A burden is usually a negative thing like a hardship, or an overload, or some kind of `heavy,’ but in God’s Kingdom the concept has another meaning that is surprisingly desirous.
This discussion springs from my first post about the Kingdom Training Grounds, which among other things introduces the concept of yoke. If you have not yet read that post, please do so. Go to the archives to your right and click the October link. It won’t take but a minute and this post will be waiting for you when you get back. Today’s post will advance the concept in a way you likely do not expect. The Anatomy Of A Burden reduces the fear-factor that is often resident in our flesh about yokes. There is something about this concept which when really understood, it makes you run to the Lord to get it, not flee from Him to avoid it.
Jesus said, “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My Yoke [emphasis mine] upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you shall find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy [margin reads `kindly, pleasant’] and My load is light” (Matthew 11:28-30). When you really look at what Jesus said, you find there is nothing scary about His yoke. In fact, His yoke is designed to relieve the heavy-laden and weary condition that comes from being at any place besides His yoke.
To get where we are going, let me explain a burden that most of us understands. Think of someone you love very much, or a person you know at work or at school about whom you care deeply, someone who at the moment does not love God. When you pray for that person, I’ll bet you a whole denarius that you do not ask for judgment to rain down on them; instead, you pray fervently that they understand the riches of the free gift. You might even weep for them occasionally while you pray. I bet you also shudder at the thought of what will happen to them if they continue to refuse God. So you pray again for their enlightenment, that they might see the goodness of the Lord and yearn for Him. Nothing would thrill you more than to watch them rejoicing over the miracle of their salvation while they jump up and down in anticipation about it (you know, like the world does about a ball going through a hoop).
That is how God feels about each of the wicked. I Timothy 2:4 says, “This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth . . .” The thought of what awaits the unrepentant pangs God even more than your friend does you. God is deep and passionate in His love which is incredibly strong in ways we do not understand. The grief He feels over the destruction of the wicked, even the concern He has over the destruction of animals (Jonah 4:11) is far more intense than we realize. The next time you have a pang about somebody you care about, remember God experiences that and much more for everyone on earth. He is “not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance” (I Peter 3:9).
Consequently when we pray we are not “wrestling with God” to convince Him about a lost soul; we are actually communing with Him (or shall we say, kindredly commiserating with Him) about something that is important to both of you.
This next part is very important. When we are done praying our hearts to God about the person we care about, our burden for them has probably increased because of what God was doing in us while we were interceding. God was pouring out His love in our hearts (that unique kind of intense love that only He has) while we were on our knees. In essence we were “learning from Him” (to put it in Jesus’ words) while we were spending time with Him in prayer. Our hearts were becoming burdened some more in the way that His is. We were becoming increasingly passionate about somebody’s faith because we were taking on (in small increments) more of how God feels about them. Though we may not be aware of it, we were also being burdened even more for all the lost while we were on our knees.
This idea is called “taking His yoke upon us” (again, to put it in terms that Jesus uses). I call it a yoke burden. God’s desire is that we become increasingly burdened with His godly love until we reach the point where we are willing to lay down our lives for that person(s). The apostle Paul, for example, became so burdened for the lost house of Israel that he said he had “great sorrow and unceasing grief in his heart for them [the Israelites]” (Romans 9:2). After that, he says the burden became so strong that he was willing to be “accursed, separated from Christ, for the sake of my brethren . . .” (Romans 9:3). Now that’s a yoke burden! It wasn’t something Paul cooked up in himself. That was something that God poured into His heart by the very One Who did the same thing. We later find out how that yoke burden was created in Paul’s heart. In Romans 10:1 he says, “Brethren, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation.”
It is staggering to meditate on the enormity of God’s burden for the lost everywhere in the world. The startling truth is there are countless other burdens just like that one which are also resident in God’s heart, burdens He would love to unleash on us. Sometimes all it takes is for us to get heavy laden enough (from not being in His yoke) that we are finally driven to Him in desperation. Then we can discover and nestle into His “kindly and pleasant” yoke that comes from His “gentle and humble heart.”
Let me put this another way: all it takes for yoke burdens to occur is for us to spend real time with God, but it has to be enough time. If we will just step away from our heavy ladenness long enough to come to Him, He will pour out His love in our hearts while we do it. Amazingly, mixed with His love are those other burdens that He has for us that we don’t know about yet, burdens He wants us to enjoy with Him, such as the life’s work He has chosen for us. The usual method is for us to make up our minds about what kind of career we want and then spend years investing toward that end. God, on the other hand, has rapturous plans for us (which also require sacrifice, just like a true career does) that we never knew about because we did not spend enough time with Him to find out what they were!
