“Where are you God when I hurt?  Or the silence of God” Part 2

     When you are suffering do you find yourself asking, “Where is God, when I am hurting so much?  He seems so distant!”  When suffering happens to us (or others), we can have some soul searching questions about where God is, can’t we? In part 1 “Why does God allow us to suffer?” and now in part 2, I am giving you some Biblical insights that should help you make some sense out of suffering. In this devotion, I am going to share what the Holy Spirit has shown me concerning where God is when we hurt or why He seems to be silent when we seemingly need Him the most. 

     When you think and feel things like, “I am hurting so much but I don’t feel God’s presence!  It is hard for me to think of Him much less pray to Him in my hurt!  I feel He has deserted me because He doesn’t seem to answer my cry for help!”  You need to understand (if you don’t already know) that from a psychological and physical standpoint, when you hurt your mind doesn’t think very clearly, because your mind is mentally trying to handle the pain. Your emotions are screaming pain and hurt so it isn’t easy to feel anything but what you are experiencing. When you are suffering, anxiety and depression can also weigh on your feelings and outlook on life. So when you feel like He isn’t there when you are suffering, you need to realize no matter how you feel He is with you!

     What we need to do is have a solid understanding of what Jesus Christ did and does for us. This will enable us to know (even if we don’t feel like it) God was, and is with us (in the most intimate way), as we suffer.  We will also through this knowledge appreciate why and for what purpose God allows us to suffer.  In the rest of this devotion I hope to give you this knowledge about Jesus.

    Romans 8 makes it clear, God sacrificed His Son, so He could be with us through all of life. On the other hand, Jesus (who is God) willingly allowed Himself to be sacrificed for us.  If I gave up my son’s life for someone, wouldn’t that show you I wanted to be with that person more than anyone else?  If I gave up my life for someone, wouldn’t that tell you how much I loved and cared for that person? 

But God has shown us how much he loves us---it was while we were still sinners that Christ died for us!  Romans 5:8 (GNT)

     Why did Jesus Christ need to die for us so we could be with Him? You see, before we are Christians, we are eternally dead to God (or separated from Him) because of our state of death from our sin.  Jesus Christ when He died on the cross paid the penalty for those sins. What we need to do is, believe He died on the cross for our sins.  That belief in Jesus makes us go from the state of eternal death to eternal life with Him. The most well-known Bible verse, John 3:16, tells us this principle.

"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 (or live forever with God). (NIV)

     When we have believed in Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit (God Himself) comes to live within us. I think we would all agree God couldn’t be with us any more intimately than living within us. So as you and I suffer He is suffering too.

     The Bible can seem contradictory to us concerning suffering and who God says He is, unless we realize what Jesus has suffered for us. Jesus Christ took the suffering we deserved (in Hell) when He died on the cross for us. Jesus as God also could have stopped any of His suffering immediately, but He patiently endured His suffering for us. He also has never asked us to go through anything He hasn’t. Where would we be if Jesus hadn’t suffered for us? So let’s take a look at how Jesus suffered for us. 

    How do you feel when you are suffering and people desert you, even people who should love you?  From His night before the crucifixion in the Garden of Gethsemane on through His death the next day, almost all Jesus’ friends and family deserted Him (Mark 14–15). God the Father even abandoned Him, when the punishment for all the sins ever committed fell upon Jesus as He was dying on the cross. Since God is holy and can have nothing to do with sin, He separated Himself from His Son in those hours. When darkness fell upon the earth, it seemed God was silent to His Son’s cry…

At noon the whole country was covered with darkness, which lasted for three hours.  At three o'clock Jesus cried out with a loud shout, "Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?" which means, "My God, my God, why did you abandon (or forsake) me?" …. With a loud cry Jesus died.  Mark 15:33-34,37  (GNT)

     Remember when God seems silent or not there in your suffering, He hasn’t forsaken you! (Jesus was forsaken by God on the cross, so you would never be forsaken by God!)  And in this seemingly silent time, remember God is taking your suffering and producing things of glorious eternal value for you and others (2 Corinthians 4:17). This life and its sufferings are but a vapor … but heaven is forever!

     A neat insight from the knowledge that Jesus died so we could live with Him in heaven, comes from John 14:1-3.  In these verses, Jesus is talking about preparing a special place for each of us, so we can be where He is, in eternity.  

Let not your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me.  In My Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. "And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. John 14:1-3 (NASB).

Have you ever thought that Jesus is now preparing a dwelling for you in heaven, so you can live with Him?  Does this show you how much He wants to be with you? Remember it was His suffering that gives you a home in heaven instead of eternal agony in hell.

     I think we all forget (at least at times) that the God of the universe through Jesus experienced all the hurt and pain we have had. This isn’t just because He is God, and is all-knowing and always present. It is because He physically and psychologically went through the experiences of this life.  On this earth He was fully human as well as fully God. Can you imagine how it must have been for the God of the universe to allow Himself to become one of us? I think that in itself was a huge sacrifice!

     As God Himself He could have lived a life fit for a king on this earth (Jesus is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords!) and then died for us. However, Jesus wanted to truly be able to sympathize with us in our trials, so He chose a life that allowed, even promoted, great suffering:  He knows the hunger and the frustrations of poverty, because He chose to be born into a poor family. He understands how it feels to be ugly and ignored, because He chose a human body that was unattractive.   He personally knows how hurtful it is to live in a world of death, because early on He experienced the death of His human father.  He also lived with the agony of death all around Him like we do. He understands how it hurts to be hated just because people don’t understand you or are jealous of you. He understands how it is to be extremely weary and not be able to sleep, to be sick and have no place to stay, to be cold and hot, thirsty and hungry and so on.  He knows how hard it is to be insulted, even spit upon, by the people who should be respecting you. He has experienced the pain of rejection that leads people to even torture you.  He comprehends how it feels to be completely innocent, yet crucified for the guilty ones, who wanted His death.  He knows the agony of being beaten and whipped beyond human endurance.  He has experienced the pain and humiliation of being stark naked and nailed to a cross, in front of the very people who thought He deserved this.  He has had every bone and muscle in His body screaming for relief from pain but never getting it. He knows how it feels to suffer and die for the people you love but who could care less about you.  (Isaiah 53:1-12)

     There are also 3 circumstances where Jesus suffered in ways none of us will ever experience. He took the punishment for all sins ever committed upon Himself, and since He is holy like God the Father, the degree of anguish from this must have been awful! Jesus and God are one! So what was the severity of the suffering, when God the Father separated Himself from Jesus those dark hours? I wondered if it felt like His whole being was being ripped apart.  How much suffering and agony did Jesus go through when He took the consequence of every sin ever committed upon Himself?  (This would mean that all suffering and pain through out the ages fell on Him … the punishment for all violent and immoral acts was upon Him… all sinful thoughts, words, deeds and so on fell upon Him … God’s wrath also was upon Jesus as He was taking our punishment for our sins as He hung on that cross. )  I think we could safety say, Jesus suffered beyond our human comprehension just because He loves us, and truly wants to be a part of everything in our lives. 

   He also allowed Himself to experience human weaknesses, unmet desires and needs, and temptations (but without sin), just like you and me. He experienced everything so He could fully sympathize with us.

Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted … For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.  Let us therefore draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and may find grace to help in time of need.  Hebrews 2:17-18  & 4:15- 16   (NASB)

The word sympathize in Hebrews 4:15 is formed from two Greek words, which mean “together with and to suffer”.  We could say sympathize here means, because Jesus has experienced all the suffering we have - He does suffer along with us!  So when you are suffering remember, whether you feel like He is with you or not, He is! And that He understands …

     If the meaning of sympathize didn’t wow you enough, did you know right now, Jesus is in eternity interceding for you?

Hence, also, He is able to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. Hebrews 7:25 (NASB) see also Romans 8:27 & 34

The word intercession means what you think it would – pray for, intervene, support, talk to, decide for, ask on behalf of and act as go-between for.  Jesus is praying for and supporting you constantly as you suffer, as well as when you simply live life. He is also deciding if the suffering (or anything) you will go through is what you need for your absolute best, for the present as well as for your future here and in eternity. His decisions are being made from an eternal perspective and are made by knowing what everything you experience will do to you. 

        When we have suffered something similar to someone then we can actually feel and comprehend their pain and hurt.  Can’t we?  He has experienced what we have suffered, so this allows Him to truly comfort us as we suffer. 2 Corinthians 1 encourages us by saying, His comfort is abundant for us as we suffer.  This is because He has suffered for us!

For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps, who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth; and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously; and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed. For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls.

1 Peter 2:21- 25 (NASB)

Does it give you encouragement to think Jesus suffered for you, and is always suffering with you, wanting to comfort you? It does me!   

    I think you would all agree, death brings a lot of the suffering on this earth.  A dear cousin of mine, who was like a sister to me while growing up, just died from cancer at 51. Yes, I am in mourning over the hurt of her death, and have moments when I ask God why?  Yet, I know Karen is in Jesus’ presence.  And she is feeling the joy and peace I long for, but it escapes me for now, because I am chained to this fallen earth. God isn’t mourning like I am, but is feeling like we would when a beloved child who we have been waiting years for, comes home. He does understand my grief and pain over death because He has experienced it spiritually as well as physically Himself (John 11).

     Let me remind you, God very much did something about death.  He stepped out of eternity and defeated our frightful enemy death by His death. He suffered for us by living and dying on this earth.  Because of this, death will never be our enemy or our punishment. Death has become something glorious to Christians!  This is because it is the means by which we escape suffering and go home to be with Him!

Life Application:  I need to warn you, if you leave God out of your suffering, there is no guarantee the suffering will do the good it could do!  And when you leave God out, you leave out the One Who loves you, who suffered for you, who has the only words and actions that bring eternal life and everlasting hope and peace, and who has the only power to enable you to endure for an eternal benefit.   In James 1:2-4 we are encouraged to rejoice over trials because they bring about maturity in our life.  In other words, if we allow God, He uses suffering in our lives to mold us into a beautiful godly woman that has Jesus’ character and is outfitted for life in heaven (Revelations 19:7-8).  Mediate on: 

Isaiah 53 and Romans 8:15-39

     I also need to remind you of a very important principle: When you are suffering you need to ask God if your sin is causing you to suffer.  Even if it isn’t your own sin that is bringing suffering into your life, you need to still ask the Holy Spirit to search your mind and heart for sin (Psalm 139:23-24).  This is because when anything that is hard hits us, it seems to be awfully easy to start sinning (such as being unforgiving or gossipy).  

    Never be afraid of confessing your sin because Jesus paid the price for your sins on the cross!  However, be very afraid when you refuse to agree with God about your sin, because then you are calling God a liar (1 John 1:8-9)!

“Where are you God when I hurt?  Or the silence of God” Part 2

     When you are suffering do you find yourself asking, “Where is God, when I am hurting so much?  He seems so distant!”  When suffering happens to us (or others), we can have some soul searching questions about where God is, can’t we? In part 1 “Why does God allow us to suffer?” and now in part 2, I am giving you some Biblical insights that should help you make some sense out of suffering. In this devotion, I am going to share what the Holy Spirit has shown me concerning where God is when we hurt or why He seems to be silent when we seemingly need Him the most. 

     When you think and feel things like, “I am hurting so much but I don’t feel God’s presence!  It is hard for me to think of Him much less pray to Him in my hurt!  I feel He has deserted me because He doesn’t seem to answer my cry for help!”  You need to understand (if you don’t already know) that from a psychological and physical standpoint, when you hurt your mind doesn’t think very clearly, because your mind is mentally trying to handle the pain. Your emotions are screaming pain and hurt so it isn’t easy to feel anything but what you are experiencing. When you are suffering, anxiety and depression can also weigh on your feelings and outlook on life. So when you feel like He isn’t there when you are suffering, you need to realize no matter how you feel He is with you!

