Delight in Your Circumstances

Delight yourself in the Lord. Psalm 37:4 ESV The teaching of these words must be very surprising to those who are strangers to active godliness. But to the sincere believer it is only the statement of a recognized truth. The life of the believer is described here as a delight in God, and this assures us of the great fact that true religion overflows with happiness and joy. Ungodly people and those who merely profess faith never see religion as a joyful thing—to them it is service, or duty, or necessity, never pleasure or delight. If they apply themselves to religion at all, it is either in hope of gaining something or it is because they dare not do otherwise. The thought of delight in religion is so strange to most people that no two words in their language stand further apart than holiness and delight. Believers, though, who know Christ, understand that delight and faith are so blessedly united that the powers of hell cannot separate them. Those who love God with all their heart find that His ways are pleasant ways, and all His paths are peace (see Proverbs 3:17). Such joy, such abundant delight, such overflowing blessedness, the saints discover in their Lord—so much so, that far from serving Him out of obligation, they would still follow Him even if the whole world put down His name as evil. We don’t fear God because of any compulsion. Our faith is no shackle, our profession no slavery. We are not dragged to holiness or driven to duty. No, our devotion is pleasure, our hope is happiness, our duty delight. Delight and true religion are as related as root and flower, as indivisible as truth and certainty—they are, in fact, two precious jewels glittering side by side in a setting of gold. And when we taste thy love, Our joys divinely grow, Unspeakable like those above, And heaven begins below. “Not with Our Mortal Eyes,” Isaac Watts (18th century) - C.H. Spurgeon Morning and Evening 

But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord… . Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations. Noah walked with God. Genesis 6:8–9 No matter how ungodly the environment you may be in, God will always find you and walk with you. Noah lived in perhaps the most wicked age in history. No one worshiped God. All the people worshiped idols and pursued their own sinful pleasures. Noah's neighbors were evil; every person he associated with in the marketplace, or along the street, or in public gatherings, ridiculed the very thought of being faithful to God. Every temptation imaginable was abundantly available to Noah. How oppressive such an environment would have been to a righteous person! The people of Noah's day were so wicked that God planned the most complete and drastic act of judgment recorded in Scripture. Nevertheless, Noah was not lost to God in the crowd of sinners. God noticed every act of Noah's righteousness. Noah had chosen to live uprightly before God despite what everyone around him was doing, and God had observed him. There may have been times when Noah wondered if it mattered if he lived a righteous life, since no one else was. Yet he continued, and his persistence in righteousness saved his life and the lives of his family members. Are you constantly surrounded by evil? Do you struggle at times to live a righteous life when those you associate with each day have no concern for God? Find assurance in the life of Noah. God watches you, even as He observed Noah. God will seek you out of the crowd every time, and He wants to bless you and your family just as He blessed Noah. - Blackaby Experiencing God Day by Day 

Many may have seen the various bits of humor concerning where you emphasize a word or part of a word you change the meaning of the sentence. 

The title of today's is one that is read and is meant to be taken in more than one way. 

Delight in your Circumstances, emphasize the word Delight. 

Delight in your Circumstances, emphasize the word circumstances. 

Look at it from more than one direction.  

Then consider your life, the things you do. The things you need to do.  How you do it, why you do it.  Look at it from more than one perspective. 

Not everything is as it seems.  Oh we live in a world where both businesses and media try to convince you what to think, how to think and honestly, they don't want you thinking for yourself.  That's not how God works.  God tells us to set our minds on things above not on things down here. He tells us to pray...believing. To pray without ceasing. To think on that which the Spirit is doing in us and around us.  

To look at not only the fruit of others, but what fruit we bear as well. To set the bar at Holiness of God and no less. 

I have found, in my 50+ years on this Earth that my only truly happy times of delight were in doing something that God wanted done.  Regardless of the circumstances. 

It's rather discouraging when we look more at our failures in life than our success.  We take apart every failure to find out why, yet don't do that with our successes.  

