Peace in the Midst of Trouble



“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace.
In this world you will have trouble.

But take heart! I have overcome the world.” – John 16:33

“You will have trouble…” Jesus promises us.  It’s not one of those promises we jump up and claim and hold dear to our hearts but there it is.  You will have trouble.  Not you might or you may sometime or it could possibly happen but definitely, at some point, you will have trouble.  Maybe you have fallen out of sorts with a loved one and are hurt beyond what you thought you could bear.  Maybe the pressure at work is overwhelming and you find yourself dreading Sunday because it’s the last day before Monday.  Maybe you have no work and don’t know how things are going to work out.  Maybe the bills are bigger than the paycheck, the hunger more than the food, the need greater than the supply.  Maybe you just feel empty inside, just going through the motions.  You are so busy but nothing seems to get done.  Maybe you live day to day but nothing really seems to change and you feel unfulfilled.   You find yourself wishing for some significance in life and asking “is this really it…really…I mean this is what life is about?”  The bad news: I don’t have the answer to your problem.  The good news: I know what you need in the middle of your problem—God’s peace!

Jesus tells us in John 16:33 that in this world we will have trouble.  The Greek here portrays “a situation so difficult that it causes on to feel stressed, squeezed, pressured or crushed.” ¹  Maybe you find yourself there right now—crushed, stressed and pressured.  There’s still hope, in the same verse, Jesus tells us that in Him we may have peace.  He actually tells us “In this world you will go through some distressing times, but take heart and be courageous.”²  Jesus goes on to tell us He has, is, and always will overcome the world.  He has provided “a continuous and abiding victory.”³ 

He tells us, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid” (Jn 14:27).  He gives us His peace and commands us not to let our hearts be troubled or afraid.  His peace and fear cannot dwell in the same heart.  You have one or you have the other.  The verse just before this ties in an interesting connection.  The Father will send the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit will teach us all things and remind us of everything Jesus has said to us.  Notice the connection between the Holy Spirit and the peace mentioned in the preceding verse.

Romans 14:17 informs us the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.  The Kingdom of God is tied to peace in the Holy Spirit.  God actually desires to grow His peace in us.  Peace is one of the fruits of the Spirit.  If you crucify your sinful nature with its passions and desires, then the Holy Spirit will grow His peace in your heart (Gal 5:22-25).  One of the ways to know His Kingdom is alive in you is to monitor your heart’s reaction to trouble in your life.  Do you have peace or pestilence, plague, and pandemic?  Are you worried and fearful or does the peace of God reign in you?  Are you anxious or restful?

So how do we gain God’s peace in the middle of our circumstances? Philippians 4:4-9 helps us out here. 

4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

This passage of Scripture tells us to rejoice always—not for our circumstances but in our circumstances.  It gives us seven ways to overcome our anxiety, fear and worry.

1. Remember the Lord is near (v5).  In our troubles we should remember God promises to be with us (Heb 13:5) and when we draw near to God, He will draw near to us (James 4:8).

2. Prayer and petition to request what you need from God (v6).  God delights in answering the legitimate needs of His children (Mt 7:7-11).  The Greek here illustrates a “close, up-front, intimate contact…a passionate, earnest, heartfelt sincere prayer…adamant in requesting and demanding assistance to meet tangible needs, such as food, shelter, money, and so forth…a full expectation to receive what was firmly requested.”⁴

3. Thanksgiving  (v6) – think of who He is and what He’s done in the world and in your life to this point and thank Him for it.  The Greek here pictures “an outpouring of grace and of wonderful feelings that freely flow from the heart in response to someone or something…an earnest outpouring of thanks.”⁵

4. Think about the right things (v8).  Make a conscious effort not to focus on your worry, fears, and anxiety.   Focus your thoughts on the noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, and praiseworthy things all around you.  Choose not to be the negative naysayer, persistent pessimist, continual complainer, or wearying worrywart.  Be the buoyant benefactor, overjoyed optimist, eternal encourager, or truthful trustee.

5. Focus on things above (v8).  The injunction to “think on such things” leads us to consider God who is noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, and praiseworthy.  Mull over your pretentiousness and forgetfulness that God is in control and He is good.  Set your mind on Him (Col 3:2-3).

6. Quote Scripture (v8-9).  When we need something to fill up our thoughts and have difficulty pondering on God, Scripture we have memorized can be a great comfort to us.  Psalm 23 assures us that even though we are not good followers all the time, God is the Good Shepherd and He will care for our needs—rest, sustenance, restoration of the soul, comfort, strength in Him, His presence always with us, His guidance, peace in the presence of enemies, goodness, love and mercy.  Endeavor to memorize some of the Scriptures on peace in this article.  Let Psalm 85:8 jog your memory, “I will listen to what God the Lord will say; he promises peace to his people” 

7. Get an eternal perspective (v9).  Remember God is with you and He is so much bigger than your current disconcerting circumstance.  Remember this won’t last forever.  Determine to run the race with perseverance and diligence and trust in His abundant goodness (1 Cor 9:24-27, Heb 12:1-3,  Phil 3:12-14).  Isaiah 26:3 reminds us, “You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you.”

