On Fear

Prayer is the best outlet to fear: where is the Christian that cannot set his seal to this direction?   Flavel, John (2010-08-03). Keeping the Heart (Kindle Locations 669-670).   Kindle Edition.   

Psa 118:5  Out of my distress I called on the LORD; the LORD answered me and set me free.  ESV

In times of danger  no matter its magnitude  fear is natural.  Courage is not the absence of fear but rather the acting upon it.  What greater thing could we do than to go to our Father with all our fears.

Isn't Christ, our intercessor and Great High Priest, seated with the Father speaking of us and for us?  Does not Christ appreciate and understand our weaknesses and vulnerabilities?

If, as we see in the quote above, Satan knows and exploits our fears, does not our Father know more and better?  In all things fearful is it not enough that nothing can separate us from the love of God?  Surely upon that assurance we can stand.

But we are weak as babes in our walk with Christ  as we should be.      Though we lived in the wiles of the Devil and the fantasies of the flesh, we do not know living in the security and power of our Lord.  So we tremble and quake as Satan and our budding/immature faith both work to our distress.

Trusting God is not something that just comes.  It is gained by experience, informed by His Word and enhanced by His Spirit.  I have trusted God in many situations and yet every new situation raises the hair on the back of my neck.

I wonder, God was faithful there and then but this is here and now.  Even though I know that when it was then and there for me, He was already readying here and now for me.  But I still fear.

 
I've noticed something, though, about that fear.  It is characterized by the question, What am I (or we) going to do”?  Perhaps that's where we get tripped up.  We face a circumstance and supposing we must or can do something, we start with ourselves.  Seeing no help for or in ourselves, we fear.  Because we are already afraid we think we don't have faith.  Because we think we don't have faith we doubt God will help us.

Perhaps were starting at the wrong place.  Perhaps we need to take the circumstance (and our fear) to Him immediately and ask Him what we need to do (if anything).  Perhaps we need to slow down, examine the circumstance and take our thoughts and concerns to Him and have a talk. 

 
I wonder if at times I irritate Him (LOL).  I try to take circumstances to Him and leave them with Him but it doesn't work very well.  I've found that I need to stay before Him and take the time to pour out my ideas and thoughts concerning the circumstance.  If I don't, I find myself fretting and distracted.  So I try to go to Him and just babble out my ideas, my tangential concerns, my solutions, my fears.  It seems that this process has a quieting effect on my soul.

But just recently, I've discovered that I rise from prayer too swiftly.  I'll pray and then get into bed and I'll just go on trying to fix the problem in my head.  I think that, at those times, I need to get back on my knees and continue the conversation  obviously, I wasn't done (or maybe He wasn't). 

 
Ok  for those of you who are thinking, Do I have to be on my knees,  Ill just tell you that I do.  As I've intentionally worked on my prayer life, I've discovered that it just feels more like prayer when I'm kneeling.  Do I have to?  I don't think I have to for Him  but I do for me.  That's just me  and we all know I'm just not right. 

 
Prayer is worship  but it is conversational worship.  I speak, He listens.  How He responds is unclear to me  I haven't heard voices yet.  But I trust Him to respond because He always has.  Either through the Word, a change of circumstance, another believer, a random sermon I hear, a random book I read, or even a random thought, He answers.  Oh, I know none of those things are really random.  They are intentional and purposeful  so maybe utterly unexpected is a better term.  But the point is, He answers.

Concerning the verse I used above.  Notice that the writer says that God set him free.  The term distress has the sense of tightness, like when your chest gets tight when you are anxious.  Now the writer doesnt say what his freedom looked like.  Was the circumstance changed or was his anxiety relieved?  But would we complain of either?  I hope not.

Dont let yourself think that you should only do this for the big stuff.  Make it a habit to do it with everything.  Pour, it all out to God.  What seems trivial today may loom large tomorrow, so you may as well get a head start on it. 

"Lend" to the poor.

Deuteronomy 15:7-11 ESV
"If among you, one of your brothers should become poor, in any of your towns within your land that the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart or shut your hand against your poor brother, [8] but you shall open your hand to him and lend him sufficient for his need, whatever it may be. [9] Take care lest there be an unworthy thought in your heart and you say, 'The seventh year, the year of release is near,' and your eye look grudgingly on your poor brother, and you give him nothing, and he cry to the LORD against you, and you be guilty of sin. [10] You shall give to him freely, and your heart shall not be grudging when you give to him, because for this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in all that you undertake. [11] For there will never cease to be poor in the land. Therefore I command you, 'You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in your land.'

Enough said.  Not enough follow-through

Having been in very real need, I have been blessed by brothers and sisters who heard God's directive and have engaged and followed through.  It was tough to ask and tough to receive but a blessing nonetheless.

"Poor" is a tough place to be.

Notice that this passage does not qualify poverty.  It does not discuss the "why" behind the poverty it simply says that if one of our vrothers becomes poor we are to see that they are provided with sufficient to meet their need.  It says we are to "lend" them  whatever is sufficient for that need.

"Lend ?"   Lend a poor person money?  Yep, that's what is says (and remember the law against charging interest).  It's tough to think of lending a poor person money.  It's easier to just give it to them, and that'66s ok too but when you lend it to them, you are invested in their growing out of poverty.  You have an interest in their overcoming whatever their negative circumstance is and going on to be lifted out of their poverty.  This is a good motivator for the giver to stay engaged in the life of the one in need.

Giving them what they need is a good thing but jt can be a kind of "fire and forget" blessing.  It's real easy to just give and walk away feelimg good about having given.  But, if we take the injunction to "lend" them what they need seriously we can't just walk away.  We take on some form of responsibility with them for the bettermemt of their condition.  That's charity plus!  That is the will of the Lord.  That is part of of the plan.

With many if not most of the "poor," something has occured in their lives to cast then into that condition.  It is God's will that they not remain in  that condition but that they rise from it.  That means that besides the poverty, the cause needs to be addressed.  Thatxs phase two of God's answer to the poor brother's need and one He thoroughly expects us to have a part in.  Whether we take direct and intimate action for their benefit or we help them aquire the connections and resources they need, we are not allowed to "fire and forget" our blessing to them.