As I mentioned the times when I KNEW that I was right where God wanted me, regardless of the circumstances, I had the most delight.  Circumstances can be rough but what God tells us to do must be our focus.  Noah KNEW that nobody but him, his wife, his son's and their wives would be saved in the Ark. Yet for the whole time, around a hundred years, he still preached for people to repent.  Why is that?  I have to believe it's because Noah believed in the Resurrection before it had a name. Those people wouldn't be joining him and his family now, but maybe would be with him in Paradise later.  Souls would be saved even though the physical body would not. 

Our circumstances don't define us. They try to. Oh how they try to. Look closely at the 4 Gospel accounts.  Look at the circumstances of the lives of the Disciples and Jesus. Jesus taught them to look beyond what their eyes see.  Today is no different than back then.  

Happiness and delight in Christ is in your heart and soul.  It's different from what the world wants you to believe.  It's in a place where only God sees by way of His Spirit.  Remember who weighs the thoughts and intentions of your life?  That well that springs up in the life of a believer that nobody can touch?

Delight in your Circumstances.  Find what it is God has for you to do and do it. You may not understand the bigger picture, it's ok.  God does.  That's what matters.  If Peter had fully known what he was about to do in denying Christ, you think he would have done it?  No, probably not.  But had he not gone through it, the blessed fruit of his restoration would not have happened so well to drive the ministry or the beginning of the Church. 

So delight in what God's given you to do. 

Consider that your not knowing isn't a punishment from God.  It's teaching a reliance on Christ and not yourselves. 

Delight in your Circumstances 

What's in your heart?

“But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man.” Matthew 15:18 

The Bible stresses that what you say is an accurate indicator of what is in your heart. If your words bless and encourage others, they give evidence of a compassionate heart. If you often share the good news about Christ, you demonstrate a heart that is grateful for your own salvation. When others are in a crisis, do they know they will find peace and comfort in your words? Do you frequently and spontaneously offer prayers for others? Do your words and the manner in which you say them reveal a patient heart? All of these behaviors indicate a heart that is like the heart of the Father. Or do you often regret your words? Are there people even now who are hurt or angry because of something you have said? Do you enjoy gossip? Do you tend to criticize others? Do you feel that you are not responsible for what comes out of your mouth when you are angry? Does your mouth spew grumbling and complaints? These behaviors come from a heart that is unlike God's heart. You may say, “Oh, but that's just the way I am! I’m always saying the wrong thing!” Yet Scripture clearly states that an abusive tongue is not under the control of the Spirit (James 3:3–10). A sanctified mouth is a wonderful instrument for the Lord. A heart like the Father's heart will produce only pure and loving words. Without making any excuses for your words, ask the Holy Spirit to forgive you for any words that have brought harm. Then ask Him to discipline your mouth so that every word you speak is used by God to encourage and edify others. - Blackaby Experiencing God Day by Day 

What's in there?  We say in our mind's eye during some suspense filled show or movie we are watching.  It's dark, the music is ominous.  Without realizing it we start to either move forward where we sit or we push farther away.  Something is there!

Now look at yourself.  In everyone is a darkness.  Only when a person receives Christ does a light come to illuminate all things.  What are we before this light? Trained blind people is the simplest way to look at it.  Trained blind people know their way around their homes. They force themselves to remember everything as to where it is and where they left it.  The darkness is just something they are fully used to.  But then they go outside.  It's a different ballgame.  They need to look at the world through touch and smell.  

Sin keeps us in darkness.  Christ abolished the darkness when He comes into a believers life.  They finally see the state of their minds and hearts as He sees it. Then comes the choice.  Submit to His workmanship to make them more like Christ or resist.  

What's inside a person Christ is the answer to.  All too many people misquote Scripture with 'you shouldn't judge'.  That's actually contrary to Scripture to believe and live that way.  Jesus said you will know people by their fruits.  A tree is known by its fruits. What comes forth from its limbs defines what it is.  You will know it by its fruits.  What is inside the it comes to the surface.  The fruit is revealed. 

What's inside of you will come to the surface.  It's not judging another when you see and understand what it is that's in front of you.  To say you should not judge would be as ludicrous as looking for an apple tree among pear trees.  You shouldn't try to determine which is which.  Just accept whatever is in front of you as they are. 

