None of us like the “suffering” part of anything…and rightly so! We love the blessings part from God, but what about those sufferings? God does tell us about trials and fiery ordeals, but His viewpoint about them is quite different from ours. He says the reproved man is a happy man (Job 5:17); trials will bring us forth as gold (Job 23:10); affliction produces an eternal glory (2 Corinthians 4:17); and that when discipline has its affect it yields righteousness (Hebrews 12:11). Remember, God is working out the “wrongness” in us to put His “rightness in us. It is a high cost for us to go through these fiery trials, but the end result is what we are all looking for…righteousness, peace and joy! We need to be reminded that the afflictions constructed and/or allowed by God are HOLY. The intended result is our sanctification and the building up of our faith and trust in Him. As we reflect on this, remember the story about the goldsmith who tends to the smelting of the raw gold ore. The process involves heating the ore to an extremely high temperature BUT not too high. As the gold melts in the heat, it sinks to the bottom because it is a heavy metal and all the impurities rise to the top and are skimmed off. Much to the dismay of the gold, this process is REPEATED over and over again until the gold is pure gold and all the impurities are gone. Sound familiar? Is the heat rising in your circumstances? Do you have that sinking feeling? We are under the care of our Lord, the Expert Goldsmith. Do not fear, you are in good hands, He knows what He is doing. Enter His rest during your afflictions and let the blessings flow. Endure the fire…it’s producing pure gold!
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Remember the story of the Three Little Pigs? One built his house with straw, one built his house with sticks and one built his house with bricks – which one do you think survived the attack by the wolf? In today’s world, we find ourselves surrounded by wolves so we’d better be building our spiritual “houses” with the bricks of the Word of God and obedience to Him. Our wolves are the world, the flesh and the devil. The world has the foolishness of its own wisdom; the flesh has the heart of man which is desperately wicked; and the devil came to kill, steal and destroy. On top of that, they are all clouded in deceit…“Beware of the false prophets who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.” (Matthew 7:15) So what are we to do? Follow the truth in Jesus. In Him, you will know the wolves among us (Matthew 7:16-20); you will be protected (Matthew 7:24-27); and you will find the true and safe way to heaven (Matthew 7:21-23). So what are you using to build your spiritual house – straw, sticks or bricks? Endure the fire…it’s producing pure gold! The "God" nature is the "good" nature. Our nature cannot obey God, not in the manner God requires. The only way to serve God without sin is to walk by the Spirit. The scriptures tell us that when you walk by the Spirit you cannot sin...problem solved! Today, there is an ongoing debate on "what" is right. That is like a dog chasing its tail! It is not "what" is right–it is "WHO" is right. God's wisdom lays down the principles and the direction in which we are to go and, in obedience to Him, right-ness comes. Mankind keeps changing what is right and wrong, acceptable and unacceptable. Just look at what is considered modest and immodest today compared to 40 years ago–BIG CHANGE! God is stable, He never changes, nor do His principles. Don't go by your flesh (natural ideas, feelings, desires). Be a part of God's stability; stand up and be a part of changing our world...in Christ. Endure the fire...it's producing pure gold! Duty — Honor — Country. Despite what you may hear in the liberal media and liberal educational circles...this is a God-founded, God-blessed country. In honoring our country, we honor God. Serving God is very similar to serving our country. Both require the highest of standards and two special character qualities, two "tools" to reach these high standards – service and sacrifice. Service is doing your duty; sacrifice is giving of your time, money, labor and, for some, even their lives. Jesus paid that ultimate price for us. He gave His life to do His duty to God. He did that to save us, to change us, to change our destiny. Our veterans who have honorably served this country have done that, too; they have served with duty and honor for country to save us from our enemies, to change the course of history and our very destiny. We are encouraged today to ask God to help us to continue with the mission of this country to be a shining Christian light to the world. May we all say together, "I want to serve God and let His light shine through me as I face the challenges of duty, honor, and country." We must be instruments of God, used to return America to a God-loving, God-fearing and God-worshipping people. Endure the fire...it's producing pure gold! "Prayer"; when someone says that word, what comes to your mind? Be honest now, a head bowed in silence, a special chair, a church chapel, someone kneeling, a list of prayer requests dutifully checked off. Hm-m, if that's true then, how can we possibly live our lives, plus, as God says, "pray without ceasing"? If we look at the Greek meaning of the word pray(er), we see it is varied. Its scope encompasses the understanding of asking, coping, requesting, expressing a sense of need, petition to a superior, a call to one's aid, entreat or beseech (meaning a call to one side), comfort, desire, longing for, or worship. Wow, if that's what prayer is, I can do that all day; we all can, because those things can be done while we are involved in the