Sunday, January 31, 2010

Trials and Tribulations

Trials and Tribulations

Job 1:6-12 One day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them.The Lord said to Satan, “Where have you come from?” Satan answered the Lord, “From roaming through the earth and going back and forth in it.”Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.”“Does Job fear God for nothing?” Satan replied.“Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land.But stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face.”The Lord said to Satan, “Very well, then, everything he has is in your hands, but on the man himself do not lay a finger.” Then Satan went out from the presence of the Lord.

I’d like to look at Job today. I realize that we could study the entire book and spend months on it and still not get everything out of it, but for today I want to just focus on another reason we go through trials and tribulations as believers.

In the beginning of the book we see that we are in a courtroom type scene in heaven. God has called the Angels and Satan to come and give an accounting of themselves. Often people seem to think that Satan is already in hell, but he isn’t. Even now he roams the earth and comes before God regularly to accuse us. Jesus called Satan our accuser, and He Himself is our advocate. Satan isn’t thrown out of heaven and bound until after the Tribulation.

Revelation 12:10 And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God.

This verse in Revelation shows us that rather then being unusual, it’s quite normal for Satan to be accusing us before God, and this is exactly what Satan was doing when he made the accusations against Job.

1 Peter 5:8-9 Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.

Note in the above verse that we are told that Satan is always looking for someone, a believer, to accuse and harass. However, we can know for sure from the passage in Job that he cannot harass any of us without God’s express permission. Therefore it’s God’s Will being done, not Satan’s! Another thing the above verse points out is that when Satan is allowed to test us, it causes us trials and tribulations. It causes us to “suffer”.

Matthew 4:1 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil.

This is a verse we often don’t think of when we are undergoing a trial, but I wanted to point out that even Jesus was tested by Satan! We certainly aren’t any better then He is so I don’t think we can exclude ourselves based on that. Jesus set an example for us to follow with His life. As we’ve discussed before, He warned us that we would have trials and that we needed to expect them.

Luke 9:23-24 Then he said to them all: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it.

Luke 14:28 For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it?

I’ve included the next verse just so you can see for sure that Jesus, who is God, is our advocate. And advocate is like a lawyer, he argues your case for you and declares your innocence. This is what God was doing for Job in the opening passages today and it’s what Jesus does for us every time Satan accuses us before Him. The main difference now is that Jesus has paid the price for our sins so even when we’re guilty of what Satan accuses us of, Jesus can declare that the price has already been paid for us.

1 John 2:1 My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.

In the opening passage we are told that Job was blameless and upright. That doesn’t mean that he didn’t ever sin, but rather that Satan and sin didn’t dominate him like it did most people.

What we’ve seen so far from this is that God tests our faith to be sure it’s real. He already knows if it’s real or not of course, but He knows that this is something we need to know so we can continue to grow. When we are tested for this reason as Job was, we learn just how real our faith is, and how real our God is. We learn what is usually called “the fear of the Lord” from these tests. Notice one other thing about this kind of test though:

Job 1:12 The Lord said to Satan, “Very well, then, everything he has is in your hands, but on the man himself do not lay a finger.” Then Satan went out from the presence of the Lord.

God never gives Satan a free hand-instead He limits Satan. Further along in this book we’ll see that God lifts this limit but imposes another limit, again not giving Satan a free hand. This shows us that it is God who is always in control of everything, even when Satan is being allowed to test us. Nor does God just sit idly by while we are being tested. Remember when Jesus told Peter that he would be tested?

Luke 22:31-32 “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat.But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”

Again in the above verse we see that Satan had to ask first. We also see that God’s purpose for allowing this was to strengthen Peter’s faith and that to help Peter, Jesus prayed for him. Jesus does this for each of us as well. He didn’t pray for Peter just because He happened to know him while He was on the earth, but because Peter was saved and a part of His body just as we are.

Romans 8:34….. Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.

Hebrews 7:25 Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.

No, the Lord isn’t sitting idly by while we struggle and suffer. He is right there beside us lending us His strength, guiding us and praying for us. His purpose isn’t to hurt us, but to grow us up to be more like Him and to fortify us against future troubles. (very much like an immunization injection fortifies us against future diseases) This verse from Exodus shows us this:

Exodus 20:20 Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid. God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning.”