     What we need to do is have a solid understanding of what Jesus Christ did and does for us. This will enable us to know (even if we don’t feel like it) God was, and is with us (in the most intimate way), as we suffer.  We will also through this knowledge appreciate why and for what purpose God allows us to suffer.  In the rest of this devotion I hope to give you this knowledge about Jesus.

    Romans 8 makes it clear, God sacrificed His Son, so He could be with us through all of life. On the other hand, Jesus (who is God) willingly allowed Himself to be sacrificed for us.  If I gave up my son’s life for someone, wouldn’t that show you I wanted to be with that person more than anyone else?  If I gave up my life for someone, wouldn’t that tell you how much I loved and cared for that person? 

But God has shown us how much he loves us---it was while we were still sinners that Christ died for us!  Romans 5:8 (GNT)

     Why did Jesus Christ need to die for us so we could be with Him? You see, before we are Christians, we are eternally dead to God (or separated from Him) because of our state of death from our sin.  Jesus Christ when He died on the cross paid the penalty for those sins. What we need to do is, believe He died on the cross for our sins.  That belief in Jesus makes us go from the state of eternal death to eternal life with Him. The most well-known Bible verse, John 3:16, tells us this principle.

"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 (or live forever with God). (NIV)

     When we have believed in Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit (God Himself) comes to live within us. I think we would all agree God couldn’t be with us any more intimately than living within us. So as you and I suffer He is suffering too.

     The Bible can seem contradictory to us concerning suffering and who God says He is, unless we realize what Jesus has suffered for us. Jesus Christ took the suffering we deserved (in Hell) when He died on the cross for us. Jesus as God also could have stopped any of His suffering immediately, but He patiently endured His suffering for us. He also has never asked us to go through anything He hasn’t. Where would we be if Jesus hadn’t suffered for us? So let’s take a look at how Jesus suffered for us. 

    How do you feel when you are suffering and people desert you, even people who should love you?  From His night before the crucifixion in the Garden of Gethsemane on through His death the next day, almost all Jesus’ friends and family deserted Him (Mark 14–15). God the Father even abandoned Him, when the punishment for all the sins ever committed fell upon Jesus as He was dying on the cross. Since God is holy and can have nothing to do with sin, He separated Himself from His Son in those hours. When darkness fell upon the earth, it seemed God was silent to His Son’s cry…

At noon the whole country was covered with darkness, which lasted for three hours.  At three o'clock Jesus cried out with a loud shout, "Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?" which means, "My God, my God, why did you abandon (or forsake) me?" …. With a loud cry Jesus died.  Mark 15:33-34,37  (GNT)

     Remember when God seems silent or not there in your suffering, He hasn’t forsaken you! (Jesus was forsaken by God on the cross, so you would never be forsaken by God!)  And in this seemingly silent time, remember God is taking your suffering and producing things of glorious eternal value for you and others (2 Corinthians 4:17). This life and its sufferings are but a vapor … but heaven is forever!

     A neat insight from the knowledge that Jesus died so we could live with Him in heaven, comes from John 14:1-3.  In these verses, Jesus is talking about preparing a special place for each of us, so we can be where He is, in eternity.  

Let not your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me.  In My Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. "And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. John 14:1-3 (NASB).

Have you ever thought that Jesus is now preparing a dwelling for you in heaven, so you can live with Him?  Does this show you how much He wants to be with you? Remember it was His suffering that gives you a home in heaven instead of eternal agony in hell.

     I think we all forget (at least at times) that the God of the universe through Jesus experienced all the hurt and pain we have had. This isn’t just because He is God, and is all-knowing and always present. It is because He physically and psychologically went through the experiences of this life.  On this earth He was fully human as well as fully God. Can you imagine how it must have been for the God of the universe to allow Himself to become one of us? I think that in itself was a huge sacrifice!

     As God Himself He could have lived a life fit for a king on this earth (Jesus is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords!) and then died for us. However, Jesus wanted to truly be able to sympathize with us in our trials, so He chose a life that allowed, even promoted, great suffering:  He knows the hunger and the frustrations of poverty, because He chose to be born into a poor family. He understands how it feels to be ugly and ignored, because He chose a human body that was unattractive.   He personally knows how hurtful it is to live in a world of death, because early on He experienced the death of His human father.  He also lived with the agony of death all around Him like we do. He understands how it hurts to be hated just because people don’t understand you or are jealous of you. He understands how it is to be extremely weary and not be able to sleep, to be sick and have no place to stay, to be cold and hot, thirsty and hungry and so on.  He knows how hard it is to be insulted, even spit upon, by the people who should be respecting you. He has experienced the pain of rejection that leads people to even torture you.  He comprehends how it feels to be completely innocent, yet crucified for the guilty ones, who wanted His death.  He knows the agony of being beaten and whipped beyond human endurance.  He has experienced the pain and humiliation of being stark naked and nailed to a cross, in front of the very people who thought He deserved this.  He has had every bone and muscle in His body screaming for relief from pain but never getting it. He knows how it feels to suffer and die for the people you love but who could care less about you.  (Isaiah 53:1-12)

     There are also 3 circumstances where Jesus suffered in ways none of us will ever experience. He took the punishment for all sins ever committed upon Himself, and since He is holy like God the Father, the degree of anguish from this must have been awful! Jesus and God are one! So what was the severity of the suffering, when God the Father separated Himself from Jesus those dark hours? I wondered if it felt like His whole being was being ripped apart.  How much suffering and agony did Jesus go through when He took the consequence of every sin ever committed upon Himself?  (This would mean that all suffering and pain through out the ages fell on Him … the punishment for all violent and immoral acts was upon Him… all sinful thoughts, words, deeds and so on fell upon Him … God’s wrath also was upon Jesus as He was taking our punishment for our sins as He hung on that cross. )  I think we could safety say, Jesus suffered beyond our human comprehension just because He loves us, and truly wants to be a part of everything in our lives. 

   He also allowed Himself to experience human weaknesses, unmet desires and needs, and temptations (but without sin), just like you and me. He experienced everything so He could fully sympathize with us.

Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted … For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.  Let us therefore draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and may find grace to help in time of need.  Hebrews 2:17-18  & 4:15- 16   (NASB)

The word sympathize in Hebrews 4:15 is formed from two Greek words, which mean “together with and to suffer”.  We could say sympathize here means, because Jesus has experienced all the suffering we have - He does suffer along with us!  So when you are suffering remember, whether you feel like He is with you or not, He is! And that He understands …

     If the meaning of sympathize didn’t wow you enough, did you know right now, Jesus is in eternity interceding for you?

Hence, also, He is able to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. Hebrews 7:25 (NASB) see also Romans 8:27 & 34

The word intercession means what you think it would – pray for, intervene, support, talk to, decide for, ask on behalf of and act as go-between for.  Jesus is praying for and supporting you constantly as you suffer, as well as when you simply live life. He is also deciding if the suffering (or anything) you will go through is what you need for your absolute best, for the present as well as for your future here and in eternity. His decisions are being made from an eternal perspective and are made by knowing what everything you experience will do to you. 

        When we have suffered something similar to someone then we can actually feel and comprehend their pain and hurt.  Can’t we?  He has experienced what we have suffered, so this allows Him to truly comfort us as we suffer. 2 Corinthians 1 encourages us by saying, His comfort is abundant for us as we suffer.  This is because He has suffered for us!

For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps, who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth; and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously; and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed. For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls.

1 Peter 2:21- 25 (NASB)

Does it give you encouragement to think Jesus suffered for you, and is always suffering with you, wanting to comfort you? It does me!   

    I think you would all agree, death brings a lot of the suffering on this earth.  A dear cousin of mine, who was like a sister to me while growing up, just died from cancer at 51. Yes, I am in mourning over the hurt of her death, and have moments when I ask God why?  Yet, I know Karen is in Jesus’ presence.  And she is feeling the joy and peace I long for, but it escapes me for now, because I am chained to this fallen earth. God isn’t mourning like I am, but is feeling like we would when a beloved child who we have been waiting years for, comes home. He does understand my grief and pain over death because He has experienced it spiritually as well as physically Himself (John 11).

     Let me remind you, God very much did something about death.  He stepped out of eternity and defeated our frightful enemy death by His death. He suffered for us by living and dying on this earth.  Because of this, death will never be our enemy or our punishment. Death has become something glorious to Christians!  This is because it is the means by which we escape suffering and go home to be with Him!

Life Application:  I need to warn you, if you leave God out of your suffering, there is no guarantee the suffering will do the good it could do!  And when you leave God out, you leave out the One Who loves you, who suffered for you, who has the only words and actions that bring eternal life and everlasting hope and peace, and who has the only power to enable you to endure for an eternal benefit.   In James 1:2-4 we are encouraged to rejoice over trials because they bring about maturity in our life.  In other words, if we allow God, He uses suffering in our lives to mold us into a beautiful godly woman that has Jesus’ character and is outfitted for life in heaven (Revelations 19:7-8).  Mediate on: 

Isaiah 53 and Romans 8:15-39

     I also need to remind you of a very important principle: When you are suffering you need to ask God if your sin is causing you to suffer.  Even if it isn’t your own sin that is bringing suffering into your life, you need to still ask the Holy Spirit to search your mind and heart for sin (Psalm 139:23-24).  This is because when anything that is hard hits us, it seems to be awfully easy to start sinning (such as being unforgiving or gossipy).  

    Never be afraid of confessing your sin because Jesus paid the price for your sins on the cross!  However, be very afraid when you refuse to agree with God about your sin, because then you are calling God a liar (1 John 1:8-9)!

Why does God allow us to suffer? Part 1

    A few weeks ago, I anxiously laid awake thinking, “How can I answer, ‘Why God allows suffering?’  How can I write this devotion when I am struggling right now concerning a dear cousin of mine who is very sick from cancer?”  Yet in my struggling, God in His infinite wisdom and love knew this would be the best time for me to deal with this question in my life!

    I know only God can give me (and you) peace concerning the age old question, why He allows suffering.  So let’s allow Him to speak to us through His Word in this devotion.  Did you know some of Jesus’ last words on this earth talk about Him giving us peace in suffering?

I have told you this so that you will have peace by being united to Me. The world will make you suffer. But be brave! I have defeated the world!" John 16:33 (GNT)

    (Before I present you with a list (from what the Holy Spirit has shown me) on why God allows suffering, I need to emphasize, something to you.  That something is that suffering will never make sense to you without looking at it through the filter of Jesus’ suffering and the cross! I don’t have room in this devotion to give this all important theme the space it deserves.  So that is why this devotion is in two parts. In part 2 called “Where are you God when I hurt?  Or the silence of God” I will expound on Jesus and His suffering for us.

    I think the first and the most important thing we need to realize about why God allows suffering is:  His decisions are made from an eternal perspective, not from a human perspective. God’s decisions aren’t made by some wild man but are made through the understanding and wisdom that created us and loves us.  I hardly know what is happening in the present at times, but His decisions come from knowing the past, present and future, and even the what ifs. He made us in love and for love, so won’t His decisions be what His beloved people need? 

   I do believe you would agree, God decisions and His ways aren’t like ours!  We tend to make decisions that are the best for us and not the other person. This is probably because we can be very self-serving, even when we are doing things that look and seem good.  Our love and forgiveness are full of conditions, so we can make decisions that are led by anger, vengeance, jealousy, fear, frustration, pride, selfishness and lack of patience.  If our decisions are made from a right attitude they are still very limited because they are made from a human standpoint.  We also can’t forget hormones and just plain weariness drive our decisions too.  

