Bearing Misunderstandings..... Streams in the Desert

Bearing Misunderstandings

Streams in the Desert

He opened not his mouth (Isaiah 53:7).

How much grace it requires to bear a misunderstanding rightly, and to receive an unkind judgment in holy sweetness! Nothing tests the Christian character more than to have some evil thing said about him. This is the file that soon proves whether we are electro-plate or solid gold. If we could only know the blessings that lie hidden in our trials we would say like David, when Shimei cursed him, "Let him curse;... it may be... that the Lord will requite me good for his cursing this day."

Some people get easily turned aside from the grandeur of their life-work by pursuing their own grievances and enemies, until their life gets turned into one little petty whirl of warfare. It is like a nest of hornets. You may disperse the hornets, but you will probably get terribly stung, and get nothing for your pains, for even their honey is not worth a search.

God give us more of His Spirit, "who, when he was reviled, reviled not again"; but "committed himself to him that judgeth righteously." "Consider him that endureth such contradiction of sinners against himself."
--A. B. Simpson

"Before you" He trod all the path of woe,
He took the sharp thrusts with His head bent low.

He knew deepest sorrow and pain and grief,
He knew long endurance without relief,

He took all the bitter from death's deep cup,
He kept not a blood-drop but gave all up.

"Before you" and for you, He won the fight
To bring you to glory and realms of light.
--L.S.P.

Looking for Fruit ..... Dr. Charles Stanley

Looking for Fruit

Dr. Charles Stanley

Galatians 5:16-26

As believers, we all want the fruit of the Spirit, but how can we know if we truly have it? Even unbelievers can display these qualities when conditions are positive. This nine-fold fruit of the Spirit is not what we do, but who we are, and it is primarily on display in Christians when circumstances are unfavorable. Two characteristics help us recognize these traits in our lives.

Fruitful believers are not controlled by their environment. Everyone experiences trials and pain, but those who are filled with the Spirit do not lose His fruit because of their situations. They keep their joy even when difficulties overwhelm. If someone speaks harshly, they respond with kindness. Because the Holy Spirit is in control, He is free to produce His fruit no matter what the circumstances are. Even though such believers may feel pain, anger, or a desire for revenge, they choose to trust the Lord to protect them and direct the outcome.  

Fruitful Christians recover quickly after a fall. These believers are not perfect, but they are sensitive to the Spirit's conviction and are quick to return to the Lord in repentance. In fact, they are actually grateful for the correction and praise God, not only for revealing their weakness but also for drawing them back to obedience.

No one produces these amazing qualities in himself. Trying harder to be godly will never work. Character transformation occurs when we submit to God, giving Him complete control of our lives. Only then will the Spirit be free to produce fruit that remains even in the deepest, darkest storms.

The Blessing of Boundaries..... LYSA TERKEURST

The Blessing of Boundaries
LYSA TERKEURST

“The one who has knowledge uses words with restraint, and whoever has understanding is even-tempered.” Proverbs 17:27 (NIV)

Have you ever found yourself having an out-of-control reaction in response to someone else’s out-of-control actions?

I understand. It’s all so very hard.

When I share biblical discernment with someone I love, but then they go away and do the opposite, it’s maddening. My bottled-up wisdom in the midst of their chaos produces extreme anxiety. My resulting reaction is not me being dramatic or overly emotional … I’m simply trying to save us both from the impending train wreck I can see so obviously headed our way!

A perfect example would be the two gallon-sized baggies stuffed full of ripped-up papers currently sitting on my dresser. Why do I have baggies of ripped papers? So glad you asked.

Some important documents came in the mail one day. In my defense, my name was included on the envelope. But the minute I opened the envelope and started reading through the contents, my blood pressure skyrocketed. One of my people was moving forward with something I deeply disagreed with. I had absolutely vocalized my many reasons to shut down this idea. I couldn’t believe they weren’t listening to me.

In hindsight, I should have simply reminded my family member of my boundary to not bail them out financially if this decision was as detrimental as I thought it would be.

Instead, I just stood there in my kitchen and slowly tore those papers into as many tiny pieces as I could. And when every last paper was torn, I decided that wasn’t good enough. I also tore the folders they were in and the mailing envelopes as well. I quietly stuffed all the mess into the baggies and sat them on the counter with a note that read, “This is all I have to say about this situation.”

