Category: faith

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Lay Aside the Weight of Discontentment

The Discontent Christian

The discontent Christian, he shouldn’t exist. So many places in Scriptures assure us that a life in Christ is not only marked by content and satisfaction, it is characterized by abundant joy, peace, and fullness of life. Christ says, “I am come that they may have life and that they may have it more abundantly. (John 10:10) He also says, “I am the Bread of Life, he who comes to me shall never hunger. He who believes in me will never thirst.” (John 6:35). Jesus also says, “Anyone who is thirsty may come to me! Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from his heart.’’ (John 7:37-39). The living water referred to is the Holy Spirit, who would be given to every person that comes to believe and accept the Lord Jesus the Messiah as one’s Savior.

But the discontent Christian does exist. The cycle of the Christian life undergoes periods of highs and lows. At times, the middle or level ground is one of spiritual consistency. At other times, it is one of stagnancy or lukewarmness in the faith. In all states, discontent may creep in and the wise Christian should know by now to deal with this heart problem early on. Else, one is in danger of losing his passion and love for God.

Following are 2 ways we can deal with discontent:

  1. Deal with Discontent by Repurposing Your Heart

Colossians 3:2 says, “Set your affection on things above not on things on earth.” Life on earth, the blessings and challenges that come with it; these are all meant to be enjoyed and faced with positivity. We know that God sees our past, present, and future. He knows what’s coming and He’s with us all the way. Keep your eyes upward. Stay committed to Him. Desire His thoughts and fellowship first of all. He is ever with us and He will never leave us. Stay mindful that all we see, feel, and do in this world are temporary. But the fruits of doing what pleases the heart of God lasts forever.

  1. Deal with Discontent by Reprioritizing Your Life

Matthew 6:33 tells us to “seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” God’s Word Translation renders the verse this way: “But first, be concerned about his kingdom and what has his approval. Then all these things will be provided for you.” We need to seek His heart and what pleases Him. In finding and pursuing that, we find ourselves treading the right path, making wise pursuits, finding fulfillment in the right places. God stands by us, ready to support us in the right things we do in accordance with His will. He will not fail us. (2 Chronicles 16:9)

  1. Deal with Discontent by Enjoying God

Scriptures say that God has placed eternity in the heart of every man. God is our Maker. He is “I AM.” You can’t be away from Him and expect to feel whole. In Him we live and move and have our being. (Acts 17:28). He understands us completely and knows how to guide us as we navigate the uncertainties and rough patches of our life. The Christian life is a life of freedom. It unleashes us to do better and be the best we can be. In the Christian life, rewards are high yielding and of great and lasting worth.   God in our lives is always more than enough. With Him, we will have all we need to live an overcoming life on this earth.

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Will Jesus Find Faith on Earth?

Will Jesus Find Faith on Earth?

In Luke 18: 1-8, Jesus shares a parable with us to encourage us to pray always and not to give up. He tells us of a persistent widow who kept begging for justice from ‘a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought’. This unbelieving and uncaring man of power refused her over and over again but finally granted justice just to be rid of her. In verse 7 and 8 Christ reminds us that God is far from the character of the judge mentioned in the parable. He assures us, “And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”

Those who presently suffer injustice may find it hard to understand and believe God’s promise of speedy justice. We know true to life stories of people who have been on a long and fruitless road in their fight for justice. It is a bitter reality for many, even for Christians. But how ever hard it may be to grasp this fact, God has told us so. He is not a liar and he is no mere man who can be fickle and unreliable. He will show up to support His children and to grant justice in His time.   He does not operate within our system. He does not see life nor time as we do. Scriptures say a thousand years is but a day for Him. (2 Peter 3:8). He has the wisdom of eternality to act at the best time with the best intentions to accomplish the best results.

The question then is not “Will God keep His promise?” nor “Is He able?” but “When Christ shows up, will He find faith on the earth?” Faith is a complete trust and confidence. It is a sure hope in something though it remains unseen. (Hebrews 11:1). Faith is steady commitment and loyalty even when odds are greatly against you. In these contexts, will He then find faith inside you and me?

Faith is essential to Christianity. It is what brings you into a love relationship with our Creator and Savior Friend. Faith is crucial to Christian maturity. It is what grows you through the ups and downs of navigating a spiritual journey in this fallen world. We need to nurture this faith into consistency. We need to protect this faith from the destructive attacks of the enemy.

Faith brings miracles into our lives.

In the Gospels we get clued that Jesus denied people’s requests for Him to prove Himself as God. He never entertained the taunts of people for him to do some miraculous acts to showcase His identity as God. When He performed miracles, there were special reasons and specific purposes He wanted to achieve. One time, Jesus visited his hometown. And what should have been an opportunity for spiritual breakthroughs became a day of huge losses for the people. Christ said He was unable to do miracles that day because of the people’s lack of faith. I gather that He wanted to (and He still could have) but He would not because in that moment He looked for faith, and there was none.

Faith brings the pleasure of God into our lives.

Hebrews says, without faith it is impossible to please Him for He who comes to God must believe that He is God and that He is a rewarder of those who seek after Him. If you are one of those who experience firsthand how fulfilling it is to please our loved ones, wouldn’t you want to bring pleasure to the heart of God? If making our boss, our family or our special someone is very important to us, how about God? How about making Him happy? How about bringing pleasure to His eyes? Not for selfish reasons like, “I do this for you, you do this for me God”. But for agape love reasons, “I do this for you, because I love the God of love; I love the God who I can never outlove nor outgive.”

