Finding the Lord in spite of myself

"Then Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said,
'Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious." Acts 17:22

That could describe me. Very religious, trying in my own efforts to find the Lord and His acceptance. Trying to be good, when I already have Christ's goodness in me. Trying to feel the Lord's presence, when I have the assurance in the Word that He is always with me.(Hebrews 13:5)

Do you ever get sick and tired of yourself, of doing the same dumb thing over and over? I think God must get tired of me, too. But He is not like me (Psalm 50:21).

He is not in a hurry. He sees me sitting with Him in heavenly places, right now, in the midst of my own imperfections. Praise God, it says in Ephesians 2:6 that HE is the one who causes me to sit with Him in those wonderful heavenly places.

Do I see them? Do I feel them? Not yet, but since He said it, it must be a fact.David says in Psalm 23 that He is the one who:
1) makes me lie down in green pastures
2) leads me beside still waters
3) restores my soul
4) and will lead me in His path of righteousness for His name's sake

Be still, the Word says in Psalm 46. "and know that I am God." That is, He is God, and I am not. But I do have the assurance that this God lives within me, and will perfect that which concerns me.

In II Corinthians 13:11 today, the Apostle Paul said goodbye to the Corinthians, saying to them..."Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you." The word for be perfect is katartizo, which means:

"to make fit, to equip, prepare"

In this verse, the word is in the passive voice, which means the subject receives the action of the verb.

http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G2675&t=NKJV

It is up to God to work His attributes in me, I cannot produce them. The more I try, the more I fail. But if I patiently wait, He will work in me. Psalm 138:8 says:

"The LORD will perfect that which concerns me;
Your mercy, O LORD, endures forever;
Do not forsake the works of Your hands."

In this case, the Hebrew word for perfect is gamar. It is translated as "God who will complete for me"

http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=H1584&t=NKJV

I can rest today. He will do in me what He needs to do. I just thank Him and believe Him. I do not see how He will do it, but He will, because He promises to in His Word, which He puts above His own name.

Heb. 2:8-9 "...But now we do not yet see all things put under him.

(That would include how I see things in the present, but with the eyes of faith:)*

But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone."

He tasted death for me, so I can be at peace with myself today. Thank you Lord!

(*denotes my comment)

How Do You Know God?

"We have no need to fear of Someone Who loves us perfectly; His perfect love eliminates all dread of what He might do to us. If we are afraid, it is for fear of what He might do to us, and shows that we are not fully convinced that He really loves us." I John 4:18 (Living Letters: The Paraphrased Epistles by Kenneth N. Taylor

In my reading this morning, I came across a familiar passage from Matthew 25:24 when Jesus told the parable of the talents. Whenever I read those words in the past, I had a funny feeling that I could be the man who had one talent but buried it in the ground.

"Then he who had received the one talent came and said, 'Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed."

That is how I used to know God. How do you know Him?

The lord in the parable answered that his servant was "wicked" and "lazy" in verse 26 of Matthew 25. In the Outline of Biblical Usage, wicked is the Greek word ponēros (G#4190) and has these meanings:

I. labours, annoyances, hardships
A.
pressed and harassed by labours

B.
bringing toils, annoyances, perils; of a time full of peril to Christian faith and steadfastness; causing pain and trouble

II.
bad, of a bad nature or condition
A.
in a physical sense: diseased or blind

B.
in an ethical sense: evil wicked, bad

http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G4190&t=NKJV

The word for lazy is oknēros (G#3635) and it means in the Outline of Biblical Usage:

I. sluggish, slothful, backward

http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G3636&t=NKJV

For me personally, I see how in the past I was both wicked and lazy. (Let's call a spade a spade.) I did not know God as a loving Heavenly Father because I did not invest the time in finding out just what God's character was. The result was I ended up fearful, thinking God was always ready to "drop the hammer" on me.

How could I be fearful when it says this in Romans 8: 28-39?

"And we know all that happens to us is working for our good if we love God, and if we are fitting into His plans. For from the very beginning God decided that those who came to Him-and all along He knew who would-should become like His Son, so that His Son would be the first, with many brothers. And having chosen us, He called us to come to Him; and when we came, He declared us "not guilty," filled us with Christ's goodness, gave us right standing with Himself, and promised us His glory. What can we ever say to such wonderful things as these? If God be on our side, who can ever be against us? Since He did not even spare His own Son for us but gave Him up for us all, won't He also surely give us everything else? Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for His own? Will God? No! He is the One Who has forgiven us and given us right standing with Himself. Who then will condemn us? Will Christ? NO! For He is the One Who died for us and came back to life again for us and is sitting at the place of highest honor next to God, pleading for us there in heaven. Who then can ever keep away Christ's love for us? When we have trouble or calamity, when we are hunted down or destroyed, is it because He doesn't love us anymore? And if we are hungry, or penniless, or in danger, or threatened with death, has God deserted us? No, for the Scriptures tell us that for His sake we must be ready to face death at every moment of the day-we are like sheep awaiting slaughter; But despite all this, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ Who loves us. For I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from His love. Death can't and life can't. The angels won't, and all the powers of hell itself cannot keep God's love away. Our fears for today, our worries about tomorrow, Or where we are-high above the sky, or in the deepest ocean-nothing will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus, our Lord."

from Living Letters, Kenneth N. Taylor

Tell me of another god who loves like this God? A god would actually bear that cross up Golgotha's hill willingly and not open His mouth against His accusers? I have never heard of any. Christianity is the only faith that is God reaching down to man, not man trying to reach up to God through works.

Each day I am gaining confidence in the love He has for me, and that He is involved in every detail of my life. That is why Jesus beckoned us in Matthew 11: 28-30 to come to Him. In Kenneth Wuest's expanded translation it says this:

"Come here to Me, all who are growing weary to the point of exhaustion, and who have been loaded with burdens and are bending beneath their weight, and I alone will cause you to cease from your labor and take away your burdens and thus refresh you with rest. Take at once My yoke upon you and learn from Me, because I am meek and lowly in heart, and you will find cessation from labor and refreshment for your souls, for My yoke is mild and pleasant, and My load is light in weight."*

*My emphasis

Though I never knew the Lord to be that way, I one day decided it was high time for me to learn, and take on that gentle yoke. He never promises my life to be free from trials, but He does promise that He will give me rest through them. Each day, my pastor says, is given a "24 hour grace packet" by our loving Father.

I don't want to hide my talent in the ground. So I come to Him and learn of Him, of His graciousness, kindness and faithfulness. He promises He will never leave or forsake me. (Hebrews 13:5) If this is the kind of God that you want to know, I encourage you to come to Him today. As long as you are breathing, He will never turn you away. (John 6:37)