It felt so good in that moment. But the next morning, I woke up and was like, Really, Lysa?! Really?! All my family member said back to me was, “Wow, you’ve made quite a statement.” Now I was the one who needed to apologize and figure out a way to tell the company needing to resend the papers I accidentally, on purpose, in a crazed moment, shredded. And when I did, the lady who worked at that company told me she’d recently read one of my books. Perfect. Wonderful. Ugh.

Controlling ourselves cannot be dependent on our efforts to control others.

I know I have hyperextended my capacity when I shift from calm words to angry tirades. I shift from blessing to cursing. I shift from peace to chaos. I shift from discussing the papers to ripping them to shreds and putting them in baggies. I shift from trusting God to trying to fix it all myself.

What do I need to do in response to situations that feel so out of control that they make me lose my self-control?

Establish boundaries. Boundaries aren’t to push others away. Boundaries are to help hold me together.

The truth is, without good boundaries, other people’s poor choices will bankrupt your spiritual capacity for compassion. Not to mention the fact that at some point, you’ll get so exhausted and worn down that you’ll lose your self-control because they are so out of control.

You’ll sacrifice your peace on the altar of their chaos. Soon you will get swept into a desperate urgency to get them to stop! Right! Now! And we all know acts of desperation hold hands with degradation. I’m preaching to myself because I’ve got the tendency to downgrade who I really am in moments of utter frustration and exhaustion when I don’t keep appropriate boundaries.

It all makes me think of today’s key verse: “The one who has knowledge uses words with restraint, and whoever has understanding is even-tempered” (Proverbs 17:27).

When we understand that only God can bring about true change in another person’s heart and life, it frees us from all of our panic-induced attempts to control them. We can love them. Pray for them. Try to share godly wisdom with them. But we don’t have to downgrade our gentleness to hastily spoken words of anger and resentment. We don’t have to downgrade our attitude of reconciliation to acts of retaliation. We can use our words with restraint and stay even-tempered because we’re ultimately entrusting them to the Lord.

I know this isn’t easy, sweet friend. But it is wise.

It’s for the sake of our sanity that we draw necessary boundaries. It’s for the sake of stability that we stay consistent with those boundaries. And it’s with a heart of humility that maintaining those boundaries becomes a possibility.

Lord, please forgive me for all the times I’ve tried to step into Your place in the lives of the people I love. Today, I’m releasing my loved ones into Your hands. You are their Savior, not me. Show me anywhere I need to draw healthy boundary lines, and help me maintain them with humility and love. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

TRUTH FOR TODAY:
Proverbs 31:26, “She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.” (ESV)

Down-size Me..... By: John UpChurch

Down-size Me
By: John UpChurch

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God.- Matthew 5:3, ESV

You're blessed when you're at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule. - Matthew 5:3, MSG

Let's try to regain the shock value in the way Jesus opened His Sermon on the Mount. We're too familiar with the statements and too far removed from the time to hear it like the original listeners. Imagine going to a fast food restaurant, ordering an enormous value meal, and the cashier hitting you with this question: "Would you like to down-size your meal for a dollar less?" Or imagine a car salesperson pausing before you sign the papers and saying, "You know what? That extended warranty is overpriced. Let's get rid of it."

Now you have an idea how much impact Jesus had and why the audience was so astounded. Just like we expect people to push us to buy more, the Jews at the time expected their rabbis to tell them the things they needed to do, the rules they needed to abide by. They came expecting to learn the ten steps required to earn God's favor, but Jesus crumpled up that idea and threw it out. Instead, He revealed that God's favor and blessings come to those who are poor in spirit.

There's more to it, however, than simply feeling beaten down or contrite. The poor in spirit—the ones at the end of their ropes—are those who realize they've gone as far as human effort can get them. In terms of salvation, that's not very far. Here's how John Gill puts it:

The greater part of mankind are insensible of this their condition; but think themselves rich, and increased with goods: there are some who are sensible of it, who see their poverty and want, freely acknowledge it, bewail it, and mourn over it; are humbled for it, and are broken under a sense of it; entertain low and mean thoughts of themselves; seek after the true riches, both of grace and glory; and frankly acknowledge, that all they have, or hope to have, is owing to the free grace of God. (John Gill, commentary on Matthew 5:3)

The poor in spirit don't just feel bad; they feel bad because they realize how destitute their condition. When we truly understand that "karma points" and charitable acts amount to nothing more than drops of food coloring in the ocean, then we've gotten the point: We can't even approach the kingdom of God, let alone enter it, through our own efforts.

