Refusing To Wait

Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord.(Psalm 27:14)

It’s always best to follow God’s timing. But if we run ahead of God or lag behind Him, that decision will often be costly.

Self-sufficiency moves us outside of the Lord’s will. The right thing done at the wrong time may leave us vulnerable to Satan’s schemes and can delay or even derail blessings God has planned for us. Acting on our own timetable can also bring confusion to us and others, as situations are likely to turn out differently from how we envisioned them. Then we may be facing not only unanticipated results but also problems.

By refusing to wait on God, we often cause ourselves unnecessary grief. For example, if we use credit cards to purchase unneeded clothes, electronic devices, and other indulgences, debt could pile up beyond our ability to pay. Then our credit rating would plummet, with little financial relief in sight. But when we manage money in accordance with biblical principles, our lifestyle will be less lavish, but we’ll have freedom and peace of mind.

And here’s another example: Quitting a job before the Lord has released us from it can short-circuit what He planned to teach us through it. We might subsequently discover that, had we held on a while longer, God might have changed either our circumstances or our attitude about the situation.

Certain character qualities are necessary if we are to develop a lifestyle of waiting on the Lord. We need patience to endure our present situation, steadfastness to carry out current responsibilities, and courage to trust the Lord as we await His solution in the midst of our discomfort. How good are you at waiting?



Spiritual Fixer-Upper

Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you (Colossians 3:13, NIV).

 

While my family was searching for our first house, we always said “no fixer-uppers”. We want the perfect house. We didn’t want anything that had to be remodeled, repaired, or renovated. Of course we end up with a fixer-upper, but that made me think. What if God was the same way? What if He didn’t want a Christian that was perfect?

Thankfully, God always looks for the fixer-upper, the ran down, and in need of renovation. If you look throughout scripture you will see that. One of the major renovations that takes place is forgiveness. Forgiveness is so important, it only stands to reason there are roadblocks that can hinder our willingness to forgive. We must make the commitment to identify, remodel, and remove each one.

Selfishness

Selfishness shouts, “I have been hurt. It is so unfair. I have rights!” What I am really saying is that how I feel about the hurt is more important than forgiving the hurt.

Pride

Pride cries, “Look at what they have done to me. Don’t they realize who I am?” To receive or give forgiveness requires humility.

Low self-esteem

Some of us have built an entire identity around a hurt. The attention we gain from the wrong we have suffered defines who we are. We cherish the pain and refuse to relinquish it for the sake of forgiveness.

Blindness

We may be blind to the fact that we have not forgiven a hurt. We have convinced ourselves that we really have forgiven the one who hurt us by going through the motions and saying the right words without really dealing with the pain. All we have done is dig a hole and bury the pain. As long as hurt is buried alive, it will keep resurrecting itself in our life, but when the hurt is dealt with and forgiveness is given, the pain is buried dead — and it stays dead.

Pain

Forgiveness is spiritual surgery. It exposes old hurts that have never completely healed. We can move, change jobs, change churches, change friends or even change families, but until we yank up the root of bitterness and kill it with forgiveness, we will live with unresolved pain.

Ignorance

Maybe we don’t know how to forgive someone because are under the impression that forgiveness is an emotion or feeling. True forgiveness is a choice — a deliberate choice to release the person who has hurt us from the pain they have caused. We can stop forgiving others when God stops forgiving us.

We need to identify and eliminate the roadblocks to forgiveness so God can set us free, heal our pain, and make us more like Him. Now that is a remodeling job I would welcome.



There’s Hope Ahead

“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

Sometimes, we may not believe this is true. Troubles swirl around us, pressures feel too great, life seems hard. We might even feel like God has forgotten us and left us facing the struggles all alone.

Yet in the background of this great verse, we’re reminded that God spoke these words to His people, not when times were easy, but when times were very hard. They would endure 70 years of captivity, they would experience great suffering. And it’s right there, in the midst of all that, we can see the hope of God shine through.

He didn’t leave his people in the tough trials. He won’t leave us there either. He walks us through, reminding us that His plans are for good, for a future, for a hope. He is right with us, and breathes confidence and peace, that we will press through the struggle, and come out to the other side, stronger, faith-filled. He assures us that He will never waste the pain of what we experience in this life, but will bring greater good and blessing because of it.

