“So, humble yourselves under God’s strong hand, and in his own good time he will lift you up.”
1 Peter 5:6-7
J.B. Phillips New Testament (PHILLIPS)
6-7 So, humble yourselves under God’s strong hand, and in his own good time he will lift you up. You can throw the whole weight of your anxieties upon him, for you are his personal concern.
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Most people believe that by working really hard, they will succeed in life and all their dreams will come true. However, life doesn’t always turn out like we dreamed. In spite of our best efforts: The onslaught of the devil when we are not vigilant and we take our eyes off the things of GOD our: marriages fail, relationships fail, companies scale down, the economy drops, children become prodigals, sickness and disease take lives or stifle productivity, etc…
Being a believer in Christ Jesus doesn’t wrap you in a bubble so that the pains and tragedies of life can’t touch you or your family. However being a Christian guarantees a life that is marked by the presence and hand of God in everything that you do, everything that you are exposed to, and every dream that has failed. It’s a crushing experience to lose your heart’s desire. This can be the loneliest period of time because no one can really feel your pain unless they’ve gone through a heartbreaking loss.
Even in this, God is in control and you can have hope in the midst of it. In your mind, hold up your failed dream to God and place it at the foot of the cross—trusting in Him to replenish your brokenness. Some people attempt to shrug off their disappointment and pretend that it never happened. However, some unforeseen event can trigger deep sadness and weariness that will eventually stop them in their tracks. It’s healthy to cry, to mourn, or to shout out if necessary, “Life’s unfair!” Jesus cried. There’s refreshing power from the Spirit of God when we allow our vulnerability to be exposed.
Most of your close family and friends will have very little to say. Many times they may feel overwhelmed at your distress and their inability to make everything alright for you. This isn’t necessarily a time for them to offer countless words of advice that you may not be able to contain anyway. Our dreams may have come to an end for many reasons. Perhaps we were overly compulsive and irresponsible. Or perhaps we were at the mercy of other people’s bad decisions.
Whatever the reason, there needs to be a time of solitude and reflection in the presence of God. Get away from the busyness and distractions of life to spend time talking and listening to God’s direction. His ways aren’t our ways and we must be willing to submit to His plan for our lives even though we don’t clearly see the way. Sometimes when our dreams are shattered, we don’t know how to think anymore.
We’ve trained our minds in such a way that it seems impossible to go about life any differently. However, as believers, we have the power of God to retrain our thoughts according to the promises of His word rather than following the edicts of our human minds Romans 12:1-2 “Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mould, but let God re-mould your minds from within, so that you may prove in practice that the plan of God for you is good, meets all his demands and moves towards the goal of true maturity.”
The above is one way of doing things here are a few more:
- We should search the scriptures diligently for God’s answers to our problems and implement those rather than what we came up with. The word is filled with promises and it builds us up. It will speak directly into your life and situation.
- Stay connected to the Sound Doctrine of Our Lord Jesus Christ—The Mystery that God kept Hidden.
- Look to God.
- Live in the Spirit and not in the flesh.
- Live for God and not for yourself.
1 Corinthians 2:6-16 – J.B. Phillips New Testament (PHILLIPS) says:
6-8 We do, of course, speak “wisdom” among those who are spiritually mature, but it is not what is called wisdom by this world, nor by the powers-that-be, who soon will be only the powers that have been. The wisdom we speak of is that mysterious secret wisdom of God which he planned before the creation for our glory today. None of the powers of this world have known this wisdom—if they had they would never have crucified the Lord of glory!
9-10a But as it is written: ‘Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love him’. But God has, through the Spirit, let us share his secret.
10b-12 For nothing is hidden from the Spirit, not even the deep wisdom of God. For who could really understand a man’s inmost thoughts except the spirit of the man himself? How much less could anyone understand the thoughts of God except the very Spirit of God? And the marvellous thing is this, that we now receive not the spirit of the world but the Spirit of God himself, so that we can actually understand something of God’s generosity towards us.
13 It is these things that we talk about, not using the expressions of the human intellect but those which the Holy Spirit teaches us, explaining things to those who are spiritual.
14-16 But the unspiritual man simply cannot accept the matters which the Spirit deals with—they just don’t make sense to him, for, after all, you must be spiritual to see spiritual things. The spiritual man, on the other hand, has an insight into the meaning of everything, though his insight may baffle the man of the world. This is because the former is sharing in God’s wisdom, and ‘Who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him?’ Incredible as it may sound, we who are spiritual have the very thoughts of Christ!