In the midst of your trouble, control your thoughts and “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful” (Col 3:15).  The Greek here gives us the portrait of the peace of God being our umpire or referee over our emotions.  When worry, fear, and anxiety threaten our thoughts, “we can stop it from happening by making the choice to let God’s peace rise up from deep inside like an umpire or referee to moderate our emotions.  As we do, we will be kept under the control of that divine peace as it rules in our hearts.”⁶  Philippians 4:7 gives us the same portrayal in the Greek, “And the peace of God—a peace so wonderful that it cannot be compared to any other type of peace; a peace that stands in a category by itself and rises far above and goes beyond anything the human mind could ever think, reason, imagine, or produce by itself—will stand at the entrance of your heart and mind, working like a guard to control, monitor and screen everything that tries to access your mind, heart and emotions.”⁷

2 Thess 3:16 Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you.

O Lord of Peace, come to us now and fill us with the peace that passes understanding in the midst of our circumstances.  Help us to seek you with all our hearts, at all times, especially in times of trouble.  Help us to trust in Your goodness, kindness, and love for us.  Fill us with Yourself!  Amen!

Footnotes

¹ Renner, Rick. "Jesus Has Overcome Everything" Sparkling Gems from the Greek: 365 Greek Word Studies for Every Day of the Year to Sharpen Your Understanding of God's Word. Tulsa, OK: Teach All Nations, 2003. 792. Print.

² Renner 792.

³ Renner 792.

⁴ Renner, "Five Important Steps To Move From Fear to Faith, From Turmoil to Peace, And From Defeat to Victory" 709-711.

⁵ Renner 710-711.

⁶ Renner, "Let God’s Peace serve as an Umpire for Your Mind and Emotions!" 2.

⁷ Renner, "Peace That Passes Understanding" 322.

References

All Scriptures not specified are quoted from Life in the Spirit Study Bible (NIV). Stamps, Donald C., and John Wesley Adams. Life in the Spirit Study Bible: New International Version. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2003. Print.



God Wants Us to Repent

“Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent.” Rev 3:19

Here is a little discussed secret of Christianity – what to do when you sin.  When you sin, the best thing you can do is admit your failure to God (He already knows about it) and turn away from your sin.  This is what it means to repent.  This is a principle tenet of staying close to God and remaining on His road for our lives. 

The two Greek words in the New Testament translated “repent” are metanoeō and metamellomai.  Together they create a great picture of what it means to repent.  Metanoeō means “to think differently or afterwards, reconsider.”¹  Metamellomai means “to care afterwards, regret,² feel remorse.³”  Metanoeō “connotes a change of mind” while metamellomai “connotes a change of soul.”⁴  So we have in repentance a change of mind and a change of heart and emotion about our sin.  The basic idea is to turn about⁵, that is, to turn away from your sin and set a new direction.  So repentance involves our agreeing with God about our sin and turning away from our sin with a change of heart and mind.  The picture is one of abandonment, a leaving behind, setting a new course and moving away from the old thoughts and emotions that lead us to sin in the first place.

One of the best times to make a good decision is right after you have made a bad one—  after you sin.  Unfortunately, this is often a time when we are tempted to turn farther away from God, after all He is perfect and holy and we have just failed to keep His standard.  So what’s the answer?  It’s simple, but it’s not natural—turn to Him and repent.  Start following Him again.  The fastest way to get back on the right road with God after we sin, after we have failed Him, is to go to Him, agree with Him about your sin being wrong, confess it to Him, and ask Him for strength to start down the right road with Him again. 

Often when we fail, we want to somehow make ourselves better before we go back to God and ask Him for forgiveness.  This is equivalent to attempting to get more lost so we can get found.  When we get lost our goal is not to get more lost—it is to get found.  Our goal is to get back on the right road, not keep travelling further on the wrong road hoping it will turn into the right one.  There is only one road to our destination.  If we get off on a side road, we must turn around and go back to the right road.  But let’s be honest don’t we try, sometimes, to clean ourselves up before we return to God?  We try to be good in our own power for a while thinking this will make it “OK” for us to bring our failure, our sin, before Him.  This is our pride.  This is our sinful nature.  This is travelling further down the wrong road.  Listen, nothing will make it “OK” for you to bring your sin before God except the sacrifice He made for you on the cross.  He has already made provision for you to come to Him with your sin and confess it to Him.  He already knows about your sin.  You cannot hide anything from Him. 

