by Steven Gledhill for FREEdom from MEdom Project

Revolutionary Transformation (Evidence for Faith)

What does it take to experience change and feel better—be better?

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—His good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12:1-2

The truth is that freedom is achieved through a revolutionary event. ‘Revolutionary’ means a sudden, radical, or complete change; a fundamental change in the way of thinking about or visualizing something; a change in paradigm (belief, world view), meaning your standard for living. FFMP’s objective is to promote revolutionary recovery in how you live everyday—a new standard of thinking and living, with healthy hopeful expectations. God desires to transform your life into something new: from a caterpillar seemingly stuck in its tracks hardly able to move, into a butterfly full of life soaring to new heights in your life experience. The thing is you can know God, experiencing His impact on your life if by faith you will let go and trust Him to help you. Ever say to yourself, “It’s gonna take a miracle…”?

The following video is the revolutionary event that started it all for you and for me. Through Christ’s act of sacrifice at the cross, God extended His hand of mercy to each and every one of us no matter where we’ve been or what we’ve done. The miracle of resurrection and grace did not end there, it began there. Jesus, today, is inviting you to let go of the mess so that He can perform the miracle—the revolutionary event—of resurrection in your life. As you stare into the face of the miracle maker, you are gazing into the eyes of the One who will rearrange you into something new and beautiful.

The transforming work of God is that He rebuilds you and me into something new. C.S. Lewis wrote that, even though we might only want an aspirin to relieve the immediate pain of a tooth ache, God intends to permanently set right all of our teeth. It is not the plan or purpose of God that we merely survive, with mere moments of relief from the pain of shame and discontentment, but that we live a full life of freedom in the experience of His peace and joy. God wants to reshape us into something more beautiful than we can imagine. He wants to bless us with what we don’t even know to desire. He wants to take us to where we would never even think to go.

“Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on. You knew these jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of—throwing out a new wing here, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were going to be made into a decent little cottage; but He is building a palace. He intends to come in and live in it Himself.” —C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

Evidence that Demands a Verdict

FREEdom from MEdom Project is a venture in faith. Here’s a secret about faith: faith isn’t blind, nor is it ignorant. Faith is the realization of the truth one has longed to believe in. Faith is an experience rooted in the substance and evidence in something unseen. Have you ever seen gravity or oxygen? Like gravity and oxygen, you may not see the subject of your faith, but there is clear evidence that it is real by experience. You’ve never seen your brain, but you believe you have one. Have you ever seen a radio signal or a cell phone signal? Yet they are all around you all of the time. Someone said that if you could see all of the signals in downtown Chicago you would not be able to see your hand in front of your face. Have you ever actually seen hot or cold? Have you experienced the evidence of hot and cold? We experience what we don’t see all the time; therefore, we know it’s real. While we learn to trust in what we do not see, we put our faith in what we know by experience to be true. When we don’t trust God, it’s because we don’t really know God.

You know, we don’t see wind either but we see and experience evidence of it everyday. The howling of the wind that we hear is not actually the wind sounding off but the obstruction that is resistant to the wind. The howling noise is the sound of resistance. If we move in harmony with the wind, instead of holding us back, the powerful force of the wind propels us. God is like the wind wanting to impact our lives by experience—everyday. When we resist God we hear the howling of our resistance in our circumstances that prove so dissatisfying. When we’re moving with God, He propels us, and our troubles aren’t so loud. The more we know God the more we’ll trust Him, and the more confidence we’ll have when we communicate with Him—and the less we will resist His influence in our lives. When we come to believe and trust in the evidence, the verdict is that we will then experience the wonderful life benefits of our faith.

Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1 (NKJV)

To experience the blessing of being transformed into something new requires that we let go of what we cannot control anyway. We must engage into relationship with God, trusting Him to and empower us and to do in us what we cannot do for ourselves on our own. This means turning our will (desires and intentions) and our lives (what we do and everyone involved and affected by what we do) over to the care of the One with boundless power and control as we have come to believe in Him. This suggests then that, even though there exists doubt in what we cannot see, we put our faith in the possibility—the hope—that Jesus can and will do what He said He can and will do if we let Him; because we know Him, according to the evidence. In this we live in the perfect will of God, His best for you and for me.

A father brought his tormented son to Jesus and said,
“If you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.” “If you can?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for one who believes.” Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” Mark 9:22-24

When you believe by faith in Jesus Christ, the known God who knows and understands you, and wants His best for you, it really becomes sensible that you would surrender and turn it all over to Him. Does it make sense to you to turn your will and life over to Him since you believe? Believe this: that God wants His best for you so much more than you can possibly want it. You might want out of some things; but getting out of something means getting into what? Hmm… God knows what you are missing and wants desperately to deliver it to you, both in this lifetime and in the next.

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is going to be revealed to us… For the creation eagerly waits with anticipation… creation itself will also be set free from bondage of corruption into glorious freedom… if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with patience. from Romans 8:18-25 (HCSB)

What if you could see yourself through another pair of eyes’
What if you could hear the truth instead of old familiar lies
And what if you could feel inside the power of the hand
That made the universe, you’d realize

Who Touched Me? (Revolutionary Faith)

“Why don’t we trust God?” Hebrews 11:1 says, “Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things unseen.” Faith comes from hope being realized in substance according to the evidence. We don’t see gravity but we experience gravity all the time. We know the truth about gravity and come to trust it even though we do not see it. It could be said that we have a relationship with gravity. Our lives are touched by gravity everyday.

The truth is that freedom is achieved through a revolutionary event. ‘Revolutionary’ means a sudden, radical, or complete change; a fundamental change in the way of thinking about or visualizing something; a change in paradigm (belief, world view), meaning your standard for living. A sudden revelation of faith having encountered the Savior, Jesus Christ, will speak life into how you experience revolutionary transformative recovery in how you live everyday—a new standard of thinking and living, with healthy hopeful expectations. It is in relationship with Jesus that you will come to know God to be real and living. It is in relationship with Christ that you enter into the new age of grace that will usher you into the experience of new life.

So, what is it to truly trust God? What is it to experience the substance and the evidence that leads to knowledge of what is true? We don’t trust in what we don’t know. We trust in what we know, even when we cannot see what we know by experience to be true. We experience what we don’t see all the time; therefore we know it’s real. While we learn to trust in what we do not see, we put our faith in what we know by experience to be true.

When we don’t trust God it’s because we don’t really know God. You know, we don’t see wind either but we see and experience evidence of it. The howling of the wind that we hear is not actually the wind but the obstruction that is resistant to the wind. If we moved in harmony with the wind we would not hear it. God in a way is like the wind wanting to have impact on our lives by experience. When we resist the wind that is God we will hear the howling of our resistance in our circumstances that prove so dissatisfying. When we’re moving with God, we will hear God but the circumstances of our lives won’t be so loud. The more we know God the more we’ll trust Him, and the more confidence we’ll have when we communicate with Him—and the less we will resist His influence in our life experiences. Then we will experience the wonderful life benefits of our faith.

