The Painfully Good Things
Part Two
Picking up where we left off in Part One…
Respect for authority is to be taught in the home. Individuals who are not taught or do not learn to respect authority are in for a lifetime of trouble. I grew up in an environment when the only explanation that parents and or persons in positions of authority might give, when subordinates ask why they had to do what they were told, was to say, “Because I said so.”
Respect for God calls for learning what God is saying in His Word, and then doing so. Case closed. Christians who disrespect divine authority are in for a post salvation life of divine discipline.
The reason that many “Christians” never reach the Phil. 1: 21 “living for Christ” level of spiritual maturity is because they choose to function under the influence of the self-centered, fallen nature, and not the Christ-centered life of discipleship. Our fallen nature is inherently hostile towards God and the things of God.
Becoming a Heaven bound, born-again believer is relatively easy, as it only requires a one-time decision to believe, when presented with the unadulterated Gospel Message. But becoming and remaining a “follower of Christ” down the road of Biblical discipleship is a different story altogether.
This self-centeredness is evidenced when the majority of our prayer requests are centered around what WE want, with little (if any) consideration for what God wants. There is nothing wrong with having and making personal prayer requests, as long as we understand that the answer to any request that is inconsistent with God’s timing, will, and plan is, “No” . From divine viewpoint, anything that is inconsistent with God’s timing, will, and plan is not a Psalms 84: 11 “good thing” being withheld.
As did Jesus, when He prayed for the cup of suffering on the cross be taken away, our prayer requests should also begin with the phrase, “Father, if You are willing…,” and end with the phrase “…yet not my will, but Yours be done (Luke 22: 42 NASB2020.”
Jesus made this prayer request with so much fervency that He shed bloody sweat beads (1), a condition that modern day medical professionals label hematohidrosis, triggered by extremely intense emotions. Never-the-less, the answer was “No,” as He was betrayed moments later, and began a chain of events that would end in His crucifixion.
Having benefited many times by prayer requests of my own, and intercessory prayer requests that others have made in my behalf, I would be the last one to dispute the power of prayer. At the same time, I have also experienced enough of the No answers to acknowledge the hand of God, working behind the scenes, fulfilling the individual plan that He has in mind for me.
For the advancing disciple, it matters not where the plan of God takes him, as long as he or she has the assurance that he or she is where God wants him or her to be, and doing what God wants him or her to be doing.
As hard as we may try to do so, one cannot simultaneously serve two masters (2). The inevitable, conflicting requirements between God’s plan and our plan, will inevitably bring us to a fork in the road where one must choose to favor one, at the expense of the other.
Christians, who compromise their walk with the Lord may get what they want, as the devil is more than happy to provide it (3), but they will regret this choice in Heaven, when all Church Age believers stand before God and give an individual Romans 14: 12 account of themselves.
Such believers will remain saved (4), and retain their residency in Heaven, but will forfeit the reward and privileges that are reserved for born-again believers who choose to pursue the post salvation plan of God.
We don’t naturally want or like many of the things that we need to experience, such as the divine discipline (5) and the undeserved suffering (6) that either corrects us, or that trains and prepares us, for what God knows lay ahead (7).
It is through such adversity and challenging events, that we are placed in circumstances, activity, or locations where we are to function as His ambassadors.
To accomplish the individual plan of God, Joseph needed to be jailed on false charges of sexual advances. Daniel needed to be put into a lion’s den. Jonah needed to be tossed overboard in the middle of a storm at sea. Several individuals had to come into this world blind, lame, and crippled to set the stage for Jesus’ miraculous activity. For 400 years, generations of individual Jews had to be born into, and remain in Egyptian slavery ALL their lives, to set the stage for the Exodus. Lazarus needed to be sick, die, and be placed a tomb. Job needed to suffer the loss of family, wealth, and health. Jesus needed a cross!
Paul accomplished much, not only when travelling about in his missionary journeys, but when he was confined to a jail cell, or under home confinement. It was then that he composed letters that would later become much of what we now know as the New Testament part of the Bible.
Christians frequently pray for Thy will be done, but what they really mean is for My will be done. This is evidenced by their declining interest in God and or the things of God, when they do not get what they want, suffer the loss of someone or some thing that was near and dear to them, or suffer abuse and injustice.
Where was/is God? they ask, when such things take place.
The answer, in part, is that God was and is in the same place where He was when His Son was crucified, carrying out the individual plan that God had in mind for Him, in our behalf.
Unlike Jesus, who clearly spoke of the cost of discipleship to His would-be followers (8), some evangelists can be more like some military recruiters, promoting the glory and the benefits, but not being candid about the cost.
Our salvation costs us nothing, but cost Jesus a lot. God’s individual plan for Him called for Him, as God the Son, to leave Heaven, take on the type of humanity (body) that Adam had prior to the Fall, remain sinless, and suffer an agonizing physical and spiritual death (separation from God) on the cross, paying our sin debt in full.
