I have read lately from 1 John and in Chapter 2 and verse 16 it says (in the expanded version of the Bible)
"These are the ways of (all that is in/associated with) the world: wanting to please our sinful selves (the desire/lust of the flesh), wanting the sinful things we see (the desire/lust of the eyes), and being too proud of what we have (the pride of life/possessions). None of these come from the Father, but all of them come from the world."
Now reading all that - I started to think WOW! that's me - I'm proud, I desire things of the world and I want to please myself - where does that leave me?? I pondered.
I can tell you where it leaves me - open to the BIG shake in our lives - when the waves batter us down and the wind blows our little teepee to the far outreaches.
Pride and wanting to please oneself: horrible, sneaky, crafty and so evil! - These need to be rooted out of our lives. If not they can eventually destroy us.
We often come to Jesus on the basis of what he can do for us rather that for who He is.
Many have come to Jesus and gone to church for years and even prayed the sinners prayer yet when they have gone through the "Big Shake" in their lives become resentful of God and have the "I prayed and asked God to do this and he didn't" attitude.
These are folk who are serving Him for what he can give them - Mark 4:16 type people.
God never promised us an easy ride in life all we have to do is to trust Him wholly.
When bad things happen in our lives, we get the BIG shake up and we can't cope - things go haywire and we lose our focus on Jesus and look to the world to fix things.
It's so easy to blame God in these circumstances, we forget what He has already paid for us to be free. We also forget what our future would have held for us had He not saved us. We see through the eyes of the word - not through the eternal eyes of God.
Once we have given our lives totally to Jesus we are not our own - we have been bought with a HUGE price by Him - we are the apple of His eye - the pearl of great price - so in that context we cannot 'blame' Him because we are not ours anyway but His!
When we have that attitude we cannot see our true circumstances and our faith in Jesus is weakened if not dead already.
BUT... when we are truly His, completely and utterly then nothing can come along to give us the BIG shake. Our lives can't be smashed on the rocks of doubt and despair.
Yes we will be often confused and possibly a bit bewildered, especially if we look at our problems, grief and despair through the eyes of the world. Very often God does not answer us in the way we expect - it is then we have to pray - "I trust you Lord even though I don't understand."
Jesus paid a HUGE price for our salvation. We should never fail to acknowledge this and to trust him more and more each day - even in the little things that distract and often infuriate us to the point of frustration.
Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 12 how he had pleaded with the Lord three times for a problem to be removed and the answer he received?
"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness" What an amazing answer!
God's amazing grace is sufficient for us as it was for Paul - if none of our prayers are ever answered in the way we want, then let us like Paul be content with that awesome promise that "His grace is sufficient" - That is enough - in that we can be content.
Nothing can shake us - nothing can alarm - no frustration, grief or anxiety can take hold and destroy us .
His Grace is sufficient.
"These are the ways of (all that is in/associated with) the world: wanting to please our sinful selves (the desire/lust of the flesh), wanting the sinful things we see (the desire/lust of the eyes), and being too proud of what we have (the pride of life/possessions). None of these come from the Father, but all of them come from the world."
Now reading all that - I started to think WOW! that's me - I'm proud, I desire things of the world and I want to please myself - where does that leave me?? I pondered.I can tell you where it leaves me - open to the BIG shake in our lives - when the waves batter us down and the wind blows our little teepee to the far outreaches.
Pride and wanting to please oneself: horrible, sneaky, crafty and so evil! - These need to be rooted out of our lives. If not they can eventually destroy us.
We often come to Jesus on the basis of what he can do for us rather that for who He is.
Many have come to Jesus and gone to church for years and even prayed the sinners prayer yet when they have gone through the "Big Shake" in their lives become resentful of God and have the "I prayed and asked God to do this and he didn't" attitude.
These are folk who are serving Him for what he can give them - Mark 4:16 type people.
God never promised us an easy ride in life all we have to do is to trust Him wholly.
When bad things happen in our lives, we get the BIG shake up and we can't cope - things go haywire and we lose our focus on Jesus and look to the world to fix things.
It's so easy to blame God in these circumstances, we forget what He has already paid for us to be free. We also forget what our future would have held for us had He not saved us. We see through the eyes of the word - not through the eternal eyes of God.
Once we have given our lives totally to Jesus we are not our own - we have been bought with a HUGE price by Him - we are the apple of His eye - the pearl of great price - so in that context we cannot 'blame' Him because we are not ours anyway but His!
When we have that attitude we cannot see our true circumstances and our faith in Jesus is weakened if not dead already.
BUT... when we are truly His, completely and utterly then nothing can come along to give us the BIG shake. Our lives can't be smashed on the rocks of doubt and despair.
Yes we will be often confused and possibly a bit bewildered, especially if we look at our problems, grief and despair through the eyes of the world. Very often God does not answer us in the way we expect - it is then we have to pray - "I trust you Lord even though I don't understand."
Jesus paid a HUGE price for our salvation. We should never fail to acknowledge this and to trust him more and more each day - even in the little things that distract and often infuriate us to the point of frustration.
Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 12 how he had pleaded with the Lord three times for a problem to be removed and the answer he received?
"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness" What an amazing answer!
God's amazing grace is sufficient for us as it was for Paul - if none of our prayers are ever answered in the way we want, then let us like Paul be content with that awesome promise that "His grace is sufficient" - That is enough - in that we can be content.
Nothing can shake us - nothing can alarm - no frustration, grief or anxiety can take hold and destroy us .
His Grace is sufficient.
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