A woman in the crowd had suffered for twelve years with constant bleeding, and she could find no cure. Coming up behind Jesus, she touched the fringe of his robe. Immediately the bleeding stopped. “Who touched me?” Jesus asked. Everyone denied it, and Peter said, “Master, this whole crowd is pressing up against you.” But Jesus said, “Someone deliberately touched me, for I felt healing power go out from me.” When the woman realized that she could not stay hidden, she began to tremble and fell to her knees in front of him. The whole crowd heard her explain why she had touched him and that she had been immediately healed. “Daughter,” he said to her, “your faith has made you well. Go in peace.” Luke 8:43-48 (NLT)

This sick woman had a serious problem. She desperately needed help. She believed Jesus Christ had the power to heal her body. She believed Christ could radically improve her circumstance. As Jesus walked through her town amidst the crowd, this woman battled her way through. Just as it seemed the moment was passing her by, she reached out to Jesus and missed him as he passed. She whiffed, barely clipping the hem at the fringe of his robe. Her heart sank. But in a split second, the woman went from that devastating sinking feeling to knowing absolutely that she had been delivered from severe affliction. Jesus blessed her with his power even when he wasn’t actually paying attention to her.

Jesus experienced it as well as he sought out the one determined to receive from him what he so lovingly desired to give. Something changed. Now the woman, formerly living in the shame of being and feeling unclean, was hoping to slip away in obscurity. Perhaps this little miracle would remain between her and God. But Jesus, loving her, wanted to know her and went looking for her; asking for her. He was fervent in finding her and he did find her. Touched by his healing power (the evidence), the woman then met Jesus, personally, and then was touched by his compassion and love (the substance). She began to tremble and fell to her knees in front of him. What you have here is a love story in relationship with Jesus Christ. Transformative faith when finally realized through an experience with Jesus is indeed a compelling love story to be shared again and again.

We can have difficulty trusting Jesus in relationship with him because we do not see him. When we imagine what he looks like, we might picture him suffering on a cross reminding us of our shame. According to Scripture, though, we are free from our shame and Jesus is on his throne as God in full glory wanting relationship with us. To visualize what he looks like, read Revelation 1. Even as a man with human limitations, Jesus “inadvertently” healed a woman who touched only his clothing. Jesus walked in the authority of his Father.

Jesus is no longer a man in one place at one time walking the earth. Jesus is God roaming the universe while dwelling in the hearts and lives of all that know him. Do you really know him who stands at the door of your heart knocking (Revelation 3:20)? He knows you’re home and he’d love to come in and spend time with you. Have you really let him in—all the way in where he can hang out with you, experientially? Are you experiencing God in your life? What is the evidence of your experience with Jesus? Do you experience the substance of what you hope for? Do you reach out with the determination to touch Jesus? Have you experienced in your life the touch of God?

Jesus loves you! Go after him fervently. He’s fervently looking for you. Scripture tells us that he responds to fervent prayer. Go after God, telling him what you want until you receive from him. The woman in the Bible fought against substantial opposition to get to Jesus. The sick woman never gave up as she pursued him until she got what she wanted—what she needed only from him. It was the faith of the woman that motivated and empowered her to seek what she wanted from Christ Jesus—to be made well and whole again. It was the faithfulness of Christ Jesus that compelled him to pursue what he wanted from her—a relationship in love with his daughter.

Jesus is your Sympathetic Savior. He knows you and sympathizes with your discomfort (Hebrews 4:14-16). He is paying special attention to you. You cannot sneak up on him. But sometimes things get in the way and try to prevent you from touching Christ with your prayers. How badly do want what God has for you? What do you believe about God, really? Go after it. Go after him until he turns to ask the angels, “Who touched me?” And the angel says, “Are you kidding? There’s so much commotion everywhere! How can you ask, ‘Who touched me’?” And then Jesus says, “I have felt compassion and love as power has left me because someone deliberately came looking for me.” Be confident that Jesus loves you and loves to bless you from his abundant wealth—the resources of heaven. All that is his is yours. Do you believe it? Do you want it? You have direct access to God through Jesus Christ. Pursue him fervently. After all, you can bet that he is pursuing you.

Walk on Water Lately? (“Faith is an ocean you can walk on”)

by Steven Gledhill for the FREEdom from MEdom Project

The truth is that freedom is achieved through a revolutionary event. ‘Revolutionary’ means a sudden, radical, or complete change; a fundamental change in the way of thinking about or visualizing something; a change in paradigm (belief, world view), meaning your standard for living. A sudden revelation of faith having encountered the Savior, Jesus Christ, will speak life into how you experience revolutionary transformative recovery in how you live everyday—a new standard of thinking and living, with healthy hopeful expectations. It is in relationship with Jesus that you will come to know God to be real and living. It is in relationship with Christ that you enter into the new age of grace that will usher you into the experience of new life.

Now immediately Jesus had His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side. And when He sent the multitudes away, He went up to the mountain by Himself to pray. By evening, He was alone there. But the boat was now in the middle of the sea tossed by the waves, for the wind was opposing them. Now in the forth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea. And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out for fear. And immediately Jesus spoke to them, “Cheer up, it’s Me! Don’t be afraid.”

And Peter answered Him and said, “Lord if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” So He said, “Come.” And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid, and beginning to sink, he cried out, Lord save me!” And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. Then those who were in the boat came and worshiped Jesus, saying, “Truly You are the Son of God.” Matthew 14:22-33 (NKJV)

I love this story. What a moment in the relationship Jesus had with Peter. We can all agree that Peter was the one that had enough faith to get out of the boat. There were two people in the Bible that walked on water. Jesus, of course, but the other person that walked on water was Peter. We often focus on the fact that Peter doubted and began to sink. We tend to forget that Peter’s faith in Christ was quite impressive. Peter did indeed walk on water—an impossible feat.

Peter recognized that Jesus was doing something that was impossible for him to do. He could admit that it was outside of the realm of his own ability to walk on water. Peter shouted out to Jesus, “If it’s You, Lord, command me to walk on the water.” Peter believed that only Jesus could command the water to support his body so that he could walk on it. Jesus responded to Peter, “The water’s nice, come on in!” Peter committed to trusting Jesus. He got out of the boat and walked on the water. Peter did well trusting Jesus until he realized he was walking in the middle of the sea surrounded by waves blown about by boisterous winds, and he became overwhelmed by his circumstance and wavered in his commitment to trust Jesus to help him with his problem.

Gripped by fear, Peter dropped like a rock, but Scripture assures us that Jesus was right there to catch him. As soon as Peter began to sink he reached up and Jesus caught him. He would not let Peter drown in his circumstance.

Here is something else to think about. How far was Jesus from the boat when Peter got out and began walking on water? Jesus was far enough away that the disciples were not sure they recognized him. Remember, Peter said, “If it’s you…” Wherever Jesus was in the sea relative to his distance from the boat, Peter walked on water to within an arm’s length of Jesus. I don’t know but Peter may have walked some distance before he sank and was caught. While it was definitely a teaching moment, I tend to think Jesus had a smile on his face when he said to Peter, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”

I imagine that Jesus displayed a grin, as if to say to Peter, “What’s the problem, big guy, you’re only walking on water?” Peter walked on water! The Bible says Jesus was received into the boat, but what about Peter? Peter walked on water together with Jesus back to the boat. I’m sure Peter was still quite frightened even as he walked with Jesus back to the boat. I’ll even guess that Peter hung on for dear life to the arm of Christ as they walked.

Pastor Fran Leeman (LifeSpring Community Church, Plainfield, IL) spoke about Peter walking on water out to Jesus. Peter and the disciples were sailing in the midst of a terrible storm when he saw Jesus, apparently standing out on the water. How was this possible? How could a man stand on the water? Peter shouted out, “Jesus, if it’s really you, tell me to come to you, walking on the water.” “Yes come,” Jesus said (Matthew 14:28-29, NLT). Pastor Leeman pointed out that he would have said, “Jesus, if it’s you, calm the storm!” He said he would have wanted to see the evidence that it was Jesus, but that Peter took a much different approach. Rather than ask Jesus to prove himself real by doing the impossible, Peter asked Jesus to empower him, Peter, to do the impossible by the power given him by Jesus. What profound truth.

