September 4, 2002
God's Perfect Plan For Those Who Have Failed
There are many brothers and sisters who feel that because they have sinned and failed God at some time in their past lives, therefore they cannot fulfill God's perfect plan for their lives now.
Let us look at what the Scriptures have to say on this matter, and not lean on our own understanding or our sense of logic.
Notice first of all how the Bible begins.
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1). And the heavens and the earth must have been perfect when God created them, for nothing imperfect or incomplete can ever come forth from His hand.
But some of the angels whom He had created fell away, and this is described for us in Isaiah 14:11-15 and Ezekiel 28:13-18. It was then that the earth came into the condition described in Genesis 1:2, "formless, empty and dark"
The rest of Gen. 1 describes how God worked on that shapeless, empty, dark mass and made something so beautiful out of it that He Himself declared it to be "very good" (Genesis 1:31). We read in Genesis 1:2,3 that the Spirit of God moved over the earth, and God spoke His Word - and this was what made the difference.
What is the message in that for us today?
Just this that no matter how much we may have failed or how much we may have made a mess of things, God can still make something glorious out of our lives.
God had a perfect plan for the heavens and the earth when he created them. But this plan had to be set aside because of Lucifer's failure. But God remade the heavens and the earth and still produced something very good out of it.
Now consider what happened next.
God made Adam and Eve and started all over again. God must have had a perfect plan for them too, which obviously did not include their eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. But they did eat of the forbidden tree and frustrated God's original plan for them - whatever the plan may have been.
Logic would now tell us that they could not fulfill God's perfect plan any longer. Yet we see that when God came to meet them in the garden, He does not tell them that they would now have to live only on His second best for the rest of their lives. No. He promises them in Genesis 3:15 that the seed of the woman would bruise the head of the serpent. That was a promise of Christ's dying for the sins of the world and overcoming Satan on Calvary.
Now consider this fact and see if you can reason it out.
We know that Christ's death was part of God's perfect plan from all eternity. "The Lamb was slain from the foundation of the world" (Revelation 13:8). Yet we also know that Christ died only because Adam and Eve sinned and failed God. So logically, we could say that God's perfect plan to send Christ to die for the sins of the world was fulfilled, not despite Adam's failure, but because of Adam's failure! We would not have known God's love shown on Calvary's cross, were it not for Adam's sin.
That baffles logic and that is why the Scriptures say that we should "not lean on our own understanding" (Proverbs 3:5).
If God worked according to mathematical logic, then we would have to say that Christ coming to the earth was God's second best plan. But it would be blasphemous to say so. It was part of God's perfect plan for man. God makes no mistakes. But since God is almighty as well as sovereign, and since He also knows the end from the beginning, and since He is always silently planning for us in love, human reasoning fails when we try to explain His dealings with us.
God's ways are not our ways and His thoughts not our thoughts. The difference between them is as great as the distance between heaven and earth (Isaiah 55:8,9). So it is good for us to set our clever reasoning and logic aside when trying to understand God's ways. What then is the message that God is trying to get through to us right from the opening pages of the Bible? Just this that He can take a man who has failed and make something glorious out of him and still make him fulfill God's perfect plan for his life.
That is God's message to man, in the Bible and we must never forget it.
God can take a man who has failed repeatedly, and still make him fulfill His perfect plan - not God's second best, but God's best plan.
This is because even the failure may have been part of God's perfect plan to teach him a few unforgettable lessons. This is impossible for human logic to grasp, because we know God so very little.
It is only broken men and women whom God can use.
And one way He breaks us is through repeated failures.
Part of the apostle Peter's training for leadership was failure. The Lord used Peter's failure to break him.
One of the biggest problems that God has with us is to bless us in such a way that the blessing does not puff us up with pride. To get victory over anger and then to be proud of it, is to fall into a far deeper pit than the one we were in! God has to keep us humble in victory.
Genuine victory over sin is always accompanied by the deepest humility. This is where repeated failures have a part to play in destroying our self-confidence so that we are convinced that victory over sin is not possible apart from God's enabling grace.. Then, when we do get victory, we can never boast about it.
Further, when we have failed repeatedly ourselves, we can never despise another who fails. We can sympathise with those who fall, because we have come to know the weakness of our own flesh, through our own innumerable falls. We can "deal gently with the ignorant and misguided, since we ourselves are beset with weakness" (Hebrews 5:3).
Hearing such a message, the logically minded man, can then say, "Then let us sin all the more so that good may come!"
Romans 3:7,8 (LB) answers such a man with these words: "You say, 'My dishonesty brought God glory by pointing up His honesty'. If you follow through with that idea you come to this: The worse we are, the better God likes it! But the damnation of those who say such things is just".
No, we do not preach that we should sin so that good may come. Neither do we say that we can take advantage of God's grace and disobey God deliberately, and still avoid reaping what we have sown. No.
But we do say that human logic cannot grasp the grace of God to fallen men. Nothing is impossible for God - not even to bring us into His perfect will, after we have failed miserably and repeatedly. Only our unbelief can hinder Him.
If you say, "But I have messed up things so many times. It is impossible for God now to bring me into His perfect plan", then it will be impossible for God, because YOU cannot believe in what He can do for you. But Jesus said that nothing is impossible for God to do for us - if only we believe.
"Be it done to you according to your faith", is God's law in all matters (Matthew 9:29). We will get what we have faith for. If we believe that something is impossible for God to do for us, then it will never be fulfilled in our lives.
On the other hand you will discover at the judgment seat of Christ that another believer who had made a greater mess of his life than you, nevertheless fulfilled God's perfect plan for his life - just because he believed that God could pick up the broken pieces of his life and make something very good out of it.
What regret there will be in your life in that day, when you discover that it was not your failures (however many they may have been) that frustrated God's plan in your life, but your unbelief!
The story of the prodigal son, who wasted so many years, shows that God gives His best even to failures. The father said, "Quickly bring out the best robe", for one who had let him down so badly. This is the message of the gospel - redemption and a new beginning, not just once, but again and again - for God never gives up on anyone.
The parable of the estate-owner who went out hiring labourers (Matthew 20:1-16) also teaches the same thing. People who were hired at the eleventh hour were the ones to be rewarded first. In other words, those who had wasted 90% (11/12th) of their lives, doing nothing of eternal value, could still do something glorious for God with the remaining 10% of their lives. This is a tremendous encouragement to all who have failed.
"The reason the Son of God was manifested was to undo (dissolve) the works the devil has done (1 John 3:8 Amplified Bible).
That means that Jesus came to untie all the knots that there are in our lives. Picture it like this: All of us started at babyhood with a nice ball of string. But by now that string has been knotted up with ten thousand knots, and we do not have any hope that we can ever untie those knots. We are discouraged and depressed as we look at our lives. The good news of the gospel is that Jesus has come to untie every one of those knots.