We’ve talked before about how important the “fear of the Lord” is and what that means, so I won’t address that here. Here is a link to that topic if you’d like to review it though:

The Fear Of The Lord Is The Beginning of Wisdom

As a last thought I’d like to leave you with one of my favorite verses that describes what having that kind of faith and fear of the Lord is like:

Daniel 3:17-18 If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king.But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”

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Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Trials and Tribulations

Trials and Tribulations

Romans 8:15-17 For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.”The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

In the above passage it is made quite clear that those who are co-heirs with Christ will indeed share in His suffering. There is nothing to say “If such and such happens”; but instead the only thing that determines if we will suffer is if we are indeed born again.

That sounds pretty bleak from a worldly point of view, but we are told that the reason for this suffering is so that we can also share in our Lord’s glory and that’s a pretty awesome statement right there. The problem is that most of us, especially in our current times are not accustomed to putting off gratification. We want it right now and we really do not want to go through any suffering to get the prize. The thing is, God didn’t take a vote on this before He put it into effect, so this is what is, whether we like it or not.

There’s something else important in the above passage and that is that God not only does not give us a spirit of fear, but that He doesn’t want or intend for us to fear this suffering we have to go through. He wants us instead to remember to trust Him, to remember that He is our loving Father and would never purposely do anything to harm us.

Wait a minute…how can I say that He wouldn’t purposely do anything to harm us and yet the sentence before say that He says we must suffer???? Well, I think of that along the same lines as earthly parents and their children. My children did not like it one little bit when I took them to the doctor to get their immunizations. It hurt! It even often made them slightly sick afterward for a few days! How then could I put them through something so awful and yet say I love them and wouldn’t do anything to purposely hurt them? That’s easy to understand now, looking at it this way. As an adult I understood why these shots were necessary and in their best interests even though it hurt for a time. I made them get those shots because I loved and cared for them.

It’s the same way with the Lord. He is so far above us in His thoughts and understanding that it would probably be closer to the truth to compare us with the intelligence of ants to Him. Since we cannot hope to be intelligent enough in this life to understand all that He does and all that He requires of us, we must live by faith in who His is and what His attributes are, just as my children had to rely on the knowledge that I loved them and took good care of them, even though I also made them get their shots.

Now let’s read the rest of that particular portion of scripture:

Romans 8:18I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.

Paul is the one writing this and as you know he suffered physically a great deal after he was born again. He suffered far worse things, many more times, then most of us will ever be required to go through. Yes even having suffered as greatly as he had, he still says that those sufferings are just totally insignificant compared to the glory that will be revealed in us! The prize we are waiting for my friends will be a great deal better then the sucker the doctors gave us as children when we got our shots! In fact, it’s going to be so incredibly awesome that Paul writes at another time:

1 Corinthians 2:9 However, as it is written: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him”—

When I start to get down or depressed about the trials I’m going through, I bring myself back to these verses and try to imagine just how insignificant this trial I am going through is compared to the awesome things the Lord has in store for me. I remind myself of our Father’s attributes, that He loves and cares for me enough to have died a terrible and painful death for me personally! If that’s not love, I don’t know what it is! Knowing that he did that for me, means that I can trust Him to not only see me through this time of trial, but that I can trust Him to make certain that I come out of it standing firm in my faith and having learned all that I need to so that I can be more like Him.

2 Timothy 1:12That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day.

Romans 14:4 …..And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.

2 Corinthians 1:21-22 Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us,set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come

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Sunday, January 24, 2010

Trials and Tribulations

Quote:  How different that is from how we have all been taught to view things today. Usually not more then a half a second goes by before we're angry at the person(s) or circumstances that have us down or that have hurt us in some way. Rarely do we instead search our hearts for any sin that may be in us, much less asking the Lord to search us and reveal to us any sin that may be in us!


Oh boy! I never saw it that way before. That gives me a lot to think about. Thanks Cindy.

Yeah it just shows us yet again how different God's Ways are from the worlds ways. Sometimes it's very hard to understand God's Ways too, especially in regards to sin. The world works very hard at telling us that we're innocent of wrongdoing especially under certain circumstances, and we all tend to think it's the same way with sin, but that's not true.

