" 'Here on Earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.' "
-John 16:33
Many Christians talk about Christianity as if it will make your life easier. But Jesus clearly made known that the cost of following Him is great, and being a Christian invites persecution, from our fellow man and from the spiritual realm. Jesus promised that His followers would have troubles. He also promised, though, that our troubles won't defeat us, and that we have an everlasting hope that can't be taken from us.
" 'Everyone will hate you because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.' "
-Mark 13:13
Jesus welcomed into His close circle only those who were willing to give up everything to follow Him:
"Then a teacher of the law came to him and said, 'Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.' Jesus replied, 'Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.' Another disciple said to him, 'Lord, first let me go and bury my father.' But Jesus told him, 'Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.' "
-Matthew 8:19-22
I have a couple of friends who have faced trial after trial in their lives, and it just seems like they can't catch a break. I struggle with the fact that God would allow them so much sorrow and difficulty, especially when they are faithful followers of His. And yet my friends themselves encourage me when I am at a loss for how to encourage them, saying that they know God has the power to make things right but that they are going to trust Him no matter what. (For a biblical example of this same attitude, see Daniel 3:17-18.)
It's easy to become offended by God and wonder how He could allow so many bad things to happen to good people. I just read today in The Bait of Satan how John the Baptist was tempted to be offended. He was the first to recognize Jesus as the Christ, but after a long time of languishing in jail for following God's will, with no rescue in sight, he began to wonder. Most of his disciples had left him to follow Jesus, and Jesus' lifestyle was nothing like his own commitment to self-denial. He sent some of his remaining disciples to ask Jesus if He was really the awaited Messiah.
Jesus' response: "Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have the good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me."
-Matthew 11:4-6
Jesus was warning John to not allow the truth that was revealed to him to be distorted by disappointment. Not to focus on the areas where Jesus didn't live up to his expectations (God is never going to fit inside the boxes we make for Him), but to be convinced of Jesus' divinity and goodness by the undeniable evidence.
What truth has God revealed to you about Him? Through nature and the circumstances of our lives, let alone the Bible, there is overwhelming evidence to support that God is good. Yes, life is full of disappointments and sorrows, but, as I have to keep reminding myself, God is the only one whose perspective is eternal, who can see the beginning and end and work it all together for good. Faith is trusting that God is good, no matter whether He saves us from the storm we're in or allows us to go through it, as many faithful believers including Jesus Himself have had to do (i.e. - Hebrews 11).
"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."
-Hebrews 12:1-2
Tuesday, December 23, 2014
Monday, December 15, 2014
What do you fear?
Psalm 34:7 says, "The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them." This verse came alive to me while I was in Honduras, after our house had been robbed and a death threat written on the wall. I took comfort in reading that God Himself was setting up camp around me to deliver me from the dangers surrounding me (see this brief explanation for the meaning of "the angel of the Lord").
The condition given in this verse for God's presence around us is that we fear Him. This word "fear" includes the ideas of respect, reverence, and awe, but also an acknowledgement that God is more powerful than we and has the power to save or destroy us. God is the only force that we should fear, but every one of us has other fears...
When I acknowledge that anxiety is a force more powerful than I and fail to recognize that the Spirit in me is even more powerful, what I'm doing is allowing anxiety to also set up camp in my territory. I do the same when I hold the approval of people in higher esteem than the approval of God, or when I fear death more than I fear the One who holds the keys to death.
Every sin and fear that we struggle with is something that we have given permission to set up camp in our lives because we lose the perspective that God is more fearsome than any of these things.
The solution to this problem is found in the same Psalm, verse 4: Seek the Lord, and He will answer you; He will deliver you from all your fears.
When anger overcomes you, don't seek your own ability to control the situation - seek the only One who can give you true joy and peace. When you fail to meet the expectations of another, don't resort to defending yourself and failing to take responsibility, or the other extreme of defining yourself by your failures. Seek the One who's got your back and holds you up with His right hand.
Thank You, Lord, that because I fear You, You encamp around me to guard and protect me. Teach me to fear You only.
The condition given in this verse for God's presence around us is that we fear Him. This word "fear" includes the ideas of respect, reverence, and awe, but also an acknowledgement that God is more powerful than we and has the power to save or destroy us. God is the only force that we should fear, but every one of us has other fears...
When I acknowledge that anxiety is a force more powerful than I and fail to recognize that the Spirit in me is even more powerful, what I'm doing is allowing anxiety to also set up camp in my territory. I do the same when I hold the approval of people in higher esteem than the approval of God, or when I fear death more than I fear the One who holds the keys to death.
Every sin and fear that we struggle with is something that we have given permission to set up camp in our lives because we lose the perspective that God is more fearsome than any of these things.
The solution to this problem is found in the same Psalm, verse 4: Seek the Lord, and He will answer you; He will deliver you from all your fears.
When anger overcomes you, don't seek your own ability to control the situation - seek the only One who can give you true joy and peace. When you fail to meet the expectations of another, don't resort to defending yourself and failing to take responsibility, or the other extreme of defining yourself by your failures. Seek the One who's got your back and holds you up with His right hand.
