It has been brought to my attention this week about how we are truly blessed. I spend so much time complaining about what I can't eat when there are millions around the world who are starving to death. Shame on me for not caring more. The only difference between them and me is that God chose for me to be here, to have this family, these parents. Some may say that we were lucky to be born here but luck has nothing to do with it. It was by the grace of God. I need to stop complaining about the fact that it is unfair that so and so can eat anything they want and not gain weight or when so and so walks just 30 minutes a day she loses weight easily, I could go on and on.
James 1:2-8 (HCS) "Consider it a great joy, my brothers, whenever you experience various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance, but endurance must do its complete work, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing. Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives to all generously and without criticizing, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith without doubting. For the doubter is like the surging sea, driven and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. An indecisive man is unstable in all his ways."
We aren't to whine and complain. We are to be thankful that God gave us this trial and to overcome it. We may have put ourselves in a worse way with uncontrolled eating but we would have had to watch our eating habits our whole lives because our bodies don't work the same as someone who is thin and can eat whatever they want. I really hesitate to call this a "trial" because of what so many have faced. Verse 3 goes on to tell us "that the trying of your faith worketh patience". Dr McGee says God doesn't bring challenges in our lives because He loves to watch us struggle. He does it to grow our faith, to make us stronger to give us patience. As a parent we give chores to our kids because we like to see them complain, cry and throw fits, right? No! It is to teach them skills and responsibilities that they will need later on in life to live as mature adults. This is the same concept. God wants us to mature as believers to live in such a way that we are a testimony to the unbelievers in our lives. So that they can see Jesus through our submission to God.
I Peter 1:6&7 "You rejoice in this, though now for a short time you have had to be distressed by various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith - more valuable than gold, which perishes though refined by fire - may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ."
Our trials will last for but a season. We get so caught up in the world that we forget it is but a season compared to eternity. So, we may deal with certain trials our whole lives, it may be our weight, an illness, a disability or a personality conflict with a family member. However, even if it lasts our entire lifetime it will still just be a season of our life. Let us find joy when we walk away from foods we aren't to eat, find joy when God gives us victory on the scale. As we celebrate Easter and reflect on the suffering our Lord and Saviour endured for our salvation; take time to thank Him for this selfless act this week. Pray for an opportunity to share with an unbelieving friend or relative what God is teaching you through the trials you are facing now in this season of your life.
Monday, April 25, 2011
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Claiming the Power of God
When I was a little girl my grandparents had chickens; my parents too would get 50-100 chicks that we would raise to use as food. When these chickens were full grown we would butcher them. We did this by lopping off their heads but when this was done you had to hold them down or for a very short time the chicken would run around without its head because it took a little bit for the muscles to realize that they were no longer getting information from the brain. This looked so funny but this is where the phrase "running around like a chicken with its head cutoff" came from.
In the busyness of life we begin to look a little like a chicken with its head cut off. We are running and running while worrying if our kids have this or that. I think that if we could stand above ourselves we would laugh at how funny we look. We worry, half the time, about things that are totally irrelevant in the big scheme of life. We worry about the big stuff to but as we worry we forget to call on the Power of God.
Lets look at Psalms 62 NIV
"Truly my soul silently waits for God; from Him comes my salvation. He only is my rock and my salvation; He is my defense; I shall not be greatly moved. How long will you attack a man? You shall be slain, all of you, like a leaning wall and a tottering fence. They only consult to cast him down from his high position; they bless with their mouth, but they curse inwardly. My soul, wait silently for God alone, for my expectation is from Him. He only is my rock and my salvation; He is my defense; I shall not be moved. In God is my salvation and my glory; the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God. Trust in Him at all times, you people; pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us. Surely men of low degree are a vapor, men of high degree are a lie; if they are weighed of the scales, they are altogether lighter than vapor. Do not trust in oppression, nor vainly hope in robbery; if riches increase, do not set your heart on them. God has spoken once, twice I have heard this: that power belongs to God. Also to You, O Lord, belongs mercy; for You render to each one according to his work."