common tasks of the day. So whether speaking to one or one thousand; painting a house or a picture; writing a book or a blog; climbing a ladder or a mountain...do it all with vibrant joy. But do it, firmly aware of and acknowledging His presence. Do it talking to Him every step of the way, thanking Him for all His goodness, praising Him in all His glory. And as specific prayer requests come to mind, just pray it out as you complete the tasks at hand. Don't reduce prayer to some compartmentalized sliver of your life where you sit in your "prayer chair" and robotically call to mind the prayer requests on your list. Be free and aware of Jesus’ presence everywhere you go. Broaden your "prayer time" to every waking moment, not just your time in daily devotions or a church service. Some people are called to pray for hours at a time and they must follow that call. Don't try and emulate that and think you are "doing your duty". If God has not called you to that task, then all you will do is be derelict in the other things God has called you to do. And you can be sure your daily work load will be so crammed, you'll be living in a pressure cooker. God does not want prayer to be work; He wants prayer to be worship. Conversation with God all day is prayer. Remember, the end result of prayer is not just the answer; the end result of prayer is an ever-increasing love of and awareness of God. Endure the fire...it's producing pure gold! "Things will be better, as soon as I figure this out". "I'll feel relieved when this is all over". "If I just had some more money, or better health, or was married, or was not married...” On and on we cry out as to how happiness will increase if we just know why or if our circumstances would just change. As humans, we seem to have an insatiable appetite for understanding and mastery of our little slice of life. Nothing wrong with that really, but it's like a dog chasing its tail! The world is full of problems; as soon as one is remedied another one pops up like the "whack-a-mole" game at a fair. Any relief is short-lived because the next "mole" is popping up in your face. Is there any rest in the often fruitless frenzy of life? God must be up there shaking His head at us (He's not really!) He tries to tell us that His peace is not as elusive as ours; it is not hidden or wrapped in the complicated multiplicity of the layers of our natural lives. Nope – it's right there in front of us...peace is in His presence; not in church, not in music, not in counsel, not even in prayer. All of those things are good and advancing towards His presence, but the peace you seek is only in His presence. As you look to Him, you will be keenly aware of that presence. In your pain, your loss, your confusion, try and picture where Jesus is right where you are. It may sound crazy but, even as I write this, I sense His presence beside me. That gives me great peace to know He is watching and monitoring what I write to you; and knowing His presence assures a decreased likelihood of leading anyone astray with foolish thoughts or opinions. The truest conclusion of all this is if you want peace, stop pursuing it and pursue Him. Proverbs 3:5-6 and Romans 5:1 tells you to trust in the Lord with all your heart and not to lean on your own understanding. And, if you would acknowledge Him in all your ways, He will direct your path, so that in faith in Him you will have peace with God through Christ. Boy, talk about leading us beside still waters! What a God we serve! Endure the fire...it's producing pure gold! Debits, credits, assets, etc...that's a world not too familiar to many, including myself. But here's a newsflash you can understand: you owe God big for your sins against Him but He transferred your bad debt to His account. Through Jesus, you are free of that debt; so you may want to seriously consider making the transaction and make it now before your account closes (your death) and the offer is expired. Remember, nothing unclean can be in the presence of God; all of your broken nature, even though not started up by you, but initiated by Adam, is a filthy debt you may not bring to heaven – it is unclean. Can you imagine if, as some people suppose, God just says in the end, "Aw, c’mon, I'm a good God, everyone can just automatically come to heaven when they die". What a mess that would be! Those who asked Jesus inside them and let His nature rule their lives and were purified by that would be side by side with those who didn't. Having your debt erased but not receiving His inheritance can't happen. Each thing requires the other. If you do not accept God's nature in you, you won’t have His forgiveness. What a mess heaven would be if greed, perversion, hatred, animosity, etc., were still a part of a person and they were in heaven! Yuck – the mess down here would just start all over again up there! No way! God may be all just...but He is also all wise. Jesus is not only your debt relief program; He is your shower to cleanse you to be in God's presence. (Acts 4:12, John 6:43-45) Cash in now; remember, the offer expires when you do! Endure the fire...it's producing pure gold! God doesn’t want religious nuts, He wants spiritual fruits! So many times we try to “re-build” ourselves and we do pretty well, in the world’s eyes. You can change how you dress and speak, you can control who your friends are and the education you receive... Oh yeah – a "self-made" man, so to speak. But what are you building? You may go from rags to riches, but what is of true value? Before I came to know the Lord, I "changed" myself as time went on in my life. I forced myself to enunciate an "R" instead of my Boston "AH" in everything I said; popularity in the 60s and 70s had to