Consider this verse. “Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart” (Psalm 37:?). Does that mean if we spend time with God He will then give us whatever we want? Absolutely not! And to be honest, I am thrilled He doesn’t do that, because He does something better, something higher. If we set our hearts on spending quality time with Him and if we truly learn how to delight ourselves in the Lord (that is, learn how to make Him our delight), if we can passionately seek that as intensely as we would seek a college education, or the almighty dollar, or excelling at a sport, or becoming esteemed before men, or studying prophecy, or doctrines, or the end times; if we will channel that kind of passion into the art of delighting ourselves in the Lord, Psalm 37:4 says something extraordinary will happen. While we are delighting in Him, He will take our human heart out of us and rewire it. God will fix the problem in our heart and our heart will work differently. Instead of pumping with passion for things from our human perspective, it will burn for things from God’s point of view. The burdens that are going on in His heart will begin to happen in ours because God has reinserted the rewired one back into us. Our passions, our intentions, and our burdens will become different. Our heart will beat with HIS burdens, His desires, and His passions more than ever before.
Now re-read Psalm 37:4 with this understanding and see how it hits you. “Delight yourselves in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.” So many folks read that verse self-centeredly, but God intended it God-centeredly. The reason we do not see that verse the way God intended is the very reason why we need to have our hearts rewired in the first place. There is only one way out of that trap! Spend enough time with God until He becomes our delight. He is the only One Who can make the kinds of changes that have to be made there. Education won’t do it and finding “your career” won’t do it.
So why not try it? Instead asking God to do something for you, why not delight yourself in Him with worship and praise and prayer long enough to let Him begin to lay on your heart His burden for things, anything and everything He has in mind. Don’t worry about how you pray, just learn how to worship and delight yourself in Him. Enjoy the fun in the relationship the way it was intended to be enjoyed. I’m not talking about going out into the wilderness and fasting three weekends in a row. The way to begin is by setting aside at least some time alone with Him at home (in a closet if you have to). Maybe you can start by singing the songs that come to mind in the morning. If songs don’t come to mind that early for you, ask that whatever God has on His heart at that moment to begin gurgling in your heart during the first hour you are awake every day; you know, while you are putting on your socks, or washing your hands, or stumbling into the bathroom. If you keep requesting that kind of thing like the persistent petitioner of the unrighteous judge did in Luke 11:5-8, one day you will find a song rolling up your heart when you first wake up. Oh wait, you say that has already happened? Then did you take the time to follow that lead? If you will do that, even more incredible things will follow.
Also try to get with God at some other time during the day or evening if you possibly can. When I worked full time at City Hall (in the 1970’s) I purposed to get more time with God during some of my lunch breaks (not all). Amazingly, I found some fascinating places where I could be alone with God in that building. I realize I discovered them in pre-homeland security days, but I found that on the top floor a stairway kept going higher to another place. I followed the mysterious stairway and discovered it led to a door to a mechanical room. So I just sat down on the top dusty step (which was obviously not used much) in front of a mechanical room door with my Bible in my lap. I have to admit the first time somebody bolted out of the top floor into the stair well directly underneath me, my heart almost jumped out of my chest. They couldn’t see me because they hurried down the stairs, which in their minds was the only way they could go. They had no idea I was “up there.” After a while I also found that the occasional foot falls on the distant floors below was like living next to an airport. After a while I never heard them. Besides, most folks used the elevators anyway.
One day a maintenance man came up the stairs and found me, but when he saw a Bible lying in my lap he seemed almost apologetic that he had disturbed me. I explained that I worked in Traffic Engineering and was on my lunch break. Then I asked him if I needed to move. He assured me I was fine and that he would be out of my way soon! I often supplemented my early time with God by spending my lunch break with God in other places I discovered in City Hall, especially on days when it seemed like His nearness had been exceptionally strong earlier that morning.
Whatever level of seeking God you find yourself operating in at the moment, please consider ways you might increase it with Him. He wants to pour out the kinds of things into your heart that He has in mind for you, things that He has been living with alone without you for quite some time. You will be surprised when the burden comes upon you, and you will know exactly what I mean when it happens. It might take some time to prime your pump (depending on how much flesh God has to burn through in you) and God might end up asking you to find other creative ways to seek Him, but the whole process is a journey that is worth far much more than the price of the search.
