I don’t know who the author of the words below is, but it is a dreadful, fearful, foolish thing to have a “love” “hate” relationship with anything contained in God’s Word.
Being a true disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ, a true child of God is not some ticket to the easy life here on earth. Everything coming up roses, preaches ‘n cream, isn’t it another lovely and easy day!?
The EXACT OPPOSITE is the reality. There are going to be constant travails, trials, sufferings, and tribulations. It’s the honing, the firing, the burning away the chaff, the dross, and being refined. For eternity.
Yes, count it ALL JOY when facing trials, adversity, sufferings, travails, and tribulations. Come to the depth of maturity in one’s spiritual life to understand this. And live it out. Daily. Rather than arguing with God and whining about circumstances. Read Job every single day if one must. Pray greater, larger if one must. But get past this level of living of skim milk, being tossed about by 20th and 21st-century philosophies, practices, and beliefs, and begin ingesting meat and growing stronger, wiser in the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ and coming to learn exactly what it means to be His servant, His disciple. His period.
Do we forget the cross? What God, what Jesus Who is God did for those who believe on the cross?
I’m pretty fed up with this sugar and spice and everything nice idea of what it entails to be a Christian. Living in some cotton candy world of fantasy, delusion. Misunderstanding what is read, if reading at all. Misunderstanding what it’s all about. Just as it’s disgusting to learn how many people professing to be disciples of Jesus, thus Christians [if they truly are such, understanding what this truly means] continually, on a regular basis argue, debate God. Question God’s Word. Argue with God. Make demands of God. And almost all amiss. Selfish, blind foolish demands. Such as demanding their children come to faith. Demanding this, arguing that…
Pray and place your faith and trust in the Lord! Pray and place your trust in the Holy Spirit. Always saying and believing, not questioning, arguing, or debating — God’s will be done, on earth, as in heaven, His kingdom come. Without us thinking we’re going to bring about the kingdom of God. Or in our arguing with God, God and His Word will change to suit our foolish, sinful demands. To make us feel better rather than us living to please God.
Does anyone ever read and understand the Bible? The examples of what happened to all those who choose to lower God, to debate God, to argue with God, to think they know better than God? That something in God’s Word just isn’t right, doesn’t apply to them, ought not to be there?
Enough of the lowering of God. He is not your old uncle in the rocking chair in your living room near the fire. He’s God. Comes to grips and terms, as best we can in our very limited, sinful, feeble minds as to what God is and means.
Become keen on that rather than being keen on the daily shopping list presented to God revolving around yourself. Stop arguing, debating, and thus denying God, lowering God, acting as if we know better than God.
It’s really simple folks.
Believe. Then obey. Beleive. Then obey. Beleive. Then obey.
Every day.
Because it’s difficult enough without causing additional storms in our life and being blown off course of our own making, our ignorance, our stubbornness, our selfishness, our foolishness, our lack of discernment, understanding, and spiritual knowledge.
Yeah, growing towards Godliness. What a novel idea in America, in the West, in the world in the year 2022.
The author of the words below gets it right along the way — but never start by hating something within the Word of God that “doesn’t make you FEEL good.”
Put the skim milk down, pass on the sugar and spice, and everything appearing nice leading to the abyss and the path to hell. Buckle up, put on that full armour of God and enter the Reality Zone.
Because it’s only going to get harder. More difficult. Worse. Great trials and tribulations are to come. Sooner than later.
Kapish?
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Monday, January 31st, 2022
ACP — A Crooked Path
Growing Toward Godliness
Reprinted from Today in the Word
For many years I had a love-hate relationship with today’s Scripture passage. The “love” part related to testing, perseverance, maturity, and wisdom. That made sense to me. The “hate” part related to the first line, “Consider it pure joy” (v. 2). “Seriously?” I thought. “That’s too much to ask!”
Nonetheless, God’s Word says what it says. How, then, does the spiritual process of learning and growing unfold in these verses? While the word “learn” isn’t used here, the process described is one of growing and maturing toward godliness (vv. 2–4). Our faith is tested when we face various trials and tribulations. If we stand firm in faith, we develop perseverance, which in turn will eventually bring us to maturity and finally to Christlike completeness or perfection (Matt. 5:48).
This process isn’t inevitable. We must make right and wise choices. If our faith is weak or we sidestep opportunities for growth, the learning process is stalled. If we consider it hardship, we’ll merely try to escape the process. Only by considering it “pure joy” can we embrace trials and tribulations as God-given and God- directed lessons for our good. In doing so, we follow the example of Christ Himself: “He learned obedience from what he suffered” (Heb. 5:8). Learning in this sense is experiential, that is, it can happen only in action.
We can make wise choices, learn God’s lessons for us, and grow in our faith only with His help (James 1:5–8). The Lord stands ready to generously provide wisdom, but we need to ask in faith—standing on our Rock, not blown about by the wind (see January 9). The evidence of our learning will be in the results. If we’re standing firm and persevering, our growing and maturing will be clearly seen, not to our credit but to God’s glory.
Did you start a learning journal this month? If not, it’s never too late! A journal is a great way to keep a personal record of what God is teaching you about life, His Word, and Himself.
Teach us, challenge us, and mold us into a form that is pleasing to You. Give us courage to follow You into grueling circumstances. Grant us joy in obedience, knowing that our submission honors You.
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