The Flesh Is Weak

...everything else is worthless when compared with the priceless gain of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.

Recently I was doing a job (involving my business) that I had no desire to do. It was a referral from one of my best clients so I felt obligated to accept the proposed project. I whined and complained to those closest people around me about NOT wanting to take it on but feeling like I HAD to (because of this great client). In my spirit I was reminded of these types of lessons God has used over the years to help me 'see' beyond the obvious circumstances. I knew there was more to this project than just the physical doing of it. In my spirit there were nudgings and confirmations of the good outcomes that would result in my participation. Not that I could put my finger on any of them. It was just that urging that comes from deep in my belly that I am so familiar with. (It is those very nudgings that can be heeded or ignored in our daily walk with The Master.)

Still, I dreaded each initial step necessary to get the project moving. I was exceedingly grumbly within, with a smile on my face, while attending the consult meetings and putting the preliminary proposal together. All the while knowing there was more to this than meets the eye.

Then on the way to the site the day I was to begin the final approved work I got honest with God. This was after 6 weeks of said whining and grumbling in various forms and worse... in my heart I was reluctant to let go of my own assessment of the situation. Ahhhh... honesty. Before God. Where I not only KNOW He sees and hears all things but I humbly acknowledge it before Him. And you know what? EVERY time He simply opens His loving arms and draws me into Himself as if I'd NEVER done it. Then... we talk.

I confess. He soothes.

I repent. He affirms.

I cry. He hugs.

I give thanks. He applies His balm of healing to my wounds.

When am I ever going to learn this lesson once and for all?

Among several of the eye-opening results of working with this particular group of people on this job, I'll share one of the most obvious.

There were three sessions scheduled to get the intial phase of the project accomplished and I was working with a group of women who were living in a halfway house. Without going into all the details it happened that on the third session of our outdoor project one of the women became ill and went back inside the house. The next thing I knew we were being alerted to the fact she was having a seizure of some sort inside. There was a lot of confusion at the time and ladies were coming back and forth announcing how bad it was. I had no authority to be inside with them. I simply stepped aside away from everyone and prayed a prayer with all the confidence/authority I've ever gained in the saving power of God. I rebuked the devil and prayed for peace and life in the situation. The ambulance came and took her away. The next day someone let me know she was fine and back to the halfway house safely with medication.

My heart was clear of the grumbling and I had free and open access to the throne of God for the need.

I'm not in any way saying I saved her or that I was the only one praying. I just KNOW that I was there for that moment.

Keep watching and praying that you may not come into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. Mark 14:38

Shutting Jesus Out

...everything else is worthless when compared with the priceless gain of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.

It is possible. To keep Jesus out.

Not even thinking about unbelievers here. As Christians we can keep Him out of what we want to keep Him out of. We can close places in our heart to Him. There are rooms, if you will,  in there... in our hearts... where we shut the door and do not allow Him to have His way. Certain areas of our life we just do not discuss or we try to ignore when we are talking to God. If we talk (pray) to God at all.

Have you ever done a lot of thinking about a thing and maybe even God and His thoughts on the subject came into your thinking. I submit that thinking is NOT praying. For example: If I am thinking about YOU, I am not talking with you... I am thinking. Once I include YOU in my conversation and I'm open to your side of the conversation I am then talking with you. Same goes for God.

It does me good to ask once in a while. What are some of the things that I hide away in my heart and try not to bring up to God?

SO... things that keep me from talking WITH God and often (later when I get it all sorted out) I discover I wasn't ever praying about these things... not fully anyway. But I was thinking about it ALL THE TIME. Hurt, betrayal, disappointment, worry, taking on the cares of the world and on it goes... the effects of them, the people involved, the ripple effect they have... sometimes I just don't really want to have to do what Jesus would do in these situations so it's easier NOT to talk to Him about them. At least not in the "not my will, but Yours" sort of way. Shutting Him out is easier on my flesh.

What's the age old root to the issue? PRIDE. At least that's what I'm discovering in myself. Again. No, it is not a new revelation. It is just that I let pride creep back in ever so slowly (in so many ways) until at times(as ugly a monster as it is) it can be staring me in the face and I don't recognize it.

What's the cure for pride? Humility.

Less of me. More of God. Not my will but His alone. In EVERY single area of life.

Total and utter dependence on His ability, grace, mercy, power in EVERY situation. Oh, what a sweet place to be. Melting in the arms of my Savior. His redeeming love washing over and through all my weaknesses. All my disappointments, hurts, betrayals, selfishness. Cleansing me and making me whole. His love is shed abroad in my heart and His strength empowers me to forbearance and long suffering.

Why would I EVER think I could do anything without Him? When I'm doing it I don't even recognize it much less admit that I'm doing it. PRIDE. That's how it works.

Pride keeps me from going to God and humbling myself before Him. I just move along in life without completely submitting my thought-life, my attitudes, my opinions, my decisions, my disappointments, hurts, and rejections. I try to handle things on my own. And I can even justify my un-Godly actions/reactions...with my knowledge of Him of course. Because I have a lot of that.

Not being prideful when I say that... just honest. It is one of the dangers/traps of mature (knowledgeable) Christians. Knowledge without power. Only God has the power. And yes, I can have it, too, (through Him) but only as I yield my will to His.

Your attitude should be the same that Christ Jesus had. Though He was God, He did not demand and cling to his rights as God. He made Himself nothing; He took the humble position of a slave and appeared in human form. And in human form He obediently humbled Himslef even further by dying a criminal's death on a cross. Phil. 2: 5-8

I haven't even come close to understanding what being humble is!!!

Steadfast and Confident

...everything else is worthless when compared with the priceless gain of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.

There are times when I can only rely on my heart. My head might be screaming an entirely different message at me. But my heart knows the truth of God's word because I've hidden it deep inside my heart. So when life doesn't add up and/or my flesh is weak I hold onto the confidence I have in God and His keeping power. The 'soundness' of His Holy Scriptures anchor me and make me strong where/when I am weak. His love and His word are my hope and my confidence in the good times and the testing times.

My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is steadfast and confident! I will sing and make melody. Psalm 57:7