I was looking through some old papers the other day and ran across something I’d written over 30 years ago. I remember that my heart was moved by the Holy Spirit one day when I was at school at Trinity Bible Institute in Ellendale, ND. Genesis chapter 1 just bounced off the page for me that day…January 5, 1977. I began to write His Word as it applied to what I was going through at the time. Put yourself into this reading and let it minister to you. I hope it blesses you.
And my life was without form and void.
And darkness and despair was upon me.
And the Spirit of God moved upon my empty life.
And God said, “Let there be Light and hope once again in her life”.
And, with no effort of my own, there was Light.
And God saw the hope that it was good.
And God divided the hope from the despair.
And God said, “Let there be a solid foundation in the center of her life of struggles and tests”.
And God said, “Let her life be gathered unto one place – Jesus Christ, and let the life of victory be hers”.
And God said, “Let this victorious Christian grow and bring forth fruit, yielding fruit after its own kind”.
And the life grew and brought forth fruit, yielding fruit, whose seed is in itself.
And God saw that it was good.
And God said, “Let there be hope in the dark times of her life and let them be for signs and give hope to the heart of my child”.
And God said, “Let the trials and testings bring forth abundant lessons to learn”.
And God allowed many great trials and small trials in my life, and each trial brought forth another trial after its own kind.
And God saw that it was good for me.
And God blessed them to my life.
Now that I’ve reread this several times, I see God’s wisdom and faithfulness to me over the years. Amazing. I didn’t like trials then and still don’t. But, now, thirty years later, have a better understanding of how the process of changing me into the image of His Son comes through these trials.
Thanks for letting me share this with you.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Sunday, June 14, 2009
FLAVOR
The wild salmon that live in the North Pacific Ocean have to fight those waters for years to get back to their spawning grounds. According to the “foodies”, it is the wild salmon that have the best "flavor". They attribute that flavor to all the fighting they have to do to survive and the struggle to get back to where they were born.
Flavor is the quality of anything which affects the taste. When someone remarks on the flavor of something they are trying to describe the specific way something tastes. Flavor can also be used to describe the act of adding a taste alteration to change the taste to something. This is usually done by adding. (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)
You wonder why you go through so much struggling in your life? God wants you to have the best flavor for this world! He is conforming us into the image of His Son (Romans 8:29 “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son”), and it takes a lot of work for some of us. He has to “add” His flavoring all the way through our journey to get us to be tasteful and flavor “full”.
Only God knows what circumstances and situations in our lives will cause us to swim upstream. Only He knows what will make us stronger and what will cause us to search for Him with all our hearts.
Acts 17:26-28 tells us that:
“26 and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, 27 that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; 28 for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, 'For we also are His children.”
He allows circumstances in our lives to cause us to “grope” for Him; groping as a man in total darkness for a way to the light. He knows where we need to be to draw closer to Him. He knows what will bring out our full flavor to this world! He knows what will cause us to reflect the image of His Son to this lost and dying world.
We have that inborn nature, just like the salmon. The salmon have to get back to where they came from to fulfill their purpose in life. No matter how far away they have gone, that innate motivation causes them to swim against the hardest waves and tides to get back to where they belong. During the “process”, something wonderful happens to them. During that fight to get back, they become very strong and full of flavor for someone else.
We have that innate motivation inside of us as well. We have a void to fill. We have someplace we have to be. Nothing else will fulfill that void but getting back to where we belong. No matter what we try as alternatives, nothing will fill His spot. We strive all of our lives to get back to that place, the place of communion with God, the place of our beginning. "He also has planted Eternity in men's heart and mind (a divinely implanted sense of a purpose working through the ages which nothing under the sun, but only God can satisfy). Ecclesiastes 3:11 Amplified.
We’re always swimming upstream to find our way back to God, whether we realize it or not. People take many different routes, but are all innately trying to “full fill”. Only He can fill His place. Just as the salmon, only when we arrive at our destination, is their life complete….our desitnation of communion with God. Only then are they the best flavor they can be for others.
