God's Grace is Sufficient!

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. II Corinthians 12:9

Ever have a period of time in your life where it seems at every turn it’s a struggle, or life just doesn’t seem to be going your way? Times like this seem to come my way every now and then as life assaults me from every direction. Recently, just getting going in the morning turned into an ordeal that seemed to never end. I’m not talking about having a bad day, I’m suggesting a string of bad days that seem to stack up together. Every time I turned around, something went wrong or it didn’t turn out like I thought it would. I found myself starting to feel sorry for myself and began thinking of ways to make myself feel better. Well, as I was in “pity party” mode the other day, my mind turned towards heaven and part of the verse above, “My grace is sufficient” popped into my thoughts. I started a thought process of wondering how this verse would apply to all the things that had been happening to me recently.

Prior to verse nine, Paul said he had asked the Lord to remove this “thorn” that he had. God’s response was not to remove it as Paul had requested, but that he would continually supply him with grace to endure it. The weaker the human, the more clearly God’s grace shines fourth.

After a little digging, on the word “grace” I came across II Timothy 2:1 You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.

Paul was telling Timothy to overcome his apparent drift toward weakness and to renew his commitment to his ministry. He then goes on to two examples of what our part is in receiving this grace. Verse 5: as an athlete competes within the rules, we to  need to obey the Word of God in the pursuit of spiritual victory. Verse 6: as a farmer labors hard for his crop, we should not be lazy but work hard with a view of the coming of the Lord.

Peter talks about growing in grace in II Peter 3:17-18 Therefore, dear friends, since you already know this, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of lawless men and fall from your secure position. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.

Peter tells us we are to be on guard not to be led astray by false teaching. Also pursuing Christian maturity and a deepening knowledge of the Lord Jesus will lead  us to doctrinal stability and prevent  us from being led astray.

Wow, where had I been? Total horizontal focus on my part! Being led astray by my own human flesh and tempted by worldly attacks! But praise the Lord, I’m brought back to reality through His word and the working of the Holy Spirit. In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade-kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith-of greater worth than gold, which perishes even through refined by fire-may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls. I Peter 1: 3-9

So, all my human weaknesses ultimately bring praise, glory and honor to God because through His grace, His power is made perfect through my weakness. Through His grace my salvation is protected, through His grace my continued and growing faith is evidence of His keeping power. It is He the Sheppard that brings me back to walk with Him.

Vertical focus, not horizontal. All praise and glory be to God!

What’s in your heart?

I can not, at this moment think of anything I could gain (as far as change goes) from examining my sinful behavior and asking why I do it, to refrain from that behavior.

Looking back over 20 years ago when I had started a “recovery” process from 20 years of alcohol and drug addiction I was taught that in order to change my “dysfunctional” (sinful) behaviors I needed to understand why I related in “dysfunctional” (sinful) ways towards others. I was encouraged to reflect on the environment I grew up in, discern how I responded to those surroundings, and understand that  the sinful ways I learned to relate to others became sinful habits which I needed to change to righteous habits. (They had the conclusion right anyway)

I guess I have likely gained some sort of wisdom and change along the way by that process (in which I read many, many, Christian and secular self-help books-some good-some not so good), but since then I have come to learn that my behavior to any given situation is a direct result of what is in my heart and lasting behavioral change does not come to pass by focusing mostly on the why’s of my behavior or the behavior itself. It comes from allowing God control of my life and submitting my will to His will in all things. To be so influenced by the Spirit of God as to have the mind of Christ in my beliefs, values, attitudes, and motives so that my behavior and attitude brings glory to God.

The bible says; My son, pay attention to what I say; listen closely to my words. Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart; for they are life to those who find them and health to a man’s whole body. Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life. Put away perversity from your mouth; keep corrupt talk far from your lips. Let your eyes look straight ahead, fix your gaze directly before you. Make level paths for your feet and take only ways that are firm. Do not swerve to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil. Proverbs 4:20-27 [emphasis mine] What is in the heart effects what we think, say, and do; “it is the wellspring of life.” No wonder God mentions the heart so many times in the bible. The heart is KEY! He wants us to wake up to reality!

Time and space leave little to answer the “how” in changing the heart, so here are some verses to point us in the right direction, please take the time to look up these verses. If I would have had the space, I would have added them to the article.

(I John 1:5-2:17) walking in the light, (Colossians 3 and 4) guidelines for holy living, (Philippians 4:4-9) present your requests to God and he will guard your heart, (Matthew 22:37) love the Lord with all your heart, (Matthew 23:25-26) clean the inside then the outside will be clean also, (Acts 15:9) purified through faith, (Ephesians 3:16-17) Christ in your heart through faith, (John 8:31) know the truth.

