No longer all that strong

Yesterday we began to look at embracing change before it becomes a requirement to change. While we all know we resist change in various ways, we ALL resist it sometimes. The more comfortable we become with some choice we are making, the easier it is for us to make that choice time and time again. The more we desire to change that choice, the harder it can become. Hence, we need Jesus and the Holy Spirit to help us embrace change. Good change is encouraged - change that still leaves us somewhere short of the 'bullseye' in a spiritual sense just isn't cutting it. Change to be like Jesus - don't change to be like the world around you!

Don’t change yourselves to be like the people of this world, but let God change you inside with a new way of thinking. Then you will be able to understand and accept what God wants for you. You will be able to know what is good and pleasing to him and what is perfect. (Romans 12:2)

Knowing what is good is probably easier than we might think since we are given lots of examples in scripture, have the Holy Spirit to help guide our conscience, and even have God's Word to help us sort out good from bad. Choosing to do good all of the time isn't easy because we have this little thing called the 'will' that gets in the way at times. We struggle at the level of our 'willpower' so many times. We somehow think our own power will be enough to bring about right choices, but then we find ourselves falling somewhere short of those right choices.

The human will is not sufficient to resist temptation, though. Try as we might, we somehow choose things that make us 'feel good' but may not be the lasting kind of 'good feeling' that comes when we make a choice to live in obedience to the revealed will of God. Like it or not, life on this earth will always involve a struggle between our will (influenced by the things this world says will be 'good' for us) and God's will (bringing us out of this world's pursuits and into the pursuits of his Kingdom life). Willpower seldom produces 'internal' change - it is temporary, usually influenced by our feelings, and is often produces some other form of conflict within us.

God's will isn't just going to one day 'manifest' in our lives. We must make active choices to resist the things that are temporary or fleeting and choose rather to pursue that which remains, is well-founded, and has a transformational aspect - the things God offers through is Son, Jesus Christ. Living in a way that actually 'craves' internal change in the areas of our character that don't actually help us make right choices is not for the 'strong willed'. In fact, those who are willing to admit their will is weak are those God can transform the easiest! Just sayin!

More than surviving

Help us defeat the enemy! No one on earth can rescue us. Only God can make us strong. Only God can defeat our enemies! (Psalm 108:12-13)

Defeat:  To prevail over, vanquish, overcome in battle; to frustrate or thwart; to eliminate or cut off from what was expected.  We can all remember times when we seemed to be vanquished by some force bigger, more difficult to resist than our own abilities could handle.  Those moments invoked fear in us, or perhaps just plain sadness and a sense of helplessness as we stood there under the attack of whatever it was.  This sense of overwhelming frustration can overcome us with such force we almost cannot stand under the weight of it. I don't think these are times God intends for us to face alone!  In fact, he will help us defeat our enemies if we just ask him to and then stand assured in his help.

There is no power on this earth stronger than our God.  He is able to thwart the craftiest of plans laid against us - whether they be plans in the realm of our finances, health, or mental strength.  He is the one to make us strong. We don't find strength from somewhere within - because we don't possess the natural strength to be able to withstand the pressure mounting within, nor the stresses coming at us from without.  There is no one on earth capable of providing rescue - it is only by God's hand and according to his plan that we realize our deliverance.

I think there is no greater joy God receives than to actually hear us utter those words indicating we need his help.  To actually acknowledge that we are not going to "go this one alone" is something which gives him delight - not because he wants a bunch of mamby-pamby followers, but because he wants us to rest in him, ceasing from our own efforts to overcome what presses in against us. That dependence upon God doesn't mean we are weak, but that we have learned to trust and rest! You know this is beginning to occur when you are not calculating the ways you can thwart the attack, but rather find yourself leaning into God's graces a little harder and with excited expectation.  The attack is still quite real, but the anticipation of it defeating you is not!  In fact, you see quite the opposite effect - you see the plans of the enemy thwarted. This doesn't mean you know "how" the enemy will be thwarted, but just that you "know" it because you are trusting God with the plans and not yourself.

When the enemy is tightly closing in around you, the "war" seems like more than your can handle, this is when you need to talk yourself into trusting God and not your own efforts.  Our first response to "big issues" is often that of fear. God made us with this fight or flight response - we either will rise up when feeling threatened, or we will want to run away - both are equally "defensive" postures we may take.  To do something different requires us to center our attention and energies in a different "place" - we place those attentions and energies squarely in the hands of God.  This takes us "commanding" our attention to be on God and not the problem at hand. This is why David begins with praise and worship - to get his mind centered on God.  Where the mind goes, the heart will follow.  Where the heart is solidly directed, the outcomes will be different!  Just sayin!