Recovery in the midst of your circumstances can feel like you are walking on water in order to manage. But if it’s in your own strength and not in relationship with Jesus then it’s likely you are overwhelmed and sinking, or perhaps drowning. With Christ, you have the ability—even authority—in the middle of all of it to do something extraordinary. Call on Jesus. Then, as he says, “Come to me,” get out of the boat that is your comfort-zone and walk on water with Jesus, even if you’re hanging on for dear life.

Doubt in the Madness of the Perfect Storm

by Steven Gledhill for FREEdom for MEdom Project

A perfect storm is an expression that describes an event where a rare combination of circumstances will aggravate a situation drastically.
Courtesy of FreeDictionary.com

This subject is very personal to me right now. I am in the midst of the perfect storm. My family is facing challenges we would not have imagined before coming into them. There is injury and heartbreak. There is wonder about what God is doing. What is the big picture? No, really God… what is it? Why this? Why take us through this? Why us, God? Why me? We are in crisis. I am in crisis.
when troubles come your way …
What I want to convey to you is that I am desperately needing to believe for me and my family today; but it is really difficult. Let’s look at some famous Scripture involving Jesus and how he dealt with storms in the lives of those he loved.
consider it an opportunity for great joy…
One day Jesus said to his disciples, “Let’s cross to the other side of the lake.” So they got into a boat and started out. As they sailed across, Jesus settled down for a nap. But soon a fierce storm came down on the lake. The boat was filling with water, and they were in real danger. The disciples went and woke him up, shouting, “Master, Master, we’re going to drown!” When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and the raging waves. Suddenly the storm stopped and all was calm. Then he asked them, “Where is your faith?” The disciples were terrified and amazed. “Who is this man?” they asked each other. “When he gives a command, even the wind and waves obey him!”
Luke 8:22-25 (NLT)

As evening came, Jesus said to his disciples, “Let’s cross to the other side of the lake.” So they took Jesus in the boat and started out, leaving the crowds behind (although other boats followed). But soon a fierce storm came up. High waves were breaking into the boat, and it began to fill with water. Jesus was sleeping at the back of the boat with his head on a cushion. The disciples woke him up, shouting, “Teacher, don’t you care that we’re going to drown?” When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Silence! Be still!” Suddenly the wind stopped, and there was a great calm. Then he asked them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?” The disciples were absolutely terrified. “Who is this man?” they asked each other. “Even the wind and waves obey him!” Mark 4:35-41 (NLT)
rejoice in the Lord always…
These are two versions of the same story told by disciples Luke and Mark. In Luke’s account of the story, he writes that “Jesus settled down for a nap.” The first three years and the last three years of the life of Jesus were in so many ways the perfect storm. Throughout much of that time there were people who had set out to kill him. Throughout his three-year ministry, Jesus would endure great battles and struggles that would define his role as ambassador of love and peace. Starting with the chosen twelve disciples, Jesus was understood by believers in his day to be leading his people out from under the thumb of the Roman Empire. It would be another 2000 years before Israel would be the nation that it is today. Jesus lived out the perfect storm as intended by God and it was about time he settled down for some rest and relaxation.
the Lord is near…
Mark lets us know that Jesus was very tired so he found a place toward the back of the boat to settle down, laying his head on a cushion to unwind and get some much needed rest. Jesus, in the midst of his stressful task-driven ministry, took some time off now and then to settle down; perhaps to decompress some as he prepared to fulfill his calling. You might say that Jesus understood throughout his life and ministry that he would wind up suffering miserably as the martyr for mankind. It would be fair to suggest that being acutely aware of the adversity to come was emotionally troubling to Jesus… disturbing even. As much as he depended on the Father for sustenance physically, psychologically, and spiritually; as much as he was motivated by love and driven by a heart of compassion for the sick and impoverished; fully human, there were likely times when he was alone with his thoughts considering his impending torture and suffering on so many levels that I cannot begin to comprehend.

While crossing the Sea of Galilee, a large lake capable of damaging storms and shipwreck, the disciples confronted just that; a raging storm with waves crashing into their fishing boat, winds tossing it about like a toy. Jesus, I presume, was sound asleep, knocked out by stress and fatigue, getting some much needed rest. Both Luke and Mark, who were in the boat, wrote that the waves were coming over and water was filling the boat. How could Jesus sleep through that? Wasn’t he getting wet? Imagine what the disciples thought.

“Master, Master, we’re going to drown… don’t you care?!”
do not be anxious about anything…
I have felt like those guys in recent days captured in the madness of the perfect storm. Where is Jesus? Where is he when I need him? Is he napping? Well, of course he is alive, awake, and alert but he must be spinning so many plates at one time throughout the business of this planet and the universe that some of the plates are bound to fall; and this plate (me) is about to shatter into pieces.
but from a grateful heart…
I have been through periods when I have wrestled with my feelings of intense concern, doubt, and fear. I have had this knot in my gut. It isn’t there all of the time. Since God has strengthened me and comforted me, the knot-in-the-gut feeling has eased but the butterflies often remain. I have drawn on past experiences when I needed for God to calm the storm in my life and he did. But you know… there are storms, and then there are storms as the waves crash into me tossing me about. I feel drenched at times under the waves. I need for Jesus to stand up confidently in the madness of my storm and command the wind, the thunder, and the lightening to cease. That’s what I need. And who knows better than I do what I need?
pray about everything…
The disciples, in the rage of their storm, must have been screaming at Jesus to get his attention. The winds and the waves howled angrily and looked to swallow them into the depths of their crisis. But since that didn’t seem enough to wake him, they shouted at him, “Do you even care that we’re drowning… overcome… about to be swallowed up?!”

Do you feel sometimes like you’re about to be swallowed up by devastation, depression, and despair?

I am glad we have the testimonies of those who followed Jesus the man through thick and thin. I am thankful that we have stories of those who were actually with him and knew him; had seen the healings, the miracles, the deliverances, and most of all, the resurrection (of Lazarus), and still felt doubt while in the relentless winds and waves of the storms in their lives. They may not have known the Spirit of God coursing through their beings, but they had God in their company in the person of Jesus Christ. And yet still, when up against it, even Christ’s closest companions felt doubt and uncertainty.
for you know that when your faith is tested…
Let’s talk about that; the doubt and fear we encounter as people of faith. Jesus said to those closest to him who believed, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith? Where is your faith?” This is interesting to me; the contrast between what the disciples said to Jesus and what Jesus said to them. When the disciples cried out, “Don’t you (even) care?” it’s like asking, “Where are you when I need you?” The reply of Jesus could be paraphrased, “Where are you when you need me?” as if to imply, “What condition are you in while you’re looking for me?” I don’t think he is issuing judgment so much as he is concerned that fear and doubt does so much more to intensify our pain and struggle.
your endurance has a chance to grow…
I suppose you might say that “Doubt in the Madness of the Perfect Storm” is the sequel to my most recent article, The Problem of Pain… A Study of the Father’s Discipline. In that article, I wrote the following about faith and doubt in response to Scripture from James chapter 1:

If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do. James 1:5-8 (NLT)