Christ tells us that we will give an account of our lives.  Both the believer and the unbeliever.  He says He weighs the thoughts and intentions of the heart.  There is nothing hidden that will not be revealed.  Simply put He sees right through us all.  The definer of truth knows the Truth for that is who Jesus is. 

We are the most deceived of the world.  Both to ourselves and from our environment.  If we look for truth anywhere else but Jesus we look in vain.  

We are as easily distracted as a dog with a squirrel.  In less than a heartbeat we change directions.  Satan uses every temptation that he used against Jesus in the wilderness against us and all the ones not written.  We are definitely all like sheep that have gone astray. 

Look at your thoughts and actions and intentions.  Look hard at them.  What's coming out of you?  Is it anger, malice, bitterness, or is it the fruits of the Spirit?

Are you more concerned about you or about what God wishes to do through you?

Are your rights more important than His Will in your life? 

What's coming out of your heart?

The most important Set of Keys

“I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 16:19a 

The keys of the kingdom represent the access you have to the Father through your relationship to Jesus Christ. With this relationship you have access to everything that is accessible to Christ. However, this access is not given indiscriminately; Jesus gave the keys to His disciples only after they recognized that He was the Christ. Only then did they enter into a unique and personal relationship with Him. Likewise, your relationship with Christ opens the door of heaven for you and gives you direct access to the Father. Peter discovered that once he had keys to the kingdom, he could go to the Father in every situation. When he stood to preach before thousands on the day of Pentecost, this simple fisherman opened the door to the kingdom for three thousand people in one day (Acts 2:41). When he encountered a lame man, he used his access to God and His healing power, and the man was healed (Acts 3:6). When he was imprisoned, Peter discovered that the keys of the kingdom could open even the most secure prison door (Acts 12:6–10). If you are a Christian you, too, have keys to the kingdom of heaven. You do not need an intermediary, for you have an unobstructed access to God. With that access come all the resources you need to face any circumstance. When you are afraid, you have access to God's peace that surpasses comprehension (Phil. 4:6). When you have a broken relationship, you have access to the God of reconciliation (2 Cor. 5:18–21). When you meet someone in need, you have access to God's provision for that person. What an incredible privilege to be entrusted with keys to the kingdom of heaven! - Blackaby Experiencing God Day by Day 

If we rent or own a home, or go to a hotel or motel.  Drive a car or truck or something in between.  Some form of keys are kept on our person.

Its just a typical thing we carry that grants access to places or things that are in our lives.  It's a royal pain when they break, are lost, stolen or need to be replaced. 

Those who are in Christ are given keys that we can't lose, they can't be stolen, will never be replaced. Yet can be copied and freely given away. 

Sharing Jesus with others is the way to do it.  Either in word or in deed.  I have heard it said that at all times be a witness, and if you have to, use words. 

A light doesn't need an explanation.  We know what it is.  We understand it's purpose.  We know.  Mankind understands and knows what the Light of Christ is. It's unto them to decide to want it for themselves or to rebel against it.  Remember, there's only two options.  Two kinds of people in the afterlife. Believers in Heaven and what used to be unbelievers in Hell.  Used to be? Oh yes.  Used to be.  There is nobody who is in Hell who doesn't know that Jesus Christ is real.  Denied until their dying breath, but denied no longer. Their hope in Salvation is lost because they missed the deadline for acceptance. Every man will be without excuse.  Everyone will have had ample opportunity to receive Christ. There will be none who will be able to stand before Christ and say they weren't given a fair chance. 

But once a person is saved, the keys to Heaven's doors are given and put where they cannot be lost, stolen or wear down.  In the heart n soul.  We are allowed to come there in a moment's notice to bring our thoughts, cares and concerns to the Father.  Nobody on Earth can deny us access.  All physical barriers are done away with.  Jesus said nothing can separate us from the love of God. Nothing. 

Do you make use of those keys or are you doing like the steward who was afraid of his Master and buried them until His return?  Are you using them, investing in yourself and others with them or ?

Are you letting the light shine from within you from Jesus or are you trying to hide it under a basket?  Wanting to be saved yet afraid of the consequences of the light shining onto others?

