Neither Useless Nor Unfruitful

This week in our study of the life of Joseph, son of Jacob, author Mary Englund Murphy asked us to read 2 Peter 1:3-10. This passage greatly encouraged me and I knew there were probably three or more blog posts worth of material to be found within. Please click on the link to read it. I expanded my reading to include verses 2 and 11 to not only understand the context, but because they complete the thought Peter is expressing perfectly.

Contained in this passage is a list that Peter says will allow us to be "partakers of the divine nature" to help us escape "the corruption that is in the world by lust." Being raised legalistically and being highly analytical and logical, lists just make sense to me. Give me a list and I can check it off, right?

So what's on this list?

Well...it says that by applying diligence, that in my faith I should supply moral excellence, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness and love. And each of these are linked one with the next. My first thought upon reading it was that Paul taught in Galatians 5:22-23 that the fruit of the Spirit begins with love. Do they contradict one another? I don't think so. Instead I choose to look at them as bookends of a sort. Everything we do and live should begin and end with love. Period.

But back to the list. I could easily get bogged down in how to help myself have more moral excellence and have known many a Christian with a long list of don'ts that apparently feel the same way.

Dieting is my supreme manifestation of self-control...but it only lasts for a time. Knowledge? Yep...love that one. Perseverance? Okay...not my strong suit...but if I could only grin and bear it a little while longer, right? And on and on and on.

But here's why I fell in love with this passage: verse 8. That was it. Verse 8

"For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ."

See...I've been at this Christian thing long enough to know I will never be perfect at it. Tucked away in this amazing nugget of pure gold is God's reminder that it's okay that I won't. All He wants is improvement.

Will I mess up? Absolutely! Will I embarrass myself? Yes! Will I let others down by my conduct? You betcha!

But God never said that a fail in the moment would render my life useless or unfruitful. No...once again, He's reminding me that He's in this for the long haul...and I should be too.

You have to know there is so much more...right?

Verse 9 is just the humility I need when it's been awhile since I've messed up and I'm staring down my nose at the person whose dirty laundry just got aired to the world. "For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins."

Yikes.

What are the promises that result from an increase in the knowledge of Jesus and living out moral excellence, etc.? Verse 10 states that "as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble." That is wonderful. That is blessing enough. I dearly wish I would never stumble again, although I know the reality is...I will.

But verse 11 is the promise, the hope, the encouragement and the prize for which I await. Practicing these things in increasing measure as I live out His calling in me (see verse 10) is the way "the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you."

Amen!

Want to experience a little Kingdom on Earth as it is in Heaven? Then be certain of His calling and choosing you. Don't doubt it for even one nanosecond. And then...with increasing...little by little, as He equips you to do so by the power of His Holy Spirit (see verse 3) live a morally excellent, knowledge-filled, self-controlled, persevering, godly, kind and loving life.

This is how we "escape the corruption of this world" (verse 4).

This is how we partake in His divine nature.

This is how we know Jesus and see His Kingdom now!

 

Living the Vision, part 6: Everything is Finished

**This is the last in a of a series of posts that are a more in-depth look at a lesson I recently taught to a group of women in our church. To read the additional posts, you can easily access them by clicking on the links at the bottom of the page or in the body of this text.**


Yes, it is finally coming to an end...sort of. See...I think this "Living the Vision"-thing is a lesson that never ends. When I shared how God is drawing me to "live like the vision is complete", it includes coming to Him daily and thanking Him that it is done, and asking Him to show me how to live like it...just for today. Today is enough to worry about, Jesus said. (see Matthew 6) I think He actually meant it, although it flies directly in the face of everything we have experienced in this life.

So to pull all of these posts together, I have taken a little longer to ponder and process for this final segment. It is by far the most potentially volatile and could conceivably be misconstrued on many different levels. Therefore, I am asking you not to take my word for it. Instead, go to the Holy Spirit and ask for His discernment. He has challenged us to
"...cry for discernment, 
Lift your voice for understanding; 
If you seek her as silver 
And search for her as for hidden treasure;
Then you will discern the fear of the LORD
And discover the knowledge of God." (Proverbs 2:3-5)

You also need to know up front that I despise "prosperity gospel" and "name it and claim it" heresy. The "power of positive thinking", might lower your blood pressure, but no where did Jesus equate blessings with wealth, happiness with stuff, or Christianity with an easy-street-pass for ever and ever. Amen!

