No pain, no gain

Isaiah 37:31 And the surviving remnant of the house of Judah shall again take root downward and bear fruit upward.

Philippians 3:8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ

James 1:2-4 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

I realize that I might be taking the first verse slightly out of context but the idea certainly follows suit. I love today's devotional because it brings back the true meaning to where our life and energy comes from each and every day.

Phil 3:8 teaches that everything is rubbish in comparison to following Christ. This seems like just another "captain obvious" statements but it is completely true. When our lives are separate from Christ, we simply do not live in the best way possible.

So when do we live closest to the Lord? The devotional recommended that it was during the time that we suffer. Say when we are "persecuted," sick, or possibly disabled for a given amount of time. In the "worlds" perspective, this could be considered times of least effectiveness. Yet I know and I am sure you would agree, during times like these (sometimes considered like setbacks), these are the times we grow closest to God and leave with a greater awareness of him. It goes to the idea, "no pain no gain" or as Isa 37:31 puts it, our roots must grow downward for our plants to blossom upwards. God Bless friends!

L.B. Cowman, Streams in the Desert, (Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 1997) p. 171-172.

Test of faith

Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

Psalm 37:5 Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him, and he will act.

Matthew 11:28 - 12:1 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."

My devotions today lead me to the first verse listed in this post. The question was whether we can truly trust the Lord. The author used a number of examples, one of which was a letter. When we write a letter we put down the content and the address but sometimes we never want to mail it because we fear or don't have confidence to what the outcome will be. The point was made, if we never let go of our letters, they will never do what they were intended to do. This is the same for our prayers. If we never let go of our prayers to the Lord, they will never accomplish in faith what they were intended to do. I have made a number of prayers to the Lord, but how many have them do I feel completely confident about that they are in God's hands. When we give things to God, are we truly confident that God will handle them? I pray that the Lord may encourage/strengthen me in this area of my life.

L.B. Cowman, Streams in the Desert, (Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 1997) p. 168-169.

First steps...

Galatians 1:10 For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.

The Lord put it on my heart today to prepare my resume, write a cover letter, and have a short interview with the senior pastor at APC. I was actually thinking about not going, but I am sort of glad that I did. Ultimately, a few issues of complication came up due to details about the church and I was blessed to have a good friend talk to me about the way to respond to possible reactions... It gave me so much freedom to remember that I am not hear to please what "men" might think as right, but what God thinks is right. Optimistically we hotpe tha these two would be one in the same, but quite often they are not. In this case I am not hear to please man, but God in all I do.