Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:
Philippians 1:6 King James Version (KJV)
A few months ago I gave a message about destiny. In it I commented that Jesus would not be Saviour without being Lord.
Some people in the congregation thought I was saying that Jesus did not love and would eternally reject those who did not perfectly follow Him as Lord.
Actually that thought never has even entered my mind as a reality. It is fairly easy for me to miss that so many struggle with knowing that God loves them because I have never once doubted His love for me. That is not a proud statement. It is not so because of some great aspect of character in my life. Far from it. It is so because I have never forgotten who I was and still am if He had not loved even His enemies.
For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, 20 and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven. 21 And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, 22 yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach—
Colossians 1:19-22 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
My first encounter with Him was outside a strip joint in Dallas Texas where my band was playing. Though I was in desperate need of Him I did not realize it. When He found me I was psychotic, mentally destroyed from taking psychedelics and extremely paranoid. I knew that I was completely unworthy of anyone loving me, especially God.
But there He was, loving me in spite of it all. His gift to me of life was fully unmerited and I knew it. He gave it just the same.
Since then I have walked through many periods of less than stellar performance in my walk with Him. Yet He has always held out His hand for me to grasp and make my way back to the path He desires me to walk.
As a result I know beyond a shadow of a doubt He loves me without limit. And I also know it was never anything that I did, I was or ever will be that brought it to me.
I was radically saved because I knew I was radically lost - without a hope of impressing God with anything of my life.
Paul understood this. You cannot find one jot of scripture to say that he was doing anything to bring God's love to him. Yet God relentlessly pursued him and one day he responded.
I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, putting me into service, 13 even though I was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor. Yet I was shown mercy because I acted ignorantly in unbelief; 14 and the grace of our Lord was more than abundant, with the faith and love which are found in Christ Jesus.
1 Timothy 1:12-14 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
That reality has been wonderful beyond imagination but has also been one of my great difficulties.
You see I find that many people who have received Jesus are still struggling with their acceptance by Him.
I find second generation believers deeply struggle with this.
I have watched so many suffer from an affliction that I have never known. And an affliction it is. As I have listened to countless stories of people who just don't know they are loved by God I have felt a suffering in their hearts that seems as deep as hell itself.
While I have never felt it since the day He came into my life, watching others face it on a daily basis and the efforts they so vainly try to bring themselves to a place of security in having Him love them tears my heart out sometimes.
Even though I try to tell them it is not so, they are internally convinced that God does or does not love them due to something they have or have not done.
Though it may seem harsh or even cruel to say, I think many people who doubt God's love have not fully understood they were and always will be completely unworthy of God's love. As I listen to them I continually hear them express this oh so subtle but extremely binding concept that somehow their actions determine God's heart toward them.
Our actions do not determine God's love toward us. If they did He would hate all of us since all of us have failed him.
God's heart is one of love for everyone. For God so loved the World.... He died for every man and woman who has ever lived....... Their sin does not alter His heart of love for them. Paul continues this thought in the next verses:
Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. 16 But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life.
1 Timothy 1:15-16 New International Version (NIV)
But the problem is, though it does not alter His heart of love, our actions borne out of a heart set against him do alter our ability to receive and be transformed by that love.....
That is the point of saying Jesus will not be Saviour without being Lord. It is actually the Relentless Love of God that makes it so.
If I am to have fellowship with the Holy God of the Universe I cannot remain in my sinful attitude toward Him. He must capture my heart completely. He must have it all. He must have my entire life in response to His love.
I love the song by Jesus Culture "You won't relent" You can hear it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEJnePjJZaM
It expresses the divine passion of God's heart to fully gain our heart.
To think of God accepting any less than this would be to degrade His love.
To give the idea that this love relationship is only one sided fails to understand that God's love will mean nothing to those who end up eternally separated from Him by their own choice.
If it were up to God's love alone to save us without our response in love to Him, the whole world would be saved.
His love is universal. People responding to His love is not.
Until we die, God will never stop seeking to draw us closer to Himself. No matter how close or far we are from Him, if we are His child He will never stop his relentless pursuit of our submission out of love for Him as the sole ruler - the Lord of our lives.
He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him.”
John 14:21 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
“Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?
Luke 6:46 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
Knowing God will relentlessly pursue my heart until it yields to Him is one of the most comforting things I know. I am not left to simply wander around until I get it right. He orders every footstep to continually bring home to me that I cannot possibly hope to find any good thing in my life without Him.
Look at the life of Peter. He was constantly having issues with his walk. Those issues finally ended in his denial of Jesus.
Yet Jesus relentlessly pursued him. But it is important for Peter and us to see what the issue really was. Look at what Jesus asked Peter in his moment of reconciliation:
So when they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these?” He *said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He *said to him, “Tend My lambs.” 16 He *said to him again a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?” He *said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He *said to him, “Shepherd My sheep.” 17 He *said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?” Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you love Me?” And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.” Jesus *said to him, “Tend My sheep.
John 21:15-17 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
Jesus was not asking Peter if he had prayed a prayer......
He did not ask him if he knew how much Jesus loved him....
He did not ask if he had been faithful.....
He did not even ask him to repent from his sin......
He asked him if he loved him. This is what God is after. This is what He relentlessly pursues in our lives. That we would love Him as He loves us. This is salvation, sanctification, justification and glorification..... to be transformed by His love into His image.
And he answered, “YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND; AND YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.”
Luke 10:27 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
He relentlessly pursues our hearts to fully love him..... no matter what.
Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.
1 John 3:2 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
Yet we can resist that pursuit.
No matter how much a man may love a woman.... no matter how long and hard he pursues her.... No matter how many gifts or provisions he makes for her..... his love will not make her love him..... It will give her the chance to respond but it will not force her to love him.
So it is with God.
A few weeks ago as I was praying through the fallout of my message on destiny the Lord whispered into my heart,
"Love cannot transform anyone who will not love in return."
The point of salvation, the point of Lordship, the point of Jesus' death is that we love God in response to His love toward us.
Those who will spend eternity separated from Him will have been loved just as much as those who will spend eternity with Him. The only difference in the latter is that they let His love transform them into His image by responding in love to Him.
Like a mother continually pours out her love towards her child yet cannot force the child love her even were she to die for the child, so God cannot make us love Him no matter how much He loves us or what He may do for us.
Yet when we respond to His love by opening our hearts He is right there to fan the flame. Even when we reject Him He will relentlessly pursue us. And if our love is lacking He will never stop working in our lives to bring it to fullness.
He won't relent until He has it all.....
Saturday, December 17, 2011
Sunday, December 11, 2011
What God created us to be - part two - Communicating Blessing
Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.
Philippians 4:8
I wrote in my last post about the sowing and reaping principle in our communication. I have found as I communicate out of the three roots of sin - Lust of the Flesh (self pity, fear and seeking self pleasure) - Lust of the Eyes (covetousness, jealousy and competition) - Pride of Life (self aggrandisement, self will, using and controlling others for my own power) I plant in them the same seeds which if they do not uproot will grow the same bad fruit that it has in my life.
However I have found that if I communicate in the opposite Spirit birthed roots - Thanksgiving (defeats the lust of the flesh) - Contentment (defeats the lust of the eyes) and humility (defeats the pride of life) I also plant in others those same seeds which, if they do not uproot will grow the same good fruit that is has in my life.
Today I was meditating on the area of communicating blessing.
Blessing others through thanksgiving and praise is a powerful weapon against all kinds of deadly attacks against our soul and the souls of every person we contact.
As a teacher I work with young children all day long. It is a wonderful place to see how this principle works.
The first aspect I see is we set an image of others in our minds and instill an image of them in their minds through our words.
When we speak death giving words of criticism, shame, condemnation or discouragement we diminish the value of the person we speak about in our own heart and, unless they are very strong in their own identity, their heart as well.
When we speak life giving words of blessing through thanksgiving and praise we uphold God's value of them in our own hearts and more importantly theirs.
I can hear someone saying they find nothing to bless, be thankful for or to praise in certain people in their lives.
Usually when we are confronted with this message our minds feel the need to defend our death giving communication. It is a fortress we run to for safety. But it does not really protect us and it always harms others.
The person we most feel we can find nothing in to bless, thank or praise is usually the one whose words and actions we are most vulnerable.
Following the principle of sowing and reaping they most likely are the one that has sown the most pain through their words of cursing, ingratitude or discouragement into our lives.
Most of the time it is a parent. Usually a father. Often it is our spouse. Sometimes it is a child who has gone astray and blamed us for it. It can be a boss, co-worker or any number of people who we find difficult to bear from their death giving words.
So why would we ever bless, thank or praise a person like that?
Because just as their words have had such a devastating effect in our lives our words can have a life giving effect on them. If they will let them, our Spirit breathed, life giving words can begin to break the power of the death in their soul out of which their death giving words come.
It also changes our soul.
I have found, like forgiveness, the ability to sincerely bless, thank and praise someone who has harmed us by their words or actions actually sets us free from those words and actions.
I live in an area where dandelions grow in abundance. Every spring my wife regularly spends a significant part of her gardening time pulling them up from our yard. Some people must think they are pretty since they do nothing about them which like the principle we are discussing, leaves them to infest my yard as well.....
One thing I have noticed is that beyond the direct attack against the weed by pulling them up, growing strong thick grass makes them much less likely to take root. Where they grow the most is where the grass is thin and unhealthy.
I have found this applies in my life as well. I find that I can root out the weeds that have been planted in my life by others by forgiveness. I find that I grow the life giving plants that keep the weeds from developing a foothold by blessing, thankfulness and praise.
I also find my heart is changed in its view of another person by my blessing them, being thankful for them or praising them for the good I find in their lives or if I cannot find it for the good that God sees in them that is yet unrealised. I get a bigger picture of them which is not so me centered.
I tend to paint the picture of that other person on the basis of the pain, shame, worthlessness and so on I have felt they have sown into my life.
When I begin to purposefully look for praiseworthy things about them I begin to be freed from my own self-centeredness and begin to see them in another light. I then can begin to sow good seed into their lives which can help them move away from their wrong communication if they will let it.
The farmer first digs up the weeds - that is forgiveness. Then he plants the good seed - that is blessing.
In this case I am the farmer and my field is my own soul and the other person's soul.
Again I hear someone say, "If I bless them they will act worse and hurt me more."
It is a strange thing about our understanding of this. It does seems counter to all reason to bless someone who is not blessing you, to be thankful for someone who is not thankful for you, to praise someone who is not praising you, or to encourage someone who is not encouraging you. Yet Jesus said to do it.
Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. 44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; 45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
Matthew 5:43-45 (KJV)
Why on earth would I bless a person who wants to harm me?
