Is it about you or Him?

I just got done dumping my disappointments on God. I've wanted to go on a "missions" trip for a while now. It really feels like a burning inside my heart to touch people in other countries. To feel their pain and be changed into a more caring person.

But then comes reality. 

Every time I start saving...something comes up. Right in my face. It may be a need in the house I live in to help out, a friend who needs support, or God wants to lavish on someone and he chose me as the vessel. 

After all that, I end up spending all that I'd saved. Though I don't want to fool you, I do plenty of self pampering as well with my savings. (I'm learning that no matter what I have, it never seems enough! Black hole syndrome ) 

Anyways....

I asked God why this was happening and He really answered! This was no way in my mind.

He asked : Are you wanting it for you or me?

Big question. I just know I'll look back at this post on a later date and feel like it was for then as well.

If it was God I should be able to wait. If it is just me wanting to say that I did something, it will most likely never happen.  

One question for all my readers. 

Are you living your life for Him? Or is it wrapped up in the affairs of the world? 

Do you feel like God has spoke now YOU need to make it happen? 

If so, it may not be God after all. Though that is just from my experience. God works differently  with different people. But please consider the answer.

Don't ever rush Him. You will ALWAYS miss opportunities that he gives along the way.

Remember the words of Paul: "To live is Christ and to die is gain." 

Whatever you ask..do you really believe this?

And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. John 14:13 (KJV)


Have you ever really thought about this verse? Not just a fleeting thought but had your mind truly fixed on it? This verse means different things for each person, so here is an example of it that happened to me this week.


Well, let me start a little back in time. A few years ago, I read Hudson Taylor's autobiography. Within his life he had many examples of this verse. Whenever he asked Christ to put him in situations that would cause him to have to draw closer to the Creator, it happened. Most of the time, it really tested his faith. Hudson became so close to Christ that he eventually went to China. In his time in China, the lessons he learned before arriving caused him to trust that Christ was in control. 


Just last week, I had a similar situation. Wednesday I asked God to cause a deeper relationship with himself,no matter what it took. I've had a few times like this before.


Well, He gave me an opportunity. 


I have been wanting to go help a friend in Mexico for a few months now. I started saving money this past week and had a budget plan. Everything seemed to fall into place. 


Now  comes the fun  part. 


Friday I got a text from a brother who I live with that I was behind on my ministry dues. For those few non-RCV'ers who follow, we have been supporting "Mercy Homes" in India see http://mercyhomes.org/),  a couple orphanages in Myanmar (formerly Burma) through Heaven's Family (see http://www.heavensfamily.org/), and helping a church in Africa by micro-loans to start their businesses.


I wasn't just a little behind, I was $215 behind! That really hit me. It wasn't a convicted reaction either. I threw a fit. A 25 year old disciple of Jesus Christ, someone who is supposed to have given up everything to follow him...threw a fit. I said I didn't understand. My good friend and brother in Christ,  John Bob, told me that it was my responsibility. He told me (not perfectly quoted) " you want to be a missionary, but miss God right in front of you." He was right. I found out later after I made a payment plan to get caught up, I had overdrawn my bank account recently. All my "savings" for Mexico had disappeared. 


It was then I heard, "No matter what?"


Yep. As you can guess, I got a first hand example of Him answering my prayer for His glory. 
I believe even more.


May He always get the glory in my life. 


No matter what.

I did another one of my research projects....lol!


For the longest time, I've thought that iniquity had to do with your mind. I wanted to find out what God was forgiving. 




in·iq·ui·ty
1. Gross immorality or injustice; wickedness.
2. A grossly immoral act; a sin.
3.absence of moral or spiritual values; "the powers of darkness"
4.Condition


A condition.
To me it is like in C.S Lewis' "Great Divorce" when the bus passenger was no longer complaining.They were a complaint.


Psalm 32:5
Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD.” And you forgave the guilt of my sin.

Isaiah 53:6
We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.


He forgave our condition. We being wicked were forgiven by the very one whom we sinned against.

Can you do that?
Love someone who hates and deeply hurts you more than those that are kind to you?

I know that brings me to tears.

Love himself clothed us in light revealing to us who we are.

What is more shocking is that he didn't turn away in disgust. Instead we are his children and we receive an inheritance.


I hope that this post encourages you to "fight the good fight and finish the course" for stored up for those who do is righteousness.

I feel like I'm falling in love remembering truths about the Lover.

Covenant not contract....

I was interested in finding out the difference between a covenant and a contract. I stumbled across the Greek word Diatheke, which means: covenant or (last will and) testament.

I'm not normally into the Greek translation, but I figured it couldn't hurt.

I took this next passage from a Lutheran Church website:  

An attention getter—John 3:16. Ask a crowd of believers for the most famous passage in the Bible. "JOHN 3:16!" a large percentage of them will reply. Isn't it interesting that this passage just happens to be in "testamental" form?