Faith is important for these 3 facts and more. Faith is what Christ wants to find in each of us. Will He find it in you and me?

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What Does It Mean to Overcome Evil with Good?

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly of Agile Methodologies

What does Romans 12:21 mean by saying, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good”? Let’s start off by drawing out some word meanings with the help of Strong’s Dictionary:

  • the word overcome (Gk. Nikao) refers to: victory, conquer, prevail, subdue, and come off victorious (implying a battle)
  • the word evil (Gk. Kakos) refers to: bad, inwardly foul, rotten (poisoned), flowing out of a morally rotten character.
  • the word good ( Agathos) refers to: “intrinsically good, pointing to what originates from God and is empowered by Him in their life”

We know from experience that what 1 John 5:19 says is true, that the whole world lies in wickedness. Crime is rampant, just check out the news. Offenses are everywhere both offline and online. People hurting people, damaging and victimizing others with words and deeds. And people are rarely apologetic nowadays. Corrupted by sin and without Christ in this world, we can’t expect any better from most of the people out there.

In the midst of this culture and environment, what is a Christian to do? How is he to act and respond? Romans 12:21 instructs the believer to observe 2 things:

  1. Do not be overcome by evil.
  2. Overcome evil with good

Do not be overcome by evil

We can apply this in so many ways:

  1. Do not be discouraged. If you’re in an environment where all the wrong things are happening to others or even to you, whether repeated offenses or unfairness is the norm; don’t be discouraged. In His time, justice will be restored and what is needed to come out will be brought to light. Ecc. 3:17 Job 12:22
  2. Do not be influenced. In an environment where wrong is the normal practice, the Christian may sometimes be tempted to do as others do, thinking that it won’t make a difference, or thinking that doing wrong pays off, or thinking that since everybody’s doing it, it must be okay. Choose to remain honest even if your peers are into plagiarized work and cheating. Stay honest even if your peers are cheating on work hours, sleeping on the job, goofing off, inflating work hours done. Stay honest even if other businesses cheat on their customers. Leviticus 19:36
  3. Do not be intimidated. Edmund Burke is attributed to have said, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” John Stuart Mil said, “Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing.” Many times, it is the wrongdoers who are brave and aggressive in their ways, making no apologies about what they do and say. Christians, in the desire for peace may feel forced to stay quiet. Now, not every issue should be a battle we fight others over for. But at times, we need to make our stand known if it helps bring enlightenment even to just one person. Speak your mind when God gives an opening. Answer a curious question when somebody asks your view. God promises to teach you what to say. Luke 12:12

Overcome evil with good

We can apply this in so many ways:

  1. Do good to your enemies. The enemies Matthew 5:44 points to are those who do wrong against you and who just feels hatred towards you for no valid reason. It may be tempting to give them a dose of their own medicine or to take revenge but the verse says to love them instead. That does not necessarily mean to go out of your way to be best buddies with them, consent to their wrongdoing and to suffer repeated abuse. In the context of agape love, it means to desire their highest good. You can and should pray for God to bless them. Pray for God to bring enlightenment and salvation in their lives. You never know when your goodness will cause repentance to dawn on them, “heaping coals of fire on their head.”
  2. Do good and do it without expecting anything in return. Good works are rewarding to you personally and to others. The good you do will bring some fruit in their lives; gratefulness, hope, cheerfulness, and more. Often, good works are contagious. The good you do tend to get paid forward by others.
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Things You Should Know about the Love of God

In Jeremiah 9:24, God Himself tells us what counts for Him as an accomplishment. He says, “Let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the  Lord  who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth.  For in these things I delight, declares the  Lord.” God is love, He is all love, but He is not solely love alone. There is more to the person of God other than that He is love and the very essence of it.

God desires that we know Him for all that He is. In Psalm 46:10, He tells us to stop striving and know that He is God. He is ever revealing Himself to man and it is sad that on many occasions, man only processes truths about God that He deems convenient for His situation and personal motivations.

Knowing God does not stop at the point of salvation. The pursuit of Christianity is not just to know God as Creator God and Christ the Messiah for our salvation. (John 17:3). Colossians 1:10 teaches us that as God’s children we are to increase in the knowledge of God. Discovering more about God, His character, what He desires to accomplish, what pleases Him; all these things about Him should be the interest and curiosity of every one who calls himself a child of God.

Acts 17:27 reveals the heart of God in all that He does. It says, “God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us.” That God would be so mindful of us should drive us to our knees in amazement and gratitude. He will be gracious on whom He desires to show grace and, praise God! For He has chosen us to be recipients of that grace.

How much do we love Him really? How interested are we in Him? Indeed, God’s love keeps drawing us to Himself. But Christian, your love for Him should keep you drawing close to Him, ever desiring to really know more about Him. And to truly love God is to actually make the effort to open the pages of the Scriptures, where He reveals Himself.

As you ponder on the thoughts shared in this article, may the worship song, “To my knees”, penned by Hillsong Worship be a helpful meditation song to listen to. Here are the lyrics:

In the Saviour’s love,

I find joy beyond compare;

Endless peace covers all of me.

When You breathe within,

You turn winter into spring;

Grace dissolves every fear in me.

In my vacant heart,

Lord You came and made a home;

You bring light to the dark in me.

When I lose my way,

I am beckoned into grace;

You alone are my everything.

Your Love brings me to my knees,

Brings me to my knees;

My King forever.

You are all my heart desires,

Until the end of time;

My soul surrendered.