When I first discovered this, it really put me in a tail spin.
I didn't like it one bit and kept thinking how "unfair" it was. I finally realized that it was the world that had taught me that it was unfair and that fairness had nothing at all to do with it. It wasn't about fairness, it was about "righteousness" and purity from sin, and more then that it's about the Holiness of God.

For those who are wondering what I'm talking about it's this: When we do something that is a sin, even if we do it unknowingly, or unwillingly, it is still a sin. For example, (and this is the one that really put me in a tailspin) if a man rapes a woman, we quickly say that the man sinned but we place no fault on the woman. God does not "fault" the woman either, but the woman DID sin, even though she didn't "want to". She still had sex outside of marriage and that is a sin. Even if the person being raped is a child and/or if it's incest, the child has still committed a sin and the sin needs to be cleansed. Sin defiles us, it makes us "dirty". God cannot ignore the dirt just because we didn't do it on purpose or because we weren't willing. He forgives us yes, but the sin took place and that's a very hard concept to swallow. Well, at least it was for me.

Anyway, this is another reason it's so important to ask the Lord to reveal any sin that is in us to us and why it's so important that we study and know God's Word.

Here's a story I'm sure you're all familiar with. It's about Abraham and how during his wanderings he would sin and tell people that Sarah was his sister instead of his wife. Well then the king of that nation always wound up taking Sarah as their wife and of course finding out later that they'd sinned. In this particular case the king took Sarah as his wife but hadn't yet slept with her when he discovered the problem:

Genesis 20:2 and there Abraham said of his wife Sarah, “She is my sister.” Then Abimelech king of Gerar sent for Sarah and took her.

Genesis 20:6-7 Then God said to him in the dream, “Yes, I know you did this with a clear conscience, and so I have kept you from sinning against me. That is why I did not let you touch her. Now return the man’s wife, for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you will live. But if you do not return her, you may be sure that you and all yours will die.”

Now Abraham had most certainly sinned against God by lying so he wasn't free from guilt either, but God took care of that too. But when the king asked Abraham why he had lied, he did what most of us would do, he made excuses!

Genesis 20:12-13 Besides, she really is my sister, the daughter of my father though not of my mother; and she became my wife. And when God had me wander from my father’s household, I said to her, ‘This is how you can show your love to me: Everywhere we go, say of me, “He is my brother.” ’ ”

So what he was saying was, "it was only a little white lie". Like I said, God handled Abraham's part in lying later, but what I wanted to point out in this story was the fact that the King didn't know he was sinning, and yet he was still just as guilty as if he had known. In his case the Lord prevented him from actually sleeping with her but the sin of marrying another mans wife was still there. God told him then that He would forgive the Kings sin when Abraham prayed for him, which Abraham did.

We don't need a priest to pray for us any longer because we have Jesus now, but we do need to ask Him to forgive our sins, even hidden ones, unwilling ones, and sins committed unknowingly.

When we have been going through a trial searching our hearts for sin and asking the Lord to show us any sins, should be the first thing we do, so we can confess and repent of any that are found, hopefully learning our lesson so the discipline won't be so long.
(I am not saying that all trials are because of sin in our lives, they aren't! I'm only saying that we should immediately search for any so that if there is sin present, we can learn of it so that we don't repeat it and confess it so we are forgiven.)

This is very important to God because He speaks of it all though the Bible. Here are some (not all LOL) verses that tell us to do this:

Psalm 139:23-24 Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

Psalm 19:12-13 Who can discern his errors? Forgive my hidden faults. Keep your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me. Then will I be blameless, innocent of great transgression.

Psalm 26:2-3 Test me, O Lord, and try me, examine my heart and my mind;

Job 34:32 Teach me what I cannot see; if I have done wrong, I will not do so again.’


2 Corinthians 13:5 Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves.

Lamentations 3:40 Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the Lord.

Haggai 1:5 Now this is what the Lord Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways.

Galatians 6:4 Each one should test his own actions.

Psalm 66:10 For you, O God, tested us; you refined us like silver.

