The Tough Place is Temporary

For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal (2 Corinthians 4:17-18).

 

When you’re going through a rough place in life, these verses contain some wisdom for the fight. Realize that the tough place is only temporary, and if you’ll keep your eyes on the finish line the tough place will just make you stronger.

 

I’ve been jogging as a means of exercise for over thirty years now. When you’ve planned to run a distance of several miles, you sort of “hit the wall” somewhere in mid course. That means that you get very fatigued and you feel like quitting. But if you press through this time you get a “second wind” and you actually feel stronger and a peace settles over your entire being.

To get through this “wall” I usually make my mind think about pleasant things and I keep my vision adjusted way ahead of me. If I only focus my eyes on the ground right in front of me I exacerbate the feelings of tiredness.

I think about this when I’m facing the pressures that life brings. The current problem is only a stepping stone to better days ahead. And the pressure of the moment will only prove to undergird my resolve and make me stronger in the days ahead.

We look at things not seen by keeping our focus on the Word during difficult times. The need will be met. The answer to prayer will come. The healing will manifest. The circumstance will eventually yield. Our job is to keep our eyes, our ears, and our mouth on the Word and the problem will eventually be swallowed by the peace of God! So the problem, which was meant to defeat us, actually makes us stronger!

A Positive Attitude

For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us (2 Corinthians 1:20). Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place (2 Corinthians 2:14).

Do you see the cup half full or half empty? Our attitude in life determines our perspective and our success in God. The Apostle Paul kept a positive attitude in spite of the negative circumstances he encountered.

Difficult circumstances are part of living in a fallen world and must be faced until we leave this planet for heaven. These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world (John 16:33).

 

During times of great struggle, I remind myself of the promises of God. His Word is forever settled in heaven. He watches over His Word to make it good. During one particularly grueling test years ago, I found scripture that proved to help in keeping my attitude positive. Take these scriptures that follow and make them yours. If God be for you, then who can be successful against you? You and God make a majority!

For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion; In the secret place of His tabernacle He shall hide me; He shall set me high upon a rock (Psalm 27:5).

Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the Lord delivers him out of them all (Psalm 34:19)

But the salvation of the righteous is from the Lord; He is their strength in the time of trouble. And the Lord shall help them and deliver them; He shall deliver them from the wicked, And save them, Because they trust in Him (Psalm 37:39-40).

Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me (Psalm 50:15).

God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble.

Therefore we will not fear, Even though the earth be removed, And though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea (Psalm 46:1-2).

Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name. He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him (Psalm 91:14-15).

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?  He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? (Romans 8:31-32).

Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us (Romans 8:37).

See the cup half full today!

Facing Impossible Circumstances

But the Spirit of the Lord clothed Gideon with Himself and took possession of him, and he blew a trumpet, and [the clan of] Abiezer was gathered to him (Judg 6:34 - Amplified).

When you first see Gideon in Judges, he is hiding behind a piece of farm equipment as he threshed wheat to hide it from the Midianite army. The Midianites would attack Israel during their harvest season and steal their food. It was a great oppression to Israel. And an angel appeared to Gideon and called him a mighty man of valor while he was in hiding!

Gideon’s response was to remind the angel that he born on the “wrong side of the tracks” and that he was the smallest in his father’s household. The bottom line was that God saw Gideon differently than he saw himself. Gideon focused on his weakness while the Father focused on his strengths.

God saw in Gideon the leader that he was, even though the circumstances showed his personal cowardice! Your opinion of yourself may not agree with God’s! He knows you better than you know yourself and he sees the latent abilities that you can’t see in you!

Then to top it off, God told Gideon that he would defeat the Midianites. So Gideon amassed an army of 32,000 men for the task. When God was finished telling Gideon the criteria the men must fulfill to fight this battle, the army dwindled to 300 men! What looked impossible from natural human thinking was so easy from God’s perspective.

The Spirit of the Lord clothed Gideon with Himself, and took possession of him. You see, God and one man make a majority! God has the ability and wisdom. All He needs is yielded flesh and blood. Not Charisma! Not Wit! Not raw human power! God only needs a human emptied of self-ability who is willing to be clothed with power from on High!

 

You may face impossible circumstances today. Failure may seem inevitable. On your own, it may be. Take the time to humble yourself under the mighty hand of God. He sees what you can’t see. What seems impossible to you is so easy to Him! Take His word into your mouth today and begin to say what the Father says about you, your circumstances, your life, and your future.