It says clearly in the passage.... So I can be like God. So I can share in His nature of loving those that hate him, blessing those that curse him and doing good to those that despitefully use and persecute him. And what is his purpose in sending sun and rain to those who would gladly destroy him if they could? To give them another opportunity to also grow to love him and be transformed into his likeness as well.
So here is the secret of our communicating blessing when we are cursed. It is the very practical way we ourselves find transformation and it also gives a moment of possibility of the other person being transformed if they will let the seed we plant in them grow.
I see this principle happening every day in my work.
Yesterday as I began my day I went an whispered something in the ear of one of my children.
I work with special needs kids whose difficulty range from a significant learning disability to major physical impairment. Almost all of them have great difficulty in their behaviour.
To see them flourish never occurs by responding to their behaviour in an angry or frustrated way. Nor do they thrive with permissiveness.
I have found I must build a strong foundation of confidence in them before I can help them overcome their negative behaviour.
So yesterday I did for my little friend what I do every day when I first see him. I whispered to him, "I am so glad to see you today. I know we are going to have a wonderful day together. You are going to work so hard and do your best today aren't you? He always answers yes now though when I first said it he would say no. Finally I tell him how proud I was of something he did the day before.
This little interaction does not communicate permissiveness but it does communicate value, hope and high expectation.
I have seen a remarkable change come over him when he is with me.
Perhaps as important is the change I see it brings in me toward him. As I speak those things to him I also am being changed. I find I no longer view him as a potential problem. I find I see him like God sees him. Infinitely valuable with a life full of purpose and promise. God gave his own son Jesus to demonstrate that value.
By this daily act of blessing him I find that my responses toward his behaviour are more out of a desire to fulfill his destiny and not to save myself from problems. It builds the heart of God in my heart. His success or failure is no longer an isolated thing. His success is central to my destiny as well. I was created to be a channel for God to bless him.
Philippians 4:8
I wrote in my last post about the sowing and reaping principle in our communication. I have found as I communicate out of the three roots of sin - Lust of the Flesh (self pity, fear and seeking self pleasure) - Lust of the Eyes (covetousness, jealousy and competition) - Pride of Life (self aggrandisement, self will, using and controlling others for my own power) I plant in them the same seeds which if they do not uproot will grow the same bad fruit that it has in my life.
However I have found that if I communicate in the opposite Spirit birthed roots - Thanksgiving (defeats the lust of the flesh) - Contentment (defeats the lust of the eyes) and humility (defeats the pride of life) I also plant in others those same seeds which, if they do not uproot will grow the same good fruit that is has in my life.
Today I was meditating on the area of communicating blessing.
Blessing others through thanksgiving and praise is a powerful weapon against all kinds of deadly attacks against our soul and the souls of every person we contact.
As a teacher I work with young children all day long. It is a wonderful place to see how this principle works.
The first aspect I see is we set an image of others in our minds and instill an image of them in their minds through our words.
When we speak death giving words of criticism, shame, condemnation or discouragement we diminish the value of the person we speak about in our own heart and, unless they are very strong in their own identity, their heart as well.
When we speak life giving words of blessing through thanksgiving and praise we uphold God's value of them in our own hearts and more importantly theirs.
I can hear someone saying they find nothing to bless, be thankful for or to praise in certain people in their lives.
Usually when we are confronted with this message our minds feel the need to defend our death giving communication. It is a fortress we run to for safety. But it does not really protect us and it always harms others.
The person we most feel we can find nothing in to bless, thank or praise is usually the one whose words and actions we are most vulnerable.
Following the principle of sowing and reaping they most likely are the one that has sown the most pain through their words of cursing, ingratitude or discouragement into our lives.
Most of the time it is a parent. Usually a father. Often it is our spouse. Sometimes it is a child who has gone astray and blamed us for it. It can be a boss, co-worker or any number of people who we find difficult to bear from their death giving words.
So why would we ever bless, thank or praise a person like that?
Because just as their words have had such a devastating effect in our lives our words can have a life giving effect on them. If they will let them, our Spirit breathed, life giving words can begin to break the power of the death in their soul out of which their death giving words come.
It also changes our soul.
I have found, like forgiveness, the ability to sincerely bless, thank and praise someone who has harmed us by their words or actions actually sets us free from those words and actions.
I live in an area where dandelions grow in abundance. Every spring my wife regularly spends a significant part of her gardening time pulling them up from our yard. Some people must think they are pretty since they do nothing about them which like the principle we are discussing, leaves them to infest my yard as well.....
One thing I have noticed is that beyond the direct attack against the weed by pulling them up, growing strong thick grass makes them much less likely to take root. Where they grow the most is where the grass is thin and unhealthy.
I have found this applies in my life as well. I find that I can root out the weeds that have been planted in my life by others by forgiveness. I find that I grow the life giving plants that keep the weeds from developing a foothold by blessing, thankfulness and praise.
I also find my heart is changed in its view of another person by my blessing them, being thankful for them or praising them for the good I find in their lives or if I cannot find it for the good that God sees in them that is yet unrealised. I get a bigger picture of them which is not so me centered.
I tend to paint the picture of that other person on the basis of the pain, shame, worthlessness and so on I have felt they have sown into my life.
When I begin to purposefully look for praiseworthy things about them I begin to be freed from my own self-centeredness and begin to see them in another light. I then can begin to sow good seed into their lives which can help them move away from their wrong communication if they will let it.
The farmer first digs up the weeds - that is forgiveness. Then he plants the good seed - that is blessing.
In this case I am the farmer and my field is my own soul and the other person's soul.
Again I hear someone say, "If I bless them they will act worse and hurt me more."
It is a strange thing about our understanding of this. It does seems counter to all reason to bless someone who is not blessing you, to be thankful for someone who is not thankful for you, to praise someone who is not praising you, or to encourage someone who is not encouraging you. Yet Jesus said to do it.
Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. 44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; 45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
Matthew 5:43-45 (KJV)
Why on earth would I bless a person who wants to harm me?
It says clearly in the passage.... So I can be like God. So I can share in His nature of loving those that hate him, blessing those that curse him and doing good to those that despitefully use and persecute him. And what is his purpose in sending sun and rain to those who would gladly destroy him if they could? To give them another opportunity to also grow to love him and be transformed into his likeness as well.
So here is the secret of our communicating blessing when we are cursed. It is the very practical way we ourselves find transformation and it also gives a moment of possibility of the other person being transformed if they will let the seed we plant in them grow.
I see this principle happening every day in my work.
Yesterday as I began my day I went an whispered something in the ear of one of my children.
I work with special needs kids whose difficulty range from a significant learning disability to major physical impairment. Almost all of them have great difficulty in their behaviour.
To see them flourish never occurs by responding to their behaviour in an angry or frustrated way. Nor do they thrive with permissiveness.
I have found I must build a strong foundation of confidence in them before I can help them overcome their negative behaviour.
So yesterday I did for my little friend what I do every day when I first see him. I whispered to him, "I am so glad to see you today. I know we are going to have a wonderful day together. You are going to work so hard and do your best today aren't you? He always answers yes now though when I first said it he would say no. Finally I tell him how proud I was of something he did the day before.
This little interaction does not communicate permissiveness but it does communicate value, hope and high expectation.
I have seen a remarkable change come over him when he is with me.
Perhaps as important is the change I see it brings in me toward him. As I speak those things to him I also am being changed. I find I no longer view him as a potential problem. I find I see him like God sees him. Infinitely valuable with a life full of purpose and promise. God gave his own son Jesus to demonstrate that value.
By this daily act of blessing him I find that my responses toward his behaviour are more out of a desire to fulfill his destiny and not to save myself from problems. It builds the heart of God in my heart. His success or failure is no longer an isolated thing. His success is central to my destiny as well. I was created to be a channel for God to bless him.
Thursday, December 1, 2011
What God created us to be - part one - Godly Communication
The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart.
Luke 6:45 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
In the last few months I have been seeking Jesus to help me understand more about destiny, leadership and relationship building. Not that it has not been something that I have sought for my whole life but that lately I have been seeing the desperate need we have for Christians to have practical understandings how to find their God planned destiny, how to lead and how to build relationships that are godly.
Last night as I was again praying about these essential areas in my own life I heard in my heart, "When you are who I created you to be you will do what I created you to do."
As I pondered on this and spoke to Carie about it I saw the absolute truth of it. I have said before, when dealing with an overactive emphasis on guidance, it is not where you are it is who you are.
This word says the same thing but in application it deals with far more than guidance.
I will be expanding this in the next few posts but today it struck me significantly in the area of my communication.
Many years ago God unveiled the secret of the practical way to becoming like Him and dealing with our wrong actions and attitudes - what the Bible calls sin.
He showed me that there are three roots from which all of our wrongdoing and wrong feeling grows.
For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.
1 John 2:16 NASB
Those three roots are 1. The Lust of the Flesh 2. The Lust of the Eyes and 3. The Pride of Life.
We see from Esau, the person who most displayed the lust of the flesh in the Bible, that it is generated out of self pity and seeking short term comfort by giving up long term treasures - his birthright and his blessing from his Father.
The lust of the eyes shown best in David is discontentment. In spite of having many beautiful women in his harem and the ability to have even more, in his discontent with what he had he looked out from his palace and lusted after another man's wife, committed adultery and had her husband killed in battle.
The pride of life is shown in Nebuchadnezzar who instead of understanding his greatness as being given through the care and work of others took the glory of all that had been done by them for himself. He ended up spending seven years insane, living and acting as an animal until he came to realise that his greatness was not his but God's and all those who he had used for his own glory before.
Drawing on this understanding of the three foundations of our wrong actions and thoughts (sin) I saw that we cannot defeat them by just dealing with them. I saw that the way to defeat them is by replacing them.
We replace the lust of the flesh (substance abuse, sexual addiction, overeating and so on) which is generated by our self pitying by replacing it with thanksgiving.
We replace the lust of the eyes (keeping up with Jones, envying others, attempting to build a grandiose image like the wizard of Oz and so on) with contentment.
We replace the pride of life (using others as things for our own pleasure and glory, bitterness, control, self will, exercising power over others and so forth) by humility expressed in serving God and others before serving ourselves.
If you would like, you can look further into this teaching here http://word-of-grace.blogspot.com/2011/05/three-roots-of-sin.html
The reason I mention it here is because I saw in my prayer time how these three areas relate to our communication.
The scripture teaches strongly the principle of reaping and sowing.
Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. 8 For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.
Galatians 6:7-8 (NASB)
We see that there are two kinds of seed that we sow. The one is a self centered seed which brings death. The other is the Spirit's seed which yields life.
The three roots of sin are where the self centered seeds are borne. The three opposite roots of spiritual life are where the Spirit's seeds are borne.
It is very simple to see that when we plant any kind of seed it always produces the likeness of that which bore it. Plant a flower and you get the same kind of flower. Plant a certain kind of tree seed and you get the same kind of tree that created the seeds.
