the view from the juniper tree

One of my goals for this site is to have guest bloggers share some of their thoughts with my readers.  Today is the first of what I hope will be a regular feature on The View From the Juniper Tree.

Tyler Johnson is a unigue young man. His passion for the Father and his determination to walk out what it means to advance the Kingdom is amazing and inspiring to me.  He has an unwavering conviction that the …blind (will) see, the lame (will) walk, the lepers (will be) cured, the deaf (will) hear, the dead (will be) raised to life and the Good News (will be) preached to the poor… (Matthew 11:4-6) This strong and confrontive conviction has opened him up to criticism and rejection, but he remains undettered. I love that about him.  He is a good friend and a son in the Lord.  The Family needs his voice!

Tyler is married to Christine and last August 10th they welcomed baby Joshua into their home.

According to Jesus, one of the most serious things we can do is blaspheme the Holy Spirit by attributing the Holy Spirit’s works to the devil. He said that it was the only sin that was unforgivable.

I know a lot of study has gone into trying to understand such a strong statement, and that there are many views of what Jesus could have meant when He said this. But nonetheless, I am starting to understand what He meant, at least in part, though I have never before heard the following view taught.

It is a very serious thing when a person sees what is good and calls it evil. I wonder what it will be like for that person the day they stand before God and His angels to be judged. Will they see God, or will they see satan, disguising himself as an angel of light?

I am starting to understand that people who see that which is good as evil, people that attribute that which is God to satan, hold to this observation tighter than anything in their lives. They clench it with a fist so tightly that their knuckles turn white. No amount of talking to them will change their mind. They are willing to cut off relationships for it, willing to divide churches over it, willing to crucify other’s lives over it. It is so very important to them.

The logical prerequisite to forgiveness is to acknowledge that what you have done, was wrong. But they aren’t wondering in the least bit if what they are doing is wrong, let alone then taking the leap of humility to ask for forgiveness. Because these people hold to their belief about something being evil with such tenacity, they never allow themselves to be forgiven. This is why Jesus said it was the unforgivable sin. It isn’t that God won’t forgive them, it is that they won’t allow themselves to be forgiven.

We know that God forgives any sin, even rape and murder. But God won’t force a person to ask for forgiveness for something that person does not acknowledge to be wrong. This is why attributing the things of the Spirit to the devil is very dangerous. You begin to sit in judgment on God Himself, and because you have judged God, you will not go to Him to ask for forgiveness. You become so proud in your certainty that you are right, the possibility of asking for forgiveness becomes impossible. God would forgive a person for blaspheming the Holy Spirit, but the people who commit this sin don’t want to be forgiven. As a result, forgiveness becomes impossible.

The Pharisees, the most studied in religious matters of the day, completely missed God when He came to the earth. They mistook Him for a normal man, or even worse, a tool of beelzebub. They didn’t just reject His words, they took it into their own hands to kill this man, because He contradicted their belief system so violently. And yet, He was God.

I look at the world today, and I ask myself who looks most like the Pharisees. Who is the most studied in the bible? Who deems morality as the highest aim? Who has their rituals down to an exact science? It is many who claim to be Christians.

Sometimes I wonder if our religious customs, studies, and social events actually take us further away from understanding who God actually is rather than bringing us closer to Him. That was the case with the Pharisees, while the woman caught in adultery learned through her sin, that He is a kind and loving God.

I have a hunch that things aren’t as they seem, and that if Jesus showed up today (which is more than plausible), many of us would not recognize Him. Let what is of God, be from God, and what is from the enemy, from the enemy. God, give us eyes to see and ears to hear and know the difference.

Like Stephen, those that get a hold of the revelation of Jesus often offend those around them that are still stuck in the old way of thinking about God. Relationship is nearly impossible with these present day Pharisees, because they are convinced that deep inside, you, like Stephen, are evil. They see that which is of heaven as being from hell, and everything about your demeanor is incorrect in their eyes. They disagree with you, abhor you, and will even throw stones at you, because their drive is to rid the world of that which is not of God.

If they only knew who God was and what He does. Then they would throw their stones in the right direction.