Matthew
16:24-26 Amplified Bible (AMP)
24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, If anyone desires to be My
disciple, let him deny himself [disregard, lose sight of, and forget himself
and his own interests] and take up his cross and follow Me [cleave steadfastly
to Me, conform wholly to My example in living and, if need be, in dying, also].25 For whoever is bent on saving his [temporal] life [his comfort and security here] shall lose it [eternal life]; and whoever loses his life [his comfort and security here] for My sake shall find it [life everlasting].
26 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life [his blessed life in the kingdom of God]? Or what would a man give as an exchange for his [blessed] life [in the kingdom of God]?
Mark 8:34-37 Amplified Bible (AMP)
34 And Jesus called [to Him]
the throng with His disciples and said to them, If anyone intends to come after
Me, let him deny himself [forget, ignore, disown, and lose sight of himself and
his own interests] and take up his cross, and [joining Me as a disciple and
siding with My party] follow with Me [continually, cleaving steadfastly to Me].35 For whoever wants to save his [higher, spiritual, eternal] life, will lose it [the lower, natural, temporal life which is lived only on earth]; and whoever gives up his life [which is lived only on earth] for My sake and the Gospel’s will save it [his higher, spiritual life in the eternal kingdom of God].
36 For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his life [in the eternal kingdom of God]?
37 For what can a man give as an exchange (a compensation, a ransom, in return) for his [blessed] life [in the eternal kingdom of God]?
As the children's story so eloquently points
out..."I could tell it was going to be a terrible, horrible, no good, very
bad day." How? Because EVERYONE I came across was grumpy!! I couldn't
escape it! I can only take so much before I explode...so in order to keep my
Christian witness, I went for a walk to let off some steam. As I was talking to
the Lord, asking him why everyone seemed so contentious, my mind wandered to a
cartoon a friend posted on Facebook earlier that day titled “Dyslexic CPR”. The
Lord interrupted my thoughts and impressed upon me that the reason for all this
contention, indifference and lack of faithfulness that His people have been
exhibiting is that we are suffering from “Spiritual Dyslexia”.
So, Spiritual Dyslexia can be defined as: “Difficulty in living a Spirit-led life experienced in a born-again believer. A common example is ignoring godly conviction in order to gain worldly pleasure or self-satisfaction.”
As I was preparing this Bible Study I ran across something Bro Tim
Vik, the Wisconsin District Youth Ministry President, said: “If your relationship with God isn’t
moving from ‘self’ centered to ‘God’ centered…you may not have a relationship
with God.” God’s purpose for His people to remain on this earth is so we can
bring others to salvation. If that wasn’t His purpose for us we would be
raptured as soon as we were born-again! Just look at the example Jesus Himself
set for us while He was on earth. He used every waking moment to minister to
others. I’m sure there were times He wanted to give into His flesh and stay
“home”, away from people who always wanted something from Him, yet He never
gave in to self.
I
titled this “Spiritual Dyslexia” because, just as natural dyslexics do,
we get things turned around. To prove this to ourselves, prioritize these three
things SELF, JESUS, OTHERS. Did
you list “Jesus” or “God” as the first priority?
To further examine our priorities, let’s take the
time to answer some questions honestly:
In his book “The Gift of Dyslexia”, Ronald Davis (an over-comer of dyslexia himself), shares the
steps he takes when teaching people to overcome this learning disability. We’re
going to take some of his ideas to help us overcome Spiritual Dyslexia.
Matthew 14:26-31, Amplified
26 And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified and said, It is a ghost! And they screamed out with fright.
27 But instantly He spoke to them, saying, Take courage! I Am! Stop being afraid!
28 And Peter answered Him, Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.
29 He said, Come! So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water, and he came toward Jesus.
30 But when he perceived and felt the strong wind, he was frightened, and as he began to sink, he cried out, Lord, save me [from death]!
31 Instantly Jesus reached out His hand and caught and held him, saying to him, O you of little faith, why did you doubt?
If Peter had kept his spiritual “mind’s eye” on Jesus he wouldn’t have started to sink into the water. Likewise, if we will keep our spiritual “mind’s eye” on Jesus we will not sink into a life of sin. How do we find our spiritual “mind’s eye” once we’ve become disoriented? Prayer, Bible reading, fasting, praise, and if need be, counsel from your Pastor. Once you find your spiritual epicenter again it is important to maintain it daily!
