Feeding the Digression

We put our hope in many different things..

Work & making money, love interests, reputations, appearance...

Do you know what you put your hope into?

Do an assessment of the way you spend your time? What kinds of things do you do? What types of things do you think about?

You will find out what you put your hope in...

Oftentimes I know that I put my hope into feeling loved and respected more than I put my trust and hope in God.

My actions will feed what I put my hope into, rather than discourage this behaviour. And I only turn to God, when my first "hopes" fail me.

For example, there are a few times when I have been involved with people romantically. During those moments, I will put my hope and trust into the thoughts/feelings that that person has for me, rather than in God's word and love for me.

When those thoughts/feelings fail, then I come running back to God rather than sticking with Him in the first place. Seems to be a general pattern in my life.

Let the digression end today.

What Makes You Happy?

Do an assessment of what makes you happy...you'll find it interesting.

What do you rejoice in?

Philippians 4:4 tells us to "Rejoice in the Lord." This means that our happiness and joy is to be in Him.

I find this interesting because there are many things that make me happy/joyful, but I wouldn't readily or immediately admit that it's being with the Lord.

Yes, I could tell you all kinds of things- the summer, getting off work, sleeping, requited love interests, good food, but where would the Lord be on this list?

It is the Lord that is supposed to make us joyful and we will find that being in His presence more regularly will create this in our lives.

So before you're quick to let yourself get happy about something trivial, ask where your true happiness is supposed to come from.

I Just Can't Get It Right

Why am I like this?

Lately I've been allowing myself to be distracted by so many useless things. It seems these days that I live for my emotions.

You know that emotional high that you feel when you gain that attention from the guy/girl you're interested in? Sometimes I feel like I live for that high. Either I am reveling in it, or craving it.

I realize that I desire to be glorified. Honestly, I think that's what it really comes down to. I am either idolizing others or idolizing myself.

A sermon today spoke some truth:

We become bored of God because we are worshiping the idols of our hearts instead of Him.

Can I get back onto the right page?

who's deserving

Whenever I feel let down by people (thankfully not often), I wonder what I've done wrong and wonder why all my trying to be the best person I can be to them isn't reciprocated.

But then I think of God. 

And I realise how much more I have let Him down through my recurring sins. And it really is so much worse than I have ever done to any human. So what's a little nonsense from people eh?

I totally deserve it.

It can be the same

When we take a minute to reflect, the message of Almighty God is the same at one angle.

In Islam, the salat (prayer) that is made obligatory for 5 times a day is the few minutes one has to connect with Allah (swt). It's the moment we remind ourselves of God's doings and to consider the blessings we have. It's the personal connection between you and Him. In all religions I believe, the ultimate goal and idea is to personally connect with the Almighty. It's you and Him, from day one to the very last..

The song sung by Sami Yusuf (below) reflects that, and speaks of the benefits one receives from paying attention to that connection with God.

why

Why's it so hard to want God and God alone? It's sad to say this, but sometimes it's like I don't feel like He's enough. I wish for the presence of fellow humans, moreso than I desire to spend a few extra minutes alone with him, although I know that'd do wonders.

And then there's all the worry and malice that creeps into the brightest moments of one's days, snuffing out the sunshine. why? there shouldn't be. Then there's always the striving for improvement of one's life, one's values, one's faults, and struggling to understand why there's so much pain in the lives of your loved ones.

Back to square one, God is the source, the answer to all of life.

And I've to realise, I'm not going anywhere without Him.

Understanding God's Power

I doubt most of us know or understand what God's power is supposed to mean/do for our lives.

I know, in particular, that I don't understand...just because of the way I live.

For instance, I am a very fearful person. I allow my fear of just about everything to control me, to make me think too much.

Fear +++ Doubt are a packaged deal. When we are fearful as Christians, in perhaps an unconscious way, we are doubting God.

For me I feel, however, that it is not me who is doubting God...but rather my emotions. As Christians, I know that we are supposed to control our emotions...that they should be in submission to THE SPIRIT.

Romans 8:5-6 "Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit. So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace."

Romans 8:15 We have not received a spirit that makes us fearful slaves, but rather God's spirit.


It's easy to be afraid, but we must remember that we have God's power on our side.

Ephesians 1:19-20 "I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God's power for us who believe in him. This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honour at God's right hand in the heavenly realms. Now he is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else--not only in this world but also in the world to come."

