“But we trusted…and beside all this, today is the third day. . .” (Luke 24:21).
Dejection springs from one of two sources—I must have it at once. Spiritual lust makes me demand an answer from God, instead of seeking God who gives the answer. What have I been trusting God would do? And today—the immediate present—is the third day, and He has not done it; therefore I imagine I am justified in being dejected and blaming God. Whenever the insistence is on the point that God answers prayer, we are off the track. The meaning of prayer is that we get hold of God, not the answer. (Oswald Chambers)
Monday, February 8, 2010
Friday, February 5, 2010
This Thing is from Me
My world got upended this past three weeks. A windstorm of assaults from in front and from behind, and from every side it seems, hit me full on one after another.
Everything I thought I had learned about Abiding in Christ, fixing my mind on Him and walking in His perfect peace, seemed to have no meaning whatsoever in the face of this thing. It hurt my heart; it hurt my soul.
I learned (or so I thought) so well from the Abiding Life messages that I can’t “fix” things, much less people, but I resorted to my old self-life of trying to fix, failing of course. The thing so consumed me that I couldn’t pray. I didn’t know how. My prayer life log jammed and all the old baggage got strewn about like dirty laundry lying all over my soul—hopelessness, despair, fear, panic, anger, unbelief and the old feeling that God had abandoned me, at least for a period of time. The enemy had a field day. How he loves to bypass all of our past experiences with God and throw us under a train.
The very first words God spoke to me were these: “But the word of the LORD came to Shemaiah (which means “Yah has heard” in Hebrew), the man of God, saying …You shall not go up or fight against your relatives; return every man to his house, for this thing is from Me” (2 Chronicles 11:2-4). That seemed clear enough “Yah has heard” and “this thing is from Me.” In other words, “hands off Kathy, I have heard and I am doing this.”
But I made the choice to believe the lies of the enemy and for about five days, I went there. I got beat up. I got shamed. I got condemned. I shut down. I tried to run somewhere, escape if I could, but then the next wave hit like a freight train from another direction and I was forced to stay and see it through.
The next word I heard was again from 2 Chronicles, in 32:7 “Be strong and courageous, there is greater power with us than with him—with him is only the arm of flesh but with us is the LORD our God to help us and to fight our battles.” This lesson came from the Beth Moore Breaking Free study we are doing and she goes on to say, “God hears the cry of the oppressed. God even hears the cries of those who have been oppressed as a result of sin and rebellion. We must never cease believing that God cares about those in physical, emotional, mental or spiritual prisons. It is part of God’s consistent character to woo the captive to freedom.”
Another word came at some point during the windstorm which was “Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts…” (1 Corinthians 4:5); and “I have made you hear new things from this time, and you did not know them. They are created now and not from the beginning; and before this day you have not heard them, lest you should say, ‘Of course I knew them’” (Isaiah 48:6-7).
And further words from Beth Moore’s study:
“If you have been feeling like a failure, you are in bondage.”
“Strongholds always lead us to isolation. We will only have relationships with people who we can practice our stronghold with. People who will shelter us in our strongholds will end up oppressing us.”
“Jotham grew powerful because he walked steadfastly before the Lord His God” (2 Chron. 26-9);
“But what did Jotham fail to do? He failed to remove the ‘High Places.’ The high places are every thought, pattern, affection, and attachment to the world that exalts itself above the knowledge of God.”
“We know that God’s help will actually set us free from our sin and our idols, but we love our sin and our idols” (James 4:4).
“The great paradox is that healing can flow from a wounding. God may be wounding you in order to heal you. Repentance is not our punishment; repentance is a gift.”
“A Christian is held captive by anything that hinders the abundant and effective Spirit-filled life God planned for us.”
“Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor o what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare” (Isa. 55:2);
Psalm 51:6 says God desires truth in the inner parts. A combination of two vehicles—God’s truth and our truthfulness—will drive us to our desired destination. Honesty with God is an absolute requirement to keep moving on this journey.…there is a huge difference between salvation from sin and satisfaction of the soul. Salvation secures our lives for all eternity. Soul satisfaction ensures abundant life on earth.”
“God’s presence is absolutely unchanging, but the evidence of His presence is not. On some occasions God may purposely alter the evidences of His presence to bring the most benefit from our experience.”