2. Basic Symbol Mastery Mr. Davis teaches his students to relearn the alphabet once they’ve found their mind’s epicenter, and so we should also go back through spiritual basics. I’ve found that it is always refreshing to go back over the basic plan of salvation, we get so caught up in all the “rules” of living for God, we often forget about the sacrifice He made for us and from where He brought us out (1 Peter 2:10 “ Once you were not a people [at all], but now you are God’s people…”).
Reviewing doctrine is powerful in getting us back into the groove once we’ve strayed spiritually. Paul tells Timothy, “Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.” 1 Timothy 4:16 KJV. Even if you think you know everything there is to know about the plan of salvation, go back through it!
3. Symbol Mastery for Words Once a student relearns his alphabet, Mr. Davis urges his students to use their new mastery of letters and symbols to form words and begin reading. During the reading process it will be revealed to the student what words trigger the disorientation that lapses them back into a dyslexic episode.
The Bible tells us that the Word is capable of discerning the thoughts and intent of our hearts (Hebrews 4:12). The next step in regaining our spiritual ground is continuing in the Word of God and allowing that Word to speak to us about those deep-seeded issues we are leery of getting rid of…those same issues that tend to trigger the sin problem in our lives (Hebrews 12:1).
Here’s
an excerpt from The Gift of Dyslexia…see if you can pick up on the spiritual
application:
“The
task of correction isn’t really complete until the person’s compulsive
solutions no longer operate. As long as the person continues to use the old
solutions, he might as well keep the old problem, because nothing will
permanently change. So in order for dyslexia to be corrected, the old,
compulsive solutions simply have to go…
The old solutions are no longer stimulated, so they don’t automatically happen. As the person experiences life, he or she will discover things that work better than the old solutions did. As soon as the person experiences a better way of doing things, the old solutions are replaced…
Experiencing the loss of an old solution is all the proof a person needs in order to know with certainty that his dyslexia is being corrected, and that the change is permanent.”
In other words, the more you read the Word of God and apply it to your life, the less likely you will be to resort to your old ways of dealing with life issues and the more likely you will be to live a life of victory through Jesus!
Reiterating the 3 steps to overcome Spiritual Dyslexia:
1. You
wake up Sunday morning with a splitting headache. Do you stay home or go to
church?
2. There’s
a family reunion 3 hours away on a Sunday. You’d have to skip church in order
to make the reunion, and you just missed church last week because the kids were
sick. Do you go to the reunion?
3. You
need a job and have an interview for the dream job. During the interview you
realize the hours interfere with almost every church service. Do you take the
job?
4. There’s
a movie you’ve been waiting to see. The opening scene comes on and you start to
feel uneasy with the images on the screen. Do you ignore the uneasiness and continue
to watch it?
The point to these questions is to ask ourselves if
we make decisions based on what we want to do or based on what Jesus would want
us to do. If we continually make decisions based on what WE want, what really is our first priority? We tell ourselves, and others, that Jesus is #1
in our lives, but often our choices show otherwise.
How many of us have heard someone say, “Just because I’m a Christian doesn’t mean
I’m a doormat”? It’s usually said after some verbal tirade. I agree that
Jesus would not have His children be “doormats” and there are times we need to
take a stand, but if we are painfully honest with ourselves, the reason we
blasted someone with our words was just to blow off some steam and make us feel
better. Yet, the Bible teaches us that “A
word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in
pictures of silver” Proverbs
25:11 and that “The discretion of a man deferreth
his anger; and it is his glory
to pass over a transgression.” Proverbs 19:11.
How many of us have seen, or
experienced, the slow fade of someone letting go of holiness standards? Oftentimes
it is justified with “Well, that is just
the standard for public leadership and I don’t have a position in the church
so…” Holiness is NOT
about holding a position in the church, it’s about your status as a child of
God! When you chose to compromise on holiness, it’s actually about
doing/wearing/seeing what you want without thought to what God wants. But doesn’t the Bible say “ Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye
separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive
you.”
2 Corinthians 6:17. “Speak unto
all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say unto them, Ye shall be holy: for I the
Lord your God am holy.” Leviticus 19:2.
We need to embrace the convictions
we feel, examine them to see if they are from God and give up that thing we
want for ourselves in order to bring glory to God! In an interview, MichelleDuggar talks about why she chose to wear modest clothing. She said after she
became a born-again Christian she felt
the Lord telling her not to wear certain things. Her husband had asked her,
“What about when we go biking, hiking, or swimming?” Michelle’s reply was “I
don’t know all the answers or details, but I just want to honor Jesus.” That’s
just it. Sometimes we don’t understand why God does or doesn’t want us to do
certain things so instead of examining the uneasiness we feel, we just push it
aside and do what we want to do for ourselves. There are times we won’t intellectually
understand why God is giving us a conviction on something, after all His ways
are higher than our ways (Isaiah 55:8-9), but if we honestly live a life
controlled by Christ we will obey Him without completely understanding why. I
can’t emphasize enough how important it is to NOT quench the uneasy feeling we
get when watching a movie, clothes shopping or contemplating that make-over.
