The Enchantment...
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
Enchantment: a feeling of being attracted by something interesting, pretty etc.
: a magic spell
Synonyms: abracadabra, bewitchment, charm, conjuration, spell, glamour, hex, incantation
From the beginning of our journey on The Road to Reality it will be necessary to consider the possibility that the great majority of what we've learned during our lifetimes could be wrong. If progress is to be made, if growth is to be experienced, two primary things must occur. First, we must humble ourselves, for it is only within an attitude of humility before God that we're given the vision to move beyond the intellectual pride of man for answers. Secondly, inside of this humility we must ask for Wisdom; not the wisdom of man, but Wisdom from above. Apart from these attributes there is no realistic road available, no avenue of thought with the ability to lift us up and out of the fray that mankind has found himself hopelessly imprisoned in. Humility is where we begin on the road, while ever increasing Wisdom is the reward along the way. Humbleness originates in the heart and is our Freedom Key, while Wisdom is what we find on the other side of the door at levels proportionate to our diligence. A humbled heart is a heart guided by a right attitude, an invited in attitude we've surrendered to by Wisdom and a burning desire to experience the fullness of life.
The Enchantment is where we are, where we always have been, and the place we must escape from, not some place we've found ourselves lost in after first knowing the reality of life. It is the incumbent, alive, active, and ruling in the hearts of unaware grandma's, grandpa's, moms, dads, and newly trained kids. It's easier not to question it, not to make waves with it, easier to simply float along down the river with it. It is the picture of life without God; or life with false gods; or lives lived out wanting to be gods all our own.
The perception of life the intellectualism of man (the enchanted perspective) demands we believe is this; that we are born into, and remain connected to the most real things from our birth; and that any non-conformist view of life is born out of some belief system that has moved away from what we've already known to be right. The intellectualism of man demands that the answers to life's problems are attainable within a world without God, without the staple of absolute truth, which is the only foundation with the ability to give everyone and everything any bering at all. This is the intent of the Enchantment; to keep Gods creation from the knowledge of the Truth on the grandest stage of them all; the stage of Eternity and eternal things, the place we all long for, and would trade anything for up against our death. This is what God's word is telling us is really happening all around us in Ephesians chapter 6 verse 12; "For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places." The story God is telling is veiled, or enchanted only because we've failed to recognize its majesty, its massively immeasurable size. This is Truth, but we're not willing to admit how small we are, or how big God is, because we follow another spirit that has always coveted His position but can in no way obtain it. This is the adversary; this is Satan.
The levels to which even the most successful people in life find themselves despairing speaks to the notion that the reality we find ourselves a part of is grossly incomplete. We desire more, and know in some mysteriously intrinsic way that we're not experiencing life to the degree we ought. We're in the dark about it.
Enchantment: a feeling of being attracted by something interesting, pretty etc.
: a magic spell
Synonyms: abracadabra, bewitchment, charm, conjuration, spell, glamour, hex, incantation
From the beginning of our journey on The Road to Reality it will be necessary to consider the possibility that the great majority of what we've learned during our lifetimes could be wrong. If progress is to be made, if growth is to be experienced, two primary things must occur. First, we must humble ourselves, for it is only within an attitude of humility before God that we're given the vision to move beyond the intellectual pride of man for answers. Secondly, inside of this humility we must ask for Wisdom; not the wisdom of man, but Wisdom from above. Apart from these attributes there is no realistic road available, no avenue of thought with the ability to lift us up and out of the fray that mankind has found himself hopelessly imprisoned in. Humility is where we begin on the road, while ever increasing Wisdom is the reward along the way. Humbleness originates in the heart and is our Freedom Key, while Wisdom is what we find on the other side of the door at levels proportionate to our diligence. A humbled heart is a heart guided by a right attitude, an invited in attitude we've surrendered to by Wisdom and a burning desire to experience the fullness of life.
The Enchantment is where we are, where we always have been, and the place we must escape from, not some place we've found ourselves lost in after first knowing the reality of life. It is the incumbent, alive, active, and ruling in the hearts of unaware grandma's, grandpa's, moms, dads, and newly trained kids. It's easier not to question it, not to make waves with it, easier to simply float along down the river with it. It is the picture of life without God; or life with false gods; or lives lived out wanting to be gods all our own.
