Step Up In God!
You see, you cannot step up in God without your flesh having to step down in some things.
We are commanded to be like Jesus--plain and simple. Yes, there is a salvation plan: repentance, baptism in Jesus' name, and the infilling of the Holy Ghost, evidence by speaking in other tongues as the Spirit gives the utterance (See Acts 2, 8, 10, etc). However, once we receive His presence Spirit inside of us, we aren't to simply return to our old ways.
We are to let his Spirit impact us .... and, oh, should I say the dirty word, change us!
Hear it? Change.....
A frightening concept for many of us....
Your healing, your ministry, your hopes, your deliverance, your wholeness.....is all wrapped up in one little, very big word: Change!
Jesus said in Isaiah 43:13, "I will work, and who shall let it?"
Apparently, it isn't always easy, having God work in your life. Sometimes, it takes sacrifices from you to reap the rewarding, godly life you seek.
Hear Jesus speak:
"I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.
Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.
Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.
Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing."
You see, we must allow God to change us to be more like Him. Now, it sounds good on the surface, but prepare to battle your flesh.
My Personal Experience
I have often prayed for a year of healing. This past January, I was asked to teach a ladies' meeting. I was sick, battling a sprained shoulder, and discouraged; my thought? How can I minister when I myself feel so empty?
I began to pray. God would have to give me the answer. The answer was that I had always limited God in my life. I would ask healing for one little thing and limp along with the rest of what troubled me. I began to pray for wholeness.
The funny thing is, instead of teaching on wholeness, God gave me another message for my ladies....and me. He taught me to redefine my identity. Who was I? Good? Bad? A mixture? What should I be? We ladies wept and rejoiced, learning how precious we are to God and how He will bless our lives the closer we become like Him!
Ok, so, the message went well! Everyone was blessed. Then, came the hard part! Doing it for myself! My adult life has been fraught with struggles, as many of you can relate; I have battled depression, anxiety, blood sugar problems, and migraines. I've also battled a shopping habit when I'm discouraged. All of these, I laid on the altar.
I didn't know what to expect. Would they all be fixed immediately or would this be a healing process? It proved to be a process.
Instead of instant wholeness, God began talking to my heart about who I have become. Here are a few of the items on my To Do List:
* Proverbs 15:1 "A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger."
Often in the past, I have been hurt by people's words. I got into the habit of being on my guard. Now, trust me, sometimes people say hateful things to you and they are the ones in the wrong. However, it was my reaction that lead to my heartache. Responding with a soft answer or removing myself from the situation would have left my conscience clean and less would have been said to hurt either party. Instead, I often defended myself in a way that lead to my feeling guilty later. It is far better to give a soft answer and pray over the situation. No, it isn't being a doormat. It is being strong enough to approach the world with love, the hardest thing to do when being challenged. Vindicating yourself is easy because it's a fleshly response.
* Luke 12:11 "And when they bring you unto the synagogues, and unto magistrates, and powers, take ye no thought how or what thing ye shall answer, or what ye shall say: For the Holy Ghost shall teach you in the same hour what ye ought to say."
While this passage indeed talks about giving an answer in the Endtime, the principle is worth noting. Often, my anxieties stemmed from my role-playing in my head how I would answer if someone said or did something hurtful. I did this on my way to work, on the way to church, or just driving in the car. Pretty soon, I had deep hurts in my heart that were caused by conversations that never took place. Another way of phrasing this problem is 'borrowing trouble.' When you fret or worry about things that might happen, you put yourself through needless stress and fear. I have finally learned to trust God when someone hurts me and stop 'expecting' it.
* Luke 10:43 "One thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her."
Being a perfectionist, I have always kept myself busy, making certain that everything runs well in the church, our home, and at work. I'm the busy little bee. That worked fine for me until I was made the church secretary...and I couldn't find time during the week due to all my other obligations. I found myself missing half the sermon at times so I could finish the work; I felt so defeated but what could I do? People expected a certain level of completeness in the financial side of the church--nevermind that being a church secretary take hours and hours of time to do it right.
I was contemplating my problem one Sunday as I lead the worship service when the fuss between Mary and Martha came to my mind. I suppose I had been mentally fussing about how little some people in the church were helping out despite their demands on others. I was just in a rotten mood about the whole thing. The incident with Mary and Martha occurred once when Jesus was in their house, teaching. Mary sat at Jesus' feet, enthralled with the lesson, not willing to miss out on this special visit. Martha, on the other hand, was me. Preparing the food, making sure everyone had something to drink, ensuring that dinner was taken care of, and basically, making certain everyone could enjoy Jesus' visit except herself. It was all things that needed to be done but she knew she was missing out. And the fact that no one else was helping her, made it even more likely that she would get to spend no time with Jesus herself. Boy, that sounds so familiar to me!
In her frustration, she finally brought her problem to the Lord, saying, "Make Mary help me!" His response was not about what had to be done; it was about choices. Despite all that we often feel has to be done, only one thing is truly needful--being in God's presence. Then, God can take care of the rest.
* I Corinthians 13: 1-3 "Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing."
Love is key. We are often so good at upholding visual standards of dress and conduct, but we forget this commandment that is above all. God has given us His love, and if you are struggling today, all you have to do is ask and He will envelope you in His arms. But don't hoard God's love and wall yourself up against mankind. You must constantly be a conduit of that love that God gives you! Love when none is returned. Love when your love is spurned. Love when it hurts to love. Just keep loving. "By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another" (John 13:35).
* Isaiah 43:13 " I will work, and who shall let it?"
Putting it in God's hands mean...YOU DON'T HAVE TO FIX EVERYTHING! I have for years lived by the motto, "Don't complain about it unless you've done your best to fix it." Not a bad motto unless you become obsessed with fixing everything and everyone. We must realize, we battle in prayer. We fix things through prayer. You can't take other people's marriage problems, personal weaknesses, and fears onto yourself. Although Paul said, "I become all things to all men," he didn't mean you could, or even should, play God. I had to let go and get some rest. There had been many nights I wouldn't sleep, worrying how I could reach out and fix situations around me. Now, I'm learning to place them into God's hands and trust Him, giving love, understanding, and a listening ear where needed.
Who Is Jesus Anyway?
We have heard so many sermons that often times, we can develop a skewed view of who God really is. Let me tell you, even this blog cannot cover all that He is! The key to knowing who God is for yourself is by reading your Bible and taking note of God's actions!
I recently counseled a woman who had been severely abused by all the men in her life. She wept as she related to me that she was afraid of God. He was male so how could she trust Him? We began a journey together that day, simply reading the Word whenever we could meet together; as we read, we each kept a list of the characteristics we found in God. To begin, we read the gospels. They reflect God's earthly ministry in human form, a form we can more readily understand.
Success! Soon, she was reading and listing without me around. She would rush up to me at church and say, "Did you ever read this passage before? I found that he is a jealous God! He loves me so much, He gets jealous and protective! I've never had anyone care for me like that!"
It was eye-opening for her. The next step...for all of us....is to be like Him!
Here's an exercise: Read your Bible. Any time you find an act of God, consider what it says about his nature. Are you like that? If not, how can you become like that?
