TRANSFORMATION

God loves us to much to leave us the way we are, and He paid too high a price to settle for our complacency. His mission is simple with profound consequences: “You shall be perfect.” The Father’s wooing call is a two-edged sword that meets our willingness with love surgery, paring the callus from our hardened hearts. There is pain, as this metaphor implies, for we are being changed from something we have been taught to love – our Self with its self-interests – into something we don’t quite yet fathom, the image and nature of our Lord. The cauldron of adversity is God’s mold, and involves pressure as the name implies: Some blessings leave bruises. We struggle with this God who is hell-bent on our perfection, allowing life’s circumstances and the powers of darkness to whack away at our fledgling mustard-seed faith as He pulls down our strongholds of worldly desires, the modern day Egyptian “flesh-pots.”  But struggling is good; it’s God’s Binky to help our wisdom teeth break skin so we can masticate solid spiritual food. And make no mistake this is more about God’s allowing than satan’s power. If God isn’t in control, will then He is not sovereign and our faith is in vain.

God does not want to change us, a snip here and a tuck there, He wants complete metamorphosis (Greek: metamorphoo, translated transformed in Rom. 12:2), an extreme makeover -- the Caterpillar into a Butterfly kind -- only our Cocoon is the cross. The transformation process never stops in this life, although it gets easier. The more God’s love leavens our heart the more we rise to the occasion, recognizing God’s hand in every circumstance of life, the good, the bad, and the ugly. As we behold God’s love for us His love seeds begin to sprout in us and we become what we behold, we become loving. Who and what we become flows out of transformation, from the inside out, as our actions reflect a mind renewed to pattern on things above, and a heart full of God’s love.

God’s eternal purpose, our transformation, has never changed and cannot be challenged or thwarted in any way. Transformation takes our eyes off of the world’s baubles and bangles glittering with death and decay, and focuses our attention on all that really matters, God. What we are in Him is the only lasting reality of this life, the only thing that transcends death. We can hide out in the wine-press but God’s will always finds us, He is purposeful and relentlessly determined. Constrained by His love, we are continually being conformed by degrees into godliness, into His glory. Our volition is the key to transformation and establishes its pace. Time-outs and earthly-mindsets impede progress but His love will prevail, provided our heart is willing. Submission to God as He "wills and does in us His good pleasure" produces a lifestyle not a label.                       

SOME BLESSINGS LEAVE BRUISES

IS GOD FAIR???

Is God fair? Is His one way My way Jesus way fair? It is His game and we are in His sandbox, so the standards of play are written in stone, so to speak. God is not obligated to save anyone; we are privileged beyond comprehension to have a hand in His cosmic card game. We are offered a seat at the table, an opportunity to ante up one worthless life for a winner take all eternal pot of staggering infinite value. And God cheats you know; He gives everyone who chooses to play a winning hand. Even Aces and Eights win.

Using metaphors to describe God stuff is not denigrating; Jesus used metaphors all the time, He called them parables.  Asking the question “Is God Fair” is more than a loaded question.  Considering His absolute sovereignty and the horrendous price He paid to redeem us to Himself, it could even be considered audacious, questioning His sovereignty. The word “fair” is not in God’s vocabulary, not a known concept in His Kingdom where the omnipotent God made all things “good”, the absolute best possible in human speak. Only mere earthlings pontificate in this manner, trying to assess God’s qualifications to be God. It is a little like the caricature of a defiant mouse boldly giving the third finger salute to a mighty eagle swooping down with talons extended. Dead mouse! Makes about as much sense as questioning God’s sovereignty; short lived defiance followed by long dead. Job, the man God called blameless, had more justification to ask this question than anyone who has ever lived, and ask he did, in so many words.  But when Job “Seen God” -- stood in His presence -- he immediately repented of his “council without knowledge”, realizing he had “uttered what he did not understand.”  If we look at this from the prospective of fair as in what we most deserve, then we deserve nothing -- we deserve hell. But, and this is a big but, God, thankfully, doesn’t look at it this way. He has given us what we least deserve, the opportunity for mercy. He calls us to His gaming table and bids us to take a seat and ante up our life at the cross of His Son, so that we might win the greatest pot of all– eternally forever life with Him. Praise the Lord for His awesome grace! And the significance of Aces and Eights; that’s the classical dead man’s hand, Wild Bill Hickok's last draw at the wrong poker table.

