About 4 out of 7 days a week, my house is a train wreck. I have a lady that comes to clean every Friday and by Monday, it looks like a garbage truck dumped its load in our living quarters. All this colossal mess is going on in my house, but from the outside you would never know it. Most of the time, I’m ashamed of my house and I don’t like people coming over and seeing this mess. I get frustrated because no matter how much I try to tell my kids and my husband to pick up after themselves, they don’t, so it’s like a losing battle. Sometimes it feels like I’m a prisoner to this mess, with no way out.
This makes me think of our spiritual lives. Often times, there are people who seem like they have it all together on the outside. A tidy, pleasant life. But on the inside, there’s a perpetual struggle against the junk. On the inside, it’s a mess and there’s junk scattered everywhere. For a few days a week, there may be peace and order, but the rest of the week it’s a battle against the crushing tide of inner work that needs to be done. They are ashamed of anyone seeing their mess and no matter how hard they try, no matter what room they run to, that mess is still there. They feel like they are fighting a losing battle. They feel like a prisoner to their mess.
Sometimes I just stand in my kitchen, looking around at the bomb explosion of dishes and old food and crumbs, and empty boxes that no one bothered to throw away or juice no one put back into the fridge and I think to myself, “How am I gonna clean all this up? Where do I even start?” Sometimes I just want to walk out and leave it there, but I know if I don’t clean it up, it isn't gonna go away. Truth be told, there was a point in my life where I felt the same way about the spiritual mess inside of me. God began to show me my mess and my initial reaction was, “How am I gonna clean all this up? Where do I even start?” I was tempted to ignore Him and just leave it there because the things that needed to be fixed in me seemed too hard to deal with. But I knew if I didn’t clean it up, it wasn’t ever going to go away. I knew if I didn’t clean it up, I would remain a prisoner to my mess.
When God brought the Israelites into the Promised Land, He told them that He wasn’t going to drive out their enemies from the land all at once, otherwise they would be overwhelmed with all that land to care for and the gardens would become overgrown and the herds would scatter because there wouldn’t be enough people to take care of them. They had just arrived in the Promised Land after wandering in the desert for 40 years, they weren’t familiar with the area yet, they weren’t established there yet, they didn’t have enough people to take care of all of it yet. So God said, “Little by little, I will drive them out before you, until you have increased enough to take possession of the land” (Exodus 23:30). Little by little, the Israelites conquered their enemies. Little by little, they gained ground, they became familiar with the land, and they increased in number. They trusted God, they found a starting point, and they moved forward little by little.
When God began to do His work in me, He didn’t change me all at once. He did it little by little. Just like when I clean my train-wreck-of-a-kitchen, I start with one dish. Then I move onto the next one, and the next one, until the whole sink full of dishes is done. The Christian life is about trust in God and persisting in that trust, it is about the willingness to start somewhere and move forward in faith and perseverance. Being a Christian is hard, and don’t let anyone tell you any different. The Holy Spirit does the work in us, but we have to be willing and persistent about yielding to Him. Often times we will struggle, but we have to be willing to remain steadfast, to not throw up our hands and give up and remain a prisoner to our mess.
When faced with a colossal task, my Mammaw used to say, “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.” Be willing to trust God, be willing start somewhere, and God will meet you there to supply you with all the forks you will ever need.
“So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—Who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like Him as we are changed into His glorious image. Therefore, since God in His mercy has given us this new way, we never give up.” (2 Cor 3:18-4:1)
“Therefore, we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, yet our inner self is being renewed day by day.” (2 Cor 4:16)
“They go from strength to strength, until each appears before God in Zion. O Lord God of Hosts, hear my prayer; give ear, O God of Jacob.” (Psalm 84:7,8)
Monday, June 29, 2020
Enter The Ark
A few weeks ago my eight-year-old daughter came into my room in tears and said, "Momma, I want us to have a Bible study every Tuesday because I need you to teach me about Jesus. I want to understand the Bible."
In that moment, I marveled at the miracle of the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit that draws us to God, not our own will. We are drawn by God, but we still have to cooperate and choose to move toward Him. I have watched the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit in my own daughter when she came into my room a few months prior, again in tears, and said, "Momma, I want to stop sinning. I want to be saved." In two sentences my eight year-old daughter summed up the fullness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit convicts us of sin, then we turn away from it and towards Christ and ask Him to save us because we want to stop sinning. We are not saved to go to heaven, nor are we saved to be in relationship with God. Both of those things are the RESULT of our salvation. We are saved from our sin-- Jesus saves us to end sin in us. Only then can we enter into right relationship with God. Which means that any Gospel that doesn't deliver you from sin, is a false Gospel. We are saved so we can be restored into right relationship with God, but the point of salvation is to save us from sin.
