What are you going through?
Have you lost a loved one to death? Your spouse has left you for another? Or,
your spouse is a sex addict? Your kids are rebellious, drug addicted and out-of-control?
You lost your job? You don’t know how you are going to pay your bills? You have
just been diagnosed with cancer? You are being persecuted for your faith in
Christ? Or, you are addicted to sin, and you feel hopeless that you will never
be free?
“Therefore, if you have been raised up with Christ,
keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of
God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. For
you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” Col. 3:1-3 NASB
If you are a true believer in
Jesus Christ, you have died with him to sin and self, and you have been
resurrected with him to newness of life, born again of the Spirit of God,
created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. Jesus Christ set you
free, not only from the punishment of sin, but from the control (power) of sin
over your life. Now you should walk no longer according to your flesh, but
according to the Spirit.
But, you can’t do this in
your own strength, or in your own flesh. Only in Christ’s power and strength,
and because he put sin to death on that cross, can you walk (in lifestyle)
according to the Spirit, and no longer live to gratify the cravings of your
sinful flesh. You just need to submit to him, and yield to his will. Obey him.
Follow his Word. He will not fail you.
Your life is now hidden with
Christ in God, i.e. you are under the protection and shelter of the Almighty.
Your life is no longer your own, because you were bought back for God with the
blood of Christ. And, God is quite capable of taking care of his own, too. He
will never leave you or forsake you. He will carry you through whatever it is
you are going through. He has a plan and a purpose for your life. You just have
to trust him. Rest in him. Believe him.
Instead of focusing on the
waves crashing in all around you, keep your focus on Jesus, and on heavenly
things, eternal things. We get discouraged, disheartened, and feeling hopeless
when we focus our attention on what is passing away rather than on our eternal
blessings and the riches of God’s grace to us. We need to believe that God is
absolutely sovereign over our lives, and that he will give us all we need to
endure difficulties, or to flee temptation to sin, or to respond correctly to
unjust suffering.
“Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer
man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary,
light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all
comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things
which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things
which are not seen are eternal.” 2 Co. 4:16-18 NASB
I will be 68 years old yet
this month. So, I understand about the outer person (male or female) decaying,
i.e. our physical bodies. I don’t have nearly the physical energy or stamina I
had when I was much younger. My mind is not as sharp as it was, either. I don’t
multi-task like I did when my kids were little, and I move at a much slower
pace. I take naps in the daytime, some days. My hair is thinning, my skin is
getting wrinkles, etc. It is all part of the aging process, but I would never
want to be young again.
But, I don’t believe this is
just talking about the natural aging process. I believe this includes trials,
tribulations, heartaches, and struggles. They are the things which take a toll
on our bodies, our minds and our emotions. They are the things which have the
potential to weigh us down, to discourage us, and to make us feel hopeless, and
to want to give up. That is…
Unless we find our hope and
strength in the Lord.
When we turn to the Lord for
our strength and help, instead of letting the things of this earthly life get
to us, he renews us within, which also gives us greater stamina and endurance
without. Then, we don’t lose heart, because we are focusing our energies and
our minds and hearts on the Lord, on his Word, and on walking in the Spirit,
and not giving way to the flesh. And, he gives us a different outlook to our
suffering. We can now see what we are going through via a different lens, i.e.
via his Word, his will and his ways.
We realize that God’s ways
are higher than our ways, and what may seem like a tragedy to us may be a
blessing in disguise. God uses these types of things in our lives to teach us,
to mature us, to make us more like Jesus. When we go through hardships, it has
a way of humbling us, too. As we draw near to Jesus in our difficulties, and we
learn from him, we also grow closer in our walks of faith, and we share in
Christ’s holiness. And, that is a good thing! We need that! And, God knows what
we need, too.
“Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge
of God and of Jesus our Lord; seeing that His divine power has granted to us
everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him
who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has granted to
us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become
partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the
world by lust.” 2 Pet. 1:2-4 NASB
We have everything we need in
Christ. We are not lacking. He has given us everything we need to endure
suffering, to respond correctly to unjust treatment, and to flee temptation and
to draw near to God. He has given us all that we need, too, to walk in
holiness, righteousness and godliness. So, there is never a reason for us to
give up hope, or to despair.
There is absolutely no excuse
for a born again Christian to still be sin addicted, either. Satan no longer
has control over us if we are truly in Jesus Christ, by faith in him. Jesus set
us free from sin, so how can we live in it any longer? As born again believers
in Christ, we were created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
We CAN, in Christ, in his power, and in his strength, be completely free from
any kind of sinful addiction. We just have to trust God with our lives instead
of trying to control them ourselves.
We CAN, in Christ, become
partakers (participants) of the divine nature, i.e. we can live godly and holy
lives in Christ Jesus by His power and by His grace to us. By the Spirit we can
be putting to death the deeds of the flesh and living our lives in agreement
with the Spirit of God. Thus, too, we can escape (flee) the corruption that is
in the world by lust, or that is in the world by fleshly desires which are
opposed to God and to his Word.
We just have to get our minds
and our eyes off of what is of this earth, and what is of our sin natures, and
on to what is of God, and of his nature, i.e. on to what is holy, righteous,
moral, pure, just, honest and trustworthy. And, we need to put into practice,
by His Spirit, what is godly and holy, and cut out of our lives all that is of
our sinful flesh. We have to trust in the Lord and not in ourselves, and rely
on him to help us through whatever situations we find ourselves in, rather than
put our trust in human flesh. God will not fail us. We can always count on Him!
I Will Lift My Eyes
An Original Work / December
12, 2012
Based off Psalms 121-125
I will lift my eyes to my
Lord Most High.
My help comes from Him, who
saved me from sin.
He will not let your foot
slip, and He who watches will not sleep.
Our Lord watches over you,
and your life He will keep.
I will lift my eyes to my
Lord Most High.
My help comes from Him, who
saved me from sin.
I give thanks to Him.
I will lift my eyes to my God
in heav’n.
I look to the Lord. My sins,
He’s forgiv’n.
Because of His great love for
us, He made us alive with Christ.
Through the kindness of our
Savior, He gave us new life.
I will lift my eyes to my God
in heav’n.
I look to the Lord. My sins,
He’s forgiv’n;
My home, now in heav’n.
Praise be to the Lord, who is
on our side.
Our help found in Him. He
gives peace within.
Those who trust will ne’er be
shaken. God will supply all we need.
Our Lord has done great
things for us. He’s our friend, indeed!
Praise be to the Lord, who is
on our side.
Our help found in Him. He
gives peace within.
I can count on Him.
Sunday, December 10, 2017,
6:33 p.m. – Thank you, Jesus, for leading me to these scriptures today, and for
the truths you taught me through them.
No comments:
Post a Comment