Robert Neuenschwander (![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} arjayen) wrote in ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif){kind=small} christianity,@ 2008-03-24 23:29:00 |
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Direct lessons
Greetings, all in the community. Life has been busy, little time to write in my OWN journal, let alone here. But here are some snippets from my life I thought would add to discussion:
Devotions have been…an exercise in trust. While studying the Holy Word, few inspirations are sent to me. They have come later, at unexpected times. This has made devotionals difficult, as God rarely talks to me at that time. But having the attitude of making time for God leaves my spirit open to Heaven for the remaining part of the day.
I knew my expectations post-college of my life and the workforce were being tested. I felt prepared and ready…but the past few months proved otherwise. I felt…naked, without the right tools to succeed. Like God threw me in a place where I had no chance to succeed. But God said, “You have always been naked and lacked the willing spirit for what I have in mind for you. You have simply never NOTICED until you were forced to slow down. You have been running along YOUR life plan at a brisk jog, until now.”
My heart needed changed. It had grown hard and stubborn. I could feel these sporadic…pains in my soul, like someone was tapping and tapping…sheathing away at my mental barriers. That was Jesus, having to break down my will so my heart could become soft and moldable again. I learned a large idea that was holding me back…was trusting in something I could not control. I have no say in how Jesus runs my life, and the lives of those around me.
One day I had a desire to hear a certain Christian song on the radio. It came after I was praying during a drive home. I said to God, “I would really appreciate it if in the next ten minutes, I could hear that song.” It never came. However…at nearly the same time the following day (and within TWO minutes of being in the car), that song came on. I was floored…both by THAT, and what Christ burned into my head. “I hear your cries, and know the desires of your heart. But I do not work according to YOUR timetable.”
God can teach through the most mundane things. For me, a key lesson was through the dim glow of my laptop screen. I had fallen asleep one evening, and woke up with no lighting save the screen of my laptop. I looked at it, noting the light reflected on the spine of books nearby. Even in the darkness, I could determine what that shelf contained. And God said, “That light is like you. Try as you might, for all the good you are capable of doing; you can only light a fraction of your life. Your own efforts cannot provide the illumination you require. I am the ceiling light, the Light which extends everywhere, bring life and warmth to all corners of your mind.”
The past few months have been difficult. I felt like I was pressed down, unable to move, God intentionally keeping me still. A lesson from Exodus explained why. When the Israelites were hard pressed against the Red Sea, God sent a wind to part the waters. Imagine the kind of force that type of wind contained. The people would be pinned down too, unable to retreat, to even FIND another way around the approaching army. But when the wind died down, the Chosen People discovered a route they never thought possible. While I was pushed down, confused, wondering why such unhelpful stress was in my present…I would later see what was REALLY happening. And, I would be happy and EAGER to move through a new, incredible path.
Another lesson also involved my control issues. I believed the only time Jesus was supporting me, helping me, was when my own personal goals were being met. If I was not moving forward to my personalized future, God was holding me back. This thought was impressed on me: “You have a limited definition of what Me being with you entails.” And I did. God could only work in the ways I saw fit. Yeah, like I can dictate policy to GOD.
The biggest, most important lesson was the subject of God’s glory. Whatever I was struggling with, or planning, if I was doing it for my OWN glory, I would fail. I had to do so for God’s glory, not my own. Let me explain further:
-If you are struggling with a sin, are you attempting to overcome for your own benefit, or to show God’s power?
-Relationships fill your life with fun and social needs, or are you actively trying to show and BE Jesus to your family/friends?
God will not share His glory, and me even attempting to take SOME of the credit is robbing God. The main difference of previous methods was the motivation. To merely feel better about myself, to look better to other people, to clean up so I can think I am alright - all of these motives and others are not effective - they are driven by will power. And we know from experience that will power gives way to the flesh.
Excerpts taken from Setting Captives Free:
“…we must have God’s glory as our motive for finding freedom from impurity. Most people have their own glory as the motive for finding freedom; they want to get free in order to feel better about themselves, to save their marriage, or to be more productive at work. This, in reality, is self-worship, which should have no place in the heart of the Christian who professes to worship God. God does all things for His own glory (Psalm 21:5; Psalm 63.2; Psalm 79:9; Proverbs 25:27; John 7:18) and, as we also begin to work for the glory of God instead of our own glory, we become people of truth and we inevitably find freedom from habitual sin.”
“But then, as I sat here and went through the list of reasons why I want to have freedom, I can see that it is for my own benefit and my own glory. I want to be able to appear as a godly man who has no sin in his life. I want to be free so that my life would be easier and without hindrances anymore. As much as I want to say that my motives are to glorify Christ by my freedom, I have to admit that my motives are purely for myself and how freedom would benefit me. Hmmm...maybe that's why the chains have continued to hold me fast for over 20 years of my life! This question is basically saying that I am to get my eyes off of what this course will do for ME, and instead focus on how God can be glorified through me."”
“This concept is very important to understand, so let’s look at an illustration of this in Judges 7:2
"And the LORD said to Gideon, 'The people who are with you are too many for Me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel claim glory for itself against Me, saying, 'My own hand has saved me.'"
Do you see it? God had to REDUCE the size of Gideon's army so that, when they won the battle, Israel would not claim glory for themselves. This could be the very reason why we have not been successful in finding permanent freedom from impurity in the past, because God has not wanted us to boast in ourselves, or in a certain method or program, or in following the advice of some guru. God desires His glory to be great in our salvation. (Psalm 21:5) God works for His own glory!”
