Month: October 2016

What’s Going On God? – pt. 6

Every time God wants to do something in us or through us He brings us through 4 stages.  Every stage is about critically important to who we are becoming so none of them can be bypassed.  The first stage is where we receive Revelation.  It is where God speaks to us and reveals some of His purpose for us.  Once we have received Revelation God begins to show us what needs to change in our lives.  This is the stage of Confrontation and every time God speaks to us He brings us to this stage.  Often we miss out on His plan because we misunderstand what He is doing and don’t submit to what He is trying to do.  It we do submit to Him we move into the third stage, Transformation, where we allow Him to change us.  God never allows anything in our lives that He is unwilling to see us through if we allow Him to.  And the purpose for our struggle is that we can be more and more like Jesus.  Once we go through the stage of Transformation we enter the stage we all want to see in our lives.  The final stage is Manifestation.  This is where God releases in and through us the fullness of His promise and we begin to see the fruit of the process He has brought us through.

God desires greatly to bring us to the fulfillment of His purpose He specifically designed each of us for.  God is extremely interested and heavily invested in each of us.  And we cannot reach the stage of Manifestation unless we are willing to walk through the middle ground where God deals with our nature and shows us our character.  Character is always proven in the fire. It is the stages of confrontation and transformation that Character is formed and proven.

  • Things happen TO me,
  • So that things can happen IN me
  • So that things can happen THROUGH me

Every follower of Christ wants to be able to hear “Well done good and faithful servant” when we face God one day.   To live in the destiny and plan that God has for each of us.  The encouraging part of this process is God never gives up on us.  Paul wrote in Philippians 1:6 “I am sure that God Who began the good work in you will keep on working in you until the day Jesus Christ comes again. ” NLV

Folks there is light at the end of the tunnel. And it isn’t a train. There is a reason for everything you are walking through.  Every situation and problem in our lives has been “Father Filtered”.  God is sovereign and He allows things in our lives for the express purpose of bringing out the manifestation of His life in us.  Psalms 105:19 “Until the time came to fulfill his word, the LORD tested Joseph’s character”.  “Things happen to me, so that things can happen in me, so that things can happen through me.”

So if you’re in the stage of confrontation, allow God to show you who you really are.  Then allow Him to change you by facing your giants and move forward into what God has for you.  I can guarantee that despite the pain, if we allow the process to come to completion, we will never regret what God has brought us through.

Let me share how a wise servant of God endured this process.  He was a retired missionary who served in the Andes of South America. He said,

“Storms are a part of life; God made it that way,” he said, “but I learned a secret that’s helped me all these years, and it is still helping me: Always look for the rainbow. The world looks for the silver lining and sings ‘Somewhere over the Rainbow’ . But we have something better.  You can’t close your eyes to the storm and pretend it’s not there, but your can look for the rainbow in the storm.  It’s always there.  Expect the storms and don’t be afraid of them, because God is always faithful.  And always remember to look for the rainbow.”

So if you’re in the middle of this process and the storm is raging all around you, remember God is in control and look for the rainbow.  There are three questions to ask to help you find the rainbow because when the storm is roaring it can sometimes be hard to find.

  1. God do you still love me?

    Jeremiah 31:3 “I have loved you, my people, with an everlasting love. With unfailing love I have drawn you to myself” NLT

    • God told them, “I’ve never quit loving you and never will.
      Expect love, love, and more love! Message
  2. Do You still have my best interests at heart?

    Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. NLT

  3. God will You see me through?

    Hebrews 13:5 “I’ll never let you down, never walk off and leave you,” Message

Absolutely everything God brings us through is for good, both for us and for the kingdom.

Things happen TO me,

So that things can happen IN me

So that things can happen THROUGH me

What’s Going On God? – pt. 5

Confrontation and Transformation.  Two extremely important components to God’s plan in our lives.  God always reveals His plans for us to bring us to the place where we are willing to see ourselves for who we are, including all the parts we don’t want to see, so that He can transform us into the image of Jesus and accomplish His purposes through us.   Things happen TO me, So that things can happen IN me, so that things can happen THROUGH me.

Our circumstance that each one of us face are tools which God uses to draw out of us the areas in our lives that need to be shown to us, and so that He can change us.  If we are unwilling to see ourselves as we are, we won’t change because we won’t see the need to.  People all around the world have the same response when confronted with change.  “Well I’m a good person…”  If we don’t see the need for change, we cannot make the changes necessary, and if we don’t make the changes or allow God to make the changes in us we will miss out on the purpose we were created to fulfill.  So God allows circumstances in our lives to draw out of us the things we are often so good at hiding.

There are two things necessary in our lives for this process to accomplish what God desires in us.  We each face different circumstances, and many of them can be extremely difficult to deal with, but we all need two things if God is going to be able to use the circumstances to accomplish His purpose.

The first is a humble heart.  Without humility we will be unwilling to see the areas of our lives that need to be addressed.  Without humility we will be focused completely on getting what we feel we deserve.  Humility allows us to see things differently and be willing to set aside our plans and purposes.  Humility allows us to be willing to see the need for change and to accept the work of God in our lives, even when we are not always able to comprehend or understand what He is doing.   It is a humble heart that will allow God to confront us and change us.  Saul was proud and didn’t respond to the dealings of God, but every time God dealt with David he responded with humility and God was able to do amazing things in and through him.

If you think you know better than God you will won’t respond to His work in your life.  Denying the changes in your life does not make them any less important or necessary to our growth.  Denial is not a river in Egypt. If we insist on denying the reality of our lives we will never see the possibility of our future. 

Humility also releases the hand of God in our lives.  If we want to struggle and fight on our own God is willing to let us, but He would prefer if we allowed Him to mold and form us.  James 4:6 NKJV“God resists the proud,  But gives grace to the humble.”  God offers us His grace if we are willing to be humble.  Grace is “the transforming power of God, doing in you what you cannot do for yourself.”  God’s power working in your life, accomplishing God’s plan.  Without grace we would all be lost.  If we are willing to humble our hearts, God is able to accomplish great things in our lives, and through our lives.

Second we need a close relationship with God.  It is our relationship with Jesus that draws us into God’s plan for our lives, and it is what sustains us as we move forward into God’s purposes.  It is our relationship  with God that allows us to

  • feel and be secure in the love and safety of the hands of God regardless of our circumstances
  • allow God to deal with us knowing He is doing it for our benefit and not His.
  • allow God the freedom to work out the fruit of the Spirit in our lives.

     

     

No relationship = No change

Are we keeping our relationship with God current?  Jesus said in John 15:5 NLV “I am the Vine and you are the branches. Get your life from Me. Then I will live in you and you will give much fruit. You can do nothing without Me.”  It is our relationship with God that allows His life to flow in us, and it is His life in us that allows the changes to happen. 

Every move and promise of God in our lives always leads us to the cross of Calvary.

We always return to face our reality and our choice is whether we take up our cross and follow or turn away to our own path.

  • God always brings confrontation for a season to bring transformation for a reason.
  • Things happen TO me, So that things can happen IN me, so that things can happen THROUGH me

There is always a divine purpose to the struggles we have.

What will make the difference will be our focus.

Are we looking at our circumstances or the One who will see us through our circumstances.   It is a humble heart and a relationship with God that allows us to focus not on the problem but on the one who will see us past the problems.

“Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now he’s there, in the place of honor, right alongside God.”  Hebrews 12:2 MSG