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Friday, January 22, 2010

Trials and Tribulations

Trials and Tribulations

We've been studying about this and I posted a couple of devotions I read today about it already.  I'm also currently reading Genesis again and today's reading just happened to be about Joseph.  This is a great story to learn about trials and tribulations from if you'd care to read it.  Let me quote a couple of passages from what I've been reading today.  I'm sure it will jog your memories about what is going on in this story:

Genesis 42:18-21 On the third day, Joseph said to them, “Do this and you will live, for I fear God: If you are honest men, let one of your brothers stay here in prison, while the rest of you go and take grain back for your starving households. But you must bring your youngest brother to me, so that your words may be verified and that you may not die.” This they proceeded to do. They said to one another, “Surely we are being punished because of our brother. We saw how distressed he was when he pleaded with us for his life, but we would not listen; that’s why this distress has come upon us.”

Genesis 42:27-28 At the place where they stopped for the night one of them opened his sack to get feed for his donkey, and he saw his silver in the mouth of his sack. “My silver has been returned,” he said to his brothers. “Here it is in my sack.” Their hearts sank and they turned to each other trembling and said, “What is this that God has done to us?”

We have already seen that one way that God disciplines us is with trials.  I'd like to point out something in the above passages.  Notice in both passages that the brothers immediately realized that they were being punished by God and did not blame other people or circumstances for what happened to them.  Although quite obviously another human being had put the silver in their sacks, they knew it had been done because it was God's Will and so did not place any blame on the other person at all.

How different that is from how we have all been taught to view things today.  Usually not more then a half a second goes by before we're angry at the person(s) or circumstances that have us down or that have hurt us in some way.  Rarely do we instead search our hearts for any sin that may be in us, much less asking the Lord to search us and reveal to us any sin that may be in us!

Later after Joseph had again put their silver back in their sacks along with his own cup in Benjamin's sack, the brothers confess their guilt still not realizing that Joseph is their long lost brother:

Genesis 44:16 “What can we say to my lord?” Judah replied. “What can we say? How can we prove our innocence? God has uncovered your servants’ guilt. We are now my lord’s slaves—we ourselves and the one who was found to have the cup.”

Again the brothers have accepted that this trial has come on them because of their sin against God and against their brother Joseph and their father.  Finally though after hearing a heart rending plea from his brother Judah, Joseph finally relents and tells them who he really is and explains what happened to them:

Genesis 45:1 Then Joseph could no longer control himself before all his attendants, and he cried out, “Have everyone leave my presence!” So there was no one with Joseph when he made himself known to his brothers.

Genesis 45:5-7 And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you. For two years now there has been famine in the land, and for the next five years there will not be plowing and reaping. But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.

So in this story we see two very different reasons for trials and tribulations, for if you read the earlier part of the story, you see that Joseph had a great deal of tribulation while he was in Egypt before he was finally appointed by the Pharaoh to over everything.  He even spent two years in prison!  Remember, that Joseph's father was also undergoing Trials and tribulations because he thought his son was dead all this time.  So for each of these people involved in this story, even though they are all interconnected, there are different reasons that they underwent the trials they did.  For some it was due to their sins and for others it was simply part of their life that they had to trust God to get through, knowing He was in control and would work all things to their good.  I'd also like to share what one of my commentaries says about this:

Joseph was an OT type of “Christ … who … when He suffered … committed Himself to Him who judges righteously … that we … might live”
1 Peter 2:20-24 But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. “He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.” When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.
The Open Bible

This has already gotten much longer then I intended so I'll end it now.  I'd love to hear your thoughts about this story too though!

 

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Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Trials and Tribulations

Trials and Tribulations

Genesis 22:1-2Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” “Here I am,” he replied.Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.”

As we have already seen, all who are born again go through trials and tribulations for various reasons. Those trials can be to deepen our faith, to discipline us for sin, and they can even simply happen because the world hates us because we have the Spirit of God living in us. There is still yet another reason for our Trails and that is to actually test our faith. This is what happened to Abraham.

The first thing I’d like to point out is that this test didn’t happen until after Abraham had had time to mature in his faith. Notice the passage starts out with “some time later”. This test for Abraham had to be the most difficult of his whole life. I cannot even imagine what he must have gone through when the Lord told him to sacrifice his only son to Him. The Lord did not announce to Abraham that this was a test though, all He did was tell Him to go sacrifice his son. What is amazing is how Abraham reacted to the Lord’s command. He didn’t hesitate. He didn’t ask the Lord “why”. He didn’t try and find a way around it, by asking if he could perhaps offer something else instead. Knowing God didn’t approve of child sacrifice, he didn’t even ask the Lord why He was being inconsistent! Instead, he got up first thing in the morning and started out on the 50 mile hike to do what the Lord had told him to do!