As it says in the beginning of the book of John, the darkness doesn't like the light because it exposes their deeds.  Expect people to be irrational when the sins of their lives are exposed by the light of Christ. Expect people to lash out. The Scriptures say the loved the darkness more than the light.  Don't be surprised by these things. 

You have keys, oh Believers in Christ, that bring you to the Father in prayer at any time,  and when our life is through, will bring us into His presence in the blink of an eye.  No red tape. No delays. Nobody getting lost on the way there. 

Your keys set you aside as calling Heaven your home.  No longer is Earth your home but Heaven.  You need not fear death or the grave. You need not be concerned of seeing Hell.  You are adopted into the family of God.  You belong with Jesus's Father who is now Our Father in Heaven. 

Be prepared to give a set of keys away to any that will listen or ask.  That's what telling others will do.  That's what making Disciples does.

Live out your testimony today and if you must use words, the Spirit will guide you. 

Looking for Truth in all the Wrong Places

“The Scriptures point to me!” John 5:39 NLT 

Jesus Christ is the Alpha and Omega of the Bible. He is the constant theme of its sacred pages; from first to last they testify of Him. At the creation we immediately discern Jesus as one of the sacred Trinity; we catch a glimpse of Him in the promise of the woman’s offspring; we see Him represented by the ark of Noah; we walk with Abraham as he sees the Messiah’s day; we live in the tents of Isaac and Jacob, feeding on the gracious promise; we hear the venerable Israel talking of Shiloh; and in the numerous symbols of the law, we find the Redeemer abundantly foreshadowed. Prophets and kings, priests and preachers, all do the same thing—they stand like the cherubs over the ark, wanting to look inside and read the mystery of God’s great sacrifice of atonement. Even more clearly in the New Testament, we find our Lord as the one pervading subject. It is not a nugget here and there, or a dusting of thinly scattered gold. No, here you stand on a solid floor of gold, for the whole substance of the New Testament is Jesus crucified. Even its closing sentence is jeweled with the Redeemer’s name (see Revelation 22:21). We should always read Scripture in this light. We should consider the Word a mirror into which Christ looks down from heaven; and then we, looking up into it, see His face reflected as in a glass—dimly, it is true, but still enough to be a blessed preparation for seeing Him face-to-face someday. This Book contains Jesus Christ’s letters to us, perfumed by His love. These pages are the clothing of our King, and they all smell of “myrrh and aloes and cassia” (Psalm 45:8). Scripture is the royal chariot Jesus rides. It is paved with love for the daughters of Jerusalem. The Scriptures are the swaddling clothes of the holy child Jesus—unroll them and you find your Savior. The essence of the Word of God is Christ. - C.H. Spurgeon Morning and Evening 

This was from last night but it seems is what I am to write about today.   That one passage where Jesus was walking with the Disciples, opening their minds to the Scriptures, showing them from Moses all that was written about Himself, really got my attention a few years ago.  I began a new journal just to keep notes on anything that stood out along those lines. 

It would be my challenge to you.  It's there. You can begin that challenge too.  When you read your Bible, look for it. Look for the evidence that demanded a verdict that proves and proved that Jesus is who He said He was. 

We get so sidetracked so easily.  Honestly we are easily offended, easily hurt, easy to dismiss truth, all much as a child is. 

When God shows Himself as the parent we often have quite the tantrum.  

But read...read...what Christ said. Read what being a Disciple means.  When growing up.  Like any other child, there were moments when I wanted my will to be done, regardless of what my parents said.  No different than any child who has ever lived.  Yet my parents prevailed and for good reason.  They knew better than me.  They could see where I was headed or at least could see what that direction meant in terms of an outcome. 

In God's Word there's much the same in looking at the entirety of God's Word for Jesus.  There is mixed within it not just evidence of Jesus but of obedience and disobedience. Of trust and lack of it.  Of belief and lack of it.  Of faith and lack of it. 

Where else can you go in a book, any book, and have the Author sit with you to explain it as you go?  

We see things happening in our lives we don't understand. If you are in Christ, there's nothing new under the sun. If it's happening now to you, it's somewhere in the Bible as happening to someone else. Details aren't important.  Just like no two people are alike, neither are two disobedient children. Let alone two obedient children. 

