Ever have one of those days? Part 2

But sometimes, what we want is not what we need or what is best or what is planned.  God says, "My grace is sufficient for you."  This is what has become termed here, unanswered prayers.

Garth Brooks "Unaswered Prayers"

Sometimes I thank God for unanswered prayers

Remember when you're talkin' to the man upstairs

That just because he doesn't answer doesn't mean he don't care

Some of God's greatest gifts are unanswered prayers

Unanswered prayers – gets you back to thinking about the silversmith and how silver is purified, in the heat of the fire. 

Third Day, "Consuming Fire"

and yes our God, He is a consuming fire

And the flames burn down deep in my soul

Yes our God He is a consuming fire

He reaches inside and He melts down this

cold heart of stone.

In this same chapter in “In the Grip of Grace,” Max asks, “What if God says no?  What if the request is delayed or even denied?  When god says no to you, how will you respond?  If God says, “I’ve given you my grace, and that is enough, will you be content?”

What a concept!

I have to keep in mind Job, Paul, and John the beloved, to mention just a few.  God allowed Job to be tested, he just couldn’t be killed. 

From http://www.gotquestions.org:  What should we learn from the life of Job?

“Job never lost his faith in God, even under the most heartbreaking circumstances that tested him to his core. It’s hard to imagine losing everything we own in one day—property, possessions, and even children. Most men would sink into depression and even become suicidal after such a nightmare; however, although Job must have felt all those emotions, he never wavered in his understanding that God was still in control.”

Job 1: 20-22 (New International Version, ©2010) http://www.biblegateway.com

Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship 21 and said:

   “Naked I came from my mother’s womb,

   and naked I will depart.

The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away;

   may the name of the LORD be praised.”

22 In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.

He didn’t blame, he didn’t criticize, he accepted and moved on.  I can tell you right now, I’m not that strong!  We have to keep in mind:  "When the Devil harasses us, then we know ourselves to be in good shape!" Martin Luther

I didn’t realize just how tortured Paul was in his ministry, to have had the 39 lashes 5 times!  One lash would probably do me in, I wouldn’t want any more and would probably do much to keep from getting another, but almost 200 of them!

From http://www.gotquestions.org:  What should we learn from the life of Paul?

“First, we learn that God can save anyone.  Those deathbed confessions can be hard for the living to swallow, but if Paul could go from killing Christians to being one and taking the beatings and punishments that he did, how can we not put a little faith in someone else waking up before it’s too late?

Second, we learn from the life of Paul that anyone can be a humble, powerful witness for Jesus Christ.  Switching apostles here, Peter is believed to have been crucified.

From http://www.gotquestions.org:  What should we learn from the life of Peter?

“Jesus said that Peter would die a martyr’s death (John 21:18-19)—a prophecy fulfilled, presumably, during Nero’s reign. Tradition has it that Peter was crucified upside down in Rome, and, although such the story may be true, there is no scriptural or historical witness to the particulars of Peter’s death.”  He said that he was not worthy to die in the same manner and so was hung upside down, per the stories.

Finally, we learn that anyone can surrender completely to God.

The Apostle Paul spent his life proclaiming the risen Christ Jesus throughout the Roman world, often at great personal peril (2 Corinthians 11:24-27). It is assumed that Paul died a martyr’s death in the mid to late 60s A.D. in Rome.”

And for John, to be put in a vat of boiling oil, knowing what that could do to a body, and he had faith and crawled out of that vat, unharmed and no burns!

From http://www.gotquestions.org

“John faced martyrdom when he was boiled in a huge basin of boiling oil during a wave of persecution in Rome. However, he was miraculously delivered from death. John was then sentenced to the mines on the prison island of Patmos. He wrote his prophetic book of Revelation on Patmos. The apostle John was later freed and returned to what is now modern-day Turkey. He died as an old man, the only apostle to die peacefully.”

How are we any better?!?  Job lost everything with no understanding as to why, just accepting that God knew all.  Paul asked 3x for the thorn to be removed, and was told that “my grace is sufficient unto thee.”  John outlived everyone, was sent to a prison island to do hard time, and in that, was granted the vision for “Revelation.”