As Isaiah had prophesied , “He (Jesus) had no stately form or majesty that we would look at Him, nor appearance that we would take pleasure in Him. He was despised and abandoned by men, a man of great pain and familiar with sickness; and like one from whom people hide their faces, He was despised, and we had no regard for Him (Isa. 53: 3 NASB2020 parenthesis mine).”
Our discipleship, on the other hand, can cost US much!
Throughout history, many of God’s greatest servants fulfilled His individual plan for them in the midst of much pain and undeserved suffering. The more one advances in post salvation discipleship, the more intense the spiritual combat he or she will encounter as a soldier of the cross (9).
If one only wants to “check in” once a week for a worship service and not take his or her discipleship beyond the walls of a local assembly, or outside of his or her own him comfort zone, there is a good chance that the devil will not waste much ammunition on him or her in the realm of spiritual combat.
Why should he? Such believers pose no serious threat to the devil’s agenda. The devil is often content to leave such believers alone, being satisfied to leave them just where they are. In fact, their passive example can be used by Satan to influence others. Such believers will be the first to “jump ship” when things don’t go their way.
But if one wants to be all that he or she can be in the life of discipleship, he or she should best be prepared for the worst that the devil can throw at him or her.
The further one advances into enemy held territory, the more fire he or she is going to draw.
In the spiritual realm, enemy held territory consists of areas of thought, teachings, practices, and activities that are inconsistent with the Word of God. Exposing and opposing such things WITHIN the “Christian” Community at large will draw the maximum amount of fire from the very “religious,” but misguided, majority that the devil has deceived.
It is only if and when an advancing disciple has reached a higher level of spiritual maturity, with its accompanying spiritual discernment, that he or she will see God’s hand in ALL things. ALL things include the good and the seemingly bad things, that He sends or allows to take place in the lives of advancing disciples, in order for His will (plan) to be accomplished.
It is only then, that we like Job, can say, “The Lord gave (health, wealth, relationships, prosperity, opportunities), and the Lord has taken away (in order to accomplish His plan). Blessed (worthy of praise) is the name (plan) of the Lord (Job 1: 21 NASB2020 parentheses mine).”
(1) Luke 22: 44 (2) Matt. 6: 24 (3) Luke 4: 6 (4) 1Cor. 3: 15/Romans 8: 1 (5) Heb. 12: 6 (6) 1Pet. 2: 21 (7) 2Tim. 3:12 (8) Luke 14: 28 (9) 2Tim. 2: 3
Part Two
Picking up where we left off in Part One…
Respect for authority is to be taught in the home. Individuals who are not taught or do not learn to respect authority are in for a lifetime of trouble. I grew up in an environment when the only explanation that parents and or persons in positions of authority might give, when subordinates ask why they had to do what they were told, was to say, “Because I said so.”
Respect for God calls for learning what God is saying in His Word, and then doing so. Case closed. Christians who disrespect divine authority are in for a post salvation life of divine discipline.
The reason that many “Christians” never reach the Phil. 1: 21 “living for Christ” level of spiritual maturity is because they choose to function under the influence of the self-centered, fallen nature, and not the Christ-centered life of discipleship. Our fallen nature is inherently hostile towards God and the things of God.
Becoming a Heaven bound, born-again believer is relatively easy, as it only requires a one-time decision to believe, when presented with the unadulterated Gospel Message. But becoming and remaining a “follower of Christ” down the road of Biblical discipleship is a different story altogether.
This self-centeredness is evidenced when the majority of our prayer requests are centered around what WE want, with little (if any) consideration for what God wants. There is nothing wrong with having and making personal prayer requests, as long as we understand that the answer to any request that is inconsistent with God’s timing, will, and plan is, “No” . From divine viewpoint, anything that is inconsistent with God’s timing, will, and plan is not a Psalms 84: 11 “good thing” being withheld.
As did Jesus, when He prayed for the cup of suffering on the cross be taken away, our prayer requests should also begin with the phrase, “Father, if You are willing…,” and end with the phrase “…yet not my will, but Yours be done (Luke 22: 42 NASB2020.”
Jesus made this prayer request with so much fervency that He shed bloody sweat beads (1), a condition that modern day medical professionals label hematohidrosis, triggered by extremely intense emotions. Never-the-less, the answer was “No,” as He was betrayed moments later, and began a chain of events that would end in His crucifixion.
Having benefited many times by prayer requests of my own, and intercessory prayer requests that others have made in my behalf, I would be the last one to dispute the power of prayer. At the same time, I have also experienced enough of the No answers to acknowledge the hand of God, working behind the scenes, fulfilling the individual plan that He has in mind for me.
For the advancing disciple, it matters not where the plan of God takes him, as long as he or she has the assurance that he or she is where God wants him or her to be, and doing what God wants him or her to be doing.
As hard as we may try to do so, one cannot simultaneously serve two masters (2). The inevitable, conflicting requirements between God’s plan and our plan, will inevitably bring us to a fork in the road where one must choose to favor one, at the expense of the other.
