Abiding in the Lord is the key to happiness; not obedience, but abiding.
If obedience was a necessary precursor to happiness, you would be under the law. Your happiness would depend upon your ability to follow rules, and would ebb and flow depending upon how “good” you have been on a particular day.
However, if your happiness depends upon abiding in the Lord, then your supply of contentment fails only when you separate yourself from Him. And so you need never experience separation from the Lord. Jesus died so that you could have consistent, unfailing, permanent oneness with God.
And here is the wonderful benefit of abiding: the Lord counts it as obedience. Because abiding is the precursor of true obedience, it is tallied for you as obedience itself. In this instance the presence of the seed (abiding) assures the plant (obedience) will grow. This is how Abraham was accepted. His faith was counted as righteousness, and in the same way your abiding will be counted as obedience.
Simply because something is hidden does not mean that it is not present. You sometimes despair because your outward behaviors have not yet been drawn into alignment with your obedient heart. You must understand this: nothing can stop a process God has set into motion. That is why you must not judge your fellow human beings. You can’t tell from looking at the outward appearance what the heart holds.
God sees your heart and He knows you are abiding in Him. You are obedient and you are His own. Do not give way to fear. Trust the Lord and do not give way. You are accepted. All is well. Do not be afraid.
Scripture: "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. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you" (John 15:4-7 ESV)
Note: The NIV translates the word "abide" as "remain." Here is the webster.com definition of "abide,": "to wait for, to endure without yielding, to bear patiently, to accept without objection; to remain stable or fixed in a state, to continue in a place."
Friday, June 17, 2011
Thursday, June 16, 2011
He is God
God is not always “nice,” but God is good; terribly, perfectly, powerfully, dependably, irrevocably good. He is not bound by human conventions of niceness or manners. He is Holy. He is beyond human measure or comprehension. He is God and there is no other before Him; nothing and no one can stand against Him.
Scripture: "'For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. 'As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts'" (Isaiah 55:8-9).
Scripture: "'For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. 'As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts'" (Isaiah 55:8-9).
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Align the Heart
God does not view a desire to obey as being the equivalent of obedience itself. Sometimes a desire to obey is actually this: “It’s too bad I can’t have the blessings of obedience in combination with this other thing I’m unwilling to release.” Your idols vie for equal status with your devotion to the Lord. Do not allow them access to His rightful place in your heart, and all will be well.
The ability to obey comes from God, but He does not enable until He sees that your heart is aligned correctly. This leads to a common misconception, “God could if He would.” The truth is, “God will when you will.”
The Almighty God awaits your decision to obey, and that decision does not come via the path you think. It is not an act of your will, but of the heart. He requires that you be devoted to Him above all others. He loves that you depend upon Him. Now give Him first place in your heart in all areas of your life. That which initially feels like great loss will become great gain.
You can’t trust your emotions. Trust what you know to be true; God is with you.
Scripture: "...the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints...is Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:26-27)
The ability to obey comes from God, but He does not enable until He sees that your heart is aligned correctly. This leads to a common misconception, “God could if He would.” The truth is, “God will when you will.”
The Almighty God awaits your decision to obey, and that decision does not come via the path you think. It is not an act of your will, but of the heart. He requires that you be devoted to Him above all others. He loves that you depend upon Him. Now give Him first place in your heart in all areas of your life. That which initially feels like great loss will become great gain.
You can’t trust your emotions. Trust what you know to be true; God is with you.
Scripture: "...the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints...is Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:26-27)
Fear and Worry
Your worries represent only a tiny fraction of the territory covered by the canopy of the Lord's protection and provision. However, it is inaccurate to say God is sovereign over fears when they fall outside of what is actual. Fear of imaginary danger is not a part of the real world. It is one thing to blanch in fear and to cry out to God for help in the face of true danger, quite another to fabricate terrible possibilities in your mind and then to recoil from the imagined event.
The Lord does not provide fuel for energy expenditures that will occur in the future. Your tanks hold just enough energy reserve for this day; don't borrow trouble from days yet to come. Today holds enough challenges for you without this struggle over the prospect of future sorrow. Trust the Lord and pray, and perhaps you will be excused from those sorrows you dread. Walk with Him today, and trust Him for the future.
Scripture: "Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight" (Proverbs 3:5-6)
"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own" (Matthew 6:34).
In his commentary on Psalm 91, Matthew Henry says, "Wisdom shall keep them from being afraid without cause, and faith shall keep them from being unduly afraid."
The Lord does not provide fuel for energy expenditures that will occur in the future. Your tanks hold just enough energy reserve for this day; don't borrow trouble from days yet to come. Today holds enough challenges for you without this struggle over the prospect of future sorrow. Trust the Lord and pray, and perhaps you will be excused from those sorrows you dread. Walk with Him today, and trust Him for the future.
Scripture: "Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight" (Proverbs 3:5-6)
"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own" (Matthew 6:34).
In his commentary on Psalm 91, Matthew Henry says, "Wisdom shall keep them from being afraid without cause, and faith shall keep them from being unduly afraid."
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Feed His Sheep
Don’t think of your service to the Lord as something you can count, as a sort of community service form you can submit for each hour of work completed. Don’t consider your acts of obedience as tally marks on your side of a divine scoreboard! Love dictates a pattern of behavior that cannot be tallied.
"Lovest thou me? Feed my sheep" (John 21:15 KJV).