Once you put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ, you are sanctified and set apart to be transformed into His image. He gives you His Holy Spirit to work within you, gradually turning you away from sinful actions and sinful thinking, as you grow to reflect His character and behavior more and more, but we must cooperate. That is genuine Christianity. Anything else is a farce and an illusion. That is why Paul warned the Corinthian church not to deceive themselves at 1 Cor 6:9-11, "Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor verbal abusers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God."
I was a sinner, a drunkard and a verbal abuser and Jesus wanted to end that sin in me. He wanted to wash me, sanctify me, and justify me through my faith in Him. I am glad that no one told me that it was okay for me to stay that way. I am glad that someone loved me enough to tell me that I either had to choose Jesus as Lord or my sin as Lord, but I couldn't have both. I am glad that no one told me that Jesus loved me just the way I was. Jesus will meet you where you are, but He will not leave you that way because He wants to change you into something holy that looks like Him. He will meet you at your mustard seed, but that seed has to die in the dark ground so it can be transformed and grown into something else.
It hurt me to hear that my sin was sinful. It offended and crushed me to see my sin for what it was-- treachery against a holy God and the holy image He wanted me to bear. So I held onto my sin and rejected the truth for as long as I could, I made excuses for it, I sheltered it, I hid it, I defended it, but praise God, He finally said, "ENOUGH-- choose life or death. I will deliver you from this if you turn toward Me.” This world is a train hurtling head-long toward a brick wall. Noah preached righteousness until he was loaded up onto the ark and then the door was closed. He was mocked, he was disregarded, he was ignored, and no one understood until the flood came and destroyed the entire planet. The flood came because of sin. It was sin that brought the flood and nothing else. Only one man and his family turned from sin and entered into the ark and were saved.
My eight year-old daughter heard God and entered into the ark when He called, “Turn away from your sin and be saved.” God calls all of us to enter into the ark of Jesus Christ, before the day comes when He shuts the door and no one can enter in.
“Make every effort to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able. After the Master of the house gets up and shuts the door, you will stand outside knocking and saying, ‘Lord, open the door for us.’ But He will reply, ‘I do not know where you are from.’” Luke 13:24,25
“The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’ ‘No,’ said the wise ones, ‘or there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’ But while they were on their way to buy it, the bridegroom arrived. Those who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet, and the door was shut. Later, the other virgins arrived and said, ‘Lord, Lord, open the door for us!’ But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I do not know you.’” Matt 25:8-12
Once you put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ, you are sanctified and set apart to be transformed into His image. He gives you His Holy Spirit to work within you, gradually turning you away from sinful actions and sinful thinking, as you grow to reflect His character and behavior more and more, but we must cooperate. That is genuine Christianity. Anything else is a farce and an illusion. That is why Paul warned the Corinthian church not to deceive themselves at 1 Cor 6:9-11, "Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor verbal abusers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God."
I was a sinner, a drunkard and a verbal abuser and Jesus wanted to end that sin in me. He wanted to wash me, sanctify me, and justify me through my faith in Him. I am glad that no one told me that it was okay for me to stay that way. I am glad that someone loved me enough to tell me that I either had to choose Jesus as Lord or my sin as Lord, but I couldn't have both. I am glad that no one told me that Jesus loved me just the way I was. Jesus will meet you where you are, but He will not leave you that way because He wants to change you into something holy that looks like Him. He will meet you at your mustard seed, but that seed has to die in the dark ground so it can be transformed and grown into something else.
It hurt me to hear that my sin was sinful. It offended and crushed me to see my sin for what it was-- treachery against a holy God and the holy image He wanted me to bear. So I held onto my sin and rejected the truth for as long as I could, I made excuses for it, I sheltered it, I hid it, I defended it, but praise God, He finally said, "ENOUGH-- choose life or death. I will deliver you from this if you turn toward Me.” This world is a train hurtling head-long toward a brick wall. Noah preached righteousness until he was loaded up onto the ark and then the door was closed. He was mocked, he was disregarded, he was ignored, and no one understood until the flood came and destroyed the entire planet. The flood came because of sin. It was sin that brought the flood and nothing else. Only one man and his family turned from sin and entered into the ark and were saved.
