WHY DO I HAVE TO STRUGGLE, EVEN WHEN I'M DOING GOOD?

"If with heart and soul you’re doing good, do you think you can be stopped? Even if you suffer for it, you’re still better off. Don’t give the opposition a second thought. Through thick and thin, keep your hearts at attention, in adoration before Christ, your Master."

1 Peter 3:13-14 (MSG)

Life never operates according to the calendar.  We try to plan and hope that things will happen according to the time-frames that we envisage - but that seldom ever happens. Ever.  The reason for this is because we cannot completely control what happens, that's GOD's job.

Regardless of this fact, we still try.

What we read above tells us that even if we do good stuff, life may not proceed according to our plans.  There is an incorrect world philosophy that says "if you do good things, good things will happen to you".  The problem with this egocentric take is that it puts the perception of absolute control into our hands... and we know that we can never have absolute control, again, that's GOD's responsibility.

Here's an awesome quote to chew on...

"The purpose of {Christianity} is not to avoid difficulty, but to produce a character adequate to meet it when it comes.  It does not make life easy; rather it tries to make us great enough for life."

James Christensen

So, what does doing good do?

THE POWER OF YAHWEH

"You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it."

John 14:14 

 

In the early Hebrew texts we read of two distinct names for GOD: Elohim and Yahweh.  If you look in your Bible at Genesis 1, you will see that there are no references to LORD (Yahweh), only GOD (Elohim).  Then, if you turn to Genesis 2, there is the introduction of LORD (Yahweh), and it's a different creation story to Genesis 1.  This is because GOD had revealed himself to two different groups of people who eventually united under the Hebrew nation.  It's not because they worshipped different GODs, but because they realised that they worshipped the same GOD.

10 COMMANDMENTS OR 2?

 

Jesus said, "'Love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence.' This is the most important, the first on any list. But there is a second to set alongside it: 'Love others as well as you love yourself.' These two commands are pegs; everything in God's Law and the Prophets hangs from them."

Mat 22:37-40

Critics love to poke holes at the congruency of the Bible, saying that it contradicts itself.  Here is a prime example of the Bible saying one thing in the Old Testament and then something else in the New Testament!

To better understand this, it helps to go back to Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy...  too much?  Indeed, there’s a lot in there.  But this was ‘The Law’.  It contains the 613 mitzvah (rules/commandments/law/words) that every Jewish child needs to learn when they become sons and daughters of the law (bar/bat mitzvah) and take on the responsibility of following GOD.  The 10 Mitzvah in Exodus 20 are known as The Ten Words.

As a Christian, I was only taught ten commandments at Sunday School, not six hundred!  And right there, under the guise of sweet innocence, our foundational teachings in the Christian faith skew our perceptions and understanding of our relationship with GOD.  Instead of us viewing these commandments (10 or 613, doesn’t actually matter) as a checklist to chastity, we should see them as a profile for what life should look like when we love our GOD with all our heart, mind and soul.  

However, instead, we draw pictures and learn the 10 off by-heart, believing that we are now better, somehow closer to GOD.  The flip side is that we feel terrible and worthless when we can't keep them.  The problem:  we will never be able to keep them all.  The solution: Jesus Christ - Grace.

A Leadership Challenge

“Humble yourselves, therefore, under GOD’s mighty hand, that He may lift you up in due time.  Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.”

1 Pet 5:6-7

In my time in GOD’s beautiful church, I have found that all too often people step out of the boat because they’re sick and tired of the other disciples… not because their eyes are fixed on Jesus… and they land up sinking in the waves.  This awesome scripture from Peter’s first epistle speaks to a few aspects of leadership and worship, leadership traits that are fundamental to solid, long-term growth and maturity, not only for ourselves, but also for the Church!

Peter reminds us of the importance of humility in response to GOD’s might.  When we worship, we sometimes fall into the trap of equating ourselves to GOD.  This happens when the balance is interrupted by the bias of our friend and brother in Christ.  We must never forget the reverence and awe that makes worship necessary.  We have access to worship because of our joint-heirship with Christ, but worship is required because of the Majesty, Mercy and Grace of GOD, through Jesus Christ.  This humility also reminds us that what we have and where we are is only because of GOD’s Grace, and not because of the Law or our own abilities and works.

We then read that GOD is the one who lifts us up.  GOD is the one that calls to us, from the waves, and invites us to step out.  If we decide that the boat is too crowded, too smelly or too opinionated, we’ll step out before the time is right for growth and maturity.  Sometimes this means waiting a few weeks; sometimes it means waiting a few years.  GOD first spoke to me through this scripture three years ago… and only recently have I felt His promotion (the Message says “He’ll promote you at the right time”).  It’s like GOD wants to make sure we’re in it for the long haul!

