Worldly Happiness VS Godly Joy

It is amazing how many people get offended when someone points out that God is more concerned with our salvation than He is with our happiness.  If God desired our happiness more than our salvation then the first commandment would be "Love yourself with all your heart, all your soul and all your mind"  Rather than, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind."  Interestingly enough, even the second commandment puts others before us, "Love your neighbor as yourself."  God's order is Him, others, then us.  Often times, obeying God by putting Him first does not make us very happy, at least momentarily.  Even more so, sometimes putting others before ourselves doesn't make us very happy either.  But either way, God takes priority.

There is a difference between our personal pursuit of happiness versus learning how to live with Godly joy.  First and foremost, God's desire for us is to repent and be saved.  Repent means to turn away from something, to stop doing it and surrender to God, putting His desires over our own.  Only then can we experience true joy and lasting, meaningful happiness by putting God first in our lives.  Only then are we loving God with all our heart, with all our soul and with all our mind.  If we are not putting God first in our lives, then any happiness we experience will most likely be worldly happiness.  Worldly happiness is fleeting and always contingent upon the circumstances or people in our life.  True happiness, ie:  Godly joy, is contingent only upon our relationship with God and remains unaffected by the rollercoaster of circumstances and choices that make up our life.

Those who feel like they have been cheated or robbed of happiness throughout their lives become consumed with the pursuit of it.  They are convinced, "God wants me to be happy.  God wants me to be happy"  when the fact is, God wants them to be saved, to get right with Him, to have consistent intimate fellowship with Him and to put Him first in all things.  We want God to be our Savior and to make us happy, however we are much more reluctant for Him to be Lord over our life and to teach us how to have joy.  God doesn't want our happiness, He wants our joy.  Why settle for good when God wants to give us His best?  Our pursuit of happiness is not God's best.  Our salvation and righteousness, which lead to joy, are.  Only through right standing with God can we have the joy that God desires for us.  For those who have the ears to hear this and the heart to receive it, let go of the worldly illusion of happiness.  Let it go.  Close your ears to this world, surrender yourself to God, truly make Him Lord of your life, let go of the fear of unhappiness, fall into consistent, intimate fellowship with Him and let Him bring you into right standing with Him where you will surely experience true joy, a joy that cannot be shaken nor taken away.

Truly, as I've previously stated, if given the choice, God would rather us die unhappy yet saved from our sins, than happy and lost in our sins.  If given the choice, God chooses the salvation of our souls over the happiness of our heart.  If given the choice, God chooses the pursuit of righteousness over the pursuit of pleasure.  Granted this may be a hard truth to swallow, but it is a truth nonetheless.  There are many uncomfortable truths in scripture, but we don't like to think about those, we only like to share and think about the ones that make us feel,......well,......."happy".  That puts me in an unpopular position  because God's call upon my life is to speak truth, and quite often that makes me the party-poopin' bad guy.  People that God uses to remind His church of the truths in His Word in which we often forget or ignore, can seem like "Debbie Downer" or "Eeyore" to those who are offended by such truths.  Anyone who busts up in a room and reminds God's people that our earthly lives are a battle ground, not a play ground, well, no one really wants to invite them back to the party.  That is why God gives tough skin, a bold spirit and a steel resolve to those whom He calls to such a task.  Thankfully we are the "Body of Christ", which means those of us who are called into one ministry are balanced by those who are called into another, yet we all work together to glorify God, bear Him fruit and serve each other.

Count The Cost

When Jesus calls us into discipleship, He tells us to count the cost. Jesus said, "Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who observe it begin to ridicule him, saying, 'This man began to build and was not able to finish.'" (Luke 14:27-30) We must count the cost because Satan will use everything in his arsenal to dissuade and distract those whom God raises up to bear Him fruit and build His kingdom.