You say, "That is impossible!". Well then, it will be done to you according to your faith. It will be impossible in your case. But I hear someone else whose life is worse than yours, saying, "Yes, I believe that God will do that in me". To him too it will be according to his faith. In his life, God's perfect plan will be fulfilled.
In Jeremiah 18:1-6, God spoke His word to Jeremiah through a practical illustration. Jeremiah was asked to go to a potter's house, and there he saw the potter trying to make a vessel. But the vessel "was spoiled in the hand of the potter". So what did the potter do? "He remade it into another vessel, as it pleased the potter to make".
Then came the application: "Can I not, O ............... deal with you as this potter does?", was the Lord's question (v. 6). (Fill in your name in those dotted lines, and that would be God's question to you).
If there is a godly sorrow in your life for all your failures, then even if your sins are like scarlet or red like crimson, not only will your heart be made as white as snow - as promised under the old covenant (Isaiah 1:18) - but God promises even more under the new covenant: "not even to remember your sins any more" (Hebrews 8:12).
Whatever your blunders or failures, you can make a new beginning with God. And even if you have made a thousand new beginnings in the past and have come to failure, you can still make the 1001st new beginning today. God can still make something glorious out of your life. While there is life, there is hope.
So, never fail to trust God. He cannot do many mighty works for many of His children, not because they have failed Him in the past, but because they will not trust Him now.
Let us then "give glory to God by being strong in faith" (Romans 4:20), trusting Him in the days to come for the things which we considered impossible up until now.
All people - young and old - can have hope, no matter how much they may have failed in the past, if only they will acknowledge their failures, be humble and trust God.
Thus we can all learn from our failures and go on to fulfill God's perfect plan for our lives.
And in the ages to come, He can show us forth to others as examples of what He could do with those whose lives were total failures.
In that day He will show what He could do in us, through the "surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus" (Ephesians 2:7).
Written by Zac Poonen
September 11, 2002
Worshipping IN Jesus.. In the Spirit
What is worshipping IN Jesus? How did He and DOES He worship? In this brief message I'm only going to try and begin an answer to such a profound question.
...Woman, believe me, the hour is coming, when you shall neither in this mountain, nor at Jerusalem, worship the Father. You don't know what you are worshipping: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeks such to worship Him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. John 4:21-24.
If we talk about "spirit and truth" worship, in these days, since the charismatic renewal of the 1970's, the image that normally comes to mind is that of large congregations with hands lifted up to heaven, singing slow and melodic "worship" songs, and generally entering into an ecstatic state and atmosphere. Such forms of worshipful expression were previously reserved by saints for their private devotions, but then the renewal brought expressiveness out into the open, and suddenly transformed the way people thought about worship. Previously they sang hymns about God, and the body and emotions were kept from being expressed. Then the "new" concept came of singing songs to God personally. But if we study the Psalms, we see that David was not a reserved and staid traditional "evangelical"! He would be thrown out of such congregations today. [I think the "dancing bit" would be the "straw that breaks the camel's back"!!].
Occasionally an "evangelical" brother says to me, "Brother, you must attend a worship somewhere". When I hear that, my mind references through the Bible to the places where the worship of God is mentioned. In the Holy pages I see descriptions of saints expressing their worship, such as: bowing down, kneeling, raising hands, prostrating oneself on the ground, shouting very loudly, clapping, leaping, dancing, loud instruments, etc. etc. Most, of which, many find distasteful and unsettling. Could be they have detected insincerity and shallowness in such expressions they have seen, or they may be jealous ; Like how the prodigal son's elder brother, who was a "good evangelical boy" and stayed home and everything, got offended at all the merry-making over his prodigal brother's return? Could it be that many are offended that such "riff-raff"; i.e. those who don't belong to their church ; those who don't conform to their traditions, could be so happy in Jesus? Jealousy plagued the pharisees, and its still virulent in the "neo-pharisees".
Anyway, now I'm going to, seemingly, turn all of what I just said on its head!, because that is NOT what I had on my heart this morning to share. The thought the Lord gave me was about a "Jesus-style" of worship, in relation to the above passage about the Samaritan woman.
If I ask this, "How do we have a greater worship?" Many may think along the lines, as some groups are, that this would entail training people to play instruments, and organizing large worship choirs, and even having continual worship in shifts, 24 hours a day.
To have something "greater" according to the elementary principles of this world, [Colossians 2:8, which are not supposed to rule our minds], usually denotes: bigger, brighter, louder, bolder, more "high-tech", more fashionable.
The argument for having "grandiose", and very long, worship sessions is that: in heaven God is worshipped continually, so, ...may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. I used to follow that reasoning. But, we find this reasoning extremely flawed when we really understand the type of worship, and worshippers, Father is seeking on the earth at this time.
Jesus was, and is, the greatest worshipper of Father that we shall ever know! Selah!
His life on this earth was a perfect worship service, from alpha to omega ; from that night in the barn in Bethlehem, till He uttered the triumphant ...It is finished... from the cross.
If we are going to follow Jesus, let us have a HEART to understand what He understood as being His worship of His Father, in spirit and truth.
Worship means showing the worth-ship of a person ; showing and declaring what they think that they are "worth"; their "value". It's a judgment of a person. If a person refuses to worship God, they are thereby declaring that they don't think much of Him! He is not worth much in their esteem. {Oh, I want to weep! For myself and for the church.}
...God is a Spirit... meaning, in this context: He is a real PERSON. Not a concept; or a theology, or a high ideal of goodness, or the concept of "love", or feelings of "love", or an emotion, or a religion even. Jesus very abruptly told the Samaritan woman that they didn't know what it was they were worshipping. [Even till this day, the Samaritans sacrifice goats on that same mountain. Who will go to them and tell them of The Lamb of God?]. And today He is asking the same question of those who take His name, "Do you know what you are doing with your life?" "How do you really know whether your idea of "worship" is what Father is seeking?"
...in spirit... to ...a Spirit... means: that a spirit to Spirit contact/union must exist, and because of, or by virtue of, this UNION, then worship is manifested. It is then the fruit of the UNION. If there is ANY distance involved, then it is not what Father calls worship, as noble, or as emotional, or as anointed as it may appear to the religious world. [You know!, the "come down and touch me" type of nonsense, or unbelief rather.] How can a branch bear the "fruit of worship", if it is disconnected from The Vine?
...in truth... means: that if the worshipper is living a lie, or harboring a lie of unrepented sin in his heart, then he is not worshipping at all. Also, it may be just a "self-gratification" type of thing. It does happen that some "get high" on worship, but refuse to repent of their sins. Then, its not ...in truth... worship. ...search my heart and know me...
