GOD IN REAL LIFE

But The Jerk Is Getting Away With It!

What do you feel when someone who has wronged you appears to continue on with no consequence?  How do you deal with that rightly?

This is a tough one.

Any of us could probably compile a list of at least a few people who meet the criteria of “jerks who seem to have gotten away with it” after they hurt us.

Anger and indignation is our normal human response.  So is our scream for justice.

I came face to face with one of the jerks from my past today.  Well, almost face-to-face.   It was the first time I saw the jerk in the flesh in quite awhile.  Suddenly, anger and indignation I thought I had long dealt with arose from its grave and jumped on top of me.

So what did I do in the heat of the moment?  Well, first off I didn’t do very well.  I started describing to myself this persons character (or lack thereof) with many colorful adjectives.   Since I could feel the indignation starting to crawl all over me and gain momentum, I knew I was standing on a slippery slope.  So I contacted a friend who knew the story and voiced agreement with my descriptive adjectives.  Thankfully, my friend didn’t preach to me in that moment about forgiveness, but agreed that yeah, it was pretty lousy what happened, and offered an outrageous idea for revenge that made us both laugh.  Then he encouraged me by saying he knew I would handle it the right way.

I needed that.  I needed to be heard and validated right then by someone who knows me and cares.

As soon as I was able, I got myself into some Scripture and prayer.  Within minutes I could feel my peace returning and the anger and indignation thrown back into the grave where it belongs.

Bear in mind, I had already completed a whole lot of soul work dealing with the issues involved and invested much time asking the Lord to help me forgive this person, and bring healing and blessing into this person’s life.  So it’s not like I was starting from scratch by running across this individual today.

Here’s the rub – this person did me wrong in several arenas (including financially) then just carried on and APPEARS to be experiencing good things in life ever since!  They’ve never made amends for their behavior, nor acknowledged any wrongdoing.

So what do I do with that?

The Lord took me straight here today:

Do not fret because of evil men or be envious of those who do wrong; for like the grass they will soon wither, like green plants they will soon die away.  Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.  Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.  Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this:  He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.  Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes.  Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret – it only leads to evil.  For evil men will be cut off, but those who hope in the Lord will inherit the land.  A little while, and the wicked will be no more; though you look for them, they will not be found.  But the meek will inherit the land and enjoy great peace.    Psalm 37: 1-11 (NIV)

Right now, it’s really not about what this other person did to harm me.  It’s about what I choose to do with what happened that is important.

God knows.  He saw it all.  I’m only responsible to deal with me.  I have, and I will continue to do so.  I’ve humbly dealt with the issues it raised within me that needed to be addressed.  At this stage, I just need to “commit my way to the Lord and trust in Him” – He’s got this.

If I run across this person again, I merely need to remind myself of the grace I’ve received when I didn’t deserve it and turn my focus right back on the Lord.  If I can keep that perspective then I will be qualified to “dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture”.

GOD IN REAL LIFE

Life Is Like a Washing Machine

I have a rather interesting washing machine.

It was banned to the garage because of a leak that’s gotten progressively worse over the last year or so.  I’ve been told it’s the pump, and although I know nothing about washing machines, that can’t be good.

One of the self-leveling thing-a-ma-bobbers on the bottom broke off, so between that and the slight slope to the garage floor, I keep a piece of wood wedged underneath one side.  It’s still not level.

The rinse cycle quit working.  It completes the wash cycle just like it was made to do, spins out, but then when it’s time to refill for the rinse cycle it seems to sit in suspended animation.  So to rinse the clothes, I turn the dial back to the beginning of the wash cycle to fool its washing machine pea-brain, but don’t add the soap.  I found that I was forgetting if the latest round was the actual wash cycle, or the rigged rinse cycle, so I invented an ingenious system for keeping track.  If it’s the wash cycle, I leave the laundry detergent bottle sitting on the lid.  For the rinse cycle, it’s the bottle of Downy perched on there that cues me to put that load in the dryer.

Since the tub inside sits slightly askew, all it takes is a load of towels or anything slightly heavier than normal to make the machine come to life in some wild, unbalanced Frankenstein-like hissy-fit, walking itself away from the wall until I come running through the house to shut it off.  I ruined a brand new bottle of detergent one day when it fell off the lid during a Frankenstein fit and burst open, pouring thick, slippery detergent all over the garage floor.  It did make the garage smell nice though.