The perception of life the intellectualism of man (the enchanted perspective) demands we believe is this; that we are born into, and remain connected to the most real things from our birth; and that any non-conformist view of life is born out of some belief system that has moved away from what we've already known to be right. The intellectualism of man demands that the answers to life's problems are attainable within a world without God, without the staple of absolute truth, which is the only foundation with the ability to give everyone and everything any bering at all. This is the intent of the Enchantment; to keep Gods creation from the knowledge of the Truth on the grandest stage of them all; the stage of Eternity and eternal things, the place we all long for, and would trade anything for up against our death. This is what God's word is telling us is really happening all around us in Ephesians chapter 6 verse 12; "For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places." The story God is telling is veiled, or enchanted only because we've failed to recognize its majesty, its massively immeasurable size. This is Truth, but we're not willing to admit how small we are, or how big God is, because we follow another spirit that has always coveted His position but can in no way obtain it. This is the adversary; this is Satan.
The levels to which even the most successful people in life find themselves despairing speaks to the notion that the reality we find ourselves a part of is grossly incomplete. We desire more, and know in some mysteriously intrinsic way that we're not experiencing life to the degree we ought. We're in the dark about it.
"If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy,
the most probable explanation is that
we were made for another world."
(CS Lewis)
The enchanted worldview encourages us (against our secret inner longings) that this is all there is; that there's nothing more, and that man is accountable to no one. But for me, Lewis' muse scratches my itch; deeply. I feel it from my core, from my origins, and so I find it foundational and begin building my house here. What is it the enchantment has offered? Nothing. Why would I build my house there? Only me, only here, only now? Many things have enchanted me, and this is one of them. We are beings. We are entities, amazing entities, not just men without purpose who die. We are fearfully, and wonderfully made (Psalm 139: 13-14). We are cherished creations longed for by our Creator. It is true, but we cannot ever know it if we cannot muster the courage to overcome our ignoring, our ignorance of the Object of Truth.
According to the natural unbelieving man, those who call themselves Christians have become fools enchanted by fairy tales. To them, what the Christian believes is the epitome of foolishness. But the Truth has said that we are mere men who are subjects to Gods objective standards, not our own. Our standards mean nothing in the end. The Truth has also said that the unbelieving man is fully unaware of his condition and relying on a worldly intellect that cannot know what is real apart from the knowledge granted them by their Creator. "The natural person does not accept the things of God, for they are foolishness to Him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned" (1 Corinthians 2:14). There is a paradox here. The tables have been turned. The truth is that the enchantment is being lived out by the unchanged natural man, not the believers who have been allowed to see. God has said that we are first born into the enchanted life because of the Fall; all men, from birth, are separated from their true Creator and no longer serve Him, but only imagined gods. The enchantment is not acquired as a new sort of belief system; it is a condition we are born into and must be brought out of by a second (spiritual) birth.
The enchantment is powerful, and easily capable of veiling reality for a lifetime apart from the humility necessary to believe in God's absolute nature of Truth. Inside of the enchanted life, Truth is the lethal enemy; avoided, skirted, roadblocked and made relative at every turn, because it disperses every deceptive thought the enchantment hopes to keep alive and thriving. The enchanting spirit is a spirit in the air, dominant and ruling the natural man from birth until regeneration. Jesus came to tell us that there must be a breaking out of the life we've been born into. There is but one way. "Unless one is born again (in spirit) he cannot see the kingdom of God" (John 3:3). The mission of the enchantment is to threaten us away from this essential truth by suggesting that if we believe it, we will have gone off the deep end, that we've been 'duped', and lured into foolishness when actually the opposite is true. It is this argument presented by the enchanted world that causes men to remain unable to see the story God is telling. It is this mindset that blinds them and causes them to remain in the darkness (spiritual blindness) Jesus speaks of. Again CS Lewis;
According to the natural unbelieving man, those who call themselves Christians have become fools enchanted by fairy tales. To them, what the Christian believes is the epitome of foolishness. But the Truth has said that we are mere men who are subjects to Gods objective standards, not our own. Our standards mean nothing in the end. The Truth has also said that the unbelieving man is fully unaware of his condition and relying on a worldly intellect that cannot know what is real apart from the knowledge granted them by their Creator. "The natural person does not accept the things of God, for they are foolishness to Him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned" (1 Corinthians 2:14). There is a paradox here. The tables have been turned. The truth is that the enchantment is being lived out by the unchanged natural man, not the believers who have been allowed to see. God has said that we are first born into the enchanted life because of the Fall; all men, from birth, are separated from their true Creator and no longer serve Him, but only imagined gods. The enchantment is not acquired as a new sort of belief system; it is a condition we are born into and must be brought out of by a second (spiritual) birth.
