Short Changed

 I have been thinking lately about what it means to really have Jesus as Lord.  Could it be that we love to have Jesus as Savior, but the Jesus as Lord part makes us a little uncomfortable?  Maybe our intentions our good, and we totally desire to have Jesus as Lord, but without knowing it we neglect His Lordship.  Think about it like this.  If Jesus asked you to give up your job, would you do it?  What about your home?  Your plans?  Your schedule?  Your comfort?  Jesus tells us that to follow Him means to deny ourselves (Luke 9:23) Remember the story of the rich young ruler who obeyed all the commandments, but when Jesus told him to give all he had to the poor, he went away sad?  Could it be that this man misunderstood what it meant to follow Jesus?  Perhaps he thought it meant special privileges or honor of some sort.  Yet, Jesus tells the man that honor and privilege would be found in giving all to follow Him.   

Following Jesus means complete and total surrender.  God does not do this because He is some unjust ruler.  No, He does it because He knows that in our letting go, in our surrender, there is complete and total freedom.  He does it out of love and He is more in love with you that you could ever imagine.  He wants you, ALL of you.

If we don’t surrender to only cling to our own life, we will end up expending far too much energy in working against our freedom in Christ instead of working towards our freedom in Christ.  Not to mention it is just down right sin and an offense to God.  Yep, it is.  When we think we can have all the treasures and blessings of God through His Son, yet skip out on surrendering all of ourselves—we are only deceived.  Because, frankly, we do not have all the treasures and blessings of God if we have not completely and totally abandoned our entire being to the Lord Jesus.    

He’s calling for you.  What is holding you back?

Suffering = Freedom

After my last blog I promised I would write on waiting on God even when it doesn't really make sense to us.  Well, here it is. 

So you have accepted and rejoice in the fact that God is working for your good, you are believing Him by faith putting your hope in His promises.  Yet, you're still waiting.  

God needs to do some work in us, and sometimes it takes time…often times it is more time than we imagined.  Yet, it’s here that we become whole and free.   God longs to free us and He will use these times of waiting to do just that.  How do I know?  Because I have seen Him do it in my own heart.  My faith, and yours too can become deeper and stronger than ever before.  

There will be some things God calls us to persevere and wait.  Why?  Because it’s there that we learn about who He truly is, a God of grace and amazing patience who is sufficient for us.  It’s also here that we become more like Jesus because as Rom. 5:3-5 tells us perseverance builds character, the character of Christ Jesus.  We are formed and shaped, prepared for the work God has for us, so we don’t work out of our unhealthy selves but out of Christ in us. 

  

Okay, but what do we do when the temptation comes to doubt the goodness of God and His plans for us? What is our remedy?  It is His Word.  I can’t get over it, there’s something so powerful about it.  So captivating.  I read it and it’s like my eyes are open, and I sense newness, I sense peace.   In fact, when it comes to our trails, James 1:2-4 says, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

Yes, God is at work in us, transforming us into the character of His Son, so that we will not lack a thing.  What a great God we serve!

Now I know that as our waiting continues we could ask why.  We could look back and be discouraged.  We could even look forward and be discouraged.  But that my friends is a pit of the enemy, used to steal our joy in Christ.  The Word tells us “It is God who works in you to will and act according to His good purpose.” (Phil. 2:13)  You better believe the Lord’s purposes are GOOD.  Scripture also tells me, “The LORD is righteous in all His ways and kind in all His deeds.” (Ps. 145:17)  Not only is He good, but also He is RIGHTEOUS and KIND in ALL His ways.  God has purposes and plans that are so far beyond our comprehension, plans which are making eternal impacts.  I am fully convinced that the Lord uses our pain and our suffering for good and He allows it because He loves us. 

YEP, SUFFERING IS FOR OUR FREEDOM.

Stolen Joy: The Choice to Rejoice

Do you ever find yourself in a pit?  You know, one of those pits where you lose your focus and because of that lose your joy?  I know I have.   What happens when we get in this pit?  Well, we start to focus on what we don't have and the things we're still waiting for and it consumes us with despair.   I know I'm not the only person this has ever happened too.  At least, I’d like to think I’m not.  I’d like to think there are other stubborn people out there who are trying to wrestle out their own suffering and pain.

I made a choice this week.  A choice to rejoice (that rhymes J).  Yep, I AM MAKING A CHOICE TO REJOICE.  For one, because I have so much to be thankful for and also because scripture tells us to “Be joyful always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thess. 5:16-18)  I believe that in my choosing to rejoice God will strengthen me with joy and build my faith in Him “…for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” (Neh. 8:10b). We also know the Lord inhabits the praise of His people, “But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.” (Ps. 22:3)  So when we praise, you better believe His Spirit starts to fill us and empty us of the bitterness and despair.  

I know, I know, you may have just said, Andrea I’ve tried that it didn’t work.  I’ve tried praying, I’ve tried praising and I’m still stuck, still in the same circumstances.  Listen, I know it’s frustrating, I do.  Beloved, don’t you give up!  It is working, though it may not be working out your plan.  We’ve got to come to terms with that don’t we?  Yes, we do.  Allow God to transform your heart to be content with what He wants, believing it is far better for you and is where life and peace are found.  (Some of you may have come to terms with that but you’re still waiting.  Well, if that’s you check out my next blog because I’m going to look at that and why God call us to sometimes wait even though it makes no sense to us. )

Will you make the choice to rejoice with me?  I hope you do!  As I have made this choice I have felt my spirit lift and my heart renewed.  Satan has taken far too much of our joy and it is time, my friends, to rise up and claim in back.  Run to His Word.  Cling to it for dear life.  Believe it by faith and let God transform your heart as you choose to trust, and as you lift your praises to Him.  He really does have your best interest in mind. 