include sex and alcohol…no prob...we all jumped on the "get groovy" train. As soon as the ink was dry on my BS degree, I was told I need a Master’s degree, so gotta keep up, right? On and on we go, trying to go from good to better to best. There's nothing wrong with that; my point is that it is only external. The best of both worlds is to have the internal transformation in Christ, which will fill you with the real "riches" of life, as you pursue your dreams. Remember – you cannot "build" the qualities God requires of you. Your personal qualities are broken and inferior; they are limited in scope and ability. You might as well put new drywall and paint over rotted, termite infested frames and wonder why it never works. God's qualities can never be constructed with our inferior tools; they can only be accepted and received, and then let them flow through you. Make sure you don't inadvertently use the inferior "contractor" of yourself to make a change, but pray every day for God's fruits to manifest through you. Make room for God in your life's "blueprints" so the "change" you build will be strong and permanent. Galatians 5 tells us the fruits of the spirit are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control! Now that’s some pretty good change, heh? Endure the fire...it's producing pure gold! I shall continue with the conversation regarding, “Whatever Happened to the Human Race?” Remember now, if the “Christian” consensus is eroded or, as far as I can tell, practically gone from our society, that only leaves the courts or some other part of government to just arbitrarily make our laws, void of any Christian viewpoint (not so for our Founding Fathers!). This isn’t just in regards to abortion, euthanasia, assisted suicide and infanticide. Our rapid growth in medical and scientific technology has opened up many more possibilities that can not only end life, but actually alter it! The old question always comes up then—just because you can do something, should you? That’s where ethics comes in. But I fear it is a dog chasing its tail situation. With nothing higher than a human opinion underpinning our judgments, then the ethics ruling our decisions are also diminished. Wow—if nothing is “forbidden”, then anything is possible in the life and death arenas. Hm—what are some of the direct and indirect results in our culture of this “low level” view of people and our personal intrinsic “value”? How about increasing child abuse and neglect; abortion, allowing infants to die after living through an abortion, infanticide, euthanasia, selective abortion, gene manipulation for “designer babies”; where will this all end? These are serious challenges we face as a nation, heck, has a civilization!! Think, pray, act on God’s Word! Endure the fire…it’s producing pure gold! Where do you stand regarding the value of life? As Dr. Koop noted (in previous blog), we certainly are in a battle between those who see individuals as some sort of expendable raw material only to be exploited and then, like old rags, just discarded vs. those who see each person as unique, special, worthwhile and irreplaceable. I can agree with those statements, for sure. Somehow though, our legal and educational institutions are making laws and choices that are tipping the scale in this battle on the side of those who have devalued the sanctity of life. What was morally unthinkable in the 1950s is now par for the course in today’s culture. And I put the blame squarely on two things: First, the proliferation of a secular, humanist viewpoint which has permeated and, in my opinion, stained our entire fabric of life. Second, there is reluctance or, should I say, blatant absence of the Christian community in voicing their opposition to non-Biblical views and laws. Even worse, there is even the encroachment of liberal theology into much of the Christian church which has added to the conflict and confusion. Don’t get me wrong, many Christian organizations have worked hard to inform the public regarding these controversial issues, and offer Christ centered alternatives to abortion, euthanasia and infanticide. But unfortunately, many Christians have been busily occupied trying to raise a family and keep their heads above water financially. I fear the adversary has taken great advantage of these trying times and has helped humanism to replace Christianity as the consensus of Western civilization. A slow, creeping philosophy of “by chance” has bored a hole into the heart of our country. The end result, whether recognized or not, with this pervasive mantra of “by chance” life began; “by chance” it became more complex, is that this “by chance” philosophy just screams out that there was no plan, no reason for life to start and exist, therefore...no God! With this viewpoint splattered all over our lives, there is only one thought process that can emerge. That thought process is a devaluation of each one’s self-worth as well as the value of others. It can be nothing else if we all are just accidents of the universe! How sad of mankind to lose sight of its intrinsic and holy value to God. The knowledge of His love for each and every one of us individually and as a whole is the beginning of our sense of love, joy, peace, generosity, forgiveness, cooperation and all those positive, constructive themes that are the bedrock of a stronger, kinder, gentler and wiser human race. When we let go of the standards of God as the basis of our country’s laws, we are doomed to the unpredictable, ever-changing whims of either the majority or the elite. I shudder to think of what lies ahead. Stay ever so prayerful! Endure the fire…it’s producing pure gold! |
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