Month: May 2016

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Proof of Adoption Part VI

Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and — minds through Christ Jesus.
 
Finally,brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things ( the problem with being lukewarm in the faith is you never get to enjoy the benefits of a life well lived) .
 
The final proof of adoption deals with an area that no one sees, our mind. What we ponder on, think over, meditate on will eventually show itself in our actions and speech. Therefore training our thought life to be in agreement with God’s Word not only makes for a very healthy thought life, but actions and speech that we never have to be ashamed of or often apologize for. If you have regrets over an action or words said, then you can appreciate what I just said. This transformation does not occur over night, it takes time and dedication, much like a soldier training for combat or a fireman training to fight fire. Continued training is needful, for combat can happen at any moment. You can be in battle with the first shot of a gun or an alarm can wake you out of your sleep calling you to put out a fire. What comes out of you then is the result of your dedication and training. Training takes over and thought patterns as instinct guide the next step. This is no different in the battle for the mind and it is the second most important thing we can do. The first is a commitment to loving the Lord with all our heart, mind, soul and strength.
When we do not commit to this we end up living duals lives. We have our outward life, how we believe people want us to act or how we want people to believe we are and our inward life – our true self. This can be totally different from the man or woman on the outside and can create a lot of needless stress. It’s a mask that we must be ready to wear at any moment, and with different people we may have different masks. Proverbs says that the fear of man is a trap. Instead of fearing the Lord which counters the fear of man, we fear man and come under his control. “The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe (Proverbs 29:25). Hence the reason for our dual life, which is motivated by our insecurities.
As long as we seek to please people as opposed to seeking to please the Lord we will never get free of our insecurities. Biblical truth frees our mind and soul bringing us into relationship with the Lord. Through growing in reverence for the Lord, we begin the process of becoming transformed – from a mindset that seeks to please man to a mindset that seeks to please The Lord. The internal working of the Holy Spirit “remaps” us as we grow in the knowledge and experience of walking in God’s love. This is a much stronger life. To live life consistent with how we think and feel inwardly without the fear of man is a freedom that is our birth right  as a child of God; it is a life that we can be proud of. We can look in the mirror without regret, pleased with the man or woman that the Holy Spirit is forming.
 To live without acknowledging that we are wired with a need to be loved is to ignore a critical aspect of who we are as people. However,  it is not just loved but to be perfectly loved which is what gives us our value. Perfectly loved eliminates the question “if I do this will they still love me, or if they knew this about me would they still love me. Witn human love their remains this uncertainty, there could be limits on it and hence a contributing factor to our insecurity.  The love we seek and need is unique to God alone. To look for this unconditional love on the human level is to look for love “in all the wrong places.” It is His love we need and it is how we are wired and hence true peace is attained when thought and body (actions) are one because of God’s love and approval in our life. And God’s approval is most unique. He can see all the fawls in us and yet it does not diminish one ounce of His love or the inherit value/ worth He has place on us. As true north is constant, so my value before Him is constant because of Christ’s work on the Cross ( Amen!)
The word hypocrite in the Greek comes from the stage plays of old when the actors had masks that they held up in front of them while they acted out their role. Some of them had two masks, one in each hand for the two characters they played. It got a little confusing I’m sure. When we act out who we’re not it is hurtful to our character and self respect. When a guy wants to have sex, but the girl really does not want to but goes along with it because she fears losing the guy; or when we are striving for that promotion at work and our boss ask us to do a few things under the table or to lie for him, these actions hurt us. Should you say yes to a boyfriend that really does not respect you, or yes to a boss who will probably ask you to lie for him again? At what point do you say no, if not now, when? Each time we violate the person inside we step down in our self respect, which is so critical to our internal happiness. To lose self respect is to lose something on a human level that cannot be regained. Only God can heal that fatal wound.
“whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure,whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.” 
Jesus is the fulfillment of this verse and while standing in front of Pilate said, “I am the way, the truth and the light, no one comes to the Father except through me.” Pilate being the vain man that he was said, “what is truth?” I’m sure Christ’s words went right over him. Generally speaking there are two approaches to truth. There is the philosophical approach were truth is relative. It depends upon the situation and on the individual and what might be true ( or right)  for one person may not be true for another. I do not call this truth but “convenience thinking” or rationlization could be another term. Whatever works for MY best interest is what is true for me. The other truth is Biblical truth. There is right and there is wrong and if it inconveniences me to do the right thing then I have a choice to make. To live with no absolutes, no right or wrong is to strip from my soul the very moral code that gives me my self respect and by which others respect us. Who respects a weasel, someone who gives a promise today but breaks it tomorrow because it became inconvenient to keep? Committing to God’s way of living is in itself the very definition of being a respectable man or woman. I have had the pleasure of meeting a number of people who were not necessarily reglious, but who ordered their life around The Ten Commandments or something similar. They have a presence of integrity about them because they have ordered their life as such and all the more for those of us who know Christ.
Father God,
Give us courage to do the right thing, starting first with our thought life. Let us replace impure and or vain thinking with truth and righteousness which comes as we spend time with You in your Word. You have given us what we need to succeed in every area of our life, help us to take advantage of it. Thank you and Amen.
Move Forward in His Grace – Arthur
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Proof of Adoption Part V