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3 Ways to Shine for Christ

The Lord Jesus tells us that we are the light of the world. We are a light meant for people to see and benefit from. To drive home the point, He even said that people do not “light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.” (Matthew 5:14,15) We are light. We are to shed light for Christ. We are to bring the light of Christ to the people He puts us in contact with.

There are many ways to shine for Christ. Hee are three ways:

Do Good.

In Matthew 5:16 Jesus tells us to “Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” To shine for Christ is to do good to others. This day and age has brought forth an abundance of scammers and deceivers in society. It seems no one sees good Samaritans anymore and even if you genuinely want to do good, cautious people will be suspicious. But we are to do good anyway. Indeed, we may be the only Christ people will ever see. In doing good, we introduce Christ to people. We forge openings for people to get curious about Christ because of the difference they see in our lives.

Life is busy. It is filled with preoccupations and responsibilities. Christians must make time for doing good. God’s children must save energy for doing good for others. Christ followers must keep an eye out for simple day to day opportunities of brightening someone’s day. It may be by helping an old lady get an item way up on a grocery shelf. It may be by retrieving a fallen object for someone who dropped it. It may be by opening or closing a door for somebody.

Give often.

Resources are hard to come by. We need to work hard for the things we need. We need to save up for necessities. But Christians are to be known for generosity. All throughout Acts we can see an overflowing generosity among believers. They gave to God’s work; they gave to others; and people recognized their giving and glorified God in the process. Back then, they were unafraid to give all they had and they were blessed to see God work in miraculous ways to sustain their household.

Today, we may practice responsible and wise giving, but we give all the same. Don’t just spend all you earn on yourself and your family. Purpose in your heart to set aside a definite amount you will spend for the benefit of others outside your home. You may buy a book to help inspire and encourage someone at work. You may get some useful items for a neighbor next door. You may personally bless a regular visitor in church with some treats. You may keep some pre-paid coffee or food vouchers to give away to people you come across with.

Love indiscriminately.

Scriptures tell us to love. In Matthew 5:43,44 Jesus reminds us to love not just our friends but even our enemies. We all have our ideas about love but the kind of love that Jesus talks about here is one that “desires the highest good of another.” All people need to feel the love of God and we can help with that. True, humanly speaking, it will be hard to afford an enemy or offender the same intensity of love we have for someone very dear to us but we must practice Christian love all the same. And we can do that in many ways. We can show patience and mercy instead of lashing out in criticism and rebuke. We can suspend punishment and consequence and allow a wrongdoer the opportunity to amend his ways or make up for the error he has committed. We can choose to speak kindly even if the other person is harsh. We can choose to maintain our cool even if another person is very irritating. We can grant second chances. We can love the lovely and “abrasive” by being good-natured towards them both. We can choose to forfeit opportunities of retaliation or “vindication” and remain “discerningly” accommodating and kind towards those who rub us the wrong way.

 

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Can You Be Trusted?

Nowadays, trust is like a precious commodity people carefully bestow on others. It is a blessing to be given one’s trust on the onset for in today’s system of affairs, you need to gain one’s trust. You need to earn the right to be trusted with responsibilities and privileges. To lose the trust of your boss or loved one would be a big, big blunder because trust lost is often rarely and most difficultly regained. Lose someone’s trust and your integrity may instantly crumble before that person’s eyes.

Trust defined is a “firm belief in the reliability, truth, or ability of someone or something.” In this context, can you, a child of the King, be trusted? Indeed, those who live the faith life must be so for it is an essential mark of godliness. Remember that strength and intellect are not most crucial to obtaining and keeping the trust of others. Trust is less about capabilities and more about character.

Never Overcommit.

It happens. In our eagerness to help, we can offer more than what we can deliver; we can try to do things we aren’t equip to do. Understand that there are better ways to be of assistance. Do what you can and where you are limited, just help direct people to right avenues that will provide solutions to their needs.

Be honest about your failings and learn from them.

It happens. We make mistakes. Often, it is not the mistakes that turn people away from us but the way we handle those mistakes that cause others to trust and regard us less or more. Take responsibility for wrong choices. It is not the excuses or rationalizations that count in people’s ears. Proverbs 24 talks about how the righteous can fall seven times but rise again. So, it is your maturity in accepting your failings and being honest about your limitations that say a lot about your character and trustworthiness.

Speak of what you know and only when you need to.

People like having chats with bubbly, talkative folks. They are entertaining. They are fun to be with. But when it comes to deep, sensitive, and personal issues, people are selective about what they share and with whom they share their personal affairs with. People who look for meaningful conversations gravitate away from potential gossipers and nonsense talkers. Avoid being identified with any of them. Proverbs 10:8 says that a chattering fool comes to ruin. So, be discerning about what you say and who you say your words to. Talk about matters you have knowledge of and never pass suppositions as facts. Be a wise talker and be a wise listener.

 

You don’t need to be well-endowed with skills and resources to be capable of trust. At any stage and level of life you are in, you can be trusted. And if you are a child of God, walking in the light of His Word, the people that matter will naturally trust you. Know who you are in Christ; be available; be honest about your capabilities and lacking; and always, speak what is true and helpful.

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A Perfect Man

As we advance step by step in the path of obedience, we shall know how true is the promise that they who follow on to know the Lord Jesus Christ shall know that His going forth is prepared as the morning. Clearer light is ready to shine upon all who follow Him who is the Light of the world. Every one who takes upon him the yoke of Christ, with full determination to obey the word of God, will have a healthy, symmetrical experience. He will enjoy the blessings that come to him as a result of the hiding of his life with Christ in God.

