A Struggle, yet Victory...

I am not saying anything new to any of you when I say that human life is full of struggle. All of us to some degree share the same struggles....and all of us to some degree have particular areas that we seem to struggle with more than others.
Can we in this life, escape these struggles?

I wish I could tell you yes...but that would be a lie. A lie that unfortunately is too often spoken in the name of Christ. The fact is that those of us who follow Christ find that struggles remain.

So is it hopeless? Thankfully, no. Though we struggle, we have been promised Freedom...Victory has been accomplished...but battles remain.

So how do we approach the struggles that face us in life? What about when we fail to live in Freedom and Victory...and live by flesh instead? (bible language for living for our own selfish desires)
I was hit by a couple verses in the book of Micah tonight...Micah 7:8-9

"Rejoice not over me, O my enemy; when I fall, I shall rise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord will be a light to me. I will bear the indignation of the Lord because I have sinned against him, until he pleads my cause and executes judgement for me."

There are some amazing truths in this passage:

1-If you are a follower of Christ you are free from the guilt that the enemy tries to lay on you (even when you mess up)--"Rejoice not over me, O my enemy"

2-that even when we fall, we will rise...even in darkness, God will be light to us---as followers of Christ we are IN Christ and he is IN us...he IS light, HE will lift us up.

3-our cause has been plead, and judgement executed on our behalf--Jesus pleads for us, and judgement was executed on him on our behalf! Because of this, we truly have Freedom, and Victory!

These are truths we need to take hold of, and live by. To live by the life that Christ has given us...to live in the Freedom we have IN Christ! Without Christ, there is no rising, no light...and we are left to bear the Lords indignation on our own...without Christ, the struggle truly is hopeless; if you find yourself without Christ right now, don't continue without him for a moment more.

Worship and Loyalty

It has been a long time since I have posted anything....things have been busy...and my thoughtfulness has gone other places...Here is something from a book I am reading that has really hit me though; I think it's a great reminder and challenge for all of us. It comes from the book "The Throne, the Lamb, and the Dragon" by Paul Spilsbury. (a former prof of mine)

"Worship is the appropriate response to God: wholehearted, awe-inspired, loving worship. In fact, Revelation implies it is the only authentic response. For in worship we rightly acknowledge the awesomeness of God and our total dependence on him. But worship is expressed in more than just songs or prayers; it is expressed in loyalty. Revelation speaks of a great battle between the One who sits on the throne and the dragon who aspires to that position himself. Revelation calls us to think deeply about what it means to be loyal to the One on the throne, even though the world seems dead-set against believing that he even exists. It challenges us to count the cost of being associated with God and his ways of working in the world--and the consequences of not being associated with God's great purposes for the history of the world."

-(Spilsbury, p.63)

Some questions that jump out from this:

-What does it mean to be "loyal" to God as an act of worship?

-Have you given thought to who God is, and what he desires from you?

-What are the costs of being associated with God and his ways...and what are the costs of NOT being associated with God's great purpose? Have you considered the costs?

Where does your strength come from?

I've been reading in Daniel lately and Chapter 10 has to be one of my favourites! In it we see an incredible Christophany (an appearance of Christ before his Incarnation)...

Listen to how Daniel describes what he sees:
"His body was like beryl, his face like the appearance of lightning, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze, and the sound of his words like the sound of a multitude." (10:6)
Yikes! Imagine seeing someone like that...What would be your reaction?
Here is Daniels:
"...no strength was left in me. My radiant appearance was fearfully changed and I retained no strength...I feel on my face in deep sleep with my face to the ground."
Later Daniel even says "pains have come upon me and I retain no strength...no strength remains in me, and no breath is left in me."

Basically Daniel is saying...it took every ounce of strength out of him...to the point of death to be in the presence of Christ...even so, we are told that just to stand in his presence Daniel needed to be lifted up, and strengthed. Strengthened with a different kind of strength.

Here is my point to all of this....First go read Daniel chapter 10 to actually see what I'm yakking about....But the thing that hits me is this: So many of us go for so long...many their whole lives living on our own strength. We can do it, we are pretty incredible creatures. However to live on our own strength alone is to live a life that is only a miniscule fragment of what we are meant for.

Daniel was weakened incredibly by simply being in the presence of Christ...BUT...he was strengthened beyond what he had ever known by Christ. This is what we need! We need to abandon ourselves to God completely; to let him take all our "so called" strength, and give us new strength...new life, in Christ.

1 Cor 1:25 says: "For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength."