HIS WAY VS. ALL ELSE

Psalm 119:14

“I have rejoiced in the way of Your testimonies, as much as in all riches.”

Imagine what life would be like if all of Christ’s children could honestly claim this verse that the Psalmist wrote. Many of the problems and frustrations in our lives have to do with worrying about material things and making them too much of a priority in our lives. These things fill up our time, our thoughts, our actions, and we lose sight of what we should be focusing on, and that is our relationship with Christ.

1Timothy 6:10 says,

“For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil: for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.”

Do we really believe the truth of this verse? It says pretty clearly that the love of money will very quickly bring our lives to ruin. Maybe not the world’s idea of ruin, but think of what it does in our relationship with God. If we love something more than God, haven’t we already come to ruin with what we are really supposed to be living for?

The world sees money as the measure of our success. The more a person has, the more successful a person is thought to be.

It’s almost as if we have to turn our thinking all the way around from what we have known as success and ask God to teach us His definition.

Now, I am not saying that money itself is a bad thing. We need it and that’s why we must be thankful to the Lord for His provision of it. But it is when we worry that we don’t have enough or are always desiring more, that we have lost sight of our true purpose in life.

So what is this “way of His testimonies” that we are to rejoice in?

It is a different path than this world takes and I think at first we have to teach ourselves to find out what exactly is God’s way versus the worlds way.

Psalm 1:2-3 says

“But his delight is in the law of the Lord…and whatever he does shall prosper.”

We must learn to find delight, pleasure, contentment, and success in all of the blessings that God has bestowed upon us! What are those blessings in our lives? We need to find out! We need to ask the Lord to show us His ways, His will, and His testimonies. Then we will be able to take those things and share them with others and encourage one another to stay close to Jesus.

Let’s learn to “rejoice in the way of His testimonies” as much as (if not more than) everything else in life! 

BE FREE AND KNOW THE TRUTH OF WHO YOU ARE

2 Corinthians 3:5

“Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God;”

Who or what are we basing our sufficiency on? Who or what should we be basing our sufficiency on?

By sufficiency I mean: what we think of ourselves as being “good enough.” The enemy will attack us with thoughts of not being “good enough.” It is probably a different area in life for each of us, but there is probably something that we feel that we can never live up to, whether it is our own or others expectations in who we are or how we do things.

If we are trying to live up to our own expectations, we are relying on ourselves to say who we are. We naturally want a certain security as individuals. We may start to think that what we do, how well we do it, and how good we feel about ourselves is what gives us our identities.

If we are trying to live up to others’ expectations, we are saying that others opinions are what make us who we are. We may try to impress others to make them think well of us, keep them from rejecting us, or to make them think that we are someone that we are not.

The only One in whom we can find true sufficiency, is Christ. We must come to the realization that who we are has absolutely nothing to do with us, or with others’ opinions. We can find peace and security in the fact that it is Christ who makes us who we are. It says in:

John 15:5

“I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.”

Think of how strong Jesus is as the Vine and how firm and sure we can be as His branches. We can only understand this surety when we completely base our sufficiency (or our level of being “good enough”) not on our own works, but on the work that God is doing in us.

We no longer have to deal with trying to live up to a certain expectation from ourselves or from those around us. We must claim the new creation that God has made us as His child and as He tells us in:

2 Corinthians 5:17

“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”

Old things and old ideas of who we are must be put behind us now that we know the truth! It says in:

John 8:32

“And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

Since we now know the truth of who we are, we are free from the burden of worrying about being “good enough.”

So the real question should be: Who are we in Christ? We are beyond “good enough” to the Lord, because our identity is no longer based on what the world, friends, the enemy, or we have to say. It is based on who Jesus is, and He IS sufficient in all things!

THE LITTLE THINGS

Luke 16:10 

"He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much:"

When we really stop and think about what it means to be “faithful in that which is least”, we realize that we have probably not even scratched the surface in understanding what that really looks like in our lives.

 When given a simple task, there are different attitudes we can have towards the fact that this tasks needs to be done. We can treat it as a chore, complain about it, or even just take it for granted. Now, I’m not talking about taking out the trash for example. I’m talking about when we do things that are affecting those around us. Although if you think about it, if taking out the trash is affecting those around you, then it is also one of those little things that God asks us to be faithful in.

When we take a step back, we can see how important it is to treat even the simple tasks as the purpose God created us for. When we line up a whole bunch of simple tasks that have been completed we realize that something great has been accomplished. As children of Christ, we must grow to want to do all things to the full degree, for the glory of God. Not using our own strength to be certain, but the infinite strength available to us through faith in Christ!

Many times, we (honestly, I’m talking about myself) fall into the trap of looking towards the future, wondering what God might have for us to do that is BIG. We may find ourselves starting to wonder what God might have planned for us when we “grow up.” But if we are not careful, we may be missing the blessings and opportunities that He has set right in front of us! It is the little things that make the difference. God has fame for some, and He has humble and unknown-to-any jobs for others. We need to be asking God to show us the little things that He has placed in ours lives right now. Then face those tasks as if that is what God created us for, taking every situation in life as if it is our big chance to shine for Jesus.

