When you walk through the fire you will not be burned Is 43:2

In my daily readings yesterday, this verse stood out to me. What I did not know was that an old emotional wound was going to be triggered by a small injustice. My emotional memory kicked in, and I found myself overwhelmed by hurts from the past. And I thought that that had healed!

As is my habit at times like this, I journaled. In psalm 142:2 David says “I poured out my complaints to the Lord.” As part of this journaling and as an attempt to get the obsessive thoughts out of my head I would write letters, and in fact I spent most of yesterday writing an email I would never send.

I often look at a daily prophetic word that comes automatically into my inbox, and this morning the word was “Breaking out of old thinking and habits will be necessary, but not necessarily easy.” I immediately wanted to apply this to my protagonist, but the Lord had other ideas. He was showing me that I was not pouring my complaint out to Him but to the one who had offended me (but they would never hear it). Long story short, had I poured out my complaint to Him and heard what He was trying to say to me in the verse He had brought to my attention, I would not have wasted so much time, energy and pain on email writing.

What He was wanting me to hear was “Yes this hurts Phil, but it will not harm you, it is a fire, but it will not burn you.”

There is a huge difference between hurt and harm. When we go to the dentist it can hurt, but the short term hurt brings long term relief. If we (I) say that we (I) truly believe that he is actively at work in all things for our good (Romans 8:28), then we (I) need to show this by choosing to trust him. When we (I) do this then though things hurt, they cannot ultimately harm us. In fact each trial has the capacity to grow our faith and strengthen us.

So His word to me, breaking this old habit is necessary, but not necessarily easy.

Father I choose to trust You, I choose to cast all my cares upon You. I know that You care for me, help me to do my part in strengthening the weak hands that hang down, so that I may bring honour and glory to Your Name. In Jesus name Amen!

We no longer see anyone according to the flesh

You have probably had the experience of doing ten things right, and one thing wrong. And what do people remember? The one thing wrong of course! When they and we do such things, we are seeing people according to the flesh.

So then if we don’t see people according to the flesh how are we supposed to see them? The answer is that we need to see them as God sees them. In fact we also need to see ourselves as God sees us. In other words the “anyone”, includes ourselves. If you are in Christ, then according to the Scriptures you are a saint! In other words if you are in Christ, God see you as a saint. Now you and I may not be saintly, our lives may not match what God calls us. But what He does is to call us to be what he says we are. In other words he calls us to be saintly.

The verse following the one quoted above is verse 17 of 1st Corinthians 5. It says “therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things are passed away; behold all things are become new.”

This verse has been misapplied in many christian circles, it has been understood to be saying, that I don’t need to deal with the past, because all things are become new. But what the verse is saying when we take it in context, is rather than not needing to deal with the past, we need to deal with it in such a way that our future does not become our past. In other words he calls us into our new destiny as new creations in Christ.

So the admonition at the title of this post has to do with seeing others and ourselves as God sees them, us. And so we need to be looking for the treasure in others, and indeed in ourselves, rather than looking for the trash. It is not hard to find the trash, especially in others, but God calls us to see the treasure. The intent of course, is to call us into the high calling that each one of us has in Christ Jesus.

And we cannot do this without dealing with the past. In particular we cannot put off the old man, we cannot crucify the flesh, without dealing with it. He has given as many tools to do this in his Word. In particular, it cannot be done in isolation, it has to be done in community. For example we cannot confess our faults one to another in isolation. Most of our difficulties are relational, and it is His intention that we work through things in the furnace of our interactions. This is exactly what it means when he talks about iron sharpening iron. And and in the midst of this often difficult interaction, we are to continue to see the treasure in ourselves, (i.e. no beating ourselves up), and in others, (i.e. not putting them down). In other words bearing with each other and love one another, just as Christ has done for us.

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

As can be seen from the the context of the verse at the head of this post, Matthew 6:33, the phrase “all these things” is talking about our basic needs. Jesus is telling us not to worry about these things, since our heavenly father knows that we have need of them. In fact God has promised to supply all of our needs according to His riches in glory. The above verse stood out to me from my daily readings this morning, because the Lord had brought it to my attention recently. When I came back from my Vacaville trip, it looked like I had brought bedbugs back with me. When I discovered bites and looked it up in the Internet confirming that they were bedbug bites, I bought spray, powder and a cover for my mattress. I washed my bedclothes, etc.