Call those things that be not as though they were. Confess that you have God’s strength, power, wisdom, and ability, and that you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you. The Father working in you makes the impossible possible. What He did for Gideon He will do for you.

How Do You Deal With the Temptation to Sin?

But every person is tempted when he is drawn away, enticed and baited by his own evil desire (lust, passions). (James 1:14 – Amplified)

 

The most dangerous person in my life is me! Self deception hinders more people in God than perhaps any other one thing. We all must ruthlessly deal with ourselves, honestly admitting our areas of weakness to the Lord, to ourselves, and if necessary, to another trusted friend.

The verse above is written to believers. Every believer has a built in Achilles heel. Notice that every believer is tempted when he or she is drawn away by his own evil desire. What is this? This refers to what you allowed in your life before Christ. And it may be different for each person.

 

The seeds of the sins of the flesh committed before Jesus came into your life are still in the recesses of your soul. They lay there latent, dormant, waiting for you to feed them. They are fed by giving them attention in your thought life. You allowed your mind, emotions, will, and flesh to do certain things before Christ that, if you do them now may break your fellowship with the Father. This is your personal strong desire mentioned in the above verse. And these things must be guarded against for the rest of your life. It may be anger, a tendency towards holding a grudge, fears of any sort, gossip, jealously, envy, self-centeredness, or any of the sins of the flesh like adultery, fornication, or lust. It may over eating, drug or alcohol use.

The key is to know yourself and be aware of what tempts you. Here are three keys to keep you free from your past. The first one is to maintain a close, regular, and daily intimate fellowship with the Father in the Word and in prayer. Our spiritual life should be the energy center of life. And the spiritual resources of sincere prayer and quality time in the Word give us a tune up spiritually and help keep our flesh under. If you don’t keep your spirit fed, your flesh will rise.

Secondly, watch your close friendships carefully. 1 Corinthians 15:33 - Amplified reads:  Do not be so deceived and misled! Evil companionships (communion, associations) corrupt and deprave good manners and morals and character. Close association and friendship with those who have no spiritual values will dampen your spiritual life and lessen your spiritual fervor. Their values and ideals will rub off on you. I am friendly with unbelievers and with believers who are carnal and refuse to discipline their flesh. But I refuse to “hang out” with them in a close way. It wouldn’t work anyway, because I would challenge the wrong behavior! At some point, you either make a decision to step away from those who compromise or you may become like them.

Lastly, draw the line of demarcation in your life. That is, refuse to go places or do things that will stir up past sins in your life. Don’t hang around the person that gossips if that was a previous problem. Don’t look at the risqué movie or TV program; it will only entice the problem you had before. Don’t hang out with those who are casual drinkers if that was in your past. Apply this rule to whatever you were involved in pre-Christ!

Daily fellowship with the Father, godly associations, and drawing the line of demarcation in your life will help shield you from falling into previous patterns of living!

What Does it Mean When Scripture Tells us Not to Love to the World?

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world — the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life — is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever (1 John 2:15-17).

 

The “world” is one of the enemies of the believer. Theologian Kenneth Wuest defines the “world” as all the floating mass of thoughts, opinions, maxims, beliefs, and values that are current in the world. 

Simply put, it means the mindset that is popular in a culture. In our American culture it would be, independant living. It's the ideology that I can do whatever I want, period. There are no moral absolutes to govern me. I am my own person, and I will do as I please with my life. This is what we are called to resist. We as Christians are called to live a submitted life. We are submitted to the Lordship of Jesus through the Word.

Smith Wigglesworth defined the world in his simple way as “that which cools my affection towards God.”

We’re admonished not to be friends with the world (James 4:4). Friendship with the world leads to being “spotted” by the world (James 1:27); which leads to “loving” the world (1 John 2:15); which leads to “conforming” to the world (Romans 12:2); which leads to being “condemned” with the world (1 Corinthians 11:32).

Demas was a companion of the Apostle Paul in ministry and left Paul and the ministry because he was overcome by the world. We all must examine ourselves regularly, confessing our faults to one another and our sins to the Father can cleanse us and help us.

Shun the world. Snuggle up to Jesus and to the Word. Fellowship with Him. Pour your heart out to Him. Ask Him to help you overcome temptations that come your way. His throne is full of grace and mercy for your time of need.

The Power of a Gaze

Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God (Hebrews 12:1-2).