Not only that but the principle of multiplication works as well. When we plant one seed we will grow a seed that will create thousands or even millions of seed in its lifetime.
So what we sow is what we multiply. And what we multiply is what we reap. No farmer plants one seed to get only one seed back. He plants in hope of much increase.
This principle works with both desirable and undesirable seed results.
That principle exists in nature and reflected in scripture to help us see that it is an absolute truth in the spiritual world.
So how does this principle work in our communication?
It is easy. The first scripture we looked at shows us our communication comes out of something in our hearts.
The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart.
Luke 6:45 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
The mouth speaks out of the heart. And even though two people can say the exact same things it will be the condition of their heart that determines what they are actually saying.
For instance, I have many times spoken what is true but out of an attitude of unthankful self pity. The self pity I speak I sow into the one to whom I am speaking. The result of that self pitying destroys the truth that I am speaking and yields a harvest of rejection from the one I am speaking with.
We all have experienced this. Suppose we come to someone we feel has wronged us and we tell them how much they have hurt us and how miserable they have made our lives. They right away have deep compassion on us, see the error of their ways and immediately ask for forgiveness and promise to never wrong us again!!!! In our dreams perhaps.
The reality is that we are sowing in unthankfulness for them. Unless the person is very grounded in God's love and is very close to being exactly like Jesus we will sow unthankfulness for us in their hearts and their response to us will be exactly what ours has been toward them.
If we sow words of discontent people do not want to give to us. They begin to think of all the things they wish to get from us.
If we sow words of pride we will reap pride.
Even if we make our words so smooth and polite the sowing will occur. It is not the way we say it. It is what is in our heart.
But here is the wonderful part of all of this.
If we sow words of thankfulness we plant them in those who hear us and that thankfulness will take root in them.
If we sow words of contentment we help others to find contentment in themselves.
If we sow words of humility we begin to break down the iron bars of pride in others.
I see as well that there is a correlation between the three roots of spiritual life - Thanksgiving, Contentment and Humility with Faith, Hope and Love. Thanksgiving is strongly related to Faith. Contentment is strongly related to Hope and Love is the final result of Humility.
Our communication needs to be faith filled, hope filled and always out of love.
The other wonderful aspect I see is when we have sown seeds of destruction we can help root them out if we will turn in our hearts and begin to communicate with life giving words of thankfulness, contentment, and humility.
Luke 6:45 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
In the last few months I have been seeking Jesus to help me understand more about destiny, leadership and relationship building. Not that it has not been something that I have sought for my whole life but that lately I have been seeing the desperate need we have for Christians to have practical understandings how to find their God planned destiny, how to lead and how to build relationships that are godly.
Last night as I was again praying about these essential areas in my own life I heard in my heart, "When you are who I created you to be you will do what I created you to do."
As I pondered on this and spoke to Carie about it I saw the absolute truth of it. I have said before, when dealing with an overactive emphasis on guidance, it is not where you are it is who you are.
This word says the same thing but in application it deals with far more than guidance.
I will be expanding this in the next few posts but today it struck me significantly in the area of my communication.
Many years ago God unveiled the secret of the practical way to becoming like Him and dealing with our wrong actions and attitudes - what the Bible calls sin.
He showed me that there are three roots from which all of our wrongdoing and wrong feeling grows.
For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.
1 John 2:16 NASB
Those three roots are 1. The Lust of the Flesh 2. The Lust of the Eyes and 3. The Pride of Life.
We see from Esau, the person who most displayed the lust of the flesh in the Bible, that it is generated out of self pity and seeking short term comfort by giving up long term treasures - his birthright and his blessing from his Father.
The lust of the eyes shown best in David is discontentment. In spite of having many beautiful women in his harem and the ability to have even more, in his discontent with what he had he looked out from his palace and lusted after another man's wife, committed adultery and had her husband killed in battle.
The pride of life is shown in Nebuchadnezzar who instead of understanding his greatness as being given through the care and work of others took the glory of all that had been done by them for himself. He ended up spending seven years insane, living and acting as an animal until he came to realise that his greatness was not his but God's and all those who he had used for his own glory before.
Drawing on this understanding of the three foundations of our wrong actions and thoughts (sin) I saw that we cannot defeat them by just dealing with them. I saw that the way to defeat them is by replacing them.
We replace the lust of the flesh (substance abuse, sexual addiction, overeating and so on) which is generated by our self pitying by replacing it with thanksgiving.
We replace the lust of the eyes (keeping up with Jones, envying others, attempting to build a grandiose image like the wizard of Oz and so on) with contentment.
We replace the pride of life (using others as things for our own pleasure and glory, bitterness, control, self will, exercising power over others and so forth) by humility expressed in serving God and others before serving ourselves.
If you would like, you can look further into this teaching here http://word-of-grace.blogspot.com/2011/05/three-roots-of-sin.html
The reason I mention it here is because I saw in my prayer time how these three areas relate to our communication.
The scripture teaches strongly the principle of reaping and sowing.
Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. 8 For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.
Galatians 6:7-8 (NASB)
We see that there are two kinds of seed that we sow. The one is a self centered seed which brings death. The other is the Spirit's seed which yields life.
The three roots of sin are where the self centered seeds are borne. The three opposite roots of spiritual life are where the Spirit's seeds are borne.
It is very simple to see that when we plant any kind of seed it always produces the likeness of that which bore it. Plant a flower and you get the same kind of flower. Plant a certain kind of tree seed and you get the same kind of tree that created the seeds.
Not only that but the principle of multiplication works as well. When we plant one seed we will grow a seed that will create thousands or even millions of seed in its lifetime.
So what we sow is what we multiply. And what we multiply is what we reap. No farmer plants one seed to get only one seed back. He plants in hope of much increase.
This principle works with both desirable and undesirable seed results.
That principle exists in nature and reflected in scripture to help us see that it is an absolute truth in the spiritual world.
So how does this principle work in our communication?
It is easy. The first scripture we looked at shows us our communication comes out of something in our hearts.
The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart.
Luke 6:45 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
The mouth speaks out of the heart. And even though two people can say the exact same things it will be the condition of their heart that determines what they are actually saying.
For instance, I have many times spoken what is true but out of an attitude of unthankful self pity. The self pity I speak I sow into the one to whom I am speaking. The result of that self pitying destroys the truth that I am speaking and yields a harvest of rejection from the one I am speaking with.
We all have experienced this. Suppose we come to someone we feel has wronged us and we tell them how much they have hurt us and how miserable they have made our lives. They right away have deep compassion on us, see the error of their ways and immediately ask for forgiveness and promise to never wrong us again!!!! In our dreams perhaps.
The reality is that we are sowing in unthankfulness for them. Unless the person is very grounded in God's love and is very close to being exactly like Jesus we will sow unthankfulness for us in their hearts and their response to us will be exactly what ours has been toward them.
If we sow words of discontent people do not want to give to us. They begin to think of all the things they wish to get from us.
If we sow words of pride we will reap pride.
Even if we make our words so smooth and polite the sowing will occur. It is not the way we say it. It is what is in our heart.
But here is the wonderful part of all of this.
If we sow words of thankfulness we plant them in those who hear us and that thankfulness will take root in them.
If we sow words of contentment we help others to find contentment in themselves.
If we sow words of humility we begin to break down the iron bars of pride in others.
I see as well that there is a correlation between the three roots of spiritual life - Thanksgiving, Contentment and Humility with Faith, Hope and Love. Thanksgiving is strongly related to Faith. Contentment is strongly related to Hope and Love is the final result of Humility.
Our communication needs to be faith filled, hope filled and always out of love.
The other wonderful aspect I see is when we have sown seeds of destruction we can help root them out if we will turn in our hearts and begin to communicate with life giving words of thankfulness, contentment, and humility.
Sunday, November 27, 2011
A Miracle of God's Love
This is the testimony Carie has written about God's intervention to save her life over twenty years ago.
Sudden excruciating abdominal pain forced me to double over. I cried out in anguish as I stumbled out of the shower. Staggering toward my bed I fell on it clutching my knees, my body in a fetal position. Waves of panic washed over me. Am I having a heart attack? At a healthy thirty-six years of age, I hardly thought so. A ruptured appendix? An aneurism?
"Leonard, there's no way I can go to church today" I gasped. "Can you take the children with you?"
“What’s wrong sweetheart?” he knelt beside me. Worry lines furrowed his brow.
“I’m not feeling well at all. I need to lie down. I should be fine soon.”
Leonard bowed his head and began to pray aloud. Suddenly he stopped, opened his eyes and said, “I heard two words -- 'tubal pregnancy'.”
“I’m pretty sure I’m not pregnant. Tubal pregnancy? It’s probably something I ate. . . some indigestion.” I forced myself to stay calm.
As the hours passed, the pain diminished somewhat and I reached for some Alka Seltzer, telling myself that whatever was wrong should soon be better. By evening I rose shakily to my feet, steadying myself on the night table. Leonard and the children had been peeking anxiously into the bedroom for hours unsure of what to make of my condition. I wasn’t sure either.
Over the next three days I told myself to ignore the dull ache, though I did note with some consternation that my abdomen was becoming bloated. Another couple of Alka Seltzers should settle everything down, I decided.
Still, the words Leonard had heard when he was praying for me – 'tubal pregnancy' – kept coming back to me. I believed in God and knew He worked in many unusual ways, often mysterious. Could these words be from God? I wondered. But the chatter of the children, the continual ring of the parsonage telephone, neighbours stopping over and the busyness of my life pushed these thoughts into the back of my mind.
On the fourth day I awoke with a deep sense of foreboding. I truly did not feel any better and that worried me. I began my homeschooling day lying on the couch – something I’d never done and never allowed my children to do unless under dire circumstances.
I heard the phone ringing insistently upstairs. As I rose slowly to answer, the room began to spin. I placed my hand on the wall and took a deep breath. Continuing up the stairs I put my hands on each stair step to keep myself from falling. The walls seemed to be spinning crazily. Just a few more steps to the phone, I thought.
“Hi sweetheart. No, I’m not okay. Could you come home?”
Within minutes Leonard opened the front door. I was lying on the stairs and trying to get to my feet. Suddenly I felt darkness come over me and a ringing in my ears.
Leonard was praying again when I came to consciousness on the bed where he had taken me. When I opened my eyes he said, “I am sure you have a tubal pregnancy. I heard those words again just now as I prayed.
”Maybe I just need to rest a bit. Could you help me go to the bathroom first?” He lifted me up and we walked together. Before I got there I collapsed.
I was vaguely aware of an ambulance attendant saying to his colleague, “Can’t seem to get a pulse or a blood pressure reading.” I muttered back, “Pretty sure I’m not dead yet.”