Thank You, Lord, that because I fear You, You encamp around me to guard and protect me. Teach me to fear You only.
Wednesday, December 10, 2014
The Spirit who lives in you is greater
I've recommitted myself to meditate on Scripture regularly. Today I was meditating on 1 John 4:4 in first person:
The Spirit who lives in me is greater than the spirit who lives in the world.
That verse has always spoken powerfully to me, but sometimes verses become so familiar that they lose their significance. I was asking God to help me grasp the practical meaning, and this is what came to me...
Yesterday I blogged about choosing humility and love over pride. The Spirit of humility in me is greater than the spirit of pride who lives in the world. The power is in my choice - will I choose the humble, loving nature I inherited when I accepted Jesus as Lord, or will I choose the prideful nature of the flesh?
"If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation [one translation says "he is in a new world"]; the old has gone, the new has come!" -2 Corinthians 5:17
My old nature is characterized by anxiety. The new world that Christ has introduced me to, the heavenly places where I am seated, is characterized by peace.
The Spirit of peace who lives in me is greater than the spirit of anxiety who lives in the world.
The Spirit of unity who lives in me is greater than the spirit of strife who lives in the world.
The Spirit of compassion who lives in me is greater than the spirit of selfishness who lives in the world.
The Spirit of forgiveness who lives in me is greater than the spirit of bitterness who lives in the world.
Substitute your own struggle into the sentence. The ability to overcome pride, anxiety, strife, selfishness, bitterness, etc., is inside you. They are only habits that need to be broken by consistently choosing humility, peace, unity, compassion, forgiveness, instead. When anger or fear or any other powerful force threatens to overcome you, it is comforting to know that there is something greater inside you, and you are the overcomer.
"In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us."
-Romans 8:37
The Spirit who lives in me is greater than the spirit who lives in the world.
That verse has always spoken powerfully to me, but sometimes verses become so familiar that they lose their significance. I was asking God to help me grasp the practical meaning, and this is what came to me...
Yesterday I blogged about choosing humility and love over pride. The Spirit of humility in me is greater than the spirit of pride who lives in the world. The power is in my choice - will I choose the humble, loving nature I inherited when I accepted Jesus as Lord, or will I choose the prideful nature of the flesh?
"If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation [one translation says "he is in a new world"]; the old has gone, the new has come!" -2 Corinthians 5:17
My old nature is characterized by anxiety. The new world that Christ has introduced me to, the heavenly places where I am seated, is characterized by peace.
The Spirit of peace who lives in me is greater than the spirit of anxiety who lives in the world.
The Spirit of unity who lives in me is greater than the spirit of strife who lives in the world.
The Spirit of compassion who lives in me is greater than the spirit of selfishness who lives in the world.
The Spirit of forgiveness who lives in me is greater than the spirit of bitterness who lives in the world.
Substitute your own struggle into the sentence. The ability to overcome pride, anxiety, strife, selfishness, bitterness, etc., is inside you. They are only habits that need to be broken by consistently choosing humility, peace, unity, compassion, forgiveness, instead. When anger or fear or any other powerful force threatens to overcome you, it is comforting to know that there is something greater inside you, and you are the overcomer.
"In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us."
-Romans 8:37
Tuesday, December 9, 2014
Marriage
I have been married for almost three months, and I feel I have a better understanding of God's purpose in creating marriage.
1) You have a best friend always by your side, to support and encourage you, to make you laugh, to help you make important decisions.
2) You are stuck in a crucible where you are always being tested, your character is constantly being refined, and you are learning day by day what love and humility really mean.
"Don't be selfish; don't try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don't look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had."
-Philippians 2:3-5
This passage applies to all relationships, but never outside of marriage did I have so much opportunity to practice it. Again and again, I find myself in the position where I can hold onto my pride and insist that I am right. And I often do just that. But I am learning to more often humble myself, look out for my husband's interests and the interests of our relationship, and choose to be in right relationship rather than to be "right".
Learning to live with my husband has been trying, but every trial has brought us closer together and increased the love and appreciation I have for him, as well as taught me some things about myself.
Marriage is a blessing in every way, but not all of these ways are easy.
"The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but the Lord tests the heart."
-Proverbs 17:3
1) You have a best friend always by your side, to support and encourage you, to make you laugh, to help you make important decisions.
2) You are stuck in a crucible where you are always being tested, your character is constantly being refined, and you are learning day by day what love and humility really mean.
"Don't be selfish; don't try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don't look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had."
-Philippians 2:3-5
This passage applies to all relationships, but never outside of marriage did I have so much opportunity to practice it. Again and again, I find myself in the position where I can hold onto my pride and insist that I am right. And I often do just that. But I am learning to more often humble myself, look out for my husband's interests and the interests of our relationship, and choose to be in right relationship rather than to be "right".
Learning to live with my husband has been trying, but every trial has brought us closer together and increased the love and appreciation I have for him, as well as taught me some things about myself.
Marriage is a blessing in every way, but not all of these ways are easy.
"The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but the Lord tests the heart."
-Proverbs 17:3
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