Gracious Father, we thank You that You are righteous in ALL Your ways and loving towards ALL You have made.  Father, you call us to rest in You, to trust You and to take you at Your Word.  Father, we surrender, we repent and we come once again to Your mercy seat to find grace and mercy to help us.  Lord, we don’t want to live in this pit anymore, but we desire to live in the joy of the Lord.  We are desperate for You.  We accept and rejoice in the plans You have for us.  Be glorified Lord!  Amen.  

The State of my Health Address: Conquered

It’s been just over a year now since I had both of my pacemaker surgeries.  I am still finding my strength, but as I reflect back on this time last year my heart is filled with gratitude.  There’s so much for me to be grateful for, so much.  I am thankful for the fact that I am not on a couch, I’m up, I’m moving around and I am getting stronger—to the glory of God.  I have found that I can do more, and have better focus throughout the day, slowly but surely I am making progress.  In the morning when I wake up or when I’m going on with my day and I see my pacemaker on my chest, or when I feel the twitching it causes at times—my heart fills with thanksgiving and I am humbled by the mercy of our gracious God. 

Sure, I have my moments; this process of getting better has its challenges.  I never realized how difficult and frustrating it would be to work towards building up my strength.  My adrenal/thyroid glands that aren’t working up to par have made it even more of a challenge, though thankfully they too are improving.  I’m learning to offer myself grace as I trust in the timing, strength, and perspective of God.  Yes, I’ve got a ways to go, but thanks be to God for how far we have come! 

What a humbling experience this has been for me.  I am fully convinced that the Lord has used this season in my life to humble me and for that I am grateful.  I have found a deep connection with the story of Jacob in Genesis 32:24-32 when he wrestled with God (many scholars believe this was actually the pre-incarnate Jesus).  One could say Jacob lived a pretty self-reliant life, mastering things in such a way to get what he wanted out of life.  At the end of the wrestling though Jacob is conquered, his name is changed, and he now walks with a limp.  I love what David Guzik says in his commentary:

“This is an invaluable place for everyone to come to: where God conquers us. There is something to be said for every man doing his “wrestling” with God, and then acknowledging God’s greatness after having been defeated. We must know we serve a God who is greater than us, and we cannot conquer much of anything until He conquers us.”

Jacob would walk with a limp for the rest of his life, a continual reminder that He was conquered by God.  What a gift.  I have prayed for God to conquer me, and you better believe this health journey has been a time where God has conquered me by showing me my own sinful heart, the self-reliance, and is stripping me of the pride that lies within to prepare me for the work He has for me in Him.  God has used this time in a redemptive way, isn’t that just like Him? 

Now, like Jacob, I have a reminder of God’s grace in my life, my pacemaker reminds me every day of the greatness of God, it humbles me reminding me of the frailty of life and of the fact I have been conquered by my God.  What a glorious place it is to be conquered by God, stripped of self-reliance and brought to a place of deeper trust, faith, and submission to the Lord Jesus Christ.

What are you personally struggling through?  How might God use it to conquer something in you and better prepare you for the work He has for you?

Accepting ALL of God

I bet you have done it.  I think most of us have.  We have questioned and wondered about the plans of God for the world and us.  We have found connection with the prophet Habbakuk who cried out, “How long, LORD, must I call for help, but you do not listen? Or cry out to you, "Violence!" but you do not save?” (Hab. 1:2)  

Remember Job and his story?  He experienced a great time of suffering.  In all of the searching for answers to Job’s suffering he and his friends came up with various ideas and assertions, but God comes on the scene in Ch. 38:1-3 and says this:

 “Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said, “Who is this that darkens counsel
 by words without knowledge?  “Now gird up your loins like a man, and I will ask you, and you instruct Me!” Job 38:1-3

Whoa, hello humbling.  Go ahead and read the whole chapter, I don’t know how you cannot leave from reading it without repenting and asking God for forgiveness.   Often times we want answers to our questions, but I have found in this life of faith that that is not where freedom in Christ is found.  Freedom is found in not only accepting all of God’s attributes, but also in praising Him for His attributes.  We accept and we praise Him not only for His love, but also for His justice, not only for his mercy, but also for His wrath.  We don’t make God who we want Him to be, but we glorify Him because He not only forgives sinners, but also judges the unrepentant and He not only showers us with blessings but also allows us to suffer and experience pain. 

You see, when we trust Him and learn to worship Him for all He is, we will find peace and assurance in His goodness regardless of our circumstances and the world around us.  Once we start to make God who we want Him to be we better humble ourselves before He does.   In fact, I’m praying either we do or He does.  Because pride is one of the avenues Satan loves and relishes in (i.e. the fall of man).  Don’t be deceived by the Deceiver, remember who you are and who God is.  We are finite, and in reality, we don’t have a clue.  God even says to Job, “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me if you understand.” Job 38:4 

We don’t know best, God does and when we start accepting that and praising Him for it, letting go of our need for answers, and our ideas of who we want God to be we will find that living life is much easier as we walk trusting in Him for ALL He is.

What attribute of God are you wrestling to accept?