Conference yukon::christian_v7

578.0. "Approval" by ODIXIE::HUNT () Fri Sep 23 1994 09:55

   I have thought about entering this illustration for some time now.  It's 
   an illustration that is used by Bill and Anna Belle Gilham.  They share 
   this illustration in several different books and tapes.  I am taking it 
   out of "Lifetime Guarantee".  As those who have receive God's grace 
   through faith, God accepts us completely, not because of anything which 
   we have done or do or will do, but because of what Christ has done for 
   us.  He loves us because we are His.
   
   What about God's APPROVAL?  We ARE APPROVED by God based on performance.  
   But we are not judged by the results, but rather by the METHOD.  Its not 
   an A-B-C-D-F grading system, but a Pass-Fail system (1 Cor 3:11-15).  
   Either your method is right or it is wrong.  It is either trusting in 
   Christ's life through you, or in your flesh-proven techniques.  
   
   The illustration involves a house wife who desires to cook breakfast for 
   her husband.  The husband likes his eggs with unbroken yolks.  The first 
   day the wife cooks the eggs.  Since she feels that the Lord doesn't want 
   to be involved with such trivial matters, she will cook the eggs on her 
   own by herself.  Her method is independence.  God loves dependence.  He 
   despises independence.  Her words to the Lord might go something like, 
   "Now, Lord I really would like perfect eggs to be cooked this morning.  
   I'm going to do the best I can.  I would appreciate it if You'd just pick 
   up the slack and help me a bit if the eggs are in danger of being 
   broken."  Well, the eggs come out perfect that first morning.  "The flesh 
   says, `Success', because the flesh, having been programmed through years 
   of living in the jungle warfare of planet earth, striving to get needs 
   met through worldly methodology, always looks to tangible results to 
   evaluate success and failure."  The Lord however gives the women a 
   failing grade, because He is scoring her on the method, not the results.
   Only God's work will be acknowledged at the judgment seat of Christ.
   
   This first day is depicted in the following grid:
   
      THE     METHOD   DESIRED    ACTUAL    FLESH'S     GOD'S
    BURDEN     USED    RESULTS   RESULTS  EVALUATION  EVALUATION	
    Eggs to   Do it   Unbroken  Unbroken   Success     Failure
   be cooked  myself    yolks	  yolks
   
   
   Well, the housewife recognizes that something is wrong in her life as she 
   experiences a roller coaster Christian life.  The Holy Spirit speaks to 
   her through His Word, a pamphlet, a tape, a book, or whatever, and the 
   light turns on.  She sees that she is to let the Lord live His life 
   through her, even to cook her eggs.  What a relief!  Praise the Lord!  
   He's taken the burden off of her.  He desires to carry it all.  Now the 
   grid looks as follows:
   
      THE     METHOD   DESIRED    ACTUAL    FLESH'S     GOD'S
    BURDEN     USED    RESULTS   RESULTS  EVALUATION  EVALUATION	
    Eggs to    Trust   Unbroken  Unbroken   Success     Success
   be cooked  Christ    yolks	  yolks
              through
                me
   
   Notice the burden is the same, eggs to be cooked, but now the method is 
   that she has turned it over to the Lord.  She says, "Lord I'm going to 
   act as though You are cooking these eggs through me, because the Word 
   says You are my life."  Even though God now approves of the wife's 
   egg-cooking, however, He's also saying, "Yes, I'm pleased, but we have a 
   major problem here.  You are swallowing the flesh's definition of 
   success.  You're looking at the eggs, and because they're perfect, you 
   believe Jesus cooked them through you.  You are looking at the results 
   for 'proof' that Christ really is your life.   You're making the RESULTS 
   the object of your faith instead of My Word.  You are walking by sight, 
   not by faith."
   
   
   Now three weeks later, she is still trusting the Lord to cook the eggs 
   through her.  She's built up a pretty good confidence in His ability to 
   do it through her by this point.  On this day she says, "OK Lord I'm 
   going to let You cook them through me."  But shock, horror!  Broken 
   Yolks!  What went wrong?
   