How did Jesus indicate what He thought the Father was "worth", to Father personally, and as a witness to the world?
He worshipped, [showed the value of Father], by completely yielding and surrendering ALL of His being joyfully into Father's business and interests, giving up His own rights even to ...the death of the cross.
Could you imagine our Lord teaching like this: "Now gather round and now I'm going to teach you how to worship the Father. Now sing along with me... We'll do a few fast songs to get you warmed up, before we get into the "real" worship... Now raise your hands and tell Him that you love Him... " Was that the type of "worship" Jesus was teaching? Not only is this "worship" not what JESUS taught and lived, but it is not the "worship" found anywhere in the New Testament, lived by those who know Jesus personally. Think about it. Look up every verse on worship and singing.
He never taught people how to worship, in the modern understanding of "worship", and therefore He doesn't do such teaching today. Can you imagine an "expert" coming into your house and teaching you how to kiss your wife? "Now, this is how you do it..." And when we compare the relationship of husband and wife, with Jesus and His Church, we can see just how shallow we have been many times. I used to lead (read "control") 3 "worship" services every Sunday, like clockwork, whether my heart was in it or not. It was my job! I had to be anointed! The Lord had mercy on me, and showed me how wrong it is for men to control the worship of the Bride of Christ. The Bride will "kiss" the Bridegroom WHEN she wants, and HOW she wants. We shouldn't get in her way, though, when she wants to kiss Him, but who are we to "stage-manage" such Holy things?
Like one brother said, "Setting a time to worship Jesus, is like setting a time to kiss your wife".
I did those things because I was just unthinkingly following the examples of others, like so many genuine believers are doing today. But, that's just a part of the process of growing up, and grow up we must.
If you were there at the cross, and witnessed that awful scene, would you have realized the "statement", of worship of Father, that our Lord was making? Jesus was showing that there is someone who is worth dying for; who is worth suffering for; who is worth losing everything for; who is worth more than life itself. The action of the cross declared the supreme worth of Father.
...My food is to do the will of Him that sent me, and to finish His work. John 4:34.
I have glorified you on the earth: I have finished the work which you gave me to do. John 17:4. Jesus gave Father ALL ...the glory DUE unto His name... Psalm 96:8a.
He simply gave Father what was His due. He considered that the due that was due to His Father was no less than the living sacrifice of all of His life and being, and the dying sacrifice of Himself on the cross. Father was glorified in His life, and death, and resurrection.
...Present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service, [ of worship]. Rom.12:1b.
Let us all with one voice around the world, declare that in this age and dispensation, it is not Father's will for the churches, [locational and relational, and not institutional], to concentrate on, and put all their focus and energy into extravagant worship services, with continual singing and praises to God! ...AS GOOD AS THAT IS!
If we REALLY love Jesus, He said we would...repent and do the first works... Revelation 2:5.
Father has other worship in mind. The first works are being left undone. Souls are perishing in the "churches" and some are too carried away with and satisfied by "worship" to notice. We will have eternity to sing His praises, but we only have a short time left to invite people to the Wedding Feast, and to help the Bride to ...make herself ready.
EVEN SOMETHING GOOD CAN BE WRONG, ...IF IT IS NOT ORDERED BY FATHER. It could be a diversion.
Is Father ordering the type of "worship" that is currently "en vogue"?
That is the issue. If He wills an "amazing heavenly type worship" then who would want to get in the way of that? But, are worldly, compromised Christians in a position to know Father's will? "Who CAN ascend God's Holy Hill? Those with clean hands and a pure heart." BUT does anyone care that not all who seem to be "worshipping" so extravagantly are even PERMITTED in Father's presence? "Remove the leaven."
Uzzah thought he was doing a good thing by catching the ark as it fell from the cart. Zap! Nadab and Abihu thought that they were worshipping when they offered to God strange fire. Zap! They had good intentions, most definitely! ...many will say Lord! Lord! ... we did a lot of GOOD THINGS in your name!... And Jesus will say to them, ...I never knew you...
The CASE that Father has against religious "form", [props], and "pre-scribed" traditional programs, is not that it is not "GOOD"; It may, [sometimes], be full of accurate Biblical truths and symbols, and Jesus may be being preached as the way, truth and life, BUT, THE PROBLEM IS... that... it is NOT ORDERED BY HIM! And He takes this very personally! He is offended. The ground opens to eat the Korahs and Diotrophes who love to be first, and act in God's Name on their good ideas--but without His Authority.
Both, ultra-modern charismatics, and traditional-conservative Christians, are going too much down the road of PRESUMPTION. Anytime you rigidly "map-out" a route for the Holy Spirit to follow, you have entered the dark world of presumption, and wounded, and quenched Him. Whatever plans we make, in faith, must be bendable, or Jesus is not our Lord, in truth. We must be soft, pliable clay in His hands. It is the difference between the lowly and the arrogant.
Take the Church in Laodicea, Revelation 3 ; How Jesus was knocking on the door, trying to get back into His own church! They found it easier, and more decent and orderly, and more convenient, and more culturally relevant, to have "church" without Jesus, so they shut Him out. Obviously, they still talked about Him, and sang about Him, but they didn't want HIM TO SPEAK TO THEM, and to lead them, and change the program. The same has happened for most of the church age till today, and there maybe some reading this, who are guilty of exactly that! Where the current, moment by moment, RULE of the Holy Spirit is not welcome, neither is Jesus welcome. Its SERIOUS man! Crying ...Lord! Lord!... is not enough. "Many" will do that and find that He "NEVER knew them."
I'm not talking about some "hyper-spiritual-perfectionist-pride-plateau" that we have to reach. I'm talking about having a WILLINGNESS to let Him rule. We have blown it so many times, but He knows we want His rule over us, through the continual leading of His Spirit.
SATAN, WHO, AS LUCIFER, WAS THE ANOINTED CHERUB, OR CHIEF MUSICIAN IN HEAVEN, [and therefore can transmit musical giftedness to whom he selects, Luke 4:5,6.], MAY EVEN ENCOURAGE CHRISTIANS TO GET OBSESSED WITH SINGING PRAISES AND WORSHIP TO GOD, IF HE KNOWS IT WILL DISTRACT THEM FROM DOING GOD'S WILL FOR THEIR LIFE. [And I've observed that sometimes]. Because, if they are not doing God's will for their life, then they are not worshipping at all, and even worse: they are heading for deep delusion, if they believe that singing songs is a substitute for finding God's will and doing it, and a substitute for facing reality.
Before you reject that, please think about it some.
Its too simplistic to say that, "Its only the devil who would want to restrict worship". But it would make a very convenient answer for those who don't want to face these realities.