So, if He already knows about your sin, and has already made provision for your sin to be forgiven, what should stop you from rushing to Him and getting forgiven right away?  Nothing should.  Not your bad feelings about what you have done.  Not your uncleanliness because you have sinned.  Nothing should keep you from Him when you sin.  The best thing you can do is go to Him, confess your sin, ask for His forgiveness and strength to move on. 

“Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you toward repentance?”  Romans 2:4 

Don’t spend hours, days, weeks, or even months travelling on the wrong road trying to get to the right one.  Turn around.  Repent.  Remember God’s kindness and patience. Humble yourself before God and He will exalt you.  When we repent, turn away from, our sin He forgives us and gives us His strength to start again. 

“Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity.  I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord’— and you forgave the guilt of my sin.” Ps 32:5

“He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.”  Prov 28:13

“Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits—who forgives all your sins

and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.” Ps 103:2-5

“…‘they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,’ declares the Lord. ‘For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.’” Jer 31:34

“If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.”  1 John 1:8-10

Oh Good and Patient God, help us in our times of failure to turn and run to you and not away from you.  Help us to go immediately to You our only real source of help.  Help us to change our minds and our hearts.  Help us get turned around and traveling on the right road again.  Help us to stay close to You.  Help us to repent.  Amen!

Footnotes

¹ Strong’s and Thayer’s definitions from: Meyers, Rick. Vers. 9.0.3. Franklin, TN, 2010. Computer software.  <http://www.e-sword.net/>.

² Meyers.

³ Douglas, J. D., ed. "Repentance." The New Bible Dictionary. 2nd ed. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1962. 1017-018. Print.

⁴ Tenney, Merrill C. "Repentance." The Zondervan Pictorial Bible Dictionary. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Pub. House, 1967. 711-12. Print.

⁵Tenney, Merrill C., ed. "Repentance." The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible. Vol. 5. Grand Rapids: Regency Reference Library, 1976. 62-64. Print.

References

All Scriptures not specified are quoted from Life in the Spirit Study Bible (NIV). Stamps, Donald C., and John Wesley Adams. Life in the Spirit Study Bible: New International Version. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2003. Print.

God Wants Us to Live in Him

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him,

he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” – John 15:5

It is Jesus’ last night on earth, the eve of the crucifixion.  He has one last night with the disciples.  His disciple making days are down to one.  What does He do?  What are His parting words and actions?  What final thoughts will He give to His disciples?   He has the Passover meal with his disciples. But then what’s this?  An absurdity, the Messiah, creator of all that is, gets up takes off what should be His kingly robes, girds Himself with a towel, pours water into the basin and kneels down to wash their feet.  This disturbs Peter greatly as he knows this is the Messiah (Mt 16:16).  Jesus tells Peter “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.”  Dumbfounded, Peter submits.  I imagine the disciples are all feeling a little sheepish.  None of them had seriously considered the task, preferring instead to skip the awkward job rather than to identify with the lowliest slave of the household.  Then another absurdity, Jesus tells them one of them will betray Him.  Now they are concerned and begin to ask Him who it is.  He dips the bread into the dish and gives it to Judas predicting His betrayer.  Judas leaves immediately (John 13:30).  Then He tells them where His is going they cannot come. Now they are reeling.  Peter asks where Jesus is going.  Then yet another absurdity, He tells the disciples they will all fall away and He tells the bold leader, Peter, that he will disown Him three times before the sunrise.  Peter tells Jesus that he would never disown Him and all the other disciples say the same (Mt 26:35, Mk 14:31).  I can imagine fear starting to set in.  He tells them “Do not let your hearts be troubled.  Trust in God; trust also in me” (Jn 14:1).  He begins to speak with them about the Holy Spirit which He will ask the Father to send.  Then they get up from the table and begin the descent first from the upper room, then down the street and across the city, then down the Kidron Valley.  It is here that they may have walked through the vineyard.  Great leafy vines probably brushed up against them from time to time.  Jesus seizes the opportunity to show them the kind of life He wants us all to live.  This is the essential truth he chooses to impart to the disciples on His last night with them.

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.  He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.  You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.  Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.  If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.  If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.  If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you” John 15:1-7

Remain in me, abide in me.  What does this mean?  The Greek word is menō, which means “to stay” and is translated “abide, continue, dwell, endure, be present, remain, stand, tarry.”¹  I was really struggling to understand exactly what this means “remain in me,” until I looked at how this ordinary word is used in other places in the Bible:

“Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and then returned home.”  Luke 1:56. 

“Whatever house you enter, stay there until you leave that town.”  Luke 9:4.

“nor does his word dwell in you, for you do not believe the one he sent.” John 5:38. 

