by
Bruce Montroy
All rights reserved
This Printing - March, 1999
The Law of Rest
Loving God
Tapping the Power of Denial
P.O. Box 161
Prescott, Az 86301
Tel: (928) 776-9649
smi@spearministries.org
Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are from the New American Standard Bible, The Lockman Foundation. Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1987, 1988. Used by permission. Abbreviation, NASB.
Scriptures marked NIV, are taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version, Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.
Scriptures marked NKJV are from The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright 1979, 1980 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.
Scriptures marked KJV, are taken from the King James Version of the
Bible.
Chapter One
THE DOOR TO THE ABUNDANT LIFE
That which is the best life has to offer is usually hidden. Treasure calls to us from its concealment, "Find me; find life!" The camouflage that keeps the naive, the greedy, the exploiter from discovering God's true abundance is the old rugged cross. Simply put, Seek to save your life and you will lose it; lose your life for Jesus and you'll find it--abundantly!
What first appears to threaten our safety is actually the Lord's guarantee for success. To enjoy this mastery we will need to change how we look at life, and make a habit of using God's spiritual laws to our advantage rather than allowing our enemy to use them to destroy us! The Christian life was designed by Jesus to be simple. Kids can enjoy God's bounty. The road is hardest, however, for the selfish and stubborn!
It is my belief that there is probably a little bit of brat hidden somewhere inside of most of us. Jesus wants it crucified! Whereas we can never directly "de-brat" others, amazing things happen in relationships when we become more of what Jesus wants us to become! Come, grow with me.
My name is Bruce and I'm a brat-aholic! Let's taste of God's bounty
regardless of what others do. Maybe the sounds and sights of our celebration
will lure other hungry pilgrims to the Lord's table of abundance!
Little King Sarx was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. At a young age he developed a strong appetite for the power he had over his realm. When he cried out his orders, the servants came running. Occasionally he would feel a wet, warm sensation around the middle of his body, followed by a clammy, cold irritation. He discovered that all that was required was a certain pitch to his voice as he signaled his attendants. They would appear with cloths in hand and rearrange his clothing to make him once again feel comfortable.
Sarx was reassured of his centrality in the place where he was being raised. Big and small servants would smile at him, make strange sounds (as though he didn't understand English!), and seek to entertain him most of the time. As will happen, servants sometimes slack off (it's hard to get good help), however, he would merely have to lift his voice in a summons. This worked during the day as well as in the middle of the night watch.
As he grew older, this small monarch became more tyrannical. Unbeknown to him, there was a phantom character who would whisper into his ear all sorts of surveillance information about his servants. You see, as Sarx grew in size, he found it increasingly difficult to summon his servants. And in fact, they were at times downright rude to his royal highness. At such times, this phantom (for such he must be, as he was never seen) whispered into the king's ear that the servants were disloyal. Sedition was suspected.
The smaller servants had become antagonistic, for the most part. At times, they would object when his eminence dared to interrupt their idle play and inspect the toys with which they busied themselves. The phantom voice told Sarx what the real problem was. They were rejecting his lordship. With few servants remaining loyal to him, he had to be very careful how he responded. When certain big servants were present, he could release his creativity in a kind of prone dance. If he flopped around on the floor while singing a loud mournful cry, his big servants would force the smaller, seditious servants into compliance. It was a lot of work for Sarx to do this, but one has to do what one has to do to maintain control in his kingdom.
Because the aforementioned tactic did not produce adequate results with certain of the big servants, he was left to devise an alternate plan. If he would retreat to his private quarters and put on an appearance of dejection, he could soon have the more compassionate big servants once again at his service.
Sarx was, after all, a man of mercy, so on occasion he would get his servants to conform to his desires by indulging their fetishes. One big servant would pick him up and smother him with kisses and hugs and affirm his worth when he gave in to her petitions. He didn't much care to have to do this on a regular basis, because it made his kingdom seem less stable. "If you indulge servants too much, they can grow to expect it," so the phantom said.
The rebellion grew worse. Sarx would never forget the awful day one of the big servants, in an obvious fit of derangement, picked him up and began to inflict pain on the back of his lap. This was intolerable. But tragedy added to tragedy. No one could be summoned to his assistance. His loyal big servant was away at the moment, and this rebellious servant had seized the moment for mutiny! But his friend the phantom was there to explain this treachery. "They don't like you," was the insight. Those were hard words, and it would not be the last time Sarx would hear them. They became the phantom's diagnosis for most of the unpleasant experiences that seemed to come faster and faster.
