After
a rainstorm there can be a beautiful rainbow, a refreshing smell in the air and
everything looks a lot greener. Except of course if it’s a tidal wave
like the Perfect Storm movie or a tsunami then you are busy picking up the
pieces of wreckage the storm left. Which happens to many people in
life. Part of the problem is the wreckage is sort of scattered all
over the place from a death or divorce so it depends on how much wreckage you
have to pick up (the pieces of a broken heart).
I
like to think of it as a butterfly that was
flying freely and then got caged. If you are
a Christian, than you already went through
the metamorphosis of becoming a new creature in Christ Jesus. What
happens is grief, despair and trials can put us in a cage at times like when
Jesus told them to loose Lazarus grave clothes from him.
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is
a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
2 Cor. 5:17
The
sunshine is coming. It may be just peaking through the clouds in life,
but it is coming:
But for you who revere my name, the sun
of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings. And you will go out and
leap like calves released from the stall. Malachi 4:2
Jesus
and I---we are in this battle/storms of life together including the tidal waves
that have come at times in my life. He is in this boat with me. So
whether you have to get up and rebuke the winds and the waves in your life or
wake up the Jesus sleeping in your boat, be sure to wake him up. We want
him at the center of our lives. Many people in the church are
currently letting Jesus stay asleep inside of them.
I
had shared in a previous blog that at times I get upset with God like Martha
and Mary got upset (disappointed) with Jesus at the loss of their brother
Lazarus. Mary, Martha and Lazarus were friends with Jesus. Jesus is
my friend too. There seems to be these two extreme teachings
between grace and do whatever you want, and then teachings that focuses too
much on what we do as mere men. There is a “balance” The balance is
called that we are co-laborers with God (1 Cor. 3:9). Jesus called his
disciples “friends.”
I no longer call you servants, because a
servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you
friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.
John 15:15
God
referred to Abraham as his friend.
And the scripture was fulfilled that
says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as
righteousness," and he was called God's friend. James 2:23
One
way I am a friend to God is not to conform to this world’s way of thinking
(renew my mind). Friendship with this world is enmity against God.
You adulterous people, don't you know
that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a
friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. James 4:4
Many
people in third world countries are like Lazarus and the rich man as far as
begging at the gates of a land of opportunity. “America, please let us in your
gates, please do not close your borders.” I’ve heard many stories
of people trying to get into America and lost their life by sea from Cuba and
then people being crammed in a truck from Mexico.
At his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus
who was covered with sores. and longing to eat what fell from the rich man's
table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores. Luke 16:20-21
Not
everyone received promises here on earth in the Bible. We are not to
build sand castles on this earth, but our castles are to be in heaven (the sky)
like the song below talks about (Matthew 6:19-21).
All these people were still living by
faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw
them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens
and strangers on earth. Hebrews 11:13
Jesus
told Pilate that his kingdom was not of this earth, if it was he said that his
servants would fight for him.
Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of
this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the
Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place." John 18:36
People
still are like David who wanted to build a temple for God. We focus that
God is in a church building. God was wanting to live on the inside
of us. It’s Christ in us the hope of glory. Colossian 1:27.
God does not live in temples made with hands. (Acts 17:24 and Acts
7:48). If every church, synagogue, and temple was torn down it does not
require a building to worship God. Worshipping God is a lifestyle.
'For in him we live and move and have
our being.' As some of your own poets have said, 'We are his offspring.' Acts
17:28
For
those of us in a good relationship we understand that marriage is not about our
spouse or ourself. It was about “us.” The two are no longer one but it
became “we.” The two become one flesh. It’s a deep
friendship. Marriage is mystery and the mystery is in relationship to
Christ and his bride (the church). It’s making decisions together
for the good of the whole. Not making decisions for just one person. He
that is joined to the Lord is one spirit. 1 Cor. 6:17
So if God be for us who can ever be
against us? Romans 8:31
I
heard that probably the reason that Jesus does not know the day or hour that he
is coming back to earth is because if he did, he would tell us since we are
such close friends. Only God knows the very hour and day, but I find that
God gives “hints” to his friends.
No one knows about that day or hour, not
even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Matthew 24:36
In those days I will pour out my Spirit
even on servants--men and women alike. Joel 2:29
Like
Paul said, it’s no longer I that live, it’s Christ that lives inside of
me. Galatians 2:20. Count on the greater one inside of you to
overcome the enemy in this world. It’s not “all” about God and it’s
not “all” about me, but it’s about the we. That is how we should be in
the body of Christ. Concerned about the whole body!
Bill
Whithers: Just Two of Us (Jesus and I and whoever else is in this boat with
us!)
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