The other day, as I was walking through the garage in my bare feet, I foolishly stepped into the Rio Grande River of soapy water flowing across the smooth concrete on its journey to the driveway and wiped out Three Stooges style, landing on my back on the concrete – hard.  And it hurt.

Oh yeah, and it doesn’t quite agitate properly.  It just kind of wiggles the clothes a bit instead of rolling them around in there like it should.

So why, you ask in wonderment, don’t I just get it fixed, or buy a new machine or something?

Well, where’s the challenge in that?  That would be too easy.  (Denial and rationalization)

Here’s the ugly truth – it’s because I don’t want to spend the money on it.  Besides, I’ve obviously learned to adapt to the dysfunction of the machine and keep on going without having to actually address the source of the problems.

Sound familiar?  It’s a bit like life isn’t it, if we’re honest about it.

Things don’t always go “whack” all at once.  If they did, we’d drop everything and address the issue until the problem was solved.

Instead, the issues creep up on us one at a time, slowly increasing the level of dysfunction that we’ve accepted and adapted to as our new “normal”, until one day we find ourselves laying in pain on our back on the concrete, head spinning, while the thought runs through our brain…”you know, I don’t think it’s all that smart to keep going like this”.

Worse is the thought, “if I don’t do something about this, someone else is going to get hurt in this slippery river of dysfunction”.
Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.                              Ephesians 5:15-17 (NIV)

I think it’s time to address my washing machine issues.

GOD IN REAL LIFE

Armed & Dangerous, Part 4 – Moving from Knowledge to Understanding

I remember pulling a book off my shelf I read years earlier.  I had been walking through a very difficult season of life and a couple other books by this same author brought tremendous insight and deep healing to my soul.  It occurred to me I had another book of his on my shelf, so I went searching.

Sure enough, it was there, complete with faded yellow highlights in parts I thought were meaningful.

I laughed at myself as I read it this time, noticing the passages I had highlighted years earlier.  Good grief – was I really that deaf, dumb, and blind when I read it through the first time?

I thought I understood enough to highlight key points, but it never really penetrated my soul in a way that enlightened my ability to apply the principles and experience change.  I didn’t grasp the author’s real point and I didn’t recognize the implications of those truths.

That difficult season brought me to a fresh level of humility.  Believe me, it wasn’t easy to lay down the anger and indignation I felt over what I had experienced in order to embrace a humble spirit, yet it was vital to do so.

Humility prepares us to receive the application and implications of truth, which are the core of authentic understanding.  Without humility as the fertile soil, insight and understanding never grow roots and merely ricochet off the veneer of our heart.

I caution you not to confuse “knowledge” with “understanding”.   Although knowledge is necessary to gain understanding, simply gaining knowledge can actually lead us toward arrogance!

…Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.  The man who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know.  But the man who loves God is known by God.   1 Corinthians 8:1-2 (NIV)

Do not deceive yourselves.  If any one of you thinks he is wise by the standards of this age, he should become a “fool” so that he may become wise.  For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight.     1 Corinthians 3:18-19 (NIV)

This is why Satan tries hard to fuel our arrogance – it stonewalls true humility, which denies our dependence on God, our faith, trust and peace that flows from active belief, and blinds us to the transformation and empowerment that comes with understanding.

Why is it so important to learn how to become “Armed & Dangerous”?

I believe the real goal is to be transformed to the character of Christ so we are able to LIVE AND LOVE WELL.

We can’t do that when we are crippled, deluded, and imprisoned by the schemes of the enemy.

Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.  Ephesians 5:2 (NIV)

Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.   1 John 3:18 (NIV)

A new command I give you:  Love one another.  As I have loved you, so you must love one another.  By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.  John 13:34 (NIV)

And now these three remain:  faith, hope and love.  But the greatest of these is love.  1 Corinthians 13:13 (NIV)

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.  The second is this:  Love your neighbor as yourself.  There is no commandment greater than these.   Mark 12:30-31 (NIV)

Having a LIFESTYLE of Humility, Belief, and Understanding allows us to stand in victory over spiritual and personal darkness so we are able to live and love well.

Humility + Belief + Understanding = Living & Loving Well

GOD IN REAL LIFE

Armed & Dangerous, Part 3 – Belief With A Kick

Do you know it’s possible to believe in God, be certain where we’re going to spend eternity, yet live defeated because we aren’t BELIEVING Him?