There is a principle here, and that is that we needed to do everything that is reasonable on our part, and then to leave it in His hands. It would have been easy to worry, and as I was tempted to do just that, the verse at the head of this post came to mind. And I chose to concentrate on the kingdom, and when I did, I had peace, and I have had no new bites since that time.

Some would say that the command not to worry, is easier said than done. But the Lord never gives a command that He does not with the command also give the wherewithal, the grace if you like, to do what he is commanding. It’s all about faith, and faith is a muscle, it needs to be exercised. So we choose to trust him.

Lord, there are a number of things happening at the moment, that could go badly wrong. But I am choosing to trust You, and to seek You first, and to bring it to You in prayer. Over and over I have seen You work it out for Your praise and for Your glory.

Lord I thank You for Your faithfulness, I thank You for Your grace, Your grace to trust and to believe. I choose to trust that You are actively working all things together for my good, and I praise and thank and worship you, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. I love You Lord Amen!

He is our peace, who has broken down every wall

This slight misquote from Ephesians chapter 2 is, nevertheless true. The same passage say is that he has abolished the enmity between us. So any enmity that it still exists between us, any wall that still exists between us is not only man-made, but it is contrary to his expressed agenda that in the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him (Ephesians 1:10).

In fact we are commanded, as much as it depends on us, to live at peace with everyone (Romans 12:18). Since it is his heart for us to live at peace with each other, if we truly desire to please him, we should be willing to go the 2nd mile.

The phrase the 2nd mile, comes from Matthew 5 and verse 41. It says “And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two.” The background to this command is of course 1st century Palestine. A Roman soldier had the right to demand anyone he chose, that he carry his load for one mile. He could not compel him to go two. In obeying Jesus’ command, the Christian would be walking in the opposite spirit from the normal spirit which would be resentment.

Walking in the opposite spirit is the path to freedom, because it is walking in the light of his word. It also facilitates peace.

Father, your commandments go so contrary to the world. But the upside down kingdom is designed to set us free. Father when we seek to live at peace with everyone, forgiving them, loving them, serving them, then we are walking in your steps. And when we do this, we receive your grace and love and comfort. Help us to see that father, and to get on board with it. In Jesus name amen.

He will make my feet like hind’s feet

Habakkuk 3:17 Though the fig tree may not blossom, Nor fruit be on the vines; Though the labor of the olive may fail, And the fields yield no food; Though the flock may be cut off from the fold, And there be no herd in the stalls— 18 Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation. 19 The LORD God is my strength; He will make my feet like hind’s feet, And He will make me walk on my high mountains.

According to Mike Bickle, one reason why God allows pressure is because it 
refocuses our souls on reality, but what does he mean? If the reason we fail to enter into rest is because of unbelief and disobedience, then it is for exactly these same reasons that we fail to enter into the reality of the abundant life, the life that Jesus promises to those who truly follow him.

The “yet” of verse 18 can be understood as “in spite of this,” I will rejoice in the Lord. But in my own experience, it is not so much in spite of all that is going wrong that I enter into the abundant life, but rather because of it. It is my contention that our loving heavenly Father allows the trials and tribulations and temptations in order to help us to choose Him. In fact these things are crossroads in most of our lives. Will we choose to believe that God is actively at work, even in these things, for our good, or will we give in to the pressure and allow it to drag us down? Or to put it another way, is this faith thing real, or have we believed cunningly devised fables? Or yet another way, is God, the Christian life and the things we read in the Bible, are they real, or is there nothing really there?

What Mike Bickel is claiming, is that reality, hope, peace, joy etc., are to be found in our relationship with the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. So the question we need to ask ourselves, when all hell breaks loose around us, is “will I stand, or will I fall, will I put my trust in the ultimate reality, or will I choose to allow the trials and temptations of life to be my reality?”

The Scriptures tell us that without faith it is impossible to please God, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him (Hebrews 11:6). So again in the difficulties, in the trials do we ask “Where are you God in this?” We need to seek Him in the trial. And when we do, when we choose to trust Him to the extent that we even choose to rejoice, then He lifts us out of the pseudo-reality, above the trials and seats is with Him in high heavenly places. He makes my feet like Hinds feet.