DIVINE NOBODIES

I want to be a nobody

Divinely touched from above

Living in God’s sweet mystery

His relationship of love

I won’t be a rhinestone Christian

Living luxury’s sweet lap

With heart adoring worldly things

As my faith, my lap dog, naps

We’ve come so far from what is truth

God’s people must love others

With lusting hearts we cling to things

Having many false lovers

This God of love with fiery heart

Does He look at us and cry

Heartbroken by the thing we lack

What He died just to provide

Let love shine through this filtered heart

Let divineness radiate

Overcoming evil with good

As God’s fierce love permeates

Arise, arise, you nobodies

Let your divineness shine bright

As salt-licks to a love starved world

Divine nobodies, God’s light

THE EKKLESIA: SEARCHING FOR THE LIVING STONES

Church is not supposed to be a museum for the saints, a cheap grace gathering, a bless me club or a hotbed for temple commerce. God designed His Church to be the living expression of Jesus Christ on earth, to corporately pour forth His rivers of living water.  Church should be a beacon in the world’s darkness, a hospital for the hurting, a refuge for sinners, a place for people to come to know and grow in God. The first century church evangelized the world, without denominations, buildings, organizations, corporate structure, by-laws, formalized training/ordination; etc., relying singularly upon the energizing power of the Holy Spirit. They loved compassionately, obeyed fervently, were passionate about the Father’s heart, and demonstrated radical generosity, sacrificing what little they had with no concern about tomorrow. It was their radical, selfless, outwardly directed lifestyle, focusing on contributing not consuming, that should humble us by comparison. At a time when wearing the “Christian” label could mean torture or death, they openly demonstrated their faith with love. They didn’t just nod their heads at “Love not the world”, they lived it. And God manifested Himself! 

Billy Graham once said if the Holy Spirit were removed from the modern church 95% of the activity would continue unabated. He may have understated the percentage but his point is the point. Man’s church, as typified by the modern church, is formal structure and hierarchy with an over abiding concern for buildings, programs and formulas, form without substance, manmade, scripted and controlled by man. Gatherings are conducted by church leaders who stifle the Holy Spirit with liturgical structure while attempting to placate an “audience” of believers. Creature comforts, seeker sensitivity, and cultural relevance are the watchwords: Make the experience pleasant and people will become members.

God’s church, as typified by the first century church, is unstructured substance without form, God breathed, scripted and empowered by God the Holy Spirit, and aglow with operational unity. Gatherings are conducted by the Holy Spirit who orchestrates the assembly into a beautiful symphony, each person participating in the composition like a living instrument, sharing a song, teaching, exhortation or revelation as living water pouring forth from their innermost being. The presence of God and the power out flowing from His resurrection are the watchwords: Make the experience supernatural and people will be drawn to Christ, submit to salvation and lordship, becoming disciples. And the supernatural manifestations … that’s God’s calling card saying I’m here!

LOVE, SACRIFICE, PASSION, AND OBEDIENCE

THE RULE

NOT THE EXCEPTION

PRAYER OF SUBMISSION

Father, I thank you for Your mercy and Your grace.  Help me to deny my self and allow You the throne in my life.  I acknowledge that I belong to You and was purchased by the precious blood of Jesus.  Lead me by the Holy Spirit, putting to death my mortal nature that I might become all that I can be in Christ.  As a child of God my life is hid in Christ, and I rest and find peace in the finished work of Christ.  Help me to love people, not things, and be a bold witness to the love of Jesus.  I claim spiritual freedom in accordance with the word of God and refuse to submit to the bondage of sin and depression.  I ask that Your will, which is good, acceptable and perfect, be done in my life.  Help me to remember that my physical body is Your temple, that I might be filled with the power and the glory of God.  In the name of Jesus, Amen, So Be It