My eight year-old daughter heard God and entered into the ark when He called, “Turn away from your sin and be saved.” God calls all of us to enter into the ark of Jesus Christ, before the day comes when He shuts the door and no one can enter in.
“Make every effort to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able. After the Master of the house gets up and shuts the door, you will stand outside knocking and saying, ‘Lord, open the door for us.’ But He will reply, ‘I do not know where you are from.’” Luke 13:24,25
“The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’ ‘No,’ said the wise ones, ‘or there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’ But while they were on their way to buy it, the bridegroom arrived. Those who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet, and the door was shut. Later, the other virgins arrived and said, ‘Lord, Lord, open the door for us!’ But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I do not know you.’” Matt 25:8-12
The Other Side
About a week ago, a few brothers and sisters in Christ asked about my testimony. In all honesty, I felt a tinge of panic in the pit of my stomach because some of the thoughts that went through my mind were, “Where would I even start?...We ain’t got that kind of time…Do I leave out the offensive stuff?...How much of my checkered past do I share?...”
I was a sinful woman, and there are some things my husband has asked me not to share because he loves me and doesn’t want me to be dishonored. I get that. I am his wife and there is a natural tendency in men to defend their wife’s honor. What I will say is that during my twenties, I thought I had all the answers. I thought I understood what life was about. On the weekends, you could find me in close proximity to a cigarette and a glass of whisky. Pretty much wherever the alcohol and party were, you could find me there. And alcohol was often simply the precursor to a litany of other mind-altering substances I dabbled with. At that time, I thought understood God and I thought I understood myself. But I was wrong, and there is a long, crooked trail of mistakes throughout my life that leads from that wild party girl to the woman who types this today.
Today, there are a lot of things about God that I still struggle to understand. There are things in Scripture that still aren’t quite clear to me, and other things in Scripture that I see a lot of people arguing about that probably aren’t worth arguing about. There are certain things that I wrestle with and I come to God, over and over, asking Him what the answer is. Asking Him to just tell me what’s right, rather than just sitting there in His awful silence while I struggle to figure it out. Not too long ago, during my prayer time, I was wrestling for answers that seem to remain elusive to me. That night, sometime around 4 a.m., I woke up and sat up in bed, wide awake, and the Holy Spirit said: “Sometimes the answer is in the journey; it is the person you are becoming while you look for the answer.”
I think that’s why God allows us to make mistakes and leaves some things vague. Don’t get me wrong, there is absolute truth and there is a right and wrong way to interpret Scripture. But God is interested in teaching us wisdom and understanding, and that can only come through experience. It comes through trial and error, from making mistakes and learning what not to do, just as much as not making mistakes because you’ve made the right choice. Sometimes it’s our mistakes that bring us to the right conclusions. Often times, the things that break us are the very things that God will use to save us.
My sinful past broke me and brought me into a long season of sorrow, but often times our sorrows give us an understanding about God that simply can’t be communicated by words. Our hurts teach us things about God and ourselves like nothing that could ever be captured with ink or explained from the pulpit. At times, life can seem like a roller-coaster on a ship out in the middle of a stormy sea. Up and down and side to side and no relief in sight, while your mind screams “how am I supposed to make it through this to the other side?” Times where you begin to wonder if there even is an “other side,” or if you’re just trapped in a godforsaken merry-go-round of struggle…because from your limited vantage point, you ain’t seeing no “other side.”
But here is the truth of the matter. Life is a journey and part of that journey is making mistakes and going through some crappy stuff. It’s a journey which requires an inordinate amount of grace, because it is a journey which includes dealing with and overcoming fear, doubt, ignorance, immaturity, failure, pride, brokenness, wrong thinking, temptation, weakness, and all those other flaws of human character. Life is a journey of overcoming broken human character because we were created to bear God’s unbroken character. God created us in His image to bear His image, so all that human brokenness has to go. Little by little, Christ is formed in us. Little by little, pieces of us die and, little by little, His increasing presence and character are resurrected within us in their place. God is sovereign over His work in you, which means that if you are truly rooted and grounded in Christ, if you have truly accepted Him as your Savior and He is truly the Lord of your life, then even if your path isn’t the straightest in the race, you will come to the correct conclusions. Just ask the 23 year-old me with a cigarette and a glass of whiskey in her hand.