If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do. James 1:5-8 (NIV)
the peace of God…
I believe that James is writing that God does not find fault with my emotionally-driven fear and anxiety when I come seeking from Him everything from wisdom to a miracle. Because should I doubt God’s ability to engage, work, and move in my circumstances due to an intellectual conclusion of disbelief that God is God, and I turn to alternative remedies to manage fear and anxiety, then I am wavering in the gusty winds of divided loyalty. It is then I am double-minded and unstable in pursuit of resolution. It is then that I am lost like sheep without a shepherd. While James writes then that I ought not to expect to receive anything from the Lord it doesn’t mean that I won’t receive from Him. James is speaking about my state of mind. He is saying that I will have lowered my expectations of what God can and will do.
beyond comprehension…
If I have concluded that I probably will not receive much of anything from God, why would I expect to receive much of anything from God? There really won’t be any relief from pain, fear, and worry should I altogether not believe in what God can do. It’s common sense at that point. I’m an emotional mess from the empty conclusions I have drawn intellectually about what God can and will do. Absent is the hopeful anticipation of God’s intervention that would have a calming effect on my nerves.
will guard your heart and mind…
Thank God I believe intellectually and spiritually in what God can do. Too often, though, I question my faith because I doubt on an emotional level. I need to stop the practice of riding my feelings until I feel guilty that I doubt God. I feel guilty doubting God because of what I know and believe intellectually (in relationship with Christ) God can do; I struggle emotionally with what I believe God will do. Is he willing? Is there something wrong with me? I think that’s what it means to have faith in the midst of doubt because of the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things unseen (Hebrews 11:1). What I feel isn’t necessarily a reflection of what I know. What I doubt emotionally isn’t necessarily a reflection of what I know intellectually and believe spiritually in my soul.
… in Christ Jesus
Things unseen… hmmm… You know what? God loves me so much that to confront my fear and worry, He gave me something I could see. It was a visible practical manifestation that God is at work in the process. While in the midst of a “mini-crisis” that wasn’t really a crisis at all but it felt like one at the time, my 90 plus-year-old mother-in-law told me she was praying that God is faithful. With my real crisis in mind I responded to her sarcastically , “We’ll see” (wondering what God is up to that this crisis is happening at all in the first place). When the “mini-crisis” was averted inexplicably, as I shared it with my wife, she said, “My mom prayed.” Instantly I broke down and wept as the Holy Spirit of God reminded me to trust him to be at work in the process. I shared my mini-crisis experience (in the midst of the actual crisis) with a dear counselor friend who told me, “God gave you something tangible that you can hang your hat on.”

So I know that the Lord does not find fault when I feel doubt and confusion driving my fear. And I did receive from him because He loves me. My real crisis lives on painfully and while I may struggle from time to time emotionally, intellectually I am certain that God is able and willing. I am trusting in the process of his work in my life as I endure through the problem of pain.
so let it grow…
If I could discipline my mind through, prayer, meditation, and worship to trust in the miraculous and restorative power of my gracious compassionate Savior (rescuer, defender, protector, deliverer)… I don’t know… maybe I wouldn’t doubt so much… maybe not at all. The reality for me is that I have not surrendered to the extent that I fully trust in the process of the work of God. With surrender comes full obedience unto the calling and purpose of God in my daily routine. How does one get to a place of surrender? Answer: Through prayer, meditation, and worship.
for when your endurance is fully developed…
For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 (NKJV)

The “arguments” Apostle Paul is writing about is human reasoning that cannot accept or even conceptualize spiritual authority unless I am surrendering my thoughts and feelings into the care of spiritual God; to be captivated by spiritual truth. Doing so blows up the argument that God cannot or that God will not meet the need in my hour of peril. My human reasoning is a combination of intellect and emotion making up cognitive process. My intellect, which is more easily given to spiritual (Biblical) truth, wants very much to believe and trust God. My emotions react much more to what I fear since they tend to buy into—trust—the quantitative properties that I can see, hear, and touch. So ‘carnal’ and ‘flesh’ refers intellect rooted in quantitative experiences and emotions measuring the quality of my life experiences, calculating risk and reward. Since like most of you I tend to place more value on the impact of pain and loss than I do the impact of reward and gain—what I not want to experience over what I do want to experience—I tend to be motivated by, and I suppose overcome by, my reasonable fear over the wisdom of trusting God. When I am overcome by fear it becomes a stronghold in my flesh.

Fear is emotion driven by cognitive reasoning (the brain’s processing of experiences, thinking, and feelings) that is part of the human make up. Entertaining fear and doubt, rather than letting it go through surrender, is selfish. Being motivated and compelled by fear then is carnal, meaning impure. What and who is God? The Bible says that God is love. It also teaches and serves to reason that God is perfect.
you will be perfect and complete…
There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. 1 John 4:18 (NKJV)
…needing nothing
Here’s the thing. Even in the madness of what feels like the perfect storm seeking to devour all involved in it, I know intellectually that God is faithful and will work it out altogether for the good for us who love him. I believe that. The key is to trust in what I believe, not in what I am feeling in the depths of the madness. I am at present in the depths of the madness of the perfect storm. At times I am confident (confidence is a feeling) in what I know; and at other times I am feeling doubt. Thank God he does not find fault with what I am feeling. As I seek him through prayer, meditation, worship, and obedient living, he will grant me acceptance, courage, and wisdom without measure. That is my challenge.

Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing. James 1:2-4 (NLT)

Sometimes these kinds of teaching, especially that which you should have read in, “The Problem of Pain… a Study of the Father’s Discipline” are indeed difficult to comprehend. To consider life’s troubles to be opportunity to experience joy sounds at least a little bit crazy; yet when fully experienced, is amazing.

Many of his disciples said, “This is very hard to understand. How can anyone accept it?” Jesus was aware that his disciples were complaining, so he said to them, “Does this offend you? Then what will you think if you see the Son of Man ascend to heaven again? The Spirit alone gives eternal life. Human effort accomplishes nothing. And the very words I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But some of you do not believe me.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning which ones didn’t believe, and he knew who would betray him.) Then he said, “That is why I said that people can’t come to me unless the Father gives them to me.” At this point many of his disciples turned away and deserted him. Then Jesus turned to the Twelve and asked, “Are you also going to leave?” Simon Peter replied, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words that give eternal life. We believe, and we know you are the Holy One of God.” John 6:60-69 (NLT)

What is your challenge, today? What is your perfect storm? Are you drowning beneath its waves?

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts (what you feel emotionally) and your minds (what you know intellectually) in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:4-7 (NIV)
I can do all things…
Without going into the specifics of my crisis, I tried to write with enough vulnerability and candor here that you might be able to relate it to your challenges through that lens; allowing yourself as I have to be open to what God is wanting to work out in your life. Glean from this passage that as you worship and rejoice in your relationship with Christ by how you live, with an active prayer life, surrendering all, you will experience indescribable peace to empower you to live a whole lot less anxious than when you’re trying to manage problems and crises on your own.
through Christ Jesus…
God is working in you and producing through the madness of your perfect storm something perfect in you. As you live in the truth of what you have read here you will enter into the best of what God wants and has for you.
… who strengthens me
Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Ephesians 3:20 (NLT)

So, what is the real challenge for you and for me as we apply these truths?

Trusting in what we know rather than trusting in what we feel.