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Monday, November 29, 2010
What Do I Do? Example 1 - Headed For The Pool
This week's new item appears in the Godly Parenting wine rack.
Monday, November 22, 2010
Monday, November 15, 2010
Walking In The Yoke
There are several applications for the biblical concept of yoke. The one I want to talk about now is different than the one you read about in the Kingdom Training Grounds (see post below). If you think in terms of that yoke when you read this one, you will get confused. Single truths have multiple applications, and most Christians are aware that this understanding opens them up to the multi-faceted (and multi-dimensional) benefits of each truth. It is often a godly understanding of the appropriate application of a truth that sets us free. So let’s switch gears and talk about an application of the yoke which is common to many of us every day.
In order to function in society we often find ourselves “walking in the yoke” with others. This occurs in our everyday relationships at work, for example, where we might be “teamed up” with someone, or with several “someones.” Husbands and wives walk in a closer yoke with each other by virtue of their covenant together. Church members walk in the yoke with other Christians in close knit ways to accomplish kingdom tasks like missions, evangelism, pastoral care, eldership rule, Sunday School ministry, administrative duties, or diaconate service, to name a few. The list is endless.
My question to you is how is that going for you? Are you holding up OK, or is it becoming a grind at work, or at church, or at home? There is another more important question that I really want to ask. How is it for the other guy(s) in the yoke with you? Have you asked yourself (or better yet them) how they are doing? What is like for them to be hitched up with you? Any Christian who can step outside themselves enough to ask that question has just ventured into the hallowed grounds of sincere Christianity. They have begun moving forward in their walk with Jesus. This is at least part of what Jesus meant when He said, “Whoever wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me” (Luke 9:23). This concept is supposed to be a universal quality of sincere Christianity. If you are concerned about how the other person is in the yoke with you, it means there is a “self denial” dimension in your life that Jesus requires of all true faith in Him. If you have not thought about how things are going for others on the team, then it means you are probably more concerned with how good it is, or how bad it is, for you. That mentality smells of “self-life.” It’s the opposite of “self-denial.” The self-life is the way of lawlessness; self-denial is what I mean whenever I talk about a covenant mentality. The first is sowing to your flesh, making it ripped and glistening, resulting in corruption, of course; the other is sowing to the Spirit, which reaps eternal life with incredible abundance (after the pain of course).
Romans 8:13b says “if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” That, my friends, is the all important context to the next verse we all know so well that says, “For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God” (Romans 8:14). Your ability to live in sonship is determined by your ability to follow the Holy Spirit’s leadings in denying yourself in the ways He chooses. I don’t mean the ways we choose to deny ourselves (that’s religion); I am talking about having enough integrity to hear how God is leading us to deny ourselves, our flesh, our rights, our preferences, and our wishes, for the sake of the others in the yoke with us, or for the sake of others in the faith, or for the sake of those in the world around you. I’m talking about the “there’s no ‘I’ in team” thing. Kingdom sonship by its very nature requires “other orientation;” that is, an emphasis on the “one anothers,” you know, love one another, serve one another, prefer one another, encourage one another, etc. etc. etc. All those commands we constantly read about. The way of the world is to present yourself, to stand up for yourself, to flaunt your touchdown, and taunt your opponent. The world convinces itself that you cannot be competitive without it. You won’t have that “killer instinct” you need to be a champion. Hogwash, acting depraved after the fact, or even during it, does not ratchet up your talent level one iota. Jesus is the One Who equips us to be highly talented, totally focused, and incredibly godly at the same time. A godly mentality focuses on what is best for the team; a fleshly mentality focuses on how things impact me.
When your local church launches a new offensive in helping the poor, in evangelism, or in discipleship, or in whatever emphasis God is leading them, how are you responding? Do you react based how things are affecting you? Are you peeved that something is going to change that will inconvenience you, or deprive you, so initially you are resistant? That, my friends, is the self-life raising its hairy head. That is actually how some church splits emerge. One group cannot get past how the changes will affect them, while the other group is not only willing but eager to deny themselves because they want to go wherever God wants. In that case, when the ones who are willing to die to themselves continue with God, and those who refuse to deny themselves stay put, who is causing the church to split? Believe me, regardless of how the circumstance might make things appear, the ones who are not looking up (but at their navels) are really causing the split.