So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to walk in Him. For you have been rooted in Him and are being built up and strengthened in the faith, just as you were taught, and overflowing with gratitude. (Col 2:6,7)
But if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul. (Deut 4:29)
...because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, I am sure of this: that He who started a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. (Phil 1:5,6)
I was a sinful woman, and there are some things my husband has asked me not to share because he loves me and doesn’t want me to be dishonored. I get that. I am his wife and there is a natural tendency in men to defend their wife’s honor. What I will say is that during my twenties, I thought I had all the answers. I thought I understood what life was about. On the weekends, you could find me in close proximity to a cigarette and a glass of whisky. Pretty much wherever the alcohol and party were, you could find me there. And alcohol was often simply the precursor to a litany of other mind-altering substances I dabbled with. At that time, I thought understood God and I thought I understood myself. But I was wrong, and there is a long, crooked trail of mistakes throughout my life that leads from that wild party girl to the woman who types this today.
Today, there are a lot of things about God that I still struggle to understand. There are things in Scripture that still aren’t quite clear to me, and other things in Scripture that I see a lot of people arguing about that probably aren’t worth arguing about. There are certain things that I wrestle with and I come to God, over and over, asking Him what the answer is. Asking Him to just tell me what’s right, rather than just sitting there in His awful silence while I struggle to figure it out. Not too long ago, during my prayer time, I was wrestling for answers that seem to remain elusive to me. That night, sometime around 4 a.m., I woke up and sat up in bed, wide awake, and the Holy Spirit said: “Sometimes the answer is in the journey; it is the person you are becoming while you look for the answer.”
I think that’s why God allows us to make mistakes and leaves some things vague. Don’t get me wrong, there is absolute truth and there is a right and wrong way to interpret Scripture. But God is interested in teaching us wisdom and understanding, and that can only come through experience. It comes through trial and error, from making mistakes and learning what not to do, just as much as not making mistakes because you’ve made the right choice. Sometimes it’s our mistakes that bring us to the right conclusions. Often times, the things that break us are the very things that God will use to save us.
My sinful past broke me and brought me into a long season of sorrow, but often times our sorrows give us an understanding about God that simply can’t be communicated by words. Our hurts teach us things about God and ourselves like nothing that could ever be captured with ink or explained from the pulpit. At times, life can seem like a roller-coaster on a ship out in the middle of a stormy sea. Up and down and side to side and no relief in sight, while your mind screams “how am I supposed to make it through this to the other side?” Times where you begin to wonder if there even is an “other side,” or if you’re just trapped in a godforsaken merry-go-round of struggle…because from your limited vantage point, you ain’t seeing no “other side.”
But here is the truth of the matter. Life is a journey and part of that journey is making mistakes and going through some crappy stuff. It’s a journey which requires an inordinate amount of grace, because it is a journey which includes dealing with and overcoming fear, doubt, ignorance, immaturity, failure, pride, brokenness, wrong thinking, temptation, weakness, and all those other flaws of human character. Life is a journey of overcoming broken human character because we were created to bear God’s unbroken character. God created us in His image to bear His image, so all that human brokenness has to go. Little by little, Christ is formed in us. Little by little, pieces of us die and, little by little, His increasing presence and character are resurrected within us in their place. God is sovereign over His work in you, which means that if you are truly rooted and grounded in Christ, if you have truly accepted Him as your Savior and He is truly the Lord of your life, then even if your path isn’t the straightest in the race, you will come to the correct conclusions. Just ask the 23 year-old me with a cigarette and a glass of whiskey in her hand.
So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to walk in Him. For you have been rooted in Him and are being built up and strengthened in the faith, just as you were taught, and overflowing with gratitude. (Col 2:6,7)
But if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul. (Deut 4:29)
...because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, I am sure of this: that He who started a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. (Phil 1:5,6)
Saturday, June 27, 2020
The Focus Of Your Faith
“Faith is deliberate confidence in the character of God,
Whose ways you may not understand at the time.”—Oswald Chambers
There are many misconceptions about faith in the church
today. Faith is not believing that
something we want to happen, will happen.