SANITIZED CHRISTIANITY

Two thousand years later the call to follow our savior has been repackaged as a sanitized, trouble-free opportunity to enjoy life without risk, passion, or sacrifice.  Is this really what Jesus died for?   When Christianity becomes just another religion it focuses on what God requires (rules) and the benefits (blessings) of serving God.  This births a Christian culture that perpetuates itself through the Law of Linearity: There is an action “A” that leads to a results “B”; figure out what “A” is, do it, and you get “B”.  This principle of cause and effect simply put is “follow the rules and you will get the blessings”.  Isn’t it hard to imagine that Jesus would endure the agony of the cross just to keep us in line and bless us?  Jesus did not suffer and die so that we could build for ourselves safe havens - bless me clubs - and enjoy the “good life” of health and material blessings while lost humanity dies all around us.  Jesus didn’t set us free so we can live a life of endless comfort, security and indulgence.  Christ’s redemptive work - His radical compassion expressed - calls us to repentance, pulling us out of our “gutter” and transforming us.  The thing that defines our faith is that we no longer live in our “gutter” but, modeling our savior’s heart, we return to the gutter to fulfill our mission... the desires of His heart.  Jesus died to capture our heart, to consume who we are and give us new... recreated, life that is fueled by His presence and overflowing with raw untamed passion for His heart - that we might expand the Kingdom of His love! 

IT’S ALL ABOUT THE MUSTARD SEED

REBEL WITH A CAUSE

Jesus was and is a rebel, and His invitation is a revolutionary call to fight for the very heart of humanity.  To be “born again” is, literally, to be “born from above” into a war zone here on battlefield earth. His followers are called into an unconventional war using only the weapons of faith, hope and love.  Christ chose the cross, His passion drove Him there, and the cross should ignite a passion in all His followers to follow the heart of their king.  If you are a follower of Christ, then you are called to fight for the heart of your king.  This is not a pristine call to a proper or safe religion.  Jesus beckons His followers to a path fueled by passion - passion for God and passion for God’s people - that is far from the easy road.  “The Way” is all about love, intimacy, passion, and sacrifice, and filled with risk, adventure, uncertainty, and unlimited possibilities. It is unwise to enter into battle without first counting the cost: The cost to truly embrace Christ is nothing less than everything we are, everything we have, and everything we ever hope to be – everything. “Whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.” Wow! No “Cheap Grace” here! Say this to yourself - “He wants everything”!

COSTLY GRACE

COSTS US OUR LIFE

BUT GIVES TRUE LIFE

WHEN HEAVEN INVADES EARTH

God almighty is seated on His throne in the heavenlies, attended by Gabriel and Michael. From within the throne come flashes of lighting and rumbling peals of thunder, and before the throne are the flaming tongues of the seven spirits of God. Angelic seraphim’s surround the throne, eyes covered lest they gaze directly into the Shekinah glory of God, and cry to one another “Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty, Who was and is and is to come”, the heavens resonating with the intensity of their worship! The twenty-four elders fall prostrate before God, throwing their crowns before the one who lives forever and ever and crying out: “You are worthy, oh Lord, to receive glory and honor and power; For You created all things, And by Your will they exist and were created.” But suddenly God lifts His hand, commanding in one simple movement absolute silence in the heavenlies.  “What’s that?”  God asks, His voice like crashing waves echoing through eternity.  Standing on the crystal sea before His throne God stretches forth His right hand, still holding the seven stars, and speaks again, “Quiet, I hear something!”  The twenty four elders are frozen prostrate in worship, their crowns at His feet.  The Four Living Creatures are motionless, like statues. An innumerable company of angels and countless millions of Old Testament and New Testament saints, the church of the first born, are frozen in their worship of God. The eternal convocation of heaven is silenced, as God Almighty searches His infinite creation for what has drawn His attention.  In Nowheresville, USA a small group of saints are gathered together worshiping God, hands stretched towards heaven, cheeks streaked with tears of joy.  “It’s the song of the redeemed” shouts God, suddenly locating the source drawing His attention, shaking the foundations of heaven in His excitement. “Michael!  Gabriel!  You guys take care of things up here - I have to go!”