But those who look down and see the filth (and pre-salvation, our spiritual appearance is just that) are those who realize the need for God. And with that realization comes the increase of God in our lives and the decrease of self.

Intersecting Faith & Life:  The beatitudes are much more than good ideas or suggestions. They crush preconceptions and expose us as we truly are. Each one reveals our need for God, our need for the work only He could do. When we're poor in spirit (that is, realizing our condition), we're rich in Him.

Further Reading

Matthew 5

Luke 6

A Time for Everything..... By Greg Laurie

A Time for Everything
By Greg Laurie

Has it ever seemed as though God has let you down? Perhaps it appeared that He didn’t come through for you in your hour of need or that He somehow forgot about you. Maybe you asked Him to do a certain thing, and He didn’t do it as quickly as you wanted Him to. He just seemed to be too late.

One reason we sometimes we feel that way is because we live on a human schedule. There is a time when we wake up. There is a time when we eat lunch. There is a time when we go to sleep. Our lives are governed by schedules.

We can waste a lot of time, however. In an average lifetime, Americans will spend six months sitting at traffic lights waiting for them to change, spend one year searching through desk clutter looking for misplaced objects, spend eight months opening junk mail, spend two years trying to call people who aren’t in, spend five years waiting in lines, and spend three years in meetings. (I guarantee that I’ve spent more than that.) And in one year, the average American will spend 1,700 hours watching television.

Somehow God doesn’t seem to be bound by the same schedules we live by, because He lives in the eternal realm. We live in the physical and temporal realm. Therefore, it’s hard for us to understand how God can work outside of our schedules. He keeps a different schedule than we do. Ecclesiastes 3:11 says, “He has made everything beautiful in His time.”

God is above time. And when it seems as though He is late, this is what we need to remember: God is never late. He is always on time. We may lose sight of God, but He never loses sight of us.

Heavenly Father, help us to trust in your timing. You promise that you will never abandon us, and that all things will work for your promise. Amen.

A Prayer for Trust to Step Out in Faith..... By Debbie Przybylski

A Prayer for Trust to Step Out in Faith
By Debbie Przybylski

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.” – Proverbs 3:5-6

We all want God to answer our prayers. We believe in the power of prayer, but when it comes down to our own individual lives and problems, we often don’t have the faith to believe that God will answer. Unbelief and independence trap us. But God wants to enlarge our territory and bless us with increase, because His nature is to bless. Our lack of faith and our fear of stepping out in dependence on Him are what get in the way. The truth is that the things we do for God should be outside of our own abilities; they should be evidence that we are trusting in His supernatural ability.

When we back away from dependence, we are not living by faith. We need to be willing to attempt things big enough that unless God steps in, we are sure to fail. Faith is like jumping out of an airplane at fifteen thousand feet. If God doesn’t catch you, you will fall and crash. But how do you know unless you jump? This is the kind of faith and dependence He is looking for in our lives. Remember the prayer of Jabez in 1 Chronicles 4:10:

"Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, ‘Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.’ And God granted his request.”

Jabez cried out to God to enlarge his territory and bless him. He cried out for God’s hand to be with him. Jabez was greatly blessed by God because he didn’t let obstacles become larger than his faith. He knew the character of God and that He loved to bless. We, too, are made for destiny. We have a God-inspired desire to impact our world. Created for something bigger than ourselves, we are designed to touch a lost world. We long to make an impact on our land for eternity, whether it is where we work, live or minister.

But in reality most of us are afraid to step out by faith.

What step of faith is God asking you to take today? Will you put everything into His almighty hands, adjust your life to what you are praying for, and step out by faith in whatever way He leads? When you do this, you become dependent in His dependable hands. He is waiting for your invitation to enlarge your faith.

Gracious Father, as we begin a new day, help us to engage your will with a reckless faith. Teach us to trust in you, and help us grow in righteousness. Heavenly Lord, give us the courage to step out in faith this day. Fill our hearts with your spirit, and let us speak your words with pride.