It is important to note that the verse immediately prior to Luke 14:27 is Jesus telling those whom He calls, "If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple." (Luke 14:26). Jesus is telling us that those whom we love the most, those whom are closest to our hearts, those to whom we are most vulnerable, will often be the ones used to hurt and distract us the most. Even our very own self will be used to distract us, our fears, our insecurities, the shame of past sins and failures, all the things that will serve to instill doubt in what Jesus is calling us to do. Jesus is not telling us to hate ourselves or those closest to us, He is telling us that we cannot value any perspective or opinion, including our own, over His and what He is calling us to do.

If you are called, don't give up. Daily ask God to search your heart and point out the things that are displeasing to Him, "Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; And see if there be any hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way." (Psalm 139:23). Get right with God, stay right with God and set your face like flint and finish your race and let God deal with the rest.

"Because the Sovereign LORD helps me, I will not be disgraced. Therefore, I have set my face like flint, determined to do His will. And I know that I will not be put to shame." (Isaiah 50:7)

"However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me--the task of testifying to the good news of God's grace." (Acts 20:24)

Standard Of Perfection

I just read a quote from a popular pastor of a megachurch in Houston where he said, "God doesn't expect us to be perfect"...blah blah your best life is now, etc.  Well, that's how I read it anyway.

What he actually said is, "God doesn't expect us to be perfect, but He does expect us to keep trying, to keep growing.  You have to be willing to change.  When you make mistakes, don't stay down on yourself, get up and go again."

Now, many people may be asking why I take issue with such a blissfully uplifting statement.  What could possibly be wrong with such encouragement?  I take issue with it because it is unscriptural.  God does, in fact, expect us to be perfect, otherwise He wouldn't have needed to die for us.  The whole point of Christ's death is because we FELL FROM PERFECTION into sin and imperfection.  Christ's atoning death makes it possible for humans to reach perfection once again.  We will not reach perfection as long as we are in the flesh, but God expects us to strive for it.  "Be perfect, therefore, as your Heavenly Father is perfect." (Matt 5:48); and "..but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, 'You shall be holy, for I am holy.'" (1 Peter 1:15,16) 

 

Scripture says that we are being transformed into the image of Christ (2 Cor 3:18) and Christ was perfect because God is perfect, "The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation." (Col 1:15)  So that means that God set the bar pretty high for all of us. Impossibly high.  He set it at perfection.  But that's okay because, while we are in this world, encompassed in these bodies of flesh, we are called to persevere as God performs His perfecting work in us by and through His Spirit, "for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose." (Phil 2:13).

So indeed, God does, "expect us to keep trying, to keep growing...to be willing to change...get up and go again."  This part of the pastor's statement is true, this part is scriptural, "Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." (James 1:4).  But the very impetus of such perseverance is Godly perfection, "so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."  For only through faithful endurance are we saved from imperfection into perfection, "but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved." (Matt 10:22)

False teaching is subtle and it usually makes us feel good about ourselves.  False teaching will always have some truth mixed in with it, that is what makes it so successful, appealing and spiritually deadly.  I pray for discernment for the Body of Christ, for we need it now more than ever before.

Damned By Distraction

God is speaking and moving and the majority of those who claim to be Christians are completely oblivious.  Far too many of us are consumed with distraction.  Our lives are "too busy" for God.  We have too much going on in our lives, our days are full of turmoil-- whether it be our schedules, our jobs, relationships children-- whatever our day-to-day distractions may consist of.

My sisters and brothers in Christ, let me speak this word of truth to you....... we will NEVER "have time" for God until we start MAKING TIME for Him.  That is truth.  You can stand on it, you can wrestle with it, you can meditate on it, but you're eventually gonna have to own it or you will have wasted your entire life exactly like your enemy wanted you to--- distracted and consumed with your own kingdom rather than God's.