We know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. Romans 8:28 (NLT)

Revision 1/11/2014:

I attended a sermon this evening by Keith Boucher, Pastor at Calvary Church, Naperville (outside of Chicago), IL. He spoke from John Chapter 20, when Mary doubted the presence of her Lord Jesus as she continued to grieve his death at his burial site. As she lamented the missing body of her friend and Savior, she wept in the presence of angels that may have presented themselves as ordinary men, perhaps perceived by Mary as tending to the tomb. The stone had been removed, so where had they put the body of Jesus? Then this from John Chapter 20:

11 Mary was standing outside the tomb crying, and as she wept, she stooped and looked in. 12 She saw two white-robed angels, one sitting at the head and the other at the foot of the place where the body of Jesus had been lying. 13 “Dear woman, why are you crying?” the angels asked her.

“Because they have taken away my Lord,” she replied, “and I don’t know where they have put him.”

14 She turned to leave and saw someone standing there. It was Jesus, but she didn’t recognize him. 15 “Dear woman, why are you crying?” Jesus asked her. “Who are you looking for?”

She thought he was the gardener. “Sir,” she said, “if you have taken him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will go and get him.”

16 “Mary!” Jesus said.

She turned to him and cried out, “Rabboni!” (which is Hebrew for “Teacher”).

17 “Don’t cling to me,” Jesus said, “for I haven’t yet ascended to the Father. But go find my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”

18 Mary Magdalene found the disciples and told them, “I have seen the Lord!” Then she gave them his message.

The emphasis of the sermon, “In the Darkness of the Soul”, was the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ inhabiting our darkest times, even when it feels to dark to see Him. I wanted to raise my hand and speak of what it means to doubt in the madness of the perfect storm. The truth is that Mary knew intellectually the truth about Jesus. But she had not experienced His presence having been resurrected from the dead. In her pain, she wanted to experience His presence but did not know even to look for Him. Jesus, of course, did not find fault with Mary in the midst of her doubt and seized her doubt by calling out her name and asking her to seek Him. She did and she found Him.

Seek to find Jesus even in the darkest places. He is there. He will cast light into your darkness. He will be your peace in the madness. Have confidence in His presence as you boldly approach His throne in your time of need.

When peace like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to know,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

It is well, (it is well),
With my soul, (with my soul)
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blessed assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.

It is well, (it is well),
With my soul, (with my soul)
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
It was nailed trough his cross, and I bear it no more,
Bless the Lord, bless the Lord, O my soul!

It is well, (it is well),
With my soul, (with my soul)
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
A song in the night, oh my soul!

It is well, (it is well),
With my soul, (with my soul)
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Post Script from my response to a reader on 2/15/13:

Sometimes it is hard to know whether the storm has passed or if I am simply in the eye of the storm experiencing temporary calm. I believe that as I cried out to Jesus, “I’m drowning!” He stood up to the perfect storm in my life and declared, “Peace!” First, there was calm to my heart and assurance came to my mind that Christ was being Christ. Since then, the madness of the storm has calmed. There is still heavy rain and a stiff breeze but the worst of it seems to have passed.

Bottom line… God is indeed faithful. He has clued me in to the message He has had for me all along but I needed the volume turned way up to really hear it. I heard. Now I must respond in obedience to the message. God used the storm for my good; that His work will be glorified in the good that I will do for the kingdom having endured and persevered through the trial. What an opportunity for great joy having come through it.

Trapped in a House on Fire

by Steven Gledhill for FREEdom for MEdom Project…

It’s been said that the first of the twelve steps is a step of surrender… to admit that I am powerless over my addiction and that my life is unmanageable. This may be true, but the whole truth is that surrender can go one way or the other. I might admit that I am powerless over my addiction but then still surrender to my addiction when there isn’t a viable higher power. My addiction is a power greater than myself. I can’t change it; I can’t stop it; and if I can’t beat it, I might as well join it and surrender to the ritualistic power that my addiction has over me. OR, I can come into a connection with a power greater than myself; and more powerful than my addiction.

The Prodigal Son that Jesus talked about had to make that call when it finally dawned on him that he was going to starve to death if he continued down the path of destruction he was on. Coming to his senses meant that he realized what was at stake in his addiction. He could have chosen to remain in it and, like it or not, live with what may have come with the temporary gratifications in his mess of a life.

I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can’t. I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway. But if I do what I don’t want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it. I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. I love God’s law with all my heart. But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Romans 7:18-24 (NLT)

What does it really mean to admit that I am truly powerless?

I am trapped in a house on fire… thick flames and smoke is all around me… everything is on fire. I admit I am powerless to the fire, but there is nowhere to go. I am on the floor breathing my last breaths as smoke and flames are overtaking me. But then suddenly it happens. Someone is lifting me to my feet. It’s the fireman. He is fully equipped to not get burned. He wraps me in his coat, puts an oxygen mask over my face and says, “Let’s go… come with me!” There is no doubt in my mind that I am not better off without the fireman. I believe, or at least hope enough, that the fireman can and will rescue me if I give up my position from where I am and go with him. (Step 2 suggests that I have come to believe in a power greater than myself who can restore me to sanity… to right living.) I suppose I could look back or try to hold on to some things in the house; maybe grab onto some things I can carry with me while being rescued. Some things are just hard to let go of.

Then the fireman says, “Let go… that’s too much weight… and besides, it’s all on fire!” I decide that the fireman is right and I let it go and do what he says for me to do, and go where he says for me to go. (Step 3 suggests that I have decided to turn my will and life over to the care of God, or in this case the fireman, as I understood him, or have come to believe in him and what he is equipped to do for me.)

Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death. Romans 7:24-25, 8:1-2 (NLT)

You see, the house is my life and the fire is my addiction. The fireman is my higher power that saved me from my addiction. I look back at my life and it’s smoldering. It’s in ruins. I look back at the fireman and he is dressed like a doctor. The doctor helps me to heal. I look at myself and see that I am much better. I look back at him and he is dressed like a construction worker. He is wearing a tool belt and hard hat. He also has a tool belt and hard hat for me, and says to me lovingly, “Let’s go… we have work to do.” He is committed with me to do the work to rebuild my life until it is working better than ever (steps 4-12).

Every day, as I surrender to my higher power in recovery, compelled by loving kindness, my Higher Power is committed to me and the work of rebuilding the house that is my life… it was a cottage; but I have seen the blue print… my life’s not a cottage according to these plans… it’s a castle. From inside this castle, I look to my Higher Power, and listen to him. He is a father to me; he is my brother; and and he is my friend.

But because I still have a tendency to start fires that affect my life and those living in the house that is my life… you know, because I am still selfish… my Higher Power comes in like a fireman whenever I call for help. I need not use the phone, though, to contact Him. You see, He lives in my house. So He is always there; always available; always accessible. He is still the doctor that heals my wounds since I tend to carelessly walk right into the fire. I can be ignorant like that; so caught up in my indulgences that I pay no mind to the fires. After putting out fires and patching up my wounds, He does the patchwork around my life when its beyond me to repair things. Because He is also the builder. The builder affords me the ability and willpower to do some self-repair. And most valuable is that He is faithful; faithful to equip and help me, heal me, and remake me.

It’s often said that the third step is the hardest of the twelve steps. The illustration of the fireman as the rescuer from a life on fire suggests that the third step is the easiest of the steps. What is so difficult is that I see fires burning all over the house but don’t act to put them out until the fires become one massive fire raging out of control and I am powerless and desperately in need of help. When the help comes in my desperation, surrender makes the most sense; you might say that surrender comes easy as if I have no other choice. The issue is that I might not realize my need until it’s too late and I am consumed by the fire.

Addicted to sin… a slave to sin, according to the fireman (John 8:34), I am the arsonist. To continue to trust myself to on my own overcome addiction is to put my faith in the arsonist instead of the fireman. How insane is that?