In Scripture, there are two forms of the New Testament word usually translated as “believe”.  There is a “belief” leading to receiving the Gospel message, and there is an active, ongoing, CONTINUAL act of BELIEVING that is a lifestyle.*

As a matter of fact, I’ve observed that my level of belief (faith) directly correlates with my level of trust, which exactly corresponds with the sense of peace (or lack thereof) I am experiencing when faced with any difficulty or uncertainty.

Your belief (positive or negative) is the lens through which you view everything.  It determines your perspective – which in turn influences your emotions, your decisions, your ability to discern options, and your behaviors.  As a result, you experience certain outcomes, which may then adjust your perspective, which reinforces your level of belief.

If I were to diagram it, it might look something like this…

Makes sense when you think about it, yet here’s the twist… it’s possible for your level of faith to be strong, your thoughts about something rooted in truth (i.e. scripture), with your emotions  reflecting trust and hope, your decisions and actions sound…. Yet the outcome is nothing less than bizarre.

THAT is a Crisis of Belief!

We don’t always factor into the equation that we live in a fallen world, with fallen people, deal with an enemy who is waiting to pounce, and a God who sometimes allows curve balls to swing our way for valid reasons that only He knows at the time.

When it all goes unexplainably wrong, and everything you thought was valid gets short-circuited, what starts rolling through your head?

Is God still good?

Is He in charge?

Is He trustworthy?

Is His will really the best?

Are His plans for me really for good even if it doesn’t match my agenda?

Which is true – what I see and am experiencing right now, or God’s word even if it doesn’t seem to align?

If my prayer is answered no, or not now, can I accept it as what’s best?

Does God really love me when it seems His hand is thwarting me?

Are the accusations of the enemy true?

Is God holding out on me?

Am I just sinful and hopeless?

Will nothing ever go my way?

What you choose to believe in that moment is the key to whether you are strengthened or weakened in your faith.  If you waver in that crucial juncture the enemy (who is watching like a hawk) says, “AHA!  I see a crack in the armor.  Attack THERE!”

How will you know if you are wavering?  Just listen to the thoughts flowing through your mind and out your mouth.

Grief and sadness may be appropriate responses in the moment and need to be brought to the Lord for comforting, but if you hear grumbling murmurs of complaint, or have a desire for a little cheese with your whine, that is cause for immediate course correction!  Get on your knees, speak out truth through your tears, phone a trusted friend to stand with you, worship Him when you are angry – whatever it takes to get you back to center.

“In the battles of life, your peace is actually a weapon.  Indeed, your confidence declares that you are not falling for the lies of the devil.  You see, the first step toward having spiritual authority over the adversary is having peace in spite of our circumstances.  When Jesus confronted the devil, He did not confront Satan with His emotions or in fear.  Knowing that the devil was a liar, He simply refused to be influenced by any other voice than God’s.  His peace overwhelmed Satan, His authority then shattered the lie, which sent demons fleeing.”

Francis Frangipane, The Three Battlegrounds

So the next time life is just “in your face” unfair… consider it a great opportunity to exercise “faith and trust muscles” that are getting a bit squidgy around the edges.

By holding on to the humility you gained through your “Boot Camp” experiences you’ll find your active, continuous belief building in strength – and enemy will start trembling.

*I am indebted to Beth Moore in her book, Believing God for helping me understand this important truth.

GOD IN REAL LIFE

Armed & Dangerous, Part Two – Boot Camp

So, you’re tired of being the sitting duck – being used as target practice by the enemy, eh?  Ready to stand up and fight, charge that hill, proclaim you just ain’t taking it no more and you’re going to give Satan the what for?

Bad move.

You might as well paint a bullseye on your chest.

Only an arrogant fool would rashly charge into battle against a well armed and seasoned enemy.  Yet that’s exactly what many of us do.

To win this battle – to kick the enemy off your “Promised Land”, you must first be willing to participate in God’s Boot Camp.

Speaking as one who’s been through boot camp – flunked out a few times, and had to go through it again – let me share with you some insider tips…

TIP #1:  If you think Boot Camp is about learning to fight, you are going to get nothing but a good butt-kicking.

The purpose of boot camp is to permit the death of your own arrogance.   If you refuse to embrace this truth, you will find yourself in boot camp over and over, not recognizing that boot camp is the Lord’s gift to you.

How will you know when you’ve graduated from Boot Camp 101? – When true humility sprouts from the ashes of your charred arrogance.  This sounds simple enough, but oh how we fight to keep our arrogance intact!

Joseph Lamb made a wise observation when he stated, “The road to success leads through the valley of humility, and the path is up the ladder of patience and across the wide barren plains of perseverance. As yet, no short cut has been discovered.”