    God’s decisions are made in the framework of who He is and what is best for us from the viewpoint of eternity.  God’s decisions are always being made for our good (so we can become more like Jesus), as Romans 8:28,29b tell us.   

We know that in all things God works for good with those who love him, those whom he has called according to his purpose…to become like his Son… (GNT)

He makes His decisions by what we need to experience on this earth so we can have Jesus’ character in the present, as well as in the future. 
 

…but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. Romans 5:3-4   (NIV)

    His decisions are never self-serving, but always in the framework of what are best for His people. (Think of what Jesus suffered for you on this earth.) God is all-powerful, always present, all-knowing, unchanging, faithful, eternal, self-existent, righteous, holy, patient, good, kind, merciful, just, sovereign, self-sufficient and the Creator, so He knows and can make the best possible decisions for our eternal welfare.

For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Neither are your ways My ways," declares the Lord. "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts…

Isaiah 55:8-9   (NASB)

    His decisions are made for us in and from His love. He would never allow us to suffer for the heck of it or out of meanness!  He always has a reason for everything that happens in our lives.  In Jeremiah 29:11, during a time of great upheaval in the nation of Israel’s history, God says,

'For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the Lord,' plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.  (NASB)

It is key in Jeremiah 29 for us to understand, the plans God has for us do give us welfare and not calamity from an eternal perspective. My limited reasoning says, “Suffering has nothing to do with the idea of our welfare.  I would certainly define suffering as calamity.” However, God is looking at everything from what is going to give me and you the absolute best for a future in heaven. Believe me, when we get to eternity, whatever we have suffered on this earth to make us more like Jesus will be the stuff we are thankful for. In Romans 8:31-35, 37-39 Paul says, 

… If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? Who will bring a charge against God's elect? God is the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?...But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (NASB)

    We also need to understand God works all things for the good of everyone not just for our good. A situation that is so awful for us may have a wonderful result for many others.  For example, a woman being raped might result in her whole family to becoming Christians.  A good example of this in the Bible is shown in the evil that Joseph’s brothers did to him. God used the evil to save his whole family and many people from hunger. Joseph said in Genesis 50:20,

"And as for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive.   (NASB)

     Second, God understands our struggle with suffering! He knew we would struggle with who He is and what He does, because we perceive everything through the filter of our sinful nature. In this world God tells us our knowledge and understanding of Him, and His design and purposes will not be understood completely.  That is why it is very hard for us to fully understand, why God allows suffering. Yet, when we live with God in eternity we will then know and understand Him completely as He does us now.  In eternity we will understand why God allows suffering.

What we see now is like a dim image in a mirror; then we shall see face-to-face. What I know now is only partial; then it will be complete-as complete as God's knowledge of me.  I Corinthians 13:12 (GNT)

    God knows this world is a harsh place to live.  He knew it would be quite impossible from a human standpoint to trust Him concerning suffering. A friend of mine had a teenage daughter die in a car accident.  She struggled and still does at times concerning trusting God.  She had faithfully asked God to protect her kids ever since they were born.  Even the night her daughter was killed she had prayed for her.  I know God understands her struggle with trusting Him because He knows all things.  I know He isn’t thinking, “How dare her, she does not trust Me”.   God is patient and kind.  We demand more of people who are suffering than God does.  In Luke 22:47-51 we see God’s kindness and patience when He was being arrested for no reason except that the Jewish leaders were jealous of Him.

Jesus was still speaking when a crowd arrived, led by Judas, one of the twelve disciples. He came up to Jesus to kiss him.  But Jesus said, "Judas, is it with a kiss that you betray the Son of Man?" When the disciples who were with Jesus saw what was going to happen, they asked, "Shall we use our swords, Lord?" And one of them struck the High Priest's slave and cut off his right ear.  But Jesus said, "Enough of this!" He touched the man's ear and healed him.  (GNT)

    Third, we need to understand God did not create us for pain and suffering!  God created the universe and a world that was devoid of anything evil, unpleasant, hurtful, painful, distressing and so on. God didn’t create us to

suffer physically, psychologically, socially nor spiritually! Genesis 2:16-17 and 3:6 teach us it was Adam and Eve’s free will that chose that kind of world and existence we now live in.

    Let me give you an illustration from my life to hopefully give you a little understanding how God feels when we suffer, and why He doesn’t stop our suffering.  My second son during his toddler years kept cutting his head.  The doctor was emphatic that he needed stitches.  The first ordeal of stitches turned out to be a nightmare, so from then on every time my son needed to have them, I felt awful.  (It was so hard for me to see my child in such pain and distress.)  I would find myself almost wanting to strangle the nurses and doctor to stop my son’s suffering.  In some ways, my hurt was more than his because of how much I loved him.  They must have known I was going to interfere with what needed to be done to heal him, because they were adamant I could not be in the room with him.  I can still feel how awful I felt each time I watched them put him in a straight jacket, to put those stitches in.

    If I felt awful when my son was suffering, how do you think God feels when you and I suffer?  He is so much more loving and caring than I am.  In reality we can only love and care because we are created in His image! When we feel bad about suffering we know God does more!  Have you ever thought maybe God feels worst than you about your suffering? 

    God is our great Physician.  Even though we think what He is allowing to happen to us (or others) is unreasonable or even mean, He knows it is what we need to heal.   Isaiah 53 talks about God using His own Son’s suffering as His instrument of healing. Doesn’t that touch your heart that God would allow His Son to suffer to stop your suffering?

Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed.  Isaiah 53:4- 5   (NASB)

    Some of you might think God enjoys seeing us suffer. However the Bible is clear, God isn’t happy when we are suffering.  Just as I felt awful about my son and his pain, God feels awful when we are in pain. In the gospel of John, Jesus wept when He saw and felt firsthand what the agony of death and suffering does to us. The Old Testament is full of God mourning over our suffering, even the suffering we brought on ourselves.  The difference between God and us is, I would have stopped the doctor from helping my son to heal, but God is wise, He knows what we need to go through to make us what we should be for our journey with Him on this earth and in eternity.     

    Fourth, sin brought suffering into this world. If there were no sin there would be no suffering. We need to realize every sin, either ours or someone else’s, affects all of us and the world around us.  So we could say the effects of sin have just kept mushrooming since Genesis 3.  {{link to lesson 2}}

    Not all of our suffering comes from our own sin.  Quite a bit of our suffering is caused by others sinning against us.  Yes, God could stop that person from hurting you, but where would He draw the line in stopping people’s free will? If He had not given Adam and Eve a free will, you would not have a free will either. 

    I hope I haven’t glibly given you a simple list on why God allows suffering. Life is harsh, confusing, frightening and hard to understand at times. It isn’t easy to get past why God didn’t stop something that hurts so much that you find it hard to trust Him.  Nevertheless, let me remind you God very much did something about our suffering!  He stepped out of eternity to suffer for us, so that the cause and effect of sin would be completely taken care of. God suffered so that you and I don’t have to die and suffer throughout eternity. 

Life Application: Take some time now and ask yourself, “Why and how do I struggle with why God allows suffering?”  Be honest.  God knows if you trust Him or not, in any way, shape or form.  Write down what the Holy Spirit shows you.  Then ask God to do whatever He needs to do to reassure you concerning suffering so you can trust in Him.  Remember He wants you to experience peace and comfort in Him.  Rewrite John 16:33 in your own way, then ask God to empower you to do what that verse is telling you to do to have His peace.

Life or Death?

(The answers everyone needs to know about life and death.)

Have you ever thought about what will happen to you when you die? I think a lot of people believe that when we die, we either decay in some type of so-called pine box, or we become a part of some good cosmic force in the universe.  However, the Jewish and Christian Scriptures teach the opposite.  They teach death is a state of separation, not extinction of self, because starting from our birth we are eternal beings! This means you either live on in a state the Bible calls eternal life with God, or live away from God, in eternal punishment.  

What is eternal life? Eternal life means living with God in an eternal relationship. God created you to live with Him forever, not to die! 

The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying: "I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness.  Jeremiah 31:3 (NIV)

Where did death come from? The state of death began with the first sin in Genesis 3. God told our relatives, Adam and Eve, not to eat from a certain tree, and if they disobeyed Him and ate, death and its results would be introduced into the world.

And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die." Genesis 2:16-17 (NIV)

A world-wide nuclear war would have had less life changing effects on all of us than what Adam and Eve did! Their choice to disobey God brought sin and death to us all.

Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned—Romans 5:12  (NIV)

What exactly is death?  Physical death is separation from our bodies. Spiritual death is separation from God.  The introduction of death into our world brought awful effects to our earthly bodies as we all know all to well!  Death also completely changed our eternal existence - instead of living with God we will live separated from Him in eternal punishment!

…to punish those who reject God…they will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, separated from the presence of the Lord... 2 Thessalonians 1:8-9 (GNT)  

What did God do to stop the horror of eternal punishment and death for you?   Jesus Christ, who is God Himself, stepped out of eternity to become one of us - to die by one of the most tortuous deaths humans could invent (crucifixion).  He did all of this so He could take the punishment of your sins (not His) upon Himself.  

God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5:21 (NIV)

Why can you go from the state of death to eternal life?  Jesus Christ was born, lived and died to save us from our sins.

She (Mary) will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins." Matthew 1:21 (NIV)

… that Christ died for our sins, as written in the Scriptures; that he was buried and that he was raised to life three days later, as written in the Scriptures;  

1 Corinthians 15:3-4   (GNT)

Jesus’ death on the cross paid the punishment for your sins so you can be forgiven and go from a state of death to eternal life.

And God showed his love for us by sending his only Son into the world, so that we might have life through him.  This is what love is: it is not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the means by which our sins are forgiven.  1 John 4:9-10   (GNT)

How can you go from the state of death to eternal life? The only thing God asks you to do to have eternal life is to believe in the Jesus Christ of the Holy Bible.  That’s what makes you a Christian; nothing else can.   

For God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son (Jesus Christ), so that everyone who believes in Him may not die but have eternal life.  For God did not send Jesus into the world to be its judge, but to be its Savior.  Those who believe in Jesus are not judged; but those who do not believe have already been judged, because they have not believed in God's only Son.  John 3:16-18 (GNT)

Who is Jesus Christ of the Holy Bible? The Bible teaches us that God is One God, but He exists eternally as three persons.  He is God the Father, God the Holy Spirit and God the Son. Jesus Christ is called God’s Son in many scriptures. (The word “Son” in the Greek language is an expression of character not of birth.)  Jesus Christ is the One True God who also became a sinless Man. As a Man, He became our substitute when He died for us on a cross, to pay the penalty for our sins. He also rose from the dead, which proved He is God.

It’s important to understand what believing means, since you need to believe in Jesus to have eternal life. Faith is the noun and believe is the verb.  These words mean to be firmly convinced or completely sure about someone or something.  This leads you to rely on or trust in that person or thing  

Some people think the word “believe” is a magical word, or some nebulous state of mind or feeling that gives them power. Yet in reality, belief should be based on knowledge that leads to action. When you believe in something you are saying, “This is my ‘truth’ from my perspective that affects my life.” For an example: I can say I believe my car can fly.  I can explain how I think it can fly. However, unless I am willing to drive my car off a cliff to prove to you it can fly, my belief is just a bunch of words, not what I truly believe in.    

Believing is made true by what or who your belief is in, such as, the numerous chairs you sit in everyday.  Most the time we have so much trust in those chairs, we just sit down without thinking, “will that chair hold me”.  It is pretty obvious unless you are crazy you wouldn’t drive your car off a cliff, because the belief your car can fly is false.  So we can certainly say, it is what we have belief in that makes a belief true! 

