What I Need

Wrestling with God Through the Valley

Part #1
    Jacob wrestling in man to man combat with God. Hannah pouring out pleas at the temple.  David crying out to God in desperation.  These are just a few of the biblical examples we see of men and women who grappled with God.  Although Jacob alone can claim the fame of a physical brawl, there are others who did the same in a different manner.

I say to God, my rock: “Why have you forgotten me?
Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?

Psalms 42:9  

~

Hannah answered, "I have been pouring out my soul before the Lord"

1 Samuel 1:15

      Wrestling with God isn't always physical.  There is a spiritual aspect that is seeking to understand or obtain something from God with great effort and urgency.  Wrestling with God goes beyond asking by longingly 'pouring out our soul' before the Lord and 'wrestling' to understand the 'whys?' of life. Jacob pleaded for a blessing, Hannah for a baby and David for deliverance.  God alone had the answer and God alone could provide what each one was lacking.  They wrestled God through the valley.  Do we?

      Just like any sporting event, there are rules and boundaries that must be respected and maintained.  In the spiritual endeavor we engage in, the first guideline is this: Don't question who God says He is but believe by faith.
     All to often we allow our life circumstances to define who God is rather than allowing God to define our life circumstances.  Looking at the child terminally ill with cancer, we must not say, "God must not be a God of love."   Rather, we should ask,  "What does God say about who He is and the suffering around us?"  

God is:

• Love
• Faithful
• Sovereign 
• Merciful
• "Someone" we can trust

Suffering/Death is:

• A result of sin
• A punishment for sin
• The enemy

But God is:

• The victor of sin and death
• "O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?"                                                (1 Corinthians 15:55)
• The One who will wipe every tear away and put an end to death
•  "He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” (Revelations 21:14) 

   We must establish in our minds that God's Word is true and what God says about Himself in His Word is true.  The suffering we see is not a reflection of God's character but rather a reflection of our sin and need for a Savior.  Examine Christ on the cross and you will find the picture of who our God is.  If you call God's Word into question, there will be no hope of understanding for only in the knowledge and understanding of who God is can we find hope in the midst of great loss and grief.
       To lift a fist and to lift open hands toward God are two very different things.  A fist is not willing to receive the healing ointment of grace and understanding, while the second is ready, willing and longing for it.  Come humbly to the throne of grace. Realizing that we are nothing and He is everything might be starting at square A, but that is where healing must start.  
      'Hopeless' is the title that some might stamp across your circumstances .  I am sorry, they are wrong.  There is no such things as hopelessness when God is your redeemer.  Why?

But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.

“The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.”

Lamentations 3:21-24

     Where else are we supposed to find hope if it is not in the One who will one day put an end to death?  He has established His steadfast love and His mercies are new every morning.  Though there be weeping in the night, joy comes in the morning! Why? Because the Lord who is Creator, Redeemer, Savior, and Friend, is our God, therefore let us hope in Him.  There is hope because there is God.  Please don't allow your sorrow to turn you away from the only One who can give you hope and heal your heart.  Trust Him.  He is able.
    1...2...3... We have a winner!  Be assured, in the end of the match God will come out on top, not because you have been defeated but because when God wins, His children also win.  He must come out on top for He is the one who is sovereign and has all understanding.  If in the end we are not more humbled and submitted to our heavenly Father, but are otherwise convinced that we have mastered Him or know better than the creator of the universe, the match has gone seriously wrong.  Some choose to walk away from God when trials come and pain causes them to question.  That is not a good place to be, that is not a safe place to be.  Only God can bring hope, only God can bring understanding and a deeper dependance on Him.  Let us trust our God and hope in Him.

 

Wednesday's In The Word: John 15:9-10

As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love.

If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my 

Father’s commandments and abide in his love.

Thy Will Be Done....

I realized that the deepest spiritual lessons are not learned by His letting us have our way in the end, but by His making us wait, bearing with us in love and patience until we are able to honestly to pray what He taught His disciples to pray: Thy will be done. 