The tricky thing about arrogance is the difficulty of recognizing it in action. It keeps us in denial.  Even when we appear to be operating in a noble manner, our quiet arrogance is manifest in our motives, our excuses, our subtle self-protectiveness and self-exultation – basically, the pretenses and presumptions that keep profound truth and insight at bay.

This is why, although it really stinks in the moment, boot camp tends to be held in the “desert” seasons of our life.  As a matter of fact, if you find yourself in the midst of the desert, consider it a personal invitation.

TIP #2:  Don’t underestimate the enemy because he’s no fool.

Satan is so stealthy, that he will encourage our human success at times in order to strengthen our arrogance.  He knows he can gain the upper hand when we are drunk with our own pride.  He will stroke your ego and whisper that you’re doing just great!  We agree and say, “Yup, I’ve got this all under control.” But you must remember…

Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.   Proverbs 16:18 (NIV)

You must also be aware – DON’T MISS THIS! – When you enter a season of boot camp in the desert, God tends to be deliberately silent.  It is maddening because in the moments when we are screaming out for an explanation, the only voice we hear is the whispers of the evil one trying to convince us of God’s betrayal and abandonment in our time of need.  Don’t you buy it for a minute! If you turn boot camp into your private, angry pity party complete with banners, it will only take longer!

Satan trembles at the thought of your heart and mind being enlightened and trained by humility, for it is the foundation God lays to make you truly valiant.  Even your weaknesses are turned around in power to become Satan’s worst nightmare when you live in a state of humility.

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 2 Corinthians 12:9 (NIV)

TIP #3:  Failure is a gift

In moments of true screw-up, we get a raw glimpse into our own soul.  Without realizing it, we stand at a crossroad.  How we choose to perceive and proceed will either chart a course to self-awareness and God-awareness, or further spiral us into arrogant denial.

Even when the fiasco is not of our own hand, but splashes onto us through the failures of another, the stakes are the same.

“For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”  Matthew 23:12 (NIV)

You have an opportunity to embrace the lessons of boot camp every time you face failure.

Humility is a gift awarded to those who forfeit their own arrogance.

Humility sets the stage for the birth of Belief, and the equipping of Understanding.  With these three pillars in place, we are able to walk steadily through any desert, gaining strength, peace, and contentment until we are ready to enter and fight for the rightful claim of our personal “Promised Land”.

GOD IN REAL LIFE

Armed & Dangerous – Part One, The Victor or the Duck

You know that carnival game where the little tin ducks paddle back and forth while someone stands there with a rifle shooting at them?  Ping! Ping! Ping!  The helpless ducks fall over one by one.

Ever felt like one of those little ducks?

In reality, you were born into a spiritual war zone.  Your life is being played out in the midst of an epic battle between good (The Lord God and His angelic host), and evil (Satan and his demonic hordes).

What’s at stake? – Your heart, mind, and allegiance.

Let me clarify something… I don’t mean to be rude, but Satan doesn’t really care about you, per se.  He does however desire to keep you from being transformed into the image of God you were created to bear!  It’s the desire of God’s heart to see you living that out, so Satan wants to get back at God by capturing you.

Being the ultimate narcissist, Satan wants everything to be all about him.  He wants to be the most beautiful and glorious being (mirror, mirror on the wall…), NOT God, and certainly not you in the image of God.

God is fighting for you because of the immeasurable love He has for you.  He wants you to experience that love, and walk in wholeness, peace, victory and abundance here and now as a gift until we get to experience everything more richly and without end one day with Him.  Our part is to learn how to do that.

Satan is fighting for you because he intends to use you as a pawn for his own purposes.  If he can deceive and distract you from truth, build up your fleshly pride (translation – arrogance), and coerce you to live like a victim (the duck!), then not only will you honor him instead of God, but he just might be able to use you as a tool against the “good guys” in one form or another.

Satan trembles in knowing that a Christian, who has been healed, matured, and equipped for battle, can command him to flee and take back the ground that’s been stolen over the years!  For him it’s imperative that he neutralizes our effectiveness!

For us, it’s imperative that we wake up, and grow up!

So why don’t we?

Personally, I think we can boil it down to a few crucial issues we must address before we experience consistent victory.

Humility                             Belief                       Understanding

These three are inextricably interwoven, and absolutely vital to your experience of victorious, abundant living.   Therefore, these three are violently opposed in your life.

