Philippains 1:6 "Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ"

Our scripture (Philppians 1:6) tells me that our lives (which are lived in a daily PROCESS by way) need to be about being molded and shaped into all that God is calling us to be. This scripture tells me that I will find myself in this process of the Lord’s hand being upon me to accomplish that until I go to be with Him. He is the Potter, and I am the clay. Now I’ve never heard a piece of clay scream “ouch!” when a sculptor is knocking off one of those rough edges, but I sure do feel it in myself in the context of God’s chisel upon my life. Let me tell you something; if you belong to God, and you’re currently breathing, these times of testing WILL COME. Why? Because God is a progressive God, and God’s desire is that we are always GROWING. If we’re truly being molded and shaped into the image of Christ within us, things had better be changing, whether we immediately notice them or not.

 

I was just outside a bit ago looking at the beginning of progress on our project. The thought came to me: “Wouldn’t it be nice if I could just snap my fingers and this was all done?” It would be great, wouldn’t it? I wouldn’t have to put up with any more of this waiting on the contractors or endure any more of the “un-pleasantries” involved, and I could just go on with my life. After all, I have more important things to tend to. But do you know what? If that happened, I would find myself standing on the other side of this ordeal, maybe happy for a bit, but no different than I was when this whole thing started. That’s the real tragedy. God uses the PROCESS to mold us and shape us. Without the process, we don’t change. We’re not conformed into His image. We don’t grow, and that not only doesn’t help us, but it doesn’t help anyone else either.

 

Oftentimes we define being “blessed” as “having no current issues to deal with”. Let’s face it, being blessed is not the absence of issues. The absence of issues will only happen when we leave this body. These times of testing that I’m talking about will come, and they mainly deal with our flesh (our desires, wants, attitudes, the things we have convinced ourselves that we must have to be happy, etc). Often the Lord is requiring an exchange. He wants us to open our hand to Him and give those things up so He can place something inside of our lives that is of greater value. That causes a departure of sorts, sometimes a “tearing away” of old habits and thoughts, and that can be painful. It’s easier for us to point the finger at someone else and blame them for our pain rather than allow God to deal with us, realizing that WE may be the one with the issue.

 

In our walk with God, the things we believe and we SAY we believe will be tried and tested. Our faith will be tested. Again, something that has not been tested is not PROVEN. If we’re honest, our lives are more to us about being comforted than about being challenged. We say we want to change, and we want to grow. We say we want to see things different, but we don’t want to face the challenges. We don’t want to endure. We must realize that a lack of testing is never conducive to growth. If we are going to grow, we’re going to be tested. We have to ask ourselves if life is really about others, as Jesus demonstrated and taught us, or is it about us?

 

God does test us and make requirements of us. He refines us as a Refiner purging His precious metals from the impurities and the dross. I’ll never forget what happened to me years ago. I was going through a similar situation at the time. I walked into church for a mid week service, and as I was just getting to my seat before worship started the Lord spoke something to me that I will never forget. He said, “There is no one that has ever been refined that has not gone through the fire”. Wow. Think about that one for a bit. God desires growth, and He is the One at the heart of it. Not is a destructive manner, but in a loving manner. We need to be bright enough to recognize it and allow it to work in us.

Let me say at the onset this is from a bible study that was conducted in our Sunday night home group over this past summer. There were some questions raised concerning my last article entitled "The Willingness to Endure". I thought this article would be a great follow up to that; and I hope it is also able to add a greater measure of clarity.

Philippians 1:6(New King James Version)

6 being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;

One needs to be very cautious when approaching a subject like this. There have been many things written and talked about along these lines.This is a subject that we all have questions about, and something we’re continually faced with in our walk with the Lord.

