DOES YOUR WAY WORK?

I was talking with a young woman who was struggling in her marriage. She had been referred to me by a mutual friend. As she shared the particular struggle, I first asked her what she had done or was doing to resolve the issue. Her response was, “I know what God’s word teaches on this issue, BUT I DECIDED this way—(and she told me what she had done) would be best for me.” Then I asked her, “Is your way working?” and she admitted that it was not; and that her friend had encouraged her to call me for counsel.
Because she had begun the conversation by stating that, “I know what God’s word teaches…” I asked her to tell me what she knew; and she did. God had indeed, revealed His truth to her, but she had chosen to try her way instead—AND IT WASN’T WORKING! Hmmm, I wonder why? I had an easy task of encouraging her to try God’s way, which she agreed to do.

How often we seek independence from God’s way—even when He makes it clear to us what His way is! As I was reading Jonah’s story this week, I thought of how often I follow his ‘wrong way’ instead of the clear instructions of God’s word. Jonah clearly heard what God instructed him to do: ‘Go to Nineveh and warn the people’—‘But Jonah ran away and headed for Tarshish.’ Look at all the trouble he caused for others along the way; and the trouble he brought on himself in those four short chapters!

And yet, look at the evidence in those chapters of how GOD KEPT PURSUING JONAH—and how He gently, but persistently led Jonah back to HIS WAY! In the process, Jonah revealed the truth to the sailors and they turned to his God. God faithfully provided for Jonah’s protection all the while he was ‘running away’; until he was ready to obey God and go to Nineveh with the message.

It encourages me that we can choose to seek independence from God’s way, but He never stops pursuing our hearts

Seeing God through our Freedom in Christ

As I read through the incredible passage in Ephesians 3: 14-chapter 4, verse 3, it ‘takes my breath away’ to consider the freedom in Christ portrayed here:
Paul says: “When I think of all this, He is referring back to his statements in chapter 2 where he says that as a prisoner for Christ he was given the privilege of being a minister of the Gospel…to preach the unsearchable riches of Christ that the wisdom of God would be known through Christ--through whom he had access with confidence to preach! As a prisoner he had freedom to preach! He says, “I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God's love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God's people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.
Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.
Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God. Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other's faults because of your love. Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace. NLT
Paul begs us to lead a life worthy of our calling—that calling?-- to preach the unsearchable riches in Christ ! In order to preach these riches, Paul had to experience them and that is what brought his FREEDOM! We cannot share with freedom what we have not experienced. If we do not know his love we cannot preach it. His love will be demonstrated in our lives through our humility and gentleness, our patience with each other and making allowances for each others faults because of the love He has placed in our hearts. We become other-centered rather than self-centered in our actions and attitudes; because as Paul goes on to say in verse 22 of chapter 4—that as we learn the truth that brings freedom in Jesus to, throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy. NLT
What greater freedom can we experience than that of putting on the new nature of Christ! What a true gift of grace He’s given us! Praise HIM!

What does it mean to be a part of God’s army?

When I received the suggested topic for the blog for May I really got excited about the thoughts God was bringing into my mind about what it means to be a part of God’s army. Here are a few of them; though you may think of many more:

• We’ve been invited to be a part of His army—Luke 9:23, 24
If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross daily, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it.

• We must qualify—Heb. 12:1. 2
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith.

• We must be trained—Matt. 11:28-30
Matt 11:28-30
"Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light."

• We must listen to and follow our leader’s instructions as well as where He leads us—2 Tim. 2: 3, 4
Be strong through the grace that God gives you in Christ Jesus. You have heard me teach things that have been confirmed by many reliable witnesses. Now teach these truths to other trustworthy people who will be able to pass them on to others. Endure suffering along with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. Soldiers don't get tied up in the affairs of civilian life, for then they cannot please the officer who enlisted them.

• We must keep our focus on the goal—Matt. 28:19, 20
Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.

• We must trust the person in charge of the mission—Prov. 3:5, 6
Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.

• We are a ‘part’ of the army, so we must work together with others to fulfill the mission—Rom. 12:1-6
And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
Because of the privilege and authority God has given me, I give each of you this warning: Don't think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us. Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, so it is with Christ's body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other.