As the king would meditate on the advice, "They don't like you", he found a funny feeling arising inside. He felt lonely, aloof, stranded. He would later learn that this sensation was called depression. It was ugly. He began to detest the gloomy times, but they seemed to be the constant result of these rebellious uprisings by his servants. If only they would cooperate with his instructions, there would be peace in the kingdom. If only...
Insult was added to injury. The big servants plotted together one day to send Sarx away during the day to a prison camp, a fenced city, where hundreds of small servants were cajoled and corralled around by a bunch of big servants called teachers. The experience was mortifying, because no one there was the least bit interested in Sarx's right to rule or even that he was a king. The humiliation was staggering. They expected him to act like one of the common little servants.
The days in the concentration camp seemed to drag on forever. At times, out in the recreation yard, always under surveillance of the big servants, some of the mean little servants would mock him and use derogatory terms to describe his royal highness. As could be expected, the phantom was there to remind him that these creeps didn't like him, but that was OK, because they were just servants and he would show them someday who was boss. The phantom didn't have much to say that was positive about these rebels, but when he told him how great Sarx was, it always provided a measure of inner warmth. They became closer friends. It was one summer when the king was almost as big as the big servants that he was sent to the mountains, to a special retreat. He was promised that it would be an enjoyable place, unlike the concentration camp. And so it turned out to be. In the afternoons he would go boating or hiking or swimming with the little servants, and at night there were meetings in the council chambers. The activities during the daytime were more enjoyable than similar recreations back at the concentration camp. Maybe it was because the servants here, both small and large, were a kind lot. They genuinely seemed to care about his majesty's well-being.
At one of the evening councils, a big servant talked from a large black book and told the assembly about a person who had lived long ago, but had met with an untimely death. This person, the only Son of the Great God, had allowed His life to be taken instead of the peasants'. He rose from the dead and, in His new condition, was offering what the speaker said was eternal life! "What do I have to lose?" thought Sarx. "Maybe this Jesus God can help me restore law and order to my disheveled kingdom."
The big servant asked those who wanted to encounter this God man to stand up. Before he knew what he was doing, he had stood to his feet and another big servant was guiding him to a room where the two of them asked God's Son to come into his heart.
Things got better immediately. The sadness that used to be a continual companion was gone, but then the phantom was gone too! Or so he seemed to be. The invisible phantom had backed off and was silent. He was not far away, but for a season he was quiet.
Instead of the phantom, Jesus was now standing next to him. Though he couldn't see Jesus, he knew He was there; he could feel this new friend nearby.
After returning to his castle, Sarx enjoyed a season of relative ease. Things didn't seem to be so bad. The phantom's absence, and lack of negative input about the still stubborn servants, kept the depression to a minimum.
About a week after the mountain experience, there was a particularly ugly confrontation with one of the small servants. Soon the big servant who could never be trusted was upon the scene. Guilt was dumped on Sarx. The verdict was pronounced in kangaroo court fashion, and sentence was passed. The king was confined to quarters. This was all a mistake. His intentions were pure. All a mistake!
While incarcerated, the king heard a low, familiar voice. The phantom was back, but not in his usual place. Before, he seemed to be inside his head, now he was over on the left and outside. But the comfortable tones were reassuring as ever. The old friend reminded him that there was no one he could count on in the castle who was loyal to him. They had rejected his rulership and he must therefore reject them. There was no other hope. The phantom then began to incriminate his new friend. This Jesus was not to be trusted. After all, when he needed Him most, He let him down. Maybe the phantom was right. After all, Jesus didn't argue back.
Sarx discovered an interesting phenomena. When he listened to the phantom, Jesus seemed to disappear. If, on the other hand, he would turn to Jesus and just talk to Him, the phantom would disappear.
Growth had taken its toll on Sarx. He was seemingly evicted from his castle, and all because he had found a queen whom he married. He was told he would have to find another castle, his own palace. After all these years, the big servants had finally gotten rid of him--he knew it, they had wanted this all along.
Jesus and the phantom moved, along with Sarx and his bride, and the one-sided badgering by the phantom continued. One thing disturbed Sarx. The phantom was always exposing disloyalties in the queen. As he pondered them, it always came out that the phantom was right! When the queen was confronted with her faults, she would get defensive, and Sarx would many times have to retreat and wait for the phantom to give him more information before trying another corrective training session. The saddest day of his life was when Sarx came home and found an empty house and a note on the table. The queen had abdicated. Her diatribe was none other than biased assertions that revealed her lack of loyalty to Sarx's kingdom! But, man, did he miss her.
The phantom became his closest friend. Jesus was probably around, but it had been so long since Sarx talked to him. No doubt He was off in a back room somewhere.