Shaken to the Core

You have come to Jesus, the one who mediates the new covenant between God and people, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks of forgiveness instead of crying out for vengeance like the blood of Abel. Be careful that you do not refuse to listen to the One who is speaking. (Hebrews 12:24-25)

We can refuse to change our minds - determined that we know what is best for our lives, but when we determine to never allow our hearts to be changed, there is no hope for our minds! The mind change occurs because of the heart change. We may not understand the connection between the two, but it exists. To live a transformed life requires a yielded heart and a mind renewed.

To refuse is to make a determination that we will not accept or do something. We actually demand our own way whenever we refuse. To refuse God's invitation leaves us in a very dangerous place, though. All will be shaken, but will all stand? Only those who have their lives built upon a solid foundation will be unshakeable. Do you have an unshakeable mind and heart? 

"Keep your feet on the ground, but let your heart soar as high as it will. Refuse to be average or to surrender to the chill of your spiritual environment." (Arthur Helps) Is your heart soaring as high as possible? That ability comes only when we give ourselves to Christ. We may think we are 'flying high' above life's miseries and problems but trust me on this one - we don't have any idea how high we can soar until we take wings with Christ at the controls!

Too many times we choose to 'surrender to the chill of our spiritual environment' - allowing our hearts to grow cold and our minds be swayed by the emerging thoughts of the day. Allow Christ to take control of your heart and what will emerge may not be the 'latest trend or fad', but a living hope and some very well-grounded actions. Some believe they will never be shaken, but ALL will be shaken. How will you stand when all around you is shaking? Just asking...

A submissive action

God makes his people strong. God gives his people peace. (Psalm 29:11)

Strength is definitely something we strive for, hold onto for dear life, and which often seems to evade us in the moments we need it most. Brute force by which we can do some things is not always the right kind of strength, is it? We probably have all passed around a jar of some condiment or pickles at one time or another, each taking turns trying to get the lid undone so we might enjoy what is inside. It goes from person to person, until someone in their wisdom takes a tact of hitting the lid ever so squarely on the side of the sink, allowing the seal to be broken, then gingerly uncaps the jar. What most of us did was rely upon our physical strength, but what the last one did was to rely upon their wisdom to figure out the solution to the problem! We have both mental and physical strength - both sometimes evading us more than we'd desire to admit! There is another type of strength which sometimes evades us just as much - we might call it moral strength, or perhaps spiritual strength. Some might think of this as courage, or the ability to withstand all manner of attack. This may be the hardest kind of "strength" to develop and one which seems to elude us most when we need it.

God makes his people strong. Don't miss the word "makes". It isn't God "developing" strength in us because we exercise some spiritual muscle or moral fibers. It is him "making" us strong through a variety of means - none of which we can take credit for when it is all said and done. Go to the gymnasium and engage in isotonic and isometric exercise and you might develop some pretty substantial physical muscles. You did the work - the muscles are a result of your efforts. Read some books, apply the knowledge contained within, and you might just develop some mental strength - the ability to figure out tough stuff. You did the work - the mental ability came because you applied the knowledge, battled through the mess of wrong answers, until you got to the place where you figured out the solution to the problem. On the other hand, spiritual strength is really a result of what we stop doing in order to gain it! Spiritual strength comes not from us taking control of the situation and showing our "might", but it comes in laying down our control and seeing God's might displayed through us. 

It is by a submissive act that spiritual strength is developed - not in a resistive action! Physical and mental strength come because we resist something. In going after physical strength, we apply resistance to our muscles to see them stretched and built up. In the pursuit of mental strength, we try this solution and that one until we come to a place of getting it right. We resist the urge to give up until we find the right answer. In the development of spiritual strength, it is God who "makes" us strong - not because we employ the tactic of resistance, but because we employ the attitude of submission. Strength is the capacity to manifest energy, to endure, and to resist. The strength God gives to us provides a tremendous amount of spiritual energy - to keep us going when we find the circumstances too difficult to endure any longer in our own ability. If you have a flat piece of material, you don't just drape that around your body and call it a garment. You carefully cut out several pieces, fashioning it into a shirt complete with two arms, a couple of pockets, some buttons to hold it closed, and a collar to give it some style. You "made" it from the materials at hand, but you added to it what it lacked in its original form. You gave it new structure by adding in the thread and buttons. You may have added a little sizing to give the collar a little firmness. In essence, you could have worn the material and called it a shirt, but when you cut away at the material and sewed it into the new garment, you made it become a shirt!