Faith is not saying to God, “I know You will do such-and-such thing.” We don’t manipulate God, we align ourselves
with Him. He is not the one who changes,
we are. When the writer of Hebrews described
faith as, “the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen”
(11:1), it was a hope and conviction in God’s character-- a hope and conviction in God's faithfulness to follow through on
His promises. True faith is when we hold
onto God even when He doesn’t do what we want.
Faith is knowing and believing that He loves us, even when our circumstances
seem to portray otherwise.
True faith is faith in a person. Our faith is in God Himself, not in what He
may or may not do. True faith is not in
hoped-for temporal circumstances, because there will come many times in our
life when we believe God is going to act in a certain way, but He acts in
another. Our faith cannot be put in a
hoped-for set of earthly circumstances because we do not know the mind of
God. We make assumptions, and sometimes
those assumptions are right and sometimes they are wrong. But as long as our faith is rightly placed in
Who God is, rather than how we assume or hope He will act during the course of
our lives, we will never be wrong or disappointed, because God never
changes. God is. And He will always be. But He is often not what we expect. A genuine encounter with God shatters all illusion
and previously held notions about Him.
This is because we come to Him on His terms, not ours.
In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus asked God, “If it is
possible, let this cup pass from Me. Yet not as I will, but as You will” (Matt
26:39). We look at this verse and it
seems to us that Jesus is asking God to change His circumstances, but that is
not what is taking place here. Read it
again. Jesus is describing and
confessing His own will, then asking God to change it, if necessary, to align
it with His. This verse is Jesus' prayer to align His will with the Father’s.
That is why a few verses down, when Jesus prays the second time, we see
a change in His approach. He doesn’t say
anything about His own will. He simply
says, “if it is not Your will for this to pass away, then let Your will be done”
(v. 42). We see no bargaining with God
here, just surrender and resignation to the will of God. God did not grant Jesus’ will, but Jesus
surrendered and followed Him anyway, even though the path led to His own death.
Jesus gave us the greatest example of accepting God on His
terms, rather than our own. Jesus didn’t
put His expectations on God and call that “faith.” Faith is our surrender to God on His terms,
not ours, and clinging to Him regardless of how those circumstances turn out.
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)
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 end result of your faith, the
salvation of your souls. (1 Pet 1:8,9)
As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in Him will never be
put to shame”…Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the
message is heard through the word about Christ. (Rom 10:11,17)
Size Of A Mustard Seed
A mustard seed is about the size of the ball in the tip of a ball-point pen. If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, God will meet you there. The apostles asked Jesus to “increase their faith” and Jesus responded, “If you have faith the size of a mustard seed....” Jesus met them at “mustard seed.”
Jesus says that the kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, but after it is planted into the soil, it puts forth branches big enough for birds to rest in its shade. Jesus will meet you at your mustard seed, but it still does no good unless you plant it in the soil. A mustard seed will never grow unless you plant it. You plant a seed in the ground because you trust that it is going to grow.
I think there are a lot of people who mistakenly put their faith in the mustard seed, or into their vision of what that mustard seed is going look like once it starts to grow, instead of putting their faith in the invisible force that makes the seed grow. We don’t put our faith in seeds, or our vision of what we think that seed is going look like. We put our faith in the Person Who makes it grow. Relationship with Jesus Christ is about trust, even if your seed sits in the dark soil for a while. Even if your seed doesn’t grow the way you thought it would.
The Psalmist says, “We will not fear, even though the earth trembles and the mountains topple into the sea...” (Ps 46:2). As the world seems to increase in its trembling, lift up your mustard seed and God will meet you there. Even if we live through times in the days ahead where it seems the very mountains are about to crumble into the sea, God will be faithful to meet you at your mustard seed. Don’t put your trust in this world or the things of this world, but put your trust in Jesus Christ Who has already overcome this world. “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome, because everyone born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world: our faith. Who then overcomes the world? Only the one who believes Jesus is the Son of God.” (1 John 5:3-5)
Jesus put before them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a man planted in his field. Although it is the smallest of all seeds, yet it grows into the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches.” (Matt 13:31,32)
Jesus says that the kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, but after it is planted into the soil, it puts forth branches big enough for birds to rest in its shade. Jesus will meet you at your mustard seed, but it still does no good unless you plant it in the soil. A mustard seed will never grow unless you plant it. You plant a seed in the ground because you trust that it is going to grow.