Excellence: an act of Jesus

Joseph Prince

"Blessed shall be the fruit of your body, the produce of your ground and the increase of your herds, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks."

Deut 28:4

Would you want to buy a chair that Jesus made? I would, even if it cost US$1,000 because it would be of superb quality. Whatever Jesus did, He did it with perfect excellence.

And because Christ is in you, the things which you produce will be of exceptional quality too. That includes your children, who will be champions. Deuteronomy 28:4 says, “Blessed shall be the fruit of your body, the produce of your ground and the increase of your herds, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks”.

God was using terms that the Israelites understood since they were farmers and shepherds. Today, “your ground” is the place of your work. This means that “the produce” of your work shall be of excellent quality.

That is not all. God promises that quantity will always follow quality because Deuteronomy 28:11 says that the Lord will “grant you plenty of goods, in the fruit of your body,” which means that you will have plenty of children, “in the increase of your livestock, and in the produce of your ground,” which means that your business will flourish and you will be a leading producer in the area of your specialty.

My friend, your excellence and plenty do not come by your efforts. They come by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, who paid for your prosperity — “though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich”. (2 Corinthians 8:9)

Jesus was made destitute of all material things at the cross. He had nothing! As He hung on the cross, He watched the Roman soldiers gamble for His robe. His last possession on earth was gambled away. He became poor, so that you could be blessed with the excellent and the plenty!

<<Joseph Prince.org>>

Strength to my hands

"Energize the limp hands, strengthen the rubbery knees.
Tell fearful souls, "Courage! Take heart! God is here, right here, on His way to put things right And redress all wrongs.  He's on his way! He'll save you!"

Is 35:4

As we near the end of the year, it's a time when we start to feel drained and hardpressed (2 Cor 4:8) and start to wonder why life can be so difficult.  Why do we have to be surrounded by so many difficult people when we feel like we have so little strength left to make it through?

I AM REDEEMED

  “Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by your name;
You are mine."

Isaiah 43:1 (NKJV)

(This is part 3 - click here for part 1, part 2)

Redemption is a very special word that is used quite specifically in the bible…  it has to do with slavery.  If someone is redeemed, it means that they used to be a slave – but are no longer.  Redemption is a ‘buyback’, or a swapping of an equivalent or better slave for another and setting that one free.  Does it sound like anything else in the Bible?  The cross!  But here we are reading it in Deutero-Isaiah – nearly 650 years before Christ even came, let alone died on the cross.  That means that all along, GOD’s design has been for us to have an identity and purpose that is linked to redemption.  An identity that says “I was a slave. I am now released.  I am not bound.”

In order to know what we were slaves to, we need to remember that until Jesus died on the cross and rose again, as our Lord and Saviour, we were bound and living in bondage to Sin.  Christ’s death on the cross had nothing to do with forgiveness, it had to do with salvation – with GRACE; with redemption.  GOD always offered forgiveness to His people, so that was nothing new.  The issue was the old covenant, it was a law that we could never fulfill in its entirety, only Christ could fulfill it.  That’s what happened in His finished work on the cross - GRACE.  In order for the law to be fulfilled, a life had to be given - GRACE.  The human race was stuck in the condition of Sin – that’s what we needed saving from; and GOD’s alternative - GRACE.

Often we think that salvation is an event that happens, and WHAMMO – we’re saved.  I like to think of it like this:  Living in Sin is like drowning in the ocean; we can swim, but the distance to shore is just too great for us to swim it alone.  We need a lifeguard to save us, one who knows the currents, swells, squalls and waves.  One who is a seasoned swimmer.  Now, the lifeguard swims out to us, but we still have to swim to shore, with Him.  Just because the lifeguard has reached out, doesn’t mean that the journey of being saved is over.  It’s the same with our walk with salvation in Christ – it’s a journey.

Until Jesus Christ cut loose those bonds, we were slaves to Sin.  We lived differently.  We spoke differently.  We looked different.  Change is noticed by differences, growth and newness and this happens a little more everyday.  Some changes may be radical, but others will be hard and we will have to work through them everyday.  All of this begins with us embracing our identity as REDEEMED!  Before – people would look at us and see us alone.  Now, when they see us, they should see our lifeguard too – what a challenge!

People need to see the change in our lives, they need to see that we are no longer bound if we are going to live with purpose.  Worship is proclaiming the majesty of GOD – not just in words, but also by our choices. ‘Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, they are a new creation.  The old is gone, the new has come.’ 2 Cor 5:17.

I believe that we need to be encouraged to know that we do not need to act like slaves – for we are redeemed, we are released – we are not bound to Sin!