In business life he will work out the principles laid down in Christ’s sermon on the mount. He will renounce the bag of deceitful weights and will despise the fraud of tricks in trade. He has an abiding sense that he is a part of the heavenly firm and that it is his duty to trade upon the talents given him by God. He realizes that he is adopted into the family of God and that he must act toward all as Christ acted when He was upon this earth.

What a diligent, constant work is the work of a true Christian. Ever he wears the yoke of Christ. He has genuine modesty, and does not talk of his qualifications and accomplishments. Self-admiration is not a part of his experience. There is much to learn in regard to what comprises true Christian character. It certainly is not self-inflation. The glory and majesty of God should ever fill our souls with a holy awe, humbling us in the dust before Him. His condescension, His wide, deep compassion, His tenderness and love, are given us to strengthen our confidence and remove that fear which tendeth unto bondage. The Lord wants us to give Him all there is of us in a steady, evenly balanced Christian life.

Let us not endure the thought of being religious dwarfs. We must ever be growing unto the full stature of men and women in Christ Jesus, till we are complete in Him. Christ will come and abide with every soul who will say from the heart, Come in. He loves every one who has a desire to follow Him.

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Why Real Faith Is Never Perfect

Why Real Faith Is Never Perfect

What does it mean to live by faith? Is it a Que Sera, Sera thinking? (“Whatever will be, will be”) Does it mean for you to just sit back and resign yourself to whatever future God holds for you?

Resign Versus Yield

The idea of “resigning” yourself to whatever fate God has for you captures little of what it means to live by faith. On the other hand, the word “yielding” captures much of what it means to live by faith. In resigning yourself, you take on a passive pose. You do nothing and you follow whatever ebb and flow you feel God is sweeping you by. But in yielding yourself, you take on an active pose. The mind and heart is constantly at work, testing and proving possibilities. As enlightenment comes, you learn to release yourself from pursuing and prioritizing things and relationships that God has led you to forego in order for you to welcome and put more attention and energy into the more fruitful things and relationships God desires to bring into your life. The word resign carries the idea of acceptance and simple absorption. The word yield carries the idea of, yes, surrender, but can also point to a product that results from some work and effort carried out.

Living the faith life doesn’t mean I empty myself of all my thoughts, goals, and desires for my life. Rather, it means that I nurture a heart that aligns itself to the desires and goals of God for my life. For all we know, God may have already put those in us long before we were born. We only need the wisdom to know which passions are God-breathed and which ones are purely self-serving.

Indolence Versus Diligence

Resignation to fate often breeds indolence while yieldedness breeds diligence. You don’t let life happen. Rather, you make life the best it can be. To live by faith is to cooperate with God’s purposes for your life. We can only find satisfaction in this life when we know that we have a purpose and that we are fulfilling it. To feel useless and to feel so for an extended period of time can be a cause of depression and discontent in one’s capabilities and in one’s position or situation in life.

It is true that great discoveries and learnings are found in doing and experimenting. From Ecclessiastes 9:10 we learn that we should put best efforts into whatever our hands find to do. The Bible calls us to productivity. It calls us to action. In the process of doing [with a yielded spirit], we sense God’s guidance. We sense His affirmation and we see His redirections.

Sensibility Versus Intuitiveness

At times the Christian will need to let go of what is sensible and dive into something that seems unreasonable or makes little sense. God loves doing miraculous, impossible, and astounding things and for a person who depends on safety nets, these “God-Moments” may be very uncomfortable and even scary. Sense tells us to act depending on what we know to be true, that is, human reason. Intuition tells us to act depending on what we know and feel to be true even without conscious reasoning.

That is what faith is about. Hebrews 11:1 says it is about having the confidence and full assurance of what we know to be true and real even though we may not yet see the fullness of that truth and reality yet. God is good and He says that all His plans for us are for a great future and a sure hope (Jeremiah 29:11). On some days, it may not seem that way but remembering the many times God has shown up in our past assures us that God is constantly working things out for our good. (Romans 8:28). Needless to say, it takes regular meditation upon God’s Word and surrounding yourself with the right people for you to have a “reliable” and “mature” intuition. Without intimacy with God, we can be fooled into pursuing unfruitful impulses and compulsions by our deceiving hearts. (Jeremiah 17:9).

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord,

“plans to prosper you and not to harm you,

 plans to give you hope and a future.”

– Jeremiah 29:11

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What makes you think I want your life?

What makes you think I want your life?

by: Carole L. Haines

My husband told me a story about a friend of his who answered an acquaintance’s arrogance with this statement, “What makes you think I want your life?”  The man was a few years ahead in the same line of business as my husband’s friend, and without being asked for advice, was giving out a litany of how to become as successful as he was.  He was basically telling this guy, “Do these things and you can have the kind of life I have.” A life of wealth, luxury and ease was what was being solicited to our friend. I couldn’t help but think of Satan’s Temptation of Jesus. 

8 Again, the devil *took Him to a very high mountain and *showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory; 9 and he said to Him, “All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus *said to him, “Go, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.’” (Matthew 4:8-10)

O, how the world loves to think we want to have what they have, be who they are, do what they do.  We hear it from Movie-dom, Sports Arenas, Business offices, and unfortunately, even the occasional pulpit.   Hebrews 12 gives us a list of what we now have in Jesus Christ:

22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God,the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels,23 to the general assemblyand church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven,and to God, the Judge of all,and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect,24  and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant,  and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks better than the blood of Abel.(Hebrews 12:22-24)Then, as if all that was not enough, God tops it off with:

26 And His voice shook the earth then, but now He has promised, saying, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth, but also the heaven.” 27 This expression, “Yet once more,” denotes the removing of those things which can be shaken, as of created things, so that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.28 Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe; 29 for our God is a consuming fire. (Hebrew 12:26-29)

A kingdom that cannot be shaken.  God actually desires to remove from our lives, our dependence upon the very things the world runs after, brags about and tries to peddle to us. But just look at our beautiful inheritance in Christ. I don’t want or need anything the world is peddling. I echo the sentiments of our friend, “What makes you think I want your life?”  Jesus speaks the truest of Words when He says this:

31 Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ 32 For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. 34 “So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. (Matthew 6:31-34)

Thank you, Dearest Lord Jesus, for the life You have bought for me, and freely given to all who believe in You as Savior.