Also, have you noticed how the truth ; the name of Jesus; the blood of Jesus; has been gradually disappearing from the latest "worship" songs? Oh, when people complain, they may throw in the odd token reference to "Jesus" or "The Blood". Its good marketing to sell people what they want. How did a "worship industry" spring up? Profiteering prophets! Such people, in "Jesus' time", felt the sting of His whip on their backs! As He literally threw them out of His Father's House. Of course, if you do that today you will be accused of lacking love, and every other false accusation.
Also, the trend in these songs is toward "self-reference", i.e. How I feel, who I am, what I will do for God, with little objective worship of God, that fully focuses on Him, revealing His greatness and works. There is a lot of misguided triumphalism in them, and a type of escapism, and "cargo-cult" mentality that hinges all its hopes on an elusive coming revival, which is always, supposedly, "just ahead", and then everything will be "wonderful". When, in reality, the "church" is being "fattened for the kill" and is being prepared to worship the antichrist, whom ...all the world will worship, Revelation 13:8, and it is real miracles that these "charismatics", and everyone else who is shallow, will fall for, Revelation 13:14. Right now they are being conditioned into thinking that miracle workers have greater authority than the Bible. At this time there is definitely more hunger for miracles than hunger for the truth. Catholics have believed for centuries, that there is another authority, which is greater than God's Word, and now it is time for the protestant daughters to come back to "mom".
"Jesus-style" worship: One woman said to David Wilkerson, "These days you should just worship all the time because don't you know that prophetically we have entered the Feast of Tabernacles?" Wilkerson commented, "I wish I could take her down to the sidewalks of New York, amongst all the drug addicts, and prostitutes, and rub her nose in the filth!"
That poor sister was deceived, oblivious to the TRUE WORSHIP THAT FATHER REQUIRES, in this age. Yet, still "carried away" with "worship".
And isn't this pandemic? A sign of the times?
I have met people who are able to get so carried away in "worship", but, talk to their neighbor about Jesus? No. Really intercede for their lost friends? No. Have an open and unashamed public witness of Jesus? No. Share their life together with the saints? No. Deal with sins valiantly in themselves and courageously and lovingly with others so that worship might be in the Light (1 John 1)? No.
I have spoken and proclaimed Jesus on the streets of Perth, Australia, for many years. Often I recognized prominent "pastors" walking by, and I could never understand why they seemed so frightened to hear the glorious name of Jesus spoken out in the open, in public? No doubt they freely speak Jesus' name in the carpeted temple, with the "cliched", "anointed" synthesized "muzak" in the background, and the adoring audience waiting to hear them. But, they would nearly always hurriedly try and get away from me. I was not being obnoxious or fanatical, but just unashamedly proclaiming Jesus, in the market place, in the same manner that Jesus, the apostles, and all the reformer-prophets and evangelists of history did, before.
[A little dose of reality: Jesus was so loud , when He needed to be, that more than 5000 could clearly hear Him, without a PA system. In Whitfield's time, Benjamin Franklin observed that over 30,000 people could clearly hear Whitfield proclaim Jesus and His Truths, in the open air, without a mic.]
Other believers who I recognized, as I taught and declared Christ, seemed so frightened that people would find out that they were Christians. In general, I observed, that the Christian population was ashamed of Jesus' testimony. Very few I met were able to die to the flesh, in regard to being popular and accepted by the world, ...bearing His reproach, yet, every Sunday they would get "caught up in worship".
What I'm saying is that there is a wide discrepancy between what is said and done in "church" and what the reality is in real life. And that's not what spirit and truth worship is about.
You know, mostly, the ones that were not ashamed of Jesus, and who would work together with me in the gospel, were the ones who were broken, outcast, and considered the least in the church. ...not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty... are called. God has chosen the foolish... and weak... 1 Corinthians 2:27,28. And these bruised and battered saints became my closest friends. People who, before I was converted, I wouldn't have given the time of day to, became very dear to me. Like King David's "church in the wilderness", when all the 400 outcasts, and failures, of Israel, came and joined him in the cave of Adullam. 1 Samuel 22:1,2.
We need to FIND FATHER'S WILL, and in the joyful doing of it, THEN we are worshipping Him in spirit and truth. ...Neither in this mountain, nor at Jerusalem... meaning: spirit and truth worship is a daily life, and not primarily a religious "worship-service" at a particular religious "mountain" or building, JUST LIKE JESUS SAID.
"But then, that's not a real church, like we have?" Yeah, I suppose you're right! We have nothing to boast about except Jesus Himself! Nothing to point to except Jesus the Person! No other name than His! No "attraction" except Him! The substance of any church is constituted solely in the real sacrificial relationships, in Jesus, that are flourishing. Nothing to do with: buildings, committees, organizations, clergy, etc. That's the DIVINE wisdom by which Jesus founded His Church, and the wisdom by which He still builds with today! Note: that it is a very different "wisdom" than what is prevailing today.
And Samuel said, Has the Lord as great a delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in OBEYING THE VOICE OF THE LORD? Look!, to obey is BETTER than sacrifice, and to hearken is BETTER than offering the fat of rams. 1 Samuel 15:22. If it is worship through obedience that Father seeks , then to do otherwise is sin. Isaiah 1-5 paints a very dramatic picture of what God thinks about, and will do about, hypocritical religious "worship" and "activity" in His Name.
What is "Jesus-style" worship? Well, did our Lord Jesus sing songs continually, and form a choir, and start a "worship" on earth that mirrored the heavenly hosts worship? Can you find reference in scripture of our Lord expressing Himself to Father publically in that way? And similarly, in the book of Acts, there is very little evidence of this sort of worship going on, say, as per the charismatic renewal definition, YET, they were ALL filled with the Holy Spirit, and ...turned the world upside down. In fact, they walked in such a power and communion with God, of which the average "charismatic" is still only dreaming of having, and that the average "evangelical" is not yet even able to "dream" of having. So "what's wrong with this picture?" Do we really believe we are more advanced than Jesus and His Apostles? Can you substantiate this with more Eternal Fruit than they? Or just more leaven, undealt with Ananias and Sapphiras. Perhaps they DID know far more about TRUE worship than our generation.
What was the "food", of doing Father's will, that Jesus found so satisfying in His spirit? Was it to form a religious club and build a "temple" and conduct "services"? Was Jesus interested in numbers? No. His FOOD, or SATISFACTION AND SUSTENANCE, was to pour out His life as an offering. To give it back to His Father. TO OBEY. When our Lord said to Father, in John 17, that He had finished the work that He had been given, He must have experienced a real sense of joy and satisfaction in that knowledge, even though he must have been considered a failure by society and the religious culture, when the multitudes turned their backs on Him. Certainly, by the time that nails were being hammered into His hands and feet, had probably most people, including His friends, thought that He had failed. But His sustenance and satisfaction and joy wasn't dependant on popularity, or upon the fickle winds of public opinion. Sure those things hurt Him, but He wasn't swayed by them.