Yes, there are times when changes churches make adversely affect a valid principle of God’s kingdom. In other words, something God wants is being sacrificed to accommodate what people prefer. That too is the self-life, but in that case, the error is by leadership.
So what is the answer? It is to get our eyes off ourselves and onto the interests of God and others. Sometimes that is as simple as realizing you are the rub at work. You might even be right in what you are championing, but you are wrong in how you are doing it. In the name of the King you have become a royal pain! This too is the self-life.
Is your spouse aggravated with you? Learn how to walk in the yoke by being quick to examine yourself through their eyes to see what is bothering them about you. That is taking the log out of your own eye before you take the speck out of theirs (Matthew 7:3) Deal with what God considers the big thing (your sin issue) before you get all hyped up about what God considers the little thing for you (their sin issue). God is the One who teaches us to learn how to walk in the yoke with others. Our job is to humble ourselves by learning how to stop chaffing everybody by rubbing sores on their shoulders with our behavior.
I guess what I am saying is, if Jesus were to meet you walking down the aisle in a store, He might not ask how you are doing? He might ask how the folks are in the yoke with you? If you think about it, isn’t that what Jesus was asking Peter, “Peter, do you love me? Then feed My sheep!” Jesus was saying that if your love for Me is sincere, you will make sure the others are OK. I think it took Peter a while to get that. I know that is true of us. But don't worry, if Jesus has to, He will keep repeating it, just like He did for Peter.
In order to function in society we often find ourselves “walking in the yoke” with others. This occurs in our everyday relationships at work, for example, where we might be “teamed up” with someone, or with several “someones.” Husbands and wives walk in a closer yoke with each other by virtue of their covenant together. Church members walk in the yoke with other Christians in close knit ways to accomplish kingdom tasks like missions, evangelism, pastoral care, eldership rule, Sunday School ministry, administrative duties, or diaconate service, to name a few. The list is endless.
My question to you is how is that going for you? Are you holding up OK, or is it becoming a grind at work, or at church, or at home? There is another more important question that I really want to ask. How is it for the other guy(s) in the yoke with you? Have you asked yourself (or better yet them) how they are doing? What is like for them to be hitched up with you? Any Christian who can step outside themselves enough to ask that question has just ventured into the hallowed grounds of sincere Christianity. They have begun moving forward in their walk with Jesus. This is at least part of what Jesus meant when He said, “Whoever wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me” (Luke 9:23). This concept is supposed to be a universal quality of sincere Christianity. If you are concerned about how the other person is in the yoke with you, it means there is a “self denial” dimension in your life that Jesus requires of all true faith in Him. If you have not thought about how things are going for others on the team, then it means you are probably more concerned with how good it is, or how bad it is, for you. That mentality smells of “self-life.” It’s the opposite of “self-denial.” The self-life is the way of lawlessness; self-denial is what I mean whenever I talk about a covenant mentality. The first is sowing to your flesh, making it ripped and glistening, resulting in corruption, of course; the other is sowing to the Spirit, which reaps eternal life with incredible abundance (after the pain of course).
Romans 8:13b says “if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” That, my friends, is the all important context to the next verse we all know so well that says, “For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God” (Romans 8:14). Your ability to live in sonship is determined by your ability to follow the Holy Spirit’s leadings in denying yourself in the ways He chooses. I don’t mean the ways we choose to deny ourselves (that’s religion); I am talking about having enough integrity to hear how God is leading us to deny ourselves, our flesh, our rights, our preferences, and our wishes, for the sake of the others in the yoke with us, or for the sake of others in the faith, or for the sake of those in the world around you. I’m talking about the “there’s no ‘I’ in team” thing. Kingdom sonship by its very nature requires “other orientation;” that is, an emphasis on the “one anothers,” you know, love one another, serve one another, prefer one another, encourage one another, etc. etc. etc. All those commands we constantly read about. The way of the world is to present yourself, to stand up for yourself, to flaunt your touchdown, and taunt your opponent. The world convinces itself that you cannot be competitive without it. You won’t have that “killer instinct” you need to be a champion. Hogwash, acting depraved after the fact, or even during it, does not ratchet up your talent level one iota. Jesus is the One Who equips us to be highly talented, totally focused, and incredibly godly at the same time. A godly mentality focuses on what is best for the team; a fleshly mentality focuses on how things impact me.