I’ve heard in articles I have read and teachings I have listened to that the Lord’s “testing” can involve many things. I have heard folks say God will use anything from horrible car accidents to cancer to get your attention just to teach you something. Let me go on record right here and say that is NOT the God I serve. Contrary to some teaching you may have endured in the past, Satan is NOT God’s messenger boy; they don’t work hand in hand. Satan is not required to "run things by God first and make sure that he is allowed to carry out these catastrophes". I get SO TIRED of hearing people say "Well that couldn't have happened if God didn't allow it".

 

Let me go on to explain what I believe God’s testing in our lives DOES involve through a situation I currently find myself in. First off, I believe God’s testing in our lives involves CHARACTER. Character is conducive to growth, growth cannot and will not happen without character, and character ALWAYS involves testing. Character is something that must be PROVEN to be established. I also believe the things we go through in life are not only for our own benefit, but also for the benefit of others. Let me just inject a simple question here to those of you that still may be hanging around but are a little miffed at my earlier comment. How in the world are we going to help anyone else in a similar situation they may be going through if we’re too weak in our body or racked with pain from emotional scars from God’s “testing” in our own lives? Or God forbid we so failed our test that the Lord just “took us home” and relieved us from our duties? Now THAT’S really going to be a blessing to someone! Especially a non-believer. That type of thinking is dumb to the second power. That’s dumb-dumb.

 

Anyway, I hope by now you get the point. God doesn’t teach anyone anything by punishing them through some element of destruction in their lives. (Read John 10:10) God’s true testing in our lives involves the building of character. This usually involves the relinquishing of our will to His, and let me say, this can be very painful. Oh we SAY we’re on board with God’s will for our lives and we’re in agreement with what HE wants to do, and we believe His Word concerning that, but when the rubber meets the road, often it’s a different story. The funny thing is, in the midst of these tests (and if you’ll read James 1:3, you’ll see it’s the trying and testing of our FAITH that is the issue) we’ll often find ourselves blaming the devil and accusing him for our plight rather than recognizing the hand of our Father.

 

We can become very adamant about wanting the things we want, and wanting them NOW. Currently, I find myself in the midst of an outdoor project that just needs to be DONE, and done SOON. Unfortunately, it hasn’t been working out that way. In the midst of the process, the Lord has revealed some things to me.

 

I’ve found how easily we exalt our needs and desires above the needs and desires of others. I’ve also seen how easy it is for us (Born again, Spirit filled Christians mind you) to exalt things above people. Now I’m not saying for a minute that things inside of this outdoor project haven’t been “up to snuff”, but I think God calls us more to ENDURE rather than call someone on the carpet because our needs are being infringed upon. It’s funny to me how we can call ourselves “King’s Kids” when we’re really acting like “King’s Brats”. We demand (in our hearts and our thinking) that things just roll along smoothly and when they don’t, it’s that dumb devil again screwing things up. I’ve found the problem can be a bad attitude or something deep within me that needs to be dealt with; maybe something God is calling to the surface so He can skim it off my life.

 

When we find ourselves in this demanding state of entitlement (after all I belong to God, so everyone owes me) do we find ourselves allowing the Lord to deal with our attitudes and motives rather than the attitudes and motives of someone else? We can be so quick to point out someone else’s shortcomings, but what about when God wants to deal with ours? How do we respond?

 

Can anyone share a similar experience? I'll follow up within the days to come.

Forgive me in advance for delving into the political arena here a few days before what may be the most historic election in our nation. This is not something I have ever done. However, I just can't hold this one back. Though I have strong opinions like most do, I promise to look at this from a biblical standpoint. 