Look to the Scriptures not to other books in understanding the Word of God.  Jesus said the Helper, the Holy Spirit, would teach us all things.  He did NOT say He would provide a few hundred authors of other books to help us find our way. 

Jesus said we would know the Truth and the Truth would set us free.  He is the only truth that matters and to know more you need to read about Him. From G to R is to read from A to Z.  Alpha and Omega the first to last is in Him.

Some talk of unplugging from social media.  Good for you.  It unfortunately doesn't change what is really happening both in the world and in you.  In both Jesus is mainly saying He wants more of you. He wants more of me.  Look, in Eternity there will be no social media. We will be face to face with Jesus and others.

Eternity is coming soon.  Once the Rapture takes place, realize the truth.  The Earth will only have a tad over 1,007 years left.  That's it. After that the present Heavens and Earth will pass away.  Being absorbed in rights and all other social issues rather than looking to a life in Christ that DOES have peace we seek, will get us nowhere. 

We want peace on our terms. But that's not what Jesus brings.  Not as the world gives does He.  Read. Look for peace where it cannot be found anywhere else. 

Ask the Spirit to explain it.  He will. He's the perfect Teacher.  Never gets tired of questions. My kind of Teacher.  Lord knows every one I ever had got asked a lot by me.

Look to the Word of God for the peace and truth you seek...look to it for more about Jesus.  The Author is ready for your questions. 

Why are we still here?

And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve … but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. Joshua 24:15 

Serving God was not Joshua's only option. He could have adopted the religious beliefs and practices of his family heritage in the pagan land of Egypt. He could have accepted the idolatrous religion of his neighbors in the region where he now lived. These options probably looked like easier choices than worshiping God. But Joshua had witnessed God's faithfulness (Josh. 23:14). He was convinced that his Lord was the only true God and that serving Him would bring victory and blessing. Joshua decided to serve God alone. He was determined to teach his entire household to honor his Lord as well. He had trusted God for victory on the battlefield, and he knew that God could also give him spiritual victory in his home. You, too, must decide whom you will serve. An assortment of popular religions clamors for your allegiance. If you come from a Christian heritage, you may choose to embrace the faith of your parents and grandparents. If you did not grow up in a Christian home, you can decide, as Joshua did, to reject your heritage of unbelief and begin a generation that serves the Lord. If you set your mind wholeheartedly on serving God, your example will bring a tremendous blessing to your family. If you place your confidence in God, those around you will witness your faith, and they may decide to trust Him too. Choose, as Joshua did, to serve God unashamedly with all your heart, and then watch to see how God blesses your family. - Blackaby Experiencing God Day by Day 

We live for the Lord. Romans 14:8

 If God had willed it, each of us might have entered heaven at the moment of our conversion. It was not absolutely necessary for us to stay here as preparation for immortality. It is possible for people to be taken to heaven, and found to be fit “partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light” (Colossians 1:12 NKJV), though they have only just believed in Jesus. It is true that our sanctification is a long and continued process, and we will not be perfected until we lay aside our bodies and enter “behind the curtain” (Hebrews 6:19); but, still, if the Lord had willed it, He might have changed us from imperfection to perfection and taken us to heaven immediately. Why then are we here? Why would God keep His children out of paradise a single moment longer than necessary? Why is the army of the living God still on the battlefield when one final charge might give them victory? Why are His children still wandering here and there, as through a maze, when a single word from His lips would bring them to the center of their hopes in heaven? The answer is this: they are here that they might live for the Lord, and help others to know His love. We remain on earth as sowers, to scatter good seed; as plowers, to break up the dormant ground; as heralds, publishing the news of salvation. We are here as the “salt of the earth” (Matthew 5:13), to be a blessing to the world. We are here to glorify Christ in our daily lives. We are here as workers for Him, and as “workers together with Him” (2 Corinthians 6:1 NKJV). Let us make sure that our life lives up to its calling. May we live earnest, useful, holy lives, “to the praise of his glorious grace” (Ephesians 1:6). Meanwhile, we long to be with Him, and sing every day, My heart is with Him on His throne, And ill can brook delay; Each moment listening for the voice, “Rise up, and come away.” “My Soul, Amid This Stormy World,” Robert C. Chapman (1837)

- C.H. Spurgeon Morning and Evening 

A lot to read in today's devotionals.  But it seems they share a thread of connection. 