Genesis 22:3 Early the next morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about.

When he arrived at the mountain, after what must have been a very emotionally difficult trip for Abraham, he still didn’t show any doubt at all. He had not told anyone else what he was really planning other then that he was going to worship the Lord and offer a sacrifice; but he didn’t tell anyone that the sacrifice would be his son. Perhaps he wanted to spare his son from fear or worry. We don’t know why for sure but that certainly seems reasonable. By the time they arrive though, even Isaac is starting to wonder what is going on because Abraham hasn’t brought a lamb with them.

Genesis 22:7-8 Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, “Father?” “Yes, my son?” Abraham replied. “The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together.

How his heart must have broken when Isaac asked that question, and yet he stayed strong in his faith and simply said that God would provide the lamb for them. He then proceeded to build the alter, gather the wood and get everything ready. Finally, with no other choice left open to him, he bound up his only son and laid him on the alter.

Genesis 22:10-12 Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!” “Here I am,” he replied.“Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.”

Can you imagine the scene now as Abraham with tears cuts the binding from his son and holds him, praising God? Then, looking up, he saw a Ram caught in a bush and knew that the Lord had indeed provided the sacrifice for him that day. So he and his son sacrificed the Ram to the Lord together.

I don’t think I can imagine a tougher test can you? Let’s look at what the Lord said to Abraham when he had “passed” his test.

Genesis 22:12“Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.”

This test had been to see just how deep Abraham’s faith was. Did he truly fear God? Abraham passed this test and because he did and because we now have God’s Word, we can see many ways that God used this incident in one man’s life to help a great many of His children grow. He truly does work all things to our good!

What does this story teach us about faith? It shows us that faith is obedient to God, surrenders and submits all to God, waiting on Him; and that understanding comes after obedience, not before. It also shows us another truth which is that God doesn’t provide until there has been personal sacrifice. Just as Abraham had to deny himself to do God’s Will, so do we. True faith is costly. It brings to mind when Jesus said this:

Luke 9:23-24 Then he said to them all: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it.

Thank You Lord for these Trials that test, grow and refine our faith. Thank You for teaching us “the fear of the Lord”; that You are all that matters; that You really are our “all in all”. Thank You that You love us enough to discipline us and grow us into vessels that bring You honor and glory, so that we become more like our Lord Jesus every day. Strengthen us Lord and help us, so that we may always please You.

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Friday, January 8, 2010

Trials and Tribulations

Trials and Tribulations

I thought that perhaps today we should take a closer look at the passages we ended with yesterday.

Ephesians 5:3-7 But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a man is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient. Therefore do not be partners with them.

In the above passage Paul lists a number of things that are not to be part of our lives and says that God will discipline us when they are part of our lives. The temptation here is sometimes to look at this list as a check list and then make sure we don’t do “those things”. That can be helpful at times, but there’s more to it then just a check list. Notice in the first sentence Paul says that the reason he says this is because these kinds of things are improper for us who have been born again. We are holy now, we are not like the rest of the world.

This reminds me of what one of my teachers in high school told me. He was a godly man, and in those days it wasn’t a crime to be known as someone who is born again. Anyway, he was teaching 10th grade math. We were all very excited because it was our first day of “high school”. We thought we were really “grown up” now! Well, he brought us down a peg or two right at the start when he informed us that we really weren’t 10th graders yet! We thought he’d lost his mind! He explained it to us though by saying that throughout that year we would be learning how to be 10th graders, but that we really wouldn’t completely know how to be 10th graders until we finished the year! Well, that certainly gave us something to chew on for awhile!

So how does what Paul said relate to what my teacher said? Often when we are born again, we’re all excited thinking that now we are “new creations” and we are holy people, God’s chosen ones, all of which is true. However, we haven’t really learned “how to be” that new creation”, that “holy person”, that “child of God” yet. This is why Paul and the others often explain to us how we should be acting; what we should be doing, etc.