David is under attack once again, some feel it is from Absalom, and he is resolved to wait for God's salvation. Vs. 2 & 6 show us a similar phrase the first time he says he might move a little but not greatly but in 6 he changes his mind and states that he will not be moved at all. This is the resolve we need to have in the food we take into our bodies. We need to stand and say to the cake, chips or whatever you have an addiction to, "Not only will I avoid eating a whole piece or several chips; I will not even take ONE bite!" This is the resolve we need to make. At the end of this psalm he is praising God and reminding himself that the power belongs to God. We can only do this if we claim the power of our Lord and Saviour. We need to wait on God's salvation form our addictions knowing our power comes from God. If He can save us from eternal separation from Him; saving us from our daily struggles is easy for Him if we just let Him take over our problems. We have talked about resting in Him, while we rest we need to claim His power.
Psalms 66: 1-4
"Make a joyful shout to God, all the earth! Sing out the honor of His name; make His praise glorious. Say to God, 'How awesome are Your works! Through the greatness of Your power Your enemies shall submit themselves to You. All the earth shall worship You and sing praises to You; they shall sing praises to Your name.' Selah"
This is a praise to God's mighty works but lets focus in on vs 3. We are told that it is by God's power our enemies shall submit to Him. There are foods that are our enemies. Our selfish desires are our enemies. We need to claim the power of God and bring these under God's submission.
Psalms 106 speaks of Israel's sin and God's forgiveness of this sin over and over again. Specifically lets look at vs 8 "Nevertheless He saved them for His name's sake, that He might make His mighty power known."
Look at the why behind saving them. It is so that He would be glorified and that His power would be known to all. Praise God for that. We know God is powerful to overcome our sinful desires because we see His victories time and time again in the lives of the Israelites and then in the New believers in the church.
Jeremiah 27:5 " ' " I have made the earth, the man and the beast that are on the ground, by My great power and by My outstretched arm, and have given it to whom it seemed proper to Me." ' " Please read this entire chapter, it is Jeremiah's warning to Jehoiakim king of Judah and to the surrounding kings that God had given Nebuchadnezzar the land and to avoid death and be able to stay in their homes, they should submit willingly. This should be a reminder to us to repent of our sin and turn our hearts to God. Because it was due to rebellion that God was putting them under foreign rule again. It also shows the need to submit willingly as Judah was to submit to Babylon. God is trying to save them from a more severe punishment. We talked how if we would have submitted to God from the get go and wouldn't have relied on food to comfort us we would not be in a position now where we had to deny ourselves of so many foods.
Micah 3:8
"But truly I am full of power by the Spirit of the Lord, and of justice and might to declare to Jacob his transgression and to Israel his sin." Micah is telling the rulers of Israel that he unlike the false prophets in chap. 2 has the power of God to back up what he was saying. We need to listen to what the Lord is saying to us and follow him because His words have authority and truth.
We need to ask God to be Micah's. Children of God who exude the power of the one true God, speaking in confidence and not allowing sin to be an all consuming power over us.
Remember Zech. 4:6b " 'Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit', Says the Lord of hosts."
This is key it is not my power but it is the power we receive through the Holy Spirit. Claim God's power over the sin in your life this week that is threatening to stifle your spiritual growth that you may live victorious and be a shining testimony to God's grace and goodness.
In the busyness of life we begin to look a little like a chicken with its head cut off. We are running and running while worrying if our kids have this or that. I think that if we could stand above ourselves we would laugh at how funny we look. We worry, half the time, about things that are totally irrelevant in the big scheme of life. We worry about the big stuff to but as we worry we forget to call on the Power of God.