“But you are holy, enthroned in the praises of Israel...” (Ps. 22:3 NKJV). The word “enthroned” is from the Hebrew word “yashav” which means “to cause to dwell, to make to inhabit, to set up house, to sit down.  Since believers today are the spiritual seed of Abraham (Rom. 4:13-17), this passage literally states that God is enthroned upon the praises of His people!  Notice the “to cause to” and “to make to”: the sense denotes a drawing down or pulling down of God as our worship somehow compels a visitation from God. Chew on that for awhile!

WORSHIP COMPELS GOD TO VISIT US

MUD PIES

”Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that our Lord finds our desires not too strong but too weak.  We are halfhearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.” (C.S. Lewis)

We quickly repudiate crawling on ground glass, self-flagellation and all other forms of penitence as unscriptural, while imposing an attenuated version on ourselves, equating boring pleasure less lives with godliness. “All I need is stale bread, potable water and God, gosh darn it, and I’m happy.” Mud pies! Others of us become adept at removing the scriptural obstacles to spending desire in the world much like a saintly Edward Sissorhands, snipping out any restraining passages: “Oh, I don’t think you have to “Blank” to be a Christian”, missing the truthfulness of their first four words. Desires, in and of themselves are not wrong; the basic desires of the human heart are God given, and pleasure, the fruit of desire fulfilled, is not necessarily sinful. At issue is not that we have desires, but in what sandbox we choose to live them out.

We don’t have to suffocate our natural desires to please God, and we don’t have to ignore God’s precepts and commands to please ourselves. God, the great architect, made provision for the fulfillment of all our natural desires within the boundaries of His sandbox so the pleasure-fruit of our spent desires does not rot with guilt and empty regret. If we have patience, God’s favorite sculpturing tool, God will fulfill all our desires in His time and His way; could anything possibly be better? If we let life become a choice between enjoyment and serving God we have really missed the point, and love making mud pies.

The Christian life is all about choices. Rather than deny our need to satisfy our natural desires we need to find their fulfillment in God’s sandbox, submitted to His will as He “works in us both to will and to do for his good pleasure”, which includes satisfying the desires He put into us. And we need to keep focused on the real prize in this life, the blessed hope we are called too which can only be found in Him. Mud pies may be tangible reality, but they are still just mud! God doesn’t describe His unblushing promises in man’s superlatives, He goes way over the top and states unequivocally our language is inadequate to describe, and our mind incapable of comprehending the “good things” He has prepared for them who love Him. Can I get a “WOW” right here? Faith is the title deed to hope and the evidence of hope: Is faith even possible without hope? Choosing a holiday at the seashore over making mud pies is a choice based in hope. Faith springs from hope, and pleases God.                                         

MY DOG CHUNKER KNOWS HOW TO WORSHIP

He comes into my presence with respect and reverence, bringing his favorite bone or toy as a sacrifice of love for me. Then he waits patiently at my feet, waits for me to acknowledge him.  If I ignore him, he will gently nudge me.  He is patient but persistent, willing to wait for me but unwilling to be denied access to his master. The love that shines through his humility reflects a heart full of loving compassion and trust. I know that he would do anything for me, anything.  And he knows that I will always love and care for him; and when he does wrong he knows there is no depth to my forgiveness.

Although I may be preoccupied with many very important things - I do have infinitely more significant things on my mind, responsibilities and duties well beyond my poor dog’s finite, self centered little mind - the love radiating from his heart always draws me to him. It isn’t so much how he expresses his love for me, but the passion with which it flows forth that impels me to stop whatever I am doing and reach down to him.

With loving tenderness I reach out and touch him, the radiant glow in his eyes responding to my touch, my presence. But sometimes he wants more and presses in with an insatiable desire for me to express my love for him, to touch my face. And then something marvelous happens; there comes that incomparable moment of incomprehensible bliss when, driven by his love, I wrap my arms about him and draw him as close as I can.  His face presses against my face and for a few brief moments - as time stops - we are intermingled as one in the reciprocity of our love.  It is joy unspeakable!