Remember that God's power which we have if we believe is THE SAME power that raised Christ from the dead, made the Earth, controls all creation.

I believe that faith is something you have to practice; it doesn't come easy. If I don't understand God's power, then I better be learning about it! I pray all of you will understand God's power for your lives and encourage others in it! Amen.

A Crime to be Weak?

The April 14th devotion from Oswald Chamber's book "My Utmost For His Highest" states

"It is definitely a crime for a Christian to be weak in God's strength."

' "the joy of the Lord is your strength" (Nehemiah 8:10) Where do the saints get their joy? If we did not know some Christians well, we might think from just observing them that they have no burdens to bear. But we must lift the veil from our eyes. The fact that the peace, light, and joy of God is in them is proof that a burden is there as well. The burden that God places on us squeezes the grapes in our lives and produces wine, but most of us see only the wine and not the burden.

No power of earth or in hell can conquer the Spirit of God living within the human spirit; it creates an inner invincibility.

If your life is producing only whine, instead of the wine, then ruthlessly kick it out. It is definitely a crime for a Christian to be weak in God's strength.'

Oswald Chambers
___________________

I think it's really hard to be constantly aware of God's strength in our lives. It's like something that we have to tap into and be conscious of. Something we have to remind ourselves of. We must condition our minds to be aware of it.

I dont want to love??

I'm having a few problems truly loving others...because my sinful nature doesn't want to love...

What always gets in the way? That huge roadblock which is myself. I get in the way of just about everything.

If we don't love others...we are nothing. 1 Corinthians 13 expresses this in a compelling way. "If I understood all of God's secret plans and possessed all knowledge...but didn't love others, I would be nothing." Verses 2-3

Wow...even knowing God's secret plans does not stack up to truly loving others. Imagine that.

1 John 3:16 "We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters."

1 John 4:18 "...let's not merely say that we love one another; let's show the truth by our actions. Our actions will show that we belong to the truth, so we will be confident when we stand before God."

I have to get more serious with this.

It's not my responsibility to ASSESS others

Like all human beings, I want to be treated right. In this desire, sometimes I forget about the way that I have treated others. I forget about the ways in which I may have been impatient, angry, rude, ignorant, and inconsiderate with them. I usually forget because it's all about me, right? My pride is colossal.

Sometimes in our attempt to have others get it right, to correct what we perceive to be the inconsiderate behaviour of others, we forget our simple obligation to love.

I do wish I could remember to love DESPITE...but sometimes I think why doesn't s/he treat me in this/that way...how come they don't understand that this/that hurts my feelings? In this/that situation, I wouldn't do that to them. I forget to love DESPITE...

Romans 13: 8 "Owe nothing to anyone--except your OBLIGATION to love one another. If you love your neighbor, you fulfill the requirements of God's law."

I realize that I always validate the way I feel. Yes, my feelings may have weight and impact, but I have an even bigger duty...I have been called to LOVE. This duty outweighs all of the other feelings I may feel in my daily life.

This calling is immense and is a huge responsibility. God has called me to this high purpose and I must honour it. It is a huge and hard obligation to deal with, but I must continue to try nonetheless.

I realize it is not my responsibility to constantly assess where others have gone wrong. Yes, I should correct a brother or sister that has gone astray or is acting in such a way that they undermine God's word (so long as that person identifies themselves as a believer in Christ), but I must assess my pride. Sometimes I realize a concentration on how people have hurt me, what they are doing to undermine me and my feelings may be a direct result of pride in my life. Are they really doing anything wrong? Perhaps they do not interpret their behaviour as wrong...and I quickly jump to conclusions.

My task is to be a lot more patient in how I deal with others. I must fight the urge to constantly correct and assess others.

I'm trying my best not to judge others, especially those who are non-believers. We must fight this.

A good way to go about changing one's behaviour is thinking simply..."Okay God doesnt want me to feel this way..."

We must remember to KEEP...the MAIN THING THE MAIN THING...! And this is Jesus Christ and his death for us!

Imogen

This is the devotion that inspired the last post: January 31. My Utmost for His Highest. Oswald Chambers.

http://www.rbc.org/utmost/index.php

Do You See Your Calling?

Our calling is not primarily to be holy men and women, but to be proclaimers of the gospel of God. The one all-important thing is that the gospel of God should be recognized as the abiding reality. Reality is not human goodness, or holiness, or heaven, or hell— it is redemption. The need to perceive this is the most vital need of the Christian worker today. As workers, we have to get used to the revelation that redemption is the only reality. Personal holiness is an effect of redemption, not the cause of it. If we place our faith in human goodness we will go under when testing comes.