I think there are a lot of people who mistakenly put their faith in the mustard seed, or into their vision of what that mustard seed is going look like once it starts to grow, instead of putting their faith in the invisible force that makes the seed grow. We don’t put our faith in seeds, or our vision of what we think that seed is going look like. We put our faith in the Person Who makes it grow. Relationship with Jesus Christ is about trust, even if your seed sits in the dark soil for a while. Even if your seed doesn’t grow the way you thought it would.
The Psalmist says, “We will not fear, even though the earth trembles and the mountains topple into the sea...” (Ps 46:2). As the world seems to increase in its trembling, lift up your mustard seed and God will meet you there. Even if we live through times in the days ahead where it seems the very mountains are about to crumble into the sea, God will be faithful to meet you at your mustard seed. Don’t put your trust in this world or the things of this world, but put your trust in Jesus Christ Who has already overcome this world. “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome, because everyone born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world: our faith. Who then overcomes the world? Only the one who believes Jesus is the Son of God.” (1 John 5:3-5)
Jesus put before them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a man planted in his field. Although it is the smallest of all seeds, yet it grows into the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches.” (Matt 13:31,32)
The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith!" And the Lord answered, "If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it will obey you." (Luke 17:5)
Afterward the disciples came to Jesus privately and asked, “Why couldn’t’ we drive it out?” “Because you have so little faith,” He answered. “For truly I tell you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” (Matt 17:19,20)
Find Your Mustard Seed
A few months ago, my 5 year-old daughter was in the hospital for three days. For three days she was hooked up to IV’s and monitors and was confined to a hospital bed, something that is unbearable for a rough-housing, very busy, very energetic child. At the moment, she is downstairs watching a cartoon and loudly negotiating with our cat, Rudy.
There was no way to prepare for what happened, it was completely unexpected, it just happened and then we had to deal with it. But it’s things like this that cause me to examine the quality and genuineness of my faith, because there’s not always a happy ending. I would be lying if I said I never questioned whether God was gonna pull-through on this one. The truth is, I was tempted to imagine all sorts of terrible outcomes, including losing my youngest daughter and how that would not only impact our lives, but also our faith. It’s things like this which bring us to that place within us where we ask, “Would I still have faith that God is always good? Would I bear witness to the world of a stable faith in God, or will I crash and burn? Would God really make me suffer like this?” This is the real side of the Christian faith that we don’t often discuss….the temptation to doubt, the temptation to question. Whether we indulge in it is a different story, but this temptation affects us all at some point or another. Maybe I just speak for myself when I say that I have found myself eyeballin’ that ledge, fighting against all doubt and fear of one day falling off of it. All Satan has to do is keep us focused on that ledge so we don’t look up the mountain to the higher-up that God is calling us toward.
We must understand that we will encounter temptations of all sorts in our walk with Christ. Even Jesus was tempted, but He resisted, He didn’t indulge in them. We must also understand that our degree of faith is not the product of our own will, it is a gift from God (Rom 12:3). Your faith is a gift and it is something that God is always working to fill up into its full measure and to refine through your daily life circumstances. That is why we must never compare our faith to anyone else’s, because we will walk away with a warped perception of either our lack or our excess. The visible, external witness of your faith is directly related to your inner level of trust in God, and every single day of your life it will be exercised to one degree or another. Some days you will do well, some days you won’t, but you must never allow anything to come between you and your trust in God. That includes the illness of or, God forbid, the death of your child. That includes whatever our sufferings may be, whatever persecutions we face, even unto death.
I’m going be brutally honest here, because it may just save you one day. I think one of the many, many reasons we are told that vast numbers of people leave the church in the end days is because they don’t hold onto the truth that God is always good and always trustworthy regardless of our circumstances. The temptation to doubt will overcome many and they will fall into either despair or bitterness. I've wrestled both of those dragons. However, the good news is, that even though we may not be able to prepare for whatever circumstances may befall us, we can prepare our faith. The Apostles understood that faith comes from God, therefore they asked Jesus, “Increase our faith!” (Luke 17:5). And Jesus responded to them, “If you have faith the size of a mustard seed….” Find your mustard seed, make your stand, face that dragon, and start praying for God to increase your faith. The Spirit in you is far greater than any dragon you may face. I have to remind myself of that regularly.