The Lord knows that we’re still learning too, which is why He disciplines us, just as any good human father would do. He also has Paul add a further admonition to us at the end of this passage that says, “therefore do not be partners with them”. God has told His people, first the Jew’s and now us, that we are to be separate from the world. That means we are to separate ourselves from those who are not born again. We can witness (and should) to those not born again, but we are not to have close personal relationships with them, such as being close friends, or married etc. If we have married someone who is not a believer, that too is forgiven us of course, but it is God’s Will for us to be separate from those not born again, and He has many good reasons for that. I don’t want to get into that for now because it would make for a very long study, so I will do that another day. Suffice it to say for now, that when we are disobedient and insist on being close with non believers that we invite discipline and hardship into our lives just as Paul says.

These then are some of the reasons God might discipline us. I realize this has gotten kind of long so I will close for now. But before I do, let me quote a little more of that passage for us so we can think on it over the weekend.

Ephesians 5:1-21 Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.  But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people.  Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving.  For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a man is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.  Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient.  Therefore do not be partners with them.  For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.  Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.  For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret.  But everything exposed by the light becomes visible, for it is light that makes everything visible. This is why it is said: “Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.  Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery.  Instead, be filled with the SpiritSpeak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs.  Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.

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Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Trials and Tribulations

Trials and Tribulations

Besides discipline, there is yet another possible reason for those who are born again to have trials. Jesus told us that those who really follow Him and who are really living their lives for Him, will be persecuted.

Matthew 10:22 All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.

John 15:19 If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.

Usually when we think of being persecuted for our faith, we think of people dying for Christ like they did back in the disciples times and are even now in third world countries. That is of course persecution, but it is not the only form it takes.

Being persecuted for our faith can and does often happen in families where some of the family members are not Christians. It causes division and great heartache in all the members of that family. It can cause problems when raising children when one spouse is not a believer and cause a struggle over how, when or if  the children are disciplined.

Persecution also happens frequently on the job when co-workers or the boss are not Christians. Persecution can take the form of the believer being ridiculed and made fun of, insulted, or even being given the worst sort of jobs, or even losing their job because the owner or boss didn’t like them because of their faith.

Even in our society which is one of the most free ones in the world, believers are constantly ridiculed, put down, and treated like they are some kind of imbecile or idiot at best, or treated as though we are prejudiced and bigoted, or some kind of terrorist fanatic at worse. We know too that because we are in the last days that this will only get worse and not better.

In the following passage, Peter tells us that we shouldn’t be surprised when we suffer because of our faith. In fact he tells us to rejoice instead:

1 Peter 4:12-16 Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you.But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler.However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name.

Peter explains that we should be joyful when we are persecuted because it let’s us know for sure that we are living our lives the way we are supposed to be. It is a testimony that we are not living “in friendship with the world”, but instead that we are abiding in Christ. He even goes so far as to tell us that when the rapture happens, if we have suffered in any way for our faith that we will be glorified with Christ!

Romans 8:17Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

Not only will we be glorified but as a result of our suffering for our faith, we will be rewarded by being allowed to reign with Christ:

2 Timothy 2:12if we endure, we will also reign with him. If we disown him, he will also disown us;

Therefore when we are going through trials that have happened because of our faith, when we are being persecuted because of it, we can rejoice because it is a sure sign that we are living our lives the way the Lord wants us to.

However, Peter also tells us that there is another reason that God allows persecution to happen in our lives, and it’s the opposite of the other one. When persecution happens because we are living right, then we are blessed by it, but it can also happen as a disciplinary action done by God to purify us.

1 Peter 4:15-19 If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler.However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name.For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God?And, “If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?”So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.

This is not saying that we earn our salvation but rather that once we are saved, God expects us to live in obedience to Him. When we don’t live in obedience, then we will be disciplined by Him. This is another reason that it’s so important to know our bibles and to stay in constant contact with the Lord through prayer. It is through doing those two things that we can determine just how the Lord wants us to live. This is another reason that our Lord told people to “count the cost” of following Him. Being a Christian is not an easy life, although the Lord does help us. If not for His help, we couldn’t do it at all.