The Lord would release you from the element of fear that is one of the prime motivators in your acts of service for others. You are afraid you will not be loved. You are afraid they won't love one another properly. You are afraid they will not listen to you, even when you know best. You are so afraid. Let go the fear, and exchange it for faith. God desires your prime motivator to be that you share His heart for those you serve. “To loose the chains of injustice…” (Isaiah 58:6). He has provided for you that you may provide for them.
“Jesus did not consider equality with God something to be grasped…” (Philippians 2:6). He did not appropriate God’s power for Himself, but for the sake of those He was sent to save. He used His power on your behalf. He used what He had been given to benefit you. Now. You do the same. Use what you have been given to minister to the little lambs He has entrusted into your care. Do it out of love; not your own, human love, but out of His love.
Scripture: "Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant..." Philippians 2:5-7.
"Lovest thou me? Feed my sheep" (John 21:15 KJV).
The Lord would release you from the element of fear that is one of the prime motivators in your acts of service for others. You are afraid you will not be loved. You are afraid they won't love one another properly. You are afraid they will not listen to you, even when you know best. You are so afraid. Let go the fear, and exchange it for faith. God desires your prime motivator to be that you share His heart for those you serve. “To loose the chains of injustice…” (Isaiah 58:6). He has provided for you that you may provide for them.
“Jesus did not consider equality with God something to be grasped…” (Philippians 2:6). He did not appropriate God’s power for Himself, but for the sake of those He was sent to save. He used His power on your behalf. He used what He had been given to benefit you. Now. You do the same. Use what you have been given to minister to the little lambs He has entrusted into your care. Do it out of love; not your own, human love, but out of His love.
Scripture: "Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant..." Philippians 2:5-7.
Friday, March 18, 2011
Repentance
Repentance is sweet. Repent.
If you can be graceful--full of grace--you will be richly blessed.
Repent before the Lord, and then apologize to those you have harmed.
The only block to an apology is your pride. Repent of your pride. Pride cannot be trespassed against and demands retribution. Humility can turn the other cheek. Your humility will enable those who have hurt you to repent and relent as well.
You do not understand the need for repentance? Then understand this: behavior based on fear is wrong.
Repent of wanting to take control. Repent of desiring the course of action that will cause you the least possible anxiety, but will perhaps not be God's perfect will or the path of greatest blessing for those you love. Repent of desiring to be freed of your burdens at the expense of the Lord's work in the lives of your loved ones. Repent of attempting to solve problems that only God is able to solve. Repent of advising out of your own well of wisdom, and for your failure to entrust your loved ones into God's hands.
Repentance is sweet. Repent.
If you can be graceful--full of grace--you will be richly blessed.
Repent before the Lord, and then apologize to those you have harmed.
The only block to an apology is your pride. Repent of your pride. Pride cannot be trespassed against and demands retribution. Humility can turn the other cheek. Your humility will enable those who have hurt you to repent and relent as well.
You do not understand the need for repentance? Then understand this: behavior based on fear is wrong.
Repent of wanting to take control. Repent of desiring the course of action that will cause you the least possible anxiety, but will perhaps not be God's perfect will or the path of greatest blessing for those you love. Repent of desiring to be freed of your burdens at the expense of the Lord's work in the lives of your loved ones. Repent of attempting to solve problems that only God is able to solve. Repent of advising out of your own well of wisdom, and for your failure to entrust your loved ones into God's hands.
Repentance is sweet. Repent.
Monday, March 7, 2011
Sufficient Unto the Day
Do not sound an alarm, Dear One. You would not accomplish the purposes you hope; those you seek to warn would draw together but only because you would provide them a common foe. The underlying issues would not be brought to light because those you seek to warn would perceive themselves to be under attack.
You are viewing this situation as a compendium of threats, and you need to accept that your perspective may be inaccurate. In this sense, the perspective of youth, even in its naiveté, is more accurate than yours; because youth does not perceive future threat. By contrast, in your propensity for getting the “big picture,” you attempt to face all of the foes of the next 30 years concentrated at one point on your time-line. Battles come one at a time. They will be fought one at a time. You have forgotten that the Lord grants strength only for the battles of the day. All of the resources for the entire war are not given all at once. That would be like attempting to pour the ocean into a teacup; you can’t accommodate the whole of God's provision for you. He gives only what is needed for this day.
You don’t have fight this battle. Stand firm and watch. Trust in the Lord. You don’t have to accomplish deliverance, and you do not need to call a warning.
Scripture: "You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the LORD will give you, Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged" (2 Chronicles 20:17).
You are viewing this situation as a compendium of threats, and you need to accept that your perspective may be inaccurate. In this sense, the perspective of youth, even in its naiveté, is more accurate than yours; because youth does not perceive future threat. By contrast, in your propensity for getting the “big picture,” you attempt to face all of the foes of the next 30 years concentrated at one point on your time-line. Battles come one at a time. They will be fought one at a time. You have forgotten that the Lord grants strength only for the battles of the day. All of the resources for the entire war are not given all at once. That would be like attempting to pour the ocean into a teacup; you can’t accommodate the whole of God's provision for you. He gives only what is needed for this day.
You don’t have fight this battle. Stand firm and watch. Trust in the Lord. You don’t have to accomplish deliverance, and you do not need to call a warning.
Scripture: "You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the LORD will give you, Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged" (2 Chronicles 20:17).
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