The whole notion of lending to the poor is to keep us engaged in their progress.  Charity is tough to give and tough to take but to just drop a gift on them and drop out of their lives is just cruel.  It's saying, "Here's some stuff, lots of luck you are on your own."  Well, being on their own probably contributed to their becoming poor.  Leaving them to their own devices, even with a generous gift, is not going to help them the way they need help!

Having a lending mindset also creates a covenant between you and them. There are legitimate expectations that need to be made clear and carried out.  If one lends, one has the right to expect a return.  But a return is only possible when the one lended to is willing to be helped beyond the lending.  He that is lent to incures an obljgation beyond simple repayment.  They incure the obigation to work to address the cause not just the condition.  We undertake an obligation beyond just the giving.  A good rule of thumb for our role is found in:

1 Thessalonians 5:14 ESV
And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all.

This directs us to a broad range of needs and a clear course of action.  One does not take responsibility "for" them but takes responsibility "with" them. We stay engaged and involved.

Galatians 6:2 ESV
Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

Getting a Grip when it all Hurts Part 5

Getting a Grip  When it all hurts  Part 5

1 Peter 5:6-11 ESV
Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, [7] casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. [8] Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. [9] Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. [10] And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. [11] To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Restore
Confirm
Strengthen
Establish

Do you want it - or not?

I ask that often.  Am I willing to suffer (for a little while) in order for God to bless me with these four mercies?  I take them as indesputable promises and so my answer is a weak but firm "yes."

I don't like the suffering part but I'm not sure we're supposed to like it anyway.  I do think that we are to keep the end in view - add everything up so we may:

James 1:2 ESV
Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,

and let's not exclude:

James 1:3-4 ESV
for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. [4] And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

Is this really what we want?  Or do we want to have a haven here instead of heaven there?  Oh how the love of the world smothers all our sense and sensibleness.  How the flesh warps and twists our hearts so that we desire the best here where it can never be available.  How poor and weak are we that we (and I mean WE) seek to live here without a deep desire for heaven.


We are so infected with the;
1 John 2:16
desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions-

We forget that all of this, "is not from the Father but is from the world."

We are promised food, clothing and shelter.  We are not promised what kind or how much.  And I am learning that I have too much and that this too much has trapped me in the world.  I am being restored, confirmed, strengthened and established in ways I never suspected. And were it not for the suffering we are experiencing I'd have probably never even seen it.  As we live close to poverty I see the real poverty under which we lived.  As needs grow larger and more un-meetable I see what my real needs are - to which I was blind.  As a sense of worldly failure overwhelms me I discover what true success is - must be.  As the world in my life slowly diminishes heaven grows larger and His mercies and blessing grow more and more grand.

Brother and sisters I encourage you to live in such a way that God does not need to teach by a hard lesson.  Live with little, fight the covetousness that so easily infects our feeble hearts.  Begin now to loosen your grip on the world so the world's grip on you may be loosened.  Fight the real fight - the fight to live in humulity and submission to Him.  Question every eyarning, every desire, every choice.  Examine every thought and inclination.

If you are suffering, you are not alone and probably your suffering pales in comparison to most -  But suffering, no matter how bad is suffering.  I pray for you that you will not suffer long and that you (and we) will soon be the joyous recipients of the mercies God promises in this verse.

Trusting God - Trouble (a) 021714

When we read Matthew 5 and 6 we are so blessed by the promises and assurances Jesus gives us.  There is so very much in these chapters that perhaps it is easy to miss some of it.  I've been thinking particularly of:

Matthew 6:34 ESV
"Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

I noticed first that "tomorrow will be anxious for itself."  I am comforted that Jesus understands our anxieties.  And I am encouraged that He counsels me to accept that there will be "anxiety" in each day.

And what would I count as "anxieties?"  Well, I would consider that the word translated anxiety means to be troubled with cares so what I am anxious about is what I have both legitimate concern for and illegitimate concern for.

I'm anxious about sin.  The day is full of temptations.  Gossip, lust, lack of trust, making "my" plans, poor stewardship are all potential concerns of mine.  But I can't let their potential comsume my mind.

I do however need to responsible for these temptations.  So in order to not be anxious about sin I need to prepare my mind and heart every morning for the coming day.  My days being pretty much a regular routine, I know when and how I'll be tempted for the most part.  I know where to divert my mind and my eyes.  I know when I need to pray and pretty much what I need to pray for.  But all of that is adressed early in the day before I leave home.

We, I think, are anxious in direct proportion to our lack of knowledge of our hearts and our failure to prepare ourselves for the day's trials and temptations.  I know that if I just rush into a day and fly on auto-pilot I not only miss the opportunity to avoid sin but I miss His blessings that come throughout the day.

Are you anxious about sin?  I think most of us are more anxious after the fact than before it.  But we can and need to get ahead of it by preparing ourselves for what we know is coming.  We must prepare our selves for that battle we fight every minute of every day and we need to prepare in His presense.

Lord, I go forth today in Your name and by Your power.  I enter the battle once more calling upon You to strengthen me and guide me; protect me and preserve me.  Make me more sensitive to temptations Lord.  It's so easy to get caught up in sinful things when I am insensitive to them.  Make my heart sensitive and my mind aware of what may come and what does come in the way of temptation and Lord grant that I might resist and where I fail to resist bring me to repentance  Amen

Trusting God - Or? 021414

Jesus tells  that we will trust either God or Mammon (Money).  And who of us could dispute that truth?  For better or ill we need money to live in this fallen world and we are subject to all the schemes and machinations of our economy devised by men and women for whom Mammon if indeed God.

We do foolish things when it comes to money and we do make mistakes.  We take bad advise and well - we sin.  And so money (for both needs and debt) looms large in our vision and can preoccupy our prayers.

It's all too easy to see Mammon as an answer - and we have to admit sometimes it is.  But how do we pray for that answer - and whom we pray to for that answer is critical.

Fred has been out of work for a year.  He and his wife squeak by on what she earns and the kindness of both friends and strangers.  They worry and fret.  They are embarrassed and convicted.  They have erred and sinned when it comes to money.

How do we encourage them?  How do we direct them to pray.   Fred needs a job - they need money - what do we say, what do we do?