Flavor is the quality of anything which affects the taste. When someone remarks on the flavor of something they are trying to describe the specific way something tastes. Flavor can also be used to describe the act of adding a taste alteration to change the taste to something. This is usually done by adding. (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)
You wonder why you go through so much struggling in your life? God wants you to have the best flavor for this world! He is conforming us into the image of His Son (Romans 8:29 “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son”), and it takes a lot of work for some of us. He has to “add” His flavoring all the way through our journey to get us to be tasteful and flavor “full”.
Only God knows what circumstances and situations in our lives will cause us to swim upstream. Only He knows what will make us stronger and what will cause us to search for Him with all our hearts.
Acts 17:26-28 tells us that:
“26 and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, 27 that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; 28 for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, 'For we also are His children.”
He allows circumstances in our lives to cause us to “grope” for Him; groping as a man in total darkness for a way to the light. He knows where we need to be to draw closer to Him. He knows what will bring out our full flavor to this world! He knows what will cause us to reflect the image of His Son to this lost and dying world.
We have that inborn nature, just like the salmon. The salmon have to get back to where they came from to fulfill their purpose in life. No matter how far away they have gone, that innate motivation causes them to swim against the hardest waves and tides to get back to where they belong. During the “process”, something wonderful happens to them. During that fight to get back, they become very strong and full of flavor for someone else.
We have that innate motivation inside of us as well. We have a void to fill. We have someplace we have to be. Nothing else will fulfill that void but getting back to where we belong. No matter what we try as alternatives, nothing will fill His spot. We strive all of our lives to get back to that place, the place of communion with God, the place of our beginning. "He also has planted Eternity in men's heart and mind (a divinely implanted sense of a purpose working through the ages which nothing under the sun, but only God can satisfy). Ecclesiastes 3:11 Amplified.
We’re always swimming upstream to find our way back to God, whether we realize it or not. People take many different routes, but are all innately trying to “full fill”. Only He can fill His place. Just as the salmon, only when we arrive at our destination, is their life complete….our desitnation of communion with God. Only then are they the best flavor they can be for others.
Friday, June 5, 2009
Hard Lesson
One of the hardest lessons I’ve had to learn this last year is that you can’t help someone who doesn’t want help. You can’t give love to someone who won’t receive love. You can’t feed someone who won’t eat. The old saying, “you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink”, was shown to me in full force. If someone doesn’t hunger and thirst after righteousness, you can’t make it happen. It’s all about choice.
They “say” they want help, but their actions aren’t showing they are really hungry and thirsty for righteousness. They want their "lives" to change, but they don’t want to change. They want their "circumstances" to change, but they don’t want to change. They aren’t devouring the Word and hearing those that God has sent into their lives to help them. They won’t “receive” encouragement. They won’t “receive” love. They definitely won’t “receive” correction and instruction in righteousness.
My Bible tells me the only way to change or be transformed is by the renewing of the mind (Romans 12:2), by the washing of the water of the Word (Ephesians 5:26). When you see transformation in someone’s life, you know that they are washing with the Word. Their mind is being transformed. Therefore, their lives are being transformed.
Matthew 25:34-40 tells us we are to clothe, feed, and house those who need help. He will bless us for that. But He also tells us, if they claim to be His child, there are expectations of behavior. They must show His fruit and grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. There comes a time to release.
The Holy Spirit showed me in the Word how Jesus handled these situations. The Prodigal Son wasn’t chased down by the Father. The Father had to wait for him to return after “he came to himself”. Had someone been there all the time to rescue that boy out of the pigpen and kept bailing him out, he would have remained too comfortable to make a change. Sometimes we get in God’s way and do the same.
Acts 17:26-27 says: 26And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; 27That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:
God knows the “place” or what the bounds of our habitation needs to be that will cause us to seek after Him. One version says He puts us in a place, or land, or boundary to cause us to “grope” for Him as in desperation. Let’s stay out of God’s way.
Jesus shared His love and truth. If they didn’t “hear” Him, He shook the dust from His feet and went on. People who came “to” Him because they wanted healing and deliverance were healed and delivered. If someone says they want it but don’t come to Him, don’t grope for Him, aren’t hungry for Him, aren’t desperate for Him………it won’t happen.