When we believe in Jesus Christ, we are putting our trust in the God of the universe. (He is the Creator of all that exists.  Yet, He loves us so much He died for us.). This belief means we are relying on Jesus to forgive our sins, giving us eternal life.  When you have true belief in Jesus Christ, your belief in Him will lead you to action (a changed life in Him)!

If you want to live eternally, then believe in Jesus Christ and what He did for you!  If you want to stay dead eternally and go to hell, then do nothing!

     We are told in God’s Word not to be anxious, yet in reality, we live in a world where about anything can bring on anxiety. Think of what’s happening globally. With the melt down of financial institutions, and the political unrest, along with the reality that most governments are making things worse, who wouldn’t be distressed unless they are living in uninformed bliss? A city not too far from where I live, is ranked second in the world for kidnappings, with only Mexico City having more.  If that fact doesn’t give you a healthy fear along with a sense of uneasiness, you are probably in denial.

     I know some of you right now are thinking, hey, we are told by God in Matthew 6 and Philippians 4 not to be anxious.  So what do you mean by saying, “Be anxious but do not sin?”  Isn’t all anxiety sin?  I will answer this question in the rest of this devotion, as well as share some insights about anxiety and how to deal with it from God’s perspective.

     Let’s define anxiety from a psychological and physical point of view, so we are on the same page when it comes to what is meant by it.  A simplistic definition of anxiety is: Anxiety starts in the mind when we perceive something as fearful; this makes our body prepare for danger which includes symptoms of anxiety. Anxiety is an emotion that can have feelings of nervousness, being tense or jumpy, unpleasantness, irritability, restlessness, a sense of uneasiness, dread, panic, and so on. These feelings are often accompanied by physical symptoms. The symptoms of anxiety can be so slight you hardly feel them, or so intense you feel like you will die, such as a panic attack.  Fear is very connected to anxiety, because when you are fearful you are probably anxious.  In other words, what is fearful to you (such as your child getting hurt) is your anxiety producing source.

     Here are some everyday examples of anxiety.  It’s those butterflies in your stomach as you gave that oral report.  It’s the uneasiness you feel when someone dislikes you or you think they do.  It’s the restlessness you feel just before a tennis match.  It’s the feeling of nervousness you get when you realize your painful stomach problems are back.  It’s the dread you feel when you need to deal with your abusive father.  It’s the pounding in your heart when you realize some man has been following you in a dark parking lot.

     I think you would agree from the above definition of anxiety, everyone has been anxious.  So it won’t surprise you to hear, Psychology says - if you are human you will be anxious.  Yet, did you know God’s Word pretty much says the same thing?   Let’s go to His Word to understand anxiety from His point of view, and learn how to deal with it.

     In Job 21, anxiety is clearly defined for us through Job’s honest reaction to his suffering, and his hard experiences.

When I think about this, I am terrified; trembling seizes my body. Job 21:6 (NIV)

Job in this verse literally explains to us how anxiety begins and acts in us.  He was saying, anxiety seized him every time he thought about his terrifying experiences.  If you aren’t familiar with the book of Job, here is a summary of his nightmarish experiences.  Job lost all his earthly wealth; all his children were killed all at once; and he was smote with sore boils from his head to the sole of his feet.  

PS – If you do a study of words that describe symptoms of anxiety, you will see how commonplace anxious reactions are in the Bible.  All through the Psalms - King David talks about his distresses and so on (Psalm 55:5).

     We need to understand when anxiety started, so we can clearly understand where it comes from.  Anxiety started with Adam and Eve and the first sin.  We know this from Genesis 3:10.  This verse tells us what Adam and Eve felt like after they had disobeyed God and brought sin into the world.  

And he [Adam] said, "I heard the sound of Thee in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself."(NASB)

     The Hebrew word – afraid, is the key to understanding where anxiety came from. Zodhiates (in his Complete Word Study Dictionary of the Old Testament, pg. 2323) says that two types of fear are described by this Hebrew word: (1) the emotion and intellectual anticipation of harm, what one feels may go wrong and (2) a very positive feeling of awe or reverence for God.  I think it is evident from the context – afraid in Genesis 3:10 is the first type.  Have you ever thought how horrible it must have been for Adam and Eve, to have only felt positive emotions such as happiness, and then instantaneously to feel anxious - fear and so on?  Talk about a nightmare experience!  I know all about anxiety and it still throws me off.

     Is anxiety ever a good thing to experience?  There are 4 areas where anxiety could be called good for us. (1) Anxiety wakes you up to face a threatening situation or gets your adrenaline going (fight or flight). If your house is burning down your mind should scream, “Get out of the house because you will be burnt.”  This thought rightly puts you in a panic, so you haul tail it out.  (2) As a Christian you should get anxious if you are thinking about sinning, or have already sinned. This is because you should have a healthy fear of disobeying God (which Adam and Eve didn’t seem to have).  This anxious fear should scare you away from sin!

For I confess my iniquity; I am full of anxiety because of my sin.  Psalm 38:18   (NASB)

(3) Anxiety keeps you on your toes, so the Spirit can lead you to do what is right.  Your 12 year-old son needs to take a bath and change his clothes before he goes to church.  The only reason he does is, he gets afraid and starts getting nervous about being restricted for a week. (4) Last but not least, anxiety makes me close to God because only He can quiet my anxious thoughts, no matter what they are from.

Say to those with anxious heart, "Take courage, fear not. Behold, your God will come …but He will save you.” Isaiah 35:4 (NASB)

     One of the main struggles of anxiety is, we can’t always get away from what is making us anxious.  Here are some fear producing circumstances that are not for the most part sin, but unfortunately you can’t easily get away from them to stop your anxiety.   (1) Genetic source: Research has shown some people are genetically more prone to anxiety; this seems especially true for some women.  (2) Medical source: Health problems can lead to high levels of anxiety - such as cancer, lupus, arthritis, thyroid problems, infections and so on.  I struggle with anxiety a lot more since I have been in menopause. (3) Substance source: Certain substances can induce anxiety - such as alcohol, caffeine, legal or illegal drugs.  (4) Traumatic experience source:  Anxiety can be a major struggle in your life after a hard experience, until you learn to deal with it.  A rape victim can have many fearful triggers that will set off anxiety.  An example - years ago, a woman was raped in a park, and every time she goes near the place, she gets a feeling of anxiousness.  (5) Relational source:  Some people you can politely avoid, but most relational sources you can’t or shouldn’t. I have found when some people make me anxious it’s not always their fault, but my sin (such as pride) might be what is sparking my nervousness.

    If you are struggling with a high level of anxiety, it would be a good thing to see a trusted doctor. There are a lot of medicines that can help you, as well as counseling. If you need medicine, it is a gift from God because it helps your body bring down your high level of anxiety so you can deal with it through God.  What is happening when you are highly anxious is:  Your mind and body get determined to get away from the fearful source (fight and flight) that is causing you those harsh anxiety symptoms.  But you can’t!  So it’s like a vicious cycle.  Your mind and body keep dealing with those symptoms, which makes it hard to deal with anything else.  PS  As you would any decision in your life, prayerfully ask God what to do or not do with your anxiety.

     When is anxiety a sin in our lives? All anxiety comes from sin, whether it is our sin, other people’s sin against us, or living in a sinful world. Remember Genesis 3.  We need to bear in mind anxiety in itself isn’t a sin in our lives (by the definition of anxiety).  It is the mind’s and the body’s reaction to the sinful world we live in.  This type of anxiety we will call reaction anxiety. Yet, anxiety can become sin when we deal with our reaction anxiety in an unbiblical way!

     Anxiety becomes sin when we allow the source of our anxiety (or what is scaring us, distressing us, worrying us, stressing us, or putting us in a panic) to control us, instead of letting God control us.  What I believe happens when anxiety becomes sin is, our mind and body are reacting to a fearful source, which is reaction anxiety. But then for various reasons we forget to go to God with our anxious thoughts, or we don’t trust God to get us through whatever is making us fearful and thus anxious.  This scenario becomes sin. We will call this anxiety - sinful anxiety (Psalm 37:3-5 & Proverbs 3:5-6).

     Let’s take a look at a person who has reaction anxiety but isn’t particularly sinning, and another who is. The first person has lost her job and can only make her house payment for 3 months without a job.  This scenario would naturally make anyone feel distressed or worried.  However, she knows what God’s Word says, so she decides to pray, and mentally tell herself to trust God every time she starts to get worried.  The other person has lost her job too and can only make payments for 5 months.  This person knows what God’s Word says, but does not figure God could really help her, so why bother Him. She gets worried every time she thinks of her plight, and feels like she is drowning with the fear of not having the resources.

     Be aware, our source of anxiety (a fear) could be from sin in our life.  An illustration:  My source of fear which makes me slightly anxious is -whether my teaching and writing are encouraging, thought-provoking and growth inspiring to the reader. This isn’t an unreasonable fear, but it is sin because this thought tells me I am relying on my abilities instead of doing what God wants and relying on His Spirit to touch others through what I am doing. Do you see a pattern that lack of trust in God leads to sinful anxiety?

Below are 4 principles from scripture that will help you deal with anxiety! Dealing with anxiety through God’s methods can set you free from sinful anxiety, and lessen reaction anxiety in your life.

1.  Transform the mind - Since reaction anxiety starts in our minds, we must start dealing with it there.

     Since anxiety starts in the mind, it just makes sense that if we change our way of thinking, our anxiety will change.  So as a Christian how do we change or transform our minds to calm our anxieties?  God’s Word! When our minds are grounded in His Word, this will allow us to have His way of thinking about the world and its disquieting and fearful influence.  This certainly will lead us to have more of His peace, which will calm down our anxiety in our lives.

Jesus is talking:

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled (emotion that causes the mind to be disturbed) and do not be afraid... I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world. John 14:27 & 16:33 (NIV)

Knowing God’s Word will allow our minds to filter out the world’s lies that make us fearful, and to replace them with God’s truth that gives us peace of mind.  

    >>>When our minds are busy thinking godly thoughts, it will get our minds off what is scaring us, distressing us, worrying us, stressing us, or putting us in a panic, and onto reality from God’s perspective.  One of the world’s lies that floats around in my head is, “You are useless,” which can lead to anxiety.  If I was thinking with God’s truth, I would think, “God tells me in Psalm 139 that I was created by Him for His purposes.”  This godly thought makes me feel encouraged, instead of anxious.

Apply to your life.  What lies of the world do you struggle with that make you fearful and therefore anxious?  What Bible verse could you use to quiet your anxious fear? I have found if I am willing to allow the Holy Spirit to lead me as I read and study His Word, He guides me to verses that calm my fearfully anxious thoughts. 

2. Trust God –  The key to stopping sinful anxiety or calming reaction anxiety in your life is, trusting in God. What you should be doing is, first and foremost, relying on God to get you through whatever is making you fearful and thus anxious, instead of relying on yourself, or whoever, or whatever.

You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast (supported or upheld), because he trusts in You. Isaiah 26:3 (NIV)

     It is evident that trusting God is essential when dealing with anxiety because of the Hebrew definition of trust. Zodhiates (in his Complete Word Study of the Old Testament, pg. 2304) says trust means – to attach oneself, to trust, rely on, confide in, feel safe in, be confident in, secure in.  It has the idea of confident hope in God and not constant worry.  It is relaxing in the fact God is in control; He is our security and not what the world offers. When we truly trust in God, He will make us feel safe and secure and therefore not fearfully anxious (Psalm 37:3, 5; Proverbs 3:5; Isaiah 31:1 & Jeremiah 17:5-8).

     Let’s take a look at Matthew 6. In this passage there are numerous times God tells us not to worry, but to trust and seek Him concerning what we need.  Looking at this passage should help you to know what to do when you are fearful about something so you won’t get anxious.

Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear…. Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?  So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?'… your heavenly Father knows that you need them.  But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.  Therefore do not worry about tomorrow (the what ifs…), for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Matthew 6:25-34 (NIV)

     Here is an example of trusting in God from Matthew 6:25-34 so you can zap your anxious thoughts. Our nation will probably have another terrorist attack.  This thought makes my mind think, “Oh no, what if that happens or that or that…how will we get water if the electricity is off in Tucson and so on.”  As I think these things, of course a feeling of fearful anxiety starts pervading my body.  But then I remember what God’s Word says.  So I think, “God knows what we need and will provide it. He doesn’t let the birds die of thirst.  I need to remind myself (moment by moment if need be), to trust Him instead of freaking out.  He will lead us, as we seek Him.” Can you relate?   (PS  He has led us to store extra water and food.)

     When we know God’s truths and act upon them we are then relying on the unchanging and eternal God instead of the world’s ever-changing ups and downs.  God tells us in 1 Peter 5 to cast or throw our anxiety on Him, because He is concerned about us.  We cast our anxiety upon Him by mentally relying on Him and His Word to calm our fears.   

Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. 1 Peter 5:7 (NIV)

I believe if you are trusting God, you might still suffer with reaction anxiety but you will not with sinful anxiety!

Apply to your life. Sometimes I am trying to rely on Him but my source of anxiety is screaming in my mind to be afraid and therefore nervous, such as when I gave blood for the first time. (Giving blood turned out to be a blessing, so that fear was unfounded, like many can be.) I want to trust God with my fearful circumstance, but it seems I just default to feeling uneasy or worse. Do you find yourself in the same predicament? What do we do then?  Ask God to show you if you are trusting in Him with your reaction anxiety?  Ask God to show you if your anxiety is sin.

Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; And see if there be any hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way. Psalms 139:23-24 (NASB)

     If you are relying on Him, then keep persevering with God and ask Him to help you to calm your reaction anxiety.  God gave me Isaiah 35:4 one time to help me. But if you are not relying on God then your anxiety is sin. Ask God to give you the desire and strength to trust Him instead of freaking out. If your fear is a sin such as, you lied and are fearfully anxious you will get caught, then ask God to forgive you (1 John 1:9).  And ask God to give you the desire to do His will so you will not be fearful over your own sinful doing. 

3. A lifestyle of prayer – I believe the only way you can truly rely on God is to know Him through His Word and stay connected to Him through prayer.  Philippians 4:6 makes it very clear, to stop sinful anxiety and lessen reaction anxiety, you need to pray about everything.

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.  (NASB)

    This verse is telling us that to be able to deal with anxiety and its fearful source in a godly manner, we need to be people who trust in God enough to talk to Him about everything.  We need to also be thankful, even for what makes us anxious, such as your mother-in law.  If prayer is our way of life along with being thankful, it tends to gets our minds off of what is distressing us and onto God who has abundantly met our needs (Philippians 4:19).

Apply to your life. At least for me, when anxiety hits, it drives me to want to talk to God.  How about you?

4. Our greatest example of how to deal with anxiety is Jesus - Yes, Jesus had reaction anxiety (at times) because He was human. Yet, He never had sinful anxiety!  So it just makes sense to follow His example of dealing with reaction anxiety.  And to also pursue His example concerning trusting God, so we can fight sinful anxiety as it starts in our mind.

     The best example of Jesus handling reaction anxiety is just before He is arrested in the garden of Gethsemane.  Let’s look at Luke 22:41-46. 

And He withdrew from them about a stone's throw, and He knelt down and began to pray, saying, "Father, if Thou art willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Thine be done." Now an angel from heaven appeared to Him, strengthening Him.  And being in agony He was praying very fervently; and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground.  Luke 22:41-44   (NASB)

The Greek word agony in Luke 22:44 refers to trembling excitement and anxiety produced by fear or tension before something hard.  In this passage, it is very clear Jesus had the physical symptoms of anxiety, such as sweating.  

     Since Jesus’ sweating was abnormally intense, I believe this meant His reaction anxiety was extremely strong.  This state probably caused His mind and body to be in a panic state, so that He felt like He would die from His anxiety.  As many of you know, Jesus did go on to literally die for us on a cross a day later after much suffering (Luke 22-24).  LINK TO Lesson 3 Love study

     However our God, who took on human form for us, LINK TO LESSON 5 Love BS allowed Himself to experience the worst reaction anxiety a person could experience, even though He easily could have avoided it or stopped it, but instead endured it for you and me.  Since Jesus endured extreme reaction anxiety for you and me… let us run to Him with our reaction anxiety as well as our sinful anxiety, knowing He will give us mercy and help so we can be conquerors in our battle with anxiety (Romans 8:26-39).

Now that we know what we have—Jesus, this great High Priest with ready access to God—let's not let it slip through our fingers.  We don't have a priest who is out of touch with our reality. He's been through weakness and testing, experienced it all—all but the sin. So let's walk right up to him and get what he is so ready to give. Take the mercy, accept the help. Hebrews 4:14-16 (Message)

Apply to your life. Luke 22:41-44 gives us how Jesus handled His reaction anxiety in a godly manner.  Summarize these verses with emphasis on how Jesus dealt with His reaction anxiety.

    My uncle Ott would say, “I am just going to a pine box in the ground when I die, so why be in a hurry.”  He would say this quite often, and the looks he got were priceless, as you can imagine. Yet as reality is, he got old and developed Parkinson’s disease.  Several months before he died, the certainty of death hit him hard, which made him very afraid.  He was entirely serious when he started screaming for Jesus to forgive his sins, as he rode to the hospital in the ambulance.

    What happens to us after death (as Ott realized) is something we do need to take very seriously.  This is because the Bible says,

 … man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment   Hebrews 9:27 (NIV)  

We don’t get a second chance after we die to choose the eternity we want.  You either live on in a state the Bible calls eternal life with God, or live away from God, in eternal punishment (destruction or ruin).  The Apostle Paul explains eternal punishment in 2 Thessalonians 1:8-9,

… dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. And these will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power… (NASB)

    Do you realize, God never wanted to punish you eternally, away from Him!  He created you to have a relationship with Him (Jeremiah 31:3).  What did He do to stop the horror of eternal death for us?   The God of the universe stepped out of eternity, so He could become one of us, and live, and die for us.

Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. He had equal status with God but didn't think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what.  Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human!
Having become human, he stayed human (But was fully God too.). It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn't claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death—and the worst kind of death at that: a crucifixion.  Philippians 2:5-8 (Message)

And if that wasn’t enough, God whose character is completely absent of sin, whose whole being instinctively abhors sin, took our sin, not His own, upon Himself, when He died on the cross.  He was our substitute.  This was so our sins could be fully forgiven. 

He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. 2 Corinthians 5:21 (NASB)

    What you need to do to have eternal life in heaven instead of eternal death in hell is - believe that Jesus Christ paid the penalty of your sins upon the cross.

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. John 3:16 (NASB)

    Have you ever thought about what will happen to you when you die? I think a lot of people believe that when we die - we just decay somewhere, or we become a part of some good force in the universe, or become angels.   However, the Old and New Testament teach something very different.  They teach death is a state of separation, not extinction of self, because starting from our birth we are eternal beings! As I said above, “We either live with God in heaven or away from Him in hell, after we die physically.”  Both existences are eternal.  

    My dear friend experienced something miraculous when her mother died of cancer last year.  This happening literally gave her a visible glimpse of our eternal existence.  Below is the story. 

My friend’s mother who had been a strong Christian for many decades, battled with cancer the last few years of her life. Yet, she kept a great attitude in the Lord and lived life to its fullest.   However, about two months before she died her body started to struggle greatly with the effects of cancer.  As the weeks went on she got sicker and her body got weaker until she was like a skeleton.  The last two weeks of her life she was in coma and didn’t respond to her children who had all come to be with her. My friend said it was so hard to see her beloved mother lay there with the only sign of life being faint breathing.  As the days went on, everyone who saw her wondered why she had not died yet.  Then one early morning a miracle happened, her mother’s eyes slightly opened and she started to react to people around her.  My friend said her mother was cooing like an infant who was happy, and would answer them when they asked her things with this heavenly sound.  One of the questions they ask her was, do you see Jesus?  They knew by her response that she was.  After hours of being in this world, as well as seeing the next - Jesus took her, and she left her earthly body behind and stepped into eternity. 

    When we die physically our bodies are buried or cremated by one means or another, but our soul and spirit live on. Of course this means we are eternal.  My friend’s mother was experiencing her soul and spirit living on, and her body becoming a lifeless shell.  

    You might be wondering what spirit and soul mean? The distinction between spirit and soul are difficult to understand in the Bible, but the distinction between body and spirit is clear.  So let’s zero in on what our spirit and body do. From James 2:26 we know it is our spirit that gives us life, because the body without the spirit is dead. Our spirit also is our inner self.  In other words who you are will live on. So we could say, our earthly bodies are a shell for living in this world. 

    Sometime in the future, after your soul and spirit have departed, your earthly body will be resurrected. Your resurrected body will be a renewed body very much like your old one but this one will be made specifically for living eternally with God (1 Corinthians 15).  However, if you don’t believe in Jesus Christ (which is the only way you can have eternal life instead of eternal death), you will get a body sometime after your physical death too.  Yet this resurrected body is suited to live on in hell or the lake of fire (Revelations 20).

…there will be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked.                     Acts 24:15 (NIV)

    Since this devotion’s theme is about our resurrection, it just makes sense we should understand what the word “resurrection” means in the Greek language.  It means standing on the feet again or rising as opposed to falling, also the resurrection of the body from death, return to life.

    What did Jesus’ resurrection do for us?   It is very important for you to realize if Jesus had not risen from the dead, you would not be able to have eternal life.  You would be stuck on a path that would keep you spiritually dead to God (Ephesians 2:1-3).  This is because without Jesus’ death, there would be nothing to take away your sins, or your criminal acts against God (Psalms 51).  This would make you doomed to eternal death and punishment away from God. 

    You see, Jesus’ resurrection proved His death on a cross was an act from the God of the universe, not just a man’s unselfish and noble act (Romans 1:4).  God knew only God Himself could satisfy His own just anger against sins that were committed against Him (Isaiah 53).  Without Jesus’ resurrection there would have been no victory over sin and death (1 Corinthians 15:54-57).  We would still be held in slavery to sin that resulted in our eternal death.

…and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still

 in your sins.... 1 Corinthians 15:17 (NASB)

     Jesus’ resurrection also gives us the hope that in eternity, as Christians, we will rise bodily, just like Him. Our resurrection gives us an imperishable body that is just right for a life with God in heaven.   I do not know about you, but at my age, an imperishable body sounds awfully exciting.  My perishable body here on this earth is starting to get spoiled we could say.  I fight one wrinkle with supposedly a miracle cream and when I think I see some improvement (maybe it’s just the placebo effect), two more have appeared. No amount of anything seems to do much to stop the slippery slope of aging that is a part of our state of death. When you look at your body and feel the physical, psychological and spiritual distresses of that body (I know some of you are in awful pain and are crippled in this earthly body), don’t forget the promise of our new one. It certainly gives a beautiful new meaning to the old phrase, off with the old and on with the new. Doesn’t it? 

And just as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.  Behold, I tell you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.  For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality.   But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, "Death is swallowed up in victory.  1 Corinthians 15:49-54 (NASB)

    You might be thinking, do we get our new and improved body soon after we die? 2 Corinthians 5 explains this answer somewhat. 