It is for these precious moments that I live and it is why God created me.  He made me in His image with His capacity to love so we could love each other.  It’s the only thing He doesn’t have and can’t create because He wants the real thing, my love freely given.  God lives in, dwells in and enthrones Himself in my loving worship and will always respond to the love of my heart freely expressed toward Him.

WORSHIP IS THE LOVE SONG OF THE REDEEMED

THE KINGDOM AND THE POWER

The Kingdom of God is the heavenly sphere of life where God’s word and Spirit govern, the place where God rules the hearts and lives of His children, and releases them to foreordained righteous works endued with His power. We know “The Kingdom of God … is righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Rom. 14:17), but there is more. The organ of the Kingdom on earth is, individually, each believer, and collectively, His body the church.  The energy to perform, to work out, that which God has predestined is His “dunamis”, His “power”: “For the Kingdom of God is not in word but in power” (1 Cor. 4:20) - not in logos but in dumanis.  This simple, no frills, declarative statement unveils God’s planned methodologies for Kingdom dwellers.  Volumes have been written about the Greek word “dunamis”, translated “power”, with origins traceable to the English words dynamo and dynamite.  But, after reading far too much I am drawn to the most simple of definitions: “To Be Able.”  God’s dunamis power is simply able to do Anything, Anywhere, at Anytime, instantly, To Be Able - intrinsic power!  There are over 1 billion Christians in the world: God is ever present with each of them, answering their prayers, catching their tears in personalized bottles, thinking countless billions of love thoughts about each of them - just how many grains of sand are there is the earth’s oceans - guiding and directing the most minute details of their lives, while He “holds together” all that exists via the bonding of molecular elements, maintains the physical laws that govern our universe,  and does a gazillion other things we can’t even fathom, in less time than we can measure with our most high-tech equipment - in fact He does it all in no time since He exists outside of time and owns time.  You are traveling the interstate coming home from work and suddenly, from out of nowhere a car appears in your lane from a crossing.  At 70 mph things happen fast, and you don’t even have time to brake.  Sure destruction is nanoseconds away.  “Jes...”you didn’t even get His full name spoken, but He heard the cry of your heart.  “Jesus, help me!”  In fact, He has countless billions of years to answer your prayer - He’s in eternity.  He hears and He answers.  Remember, when you hit your next speed bump: Dunamis -- To Be Able! Makes trusting God a whole lot easier. Mighty deeds not empty words are the tokens of God’s Kingdom. 

RIGHTEOUSNESS, PEACE, JOY AND POWER

IN THE HOLY SPIRIT

THE ESSENCE OF KINGDOM LIFE

THE CURSE OF THE CHURCH

“The curse of the church has been her apathy to truth. She has nothing to fear from truth, but she has everything to fear and she has already suffered nearly everything from ignorance” (Benjamin B. Warfield).  “The old covenant was a covenant of prosperity. The new covenant is a covenant of adversity whereby we are being weaned from this present world and made ready for the world to come” (Charles Spurgeon).  “It is appropriate that a prosperity gospel (i.e., Health and Wealth) be born in the hedonistic, self-centered, get-rich-quick milieu of modern society. We are by nature pagan. Either our religion will transform us or we will transform our religion to suite our sympathies” (Michael Horton).  “Deception is birthed in half-truths ripped from their context, dressed up in desire, and spoken as revelation. Deception attempts to control God and make Him our genie-in-a-bottle, a cross between our mother and superman, promising the “good life” now. But God’s “Good Life” is Life In Abundance, our blessed hope of Eternal Life in Christ. It’s not about corruptible “stuff”, and it’s certainly not about this life now." (Me)  “For the time is coming when men will not tolerate wholesome teaching. They will want something to tickle their own fancies, and they will collect teachers who will speak what they want to hear. They will no longer listen to truth, but will wander off after man-made myths” (Paul of Tarsus).