Paul did not say that he separated himself, but "when it pleased God, who separated me . . ." (Galatians 1:15). Paul was not overly interested in his own character. And as long as our eyes are focused on our own personal holiness, we will never even get close to the full reality of redemption.

Christian workers fail because they place their desire for their own holiness above their desire to know God. "Don’t ask me to be confronted with the strong reality of redemption on behalf of the filth of human life surrounding me today; what I want is anything God can do for me to make me more desirable in my own eyes." To talk that way is a sign that the reality of the gospel of God has not begun to touch me.

There is no reckless abandon to God in that. God cannot deliver me while my interest is merely in my own character. Paul was not conscious of himself. He was recklessly abandoned, totally surrendered, and separated by God for one purpose— to proclaim the gospel of God (see Romans 9:3).

We CAN'T get it mixed up

A devotion reminded me of a struggle of mine:

I allow God's holiness to be mixed up in my quest for moral perfection.

Of course, I am less than morally perfect, and I know this, but when it comes to certain things in life (for example, particular struggles), I endeavor to overcome those struggles so badly (without rather, an unabated focus on God's redemptive power over my life), that overcoming those struggles winds up becoming more of a goal and focus than God's word.

Ironically, I am humbled when I fall into temptation and stumble again.

I know I CAN'T overcome who I am without God...so I don't know why I try to.

This, however, is besides the point.

The Gospel teaches me already that I am a sinner: Romans 3:23: "For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God's glorious standard."

Thus, there is no "pride" that should be felt when I am overcoming a particular sin. I only know I can do this through God. Notice how when you spend more time with God at certain periods of your life, you are challenged and grow more deeply in your faith.

For me, spending less time with God is dangerous. I gradually become this second person, perhaps someone I don't want to be. Importantly, I forget God's saving grace for my life and start taking more things for granted.

I guess the conclusion is that we should not test ourselves or think that we can do it on our own. We need to continually spend time with God and prioritize Him in our lives, so that we continually remember what He has done for us.

...this, in affect, will help us overcome our particular struggles.

Our focus, however, should be more on Him than ourselves.

..if you find yourself slipping, you should try and make a commitment NOT to fall, and re-enter the world of God's word.

Are we entitled to emotion?

Are we entitled to emotion? The simple answer is yes BUT not all emotion. There are some emotions that God wills us to express. These emotions are said to be the result of surrendering to the Holy Spirit's guidance for our lives. Galatians 5:22 claims that "the Holy Spirit produces...love, joy, peace...and patience" for our lives.

There are other emotions, however, that God prohibits and can be attributed to our sinful nature. These are emotions that God does not wish for us to express...emotions that we do not have a right to express...emotions that we were not created to express. Galatians 5:19 sums up these emotions-- sexual immorality, impurity, lust, obsession, jealousy, anger, selfish ambition (pride), and envy. We are not entitled to these emotions simply because we are not God and our ways of feeling are never justified.

For example, selfish ambition is a failure to neglect the fact that it is God who provides for you. By trampling over and competing with others, you essentially do the same to God. Matthew 25:40 explains that what we do to others affects God and is a reflection of our attitudes towards God. In addition, one neglects the undeniable blessing of others in one's life and the importance of their life events to them. What one has to selfishly compete for is never usually worth it.

Anger is never justified. Jesus explicitly says that we are to forgive others as God has forgiven us (Matthew 18:22). Additionally, Paul tells us to never take revenge, but allow the "righteous" anger of God to do that work for us (Romans 12:19). We learn here that we are not entitled to that emotion, only God's anger is pure because he is justice. By being angry, we forget all the times that others could have expressed that emotion towards us (but didn't), or did express those emotions towards us and how it brought fear and worry into our lives.

Pride essentially is deeming yourself God, as we deserve absolutely nothing and should instead be humble and grateful for our blessings, which exist as bonuses to what could be mundane. Amazingly, God (as a default setting) made life miraculous, and filled with blessings. To him goes all the glory.

Lastly, sexual feeling is to be expressed only within the sanctity of marriage. It is why God created marriage and it protects us as well.

There are many reasons why we should not feel the way we do a lot of the time. We should remember them to change the way we think.

So next time you feel a particular way, do question the emotion and remember what you were created for.