During the ride to the hospital in the ambulance I caught snatches of sentences as I fought to remain conscious. I realized I was very ill, yet I had no fear, only a deep sense of calm and peace.
The calm came to an abrupt end as the wheels of the stretcher hit the ground and the attendants moved me at breathtaking speed into a large brightly-lit room. Suddenly I was surrounded by machines and people. They hastily cut off my clothing, applied icy electrodes to my body, and placed an oxygen mask over my face. I heard muffled voices and caught only phrases as I drifted in and out of consciousness.
“Collapsed veins.”
“Can’t get a blood pressure reading.”
“Can’t get the IV in.”
Leonard explained to our family doctor “This may seem really strange to you but a few days ago when this first started, as I was praying for Carie, I clearly heard the words 'tubal pregnancy.' And today when I prayed I heard those words again."
Reluctantly, the doctor replied, “I will do an ultrasound and pregnancy test just to be sure. Your wife is in critical condition.”
Later he reported to Leonard that I was indeed pregnant but the ultrasound showed that the pregnancy was in proper position. “Still”, he said, “She is very ill and we don't know what's wrong with her.”
Knowing from the doctor’s responses that I could possibly die, Leonard went to a small chapel in the hospital and cried out, asking God to spare my life. Once again he heard the words 'tubal pregnancy'.
He returned and pleaded with both our family doctor and the specialist that had been called in to recheck the possibility of a tubal pregnancy telling them "I heard those words again."
“Okay, we will do one more ultrasound on our larger machine upstairs to get an even better look at things.”
When the tests were done, the doctor reported “It’s a tubal pregnancy, clearly confirmed by the second ultrasound. She’s lost a lot of blood since her tube burst when she had that first pain. The surgeon will be ready in minutes.”
When I woke up hours later, I found myself in a hospital room with a large metal clock ticking softly on the wall. It was dark outside. Was it morning or evening? I wondered. I could vaguely hear soft muffled voices coming from the foot of my bed. “One more hour and your wife would have died. You got her here just in time. She lost over half the blood of her body into her abdomen.”
The words "I almost died" began to synchronize with the ticking of the clock like an endless refrain in my mind bringing this reality deep into my heart. Then softly a new refrain began. "A miracle of God's love. A miracle of God's love. . . " filling my heart with peace. Yes, it was a word from heaven spoken three times. A miracle of God’s love that saved my life.
Catharina Terry
Sudden excruciating abdominal pain forced me to double over. I cried out in anguish as I stumbled out of the shower. Staggering toward my bed I fell on it clutching my knees, my body in a fetal position. Waves of panic washed over me. Am I having a heart attack? At a healthy thirty-six years of age, I hardly thought so. A ruptured appendix? An aneurism?
"Leonard, there's no way I can go to church today" I gasped. "Can you take the children with you?"
“What’s wrong sweetheart?” he knelt beside me. Worry lines furrowed his brow.
“I’m not feeling well at all. I need to lie down. I should be fine soon.”
Leonard bowed his head and began to pray aloud. Suddenly he stopped, opened his eyes and said, “I heard two words -- 'tubal pregnancy'.”
“I’m pretty sure I’m not pregnant. Tubal pregnancy? It’s probably something I ate. . . some indigestion.” I forced myself to stay calm.
As the hours passed, the pain diminished somewhat and I reached for some Alka Seltzer, telling myself that whatever was wrong should soon be better. By evening I rose shakily to my feet, steadying myself on the night table. Leonard and the children had been peeking anxiously into the bedroom for hours unsure of what to make of my condition. I wasn’t sure either.
Over the next three days I told myself to ignore the dull ache, though I did note with some consternation that my abdomen was becoming bloated. Another couple of Alka Seltzers should settle everything down, I decided.
Still, the words Leonard had heard when he was praying for me – 'tubal pregnancy' – kept coming back to me. I believed in God and knew He worked in many unusual ways, often mysterious. Could these words be from God? I wondered. But the chatter of the children, the continual ring of the parsonage telephone, neighbours stopping over and the busyness of my life pushed these thoughts into the back of my mind.
On the fourth day I awoke with a deep sense of foreboding. I truly did not feel any better and that worried me. I began my homeschooling day lying on the couch – something I’d never done and never allowed my children to do unless under dire circumstances.
I heard the phone ringing insistently upstairs. As I rose slowly to answer, the room began to spin. I placed my hand on the wall and took a deep breath. Continuing up the stairs I put my hands on each stair step to keep myself from falling. The walls seemed to be spinning crazily. Just a few more steps to the phone, I thought.
“Hi sweetheart. No, I’m not okay. Could you come home?”
Within minutes Leonard opened the front door. I was lying on the stairs and trying to get to my feet. Suddenly I felt darkness come over me and a ringing in my ears.
Leonard was praying again when I came to consciousness on the bed where he had taken me. When I opened my eyes he said, “I am sure you have a tubal pregnancy. I heard those words again just now as I prayed.
”Maybe I just need to rest a bit. Could you help me go to the bathroom first?” He lifted me up and we walked together. Before I got there I collapsed.
I was vaguely aware of an ambulance attendant saying to his colleague, “Can’t seem to get a pulse or a blood pressure reading.” I muttered back, “Pretty sure I’m not dead yet.”
During the ride to the hospital in the ambulance I caught snatches of sentences as I fought to remain conscious. I realized I was very ill, yet I had no fear, only a deep sense of calm and peace.
The calm came to an abrupt end as the wheels of the stretcher hit the ground and the attendants moved me at breathtaking speed into a large brightly-lit room. Suddenly I was surrounded by machines and people. They hastily cut off my clothing, applied icy electrodes to my body, and placed an oxygen mask over my face. I heard muffled voices and caught only phrases as I drifted in and out of consciousness.
“Collapsed veins.”
“Can’t get a blood pressure reading.”
“Can’t get the IV in.”
Leonard explained to our family doctor “This may seem really strange to you but a few days ago when this first started, as I was praying for Carie, I clearly heard the words 'tubal pregnancy.' And today when I prayed I heard those words again."
Reluctantly, the doctor replied, “I will do an ultrasound and pregnancy test just to be sure. Your wife is in critical condition.”
Later he reported to Leonard that I was indeed pregnant but the ultrasound showed that the pregnancy was in proper position. “Still”, he said, “She is very ill and we don't know what's wrong with her.”
Knowing from the doctor’s responses that I could possibly die, Leonard went to a small chapel in the hospital and cried out, asking God to spare my life. Once again he heard the words 'tubal pregnancy'.
He returned and pleaded with both our family doctor and the specialist that had been called in to recheck the possibility of a tubal pregnancy telling them "I heard those words again."
“Okay, we will do one more ultrasound on our larger machine upstairs to get an even better look at things.”
When the tests were done, the doctor reported “It’s a tubal pregnancy, clearly confirmed by the second ultrasound. She’s lost a lot of blood since her tube burst when she had that first pain. The surgeon will be ready in minutes.”
When I woke up hours later, I found myself in a hospital room with a large metal clock ticking softly on the wall. It was dark outside. Was it morning or evening? I wondered. I could vaguely hear soft muffled voices coming from the foot of my bed. “One more hour and your wife would have died. You got her here just in time. She lost over half the blood of her body into her abdomen.”
The words "I almost died" began to synchronize with the ticking of the clock like an endless refrain in my mind bringing this reality deep into my heart. Then softly a new refrain began. "A miracle of God's love. A miracle of God's love. . . " filling my heart with peace. Yes, it was a word from heaven spoken three times. A miracle of God’s love that saved my life.
Catharina Terry
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Do we have to learn everything by experience?
Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. 1 Corinthians 10:11
New American Standard Bible (NASB)
It was late in the evening as I was returning from a visit with my sister in law in Boise Idaho. I was driving back on a route which would take us through a majestic mountain pass on the way to Yellowstone National Park. In the car with me were my three youngest daughters Catharina, Celia and Grace. I was pulling a trailer that held a baby grand piano.
As we were coming to the start of a mountainous area I saw a sign with a blinking light that said, “When flashing do not continue if pulling a trailer.” I ignored the sign. If I turned around I would have had to go an extra five hours to get through the area.
In a few miles a light snow began to fall. A few more miles and another warning sign. I had a slight thought that perhaps I ought to follow its advice but rationalized it away.
About a half an hour later I was on a mountain road with hairpin turns, a thousand foot cliff on one side and so narrow two cars could barely get past each other. The snow was coming down quickly and my traction was beginning to fail.
I frantically began to look for a place to turn around but because of the trailer it was impossible. Finally the car stopped and the tires were just spinning. I could no longer go up the mountain.
We stopped just short of a blind turn. It was very dark by now. As I sat their praying what to do several trucks came around the turn and they barely missed hitting me. I realized that even if I just sat there I might be hit by a car or truck coming around that bend and still slide off the cliff.
Because of its weight I could not take the trailer off the car though by that point I would gladly have let the piano fall down the cliff to save my girls. It would have taken three men or the professional floor jack i had at home to lift the tongue off the ball. With the icy conditions if I had been able to get it off I might easily have gone down the cliff with it.
I got out of the car to see if I could back up. There was a small area a little further down the road that I could possibly back the trailer into. The road had no guard rails. I was sure if I began to slide the trailer and the car would fall off the mountain but with the snow getting deeper and the threat of being hit if I stayed where I was I knew I had to do something.
I carefully backed up to the area and turned the trailer as far as I thought I could go safely into the space. I then turned my car wheels are far as possible and tried to make the turn. We started to slide backwards. I was crying out with all my heart for Jesus to save us as I pushed the pedal to the floor. The car began to slide sideways down the road and just when I was sure that all was lost it snapped around so that we were across both lanes headed down the mountain.
As I went down that mountain as slowly as I could every second was spent in telling God how sorry I was that I had not listened to Him and how thankful I was that He had saved us though I did not deserve it.
Had I heard a supernatural word from Him? No. Had He given me a vision? No. Had He really been speaking? He was screaming in alarm at my foolishness. He was speaking through a flashing warning sign.
The thought that gripped me so completely that night and thousands of times since whenever its memory returns was that I would have killed my children by my pride. I thought of the grief that would have filled the most precious person in my life’s heart – my sweetheart who bore them. Hurting her like no other person on the planet could have ever done, though I loved her with my life. All because of my pride.
Matthew 4:5-7 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
Then the devil *took Him into the holy city and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, 6 and *said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written,
‘HE WILL COMMAND HIS ANGELS CONCERNING YOU’;
and ‘ON their HANDS THEY WILL BEAR YOU UP, SO THAT YOU WILL NOT STRIKE YOUR FOOT AGAINST A STONE.’”
