An eternal consequence

There is an eternal consequence to our opinions and actions.  Right is not right because you or I or even God decided to make it so.  God doesn’t decide what is right, he is right.  That is a hard concept for us as humans.  We have dishonest and opinionated leaders and judges who declare a thing to be right whether it is or not.  Therefore, logic would say God could change his mind about what is right.  But that is fallen thinking. 

You have a mortal enemy that delights in the evolution of thought that creates a changeable, human God.  Jesus said to the leaders of his day “You do not tell the truth.  If I were to agree with you, I would become a liar.  If I said God agrees with you I would be making him out to be a liar.  If you knew God you would understand.”  But he was speaking to people who were used to making their own twist on the rules and they just got mad.

We listen to bad logic that feels good and we say “Yeah!” without ever considering the road we are embarking on at that point.  I have made irrevocable mistakes that made me want a logic that allowed it to be less than wrong if it could not be right.  Sometimes we are led, sometimes we are forced, sometimes we are deceived, but we all fall short of the ‘rightness’ that we were created for.

That is the reason God allowed his dearest son, his companion in creation, a very part of himself, who put his power aside for obedience sake, to suffer persecution, rejection and a cruel unjust death.  It was to redeem us, to forgive us, and to make us right with God when there was no other way that would satisfy truth, love and justice.  I cannot call on God to change the ‘rules’ for me.  But I can call on his grace to forgive and redeem.

Daily I find myself bombarded with good arguments that try to change the voice of right thinking and living.  One by one we reject the sinfulness of acts and attitudes.  But if sin is not sin and wrong is not wrong, then Jesus died an unnecessary death after living an exemplary life and God would be found faulty.  Sadly that is the conclusion of so many people who have espoused sin as an optional way of living.  Forgiveness is mute.  Redemption is unneeded and God becomes less than worthy of devotion and praise.

In the end God is right.  God is just.  God is love.  God is merciful.  His eternal attributes found a way to bring us to himself without breaking the strength of any or those.  The decision was to offer his son.  I will not water down amazing grace to espouse your or my sin.  Jesus offers forgiveness and redemption.  That is enough.

Pray, praise and continue

I saw a post by a well known speaker this morning that caused me to think quite a bit.  It had to do with our attitude toward trials.  I’m offering my thinking process to you.  I have been through more than some and less than others.  I’ve prayed, then sat quietly and believed at times.  Other times, I’ve cried, screamed, thrown a fit or despaired.  I’ve learned a powerfull lesson.  “This too shall pass.”

I believe in asking God for help with our struggles.  I don’t think God is offended by our cries to get us out of trouble, but I also believe that sometimes he does not deliver us at the time or in the way that we would expect.

I think that struggles and difficulties have two main purposes in our lives:  1- to teach us valuable lessons and bring patience, maturity and understanding, 2 - to purge sinful acts, bad habits and wrong attitudes from our lives thereby precluding a greater ill in the future.  Beyond that, I would say that these increase faith and stamina. 

The pages of life turn quickly or slowly, but they do turn.  If you are going through a trial, go through it.  Don’t take up residence.  The nation of Israel went through the desert.  It took them 40 years because of unbelief and disobedience -which boils down to unbelief, but their wanderings did come to an end.  They pitched tents, but they didn’t build houses in the wilderness.  Keep moving through it; don’t give up.

Don’t let the trial define you; let it refine you.  A diamond is only a rock until it has been cut.  A piece of gold has only potential value until it goes through fire.  You will come out the other side of this.  Faith looks to the future while living in the present.  Know who you are before God.  Meekness understands our strength and our weakness, our success and our failure, our abilities and our shortcomings and keeps these in perspective to the power, the will and the purpose of God.  Our value is seen through the truth of God, not in relation to the will or expectations of people.  We are weak but God is great and we are loved. 

Grumbling brings defeat; self-pity brings bitterness and separation.  Faith says “With God all things are possible,” prays, gives thanks and waits for the answer. 

When faced with one particularly difficult battle situation the leader of God’s people was told to put musicians and singers in front of the army and to go out with the praise of God.  Paul and Silas sang praises and the doors of their prison unlocked.  Then they were allowed to win the jailer and his family to Christ. Praise changes us first, then it changes our perception, and then it changes the dynamic of the problem.

We do not praise God because of the battle; we praise him because we know he brings victory and cares deeply for us in spite of the battle.  We are not thankful for the illness or hardship.  We are thankful for God’s unfailing love and care and for the times we have seen him work in our life and the lives of others, bringing assurance that he is the answer to the hardship.  God doesn’t want fake praise.  We all have reasons to praise if we search for them.  I’ve found praise to bring more change than all my other efforts.

One last note:  If you are seeing others in a trial, pray for them, encourage them and lend a hand if you can.  You may be the strength God will use to get him or her through it.

Blessings

Gratitude Challenge

It has often occurred to me and people I know well have heard me state that the solution to our problems are just a blink in God's eye.  I believe that.  But I, along with many others, have asked more than once "Then why doesn't he do something about this?  If he can fix it, why does he play games with me?"  Seriously?  I do know the answers or, at least, I'm starting to learn them after all these years.
My honest belief is that it has to do not only with faith, but also with praise: -with honest forward thinking respect for the awesomeness of God and how he handles the affairs of our life.  I know how many of you will think.  You will say that your life is messed up and that your plea to God has been ignored more than once.  I've been there in the gut wrenching pain of "How can it even come out without a major disaster?" agony.  Fear, embarrassment, loss, humiliation, anger, self-pity, indignation, I've felt them all.  I can tell you honestly that introducing praise into the mix changes the odds, but more importantly it changes me.
I've been part of the '3 things a day thankful and tag 2' effort.  It could be a good idea.  There is much right with it.  First and most important, it gets our mind thinking about our blessings instead of just about our problems and it encourages others to do the same.  I've tried to consider that in my tagging.  The danger is that we will once more spout the obvious with a heavy heart and go right back to our worry and dissatisfaction to brood.  And there is also the danger of insincere reference that dishonors a great God and disrespects the very gift that we enumerate.  I don't think God is impressed with our 'chin up' fake recitation to keep a good appearance going.
I'm becoming aware that a quick answer to my celestial begging without a major change of mind and heart is really not an answer at all.  Neither can I praise God with insincerity and, by doing so, tweak the odds in my favor.  Yet I find that when I ask with honest confession of both my need and my inability and then turn my heart to praise -which in the onset may be quite insincere- that things begin to happen.  
It is possible that the answer kerplunks itself down in the middle of my need like a huge sack dropped from a heavenly helicopter and shakes my earth with power.  I've actually seen that happen.  But more often the answers come softly.  My vision is changed relating to the need, myself and the divine.  Creative solutions begin to concoct in my day to day doing.  The lessons begin to be applied to the root of the problem and true change is affected.  Fear becomes servant instead of master.  Greed is leaked away out of my heart.  I see the silliness of some of my 'imperatives'.
So bring on the 'gratitude' challenge and let it  run its course.  For many it will be a soon discarded reminder that our lives have much good if we take time to seek it out.  For some it will be a cynical aggravation that seems to support the fact that we are all self-serving, fake and reaching for public approval.  For others -very few, but some-  it will be a connection to the life changing habit of seeking to praise in weakness but honesty.
That said, day 5 of 7 leads me to be thankful for bounty and need.  
Excerpts from Philippians 4:  The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
11 I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13 I can do all this through him who gives me strength.
17 Not that I desire your gifts; what I desire is that more be credited to your account. 18 I have received full payment and have more than enough. I am amply supplied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God. 19 And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.