People say, "But I don't hear God."  In this late hour, in such a prophetic time as this, if someone doesn't hear God, then they simply aren't listening.  Besides, how could someone possibly hear God if they never take time out of their day to pray and listen?  We "hear" God in our spirit when we spend intimate prayer time with HIm.  Those of God's kingdom who are listening, are hearing the same things over and over..."Get right with Me"..."Prepare your hearts and minds"..."Spend time with Me"..."Read My Word, study My Word, know My Word, because without it YOU WILL NOT MAKE IT THROUGH WHAT IS COMING."  God isn't speaking to most of those who are listening about specific dates or details because He is more concerned with the condition of our hearts. 

Despite what the world would like us to think, God is much less concerned about our happiness than He is with our salvation and right-standing with Him.  Now is the time for all of mankind to know and understand that, if given the choice, God would rather us die unhappy and saved than blissful and unsaved.  Jesus said, "What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?" (Matt 16:26)  Read also 1 Corinthians 5:1-5, where we see that God would rather deliver one of His sheep unto an early death rather than allow them to continue in sin and lead the whole flock astray. 

 

God ain't playing around.  The Christian Church, as a whole, has completely lost touch with the reality of how serious God is about sin and righteousness.  The Christian Church, as a whole, has completely lost touch with the fact that we are called to "come out of this world and be separate."  (2 Cor 6:17).  If we live our life in such a way in which there is not much that separates us from the rest of the world, we make a mockery of God.   When the people of God make a mockery of Him, He has a history of responding personally, and needless to say, life is forever changed on the day of that little visit.

The Compromised Church

The world tells us to follow our heart, but God tells us to follow His Word.  The world tells us to chase our dreams, but God's Word tells us to seek the Lord, to seek righteousness and to seek humility (Zeph 2:3).  Far too many of God's people have compromised their salvation by making compromises with the world.  We seek the things that make us happy, rather than the things that make God happy.  We have bought into the lie that God wants us to be happy.  We have bought into the lie that we deserve happiness.  God cares less about our happiness than He does about our salvation, obedience and holiness.  True that.  Scripture says that there is only one thing we actually deserve, and that is death.  Harsh?  Yes.  But I'm not talking to the people that are offended by what I'm saying, I'm talking to the people that are convicted. 

"Christian" means "Christ-like".  But the "Christian" church has become the "compromised" church.  We are fornicators, adulterers, homosexuals, liars, thieves, coveters and idolaters.  We are prideful, prejudiced, lustful, greedy, materialistic, gluttonous and lukewarm.   Our love has grown cold and our ears deaf.  We have seared our consciences with our own personal justifications for our sins, rather than softened our hearts with genuine repentance. 

What does God do with such a church?  "..because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth.  Because you say, 'I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,' and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked" (Rev 3:16,17).

Homosexual Proximity

People who believe that the Bible does not condemn homosexuality have to WANT to believe such a thing because the Bible is explicitly clear on the matter.  That's really all that needs to be said because it is self-proving and self-evident.

However, let me expound.  I find that there are four camps of people in the homosexual debate:

1.  Those who don't know what the Bible says about homosexuality, and don't care.

2.  Those who do know what the Bible says about homosexuality and submit to it.
3.  Those who do know what the Bible says about homosexuality, yet seek to pervert and twist scripture.
4.  Those who do know what the Bible says about homosexuality and choose to ignore it.

Camps 3 and 4 are typically people who have a child, sibling or close family member or friend who is gay, or are gay themselves.  Therefore, they seek to justify and comfort themselves about something that they would rather not confront at face value.  Most of the time, deep down inside, these two camps know that the Bible is God's authoritative word on the matter but they have seared their consciences from receiving the truth by their own self-delusion.  I genuinely grieve with compassion and mercy for them because the issue is confusing, frustrating and painful for them to deal with.  The confusion and pain only increases when the world around them tells them it is okay, yet they know the Bible clearly says that it is not.  Therein lies the conflict:  do they choose the world or God......even though what God has to say on the matter is something they feel like they cannot accept. 

