It’s Sunday morning here in Alaska. We survived already this morning– DST, an earthquake, dog poop on the carpet, and snow, and it’s not even noon yet. (Can’t wait to see what the afternoon will bring.)
I had my appointment Friday, and my doctor was blown away. My Bell’s Palsy is diminished by about 70%. He was thunderstruck. And I believe God healed me!
There are some issues though. The BP is still affecting my eye, and the left side of my mouth. I have decided to continue the meds, and start to ease off of managing four blogs. The eyestrain isn’t going to help my affected eye.
I was able to open the service with a meditation from the Word last night at our main service. I managed to do this without a translator, or a sponge, so I survived.
Having so many praying for me, especially early this week during the acute stages was profound. Thanks for mobilizing and standing up for me in the Father’s presence. Thank you!
I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 3:14
Paul’s wish was a heavenly one. He understood that this world had absolutely nothing to give him. Simply put, his faith was the bulldozer type. He pressed forward, and he would not compromise or vacillate. He would have all that Jesus promised.
“If you are a Christian, you are not a citizen of this world trying to get to heaven; you are a citizen of heaven making your way through this world.”
Vance Havner
Paul ‘presses’ and his goal is very close. He is God’s ‘pit bull,’ and once he latches on, everything changes. He wants the prize. We can only look and wonder. What Paul has faced should empower us, and give us a sense of what is real. Life is just a little bit away. If we turn we will never see it.
There is a life that is far beyond what we think is possible. Our only real option is to press into what has been pledged. We must cling to all these ‘possible promises.’ But we must let Him decide what is true. He has promised us life, and we cannot turn from this. He is not some ‘shyster or a liar.’ We must push forward and then proclaim Him as ‘Lord of the Guarantee.’
He alone is worthy of such concentrated focus. We must admit that there is no one who can compare. Jesus Christ has an intensity and a radical commitment to what is really real and really true. We must turn to Him and beseech Him to become Lord and King. No one can compare.
Paul has a deep conviction. We must follow him, and duplicate his focus. We must concentrate on his aspirations, and follow him into what is true. Real Brokenbelievers have very few directions to go. Paul’s focus and direction should direct and motivate us into a very different direction than what this world system offers us.
“Press on”, or reach for a fresh understanding of Grace and goodness. Simply put, you really have few options. Captivity is very degrading and we lose our way very quickly. We really are much more than this.
Please consider all the good that has been given to you. The presence of Jesus is not to be trifled with. He gives all that He is, to bring you to Himself. But we must commit, and turn His heart to us. His love is amazing, and all those who turn to Him are brought into safety.
“Don’t bargain with God. Be direct. Ask for what you need. This isn’t a cat-and-mouse, hide-and-seek game we’re in. If your child asks for bread, do you trick him with sawdust? You’re at least decent to your own children. So don’t you think the God who conceived you in love will be even better?”
Matthew 7:9, 11, Message
His miracles for us often require some responsiveness on our part. He truly supplies what we need–but from day-to-day. He doesn’t just deliver a “pallet” of bread every 2 months. He simply provides what we need, day by day, contingent on us asking. If we don’t ask, he won’t provide. But his ear is very attentive to our cry for provision.
The bread provided is a gift. We are of the impression that we earn our bread, we work for it. This verse simply and profoundly says that he gives it. Bread is an issue of his grace and kindness. It is something that is given. You might say that our bread is grace in wheat form.
We must learn to trust him at this basic need. We need food on a daily level. We really should be aware of this essential need. Your supper tonight is infused with His goodness. He was the provider. Someone else may have taken certain ingredients and enhanced your dining experience, but he made the provision to your table.
The definitive issue is the “day-by-day” factor. We must learn that this is the way our Father operates. We are compelled into His daily care. Grace comes to us with a day-by-day submission. That is not a bad thing. We simply surrender our wills to our Lord. We must keep coming to him, and asking.
A day’s portion, arriving a day at a time. It is a profound deception if we believe we can move beyond this. We accrue wealth and anticipate “protection” from the vagaries of a deity we can’t see. We want safety and security that is definite and solid. We feel that if we have worked long enough, and sweated enough, then we will eat well. It is our privilege.
And we have gone the extra mile, and have developed a “doctrine” that fits our decision-making process. Theology is important to us, and we try to develop something that will cover us and soothe us, and provide a maximum amount of coverage. However being his disciple is not like buying good car insurance. But we can’t shake a deep conviction that we have “adjusted” what is real and lasting.