In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well.
God has a personal plan for each of us in His army. Not only that, but he also has a purpose for everything that happens in our lives. He uses the events that we encounter toward His great goal of conforming us into His image as we trust His leadership in our lives. We learn to see His hand in all the circumstances of our lives and know that he is absolutely trustworthy as the Commander in Chief of His army!

*note: all Scripture verses are from the NLT

He is My HOPE!

Often, I pray: ‘God, give me grace to see everything that happens in my life through Your eyes!’ That gives me Hope—because He is involved in EVERYTHING that happens in my life—He has a purpose and plan for EVERYTHING. Eph 1:11 says that ‘He works EVERYTHING according to the counsel of His own will.’ I continue to go back to this truth when I need hope and encouragement in looking at the circumstances of my life—and it enables me to gaze at His glorious face and behold HIM who is IN those very circumstances. ‘The Valley of Vision’ is a book of Puritan prayers and devotions that I refer to often in my times with the Lord. The truths help keep my heart focused on that blessed HOPE we have in Him. The book was introduced to me with high recommendation by a young college student who said it was ‘the best book she had ever read’. It is fast becoming that to me also. Here are a few quotes that encourage my life and HOPE in Him: • Creator and redeemer God, author of all existence, source of all blessedness, I adore You for making me capable of knowing You, for giving me reason and conscience, for leading me to desire You. • I want no other rock to build on that that I have, desire no other hope than that of gospel truth, need no other look than that which gazes on the cross. • If driven to the verge of hope and to the pit of despair, grant me grace to fall into His arms. “How precious is Your unfailing love, O God! All humanity finds shelter in the shadow of Your wings. You feed them from the abundance of Your own house, letting them drink from the rivers of delight. For You are the fountain of life, the light by which we see.” Psa. 36:7-9 NLT Yes! He is and always will be our HOPE!!! To know how you can have HOPE in Jesus Christ, go to http://lovelybranchesministries.org/HOPE.html

A Garden Must Begin With Seed

“Garden” is our topic this month—and when I considered a garden—whether it is a flower garden or vegetable garden it has to begin with a ‘seed’. The first verse that came to my mind was John 12:24 where Jesus said:

I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.

Several thoughts came to mind as I considered Jesus’ following words:

The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.

Consider your life the seed. If you guard your life and fail to give it over to the control of Jesus to serve Him, your ultimate end will be the loss of your life as far as productivity and fruitfulness. A seed must be planted in the soil, watered and cultivated. It must die to its original state. As it is nourished it sprouts and grows to become fruitful.

This is Jesus commitment to us, that as we are planted in the soil of His life and die to ourselves in giving our lives to Him, He uses the circumstances of our lives to ‘break that seed’ that has been given to Him. He waters, cultivates and nourishes our lives hidden in Him to produce much fruit. That fruit bearing is not only in our own lives but it reaches to others.

To illustrate what this might look like I’ll share an example of God’s work in my own life. Someone did something that deeply grieved and hurt me and I had a choice to make. I could rise up in anger and defend myself, holding on to my rights, my feelings, my pain etc.; or I could appropriate Christ’s life in me by giving control of that pain and grief to Him (die to self), and give Him the freedom to produce a godly response through me that would honor Him. By faith, I released the matter to Him and I never felt more alive! There was evidence, too, that God’s grace in enabling me to have a gracious response, brought life to that other person. O, how I would love to have that response in painful situations always; but that one experience has encouraged me many times since that I can trust Jesus with painful circumstances, whatever they are. To bring life to others is the fruit of letting that ‘seed’ be buried so that we can experience the power of Jesus’ life in and through us. The fruit belongs to Him, because we are ‘dead’—and something dead cannot produce fruit! Right?!

The other thought I considered is that He wants us to be his ‘servant’. He says that ‘whoever serves Me must follow Me’. Being His servant is further evidence that that ‘seed’ is buried—dead to the self-life and committed to doing things His way. Jesus said in Mark 10:45,
For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many. He is our example to follow. He died in order to give us life. We die to pass on that life to others—to become fruit bearing servants of Jesus!

His Words - Sweeter Than Honey

There is an expression I am hearing from my granddaughters lately when they are ‘in agreement’ with what is said, or when they are ‘affirming’ what they think is good or that they ‘like what happened’. The word is “SWEET! Not so many years ago we would have heard the word “cool”!