A hind, is a female dear, and Habakkuk has in mind the kind we see in the picture. The hinds feet allow her to stand in impossible places. So too we, when we choose to rejoice in the Lord, and to joy in the God of our salvation, will be able to stand firm and secure in the high places of His shelter and love.

Father, I choose today to rejoice in you, to joy in you the God of my salvation. I need your help even in this, even in choosing to do this. I know I will need to do this over and over until the reality of heavenly things becomes my present experiential reality. Thank you that you have promised to do exceedingly abundantly above all that I can ask or imagine, even in this. The father I believe that when I do my part, you will do yours. In Jesus name Amen

He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

Is your faith active or passive? I ask myself the same question. This verse from Hebrews tells us that God is a rewarder of those who seek him diligently. I remember years ago when my oldest grandson was about 2, I had just bought a new house and I took him into it, to show him round. There was not a stick of furniture in the place, and he asked me if we could play hide and go seek. You hide grandpa, he said, and I will search for you.

So I went into the furthest room and hid in the closet. Ready or not here I come. Are you in this room grandpa? No! Are you in this one? No! Eventually he comes into the furthest room. Are you in this one grandpa? Remember not a stick of furniture. Yes. So he comes to the closet, opens the door and says “I found you grandpa!”

His little face was a picture, such joy. He had age appropriately, given everything that he had. He had searched diligently, not perhaps diligently for a 20-year-old, but diligently for a 2-year-old. He had given it everything he had, and the reward was according to his having given everything. Such joy!

I was hiding for him, not from him, and God does the same thing, He hides for us and asks us to search for him diligently. He does not hide from us but for us. It is the glory of God to hide for us, is is the glory of His children (Kings and Queens) to search it out Proverbs 25:2. Remember He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

These things should cause us to question where we are in our faith. How do I handle the difficult circumstances, the disappointments, the trials and tribulations, the temptations? The Lord knows where we are on our journey, and he has promised that he will not allow us to be tested or tempted above are ability to endure 1 Corinthians 10:13. Part of searching for him diligently, is to ask him where he is in these difficulties, to ask him, as the verse stays, where the way of escape is. It is said that faith is like a muscle, it needs to be stretched and tested in order for it to grow stronger.

Father help me to know that you are always near. Help me to choose to believe, to really believe, that you are actively at work in all things for my good. Let these thoughts not just stay in my head, but manifest in my attitudes and actions, and let my growing faith increase a confidence in You, in Your promises, in Your word, in Your character, and in Your extravagant healing love for me.

There remains therefore a rest for the people of God Hebrews 4:9

The rest that the writer to the Hebrews speaks of here, is both eternal rest, and here and now rest. In fact eternal life, the life of the age begins now. It is as with the kingdom. The kingdom is here, and not yet. So it is with the rest.

If we are to enter into the fullness of life that Jesus promised, then we need to operate out of the place of rest. What does this look like? Well what it does not look like it is striving and worry, stress, outbursts of anger and similar works of the flesh.

In the context of the Scriptures that were looking at this morning, we can fail to enter into rest because of disobedience (verse 11). But we are also told in chapter 3 and verse 19 that Israel could not enter into rest because of unbelief. So that is both disobedience, and the lexicon as adds stubbornness in its definition of this word, but also unbelief. In fact worry is both of these things. Firstly because Jesus tells us not to be anxious about anything. It is a command. And of course with the command, Jesus also gives the wherewithal to do what is commanded. It also has to do with faith. Worry is the exact opposite of faith, except that it can be thought of as faith in what might go wrong.

So it is possible to enter into this rest in the here and now. But again the command is to be diligent (verse 11 again), or as some other translations say strive to enter into rest. In particular when we catch ourselves worrying we need to take authority over our thought life. Likely we will need to repent, confess that we are worrying, and that all worrying is both unbelief and disobedience. We then need to ask God to fill the empty place with faith and a spirit of obedience.

Father, forgive me for the times that I have worried, fretted, allowed negative thoughts and fears to overwhelm me. Cleanse me from such. Give me your joy, your peace, your rest in Jesus name.