When your local church launches a new offensive in helping the poor, in evangelism, or in discipleship, or in whatever emphasis God is leading them, how are you responding? Do you react based how things are affecting you? Are you peeved that something is going to change that will inconvenience you, or deprive you, so initially you are resistant? That, my friends, is the self-life raising its hairy head. That is actually how some church splits emerge. One group cannot get past how the changes will affect them, while the other group is not only willing but eager to deny themselves because they want to go wherever God wants. In that case, when the ones who are willing to die to themselves continue with God, and those who refuse to deny themselves stay put, who is causing the church to split? Believe me, regardless of how the circumstance might make things appear, the ones who are not looking up (but at their navels) are really causing the split.
Yes, there are times when changes churches make adversely affect a valid principle of God’s kingdom. In other words, something God wants is being sacrificed to accommodate what people prefer. That too is the self-life, but in that case, the error is by leadership.
So what is the answer? It is to get our eyes off ourselves and onto the interests of God and others. Sometimes that is as simple as realizing you are the rub at work. You might even be right in what you are championing, but you are wrong in how you are doing it. In the name of the King you have become a royal pain! This too is the self-life.
Is your spouse aggravated with you? Learn how to walk in the yoke by being quick to examine yourself through their eyes to see what is bothering them about you. That is taking the log out of your own eye before you take the speck out of theirs (Matthew 7:3) Deal with what God considers the big thing (your sin issue) before you get all hyped up about what God considers the little thing for you (their sin issue). God is the One who teaches us to learn how to walk in the yoke with others. Our job is to humble ourselves by learning how to stop chaffing everybody by rubbing sores on their shoulders with our behavior.
I guess what I am saying is, if Jesus were to meet you walking down the aisle in a store, He might not ask how you are doing? He might ask how the folks are in the yoke with you? If you think about it, isn’t that what Jesus was asking Peter, “Peter, do you love me? Then feed My sheep!” Jesus was saying that if your love for Me is sincere, you will make sure the others are OK. I think it took Peter a while to get that. I know that is true of us. But don't worry, if Jesus has to, He will keep repeating it, just like He did for Peter.
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Kingdom Training Grounds
There are several training grounds in the Christian faith. To sow some vision and for simplicity sake, I will describe only three.
The first is the pasture land with many fences, long and wide. This is the land wherein God permits us to roam as His people. We are to live within the fences, which are the boundaries of the general guidelines of His Word. Outside the fence is forbidden; inside the fences are green pastures, quiet waters, and the restoration of the soul. The pasture lands are the absolute best place to live, both in this life and in the age to come. The boundaries are a gift from our Father Who faithfully provided them for us. Even in the perfect place of Eden where we were first created, He lovingly provided these boundaries. “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you shall surely die” (Genesis 2:16-17).
However, God’s real interest is not the “do nots,” but the wide variety of excellent things He has given us to enjoy. There is no comparison between the "tree of the knowledge of good and evil" and all the other trees in the garden. All the other trees outweigh that one tree the same way heaven exceeds hell. Let the world focus on the “do nots” if they want to, but as God’s people we will enjoy all the other trees, and in seeing the splendor of them all, we will fully appreciate and respect their boundaries also.
The pasture land which God has given His people is profitable and satisfying. God faithfully provides Edenic gardens and incredible pasture lands, and along with them He identifies the fences clearly so we will know where the good stuff is and so we can avoid the harmful things. The problem of course, is we think we know better and we let our flesh convince us that the forbidden is actually better. What an incredible lie that is! Yet many convince themselves to pursue the forbidden to their destruction, and to God’s profound grief.
Yet more training grounds are also available with even greater benefits and more incredible things than the pasture lands, as great as they are. The problem is our flesh cannot see them because they are hidden behind the cost. Our hearts are drawn to their glory, just as our hearts were created to do, but our flesh recoils at the sacrifice, and the inconvenience, and the difficulties. Which man inside of you will win this universal battle, the old man or the new man? The one you feed the most will definitely be the strongest.