SEEING GOD

Some behold God where countless others look and don't see God at all. David was that kind of man. Where his presumptuous priest and his scornful wife could only see a gilded box and frenzied crowd, he could see God. This has to be deepest reality, to see God, glimpsing what remains after all else is shaken out and burned. We tend to respond to the breaking in of “deepest reality” in many ways, resorting to bureaucracy, policing, aloofness, scorn, pride, false humility, ridicule… Or we may just dance!
I know a lady who dances in church. No matter how bad the music, no matter what song, no matter how much those around her disapprove, no matter how hard her life -- scorned or loved, entertaining or envied -- she worships with all her might, her face upturned and radiant, her arms spread angelic, cruciform, an instinctive gesture of relinquishment and acceptance, her body alive with God hunger. She dances because she sees God. Right there in the midst of a multitude of people preoccupied with self life, anxious to get through the service so they can go home feeling good about themselves, this lady finds the table God has prepared for her in His presence, and surrounded by the enemy, she dances.
Between death and barrenness, in a steep narrow place, David found God’s table and David danced, a little bit of Shimmy, a little bit of Twist and a whole lot of Locomotion, David leaped and twirled in wild limbed abandonment. There’s something about seeing God during worship that can drive even a king to “get down.” Undignified? Well yes. Repulsive? To some: The ones who only see God on walls under glass, framed and hung. But isn’t this the point?
Worship is all about seeing God -- His Presence, His Face – Seeing God. Christ rent the veil of separation on the cross, creating a doorway of opportunity into God’s holiest place, His presence. Sometimes we never find the veil, other times we find the rend and peek through. But there are times when we pry the rend apart stepping through the veil into Him, and we dance or pogo or prostrate or wave or vibrate or sob or run or shout…The exuberance within will demonstrate when we see God, producing energetic and prolific manifestations flowing out of bodies not yet fully equipped for divine engagement.
Worship still resides in that steep narrow place between the presumptuous, those who want to protect God from mishap or embarrassment, and the scornful, those who want to protect the dignity, sanctity and propriety of worship, with watchwords like modesty and moderation, who in reality are protecting themselves. Both want to legislate worship, but worship is a dicey thing, always wanting to push beyond man’s opinions and is by its very nature, freestyle. As long as scriptural propriety is maintained, whether one backstrokes, breaststrokes, dog-paddles or just floats is between them and God. The living water of God’s corporate worship-pool should provide the freedom to splash around without legislating how to swim; even a half-naked king should feel welcome. And somehow, in the unfathomable mysteries of God, our flailing about in His pool ascribes and declares His worth – the true meaning of the old English “weorthscipe” -- and brings delight to the Father’s heart. Go figure that one out!

                                                                 
SEE (Greek, Eido): MEANS TO PERCEIVE, EXPERIENCE, KNOW

EVERY PERSON’S PRAYER

My precious Father, I praise Your holy name.  My heart’s desire is to really know You, to hear Your voice and be called Your friend.  Teach me your ways Lord, that I may walk and live in Your truth.  Direct and unite my heart to fear and honor Your name.  Let Your words dwell in me richly, with all wisdom and understanding, and fill me with the knowledge of Your will.  Let Godly fear pervade my being, recognizing You are God, and let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable to You, my Lord.  Keep my tongue from evil and my lips from speaking deceit, and let me grow in the grace and knowledge of You.  Let the love with which You loved Christ be in me, replacing my stony heart with a heart of love as Your love flows out to others.  Create in me a teachable spirit and teach me what delights You, so I can be a delight to You.  Help me not to sin against You and to live my life worthy of You, with clean hands and a pure heart.  Let my mind be forever set on things above, disregarding my circumstances for the true reality that is only found in You.  Let me never forget how big you are and how able you are to be my supply, my all in all sufficiency.  Impart to me the gift of faith in accordance with Your word.  Let every obstacle in my path be an opportunity to learn from You, to grow in faith and to trust You more - for I know that all difficulties are within Your purpose.  I need to learn to trust You in all things, to know that I am safe in Your hands, and I need to know that You trust me.  Holy Spirit, You are my comforter - comfort me; You are my teacher - teach me; You are my guide - lead me on the smooth path of righteousness.  I submit my insufficiency to your all sufficient will, Father.  Keep me from secret faults and presumptuous sins.  Bless me that I might be a blessing to others, for I know you have given me a giving heart.  I kneel down and kiss the hand that sometimes hurts - transform me into the image of Your Son - make me Christlike.  For I am eternally Yours.  In the precious name of Jesus, amen, So Be It!