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Surprised by Beauty (Just let go and know)

Surprised by Beauty (Just let go and know)

Surprised by Beauty(Just let go and know)

By: Carole L. Haines

Have you ever planted something in your yard, walked away and forgotten all about it? You didn’t tend it, water it, fertilize it, and yet somehow, it flourished and bloomed. My son was out mowing in an obscure part of the yard and came in to say, “Mom, you’ve got to see these lilies in the corner of the yard behind the gazebo!” I walked out and sure enough, there they were, big beautiful blooms that seemingly came out of nowhere.

The Kingdom of God is like that. We are the fertile ground. God places the seed inside of us. We grow in dormancy, unseen by the world. Then suddenly God pulls back the curtain, at just the right time, and all the beauty He placed in us is displayed before mankind. He is glorified and all we can do, is fall at His feet, and say, “I don’t even remember planting that, Lord!”

That’s because you didn’t, He did! He is growing His grace and beauty inside of us, through drought and dry times. He is sheltering us from the heat of the day underneath the shadow of His wings. We don’t even see it growing inside of us, and we can only stand back in awe as He displays His glory through us for all the world to see.

We know we had nothing to do with it. We are just yielded vessels, striving to love our Heavenly Father and be grateful to Him for His great kindness; when He just blazes glory through us. Our God is so amazing. I have learned, in my many years of being a Believer in Jesus, that it’s more about being yielded and surrendering; than striving and straining. God’s Word tells us to:

10 “Cease striving (to sink, relax, sink down, let drop, withdraw, let go, to be quiet)

and know that I am God; ( Learn to know, recognize, know by experience)I will be exalted among the nations,

 I will be exalted in the earth.”11 The Lord of hosts is with us;The God of Jacob is our stronghold.

Selah. (Psalm 46 NASB)Just let go and know, know God. Stop trying to figure it all out and get to know God. Get to know Him by experience, by taking your hands off the wheel of your life. Get out of the driver seat and become the passenger. God says: I will be exalted, I will be exalted. God is with us, He is doing a beautiful work in each of our lives. The biggest thing standing in the way of becoming God’s beauty is our own tight grip upon the wheel of our lives. Just let go and know. He will never fail you. You may be bewildered, confused, confounded by some of he ways He works, but He never, ever fails you. I know that after walking with Him for more than 4 decades now. Just let go, cease striving, and Know Him. Invest in your relationship to Him. Yield and surrender, yield and surrender.

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Some Thoughts for the Lovers of the World

Beautiful landscapes, green vegetation, everywhere seem calm and peaceful. Hmm, I like it. Blue skies with wonderful birds hovering about it, lovely and beautiful creatures living in harmony. Everything is in order just the way I had intended it to be. Excellent! Excellent! This is good, very good. This is presumably God expressing excitement over the work of His hand. He was happy about His creation. So upon looking at everything He said it was very good. Genesis 1:3;

“And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good…”

Apparently in the beginning the world was very good, no pollution, no stains and there was no sin. Harmony thrived and peace rained. Nature enjoyed equilibrium. There was balance and the mechanics of the elements of the world was in order. It was a beautiful world.

We can see from the foregoing that the idea of creating the universe was exciting to God. The most High was happy about it. A major reason for God’s excitement apart from the beauty and splendor of the world, and of every other elements of nature, whether they are living or non living, was that, it was creation that marked the beginning of the existence of man, a creature that bears the image of God. Genesis 1:27;

“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.”

The scripture above explains why God was delighted in handing over to man, the dominion of the world. It’s simply because he (man) is a bearer of the image of God. So God gave him everything. Let’s take a look at Genesis 1:28;

“And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.”

It is crystal from the scripture above that it was the will of God for man to have dominion over the earth and the air. A careful look at the words “earth and air” implies total dominion over the cosmos. Meaning man can go towards any length in the cosmos as far as his wisdom can take him. So while man celebrates his breakthroughs in rocket science, astronomy and the like, it was not a thing of marvel before God because He had declared it already in the beginning. The point here is that, the most High gave it all to the bearer of His image –man.

While being caught up in a misty cloud of deep wonder, the Psalmist gave the expression (Psalm 8:4);

“What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?”

The words spoken by the Psalmists can be summed up as God, what is so special about man? An answer has been presented to this question above. Man is special because he is a bearer of the image of God. He is so special that God gave him dominion over the cosmos. This “specialness” of man is of priority to God, to such an extent that upon the derail of the man, God had to send His only begotten son “Jesus Christ” to place him back on track. See John 3:16;

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

Apparently the key to getting back on track is to simply believe in the only begotten of God. To believe Him as the one sent to restore man. To believe Him as the savior of the world.

The world is ours. God gave it all. Apostle Paul knew this, his words to the Corinthians was: all things are yours. See 1 Corinthians 3:21-22;

“21 Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are yours;

22 Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours”¦”

We can see in verse 22 of the scriptures above that even the world is ours. God gave it all. He did at the very beginning of creation.

