Bible scholar C.R. Stam once
wrote, “In Paul’s day genealogies were very important, even among Believers.
One’s family relationships meant a great deal. If you were a second cousin to
Christ or even a third cousin to Peter you ‘had it made.’ You might be crude,
or stupid, or even wicked, but all this was overlooked: you were closely
related to Christ Himself or to the Apostle Peter and all were ready to give you
audience.”
*****
Jordan says
that when talking about living in the identity God gives you in Christ, “You’re
talking about having a truthful, honest scriptural memory of your past as well
as your future.
“Because as a Believer your past goes back to where? It no longer goes back to Adam and Eve
and the Garden of Eden; it now goes back to Christ and Calvary .
You see that is a memory about your past. That is a way you understand your
past history and the radical change that’s been in it. And that does affect the
way you think about yourself in the now, doesn’t it, and what’s going to happen
to you in the future?
******
"In Numbers 11, it says the 'mixed multitude among them fell a lusting.' The Red
Sea survivors complained, 'We remember the
fish, the cucumbers, the leeks, the melon. All we got’s this stupid manna but, boy, we can remember those big feasts we had in Egypt !'
“Now, what was the reality of Egypt ?
They were slaves! They weren’t getting roast salmon, halibut and
grouper. They were getting carp, smelt, mullet, bottom-crawlers, catfish,
river buzzards. They weren’t eating high on the hog.
“They completely readjusted the past and it made them real dissatisfied
with the present. Now, if they had thought properly, what would they have done?
They’d have cheered, ‘We've got this manna, it’s like coriander seed. We can make
anything in the world out of this stuff! God gives it to us every single day!’
“Not only do they get
completely bored with what they have but they reinvent the past. Memories.
You've got to be careful. What you’ll discover is that the negative memories you
create are very, very dangerous to your relationships.
"So what do you do?
Nurture fondness, nurture admiration, nurture love and respect. Focus on the
things that make you.
“You need to develop . . . you
need to write out your story. You need to have it written out, memorialized and
kept. You need to tell it to your family. You need to have it where you can go
and repeat it.
"Have you ever sat down with a picture album? At funerals
now it’s the popular thing to put up pictures and remember. That’s just,
‘Retell the story.'
******
"The biblical definition of
the word 'submit' is 'to give your heart over to another person’s will.' Sub is
under. You put yourself under them. You give your heart over. That’s the challenge; that’s the dare of love. It’s the dare
of faith. And if you dare to do it by faith, because God said to do it, you’ve
made the decision based upon the truth of what God’s Word is.
“My emotions can follow the
truth, the decision, and if they don’t, I’m still doing what’s right. If I’ve
allowed my emotions to look at something and say, ‘NO, I won’t follow!’ if they
look at your balance and it’s overdrawn, your emotions aren’t going to follow.
“And if you know what God’s
Word says to do and you do it by faith and your emotions don’t follow, it’s
because that bank account with your name on it is empty! If it has a balance
your emotions will look at it and say, ‘Oh, hey, there’s a guy/gal that values
me; I can feel good about them!’
“But if your will says,
‘Here’s your Savior, you’re to serve Him, submit to Him,’ and your emotions
look at a bank account that’s overdrawn, they say, ‘Oh no, that won’t mean me
good.’ And they respond that way.
"This is terribly important for you to
understand. You can’t allow the tyranny of your emotions to run your life and
make decisions or you’re going to wind up in the can. You’ll wind up in error;
you’ll wind up in a kind of destruction.
"It doesn’t work to let your emotions
run you. That’s why some little strategies don’t work. That’s why the selfish
demands, the disrespectful judgments, the angry outbursts, the
independent behavior--none of it works. They’re not strategies for success; they just get you more of the same!"
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