We already have it in writing that Satan has lost the war, but the time has yet to come for his imprisonment.  Unless we learn to apply humility, belief, and understanding in ways that protect and strengthen us, provide awareness of the strategies used against us, and equip us to exercise military authority, the loser will continue to take aim.  In case you hadn’t noticed, he’s a pretty good shot.

Aren’t you tired of being the duck?

GOD IN REAL LIFE

When Your Problems Outnumber Your Hairs

Do you know what it’s like to disturb a fire ant mound?

All it takes is one step on that sloppy pile of loose grains of soil and before you can inhale twice, thousands of those humorless red stinging suckers come straight for you.  How they manage to get inside your socks in seconds flat is beyond me, but they let you know in no uncertain terms that you’ve made an egregious error.

There were times that I was just minding my own business, far away from any sight of their precious mound and they seemed to come looking for me – stinging me just for fun when I hadn’t even wronged them!

Problems are like that aren’t they?  Sometimes we step right into the midst of them through our own foolishness, and sometimes they seem to come looking for us undeservedly.  No matter which manner our problems befall us, we experience the sting nonetheless.

If you have had seasons like that, then you can relate with David when he cried out,

“Do not withhold your mercy from me, O Lord, may your love and your truth always protect me.  For troubles without number surround me; my sins have overtaken me, and I cannot see.  They are more than the hairs of my head, and my heart fails within me.”  Psalm 40:11-12 (NIV)

I wonder if David was experiencing panic attacks as he was walking that path of pain. Perhaps even a combination of overwhelming hurt and the heart attack-like feeling of anxiety caused him to say “my heart fails within me”.

When our problems look and feel greater in number than the hairs of our head it’s hard to keep perspective, and even harder to not allow knee-jerk reactions of the flesh to take over.

In those moments we must cry out, as David did, to the only One who can save us from the pit of our own making, or the pit we find ourselves in from the actions of others.

Listen to the perspective of David as he writes of his pain and how he chooses to handle it.  He takes his angst and his anger to the Lord and relies on Him to make changes, and to vindicate him, rather than foolishly taking matters into his own hands

“Be pleased, O Lord, to save me; O Lord, come quickly to help me.”  Psalm 40:13

“May those who say to me, “Aha! Aha!” be appalled at their own shame.  But may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; may those who love your salvation always say, “the Lord be exalted!”  Psalm 40:16

The net result…

“I waited patiently for the Lord; He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand, He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God.  Many will see and fear and put their trust in the Lord.”   Psalm 40:1-3

Twitterpated

I was watching a pair of doves walking across my patio the other day. The one dove kept following the other dove everywhere cooing, “hey there you with the beautiful feathers, hey, where are you going? Come over here, I just want to be near you.”

Have you ever seen Sandhill Cranes dancing? It’s quite a sight – they leap up and down in front of each other, flapping their wings and bobbing their heads.  They look completely goofy to anyone else but to them it’s pure LOVE.

I guess it’s officially springtime.

Remember the scene from Bambi when Friend Owl is explaining to young Bambi, Thumper, and Flower what happens in the springtime? They can’t understand why the other animals are acting strangely and Friend Owl tells them that nearly all the animals act that way in the springtime because they’re “TWITTERPATED”!

He describes the state of “twitterpatedness” as feeling weak in the knees, your head’s in a whirl, you feel light as a feather, and then you’re walking on air.

Have you ever been “twitterpated”?

“One thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple.” Psalm 27:4

David, the psalmist who wrote that verse was head over heels in his relationship with the Lord. He was called, “a man after God’s own heart.” How’s that for a legacy?

Throughout Scripture we see many portraits of God’s character and His role in our lives. We read how the Lord reveals himself as “Father”, “Provider”, “Friend”, “Brother”, “Protector”, etc., but if you read through the Bible with the eyes of your heart instead of your intellect you know what you’ll see is the desire of God’s heart?

That we would know Him as “Lover”.

How many of us can truly say, from the bottom of our hearts, that we are head over heels “in love” with God?

It’s one thing to know OF God, to believe he exists, and to believe he has some worthy things to say or to teach us. It’s quite another to know HIM! When we come to know his character, appreciate his heart, and engage in intimacy in relationship with him then we begin to understand what it means to be “in love” with God. The difference is night and day!

Just as in any relationship, do we really want to be observed from a distance?  Or wanted only for what we “do” for someone else? I don’t know about you, but I want to be desired for who I “am”.