I thought about how many times in God’s Word the authors express themselves with that word.

Solomon says in Proverbs 3:24, that ‘when you lie down, you will not be afraid; …your sleep will be sweet’. He also says in chapter 13, verse 19 that ‘a longing fulfilled is sweet to the soul’
I think this is what my granddaughters are saying—‘it’s good, they like it, it’s SWEET!

Ezekiel, the prophet, referred to God’s Word when he said, ‘Eat this scroll I am giving you and fill your stomach with it.’ The man who ate it said, ‘it tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth.’ (Ezek. 3:3)

The Psalmist spoke of God’s Word when he said, 'it is sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb.' (Psa. 19:10) His reason for saying that is in verse 11—‘by them is your servant warned and in keeping them there is great reward.’ I had to ask myself, “do I look at the warnings in His Word and the rewards He gives when I keep them as a sweet experience?”

‘How sweet are Your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!’ –the Psalmist says in chapter 119:103. When I read this I was reminded that I have to take time to taste God’s word in order for it to be sweet to me. In January of this year I purposed to take time to meditate on what I read in His Word—to taste it, to think about it, ask questions if I don’t understand something, look up other references that shed light on what I read. It’s been so helpful and, indeed, I can say it is ‘sweeter than honey to my mouth when I take time to really ‘taste’ it, rather than just casually reading the words! Try it, if you haven’t already. It’s SWEET!

Are You Ready To Share The Reason For Your Faith?

I Peter 3:15 says, But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect. NIV

The Message puts it this way: Through thick and thin, keep your hearts at attention, in adoration before Christ, your Master. Be ready to speak up and tell anyone who asks why you're living the way you are, and always with the utmost courtesy.

Notice that the first and most important requirement for sharing our faith is that we ‘set apart Christ as Lord’. This means that we have surrendered control of our lives to Him, knowing that because He created us with a purpose, He will orchestrate the events of our lives to always be in line with accomplishing that purpose. We place our complete trust and confidence in Him and acknowledge living our lives in accordance with the instructions in His Word.

The preparation for sharing our faith comes as we sit with Him every day to learn from Him. This is not just reading His Word or a devotional reading, but thinking it over, studying it--meditating on the truths He has revealed. When we then determine how He wants us to apply that truth to our life or situation, we need to take action to do it. Praying is a major part in determining just what God wants us to do. It is a moment by moment communion with Him; being sensitive to His voice when He speaks and responding with a "yes, Lord, I will do what You ask."

Our lives will, no doubt, be different because we are reflecting Christ to the world around us—they will not see us, but they will see Him. As a result they may ask the reason for the hope you have. This may not always come in the form of a direct question, but they may just want to be around you, they might share a burden or need, and because the Lord has prepared your heart, the answer from your lips should come from the overflow of His truth imparted to you by the Holy Spirit.

Notice the importance of answering with ‘gentleness and respect’ or ‘always with the upmost courtesy’. This portrays to your friend that she/he is valued and loved—that you are not rushing in to ‘dump a load of truth’ in a preaching way on them-- telling them what to do--but simply sharing your life and experiences and what you are learning from the Lord. As God meets us at our point of need, we are meeting that person at their point of need with gentleness and truth. Then the Holy Spirit takes that truth and reveals it to them so they can respond to it. It most always takes time and building an ongoing relationship.

All the while God is building in our lives in preparation for continuing to share truth in answer to their questions. I have been amazed at how often God will share a truth with me in the morning and in the afternoon I will have an opportunity to share it with someone. His timing is perfect—because He has prepared our heart in advance knowing we will need the answer! He is so faithful!

Many of the preparations of our hearts to give an answer come from our own life experiences. Some come through dark times—times of sorrow, grief or tears as well as those special times of joy. I recently came across Isaiah 45:3 that made my heart rejoice! "I will give you treasures hidden in the darkness--secret riches. I will do this so you may know that I am the LORD…the one who calls you by name." NLT

The Message says it this way: "I'll lead you to buried treasures, secret caches of valuables — Confirmations that it is, in fact, I, GOD… who calls you by your name."

So we can conclude that God is the one who is always preparing our hearts to give an answer concerning the hope He has given us! He’s working in us so He can live His life through us! The glory belongs to Him!