Encouraging them to pray for God's provision is a "Yeah duh."  But they struggle with constantly praying for money.  They feel they are using God like and ATM and they do not want to.  They fear imposing upon friends and ruining relationships.  They are embarrassed and to some extent ashamed.  The "brave faces" they put on often crack and become scowls and frowns of shame.

They wonder why God should make up for their errors and their sins with material blessings.  They struggle with bartering with God about what they will do if He come to their relief.  They struggle becasue their prayers seem inundated with their needs to the exclusion of other more important things.

What to we tell them, what do we do?

Are their prayers for financial relief actually prayers to Mammon?    They sometimes feel they are?  Though God provides for them daily and friends and strangers do what they can to help they still struggle with trust even in the face of provision

They know that God is providing but as we all know, looming future needs can force their way into our hearts and blot out that present gratitude with fear and axiousness.

Are they trusting God "Or" are the trusting someone or something else.  They think of some who could relieve their distress either by helping Fred find work of by directly addressing their debt.  They find themselves trying to figure out how God can fix the problem and they even sometimes feel that God expects  then to fix it  their own.

As Fred's wife says, she struggles, " I know God CAN provide, I struggle with IF He WILL  provide."  This is so very common especially when we look at the circumstances as the consequences of of our sin.  We ask, "Why should I ask God to clean up my mess?"  "Why should I expect or even ask Him to undo the consequences of my sin?"

Prayer can be tough in tough times.  The world condemns, Satan raises our failures and sows doubts and the flesh wants to have a pity party or just give up.

Perhaps - just perhaps the safest prayer we could ever pray - regardless of the situation is, "God have mercy on me, a sinner."

When it comes to tough times and the assaults we suffer in them we  tend to "pray to the hurt" instead of praying as we ought.  It's a fight but a fight worth the effort.

But still the question remains, "Am I trusting God for money or am I asking God for money to trust in."

Intimate insight 003

pray without ceasing;   (1Th 5:17)

This is one of verses that I fear we have kind of blown off.  Usually we find ourselves being taught that it means to have a constant attitude of prayer.  That's good - really good - but I am beginning to believe it means just what it says, "pray without ceasing!"

I don't mean we are to be on our knees 24/7 - although that might be a great and good thing.  But I wonder if we might see it this way:

"As soon as you cease to need God's provision and mercies, you can cease praying."

In our situation we find ourselves praying - and praying a lot.   I had a lunch date with a dear brother today and before I left Patti prayed for it (he and I).

As our needs mount and our resources don't we pray a lot about it.  But our prayer are changing.  Yes, we pray for Him to lead us to jobs - income - medical care and we are doing all the things one does to facilitate that.  Being grown-ups ;-}

But we are finding that He is showing us more and more things that need to be lifted up.  Relational things, depressing things, fear, old thought pattern, old behaviors - just a multitude of things that go along with tough times.

Yes - our favorite prayer if simply, "Help us Lord Jesus!!!"  But since there is a purpose to all He brings into our lives that prayer may be the biggy - but there is a plethora of smaller prayer - more intimate prayers - more "ouch" prayers that we find ourselves praying.  Hence we hardly "cease" from prayer.

We pray for understanding - but we pray to trust Him even if we don't.  We pray for courage when we get that chill up the spine and emptiness in the belly.  We pray whet we get frustrated.  We pray when we notice the slightest blessing ( i there really is such a thing ;-}.

Prayer doesn't cease - oh, it's not an every minute thing but it is an every need and blessing thing.  We go to prayer often - maybe not long - but often.  Even a simple, "Thank You Lord," is a genuine and acceptable prayer.  it thanks Him and acknowledges His faithfulness.

Were not boasting here - our prayer growth began with our realization of our need and weakness to a depth we had never been led to.  So we shamefacedly  encourage you not to wait until your sensed need for prayer - all prayer - presents itself.  Don't wait to pray on the "trip down."  Start praying at every opportunity for every blessing, mercy, lesson and trial and do not forget the small stuff.  For there is no small stuff.

Pray without ceasing - is a great attitude but it is a more importantly a necessary discipline - activity - whatever you want to call it.  

Father - I live so focused on me and big needs that it is so easy for me to not attend to all the blessings - common and uncommon - that You are constantly providing.  Trials are meant to build our faith and our faithfulness and that demands prayer of all kinds at every opportunity.  
Make me sensitive to that and draw me to pray, refusing to see anything too trivial or common to lift up to You - right then - right there.

Amen

Intimate insights 001

BE ANGRY, AND yet DO NOT SIN; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity.   (Eph 4:26-27)

The word translated "angry" carries the idea of being provoked - perhaps to wrath - perhaps not.

I've come to see that anger, usually, is a secondary emotion.  What I mean is that we are first afflicted with pain or fear and we respond with anger.  It makes sense.  When we are hurt or afraid we want to defend ourselves - so we are provoked.

Being provoked and it being common to become defensive (even offensively so) we will, unfortunately sin.  How do I know that?  Because the second word translated "anger" does carry the idea of, "the kind of severe or violent anger which arises from direct provocation, an aroused anger or seething exasperation." CWSB

We need to deal with the provocation - pain or fear as pain or fear.  Becoming bitter, though easily done, is not a option or response we want to allow to happen.

So we need to deal with that provocation (pain/fear) honestly and openly.  We need to bring it before the Lord for His providence, guidance, mercy and help.

I am learning - painfully :-}  that the devil will grab anything he can to encourage us not just to overt sin but to ignore the wonderful promises and providence of our God.  Nothing can please the devil more than for us to take matters into our own weak ande wayward hands.

That's what I'm learning.  The devil will use anything he can to lead us even a little way from our path.  He will use the fear of failure and the pain of loss and humiliation to get us to take hold of the reins and fight a fight we should never attempt to fight alone.

I am learning this - a dear brother prayed for me the other night and his prayer uncovered my pain and fear and the way the devil was using it to distract and render me weaker than I already was.  What a blessing when God brings His mercy though another - gently and in love.

We, Pat and I, have a hard road (at least it seems thus) and it is easy to be provoked and sin.  We pray often for His protection from the wiles of the devil and the baggage we've not yet surrendered.  We encourage you all to examine yourselves and see if you too are being provoked and let aside from the Way and His mercy and providence.