SEVEN EPIPHANIES ON WORRY

We live in an infected world plagued with contagious anxiety, the ugly child of worry. Anxiety is subtle, slipping in unannounced to lay siege on our mind, gripping us in uneasiness, dread, fear and doubt. “Let not your heart be troubled.”  God will not keep our heart from being troubled!  This is a command in the Greek, a willful act as is “Be anxious for nothing.” Nothing? Yes, Nothing!  Renewed minds look skyward.

Worry implies a lack of trust that God knows best and is powerful enough and willing to interject His remedies into our circumstances. Hidden deep within the labyrinthine of worry is the master “Self”, who has a death-grip on control. We worry about the important and the mundane with equal vigor as if this movie called “Life” is all about us: Read the credits:  written by, produced by, directed by and starring God! So... “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding.”

Worry is Self’s way of sorting things out, we are all masters at it and our life is littered with opportunities. Worry is a choice with a cost. Joy and Peace, which are inextricably linked together and diametrically opposed to worry, are the price paid. When we choose to trust God, the Peace of God, that bypasses our understanding, is apprehended and comes to mount guard over our heart and mind. And Wala... “Joy inexpressible and full of glory”!

Worry affects our health, our relationships, and our Kingdom works, producing a joyless, spiritually weak, miserable, depressing, defeated life. Joy during adversity is a barometer of our spiritual maturity... our divine healthiness: If we truly love God we will trust Him, for just how can we claim to love a God we don’t trust? And trust brings God’s supernatural Peace soaring on the wings of Joy... “The Joy of the Lord is our strength.” So even though we walk through the valley of the shadow of death... we will fear no evil... for God is with us! And... It’s only a shadow! True reality is God’s Kingdom invasion into our “Now.” Remember, we are In The Beloved... In Christ. And... He is in us! We are never alone...

Worry is a perpetual emotion machine, a fretting dynamo, feeding itself with itself to continually reproduce itself. Swapping anxiety for peace and melancholy for joy, worry burns through earth’s most precious commodity leaving wasted years in its wake. Worry is the product of an earthly mind set, and abandons us to despair, having nothing to offer but more of itself. But the Spirit of the Lord says... “Why are you cast down O my soul… Set your mind on things above... Hope in God.”

God promises, grace releases, and we apprehend by doing. Is there a better demonstration of faith in the face of adversity then Joy, being joyful in all circumstances... to “Count it all Joy”? There is no “wiggle room” here for everything in life is part of this ALL. To “count” is to reckon, choosing trust over worry moment by moment – stopping to pick ourselves up when we slip and fail, until trust becomes a spiritual discipline, a divine habit. Joy during adversity is a work of faith, trusting in God’s goodness in spite of any apparent evidence against it, recognizing His ways are above our understanding.

Worry is simply fear in the face of adversity: we have a choice, we can fear God, or fear everything else. To fear God is to revere, honor and respect Him, to extol His name, and to trust in Him as the good and sovereign God who is ever present... especially when our life is out of control. When difficulties strike I know five amazing God things:  God is faithful even when I am not, for He cannot deny his love for me.  God will never leave me or forsake me, never!  God has made a way of escape that I may be able to bear the difficulty.  God is working in me both to will and do His good pleasure.  God is working this thing, this difficulty, out for my good... the very best good, according to His purposes. So... “Fear not, for I Am with you.” Awesome

WORRY ABANDONS ONE TO DESPAIR

HAVING NOTHING TO OFFER BUT ITSELF