Life is too full of surprises for us to expect next year or even tomorrow to come. Yes, there is a need to be a good steward of our future and be wise in our planning. But if that becomes our full focus we are taking the risk of missing TODAY.

HIGHEST LEVEL OF HONOR

Proverbs 29:23 

A man's pride shall bring him low: but honour shall uphold the 

humble in spirit.

Our immediate thought, when we consider what it means to be a humble person, tends to be the opposite of what the passage above is telling us. We may picture ourselves having a very low status. We may think of ourselves as being very weak. We may wonder why we would pursue a life of making ourselves less important, than those around us. We have created a way of thinking in our society that says that being the most known, loved, and adored by the world is what will give us meaning in life. We tend to think that popularity is the most valuable factor to a person’s identity.

When we read the passage above, we realize that our human thinking is completely backwards of the way God sees things. When a person is willing to give up that desire to be “number one”, God sees that person as someone who is worthy of honor. As Christians we are to base the truth of everything on the Word of God. So the way that we are used to basing our identity, is actually the opposite of the truth! We are believing a lie, if we see humility as a weakness.

We need to start changing our perspective of what it really means to be a “humble in spirit” kind of person. We have a hard time recognizing that humbling ourselves to be used by God is not weakness, but an indescribable strength. Thinking less of our own gain and pleasure is not depriving ourselves, but leaves room for us to find ways to think of others needs. Not building our identity on how the world thinks of us, allows us to be an available witness for the Lord to shine His glory through.

Our need to change our perspective from what we have been subconsciously taught can be tough. We have to train ourselves to see that having humility as what God sees as honorable, and recognize that pride is what will ultimately be our downfall.

James 4:10  

Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.

FEAR: DEFEATED BY PERFECT LOVE

2 Timothy 1:7

For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

FEAR…

It is part of who we are far too regularly and causes far too much damage. We often allow it to become a part of our lives without even realizing it. When we finally realize that it has taken over our entire thought process, how we relate to others, and our perspective of life, we have a difficult time finding a solution to overcome it. We end up in bondage to it with seemingly no way out.

1 John 4:18

 

There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.

PERFECT LOVE…

It is what heals wounds and sets things straight. It is what sets us free from the bonds of sin. It is something that has, is, and will change the world. When we accept it as a free gift from our heavenly Father and let it take over how we think, how we see others, and make it a way of life, we will realize how much meaning there is to our lives. It is what gives us purpose in life and hope for the future.

As Christians, we are instructed to strive to show love and kindness to all we come in contact with, in order to share Christ’s love. Yet whenever we are met with the rejection of the world, it can be very discouraging. We may go through times where we become emotionally and spiritually exhausted, feeling as though we are being fake or "putting on a face". We are not able to fully comprehend why anyone would reject something so freeing, wonderful, and ….perfect.

Unfortunately, fear is extremely powerful. Not as powerful as Christ’s perfect love, but is what comes naturally to us. Fear is what will keep the world from accepting perfect love. Fear is also what will discourage us to the point of no longer sharing it. When we allow the rejection of the world to cause us to fall into the trap of fear we must look into to the truth of the matter. That is, the fact that God has not given us as His children  a spirit of fear. He has given us perfect love which destroys fear!

We must lay our fear, anxiety, and doubts at the feet of Jesus. So that we can claim the perfect love that is ours. When we do this, then and only then will we be able to share the perfect love of Christ with the world.

THE PERFECT PLAN

Jeremiah 29:11-13a

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.

Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.

You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

I will be found by you,” declares the LORD…

How exciting it is to know that the Lord has a plan for each and every one of His children's lives!

He doesn’t just simply tell us this either, he declares it. He wants us to know without a shadow of a doubt that He is not just going to leave us hanging. Yes, he gives us free will, but he does not leave us to figure out how to live this life on our own.

Too often we forget to take hold of this passage and believe it with all of our hearts. We instead begin to doubt the truth in the fact that God really is in control of all circumstances whether we can see the reason for what He does or not.

We must not allow ourselves to see God as someone who is out to make our lives miserable. No, when we feel miserable, that is brought on by our own doing. But God says right here that His plan is to give us prosperity, keep us from harm, and give us hope for our future.

 It is easy for us to start to fear about how things are going to be in the future, so much so that our focus is no longer on the One who planned our future! Though it is not easy and definitely not natural for us to fully rely on the Lord for the plan for our lives, it is what God asks of us. Those who accept God’s plan know the freedom found in depending on Him.

If we truly desire to know and believe that God has our "life plan" in His hands, then we must follow the steps that He has laid out right in front of us. He says to call on him and pray to him. This does not mean to simply pray before our meals every so often, but to take advantage of every opportunity to pour out our hearts before the Lord and seek Him. He promises that He will listen and we will find Him.

