Inching through Life

We can ask God for what we want; and if He wants us to have it, He will give it to us (James 4:3). Yet, it is futile to waste time wanting what we do not have.

If we do, we are telling God that He is a poor provider and He does not have our best interest at heart (1 Peter 5:7). We are exhibiting a lack of faith in His faithfulness and exalting our self over Him.

We are also lacking in gratitude for all that He has already given to us (Philippians 4:6). We are keeping our focus on the temporal aspects of this life and functioning with human understanding.

Jesus died for us all, and rose again - giving us supernatural power so we will not live for our self, but for Him (John 3:16-18; 2 Corinthians 5:15). Jesus is the only way, truth and life; and no one comes to God except through Him (John 14:6).

Our Father God knows best. As we seek His Kingdom first, He provides us with everything we need for our spiritual, physical, emotional and mental well-being (Matthew 6:33). God also gives us wisdom as we ask for it, which guides us in our desires, thoughts and choices.

We stop inching through life as a caterpillar; and instead, we soar like a butterfly on the winds of adversity and trials. We mount up on wings like eagles (Isaiah 40:31); and rise above the earth as we glide on the air currents that God provides for us.

God gives us the wisdom we need to navigate through life, encourage the downtrodden, reject the devil's temptations to sin, and to make the decisions which affect the rest of our life.

Prayer:

Father God, we do not have to spend one moment longing for anything or anyone but You. We no longer love this world nor the things, which it offers us. If we really need something in our life, which we do not have, You will give it to us. You will move us to another state; or give us a different car, vocation or house; or provide us with a spouse or a child, if it is Your will for us.

Remind us to trust only in You and in Your provision and timing. You have a perfect plan for each one of us and living in the center of Your will is the happiest place on earth. We seek You with all of our heart and we rely on Your wisdom and grace to help us to navigate the decisions in our life.

Thought for the Day:

Jesus is our gift and reward in this life and the next, because He is our all in all. - Colossians 1:17

Flexing Our Wings

“Our life is hidden with Christ in God.” - Colossians 3:3

In the various stages of a butterfly, we can see a beautiful analogy of our death, burial and resurrection in Christ. Our growth in spiritual awareness finds an interesting parallel in the metamorphosis of the caterpillar into a butterfly. We come into this world selfishly devouring everything this civilization has to offer. Even if we codependently care for the needs of everyone we meet, we trust in our goodness rather than in Christ’s sacrifice (Ephesians 2:8-10). We continue in this meager existence until we realize our depraved state and call out to God for Salvation.

Many of us repent of our willful disobedience; but then, in the flesh we vow to spend the rest of our life in strict adherence to God’s law in a regimen of self-effort. We encase our self in the silken threads of our chrysalis of scriptural mandates. Forsaking the gift of grace, which God so freely bestowed on us at salvation, we seek to reach perfection through the Law (Galatians 3:1-3; 5:3). We feel the restriction of the shackles that we spin, but we continue to wrap the glossy threads of legalism around our life until we are completely bound up in the dark.

Fears and anxieties, which we successfully evaded in the past, begin to haunt us day and night. We feel changes taking place within our innermost being that we do not understand. Imagine being a caterpillar. Your score of chubby, little legs change into six long, skinny ones. Your round supple body shrinks to a fraction of it normal size. Suddenly wings protrude from your back. They seem to be useless appendages that will only be an extra burden to carry through life – if indeed there will be life after this dreadfully dark time of confinement.

We cry out to God in desperation, but He seems beyond our reach and unable to hear our muffled cries from within the chrysalis of the law and dead works that surrounds us. In actuality, He does hear us, but it is not time for Him to intervene. Our nature is quite changed by the power of Christ’s blood, but we do not yet appreciate this fact (2 Corinthians 3:18). The chrysalis of dead works is our prison (Hebrews 9:14). However, it also provides a certain sense of security, which we are loath to surrender.

Eventually we get fed up with our imprisonment, and we start the struggle for spiritual freedom. Slowly, we see daylight as we methodically emerge from the chrysalis of bondage to the Law and works (Galatians 5:1; Hebrews 6:1). Our personal struggle to free our self from these dead works equips us for our existence outside of our chrysalis. It is a vital part of the spiritual process. The exertion brings us to the ultimate realization of our utter helplessness and desperate need for Christ to live in and through us. We hesitate, poised on the edge of His new world. (To be continued :)

Prayer:

Father God, thank You for opening Your arms and welcoming us to come to You. We find rest in You, freedom in You and abundant life in You. We realize that this life of faith does not entirely exclude works (James 2:18). However, we only work in obedience to the promptings of Your Spirit within us (Romans 8:2). You set us free from the law of sin and death, so that we can live in constant victory through the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, as your ambassadors in this world (2 Corinthians 5:20).

Thought for the Day:
As we look at where we came from and remember our bondage to the Law and self-effort from which God freed us, we find peace and joy unspeakable and full of glory. – 1 Peter 1:8