“God sometimes permits what he hates to accomplish what he loves” (Joni Erickson Tada).

Ever have one of those days? Part 1

(This is a two part discussion, with the second part to be posted next week.)

Ever have one of those days (or maybe weeks, or fill in your own time frame!) where everything you touch goes wrong, that if it weren’t for bad luck, you’d have no luck at all?!? 

Born Under A Bad Sign by Booker T. Jones / William Bell

Hard luck and trouble is my only friend

I been on my own ever since I was ten

Born under a bad sign

I been down since I begin to crawl

If it wasn't for bad luck,

I wouldn't have no luck at all

And you wonder what you could have done to result in this turn?  Jesus understood that feeling. 

Mark 15:30-36 (New International Version, ©2010) http://www.biblegateway.com/

33 At noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. 34 And at three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).

Zac Brown Band, Highway 20 Ride Lyrics

So I drive and I think about my life
And wonder why that I slowly die inside

Sometimes, that is exactly how I feel.  There are days when it feels like “when your heart won't tell your mind to tell your mouth what it should say” (Zac Brown Band, As She’s Walking Away)  and so I just pray, Thy will be done.  Brings to mind the question, “where is God when I’m hurting and why was it allowed to happen?”

“God sometimes permits what he hates to accomplish what he loves” (Joni Erickson Tada).

I read a chapter in "In the Grip of Grace" by Max last night and this hit really home right now and this was the verse that started the chapter.

2 Corinthians 12:7-9 (New International Version, ©2010) http://www.biblegateway.com

7 or because of these surpassingly great revelations. Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. (underline mine)

Mercy Me "Grace Tells Another Story"

They say don't waste your time

You simply cannot find an ounce of good

within the heart of man they say

we've got to lay in the bed we've made

and live this life without a second chance

but I'm inclined to say there must be something more.

We are told to "ask God for everything you need”: (Phil 4:6). This was something that took me awhile to grasp, that there really isn’t a selfish prayer, if it is coming from the heart.  There is one song that, when I heard it, knocked me flat.  And it was just a prayer for what was needed.

T Graham Brown, “Wine into Water:”

You've hear a multitude of prayers on my behalf

I pray that one more is not too much to ask

I've tried to fight this battle by myself

But it's a war that I can't win without your help

Refrain

Tonight I'm as low as any man can go

I'm down and I can't fall much farther

And once upon a time you turned the water into wine

Now on my knees I'm turning to you father

Could you help me turn the wine back into water

Life’s a bowl of cherries, and I get all the pits?!?

Acts 14:20-22 (New International Version, ©2011) from www.biblegateway.com

They preached the gospel in that city and won a large number of disciples. Then they returned to Lystra, Iconium and Antioch, 22 strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith. “We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God,” they said.

By Lynn Anderson, “Never promised you a rose garden:”

I beg your pardon,

I never promised you a rose garden.

Along with the sunshine,

There's gotta be a little rain sometimes.

When you take, you gotta give, so live and let live,

Or let go.

I beg your pardon,

I never promised you a rose garden.

Jesus knew this firsthand – He was sent here to be the perfect sacrificial lamb for our sins.  And there was one time that fear almost overwhelmed him:

Luke 22:42-44 (New International Version, ©2011) from www.biblegateway.com

“Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.”  An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him.  And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.

Literally sweating blood, that is a very powerful fear. 

From the Crabb Family, “Through the Fire:”

so many times I've questioned certain circumstances

Or things I could not understand

Many times in trials weakness blurs my vision

And my frustration gets so out of hand

Its then I am reminded I've never been forsaken

I've never had to stand the test alone

As I look at all the victories

The spirit rises up in me

And its through the fire my weakness is made strong

Chorus:

He never promised that the cross would not get heavy

And the hill would not be hard to climb

He never offered our victories without fighting

But he said help would always come in time

Just remember when your standing in the valley of decision

And the adversary says give in

Just hold on our lord will show up

And he will take you through the fire again

2 Corinthians 12:9-11 (New International Version, ©2011) www.biblegateway.com

But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.  That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Imagine that – in our weakness, we can show His strength and grace.  And how do we do this?  Simply by giving it all to Him and continuing on our way in the manner that we should!  These verses are subtitled in some bibles as:  Paul had his own strength taken away so that he would draw on the strength of the living God.

