God Wants Me Happy, Right?

It seems to me that among believers, there are some who think that the goal of their Christian life is to be happy—that God wants them to be perpetually happy. But this concept is not found in the Word of God. God’s desire is for us to be molded in the image of His Son. He wants us to grow in maturity and to have the character of Christ formed within us.

Often we face unpleasant circumstances and, of course, our first reaction is that we want out. No one enjoys a negative situation. I believe that as we pray about the troubles in our life, God will answer in one of three ways: He will remove us from our circumstances, change our circumstances, or change us. I find that more often than not He desires to change us.

In each situation we face, there are lessons to be learned. There is a process to go through. Most of us, instead of being willing to go through the process, are looking for a way to escape. Rather than yielding to His will, we want to curse the situation.

Even though we face unhappy times we can still live a joyful life. The joy we have in our hearts as a result of our relationship with Christ is not dependent on outward circumstances. Everything can be going wrong in the natural while we have peace and joy in our inner man. With the help of the Spirit, we can learn to say along with Paul, “I have learned in whatever state I am, therewith to be content.” (Philippians 4:11)

The joy of the Lord gives us strength when we feel like giving up; the peace of God holds us steady when it seems our life is falling apart; and the contentment that comes from trusting in Christ makes a statement that even though life is not perfect, we know in the end everything is going to be all right.

If we live with an attitude of joy, peace, and contentment in the face of trying circumstances, the world will sit up and take notice. But if we react negatively every time trouble comes our way, those around us will not see the life of victory that the Lord wants us to exhibit.

Father, thank You that we can be full of joy, peace and contentment, even in adverse circumstances. Teach us to yield to Your work in our hearts.

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My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you. (Galatians 4:19)

Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ . . . But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ. (Ephesians 4:13,15)

Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice. Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:4-7)

Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. (Philippians 4:11-13)

. . . the joy of the LORD is your strength. (Nehemiah 8:10)

Staying On The Road

Living for Christ requires determination. There are many things vying for our attention which can pull us away from our complete devotion to the Lord. Colossians 3:2 tells us, “Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.” That means we have to determine in our hearts to focus on the things of God, and then set our affections, our desires, in that direction. The Amplified version of this verse says, “And set your minds and keep them set on what is above...”  We have to make great effort to continually turn our minds toward the things of God, because our enemy is making great effort to pull us in the opposite direction.

Have you ever noticed when you are driving that if you take your eyes off the road and look in another direction too long, you will eventually begin driving that way? It is easy to run into a ditch if we are not focused in the direction we need to be going. Many want the Christian life to be easy, but the truth is it takes a made-up mind to keep going the right way. Conscious effort is required to stay on the road.

A successful Christian life, one that is pleasing to the Lord, doesn’t just happen because we make a profession of faith in Christ. When we accept Him, we become a child of God, and then, if we are submissive to His Spirit, He begins the process of changing us. Just because I don’t always please Him does not change my status as a child of God; however, because of what God has given me and what He has saved me from, out of love for Him I desire to do what is pleasing in His sight.

We are saved, not just so we can go to heaven, but also to be an example to the unsaved world of what the transforming power of Christ can do in a person’s life. We are left on this earth after salvation to win others to Christ. If our minds and affections are not set on things above, what kind of examples are we being?

Father, help us to always set our affection on things above.  Enable us to make the effort necessary to live a life that pleases You.

Standing On A Firm Foundation

For a building to stand, it must have a firm foundation. The same is true of a life. Without the proper foundation a life will be destroyed. The only sure foundation for our spiritual lives is Christ the solid Rock who is also the Word of God.

We all face storms in this life—situations for which we alone do not have the solutions. Without the wisdom of God’s Word, we are incapable of making right decisions. That is why it is so important to make the Word a part of us by consuming it daily. Remember you are what you eat. If you want to be wise, consume the Word of God.

As we face perplexing circumstances, it is so much better to have the Word already so instilled in us that we automatically choose a direction that is pleasing to God. If we don’t have the Word branded upon our hearts we flounder.

I come in contact with people who don’t seem to want help, but it appears to me that they desperately need it. My heart aches for them, and I pray for the Lord to open their hearts and to open a door for me to minister to them. So many problems could be solved if people were willing to surrender—make Jesus the Lord of your life, get His Word hidden in your heart, and determine to do life His way no matter what happens. Standing on that firm foundation is the only way to live!