7 Jesus said to him, “On the other hand, it is written, ‘YOU SHALL NOT PUT THE LORD YOUR GOD TO THE TEST.’”
When I drove past that sign I thought somehow I was different. I was the “special case.” Though I would have never said it exactly like that – since my heart is so easily deceived around pride issues – I was probably thinking, God always takes care of me so no worries.
He has taken wonderful care of me. But like Jesus I am still subject to the law of gravity. Had Jesus cast himself down from that place he would have died and we would have all eternally perished with him.
How I wish that I could share the truth I learned so devastatingly that night with every human on the planet. But few listen.
When I chose to go up that mountain after the signs had told me not to I tempted God. Perhaps I lived only to tell the story of how pride in the most deceptive of forms – thinking we are the “special case” because of our relationship with God -- can destroy us.
One of the most powerful influencers of my early life in God was Keith Green. Our fellowship had even sent one of our young people to work with his ministry. She eventually became his wife Melody’s personal secretary.
One day he took a missionary family, his pilot and two of his children on a short plane ride to view the ministry's property from the air. None of them returned. After only a few minutes the plane stalled and fell like a stone to a wooded area and burst into flames.
You can read on Wikipaedia, "the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) determined that the crash was caused by the pilot allowing the aircraft to be loaded beyond its operating limitations."
The court records also show that:
"... the insurance carrier required Burmeister (the pilot) to log 1,045 hrs of flying time, attend a Cessna ground and flight training course, as well as log 15 hours in a Cessna 414 (C-414) prior to acting as the PIC (pilot in control) of the leased aircraft. The NTSB record shows he failed to accomplish all of these requirements, with disastrous results. With pilot and eleven passengers, the aircraft was overloaded by an estimated 445 pounds (202 kg), and the location of the center of gravity was found to be 4.5 inches (110 mm) beyond the maximum aft limit. Combined with an air temperature of 90 degrees, the C-414 could do little but struggle into the air, and once airborne was left virtually uncontrollable. These factors prevented the aircraft from ever attaining sufficient altitude, and it crashed into trees less than a mile from the airport."
Like I did on that night so long ago, Keith’s pilot failed to follow correct protocol for flying his aircraft. We will never know exactly why he did so. But someone on that plane thought that they were the special case. He had to have known that the plane could not safely fly with that load. His training would have taught him that. His knowledge of the plane would have taught him that. But whether he felt so desirous to please Keith or simply thought that God would see him as the “special case” he flew a plane that could not fly. He killed himself and eleven other people.
Some will say it was a sovereign act of God. They will try to rationalize away the stark reality that even after salvation we remain frail creatures of dust instead of God’s superheroes.
It was not an act of God. It was an act of man-- a man, just like me. We did not learn well the lessons of history. The difference is only that I and my girls came down from my high place of pride alive. He and his passengers paid the ultimate price for his pride.
I have often said since then that there is more than one unfailing word from God. The Bible is the place where we can still fully hear the voice of God on Earth today. It is completely reliable when properly interpreted. But there are at least two other fully trustworthy ways God speaks --Creation and History.
Why were there signs on the side of the road when I went up my mountain of pride?
They were there because others had learned, perhaps through giving their own lives, that the danger was too great to go up under certain conditions.
The lights were flashing because someone cared enough to turn them on when the weather was turning bad. They followed the lessons that had been given through creation and history.
I did not.
I often have people say to me that God never speaks to them. But it is not true.
What they mean is that they don’t hear voices. I really doubt that as well. I imagine they often hear the voice of conscience.
But I expect they really mean is they want some multimedia experience that is beyond doubt. And yet God has given just that in the lives of those who have gone before down the same paths we follow.
Andy Stanley has written a book called the “Principle of the Path.” He correctly points out that when you follow a certain path it will take you where it takes everyone no matter who you are or what your intentions are.
The reason I love this thought is that it speaks to our delusion that somehow because of our “special relationship” with God we are the "special case."
Great men and women of God have fallen terribly because they thought they were “special” and could go down paths God said no one was to go down.
Consider this, not even the son of God who it was directly prophesied about that angels would protect him was the "special case." How do we think that we can be?
I can tell you from what I learned on one of the worst night of my life….. we can think we are the "special case" because of PRIDE.
It was not the swashbuckling pride of an arrogant rebel. It was the totally deceptive barely visible pride of thinking the path will not take me where it has taken everyone else who has gone down it.
It is true that experience is the best teacher but to have to learn everything by experience most likely means we will die and kill others in the process.
As the scripture we read at the first says the past mistakes or successes of others are there for us to see and use to learn God's way for us.
The whole history of others driving up my mountain of pride and the Word of God was there for me to see and respond to on a sign on the side of the road. I did not need to experience it to be saved from tragedy. I just needed to take serious the warning given.
Since that time I have understood the principle of the path – the path I choose will take me the same place it takes everyone else for good or for ill.
"Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it." George Santayana
New American Standard Bible (NASB)
It was late in the evening as I was returning from a visit with my sister in law in Boise Idaho. I was driving back on a route which would take us through a majestic mountain pass on the way to Yellowstone National Park. In the car with me were my three youngest daughters Catharina, Celia and Grace. I was pulling a trailer that held a baby grand piano.
As we were coming to the start of a mountainous area I saw a sign with a blinking light that said, “When flashing do not continue if pulling a trailer.” I ignored the sign. If I turned around I would have had to go an extra five hours to get through the area.
In a few miles a light snow began to fall. A few more miles and another warning sign. I had a slight thought that perhaps I ought to follow its advice but rationalized it away.
About a half an hour later I was on a mountain road with hairpin turns, a thousand foot cliff on one side and so narrow two cars could barely get past each other. The snow was coming down quickly and my traction was beginning to fail.
I frantically began to look for a place to turn around but because of the trailer it was impossible. Finally the car stopped and the tires were just spinning. I could no longer go up the mountain.
We stopped just short of a blind turn. It was very dark by now. As I sat their praying what to do several trucks came around the turn and they barely missed hitting me. I realized that even if I just sat there I might be hit by a car or truck coming around that bend and still slide off the cliff.
Because of its weight I could not take the trailer off the car though by that point I would gladly have let the piano fall down the cliff to save my girls. It would have taken three men or the professional floor jack i had at home to lift the tongue off the ball. With the icy conditions if I had been able to get it off I might easily have gone down the cliff with it.
I got out of the car to see if I could back up. There was a small area a little further down the road that I could possibly back the trailer into. The road had no guard rails. I was sure if I began to slide the trailer and the car would fall off the mountain but with the snow getting deeper and the threat of being hit if I stayed where I was I knew I had to do something.
I carefully backed up to the area and turned the trailer as far as I thought I could go safely into the space. I then turned my car wheels are far as possible and tried to make the turn. We started to slide backwards. I was crying out with all my heart for Jesus to save us as I pushed the pedal to the floor. The car began to slide sideways down the road and just when I was sure that all was lost it snapped around so that we were across both lanes headed down the mountain.
As I went down that mountain as slowly as I could every second was spent in telling God how sorry I was that I had not listened to Him and how thankful I was that He had saved us though I did not deserve it.
Had I heard a supernatural word from Him? No. Had He given me a vision? No. Had He really been speaking? He was screaming in alarm at my foolishness. He was speaking through a flashing warning sign.
The thought that gripped me so completely that night and thousands of times since whenever its memory returns was that I would have killed my children by my pride. I thought of the grief that would have filled the most precious person in my life’s heart – my sweetheart who bore them. Hurting her like no other person on the planet could have ever done, though I loved her with my life. All because of my pride.
Matthew 4:5-7 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
Then the devil *took Him into the holy city and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, 6 and *said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written,
‘HE WILL COMMAND HIS ANGELS CONCERNING YOU’;
and ‘ON their HANDS THEY WILL BEAR YOU UP, SO THAT YOU WILL NOT STRIKE YOUR FOOT AGAINST A STONE.’”
7 Jesus said to him, “On the other hand, it is written, ‘YOU SHALL NOT PUT THE LORD YOUR GOD TO THE TEST.’”
When I drove past that sign I thought somehow I was different. I was the “special case.” Though I would have never said it exactly like that – since my heart is so easily deceived around pride issues – I was probably thinking, God always takes care of me so no worries.
He has taken wonderful care of me. But like Jesus I am still subject to the law of gravity. Had Jesus cast himself down from that place he would have died and we would have all eternally perished with him.
How I wish that I could share the truth I learned so devastatingly that night with every human on the planet. But few listen.
When I chose to go up that mountain after the signs had told me not to I tempted God. Perhaps I lived only to tell the story of how pride in the most deceptive of forms – thinking we are the “special case” because of our relationship with God -- can destroy us.
One of the most powerful influencers of my early life in God was Keith Green. Our fellowship had even sent one of our young people to work with his ministry. She eventually became his wife Melody’s personal secretary.
One day he took a missionary family, his pilot and two of his children on a short plane ride to view the ministry's property from the air. None of them returned. After only a few minutes the plane stalled and fell like a stone to a wooded area and burst into flames.
You can read on Wikipaedia, "the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) determined that the crash was caused by the pilot allowing the aircraft to be loaded beyond its operating limitations."
The court records also show that:
"... the insurance carrier required Burmeister (the pilot) to log 1,045 hrs of flying time, attend a Cessna ground and flight training course, as well as log 15 hours in a Cessna 414 (C-414) prior to acting as the PIC (pilot in control) of the leased aircraft. The NTSB record shows he failed to accomplish all of these requirements, with disastrous results. With pilot and eleven passengers, the aircraft was overloaded by an estimated 445 pounds (202 kg), and the location of the center of gravity was found to be 4.5 inches (110 mm) beyond the maximum aft limit. Combined with an air temperature of 90 degrees, the C-414 could do little but struggle into the air, and once airborne was left virtually uncontrollable. These factors prevented the aircraft from ever attaining sufficient altitude, and it crashed into trees less than a mile from the airport."
Like I did on that night so long ago, Keith’s pilot failed to follow correct protocol for flying his aircraft. We will never know exactly why he did so. But someone on that plane thought that they were the special case. He had to have known that the plane could not safely fly with that load. His training would have taught him that. His knowledge of the plane would have taught him that. But whether he felt so desirous to please Keith or simply thought that God would see him as the “special case” he flew a plane that could not fly. He killed himself and eleven other people.
Some will say it was a sovereign act of God. They will try to rationalize away the stark reality that even after salvation we remain frail creatures of dust instead of God’s superheroes.
It was not an act of God. It was an act of man-- a man, just like me. We did not learn well the lessons of history. The difference is only that I and my girls came down from my high place of pride alive. He and his passengers paid the ultimate price for his pride.
I have often said since then that there is more than one unfailing word from God. The Bible is the place where we can still fully hear the voice of God on Earth today. It is completely reliable when properly interpreted. But there are at least two other fully trustworthy ways God speaks --Creation and History.
Why were there signs on the side of the road when I went up my mountain of pride?