- Elizabeth Elliot

 

Then Life Happens: Trusting God Through the Valley - Part #1

     It's the age old question, why is there sorrow and suffering in the world if God exists?  The simple answer is this, none of us are good, we all deserve hell therefore a perfectly righteous and holy God is merciful in simply letting us take our next breath.  Because of our sin, there is sorrow and suffering and that is not God's fault, it is ours.  Can God stop bad things from happening, yes, but is He required to or no longer good if He doesn't?, no.  That is the black and white answer.  It is easy to live by until....those bad things actually happen.
     We can thank God for the good things but we have trouble trusting God when the bad things start to pile up.  The question of, "Why God?", starts to role through our minds when friends turn their backs on us, death suddenly takes a loved one away, cancer rages through the body of a young acquaintance, a baby is born who will not live more than a few hours and the list goes on and on.  Out of desperation and a broken heart we cry out, why God?  Can their be comfort for the brokenhearted in the arms of the God who could have
stopped all the bad things from happening?  Does He even care?
      It's the shortest verse in the Bible but possibly one of the most powerful, "Jesus wept."  Upon reaching the tomb where His friend Lazarus lay dead, Jesus grieved.  The God who allows suffering and sorrow is not a God who does not feel pain or know our grief, but rather One Who, for the sake of love, suffered and died on our behalf.  There is comfort in His arms.

The LORD is near to the brokenhearted
and saves the crushed in spirit.
Psalm 34:18

~

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 

the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in our affliction...

2 Corinthians 1:3-4 

     While God allows suffering, He is by no means responsible for suffering.  We can't blame God for the pain that we go through because it is a consequence of sin.  However, God is still sovereign over the suffering that goes on in this world.  He has a plan that we cannot begin to understand or comprehend.   Knowing that our good God is working in ways we can not begin to understand or comprehend allows us to trust Him.  After questioning God, Job simply responded, "these things are too wonderful for me."  Job could not understand the why behind God's sovereign will so he chose to trust God and find comfort in the knowledge of who He was.  Even through the fog of grief and pain we must allow the light of hope to shine through as we remember that our God holds all things in His hands, orchestrating them according to His will.  He promises that, "all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purposes." (Romans 8:28)  Though we do not understand or know the big picture we must trust Him.  This is what it means to walk by faith and not by sight.

For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are My ways higher than your ways
and My thoughts than your thoughts.

Isaiah 55:9
~ 

  God is God. Because He is God, He is worthy of my trust and obedience.  I will find rest nowhere but in His holy will, a will that is unspeakably beyond my largest notion of what He is up to.
Elizabeth Elliot

Wednesdays In The Word: Ephesians 3:14-19

For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven 

and on earth is named,  that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you 

to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may 

dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love,

 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length

 and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, 

that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Following God's Will is a Choice

DIY Sacntification

Caterpillar: "If I could only be like that."

   What creature starts out as an ugly worm and ends up as a beautiful new creation?  Through the transformation that takes place in a simple cocoon, the butterfly is one of the the most elegant and amazing creatures.  Once an undesirable creepy-crawly, the butterfly is now the envy of creation with it's vibrant colors and distinct patterns of exquisite beauty.  The transformation is a phenomenon that is unparalleled by any other creature in creation.  

     Through the butterfly's transformation, I am reminded of the same transformation we undergo as new creatures in Christ.  What was once dead is now made alive through the work of salvation!  But the transforming doesn't stop there.  As God chisels away, revealing sin and all things that are contrary to who He is, the purifying work of sanctification begins to beautify.  Oh, how the heart is quickly launched into a longing for that day when the beauty of Christ will be fully seen in and through it, transformed completely into the likeness of it's Savior!
*Definition - Sanctification is God making us holy in heart and behavior. 