However, the Bible is clear on that matter as well.  Jesus said, "He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me."  (Matt 10:37);

also "He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me scatters." (Matt 12:30);

and, "Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world." (1 John 2:15,16)

What these scriptures articulate is that it is a sin to give anything or anyone, priority over our obedience to God and His Word.  God allows nothing to take precedence over our obedience to Him and His Word, whether it be ourselves, our son or daughter, brother or sister, close friend, cousin or next door neighbor.  Jesus said the first and most important commandment was, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind." (Matt 22:37)  Which means no matter how close in relational proximity you are to someone with homosexual tendencies, God and His Word take precedence over their sexual preference and feelings.  Period.  It really is that black and white.  We are called to remain faithful and true to God's Word and let Him work out the rest, which includes delivering loved ones from sins of sexual impulse. And although the topic of this post is homosexuality, sexual impulse also includes promiscuity, fornication and adultery.

Jesus said the second greatest commandment was to, "Love your neighbor as yourself." (Matt 22:39) Which means that when we genuinely love someone, we tell them the truth, no matter what.  God's Word is truth.  The Bible says that, "And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed." (2 Pet 2:2).

The word translated as "sensuality" is the Greek word "ASELGEIAIS".  Other versions translate it as "depraved conduct", "shameful immorality", "immoral ways", and "sexual freedom".  I think the "sexual freedom" translation is the most telling of what the scripture is trying to imply.  God's Word is blasphemed when people try to twist and distort it to excuse a sexual preference that is clearly condemned.  And even though I'm not aware of anyone trying to twist scripture to excuse promiscuity, fornication or adultery, I know a whole lot of self-proclaimed Christians that follow such sensualities and do indeed blaspheme the way of truth.  We are never told that we will not be tempted by sexual sin, what we are told is to repent from it and go and sin no more.  Which means to completely turn away from such a lifestyle in every way, shape and form,  including supporting those who lead such lifestyles.  Christ's atoning death was to free us FROM sin, not to free us TO sin. 

The simple fact of the matter all boils down to pride.  Pride bears the fruit of rebellion.  We know what God's Word says, yet we do not want to abide by it.  We want to find a way around it.  We want to ignore it.  We see this played out by the very first sin recorded in the Bible.  Satan, in his pride, distorted God's Word and convinced Eve that she could decide for herself what was best for her, despite God's clear instructions.  The fruit of this interaction was rebellion against God, the very first sin of mankind. The only difference between our beginning and our end is that our beginning was marked by repentance and sorrow for our rebellion and our end is marked by literal parades of pride in our rebellion, replete with rainbow flags.

Fashioned For Christ

The way we dress matters to God. 

No doubt we ladies like to look nice, and by all means we should absolutely take care of ourselves.  But if you spend more money on clothes, make up and jewelry than you do sowing and tithing into God's kingdom, then you have compromised. If you spend more time getting ready for church than you do sitting in church, well, then, that's kind of a problem. 
The most typical excuse I hear is, "Well, I dress for myself.  I like to look nice."  Well, that's all fine and good, but let me tell you this, if you were really dressing for yourself then you would be wearing whatever it is you typically change into once you get home and want to get comfortable.  I'm just throwin' some truth out there.

Another argument is, "Well I dress for my husband."  That's also fine and good, but if you are dressing to entice your husband, save it for the bedroom because if your husband is enticed, other men will be also.  Jesus said, "But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart." (Matt 5:28)  When you leave your house knowingly dressed in a way that will catch the attention of the opposite sex, you are leading others into sin.  It really is that simple. 

This is what Jesus said about causing others to sin, "but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea." (Matt 18:6); and "Woe to the world for temptations to sin! For it is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the one by whom the temptation comes!" (Matt 18:7).  Ouch.

And then there's the fall-back argument, "Well, men are going to look anyway."  Well, yes they are, especially if you are particularly easy on the eyes.  However, if  you have made a genuine effort at modesty, then the accountability for their lust falls upon them, not you.  Each of us are accountable unto the Lord, therefore worry about your own heart and intentions and let God deal with the rest.