“To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, ‘If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples.’” John 8:31 

“Yet when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days.” John11:6 

“Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work.” John 14:10 

“And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever—And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever—the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.”  John 14:16-17

So to remain or abide in is to stay (live) with, dwell in, hold to, live in, to be with, and/or to live with.  God is calling us to live IN Him.  He wants us to be “maintaining the habit of constant intimate communion with Christ in order to draw strength from Him.”²  Think about what you do with those who live with you.  You talk to them, regularly.  You listen to them, frequently.  You trust them.  You obey them.  You praise them.  You cry with them.  You laugh with them.  You are in their presence.  God wants us to be like that with Him. Consider the branch without the vine.  It cannot do anything but die.  So are we my friends.  God is showing us that without Him our lives are dead.  He is the provider, we are the reliant.  In Him is the life.  We must stay in relationship to Him.  It is only in close communion with Him, a continual conversation of the soul with God, that our branch stays alive and bears much fruit, fruit that will last [remain, abide – Jn 15:16].  Brother Lawrence puts it well,

“that we might accustom ourselves to a continual conversation with Him, with freedom and in simplicity. That we need only to recognize GOD intimately present with us, to address ourselves to Him every moment, that we may beg His assistance for knowing His will in things doubtful, and for rightly performing those which we plainly see He requires of us, offering them to Him before we do them, and giving Him thanks when we have done.

That in this conversation with GOD, we are also employed in praising, adoring, and loving him incessantly, for His infinite goodness and perfection.”³

God wants us to live in Him, to find our life with Him, to find our joy in Him.  He wants us to talk with Him, listen for Him and be with Him.  He wants us to commune with Him throughout the day.  Let’s not let God be the best friend we rarely talk with.  We need to include Him in our decision making process.  Let us forget Him not.  Let us keep Him primary in our thoughts and communication.  It is only then that we may remain in His love (v 9 & 10) and that His joy may be in you and may be complete (v 11).  Remember it is “Christ in you, the hope of glory” Col 1:27.  Paul wrote that “…Christ lives in me” Gal 2:20.  Jesus said of the Holy Spirit “…you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you”  Jn 14:17.  Jesus was imparting to the disciples a vital truth.  I am leaving yet you can remain in me.  My Spirit will dwell [remain, abide] in you and your joy will be complete.  It’s interesting that even in Jesus’ farewell, He welcomes all of us with an invitation to come and remain in Him.

Oh God, our great friend and comforter, help us learn to rely on, live in, remain in, and stay in You.  Help us learn to enter into your rest.  Help us to learn to be utterly dependent on You as the branch is on the vine.  Prune us where we need pruning.  Help us to remember Your Presence in us and to put Your word in us that it may remain in us and our prayers may be effective.  Help us to bear much good fruit, fruit that will last for your Kingdom.  Let us be Your friend as you have been ours. Amen!

Footnotes

¹ Strong, James. Strong's Exhaustive Concordance: [with Greek and Hebrew Dictionaries]. Gordonsville, TN: Dugan, 1980. Print.

² Stamps, Donald C., and John Wesley Adams. "Remain in me [note]." Life in the Spirit Study Bible: New International Version. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2003. 1635. Print.

³Meyer, Rick. E-Sword Step Reader. “The Practice of the Presence of God.” Computer software. E-Sword. Vers. 9.0.3. Web. <http://www.e-sword.net>.

References

All Scriptures not specified are quoted from the NIV. New International Version. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2003.

There is a Battle in the Believer

“For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. 

They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want.” – Galatians 5:17

There are two natures within every believer.  There is a sinful nature we received at the moment of conception (Rom 5:12, 17, 19).  Because of this sinful nature, mankind has a tendency toward evil and sin (Ps 14:1-3; Jer17:9; Mk 7:21-22; Eph 2:1-3).  At salvation we are given a spiritual nature and God sends the Holy Spirit to live in you (Jn 3:3, 5-6; Rom 8:9; 2 Cor 1:22).  So now in the believer there are two opposing forces: the sinful nature (also called the flesh) and the Spirit.  Galatians 5:17 sums up the situation well,

“For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature.  They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want.” 

Paul writes of this battle in Romans 7:21-23,

“So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me.  For in my inner being I delight in God's law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members.”

So how do these to natures win over each other?  Scripture seems to indicate that there is a battle taking place in the believer’s mind for which nature will win.  Let’s look at some scriptures to back this up. 

“Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so.  Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.  You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.  But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness.”  – Rom 8:5-10

So how are we to battle the sinful nature?  It is by the Spirit.  We must decide what to set our mind upon.  If we choose to set our mind on the sinful desires our body and soul will follow and soon sin will manifest itself.  If we choose to set our mind on what the Spirit desires then our body and soul will follow and the fruit of the Spirit will result.  Note the difference in Galatians 5:19 & 22: one is “works of the flesh” (KJV) or “acts of the sinful nature” (NIV), the other is the fruit of the Spirit.  “The flesh produces the works; the Spirit produces the fruit.  The one requires self-effort; the other no effort of the flesh. The one is the product of the factory [works]; the other is of the garden [abiding].  The one is dead; the other is alive.  The one is flesh; the other of the Spirit.”¹  Our job is to decide to follow the Spirit.  His job is to produce the fruit. 