      THE     METHOD   DESIRED    ACTUAL    FLESH'S     GOD'S
    BURDEN     USED    RESULTS   RESULTS  EVALUATION  EVALUATION	
    Eggs to    Trust   Unbroken  *Broken*   Failure     Success
   be cooked  Christ    yolks	  yolks
              through
                me
   
   Notice how indwelling sin is going to take advantage of the situation.  
   Sin says, "I blew it!  I thought I had learned how to turn it over to the 
   Lord, but I guess I haven't.  Somehow I took over and ruined the eggs.  
   The horrible thing about it is that I don't know exactly where I took the 
   task back on myself, so how can I ever be secure that Jesus is living 
   through me?  I guess I'll have to back off until I get some assurance 
   that He REALLY IS living through me again before I can ever believe it's 
   true.  I sure wouldn't want to be a hypocrite."  Look at those pronouns: 
   I, me, my!  Those thoughts are not hers; they are being served up to her 
   mind by the power of sin to intimidate her into abandoning further 
   attempts to trust Christ as life.
   
   The Lord says, "Oh, you didn't take over and break the yolks.  I let them 
   break to teach you not to walk by sight.  I want you just to believe My 
   Word.  I said Christ IS your life.  Your job is to do the very best you 
   can, trusting that I'm doing it through you, and leave the results to Me.  
   If it turns out well, praise Me;  if it doesn't, praise Me anyway, and 
   let Me handle any problems that are created as a result.  Your job is to 
   concentrate on your method--dependency."
   
   
                
   Again the method by which God accepts us is never performance based, but 
   Jesus based, and He grades pass-fail.  But He will also grade us 
   pass-fail at the judgment seat of Christ.  You must understand that it's 
   your WORKS which will be judged, not you who will be judged.  Many feel 
   like God is going to subject them to public humiliation for certain sins 
   they've not overcome.  Come on.  Has God removed your sins as far as east 
   from west through Christ or not (Psalm 103:12)?  God only honors His own 
   work.  1 Corinthians 3:6-17 reveals that only a work of the Spirit can 
   pass His judgment and that His grading system is gold, silver, and 
   precious stones versus wood, hay, and stubble; that's pass-fail.  It's 
   whether you lived totally dependent or independent that will be judged.
    
    

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Note 578.1                          Approval                              1 of 3
POWDML::SMCCONNELL "Next year, in Jerusalem!"        12 lines  22-SEP-1994 16:44
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    I love that illustration!
    
    You know - I've been thinking, if folks here are interested, I know the
    Gilham's still do seminars.  Would enough of us (in close proximity) be
    willing to investigate perhaps a joint-effort through our local
    congregations to bring them out for a seminar?  They have a unique
    gift, wonderful presentation style, and a very sound way of
    understanding who we are as new creations *in Him*.
    
    What do you think?
    
    Steve
    

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Note 578.2                          Approval                              2 of 3
JULIET::MORALES_NA "Sweet Spirit's Gentle Breeze"      1 line  22-SEP-1994 17:16
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    consider me dense, I didn't understand the THIRD illustration... :-)
    

    Nancy,
    
    I corrected the third grid.  Is there still something you don't
    understand about this?  It's hard to take something from the 9th
    chapter in a book, especially if it builds on what's been covered in
    the first 8 chapters.  Let me know if there's something that I didn't
    communicate well enough.
    
    The "indwelling sin" can be thought of as Satan, through the power of
    sin, trying to control the new man and get him to dance to the old
    tune.  He will introduce thoughts, through our flesh, disguised is us
    (our voice, 1st person singular) to try to deceive us.  Bill gets the
    "indwelling sin" from Romans 7:20, "But if I am doing the very thing I
    do not wish, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells
    within me."  Dr. Gilham further states that the devil can't MAKE us do 
    anything.  He says that, "an entity called sin somehow suggested that I
    do it.  When I bought into sin's idea, it became mine, and I did the
    very thing I do not wish."
    
    He goes on to say that, "Sin rules the spirit, soul, and body of the
    unregenerate person, but sin on indwells the BODY of the new creature
    in Christ (see Romans 7:23)."
    
    
    
    If this doesn't clear things up, let me know.
    
    Love in Him,
    
    Bing

    Got it now!  Thanks!