Why are we still here? What connection is there to the return of Christ through it?

As one said we have jobs to do in the fields.  Until there's no more seed to scatter, no more to be tended or anything else then it will be time.  A different crop will be tended to after the Rapture of the Church. 

We have work to do. As Jesus talked of in several parables of workers in the harvest, of paying people to go out into the fields, of the other examples...there's work to be done.  

And along the way we learn what it's like to be caretakers, we learn to become as the owner would have us be like. 

Matters not if you think you don't know what it is that God has for you to do.  There is something.  Because He always has a plan and purpose for everyone. 

It's not about living for yourself.  Being all you can be as the slogan goes.  There's many that the world uses to sidestep and sidetrack believers. Even more are used to keep the unbeliever from becoming a believer.  There's was a song out a few decades ago that referred to a road that leads to Heaven.  It had all kinds of off ramps.  Every kind of temptation to entangle your life was there. 

Look at your life right now.

What consumes it? 

If you compartmentalized each segment of your day into a percentage.  How much of it was spent in pursuit of a right relationship with Jesus?  By comparison go and read the book of Psalms.  King David was known as a man after God's own heart.  Look at his writing.  Look at how much of his life was spent writing what's INCLUDED in the Bible. There's probably more that wasn't. 

Is that percentage high or low?  Are the concerns and worries of this life a higher percentage?

Where is your attitude and attention?

We have a purpose in the fields.

We chose to follow Christ. 

We choose to obey. 

We have the same God of the Bible if we are found in Christ. 

So what is your percentage?  When you speak is it of the things of God at all or is of the things of you?  I have to confess that it's hard to keep my focus at times. 

The temptation is often great to be sidetracked.  To bask in whatever accolades someone offers me.  If I succeed in anything it's because Christ made it possible.  If I fail it's because of something else.  Either my focus wasn't where it should have been or I was not pursuing what He wanted done.  Be He is faithful. He causes all things to work together for good.  Remember the last part of that verse.  To those who are called according to His PURPOSE.  

There is a purpose to your life. In Christ it's to faithfully work at what He gives you to do.   Not to live for yourself. It's not about worldly accolades and worldly achievements.  It's not about degrees and doctorates.  It's not about awards or medals.  You take none of those with you when you die.  Your life is defined by what you did in the fields of life for Christ. 

Are you playing in those fields or are you looking to earn the wage that you are there to earn?

Are you living for Jesus or for what you can get out of life?  

Why are we still here when like was written in the devotional, God could have just taken us home?  We have our part to do in the fields.  It's our time to work in whatever is your field.  Each of us has one. 

Do your best to tend to it.  Live out your testimony.  If necessary, use words. 

Believe it, there IS a Positive Side

The LORD has done great things for us, and we are glad. Psalm 126:3 NKJV 

It is sad that some Christians are prone to see the dark side of everything, to dwell more on what they have gone through than on what God has done for them. Ask for their impression of the Christian life, and they will describe their continual conflicts, their deep afflictions, their sad adversities, and the sinfulness of their hearts, with hardly any allusion to the mercy and help that God has granted them. But a Christian whose soul is healthy will come out with joy and say, “I will not speak about myself but to the honor of my God. He has brought me up out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my steps. He has put a new song in my mouth; praise to our God. The Lord has done great things for me, and I am glad” (see Psalm 40:2–3, 126:3). A summary of experience like this is the very best presentation any child of God can make. It is true that we endure trials—but it is just as true that we are delivered out of them. It is true that we have our own personal corruptions—we mourn over this—but it is just as true that we have an all-sufficient Savior who overcomes these corruptions and delivers us from their power. In looking back, it would be wrong to deny that we have been through Bunyan’s Slough of Despond and Valley of Humiliation, but it would be equally wrong to forget that we have come through them safely and profitably. We have not remained in these dark places, thanks to our almighty Helper and Leader, who has brought us “out to a place of abundance” (Psalm 66:12 ESV). The deeper our troubles, the louder should be our thanks to God, who has led us through everything and preserved us until now. Our grief cannot ruin the melody of our praise—we consider hardship and sadness to be the bass line of our life’s song, The LORD has done great things for us, and we are glad.