Don’t ever wait too long to call on the fireman. Call on him, today.

So… imagine your life is a house and your addiction (ultimately to self) is the fire burning it down. Everything inside your life is on fire. Only Jesus Christ can restore your life into something whole again.

Measured Faith (Belief Enough?)

by Steven Gledhill for FREEdom from MEdom Project…

Jesus immediately reached out and grabbed him. “You have so little faith,” Jesus said. “Why did you doubt me?” Matthew 14:31 (NLT)

Jesus asked:
“Why do you have so little faith? So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’” Matthew 6:31 (NLT)

“Measured Faith (Belief Enough?)” is a revealing examination of belief as it is measured by faith from what appears to be very different translations of Romans 12:3. What is behind varying degrees of faith that gets in the way of the surrendered life necessary to reap the full measure of blessing?

Jesus replied, “Have I been with you all this time… and yet you still don’t know who I am?” John 14:9 (NLT)

The second of the twelve steps declares that we came to believe in a power greater than ourselves who can restore us to… fill in the blank. The third step boldly declares that we have turned our will and life over to the care of God as we understood… or, came to believe in… Him. How is this proven to be true in your life? Why would you not fully surrender all in your life of faith if you fully believe in God’s promised best for you?

The following are two credible translations of the same Scripture. Please consider the loaded questions following the first translation. Then notice how the meaning changes dramatically from the first translation of the Scripture to the second.

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. Romans 12:2-3 (NKJV)

For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. Romans 12:3 (NIV)

Ask yourself the following questions:

What does it really mean to say that I came to believe in a power greater than myself; or that I came to believe in God; or that I have faith in God?
How much faith do I have in God?
What does it mean to have received from God a measure of faith?
How much do I believe?
Do I fully believe? Am I confident in my faith?
What does it really mean that I have surrendered my life to the will and plan of God?
Am I really committed… entirely committed… to pleasing and serving God?
What does that look like? What does that sound like? What does that feel like?
What am I doing today that reflects my belief… faith… surrender… commitment… to pleasing and serving God because I believe fully and entirely, with a full measure of faith, in God’s will and plan for my life?
What am I thinking and imagining that reflects the truth of my belief, faith, surrender, and commitment? Or does my behavior and imagination express and expose who I am, what I am, and where I am when it comes to the truth that lies in these questions?

I am very uncomfortable personally with these questions; not in asking them of you the reader, but in responding to them from an honest place in my own heart, mind, and soul.

Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. Because of the privilege and authority God has given me, I give each of you this warning: Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us. Romans 12:2-3 (NLT)

As your spiritual teacher I give this piece of advice to each one of you. Don’t cherish exaggerated ideas of yourself or your importance, but try to have a sane estimate of your capabilities by the light of the faith that God has given to you all. Romans 12:3 (Phillips New Testament)

When I examine the New Living Translation (NLT) and Phillips New Testament of the same passage from Romans it appears to read quite differently than the New King James Version (NKJV) and the New International Version (NIV).

I have an uncomfortable feeling that Phillips and NLT might have it right. Why would God give to me less faith than He would give you; or you less faith than He would “distribute” to me? Does that even make sense? While we are gifted uniquely, have been called to serve uniquely, and have experienced varying degrees of revelation into deeper knowledge perhaps, it does not make much sense to me that impartial God would dole out varying measures of faith as it pertains to fundamental revelation and access, through relationship with Jesus Christ, to Almighty God.

What does make sense is that as God imparts to me faith by revelation of Himself to my mind, my heart, and my soul, that I would by my choice decide how to invest myself into the full abundant life God has chosen to bless me with. What does make sense is that I choose the degree to which I want to surrender my life and intentions over to the plan God has revealed to me about the new life He wants and has for me to experience.

Should I sow the seed of new life into everything I am and do, I will reap a harvest of blessing. Should I sow the seed of new life sparingly or with some reservation, holding back some, I will reap sparingly or with at least some degree of reservation the blessing that God wants to lavish on me without reservation, sparing nothing (God has chosen to afford me the choice the extent to which I am receptive to the immeasurably lavish blessing He intends to rain on me).

Expectations about Faith

I believe that James is writing that God does not find fault with my emotionally-driven fear and anxiety when I come seeking from Him everything from wisdom to a miracle. Because should I doubt God’s ability to engage, work, and move in my circumstances due to an intellectual conclusion of disbelief that God is God, and I turn to alternative remedies to manage fear and anxiety, then I am wavering in the gusty winds of divided loyalty. It is then I am double-minded and unstable in pursuit of resolution. It is then that I am lost like sheep without a shepherd. While James writes then that I ought not to expect to receive anything from the Lord it doesn’t mean that I won’t receive from Him. James is speaking about my state of mind. He is saying that I will have lowered my expectations of what God can and will do.

If I have concluded that I probably will not receive much of anything from God, why would I expect to receive much of anything from God? There really won’t be any relief from pain, fear, and worry should I altogether not believe in what God can do. It’s common sense at that point. I’m an emotional mess from the empty conclusions I have drawn intellectually about what God can and will do. Absent is the hopeful anticipation of God’s intervention that would have a calming effect on my nerves.

Thank God I believe intellectually and spiritually in what God can do. Too often, though, I question my faith because I doubt on an emotional level. I need to stop the practice of riding my feelings until I feel guilty that I doubt God. I feel guilty doubting God because of what I know and believe intellectually (in relationship with Christ) God can do; I struggle emotionally with what I believe God will do. Is he willing? Is there something wrong with me? I think that’s what it means to have faith in the midst of doubt because of the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things unseen (Hebrews 11:1). What I feel isn’t necessarily a reflection of what I know. What I doubt emotionally isn’t necessarily a reflection of what I know intellectually and believe spiritually in my soul.

The question that is most discomforting to me is not, “How much do I believe?” or “How much faith do I have?” The question is not even, “Do I believe?” Because I do. The question is, “Will I let go of what I want, and choose to receive what God wants and has for me?”

As you read this, the first question for you might be, “Do you believe?” And if you do, you are in the same boat I am. Are you willing? Will you let go of what you want, and choose what God wants and has for you? Don’t be so quick to answer. If your answer is yes then your life should reflect your answer through and through. How confident are you when you pray? What is the level or degree of your faith?

If I am being honest, I have substantially more confidence that God will bless you in the miraculous than I believe He will bless me. Not because I don’t believe God can bless me that way. But because I am in a hurry according to my standards and according to what I suppose I believe I deserve. I think my problem with belief and faith has a great deal to do with my sense of entitlement. I deserve what I want and believe that I need as soon as possible.

When I began FREEdom from MEdom Project, I had the expectation that the world desperately needed what God is saying through me about how to sustain long term recovery God’s way. It my dream to take the counseling and writing ability God has blessed me with, along with the vision He has laid upon my heart, to do FREEdom from MEdom full time. Things need to occur for that to happen. I believe God has given me a promise for this ministry. Initially the idea was to sell memberships incredibly inexpensively. Then someone mentoring me said, “What about those who still cannot afford it, or will miss out because they will not pay for something on the free internet?” I agreed and made it possible to donate without charging for these services. Donations are pouring in at approximately… are you ready… six dollars per year. I thought I would be discovered and published. I thought I would be teaching at conferences. Am I not entitled to more success? What, only the Joel Osteens, T.D. Jakes, and Rick Warrens of the world get to do this? Come on, God… I want in!