They were there because others had learned, perhaps through giving their own lives, that the danger was too great to go up under certain conditions.
The lights were flashing because someone cared enough to turn them on when the weather was turning bad. They followed the lessons that had been given through creation and history.
I did not.
I often have people say to me that God never speaks to them. But it is not true.
What they mean is that they don’t hear voices. I really doubt that as well. I imagine they often hear the voice of conscience.
But I expect they really mean is they want some multimedia experience that is beyond doubt. And yet God has given just that in the lives of those who have gone before down the same paths we follow.
Andy Stanley has written a book called the “Principle of the Path.” He correctly points out that when you follow a certain path it will take you where it takes everyone no matter who you are or what your intentions are.
The reason I love this thought is that it speaks to our delusion that somehow because of our “special relationship” with God we are the "special case."
Great men and women of God have fallen terribly because they thought they were “special” and could go down paths God said no one was to go down.
Consider this, not even the son of God who it was directly prophesied about that angels would protect him was the "special case." How do we think that we can be?
I can tell you from what I learned on one of the worst night of my life….. we can think we are the "special case" because of PRIDE.
It was not the swashbuckling pride of an arrogant rebel. It was the totally deceptive barely visible pride of thinking the path will not take me where it has taken everyone else who has gone down it.
It is true that experience is the best teacher but to have to learn everything by experience most likely means we will die and kill others in the process.
As the scripture we read at the first says the past mistakes or successes of others are there for us to see and use to learn God's way for us.
The whole history of others driving up my mountain of pride and the Word of God was there for me to see and respond to on a sign on the side of the road. I did not need to experience it to be saved from tragedy. I just needed to take serious the warning given.
Since that time I have understood the principle of the path – the path I choose will take me the same place it takes everyone else for good or for ill.
"Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it." George Santayana
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
The Value of a Relationship
Today’s world may seem a lot different than the one in which the Bible was written. For that reason many people discard the scriptures as irrelevant. I have found in my life that they are as current as today’s headlines.
Reading the scriptures properly opens up a whole world of understanding to us. Part of reading them properly is to seek for all the meanings found in them.
One passage struck me a few days ago. It was Jesus’ story of a father and two sons. I will let him tell it to you:
Luke 15:11-35
New Living Translation (NLT)
Parable of the Lost Son
11 To illustrate the point further, Jesus told them this story: “A man had two sons. 12 The younger son told his father, ‘I want my share of your estate now before you die.’ So his father agreed to divide his wealth between his sons.
13 “A few days later this younger son packed all his belongings and moved to a distant land, and there he wasted all his money in wild living. 14 About the time his money ran out, a great famine swept over the land, and he began to starve. 15 He persuaded a local farmer to hire him, and the man sent him into his fields to feed the pigs. 16 The young man became so hungry that even the pods he was feeding the pigs looked good to him. But no one gave him anything.
17 “When he finally came to his senses, he said to himself, ‘At home even the hired servants have food enough to spare, and here I am dying of hunger! 18 I will go home to my father and say, “Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, 19 and I am no longer worthy of being called your son. Please take me on as a hired servant.”’
20 “So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him. 21 His son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son.[a]’
22 “But his father said to the servants, ‘Quick! Bring the finest robe in the house and put it on him. Get a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet. 23 And kill the calf we have been fattening. We must celebrate with a feast, 24 for this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was lost, but now he is found.’ So the party began.
25 “Meanwhile, the older son was in the fields working. When he returned home, he heard music and dancing in the house, 26 and he asked one of the servants what was going on. 27 ‘Your brother is back,’ he was told, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf. We are celebrating because of his safe return.’
28 “The older brother was angry and wouldn’t go in. His father came out and begged him, 29 but he replied, ‘All these years I’ve slaved for you and never once refused to do a single thing you told me to. And in all that time you never gave me even one young goat for a feast with my friends. 30 Yet when this son of yours comes back after squandering your money on prostitutes, you celebrate by killing the fattened calf!’
31 “His father said to him, ‘Look, dear son, you have always stayed by me, and everything I have is yours. 32 We had to celebrate this happy day. For your brother was dead and has come back to life! He was lost, but now he is found!’”
One obvious meaning in the parable is about the father’s love for his son who was lost.
For many of us this story has a deep emotional connection to us because we, like the prodigal, went out and wasted all our heavenly father provided for us. We spent it in reckless abandon as if there was no tomorrow.
As well, many of us came to the realization of what we had done only after seeing pigs having a better life than ours. We came to ourselves and realized those who stayed in our father’s house were still taken care of. In a deep moment of regret we returned to our home and were welcomed back with open arms -- even if some of our near kin were not so happy with us coming back.
We also had in the story a reason to feel a measure of animosity against those who were not so quick to overlook our offenses. God Loves us! God does not condemn us. How dare you not join our party?
But a second look at the whole story gives me a bit different insight. Not that those meanings I have mentioned are not valid.
Biblical interpretation correctly done looks at all the messages of a text. To say that once we have a clear meaning it is the only intended meaning leaves us missing many wonderful things God wants to say to us.
The father does not berate the elder brother for not wanting to join the party. He knows what his son said was true. He appeals for him to realize what has happened. His brother, who his father loved as much as him, had come home. One who was dead to the father and to the family was now alive.
The father also pointed out that all along the brother enjoyed his father’s full provision:
31 “His father said to him, ‘Look, dear son . . . everything I have is yours.
I suppose many of us have thought that there was a full restoration of the father’s remaining estate to the prodigal. There wasn’t. The estate had already been divided. The son would never regain his father’s wealth that had been lost. The elder brother continued to own what was given to him at the division that happened before the prodigal left.
12 The younger son told his father, ‘I want my share of your estate now before you die.’ So his father agreed to divide his wealth between his sons.
The prodigal had said he was willing to return to his father’s house and become a hired slave and that in fact was what he would be concerning his provision. Anything he would gain would be due to his work for his father and his elder brother.
Any of us who look critically at those who never went astray and who today let us know that we are not worthy of the party the father gives us and that they certainly will not join it need to reconsider our stance. We are recipients of grace. We do not rightfully have a place in our father’s home. But we are given it just the same. Why? Because our father wants us to be in relationship with him.
In this last sentence lies what I believe is a wonderful other understanding of the parable.
The father did not actually have one prodigal son. He had two. Both misunderstood the purpose of their father’s provision. They thought it was to be for the meeting of their selfish desires.
We can see this easily in the prodigal who left but not so clearly in the prodigal who stayed. But it is there just as clearly.
28 “The older brother was angry and wouldn’t go in. His father came out and begged him, 29 but he replied, ‘All these years I’ve slaved for you and never once refused to do a single thing you told me to. And in all that time you never gave me even one young goat for a feast with my friends. 30 Yet when this son of yours comes back after squandering your money on prostitutes, you celebrate by killing the fattened calf!’
There it is.... Slaving for the father.... the father not giving him a single party....
Somehow in a moment of failed understanding the elder brother forgot he owned everything that was given to him at the time the younger brother left home. The father no doubt went on to make a good living but told the son everything that he had was his. The son was not slaving for the father he was working for himself. The father had already given everything up for both his sons.
How sad when we do not understand this. Our father has given EVERYTHING he can or ever will give. He is not the one who holds back. He would have a party for us every day. And those who have understood his extravagant love have a continual feast with him. It is us who determines if we will have the party. But the issue is not really about parties. It was about a glaring lack in both sons.
Both children valued the father for his provision and nothing else.
You see if the elder brother valued him for his love he would have remembered seeing his father grieving daily after the lost brother. He would have known that all the money in the world meant nothing to his dad as long as his little brother was living as he did.
Far from being angry with his father he would have been so grateful that this man who had loved him and provided for him so generously throughout his life was now happy. He was happy because his son was back from the dead.
The elder brother saw the pain of his father’s heart but thought nothing of it. In the place of compassion for his father was a deep seated bitterness that blinded him not only to all that his father had given him but also to the prodigal state of his own heart.
He had obeyed. He had worked hard. But he had not loved his father. If he had of he would have welcomed his brother with the same joy as his dad if for no other reason than knowing what a relief it would have been to his father.
As I have pondered these things over the last few weeks I have come to see that many of us never understand the deeper place to which God is continually calling us.
The father in the story valued the relationship he had with his sons. His wealth was only to demonstrate that value. What was important to him about his wealth was using it to build a relationship. He gave it all to build it with both.
To the younger brother he gave it so that when it ran out he would still know that he was loved even if he threw it all away.
I think the younger brother might have understood that but I am not sure. We are not told the rest of the story. Unfortunately I have seen the rest of the story many times where after the wandering one was helped he turned around and manifested the same bitterness that took him so far away in the first place. Usually the same root is involved. They fail to understand that it is about a relationship and not getting things from God they want.
If the younger brother thought coming back to dad was only a great way to improve his financial situation he would have never worked diligently. Nor would he have been forever in gratitude for the man who saved him from a life with the pigs. Generally those who are not grateful in this way sooner or later end up back with them.
For the prodigal to ever truly recover he would have needed to value his father for him alone. Not out of what he could get from him.
But we see the same issue in the elder brother. He presented his father as a slave labourer who was stingy and cheap. Yet his father had already given him everything he had.
The father gently pointed out the terrible flaw in both the sons as he pleaded with his eldest:
31 “His father said to him, ‘Look, dear son, you have always stayed by me. . . .
The elder son did not value the relationship he had with the father. He had always had the wonderful opportunity to be loved and to love his father. The younger brother lost that for years.
For both of sons their greatest loss was not material. They both had wasted precious years in blindness to what the most wonderful aspect of their lives was – the relationship they could have had with their father.
God help us not to do the same.
Mark 12:28-31
New American Standard Bible (NASB)
28 One of the scribes came and heard them arguing, and recognizing that He had answered them well, asked Him, “What commandment is the [a]foremost of all?” 29 Jesus answered, “The foremost is, ‘HEAR, O ISRAEL! THE LORD OUR GOD IS ONE LORD; 30 AND YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH.’
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Rising to Your Full Destiny - Sermon at ODCF August 21 & 22, 2011
Rising to your full Destiny
And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, 2 in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, Ephesians 2:1-2a
according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Ephesians 2:2b
But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, Ephesians 2:4
For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, 9 not it is the gift of God; as a result of works, so that no one may boast. Ephesians 2:8-9
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. Ephesians 2:10
Before the world began, Before sin entered into the heart of humanity, Before anything but God existed, He had a plan that included you.
Lets look at some scriptures that point to this truth:
Before King Josiah was born God told a specific act he would do because of his love for God.