Now we know that if the earthly tent (body) we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.  Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord… We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.  So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. 2 Corinthians 5:1-9 (NIV)

There is speculation we might get a temporary body until we receive our resurrected bodies. However we know for sure from scripture, we will be with Jesus, and we will be in a conscious state as ourselves This is because (remember) our spirit and soul lives on.  We also know from 1 Corinthians 15 and 1 Thessalonians 4 - that we will get a superdupered up, resurrected body when Jesus descends and shouts for us from heaven to be resurrected.

Let’s end with a summary of what eternity will mean to a Christian. The moment you die, you will be looking at Jesus.   Whatever had caused your physical death, maybe cancer, an accident, a heart attack, murder, torture and so on - the suffering from it will be lifted immediately as you enter into eternity. (Truthfully and wonderfully, all pain and suffering and its effects, both the physical and psychological will be gone from you, forever.) You will feel a peace and joy I could never explain to you, because I am bound to the feelings and thoughts of this fallen world.  Are you conscious of your life on this earth?  You bet, because your spirit and soul live on.  You are also more aware and have clearer understanding than was ever possible on this earth.  This will allow you to have God’s perception instead of how you used to perceive people, things and events. Read 1 Corinthians 13:9-12.  Do you see and understand what is happening on this earth? The Bible seems to teach this. Read Luke 15:7-10, Revelations 6:9-11 & 19:1-5.  You will of course be with Jesus, but you also will be with others who have died before you in Him.  Read Mark 12:26-27 and 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 also 1 Corinthians 15:35-58. (These 2 passages talk about the rapture.  The rapture is when Jesus’ literally calls all Christians into eternity and we get our heavenly bodies whether we were dead (asleep) at the time or alive, to live forever with God and each other.  Hallelujah! 

Life application: If Jesus came back for you today - would you be ashamed of your life in Him, or would you feel you have walked with Him as much as possible?  Read Galatians 5:16-26

   Every year, probably since I was a teenager, I have determined to do better in the New Year.  You know - to do something or not do something, or to do something more or to do something less.  It’s the same good New Year’s routine we can all fall into, because we desire to change for the better! 

    I remember one year when my kids were 3, 6, and 8, I decided I should be running every weekday morning (a 3 mile loop).  As parents of young children find out - it’s the kids who should decide your New Years resolutions. This is because it is their lives that seem to rule the family schedule.  So needless to say that New Years improvement idea flopped. 

    Another New Years resolution I used to make quite often but don’t any more, is to get super organized and stay that way.  Now, I don’t mind getting things organized.  I actually enjoy it.  However the problem was, I would get things nicely organized but I didn’t keep them that way. Now, this should have been OK if I had any sense at all, because things were getting neater and cleaner. Yet, I have this personality where I hate to leave a thing undone, which is good most the time except when it causes me to mentally stew about something undone. This obsessing ended up killing the peace God offers.  Can you relate?

Don't fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God's wholeness (peace), everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It's wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life. Philippians 4:6-7 (The Message)

    Yet, I have grown older and wiser in the Lord and I don’t bother with those compulsive New Years resolutions anymore, if I can help it.  I now try to do what God tells me to do in Ecclesiastes 5:18, which is to relax and enjoy the life He has given! Remembering this life is but a vapor and things staying cleaned are less than that.

    What sort of New Years resolutions would God want you to make? What kind would He endorse?  To answer those questions quickly - any New Years resolution that sees eye to eye with His Word (His will) is the type God wants you to make. In the rest of this devotion I will answer those questions with some down to earth humor and of course Biblical insights.

    God doesn’t mind at all if you want to – start a play group to get to know your neighbors better, walk 2 miles a day, limit your internet, go back to college, learn to play the harpsichord, read all of C. S. Lewis’s books, take a scrap book class, paint your house that purple color you have always loved, buy a hammock so you will relax more, travel to a place that doesn’t have bathroom facilities, play on a tennis team, save and buy that sports car you could never have until your 5 kids grew up, eat more veggies and so on.  Yet, we need to remember, physical stuff has some worth but godliness or godly living has value for our present life as well as for our life in eternity. I would say that’s a wow principle concerning godly living!  What do you think? So let’s make New Years resolutions that count towards godly living first!

For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. This is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance and for this we labor and strive... 1 Timothy 4:8-10a (NIV)

    We need to also keep in mind our true problems as Christians stem from an obstinate heart towards God, not a lack of self-improvement.  This is because those problems are sins.

Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin.  James 4:17 (NASB)

    Just a little reminder, as Christians we are never separated from God because of sin! This is because Jesus’ death on the cross erased our sins as if we had never committed them. His death literally cleansed us from any and every sin we have and will commit. However sin is a very serious problem because it affects our relationship with God!  Sin disrupts our rapport with God similar to when a teenager is disobedient towards her parent.  I am sure parents with rebellious teenagers can relate to what God takes from us (me included), when we are determined to do our own thing.

    Sin also makes you very immature and unfruitful for God.  Many in the church in Corinth that Paul writes to in 1 and 2 Corinthians still had worldly thinking and behavior.  They were Christians because they had believed in Jesus Christ but they were not very spiritual. 

But for right now, friends, I'm completely frustrated by your unspiritual dealings with each other and with God. You're acting like infants in relation to Christ,
capable of nothing much more than nursing at the breast. Well, then, I'll nurse you since you don't seem capable of anything more.  As long as you grab for what makes you feel good or makes you look important, are you really much different than a babe at the breast, content only when everything's going your way? 1 Corinthians 3:1-3 (The Message)

I think Paul was trying to shame them into some life-changing New Years resolutions with that comment!  What do you think?

    They were called infants in Christ, because they weren’t concerned about a life of sanctification. Sanctification calls for a change of attitude and action from our old way of life to God’s. And it’s pretty clear they didn’t seem to want to bother. It just makes sense as a Christian, when you make New Years resolutions you need to make them from what God wants changed instead of what you want.  

Below are four life applications to help you make New Years resolutions that promote godly living and change. 

1)      Make getting familiar with God’s Word a priority this year.  Yet, don’t just be a listener of it but a doer!  

So throw all spoiled virtue and cancerous evil in the garbage. In simple humility, let our gardener, God, landscape you with the Word… Don't fool yourself into thinking that you are a listener when you are anything but, letting the Word go in one ear and out the other. Act on what you hear! Those who hear and don't act are like those who glance in the mirror, walk away, and two minutes later have no idea who they are, what they look like. But whoever catches a glimpse of the revealed counsel of God…even out of the corner of his eye, and sticks with it, is no distracted scatterbrain but a man or woman of action. That person will find delight and affirmation in the action. James 1:21-25 (The Message)

Remember, it is God’s Word that instructs you in what is important to God, so you will know what the best resolutions are for this New Year of your life.  

An idea on how to get truly familiar with God’s Word: Buy a Bible you can easily write in. The type that has room in the margins to write, and ink doesn’t bleed through to the other page.  Prayerfully ask God each day as you read a verse, or a chapter, or the whole book, what does He want you to learn from it and apply to your life?  Write the insights that the Holy Spirit has given you in the margins.  A thought - A few years back I started going through the Bible with a friend.  We divide each book sensibly thinking of our time and then get together after we have personally studied the passage to discuss it. Sometimes it is just chapters and other times it is the whole book. This keeps us disciplined so we will be doing our resolution to read through the Bible.  

2)  The second thing follows the first, which is to rely on or trust in God and His Word, so the Holy Spirit can guide and empower you to do His will this year. 

I ask him to strengthen you by his Spirit—not a brute strength but a glorious inner strength…Live full lives, full in the fullness of God. God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us. Ephesians 3:16-20 (The Message)

An idea on how to allow the Holy Spirit to guide you through His Word:  As you go about your year, mentally ask the Holy Spirit to use His Word to guide you moment by moment. I know some of you are thinking, “For heaven sakes, He lives within me, isn’t He already guiding me?” You are right; the Holy Spirit indwells all Christians.  Yet, not all Christians let the Spirit control them. Since God gave us all a free will, even as Christians we can tell the Spirit within us “I’ll do that, not You!” This means our sinful nature is in control.  If I don’t constantly keep the mindset, “I need God to guide me,” my sinful nature can cause havoc throughout any given year.  What’s your sinful nature been up to? LINK TO Lesson 4  

You, my brothers (and sisters), were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love…So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want…The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control… Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit… Galatians 5:13-25 (NIV)

3)  Ask God to make prayer as natural as breathing is to you this year.

And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. Eph.  6:18 (NIV)

You need to remember communication with God or anyone has two components which are listening and responding.   You listen to God by allowing Him to speak through His Word.   You respond to God by talking to Him.  How do you make praying as natural as breathing?  Well, it doesn’t mean you need to go about your day trying to say stuff that sounds spiritual to God.  God doesn’t want your relationship with Him to be surface and phony.  His heart’s desire is for you to consistently talk with Him, and to do it with honesty and openness, as you would with a trusted friend. He also wants you to desire to talk with Him, as you would someone you love.

Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. Colossians 4:2 (NIV) 

An idea on how to become more comfortable with praying: Make a special date with God this year, by planning to spend a half a day in prayer.   On my website under the section prayer resources - is a booklet on, “how to spend a half of day in prayer (link to)”.  It can be easily copied. The booklet is just a guide to give you a general structure for your time of prayer.  It also will give you some insights into daily prayer.

4)      Make this a year where you will agree with God about your sins (confession), instead of fighting Him by disagreeing with Him.

As Christians, we will sin because we still have our sinful nature, but we have a choice now. (Before salvation we didn’t.) When you are tempted to sin, don’t take that sin or any sin lightly; remember what sin does and what Jesus Christ had to do to take care of that sin! When the Holy Spirit is telling you through God’s Word that something is sin, don’t do it.   If you have gone on and done the sin, then heaven sakes, confess it or agree with God about it. Confessing your sins is the grandest and easiest way God could give you to be so quickly close to Him again!   

… I've thrown in my lot with you, God, and I'm not budging. Examine me, God, from head to foot, order your battery of tests. Make sure I'm fit inside and out.   So I never lose sight of your love, but keep in step with you, never missing a beat. Psalms 26:1b-3 (The Message)

If you won’t agree with God about your sin, you are saying to God, “I don’t believe you are correct about me being in sin. I don’t want to be close to You.  I want to walk alone in darkness away from You.”  Sounds irreverent and crazy and it is!

This, in essence, is the message we heard from Christ and are passing on to you: God is light, pure light; there's not a trace of darkness (sin) in him. If we claim that we experience a shared life with him and continue to stumble around in the dark (sin), we're obviously lying through our teeth—we're not living what we claim.  But if we walk in the light, God himself being the light…as the sacrificed blood of Jesus, God's Son, purges all our sin. If we claim that we're free of sin, we're only fooling ourselves. A claim like that is errant nonsense.  On the other hand, if we admit (confess) our sins…he won't let us down; he'll be true to himself. He'll forgive our sins and purge us of all wrongdoing.  If we claim that we've never sinned, we out-and-out contradict God—make a liar out of him. A claim like that only shows off our ignorance of God. 1 John 1:5-10 (The Message)

An idea on how to agree with God about your sins:  Make a New Years resolution that you will beseech God daily to search your heart and mind for any sin, if you don’t already do it.   Read Psalm 139:23-24 and memorize it.

Dear sisters and brothers, this New Year let’s pray for each other to live for our God and Savior…keeping our eyes on the joys of eternity!  Because of Him, Gini

So we're not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace. These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us. (in heaven) …The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can't see now will last forever. 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 (The Message)

   Have you ever truly thought about what it meant for Jesus to step out of eternity and to be born on Christmas morn over 2000 years ago, so He could become one of us?  I hope this devotion will get all of you thinking about what a sacrifice of love this was. 