The phantom wasn't the greatest friend a guy could want; he seemed more fickle lately. One minute he would point out some of Sarx's shortcomings and suggest he was hopelessly at fault. He didn't like this turn of events because this sensation of guilt made him feel out of control. Sarx preferred the times when the phantom, with clear accuracy, would reveal where others made their mistakes. And sure enough, as you thought about it, they were wrong. After all, Sarx was a king, and kings are to be respected!
The phantom talked louder, especially when they would have a few drinks together. The invisible partner almost became visible a few times when Sarx had more drinks than he should. At such times, the phantom's advice was hostile, downright mean. But, as he said, they deserved it; after all, didn't they know who they were dealing with?
The pain grew. The old servants had alienated him completely. They sided with the queen and said Sarx was the cause of the problems. They always sided against him. They never did like him. "If they reject you, you must reject them," so said the phantom. But one day, it was more than Sarx could take. The phantom was not there. The pain raged inside. He stumbled into his bedroom and loaded his revolver. There was no other way. Sarx could only see darkness and it hurt.
As he raised the gun to his temple, his eyes caught the glimpse of a figure off to his right. It was Jesus. He could see Him, well, not actually, but as one sees a dream or vision, and Jesus had a serious look on His face. Sarx lowered the gun and turned to Jesus. There was so much that Sarx wanted to say to Jesus, like "Where were You when I needed You?" But he couldn't speak.
Jesus raised His hand in a gesture pointing to His right. There was a large cross. Jesus said, "Sarx, if you're going to throw your life away, why not give it to Me?"
"But I let You down. I failed You so many times. How could You want this worthless life?"
Jesus responded as though He had all the time in the world, "Sarx, you have been holding on to a lie. You have lived your life as though you were a king, but the truth is that I made you to be a servant. You thought the people around you were your servants, sent to do your bidding and cooperate with your plans. But I made you and placed you in life to be My servant to them.
"My plan is for you to yield to Me, to die to your kingship, and to become My servant to others. You don't have to be right. You don't have to have things go your way. All you need is to serve Me and I will bless you abundantly. You will find what you have been looking for all your life--abundant life--as you follow Me!"
"But Jesus," Sarx stammered, "the phantom told me You really didn't care."
"Son, the phantom is your adversary. He is the first rebel of the universe--the Devil! He always accuses others to My children and helps them defend themselves. This is how he most effectively divides homes and kingdoms. His suggestions of self-pity have led you deeper into the trap of depression and despair. He wants only to destroy you."
There was a pause, then Jesus continued, "What is that in your hand? And who told you that it would end your troubles?"
Sarx was silent. He knew Jesus was absolutely right. He had been such a fool to receive the accusations against everybody. How could he have been so stupid as to believe that the problem was always someone else's fault? He fell at Jesus' feet. He wept, he sobbed. He begged for forgiveness. Yet Jesus stood motionless.
Through his tears, Sarx lifted his eyes up to Jesus. The true Master stood, with tears streaming down His cheeks and a smile of love that caused sunshine to break into the drape- drawn room. Jesus made no sound, but only motioned to the cross on His right.
As Sarx looked, a door opened at the foot of the cross. He could not see anything through the open door, but over it was a sign that read, "Servants Only." Sarx knew that he must pass through the small door, but it was so low that he would have to crawl to make it. As he started toward the door, Jesus said firmly, but lovingly, "The price to enter is death--servanthood. You must take up your cross and follow Me. You will have no rights, no kingdom. You cannot ponder how others mistreat you or that you deserve better. You will be required to yield up your rights as an offering to Me. You will have to bring every thought to Me, and I will make all calls of fair or foul. You will not be able to judge others or their motives. It will be a living death... death to your needs, death to your wants, and death to your future. You will be required to consider this moment when the phantom returns with his divisive advice. You must proclaim that you are dead, crucified with Me, and that it is no longer you, but Me, Jesus Christ, alive in you."
Something life changing happened that day, as the Kingdom of Sarx, or the flesh, died and he entered into a life hid in Christ. The queen returned, and was treated more as a queen than as a slave. He now laid down his life for her, instead of insisting on things going his own way. His family returned, and was clearly seen for what they were, friends, not servants. And best of all, when the phantom returned with his full display of ghastly gossip and accusations, our new man turned on him with the freeing declaration that "I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I, but Christ, and the life I live, I live by the faith of the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself for me!"
As long as the new man reckoned every event in life in light of the door at the foot of the cross, he prospered in his soul. The enemy phantom came around less and less as he discovered the new man's seriousness in living the servant life, the crucified life, the life hid in Christ!