God "makes" us strong in much the same way. We are like unformed material. We serve a purpose as material - but we serve a divine purpose once his hands fashion our material into something still very recognizable as the "basic" material, but quite well "pieced together" to form something not previously recognizable in the "flatness" of our unformed material. God's strength comes as we "lay down" our desire to be unformed material and begin to allow his hands to fashion us into what it is he designs for us. Just sayin!

Bullies cannot get us down

Train me, God, to walk straight; then I’ll follow your true path. Put me together, one heart and mind; then, undivided, I’ll worship in joyful fear. From the bottom of my heart I thank you, dear Lord; I’ve never kept secret what you’re up to. You’ve always been great toward me—what love! You snatched me from the brink of disaster! God, these bullies have reared their heads! A gang of thugs is after me— and they don’t care a thing about you. But you, O God, are both tender and kind, not easily angered, immense in love, and you never, never quit. So look me in the eye and show kindness, give your servant the strength to go on, save your dear, dear child! Make a show of how much you love me so the bullies who hate me will stand there slack-jawed, as you, God, gently and powerfully put me back on my feet. (Psalm 86:11-17)

Character traits are the things that actually "reflect" better than any "image" we see of ourselves in the mirror on our wall. Justice and Joyfulness are two such traits - ones that must be purposefully cultivated, or they just won't be there naturally. Justice is really another way of saying we live in such a manner so as to display right conduct, not just when it suits us, but all of the time in all of our dealings on this earth. We are to be equitable in treating others as God has treated us. This seems a little too easy for us to simply respond, "Check", and move on. Let me assure you, living "just" lives is a lot harder than some of the other traits we might develop over time! Because it deals with the behaviors of others, often in reflection of the way they have treated us, it is one of the hardest ones to master! In society today, the "bullies" are abounding. Do you know what a bully is? It is someone who "badgers" another person because they think the other person is actually WEAKER than they are! They see the other person as "smaller" or "less significant". Isn't this just the way people who don't serve the Lord see Christians? They almost shake their head in disbelief that we'd need some kind of "crutch" like Jesus to get through life! Let me assure those of you who might have been told Jesus was some "crutch" you needed in life - he is life itself, not just some "support" we lean upon because we are momentarily lame!

The times when "justice" becomes evident in our lives are those when our fellow men see an area of "weakness" in our lives as an opportunity to focus their attack. Most of us already know very well where our areas of weakness are, and we have something our enemy doesn't know about - God's strength manifest in the very spot our weakness shines through! Don't bemoan the bullying of your attackers - see their attack as the very moment God will be totally on display in your life. Justice will prevail - first in your own life, and then in your dealings with those who seek to intimidate, demean, tear down, cause havoc to abound, and just simply make your life miserable! Learn to rely upon the one thing which always remains consistent - even in your inconsistency. That one thing is God's character - his grace, kindness, gentleness and even his power. Ask God to set YOUR path straight - to have YOUR mind and heart put together, undivided and determined. This is where justice begins - with us being set straight! When our hearts and minds are blameless, we stand strong in the midst of whatever the "bullies" throw our way. We will not be dependent upon the circumstances of life in determining what gives US happiness in life - we will be joyful in the justice of God, first toward us, then toward our enemies. Go ahead, ask God - 'make a show of how much you love me, God'. Have you ever faced some of the toughest enemies of your life and prayed that God would just put himself on display in your life in all his fullness and glory? When you do, he is honored to answer that prayer!

Justice and joyfulness really are inter-related, just as so many of our other "character traits" come to be 'related'. Whenever we begin to see our weakness as God's opportunity, we also might just count on our "bullying" friends to see it as their opportunity to attack where we are the weakest. In those moments of attack, God is really putting us together, giving us the integrity to stand strong, and letting his justice shine through. In those times, we stand in joyful awe of what God does, how he uses us to shut down the bullies, and just how much power he puts on display where we only saw the extremes of weakness. Our psalmist notes it is God who will "put him back on his feet". This might just indicate every "pushing around" we get from the "bullying enemies" in our lives won't leave us standing quite as strong as we hoped. In those times, take heart - God is there to help you back onto your feet when you get 'pushed down'. Relationship "bullies" abound - some push us down a little more than we'd like. God stands at the ready to help us back up on our feet again. We only need to rely upon his outstretched hand to pull us up. Financial "bullies" taunt and toy with us - his providing hand is at the ready. Health "bullies" plague us with worries galore - his carefully tender hand is at the ready to soothe our pain and ease our worries. We do "get down" in life but remembering there is a difference between happiness and joyfulness may just be the key to where we look when we are "down". We may be down, but not for the count! Just sayin!