What was the worship that Father wanted from His Son?
Father had Him: proclaim good news to the poor, to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives... and build His Church, His True Body... all over the place! In nearly every conceivable situation.
Father called Him into fellowship and communication,[prayer], often very early in the mornings. Was that an end in itself? On some level certainly! But TRUE worship always yields the fruit of being in Father's Presence! Jeremiah 23, Hebrews 1:9. He who worships will turn God's people from their sins. Father had Him share His life, and possessions, with a band of men,{women also followed}, and to live with them, and to go about ...doing good and healing all that were oppressed by the devil. He watched over and cared for these dear ones of His, as only the Good Shepherd could. [Shepherd-Pastor-Elder : If he is not prepared, or willing, to come and live with you, or you with him, and share his money with you, and his time, and be there for you continually, always encouraging you in Jesus, and showing an example of how to live; then he is not a pastor to you, period. He may be a nice guy, no doubt, but not a true shepherd. Those who are doing those things I just mentioned; they are the true pastors/elders of the church, whether any one recognizes them or not. The true servants don't care much who recognizes them, anyway. The false servants will only do something if they are recognized and given a "ministry", and guaranteed a pay check.] See Jeremiah 23 again.
Father worked through Jesus at all times of the day and night, in season and out of season, in strength and in weariness.
And this was a constant stream of worship to Father, a sweet smelling aroma of worship, which ascended continually up to heaven, that surely eclipsed all of the worship of the heavenly hosts.
Even without a guitar and a Roland keyboard, His worship was the greatest that this world will ever witness. Has He changed?
And IN all of this WAY of life He says to us: Follow Me! Won't we worship HIS way if He lives inside of us and is allowed to REIGN?
So, don't be discouraged by the enemy, if you're trying to worship in a more "conformed to Jesus type of way", than to the traditions we have inherited, or to the latest fads coming out of the "commercial-worship industry".
To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven...
These are just a few thoughts to hopefully provoke some thought, prayer, and discussion that helps us to become more like Jesus.
Written in Bangalore, India by Ian Vincent on July 7, 2002.
September 18, 2002
Subject: Some brief wisdom regarding "THIS ONE THING I DO!" and "the mind controlled by the Spirit"
Beyond any question or debate, JESUS was "single minded." He pressed resolutely towards Jerusalem, and His Destiny. When called to divert his course or be sidetracked, He was clear: "My time has not yet come. For you, any time is right." "Not my will, but YOURS be done."
Paul, tracing the footsteps of his Master, was very, very focused as well. "I buffet my body daily." "This ONE thing I do." "Run your race is such a way as to win." "I in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you." "I wrestle with all of Heaven's energy to present each of you perfect and complete in Christ." "I've fought the good fight." "Surely you remember, brothers, our toil and hardship; we worked night and day." "You are witnesses, as is God Himself, of how holy, righteous, and blameless we were among you who believe."
Jesus was RESOLUTE and unambiguous in what He was about, and where His energy and risk would lie.
Paul was focused and sacrificial, not letting his attention and energy drift into meaningless and temporal matters.
There truly is a "way to think" that will bring us closer to Jesus and His Purposes for our lives - and a way to think and act that will dilute our existence into meaninglessness. There is a way to live and allow our brains to function that will rob our hearts of passion and clarity. This way, which comes very natural to us and must be fought, will rot our Fruit as it still dangles on the branch. Our choice as to how we will "think" through our days will either inebriate us into a perilous delusion and self-satisfaction, disConnected from the Head and Body and our true Purpose -- or that faulty thinking and living will eventually spiral us into sempiternal misery.
What follows are the words of the trainer of large numbers of world class athletes and record holders, in a number of different sports and temporal pursuits. His observation of humans predilection to devalue their existence and potential, or how they might instead move towards tapping into their full potential, is revealing. He has simply observed that "gravity" is not only for God's Children, but for all of God's Creation - saved and unsaved. The Principles of Life, applied even to unregenerate life, are observable. Recall in Genesis 11 that God had to INTERVENE to stop man from using His Principles for their own selfish accomplishments. Man, created in Father's Image, using His Principles, is clearly capable of astounding accomplishments.
How much more might His Children understand His Ways and Principles and live for HIS Glory and His Purposes - rather than their own?
Consider how REMAINING FOCUSED on "THIS ONE THING I DO" can change your life, and bring Jesus great pleasure. Notice, with Spiritual application (rather than Olympic swimming, or javelin, or business world applications), how we can remain clear and applied to the NOW and not allow competing thoughts, diversions, and temptations to be self-absorbed to take us away from loving Him and serving Him and His People, and thus miss our Destiny and Purpose for being here. I'll allow you to draw from the thoughts below, written by a man merely once-born, and make the application to THINGS THAT MATTER!
********
The average person has approximately 2000 daily thoughts. These thoughts average approximately 14 seconds in length with many occurring only a second or more with the maximum thought lasting one to two minutes. You can think either in the future, present or past. Your thoughts are productive, or destructive -- never "just neutral" or "just observing the facts." These chosen or accepted thoughts cannot be both productive and destructive at the same time. Each thought produces a physical, emotional and or intuitive reaction. It is this reaction that facilitates change. Therefore, thoughts are actions that spawn reactions and consequently results. We become, based on the quality of our thoughts.
The world champion, by choice, actually thinks fewer thoughts, cultivating only the productive. The daily thoughts of a champion are considerably less than an average undisciplined and drifting person -- approximately 1100-1400. Champions don't allow their minds to race to useless places. They have chosen to eliminate jealousy, gossip, rumor, hearsay, embarrassment, guilt, impatience, worry, anxiety and doubt. All thoughts are productive towards the chosen end and attuned to the objectives from which he will not be dissuaded. A small percentage of thoughts are devoted to the future and the past where preparation and evaluation occur. The majority of thoughts are spent in the present tense.
Every champion has a crystal clear vision in his primary Arena. This vision drives all thoughts. The vision is broken into practical areas of feedback and into practical stepping-stones towards his objective. Once the future course is set, the champion accepts the outcome in his/her mind only as it will be. He is disciplined and focused. This champion's intensity is balanced with a relaxed demeanor especially when confronted with adversity. Lastly, passion and enjoyment fuels every move until the vision becomes reality. By setting the future course, the champion can perform in the present tense.
********
Now, I will grant you that this above is written from a totally worldly and self-serving, self-aggrandizing perspective. And yet notice God's Ordained Plan for our choice of thoughts:
Romans 6:5 Since we have been united with him in his death, we will also be raised as he
was.
6 Our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might
lose its
power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin.
7 For when we died with
Christ
we were set free from the power of sin.