The enchantment is powerful, and easily capable of veiling reality for a lifetime apart from the humility necessary to believe in God's absolute nature of Truth. Inside of the enchanted life, Truth is the lethal enemy; avoided, skirted, roadblocked and made relative at every turn, because it disperses every deceptive thought the enchantment hopes to keep alive and thriving. The enchanting spirit is a spirit in the air, dominant and ruling the natural man from birth until regeneration. Jesus came to tell us that there must be a breaking out of the life we've been born into. There is but one way. "Unless one is born again (in spirit) he cannot see the kingdom of God" (John 3:3). The mission of the enchantment is to threaten us away from this essential truth by suggesting that if we believe it, we will have gone off the deep end, that we've been 'duped', and lured into foolishness when actually the opposite is true. It is this argument presented by the enchanted world that causes men to remain unable to see the story God is telling. It is this mindset that blinds them and causes them to remain in the darkness (spiritual blindness) Jesus speaks of. Again CS Lewis;
"They have chosen cunning instead of belief. Their prison is in their minds,
but they are in that prison;
and so afraid of being taken in that they cannot be taken out."
Our lack of faith is the continual builder of the prison walls that lock us away in confusion. This present world is ruled by the intellectualism of man, and for that reason only, a world without answers. Cunning is allowed in only when we fail to step out in faith and believe that the God of Israel is precisely who He claims to be. We are without root, without foundation, without connection to the object and keeper of life inside of fears that are unreasonable, fears rooted in the great enchanted lie that is spoken of all throughout the revelation we've been given. The enchantment teaches that we must not be taken in by this captivity of faith; that if we do we are boxing ourselves in and away from the reality of life, when precisely the opposite is true.
Just as our Creator is the essence of Truth, He cannot lie. Neither can God's created angel Satan speak the truth. Jesus said of him;
Just as our Creator is the essence of Truth, He cannot lie. Neither can God's created angel Satan speak the truth. Jesus said of him;
"He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth,
because there is no truth in him. When he lies he speaks out of his own character,
for he is a liar and the father of lies."
(John 8:44)
How is it that we can believe we've been enchanted away from the greater reality? The answer is, we can't on our own. We must be called by God according to His purpose to see what is real. God tells us that we are dead in our sins and can do nothing apart from Him. We may only be made alive again by and through Him. Our transformation, although perceived as self-motivated is only made possible by the eternal will of God because the enchanted life owns us, with our Creators permission on a level we've yet to understand. Since the fall of man from grace, this is the real state of the world. The enchantment is a boxed in system of belief, shutting out any hint of hope through deception and the blinding power of human pride that has been allowed to keep us, to imprison us, to enchant us in our minds until we've shed ignorance and surrendered to the right (righteous) wisdom of God.
Our enchantment is Satan's domain, a world without answers through unbelief, a world we were not created for. We put a stop to it and begin to understand our lives when we sober up and realize that we are logically, scrupulously designed spiritual beings made by and for our spiritual Creator. We understand by rising above the lies and believing that we are God's workmanship, purposely made for fellowship with Him as our amazingly loving Dad. Our understanding comes through truth, which leads to faith wrapped up in actual knowledge, not the hearsay of an ignoring world locked away from larger minded realization. Our understanding of reality is not a birthright, but a privilege adorned on us through the motives of a humbled, wisdom seeking heart. Reality dislodges the lie and brings the believer back to his right and intended foundation.
Our enchantment is Satan's domain, a world without answers through unbelief, a world we were not created for. We put a stop to it and begin to understand our lives when we sober up and realize that we are logically, scrupulously designed spiritual beings made by and for our spiritual Creator. We understand by rising above the lies and believing that we are God's workmanship, purposely made for fellowship with Him as our amazingly loving Dad. Our understanding comes through truth, which leads to faith wrapped up in actual knowledge, not the hearsay of an ignoring world locked away from larger minded realization. Our understanding of reality is not a birthright, but a privilege adorned on us through the motives of a humbled, wisdom seeking heart. Reality dislodges the lie and brings the believer back to his right and intended foundation.