Borrowed Truths

Depends on the Circumstances

depends on the circumstances
Picture of Borrowed Truths

Depends on the Circumstances

Do you know how you can tell that you are loved by God, how you can determine that you are in His will and all that you are doing is pleasing in His sight? By the way things are going in your life, you are rarely ill, perhaps a minor cold occasionally, a small bruise or cut, usually because of your own mistake, you are for the most part financially stable, you have more than enough food in the house, and for the most part, life is good. You can tell that you are in the good graces of the Lord when all is well.

This is the mentality of many who profess Christ as Lord today, as long as things are flowing smoothly with little to no interruptions from the normal, as long as the plan that they have set for their life is continuous and proceeding without any major incidents, then they are living a life that is pleasing to the Lord. Do you know why so many do not ask the Lord to use them, to teach them to completely die to self, to be fully filled with His Holy Spirit? Because they fear they would have to do something they do not want to do, they would be sent somewhere they do not want to go, they would lose control over the course that they have predetermined is the best one for their lives. They fear the accounts in the Word of God of how many who fully devoted their lives to the service of Almighty God died, many in violent ways, they fear a life of unfulfilled earthly desires, of having to place their own wants and pleasures behind those that the Lord would require of them, they fear to serve, and so they serve as sparingly as possible.

Their prayers are for wants and needs, and not for an obedient heart, their prayers are for the immediate, and they see the things of this life as more important than the One who gave them their lives. They choose how and where they will serve, in both manner and intent, they reserve unto themselves the choice of servitude, answering when it is convenient, regarding their lives as their own, and believing that when all is well, they are pleasing in the sight of the Lord. The inverse of this is of course true then, when things do not go as planned, they ask the question “Why,” for they are unable to differentiate between punishment and chastisement, they seek for some hidden sin in their lives, a reason that the Lord has brought difficult times upon them. They have devoted only parts of their lives to Christ, and they are very small parts indeed. Take away the materialistic possessions of some who profess Christ, and you will not find a child of God.

“Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you.” (1 Peter 4:12) Those who think these things as not uncommon rarely ask the Lord God why these trials have come upon them, they know why, because He loves them, and He is making them into a closer, more refined image of His beloved Son, He is purging them of self and the world. Read here 2 Cor. 4:8-10 with me, “We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; Always bearing about in the body the dying of the LORD Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.”

Are you troubled, perplexed, persecuted, cast down, or is it all in your mind, for many who think they are serving the Risen Savior serve Him only there, in their minds, but their hearts are far from Him. They have based their love on what they are receiving, and not what they have already seen, they do not care to search out the words in Scripture that speak of the suffering, sorrow, and persecutions that all who follow Christ will experience, they fear to lose more than they hope to gain. There is happiness and contentment in their lives, but it is not in Christ, it is in being served, no joy comes from tribulations, there is no rejoicing when trouble comes. “Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all.” (Psalm 34:19)

What we expect, we have come to believe we deserve, and many have come to believe that if in this life all is well, then they are in good favor with the Lord. What would you expect of our adversary, less than a lie, this is what he does, he is an expert in the inversions of the truths of the Word of God. “Suffer and it means God does not love you, that you are not meeting His expectations, and if you devote your life to Him, the troubles will only increase. If God loves you, then everything will always go well for you.” And many have fallen into this mindset, this lie that a loving God would never allow anything bad to happen to His children, that persecutions are rare, and if they do come they are never done in love, but are a punishment from God.

“For whom the LORD loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.” (Heb. 12:6) Throws all those notions of a happy, healthy, long life right out the window, doesn’t it. To put it bluntly my friends, if you are not being chastened, if you are not suffering because of your faith in Jesus Christ, you are not saved. Physical, mental, emotional, in all ways we will suffer, those who know Christ as Lord expect it, they do not flee from them when they arrive, they run to Him, they run to their strong tower, (Psalm 61:3) they flee to the rock of their salvation. (Psalm 62:2)

This age is nothing new, in times of plenty, people leave Christ to fulfill their own pleasure, in times of need, they seek His provisions, but it is the heart that the Lord sees, (1 Sam. 16:7) and the heart that He favors is the one who trusts in Him no matter the circumstances, the one who knows how to say “Thank you,” and has all but forgotten the question of “Why.” They already know the answer to that one, it is because He loves them.

“Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.” (2 Tim. 3:12)

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