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Therefore, whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it. (Matthew 7:24-27)

On The Potter’s Wheel

There is a song I love to sing entitled He Didn’t Throw the Clay Away.* Its message ministers to me each time I sing it or hear it:

Empty and broken, I came back to Him, A vessel unworthy, so scarred with sin, But He did not despair, He started over again, And I bless the day He didn’t throw the clay away.

He is the Potter, and I am the clay, molded in His image He wants me to stay, But when I stumble and fall, and my vessel breaks, He picks up the pieces, He doesn’t throw the clay away.

Over and over He molds me and makes me, Into His likeness He fashions the clay, A vessel of honor I am today, All because Jesus didn’t throw the clay away.

I am so thankful that God is patient and does not give up on me. There have been many times I have failed and felt worthless, but God my Father keeps working on me, letting me know He loves me enough to want to change me.

Because we love our child, my husband and I correct her and endeavor to keep her going in the right direction. We want what is best for her. There are times that she becomes upset when we don’t allow her to have her own way, because it is hard for her to understand that the decisions we make are for her own good. She is like most children who don’t see the big picture. She wants what she wants (right now) and sees no reason why she can’t have it! Do we not behave the same way with God? We pray for certain desires to be fulfilled or for our lives to go in a particular direction, and we become angry that God does not answer our prayers in the way we thought He would.

So many times I have prayed for circumstances or people to change, only to discover that the Lord wants to change me. It is very humbling to pray about a problem and have God reveal to me that I am the problem. I am thankful that He puts this lump of clay back on the Potter’s wheel and continues to mold me. I am thankful that He sees worth in my life that I sometimes do not see.

Father, thank You that You hold my life in Your hands. Thank You that You care enough about me to continue molding me into the person You have planned for me to be.

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The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, Arise and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words. Then I went down to the potter’s house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels. And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it. (Jeremiah 18:1-4)

But now, O Lord, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand. (Isaiah 64:8)

And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. (Hebrews 12:5-6)

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. (Jeremiah 29:11)

*He Didn't Throw the Clay Away, by Gene Reasoner, 1986, BMG Platinum Songs, o/b/o New Chelsea Press

Thank You For My Weaknesses

All of us have areas of our life that we wish we could change. We each have shortcomings, weaknesses and sins that we have difficulty overcoming. And as we examine ourselves we feel shame, remorse and regret. It is natural that we want to curse our weaknesses. The thought of thanking God for our weaknesses is a foreign concept.

Recently, I read the following familiar verse of scripture and saw it in a new way. And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me (2 Cor. 12:9). As I meditated on this verse, I came to believe that we should thank God for our weaknesses and infirmities. Because it is only when we understand that we are powerless to change ourselves, and become willing to confess our sins to God and ask for help, that the power of God will be manifested in us. Thus acknowledging our weaknesses really becomes the way to obtain God’s strength to live the Christian life. If we see our weaknesses in this way, they really become something for which to be thankful.

The Word tells us that God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble (James 4:6; 1 Peter 5:5). As long as we remain proud and self-sufficient, we will also remain in our sin, because our own willpower alone is not enough to keep us from sin. When we come to the place that we acknowledge we are nothing without the Lord—when we glory in our infirmities—then the power of Christ will rest upon us.

I have found myself, even after years of being a Christian, trying to live a righteous life in my own power, when what I need to do is come humbly before God and pray: Father, without Your help I cannot live the holy life that You require. I acknowledge that I am weak and powerless. I give up trying to do it myself. Infuse me with Your strength that I may walk in a way that is pleasing to You.

This is my prayer, and I hope that you will make it yours.

Priority One: The Word of God

I am daily learning and there are many things I could write about. The one that I am continually drawn to is this: Our minds and hearts need to be saturated with the Word of God. I tell my Sunday School class often that there is nothing more important than spending time with God in prayer and in His Word.