Christians, who compromise their walk with the Lord may get what they want, as the devil is more than happy to provide it (3), but they will regret this choice in Heaven, when all Church Age believers stand before God and give an individual Romans 14: 12 account of themselves.
Such believers will remain saved (4), and retain their residency in Heaven, but will forfeit the reward and privileges that are reserved for born-again believers who choose to pursue the post salvation plan of God.
We don’t naturally want or like many of the things that we need to experience, such as the divine discipline (5) and the undeserved suffering (6) that either corrects us, or that trains and prepares us, for what God knows lay ahead (7).
It is through such adversity and challenging events, that we are placed in circumstances, activity, or locations where we are to function as His ambassadors.
To accomplish the individual plan of God, Joseph needed to be jailed on false charges of sexual advances. Daniel needed to be put into a lion’s den. Jonah needed to be tossed overboard in the middle of a storm at sea. Several individuals had to come into this world blind, lame, and crippled to set the stage for Jesus’ miraculous activity. For 400 years, generations of individual Jews had to be born into, and remain in Egyptian slavery ALL their lives, to set the stage for the Exodus. Lazarus needed to be sick, die, and be placed a tomb. Job needed to suffer the loss of family, wealth, and health. Jesus needed a cross!
Paul accomplished much, not only when travelling about in his missionary journeys, but when he was confined to a jail cell, or under home confinement. It was then that he composed letters that would later become much of what we now know as the New Testament part of the Bible.
Christians frequently pray for Thy will be done, but what they really mean is for My will be done. This is evidenced by their declining interest in God and or the things of God, when they do not get what they want, suffer the loss of someone or some thing that was near and dear to them, or suffer abuse and injustice.
Where was/is God? they ask, when such things take place.
The answer, in part, is that God was and is in the same place where He was when His Son was crucified, carrying out the individual plan that God had in mind for Him, in our behalf.
Unlike Jesus, who clearly spoke of the cost of discipleship to His would-be followers (8), some evangelists can be more like some military recruiters, promoting the glory and the benefits, but not being candid about the cost.
Our salvation costs us nothing, but cost Jesus a lot. God’s individual plan for Him called for Him, as God the Son, to leave Heaven, take on the type of humanity (body) that Adam had prior to the Fall, remain sinless, and suffer an agonizing physical and spiritual death (separation from God) on the cross, paying our sin debt in full.
As Isaiah had prophesied , “He (Jesus) had no stately form or majesty that we would look at Him, nor appearance that we would take pleasure in Him. He was despised and abandoned by men, a man of great pain and familiar with sickness; and like one from whom people hide their faces, He was despised, and we had no regard for Him (Isa. 53: 3 NASB2020 parenthesis mine).”
Our discipleship, on the other hand, can cost US much!
Throughout history, many of God’s greatest servants fulfilled His individual plan for them in the midst of much pain and undeserved suffering. The more one advances in post salvation discipleship, the more intense the spiritual combat he or she will encounter as a soldier of the cross (9).
If one only wants to “check in” once a week for a worship service and not take his or her discipleship beyond the walls of a local assembly, or outside of his or her own him comfort zone, there is a good chance that the devil will not waste much ammunition on him or her in the realm of spiritual combat.
Why should he? Such believers pose no serious threat to the devil’s agenda. The devil is often content to leave such believers alone, being satisfied to leave them just where they are. In fact, their passive example can be used by Satan to influence others. Such believers will be the first to “jump ship” when things don’t go their way.
But if one wants to be all that he or she can be in the life of discipleship, he or she should best be prepared for the worst that the devil can throw at him or her.
The further one advances into enemy held territory, the more fire he or she is going to draw.
In the spiritual realm, enemy held territory consists of areas of thought, teachings, practices, and activities that are inconsistent with the Word of God. Exposing and opposing such things WITHIN the “Christian” Community at large will draw the maximum amount of fire from the very “religious,” but misguided, majority that the devil has deceived.
It is only if and when an advancing disciple has reached a higher level of spiritual maturity, with its accompanying spiritual discernment, that he or she will see God’s hand in ALL things. ALL things include the good and the seemingly bad things, that He sends or allows to take place in the lives of advancing disciples, in order for His will (plan) to be accomplished.
It is only then, that we like Job, can say, “The Lord gave (health, wealth, relationships, prosperity, opportunities), and the Lord has taken away (in order to accomplish His plan). Blessed (worthy of praise) is the name (plan) of the Lord (Job 1: 21 NASB2020 parentheses mine).”
(1) Luke 22: 44 (2) Matt. 6: 24 (3) Luke 4: 6 (4) 1Cor. 3: 15/Romans 8: 1 (5) Heb. 12: 6 (6) 1Pet. 2: 21 (7) 2Tim. 3:12 (8) Luke 14: 28 (9) 2Tim. 2: 3