( Phil. 3:6-8 )

Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and — minds through Christ Jesus.

Finally,brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

Another proof of adoption deals with our confidence in time of need. As a child I never doubted my parents love for me ( I did test them though) so when I had need, I never doubted that they would not provide or tend to my need. I always had food, clothes ( not the latest etc., but nice clothes). My dad was a school teacher ( later became an administrator) and my mom worked grave yard in a convalescent hospital. We were middle class America. When I married and Lisa and I had the girls, we were the same. We provided the best we could being 23 and 22 years of age. We were young parents with a single income, hence for a number of years we were fairly broke. Lisa stayed home to raise the girls and I worked in a wholesale nursery, a field which does not pay much. I don’t believe the girls ever felt that they went without, though I often wished that I could have done better by them. However the basics were always covered. So in using these two examples, how do we honestly feel about our selected Bible verses? Do we have the confidence that when we bring a concern or need to our Heavenly Father that He hears us and will act in our best interest?

“To be careful for nothing,” is the King James way of saying to be and or live without burdens. Care or concern is normal, but burdens that make us fretful or full of anxiety or fear reveals a problem. Uncontrolled stress, sleepless nights, nervous stomach etc., is telling us that the trials are exceeding our faith. We are being controlled by the problem and we are losing the game. From a spiritual perspective we are telling God that we do not believe He can handle it, not a good thing to say to God. Or maybe we believe He can handle it, but we don’t believe that He really cares enough about us to get involved in our mess. Again not a good thing to say to a Lord that just has to look at the nail scars in His hands or feel the hole in side that remind Him of the price He paid to redeem us. What this degree of anxiety reveals is that we are either not truly born again, or if we are, we are not spending enough time with Him in His Word or the trail exceeds our spiritual growth .

I have been in many a situation were the trial exceeded my faith (being self employed gives you many opportunities to be faced with your spiritual immaturity). Learning to read our emotions and what they are saying in reference to our faith is critical. When anxiety exceeds faith, God has become smaller than the trial. Hence I know that in this area of my life, I am weak – my faith needs to grow. The weakness is not bad if I use it to make me grow. It could be in finances, a difficult relationship, a lust, a fear, or countless other things. It could be in the area of forgiveness. We are not able to or willing to forgive a wrong.

In all these situations the choice is to remain as we are and live with the spiritual, emotional and physical baggage and their consequences, or overcome them. If we want to overcome them and regain the peace, joy and love that is our birth right as God’s child, then we need to overcome them by finding Bible verses that address these specific concerns. By meditating upon them until they become part of us is how victory is won. By giving the Holy Spirit the spiritual tools He needs to rightly equip us is how we gain our promised peace. It takes effort and time, but together we can defeat that which is seeking to deteriorate and or destory our life of faith.

To gain our freedom is to make God big again and the trial small, as it should be. There are Bible verses that deal with every human emotion and or problem. A great aid to this is the Bible Pocket Promise book. Small enough to carry in your work briefcase or purse, it’s a great reference tool to meditate on when your stuck in traffic or waiting in line. By redeeming idle or unproductive minutes you will be surprise at your spiritual growth. In time you will become “bullet proof.”