Father,
I fear too much from this world and hurt too much from things I haven't laid at Your feet.  Release me from those ties I still hold on to and protect me from the wiles and schemes of the evil one.  Help me (us) to trust You more and to come to You even obsessively for Your care and nurture especially in our fear and pain.

Amen

How and who?

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ. But if we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; or if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which is effective in the patient enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer; and our hope for you is firmly grounded, knowing that as you are sharers of our sufferings, so also you are sharers of our comfort. (2Co 1:3-7)

I would ask, How are you comforted and whom do you comfort?

I ask because today I was comforted by a brother who need of comfort is very real and constant.

As a "leader-sheep" we all too often assume we are to be care givers and we forget that we are also care needers.  As we fulfill our calling to care for His sheep we all too often make the mistake of forgetting that we desperately need care as well.

When the Praetorian Guard was established in Rome one question predominated, "Who guards the guardians?"  This is no different from what we as comfort and care givers need to be asking of and for ourselves.

I have come to realize that it is all too easy to think that as a leader-sheep I need to be above the fray.  God has made it plan to me that this is a cruel deception and a very real danger.

Oh, I can feed myself but comforting myself  and doing it well is just not effective if it is even possible.  

I have found that I need others who from the comfort they have found in Him - pass that comfort on to me.  I have found that it is a type of pride to see myself as a giver only and not a needer.

Father,

I thank you for the comfort You sent today through my brother.  I thank you for the tears I shed in thanks and gratitude.  i thank you for the boldness of my brother's prayer the the depth to which it touched needs I has not seen.  

Father, keep this lesson in my ,mind and heart.  Keep me from isolation and pride.  Keep me open to the comfort You have for me from my brothers and sisters - AND enable me to be open and honest about my need and grateful for its being met.

Thank You for establishing Your people and for the comfort You provide from one to another.

Amen

Be prayed for -

I just want to take a little of your time to encourage you to get prayed for.  I know, sounds kind of weird.  But it is not only part and parcel of the life of the Body but it brings with it surprising blessings.
I had a dear brother pray for me today.  We talk on the phone a couple of times a week keeping one another accountable and encouraging each other.  Today he said he wanted to pray for P and I.  So, over the phone, he did.
OK, when this happens you kind of think you know what's going to be said - right?  Well, not always.  As I listened to his prayer I grew more and more amazed at his words.  It was perhaps the deepest and clearest prayer I've ever had prayed for me.
Oh, he toughed the tough stuff and the needs but then it seems the prayer became deeper.  I won't go into details but I found myself deeply touched and greatly convicted.  He prayed for things I wouldn't have thought of - for needs I had not examined - for things I just skimmed in my prayers.
Was God leading his prayer?  I can see no reason to think otherwise.  Actually I have good and grateful reasons to believe God's hand was in it.  No, it was not a weird prophecy prayer.  Rather it was a prayer that cut right to the chase and it cut deeply.  It was a wonderfully wounding and strengthening prayer.  I was, as the British say, "gob-smacked."
Do you have someone who can pray for you and with you deeply?  Is there someone with whom you don't flinch when their prayer goes deep? 

Let me encourage you to ask God to bring into your life brothers and sisters who will pray for you deeply an for who you may do the same.  Certainly we can and should do much to encourage and help one another - but prayer is the greatest thing we can and may do - let's pray we find the people and places for which to do it.

Father, don't let me be afraid of seeking deep and pointed prayer from my brothers and sisters.  Bring me those with who and for whom I may pray openly and honestly and who will reach into my heart and lift up my needs as well.  Father let us not avoid Your throne of grace, the opportunity to seek You and Your provision for one another.

Amen

Weeping in sorrow but not too much.

First let me apologize for the lack of posting anything new for the past several weeks,  It is not uncommon for a believer to find themselves under such affliction that anything they might say seems selfish and hollow.

As Patti and I pass through this time of trial and sorrow we have had a very real struggle to keep ourselves productive - me especially.  I have started many post only to stop and realize I was so focused on where we are ( and where we aren't) hat my writing was a great disappointment and so could not be published.  For you who follow this blog, please forgive my lack of faithfulness and my self-absorption.

Though I don't know if I can keep our circumstances out of my writing I will make the best attempt I can, relying upon His provision and power.

Let me just say this - it is very very easy when one is undergoing some affliction or other difficulty to miss the blessings that are all around you.  When one is looking for something specific to happen it is easy to miss what is indeed happening.  Missing the many blessings that do occur is something we need to consider.  While we wait upon Him we must not forget that in His sovereignty He is guiding everything and though He can work instantaneously and awesomely He is still working in the common and everyday blessings we so often overlook.

Yes, we need to be thankful that, "things aren't worse," but we need to work to see and be grateful for how things are - even when a part o that is not so hot.

In his work, A Christian's Directory, Christopher Love writes:


That Christians should take a great deal of heed, that they do not be immoderate or excessive in worldly sorrow, either for the meeting with any crosses, undergoing any troubles, or the losing of any comforts here in the world.    Whatever afflictions you meet with, or whatever comforts you part with, you should take care your sorrows are not immoderate and inordinate.
Love, Christopher (2012-11-27). A Christian's Directory (Kindle Locations 372-377). Puritan Publications. Kindle Edition. 


The blessing o these words are, of course in the admonition to not to allow our sorrows to be immoderate and inordinate.  But the other blessing is that we may be sorrowful when we meet crosses, troubles or loss of comforts.

In a world that demands we "suck it up," "tough it out," and even "hang in there," we do ourselves an injury when we do not allow ourselves to acknowledge and express our sorrow.  Instead we bite our cheeks and force a smile - - pretending -- we are fine and happy.

Let me encourage you to consider your sorrow and to respect it.  Express it but do not allow it to overwhelm and crush you.  God blesses our tears as well as our laughter.  He takes notice of our joy and our pain.  I do not believe He would have us -- pretend -- things are good when they are not. 

Yes, we all have heaven to hope in and hope for but here we are going to have crosses and troubles and losses.   I praise Him that we may be sorrowful and even weep when things are thus.  It is a great blessing to know:


You have taken account of my wanderings; Put my tears in Your bottle. Are they not in Your book?   (Psa 56:8)

Father, though I hope in You, I hurt as well.  Thank You for Your understanding and mercy. Thank You that I do NOT have to - indeed I must not - pretend I am fine when I am not.  Thank You that You hold my pain in Your hand and send Your comfort to my heart.  Lt me come weeping to You - not over much - but rather to express my weakness, my frailty, my utter need for You.
Amen

Psalm 7:17 Even when it hurts.