However, since I have been working at the prison I have had tremendous opportunity to share the good news of a new life experience God’s way in relationship with Jesus Christ to so many men whose lives would ultimately end in prison (or they would get out and die on the streets) without such liberating truth. Thousands and thousands of people around the world are reading this message and invitation to experience new life set free from addiction to what holds them captive.

I wonder if the question of how much faith I have is somehow tied in to what I feel entitled to, meaning what I believe I deserve. Abraham and Sarah may have dealt with some of this when they waited twenty years for the promise of a son by God and… nothing. How often might you think Abraham and Sarah made beautiful love together in the hope that they were making together the promised son? It appears as though they gave in to their sense of entitlement and strategized to find an alternative to God’s plan. Abraham conveniently married Hagar and she was pregnant without another thought. Born was Ishmael and the rest is history. Abraham and Sarah felt apparently that they deserved a son.

The writer of Hebrews writes of Abraham’s unwavering faith but it appears to have wavered when it came to waiting on God’s promise of the son that was Isaac. Did Abraham lack faith? I don’t think so. I think he and his wife grew impatient and sought desperate measures for an alternative to waiting on the fulfillment of God’s plan. Perhaps the thinking was that even God declared they were entitled to a son as long as it was promised to them. So Abraham did what he had to do to get what he deserved.

So What Then about Faith?

Is my belief system skewed by what I believe I deserve? Do my expectations shape my “beliefs” when it comes to the matter of faith? If God determines that how He chooses to bless me is affected by what I believe I deserve, is it because God recognizes that my so-called faith is actually shaped by what I desire in my flesh, which is selfish and feels entitled?

This becomes especially fragile and sensitive for me. I thought I would be published by now and making a living writing, and perhaps even counseling, from my computer. I hoped I would be doing well enough with FREEdom from MEdom ministries that I would be doing it full-time. And if I am entirely honest, I suppose I hoped some recognition would have come my way by now… well, you know… because this FREEdom from MEdom stuff is SO good… profound truth from a fountain of knowledge and wisdom and all that.

What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? ²You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. ³When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

⁴You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. ⁵Or do you think Scripture says without reason that he jealously longs for the spirit he has caused to dwell in us? ⁶But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.”

⁷Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. ⁸Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.⁹Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. ¹⁰Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. James 4:1-10 (NIV)

Things have not worked out according to my expectations. Does that mean that God hasn’t blessed this ministry? Honestly? Not in the way I want Him to. Instead, there are dozens, if not hundreds, of men who have been blessed and perhaps even saved by the truth, knowledge, and wisdom delivered through these FREEdom from MEdom/NewLIFE Xperience principles. Thousands of people around the world have read from this online ministry. Dozens, hundreds, maybe thousands more have been influenced by those touched by God through this ministry. Only God knows.

God also knows me well enough to know what He can and cannot trust me with. My pride, my lazy prayer life, my undisciplined habits and routines may in fact limit my access and effectiveness because God knows that I will certainly fall otherwise. So the reasonable question is, if I recognize things in me and my intentions, motivations, and lifestyle routines, why don’t I commit to change respectful to the calling on my life? What a great question! What a challenging question? Do you relate to it?

Faith in the flesh… what a concept. While it is an obvious contradiction, perhaps it is as much a paradox. James writes in chapter four that my problem with what appears to be the absence of blessing is the absence of my desires and motivations lining up with what God wants and has for me. The tragedy in that is that what God wants and has for me is His very best.

Desiring God’s Best

Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heart’s desires. Psalm 37:4 (NLT)

Often times this passage in Psalm 37 is taken grossly out of context. Even when it’s interpreted that if I am walking in the will of God He will bless the desire of my heart, it is misleading. My heart is still selfish, particularly when the heat is turned up. When I am transformed by the renewing of my mind (Romans 12:2), taken in proper context, God has rearranged my thinking to want and be willing to receive what He wants and has for me. In other words, He has transformed my wants by putting His desires and motivations deep within me, giving me my heart’s desires – His desires.

But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Matthew 6:33 (NKJV)

When I am motivated to seek first God’s best through the righteousness of Jesus Christ, God is more than happy and willing to add to my life the experience of His best. His best for my life will be a blessing to anyone who is touched by my life.

J.B. Phillips in his translation perhaps says it best.

Set your heart on the kingdom and his goodness, and all these things will come to you as a matter of course. Matthew 6:33 (Phillips New Testament)

This is an incredible promise of blessing that brings this next passage to life.

Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Ephesians 3:20 (NLT)… or as J.B. Phillips translates … dare to ask or imagine.

Okay, now we’re getting carried away. It all sounds good, but come on.

What’s the problem here?

The problem is that God’s best is too good to be true to be experienced in this life on this side of eternity. Just allow me to relax and do whatever it is that I do. Don’t put too much on my plate. I need my television time. I need my down time… my alone time to unwind and decompress. I need my sleep. I’m not being sarcastic, this is how I think. I want to be lazy, disrespectful of the call of God to really dig in to what He wants and has for me to pierce and feed my soul. I want God’s best so long as I can do my thing my own way in my own time.

⁴Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice! ⁵Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do. Remember, the Lord is coming soon.

⁶Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. ⁷Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

⁸And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. ⁹Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.

¹⁰How I praise the Lord that you are concerned about me again. I know you have always been concerned for me, but you didn’t have the chance to help me. ¹¹Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. ¹²I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. ¹³For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength. Philippians 4:4-13 (NLT)

Really… is this poetic hyperbole? No. This is the real deal! I don’t have to like it but here’s the thing. If I really knew and understood what I was missing, missing out on God’s best, I would drop every shallow and dissatisfying routine that sabotages what I can enjoy in the joy of the Lord, so that I could experience life in the best of what God wants and has for me.

Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later. Romans 8:18 (NLT)

Already Free in the Joy

If you haven’t yet, I’d like to encourage you to read My Problem with Hank… Prisoner Set Free. This is written about a prisoner that I work with who has been set free from the chains of addiction and bondage to life’s “stuff” in a way that convicts me to the core of my selfish existence. He is a brother in Christ who is free in a sense that I have never known, full of joy in the Lord. I get near him and feel like whatever he has, I want some of that. And he has quite a bit of prison time left to serve yet he is so free.

You might say, “Well look at his circumstances, he needs Jesus more.” And what really is the point of this whole thing is that he doesn’t need Jesus any less than you or I do. You might say he has less weighing him down. He doesn’t have a big screen television. He doesn’t have financial responsibilities. He doesn’t have to deal with the stresses of the job every day. He doesn’t have to take care of his family… at least he can’t from prison.

Hank lives in what is essentially a bathroom with another man. Hank has a godly wife who is waiting sacrificially for him. He has post-adolescent children living the life of the streets, following in daddy’s footsteps. Hank has a home and financial responsibility. Hank does not know from one day to the next how his family will make it and he is powerless from prison to do anything substantial to help anyone out there. But somehow, living out Philippians 4 and James 1, being transformed by the renewing of his mind, Hank has been set free.

²²A mob quickly formed against Paul and Silas, and the city officials ordered them stripped and beaten with wooden rods. ²³They were severely beaten, and then they were thrown into prison. The jailer was ordered to make sure they didn’t escape. ²⁴So the jailer put them into the inner dungeon and clamped their feet in the stocks.