In the days ahead, if you find yourself in the midst of a trial and you look down at your tired, trembling hands and all you see is a tiny mustard seed, God will meet you there. God will meet you at your mustard seed. Trust Him to stand by His word, no matter what your circumstances end up looking like. Hang onto that mustard seed for all it’s worth, even if that’s all you have to hang onto at some point. Don’t let Satan rob you of it, don’t let it go, no matter what happens, hang onto that tiny seed of trust with all you’ve got and cry out to God to make up your lack. Make that mustard seed your anchor, make it your Ebenezer, and hang onto it for all it’s worth. Because that mustard seed is worth your very soul.
“The Apostles said to the Lord, ‘Increase our faith!’ And the Lord answered, ‘If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, “Be uprooted and planted into the sea,” and it will obey you.’” (Luke 17:5,6)
“Then Samuel took a stone and set it between Mizpah and Shen, and named it Ebenezer, saying, ‘Thus far, the Lord has helped us.’” (1 Sam 7:12)
“These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is more precious than mere gold. So, when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world. Though you have not seen Him you love Him; and though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and rejoice with an inexpressible and glorious joy, now that you are receiving the goal of your faith: the salvation of your souls.” (1 Peter 1:7-9)
There was no way to prepare for what happened, it was completely unexpected, it just happened and then we had to deal with it. But it’s things like this that cause me to examine the quality and genuineness of my faith, because there’s not always a happy ending. I would be lying if I said I never questioned whether God was gonna pull-through on this one. The truth is, I was tempted to imagine all sorts of terrible outcomes, including losing my youngest daughter and how that would not only impact our lives, but also our faith. It’s things like this which bring us to that place within us where we ask, “Would I still have faith that God is always good? Would I bear witness to the world of a stable faith in God, or will I crash and burn? Would God really make me suffer like this?” This is the real side of the Christian faith that we don’t often discuss….the temptation to doubt, the temptation to question. Whether we indulge in it is a different story, but this temptation affects us all at some point or another. Maybe I just speak for myself when I say that I have found myself eyeballin’ that ledge, fighting against all doubt and fear of one day falling off of it. All Satan has to do is keep us focused on that ledge so we don’t look up the mountain to the higher-up that God is calling us toward.
We must understand that we will encounter temptations of all sorts in our walk with Christ. Even Jesus was tempted, but He resisted, He didn’t indulge in them. We must also understand that our degree of faith is not the product of our own will, it is a gift from God (Rom 12:3). Your faith is a gift and it is something that God is always working to fill up into its full measure and to refine through your daily life circumstances. That is why we must never compare our faith to anyone else’s, because we will walk away with a warped perception of either our lack or our excess. The visible, external witness of your faith is directly related to your inner level of trust in God, and every single day of your life it will be exercised to one degree or another. Some days you will do well, some days you won’t, but you must never allow anything to come between you and your trust in God. That includes the illness of or, God forbid, the death of your child. That includes whatever our sufferings may be, whatever persecutions we face, even unto death.
I’m going be brutally honest here, because it may just save you one day. I think one of the many, many reasons we are told that vast numbers of people leave the church in the end days is because they don’t hold onto the truth that God is always good and always trustworthy regardless of our circumstances. The temptation to doubt will overcome many and they will fall into either despair or bitterness. I've wrestled both of those dragons. However, the good news is, that even though we may not be able to prepare for whatever circumstances may befall us, we can prepare our faith. The Apostles understood that faith comes from God, therefore they asked Jesus, “Increase our faith!” (Luke 17:5). And Jesus responded to them, “If you have faith the size of a mustard seed….” Find your mustard seed, make your stand, face that dragon, and start praying for God to increase your faith. The Spirit in you is far greater than any dragon you may face. I have to remind myself of that regularly.
In the days ahead, if you find yourself in the midst of a trial and you look down at your tired, trembling hands and all you see is a tiny mustard seed, God will meet you there. God will meet you at your mustard seed. Trust Him to stand by His word, no matter what your circumstances end up looking like. Hang onto that mustard seed for all it’s worth, even if that’s all you have to hang onto at some point. Don’t let Satan rob you of it, don’t let it go, no matter what happens, hang onto that tiny seed of trust with all you’ve got and cry out to God to make up your lack. Make that mustard seed your anchor, make it your Ebenezer, and hang onto it for all it’s worth. Because that mustard seed is worth your very soul.