8 And since we died with Christ, we
know
we will also share his new life.
9 We are sure of this because Christ rose
from the
dead, and he will never die again. Death no longer has any power over him.
10 He
died once to defeat sin, and now he lives for the glory of God.
11 So you
should
consider yourselves dead to sin and able to live for the glory of God
through
Christ Jesus.
12 Do not let sin control the way you live; do not give in to its lustful
desires.
13 Do not let any part of your body become a tool of wickedness, to be used
for
sinning. Instead, give yourselves completely to God since you have been
given
new life. And use your whole body as a tool to do what is right for the
glory of
God.
14 Sin is no longer your master, for you are no longer subject to the
law,
which enslaves you to sin. Instead, you are free by God's grace.
15 So since God's grace has set us free from the law, does this mean we can
go
on sinning? Of course not!
16 Don't you realize that whatever you choose to
obey
becomes your master? You can choose sin, which leads to death, or you can
choose to obey God and receive his approval.
17 Thank God! Once you were
slaves of sin, but now you have obeyed with all your heart the new teaching
God
has given you.
18 Now you are free from sin, your old master, and you have
become slaves to your new master, righteousness.
19 I speak this way, using the illustration of slaves and masters, because
it is
easy to understand. Before, you let yourselves be slaves of impurity and
lawlessness. Now you must choose to be slaves of righteousness so that you
will
become holy.
20 In those days, when you were slaves of sin, you weren't concerned with
doing what was right.
21 And what was the result? It was not good, since now
you
are ashamed of the things you used to do, things that end in eternal doom.
22 But
now you are free from the power of sin and have become slaves of God. Now
you do those things that lead to holiness and result in eternal life.
23 For
the wages
of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ
Jesus our
Lord.
We understand that our minds, our emotions, and our bodies are to be SOLDIERS, under the Leadership of Jesus Christ, the Captain of the Lord's Hosts. We have oversight of some of the Master's soldiers. Our minds are soldiers, waiting for orders, and are to obey. Stray and wandering thoughts are AWOL, and this must not happen. We are serving a Glorious Commander, Full of Light and Love and Liberty - and He deserves our full attention and every thought "taken captive" for Him and by Him. Left on their own, the soldiers will "seize command" and our lives will reflect this dishonoring chaos. (Most choose this path, unfortunately. Some hyper-spiritualize it, while others simply ignore His ways. "But we think better things, in your case!") Offer the parts of your life as instruments, as soldiers, for Jesus' service alone. He is worthy!
Our emotions are soldiers, waiting for orders; they must be trained. Emotions of "depression" or "loneliness" or "passionate ambition" or "wander lust" or any such thing must be taken captive! The soldiers of "emotions" are to be trained and brought into good working order, and under rapid and crisp Command of the Spirit of Christ. They must not be permitted to take control. Our emotions are only soldiers, to be under the Direction of Jesus Christ, alone. They belong to Jesus! OFFER your thoughts, and your emotions to Jesus - as good soldiers, loyal and dedicated to their Master. No straying, no sloppiness or contempt for His authority and leadership! In addition, we offer the parts of our bodies as instruments of Righteousness. Our hearing, our seeing, our eating, our habits, our time, our bodies: ALL ARE SOLDIERS FOR JESUS' SERVICE. Permit no insubordination amongst the soldiers (your thoughts, your emotions, your will, your body). Train them. "Buffet your body daily, and make it your slave." Train your mind, and your will, and your emotions, and your body by the fruit of the Spirit, self-control and "constant use" for Him (Hebrews5).
Present to Him a well-trained offering of your gratitude for what He has done for you. He has entrusted these soldiers to your under-leadership! All are His - from Him, and through Him, and to Him. Let's bring them into submission, by His Spirit, and for His Honor and Glory, as a gift of love and devotion and loyalty!
"Summing it all up, friends, I'd say you'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious-the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies." (Philippians 4:8-9)
By Mike Peters
September 25, 2002
Resting...In Him!
What precious things God wants to reveal to us and teach us. What lovely Truths and how Good and freeing it is to Rest in His Peace. To truly rest. It's more than we ever could ask for or imagine, to Rest before Him. No demands, no expectations, no need to be anyone, go anywhere, accomplish anything. No need to "offer" good things about myself that would somehow be acceptable. I don't have to prove anything or accomplish anything or be anything. How completely liberating and wonderful it is to live There. What total and complete contentment to just rest at His Feet. To just rest from doing or being or accomplishing or going or having to have "things" or "victories" or "growth" or having to be "somebody spiritual." I just don't have to do a thing to earn approval or acceptance from God or any person or even from myself. Nothing. What a tremendous relief. It has never been my job to improve my condition and it never will be. Though i strove for a long time trying to improve myself, thinking it was right to "be working at obeying God" ...i was barking up a very wrong and disappointing tree. I finally Saw, because of His sweet kindness and patient mercy, the fact that He was not interested in improving me. That was NEVER EVER His Goal for my life - for me to "become a better person." His Goal for me has always and ever will be, that i'd simply bury myself deeply, oh so deeply in the Life and very person of His Son, Jesus. There, IN JESUS, is where True Life and Peace and True contentment and sustenance reside. No where else but there. And it's a place to Live Always...not just visiting there on a "good day" based on feelings or some other external thing. I don't have to waste any more time trying to improve myself; or worry if i'm "not doing better" or striving to obey all that i'm to obey. That was never God's intent when Jesus spent Himself while here on the earth. That was never God's intent that Jesus would go through every step, all the way to His Death - to have us try to "add" something to His perfectly finished and all-encompassing Work. Glory to God that we do not have to strive EVER AGAIN to be someone!! He has done it all. NOW the key is to live IN Him, and relinquish all control and rights and dreams and opinions...and Let Him live in us and through us, to the pleasure of the Father. I don't have to live ever again with my own preconceived notions of "what that should look like" and then try to "do it" ("live" the picture i have in my mind). Thank goodness i don't have to know how it's going to all play itself out or worry or fret or fear about myself or the future. My only job is to Live in Him...trust Him for all things, right now, difficult or otherwise, and Let Him live. How totally Liberating and Beautiful His Plan for us is.
So i can let go of all my strivings and strainings. All the weighty expectations for performance that i ever have placed on myself. I've taken upon myself in times past to "learn things" - but it was dependent somehow on my own strength to accomplish something. Now, i'm beginning to realize that there is a way of placing my full weight on the Father. Of standing fully on Jesus as my only Hope for absolutely every single solitary struggle or hurdle or unknown answer that would cross my path.
