaintop? (See Note A) Now, it’s “King of the Mountain” time. No one… and I mean No One is going to knock me off my eagle’s perch at the summit! And what have I discovered is the best way to prevent such an incursion into MY territory, you ask? Don’t let “them” set foot on the foothills! Keep guard. Keep close watch. Know the turf. Live the turf. Be the turf! No encouragement allowed. It might place them on the path! It’s my path and my mountain! Isn’t this what we are taught as we grow up, if not in word, in deed? Isn’t this the fabric of our society? Isn’t this who I am?

All things, then, must fit into this paradigm. This is my life. Know it. Live it. Love it!.. (Stuck With It!)

Luke 18: 9-17
9 To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable:
10 "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.
11 The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men--robbers, evildoers, adulterers--or even like this tax collector.
12 I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.'
13 "But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner.'
14 "I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."
15 People were also bringing babies to Jesus to have him touch them. When the disciples saw this, they rebuked them.
16 But Jesus called the children to him and said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.
17 I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it."

Proverbs 14:12
12 There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.

We do have a choice. Jesus died to make sure that we do. The "Religious" want us to believe that we don't, but we do! All we need to do is step outside the paradigm… Decide that we no longer want to play the Religious World’s or the World's game… Depend on The Holy Spirit for the courage and the strength to withstand the pressures both within and without and having done all… STAND! This doesn’t mean that there will be no battles nor does it mean that there will be no defeats in battle, however, a battle does not a war make. We must stand in the knowledge that God’s love and acceptance is unconditional both in victory and in defeat. As we go on renewing our mind in the truth it will set us free. God will interpret for us as we go, in the light of eternity, by the light of the Holy Spirit, therefore we will be set free from the oppressions of the present, even while in the midst of them.

So, what do we need to do to get started? Loosen the grip on our paradigm. God wants us to let go entirely but I believe that He understands that we are just flesh. By faith when we loosen our grip God begins to take it from us and replace our paradigm with His own. Remember the prodigal son? All he did was turn and walk toward the Father. What did the Father do? He RAN to meet His son! Just loosen your grip and God will meet you there. You ready for some fatted calf? Man, that sounds good to me! Let’s eat!!
… But beware of the older brother!!!

Note A:
"Now, it’s “King of the Mountain” time. No one… and I mean No One is going to knock me off my eagle’s perch at the summit! And what have I discovered is the best way to prevent such an incursion into MY territory, you ask? Don’t let “them” set foot on the foothills! Keep guard. Keep close watch. Know the turf. Live the turf. Be the turf!"

The only one qualified to play "king of the mountain" is God Himself. All others who try are placing themselves in God's place... The mountain that we are tempted to build to stand upon is one constructed out of fire and darkness and judgment but, God, because of the work of Christ on the Cross, has offered us Mount Zion, God's mountain of light and joy and hope. The one caveat? The fear of refusing to enter into the rest, joy and hope of our salvation and deciding to play king of our own mountain. This, we are warned, will bring down the fire of heaven. Yes, you may fear this. We may be very afraid of this!... For our God is a consuming fire!

Hebrews 12:18-29
18 You have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom and storm; 19 to a trumpet blast or to such a voice speaking words that those who heard it begged that no further word be spoken to them, 20 because they could not bear what was commanded: "If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned." 21 The sight was so terrifying that Moses said, "I am trembling with fear." 22 But you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, 23 to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the judge of all men, to the spirits of righteous men made perfect, 24 to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. 25 See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks. If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven? 26 At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, "Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens." 27 The words "once more" indicate the removing of what can be shaken--that is, created things--so that what cannot be shaken may remain. 28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, 29 for our "God is a consuming fire."

Larry Grizzle
(01/20/2009)