And
Ephesians 3:2-6 – J.B. Phillips New Testament (PHILLIPS) says:
For you must have heard how God gave me grace to become your minister, and how he allowed me to understand his secret by giving me a direct Revelation. (What I have written briefly of this above will explain to you my knowledge of the mystery of Christ.) This secret was hidden to past generations of mankind, but it has now, by the spirit, been made plain to God’s consecrated messengers and prophets. It is simply this: that the Gentiles, who were previously excluded from God’s agreements, are to be equal heirs with his chosen people, equal members and equal partners in God’s promise given by Christ through the Gospel.
Paul spoke about Spiritual things that we live by and understanding spiritual things spiritually and not with our carnal minds. Our hopes and dreams get crushed because we take our eyes of God. When we look at life through our Spiritual eyes we see things much more clearer than what we see them through our natural eyes. There’s hope for those who put their trust in the Promises of God and to live a fulfilling, rich life full of destiny and purpose.
It doesn’t always come easy, but it’s worth the journey of faith that will end with much reward for those who never give up. When our dreams are lost, it’s difficult to imagine that we will ever attain our desired joy. Discouragement is one of the most deadly of attacks from the devil. He wants our eyes focused on what we’ve lost instead of what we have to gain in Christ. God wants our undivided attention and commitment solely on Him. For it is only through Him that we can attain greater pleasure and satisfaction for new dreams.
Jude 1:20
J.B. Phillips New Testament (PHILLIPS)
20-21 But you, dear friends of mine, build yourselves up on the foundation of your most holy faith and by praying through the Holy Spirit keep yourselves within the love of God. Wait patiently for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ which will bring you to the life eternal.
We Are Saints
To all who are beloved of God in Rome, called as saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ
Romans 1:7
Have you ever heard a Christian refer to himself as "just a sinner saved by grace"? Have you referred to yourself that way? What do sinners do? They sin! If you are no different from a non-Christian, or even if you perceive yourself as no different, what will happen? Your Christian life will be mediocre at best, with little to distinguish you from a non-Christian. Satan will seize that opportunity, pour on the guilt, and convince you that you are doomed to an up-and-down spiritual existence. As a defeated Christian you will confess your sin and strive to do better, but inwardly you will admit that you are just a sinner saved by grace, hanging on until the second coming of Christ.
In Scripture, believers are called "brethren," "sons of God," "sons of light," and "saints." You are not a sinner; you are a saint who sins. "For you were formerly darkness, but now you are light in the Lord; walk as children of light" (Ephesians 5:8). According to that passage, we don't have an identity problem; we have a walk problem.
We become saints at the moment of salvation and live as saints in our daily experience as we continue to believe what God has done and as we continue to affirm who we really are in Christ. If you fail to see yourself as a child of God, you will struggle vainly to live like one, and Satan will have little trouble convincing you that you are no different from who you were before Christ and that you have no value to God or anyone else. But appropriating by faith the radical transformation of your core identity from sinner to saint will have a powerful, positive effect on your daily resistance to sin and Satan.
Prayer: Father, open my eyes that I may see myself as You see me. Then enable me to walk as a child of light in the name of Jesus Christ Amen.
SYMPTOMS OF A HARD HEART
Mark 8:17, "And when Jesus knew it, he saith unto them, Why reason ye, because ye have no bread? perceive ye not yet, neither understand? have ye your heart yet hardened?"
MATTHEW 16:1-12; MARK 8:11-21
Just a few days before this instance, hardened hearts caused Jesus' disciples to be amazed when they saw Jesus walk on the water to them. Here, Jesus' statements reveal some of the characteristics of someone with a hardened heart.
First, a hard heart keeps us from perceiving spiritual truths. This is why everyone in a church service hears exactly the same message yet, some will receive while others won't. It's not the Word that is the variable, but rather the condition of the hearts. A hard heart stops spiritual perception.
Second, a hardened heart stops us from understanding spiritual truth. When a person doesn't understand God's Word, Satan finds no resistance when he comes to steal it away.
Third, a hard heart keeps us from remembering. This isn't to say that we can't recall facts or scriptures. As related in Mark 8:19-20, the disciples remembered the facts of the two miraculous feedings, but they had forgotten any spiritual lessons they might have learned. Likewise, some people can quote scripture or remember what the sermon was about, but they can't perceive the spiritual life in the message or retain what they did perceive.
A hardened heart blinds us to any spiritual perception and keeps us thinking only in the natural realm. Small faith and a hardened heart are the same. Hebrews 3:12-13 parallels an evil heart of unbelief to a hardened heart. It takes great faith to keep our heart sensitive to God. Seek Him with your whole heart today.
Kind Regards
Sean Ali
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