That uneasiness is God’s Spirit speaking to us and calling us into a deeper
relationship with Him. Be assured that whatever you give up for the glory of
God will be replaced with a deeper, more fulfilled life in Christ.
A healthy spiritual life is putting Jesus first in
everything, no matter how uncomfortable it makes us, or how many
self-sacrifices we have to make. When we chose to ignore that uneasiness and continue to
follow our own desires we start to lose spiritual equilibrium (a state or
feeling of mental balance) and Spiritual Dyslexia sets in. Spiritual Dyslexia
can be fatal to our eternal souls as we see in the opening scriptures.
Just as there
are warning signs with dyslexia there are also Spiritual Dyslexia warning
signs: Discontent (always wanting more things/money), easily angered, lack of
prayer/fasting, vanity/pride...just to name a few. Good news, however, like
physical dyslexia, Spiritual Dyslexia can be overcome!
Matthew 14:26-31, Amplified
26 And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified and said, It is a ghost! And they screamed out with fright.
27 But instantly He spoke to them, saying, Take courage! I Am! Stop being afraid!
28 And Peter answered Him, Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.
29 He said, Come! So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water, and he came toward Jesus.
30 But when he perceived and felt the strong wind, he was frightened, and as he began to sink, he cried out, Lord, save me [from death]!
31 Instantly Jesus reached out His hand and caught and held him, saying to him, O you of little faith, why did you doubt?
If Peter had kept his spiritual “mind’s eye” on Jesus he wouldn’t have started to sink into the water. Likewise, if we will keep our spiritual “mind’s eye” on Jesus we will not sink into a life of sin. How do we find our spiritual “mind’s eye” once we’ve become disoriented? Prayer, Bible reading, fasting, praise, and if need be, counsel from your Pastor. Once you find your spiritual epicenter again it is important to maintain it daily!
2. Basic Symbol Mastery Mr. Davis teaches his students to relearn the alphabet once they’ve found their mind’s epicenter, and so we should also go back through spiritual basics. I’ve found that it is always refreshing to go back over the basic plan of salvation, we get so caught up in all the “rules” of living for God, we often forget about the sacrifice He made for us and from where He brought us out (1 Peter 2:10 “ Once you were not a people [at all], but now you are God’s people…”).
Reviewing doctrine is powerful in getting us back into the groove once we’ve strayed spiritually. Paul tells Timothy, “Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.” 1 Timothy 4:16 KJV. Even if you think you know everything there is to know about the plan of salvation, go back through it!
3. Symbol Mastery for Words Once a student relearns his alphabet, Mr. Davis urges his students to use their new mastery of letters and symbols to form words and begin reading. During the reading process it will be revealed to the student what words trigger the disorientation that lapses them back into a dyslexic episode.
The Bible tells us that the Word is capable of discerning the thoughts and intent of our hearts (Hebrews 4:12). The next step in regaining our spiritual ground is continuing in the Word of God and allowing that Word to speak to us about those deep-seeded issues we are leery of getting rid of…those same issues that tend to trigger the sin problem in our lives (Hebrews 12:1).
The old solutions are no longer stimulated, so they don’t automatically happen. As the person experiences life, he or she will discover things that work better than the old solutions did. As soon as the person experiences a better way of doing things, the old solutions are replaced…
Experiencing the loss of an old solution is all the proof a person needs in order to know with certainty that his dyslexia is being corrected, and that the change is permanent.”
In other words, the more you read the Word of God and apply it to your life, the less likely you will be to resort to your old ways of dealing with life issues and the more likely you will be to live a life of victory through Jesus!
Reiterating the 3 steps to overcome Spiritual Dyslexia:
1)
Find your spiritual mind’s eye through Bible reading,
prayer, fasting, praise and counsel.
2)
Master the basics of salvation by re-studying Apostolic
Doctrine.
3)
Master
the Word of God by applying it to every aspect of your life and allowing it to
discern your desires from God’s desires for you.
John says it well in his Epistle:
2-3 Here’s how we can be sure that we know God in the right way: Keep his commandments.
4-6 If someone claims, “I know him well!” but doesn’t keep his commandments, he’s obviously a liar. His life doesn’t match his words. But the one who keeps God’s word is the person in whom we see God’s mature love. This is the only way to be sure we’re in God. Anyone who claims to be intimate with God ought to live the same kind of life Jesus lived.
