Trusting God under fire

Deuteronomy 3:22

"You must not fear them, for the Lord your God Himself fights for you"
(NKJV)

When I read this, I first think of the song "and if our God is for us, then who can stand against us". We all have God on our side when we put Him as Lord of our lives. This is a truth that all of us know, but is often forgotten. I have had many times where I have been busy, had things that I needed to get done and have had things pop up that overwhelms and consumes me. I am reading through the Psalms of David right now and I read time and time again him turning to God. I, lately, have been convicted on turning to God matter the situation and depending on God with my everything. In this passage in Deuteronomy, Moses is promised that he should not fear his enemies that he will have to face to enter into the promise land because God is fighting for him. God is not only Moses aid and cheif tacticion, but is also his best warrior. If you were a king going into battle, would you listen to the advice of your best ally, the best strategist and your top warriors before you enter into the fight? I believe that we are all guilty of ignoring the council of our best before we go into battle and even when we are in battle, but we mustn't. God will protect us, grant us prosperity and lead us to victory; for even though it may seem that He is guiding us to the path of defeat, He is really guiding us toward the path of true victory in the war.
I am going to remember this by writing down a time that I was in one of my worst battles and how God led me to victory.

Restoration

Psalm 6:1-3

Psalms 6 begins with David pleading to God for compassion and grace from the punishment that he deserves. When I read this I thought of all the things that made God angry and who made Him angry. I looked at David, the Israelites, past kings and many more people who have provoked God's anger and all I could think to myself is how many times I have done those same things. I think of all the people that have lied, disobeyed and turned away from God and all the punishments that they received I deserve. For many of them, especially in the Old Testament, they received harsh but just punishment, and I deserve those punishments. Psalms 6:3 says "I am sick at heart", which is exactly how I felt. Many times in my life I have felt like someone who is just wearing a mask; someone who everyone sees one way but really is someone else. We live in cursed bodies on a cursed earth and we, ourselves, are undeserving of God and of reward, but Christ has rescued us from what we brought upon ourselves. He has purified us and restored us so we are worthy, through Christ, to live with God for eternity. I have been convicted by this and am going to apply this by asking Christ the next three days for restoration.

Depending Upon God

Psalm 4:3

“You can be sure of this: The Lord set apart the godly for Himself. The Lord will answer when I call to Him” (NLT)

God has called every one of us to Himself, but few will pursue that calling. Many will hear of it and choose to pursue their own calling instead of Christ’s and, although it is fun in the moment, are not rewarded for eternity but rather are punished. But we that have accepted God’s calling in our lives and are in pursuit have been appropriated for Christ. We are both set apart from punishment and are deemed fitting for His purpose of spreading the gospel and sharing His love.

As Christ’s disciples we encounter challenges and trials that we cannot beat. We are attacked and persecuted as we proclaim His name by both others and Satan to the point in which we cannot bear. But 1 Corinthians 10:13b seems to contradict that because it says “(God) will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand”. How can we both face temptations we cannot bear and have no temptation to be more than we can stand? It is simply because of this, we will face trails and temptations that we cannot face on our own, but we have a God we can depend on that is mightier than anything and everything else.

I am going to depend on God in times of trial and temptation by praying that Christ will make me more dependent on Him so when trials and temptations come my way I am already leaning upon God for support.

Acting Wisely

Proverbs 12:1

“Whoso loveth instruction loveth knowledge: but he that hateth reproof is brutish” (KJV)

How many of us love to learn and become wiser? When I read over this verse, the beginning seemed pretty self explanatory. If you love instruction, then you love knowledge. But so many of us instead love knowledge and are critical of instruction. When I was going to college, many of my fellow classmates would disagreed with the professor’s way of teaching and, in turn, take the course more for the credit than for the knowledge. See, if we want to truly love the knowledge, then we need to love being instructed and open, regardless of the instructor. As a Christian, I am in pursuit of Christ and am trying to imitate whatever He does with my life, but I don’t always get it right. I have made many mistakes; so many that I don’t even know about all of them. This is why Christ encourages us to disciple one another with love. I, because I love the knowledge of God, need to love receiving instruction from others that Christ uses to correct me. The second half of this verse says “but he that hateth reproof is brutish”. If I hate reproof, or correction and rebuke, than I am committing a brutish act, or an act that is stupid and carnal.

I have been guilty of committing sins against a brother in Christ more times than I would like to admit and many times I have hated the rebuke and have just casted the rebuke aside. I am going to work on acting wisely and not carnally when accepting rebuke next time by praying to God in thanks and praise after I have been rebuked.

Becoming Wiser

Proverbs 9:9

“Instruct the wise, and they will become wiser. Teach the righteous, and they will learn even more” (NLT)

We need to be students of the Word. When I think of this, I think of a school setting. You go into a classroom, listen to a teaching, do your homework and turn it in; but this isn’t the case in our faith. See we are always learning, both inside and outside of the classroom. When I first started learning Spanish, I practiced in the classroom and did my homework, but I soon learned that it wasn’t enough. To learn a language you need to practice it whenever you can and, even though you will never become an expert at a language, you will grow. This is true with our faith. We can go to church and do our devotionals, but that won’t lead to us being disciples of Christ. We need to always be learning and practicing our faith and we will grow closer and closer to God.