Comfortable in my own skin

True confessions this morning - I spent a great deal of my youth and young adult life trying to 'fit in'. Have you ever tried to "fit into" some other person's image of you? I wasn't comfortable in my own skin - trying to always be something that I just wasn't. Do you know how miserable you can be when you try to 'fit' and you just 'don't'? You allow the "remake" because you figure you need an improvement on what it is you already have. What you and I fail to recognize is that you usually "fit" pretty well because you are exactly how God made you! Jeans and comfortable shoes are who I am - not frilly, painted, and bound up! David, a young shepherd boy, planned to go out against Goliath with nothing more than outfitted as a "shepherd". King Saul tried to "outfit David as a soldier in armor". David couldn't even move in the stuff King Saul tried to 'put on him'! He could barely take a step forward, much less maneuver well in battle! Sometimes this is how we feel when we are told to "outfit" ourselves with something other than who and what we are - for there is no freedom of movement when we aren't true to ourselves!

Then David took his shepherd’s staff, selected five smooth stones from the brook, and put them in the pocket of his shepherd’s pack, and with his sling in his hand approached Goliath. (I Samuel 17:4)

David had learned a great deal on the backside of the pasture lands as he tended the sheep. They included slaying lions and bears - not for sport, but because they were trying to steal one of his sheep. Isn't this exactly what is happening when Goliath stood there taunting Israel - he was "attacking" the sheep! David knew if he was to face this giant with any chance at successfully defeating him, it would have to be by the methods he had used in the past - for those obstacles he had overcome became the foundation of his faith in this moment - they were 'proven'. David had every weapon available to him that was used by the armies of the day. He chose his own "outfitting". The shepherd's staff, his familiar cloak belted closely around his waist, and his small leather pouch and the leather sling. It seemed meagerly in the eyes of all who saw him approach the giant that day. Isn't this just the way it is when others see us face our giants with what it is God has made us familiar with? They don't know the usefulness of the "tools" we have been given, nor do they know the "skill" required in their use. No wonder they doubt their ability in the hands of one familiar with their use!

I wondered why David took five small stones that day from among those lining the floor of the tiny brook. Why five? Why not one? After all, wasn't David a man of faith, operating under the anointing of God? This may not be biblical or theologically sound, but allow me some latitude here, will you? Think about what David may have been saying to himself and to us as he selected each and every one of those well-worn stones. As he placed the first one, the second, the third - he may have been saying something like this:

Stone 1: F - Father, into your hands I commit my ways
Stone 2: A - All I have learned at your feet I commit to you today
Stone 3: I - Increase what your servant lacks
Stone 4: T - Thank you for always being faithful to your servant
Stone 5: H - Hold me close to your heart as I face this giant

He only needed one, but which one of these stones did he NOT need as he was preparing to face the giant? He needed all five! He had to place himself securely into the Father's hands, taking upon himself all he had previously been taught, calling upon the amazing power of God to make up for what he lacked, gratefully acknowledging the faithfulness of his protector, and knowing without a doubt the most secure place was within hearing distance of the heartbeat of God. One stone felled the giant. Five stones steadied the heart of the "warrior". He was "outfitted" well and so are we - we just need to learn to feel comfortable in our own skin. Just sayin!

Not my will, but thine

Pressure is the exertion of force upon a surface by something in contact with it. When we use the term, "I am under a lot of pressure right now", we are simply saying, "There are a whole lot of EXTERNAL influences in CONTACT with my life right now". Something, or someone, comes into CONTACT with our lives - but they are not "invading" our inner life - their contact is on the surface! This may not be earth-shattering to some, but I think if we really begin to latch onto this, we may just see how much control we have over what actually can affect us on the "inside". It is what we 'let in' that matters - not so much how much EXTERNAL pressure we are under.