And from Mercy Me, “Bring the Rain:”

Bring me joy, bring me peace

Bring the chance to be free

Bring me anything that brings You glory

And I know there'll be days

When this life brings me pain

But if that's what it takes to praise You

Jesus, bring the rain

I am Yours regardless of

The dark clouds that may loom above

Because You are much greater than my pain

You who made a way for me

By suffering Your destiny

So tell me what's a little rain

So I pray

I get afraid, I don’t like it when things seem to be going exactly opposite of what I want, but someone understood this so much better than me.  Jesus knew.  And so, I know in believing in Him, I will live with Him and all those that I love that also believed.  And so, I can take a little rain, and go play in the mud puddles!

And from Stephen Curtis Chapman, “Bring it On:”

I didn’t come lookin’ for trouble

And I don’t want to fight needlessly

But I’m not gonna hide in a bubble

If trouble comes for me

I can feel my heart beating faster

I can tell something’s coming down

But if it’s gonna make me grow stronger then…

Bring it on

Let the lightning flash, let the thunder roll, let the storm winds blow

Bring it on

Let the trouble come, let the hard rain fall, let it make me strong

Bring it on

Now, maybe you’re thinkin’ I’m crazy

And maybe I need to explain some things

‘Cause I know I’ve got an enemy waiting

Who wants to bring me pain

But what he never seems to remember

What he means for evil God works for good

So I will not retreat or surrender

Now, I don’t want to sound like some hero

‘Cause it’s God alone that my hope is in

But I’m not gonna run from the very things

That would drive me closer to Him

So bring it on

I don’t ask for trouble, I try so hard to avoid conflict, especially as I get older as my nerves just can’t handle the friction and stress.  But, if Satan comes looking for me, to test me, to try and break my faith, trust, belief and love in my Lord, then “Bring It On!”

The music really spoke this time!

Rich Mullins, "I'll Carry On Lyrics:"

But I'll carry the songs I learned when we were kids

I'll carry the scars of generations gone by

I'll pray for you always, and I promise you this

I'll carry on ~ I'll carry on

Listen to:

Rich Mullins, "Ready For The Storm Lyrics :"

That the lighthouse will keep shining out

Rich Mullins, "Elijah:"

But when I leave I want to go out like Elijah

With a whirlwind to fuel my chariot of fire

And when I look back on the stars

Well, It'll be like a candlelight in Central Park

And it won't break my heart to say goodbye

“Live your life in such a way that when your feet hit the floor in the morning, Satan shudders and says, “Oh no, she’s awake.” “–unknown

Oh yeah!

Is it really true love if we love out of fear?

Michael Johnson’s song “Give Me Wings:”

If you love me, give me wings. Don't be afraid if I fly.

A bird in a cage will forget how to sing,

If you love me, give me wings."

In the old testament, God showed His might, His justice, in so many ways:

• Creation
• The Flood
• The plagues
• Leading the Jewish people out of Egypt
• Sending the snakes when they strayed and then using Moses to heal the bitten

His people knew of His strength, and his anger.  His people knew that, but forgot or got sidetracked and lost track.

Since His people knew His anger, He sent Jesus to show love, mercy and grace.  Becoming Jesus was a great show of love.

Third Day, “Your love, Oh Lord:”

Your love, oh Lord
Reaches to the heavens
Your faithfulness stretches to the sky
Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains
Your justice flows like the ocean's tide

Jesus accepted anger and ridicule so as to completely understand all aspects of being human. 

Rich Mullins, “Hold me, Jesus:”

You have been King of my glory

Won't You be my Prince of Peace

All who hear about the torture and death of Jesus can see that He knew what we go through.

