" I’M AN ANIMAL,YOU’RE AN ANIMAL"
The True Confessions of a Writing Evangelist
This story begins on a cold wintery day in March of 1980. While searching intensely for the cure for my drink and drug habits, I began reading the Gospel of John on advice from my older brother. He told me once "If you have any questions about God, just read the Gospel of John."
Although this was not my first experience with the Bible, I was feeling intense sin-causing guilt, brought on by a Bible seminar I had attended almost a year earlier where for the first time I began to understand God’s Word.
I had now reached a point in my life at age 35 where sin causing guilt was bringing on thoughts of suicide. It seemed to be the only logical cure for my condition! I had tried every other "feel good" solution known to man, well at least every one known to this man, and still no peace!
So, I listened to the still small voice speaking to me, rather than the loud, brazen voice of suicidal thinking, and I began reading the Gospel of John from the Bible my wife had given me a few years earlier.
To my amazement this Book began to live before my tear soaked eyes. Verse by verse, and chapter by chapter, my life was somehow rehearsed before me, and my entire being was consumed with a repentant spirit, weeping aloud most of the morning for the way I had lived these thirty something years until finally I came to the thirteenth verse of the fifteenth chapter, and there the Lord Jesus on the Cross was revealed to me as the Suffering Saviour for my sin, and I received Him by faith as my personal Saviour, that seventh day of March, 1980.
"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for friends."
Wow, God died for me, and all because of His great love for me! A seemingly worthless mound of human flesh without even the will to live, and yet here the Greatest most Glorious Person to ever walk the face of the earth gave Himself for me!!
You are probably saying Amen, praise the Lord, for this marvelous, miraculous testimony of His love, but how does that fit in with " I’m an animal, you’re an animal" theme? Well, trust me after we get finished with this story, I think it will be as plain as the noses on our faces.
You and I, providing you are a "born-again the Bible way" Christian, have been transformed from children of darkness to children of Light at the point of our conversion, but, if we have not continued the process of transformation God’s way our "old man" is in charge of our every thought and action and we are behaving as animals, consumed with self and our desires, instead of behaving as a "new creature in Christ". It’s just that simple!
It is my desire and prayer to God your eyes will be opened, as mine were, those many years ago, to this foundational Truth. Let us continue with the story from that glorious day in 1980. God immediately gave me a super-natural hunger for His precious Word.
I began memorizing verses, and rehearsing them over and over to be able to keep His Truth with me while I was at work. His Word was the complete focus of my life. I longed to serve Him, this marvelous, loving Saviour who gave Himself for me, and it was not long until I enrolled in a local Bible school’s night program.
I signed up for a Personal Evangelism course, not really knowing what it was about. I was drawn by an advertisement in the local paper, and the word ‘Personal’ drew me because I was overrun with personal problems.
This course emphasized Scripture memory for the purpose of fulfilling our #1 priority as Christians, Soul-winning!
My personal problems, drugs/alcohol etc. literally disappeared, as my focus was on ministering to others who were in the same helpless, hopeless condition as I had been.
The Holy Spirit continued to lead and guide me to consume the Word of God in mass quantities! My life was transformed! It was culture shock! Can you imagine, a Harley riding madman turned into a soul-winner for the Lord? I was abiding in Christ!
He literally was my life! My communion with Him was continual! His thoughts were my thoughts, and my heart was filled with songs and hymns and spiritual songs, I was singing and making melody in my heart to the Lord!
Well, to make a long story short, the "Animal" within little by little began to take control of my life. Oh, I didn’t return to the drugs and alcohol or the outwardly wretched lifestyle, I was a member of a church now "you know".
I could go to church and put on the "wolf" that was now used to wearing "sheep’s clothing" outwardly, but inwardly I was a "ravening wolf"-the "animal" was in charge!
How in the world could this happen to a man who was miraculously delivered from the certain death of drugs, alcohol, and suicidal thinking? It happened step by step, little by little, one thought at a time.
The sins of omission!! Like, I don’t really need to memorize Scripture, there’s no Bible command that says "Thou shalt memorize Scripture", or "Ye must meditate on the Word of God".
Or, "I have to be careful I don’t offend this guy, so I’ll just wait for a more convenient time to witness to him". Isn’t it amazing how we can justify our apathetic condition?
It is always the sins of omission that get me in trouble. If I am actively memorizing and meditating on the Word of God, I will be witnessing. But, if not I will be justifying my apathy! How about you? How is your "animal" doing?
Your pet sin, or maybe your pet vice, or maybe it is just your pet! Are you actively witnessing? We’re not talking about lifestyle evangelism, no, if we wait until our life tells him how to get saved, he might end up spending eternity in hell!
Sure, there is a place for waiting on the Lord in certain situations, but how do we know if this will be the last time we see this person?
It could be God’s appointment for you and for them! When Nicodemus came to Jesus, The Lord didn’t talk about the weather and how beautiful the stars and moon were that night, no, He went right to the point of Nicodemus’ need! "Ye must be born again..." was His answer to this religious man’s questions.
When Paul went to Athens his heart was burdened for the people of this great city, he preached to them of the God they knew not, and some mocked, others said, "We will hear thee again of this matter", but there is no record of them coming again to hear the message of Paul. It certainly was God’s appointment for them!