7-8 My dear friends, I’m not writing anything new here. This is the oldest commandment in the book, and you’ve known it from day one. It’s always been implicit in the Message you’ve heard. On the other hand, perhaps it is new, freshly minted as it is in both Christ and you—the darkness on its way out and the True Light already blazing!
12-13 I remind you, my dear children: Your sins are forgiven in Jesus’ name. You veterans were in on the ground floor, and know the One who started all this; you newcomers have won a big victory over the Evil One.
13-14 And a second reminder, dear children: You know the Father from personal experience. You veterans know the One who started it all; and you newcomers—such vitality and strength! God’s word is so steady in you. Your fellowship with God enables you to gain a victory over the Evil One.
15-17 Don’t love the world’s ways. Don’t love the world’s goods. Love of the world squeezes out love for the Father. Practically everything that goes on in the world—wanting your own way, wanting everything for yourself, wanting to appear important—has nothing to do with the Father. It just isolates you from him. The world and all its wanting, wanting, wanting is on the way out—but whoever does what God wants is set for eternity.
24-25 Stay with what you heard from the beginning, the original message. Let it sink into your life. If what you heard from the beginning lives deeply in you, you will live deeply in both Son and Father. This is exactly what Christ promised: eternal life, real life!
26-27 I’ve written to warn you about those who are trying to deceive you. But they’re no match for what is embedded deeply within you—Christ’s anointing, no less! You don’t need any of their so-called teaching. Christ’s anointing teaches you the truth on everything you need to know about yourself and him, uncontaminated by a single lie. Live deeply in what you were taught.
28 And now, children, stay with Christ. Live deeply in Christ. Then we’ll be ready for him when he appears, ready to receive him with open arms, with no cause for red-faced guilt or lame excuses when he arrives.
29 Once you’re convinced that he is right and righteous, you’ll recognize that all who practice righteousness are God’s true children.”
John says it well in his Epistle:
1 John 2:1-8, 12-17 & 24-29 The Message
“I write this, dear children, to guide you out of sin. But
if anyone does sin, we have a Priest-Friend in the presence of the Father:
Jesus Christ, righteous Jesus. When he served as a sacrifice for our sins, he
solved the sin problem for good—not only ours, but the whole world’s.2-3 Here’s how we can be sure that we know God in the right way: Keep his commandments.
4-6 If someone claims, “I know him well!” but doesn’t keep his commandments, he’s obviously a liar. His life doesn’t match his words. But the one who keeps God’s word is the person in whom we see God’s mature love. This is the only way to be sure we’re in God. Anyone who claims to be intimate with God ought to live the same kind of life Jesus lived.
7-8 My dear friends, I’m not writing anything new here. This is the oldest commandment in the book, and you’ve known it from day one. It’s always been implicit in the Message you’ve heard. On the other hand, perhaps it is new, freshly minted as it is in both Christ and you—the darkness on its way out and the True Light already blazing!
12-13 I remind you, my dear children: Your sins are forgiven in Jesus’ name. You veterans were in on the ground floor, and know the One who started all this; you newcomers have won a big victory over the Evil One.
13-14 And a second reminder, dear children: You know the Father from personal experience. You veterans know the One who started it all; and you newcomers—such vitality and strength! God’s word is so steady in you. Your fellowship with God enables you to gain a victory over the Evil One.
15-17 Don’t love the world’s ways. Don’t love the world’s goods. Love of the world squeezes out love for the Father. Practically everything that goes on in the world—wanting your own way, wanting everything for yourself, wanting to appear important—has nothing to do with the Father. It just isolates you from him. The world and all its wanting, wanting, wanting is on the way out—but whoever does what God wants is set for eternity.
24-25 Stay with what you heard from the beginning, the original message. Let it sink into your life. If what you heard from the beginning lives deeply in you, you will live deeply in both Son and Father. This is exactly what Christ promised: eternal life, real life!
26-27 I’ve written to warn you about those who are trying to deceive you. But they’re no match for what is embedded deeply within you—Christ’s anointing, no less! You don’t need any of their so-called teaching. Christ’s anointing teaches you the truth on everything you need to know about yourself and him, uncontaminated by a single lie. Live deeply in what you were taught.
28 And now, children, stay with Christ. Live deeply in Christ. Then we’ll be ready for him when he appears, ready to receive him with open arms, with no cause for red-faced guilt or lame excuses when he arrives.
29 Once you’re convinced that he is right and righteous, you’ll recognize that all who practice righteousness are God’s true children.”