Just in case anyone would be wondering, I suppose some of this could sound like we don't have a responsibility to do anything. Not at all!! That is not at all what i'm saying. There is still much WORK to do!! After all, "the work of God is this, to BELIEVE on the One He has sent." That takes some concentrated, focused, "girding up the loins" kind of living to Live a Life continually that "Believes on the One" the Father has sent. It's just that the nature of the effort that's put in is much, much different. It is no longer based on a drawing from my own resources, or from a mix of some of my resources and some of His. Now, in HIM, the energy to do the work is "from Him, to Him and through Him." Because He is Alive within, we have His life as our Continual Resource; His actual energy and thoughts and wisdom and strength. It's no longer me standing next to Jesus doing the best i can. NO!! It's Jesus living within...IN HIM, we live and move and have our being. Any circumstance that comes along...any long standing sin that i have battled, any difficult task that is in front of me...any unknowns...unanswered question marks....any pressure of life whether from without or within...all of them, every one can be resolved in Him - by standing on Him and simply believing that He will come through. If the bottom drops out, so be it. He is able and will take care of whatever i trust Him with.
And so, that constant treadmill of performance, failure, success...failure...success...up one day, down the next. Succeeding for a time then falling flat on my face in failure.. The terrible, terrible, enslaving battle of an endless cycle of success followed by pride or self-sufficient feelings and independence...to a failure with all its despair and disappointment and temptation to bail out and quit. And unbelief comes in. And then we finally fall on our face again...we're rescued again and we finally stand up and believe and then, we find our self once again "succeeding"...pride...failure...despair. Oh, what agony! And NOT the destiny of those with the Wind of Heaven in their lungs!!
Our destiny is to find the resting place in Jesus where we cease from our work once and for all. It's a transaction that occurs in the spirit of a person...in the deep recesses of their soul..laying it all at Jesus' feet. The striving, the fear of letting go..the ambitions...the control of one's life.. laying everything we possibly know of at His feet. Even the deeply embedded desire in each of us to be respected, or competent, or "able" or "to be better." Somehow to drop the desire to want to be "good"...even a "good servant". (You know my meaning.) Laying all of those desires and ambitions at His feet. Even the longing to be self-sufficient: that desire to NOT WANT to have a constant dependence on and need for God. As terrible as that sounds, it IS a resentment or regret we can have that must be crucified, and laid on the altar before God. The desire we have to somehow hold some kind of control or some kind of ability or goodness in ourselves. Wow. It is much to lay it all down, especially those hidden desires in our hearts. But it is SO, SO Incredibly and Amazingly worth it. And only in so doing will we find Him and know what it means to rely wholly on Him for every breath and every ounce and the strength to obey him...Only He and His strength can make us able to live the "Christian life" that we so desire. It's so opposite of what we often picture to be true!
The Big Bad Lie - And the Finished Work of Jesus!!
There is also this terrible lie that we can drag around with us like a ball and chain. Whether we're consciously thinking about it or not, we can have an area or two of weakness and perpetual failure in our lives, and the lie comes to us like this: "when i finally get over this thing, THEN i can really be free to Live and i can really get on with a full and powerful Life with Jesus." It's a "feeling" and a "state of mind" that we resign ourselves to and it robs us of the intimate Life with Jesus that we can have RIGHT NOW. There is no waiting any longer. That day of victory is not "somewhere out there" in the hazy future when i "finally overcome this sin in my life." NO!
That monster of a sin and the perpetual failure and slavery you may feel in a certain area or two is the very doorway IN to Reality with Jesus. It is not something YOU battle with and later on you'll be able to be with Jesus for real. "First let me take care of this...when i finally get over this...and THEN i'll really be able to be a worshipper and the kind of person i've always wanted to be." That's a lie as proven by the fact that we remain impotent and stagnant and always "just one step away" from God and a Life of Fruitful, Active Life-changing obedience. Am i right?? Have you felt that? I know i have. But it's wrong. It's believing a lie..Jesus completed IT ALL on the Cross. If we are "waiting until someday" then we are saying that Jesus' Work is NOT finished! He said on the cross in his deepest agony..."IT IS FINISHED!"
When we've finally exhausted all our resources...when we are exhausted and worn out and at the end of our rope... We've "tried" everything to be a different person. It's getting to a point, increasingly, where we sob for freedom. We're cut, deeply, about the terrible slavery and bondage and grip that this sin has on us. It's gone WAY beyond polite little prayers and saying the "right words" in a conversation with God and shallow i'm sorry's and "Oh well, i blew it again. I guess i'll always be this way." We're getting to the point that we can't get away from it. It's always "in our face" - the thoughts are always there, holding us captive to our sin...there's failure no matter what we try to do. No matter how determined we might be. No matter how desirous we are. No matter what good intentions we have to be different. It's all been building and building inside of us.
We're getting closer if we're feeling more and more..."Oh, wretched man that i am!!!!!!!!!" UGGHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!! WHO will save me from this body of sin and slavery and death!!!?" It's PAINFUL, but we begin to take God at His Word on a much more SPECIFIC level. Wait a minute...am i a believer or not? Didn't God say, "Our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin - because anyone who has died has been freed from sin." Didn't God say that i NO LONGER have to offer the parts of my body to sin as instruments of wickedness? Did he say that or didn't He? Well?? And if it's a point where i'm UNBELIEVING in my heart about what He has said - if i don't believe it's REALLY TRUE - the Holy Spirit will ALL THE MORE make sure i feel the misery of my unbelief. So i can either live in total misery with my captivity, thrown around like a rag doll in the dog's mouth... OR I can take Him at His Word and FIND HIM FOR REAL IN A PROFOUND AND LIFE CHANGING WAY LIKE NEVER BEFORE!! I decide to dare to TRUST God and what He has promised. I will not hide behind my fears any longer. I've got to step out and believe Him. The pain drives us there, if we let it.... The "Law" will drive me to Christ. That law that i KNOW i oughtn't be a slave: "Don't do this thing anymore." It's driving me there, because i just can't keep the law. I can't do it. Somewhere inside of us we've got to begin to hold on tightly to what God says: that Jesus can do it IN US AND THROUGH US.
We must come back to Him again and again on this gut-wrenching heart level. Not afraid to be brutally honest with God and others about the hideousness and our disgusting motivations and lusts and desires and actions of our flesh. They are there in us, there's no denying it. We're getting so desperate, we just HAVE to look it square in the face and call it exactly what it is. No more dodging in the shadows. No more justifying our sinful desires and actions and the ugliness that motivates us. No more comparing ourselves to others and thinking that surely i'm so much worse off. No one else has this depth of sin that i do. No one else is so hideous as i am. I should keep hiding my awfulness because it would be embarrassing to bring it out to others - it would make Jesus look bad for me to confess the depth of this thing in me. NO!! We are not afraid, anymore, of being brutally honest with ourselves and God and others - our desperation to be SET FREE is driving us. Even if i'm a billion times worse than everybody else, i've got to bring it out because i'm past the point of no return and this has brought me to the brink of annihilation if something serious doesn't change in me. I'll not be afraid anymore, to TRUST HIM. I'll not be afraid of failure anymore. i'll not let my pride stand in the way any longer. Maybe i'll fail, but that's not the point. The point is: "Test me and see if I don't throw open the floodgates of Heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it!" God said.