Lets look at Psalms 62 NIV
"Truly my soul silently waits for God; from Him comes my salvation. He only is my rock and my salvation; He is my defense; I shall not be greatly moved. How long will you attack a man? You shall be slain, all of you, like a leaning wall and a tottering fence. They only consult to cast him down from his high position; they bless with their mouth, but they curse inwardly. My soul, wait silently for God alone, for my expectation is from Him. He only is my rock and my salvation; He is my defense; I shall not be moved. In God is my salvation and my glory; the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God. Trust in Him at all times, you people; pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us. Surely men of low degree are a vapor, men of high degree are a lie; if they are weighed of the scales, they are altogether lighter than vapor. Do not trust in oppression, nor vainly hope in robbery; if riches increase, do not set your heart on them. God has spoken once, twice I have heard this: that power belongs to God. Also to You, O Lord, belongs mercy; for You render to each one according to his work."
David is under attack once again, some feel it is from Absalom, and he is resolved to wait for God's salvation. Vs. 2 & 6 show us a similar phrase the first time he says he might move a little but not greatly but in 6 he changes his mind and states that he will not be moved at all. This is the resolve we need to have in the food we take into our bodies. We need to stand and say to the cake, chips or whatever you have an addiction to, "Not only will I avoid eating a whole piece or several chips; I will not even take ONE bite!" This is the resolve we need to make. At the end of this psalm he is praising God and reminding himself that the power belongs to God. We can only do this if we claim the power of our Lord and Saviour. We need to wait on God's salvation form our addictions knowing our power comes from God. If He can save us from eternal separation from Him; saving us from our daily struggles is easy for Him if we just let Him take over our problems. We have talked about resting in Him, while we rest we need to claim His power.
Psalms 66: 1-4
"Make a joyful shout to God, all the earth! Sing out the honor of His name; make His praise glorious. Say to God, 'How awesome are Your works! Through the greatness of Your power Your enemies shall submit themselves to You. All the earth shall worship You and sing praises to You; they shall sing praises to Your name.' Selah"
This is a praise to God's mighty works but lets focus in on vs 3. We are told that it is by God's power our enemies shall submit to Him. There are foods that are our enemies. Our selfish desires are our enemies. We need to claim the power of God and bring these under God's submission.
Psalms 106 speaks of Israel's sin and God's forgiveness of this sin over and over again. Specifically lets look at vs 8 "Nevertheless He saved them for His name's sake, that He might make His mighty power known."
Look at the why behind saving them. It is so that He would be glorified and that His power would be known to all. Praise God for that. We know God is powerful to overcome our sinful desires because we see His victories time and time again in the lives of the Israelites and then in the New believers in the church.
Jeremiah 27:5 " ' " I have made the earth, the man and the beast that are on the ground, by My great power and by My outstretched arm, and have given it to whom it seemed proper to Me." ' " Please read this entire chapter, it is Jeremiah's warning to Jehoiakim king of Judah and to the surrounding kings that God had given Nebuchadnezzar the land and to avoid death and be able to stay in their homes, they should submit willingly. This should be a reminder to us to repent of our sin and turn our hearts to God. Because it was due to rebellion that God was putting them under foreign rule again. It also shows the need to submit willingly as Judah was to submit to Babylon. God is trying to save them from a more severe punishment. We talked how if we would have submitted to God from the get go and wouldn't have relied on food to comfort us we would not be in a position now where we had to deny ourselves of so many foods.
Micah 3:8
"But truly I am full of power by the Spirit of the Lord, and of justice and might to declare to Jacob his transgression and to Israel his sin." Micah is telling the rulers of Israel that he unlike the false prophets in chap. 2 has the power of God to back up what he was saying. We need to listen to what the Lord is saying to us and follow him because His words have authority and truth.
We need to ask God to be Micah's. Children of God who exude the power of the one true God, speaking in confidence and not allowing sin to be an all consuming power over us.
Remember Zech. 4:6b " 'Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit', Says the Lord of hosts."
This is key it is not my power but it is the power we receive through the Holy Spirit. Claim God's power over the sin in your life this week that is threatening to stifle your spiritual growth that you may live victorious and be a shining testimony to God's grace and goodness.
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