“So I say live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.” Gal 5:16 

“Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation--but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.” Rom 8:12-14

 “In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.  Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires.” Rom 6:11-12

 “…I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires which war against your soul” 1 Peter 2:11

 “You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds;  and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.”  Eph 4:22-24

“Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Rom 12:2a

So here we are with our minds right in the middle of these two opposing forces, the sinful nature and the Holy Spirit.  What are we to do?  We must, by the Spirit, put to dead the misdeeds of the flesh (Rom 8:13).  We must crucify the sinful nature and desires as Gal 5:24-25 tells us, “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires.  Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.”  I believe that what we focus on consumes us.  Garbage in; garbage out.  If we continually fill our minds with Scripture and good thoughts (Phil 4:8), then choosing to follow the Spirit becomes easier and easier.  It is like exercising a muscle, what first was hard and excruciating, with practice, becomes easy.  Let us get into the habit of following where the Spirit leads and mortifying our flesh.  The more we do it the easier it gets.  However, the converse is true as well.  If we neglect to exercise, we can become unfit and exercise becomes harder.  The same is true in our walk with God.  The more often we choose to follow the Spirit the more spiritually fit we become and the easier it is to make the proper choice the next time the sinful nature and its desires and passions clamor for attention.  Get out the sword of the Spirit and slay the ugly beast!   Paul puts this whole idea very well in Gal 6:7-9,

“Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked.  A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.  Let us not become wary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”

Rick Renner translates one of our key verses like this, “Make the path of the Spirit the place where you habitually live and walk.  Become so comfortable on this spiritual path that you learn to leisurely and peacefully stroll along in that realm.  Living your life in this Spirit realm is the best way to guarantee that your will not allow the yearnings of your flesh to creep out and fulfill themselves.”²

Footnotes

¹ Duffield, Guy P., and N. M. Van Cleave. Foundations of Pentecostal Theology. Los Angeles: L.I.F.E. Bible College, 1983. 294. Print.

² Renner, Rick. "How Would You Like To ‘Take a Stroll’ In the Spirit Today." Sparkling Gems from the Greek: 365 Greek Word Studies for Every Day of the Year to Sharpen Your Understanding of God's Word. Tulsa, OK: Teach All Nations, 2003. 490. Print.

References

All Scriptures not specified are quoted from the NIV. New International Version. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2003.

God is Trustworthy

“…for He who promised is faithful...” – Hebrews 11:23

When hard times hit our lives, we find out a lot about ourselves and what we really believe and how deeply we believe it.  And yet in the middle of it all, in the middle of our wavering and our questioning, God is still good, still faithful, still trustworthy.  But just what does it mean to be trustworthy?  Dictionary.com defines trustworthy as “deserving of trust or confidence; dependable; reliable.” ¹  Webster’s New World Dictionary defines trust as “firm belief or confidence in the honesty, integrity, reliability, justice, etc. of another person or thing; faith; reliance; confident expectation, anticipation, or hope.” ²  So if we amalgamate these definitions, we come up with a firm belief, a reliance upon, a confidence, an expectation, an anticipation, and a hope upon the honesty, integrity, reliability, and justice of another (in our case God)….in short, to have faith in Him.  And what better to have firm belief, reliance, confidence, expectation, and anticipation in than in God?  NOTHING! 

Yet at times we have our doubts.  Does God really care?  Is He really there?  Is He really good?  Yes, He does care; He is there; and He is good.  Often these doubts come to us when life is not going quite as we expected it would.  Now we can still take inventory even if we are not in difficult times.  This will help us be more secure should those difficult times come and they will come.  However, God will use them to shape our character, but wouldn’t it be better if we could shape our character even during the good times?  Take a few moments and honestly ask these questions and be candid with yourself (or your spouse) about the answers.  Do I see God as my provider or do I look to my job as my stream of provision?  Do I see God as my safety and comfort or do I find more rest and relaxation on the couch or at the gym or on a hike?  Do I find more peace in my bank account or in the presence of God?  Do I find more identity in God or in what I do for a living?  What about others, do I see them as vessels God is working in and on or do I draw conclusions based on what they do?  (Hint: next time you meet someone new watch to see if you ask what they do for a living or what the living God is doing in them.)  How do I respond to godly correction?  Do I react and make excuse or do I step back and look for the truth in what is being shared?  Why all the questions—simply to make the point that we need to understand the trustworthiness of God.  When we don’t understand His trustworthiness then we tend to find provision in our job, security in our home, peace in our bank account, rest on the couch, discipline, well we pretty much just run from that…

I was surprised to find that a search for the word trustworthy in the King James Version provided no search results when the New American Standard had eleven and the New International Version had twenty-five, thirteen of which were in the New Testament.³