“He could have called 10,000 angels:”

They bound the hands of Jesus in the garden where he pray

They led him through the street in shame

They spat upon the Saviour so pure and free from sin

They said crucify him he's to blame

He could have called ten thousand angels to destroy the world and set him free

He could have called ten thousand angels but he died alone for you and me

Upon his precious head they placed a crown of thorns

They laughed and said behold the king

They struck him and they cursed him and mocked his holy name

And all alone he suffered everything

He could have called ten thousand angels to destroy the world and set him free

He could have called ten thousand angels but he died alone for you and me

John 3:16-17 (New International Version, ©2010)

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

HE gave us free will (give me wings), but we CHOOSE to love and follow Him!

“Rock of Ages:”

Rock of Ages, cleft for me,

let me hide myself in thee;

let the water and the blood,

from thy wounded side which flowed,

be of sin the double cure;

save from wrath and make me pure.

We choose to love and follow, we respect the Creator.  I don’t call it fear.  He died for me, what would you call it?!?

Faith and Grace – they go hand in hand

What can you think of that goes hand in hand:  potatoes and gravy, peanut butter and jelly, (from Forest Gump) peas and carrots.  But faith and grace?

I keep reading about how faith is not something that we have nor can find, like we cannot earn the grace that we have been given.  Faith is also something that is God granted and you just have to accept.

From gotquestions.org about faith and grace:

Hebrews 11:1 tells us that faith is “being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”

Kinda like the movie, Faith Like Potatoes, “the moving journey of a man who, like his potatoes, grows his faith, unseen until the harvest.” (from Wikipedia)  Gotta see this one yet!

Ephesians 2:8-9 (For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.) makes it clear that faith is a gift from God, not because we deserve it, have earned it, or are worthy to have it. It is not from ourselves; it is from God. It is not obtained by our power or our free will. It is simply given to us by God, along with His grace and mercy, according to His holy plan and purpose, and because of that, He gets all the glory.

2 Corinthians 12:9-10 (New International Version, ©2010) from Biblegateway.com

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.  That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Just enough faith, like the mustard seed faith, or as Gary Bob Scott put it, bb’s of faith.

Todd Agnew has a couple of songs that speak to this:

 “Higher ground”

Lord, lift me up and let me stand
By faith, on Heaven’s table land
A higher plane than I have found
Lord, plant my feet on higher ground
Oh, plant my feet on higher ground

And “Grace Like Rain:”

Hallelujah, grace like rain falls down on me
Hallelujah, all my stains are washed away, washed away

Rich Mullins also addresses it in “Screen door on a Submarine:”Faith comes from God
And every word that He breathes
He lets you take it to your heart
So you can give it hands and feet
It's gotta be active if it's gonna be alive
You gotta put it into practice
Otherwise....

It's about as useless as a screen door
On a submarine


And Jeremy Camp’s “Walk by Faith”, on his album Carried Me: the Worship Project:
Well I will walk by faith
Even when I cannot see
Well because this broken road
Prepares Your will for me

This song was written on the October honeymoon with his first wife, who the following February died of ovarian cancer.  That took faith, and he showed it.  And he was given grace in return.

Max wrote in one of his books, can’t remember which and cannot find the quote, but along the lines of . . . when you see a house, you know there was a house builder.  So, to continue that thought, when you look up at the stars, shouldn’t it follow that there was a star maker?  Just because you cannot see the person that built the house, you have know that someone did.  Faith means following that thought and believing that the stars were made in the same way, you just can’t see it yet.

 So, take a leap of faith, accept the grace, and look to the stars.  Someone beautiful is waiting.

It's All in How You Look at It

A working definition of Circumstances might be the individual's perception of his or her overall environment for a period of time. Whenever you get into this subjective terrain it may seem like anything goes. The bible is not afraid to address our circumstances. How we define our reality may be the most important venue for our faith.

Here would be the usual spot for a bible verse. In pushing past that point, the hope is an extension to make my point. What if I could offer a metaphor that explains a lot of our experiences?