Well, let’s get back to the "Animal", the focus of our story. There is lurking within us a creature Paul describes as the "flesh". The part of our being wherein lust, covetousness, and all ungodly thoughts and evil desires reside.
It is this great enemy of the Holy Spirit with which we must contend, for Paul tells us in Galatians 5:17 "For the flesh lusts against the Spirit" waging war against our souls. It is the "flesh", the voracious animal instinct, that seeks to control our attitudes/thoughts, actions and our appetites.
That is why we are commanded in v.16 of this same passage "Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh." Romans 13:14 also commands us "But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh to fulfill the lusts thereof."
Again Ephesians 4:23,24 tells us "That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; Put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness."
Herein lies the Truth we need to defeat the "Animal" lying within us, waiting to consume our soul! But how do we obey these seemingly simple yet mystical commands, Walking in the Spirit, putting on the Lord Jesus Christ, and putting on the new man?
In Galatians 5, Paul surrounds "the works of the flesh" with two significant statements: v.17b tells us we cannot do the things that we want to do when the "animal" is in control.
This word control is a key word in understanding how to defeat this formidable force. In v.24, 25 he again gives us an additional key to victory. "And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections (passions) and lusts."
The negative action of crucifying the flesh and the positive action of actively walking in the Spirit v.16 and v.25 is the simple formula to victory. Crucifying the flesh, how is this accomplished? Sounds pretty painful to me!
Yes, as the contemporary slogan goes "No pain, no gain". It takes painstaking, disciplined work! We might as well face it up front, there is no victory, no spiritual success without this familiar but seldom utilized word-work!
If we expect to "Walk in the Spirit" we must feed the Spirit the diet that will give Him the control of our minds! Feed Him a steady diet of the Word of God!
How else will we have the simple child-like faith we need to believe and apply these marvelous, mystical Truths, except we include in our diet "mass quantities" of the precious Word?
It is significant, that in the place when we are commanded to be filled with the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18) immediately in v.19 the result is: "speaking to ourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord". However, in the sister passage, Colossians 3:16.17, this same result is accomplished by letting "The Word of Christ dwell in us richly"!
So, if we expect to be filled with the Holy Spirit, allowing Him to control every attitude and action, then we better be willing to set aside time to memorize and meditate on the Scripture, which is in reality, the Living Word, the Saviour Himself! He said " It is the Spirit that quickens, the flesh ("Animal") profits nothing, the Words that I speak unto you, they are Spirit, they are life"!!! (John 6:63).
These have to be some of the most powerful Words spoken on this subject of controlling the "Animal" by the Spirit through the Word. This Word, the Holy Scripture, as spoken by Jesus in this verse, reveals the essence of the power of His Word! It is the Living Holy Spirit of God in written form!
And as we digest this Word, as we saturate our minds with this Word, the Holy Spirit Himself controls our thinking, our attitudes, our actions, our appetites, yes, He takes complete charge of our life!
As we "renew our minds" the "Animal", the old man is "put off"! Renewing our minds, our thought processes, we are "putting on the new man" through the Living, All Powerful Word of God!
Ah yes, I remember it well, the "culture shock" I experienced when the Holy Spirit demanded I give Him the diet He most certainly deserves! I was rightly amazed and awestruck by this dramatic change in my appetites!
No longer craving the alcohol, the drugs, the bizarre Jeckyl and Hyde lifestyle, but now, by this single act of God, His redeeming my life through faith in Him, I now longed to be with Him, to study and to know His Precious Book, my life was truly revolutionized!
And, I made it my business to find out just how this miraculous change took place. After all, I was a project engineer for a major corporation, it wouldn’ t take me long to figure out His formula! I just wanted to know how He did it!
Ha, Ha! This was not just "your average" simple engineering task! No, the One Who spoke the worlds into existence, and breathed the breath of life into my nostrils is not to be "figured out" through engineering processes! No, His Divine Methods are revealed by the Holy Spirit, through faith!
Well, my only explanation to date, even though I searched high and low to figure out His "Divine Secret", is, it’s not my explanation! It’s His! Yes, His formula for the miraculous transformation of a "ruined" life can be found by simple child-like faith, which is produced by His Holy Word! How simple can you get?
To the degree that you digest His Word, to this same degree He will control your life! You yield control to this One Who created you to begin with, and He will make you like The Perfect Man, His Darling Son! The Lord Jesus Christ! The "Animal" does not have even an opportunity to think about pouncing on you when He is in control! What a Saviour!
That’s right, we have the privileged opportunity to become like Jesus, complete, fulfilled, just like Him, the Greatest Man to walk the face of this planet, and all it takes for us to be molded, formed and shaped into His image, are these simple child-like acts of faith.
Digesting the Word, giving out the Spirit! Breathing in the Christ of the Bible exhaling the Powerful Holy Spirit of God! This simple breathing in and out of the Holy Spirit in the memorization/meditation process is the only Bible way to Spiritual success (Joshua 1:8)!
So, brethren, let’s not forget the great simplicity that is in Christ Jesus. After all, it doesn’t take a "rocket scientist" to realize that this Life, this breathing, living Spirit of God, the Life that is in The Lord Jesus Christ is available by faith for every believer!
As we yield ourselves to Him and expect Him to take control we thereby exercise our faith in His promises and the "Animal" that once controlled our life is now rendered helpless by the blessed presence of the LORD Jesus Christ!