James puts it even more bluntly then Peter does. He tells us that when we choose to “be a friend of the world” rather then living as we should, that it makes us an enemy of God. He says that the Holy Spirit who indwells us is very jealous of us and wants us for His own. He has no intention of “sharing” us with the world!

James 4:4-5 You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.Or do you think Scripture says without reason that the spirit he caused to live in us envies intensely?

Jesus Himself told us that we can’t have our cake and eat it too.

Matthew 6:24“No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.

Finally let me leave you with this quote from Ephesians which also warns us of the consequences of being disobedient and not living as we should.

Ephesians 5:3-7 But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people.Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving.For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a man is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient.Therefore do not be partners with them.

From today’s passages we can see that trials can come on us due to the fact that we are living right, because the world hates God and hates those who belong to Him; and they can come on us because we are not living obediently. When that happens, the trials come on us as the consequences of our sin and are God’s discipline meant to purify us and strengthen our faith.

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Sunday, January 3, 2010

Our God still works miracles!

I was thanking the Lord last night for all He's done for me this past year and decided that I wanted to share some of it with all of you. He truly does still work miracles!

I don't want to go into a lot of detail, so let me just say that I have lost everything I own, except for the clothes on my back and the clothes my children were wearing 3 times in my life. And I really do mean "everything". It did teach me that "things" aren't so important, but at the same time, security became very important to me, including "financial security". During that time i also went through a period where I was severely depressed and in a psych ward for two weeks. This was all before I was saved--about 16 years ago. I was a mess and so was my life. That was when I began searching for God with all my heart, mind, soul and strength. I knew He was the only one that could help me. I don't want to repeat myself so if you would like to read about how I came to be saved, I posted about that here:

http://www.fresh-hope.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18086&highlight=Love+Jesus!

I need to give you just a bit more background so you will understand just what an amazing God we have. Almost 10 years ago I got hurt at work and became disabled due to chronic back pain. The disks in my back are all messed up and cause me to live with a great deal of pain every day. This happened AFTER I was saved however and because I was unable to work, unable to even get up from the couch for the first year, I spent all my time studying the Bible and praying.

However, a large portion of people who live with chronic pain also have to deal with depression--for obvious reasons. It's not easy to live with this kind of pain day in and day out, knowing it won't go away. It was only with the Lord's help that I was able to continue to grow in Him and keep any depression from getting a hold on me. It was 3 years after I was injured that the Lord gave me Fresh Hope as my ministry.

As many of you know, my husband got laid off from work last January, so it's been almost a year now. I will admit right up front that this has been one of the hardest tests I've ever gone through, especially considering my background. If it wasn't for the Lord, I know I wouldn't have made it through even the first few months much less through 11 months with my sanity intact. I am dead serious about this.

There is NO way that I could have handled this before I was saved. There was no way I could have handled this even two years ago. If the Lord hadn't made sure that I had grown enough in Him to face this, I would have fallen flat on my face and probably been in a psych ward within the first three months easily. As you can easily see from the background information I gave you, depression should have been able to grab hold of me very easily, and without the Lord it would have.

I "should" be anxious, worried, tense, scared to death, angry, and full of fear, but I'm not. I really truly am not. I do not feel fearful at all, nor do I feel anxious or worried. Oh, I have my moments when i go to the Lord and tell Him that I just don't see how we can possibly keep on going; or tell Him that I really can't handle much more. In fact that's what I was doing last night. It was then that He reminded me of all of this and of just how far He has carried me. Yes, He is carrying me. I could not, and cannot do this for myself. I swear that to you. I am not strong emotionally, but He is. It was last night that I realized just how truly miraculous this is.

That's why I decided that I had to share it with you all. I'm not special. The Lord will do this for anyone, not just me. I used to wonder what made Peter and the other apostles change so much--how they were able to be so strong and face beatings and pain and eventually death for Jesus. I knew even then that God doesn't change and that if God had done something for them that caused this change to come over them, that He could and did still do it today. I even knew back then that most people in the church talked about it, but even they didn't have it. I wanted it though. I wanted to have that change in me.

The Lord led me to a few verses that seemed to prove this to me and made me want it even more; I knew that somehow this had to do with our salvation. Here's one of the verses:

1 Corinthians 2:4-5 My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power.

Ever since the day I was saved, I have seen God's power at work in me. The more I grew in Him, the stronger His power worked in me and the more He did. In fact, it was really His power that enabled me to grow toward maturity in Christ and still is. But I have never seen His power more obviously at work in me before now!