Nevertheless, many are ignorant of this reality. The reality that God has given man all things. So here is the problem, many have upheld the things of this world more than the creator of the world. In other words, they have given honour to the gift rather than the giver of the gift. It’s like lusting after what you own. It’s yours already so why lust after it. In the light of the foregoing, John the beloved instructed us not to love the world or the things contained in it. See 1 John 2:15;

“Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.”

The use of the word “love” in the scripture above could imply “lust coupled with a strong attachment”. So the instruction is that we should not lust or attach our minds to this world or the things contained in it. Why? Because all things belong to us. The world and all its elements should not be given priority over its creator. Apparently what makes us lovers of God rather than lovers of the world is in detaching ourselves from lusting after the world and things contained in it. Anyone who has detached from the world and the things contained in it is attached to God.

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Been in the Secret Place Lately?

What if I told you that at the end of 2018, we will know more of God’s splendor?

That we’d fall on our faces in tears at seeing Him in His beauty?

That it will break our heart over how we’ve neglected Him?

Bobby Conner spoke these words in early August at a teaching on The Secret Place held in Moravian Falls, North Carolina. For five decades, Bobby Conner has ministered worldwide as a seasoned prophet of God. Uniquely anointed with a profound, passionate love for Jesus Christ and a fervent desire to discern and herald God’s voice to prepare the Lamb’s Bride to establish God’s Kingdom, Bobby is called to awaken the warriors to arise and contend for the true faith.

I savored the opportunity to set aside the duties of daily life and immerse myself in scripture. It felt like a long, luxurious soak in a warm tub, the purity of God’s Word washing me clean as the fragrance of His Spirit energized my spiritual senses.  I try to set aside a few days each year for this type of conference to keep myself on track with the Lord.

Reasons to Schedule Time in the Secret Place

  1. The secret place is a person, not a place. Coming into the secret place is meeting with God, just you and He alone. I know you know this. I’m just reminding you to emphasize the person you are meeting with over the location.
  2. Frequenting the secret place often keeps us moist and pliable clay in the potter’s hands. Who wants to be dried out, brittle clay? The Master Potter can only create beautiful vases from moist, pliable clay. Only the Holy Spirit saturates. Two hours a week on Sundays evaporates readily.
  3. The secret place to me is sitting before God’s fireplace, the place of fiery passion where I acquire His fire and my heart is forged in His flame (Isaiah 60:1-5). It is where our zeal, passion and commitment are strengthened like bonded steel. As a  result, His glory shall be seen upon us! The wind of the Holy Ghost fans the flames of hunger within us – we hunger for deeper knowledge of God the longer we stare into His flaming eyes of love and listen to His Word echoing within.

My heart was hot within me. While I was musing, the fire burned; then I spoke with my tongue.  Lord, make me to know my end and to appreciate the measure of my days—what it is; let me know and realize how frail I am how transient is my stay here (Psalm 39:3-4 AMPC).

He wakens Me morning by morning, He wakens My ear to hear as a disciple [as one who is taught]  (Isaiah 50:4 AMPC).

Sow for yourselves according to righteousness (uprightness and right standing with God); reap according to mercy and loving-kindness. Break up your uncultivated ground, for it  is time to seek the Lord, to inquire for and of Him, and to require His favor, till He comes and teaches you righteousness and rains His righteous gift of salvation upon you (Hosea 10:12 AMPC).

In Part 2– Pathway to the Secret Place I will share more on why we want to luxuriate there, what it is and what it does for us. You won’t want to miss it!  

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9 Quotes That Will Help Change Your Thinking About Your Calling

Find out what leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Napoleon Bonaparte, Albert Einstein, and sadistic villains like Hitler had to say about Jesus Christ.

Billy Graham

“Jesus was not a white man; He was not a black man. He came from that part of the world that touches Africa and Asia and Europe. Christianity is not a white man’s religion and don’t let anybody ever tell you that it’s white or black. Christ belongs to all people; He belongs to the whole world.” –  Billy Graham (born November 7, 1918) Christian evangelist

Martin Luther King Jr. on Excelling in Your Calling

“If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as a Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, ‘Here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.”

Adolf Hitler?

“In boundless love as a Christian and as a man I read through the passage which tells us how the Lord at last rose in His might and seized the scourge to drive out of the Temple the brood of vipers and adders. How terrific was His fight for the world.”

Tim Keller on Why Calling Matters

“Everyone will be forgotten, nothing we do will make any difference, and all good endeavors, even the best, will come to naught. Unless there is God. If the God of the Bible exists, and there is a True Reality beneath and behind this one, and this life is not the only life, then every good endeavor, even the simplest ones, pursued in response to God’s calling, can matter forever.”

Frederick Buechner on Discerning Your Calling

“The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.”

Bo Burnham on ‘Making It’

“Take a deep breath and give up. The system is rigged against you. Don’t take advice from people like me who have gotten lucky. Taylor Swift telling you to follow your dreams is like a lottery winner saying, ‘Liquidize your assets, buy Powerball tickets. It works.’”

Bishop T.D. Jakes on Fueling Your Passion

“If you can’t figure out your purpose, figure out your passion. For your passion will lead you right into your purpose.”

Steve Jobs on Your Future

“You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backward. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something–your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.”