When addressing our concerns to God He has given us a “formula,” of sorts, “but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.” First observation, do not internalize the problem. In my younger days I use to go for hours bugged or burden by a problem while occupied with more pressing concerns; by the end of the day, I was exhausted. I would then realize that I had carried the problem all day and never brought it before the Lord. When we internalize a problem it just goes round and round in our mind ( subconscious ) and in many cases becomes a bigger monster than when we first became aware of it. Through scripture study the Holy Spirit lead me to our study verse which trained me to immediately go to the Lord in prayer. I may not have the time or place to pray as I would like, but I immediately open up channels of communication. It has made a big difference in my energy level as well as my overall state of being. This verse is like an old friend who I have come to love, may it be so with you.

Next, our concept of prayer needs to be changed. Many of us think of prayer as asking something from God. That is not prayer, that is supplication. Prayer is WORSHIP!! We come to God with worship. Though things may seem awful, they only seem like that because God has become small. Make yourself read Psalms 23 or Joshua 1 or Proverbs 3, until from your heart you can worship the Lord and thank Him for His love for you, for your salvation, for that He hears your prayer etc., then and only then make your request, your supplication and end with thanksgiving. Finally ask Him to glorify Himself through it and in you. This then is a righteous prayer that comes from a child who knows that his/her Dad will not rest till His will has been perfected. Remember there are always two ways to view a so called “problem,” from God’s perspective or from ours. We want to see, train ourselves, to see it from His perspective.

And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and — minds through Christ Jesus.” The evidence that you were before the Throne, even if you were physically just walking down the street. Peace knows no boundaries nor restrictions, only a readied heart is required. To abide in peace is a wonderful birth right. To see the problem but to know that God has the solution makes you the victor before you even engage. And what a difference that makes in our life and how we deal with people and situations when we are confident as opposed to being fearful and fretful. A much better way to live.

” shall keep” the Greek is ” Phroureo” meaning to post a sentinel, or to guard, or keep watch over. The more we intimately know the Lord, the easier life becomes. The more mixed we are with our faith and worldly ambitions the harder life becomes. Assuming that we have had enough of this world’s ways, the biggest obstruction to faith I have seen comes from one’s growing up years. If our father was distance, or demeaning, or M.I.A our self image has been damaged. We think, and most of the time we are not even aware because it has been so programmed into us, that as my earthly dad was so is God. If our earthly dad was disinterested in me or absent, it must be because I am not worth his time, therefore I am not worth God’s time. I know many adults who struggle with coming to God for fear of being rejected by Him because of their past (we can really screw up our kids). Combine this with someone who really doesn’t enjoy reading and we have an adult who is going to struggle with their Christian walk and with life in general. And with the negative input from childhood you will have an adult who will naturally condemn themselves. It’s a tough nut to crack, but God majors on “tough nuts.”

Think of it this way. When a child takes steps to their parent but falls in the process, a good parent, a loving parent will never condemn them for falling but help the child up. For you that struggle with your spiritual walk, please remember, so is God. Any attempt towards Him, whether it falls short or not, God rejoices in your attempt to come to Him. There is absolutely no condemnation at all, “for there is no condemnation in Christ Jesus our Lord ( Rm 8:1).” It’s the long way home, but it is the way home and that’s what counts.

Do not compare yourself to others, we each have our own walk, our own race to run and God views each of us as individuals. There may be those given how they were raised, seem to shine as lights in God’s Kingdom. However given the love they were raised with, they are suppose to achieve those goals and encourage the rest of us. Sometimes running 20 miles is just as far a distance as a 100 miles. It is not the distance that one runs that God sees but the effort that is given. Many of us have huge mountains to overcome before we can run therefore our 20 miles is as great an achievement as the one who runs a 100 miles. God rejoices just as much. Remember, in the end, we all stand as brothers and sisters around the Throne of Grace. Amen?

Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter. John 13:7 ( verse for next study)

Father God,
Thank you for this encouraging study. All You seek is my best, help me to give You that as You gave me. I may never have to die at a Cross but daily let me surrender my will, wrestle with my will to be obedient to You ways. Let me make a concentrated effort to read Your Word or listen to it on CD. I know my efforts will be blessed, though I know it won’t be easy. Help me to preserve through it until the home of my heart is found in You. Amen.

Move Forward in His Grace – Arthur