Naturally, I became curious as to why this was and found it comes down to the translation of the Greek word transliterated “Pistos.”  It turns out this word is also translated as “believe 2x, believer(s) 9x, believing 1x, faithful 44x, faithful one 1x, faithfully 1x, sure 1x, trustworthy 1x, who believe 1x.⁴  So, mostly, the word trustworthy is normally translated as “faithful.”  Now this was getting good because we know that God is faithful.  Faithfulness is one of the fruits of the Spirit (who is God).  I looked up the word for faithfulness in Galatians 5:22 and found it is derived from the same Greek root as Pistos.  Faithfulness (Greek Pistis) is the common word for faith and “conveys the idea of a person who is faithful, reliable, loyal, and steadfast.  It pictures a person who is devoted, trustworthy, dependable, dedicated, constant and unwavering.”⁵

Let’s look at a few of these passages with Pistos in them and think about inserting trustworthy, dependable, dedicated, and unwavering.

1 Thess 5:23-24 May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through.  May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.  The one who calls you is faithful [trustworthy, dependable, dedicated, and unwavering] and he will do it.

2 Tim 2:13 if we are faithless, he will remain faithful [trustworthy, dependable, dedicated, and unwavering], for he cannot disown himself

1 Cor 10:13 No temptation has seized you except what is common to man.  And God is faithful [trustworthy, dependable, dedicated, and unwavering]; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear.  But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.

1 John 1:9  If we confess our sins, he is faithful [trustworthy, dependable, dedicated, and unwavering] and just and will forgive our sins an purify us from all unrighteousness

1 Peter 4:19 So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful [trustworthy, dependable, dedicated, and unwavering] Creator and continue to do good.

Notice that it is God working in us to accomplish His will.  No matter what He with be faithful, dependable, dedicated, and unwavering.  He we help us through resisting temptation.  He will perfectly dependably forgive our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.  Even in the middle of our suffering, we can trust His worthiness and continue to do good.  He will be our provision.  He will be our security. He will be our shelter.  He will be our dwelling place.  He will be our peace.  He will bring us rest.  He will discipline us when need be.  He will love us always.  Our job is to trust in His trustworthiness—to have faith in His faithfulness—to eagerly expect—to confidently rely upon—to await with anticipation—to hope with assurance—to believe with bold trust.

Heb 10:23 “Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful [trustworthy, dependable, dedicated, and unwavering].

Oh good and gracious Father, help us in our times of need and especially times of plenty, to look to you and remember you are trustworthy.  Help us to depend on you and not our jobs, homes, and things we possess for identity, safety, comfort, and provision.  Help us to understand your trustworthiness.  We choose to trust in your faithfulness—to put our confidence and expectation, our reliance and dependence on you.  Be our peace.  Be our dwelling place.  Be our identity.  Be our shelter.  Be our good shepherd.  Be our Father.  We rest in your trustworthiness.  We find peace in your faithfulness.  WE TRUST YOU.  Amen!

Footnotes

¹ "trustworthy." Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random House, Inc. 13 Jan. 2011. <Dictionary.com\ http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/trustworthy>.

² Neufeldt, Victoria, and David Bernard Guralnik. "Trust." Webster's New World Dictionary of American English. Cleveland: Webster's New World, 1988. 1436. Print.

³ http://www.biblestudytools.com/search/?q=trustworthy&c=nt&t=niv&ps=10&s=Bibles

⁴ http://www.biblestudytools.com/lexicons/greek/nas/pistos.html

⁵ Renner, Rick. "Goodness and Faith." Sparkling Gems from the Greek: 365 Greek Word Studies for Every Day of the Year to Sharpen Your Understanding of God's Word. Tulsa, OK: Teach All Nations, 2003. 537. Print.

References

All Scriptures not specified are quoted from Life in the Spirit Study Bible (NIV). Stamps, Donald C., and John Wesley Adams. Life in the Spirit Study Bible: New International Version. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2003. Print.

Real People on the First Christmas

Have you ever stopped to think for a minute about how the Christmas story happened to real people like you and me?  We’ve all heard the story many times.  Mary is betrothed to Joseph and Caesar has ordered a census.  Now Joseph and the very pregnant Mary are trudging toward Bethlehem to be counted and taxed.  They are exhausted, tired and just looking for a place to sleep.  The innkeeper has no room but offers the stable to sleep in.  Joseph and Mary turn aside to the stable and stop for the night.  So it is that Mary gives birth to the Savior of the word in a stable, among the smell and sound of the animals.  She wraps Him in cloths and lays Him in one of the animal’s feeding troughs for a bed.  The shepherds watching their sheep are divinely interrupted by an angel and told about this miraculous birth. 