If we’re honest with ourselves, our deepest longing is that our “heart”, would be seen, known, and absolutely treasured by those who are important to us. That’s why relational rejection cuts so deep. It’s a rejection of the “heart” or essence of who we are.

Only when we see, know, and come to deeply appreciate who another person IS, are we capable of any semblance of unconditional love.

“…I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness” Jeremiah 31:3 (NIV)

That is the way the Lord God loves you. He’s absolutely “twitterpated”.   And, He longs for us to be “twitterpated” with Him.

GOD IN REAL LIFE SERIES

Go Big or Go Home

I saw a bumper sticker the other day on the back of one of those monster trucks – the kind that’s jacked up so high you need a ladder to reach the door handle.  The bumper sticker read “Go Big or Go Home”.

The instant I read it the Lord spoke to me, “That’s how I feel about it”.

I suppose that’s not the first time He’s made that point.

I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot.  I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm – neither hot nor cold – I am about to spit you out of my mouth.  You say, “I am rich I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.”  But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.                                                                   Revelation 3:25-17 (NIV)

Probably one of the worst things that can happen to us as a follower of Christ is to get comfortable.

We start to really enjoy that comfortableness, then next thing you know, we’re pretending we don’t hear His call, avoiding anything that makes us feel uncomfortable, and arranging for the peaceful continuance of the relaxing box we’ve been lulled to sleep in.

When that happens, the very things we think we’ve arranged to make our life smooth now becomes what causes us to miss God’s best.

I’ve learned that the “good stuff” usually follows a really uncomfortable season of daring to rise to the challenge – especially when the outcome is unknown, requiring us to lay it on the line and step out purely in faith that He will catch us if we fall.

Thankfully, the Lord often provides a season of rest and blessing following a season of intense struggle and growth.  We need it to recuperate!  The problem comes however, when we cross the line from enjoying God-ordained rest, to arranging for our comfort and avoiding anything that stretches us, makes us uncomfortable, or rattles our self-arranged “peace”.  In doing so, we create subtle idols in our heart.

He shook me of that recently – yet again.  At least I’m getting quicker in responding than I used to be.

I hope you pay attention when He calls you out of your recliner and back into the game.  Trust me – if you ignore Him, he won’t just back away and pout.  He’ll call, and if you keep ignoring that beckoning voice he’ll start stripping away the very things you’ve been using to build your comfortable box.  What he once blessed will be what is taken away when you seek “it” more than Him.  He’s not being cruel, He’s protecting you from yourself.

Let me give you some insight gleaned from the front lines… If you find yourself clinging to your “box” you are dealing with fear on some level.

Face it down and get back in the game.  Let Him breathe on your soul until it’s white hot again.  It’s time to Go Big!

GOD IN REAL LIFE

Do You Expect Murphy?

Murphy’s Law states, “If anything can go wrong it will”.

True statement?  Perhaps…

Two factors are always at work in this:

1. We usually get what we expect

2.  Satan will do whatever it takes to make you believe Murphy’s Law is true

Is this about getting what we want, or having life flow smoothly, go our way, operate according to plan?  Not really.

What’s really at stake here is FAITH.

We desperately need walk in present-tense active, living, believing faith,  (special thanks to Beth Moore’s study – Believing God for reiterating this to me!) or we’re dead in the water – utterly hopeless.  If we can learn to do this as a lifestyle, then Satan utterly loses.  The stakes are indeed high.

Present-tense active, living, believing faith will manifest in our heart and mind in the form of TRUST, PEACE, and positive EXPECTATION ….regardless of outward circumstances!

Are you familiar with the concept of the “placebo effect”?  In the mid-1950’s, Dr. Henry Beecher published the results of research he conducted in the Journal of the America Medical Association.  He used the blind study research method to document that 35% of patients felt improvement in their condition when given a placebo.  More recent research suggests the placebo effect may be even stronger than originally thought!

PET scans and MRI’s have shown that belief in a placebo treatment actually alters brain chemistry!  Think about that… our thoughts produce a physical reaction within the brain that can make changes for the better.

So what are you believing?

Consider the infamous words of Jesus in Matthew 17:20 (NIV):

“…I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, “Move from here to there” and it will move.  Nothing will be impossible for you.”

Now look at something else he said in Matthew 9:29 (NIV):

“…According to your faith will it be done to you”

Now combine those principles with the truth from these two well known verses:

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”  Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)

“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 (NIV)

Who are you believing – Murphy and Satan, or the Lord God?

It will show up in your life in one form or another.  We get what we expect.