Os Guinness on Making an Idol of Work

“Do we enjoy our work, love our work, virtually worship our work so that our devotion to Jesus is off-center? Do we put our emphasis on service, usefulness, or being productive in working for God–at His expense? Do we strive to prove our own significance? To make a difference in the world? To carve our names in marble on the monuments of time? The call of God blocks the path of all such deeply human tendencies. We are not primarily called to do something or go somewhere; we are called to Someone. We are not called to special work but to God. The key to answering the call is to be devoted to no one and to nothing above God himself.”

Napoleon Bonaparte??

I know men and I tell you that Jesus Christ is no mere man. Between Him and every other person in the world there is no possible term of comparison. Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne, and myself founded empires; but what foundation did we rest the creations of our genius? Upon force. Jesus Christ founded an empire upon love; and at this hour millions of men would die for Him.” – Napoleon Bonaparte (French General, Politician and Emperor (1804-14). 1769-1821)

Albert Einstein

I am a Jew, but I am enthralled by the luminous figure of the Nazarene. Jesus is too colossal for the pen of phrase-mongers, however artful¡¨. He further added: “No man can read the gospels without feeling the actual presence of Jesus. His personality pulsates in every word. No myth is filled with such life. Theseus and other heroes of his type lack the authentic vitality of Jesus.” – Albert Einstein — Scientist and Mathematician

Mahatma Gandhi?

“A man who was completely innocent, offered himself as a sacrifice for the good of others, including his enemies, and became the ransom of the world. It was a perfect act.” – Mahatma Gandhi, Indian political leader (1869-1948)

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Malevolence behind the Mask

The Story of a Narcissistic, and Christian, Mother

The Story of a Narcissistic, and Christian, Mother

by Michael Christian

I thought my family life was normal.

Loftier, I was under the impression that my mother had cornered the market on child rearing.  After all, I valued and admired my mother.  I would fight for her honor, I went out of my way ease her burdens, and I lamented over any act I did that might cause her worry.  Foremost in my mind was my desire to make my mother proud.   Likewise, my siblings showed much the same respect and appreciation for her.  If she could raise four kids with that kind of reverence, she must have known what she was doing!  Not to mention that since my parents’ divorce, when I was nine, she was raising four children on her own.

God was always at the center of our upbringing.  We were regulars in Sunday school, morning worship, and the evening service.  She would even have four kids in tow at prayer meetings on Wednesday nights!  Admirable.  The pastor and congregation saw her as a strong Christian woman, prayerfully fighting for the souls of her children.

That was probably around 1980.  Fast forward to around the year 2000”¦ Two of the children are alcoholics, with multiple DUI’s (one of those children was me).  Two of the children were married; both are now divorced (again, one was me).  One of the children is now on depression medication, and one has died in an alcohol related incident.

What went wrong?

It wasn’t until my second marriage that I could answer that.  My first marriage was a mistake.  I had gotten a girl pregnant (or so I thought!  But that’s for another story”¦), and in an attempt to diminish my mother’s shame, married.  It did not work out.

Years later, I married my wife.  This was the first woman that I had ever truly loved.  I was still drinking at the time, but had done a good job of hiding from her just how serious my problem was.  Yet even after she realized it, she remained, and helped me to overcome my alcoholism. That should make any mother happy, right?  You would think so.

Problems soon started to arise when mother was no longer the center of my affection.  My wife became an unspoken enemy and, in true narcissistic fashion, my mother declared a secret war.  She began going behind our backs turning our family and friends against us, all the while keeping her façade of living the perfect Christian life.

A narcissist never thinks they are wrong, a Christian narcissist will convince you that to go against their  will is to defy GOD himself.

Down in my heart, I knew that something was amiss within my family.  I couldn’t put my finger on it, but I knew that some kind of generational curse was affecting us all.  Alcoholism, drug abuse, and mental illness seemed to plague my siblings, cousins, aunts and uncles”¦and myself.  I voiced this to my mother once.  Though I didn’t use any names, I opined of all that I felt was wrong with our family.  She became irate, and began speaking in tongues!  Once her tirade was over, she even gave me the interpretation.  To paraphrase; the interpretation was that I had become haughty, and had begun to feel superior to my family.  Essentially, I had gotten too big for my britches, and God needed to let me know about it. (I knew that this couldn’t be coming from God.  I was considering myself as one of the examples of what was wrong!)  This took me back to my childhood.  Usually, my mother could guilt my siblings and I into doing what she wanted.  That was her weapon of choice.  However, if the guilt trip failed, she would unravel and begin speaking in tongues.  To a kid, this was terrifying!  We thought that we had gone so far as to anger God!

At her wits end, my wife eventually confided in a friend at work about some of the goings on with my mother.  The friend also happened to be a counselor, who was familiar with personality disorders.  It was she that first said my mother’s behavior sounded like narcissism.  I began to read everything I could get my hands on regarding this subject.  The scary thing is that the more I read, the more I could see myself in what I was learning!  Not only did I discover that my mother was a full blown narcissist, but I could now see that I, too, was mimicking her behavior in my relationships with my wife and kids.  Some studies have shown that narcissism can have an environmental, and even genetic  component (1).  Often, where you discover a narcissist there will be an entire family with the tendencies.  I felt that I had unveiled the generational curse.

I broke.  No, seriously”¦I broke!  When I started learning about the disorder, I began hiding what I was reading, and deleting my search history from my laptop.  I didn’t want my wife to know what I was.  Then one night, after we got our kids in the bed, I confessed it all to her.  I think what I experienced that night was a psychological breakthrough.  I could not control my emotions.  All I could do was weep loudly and wail, “I’m so sorry!”  I don’t know how I didn’t wake the kids.

I had to break free!