I truly know and am experiencing what Paul meant when he said that the Lord stood by him and strengthened him. (2 Timothy 4:17 ) It is really amazing! He is really amazing! I do not know His purpose for this in my life, at least not beyond teaching me to trust Him fully for all things.

I do hope and pray though that what He is doing for me will encourage others. I do not know how things will all work out in my life. Will we lose everything again or not... (again for me anyway lol) And while losing everything is certainly not something I would desire, nor is it something that I would look forward to, I do know that if it does come down to that, that the Lord will still be with me strengthening me and carrying me through the experience so that it really won't hurt all that much.

That's the other part that amazed me last night in my talk with the Lord. I realized that as much as I love our little house, and all our "stuff", that lack of money and lack of a job cannot take away from me the things that are the most important of all to me, and that's the Lord, my husband, my children and their families and all of you here. (and of course our kitties lol) Those I will always have, because even if some die, I will see them again in heaven and will never lose their love, so I really am secure!

So while the world reels because of all the economic problems, we who are in Christ Jesus and shielded by His power can rejoice as our lives prove what an awesome God we serve!!!

1 Peter 1:3-7 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.

I wasn't aware of this, but my church had a "testimony" Sunday recently and my oldest daughter, Michelle spoke as did two others. It always amazes me to hear others testimonies, and especially those of my children. If you would like to hear her testimony of how the Lord worked in her life this past year, you can hear it here. (her's is the last of the three testimonies on this audio)

How I've Seen the Lord This Year

http://www.trinityevchurch.org/asset...ec27Sermon.mp3

Discuss this post with us on Fresh-Hope!


Friday, January 1, 2010

Trials and Tribulations

Trials and Tribulations

In Hebrews again we are told that we too should endure hardship as discipline just as Jesus did.

Hebrews 12:7-11 Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father?If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons.Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live!Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness.No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

Here we are told that the purpose of these trials is so that we can share in His holiness. The trials ultimately produce righteousness and peace within us as we turn to Him and His Word to guide us through these times. Note however that we must be “trained by it” for it to produce this effect in is. How then are we trained in it? For many of us, we are trained by repetition. How does a runner train for a race? He practices running, he strengthens his body, and he runs the course set for him over and over, trying to go faster each time. The same is true for us when we are “in training” with the Lord as our coach. The main difference is that our “practice” is done during this life time each time a similar circumstance comes along. So we practice how we should be reacting each time it happens. In the mean time we strengthen our souls by studying His Word and spending time with Him. Just as the runner is wanting to run his best to win the prize, so we too should be wanting to “live our best” to win the prize our Lord has set before us. That’s why “the prize” is there!

1 Corinthians 9:24-27 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air.No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.

What prize or crown is that Paul is desiring for himself? He tells us that in several passages but I’m only going to quote one here:

1 Corinthians 3:13-15 his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man’s work.If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward.If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.

We have discussed this subject in other studies so I’m not going to go over it very much here. In case someone missed those studies, let me just say that our reward, our “prize” is to be ruling with Christ, judging even the angels, and many other wondrous things like that. What we will be doing during our lives in eternity depend on how well we run the race here.

Philippians 3:13-15 Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you.

Paul tells us that we are not to focus on the past or on our failures, but rather to simply keep striving to do our best so that we can please our Lord and win the prize He has for us. When we go through these trials and suffering, we need to be saying something along these lines to ourselves and to our Father, “I want to please the Lord, I want to learn from this experience, (not to mention not wanting to have to repeat the lesson!) so please teach me how you would have me handle this situation and what fruit you would have me produce.” When we do that, the Lord is faithful and He will teach us and guide us so that we are trained and so that it will in fact produce the fruit of righteousness and peace within us. That fruit of righteousness and peace is how we become holy like He is holy. It is how we become more like Him every day. It is also how we can know for sure that we are abiding in Him instead of living in the world as the unsaved do. (we talked about this in our study of 1 John: The principles of all genuine fellowship with God )

Come and discuss this with us on Fresh Hope!