Psalm 7:17 ESV
I will give to the LORD the thanks due to his righteousness, and I will sing praise to the name of the LORD, the Most High.

I will!  But that's not always an easy thing.  Our flesh is weak and we struggle with fear and doubt for many reasons.  Some reasons are common others are rare and toxic.

When things are hard and we are anxious we need help in giving thanks and singing praise.    That's our struggle and it's not uncommon.

Let me encourage you to read the Psalms and search out those wherein David struggles as we do.  Pray those if you can't pray your own.

Let me encourage you (and myself) with the words of Richard Baxter - we should,
"Do it as we can in order to learn to do it better."

Little by little, step by step, agonizing prayer by agonizing prayer let us seek His power and mercy to give thanks and sing praise.  

Even as we weep upon our beds until we fall exhausted into sleep - let us thank and praise Him for His goodness and faithfulness and that He has made us His and keeps us so.

Father - I want to cry out in my distress.  It hinders my thankfulness and praise.  Help me Father, help me to reach above my need and anxiety to do thank you and praise you even when it feel shallow and forced.  Father, enable me to do it little by little and better and better for You are indeed worthy of my thanks and prayer.

Amen

He cares for us - let us let Him.

Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. It is better to be of a lowly spirit with the poor than to divide the spoil with the proud. Whoever gives thought to the word will discover good, and blessed is he who trusts in the LORD.   (Pro 16:18-20)

Ok, I'm going to meddle - and expose!

Pride does indeed go before destruction.  But I've discovered two things.  First, "destruction" may come so that pride is exposed.  Pride must be exposed so we may repent of it.

Second, even in the "destruction" pride will fight tooth and nail.

We live in a culture of pride.  Pride of ownership, pride of place, pride of success.  We are encouraged to "have our pride" and to protect it regardless of the cost.  We are taught that humiliation and being humble are the same and both are bad.  

We recently received a couple of gifts to help us meet our obligations.  I can only describe me initial feeling as wonderful humiliation.  No sooner was I rejoicing at the kindness and generosity of my brothers and sisters in Christ than I was overcome with a deep and painful sense of shame and humiliation.

Pride makes us suffer, when we suffer, in isolation.  We are convinced that we need to "put a good face," on everything.  It's the old, "never let them see you sweat," admonition that sold tons of antiperspirant.  Huh?

Sweating is a normal and healthy bodily function.  We, however, have become convinced that it is not acceptable.  But, not sweating can be dangerous.

Suffering, difficult times, are normal for believers but we have become convinced that any suffering is a sign that we are somehow under God's wrath.  This is the cruelest deception our enemy perpetrates on us.  In Christ we have only God's discipline, never -- NEVER - His wrath.

Yet we react to suffering as though we should be ashamed.  Others react to our suffering as though we should be shunned.  This should not be - but it is - and we must work depending on Him to overcome it.

I am asking myself:   How do I face these people now that my need is known?  How can I hold my head up, look them in the eye?  What are they really thinking when they look at me?  What are they really saying when our situation comes up in conversation?

See the worm of pride in that?  See the self-focus?  See the suspicion of God's provision through His people?  Seer how the worm of pride eats away at the mercies and grace of God in our hearts?  See how pride is the great spoiler of blessings?

When God disciplines us with a "destruction" He does so because He loves us and He wants better for and of us than has been the case.  He wants us to depend upon Him more than we have.  This is a good thing even though it can be a painful thing.

In his sermon, 

109	February 29, 2012: Casting All Your Cares Alistair Begg | Messages from Truth For Life Truth For Life

Alistair addresses this issue.  I listen to this sermon every night as I go to bed.  I am working though the prideful anxiety he speaks about.  It's not easy and it is certainly not pleasant but I know it must be done.

Living in each 60 seconds casting my cares upon Him is tough.  I have learning and am still learning that it is not something I can do on my own.  I am also learning that I am not expected to do it on my own.  It is quite the opposite, I am to seek His provision, His power, to do it.  I won't do it on my own - not can I.

I want to encourage all of you who understand what I am writing about to accept not only His merciful discipline but also His gracious offer of care, comfort and provision.  


Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.  (1Pe 5:6-7)

This is the passage that Alistair preaches from.  Humbling and casting go together and we may have confidence in doing so because He cares for us.  

Father, let my focus on "I" be from my need for You and not because of my need.  You tell me to humble myself and to cast my anxiety on You.  I want to and I know that I must have Your provision to do so.  Please Father, keep this promise before my eyes and in my heart.  

Father, protect me from those pin-points of pride that steal my joy and confidence in you.  Make me understand that becoming humble is a good thing and what You are doing in our lives is a blessing and a mercy and that if flows from Your love and grace.

Father make it possible for me to know Your kindness and care and to accept You provision with a humble and contrite heart.  My anxiety does not come from You and I ask that You silence and still it.  Lord, take the sinful pride from my heart and make me move forward in Your love and grace and service.

Amen.

Psalm 139:23 and 24 *

Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; And see if there be any hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way.    (Psa. 139:23-24)

A very dangerous prayer!!  Think about what is seeks from Him and what may be uncovered!

This prayer is one we need to pray.  I think so because for me it fans the flame of my fear (awe) of Him.  It intentionally calls for His scrutiny and the exposure of what He has to show me.

BUT - and it is a wonderful but - it also seeks His leadership which must include His power and strength and grace and mercy and provision.  

The word translated "hurtful" may be a little vague.  The Hebrew carries both the idea of pain and idolatry.  But - we are so prone to seek provision from places and people other than Him that it really makes sense.  

Many of us struggle in times of need and we can easily confuse looking for how He will provide with looking somewhere else for His provision.  I have and I know others as well who have prayed that X would do Y so Z would come to pass.  That's common but I don't know that it is good.

Our prayers should be to Him for His provision.  I think we may certainly ask for it through X but we need to be very very cautious that we are not really asking for from X.  There is God and there is us.  In between are many many things He can use to meet our needs.  But we need to keep our hopes in Him and not the potential means.