 

The phrase looking unto Jesus is from a Greek that means to look away from everything else and to look at something with an attentive and unwavering gaze. To look at Jesus this way, we must look away from our own failures and insecurities. We must look away from past experiences. We must look away from our personal fears and weaknesses. When we see only Jesus, life takes on new potential.

  

Paul encountered Jesus on the road to Damascus. His sights were set on harming the Christian church and hindering its purposes. His vision was transformed by the blinding light of Jesus’ visage. Three days later, Ananias laid hands on Paul and not only was his physical sight restored, but his life vision was changed! For the rest of Paul’s life, he looked at the Son of God, and became one of the greatest saints of the church age.

 

Noah found grace in God’s sight, and was chosen to save a remnant of humanity from the deadly flood. For 120 years after God spoke to Noah, he “looked unto” the flood, and worked feverishly to build the boat God designed. Noah’s vision set him apart from his generation. His vision of the coming deluge moved him past the criticism and sarcasm of his age. The mocking and ridicule continued unabated decade after decade, and Noah never moved from his convictions because his continually looked at the coming flood and God’s command.

  

Abram was called out of a city of idolaters who worshipped the moon. God’s promise that he would father a child with his 65 year old wife changed his life forever. Abraham became the Father of faith as he gazed at the stars in the nighttime sky. God promised that he would have as many kids as the stars he could see. As Abraham gazed upon the sand on the shoreline of the ocean, he was reminded that he and Sarah’s days of barrenness would end with the blessing of being the father of a multitude and of the whole world benefitting from God’s promise to him. Abraham’s life changed because he no longer focused on his inability but on the promise of God.

  

Keep the vision of your intimacy with Jesus every before you today. In Him we live and move and have our being. You are seated with Him in heavenly place far above Satan’s rule and power. You are loved and favored by the Father. You never face one life event alone. The Greater One is in you to enable you in each task today. He is intimately involved in every relationship and in every circumstance. Keep looking unto Jesus and there will be no room in you for discouragement, darkness, and dread. What you see is what you will get!

God's Medicine

My son, give attention to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. Do not let them depart from your eyes; Keep them in the midst of your heart; For they are life to those who find them, and health to all their flesh (Proverbs 4:20-22).

God’s will is that we walk in Divine health. Healing is a part of our salvation. Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases. The above verse gives the necessary ingredients we need in order to walk in health. We need an attentive ear, a steadfast look, and an enshrining heart.

 

Notice that the verse says attend to my Words, incline your ears to my sayings. That means that we must take the necessary time to feed on the Word concerning healing. Attending to the Word means making the Word top priority.

The Word is like a seed we plant in the ground. A seed that is watered and cultivated will produce. Plant the seeds for healing daily by giving attention to the scriptures that promise healing.

 

Then this verse above says do not let them depart from your eyes. A steadfast look at the Word is necessary to receive healing. You can’t focus on your symptoms and on the Word at the same time. Hebrews 12 mentions our looking unto Jesus as the author and finisher of our faith. This word look in the Greek means to look away from everything else and to focus on Jesus. We do this by looking away from the symptoms and focusing on the Word.

 

Lastly, the above verse says keep them in the midst of your heart. For healing to come we must have an enshrining heart. We are to let the Word of Christ dwell in us richly. Meditate daily on the verses that promise healing. Meditating on the Word is like a farmer watering the seed he’s planted.

 

The Father watches over His Word. He sent His Word and healed us. The Word will accomplish healing in your body if you’ll give it strict attention. Take your focus off of your symptoms and keep your gaze on the Word. Read it, quote it, meditate it, and then act on it. Believe that you receive the health God’s Word promises. The Word is God’s Medicine!

    

Your Words Chart Your Course in Life

He who guards his mouth preserves his life, But he who opens wide his lips shall have destruction (Proverbs 13:3).

Our words rule us. From the cradle to the grave, our life is largely a product of our words. Words set the boundaries, the landmarks in our lives. Words literally have the power of live and death.

When going through a tough place in life, words will make you or break you. The old adage sticks and stones may brake my bones, but words will never hurt me is a lie. Words can destroy you. When you speak of your failure, your weakness, your inability, those words set a dynamic in place. You can almost feel the energy drain from you when you speak those negative assertions.

On the other hand, when you verbalize your faith when you’re in a tough place, you can feel the strength of God rise up within you. Talk about the Father’s love, the Father’s care, the Father’s provision, the Father’s comfort, the Father’s strength, and you’ll find a new confidence buoy up within.