You might look at circumstances like a giant pot of stew. Two cooks stand over the pot. The enemy is tossing in yucky stuff, trying to change the flavor of the stew so no one will want to eat it. He is tossing in hypocrites, false religions, bad experiences and lies. God, with ladle in hand, has a second pot off to the side that the enemy has no access to. When everything is properly cooked, he will fish out all the ingredients he wanted to keep and put them into the second pot. Everything else He will dump, including the 'other cook'.

We are swimming right now with ingredients that have not an ounce of permanency. Ugly memories? They will be flushed away with joy. Horrible people? They will either be well seasoned with grace or they will be forever dismissed. Lies? Everything will be revealed. I don't know how the elect are meant to experience the stew. Somehow while we may seem saturated with the flavors of the world around us, God imparts a unique 'taste' to us so that we begin to flavor the ingredients around us.

Jesus said [Matt 13: 47-50] “Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish. When it was full, the fishermen pulled it up onto the shore. Then they sat down and collected the good fish in baskets, but threw the bad away. This is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come down and separate the wicked from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

I had a creative writing teacher who like to pose the “So What” Test. Applying that test to these ideas produces some interesting 'So What's”.

The response to events becomes more artistic rather then an emotional choice. Why? If you are reduced (and that's also a cooking term) to an “If/Then” statement then all of your power has been stripped from you. Other people can simply manufacture the required IF and then the subsequent THEN will proceed without any conscious choice from you. That is not the freedom we have in Christ. The Apostles were killed rather than change their story. To the very end of their earthly existence, they expressed there was a choice.

Another interesting “So What” is what meaning do you attach to a temporary 'bad taste'. We even say that certain events 'gave us a bad taste'. There is no point to denying the severity of suffering or the real demands it places on us. There is a point to where we choose to focus. The beauty of our faith is that it both acknowledges the sacrifice caused by suffering and points to very real relief. It's temprorary. From a geological standpoint, we're a blip of time and after we've lived and loved our 'blip' we have ageless, unlimited time to enjoy perfection without suffering.

Our circumstances matter to God probably more than even to us. This 'stew' of perception and relationship with cause and effect is part of God's realm where He rules. Our prayers flavor circumstances. When we understand that we have REAL power to affect REAL change, then suddenly we care. Apathy is the outward symptom of the belief that nothing can be done to change things. Why try? There's no point. If you do understand that you can change your environment, your relationships and ultimately your world then let passions flow because it matters. The stew is mutable. The stew can be changed. If I can convince you that your prayers, your responses have global, historical impact then nothing will be ordinary again. The gift of Jesus to us, His brothers and sisters is powerful in the changing of circumstances. Life will never taste the same with Jesus with us.

A new year, a new view of the gift given in grace

From Julian Drive’s song “From Your Hands:”

In the very front of Your mind

While the blood was flowing

You saw my face as You cried

Certain in knowing

Tears, blood and pain in the sand

True love was pouring, True love was pouring from Your hands

I heard this on the radio this morning, and this song had been out for some time, but these lyrics really struck me this morning.  And so then, my mind that thinks in music though I cannot play and you really don’t want to hear me sing, started putting together other songs, and verses.

From Relient K’s “I celebrate the day:” 

And the first time

That You opened Your eyes did You realize that You would be my Savior

And the first breath that left Your lips

Did You know that it would change this world forever

Lines from Mark Lowry’s “Mary, did you know?:”

. . . This Child that you delivered will soon deliver you.

. . .  Did you know

that your Baby Boy has walked where angels trod?

. . . When you kiss your little Baby you kissed the face of God?

. . . that your Baby Boy is Lord of all creation?

. . . The sleeping Child you're holding is the Great, I Am.

And from Casting Crowns “Glorious Day:”

Living He loved me, dying He saved me

And buried He carried my sins far away

Rising He justified freely forever

One day He's coming, oh, glorious day, oh, glorious day

John 3:16 (NIV)

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Imagine – being loved so much before you were even born, so wanted that someone went thru so much torment, so much pain, so much grief, to give you such mercy and grace.