Now behold, there came a man of God from Judah to Bethel by the word of the LORD, while Jeroboam was standing by the altar to burn incense. 1 Kings 13:1
He cried against the altar by the word of the LORD, and said, ³O altar, altar, thus says the LORD, 1 Kings 13:2a
Behold, a son shall be born to the house of David, Josiah by name; and on you he shall sacrifice the priests of the high places who burn incense on you, and human bones shall be burned on you. 1 Kings 13:2b
God knew Josiah before he was born. God had a plan for him and knew that He would follow that plan.
Listen to what God told Jeremiah about the plan He had for him.
Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, And before you were born I consecrated you; I have appointed you a prophet to the nations. Jeremiah 1:5
Isaiah was told about God's plan for Mary, the mother of Jesus, hundreds of years before she was born.
Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. Isaiah 7:14
God planned from the foundation of the world that Mary's son Jesus would give His life for the world.
And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Revelation 13:8
In exactly the same way God knew you and prepared a destiny for you.
And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28
For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, Romans 8:29a
So God has a plan for your life. It is as specific as it was for Josiah, Jeremiah, Mary and Jesus.
He has given you everything you need to fulfill the dreams He has for you.
If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all²how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Romans 8:30b
Everything about you, except that which has been come from sin, is given so that you will fulfill the plan He has for you.
EVERYTHING
No circumstance of your life can keep you from the plan He has for you«.. In every one of your circumstances He is working for the good things you and others need to come to your full destiny.
And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28
Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Romans 8:35
Just as it is written, "FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE BEING PUT TO DEATH ALL DAY LONG; WE WERE CONSIDERED AS SHEEP TO BE SLAUGHTERED." Romans 8:36
But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. Romans 8:37
For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, Romans 8:38
nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:39
This last scripture tells us one primary aspect of our true destiny.
God has destined us to be loved by Him.
We read earlier of the second primary aspect of our destiny.
For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, Romans 8:29
We are to become like Jesus.
The details of our lives are the stage upon which these two great destinies are worked out.
God planned for everyone who has lived or will ever live to be loved by Him and to be made into someone who reflects the nature of His Son Jesus.
When we understand this we also know that nothing of our true destiny can happen without a vital relationship with God.
The beginning of the fulfillment of God's plan for our lives is when we accept Jesus as our Saviour and Lord.
Until He is saviour we do not have the power of God in our lives to walk in His ways.
Until He is Lord of our lives we will be following our own path even if we have His power.
"Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ (Saviour)--this Jesus whom you crucified." Acts 2:36
Many questions arise once we have established that God has a specific plan for our lives.
Perhaps the most important one to address is about God's actions in our lives.
One extreme of theology says that everything that happens to us is due to God's direct action.
God never does evil.
Everything He does is out of His love for his creatures.
His ultimate purpose is to redeem as many of those who were created to bear His Son's image.
And when we love and follow Him that becomes our destiny as well.
While He does not do or cause everything that happens in our lives, because of what Jesus has done, He can redeem everything no matter how horrible it is.
But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. Romans 8:37
See again that we overwhelmingly conquer THROUGH JESUS.
We rise to our full destiny through our chosen relationship with God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
God will not force us into His desired destiny. It will only come by us choosing to love and follow Him.
It is so important that we realize that there are at least three other plans than God's.
These three are the Devil's Plan, The World's Plan and Our Own Plan (the flesh)
Because of sin the influence of the world and your own desires will be in bondage to the devil.
All the evil in the world, all the suffering, pain and sorrow, all the destroyed lives and all the lost potential arise from the work of the devil through humans who follow his plan for them.
In speaking about the devil Jesus said, "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have {it} abundantly. John 10:10
One of the primary missions of Jesus was to destroy the power the devil had over humanity.
Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, Hebrews 2:14
Because of what Jesus did we can live free of the devil's power.
A Forgotten Secret of rising to our full destiny.
So many Christians wonder why their lives do not seem to reach the potential they have in God.
I have taught for years that in order for God to do what He desires in our lives we have a part to play.
OUR PART - GOD'S PART
Behind every successful Christian is a life attitude that ensures they will find God's perfect destiny for them.
That act is given a word in English which today is seen in a very negative light. But when we have this in our lives we will always find God's purpose and succeed in it.
That word is submission.
Drawing from a message preached by D.L. Moody the hymn writer John Sammis penned the words:
Trust and Obey For there's no other way To be happy in Jesus Than to trust and obey.
This simple truth is the foundation for our lives as Christians. It is the only path of God's destiny.
Submitting to God is the only way we will rise to the fullness of our destiny.
So what does the word submit mean in relation to God?
The English word reflects perfectly the Greek meaning. The root words give the picture of true submission.
SUB = UNDER MITT = HAND Submission is to place ourselves under God's Hand.
There is perfect provision, protection and presence when we are under God's Mighty Hand.
To go there defeats the major sin of life - the pride of life. For to get under His hand we have to humble ourselves.
Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, 1 Peter 5:6
We defeat the enemy and all his plans for us through submission to God.
Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. James 4:7
I want you to get the true picture of submission as it is painted in the Bible. It is not a slavish, mindless obedience to a megalomanic who demands his every selfish whim to be done.
Submission is to place ourselves completely under the care and guidance of our loving heavenly Father's hand.
Under His hand is the only place of protection from ourselves, the world and the devil.
The principal of obedience is simple. We stay under God's hand by following what He teaches us to do. When we disobey his instruction we go out from under His hand. There we can be harmed by the enemy.
As long as we remain under God's hand we are in safety no matter what happens externally.
Some things become very obvious when we understand this. If we are going to follow God's plan for our lives we need to know what it is.
We find the clear instruction of God on every page of His book, the Bible.
This is why historically you cannot find a successful Christian who did not have a commitment to knowing the Bible and following its teaching.
The second major aspect of knowing God's will is prayer. Even if we know what God wants, we have to spend time with Him to be empowered to do His will.
In the beauty of prayer we find the specifics of our personal destiny being unveiled.
We see in Elijah's life that as he let the troubles of his life drive him to a place of brokenness and aloneness with God, his destiny was revealed.
Then he came there to a cave and lodged there; and behold, the word of the LORD {came} to him, and He said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?³ 1 Kings 19:9
He said, "I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of hosts; for the sons of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars and killed Your prophets with the sword. And I alone am left; and they seek my life, to take it away." 1 Kings 19:10
The LORD said to him, "Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus, and when you have arrived, you shall anoint Hazael king over Aram; 1 Kings 19:15
and Jehu the son of Nimshi you shall anoint king over Israel; and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah you shall anoint as prophet in your place. 1 Kings 19:15
Elijah found in the place of prayer what he could not get from the scriptures. For us to find the full destiny for our lives we must be in the habit of going to God to listen for His specific direction for each day.
These three acts in our lives will lead us to our full destiny. 1. Submit ourselves to God's will completely
2. Spending daily time with Him through reading His Word
3. Spending daily time with Him in Prayer
Beyond these foundational thoughts regarding our destiny there are a few things that have helped me along the way.
1. Prepare for your destiny
For us to come to the fullness of our destiny we must prepare for it. No one will be used by God in any activity if they do not prepare for it.
Excellence in preparation is our part of the equation. Whatever we do for God our attitude should be to present Him our very best, with passion, with full perseverance and with thankful hearts.
Whatever you do in word or deed, {do} all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father. Colosians 3:17
2. FOCUS ON WHAT YOU CAN DO WITH GOD'S POWER NOT ON WHAT YOU CANNOT DO.
I found it to be so important for me to focus on what I could do with God and not what I could not do. With God nothing is impossible. It is not about our ability. But often times I have gotten captured in a thinking pattern of "I can't."
Whatever God wants us to do He will give us the ability to do. We face impossibility only to drive us to Elijah's Cave to find what He wants for us. We must press into God for his power and not focus on our ability. If God says we can, then with God we will. If He does not tell us we can, we have no business trying.
3. LOVE YOUR DESTINY
Very early in my life in Jesus I learned that I needed to love my destiny. I found that I often compared myself to others. Almost all of these comparisons ended up with me feeling my destiny was not nearly as exciting or important as someone else's.
Then one day God showed me that for someone my life was as important as the apostle Paul's was. I understood that God had specifically designed me to share His life with the world I lived in. I knew that if I would be faithfully submitting my life to His will He would touch my world through me.
He wants us to love our destiny and not compare ourselves with others.
Our destiny is the unique expression of Jesus lived through us. It is not the full expression. This is why we are to be part of a church body. When we live fully submitted to His will as a church, we are the full picture.
Your life is uniquely created to express Jesus to your world.
NO ONE CAN TAKE YOUR PLACE.
4. YOUR DREAMS CAN LEAD YOU TO GOD'S DESTINY
No one's life more fully expresses this than Joseph. His childhood dreams eventually became his destiny.
To see this in his life helped me greatly to understand that God was not opposed to me having dreams. In fact I learned that when I delighted in Him I could trust that the dreams of my heart - as long as they were not sinful - were being placed there by Him.
Delight yourself in the LORD; And He will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4
5. HELP OTHERS FULFILL THEIR DESTINY
So often we think when God says no to some desire we have it is the end of the discussion. King David helped me understand that sometimes God says no to us to give others a chance to find their own destiny.
David had a passion to build God a Temple. God was pleased that he loved him enough to want that but said no. Instead of giving up his dream, he spent the rest of his life preparing the materials so Solomon his son could fulfill his destiny to build it.
6. PLEASING GOD IS TO BE THE HIGHEST MOTIVATION TO OUR DESTINY.
The thought provided the greatest motivation for me to fulfill my personal destiny was that I could please God. We can actually please God. To know that God was pleased with me has brought the greatest delight I have ever known.
"His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master." Matthew 25:21
I will never forget the moment I came to this. I was watching the movie Chariots of Fire. The Olympic runner, Eric Liddell, was explaining to his sister that his running was not in opposition to God. He told her how he still loved China and the call God had given him to that nation.
But he told her "I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast, and when I run I feel God's pleasure."
Our highest motivation is to be pleasing our heavenly Father. It was Jesus's
"And He who sent Me is with Me; He has not left Me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to Him." John 8:29
Potential Prayer Thoughts:
1. Do you want to pray to accept Jesus as your Saviour?
2. Perhaps you have received Jesus as your Saviour but you have never allowed him to be the Lord of your life. Do you want to pray for that today?
3. Do you want to pray for a deeper relationship with God?
4. Do you want to pray for a clearer revelation of God's plan for your life?
5. Have you been stirred in your heart today about something you believe God wants for you and want prayer for His guidance and power to do it?
Rising to Your Full Destiny
And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, 2 in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, Ephesians 2:1-2a
according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Ephesians 2:2b
But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, Ephesians 2:4
For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, 9 not it is the gift of God; as a result of works, so that no one may boast. Ephesians 2:8-9
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. Ephesians 2:10
Before the world began, Before sin entered into the heart of humanity, Before anything but God existed, He had a plan that included you.