It’s very heartbreaking when you can see the potential in someone, yet they desire to stay in that place of comfort and complacency. It’s very heartbreaking when you see the pain that Jesus wants to heal, and they won’t let you in to help. It’s so difficult to watch someone self-destruct by the words of their mouth, knowing that they will have to reap what they are sowing. It’s so difficult to know they are rebelling against God’s authority and those He put in authority, because they have to reap what they sowed. Galatians 6:7 – “Be not deceived. God is not mocked. Whatsoever a man sows that shall he also reap”.
There comes a time that you have to let them go. They have to learn hard lessons. We get in the way of God’s work so many times. There are so many times that Christians “rescue”, thinking they are doing the right thing. However, many times the “mercy” gift isn’t really in operation. It is compassion, but not Spirit-led. Many times mercy and compassion doesn’t “look like” mercy and compassion. Real mercy is shown by letting God bring them to a place that will cause them to seek after Him and become desperate for Him. If we step in and give them comfort and solve all their problems, their comfort will negate the desperateness for Him.
Pray before you act. Wait to hear direction before you act. Get wise, Godly counsel before you act. If you really care, you will get out of God’s way. It brings us back to the Jonah situation. Sometimes someone has to be thrown overboard to save the ship. (Read my blog on Jonah).
They “say” they want help, but their actions aren’t showing they are really hungry and thirsty for righteousness. They want their "lives" to change, but they don’t want to change. They want their "circumstances" to change, but they don’t want to change. They aren’t devouring the Word and hearing those that God has sent into their lives to help them. They won’t “receive” encouragement. They won’t “receive” love. They definitely won’t “receive” correction and instruction in righteousness.
My Bible tells me the only way to change or be transformed is by the renewing of the mind (Romans 12:2), by the washing of the water of the Word (Ephesians 5:26). When you see transformation in someone’s life, you know that they are washing with the Word. Their mind is being transformed. Therefore, their lives are being transformed.
Matthew 25:34-40 tells us we are to clothe, feed, and house those who need help. He will bless us for that. But He also tells us, if they claim to be His child, there are expectations of behavior. They must show His fruit and grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. There comes a time to release.
The Holy Spirit showed me in the Word how Jesus handled these situations. The Prodigal Son wasn’t chased down by the Father. The Father had to wait for him to return after “he came to himself”. Had someone been there all the time to rescue that boy out of the pigpen and kept bailing him out, he would have remained too comfortable to make a change. Sometimes we get in God’s way and do the same.
Acts 17:26-27 says: 26And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; 27That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:
God knows the “place” or what the bounds of our habitation needs to be that will cause us to seek after Him. One version says He puts us in a place, or land, or boundary to cause us to “grope” for Him as in desperation. Let’s stay out of God’s way.
Jesus shared His love and truth. If they didn’t “hear” Him, He shook the dust from His feet and went on. People who came “to” Him because they wanted healing and deliverance were healed and delivered. If someone says they want it but don’t come to Him, don’t grope for Him, aren’t hungry for Him, aren’t desperate for Him………it won’t happen.
It’s very heartbreaking when you can see the potential in someone, yet they desire to stay in that place of comfort and complacency. It’s very heartbreaking when you see the pain that Jesus wants to heal, and they won’t let you in to help. It’s so difficult to watch someone self-destruct by the words of their mouth, knowing that they will have to reap what they are sowing. It’s so difficult to know they are rebelling against God’s authority and those He put in authority, because they have to reap what they sowed. Galatians 6:7 – “Be not deceived. God is not mocked. Whatsoever a man sows that shall he also reap”.
There comes a time that you have to let them go. They have to learn hard lessons. We get in the way of God’s work so many times. There are so many times that Christians “rescue”, thinking they are doing the right thing. However, many times the “mercy” gift isn’t really in operation. It is compassion, but not Spirit-led. Many times mercy and compassion doesn’t “look like” mercy and compassion. Real mercy is shown by letting God bring them to a place that will cause them to seek after Him and become desperate for Him. If we step in and give them comfort and solve all their problems, their comfort will negate the desperateness for Him.
Pray before you act. Wait to hear direction before you act. Get wise, Godly counsel before you act. If you really care, you will get out of God’s way. It brings us back to the Jonah situation. Sometimes someone has to be thrown overboard to save the ship. (Read my blog on Jonah).
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