We tend to look for His provision through our experience - what we know has been a source of His provision.  But we can not allow that to morph into looking to what He has used in the past more than we look to Him.  Make sense?

Certainly our minds and hearts will jump from this potential to that potential conduit of His blessing but we need to do the disciplined work of bringing our eyes and hearts back to Him.  This prayer in Psa. 139 is a wonderful way to do that.

It's is not vain repetition if we have a good purpose in it and He is the focus.  It's not a magical incantation - it is knocking and knocking for what we need as we wait for Him to meet our need.

Father, please gently show me my weakness and my fault.  Correct me in Your love and mercy.  Do this so I will look to YOU and YOU alone form my provision.

When my mind and heart stray looking at how You may provide, draw me back to looking to You.  Please help me put all my hope in You and to not divide it between You and some earthly/fleshly "means."   

He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken.   (Psa 62:6)

Sorrow for sins OR afflictions? Yep!! 002

Afflictions are, for the believer, God's refining fire.  Period!  They are not punishment but rather one way He responds to our need to trust Him.

Our faith (trust) is refined in affliction and so they are a sure source of comfort and encouragement.  But they are hard and they can hurt and sorrowing in them is not inappropriate.  


And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? "My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him.   (Heb 12:5)

For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.   (Heb 12:11)


AND


Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.   (Rev 3:19-20)

The discipline and refining of affliction is not easy and we need to know that we may sorrow in it.  Yes, we need to be hopeful concerning its purpose and outcome but we may sorrow as well.

Our sorrowing though needs to be healthy and honest.  We are not required to enjoy it but rather engage it as a gift - those He loves, He disciplines.  Discipline is not punishment it is training and training is not easy.  But if we keep in sight the goal He has for it and us we will do better than if we do not.  

Admittedly, this is not easy.  For one, when we are undergoing the discipline it seems that God is far from us and our brothers and sisters even farther.  We feel alone, abandoned, and isolated.  This is such a sad circumstance.  Perhaps this is one of the failures of the Body in that, though many are willing to pray for you - few come and pray with you.  Though many may hug you, few are willing to hold you.

There is a thing called sympathetic pain.  That's when an injured part of the body produces pain in a near by yet undamaged part of the body.  Maybe this is what "the Body" is missing.  I know that I have been convicted of not hurting for a brother or sister as I believe the Lord would have me and so my prayers were just embarrassing.  I am seeking to learn to pray from a place where I at least appreciate their pain and lift it up along with their circumstances.

Sorrowing for affliction should not be immoderate.  I mean it should not consume us and keep us from our "duties," such as prayer, study, worship, etc....  Yes, it is hard to pray when you feel your hair is on fire.   But what do you do when you feel you've stepped off the edge of a cliff?  Maybe pray all the way down???

No, I'm not trivializing the pain and sorrow of affliction but neither do I want to let any of us be so consumed by our sorrow that we just curl up and weep endlessly or hopelessly.  Weep - yes.  Sorrow - yes.  Give up?  Never - even if you just move slowly, move!

Imagine yourself as Peter.

"Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, 

(Luk 22:31)

Do you really think that Peter is the only one?  I don't, I won't, I can't.  BUT I also know that Jesus says:

but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers."   (Luk 22:32)

Do you really think Jesus is not interceding for you as well?  I don't, I won't, I can't. 

Father, my affliction hurts - physically, emotionally and spiritually.  I am in pain and my sight is dimmed.  Sometimes I can't see You.  Sometimes I can't feel You.  Sometimes I fear You have left me.

But Father, I know You can not lie.  I know by Your Word - the very Words of Your Son my Savior that You will never ever leave me - and that nothing can snatch me from Your loving and mighty hand.

Yet I am weak and I am anxious and fretful and sorrowing.  Do not let me wallow in this but accept my sorrow and fretfulness and even my anxiety as part of my realization that I NEED THEE EVERY HOUR, in every circumstance.  AND that Your plans for me are for me to glorify YOU and to be a witness and evidence of Your grace and glory.

Father, it does not feel good but I know it has to BE good.  Father I would not have chosen it for myself but I need Your power and strength to accept Your choice of it for me.

Father - calm my heart, still my mind and draw my eyes to You.

Amen

Wives - the "very good" of creation!

Brothers,

In tough times many marriages suffer.  Of course, money issues are one of the biggest causes of distress.  All I can say is that this is probably due to the love of "mammon," that we all have to fight.  If we love mammon more than God then it's a no brainer that we will love mammon more than our wives.  

I know that in affliction and trials I can become less patient, less understanding - less loving because I have such a great sense of failure and Patti is the first in line to see it - at least in my mind.  Whether I have indeed failed or not I am most ashamed in her presence and most resistant to her comfort and encouragement.  Pride is a real love killer.

But I work to keep in mind the following and to fight my pride and accept the gracious gift of Patti as that helper fit for me.  


Husbands, love your wives, and do not be harsh with them.  (Col 3:19)

Then the LORD God said, "It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him." Now out of the ground the LORD God had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him.  (Gen 2:18-20)

So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said, "This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man."   (Gen 2:21-23)

I don't know that I have any real sage advice or formula for being the husband I should be - especially in tough times.  I find myself praying more about my husbanding.  I find myself reminding myself that she is as much a part of me as is possible.  That we are "one" is an awesome mystery but that makes it no less true.  Perhaps it is that "one-ness" that e need to work on.

Patti is a unique individual as am I and yet God has made us one.  Each part can fit together.  Each talent encourages and strengthens another.  Every strength is intended to uphold the weaknesses of the other.  Each is intended to comfort and enhance the other. We are one.

Being one is not easy.  We have been taught to protect our "space."  But that does not lead to one-ness rather it destroys it.  

Perhaps it's that commitment to be "ourselves" that is the real hindrance.  "I got to be me," just doesn't seem to fit into God's pattern.  His pattern is more of, "We've gotta be we!"  

This is truly a counter-cultural concept.

Brothers - give it up!  Give up that macho-hunter/killer-king of the hill idea we have been infected with.  Ask God to humble your heart and spirit and renew your mind.  Your "wife" is as much a part of you as your lungs or heart or hands.  