   The Gospels of Matthew and Luke, give us detailed information about what was happening around the birth of Jesus. (Archaeology has proven that Luke, who wrote the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts, is a first rate historian.  He was also a medical doctor so he understood what it meant to say, “Mary was a virgin and pregnant.” In all the Gospels, he gives the most details about the virgin birth.)

    Luke 2:6-7 gives us the details of Jesus’ actual physical birth.   

And it came about that while they were there, the days were completed for her to give birth.  And she gave birth to her first-born son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. (NASB)

These verses in reality are just a group of historical facts strung together. They are not very interesting if you take them at face value, because babies are born all the time. However, if you truly consider that they are talking about the God of the universe being born, their meaning goes from being natural to supernatural.  We can safely say at the very least that they are announcing the most important birth in the history of mankind.

     I believe the Apostle Paul understood (at least better than me) what it meant for God to be born in our likeness, and what a sacrifice it was for Him.  Paul’s insights are spelled out in Philippians 2:6-8.  Remember God’s Word is inspired by Him, so we could say, God is explaining to us what it meant for Him to become one of us in these verses.  Speaking of Jesus it says,

…who, although He existed in the form of God did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. (NASB)

    I will break up the above verses into 3 phrases to give you more insight into them:

Phrase 1- who, although He existed in the form of God

     The word form in the Greek language means - nature and character, not shape as we would think. This phrase means Jesus had the very nature and very character of God.  Let’s reason this out a bit. Only you have your nature and your character so only you are you.  Jesus has God’s nature and character, so He is God.

Phrase 2 - did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself

     The word emptied in the Greek means - to empty oneself, to divest (strip) oneself of rightful dignity by descending to an inferior condition, to abase (humiliate) oneself. This phrase means Jesus willingly stripped Himself of His self-interests, not His deity, when He was on this earth.  He let go of His rights as God. Doesn’t that blow you away that God willingly gave up His rights for you? I was being convicted as I wrote this and thought, “God willingly gave up His rights when I needed Him too. How often am I willing to give up my rights when others need me too?”

     I don’t know about you, but I try my best not to get myself in a humiliating situation.  However Jesus, because He loves you very much, allowed Himself to be humiliated for you when He was on this earth. I don’t know about you, but the thought Jesus was willing to be humiliated for me touches my heart so much! It makes me want to love Him.  How about you?

Phrase 3 - taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

     Paul uses the same word form again in this phrase as he did above. What Paul wanted us to realize and know was that Jesus still was very much God on this earth.  Paul also wanted us to know that Jesus had the nature and character of Man on this earth.  We are told, Jesus’ was in our likeness, but we need to understand likeness has a meaning of similarity with differences.  The difference is pretty obvious - He is God and we aren’t and we will never be God.  

    Some people think Jesus was just kinda God on this earth.   However, from Philippians 2 and many other scriptures it is plain Jesus was and is God.  There is no way God could become ungod for awhile, because God cannot be any less than who He is (Hebrew 13:8). 

Some people think that Jesus was a pseudo man.  However, scripture is very clear that He would become Man on this earth so He could die in our place (Hebrews 2:9ff).  It is also clear the Christ or Messiah would be “YHWH”, which is translated LORD in our translations. (Isaiah 9:6-7). Just to remember you, “YHWH” is the proper name which God gave for Himself to Moses in Exodus 3.   

    Nonetheless, because the Old Testament was so emphatic that God’s Messiah would become Man, the majority of Jewish people were looking for merely a man.  When Jesus claimed to be God, many of the Jews did not believe Him, because they were thinking that their foretold Messiah, the descendent of King David, would be a man just like David was.  Jesus’ claims that He was God, was outrageous even blaspheming to them.   It seems that the Jewish people were only seeing what they wanted to see in the Old Testament about their Messiah. Note that misinterpretations and half-truths come from the practice of forgetting or not wanting to take the whole truth of the Bible, but picking out what sounds good or right to us.   

    What did Jesus do as God, to become Man? (This is a question we could speculate about until Jesus comes back, but let me try to answer this very simply here.)   First of all, He was conceived by the Holy Spirit thus born of a virgin. He also willingly laid aside His right on this earth to manifest Himself visibly as God, which means that He stripped Himself of His glory and splendor.  (If you are wondering what Jesus looks like in His glorified state as God read Revelations 1:12-18.)  Just to remind you, He did this so He could represent us and die for us.

Let me give you my thoughts on what it meant for Jesus to step out of eternity and to be born so He could become one of us.  Hopefully my thoughts will get you thinking about what it meant for the God of the universe to be born.  My ideas are presented in the logical progression of a birth, especially the birth of Jesus.

·        Jesus created everything.  Jesus is the reason everything exists.  He is the source of life.

All things came into being by Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. John 1:3-4   (NASB)

However Jesus enabled Himself to become one of the tiniest pieces of life, an embryo.  How big of sacrifice do you think it was for Him to do this?

·        Jesus formed every detail of a woman’s body, because He is the Creator.

So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh at that place.  And the Lord God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man…   Genesis 2:21-22   (NASB)

However Jesus willingly allowed Himself to become a fetus, which is absolutely dependant upon a woman for survival.  How big of sacrifice do you think it was for Him to do this?

·        Jesus is all-powerful and sustains everything, and without Him we wouldn’t exist.

And He is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of all creation.  For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities-- all things have been created by Him and for Him.  And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.  Colossians 1:15-17   (NASB)

However Jesus willingly placed His survival and security into the arms of a young woman.  How big of sacrifice do you think it was for Him to do this?

·        Jesus is self-existent and self-sufficient.  In other words He needed no one or nothing to exist and survive.  (We need Him to exist and survive.)  However He willingly positioned Himself to be born into a family that could hardly exist financially, and would not have survived if it had not been for God’s supernatural care.  How big of sacrifice do you think it was for Him to do this?

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.  2 Corinthians 8:9  (NASB)

·        Jesus dwells upon the throne of heaven, in glory and splendor, as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. 

In the year of King Uzziah's death, I (Isaiah) saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple.  Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings; with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.  And one called out to another and said, "Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts, The whole earth is full of His glory." And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke.  Isaiah 6:1-4  (NASB)

These things Isaiah said, because he saw His glory, and he spoke of Him. John 12:41   (NASB)

However Jesus permitted Himself to dwell in a feeding trough, wrapped in who knows what.  His dwelling was a cave that was used for dirty animals. Yes He could have picked more elegant surroundings to be born in (He can do anything He wants). However, He came to be a servant and not to be served and to give His life to save us from our sins.  

…just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many. Matthew 20:28   (NASB)

He also came to experience what we experience firsthand, so He could offer grace and mercy, and sympathize with all our human struggles.

Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted.  Hebrews 2:17-18   (NASB)

For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.  Let us therefore draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and may find grace to help in time of need.  Hebrews 4:15- 16   (NASB)

    I would like to end by reminding you that Jesus was just as holy on this earth as He is in eternity. His very nature was repulsed by sin. Nonetheless, He willingly chose to live among us sinners, even though He detested sin.  He chose to love sinners even when they did awful things to Him without a cause. He chose to experience the punishment for our sin, even though sin and the consequences of it had nothing to do with Him. Wow, He most certainly loves us!

    Let me remind you what He dealt with from mankind on this earth: He was hunted down to be killed both as a child and as an adult, not because of anything He had done wrong, but because of who He is.  He was shunned by most people because He loved and cared for people who weren’t very lovable from society’s perspective. He was hated because He taught that everyone needed to love God and each other, not by just fancy words, but by deeds lived out.  The human reason He was crucified was jealousy on the part of His countrymen, and from the Roman’s perspective, just plain cruelty.   He was sentenced to death and died (for our sin) by one of the most tortuous deaths wicked humans could invent.  If that wasn’t enough of a sacrifice for us, God whose character is completely absent of sin, whose whole being instinctively abhors sin, took our sin upon Himself!  2 Corinthians 5:21 says,

He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. (NASB)

Jesus was born, lived and died on this earth because He loves us!  1 John 4:10 talks about this unselfish and unfailing love from God,

This is what love is: it is not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the means by which our sins are forgiven.   (GNT)

Life application: What does it mean to you (personally) that Jesus stepped out of eternity and was born so He could die for you? Answer this question by writing a short paragraph. Since Jesus lived on this earth for you, how can you live for Him? (Take time this Christmas season and ask Him how you can specifically live for Him.)   PS – When you love God you will want to trust Him or rely on Him.  This enables you to live for Him.  Mediate on: Isaiah 9:6-7 and John 1

Parts of this devotion are taken from lesson 5 of the Bible study, “God Loves You and Me.”

    At times I have tried to work up what I thought was the so-called Christmas spirit, but have failed miserably.  And if we are honest with ourselves, “How can anyone humanly have the true spirit of Christmas in our hectic American society?” (As I revise this Christmas devotion that I wrote many years ago in Idaho, I remembered people from other countries are reading it now too.  I would imagine in other cultures things are simpler, so you are probably thinking Americans sound like we just make work for ourselves.  I would say, you are right, but please keep reading - to get a laugh and to know how to have the true spirit of Christmas, who is the Holy Spirit, fill your life.)

     There are so many gifts we seem to have to buy or make and never have enough time or money.  Of course you can’t just get any gift; it has to be the right gift for the right person, so your mind starts intensely trying to come up with that prefect, you know, Martha Stewart type idea of a gift.  That in itself wears me out.  And I haven’t even run around the stores with my head cut off yet. 

     Then there are those cookies to bake and of course eat. Now that wouldn’t be too hard to accomplish with joy, except when you burn over half of the cookies you have baked, it certainly enlarges the work load.  Not to mention that diet the doctor told you to go on right before thanksgiving, so every bit of cookie makes you feel guilty.  I guess the cure for that Christmas downer is to never go to the doctor before Thanksgiving or Christmas again.

     Then there are those once a year, keep in touch with friends and family cards.  Now you would think a woman who can whip out stuff on the computer would have enough sense to whip out a form note for her cards and not feel this huge need to write a personal note in each of the 50 cards. I guess this woman’s sense sometimes doesn’t make sense.

     How about Christmas activities? Sometimes I wonder why all the fun things have to happen between Thanksgiving and New Years, and then we sit around bored the rest of the year.  I just get plain overwhelmed trying to decide what to go to and what to restrain myself from going to.  I think what really happens is that people mean to have a party all year long and don’t, then when Christmastime hits, they get the Now or Never Syndrome. 

     It seems this season can bring on so easily “tis the season to be disagreeing” instead of, “tis the season to be jolly.” This is probably because everything seems to be on high speed, overdone, and too much this and too much that.  I bet Santa Claus ain’t too jolly either with all he has to accomplish between Thanksgiving and Christmas! 

     Yet, God in His unceasing love whispers to me (though at times He has been known to have to yell at me), “Gini! You have forgotten in this busy season to make Me more than just the reason for the season, but to make Me the reason for everything in this season!”  Ouch!  The rest of this Christmas devotion I will answer some questions that we all need to know to have the true Christmas Spirit fill our lives. These questions are:  Who is the true Spirit of Christmas?  And why does He live within us?  How can we make Jesus the reason for everything in the season, and let Him fill our lives through out the New Year?       

     Because of Jesus’ passionate love for each one of us - He let go of His rightful nobility as God by descending to an inferior condition (becoming one of us).  In other words, Jesus willingly stripped Himself of His self-interests, not His deity, when He was on this earth.  He let go of His rights as God and stepped out of eternity some 2000 years ago, and became an embryo and was weaved in His mother Mary’s womb. He did this so He could grow up and die in our place, to pay for our sins.  (Read Isaiah 9:6 and Matthew 1:18-25)

…who, although He existed in the form of God did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Philippians 2:6-8 (NASB)

     The only thing He asks of us, is to believe in Him!  Do you truly believe in Jesus?  