To what end will a changed heart bring? Ephesians 1:18-23. To bring, give, and effect praise and glory to Him.

Change comes from vertical focus-not horizontal!

The TRUTH will set you Free

Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. John 8:32 I believe that this verse not only pertains to Jesus in reference to us being set free from eternal damnation, but also being free from the bondage of sin. Habitual sin will have devastating effects on one’s relationships including family, work, church and the most important, the relationship with God. Do not put out the Spirits fire; I Thessalonians 5:19 (some versions “quench” the Spirit) And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Ephesians 4:30 Quenching is what we do to the Holy Spirit, grieving is how he responds.

John MacArthur has some rich insight on this subject, he says; “What does the Holy Spirit want to do in me that I can quench?  Very simply stated, He wants to move you along a path to ever increasing holiness.  Did you understand that?  He wants to move you along a path to ever increasing holiness.  What does holy mean?  Separate.  He wants to separate you further and further from sin and the further you get away from sin the closer you get to God.  It’s just a process of separation.  He wants to produce in you the decreasing frequency of sin, the decreasing power of temptation, the decreasing preoccupation with the world, the decreasing victimization to the flesh and increase your longings for God. That’s the progress of sanctification. That’s a movement toward holiness.  That is His work. But you can quench it.  How?  Fail to study the Word to show yourself approved unto God.  Mishandle the Scripture, don’t rightly divide it.  Don’t receive it with humility, as James 1:21 says.  You can quench the Spirit by not applying it in your life so that you become a hearer and not a doer.  You can quench it by not hiding it in your heart, by not searching it diligently, by not desiring it and you can quench it by not letting it dwell in you richly, as Paul said in Colossians 3. You can quench it by not accepting the difficulties of life, being bitter and angry, by not being prayerful and not enjoying the communion of God.  You can quench that work of the Spirit by not being worshipful, by not being willing to cast your care upon Him.  You can quench that work of the Spirit by operating on your fleshly power, as sticking with your human resources and saying, “I’m not going to go to God for anything, I’ve got all I need, I can handle myself.”  You quench it by feeling inadequate, by not trusting God’s love and saying, “If I go He doesn’t love me.”  Or not trusting His supply, “He doesn’t have what I need.”  Any of those and more would cause you to quench that work of the Spirit.”

So how will we know the truth and be set free you say? The answer is in verse 31; To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples.” John 8:31 Hold to the teaching of Jesus is how you will be set free from habitual sin. Allow the Spirit to work in your life in the process of sanctification. Study the Word to show yourself approved unto God. Apply it to your life so that you become a doer and not just a hearer. Desire the word, hide it in your heart (study it until it becomes a part of who you are). Praywithout ceasing, casting all your cares  upon Him, surrendering control of your life to Him.

Are you holding on to His teaching? Vertical focus, not horizontal! For His praise and His Glory!

Single Mindedness

"If any of you lack wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.” James 1:5-8.

The dictionary defines double mindedness as: Having different minds at different times; unsettled; undetermined. The Greek word “dipsuchos” means: wavering, uncertain, doubting and divided in interest. No wonder the bible says that the double-minded person is unstable in all they do, just reading the definitions above brought on a slight feeling of confusion!

The doctrinal theme of the book of James is “good works” and he starts it out talking about trials and temptations. “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” James 1:2-4. How are we as believers to go about good works if we can not persevere through trials and the attacks of Satan because our faith is weakened from being inconsistent, fickle, unsettled, uncertain, unstable etc.? The double-minded person, while claiming to be a person of faith, become anxious, discouraged, intimidated under pressure and thinks with their feelings instead of their head. They then come to the conclusion that God must not care for them and woe is me. Then life becomes a series of continual disappointments, discouragements and discontent, wondering where did God go in my life?

The answer to becoming single-minded is found in James also; “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.”    James 4:7-10

In repentance, we are honestly ready to listen to Him, we submit. Also, closing our ears and hearts to Satan’s suggestions, we draw near to Him through prayer and bible study then He will draw near to us. As He does, He reminds us of His forgiveness and restores us. As double-minded people we need to confess our mixed motives. The grieving, mourning, wailing and gloom are all of where our hearts should be if we are sincerely confessing and repenting of our sins.

So then, if we are to go about doing what we are here on earth for, we need to believe all that God says, not just some of it. We need to walk by faith in God and not our feelings as those trials and temptations come our way. Let’s get spiritually healthy so we can go out sharing the good news for His praise and His glory.

Vertical focus, not horizontal.