If you find yourself facing hard times today, or maybe you’ve just walked through a difficult year, this verse is your reminder – there’s hope ahead. Be confident of this, God’s not finished yet. You’re still here, you’re gaining strength and perseverance through the trials. He has good in store, great purpose in all that we walk through, no matter how hard it may be.

He sees the big picture of our lives, and He’s aware of every little detail too. He knows what He’s doing, even when we can’t see it all yet. He often works behind the scenes that unfold our every day, in the places where we may not always understand His plans. Even through all our seasons of waiting.

So we can trust…that He has our best in mind. He’s got our back. He’s with us right now. And He’s secured our future too.

Resting in that truth today. There’s peace in knowing we don’t have to try hard to control it all. We can let go of the need to try to figure it all out, or the striving of trying to make things happen.

God knows, He understands, we’re never alone.

Keep pressing through.

He loves you.

He cares.

He is with you.

Peace.



Remember Your Roots

Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? (Galatians 3:2-3 ESV)

Have you ever heard a person described as someone who “forgot where they came from” or had “forgotten their roots”? This type of person usually doesn’t give credit to those in their life who aided in getting them to where they presently are. Maybe they came from a small farming town and now live in the big city and don’t want to get their hands dirty. They may be neglecting a friend or mentor who poured into them, and acting as if they made it through life alone. This doesn’t just happen outside the church, but inside the church as well.

Paul was dealing with the church in Galatia that was forgetting where they had come from. They were starting to follow the Jewish teachers who were teaching that Christians had to obey the Law of Moses, observe religious festivals, and follow dietary restrictions just like the Israelites did. They had forgotten that they were saved by faith alone through God’s grace (Ephesians 2:8).

We must always remember where we came from as followers of Jesus Christ and never stray from our roots. The grace of God is the essence of our walk with Jesus. We can do nothing on our own to earn his favor. As years of putting our faith in Jesus alone go by, we tend to forget this and focus on our deeds instead of the work of Jesus. Let it not be so with you.



Change From Old To New

Ephesians 4:22b-24 says, “Put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and … put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness” (NIV).

Notice that there’s a putting off and a putting on. Your health really comes down to stopping some stuff you need to stop doing and starting some stuff you need to start doing. Stop putting negative, hurtful things in your body, and start putting in things that edify.

Stop putting negative, hurtful things into your mind, and start watching and listening to things that edify Jesus and make you more like him. In the renewal of your mind, you’ve got to put off before you can put on.

Let’s say you go to a department store to look for a new coat. You find one and take it into one of those little changing rooms. If you’re wearing a coat already, you don’t go in there and put the new coat on over your old coat. That would be silly, because you’re not going to know if it fits! It makes sense to take off the old one before you put on the new one.

That’s true spiritually and emotionally and mentally, too. You’ve got to take off the old before you can put on the new.



Stay on the Path

Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”
(1 Peter 1:13-16)

A story is told about a sailor hundreds of years ago who was given charge of a ship overnight while the captain slept. It was his first time to have full command of the ship, and the only directive he was given was to sail due north, toward the North Star.

“Okay, Captain,” the young sailor said. “So should I just come wake you when we sail past that star?” The captain looked at him and said, “Son, we will never sail past the North Star. It will always be our guide to true north. It never changes!”

In much the same way, the statutes and ways of God are our true north. They’re our guide in life as we pursue holy living. And while we’ll never pass them, we can look to them and know the direction to go that will lead us down the path of godly living.

Never forget your true north… it’s the very character of Christ Himself. Pursue godly living by following your North Start: the Word of God and the Spirit of God. As long as you are heading in the right direction, you can be sure you’ll stay on the path toward Christlike living!



Seeing Yourself as God Sees You

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! (2 Corinthians 5:17).

For many years after I became a Christian, I operated under a false sense of who I really was. I had no idea the change that occurred in me the moment I accepted Christ. I did not see myself as God saw me. I had a grid system, insecurity, and inadequacy over my mind. When I processed information about my world and about myself, it had to first filter through that negative grid system.