Jesus said that we’d give account for even the smallest words we speak. He understood the power of words. He calmed a raging storm with three words; Peace Be Still! He raised a man from death with three words; Lazarus, Come Forth! All things are now held together by the power of His Words.

Learn to use words to your advantage. Speak words that will motivate, inspire and challenge you. Let your words today be instruments of life, healing, blessing, grace, favor, strength, and inspiration to others. The most powerful force in your life today is your words.

Don’t let your lips be used to carry gossip and negative things. Let your words be a cut above. Regardless of where your life is right now, you can rise above it. Lack, weakness, and inability will flee if you release the Father’s blessing into your life with right words, positive assertions that come from your heart.

I should not have been successful in my life endeavors. I was raised in the wrong atmosphere, one of hesitation and doubt. But I learned a valuable life lesson at age eighteen: Words will take me where the Father wants my life to go.     

I started my new life with a new mouth. I overcame insurmountable odds. The Father’s will overcame my human tendencies of self-doubt. My words, agreeing with God’s Word, produced in me the ability to do what the Father wanted for me.

Start where you are today. Never mind the past. Don’t relive it. Give voice to the Father’s will for your life by saying what He says about you. Let the weak say, I am strong. At first, it feels awkward to change your course in mid-stream, from negative to positive. Be keep at it. Confidently affirm God’s Word verbally every day, and one day you’ll wake up, and you’ll be surrounded with the product of your words. Death and life are produced by your words. Guard you mouth closely today.

Fight Like a Soldier, Prepare Like an Athlete, and Work Like a Farmer

We are either aggressing or regressing in our walk with God. If we are not passionately pursuing Him, then we are by default backing away. We must fight spiritual passivity.

In 2 Timothy 2: 4-6, Paul uses three excellent analogies of how we are to pursue our walk with God. No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier. And also if anyone competes in athletics, he is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. The hardworking farmer must be first to partake of the crops.

We are to conduct our selves like a soldier. A soldier has submitted himself to his superiors. He is ready at a moment’s notice to act without delay. He has been trained to engage the enemy and win. He has learned how to work as a team with his fellow comrades. He has disciplined himself for had times.

An athlete has disciplined his body through hours of exercise. He has learned to endure and to push himself beyond what is average. He strictly controls his diet and regiments his whole life in pursuit of his dream of winning the competition.

A farmer is diligent with growing his crops. He is up at sunrise ready to tend the fields. He sows his seed early and watches over it as it grows. He removes all obstacles of growth from the tender plants so that he can receive a full harvest in due season. He works hard!

So we are to fight like a soldier, prepare like an athlete, and work like a farmer. There is no place for slackness in the kingdom of God. Don’t allow yourself to be mediocre spiritually. Jesus shed His blood to redeem you from the world, the flesh, and from Satan’s dominion. Passivity dishonors His work at Calvary. Give God you best today.

Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:13-14).

How Does God Promote a Person?

“For exaltation comes neither from the east nor from the west nor from the south. But God is the judge: He puts down one, and exalts another.” (Psalm 75:6-7)

We cannot promote ourselves into the place that God has for us. This promotion comes from the Lord. But we can do the things that place us in position to be promoted in God’s timing for us.

Paul said in Romans 1:1, “Paul, a bondservant of Jesus, called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel of God.” Notice that Paul was called to be an apostle. That calling happened eons ago in the mind and heart of God. But then Paul says he was separated to this call. God has a plan, a call, for all of us. There is a Divine purpose for our lives that was determined before we were born (See Psalm 139).

Though we are called, we must be separated to that call or Divine purpose. And the separation to the call is when we actually begin to function in the will of God for our lives. And that separation has more to do with us than with God. God calls, and it’s up to us to respond. Jesus said it this way, “Many are called, few are chosen.” (Matthew 22:14). Being chosen means entering into the call that God has for us.

God doesn’t look for ability but for availability when He separates us to the call for our lives. And the number one character trait God looks for is faithfulness when looking to promote us. It’s the faithful man that will abound with blessing. (Proverbs 28:20). It’s required in stewards that a man be found faithful (1 Corinthians 4:2). Paul told Timothy to look for faithful men to help him in ministry (2 Timothy 2:2). And Paul himself was placed in ministry, or you could say, he was separated to the call of God upon his life, because God counted him faithful (1 Timothy 1:12).

Are we faithful now in the small things? Promotion comes when we are faithful where we are. He looks for us to be faithful in our attitudes and words; faithful to submit and yield to others in positions of leadership. If we can’t be faithful in helping another person in ministry, how can God trust us with our own (Luke 16:12)?