So, there is it is, one of the most awesome events in all history happening to normal people like you and I.  I wonder which character in the story you would be if you were there.  What if you were the shepherds?  Would you be excited about the news or angry your day was interrupted?  Would you even bother to go find the Savior?  All of us have these moments where God tries to break in and share Himself with us but the response is ours to control.  We can ignore Him or take what He says as the truth.  Which is your response tonight?

What if you were Joseph and your fiancé turned up pregnant?  Would you even have the fortitude not to disgrace your fiancé publicly but divorce her quietly or would you demand your rights and let happen what may?  After all there is only one way she could become pregnant, right?  God has a way of taking what we know and turning it on its head.  But, like He did with Joseph, He asks us not to be afraid and trust in Him.  Are you trusting in Him tonight?

How did Joseph feel knowing he had to settle for his wife giving birth in a stable?  I’m quite sure Joseph wanted a nice, warm, clean, comfortable room with a bed for his wife to give birth in, but it didn’t happen that way.  Did he feel like a failure?  Did he question his ability to provide?  Maybe you find yourself in Joseph’s shoes tonight.  Will you trust God to provide for your needs, even if it doesn’t look like it is happening the way you wanted? 

What if you were Caesar busy giving orders and thinking of all your tax money coming in when God is trying breaking through?  Are you completely unaware of what God is trying to accomplish in the earth?  In you?  Will you let Him breakthrough into your life tonight?

Perhaps you feel like King Herod.  Are you worried what will happen if you let Him take His rightful place?  Are you worried He will take control?  Will you lose the power you have over people if you let Him have His place?  He is asking for His rightful place in your heart tonight?  Only one of you can be in control.  Will it be you or will you let God in?

May I suggest you become like Mary?  Consider her place in the story.  She is an average person like you.  But God calls her highly favored.  God says He is with her.  At first this greatly troubles her, but she is told not to be afraid.  You have found favor with God.  Not because of anything you have done but because of whom God is.  God is with us.  This is the message of Christmas.  God sent His Son, Jesus to be born, to live and to die for you, a ransom for your sin, so you could be adopted into His family.  God gave you His Son, His best, the thing that cost Him the most, something He loves very much.  God was thinking about you when He chose to give you Jesus.  This gift of Jesus is just the right size, just the right color, just the right shape, its exactly what you wanted, even if it wasn’t on your list.  The Christmas Story is about God giving you His Son so your sin could be forgiven and you could become part of His family.  But you must choose to believe in Him – to receive Him as your own.  Mary made the choice saying “May it be to me as you have said.”  She received the gift God wanted to give her – His Son.  Tonight He is offering you the same gift – His Son.  God is offering you a future and a hope through His Son, Jesus.  He is offering a future filled with His Presence, filled with truth and simple trust in Him, a future full of hope – a place in His family, a place of significance, a place of love unending, a place for all eternity in heaven with Him.  He is offering freedom from fear, provision for life, the source of truth that can be fully trusted.  He is offering to take control.  Will you receive Him and follow Him or will you turn Him away?  Hope is within your grasp; just fully turn yourself over to Him. 

God Disciplines Us

"…the Lord disciplines those he loves..." – Hebrews 12:6

We have this idea, and well we should, that God is good.  He embodies goodness.  Everything He thinks is good.  Everything He does is good.  God is good!  We also have another idea, and we should not, that the Christian life is easy and if we are experiencing hardship that it automatically means we are not in the will of God, have some hidden sin in our lives, or God is judging us.  While any of these may be the reason for our hardship, it is not necessarily so.  Here is the rub, what seems good to us and what is good to God are sometimes two different things.  “‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways’ declares the Lord.  ‘As the heavens are higher that the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.’” (Isa 55:8-9).  Let us consider Job, a man whom God calls, “blameless and upright a man who fears God and shuns evil” (Job 1:8).

Now Job was, by God’s own admission, a man who followed after God.  One day Satan comes to the Lord and God asks Satan if he has considered Job.  Satan responds that Job’s life is going well for him and God has put a hedge around him, his household, and all he has and God has also blessed the work of his hands and prospered him.  Satan challenges God to “…stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely cure you to your face.” (v11).  To which the Lord replies, “Very well, then, everything he has is in your hands, but on the man himself do not lay a finger.” (v12).  So Satan strips Job of 500 yoke of oxen plowing and 500 donkeys grazing and the servants with them through an attack from his enemies.   Before this servant who escaped can finish delivering the message another appears with the message that his 7,000 sheep and servants were burned up by the fire of God which fell from the sky.  Before this servant, again the sole survivor, could finish his message another appeared saying 3,000 camels were carried off an all the servants put to death by a raiding party.  While he was still speaking another servant, yet again the only survivor, relays the message that his 7 sons and 3 daughters were all killed when the house they were in collapsed from the wind.  In short, most all of what Job has is devastated in a matter of minutes.  Job tears his robe and shaves his head and falls down to the ground in worship saying, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart.  The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.”  Satan returned to the Lord and God asks him if he has considered Job who “…still maintains his integrity though you incited me against him to ruin him without any reason.”  (2:3).  Satan responds that Job will give all he has for his life and if God were to stretch out His hand and strike his flesh Job would surely curse God to His face.  God tells Satan, “Very well, then, he is in your hands; but you must spare his life.” (v6).  Satan then afflicts Job with painful sores from foot to head.  Job’s wife said to him, “Are you still holding on to your integrity?  Curse God and die!” (v8).  Job replies, “You are talking like a foolish woman.  Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?”  (v10).  Scripture tells us, “In all this, Job did not sin in what he said.”  (v10).