…that whoever believes may in Him (Jesus) have eternal life.  For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.  For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through Him.  He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.   John 3:15-18   (NASB)

This belief in Jesus Christ comes with the promise that His Spirit will come to live within us.  (Read John 14:16-20, 26 & 16:12-15 and Romans 8:9)  

In Him… after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation-- having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise Ephesians 1:13   (NASB)

     We have God’s wisdom, knowledge and understanding, His power and strength, His justice and righteousness, His mercy and goodness, His truth, patience and faithfulness, and of course His love dwelling in us.  In other words, we have all that we need to live a godly life through out the New Year because the true Christmas Spirit, the Holy Spirit, lives within us as Christians.  We even have Who we need living within us to survive a hectic Christmas season with God’s joy and peace. Yet, the evidence of the Holy Spirit sometimes is lacking greatly in our lives, and not just during the holidays but throughout the year!

     Why do we lack the evidence of the Holy Spirit in our lives even though He lives within us?   As Christians we need to obey God!  Yet, we need to obey Him out of love, because we are told to through His Word. If we are not doing things out of love for God, then it is easy to develop a mentality of legalism.  Both legalism and lack of love for God will stop the Holy Spirit from filling us because we are sinning. Sin suppresses the Spirit’s power in our lives.  So we end up being filled with ourselves, which means we are celebrating Christmas in our own strength, leaving the One we are celebrating out!  This doesn’t make sense but we can all do it!  (Read Ephesians 5:1-2, 15-20)

     We can sing in our church’s Christmas musical, we can buy many gifts for that ministry, we can send out those “Jesus is the reason for the season” cards, we can cook up a storm for our family, friends and neighbors, and so on, and all these things are good to do.  Yet, the first and foremost thing Jesus Christ commands us to do is love God.  In other words – “be” not “do” in a love relationship with God. Mark 12:28-30 says,

And one of the scribes came and heard them arguing, and recognizing that He had answered them well, asked Him (Jesus), "What commandment is the foremost of all?” Jesus answered, "The foremost is, 'Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is one Lord; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.  (NASB)'

     What these verses are saying is, our love for God needs to saturate our personality, emotions and will, and fill our thoughts, words and actions.  Our whole life from the inside out, should shout love for God.  If loving God is our most important passion we will be filled with the Holy Spirit, and the joys and trials of Christmas (of life) will be done in and for our Lord Jesus. This is because our desire will be to have faith in God, and agree with Him about our sin, because we love Him.  This enables the Holy Spirit to fill us, which means the God of the universe is controlling us.  (Read Galatians 2:20, 3:2-5, 5:6, 13-26)

     So ladies, this Christmas season let’s make loving God our first priority! This will enable us to make Jesus the reason for every gift given, every cookie baked and eaten, every card written and sent, every activity gone to or not, and of course for every relationship.  And the true Christmas Spirit, the Holy Spirit will fill our lives with the joy of Christmas and through the New Year!

…Day and night you're in our prayers as we call to mind your work of faith, your labor of love, and your patience of hope in following our Master, Jesus Christ, before God our Father. It is clear to us, friends that God not only loves you very much but also has put his hand on you for something special... Although great trouble accompanied the Word, you were able to take great joy from the Holy Spirit!—taking the trouble with the joy, the joy with the trouble. 1 Thessalonians 1:2-6 (The Message Bible)

Life Application:  Have you ever meditated on the fact that the God of the universe, the Baby in the manger, wants to be loved by you?  If you haven’t, this is a great season to.   As you do all that Christmas stuff, ask the Holy Spirit daily to give you the desire to do it all because of your love for God!  This would be a good time to make a list of all the reasons you should love Jesus and thank Him every day for those reasons.  Also, when you love someone don’t you want to sing their praises?  Well then, play some Christmas music, and sing or make a joyful noise to God like I do. 

Please eat a bunch of cookies for me, at my age the smell of them makes me gain weigh…I love you!

Because of God’s love – Gini  John 3:16

    I am sitting down to prepare a devotional for the Thanksgiving season.  I have to admit my attitude isn’t very godly. I have even cleaned the bathroom to procrastinate.  However, my attitude of whining today, is exactly what the Holy Spirit has been telling me not to have through what I am going to write about. Leave it to God to teach us teachers first and to use our lives as “what not to do”.

     About 2 weeks ago I typed into our Bible program the word “thanksgiving” and many verses came up.  One verse in particular has been in my thoughts for those weeks. It is Colossians 4:2:

Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving… (NASB)

or

Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful…  (NIV)

I have been prayerfully thinking, what does God want me (and you) to understand and do concerning thanksgiving and prayer from this verse? The rest of this article I will answer this question.

     Let’s first talk about the phrase, “Devote yourselves to prayer”.  Since we all need to devote ourselves to prayer, we need to understand what the word devote means from the standpoint of the Greek language.  Zodhiates (in his Complete Word Study New Testament) says, devote means to continue with someone (Acts 8:13) or cling faithfully to someone (Acts 10:7). It is used metaphorically of being committed and faithful in the Christian life especially in prayer.  (Acts 1:14, 2:42, 6:4 also Romans 12:12)  Did you notice the word devote has a strong relational aspect to it?

     Wuest (in his Word Studies in the Greek New Testament) says, devote means to give constant attention to something, to give unremitting care to a thing, to persevere, and to be in constant readiness for.   Christians were to continually devote themselves to what God wanted and to what others needed.  They were also to give constant attention to and readiness for prayer, as well as to persevere in prayer.

     From the meaning of devote, I would say, being devoted to prayer means having a consistent and committed lifestyle of talking and listening to God that comes from being devoted to God Himself and His Word.  Now, I don’t mean we need to walk around chanting something that sounds spiritual to God, or going through our day muttering a few words here and there to God so we can feel like we are doing our relational duty to Him. God wants our prayer life to be authentic and honest.  He wants us to talk to Him as we would talk to someone we love and trust and who truly loves us.  As someone we can’t wait to communicate with.

     What you need to do is ask yourselves, do you really devote yourself to prayer?  When you are devoted to prayer, your prayer life will be one that is as natural and constant as your breathing is.  Yet, I have to admit, at times I find myself doing the opposite.  I find myself, going about my day with only a few words here and there to God. Can you relate? However, when I truly think about what this means, I am horrified. Can you imagine if you had a child, a spouse, or a friend stand there waiting to talk to you and you just went about your business for a few minutes, much less for a few hours? How rude and unloving!   So when you are not devoted to prayer, you are giving God the cold shoulder. You are being unloving even rude to Him, since He is always with you! Being unloving to God is awful enough. However, the reality of the situation is, when you are not communicating with God you are leaving out His understanding and wisdom, and even His power. This means your life is led by yourself and not by the Holy Spirit.  This is certainly a recipe for an unfruitful life as a Christian!

     How should you devote yourself to prayer? I have found if I want to be devoted to prayer, I need to start my day with the thought and reality that God is with me.  Then my prayer life that day seems to follow my mind-set and I just naturally talk with Him through out the day. 

     What helps me to start my day with God is to have breakfast with Him. I know it sounds funny but what I do is, I read His Words and talk to Him as we enjoy my morning meal together. During this time I let Him speak to me and journal His insights.  I don’t just chatter away at Him, but I give Him the quietness to speak to my heart and renew my mind. This time is my personal time with my God, so I don’t write devotions or studies during this time.  Yet, I have found many times that God gives me ideas on what to write about during this period. (Psalm 5:1-3)

    God’s Word goes on to tell us in Colossians 4:2, as we devote ourselves to prayer we need to pray, being “watchful or alert” and “thankful or with thanksgiving” .  We certainly need to know what these words mean, because we need to have them in our prayer life.  So what does the word watchful mean in the Greek?  Wuest says, it means to give strict attention to and to be active in.  So when you are watchful in your prayer life, you stay alerted and active to the need of prayer.  When you are not watchful, you can find yourself doing your own thing, thus leaving prayer out.  This scenario can lead me to start whining, you know having a poor me attitude.  This takes us to the last but not least aspect of prayer from Colossians 4:2, being thankful.

     The word thankful is one of those words that takes on a beautiful meaning in the Greek language.  Zodhiates says it has the meaning of being thankful and grateful to God.  It also means to receive something as an expression of grace by someone and accept it as if one doesn’t deserve it. This word embodies the greatest reason we should be thankful.  We are thankful because of God’s greatest gift, the gift of salvation through Jesus Christ. Ephesians 2:1-9 explains this foremost reason of why we need to be thankful to God. 

And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.  But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus, in order that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.  For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast. (NASB)

     We are told in Colossians 4:2 that prayer and thanksgiving go together.  What are some concrete things we can do to have an attitude of thanksgiving with our prayers? First of all, we need to get to know God like we would anyone else we love.  We also need to take the time and effort to get to know His Word.  This is because getting to know God enables us to recognize who He is and what He has done for us so we can have heart felt thankfulness as we pray. Second, we need to be alert to the many blessings God gives us everyday.  Remember, He is the giver of every good and prefect gift (James 1:17)! Remembering this can fill our minds with the blessings He has given to us, not with what we don’t have. Doing these two points should encourage thankfulness when you are praying!

     There are two other verses in the Bible that unite thanksgiving with prayer. The one most people think of is, Philippians 4:6-7.

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (NASB)

This passage tell us, we need to pray with thanksgiving, instead of not praying leading to worry.  Praying with thankfulness builds trust in God because our thoughts are on what He has done and does for us, and not on what we think we should have.  This state of thankfulness gives us His peace in our minds and hearts, because our focus is on God, and not on self and worries.

     The other verse is in Nehemiah 11:17 …Mattaniah… who was the leader in beginning the thanksgiving at prayer…(NASB) This verse is talking about the Old Testament priest who would lead the choir as they were singing praises at the time of the morning and evening sacrifices.  I thought this was interesting, because when you put this verse together with two others that speak about thanksgiving - all three passages seem to teach that thankfulness is a result of being close with God.    The other two are: Ephesians 5:15-20 (the Spirit filling us leads to giving thanks) and Colossians 3:16-17 (God’s Word indwelling us leads to thankfulness).

     Take note, God isn’t telling us to make up niceties to be thankful and forget about dealing with reality.  Remember, being devoted in prayer means to have a prayer life that is honest and real with God, not one that is flavored with untruths (positive or not).  What He is wanting in us is a state of thankfulness that prays and sees our lives from His perspective of working all things together for our good, realizing He is the One who has loved us and allows only what we need in our lives, to make us beautifully His for now and eternity.

     Let’s end by summing up, Colossians 4:2. When we are devoted to prayer, we are devoted to God and His Word. This devotion to Him makes our prayer life as natural as breathing, and gives us the desire and motivation to pray with sincere heart felt thanksgiving in any and every circumstance.  

Life application:  When things are going as we want, we can easily be thankful.  Can’t we!  However, when things aren’t going so good, it’s hard.  But when things aren’t going so good…we can still have an attitude of thanksgiving towards God.  What you need to do is, ask God to give you a devotion to Him and His Word, so you can be devoted to prayer. This will help you to see things from His perspective, and for the most part to see His blessings, instead of obsessing on your worries, fears and complaints. 

     Ask God to help you to understand His love and care for you, so when the “you know what” hits the fan of your life, you can trust in Him, and praise Him for what He will accomplish. When you don’t think God really loves you, you wonder whether God will really do what is good for you; so of course this can lead you into being afraid to trust Him.  What my daughter-in law does, and I would encourage you to do it too, is:  she makes a list of all the good things God has given her and puts that list where she can see it often.  This is so when she struggles with whether God loves her, she can visibly see and remember all the things God has blessed her with.  This helps her to have an attitude of thanksgiving and trust.