Inspired by . . . weakness

The rhythms of my days have changed. I'm trying to embrace the changes, but most days I fail.

Weakness is a hard teacher. Her lessons are humility and patience. I thought I'd come farther along, but each day reveals my lack.

If God's power is made perfect in my weakness then I have to trust that there is a purpose in this season. Even though I can't see it now, He is perfect in all His ways and I must trust Him and this process.

I wonder if this cloak of darkness that covers me and fills my limbs with led isn't a gift? Is this how Christ felt as He walked ever closer to the cross? Can we really identify with Him in His sufferings? Maybe not fully, but I think it benefits us to try.

The JOY of the morning often comes after the weeping of the night. [click to tweet]

For how can we live to Christ if we do not first die to Him? This is the process of sanctification. May the hardships of this life mortify our sin and raise us to newness in life.

This is one of the lessons of Lent, I think. There is darkness, but it is not a hollow darkness devoid of hope and promise.

The sheer, raw beauty of the cross is that it is not the end.  It is the beginning and yet a fulfillment of a plan put into motion before the creation of the world.

So great is our Father's love for us.

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I wrote the words above several weeks ago now but, somehow, forgot and never went back to finish and hit publish.

I thought about discarding them all together but they still resonate strongly with me and, I think, are worth sharing.

There are a few things we all have in common in this life. The frailty of our human condition and the suffering that results is one of them.

There can be beauty in weakness. A purpose to our suffering. Scars can be badges of honor.

When God is glorified and our faith increases.

It's difficult when we're in the midst of a trial to step back and see what God is doing. We often don't have the emotional reserves or clarity of mind to do so. 

Amy shared a wonderful quote from Lilias Trotter's biography on her blog Velvet Ashes earlier this week:

“we do not need to come again and again to wring an unwilling answer out of our Father, but to search in His Word till He gives a promise which meets our case and then step out on it in the bare faith which believes that it receives.”

This, I think, is the one thing we need as we walk through the valley. Find the promise in His word that meets your need.[click to tweet] 

It's there. It is always there. Grab onto it with both hands of faith. Sit and wait with it, or step out over the cliff with it, whichever it may be that He is calling you to do.

Blessings,

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Inspired by . . . every thought

 

I, Paul, make my appeal to you with the gentleness and kindness of Christ.

I'm the one who is humble when I'm with you but forceful toward you when I'm not with you.
I beg you that when I am with you I won't have to deal forcefully with you.

I expect I will have to because some people think that we are only guided by human motives.
Of course we are human, but we don't fight like humans.
The weapons we use in our fight are not made by humans.

Rather, they are powerful weapons from God.

With them we destroy people's defenses, that is, their arguments
and all their intellectual arrogance that oppose the knowledge of God.

We take every thought captive so that it is obedient to Christ.

 

Another version translates "arguments" as sophistries. That translation helped me better understand what I believe Paul is saying here.

Sophistry: the use of reasoning or arguments that sound correct but are actually false

Remember, the most dangerous lie is the one that has an element of truth to it. Satan is the master when it comes to effective lies, and our culture is ripe with sophistry!

That is why we need to know the TRUTH. We use God's Truth {in His Word} to fight against the intellectual arrogance, the sophistries of those who oppose the knowledge of God.

James warns us:

My dear brothers and sisters, don't be fooled.
Every good present and every perfect gift comes from above,

from the Father who made the sun, moon, and stars.

The Father doesn't change like the shifting shadows produced by the sun and the moon.

 

Textured with Bonnie's Old World Charm 4

 

No matter how intelligent it sounds, or how much you want to believe it – if it doesn't line up with scripture – IT'S FALSE – NO EXCEPTIONS

So what does it mean to "take every thought captive in obedience to Christ." ?

It means that every thought matters.

Seemingly innocent thoughts, that you know are wrong, when justified can grow into sin. That is why James says:

 

When someone is tempted, he shouldn't say that God is tempting him.

God can't be tempted by evil, and God doesn't tempt anyone.
Everyone is tempted by his own desires as they lure him away and trap him.
Then desire becomes pregnant and gives birth to sin. When sin grows up, it gives birth to death.

 

Here's a quote from C.S. Lewis' book The Screwtape Letters that gives us a chilling insight on how this might work from the Tempter's point of view:

You will say that these are very small sins; and doubtless, like all young tempters, you are anxious to be able to report spectacular wickedness. But do remember, the only thing that matters is the extent to which you separate the man from the Enemy. It does not matter how small the sins are provided that their cumulative effect is to edge the man away from the Light and out into the Nothing. Murder is no better than cards if cards can do the trick. Indeed the safest road to Hell is the gradual one—the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.

If you are a Believer then you have died to sin and have been raised to life with Christ. We must aspire to the realm above. Fix our thoughts on that higher realm, not on this earthly life. {Col 3:1-3}

But how do we do this when the earthly life is screaming the loudest?

By wrestling with the will. Fighting the good fight. Our enemy {Satan} prowls around like a roaring lion seeking who he may devour. {1 Peter 5:8} The New Testament is rich with images of battle – because the Christian life IS a battle! But before you give in, before you say you're too weary for the fight, remember: It's only exhausting when we try to fight in our own power!

 

 

Begin each day by receiving your power from the Lord {Ephesians 6:10} and by putting on the armor that God supplies {Ephesians 6:11}.

 

SOOC

 

The Bible tells us to "work out" our salvation – that doesn't sound like the couch potato life to me! {Phil 2:12}

We are aliens in this world, and while we are here we should be uncomfortable. Our minds should be seeking a better place. {Heb 11:13}

 

To live is Christ,

to die is gain.

 

Blessings,

 

 

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