And finally, just this morning, a dear friend sent me yesterday’s Streams in the Desert devotional. This is an old devotional written by Mrs. Henry Cowin, a mentor of Oswald Chambers. And what do you think the scripture verse was for this day?
“This thing is from Me!”
Amen then, I will rest in that since You, Lord have taken such pains to reveal it to me again.
Everything I thought I had learned about Abiding in Christ, fixing my mind on Him and walking in His perfect peace, seemed to have no meaning whatsoever in the face of this thing. It hurt my heart; it hurt my soul.
I learned (or so I thought) so well from the Abiding Life messages that I can’t “fix” things, much less people, but I resorted to my old self-life of trying to fix, failing of course. The thing so consumed me that I couldn’t pray. I didn’t know how. My prayer life log jammed and all the old baggage got strewn about like dirty laundry lying all over my soul—hopelessness, despair, fear, panic, anger, unbelief and the old feeling that God had abandoned me, at least for a period of time. The enemy had a field day. How he loves to bypass all of our past experiences with God and throw us under a train.
The very first words God spoke to me were these: “But the word of the LORD came to Shemaiah (which means “Yah has heard” in Hebrew), the man of God, saying …You shall not go up or fight against your relatives; return every man to his house, for this thing is from Me” (2 Chronicles 11:2-4). That seemed clear enough “Yah has heard” and “this thing is from Me.” In other words, “hands off Kathy, I have heard and I am doing this.”
But I made the choice to believe the lies of the enemy and for about five days, I went there. I got beat up. I got shamed. I got condemned. I shut down. I tried to run somewhere, escape if I could, but then the next wave hit like a freight train from another direction and I was forced to stay and see it through.
The next word I heard was again from 2 Chronicles, in 32:7 “Be strong and courageous, there is greater power with us than with him—with him is only the arm of flesh but with us is the LORD our God to help us and to fight our battles.” This lesson came from the Beth Moore Breaking Free study we are doing and she goes on to say, “God hears the cry of the oppressed. God even hears the cries of those who have been oppressed as a result of sin and rebellion. We must never cease believing that God cares about those in physical, emotional, mental or spiritual prisons. It is part of God’s consistent character to woo the captive to freedom.”
Another word came at some point during the windstorm which was “Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts…” (1 Corinthians 4:5); and “I have made you hear new things from this time, and you did not know them. They are created now and not from the beginning; and before this day you have not heard them, lest you should say, ‘Of course I knew them’” (Isaiah 48:6-7).
And further words from Beth Moore’s study:
“If you have been feeling like a failure, you are in bondage.”
“Strongholds always lead us to isolation. We will only have relationships with people who we can practice our stronghold with. People who will shelter us in our strongholds will end up oppressing us.”
“Jotham grew powerful because he walked steadfastly before the Lord His God” (2 Chron. 26-9);
“But what did Jotham fail to do? He failed to remove the ‘High Places.’ The high places are every thought, pattern, affection, and attachment to the world that exalts itself above the knowledge of God.”
“We know that God’s help will actually set us free from our sin and our idols, but we love our sin and our idols” (James 4:4).
“The great paradox is that healing can flow from a wounding. God may be wounding you in order to heal you. Repentance is not our punishment; repentance is a gift.”
“A Christian is held captive by anything that hinders the abundant and effective Spirit-filled life God planned for us.”
“Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor o what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare” (Isa. 55:2);
Psalm 51:6 says God desires truth in the inner parts. A combination of two vehicles—God’s truth and our truthfulness—will drive us to our desired destination. Honesty with God is an absolute requirement to keep moving on this journey.…there is a huge difference between salvation from sin and satisfaction of the soul. Salvation secures our lives for all eternity. Soul satisfaction ensures abundant life on earth.”
“God’s presence is absolutely unchanging, but the evidence of His presence is not. On some occasions God may purposely alter the evidences of His presence to bring the most benefit from our experience.”
And finally, just this morning, a dear friend sent me yesterday’s Streams in the Desert devotional. This is an old devotional written by Mrs. Henry Cowin, a mentor of Oswald Chambers. And what do you think the scripture verse was for this day?
“This thing is from Me!”
Amen then, I will rest in that since You, Lord have taken such pains to reveal it to me again.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)