When a person goes to an attorney to draw up his "last will and testament," five things are usually involved: (1) a testator, the one who makes the will; (2) heir(s); (3) a method of effectuation, the way by which a testament goes into effect (by death); (4) a testator's promissory signature, which validates—through his word of promise—that which will be given to the heir(s); and (5) the actual inheritance to be left behind.¹⁴

John 3:16: "For God (the Testator) loved the world (the heirs) so much that He gave (into death) His one-and-only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him would not perish (the Testator's signature by word of promise) but have everlasting life (the inheritance)." Amazing!http://www.redeemerlutheranchurch.org/diatheke.htm

Though one definition of covenant is contract,  it seems deeper. A contract ends once something is fulfilled, a covenant is like devotion. (forgive me if I'm just getting on a soapbox.)

Hebrews 8:

8:... Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah: 9: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord. 10: For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people. God's covenant is forever.  We are his Beloved so we get to be his inheritance

Two PDF's to look at

I found this website Intimacy with God while doing a web search.

Here are a few PDFs that I thought would be neat to read.

http://www.intimacywithgod.com/idols.pdf
http://www.intimacywithgod.com/devotedtojesus.pdf

The actual website is www.intimacywithgod.com for anyone who is interested in looking.

Hope that everyone is encouraged by these as I am.

Losing Control

 I have stepped into dangerous waters. I've found one of my biggest problems is...control. I want to be in control of my life. God cannot use someone who is in control. He must lead and guide them, but sometimes he allows them to seemingly wander away from him so they can be truly drawn closer. God sometimes uses chaos to do his bidding.


It seems like whenever chaos ensues, we figure just how controlling we are. I speak of myself in this with very much humiliation. I tend to think when things aren't going according to plan..God isn't in control of everything. How easy is it to forget what he has done for us when we have held back from him a key to our salvation. When we are "in control," the world seems sunny to us, life is sweet, and we feel like it is God's will.


 But wait...is it? 


Doesn't God want us to live a happy life? To be free?


But when the chaos comes we get to see the illusions we have allowed ourselves to believe. (that's for another  post though)


And often we feel the chaos that we face in daily life is from the adversary just to withstand us. Could be....don't forget...he must get permission from the Father to tempt, pain,and otherwise try to knock us out of the fight. 




Come deeper with me. 


Trust....to believe. 


The earliest example ironically of a person who lost control of their life and trusted was..Abraham. He was promised that his descendants would be like the sands of the sea. Also, that Abraham and Sarah would have a son that would be the fulfillment of His promise. 


Seemed like things were on the up and up for them both.


But we all know the story. Abraham was told to sacrifice that promise as a lamb on an altar. Wow. Quite the hit to the gut. I'm sure that Abraham didn't leap at this. But we know that in the end, God saw his trust and counted it as righteousness and Issac didn't die. 


An archaic thought. To let go...lose control. To trust that out on the water is Christ in the midst of the storm going on.It's a step towards losing ourself..VERY scary! the most amazing thing is that when we are able to surrender control, we can reach out and touch people. We, like Mother Theresa said, "are only a pencil in a hand."

It's the foolishness that Christ calls wisdom. 




It's not easy, it goes against everything in us.


Even though I can write this post as if I completely understand the concept of letting go...I in no way don't.

Praise is a two edged weapon.

" My mouth is filled with your praise, declaring your splendor all day long."Psalms 71:8

Often when we fall under attack by the enemy we forget completely about praising God. Some of us (LOL!) tend to turn inward in the attempt to muster up the strength to go on.This is always a mistake (I'm sure most know this!) ,but it is very easy to turn our eyes off of Christ when it seems He is the one inflicting the pain. 

 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.Romans 8-28

But do we REALLY know this? 

I know I don't when I'm in the midst of it all.It seems like all of the problems I go through the biggest tactic the Adversary has is to get me to look at myself. Once he's done that, I do the rest. The doors are opened to him, and I become his tool. The wake of destruction left behind is devastating.  The most humbling thing is that God still loves this being. He leads me away from myself to himself. Then I'm reminded that it isn't about me. It's all about him. 

I 'll borrow an analogy from Francis Chan's book "Crazy Love:Overwhelmed by a Relentless God." If your entire life was compared to a movie, you may get a few seconds. Wouldn't be a waste to say that those few seconds were about you, in which you drew attention to yourself instead of the main actor, Christ? 

Praise brings you out of depression. From experience I can say this. It pulls you up from thinking about what is wrong and reminds you something you, I, and everyone else should but do often forget:

The Enemy cannot do anything while you are praising God but one thing. Distract you. Don't be fooled,you are never suppose to be able to muster things up to fight it. We are to focus on what is important..The One. 

Praise brings joy. It fills you..the effects of it are contagious. 

I like the Darby Translation of this verse. "A joyful heart promoteth healing; but a broken spirit drieth up the bones."Proverbs 17-22

Hope your day is brightened even a little!