Let go of your pride.  Feel your fear and if needed, your shame.  Ask God to drive you to your knees concerning your marriage.  Ask that the Spirit and the Word will convict you mightily and bring you to seek Him as a husband - as part of the marriage one-ness.

God is indeed our hope and our strength - but if I might wax poetic - I think our wives are His physical reminder of that.  Giving us such an awesome duty as to love our wives as Christ loves the church is, I think, intended to drive us to our knees crying our to Him about our utter inability to obey without His power and strength and instruction.

There was one "not good" thing in all of the creation and that was man's alone-ness.  Once God addressed and met that the creation was, "very good."  Please please please brothers, pray and think and study concerning this.

If you are going through times like we are - and I KNOW many of you are - NOW is the best time to cry out to God for and about your marriage.  In this time of anxiety and vulnerability we need to restore and/or strengthen that mysterious one-ness.  It is God's plan and God's provision for us brothers.  You would be better off cutting off an appendage than you will be if you allow a lack of one-ness to continue or allow that one-ness to fade and grow weak.  You would be better off deaf, blind, etc.... than to not take full advantage of the gift of a, "helper fit," for you.

No - I don't care if your wife is "on board" or not.  You and I are commanded to love them as Christ loves the church - even if they only love us as the contemporary church loves Christ (poorly).  This isn't about her - it is about you and Him - she is simply the beneficiary of His blessing through you (as He desires you to be through her).  This is NOT some tit-for-tat arrangement.  We are to LOVE our wives period.

Repent!

Husbands, love your wives, and do not be harsh with them.  (Col 3:19)

Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 

(Eph 5:25)

Father, forgive me or allowing the culture (world), the flesh (me) and the devil to pervert my view of marriage.  Forgive me for assuming I knew what the one-ness You have created was.  Forgive my pride and arrogance in assuming I knew what i was doing as a husband.  Forgive my selfishness and self-centeredness.

Father - I can not be the husband You call me to be without Your help.  I ask that Your Spirit work mightily in me to change my heart and mind concerning my husbanding.  Father, destroy all the bitterness by showing me it's nastiness and toxicity.  Burn it, if need be, from my heart and mind.

Father - to love my wife as You command I will need a mighty work of Your grace for i have wandered far from it in this regard and have a long way to walk back to where You would have me be.  Restore me to Your intent for me as a husband - and enable me - or make me - honor and adore and love the "helper" You have given me. Teach me to love her and be to her a blessing from You.

Amen -----

Psalm 69:20

Psalm 69:20 ESV
Reproaches have broken my heart, so that I am in despair.  I looked for pity, but there was none, and for comforters, but I found none.

Been their?  Done that?

I read this and my heart was pierced.  I felt the weight of loneliness and abandonment.  It was so very painful.

But as I considered the passage I realized that my feeling wan't fact because I indeed knew that we were pitied (not negatively) and that we has many comforters.  BUT - I did have to look.

It wasn't pity and comforters I have to look at but rather my sense of having none.  I had to confess that my sense of abandonment - of loneliness - of despair we due more to my expectations than any lack of these things.  I had to confess that my "feeling" was due to not seeing any hero on the horizon - not hearing the bugle call of the cavalry coming to the rescue.  I despaired because of my expectations.

It is not uncommon or necessarily wrong to look to people for help as God does use His people to comfort and care for one another.  But I learned that we have to look to Him and not cast about for His means - especially those means we think He should use.  We have to keep our desires, our godly longings and needs focused on Him first, foremost and always.

I also realized that our burdens - just by their existence - were burdens to others.  There are others who hurt and ache for us.  They call out o God for us. They call out to God for more than we know - for us.  Family, friends, other believers - even other believers we don't know or know vaguely.

I was doing business with someone I sometimes use for computer fixes.  I was in a particularly sensitive place in heart and mind.  I guess it showed because shortly after leaving their place of business I got an email from them.  They told me they noticed I was troubled and asked me what was wrong.  I was overwhelmed with surprise and gratitude.

Here was another believer I didn't know well who was sensitive to my need just through my countenance (and probably the Spirit ;-}).  They not only noticed but were willing to take action by inquiring and asking and lifting us up in prayer.  God's hand was in this, I have no doubt.  

What's the point here?  I was looking to friends, family, business associated (all believers) and God threw me a curve ball.  He sent someone outside my circle who noticed, asked, pitied (in a good way) and offered comfort.  I was amazed and grateful but it took a while for me to see the depth and breadth of this blessing.  I am reminded of:


I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth.   (Psa 121:1-2)

We typically look to "the hills" for help when we should be looking to the Lord.  This is common because the flesh is still active and it's a nasty habit.  We look everywhere thinking we are looking to Him when we really aren't.  We try to "figure out" how He is going to answer our prayers and we do this figuring in the flesh.  We think of people, circumstances, fate, coincidence, all kinds of things that He may use - but we fool ourselves that in doing this we are looking to Him.

Like God's people all throughout history we begin to seek provision through or from someone or something other than God.  Time and time again we see believers being enticed away from God to sources that offer no hope.  It is, unfortunately, a common thing but a bad thing.

Our "hope," our "trust," is only in Him.


I wait for the LORD, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope.   (Psa 130:5)

Father, may Your Name be glorified by my trust in You.  Forgive my casting about, forgive my seeking in the flesh.  I believe Father - help me in my unbelief.  As a little child I come to You for comfort and correction and like a good Father You have always taken care for me.  
Don't let me forget all the past and even the present mercies Oh Lord.  Help my mind and heart be focused on Your faithfulness and Your glory.  
You alone know my true needs and only Your provision can satisfy.  Calm my heart and still the voice of the deceiver - give me good strength and courage to wait upon You and the rejoice that it is You I wait upon.  For You can never be unfaithful to Your Word and promise.

Comfort and strengthen us.  Let us see Your hand and sense Your love for we are afflicted and we are weak.

Amen

Being of more value. 012413b

Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?   (Mat 6:26)

Continuing His lesson Jesus gives us an example from nature.

He asks us to consider our "value," to our Father.

Birds can't sow, reap or gather - yet they are provided for.

If you can't sow, reap or gather - does thin not suggest that God will feed (provide for) you?

Is this just about food?  I think not!  This is about value.