“The Apostles said to the Lord, ‘Increase our faith!’ And the Lord answered, ‘If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, “Be uprooted and planted into the sea,” and it will obey you.’” (Luke 17:5,6)
“Then Samuel took a stone and set it between Mizpah and Shen, and named it Ebenezer, saying, ‘Thus far, the Lord has helped us.’” (1 Sam 7:12)
“These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is more precious than mere gold. So, when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world. Though you have not seen Him you love Him; and though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and rejoice with an inexpressible and glorious joy, now that you are receiving the goal of your faith: the salvation of your souls.” (1 Peter 1:7-9)
Monday, June 8, 2020
Soul Surgeons
My husband works in an operating room. There are many tools present which are
required to perform a successful surgery.
Some are needed to make simple incisions, some are needed to clamp veins
closed, some are needed to retract organs or excess flesh out the way so the
surgeon can get to the problem area, some are needed to perform delicate steps,
and some are used to crush and cut through bone. The surgeon doesn’t try to cut through bone
with tools that perform delicate procedures because it wouldn’t work. Likewise, if the surgeon used one of the tools
that crush bone to perform a delicate arterial procedure, the patient would probably
die, the artery torn to irreparable shreds, and no amount of clamps would be
able to keep the patient from bleeding out.
You have to use the right tools at the right steps, or the surgery will
fail. A successful surgeon must know how
to use the proper tool at the proper time.
Ministry is a work of soul surgery. God is the penultimate soul surgeon, and when
you study the life and ministry of Jesus Christ, you see a master at His
craft. Jesus knew what tool to use with
each person, in each circumstance. He
knew when to be gentle and He knew when to be harsh. Likewise, we must be careful not to crush
people with a fiery, bold stance, when meekness and gentleness would be much
more appropriate. When I first began
ministry, I was one of those who likened themselves to a modern-day Elijah or
John the Baptist, ready to bust up into a room and eviscerate everyone into oblivion
with God’s truth. I was ready to make Custer’s
last stand among God’s truth speakers, and everyone had better just get out of
the way of my flamethrower. It’s called
the Elijah complex, and it is a season of spiritual pride that many never grow
out of or get past. The truth is, only Elijah
is Elijah, and only John the Baptist is John the Baptist. Each person God uses to do His kingdom work
is unique and we must never attempt to emulate anyone but Jesus Christ.
Isaiah tells us about Christ, that a “bruised reed He
will not break, and a smoldering wick He will not extinguish. He will bring forth justice for truth” (Isiah
42:3). There are two things that Isaiah
is communicating here about our Lord.
The first, is that He will minister tenderly to those who are bruised
and gently to those who are losing hope.
To those who languished, Jesus was the Living Water they needed to
refresh their souls. That’s why so many sinners
followed Him around. Jesus handled their
hearts with care while performing delicate surgery on their souls. Secondly, Isaiah is telling us that the way
Jesus ministers will not be with such force and grandiosity that it leaves a
large wake in His path. That He will endeavor
to keep such a low profile that even when He passes through a marsh, not a twig
will snap, His passing draft will not even be enough to blow out a smoldering
wick. We must be careful not to confuse
impact with wake. Jesus made a large
impact while maintaining a quiet wake.
Over the years, I had to learn the hard way that ministers
are not cattle drivers, yelling and whipping a herd into formation. Because sheep are not driven, they are led. There is a time to lead them gently, so they
may lie down in green pastures. And
there is a time to lead them courageously, to keep them safe from the wolves. There is a time to sew delicate vessels back
together, and there is a time to amputate.
And a successful soul surgeon must know how to use the proper tool at
the proper time.
The weak you have not strengthened, nor have you healed
those who were sick, nor bound up the broken, nor brought back what was driven
away, nor sought what was lost; but with force and cruelty you have ruled them.
So they were scattered because there was no shepherd; and they became food for
all the beasts of the field when they were scattered…and no one was seeking or
searching for them. (Ezekiel 34:4-6)
But you beloved, build yourselves up in your most holy
faith and pray in the Holy Spirit. Keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait
for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life. Be merciful to those who doubt, save others,
snatching them out of the fire, and on some have mercy with fear, hating even
the garment polluted by corrupted flesh. (Jude 1:20-23)
And we urge you brethren, warn those who are idle,
encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone. Make sure that no
one repays a wrong for a wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and to
everyone else. (1 Thess 5:14,15)
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