With that disclaimer in mind, I still want to persuade you of something. This is why I used words like "revolutionary" to describe this "revelation" on how to approach God's will and even how I would pray.

The "thing" is this:
When the Holy Spirit lays a request or desire upon your heart for which to seek His will, wisdom or discernment...we should automatically accept that it is done!

Go ahead...think of something for which you have been praying. Ask these questions...

• Is it good?
• Is it within God's will?
• Can only good come from it?
• If I remember that God still gives visions and dreams; this world as we know it is not all there is and that God dwells in the fullness of time is there any reason why God couldn't complete this "thing" some day?

James teaches us that "Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow." (James 1:17) If only good will result from it...I can guarantee you the prompting is not from your Enemy. Again...I am not talking about stuff! We Americans have to stop thinking of prosperity, blessings, joy, and happiness in terms of wealth and stuff!

When I ask, "Is it within God's will?"...this isn't really as complicated as we make it either. I don't know how many times myself or others have absolutely agonized in prayer over someone's salvation. Is it God's will that a person be saved? Absolutely! If not, then Jesus died for nothing and His blood sacrifice was a waste.

2 Peter 3:9 tells us that, in fact, God wants everyone to come to repentance. Now...don't go around saying that I've become a universalist. Do I think everyone will be in Heaven? Actually, Scripture teaches that many will not. I am saying their salvation is complete. They still have the option to choose it or not.

But God also told us that if we delight in Him, He would give us the desires of our hearts. (see Psalm 37:4) As we delight in Him...His desires are reflected in our desires. If He lays upon my heart to pray for someone to seek a relationship with Him...I am 100% certain that for God...it is done!

We no longer have to agonize over if it's His will for someone to know Him. Instead...keeping the focus simple, as with the Vision for your life...when the Holy Spirit reminds us to pray for a person, we can confidently thank Him that "Joe's" (insert any name He leads you to) salvation is complete! It's done! Hallelujah!

The second part of that prayer is this...Now today Lord...draw them just one step closer to living like it! And then, when we see "Joe" being kind...or generous...or loving...or merciful...or forgiving...or anything that is good...recognize it, remember that "Joe" is on a Journey to becoming the soul God created Him to be and thank God for how you see Him working in "Joe's" life. Once again...I can guarantee none of those "good" attributes are anything "Joe" just drummed up out of the goodness of his own heart. No...Scripture also tells us twice that "every inclination of the human heart is evil." (see Genesis 6:5 and Genesis 8:21) 

Do I think that all "good" people will get into Heaven? Bottom line...I am not God and I will never presume to decide who's in and who's out. What I do know is that Jesus said He is the way to the Father (see John 14:6) I just happen to believe that it absolutely does not matter how God chooses to bring a person to that conscious choice.

As humans created in the image of God, we just don't want anyone to suffer. But sometimes it takes great loss and great tragedy for a person to lean upon an Almighty God. Are we willing to walk through great suffering, loss and tragedy with someone...if it means they can spend eternity with their Saviour? Sometimes I think we want to make everything neat, tidy and pain free. But if someone had to endure pain and decimation in order to experience the full glory of God...wouldn't that be worth it? There is no fuller glory than knowing the redemption of a loving Saviour!

The other example I'll give is when we pray for a person's healing. I don't want to belabor the point, but suffice it to say no one has ever entered Heaven with a tumor on their back...or brain...or colon...or carried a congenital birth defect into eternity. And no matter how much we pray for healing in the now...none of us will be whole and healed until we stand before Jesus.

Can God heal in this life? Absolutely! Does He sometimes choose to do so? Again..a resounding "yes!" But we have to stop thinking that if we agonize in prayer just a little bit more...maybe He'll do it in regards to the loved one for which we pray. Too many parents are beating themselves up for not being faith-filled enough. And too many people begrudge a God that "chooses" not to heal them. 

If we can remember that this life as we know it is not all there is then when the healing occurs doesn't matter...because we know it will!!! Again...God dwells in the fullness of time so for Him your healing is complete...now for today...what do we need to do to live like it?

I would never belittle another person's pain. I also know there are parents with children for whom their prognosis gives great uncertainty as to what their future can hold. I just know that when I am praying as the Holy Spirit leads...I can confidently pray that for Him, that person is healed. But even better...there will be a day when I get to hear the story of how God healed them and how His presence was so real during their illness that they knew He was near.

For me, it does not matter if I hear their story in this life...or the life to come. I will hear it!