Arjayen
Greetings, all in the community. Life has been busy, little time to write in my OWN journal, let alone here. But here are some snippets from my life I thought would add to discussion:
Devotions have been…an exercise in trust. While studying the Holy Word, few inspirations are sent to me. They have come later, at unexpected times. This has made devotionals difficult, as God rarely talks to me at that time. But having the attitude of making time for God leaves my spirit open to Heaven for the remaining part of the day.
I knew my expectations post-college of my life and the workforce were being tested. I felt prepared and ready…but the past few months proved otherwise. I felt…naked, without the right tools to succeed. Like God threw me in a place where I had no chance to succeed. But God said, “You have always been naked and lacked the willing spirit for what I have in mind for you. You have simply never NOTICED until you were forced to slow down. You have been running along YOUR life plan at a brisk jog, until now.”
My heart needed changed. It had grown hard and stubborn. I could feel these sporadic…pains in my soul, like someone was tapping and tapping…sheathing away at my mental barriers. That was Jesus, having to break down my will so my heart could become soft and moldable again. I learned a large idea that was holding me back…was trusting in something I could not control. I have no say in how Jesus runs my life, and the lives of those around me.
One day I had a desire to hear a certain Christian song on the radio. It came after I was praying during a drive home. I said to God, “I would really appreciate it if in the next ten minutes, I could hear that song.” It never came. However…at nearly the same time the following day (and within TWO minutes of being in the car), that song came on. I was floored…both by THAT, and what Christ burned into my head. “I hear your cries, and know the desires of your heart. But I do not work according to YOUR timetable.”
God can teach through the most mundane things. For me, a key lesson was through the dim glow of my laptop screen. I had fallen asleep one evening, and woke up with no lighting save the screen of my laptop. I looked at it, noting the light reflected on the spine of books nearby. Even in the darkness, I could determine what that shelf contained. And God said, “That light is like you. Try as you might, for all the good you are capable of doing; you can only light a fraction of your life. Your own efforts cannot provide the illumination you require. I am the ceiling light, the Light which extends everywhere, bring life and warmth to all corners of your mind.”
The past few months have been difficult. I felt like I was pressed down, unable to move, God intentionally keeping me still. A lesson from Exodus explained why. When the Israelites were hard pressed against the Red Sea, God sent a wind to part the waters. Imagine the kind of force that type of wind contained. The people would be pinned down too, unable to retreat, to even FIND another way around the approaching army. But when the wind died down, the Chosen People discovered a route they never thought possible. While I was pushed down, confused, wondering why such unhelpful stress was in my present…I would later see what was REALLY happening. And, I would be happy and EAGER to move through a new, incredible path.
Another lesson also involved my control issues. I believed the only time Jesus was supporting me, helping me, was when my own personal goals were being met. If I was not moving forward to my personalized future, God was holding me back. This thought was impressed on me: “You have a limited definition of what Me being with you entails.” And I did. God could only work in the ways I saw fit. Yeah, like I can dictate policy to GOD.
The biggest, most important lesson was the subject of God’s glory. Whatever I was struggling with, or planning, if I was doing it for my OWN glory, I would fail. I had to do so for God’s glory, not my own. Let me explain further:
-If you are struggling with a sin, are you attempting to overcome for your own benefit, or to show God’s power?
-Relationships fill your life with fun and social needs, or are you actively trying to show and BE Jesus to your family/friends?
God will not share His glory, and me even attempting to take SOME of the credit is robbing God. The main difference of previous methods was the motivation. To merely feel better about myself, to look better to other people, to clean up so I can think I am alright - all of these motives and others are not effective - they are driven by will power. And we know from experience that will power gives way to the flesh.
Excerpts taken from Setting Captives Free:
“…we must have God’s glory as our motive for finding freedom from impurity. Most people have their own glory as the motive for finding freedom; they want to get free in order to feel better about themselves, to save their marriage, or to be more productive at work. This, in reality, is self-worship, which should have no place in the heart of the Christian who professes to worship God. God does all things for His own glory (Psalm 21:5; Psalm 63.2; Psalm 79:9; Proverbs 25:27; John 7:18) and, as we also begin to work for the glory of God instead of our own glory, we become people of truth and we inevitably find freedom from habitual sin.”
“But then, as I sat here and went through the list of reasons why I want to have freedom, I can see that it is for my own benefit and my own glory. I want to be able to appear as a godly man who has no sin in his life. I want to be free so that my life would be easier and without hindrances anymore. As much as I want to say that my motives are to glorify Christ by my freedom, I have to admit that my motives are purely for myself and how freedom would benefit me. Hmmm...maybe that's why the chains have continued to hold me fast for over 20 years of my life! This question is basically saying that I am to get my eyes off of what this course will do for ME, and instead focus on how God can be glorified through me."”
“This concept is very important to understand, so let’s look at an illustration of this in Judges 7:2
"And the LORD said to Gideon, 'The people who are with you are too many for Me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel claim glory for itself against Me, saying, 'My own hand has saved me.'"
Do you see it? God had to REDUCE the size of Gideon's army so that, when they won the battle, Israel would not claim glory for themselves. This could be the very reason why we have not been successful in finding permanent freedom from impurity in the past, because God has not wanted us to boast in ourselves, or in a certain method or program, or in following the advice of some guru. God desires His glory to be great in our salvation. (Psalm 21:5) God works for His own glory!”
Arjayen