“Instruct the wise, and they will become wiser”; why is this the case? The wise become only wiser because when they are instructed they know the importance of what you are teaching them. They act with discernment and properly judge everything they hear. The wise only become wiser because they filter out all the incorrect/unbeneficial knowledge and dwell on the truth. In the same way, when you teach the righteous “they will learn even more” because they know what is right and will only increase their knowledge of what is right.

To work on being a wise and righteous student of the Word, I am going to ask Austin about one thing I have heard on a message and see why it is the case.

Jesus Speaking

Mark 4:10-11

“Later, when Jesus was alone with the twelve disciples and with the others who gathered around, they asked him what the parables meant. He replied, ‘You are permitted to understand the secret of the Kingdom of God. But I use parables for everything I say to outsiders” (NLT)

We are all called to be disciples of Christ, but for most of us only act the act. In other words, many of us are followers of Christ and not disciples. Followers of Christ follow for what they can gain, while disciples of Christ imitate for what they can lose for Christ’s sake. So are you a follower or a disciple?

I have always wondered what it would be like to live back in the day that Jesus walked on earth. I have wondered what He would look like, what the experiencing miracles is like and, most importantly, what His teachings were like. I would pursue Jesus wherever He went, but how much would I be willing to give up? Would I be willing to give up my job, my plans for my life, my independence and my world for Christ?

In this passage Jesus shares “the secret of the Kingdom of God” to “the twelve disciples and… the others who gathered around”. Regardless of how “devote” we are and regardless of our reasoning for pursuing Christ, we all should desire to be with Him and learn from Him. Through Him teaching us, He can reveal to us what living a life for Him looks like. In this day and age Jesus isn’t walking on the earth anymore, but through His Word He can speak to us.

I am going to work on becoming a disciple of Christ by reading in His word with a different viewpoint; one that is of a listener of His teaching and one that believes that His teachings are for me personally.

Luke 2:46

“Three days later they finally discovered Him in the Temple, sitting among the religious teachers, listening to them and asking questions” (NLT)

Jesus’s parents at this time were looking for their twelve year old son for three days before they finally found Him. When they found Him, Mary said “son… why have You done this to us? Your father and I have been frantic, searching for you everywhere”. I know personally I have searched for Christ frantically, looking for Him both high and low. I would speed read through the Bible, pray desperately and seek for Him. I would have temptations and enemies come my way, and I would cry out to God “where are You”. I can imagine Mary and Joseph being desperate as they comb through the crowds for their son; the Son of God that they have been entrusted to protect; but just as Jesus’s parents found Him, so we will find God if we are willing to seek. Think of it this way, if you were playing a game of “hide-and-seek” and the hider told you where he was, gave you a map showing how to get there and left a helper to guide you, would you give up? No one would because everyone knows how to find the hider. Many would argue that at this point the hider isn’t hiding, but rather is waiting for the seeker to pursue and discover him. For so many believe this is the case in their Christian walk. Once they have been born again in Christ, then they begin our game of “hide-and-seek”. Now there are many holes within this analogy, but the theme is true; God is waiting for us to seek Him. As we seek God, through being a student of the Word and a servant for Christ, He shows us the Way.

I am going to apply this passage to my life by seeking Christ through reading His Word and writing out five things that He has revealed to me.

Purification

2 Timothy 2:2

“And the things you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also” (NKJV)

Since I have been a part of the IGNITE program I have learned so much. I am leaving this week from the training segment in Guatemala and am going to be leaving for the mission segment in Uganda in a couple of weeks. God has shown me many things, but as He has shown me things He has revealed many things to others. Whether it is through His Scripture, through prayer, through worship or through others Christ is continuously teaching and we are all continuously learning; but as we learn we are commanded to help others. Many times what God is showing you He is teaching others. Sometimes God is showing you what someone needs to hear and other times God is speaking and discipling you personally. Either way, God has entrusted us with the “Secrets of Heaven” and we need to honor His teachings by sharing them. We need to be “faithful men”; proving our faithfulness by coming alongside other believers and encouraging them. If we share what God is revealing to us, then we are praising God and improving faith; our faith, others faith or both of our faiths. Now when we are called to teach others we need to make sure that we are teaching Christ and are teaching through Christ. When we share God’s pure truth we can’t use our cursed bodies, full of deception and evil, to proclaim truth; for it will only pervert it. We need to share God’s pure truth by relying on the Spirit to both purify us as we proclaim God and purify the message we teach, so that the message will include none of us and only God.

I am going to make sure that my discipleship and advice is pure and true by praying for God to fill and use me before I teach others God’s message.