And Beautiful Beloved...you will one day have that amazing child look you in the face and tell you how they always knew you were there and they never missed one minute of what you did to love and serve them. And that parent or grandparent that right now struggles to remember your name will very soon sit across the table from you and remind you of your patience, care and joy during the journey of their slow decline.

You see...for God...there is only healing.

I've got to wrap this up, but thank you for hanging with me. I pray you do seek God's wisdom in regards to not only the Vision He has for your life...but how to live it out for today. But more than that...my prayer is that we can boldly and confidently believe Him. Instead of laboring painstakingly to effectively pray and drum up the faith to make the prayers come to fruition and agonizing over when and how the results will be revealed...we can embrace that for God, His will is already complete.

So why aren't we living like it???

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I would delight in hearing how God works this out in you and draws you closer into discovering His Kingdom is already at hand. Feel free to leave me a comment and allow me the joy of rejoicing with you! Amen!

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See also the other posts in the "Living the Vision" series:

Part 1, God Still Gives Visions and Dreams

Part 2, This Life As We Know It...

Part 3, God Dwells in the Fullness of Time

Part 4, The Vision is Complete

Part 5, How Do I Live Like the Vision is Complete?

Why Doesn't the Simple Thing Work Anymore?

When I started reading Captive in Iran and have heard testimonies recently from missionaries in hostile environments, like Mid-India Christian Services, I keep having this question ringing through my head: Why don't the "old" ways of reaching the lost for Jesus work in the U.S. anymore?

Now, I'm sure there are dozens of people that would love to educate me about living in a post-modern or post-Christian culture. You could even debate how intellectual we are or dare I say, how we've "evolved"...but I already know a lot about these subjects and they just don't seem to be the answer to my question.

Are you telling me that Iranians or Indians are not as smart? That somehow people in other parts of the world have lesser mental capabilities than we do? No...I'm pretty sure we all have the same God-given mental capacities.

So why? Why can two women being held in a cesspool of human waste, hopelessness and pain walk up to a complete stranger and say essentially, "You are lost. We know the God who loves you. We would like to introduce you to His Son, Jesus. And He will be your hope and shield." And often the response they get is, "You know what...I think you're right. I believe."

Okay...so I've streamlined the conversations a little for dramatic affect...but the basic premise reigns true: Why does it take so much more here in the U.S. to convince...beg...someone to believe they are loved by the Creator and need Him more than anything else in this life?

I was asking this throughout the entire reading of the book. Here's what I think the Holy Spirit whispered to my heart as the answer...it's nothing complicated...in fact, it's only one word...but the implications are more than I think we would really like to grasp. The word?

Suffering!

There it is. In places where to be a Christian is to automatically expect persecution, suffering and even death...the Love and Hope of Jesus is spreading like a desert wildfire. Why? Because just like the early Christians going to their deaths in a coliseum singing...we innately know there is nothing rational about joy in the midst of pain. When it is witnessed by the unbeliever...God's unfathomable Love cannot be denied.

We in the U.S. for the most part have never suffered. When we grasp that the poorest person in the U.S. is still 90% richer than over half of the world...we will understand what a tremendous blessing we have been given. But the blessing has in fact, become a curse.

No longer is the love of Jesus needed for salvation here. We can self-help, self-medicate, self-esteem and self-ishly get our way out of almost anything. And if someone can't...then we can blame the government, schools, deterioration of the family, gun laws, entitlements, video games, climate change, the media or a plethora of other things for why someone fails to "pull themselves up by their bootstraps" and get better. When will come the day that we must admit...the bootstraps are not ours to pull?

I'm not a doomsday prophet...nor do I want to be. I wish the good times would just keep rolling in...but do we really worship a God that came to our Earth and said, 'Take up your cross and follow me." (see Matthew 16:24) ?? Do we worship the suffering Savior that for our own sins was beaten beyond recognition, hung on a cross in the town dump, while being mocked by strangers and denied by his friends and not really expect some of the same treatment? (See Matthew 27)

I also don't believe that God ever loses hope of drawing people to Him. We are told that God isn't slow in keeping His promises (to return). He tarries so that everyone has a chance to repent. (see 2 Peter 3:9) So I don't think God will ever just "abandon" the U.S....even though it may seem like people are abandoning Him for their own comfort, pleasure and indulgences.

What will it take to draw people to Him? If history is accurate...it takes suffering. When we have nothing left...we find that the only thing we ever needed was Him. That has proved true in my own life as well. So when the rocks are tumbling and the light is dwindling and the hope seems to be fading...do not despair...

He's on His way!