So our faith - our believing him - the person we've always wanted to be - is BORNE AS A RESULT OF FAILURE. It's not the goal that i have to conjure up this strong faith in God in the face of every temptation. Ultimately we must believe Him when we're faced with those temptations. We CAN be overcomers in this area. We must HATE what we do. But sometimes it's the case that we're such a slave in a certain area that we can't even "feel" how it could be different. We have very dim vision for change in those areas of our lives. There's been such a miserable track record of failure that we've near given up. There is a very good chance that the FAITH we so desire and the TRUST that is oh so necessary...is BORNE IN THE WOMB OF INTENSE FAILURE AND DESPAIR and "who will save me from this body of death?" THERE we see our total inability and lack and fruitless efforts with all our willpower and desires and strivings. This thing is too big of a monster for me to handle. WELL.....those huge monsters are the crucible for change. They aren't the "hurdle i have to overcome so i can get on with it with Jesus." That crucible itself, of perpetual failure - where WE ARE INSANE - our choices are INSANE and we're madmen in the face of temptation and we give ourselves over to it in a heartbeat and not only that we are lunatics and throw Jesus right out the window in the face of that sin. We "don't care" and we lash out and we just throw ourselves with abandon into the sin. UGGGHHH!!!" Do you know what i'm talking about?? Maybe i'm the only one who's ever been so hideous in my out and out rebellion in the face of all God's done for me... Ohhhh!!
Somehow in that torturous state... is the Way and the Place that God wants to show us on the deepest level, His utter and Total ability to save us from our sin. That place is also where we see the hideous and boundless potential for rebellion that lies within us. The depth throughout our core that could spit in God's face at the drop of a hat. We can be oh so devoted with our good intentions but then just "Blah" at God in the face when this monster rears its head in our lives. "Who will free me from this body of death!!??"
Well...we're getting closer if we can mourn and lament and feel the utter, utter hopelessness in our own soul - IF we can feel that hopelessness, but turn our face up and say "OH GOD!!!! I'm pathetic. I know it! It's hideous. I don't hide it. I give you no excuses. IT'S NO ONE ELSE'S fault but my own. I WILL NOT blame my circumstances or my past or others or my wiring. I will not blame you. This is who i've allowed myself to be currently, but it's not WHO YOU ARE INSIDE OF ME. I believe that somehow you can change me and make me a different person when i'm faced with this temptation. PLEASE oh PLEASE have mercy on me." Not for MY SAKE, but because YOU SAID SO - TO PROVE YOURSELF RELIABLE AND TRUSTWORTHY to the seen and unseen world. PLEASE OPEN MY EYES!!"
What a relief that i never had to "do anything" in the first place. That's never what He asked me to be -to do anything, to be anything, to strive after being anything. He's simply asked me to rest at His feet, believing that He can provide what i need. He can BE what i need. He wants to BE it, in me and through me. It's no longer up to me. Hallelujah! My part is to believe Him, trust Him completely and stand on Him.
So somehow, "success" as the goal begins to fade away as our goal and priority. The goal is no longer to "do well" in something...or "to avoid the bad things". Because truth be told, i simply can't do any of it: doing all the good, or avoiding all the bad. It can't be done in any human being. There's too much to keep track of to live that way! And we're all in the same boat. Not a one of us can make it, apart from Him. The rare few who discover in the inner man that Jesus has already done it all and still wants to live it out through the human frame...those are the ones who discover Peace and lasting victory over sin.
It'll never be wrapped up in a formula. It'll be the Life that is "hidden with Christ in God." A LIFE...a relationship that goes on day by day and is made up of a succession of different things. Responses and talking and pleading and listening and choosing and acting and loving and learning and growing. All of it is a dynamic that fluctuates and grows and bends and turns like the river as it runs its path from highest peak to largest ocean. How do you define the journey of a drop of water through the cycle of life? How do you describe that? My goal no longer has to be "i have to conquer this sin." As odd as that sounds...my goal becomes staying right in this moment, trusting Him for NOW. I can't "make plans" for what i'm going to do even an hour from now. I trust Him NOW for what the next hour will bring - but i can't make anything happen that isn't here yet. HE is my guarantee...not "my good intentions" to do something in the future. He is my guarantee NOW. I trust that He'll be just as Available and Alive and Able to help me when life shows up an hour from now or tomorrow or next week.
There are too many things that can happen, too many circumstances and unknowns and pitfalls along the way to try and come up with some plan of salvation for myself. HE is my plan. NOW. and He'll be my PLAN then too. :) I don't have to have guarantees that "now i'll be different in this area." I don't have to "know" that it will be different forever. I just may fail again, BUT I'M NOT AFRAID. I will repent and turn back to Him. My goal is no longer "TO NOT FAIL" because that goal relies on my own strength and determination and willpower - which i've proven countless times is wimpy, unpredictable and unreliable. I'm abandoning all that (my own efforts) and leaving them by the wayside as dung. They've never been my friends or a help to me. I gladly abandon them. NOW, it's Jesus and Him alone who will save me. I can't store up anything for the future ....except for trusting Him in my moment RIGHT NOW. I AM RESPONSIBLE TO DO MY PART OF TRUSTING HIM. That's the best thing i can do is to store up a quiet HOPE, right now, IN HIM. I WILL place my full weight on Him .. He'll come through for me. EVEN IF I FAIL...i will not be afraid. I'll turn to Him then, too. Avoiding failure is no longer the goal. The goal is TRUSTING HIM. Do you see it??? It relieves so much pressure, and interacting with my own brain about "My terrible sin problem." When i interact with my brain, it's LIFELESS. When i interact with Jesus, there is always LIFE and Hope and a Future.
"The Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says, 'Only in returning to me and waiting for me will you be saved. In quietness and confidence is your strength."
"But the Lord still waits for you to come to Him so He can show you His love and compassion. For the Lord is a faithful God. Blessed are those who wait for Him to help them. O people of Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no more. He will be gracious if you ask for help. He will respond instantly to the sound of your cries. Though the Lord gave you adversity for food and affliction for drink, He will still be with you to teach you. You will see your teacher with your own eyes, and you will hear a voice say, 'This is the way; turn around and walk here.' Then you will destroy all your silver idols and gold images. You will throw them out like filthy rags. 'Ugh!' you will say to them. 'BEGONE!'" (Isaiah 30:15, 18-22 NLT)
Written by a sister in the Lord named Molly.