The Father intends that we are to be reliant on him, exclusively. But that, to be perfectly honest, frightens us. (That maybe why it is done so rarely.)
Being a believer is something quite radical. It should affect us at the deepest of levels. We must insist on a way of thinking that propels us into the place of a simple faith. Our faith in our Father will always be day-to-day. We can’t think otherwise. If we try to make it otherwise, we end up in a deep confusion. The Father has insisted that we depend on Him.
Exodus 16 is the Manna Chapter. To always rely on God daily was for many to be an issue. When they attempted to get ahead, that extra would become rotten. If I remember right, the surplus manna produced maggots.
We come to Him hungry. That is the way he insists. Our stomachs may growl, but He will always provide all that we need. Always–our hunger for a day’s provision should move us into a place of grace. You could say we have a substantial need for His grace. He will always provide for his children. And we really do trust Him. (Or do we?)
The hymn A Mighty FortressIs Our God gloriously celebrates God’s power. It was penned by the great 16th-century reformer Martin Luther, who believed God’s power could help believers overcome great difficulties — even depression. Given his pastoral heart, he sought to bring spiritual counsel to struggling souls. His compassion for those souls shines in numerous places, including his sermons, lectures, Bible commentaries and ‘table talks’. In addition, he devoted many letters to counseling troubled folk.
Luther’s writings reveal his knowledge of various emotional difficulties. For example, in August 1536 he interceded for a woman named Mrs. Kreuzbinder, whom he deemed insane. He described her as being “accustomed to rage” and sometimes angrily chasing her neighbor with a spear.
In addition, Luther’s wife, Kate, struggled with pervasive and persistent worry indicative of generalized anxiety disorder. Prince Joachim of Anhalt, to whom Luther often wrote, exhibited signs of obsessive-compulsive disorder, and he believed he had betrayed and crucified Christ. Conrad Cordatus, a pastor and frequent guest at Luther’s table, exhibited signs of hypochondriasis, a disorder involving preoccupation with fears of having a serious disease.
Besides observing mental difficulties in others, Luther had a compelling reason to affirm their reality. Luther himself endured many instances of depression. He described the experience in varied terms: melancholy, heaviness, depression, dejection of spirit; downcast, sad, downhearted. He suffered in this area for much of his life and often revealed these struggles in his works. Evidently he did not think it a shameful problem to be hidden.
Satan as the “accuser of the brethren,” causes Christians to dwell on past sins. Such thoughts induce melancholy and despair. Concerning a friend’s depressive thoughts, Luther wrote, “Know that the devil is tormenting you with them, and that they are not your thoughts but the cursed devil’s, who cannot bear to see us have joyful thoughts.”Luther recognized a spiritual truth about depression. One can expect Satan’s persistence until faith is destroyed, but in the midst of depression God is with us. He never leaves us alone. In the midst of trouble He draws near to us.
Sometimes the invisible God draws near through visible people, and they become the bearers of God’s comforting and strengthening words to troubled souls. What’s more, God seeks to assure us of His love and esteem. And through His Word, He counters Satan’s lies with His truth.
Some Martin Luther Quotes
Luther’s Seal
“All who call on God in true faith, earnestly from the heart, will certainly be heard, and will receive what they have asked and desired.”
“Faith is a living and unshakable confidence, a belief in the grace of God so assured that a man would die a thousand deaths for its sake.”
“Christ took our sins and the sins of the whole world as well as the Father’s wrath on his shoulders, and he has drowned them both in himself so that we are thereby reconciled to God and become completely righteous.”
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“A Mighty Fortress is Our God,” by Luther
1. A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing; our helper he amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing. For still our ancient foe doth seek to work us woe; his craft and power are great, and armed with cruel hate, on earth is not his equal.
2. Did we in our own strength confide, our striving would be losing, were not the right man on our side, the man of God’s own choosing. Dost ask who that may be? Christ Jesus, it is he; Lord Sabaoth, his name, from age to age the same, and he must win the battle.
3. And though this world, with devils filled, should threaten to undo us, we will not fear, for God hath willed his truth to triumph through us. The Prince of Darkness grim, we tremble not for him; his rage we can endure, for lo, his doom is sure; one little word shall fell him.
Broken Believers 