Originally, I made a very last thought post concerning 2020, but to me, whilst I personally value everything I wrote, I know I didn't invest into it, and I'd rather post something I did invest into rather than just post for the sake of posting. I'm so excited for 2020 and am just dying to show you what I have in store for this year.
This 2020, I'm going to be posting every Sunday, and when stuff gets very busy, every fortnight on a Sunday. Whilst I'm going to try and be consistent, I'm also a realist and know that life inevitably happens, and will try not to beat myself up if I don't stick hard and fast to those timeframes.
Alright, let's get into it!
🎉🎉🎉
Faith isn't natural to me. Sometimes my life to me looks like a battlefield of what I've lost. Relationships, Faith, and Integrity are just a few on the list.
Every year I've entered with the intention of it being revitalising, and that it will be the best experience of my life; It gives a chance to make new friends, meet new people, and grow closer to God as a person but also part of a church family. However every year all I can think about is that if I get too attached to people, then I'm setting myself up for disappointment; confiding in someone has no purpose if someone has no interest in who you are, or if i'll never see them again.
After a bit of thought, 4 thoughts trigger this way of thinking:
1. I should be in relationship.
2. I'm not enough.
3. If I'm enough then why don't people invest in me?
4. I'm scared of being disappointed/ losing more.
I don't want to experience these ways of thinking; I simply wish to experience true friendship with the right people. Above all, I want to be considered a friend of God just as Abraham was (James 2:23). It's not a trophy I want to add to a metaphorical cabinet, it's a deeper level of intimacy of relationship I wish to experience with God. How can we experience this type of relationship with God?
Fear & God's value on your life.
All of the negative thoughts I described come under one overarching banner: Fear. The initial thought that human beings are made for relationship is rooted in the Bible; God says in Genesis 2:18 "it's not good for the man to be alone; I will make a helper who is just right for him." Whilst this is true, there also lies a hierarchy concerning what you pursue as God's Child. If you pursue relationships before you pursue God, there is nothing in this area of your behaviour that separates you from a non-believer.
The thought that I am not enough is in many fears; Rejection, lack of value and loneliness being just a few. Fear does not trust that God created you with the intent of being in his likeness. We think our actions define our value, but what we do could never trump the creator's intrinsic value he's placed inside each one of us. The Apostle Paul says in Philippians:3:8 : "Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord."
Your Worth in Christ
The thought that people don't invest in you, therefore you are not enough is preposterous. God has invested himself in creating you, and ultimately sacrificing his life for you through his death. Don't allow people's opinion to undermine the value of both Christ's sacrifice, and the value he places on your life.
The fear of loss of people, opportunities, respect is linked to that initial fear of being enough. Jesus was deserted by his friends, his fans and his followers. But it served a purpose that was bigger than his comfort in that moment. What we have to ask ourselves is do we want our comfort of God's purpose. God's purpose is more rewarding in the long run, but because we have no patience and no faith, we can't be bothered to wait because we don't believe that it will actually have any effect over what we can see. Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 5:7 "For we live by believing and not by seeing."
Therefore, when we then come into relationship with God, we impose all of these initial thoughts into our relationship with God; I want to be in relationship with God, but I'm not enough for people because that's just how it is, People don't invest in me because God is punishing me, and I'm not serving God because I love him, I serve him because I want to impress him so he doesn't leave me.
This might seem a bit heavy, but the sad truth is that for many people (including me 1000%) this is a common reality. We sometimes live in the prisons that we have made for ourselves, and that others have imprisoned us in. So how do we battle this? I feel it would be immature to just get in a relationship without God, but then what do I do?
Well first we need to begin with what is the opposites. 2 Timothy 1:7 says "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." Before I even address the three opponents of fear, we need to see what it is: A spirit. And before you go all pseudo-ethereal, all I'm trying to highlight is:
1. It's not of God.
&
2. It's not solely psychological.
Often I try and battle things in my head and rationalise them. For things that go past the mind, this simply doesn't work.
So how do we oppose this?
1. The Holy Spirit
Power
Power instigates change. The Holy Spirit is our power. Some of us think of our relationship with the Holy Spirit (If we trust in the Holy Spirit) as transactional. It's not, it's a relationship, and every good relationship is built on trust. Concerning God the Father and the Holy Spirit, this is manifested as Faith. The Bible says in Hebrews 11:6 "[And] it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him." So the time you spend in pursuit of God is never wasted. And times of waiting where patience is required are often the best times to grow in this regard. Have faith that God has the Power to change your life and all that exists. How do we do this? Well it's not a taking act, it's a letting go act. It's a yielding to what God wants. Prayer is paramount in this. We don't just ask God for what we want (though this is important to do), we acknowledge God as Jesus did in Luke 22:42-44: "Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done." Jesus was so vulnerable; He didn't pretend he wasn't hurting. He addressed his pain by going straight towards it in prayer. It says in the next verse that "[And] there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him." Whilst every-time we pray we may not see an angel appear to us, God strengthens us by his power through the Holy Spirit.