Lets look at some scriptures that point to this truth:
Before King Josiah was born God told a specific act he would do because of his love for God.
Now behold, there came a man of God from Judah to Bethel by the word of the LORD, while Jeroboam was standing by the altar to burn incense. 1 Kings 13:1
He cried against the altar by the word of the LORD, and said, ³O altar, altar, thus says the LORD, 1 Kings 13:2a
Behold, a son shall be born to the house of David, Josiah by name; and on you he shall sacrifice the priests of the high places who burn incense on you, and human bones shall be burned on you. 1 Kings 13:2b
God knew Josiah before he was born. God had a plan for him and knew that He would follow that plan.
Listen to what God told Jeremiah about the plan He had for him.
Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, And before you were born I consecrated you; I have appointed you a prophet to the nations. Jeremiah 1:5
Isaiah was told about God's plan for Mary, the mother of Jesus, hundreds of years before she was born.
Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. Isaiah 7:14
God planned from the foundation of the world that Mary's son Jesus would give His life for the world.
And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Revelation 13:8
In exactly the same way God knew you and prepared a destiny for you.
And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28
For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, Romans 8:29a
So God has a plan for your life. It is as specific as it was for Josiah, Jeremiah, Mary and Jesus.
He has given you everything you need to fulfill the dreams He has for you.
If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all²how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Romans 8:30b
Everything about you, except that which has been come from sin, is given so that you will fulfill the plan He has for you.
EVERYTHING
No circumstance of your life can keep you from the plan He has for you«.. In every one of your circumstances He is working for the good things you and others need to come to your full destiny.
And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28
Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Romans 8:35
Just as it is written, "FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE BEING PUT TO DEATH ALL DAY LONG; WE WERE CONSIDERED AS SHEEP TO BE SLAUGHTERED." Romans 8:36
But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. Romans 8:37
For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, Romans 8:38
nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:39
This last scripture tells us one primary aspect of our true destiny.
God has destined us to be loved by Him.
We read earlier of the second primary aspect of our destiny.
For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, Romans 8:29
We are to become like Jesus.
The details of our lives are the stage upon which these two great destinies are worked out.
God planned for everyone who has lived or will ever live to be loved by Him and to be made into someone who reflects the nature of His Son Jesus.
When we understand this we also know that nothing of our true destiny can happen without a vital relationship with God.
The beginning of the fulfillment of God's plan for our lives is when we accept Jesus as our Saviour and Lord.
Until He is saviour we do not have the power of God in our lives to walk in His ways.
Until He is Lord of our lives we will be following our own path even if we have His power.
"Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ (Saviour)--this Jesus whom you crucified." Acts 2:36
Many questions arise once we have established that God has a specific plan for our lives.
Perhaps the most important one to address is about God's actions in our lives.
One extreme of theology says that everything that happens to us is due to God's direct action.
God never does evil.
Everything He does is out of His love for his creatures.
His ultimate purpose is to redeem as many of those who were created to bear His Son's image.
And when we love and follow Him that becomes our destiny as well.
While He does not do or cause everything that happens in our lives, because of what Jesus has done, He can redeem everything no matter how horrible it is.
But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. Romans 8:37
See again that we overwhelmingly conquer THROUGH JESUS.
We rise to our full destiny through our chosen relationship with God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
God will not force us into His desired destiny. It will only come by us choosing to love and follow Him.
It is so important that we realize that there are at least three other plans than God's.
These three are the Devil's Plan, The World's Plan and Our Own Plan (the flesh)
Because of sin the influence of the world and your own desires will be in bondage to the devil.
All the evil in the world, all the suffering, pain and sorrow, all the destroyed lives and all the lost potential arise from the work of the devil through humans who follow his plan for them.
In speaking about the devil Jesus said, "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have {it} abundantly. John 10:10
One of the primary missions of Jesus was to destroy the power the devil had over humanity.
Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, Hebrews 2:14
Because of what Jesus did we can live free of the devil's power.
A Forgotten Secret of rising to our full destiny.
So many Christians wonder why their lives do not seem to reach the potential they have in God.
I have taught for years that in order for God to do what He desires in our lives we have a part to play.
OUR PART - GOD'S PART
Behind every successful Christian is a life attitude that ensures they will find God's perfect destiny for them.
That act is given a word in English which today is seen in a very negative light. But when we have this in our lives we will always find God's purpose and succeed in it.
That word is submission.
Drawing from a message preached by D.L. Moody the hymn writer John Sammis penned the words:
Trust and Obey For there's no other way To be happy in Jesus Than to trust and obey.
This simple truth is the foundation for our lives as Christians. It is the only path of God's destiny.
Submitting to God is the only way we will rise to the fullness of our destiny.
So what does the word submit mean in relation to God?
The English word reflects perfectly the Greek meaning. The root words give the picture of true submission.
SUB = UNDER MITT = HAND Submission is to place ourselves under God's Hand.
There is perfect provision, protection and presence when we are under God's Mighty Hand.
To go there defeats the major sin of life - the pride of life. For to get under His hand we have to humble ourselves.
Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, 1 Peter 5:6
We defeat the enemy and all his plans for us through submission to God.
Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. James 4:7
I want you to get the true picture of submission as it is painted in the Bible. It is not a slavish, mindless obedience to a megalomanic who demands his every selfish whim to be done.
Submission is to place ourselves completely under the care and guidance of our loving heavenly Father's hand.
Under His hand is the only place of protection from ourselves, the world and the devil.
The principal of obedience is simple. We stay under God's hand by following what He teaches us to do. When we disobey his instruction we go out from under His hand. There we can be harmed by the enemy.
As long as we remain under God's hand we are in safety no matter what happens externally.
Some things become very obvious when we understand this. If we are going to follow God's plan for our lives we need to know what it is.
We find the clear instruction of God on every page of His book, the Bible.
This is why historically you cannot find a successful Christian who did not have a commitment to knowing the Bible and following its teaching.
The second major aspect of knowing God's will is prayer. Even if we know what God wants, we have to spend time with Him to be empowered to do His will.
In the beauty of prayer we find the specifics of our personal destiny being unveiled.
We see in Elijah's life that as he let the troubles of his life drive him to a place of brokenness and aloneness with God, his destiny was revealed.
Then he came there to a cave and lodged there; and behold, the word of the LORD {came} to him, and He said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?³ 1 Kings 19:9
He said, "I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of hosts; for the sons of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars and killed Your prophets with the sword. And I alone am left; and they seek my life, to take it away." 1 Kings 19:10
The LORD said to him, "Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus, and when you have arrived, you shall anoint Hazael king over Aram; 1 Kings 19:15
and Jehu the son of Nimshi you shall anoint king over Israel; and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah you shall anoint as prophet in your place. 1 Kings 19:15
Elijah found in the place of prayer what he could not get from the scriptures. For us to find the full destiny for our lives we must be in the habit of going to God to listen for His specific direction for each day.
These three acts in our lives will lead us to our full destiny. 1. Submit ourselves to God's will completely
2. Spending daily time with Him through reading His Word
3. Spending daily time with Him in Prayer
Beyond these foundational thoughts regarding our destiny there are a few things that have helped me along the way.
1. Prepare for your destiny
For us to come to the fullness of our destiny we must prepare for it. No one will be used by God in any activity if they do not prepare for it.
Excellence in preparation is our part of the equation. Whatever we do for God our attitude should be to present Him our very best, with passion, with full perseverance and with thankful hearts.
Whatever you do in word or deed, {do} all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father. Colosians 3:17
2. FOCUS ON WHAT YOU CAN DO WITH GOD'S POWER NOT ON WHAT YOU CANNOT DO.
I found it to be so important for me to focus on what I could do with God and not what I could not do. With God nothing is impossible. It is not about our ability. But often times I have gotten captured in a thinking pattern of "I can't."
Whatever God wants us to do He will give us the ability to do. We face impossibility only to drive us to Elijah's Cave to find what He wants for us. We must press into God for his power and not focus on our ability. If God says we can, then with God we will. If He does not tell us we can, we have no business trying.
3. LOVE YOUR DESTINY
Very early in my life in Jesus I learned that I needed to love my destiny. I found that I often compared myself to others. Almost all of these comparisons ended up with me feeling my destiny was not nearly as exciting or important as someone else's.
Then one day God showed me that for someone my life was as important as the apostle Paul's was. I understood that God had specifically designed me to share His life with the world I lived in. I knew that if I would be faithfully submitting my life to His will He would touch my world through me.
He wants us to love our destiny and not compare ourselves with others.
Our destiny is the unique expression of Jesus lived through us. It is not the full expression. This is why we are to be part of a church body. When we live fully submitted to His will as a church, we are the full picture.
Your life is uniquely created to express Jesus to your world.
NO ONE CAN TAKE YOUR PLACE.
4. YOUR DREAMS CAN LEAD YOU TO GOD'S DESTINY
No one's life more fully expresses this than Joseph. His childhood dreams eventually became his destiny.
To see this in his life helped me greatly to understand that God was not opposed to me having dreams. In fact I learned that when I delighted in Him I could trust that the dreams of my heart - as long as they were not sinful - were being placed there by Him.
Delight yourself in the LORD; And He will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4
5. HELP OTHERS FULFILL THEIR DESTINY
So often we think when God says no to some desire we have it is the end of the discussion. King David helped me understand that sometimes God says no to us to give others a chance to find their own destiny.
David had a passion to build God a Temple. God was pleased that he loved him enough to want that but said no. Instead of giving up his dream, he spent the rest of his life preparing the materials so Solomon his son could fulfill his destiny to build it.
6. PLEASING GOD IS TO BE THE HIGHEST MOTIVATION TO OUR DESTINY.
The thought provided the greatest motivation for me to fulfill my personal destiny was that I could please God. We can actually please God. To know that God was pleased with me has brought the greatest delight I have ever known.
"His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master." Matthew 25:21
I will never forget the moment I came to this. I was watching the movie Chariots of Fire. The Olympic runner, Eric Liddell, was explaining to his sister that his running was not in opposition to God. He told her how he still loved China and the call God had given him to that nation.
But he told her "I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast, and when I run I feel God's pleasure."
Our highest motivation is to be pleasing our heavenly Father. It was Jesus's
"And He who sent Me is with Me; He has not left Me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to Him." John 8:29
Potential Prayer Thoughts:
1. Do you want to pray to accept Jesus as your Saviour?
2. Perhaps you have received Jesus as your Saviour but you have never allowed him to be the Lord of your life. Do you want to pray for that today?
3. Do you want to pray for a deeper relationship with God?
4. Do you want to pray for a clearer revelation of God's plan for your life?
5. Have you been stirred in your heart today about something you believe God wants for you and want prayer for His guidance and power to do it?
Rising to Your Full Destiny
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