If you fail under pressure, your strength is too small. (Proverbs 24:10)

What we allow into "contact" with our lives will exert some kind of force against us. Even air exerts some kind of "force" upon that which it surrounds! We cannot escape the fact that things and sometimes people bring "pressure" of some kind! Try as we might, there is no way to live "pressure-free". The important thing to keep in focus is not that we will experience pressure, but how this "force" will impact us. The "force" something exerts is only on the surface - making what we have on the interior most important when it comes to 'resisting' force. If the right stuff is on the inside, the surface may take a little beating, but the force will not be able to breakdown the stuff on the inside. The "force" may put something "under pressure" beyond what the surface normally withstands, but if the interior is filled with the right stuff, the "resistance" to the pressure is greater.

We sometimes see pressure bringing out the best in ourselves and others. We might find pressure exposing the best in us - simply because the best stuff is really exposed by the force. If the right stuff is on the inside, even force won't be able to change that! God reminds us that our "strength" is revealed under pressure. Remember that strength is not just the ability to resist something on the surface, but it is designed to expose what is on the inside. Understanding pressure this way helps us to realize that what God plans for us to reveal is his strength, not our own. Whenever we think external forces have to be dealt with in our own strength, we are facing "pressure" with a resistance which in incapable of enduring the force. A "force" is any strength, power, or energy which is exerted upon the surface of something. I can "force" you to sit down, but if your spirit is really seeing yourself as standing up, have you really been seated? Not really - you have just given into the force, but everything in you remains rigidly resistive to the "force". Resistance is really application of an opposite strength. When life comes at us, demanding us to "sit down", God's strength gives us the strength to oppose the demand. The force exerted met an opposing strength it could not match! I wonder how much we might view pressure differently if we saw it as a means of exposing the opposite strength? Not the opposite strength we can muster from our own reasoning or tactical expertise, but the inner strength of being in the hands of God. When the opposite strength meets the external force, the source of the strength becomes evident. If it is our own "mustered" strength, it will soon yield to the force! Just sayin!

Stirred, but not shaken

We are living in troubling times. Our country is a mess, quite frankly, and we are seeing all manner of chaos as a result. We'd like fix blame for all the calamity we are experiencing right now with civil unrest, viral attacks on our bodies, and even failed fiber circuitry that cripples millions of cell phone users. We have to assume some of this blame ourselves. It isn't the government that is to blame for civil unrest - it is human nature at its worst. It isn't medical science or some evil terrorist group to blame for a virulent virus attacking our world right now - it is part of viral mutations that occur all the time and get an inroad into human hosts, oftentimes quite undetected until it is too late to stop the inevitable spread. It isn't one cell service provider to blame for the massive outage in service - it is likely our overuse of these devices we have come to rely upon that tax an aging system of very intricate circuitry. "Fixing blame" isn't really something we like to do especially when the blame points in any direction close to where we stand or sit right now! We don't like all these worries, so if we can 'blame' someone else for them, it somehow takes the pressure off of us. The truth of the matter is there will always be worries and cares beyond our ability to control and when they come, no matter how they come, we will have no greater source of strength in dealing with them than to take them to Jesus as they come!

Give all your cares to the Lord and He will give you strength. He will never let those who are right with Him be shaken. (Psalm 55:22)

Give all your cares - this is an action, not something passively accomplished. We actually have to take what it is we are worrying over right now and cease holding onto them. We have to give them over to Jesus and this is harder for us than most of us would like to admit. We don't like to be 'out of control' in our lives and somehow 'turning things over to Jesus' just seems like it won't be quick enough, done the way we'd expect it to be done, or a combination of both! To 'give' one's cares to Jesus is more than a simple prayer telling Jesus what we are worrying about right now. I can tell you a whole bunch of stuff is bothering me, but until I allow you to actually take on something that is bothering me, removing it from my 'plate of worries', and then allow you to set about putting yourself behind taking care of the issue, I am just telling you about my worries. I haven't turned them over and actually released myself from needing to control the outcome. When I let you go about taking care of the worry for me, I am letting go and in the end, the results will not be my doing - they will be yours, but I will reap the benefits! As we turn stuff over to Jesus and truly let him work on the issues at hand, we are going to see the benefits.

He will give you strength - our giving away isn't going to leave us devoid of anything. In fact, we 'get' more than we 'give' each and every time we turn something over to Jesus. He gives us strength - beyond our abilities and definitely beyond our problem's depth, breadth, or width! God's 'bandwidth' isn't limited like ours is - his is infinite! There are no 'outages' in his power - it is without fail. His answer to unrest is something we cannot produce in our own strength - it is peace and that isn't ever found in our abilities, but in his presence. In the end, what shakes us to the core will no longer be able to shake us. His strength and peace is 'foundation' for our soul - it gives us 'strong fibers' that aren't easily torn apart or shaken until they become weak and crumble. His strength isn't superficial - it is deeply worked into the fibers of our being until we are 'solid' and 'upright'. Want to not be shaken by what we see going on around us today? Then give those cares to him - his strength will come in waves of grace and peace over and over again until we no longer feel 'shaken' by all the world hurls our way. Just sayin!