It is from God’s Word that we receive instruction for daily living, guidance for making decisions, strength to face the many issues of life, peace in our times of trouble, and the power to live above sin. God has given us everything we need to live a successful Christian life. Are you appropriating what you have been given? Are you submitting to the leading of the Spirit? Or are you doing what I tend to do so often, trying to live the Christian life on your own? We sometimes live as if we have forgotten that once we accept Christ, we have the Word of God and the promise of His indwelling Spirit to help us live for Him. After He saves us, He does not cast us aside and tell us that we now have to make it on our own. He gives us all things that pertain unto life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3). He says, “This is the way to live…..here is the Instruction Book.” And what do we do so often? We fail to read the instructions. We have our own ideas, our preconceived notions about what it means to be a Christian.

My husband and I were talking about this the other day and he told me he would love to read the Bible and try to forget that he had ever read it before or heard anything about it. I feel the same way. I would love to pick up the Word of God as if it was the first time and read what God has to say to me. His Word was written to each one of us. If we will take the time to read it, He will speak to our hearts through it. He will give us a word for the very moment we are living in.

Father, help us to stop wasting precious time on endless trivialities and make reading Your Word our first priority!

A Very Present Help In Trouble

As much as we would like for life to be easy, for most of us it is at times difficult and frustrating—sometimes heart-breaking. No matter how strong a Christian a person feels he or she is, we each have human emotions and can be devastated by the circumstances of life. In those times, it can be difficult to look up, keep a positive attitude, and stay focused and moving in the right direction. 

I have in the past faced disheartening circumstances when it seemed I would be conquered by discouragement and depression. I know how it feels to not want to get out of bed each morning and have experienced a weight that caused me to go about my days only performing the tasks that had to be done—going through the motions of life without really living. If you have never experienced this, you have much for which to be thankful.

While in the midst of life’s difficulties, it is important to recognize that even though you are going through a valley now, as you trust in the Lord you will come out victorious on the other side. We have a tendency to think the present moment and the present condition will last forever. But with God no situation is impossible. In the time of trouble, we must hold on to what we know is true, keep our faith in God, and trust that He will take the very negative circumstances of our lives and make something good out of them. (Romans 8:28)

I believe it is in the hard times that we discover how much we really need the Lord. Even though we say we love Him, and we do live for Him, it is easy in the good times to become independent and feel stronger than we really are. When the tough times come, as they surely will, we have to depend on the strength we receive from the Lord and His Word. The Bible tells us His strength is made perfect in our weakness (2 Cor. 12:9). We become the most strong when we stop living in our own strength and live in the power of the Spirit.

As we all know, evil is a part of life that we cannot escape while we are on this earth. We have an enemy who is adept at causing us trouble. Jesus said in John 10:10, “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy . . .” It is important for us to understand that while God is not the one who brings trouble to us, He does use our negative circumstances to mold each of us into the person He wants us to be. We may not understand what He is doing—we may not like the way He does it. It may only be later on down the road that we look back and comprehend what He was doing. But, if we will submit to God’s work in our hearts, as we come to that place of understanding we will see the good in what He did in us as a result of our circumstances. We will know that through the difficulties, He made us a better person. God’s ways are higher than our ways, His thoughts higher than ours (Isaiah 55:9). We must place ourselves in His hands and trust His wisdom.

As I write these words, I am not telling you something I have only read or heard about. I have known the lonely moments of despair when no one knew what was going on in my heart. I have felt the agony of thinking that no one understood what I was going through. But those kinds of thoughts are lies from the enemy. He wants us to be isolated, away from anyone who can help us. So he convinces us that no one else has ever been where we are. And he causes us to feel shame because of how depressed we have become. And we suffer alone many times, being unwilling to reveal our thoughts to others and ask for help.

The Word tells us that there is One who has been touched with the feeling of our infirmities (Hebrews 4:15). Jesus left the splendor of heaven to become human so that He could understand firsthand the loneliness of rejection. He knows what it is to be accused unjustly. He has experienced the frailties that are part of our human existence. And His Word tells us that through the blood He shed on our behalf, we can come boldly before His throne and obtain the help that we need (Hebrews 4:16).

Whatever you are going through, the Lord is present to help you. His Word tells us He is our very present help in trouble (Psalm 46:1). Call to Him. He has not forsaken you, and He will not fail you!

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And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)

And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness . . . (2 Corinthians 12:9)

The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. (John 10:10)

For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:9)

For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. (Hebrews 4:15-16)

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. (Psalm 46:1)