Actually I believe it's about who we look to in order to determine our value.

Birds?  I'm of greater value that birds?  Actually the idea here is that we are "of so much MORE value" than birds. 

Birds have a role in God's creation no less critical to the sustaining of that creation than anything else.  God maintains everything they need to fulfill their role in His creation.  There are lots of birds - that takes a lot of maintaining.  It's not a simple thing nor is it insignificant!

Then there is "us."  We were God's viceroys in the Garden.  Note:


Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." 
(Gen 1:26)

The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. 
(Gen 2:15)

God's intention for us was to be His means of maintaining His creation.  We were to work and keep the garden which in turn would provide for all the creatures of the creation.  Pretty important stuff!  

Now, in this fallen world our role has changed.  Now we are called to show forth His glory, to be holy as He is.  We are his witnesses, living testaments to His glory and goodness.  How much value can we put on that?

Consider:

". . . . when He comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed."   (2Th 1:10)

Whose "value" do we choose accept?  His or the world's?  Who do we look to?  How do we measure it?  

The redemption of the creation - the birds - cost Him His Son.  However the price was demanded for our sin not for the birds' sins (birds don't sin they just suffer its effects).  So He paid the demanded price - for OUR sin - that He might redeems His creation.

Where in our fleshly spectrum of value do we really put that?  Is it first or just a close second?  Do we really accept that we are valuable enough for God to give His Son?  Are we willing to accept that his love for us was so great that he sent His Son to be a man, to suffer and be tempted as a man and then be killed as a criminal?  How valuable does that make us?

Are we willing to accept and live with Jesus as our total net worth?  Are we willing to be rejected and scorned and put down by the world so that we might live out His gracious gift for and to us?

Or do we play with the world's criteria for worth and value measuring our lives by their standards?  And how well have those standards served Him or His creation?  How cruelly have the standards of the world dealt with the world?

Think on what God has done for and in you.  Consider what you might be tempted to trade it for.  In times of weakness and suffering it is not uncommon for us to fall into "if only," and to see ourselves as worthless failures.  It is a struggle to cling to God's love and the value He has given us - He has made us ultimately valuable - He has given us a worth beyond words - Pray and think on that.

Father,

In these tough times I see my sin and my errors.  I see how I have been deceived and schemed by the world, the flesh and the devil.  Now, in my distress those three cruel enemies taunt me and pour shame upon me.  Help me Father, to cling to Your gracious gift as the only thing that matters.  Let the cruel accusations and aspersions of those three enemies drop from my mind and heart.  Deafen my ears to them, let me be comforted and let by Your Word and Your Spirit as I seek to  follow You in whatever circumstance I find myself in.

Two things I ask of you; deny them not to me before I die: Remove far from me falsehood and lying; give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me, lest I be full and deny you and say, "Who is the LORD?" or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of my God.   (Pro 30:7-9)

In the name of Jesus and for His glory, amen.

What's "more than?" 012413

"Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?   (Mat 6:25)

Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?

"Life," here is the Greek word for "breath."  It carries for us the meaning we see in Genesis where God "breathed" life into Adam.  Call it what you are comfortable with but the intent is for us to consider now so much our "living" but our "life" itself.

The Westminster Cataclysm asks what man's "end" his sole "end it.  The response it to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.  This, in brief is what "life" is for.  It is the main and plain purpose for us - for all men - but especially for believers

"Body," is the word "soma" meaning the body as a "sound whole."  It directs us to the fact that we are not a this and a that and another thing but rather we are a "whole" creature.  

Jesus is taking us to a place that most of us find, well, kind of weird.  He is talking about (I think) more God's desire for us as living creatures than He is about just the physical, mental and spiritual "parts" we find is so convenient to discuss in isolation from one another.  We are a whole being whose existence is utterly dependent upon the "breath" that gives us life.

It is not only what we are (and are intended for) but that God given "breath" that allowed us to become living souls.

So what's the point?

Perhaps it is that we worry too much about what sustains and adorns the "body" and what our "life" achieves instead of our fundamental purpose.  Which is, as we've said, to glorify God and enjoy Him forever - even here.

Well, you'll not find yourself "enjoying" God here without the requisite "glorifying" of God here.  The enjoyment can only be experienced in the glorification.  

John 9 is my favorite chapter in all the Word.  Jesus is asked if a certain man was born blind because of his sin or his parent's sin.  Jesus replies:

 "It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.   (Joh 9:3)

God is glorified in the miracle of this man receiving his sight.  But as wonderful as this is we must accept that the man was afflicted with blindness from birth.  This was not a condition in that day that has the options available in ours.

Consider:

The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 

(Rom 8:16-18)

Many of you are "suffering" now and I am sure, like us, you want a reason.  Paul gives it here.  Keep in mind that Paul did not just suffer persecution, he suffered from all the everyday, garden varieties of difficulties and affliction we suffer.  

When we read of suffering in the Word we need to be very aware that if there were no sin there would not even be a "common" cold or allergies or infections.  Living in a fallen world, for the redeemed, must be understood as a time of suffering - either ordinary suffering or extra-ordinary suffering.

BUT - regardless of which type of suffering we are experiencing it is for His glory so that His works made be seen.  His glory will be seen in His magnificent deliverance and/or in our faithful trusting and standing for Him.  

It is His faithfulness and our faithfulness that is more than food or clothing - or anything else.  

Consider:

Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.   (2Co 1:9)

For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.   (2Co 4:11)

. . . . as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. (Php 1:20)

But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ   (Php 3:7-8)

And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. 

(1Pe 5:10)

I pray that you and I can grow in our knowledge and love of God that we might, like Paul and Peter (and soooo many others) come to understand that through His power and Spirit we can accept whatever He allows (or brings) into our lives and that He will be glorified in our faithfulness.

I know some of you are wondering why these blogs are so personal and intimate.  Well, if Paul finds it appropriate to "boast" in his weakness I will follow his example - praying that God will be glorified.  God is strong and gracious to deliver and he is strong and gracious to sustain.  As He works in our lives He is glorified as we rely upon Him for it.

But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.   (2Co 12:9)

“This is faith: a renouncing of everything we are apt to call our own and relying wholly upon the blood, righteousness and intercession of Jesus.”   ― John Newton