Give God Time

You are not wrong to enumerate your troubles as you pray, and you are not inaccurate in your analysis; but you have left the Lord out of the equation. You have learned that you must not walk forward in blind faith if it can be avoided, not because your faith will not be rewarded, but because blind faith sometimes plucks a fruit before it is ripened. Allow God time to work in your mind, heart and circumstances, and you will see the fruit of promise ripen. You have gathered green fruit, Dear One, but by God's promise the fruit will ripen and you will be blessed. The harvest cannot always be timed perfectly but God's promises will without fail develop into fruit that you can eat and by which you can be nourished. You will find the future sweet. You are at the threshold of that time of sweetness now; there will be a season of fulfillment.

He is Able to Keep Us From Falling

This morning the Lord has been teaching me from the book of Jude. “Woe to them! They have taken the way of Cain; they have rushed for profit into Balaam’s error; they have been destroyed in Korah’s rebellion” (Jude 1:11).

Cain was jealous and committed murder out of that feeling of inadequacy. His fury over the fact that his brother’s offering was accepted and his own was not became murderous.

The warning for me here is not to “get even” when someone makes me feel inadequate, but to take these emotions to the Lord. And a secondary warning is to bring appropriate sacrifices to the Lord in the first place, and not sacrifices of my own choosing.

Balaam was a prophet for hire. This warning has to do with the avoidance of becoming preoccupied with the medium or “the art” of writing about Truth rather than being wholly occupied with The Truth Himself.

Korah rebelled against the authority of Moses and Aaron and was destroyed.

“And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their own home—these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day” (Jude 1:6)

Here is the Lord’s guidance to me regarding Jude 1:6:

In your own home the Lord has granted you authority. This authority is connected to the humility of longsuffering. Should you become prideful and decide to place yourself above those whom God has entrusted to you; should you decide to abandon these heart responsibilities by distancing yourself either physically or emotionally, disaster will result. Pride is a danger as you receive recognition for the ministry with which God has entrusted you. Pray to be kept from pride. Be cleansed of anger as well; do not blame human beings for the circumstances God has allowed. Human beings can’t stand under your accusations but the Lord accepts into the vast calm of the limitless sea of His love the agony of your heart’s cries.

All your fresh springs are in the Lord. He is not your pacifier, He is the Lord; He is your God and your strength. At times you beg Him to heal your wounds, but instead, He strengthens you to stand up and to walk despite your injuries. Either way, He is the Lord of your life. Trust Him. Give Him the honor and praise due His Name.

“To the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen” (Jude 1:25).

Focus on the Lord

When you are upset or embarrassed you tend to ask the Lord to make you feel better. God does not "make" you feel anything. You are in control of your emotions. You choose what to feel by the things upon which you choose to focus your attention. You can rehash the embarrassment of mistakes you have made and you can use your imagination to embellish the supposed reactions of those who witnessed your humiliation. Or, you can focus upon the Lord and trust Him to perfect that which concerns you.

Turn your eyes upon Jesus. He does not instill emotion in your heart by supernatural means: rather, your heart responds to Him with love and gratitude because you are His. Focus on the Lord and the silly little faux pas of everyday life will assume their proper place. Entrust yourself into His hands. You belong to Him. Do not be afraid of what human beings think of you. Instead, remember His thoughts toward you. His thoughts toward you are love.

Scripture: "The LORD will perfect that which concerneth me: thy mercy, O LORD, endureth for ever: forsake not the works of thine own hands" (Psalm 138:8 KJV).

The Lord's Agenda

The Lord is your help, but you are to be about His Work. The Almighty God will not facilitate your heart's plans unless your heart is aligned with His. "My food...is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work" (John 4:37). God is indeed with you. Only stay open to Him and do not fix in your mind an agenda of your own.

Don’t press forward in the strength of your own determination to make for yourself a good reputation. You sometimes plunge forward in an attempt to right what is wrong. Fall back into the Lord’s arms. He has worked in memories, in hearts, and in minds. He has vindicated you. He is vindicating you now. He will vindicate you.

All those who have accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior are chosen by God. You are being raised up to fulfill the purposes for which He created you.

…what is due me is in the Lord’s hand, and my reward is with my God. Isaiah 49:4

The Problem of Physical Pain

Although the Lord allows you to forget the sensation of physical pain, shock over the intensity of suffering you have endured remains. God has blessed you with great blessing because of the pain you have endured. Not only in spite of it, not only through it, but because of it. The flames did not set you ablaze. Your human love would spare those you love the pain that brings blessing. God's love and wisdom sometimes allows them this privilege. Do not repine (Webster: feel or express dejection or discontent).

The reason that God allowed His Son to suffer was not so that He could gain blessing, although Jesus was indeed blessed through the pain. Christ died that you might live. The pain was a by-product of the process of dying.

Pain by itself holds no blessing: self-mutilators are in bondage to the enemy. But the physical pain that occurs on the path to Glory is used to shape and to form according to God's Will, to further fit you for the Kingdom. Do not fear pain. The Lord is with you in it. And do not suffer undue grief over past pain. God has seen you through it.

Scripture: Yes, and I will continue to rejoice, for I know that through your prayers and the help given by the Spirit of Jesus Christ, what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance. Philippians 1:19 NIV

Material Wealth

You cannot compete on the world's playing field and win; your heart isn’t in it. You do not really believe that money and possessions are an accurate measure of worth, and so you will never be truly competitive in this arena. If you had a million dollars in your own name—or five million dollars—you would not be ‘out from under’ the type of oppression that you fear. You would not spend your money as ‘they’ would, and so you would still be vulnerable to judgments. The fear of being judged is the true oppression here; the bitter hurts of having been weighed and measured and found lacking still corrupt your heart.

And now I will show you the most excellent way (1 Cor. 13)...Love is a strategy of war, if you wish to think of it in that way. It is a weapon the enemy does not possess.

Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever. 1 John 2 15-17

Obedience Cancels Out Fear

A byproduct of obedience to God is freedom from the idea that physical infirmity is punishment for disobedience. Disciplining the body for the sake of health has some reward, but disciplining the body in order to hear God’s voice more clearly reaps eternal reward. Your physical health (or lack of it) is a gift from God. Belief, trust, and obedience to the Lord lead to peace of mind and heart regardless of the state of the body.

Scriptures: For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. 1 Timothy 4:8 NIV

There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. 1 John 4:18