God has required faithfulness in me before each time of promotion in my life. I’ve been at the place of discontent with my lot in life so many times. Each time, the Lord kept me there until I could say, “Lord, if this is you plan for me, I will stay in this place the rest of my life; I want what you want for me.”  And when I stopped striving, and focused on being faithful in what I was currently involved in, promotion came. The call comes from the Lord, but the separation to that call is determined by our faithfulness.

What Will My Reward Be - Gold, Silver, and Jewels, or Wood, Hay, and Straw?

For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words (1 Thessalonians 4:16-18).

The rapture of the church is in our future. In a millisecond of time, you will be involved with something here and then suddenly you will be in the presence of Jesus Christ.

Today, as everyday should be, is preparation day for my meeting with the Son of God. The fire in His eyes will try my works. All that I have done since making Jesus Lord of my life will come under the scrutiny of His gaze. The results will be gold, silver, precious stones, or wood, hay, and straw added to my personal heavenly rewards.

I’m going to leave you with these challenging scripture to ponder today. The philosopher stated millennia ago the un-examined life is not worth living. Keep short accounts with Jesus. His coming is soon. Let’s together make it our daily goal to be pleasing to Him, and to make necessary adjustments when He deals with an area of life that is lacking.

For we must all appear and be revealed as we are before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive [his pay] according to what he has done in the body, whether good or evil [considering what his purpose and motive have been, and what he has achieved, been busy with, and given himself and his attention to accomplishing] (2 Corinthians 5:10- Amplified).

But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written: "As I live, says the Lord, Every knee shall bow to Me, And every tongue shall confess to God." So then each of us shall give account of himself to God (Romans 14:10-12).

Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one's work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one's work, of what sort it is. If anyone's work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone's work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire (1 Corinthians 3:12-15).

For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world (1 Corinthians 11:31-32).

If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:8-9).

Grace is Enough!

Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. Indeed I, Paul, say to you that if you become circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing.  And I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised that he is a debtor to keep the whole law.  You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace.  For we through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.  For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love (Galatians 5:1-6).

  

The believers in Galatia were encouraged by Paul to continue living in the grace of God and to not revert back to the keeping of the law to appease a guilty conscience. The Judaizers as we call them were demanding that these newly converted Jewish believers submit to circumcision and obedience to the law as well as to their faith in Jesus.

 

The purpose of the law was to reveal the weakness and inability of the flesh. The law was our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ. The law could never save from sin. The law, with its demands for outward rigid performance, is impossible to keep without the indwelling of the Spirit.

 

Paul urges with great intensity and passion for those who are in Christ to remain free from the dictatorial demands of religion that places accomplishment of outward demands in the place of a living current relationship with the Father.

 

Here in Galatians, he contrasts the works of the flesh, or the works of the law with the fruit of faith, or the fruit of the spirit. One is cold and lifeless, while the other is alive and invigorating.

 

Life with Jesus frees us from the outward demands of the law because it creates a desire for closeness with the Father and a motivation to shun anything that would compromise that intimacy with the Most High. Walking in the grace of God creates a liberty that frees me to respond to the Father from within and literally cancels the yearning of the flesh!

 

When I think of work, I think of sweat, hard toil, tiredness, and labor. The Father has freed me from a works consciousness that does to please. Now I am what I am by the grace of God! The liberty of grace working in me produces fruit. When I think of fruit I think of refreshment, of a meadow full of trees bearing all sorts of delectable treats that awaken my being and bring delight! Fruit is easy. It comes natural. And the fruit of the spirit are borne from my personal intimacy with the Father.

 

When I was about a year old in the Lord, I decided that needed to fast a couple of days a week to discipline my flesh. A few weeks into this regimen, the Lord very abruptly told me to stop fasting. He told me that I was doing this as a form of works to be pleasing to Him. And He told me that it was producing spiritual pride in my life as I looked to see if others were as disciplined as I was. I stopped the regular fasting for a long time. I had to grow spiritually before I could fast with the right heart motive and not to gain favor with God.

 

The grace He has given us cost the Father so much that He is never pleased when we turn to the flesh and outward things to prove our rightness in His eyes. The grace provided by Jesus’ sacrifice more than enables you and me to stand in the presence of the Father fully pleasing to Him.

 

Stand fast in your liberty from religion today and your freedom from outward performance in order to please. His Grace is enough!