²⁵Around midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening. ²⁶Suddenly, there was a massive earthquake, and the prison was shaken to its foundations. All the doors immediately flew open, and the chains of every prisoner fell off! ²⁷The jailer woke up to see the prison doors wide open. He assumed the prisoners had escaped, so he drew his sword to kill himself. ²⁸But Paul shouted to him, “Stop! Don’t kill yourself! We are all here!”

²⁹The jailer called for lights and ran to the dungeon and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas.³⁰Then he brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

³¹They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, along with everyone in your household.” ³²And they shared the word of the Lord with him and with all who lived in his household.³³Even at that hour of the night, the jailer cared for them and washed their wounds. Then he and everyone in his household were immediately baptized. ³⁴He brought them into his house and set a meal before them, and he and his entire household rejoiced because they all believed in God.

³⁵The next morning the city officials sent the police to tell the jailer, “Let those men go!” ³⁶So the jailer told Paul, “The city officials have said you and Silas are free to leave. Go in peace.” Acts 16:22-36 (NLT)

What is necessary to understand about this passage is that Paul and Silas were so filled with joy in the best of what God wants and has for them that even when the chains fell off all of the prisoners, no one left the dungeon. They had already been set free from the chains of this life. None of the other prisoners left either. They wanted some of what Paul and Silas had. The jailer didn’t run either in fear for his life when Paul said to him, “Look, we’re all still here…” even though the quake had loosed their chains and jarred all of the doors open. The jailer stuck around as well. He wanted some of what Paul and Silas had. The city officials were moved to then let them all go free. Like Paul and Silas, Hank is filled with joy and already free! I want some of what he’s got whenever I am around him.

Are you still with me?

“Why call Me Lord when you don’t mean it?”

Honestly, what keeps you chained in your recovery journey and Christ-centered life from fully receiving the miracle of the best of the new life experience that God wants and has for you? I was honest about myself earlier in this article. Now it is time for you to be honest with yourself. For me, the matter is full surrender to God’s calling on my life for every hour of every day. If that sounds like a bit much for you, it’s a bit much for me too. But truth is truth.

I haven’t even brought up yet the issue of sin… you know… declaring to God that you love Him but then at times living as though He doesn’t exist; also true of me. Maybe it’s entertaining lusts of the eyes and imagination. Maybe it’s coveting material prosperity. Maybe it’s harboring resentment and jealousy. Maybe it’s living in shame, or loneliness, or living in fear. Maybe it’s being overrun by anxiety and stress. Maybe it’s being selfish with your money. Maybe it’s being selfish with your time; even if you’re always too busy. Maybe it’s holding on to your obsessions and addictions. You likely know even though it might always be clear to you, and certainly God knows.

“So why do you keep calling me ‘Lord, Lord!’ when you don’t do what I say? Luke 6:46

The word ‘lord’ is a word of authority. The name Lord for Christ is a name of trusted authority. I call Jesus Lord all the time. So why don’t I believe and respect, even revere, His lordship all of the time? How is it that I can call Him Lord and then live as though I do not trust in, respect, and certainly revere, His authority, ability, desire, and willingness to bless me to the full with abundant life as promised in John 10:10? Why do I not fully believe in the promise of Ephesians 3:20 that God can and will do infinitely more in my life that I even dare to ask or imagine?

How about you?

If you appear to live like you have measured faith it is because you are divided between what you want and aspire to in the flesh and what you want and aspire to in relationship with Christ. In relationship with Jesus, you are transformed into new life by the renewing of your mind. Paul writes that you in fact live this transformed life having the mind of Christ having received God’s best.

We have received God’s Spirit (not the world’s spirit), so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us… We understand these things, for we have the mind of Christ. 1 Corinthians 2:12, 16b (NLT)

I could go on with promise after promise. The issue is, if you are limited to a measure of faith it is because you are divided and unstable in who and what you are in relationship with God. You are divided between the new you in Christ that you see when you look into the mirror and the old you that you remember and cling to when you walk away from it; me too.

What a life it would be

Why it that we struggle so to believe all of it? As long as we hold on to the former life in the flesh by choice, we choose to forfeit so much of God’s best; not only for us, but for our families, loved ones, friends, and so on. That’s right. When we surrender all into the full blessing of abundant life, those we touch in some way are also touched by the blessing. When we choose limited blessing because of divided loyalty limiting faith – confidence – in what we say we believe in, we can limit the blessing to those under our influence.

I’ll put this back onto I-statements. I need to do what the Word of God says and what I know spiritually and intellectually to be true and reasonably sensible for my life; because it is good and right and it is God’s best. Even something as small as a mustard seed that fully believes can move a mountain and experience the full blessing of abundant life. So why measured faith? From revelation of truth comes belief. From belief in truth comes faith. From faith—confidence in what you believe—comes surrender. From surrender comes obedience. Why not let go into total surrender if I believe in the truth of the Word of God? Do I believe enough that I am confident in the promises and assurances in the Bible? Or, is what I believe clouded by entitlement (sin)?

Do you believe enough? Is your faith measured according to what you believe you deserve?

For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him. Philippians 2:13 (NLT)

Please, let’s pray for each to let go and surrender to the truthful teachings and promises of God’s Word and enter in to the fullness of everything that is God’s best for us. Then He is able to freely work His purpose through us without fighting us like a parent trying to get his child to accept and appreciate something amazing, if the child only believed enough; not only in the creation but in the Creator; not in the gift but in the giver of the gift. What a life it would be.

Click on Measured Faith Recovery Lesson.

(Please watch this amazing video to “Revelation Song”. It’s worth the six minutes.)

Faith

by Steven Gledhill for FREEdom from MEdom Project

Revolutionary Transformation (Evidence for Faith)

Who Touched Me? (Revolutionary Faith)

Walk on Water Lately? (“Faith is an ocean you can walk on”)

by Steven Gledhill for the FREEdom from MEdom Project

Doubt in the Madness of the Perfect Storm

Trapped in a House on Fire

by Steven Gledhill for FREEdom for MEdom Project…

Measured Faith (Belief Enough?)

by Steven Gledhill for FREEdom from MEdom Project…

Expectations about Faith

So What Then about Faith?

Desiring God’s Best

Already Free in the Joy

“Why call Me Lord when you don’t mean it?”

What a life it would be

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© 2012-2024

Unveiling Truth since 2012

Hopeless to Healed

Sympathetic Savior

Believe It or Not

Thoughts, Feelings & Behavior

NewLIFE

Applied Recovery

Revolutionary Faith

Beware

More Articles of Note

12-Step Recovery

FFM Categories

Whenever…

Looking for Something?

Faith

by Steven Gledhill for FREEdom from MEdom Project

Revolutionary Transformation (Evidence for Faith)

Who Touched Me? (Revolutionary Faith)

Walk on Water Lately? (“Faith is an ocean you can walk on”)

by Steven Gledhill for the FREEdom from MEdom Project

Doubt in the Madness of the Perfect Storm

Trapped in a House on Fire

by Steven Gledhill for FREEdom for MEdom Project…

Measured Faith (Belief Enough?)

by Steven Gledhill for FREEdom from MEdom Project…

Expectations about Faith

So What Then about Faith?

Desiring God’s Best

Already Free in the Joy

“Why call Me Lord when you don’t mean it?”

What a life it would be

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Leave a Reply Cancel reply

© 2012-2024

Unveiling Truth since 2012

Hopeless to Healed

Sympathetic Savior

Believe It or Not

Thoughts, Feelings & Behavior

NewLIFE

Applied Recovery

Revolutionary Faith

Beware

More Articles of Note

12-Step Recovery

FFM Categories

Whenever…

Looking for Something?