Fair isn't always fair

Have you ever heard someone say, "That wasn't a fair fight"? In terms of "fairness" they were looking at the two parties in the fight and seeing if they were "matched up" evenly. When I was young, Dad liked to watch an occasional boxing match on TV - it was a pretty big deal back then. There was always lots of talk about "heavyweight", "lightweight", "welterweight", and "featherweight" - something I just never really understood, but knew it meant how someone was matched with someone else. The term described their overall weight - giving the boxer a "competitive class" ensured they were not pitting a man over 175 pounds with a man of 130 pounds. This was designed to give a man a "fighting chance" at winning. Each of the fighters had someone in their "corner" who fulfilled the role of their "trainer". This individual had the responsibility to keep track of how the other guy was throwing his punches and then alert the fighter how to counter those punches. In life, it just isn't this easy, is it? The "fights" just don't seem truly "fair" - it isn't as though we are always aligned with someone else in our "competitive class". Wouldn't it be nice to never have to fight in an "unfair fight"? In terms of "fairness", we often feel outnumbered, outwitted, and outdone!

Blessed be God, my mountain, who trains me to fight fair and well. He's the bedrock on which I stand, the castle in which I live, my rescuing knight, the high crag where I run for dear life, while he lays my enemies low. (Psalm 144:1-2 MSG)

I think we often forget we have the best "trainer" of all in our corner! We have been given the Holy Spirit as our "trainer" - preparing us for each and every swing the enemy will take in our lives. We do well to remember he teaches us to fight fair AND to fight well! Just as the trainer in the corner of the ring, watching each swing, following the footwork, and adding up the sequences the other fighter is using, the Holy Spirit is "calculating" the preparation we need for each fight we enter into. Sometimes we don't feel like doing a whole lot of "training". We want to skim the Word of God, hoping something might just sink in. We hope an hour in church each week will lift our spirits. We turn on the worship music on the way to work hoping it will fill our minds with peace before the chaos begins. Then we wonder why the punches seem to be coming in such rapid succession and we seem to be unable to dodge them! Well, it is all about the 'quality' of the preparation.

He's the bedrock on which I stand. Did you realize the bedrock level of rock is the lowest, most stable level of rock - simply because it is unbroken by anything. God provides foundation for our lives, but we have to stand upon what has been provided in order to realize the safety and security of the bedrock. In other words, we cannot climb to the cliffs until we are sure about the bedrock below. He's the castle in which we live. He is a place of shelter. I don't know much about castles (there aren't any in my neighborhood), but those I have seen on TV seem to be big, have lots of room, and are really well-built places able to endure the changes of time. This is our God - really big, able to endure the changes of time, and there is lots of room in his shelter for both you and me! It isn't a visit to the castle that makes us strong - we have to live there! Casual relationship with our trainer will never yield the same results as living with him 24-hours a day, 7 days a week!

He is a rescuing knight. Gals, have you ever wanted a knight in shining armor? Guess what? You have one! Guys, have you ever wanted a man of valor as an example? You have one! His mission is to keep us out of the place of danger - but, knowing us like he does, he is there to rescue when we wander into stuff too much for us to handle! Just some thoughts on "fighting fair" this morning! It may not seem like a fair fight to our enemy, or to us at times, but God is in our corner! When he is, no one and nothing can stand against him! Listen to your trainer - he knows the fight ahead and has calculated the moves you must take to overcome! Just sayin!

More than just a nice feeling

Winston Churchill once said, "Without courage, all other virtues lose their meaning." C.S. Lewis echoed his words when he penned, "Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point." I used to have a pastor who always said you needed to stand for something or you'd stand for nothing. Some refer to this as 'steel-strong' convictions. Steel in your convictions - what does this mean?