     If the caterpillar had a mind, I wonder what he would think of the butterfly.  "How long until I am just like you?" I believe he would sigh.  Just as the metamorphosis of a butterfly is a process, so is the sanctification of the soul.  It takes time, energy, persistence and diligence.  "If only it didn't take so long," we sigh as we look at all the mileage still left ahead on the straight and narrow path. Is it wrong to have the longing for righteousness? No, not at all, but the means that you go about attaining that righteousness is of utter importance.
     We live in a culture where our lives are driven by willpower and our relationships are built upon reciprocating love.  This pattern of living often transfers to our spiritual life as well.  After the point of conversion we catch the vision for the high calling we have in Christ, to be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect and to work out our salvation.  Contemplating the glories of the gospel, we feel that we must now hold up our end of the bargain.  God has done His work in saving us and now, in our current state of indebtedness, we seek to pay Him back by our own works of goodness and righteousness.  Driven by passion and the idea that we can somehow end up being good enough for God, we try to attain the righteous standards of God on our own. 
     That is not the gospel.  Are we saved by works?  Yes!!!! But not our own, we are saved by the work of Christ.

...for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.

Galatians 2:21

     Why did Christ have to die?  Christ died in our place because our good works were repulsive to Him and our willpower inadequate, to say in the least.  There was nothing good in us to catch God's eye or to somehow show Him that we were good enough to be saved. We could not save ourselves because we were dead in our trespasses and sins.  (Ephesians 2:1)  "But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved..." (Ephesians 2:4-5)   As Christ called Lazarus out of the tomb in which he had been dead three days, so God calls us to life in Christ.  This is the gospel.  This righteousness is completely independent from our good works but is offered to us as a gift.  We were not saved by works, neither will we be sanctified by our good works.  We are saved and sanctified by God.  

"Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work(1) out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works(2) in you, both to will and to work (2) for his good pleasure."

Phil 2:12-13

     In this verse we see mans responsibility and God' sovereignty in the work of sanctification.  Although work is used three times in this verse, there are two different Greek words used.

1) The work we do:  katergazomai: to do that from which something results, to achieve from toil

2) The work that God does: energeō : to put forth power, to aid one

     As those saved by grace, it is our responsibility to strive after godliness by putting our hand to the plow.  However, God is the one who has to enable the ready hands. He energizes and He makes the work effectual and profitable.  It is comparable to the work that an athlete does with their coach.  A goal is set and the coach puts together the steps to achieve that goal while the athlete submits and commits to working toward that goal as the coach has instructed.  However, it is different in that God is the one who gives the power to aid and do the work that we cannot do on our own.  There is no way to achieve the goal of sanctification without God being at work in our lives and ourselves being ready and willing to work. 

     While striving after the goal is part of the equation there is still another part that is missing, and that is seeking.  We are called to run with endurance the race that is set before us looking to Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. (Hebrews 12:1-2)  If we run, what purpose does it serve if our eyes are not set on Christ and bringing Him glory as the end goal?  We run in vain if it is not for Him and we run without progress if our focus isn't on Him.  John 15:4-5 states it beautifully.

Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, 

neither can you, unless you abide in me.  I am the vine; you are the branches. 

Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit,

 for apart from me you can do nothing.

Effectual striving will always be seeking and effectual seeking will always be striving.  You can't have one without the other.  

     May we be faithful caterpillars who seek the Savior and strive after Him, trusting that He is at work in the lives of His children, transforming them more into the likeness of Christ that we may display His beauty for His glory!

    

Wednesdays In The Word: Psalm 139:14-16

I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.

 My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth. 

Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, 

every one of them, the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there was none of them.

Psalm 139: 14-16

Little Deaths

Life requires countless "little deaths" - occasions when we are given

the chance to say no to self and yes to God...

(However) we are not meant to die merely in order

to be dead.  God could not want that for the creatures

to whom He has given the breath of life.  We die

in order to live.

- Elisabeth Elliot -

 

Doing the Church Thing

     Sometimes, motivation is everything.  Staring at the treadmill, knowing you should get on, is about the time your gusto for working out because it's fun and good for you....quickly dissipates.  However, when you realize that the only way you are ever going to run that 8 minute mile you have been training for is by training, the motivation quickly returns.  Or how about saving  up for your new iPhone?  Babysitting doesn't always sound like fun, until you are reminded it brings you one step closer to owning a new piece of technology.  You see, motivation is the catalyst that drives us to action.  By examining our motives, it doesn't take long to figure out why we do what we do.
     So, let me ask your a few questions:

• Why do you go to church?
• Why do you read your Bible?
• Why do you pray?
• What is motivating you in your Christian life? 