The next training ground available to God’s people is the corral. It too has fences, but it is much smaller than the pasture lands, but that is because it is located so much closer to the dwelling place of the Master. This is the place of greater training, deeper cleansing, and higher lessons which lead to even greater places with the Master. Many issues are touched upon in the corral that are never addressed in the pasture lands. Here we learn about ourselves in ways we never knew, and sometimes we wish we never found out, yet things which Jesus knew about all along. Yet He called us to the deeper place with Him anyway because He loved us so much. Here we learn about a deeper love of God that is much higher, the divine agape love of God Himself. It is the love He wants operating in you and me. But again, just like in the pasture lands, many cannot see past the tighter boundaries, so they refuse this place of training. Even some of those who are willing to enter the corral spend all their time in there longing for the freedom of the pasture lands. Such folks cannot derive the full value of the corral until they surrender to it completely. And of course the Master is working inside them also to bring them to that very place, so the deeper training of the higher things can begin. Those whose heart are truly toward the Master, whose heart are inclined to the things that interest Him, will gain access to eternal treasures which are not found in the pasture lands, as incredible as they are in that broad place. The food in the corral is also corn and fine grain, not the grass found in the pasture lands, as glorious as that provision seemed while we were there. In the corral more time is spent with the Master in ways that makes us closer to Him, but most importantly, there we are made to be more pleasurable to Him. Here it is learned how to hear His voice, see what excites His heart, and learn more about what He is truly like. In the corral, misunderstandings about the Master drain away because the Master is seen for Who He really is rather than that dim, warped way the world outside the pasture land perceives Him. Even in the pasture lands the deception of the world still has a little hold. In the corral where the Master is often so close, more of the deception is cleansed away.
You might say the pasture lands are like the outer court in the tabernacle of the Old Testament, and the corral is like the Holy Place there. The outer court is illuminated by the natural light of the world, but the Holy Place, because it is closer to the Almighty receives its light only by the flames of the candlestick of the Holy Spirit. Even so, there is yet another training ground that is deeper still than the corral. You might say is like the Holiest of Holies to which God sometimes beckons us.
One day while we are in the corral, learning from Him, enjoying Him, and surrendering in ever deeper ways to Him in our hearts, we are surprised when a yoke drops around our neck. This is not just any yoke, it is the incredibly valuable yoke of the Master. This place, however, is even smaller than the corral. Now the corral seems large by comparison. The yoke has even tighter boundaries wherein we learn even more about His gentle and humble heart. We discover breathtaking things beyond even that we could conceive of in the corral; things which greatly surpass what we ever knew existed about Him in the pasture lands. We learn about His incredibly humble heart. Here, though, we can move only by His command. Yet here we also become a more powerful tool in His hand. Like some who were called into the pasture lands, and like those who advance to the corral at His beckoning, there are those whose initial response to the yoke is one of sorrow, a pining for the loss of the freedoms of yesterday. Sometimes that is because the yoke has come upon them suddenly with great surprise, so their flesh has difficulty seeing the treasure in the training at first. But the Master continues to work on us in His yoke anyway. Others who received the yoke were told about it in advance by the Master, yet even they were reluctant at first. But the Master continues to work in that understanding way of His with those who are deeply His, until they finally cease the bucking, and the unnecessary sorrow, or the anger, or the crying out about the injustice of having been called to the corral, then the yoke. In the end it is here, as we alternately find ourselves in the corral and in the yoke, as the Master directs, that we finally learn to surrender to His deepest training. Here we gain all the benefits from each and every place of training. And here the Master Himself derives the pleasure He has so richly deserved from us all along, the pleasure He so seldom receives at all, from those of us who understand so little about the Kingdom Training Grounds.
The first is the pasture land with many fences, long and wide. This is the land wherein God permits us to roam as His people. We are to live within the fences, which are the boundaries of the general guidelines of His Word. Outside the fence is forbidden; inside the fences are green pastures, quiet waters, and the restoration of the soul. The pasture lands are the absolute best place to live, both in this life and in the age to come. The boundaries are a gift from our Father Who faithfully provided them for us. Even in the perfect place of Eden where we were first created, He lovingly provided these boundaries. “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you shall surely die” (Genesis 2:16-17).
However, God’s real interest is not the “do nots,” but the wide variety of excellent things He has given us to enjoy. There is no comparison between the "tree of the knowledge of good and evil" and all the other trees in the garden. All the other trees outweigh that one tree the same way heaven exceeds hell. Let the world focus on the “do nots” if they want to, but as God’s people we will enjoy all the other trees, and in seeing the splendor of them all, we will fully appreciate and respect their boundaries also.