It is clear to us, friends, that God not only loves you very much but also has put his hand on you for something special. When the Message we preached came to you, it wasn't just words. Something happened in you. The Holy Spirit put steel in your convictions. (I Thessalonians 1:3-5)

God's hand is on us for something special. We serve a God who is not only supernatural, but he actually influences us to move beyond the natural into the abundance of all he is! Our holy and mighty God wants us to live in the abundance he knows! It is this very encouragement which gives us transforming power to live with courage in times of uncertainty. When God begins to pour into our lives, he is "pouring" into us the "right stuff" - not just stuff that will 'make do'. "When the Message we preached came to you, it wasn't just words." The Word of God NEVER returns to God void - spoken over and into our lives means what our lives produce will not be 'void' of value, either. When it is spoken, believed, and stood upon, it carries such a degree of transforming power that one cannot resist the transformation that is occurring.

C.S. Lewis hit the nail on the head - God gives us courage - not the regular stuff, but the ability to stand even when every one of our other virtues is being put to the test, stretched beyond belief, and seemingly pulling us inside out. Something happens when our virtues are put to the test - we come away stronger! This is not in our natural ability, but in the supernatural strength and grace of our holy God. Since the 1600's, the meaning of "convictions" has come to stand for any belief we stand convinced of in our lives. It is something we "hang our hat on" when the tough stuff begins to happen. I don't know about you, but there are times when my convictions don't actually match my behavior. Congruence (agreement) between my convictions and my behaviors is something which comes when I submit my convictions to God, allowing him to mold them to be conformed to the basis of truth.

Hardly a day passes which does not present us with some opportunity to have our convictions put to the test. We face uncertainties galore - putting to test our trust in the one who makes all things good. We come close to losing our hold on reality - almost choosing to believe the taunting lies of our enemy instead of the wholly proven Word of God. We refuse to "chance" love again - because someone who is hurt finds it almost impossible to reach out again in transparent abandon to another.
In these moments, God stands at the ready to put "steel in our convictions". When these convictions are solidly based on the Word of God - the truth - we can stand strong, head held high, and heart open to those who walk this pathway with us. God's hand is indeed upon us for something special - in his touch comes the "steel" to make it through - not just by the skin of our teeth, but with deep-seated assurance in the one we put our trust in. The next time you feel your "courage" waning - look up! It is in choosing to see God in the moment that we feel the infilling of his strength to face the unknown. Just sayin!

Iron-Deficiency

The Word of God can become an intensive training tool in our life - - we CAN come to rely upon hearing it, using it in practical ways to assist with the day-to-day decisions of life, and leaning on it when no answer seems apparent. It can become our source because we have come to know the one who stands behind it! Did you ever stop to think that the Word of God might just put a little 'iron in your soul'? I wonder how many of us might just suffer from 'iron-deficiency' now and again, having neglected to take in the Word, making it part of our daily intake?

I'm homesick, God, for your salvation; I love it when you show yourself! Invigorate my soul so I can praise you well, use your decrees to put iron in my soul. And should I wander off like a lost sheep—seek me! I'll recognize the sound of your voice. (Psalm 119:174-176)

You can ask God to "put iron" in your soul - there is nothing wrong with this request. When we think of the soul, we are reminded it encompasses our mind, will and emotions. We are just asking God to give a certain steadiness, a strength to our thoughts, our choices, and our emotions. Whenever iron is used as a symbol in scripture, it really pictures unyielding determination. Let our heart be determined to allow God to impact our inner man so our outer man always gives a solid testimony of God's grace in our life!

Did you ever consider the make-up of iron? It is not a pure metal - but the very fact it is impure makes it malleable. The metal we call iron is really a very strong metal - rigid almost. We all go through rough spells in which we see a little bit of our "metal" revealed. Our rigidity toward sin becomes apparent in taking that first step in the direction of sin's pull. Our rigidity toward grace becomes equally apparent when we cry out, "Create in me a clean heart, O God! And renew a right spirit in me!" It is the impurity of our heart which brings us repeatedly back to the throne of grace!

We each individually make the resolve to allow God to affect our thoughts, so our actions will be pure, and our emotions will be balanced so our response to life would become more directed and focused. We petition God to "seek us" - not because we ever plan to wander off, but because we know we all have a tendency to do so! We should all be this honest in our appraisal of commitment to living obedient lives! We all have the tendency to have a little "iron" in our character - rigid toward one form of sin or another!

Here's the awesome part of this - God seeks us! We wander - he seeks us until we realize we have been found! Sometimes, I think we come to a place where we feel "found out" - not just found! Either way, he did the seeking! The encouragement found in this passage is the very last truth - we WILL recognize his voice! It is distinctive and clear! There is no wavering or inconsistency in his voice! Perhaps this makes it so very recognizable to the wayward one!