Be Open. Say, "God, I don't feel like I'm enough. Holy Spirit Give me the strength to trust you that I am and to trust you that you are enough." Know God has the power to transform your situation and don't neglect that. We experience God intimately in this way when we embrace his presence with honesty.
2. Love
God is Love. I feel in the world that is often so clichéd that many don't appreciate nor experience such a simple, boundless gift. Love is about trust, but before that it's about Obedience. Faith and Obedience are really two sides of the same coin. Jesus says in John 14:15-16 "If ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;" At first glance it seems that God is only promising The Holy Spirit to those who obey him. This isn't what Christ is saying here though. Jesus here is talking to the disciples, and all but John is recorded as disbanding and hiding in Jesus time of need. But Jesus still "breathed on them saying “Receive The Holy Spirit. [John 20:22]"
Jesus is counting these as two different statements. We demonstrate our love for Christ by abiding by his commands. Either way, to those who believe in him he has sent another comforter known as The Holy Spirit. Jesus calls the Holy Spirit in the passage the "Spirit of Truth." We need to remember our original focus. We don't want fear, we want something better. Another version says that The Holy Spirit "leads into all truth." Love reveals the truth about who you are and the way God sees you. It shows you where you are truly at fault and aims not only to correct it, but for it to flourish.
It also overflows into something you share with others as your testimony. John 14:17 Goes on to say "The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognise him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you." The Holy Spirit is in you if you believe in Christ. But even though he's in you, it's often hard to hear him and discern what he is saying. This is what is beautiful about relationship with God. God doesn't speak quietly just to be mysterious. He does it so we draw closer. So sacrifice time to pray and ask the Holy Spirit for his love to grow in you more and more. But also, spend time in intentional worship, just experiencing God's presence and thanking him for who he is in your life and for his Love and Grace.
3. A Sound Mind.
This is the one that trips me up the most. Love and Power make sense, but A Sound Mind? isn't that just thinking psychologically? Are we back at square 1? No. Once again, this is an opportunity to yield. God has blessed us with the opportunity to come to him. Seeing as God is incomprehensibly supreme, this should be mind-boggling for us. Why does God even bother? He just loves us that much. A Sound Mind doesn't come from sorting all your problems out yourself, and then asking God whether what you've done is okay. It always starts with God. Jesus says in Luke 10:19 "I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you." The Soundness of Mind comes from realising that God is the instigator of all power such as this.
God reigns supreme and has appointed us as his ambassadors. We should consult him anytime we do anything. Not because we have this contractual obligation. But just because in the knowledge God has given us authority, it is God who gave us that authority.
The original picture in Eden was for humans to rule with God. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:27 "For the Scriptures say, “God has put all things under his authority.”
God is in control of everything. He also lets us have freewill. Whilst these existing simultaneously might be hard to wrap our heads around, it's true nonetheless. You either serve God, or you give into the devil. There's no middle ground. If you're not living in faith, you're living in fear.
So what is being of A Sound Mind? Choosing God of course! Choosing him over your own thinking, and any way that isn't his. Moses cried out to the people of Israel, saying in Deuteronomy 30: “Now listen! Today I am giving you a choice between life and death, between prosperity and disaster. For I command you this day to love the Lord your God and to keep his commands... by walking in his ways. If you do this, you will live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you..."
Soundness of mind presents the simplest and most difficult choice of all time. A Sin Empowered Life of the Flesh, or a Spirit Empowered Life of Faith. And this is a daily decision. Daily. Start your day by choosing Life in Christ's name. everyday. Pray that God would keep you and protect you from temptation to tray from life. Re-enforce the truth by reading the truth - The Bible.
Isaiah 40:8 says "The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever."
You find a sound mind in a word that never changes. That's where sound decisions can be made. God speaks in prayer, and God speaks in times of worship, but also through his word, so never neglect that.
Conclusion
Whilst I have outline a few extremely loose (but hopefully helpful guidelines) concerning growing closer to God, there really is only one qualification to be God's friend; It's faith in Christ. Don't believe me? James 2:23: "And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and this [faith] was credited to him [by God] as righteousness and as conformity to His will,” and he was called the friend of God. (AMP)"
Do you see it? the only prerequisite is faith in Christ. I had a real experience of this last year, when at Soul Survivor, was searching and searching and searching for friends. I was in Late Night Worship one night, and realised that I'd never even asked God to be my friend. I knew the scripture and had never applied it. In tears and anguish that night I asked God to be my friend. Since that day my friendship with God has fed into my faith and vice versa. Faith grows, but that initial faith is so important.
So think about these things. Fear often kills relationships. God has given us Love, Power through The Holy Spirit, and A Sound Mind through faith. I pray that these would be exercised in your daily life, and that they would become a part of your relationship with God. Amen.
In Part 2, I'll talk more about what that friendship looks like, using Moses' relationship with God as an example. For Now, Trust God, be vulnerable with him and ask him to fill you with his power, to pour into you his love, and to build within you a sound mind. Amen.
God Bless. ❤️
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