The pasture land which God has given His people is profitable and satisfying. God faithfully provides Edenic gardens and incredible pasture lands, and along with them He identifies the fences clearly so we will know where the good stuff is and so we can avoid the harmful things. The problem of course, is we think we know better and we let our flesh convince us that the forbidden is actually better. What an incredible lie that is! Yet many convince themselves to pursue the forbidden to their destruction, and to God’s profound grief.
Yet more training grounds are also available with even greater benefits and more incredible things than the pasture lands, as great as they are. The problem is our flesh cannot see them because they are hidden behind the cost. Our hearts are drawn to their glory, just as our hearts were created to do, but our flesh recoils at the sacrifice, and the inconvenience, and the difficulties. Which man inside of you will win this universal battle, the old man or the new man? The one you feed the most will definitely be the strongest.
The next training ground available to God’s people is the corral. It too has fences, but it is much smaller than the pasture lands, but that is because it is located so much closer to the dwelling place of the Master. This is the place of greater training, deeper cleansing, and higher lessons which lead to even greater places with the Master. Many issues are touched upon in the corral that are never addressed in the pasture lands. Here we learn about ourselves in ways we never knew, and sometimes we wish we never found out, yet things which Jesus knew about all along. Yet He called us to the deeper place with Him anyway because He loved us so much. Here we learn about a deeper love of God that is much higher, the divine agape love of God Himself. It is the love He wants operating in you and me. But again, just like in the pasture lands, many cannot see past the tighter boundaries, so they refuse this place of training. Even some of those who are willing to enter the corral spend all their time in there longing for the freedom of the pasture lands. Such folks cannot derive the full value of the corral until they surrender to it completely. And of course the Master is working inside them also to bring them to that very place, so the deeper training of the higher things can begin. Those whose heart are truly toward the Master, whose heart are inclined to the things that interest Him, will gain access to eternal treasures which are not found in the pasture lands, as incredible as they are in that broad place. The food in the corral is also corn and fine grain, not the grass found in the pasture lands, as glorious as that provision seemed while we were there. In the corral more time is spent with the Master in ways that makes us closer to Him, but most importantly, there we are made to be more pleasurable to Him. Here it is learned how to hear His voice, see what excites His heart, and learn more about what He is truly like. In the corral, misunderstandings about the Master drain away because the Master is seen for Who He really is rather than that dim, warped way the world outside the pasture land perceives Him. Even in the pasture lands the deception of the world still has a little hold. In the corral where the Master is often so close, more of the deception is cleansed away.
You might say the pasture lands are like the outer court in the tabernacle of the Old Testament, and the corral is like the Holy Place there. The outer court is illuminated by the natural light of the world, but the Holy Place, because it is closer to the Almighty receives its light only by the flames of the candlestick of the Holy Spirit. Even so, there is yet another training ground that is deeper still than the corral. You might say is like the Holiest of Holies to which God sometimes beckons us.
One day while we are in the corral, learning from Him, enjoying Him, and surrendering in ever deeper ways to Him in our hearts, we are surprised when a yoke drops around our neck. This is not just any yoke, it is the incredibly valuable yoke of the Master. This place, however, is even smaller than the corral. Now the corral seems large by comparison. The yoke has even tighter boundaries wherein we learn even more about His gentle and humble heart. We discover breathtaking things beyond even that we could conceive of in the corral; things which greatly surpass what we ever knew existed about Him in the pasture lands. We learn about His incredibly humble heart. Here, though, we can move only by His command. Yet here we also become a more powerful tool in His hand. Like some who were called into the pasture lands, and like those who advance to the corral at His beckoning, there are those whose initial response to the yoke is one of sorrow, a pining for the loss of the freedoms of yesterday. Sometimes that is because the yoke has come upon them suddenly with great surprise, so their flesh has difficulty seeing the treasure in the training at first. But the Master continues to work on us in His yoke anyway. Others who received the yoke were told about it in advance by the Master, yet even they were reluctant at first. But the Master continues to work in that understanding way of His with those who are deeply His, until they finally cease the bucking, and the unnecessary sorrow, or the anger, or the crying out about the injustice of having been called to the corral, then the yoke. In the end it is here, as we alternately find ourselves in the corral and in the yoke, as the Master directs, that we finally learn to surrender to His deepest training. Here we gain all the benefits from each and every place of training. And here the Master Himself derives the pleasure He has so richly deserved from us all along, the pleasure He so seldom receives at all, from those of us who understand so little about the Kingdom Training Grounds.
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