Jesus used a similar illustration when he taught his disciples one day, telling them his sheep knew his voice! He illustrated another parable of one wandering sheep, alone from the flock, and a shepherd focused on finding one lonely sheep. The sheep who wandered was once part of the flock! The shepherd had 100 sheep, 99 stayed right with him, one wandered away. This speaks to me of the ease of making one small decision after another which takes us out of the safety of living close to him!

We can know the heart of God. In turn, God gives us insight into his own heart. We can count on this being true in our lives - through grace. God delights in us knowing the "rigidity" of our heart - it is only in recognizing our lack of being yielded that we come to the place of acknowledging our need. May your heart always be yielded, your soul made strong with the Lord's protection, and your mind filled with the peace which comes from knowing God is in control! Just sayin!

Still there?

We can AFFIRM or REASSURE - both have a little different meaning. Affirm refers to remaining true to that which has been promised, such as confirming or ratifying an agreement. WE all want to know that we have the confirmation that God's promises will remain true for all time. Reassure carries the idea of being encouraged again by those promises. When one is reassured, there is a confidence that what has been promised will indeed come to pass. There is a difference between the promises God makes and the ones we make to God - most of the time it is in the fact we never 'ratify' the agreement! At best, our own promises are marginal - we seem to vary our commitment to them with the changing of circumstances in our lives. The tougher things are, the more we draw into God. The converse is true - the better things seem to be going, the less intent we may be at honoring those promises we made in the tougher times. Isn't it reassuring that we don't have a God that is "situational" in his promise keeping. He makes them to all who fear him - he fulfills them to all who fear him - they are 'ratified' through and through!

Reassure me of your promise, made to those who fear you. Help me abandon my shameful ways; for your regulations are good. I long to obey your commandments! Renew my life with your goodness.
(Psalm 119:38-40)

There are times we need to deflect stuff and others when the best action is just to abandon them completely. When we deflect, we are turning aside from something that seems to be coming straight at us so that it misses us totally. We get out of the way of the thing and it doesn't affect us as a result. God delights in helping us to "turn aside" from those attacks that come our way. Abandon carries the idea of giving up completely so as not to take it up again. We had it in hand and now it is time to let it go. God will ensure that our "attackers" abandon (give up) their course of attack against us - but we have to be willing to abandon them. We will always have critics in life - it is human nature to criticize what we don't understand! We have a unique opportunity to allow God to act as our shield against those attacks of doubt, criticisms of faith, and accusations of guilt. In so doing, we allow God to protect us from the things that could easily get us off course with him. Ask God to HELP you to abandon your shameful ways. We doesn't want to keep doing the same shameful things - these only serve to weigh us down with guilt.

Hunger and longing are similar, but slightly different really. Hunger carries the idea of a compelling need. Hunger for God's Word and his wisdom is developed more and more as we lean into God so that we only receive God's counsel. In so doing, we are counting on God's assistance to help us walk in obedience to that revealed counsel. Longing is really a persistent desire - it is not easily satisfied. When we have that kind of persistent desire, we usually do everything we can to see it is fulfilled! There are all kinds of hunger, but we each count on God to help us sort out the good hunger from the hunger that just isn't going to result in good things for our lives. Yearn to be obedient and lay that yearning at God's feet. In so doing, we are asking God to help us with that compelling need - a need we are incapable of meeting in our natural ability.

If an object is preserved, some would say that it is kept alive. In the case of brain death, the brain can no longer sustain the life of the body without the assistance of machines. In these cases, the patient may be an organ donor. If that is the case, every attempt is made to "keep alive" the organs of the donor via the machines until they can be harvested and given to the intended recipient. Preserve means to "keep up" - not allowing something to fall into disrepair. Our life is bound to fall apart if God is not actively engaged in preserving us from our own "hell-bent" course. Renew means to "begin again" - as in taking up something again that might have been laid down for a while. It is the idea of resuming something - that means we have begun but not finished yet. It has the additional meaning of being replenished. There is great satisfaction for those who are asking God to replenish there commitment to walk in his ways and his ways alone.

God listens when we lay our needs out before him. If we are struggling, he stands ready to step in. If we are shamed by our missteps, he comes along to set us on course again. If there is pressure to conform to standards not always the best for us, he outlines the best way again so we are clear on what it is. If we just need to begin again, he is the God of new beginnings (no matter how many times we have to begin). God's commitment to those that fear him is that we will not fall into a state of disrepair! Thank him for his continued care - even when we aren't crying out for his help, he is still there! Just sayin!