- C.H. Spurgeon Morning and Evening. 

Nobody has really known the side of me that had for years, for decades, had the constant, nagging, seemingly endless, despair running through my mind. 

I easily was crushed in spirit.  It's what brought my to considering suicide in 1999.  I indeed was brought up in a Christian home.  Was going to Church pretty much every week.  Throughout the week.  Had several Bibles.  Was considered to be involved.  Yet there was the deep dark thoughts that came every day of my sinful life.  Satan loved to remind me of how disgusting I must look to God. Of my failures. 

I never learned to be happy in my successes in Christ, possibly because they were short lived. Almost immediately I would see a sin and whatever was gain felt like a loss. 

In 1999 Jesus changed all that. In the years since He is still changing all that. 

What did Jesus do? What changed so much?  I stopped trying to fix what He was doing is a simple way of putting it. 

Many years later there was a sermon series at a Church we attended in the evenings.  Whatever was left of my internal defenses were utterly destroyed. It was in the weeks and months after those trips to the altar, He radically began changing my life in ways that I gave up on dreaming about. 

I had to quit in order to succeed.  I preached a sermon once on that subject of being a successful quitter. 

I used to easily see the negative side of everything.  It's not so hard to do.  Everyone was born in darkness knows all about darkness and what's in it.

It's remembering that which happens in the light of Christ is what we need to write down and remember.  He exposes the deeds of darkness. He reveals truth in everything about everyone. 

Those in this world today are no different from the people we read about in the Bible. So what we have technology. Guess what, I firmly believe that there's enough evidence to prove that technology existed before the flood of Genesis.  Technology way more advanced than today's.  God's left enough evidence for us to find. 

So being advanced as a people means nothing.  Ecclesiastes says there is nothing new under the sun.  Further proof of the stages of mankind. 

We can choose to keep holding onto what Jesus is telling us to let go of and stay miserable or we can do as He says and let go.  You see we all miss the fact that He isn't tugging on what we are holding onto in hopes that our grip slips and He wins. It's just us. Just us holding onto sin, onto regrets, onto sadness, onto despair, onto depression.  Us. As long as I keep looking at myself I sink. 

Peter sank because he believed his eyes when they weren't on Jesus. 

Look at your life. How much time do you spend worrying about what's going on around you? How much time do you spend getting angry about what you have or don't have? How much time do you spend holding onto regrets or the past, not living in the here and now?  How much?

It's been said to let go and let God.

You will never be able to defeat whatever is going on inside you on your own.  

Never. 

Only by letting go and asking God to do whatever He wants will you find success. 

Trusting Him for your present and future. 

Only you can drop everything to embrace Him.  You who are saved cannot hold onto your life and your cross too.  You who aren't saved cannot find life without your cross from Christ.  Life begins with taking up our cross and following Christ. 

Then we can rejoice in the Lord always as the Scriptures say.  We can find success. We can let go of what weighs us down.  

Listen people. Jesus is standing right in front of you. He's just waiting for you to say the word and He's ready to do what needs done to save you and make you like Him.   

Is it?

God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son. Hebrews 1:1 

Our generation is preoccupied with methods. When we find a program that works in one business, we immediately want to package and distribute it so that it will work for others. This attitude carries over into the spiritual life as well. We spend much energy looking for spiritual disciplines, books, seminars, or conferences that “work” in order to feel satisfied with our Christian life. God does not want us to trust in methods. He wants us to trust in Him. Trusting in methods rather than in a Person seriously limits the way we experience God. When we expect Him to speak to us only in predictable ways, we forget that God is much more complex than our perception of Him. In times past, God spoke in dreams and visions. He used nature; miraculous signs; prophets; a still, small voice; fire; trumpets; fleece; the casting of lots; and angels. He spoke in the middle of the night, during worship services, at mealtimes, during funerals, while people were walking along the road, through sermons, in the middle of a storm, and through His Son. The important thing was not how God communicated, but that He spoke. The means God uses to communicate with us is irrelevant; the fact that He is communicating is what is critical. Don’t limit yourself to a method, expecting only to hear from your Father in predictable ways. Rather, open yourself up to other means by which God wants to commune with you. Then you will experience God in entirely new dimensions as you are receptive to His voice. - Blackaby Experiencing God Day by Day 