 

1 Samuel 8:5-22(New King James Version)

5 and said to him, “Look, you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.”
6 But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” So Samuel prayed to the LORD. 7 And the LORD said to Samuel, “Heed the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them. 8 According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt, even to this day—with which they have forsaken Me and served other gods—so they are doing to you also. 9 Now therefore, heed their voice. However, you shall solemnly forewarn them, and show them the behavior of the king who will reign over them.”
10 So Samuel told all the words of the LORD to the people who asked him for a king. 11 And he said, “This will be the behavior of the king who will reign over you: He will take your sons and appoint them for his own chariots and to be his horsemen, and some will run before his chariots. 12 He will appoint captains over his thousands and captains over his fifties, will set some to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and some to make his weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. 13 He will take your daughters to be perfumers, cooks, and bakers. 14 And he will take the best of your fields, your vineyards, and your olive groves, and give them to his servants. 15 He will take a tenth of your grain and your vintage, and give it to his officers and servants. 16 And he will take your male servants, your female servants, your finest young men,^[a] and your donkeys, and put them to his work. 17 He will take a tenth of your sheep. And you will be his servants. 18 And you will cry out in that day because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, and the LORD will not hear you in that day.”
19 Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, “No, but we will have a king over us, 20 that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.”
21 And Samuel heard all the words of the people, and he repeated them in the hearing of the LORD. 22 So the LORD said to Samuel, “Heed their voice, and make them a king.”
And Samuel said to the men of Israel, “Every man go to his city.

If there is one thing that I am tired of hearing out of the mouth of American citizens during this election, it's this: "All the other countries are mad at us! We need to start doing things like they do so they will like us again, We need to be like them"

Now, some words come to mind when I think about this (which I will not dare say out loud or repeat here) but can you see how this relates to the passage in I Samuel? Since when did we give a rip what the "other nations" thought about us? Can someone tell me when that started? As far as I can remember, we've done things the way we have because it's been THE RIGHT THING TO DO. Now that the hair has raised up on the back of a few necks, let me inject that I do not believe this country has done everything right or made all the right decisons. HOWEVER, this nation has taken pride in being referred to as "the Greatest Nation on the Earth" because it has always taken a stand when others would not. I pray that does not change, but my fear is that it is about to. My fear is that we are about to lose this nation, it's pride, and it's principles to the winds of mediocrity, indifference, and plain stupidity.  

How does a Christian vote for someone that CALLS themself a Christian, and yet votes in favor of abortion?  "Well, that's not the only issue in this election, brother!" No, it's not, but when is the issue of LIFE supposed to take a back burner to other issues? If you ask me, I see a character flaw here - a serious one.  How in God's green earth do you think someone that is already clearly mis-representing who they really are by nullifying what they say with  their actions going to lead this country in the right direction?

How is it people cannot wake up and see the folks that flew planes into our buildings and killed our citizens are in favor of electing this Senator? Does this not raise a red flag? The folks in these other nations (of whom we are suddenly in dire need of their approval - that also hate us by the way) all agree that we would be better off electing this Liberal Senator (who also SAYS he does not favor gay marriage) but VOTES IN FAVOR OF IT... and nobody is concerned?

Now I'm not going to say God is about to fall off His throne or anything silly like that. I will believe God and serve God (and pray for the next President) no matter what the outcome. However, the people's choice in I Samuel didn't fair well for them, and I don't think it's going to fair well for the United States of America either. Just my .02

Anytime we are in a relationship or are committed to someone or something, there is going to be a testing of that commitment. That test almost always involves a level of tolerance or pain. What does this commitment/relationship REALLY mean to me? Are my feelings more important? Is what I want out of this relationship more important, or did I give my word concerning my commitment, and now I’m going to back out because someone hurt my feelings? What about the folks that were counting on you? How is this going to affect them? Who cares… right? 

 

 

Anyone that seriously thinks living the Christian life is a “crutch’” ought to have their head examined; they haven’t a clue. Nobody ever said this was going to be easy. Not everybody in the church is going to dress like Mary Poppins, open up their umbrella and sing everything to you in a sultry voice. It might be nice if things were that way, but sorry- that’s just not reality.

 

Every one of us are going to have our moments inside the church and out. Every one of us are going to get in the flesh. If we’re going to error, let’s error on the side of grace. People are what’s MOST IMPORTANT. That was Jesus’ message – simply put. There is not a ONE of us that is going to go through life not getting our feelings hurt. I’m tired of being superficial and I'm tired of those type of relationships. We need to be able to tell one another what’s really up without worrying about someone getting all bent out of shape. 

