Monday, April 3, 2017

Anticipating God in all aspects of our lives.

'How often we love Him not because of Himself but because of ourselves.

We love, for in loving God we experience a kind of joy in our hearts. This sharply reveals that we do not actually love Him; what we love is only joy, even if that is the joy of God.

This indicates that we esteem God’s gift higher than God the Giver!

It also proves we continue to walk by our soul life and do not appreciate what a true spiritual life is. We deify joyous feeling and incorrectly regard it as pleasurable.

To cure His children of this mistake God withdraws the joyous feeling as He wills and topples them into suffering that they may know that pleasure is in Himself, not in His joy.

 If they verily make God their joy they will uplift Him and love Him even in the hour of suffering; if not, they will sink into darkness.

God, in so undertaking, aims not to destroy our spiritual life but purposes to destroy all idols we worship other than Himself.'

The Spiritual Man- By Watchman Nee

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Have you ever been accused of 'using' someone to get what you want? What about the term- fair weather friend, do you know that saying? Maybe you haven't been accused of using anyone, and that's a great thing. Have you ever had a fair weather friend? Someone who is only your friend when you benefit them? These types of people aren't those we want to call friends. No one wants a friend who is only friendly when they need something you can give them. A person wants a friend in good times and in bad times, because life is filled with both.

People who love the joyous feeling of knowing God have to love God when they are in agony- spiritual, physical, mental agony. Why? Because God isn't a genie in a bottle! God isn't our God because He grants us wishes. God isn't our God because He keeps us from agonies.

He didn't keep His Son from agony.

Luk 22:41  And he was withdrawn from them about a stone's cast, and kneeled down, and prayed, 
Luk 22:42  Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done. 
Luk 22:43  And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him. 
Luk 22:44  And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground. 

It isn't wrong to love the joy of God, but as Watchman Nee talks about, it is wrong to have that love of joy rule our relationship with God. If we wake up in the morning anticipating the joy only to find one morning we don't feel that joy we will instantly believe something is wrong. We count on that joy to gauge our relationship with God and that just isn't a reliable gauge at all whatsoever.

We might NOT understand the reasons in-depth as to why God allows us the horrific trials that He does, but we have to have faith and believe that somehow, someway it's for our good.

Rom_8:28  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.

That doesn't say… 'And we know that SOME things work together for good…'  It says, ALL things work together for good.

If we worship joy, or any other emotion …if we worship our God based on the our having what people have told us is a 'good life' then we aren't worshipping God at all, but a false god we're glossed over and have convinced ourselves is true.

Please Father in heaven, please we would know YOU in all our circumstances, in all aspects of our lives. Please be REAL to us and teach us to walk in Your ways always!

All through Jesus Christ our LORD, our Savior now and forever!

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