It's been on my heart these last several days of seemingly contradictory teachings that I have heard in Churches and the plans of God in the Bible. 

It's sort of related to what Blackaby says this day.  He starts out with how we can get preoccupied with methods and try to go with them. 

It reminds me of someone in Scripture who also had a Plan, but it wasn't God's Plan. Good intentions paved the way. It may just be my way of considering the written facts, but in the midst of Peter's denial of his relationship with Jesus those 3 times was a plan to prove himself by believing he was putting himself in a position to save Jesus.  Why do I say that? A few reasons. One. Look in the earlier passages when you compare the Gospels there's an element written that's not included in all.  Peter had a sword and was bent on using it. Peter had a temper and hated to be pegged.  He was told he would deny even knowing Jesus 3 times before the cock crowed.  In some way he dismissed it and believed he was on a mission to save.  Interesting is what Jesus said about it. Satan wanted Peter. He wanted to sift Peter.  Jesus said He prayed for him.  The facts point to Peter believing he was doing the right thing for God! 

Churches today equate each major event in our modern world to a need for a revival.  Yet at the same time ignore parts of Scripture as to how this world WILL be when Christ returns.  Jesus Himself said that He wondered if He would find the faith when He returns.  Read Revelation, the letters to the Churches are also a timeline leading up to His return.  The return of Christ won't be at some Spiritual high from a revival.  The increase of non-biblical Churches is a huge sign of the faith being missing.  The fact that fewer and fewer Churches remain that adhere to the Bible, the whole Bible and nothing but the Bible is a huge sign. 

Revival can happen, but no Plan of man can bring it about!  No more than Peter's plan to save Jesus.  Right in front of Jesus he pulled a sword and cut off the ear of a man.  Jesus rebukes him and heals the man who was attacked.  

In the book of Acts it's the Spirit who brings revival.  He works in the hearts of man by God's will, plan and purpose in His timing.  As someone posted the other day, and it ties in with this...ever notice that in these new prosperity gospel Churches that what they tell you (their plan, not God's) is the same thing that Satan offered Christ when tempting Him?  

"Many plans are in a man’s heart,

But the counsel of the Lord will stand." Proverbs 19:21 

Yet another...

"The mind of man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps" Proverbs 16:9

A prevailing theme in the 'good' times in the Old Testament, when Kings walked with God, was hearing of how the hearts of the people turned back to the Lord their God. 

Plans are good. They aren't an evil thing.  Making sure what we do and why we do it matches up with God's Plan is where it always should be.  My success and failure in my life is both at my hands and at God's direction. It's intent is to make me more like Christ.  But many a purported Christian believes that God is mainly there to grant wishes. To heal regardless.  That He will make all our dreams come true.  

The Jesus of the Bible said that the Holy Spirit would guide us into the truth. That we would be His workmanship.  He didn't say He would be at our beck and call to only provide at our whim.  He said we would be changed. We would be transformed.  Said we would have tribulations and trials.  We would have enemies.  Doesn't sound like prosperity does it?

But He also said there is a Plan. Each member of the Church body has a purpose.  We need to find out what that is and do it. Not deciding for ourselves what that is and only find out God asking us "Who told you to do that?"

I did that many decades ago.  It's taken decades to get to where I am in Christ now. Peter was restored in days. 

Preach the Word, in season and out of season.  Make Disciples.  The mission is plain. So is the Plan.  If a revival happens it's because God says so.  Revival of the heart in each of us has to happen first. Then the Spirit will group those together to start a wider, bigger, revival. 

The Lord is coming soon. He said blessed is He whom He finds doing what He is in obedience to God when He arrives.