We cannot take our Christian lives lightly any longer. We are all at different growth levels in the Lord, but we all still have so much to learn and seek the Lord about. We cannot seek, pray, or call on the Lord, too much. Whether we realize it or not He is never busy, and we are all individually on His mind at all times.

Whether His child is 3 years old or 103 years old, God wants his children to seek His plan for the rest of their lives! Our God not only wants to be involved in our lives, but He wants to be what we live for! His plan is perfect; we will find that there is nothing greater in life than living for Him! 

ULTIMATE VICTORY

Romans 8:37-39

Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors 

through Him who loved us. 

For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 

nor height nor depth, 

nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

What does it mean to be MORE than conquerors? We usually think of something that has been conquered to be completely beaten and the most that can be done to defeat the opposition. What we need to find out, is what it means to be more than what we consider to be the highest point of victory.

I have written before about the fact that there is a very real, spiritual battle that we are part of everyday of our lives. (http://continuingtobestretched.blogspot.com/2012/11/invisible-yet-real.html)

Though our enemy in this spiritual battle is strong, the Lord’s side will always have the ultimate victory. Because we are children of God, we are soldiers in the army of the Lord. Because we are His soldiers, we are on the victor’s side. This is what makes us conquerors.

But what is more? When we continue reading the rest of the passage, we realize that the “more” being spoken of in this passage is: everlasting victory. Our finite minds tend to only acknowledge the victory of forgiveness that we are given in this life, when really there are so many blessings the Lord has for us that we have yet to tap into!

So now we know that what this passage is talking about when it says “more than conquerors.” More is something much greater than what we know in this life. We can see that as a child of God, nothing in the spiritual realm or the physical realm can EVER separate us from the love of God. This is how we are more than conquerors; we have victory over the clutches of sin forever!

THREE WORDS

John 18: 4-7

So Jesus, knowing all the things that were coming upon Him, went forth and said to them, “Whom do you seek?”

They answered Him, “Jesus the Nazarene.”

He said to them, “I am He.”

And Judas also, who was betraying Him, was standing with them.

So when He said to them, “I am He,” they drew back and fell to the ground.

Therefore He again asked them, “Whom do you seek?”

And they said, “Jesus the Nazarene.”

(This Conversation takes place right after Jesus had been praying in the garden and right before he was arrested to be crucified)

Jesus knew what He was about to experience. He knew that He had been born to die for the sins of the world. When the soldiers told Him who they were looking for, Jesus’ answer alone knocked them over backwards!

I AM HE

Those three words had the power to knock down hundreds of men. Imagine being knocked over by the very words that came out of the man’s mouth that you were about to arrest. Jesus had all the power that was needed to change what He was about to go through, but He chose not to use it to defend himself. Instead He willingly allowed the soldiers to take Him and treat Him in ways that He did not deserve, and ultimately kill Him.

It appears that the soldiers that had come to arrest Jesus had no idea what He looked like. They found out who He was very quickly though. Even after those words boomed from Jesus’ mouth and knocked them over, we know that they continued on their task, and arrested Jesus.

So what can we take away from this? We know that this is an awesome account of how powerful our God is, but there are a few lessons to learn here.

1.      Never under-estimate the power of God and what He can do. Unfortunately, we do this far too often when we lack faith in our God.

2.    Just as the soldiers acted as if they didn't know what hit them and ignored the fact that Jesus was all-powerful, we must be aware of how easy it is to be blind to the prompting of the Holy Spirit and the pricking of our consciences.

3.    We must not find ourselves being like Judas. He stood with the soldiers who missed out on the blessing of recognizing how powerful the word of the Lord really is.

These three words are for us even today…. I AM HE. Never doubt the existence of our great and powerful God!

RIGHT HERE... RIGHT NOW

Philippians 4:11

Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstance I am. 

What is the root of the “dark cloud” of unhappiness which lingers over our society today? It is easy to find the common link between people and their unhappy nature. It is discontentment. The discontentment that comes to us so easily is what drags us down and gives us an attitude or sense of purposelessness.

If we look around and allow ourselves to be aware of what is happening, we will quickly begin to see what we are allowing the world to drag us into. The world expects us to keep up with its fast-paced mentality. It seems as though everyone wants to get to the end of their lives as quickly as possible. When we fall into the trap of taking part of this unhealthy race, we allow ourselves to fit right in with the rest of our unsatisfied society.

There is a different way. If we take another look around us, after we have opened our eyes to the untruths that the world is trying to fool us with, we can find the blessings that the Lord has placed right in front of us. If we can learn to embrace God’s perfect plan, we will begin to realize that there is more to life than the constant race to the end.

So let us be content in whatever circumstance we are faced with. Only then will we realize that there is so much to learn from and grow through in life. We mustn't rush past it all. We must make ourselves available to God, ready to do His will. The Lord has so much to reveal to us!