How to Become a Zombie - by Failing the Skandalon

6/23/2011

"But the Pharisees and the experts in the law rejected God's purpose for themselves -- because they had not been baptized by John." (Luke 7:30)

"Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit." (Mat.21:43)

"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people's faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to." (Mat.23:13)

"Be careful," Jesus warned them. "Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod." (Mark 8:15)

"If you tell a lie big enough, and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it." (Joseph Goebbels)

"False words are not only evil in themselves, but they infect the soul with evil." (Plato)

"Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this, said, 'This is a hard saying; who can understand it?' When Jesus knew in Himself that His disciples complained about this, He said to them, 'Does this offend you?' For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who would betray Him. From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more. Then Jesus said to the twelve, 'Do you also want to go away?' But Simon Peter answered Him, 'Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal LIFE.'" (John 6)

Beyond the obvious destroyer of lives: willful sin, there are at least two classes of subtle destroyers of the well-intentioned soul. Most will never see this coming, since their motives seem "right" to themselves. The leaven of the pharisees and Herod. That leaven will turn you into a Zombie of heart and mind.

There is the leaven of the pharisees' song of jealousy against what is Real, because they cannot produce its Fruit, as hard as they try. Listening and pondering (to ascertain "merit") the pharisees' accusations of Jesus, or falling into Herod's way of functioning with John, will kill as many as willful sin. The pharisees who love to talk without backing it up with Fruit, as Jesus said, and their crafted viewpoints, will shut Innocents out of the Kingdom.

Likewise, there is the leaven of Herod, the man who loved to listen to Truth, but had too little spine and was therefore easily influenced (even to murdering) because of his love of the praise of men and the affections of the world. All who listen to pollution, thinking it somehow valuable to consider "leaven" of slander openly, will reject God's Purpose for their lives by poisoning their hearts. Their spark and courage and life and love will be lost - into either murky arrogance or to despondency.

Willful continued sin is just one way to become a Zombie. Everyone knows that one. Deciding to swim in slander, rather than "BEWARE" of it and refusing to be near it, as Jesus said, is another way to become a Zombie and "lose God's Purpose for your life." You "thought" it was your attempt to be wise and fair, but that is merely the trick of satan. Satan wants you to "think" you are being wise, when he instead intends, and will, steal your heart, your joy, your courage, your decisiveness, the spring from your step, the wind from your sails, the light from your eyes... and to return you to something more feeble and less threatening to his matchstick kingdom.

A third of the angels "fell" for it, too.

John 6 was Jesus Testing His Own - to see if they could make it past the slander to join in His LIFE. He could have cleared up their confusion and misunderstanding about "eat My body." But, He wanted to see if they wanted LIFE more than their reputations or mental dignity.

Everyone needs to be so tested and go past the slander - to be of true Use to Jesus, and to EXPERIENCE then His LIFE. SO much is at stake.

Is LIFE the Measure of what you desire and all you will live for, as Peter said to Jesus in John 6? Or will words, or reputation, or fear, or self-inflicted confusion, or need for affection be the end of "God's Purpose for your life"? It's all a God-Orchestrated SKANDALON, a trap.

We all have to choose. And that's a GOOD Thing, since it catapults us into a Dimension that we could have never attained or acquired with mere "correct words" or ideas, or creativity, or good intentions. BRING IT ON, HOLY SPIRIT! CONFUSE ME! I WANT LIFE, NO MATTER WHAT ELSE!