 

 

 

Romans 5:3-5(New King James Version) 

3 And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; 4 and perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us

James 1:3-4(New King James Version)

3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. 4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing

 

 

These two passages show us something interesting. So often we are told that whenever we experience something negative, it's the devil at work. Hogwash. The passages in Romans 5 and James 1 show us the negativity we experience is triggered by nothing other than our own flesh. When we insist on getting our own way, being selfish, and letting those desires rule us, it's going to hurt when the Lord begins to deal with us. Unfortunatly for our flesh, character isn't produced any other way in our lives. It's our faith that is tested. How strongly do we truly believe what we say? I've honestly found myself letting go of some things that I was SURE I believed over the most simple offense.

 

Our willingness to endure personal pain (emotionally) is a sure sign of our commitment to love others. Jesus suffered torture and humiliation from the very people for whom He was giving His life. Talk about NOT FAIR. He willingly chose to suffer on OUR behalf. That's love. Our situations are no comparison to what Jesus endured. Let's truly love others. Let's prefer them before ourselves. God is looking after us. Don't be afraid to take a bullet every now and then; remarkably, it won't kill you.   

 

 

Whenever I’ve encountered these times of testing in my life, I can NEVER remember looking back in the midst of it and thinking “Man, this is a blast!” However, I can look back and thank God for many of those particular "opportunities".

In fact, I can recall a few years back when a friend asked me how I was doing. I had just received (what I believed to be) the worst news I could have possibly ever gotten in my life; at least I would rank it in the top 5 worst things someone could have told me. I said to my friend, "I feel like I have just been shot in the side of the head and thrown underneath the wheels of a rolling semi truck". He had the nerve to laugh. He told me he was not laughing AT me, but with me. For some reason, that didn't help matters. You see, he had already been through a similar bought, so he didn't react in the same way I did.  But on the other side of that trial, my life had drastically changed for the better. Had I not gone through that, I would still be dealing with issues that would keep me from God's will today.

We must understand one thing: we will NEVER be the ones giving God direction, and telling Him who He can use to test us, what situation He can use, and when. Forget it – that’s not the way God works. We will usually find ourselves right in the midst of a test of our faith at the most inopportune time possible. 

1. 1 Corinthians 10:13
   No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.
    

In the midst of these trials, we often find ourselves saying “I just can’t do this anymore” instead of saying “I just wont do this anymore”.

In I Corinthians chapter 13, we're told that "love suffers long" (verse 4) and "bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things" (verse 7). 

We can  find ourselves in a situation pointing the finger at someone, and telling God: “Look what he is doing,  or look at what she is doing!” To our dismay, the Lord tells us, “This whole situation  isn’t about them, it’s about YOU. This whole thing is about working on YOU, not them." That’s a sobering thought, but has happened to me over and over again.

When we face problems with people, it’s important to remember one thing: DON’T TAKE THINGS PERSONALLY !!!!!!!! 

Many times the attitudes we get from folks are almost NEVER a reflection of something we have done. If we were able to look back over the past few days, weeks, or maybe even years and view the blows these people have been taking in their lives, it may help us to be more understanding and compassionate. Sometimes we’ll be called to endure things for the sake of someone else. Rom 2:4 tells us that it’s God’s KINDNESS that leads us to repentance. That can work the same way with others. 

I’m not saying that folks are justified in acting like complete JERKS, I’m just saying there’s a reason for it (right or wrong) and it usually doesn’t even involve us. We just happen to be the person in the midst of it all receiving the backlash. God has called us to leadership. Sometimes we need to press past our feelings and be the bigger person. Buck up. Take the high road. Wipe the snots off your nose, pull up your boot straps and move on.

I'll be sharing the last part of this article in the days to follow.