From my reading, I learned that the healthiest thing to do when dealing with a narcissist is to distance yourself from the person.  After many heart to heart discussions with my wife, and several attempts to persuade my mother that her actions were harming, and had done harm to our family, we have distanced ourselves.  The only communication we have now is an occasional text message, and birthday cards that she will send to my children.  More often than not, even in text, she still tries to use her guilt trips. She says things like; “I know you don’t love me anymore, but I still love you, you are my son! Family is everything.”  These type of texts are ignored and get no response.  Many of the birthday cards that come to my children have drawings of sad faces or a single eyeball with a tear coming out of it.  These types of cards never make it into my kids’ hands.

A friend and Pastor told me that this disorder will likely have some small effect on my children but, with God’s help, by the next generation it should be no more.  God is breaking this generational curse.

(1) A Behavioral Genetic Study of Intrapersonal and Interpersonal Dimensions of Narcissism.   Yu L. L. Luo, Huajian Cai, Hairong Song. PLoS One. 2014; 9(4): e93403. Published online 2014 Apr 2. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0093403. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3973692/

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This World Will Tell You

When The New Year Doesn’t Feel Like The Start Of Anything

This world will tell you strength lies in control and power.

I say real strength lies in submission and humility.

This world will tell you to put your needs first.

I say you should put others’ needs first.

This world will tell you to do whatever makes you happy.

I say you should use self-control and do what pleases God.

This world will tell you there is no God–just look at the science.

I say it’s ridiculous to think chance could create such detail, beauty, and intellect in its design.

This world will tell you to do and think many things,

but I’m telling you this world is wrong.

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Beware of Your Preconceived Ideas

Not all preconceived notions are dangerous.

Some are. Some are very dark, hateful, judgemental ideas that are made without all the information. It could be caused by a single bad experience, secondhand information, or misinformation. Wherever it stems from, some preconceived notions are terrible, destructive ideas that only serve to tear down.

I discovered this week that I have had a preconceived notion, a preformulated idea about a piece of Scripture. I wasn’t wrong about my idea. I wasn’t distorting the Bible, but I was completely unaware, completely blinded to something that was there.

After I show it to you, you’ll most likely realize you did the same thing. We all have some preconceived notions about Scripture and need to be more aware of that.

SCRIPTURE

“Then he spoke his message:

“The prophecy of Balaam son of Beor,
the prophecy of one whose eye sees clearly,
the prophecy of one who hears the words of God,
who has knowledge from the Most High,
who sees a vision from the Almighty,
who falls prostrate, and whose eyes are opened:

“I see him, but not now;
I behold him, but not near.
A star will come out of Jacob;
a sceptre will rise out of Israel.
He will crush the foreheads of Moab,
the skulls ofall the people of Sheth.”

– Numbers 24:15-17

MY PRECONCEIVED NOTION

Whenever I’ve read this passage, and yes, I have read through Numbers before, I have come to one conclusion.

This passage is about Jesus.

The prophet Balaam, hired to curse the nation of Israel, couldn’t do it. Instead, the Lord prompted him to speak words of life and promise. And in doing so, I thought, was speaking specifically about Jesus.

Jesus would be the star out of Jacob. It made sense. There would be a star that gave direction to the Magi so they could offer his worship (Matthew 2).

Jesus would be the sceptre to rise out of Israel. It made sense. While He didn’t come as a king or ruler on this earth, Jesus was, is, and forever will be the ruler over all things, sitting at the right hand of the Father (Revelation 1:4-6).

But is that it?

While I’m not wrong with that idea (and neither are you if you agree), that isn’t what the Israelites would have understood upon hearing or reading that passage from Numbers.

They would have had a very different understanding. Not a wrong understanding, but one that most Christians wouldn’t have thought of. Something that shows us just how powerful our preconceived notions are.

WHAT WE HAVE MISSED

From the pages of F.F. Bruce’s Jesus & Christian Origins Outside The New Testament, I discovered a different interpretation of the Numbers passage. It was held by a particular group of Jews, though possibly not exclusively.

While discussing this groups understanding of Messiah, and the criteria of, Bruce said this.

“The first [proof-text to validate their understanding of Messiah] is the Deuteronomy passage about the prophet like Moses with some associated passages; the second is Balaam’s oracle about the victorious ‘star out of Jacob’ and ‘sceptre of out Israel’ in Numbers 24:14-17, which originally referred to King David and so is appropriately reapplied to ‘great David’s greater son’...”

As soon as I read that, I put the book down. It wasn’t something I was reading for. It isn’t even what the book is about, but I was dumbfounded by what Bruce had said.

Balaam’s prophecy was about David…not initially Jesus.

It isn’t that the prophecy doesn’t apply to Jesus. It does. And this particular group of Jews, one that never came in contact with Jesus, totally believed that the Messiah, or one of the Messiahs, would fulfill this prophecy. But Jesus was not the first answer to “Who is this prophecy about?”

21st century Christians, while we are right in our conclusions, our preconceived notion of Balaam’s prophecy, we are also blinded by it.

CONCLUSION

We need to be aware. We need to consider the fact that our preconceived notion may not be right, or may not be the first right answer to questions from the Bible.

We aren’t necessarily wrong, but we may be overlooking interesting and important truth because we are “sure” we know the right answer.

As we read the Bible, we should feel free to ask what else could the Scripture be saying. How else could this be understood, by the original audience, by the first generation after that, or even the people that lived in the days of Jesus? There may be things that we are missing.

Beware of your own preconceived notions.

This article first appeared on Christian Thought Sandbox.

 

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