It was not until later that I began to realize that how God saw me and how I saw myself were very different. Like a hungry child, I began to research and write down verses about who I really was in Christ–my true identity as a child of God. I learned that I was a child of God (John 1:12), chosen and dearly loved (John 15:16), a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17), a joint heir with Jesus (Romans 8:14), a saint (Ephesians 1:1), righteous and holy (Ephesians 4:24), dearly loved (Colossians 3:12), completely forgiven (1 John 1:9), totally free (John 8:36), and uniquely designed (Psalm 139:14).

I also learned that it was Satan who held that negative grid system in place, and it was up to me to demolish his stronghold by the power of the Holy Spirit.

I came to a crossroads in my spiritual journey. I could continue believing the lies or I could begin believing the truth. Jesus said, “You will know the truth and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32). I decided to believe the truth. It was difficult and didn’t feel comfortable at first. Like the lame man who regained the movement of his legs, or the blind man who received his sight, I had to adjust to my new belief system.

God has so much planned for you to do and to be, but if you are operating with a false sense of who you really are, you may be paralyzed.

On Jesus’ first day of public ministry, He walked down to the river and was baptized by His cousin John. As Jesus came out of the water, a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with You I am well pleased” (Luke 3:22). God says the same thing to you…and to me.

“You are my child…whom I love…with you I am well pleased.”

 I want you to examine your own thought life. Do you believe lies about yourself or do you believe the truth? Here’s my challenge to you at the start of this New Year: Start believing that you are who God says you are. That truth will set you free!



When God is Doing Something New

“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.” Is. 43:18-19

Sometimes…God is wanting to do something “new” and yet we’re still stuck in the “old.” It’s hard at times. To let go. Of what’s familiar, and what we know. It seems easier to stay “comfortable,” to just keep going with the flow, not to mess anything up. But then “new” happens, and often sends us spiraling, on one big, long loop.

For those who like change – “new” is mostly exciting.

For those who don’t like change – “new” is mostly stressful.

Your family, if you’re like most, is probably a mix of those two traits.

But here’s what I love about God. He thinks and works outside our own box of thinking. He doesn’t always work in the ways that we would have chosen for our “new.” If we had to have a “new.”

He sees the big picture. He knows what He’s doing. He works behind the scenes of life that unfold our every day, in the places where we can’t always see or understand all the “why’s.”

So we can trust…that He has our best in mind. That He’s got our back. He’s with us right now. And He’s secured our future too.

Sometimes our “new” comes out of great blessing, new opportunities. And sometimes it comes through great pain, huge loss.

People move, life happens, decisions are made, many change jobs, kids grow up, and there are times we might go through some really tough struggles. We may even start to feel cheated. Like life is unfair.

But it still breathes this truth: God is not finished with our lives yet. You’re still here. And He has great purpose in all that you walk through, even in every life change and season.

Whether we recognize it or not, we’re rubbing shoulders everyday with people that we needed to meet in our “new,” however hard that new thing may be.

We can rest in His care for us. He knows. He sees. He works in ways we don’t always “get,” but there’s peace in knowing we don’t have to try to control it all. We can let go – of the need to figure it all out, and the striving to make things happen.

We can trust Him.

Our future awaits, and there’s still good around the bend. God has more in store.



Making Changes

It’s important to remember that God accepts you unconditionally, as is. The mercy and forgiveness of Christ washes over you even though you don’t deserve it. Grace is 100% God’s doing. But having brought you to faith, implanting his Holy Spirit in you, and lighting your mind with the Word, God refuses to settle for your past lifestyle. What needs to change?

The new year typically is a time when we make new commitments, plan new activities like working out more, spending more time with the kids, eating healthier, and spending more time with the elderly ones in the family. All good. But let me suggest to you that the reverse can be as good or better: to make a list of things you intend tostop doing: “Now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self” (Colossians 3:8-10).



God Fearing Man

What man is he that feareth the LORD? Him shall he teach in the way that he shall choose. His soul shall dwell at ease; and his seed shall inherit the earth.” (Psalm 25:12-13)

There was a time not too many years ago when a believer was described simply as a “God-fearing man.” That was before modern thought struck upon the idea that it was dishonoring to the mercy and goodness of God to fear Him, and the shallow “God loves everybody all the time anyway” mentality began. The Bible teaches that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. A person who fears God simply thinks of God first and foremost in all his actions, the governing factor being a desire to please Him. It is the motivating emotion that dominates the righteous person’s life.