Now look, I am not writing this to hurt anyone's feelings or shame anyone. I am writing about this because I have been led to do so.  I'm writing about this in obedience to the Holy Spirit, but also in love for my sisters in Christ.  I love you, I love your beautiful face, your beautiful body, your beautiful spirit, and because I truly love you I will give you truth so that you will be set free.  Ladies, we have to stop gussying up for the world and its standards and adorn ourselves with Christ.  True, lasting beauty begins on the inside, "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come." (2 Cor 5:17); also, "And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into His image with intensifying glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit." (2 Cor 3:18) 

Let me repeat that:  we "are being transformed into His image".  God cannot transform us into His image if we are more concerned with the image the world expects from us.  Which is not to say it is appropriate for us to be all-out slobs either.  But, "Whatever you might do, work from the soul, as to the Lord and not to men," (Col 3:23); and, "Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father." (Col 3:17); and "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." (1 Cor 10:31)  Whatever we do, we are to do in such a way that shows our love and reverence for God.  Whatever we do, we choose God's ways over the world's ways.

For those whom God is convicting about this, please humble yourself and listen.  Ask God to give you wisdom and guide your judgment. Jesus said, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me." (Rev 3:20)  That means if the Holy Spirit is convicting us about something, we don't keep the door of our heart shut and ignore Him, but rather open the door of our heart and allow Him to come in and perform His transforming work on our mind and spirit.

 

Pride keeps the door shut, submission throws it open wide and says, "Come in.  Show me the way."

Christ, The Solid Rock

It's interesting, I pray and pray for God to make me usable and to use me to build His kingdom and bear Him much good fruit, yet when He gives me certain topics to address I'm like, "Umm, except that..." Then begins the wrestling process, me suppressing His prompting and Him bringing it back to my mind over and over again until I finally submit.

So here's the deal, it will not be long before our whole way of life is forever changed. Exactly when, I don't know, but I do have my personal ideas. Exactly how, I'm not sure, but once it begins to happen scripture will substantiate it. That's the thing about prophetic scripture, it was not meant to be fully understood until after the fact. We can surmise and postulate and write books and read the endless interpretations of some of the greatest theologians that ever put pen to paper or put their voice behind a pulpit, but the simple fact is that no one knows the mind of God and any interpretation of end-times prophetic scripture is just that, a personal interpretation. And the Bible says, "But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God." (1 Peter 1:20).   Notice that this verse says prophetic scripture is inspired by the Holy Spirit, not necessarily our interpretations of it, despite the best intentions of those interpretations throughout history.
Therefore, if the same Holy Spirit operates in all God's faithful people, then that same Spirit will give a universal, mutual understanding of scripture, gathering all those with said Spirit together in agreement, "for God is not a God of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints." (1 Cor 14:33)

Besides, if we knew exactly how everything was going to play out, there would be no reason for us to have faith. And God is big on faith, "And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him." (Heb 11:6) Which brings me to the real point of this post, which is faith. When all the dominoes begin to fall and this house of cards tumbles to the ground, none of us will make it through the tribulation that follows without real faith. Real faith is not positive thinking, real faith is absolute confidence in the promises of God. Real faith is the unwavering certainty that God's Word is trustworthy and true, despite what the world has to say about it. If you doubt or compromise the Bible now, how will you stand when the real testing of your faith comes? Now is the time to choose which side of the fence you want to be standing on when it all goes down-- the side with the foundation made of rock or the side with the foundation made of sand.

If we are not willing to live for Christ now, why should we think we would die for Him later? I mean honestly, if we are not willing to die to watching garbage on t.v., dressing like a hooker or listening to music that does not glorify God, how can we think that we would be willing to put our whole body to death for His glory? I'm just keepin' it real here folks.

God is gracious enough to let us choose now, for when we are standing before His throne it will be too late. And for some of us that will be much sooner than we could ever imagine.