Job wrestles with the fundamental question, “How can God be good if He has allowed this to happen to me?”  The answer, I believe, lies in the all-knowing wisdom of God.  What looks good to us (a peaceful and financially prosperous life) is not always what is good for us.  God cares more about our character and who we are becoming than He does about how peaceful and financially prosperous we are, unless by prosperous you mean spiritually prosperous.  God uses adversity to help shape our character and to remind us we are dependent on Him for all our needs.  He uses it to build up our faith.  We have a choice in the middle of adversity: have faith in God or question God.  God does not guarantee we will understand everything He does, but He does guarantee us that He is good (1 Chr 16:34, Ps 25:7, 34:8, 100:5, 145:9, Nahum 1:7).  While we would never wish hardship on people, we know that God uses all things in our lives no matter where they came from (Rom 8:28) and He will accomplish His will no matter what comes.

Here is the point: God does not guarantee us a trouble-free life if we follow him.  Scripture tells us in 2 Tim 3:12, “In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.”  Now if we are experiencing hardship, we must ask God to help us discern the source.  There are several possibilities here:¹  1. We live in a sin-scarred world were bad things happen to good people.  2. As a consequence of our own sin.  3. As a result of the Satan’s work.  4.  Persecution from non-believers.  5.  We are sharing in Christ’s suffering 1 Pet 2:20-21.  6. God is using our hardship to discipline and grow us.  7. God is using persecution to further His message (consider Christ and the martyrs Heb12:3).  If we are experiencing hardship because of sin, repent.  If we are experiencing hardship because of Satan and/or non-believers or a sin-scarred world, we can pray for God’s deliverance while asking Him if this is ours to endure.  If we are experiencing hardship and believe it to be His permissive will allowing it, then we know He is treating us as sons and daughters using adversity to strengthen our faith in Him.  Read 1 Peter 1:3-9.  Now let’s look at Hebrews 12:5-11:

5 And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons: "My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, 6 because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son." 7 Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? 8 If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. 9 Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live! 10 Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. 11 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

God is always at work in the middle of your hardship.  He uses all things for the good of those who love Him (Rom 8:28).  Note not all things come from Him, but He uses them in our lives anyway.  What an awesome God!  Think of Paul in prison, beaten, stoned and left for dead, but He knew that He was in the will of God.  Think of Joseph sold into slavery and in prison wondering about if God’s dream would ever come to be.  But what they meant for evil God used for good (Gen 50:20).  I’ll bet there were moments of question in the middle of the hardship, though.  Think of  Moses, David, the prophets, the disciples – Scripture is filled with people who endured hardship and found the blessing of God.

When hardship hits here are some pointers for how to respond:² 1. Believe God cares for you deeply (Rom 8:37-39, Ps 23).  2. Turn to God in prayer and seek His face (Ps 27, 40, 130).  3. Expect God to give you the grace necessary (1 Cor 10:13, 2 Cor 12:7-10).  4. Read the Word of God, especially Psalms of comfort (Ps 11, 16, 23, 27, 40, 46, 61, 91, 121, 125, 138). 5. Ask God for discernment through prayer, Scripture, Holy Spirit’s voice, and advice from a mature believer.

Lord God Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, help us in our adversity.  Help us know we are your children and you are our all-powerful God.  Help us to know how you are using these times in our lives.  We look to you for our answer even if the way out is through.  Comfort us and help us grow into the mature followers you desire us to be.  Help us to hold fast to you no matter what comes our way.  We choose to put our hope, trust, and faith in You, even if we don’t understand why we find ourselves in the circumstances of our lives.  You are the awesome, all-powerful, all-knowing, all-present, gracious, merciful, just, and loving God.  We trust in You!

Amen!

Footnotes

¹ Stamps, Donald C., and John Wesley Adams. "The Suffering of the Righteous." Life in the Spirit Study Bible: New International Version. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2003. 720-722. Print.

 ² Stamps, Donald C., and John Wesley Adams. "The Suffering of the Righteous." Life in the Spirit Study Bible: New International Version. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2003. 720-722. Print.

References

All Scriptures not specified are quoted from Life in the Spirit Study Bible (NIV). Stamps, Donald C., and John Wesley Adams. Life in the Spirit Study Bible: New International Version. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2003. Print.