   There are many of us who have grown up in the culture of Christianity.  Praying, reading the Bible and going to church has always been a part of our lives.   Some would say we have been taught while others would prefer to use the term indoctrinated.  Many people look with pity on young adults following in their Christian parents footsteps with a sigh, saying, "It's all they have ever known."  Are these skeptical bystanders right in their assumption that many of us are just doing the 'Christian thing' because it's how we have been raised?  Why do we do what we do?

      For some, our Christianity could be classified as simple ritualism, going through the motions on the outside but on the inside there is really no lasting motive to keep it up. There is an outward conformity that is not matched by an inward desire and longing for true righteousness.  In Isaiah 29:13, we catch a glimpse of the same empty religion that Israel fell into:

...this people draw near with their mouth and honor Me with their lips,
while their hearts are far from Me,
and their fear of Me is a commandment taught by men...

     You see, it's an issue of the heart.  There is a deeper purpose behind the Bible reading and praying that transcends the culture in which you are reared.  Christianity isn't about following rules and regulations, it's about being purchased by the blood of Christ. Salvation is the work of a heart of stone being transformed by the power of God into a heart of flesh.  Maybe that isn't really what is it all about for you.  Maybe for you, Christianity is simply cultural, trying to make your parents happy and meet the 'good kid' expectations set up by your elders.  However, being a Christ follower doesn't consist of the things you do, it's Who you serve.  Just as going to McDonald's doesn't make you a hamburger, so going to church doesn't make you a Christian.  On the outside you might fit the 'good Christian kids' mold well. However, we can only hang fruit on a dead tree for so long.  There has to be life in the roots so the fruit produced can be genuine.  Has your heart been changed?  

For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. 

And his commandments are not burdensome.

1 John 5:3 

           Reading your Bible, praying, spending time in fellowship with God's people, it's all a means to an end.  They are not an end in themselves. There is no eternal benefit from loving the law but despising the Savior.  The do's and don'ts of Christianity can never cover you with the righteousness of God.  Like a big arrow pointing us to Christ, these 'duties' should leave us in a greater understanding of who He is and lead us to a greater awe and worship of Him, not give us confidence that somehow we are 'good enough' to be a Christian.

     For a long time I fit into the good Christian kid mold.  If you would have asked me if I was saved my answer would have been,"Yes".  I mean my dad was a pastor, how could I not be saved?!  I grew up in the culture of Christianity and I conformed to it pretty well.  Inside I was dead.  Church was a time I got to hang out with friends. Helping do service projects made me look good in the eyes of other people and as long as I didn't do anything too bad, I had some wiggle room to live for myself and my desires.  Jesus wasn't my Savior and He definitely wasn't my Lord, I was.  My righteousness was based on how well I could perform, the amount of good things I could do, Bible verses I could recite, and scripture trivia questions I could answer. These somehow equated that I was 'saved'.  My confidence was not in the righteousness of Christ but it was firmly fixed in the righteousness of Kayla.
     By God's grace and mercy, He soon took it all away.  Giving me an understanding of my sin, He showed me who I really was.  My life was defined by sin and selfishness and I had little care about God and being obedient to Him.  I had been playing the double life and He caught me red-handed.  Through His mercy, God broke me and asked for it all.  He didn't ask for my goodness, I had none.  He asked for my sin and He placed it upon the shoulders of my Savior who bled and died for me and in return for my dirty, repulsive, filth laden sin rags, He bestowed on me the righteous robes of Christ.  He changed my heart and all I can say is I have a gracious Savior who saves us not because of works done by us in righteousness, but because of HIS mercy. (Titus 3:5)
    Please examine your heart. Are you just doing the church thing or has God brought new life to your soul?

Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!

2 Corinthians 13:5     

Wednesdays In The Word: Philippians 2:12-13

Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in 

 my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation 

with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you,

 both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

Come To Him in Prayer

"When Christ is our Redeemer and the most important person in this entire universe, how can we say we have no time to pray?  When Jesus is our only source of power and strength, how can we not come to Him on our knees?  Without the strength He bestows through prayer, we are utterly hopeless."
Sarah Bryant, Excerpt from One Thing I Desire