March 27, 2015

People Don't Change

image from sodahead.com
God will give ear and humble them, he who is enthroned from of old, Selah because they do not change and do not fear God ~ Psalm 55:19
 Sometime I think about how overwhelming life was for me when I struggled to understand why things were so hard. Many times I wondered why all my efforts did not reap the reward, which  similar efforts and plans of others appeared to lavishly achieve. This, of course, was not limited to professional / recreational successes but relational as well.

I do not really have any answers for those question; my apologies if your life has had its share of these plagues. But hopefully what I do understand will encourage you in some way:  God is sovereign and His plans are for our good.  Some of those things, I trust, would not have brought the satisfaction or end result which His BEST would afford us.  In reality, now, I realize how short sighted some of my desires were, based on how I have changed, matured and gained wisdom.

It was in my striving and not getting, being hurt by others and being left wounded emotionally or physically to deal with the fall out, among other things,which finally opened my heart, mind and soul to the One who knew everything I wanted, needed, regretted and distorted: The Lord God Almighty.  Over many years I have praised Him, questioned Him, cried out in frustration to Him and sat silently with Him.  And at the end of each I was so desperately grateful that He is the same and promises to NOT change, yet will Himself never cease to change ME.  

How in the world would I, or anyone,  realize that His Spirit is in me and desiring to help if everything in life constantly made me happy and emote in pleasant ways; which would also mean having so much time, energy and wealth to care for those I desired to help occasionally.  I must assume, people would become fake around me just to get what they wanted, which does not foster realistic, fragile relationships.  Without these dependable relationships in my life, I would never be able to figure out how selfish my real self is; since most often the real us is only exposed when we don't get our way or are confronted regarding our interactions and thoughts.

Most troubling to me is is the thought, of which I am fairly confident, that without the undesirable things, if I had received my life as I wanted it,  I would not have desired God, not really, nor a Savior.  Why would I, If I could get it, accomplish it and gain the glory for my efforts, what would I need to be saved from? And if I was having such fantastic accomplishments here and feeling good about saving others from their discomfort and worldly evils, why in the world would I want to leave a life like that?

In reality however, I did not get life on a silver platter, and I have God size needs all the time.  The difference now, from then, is that as God continued working on my interior and disciplining me (which of course is always in motion), life really did not and has not changed very much outside of me.  NOW,  I am grateful that He chose to change ME and NOT everything that came crushing in on my feelings, which stemmed from physical things past and present and hopes of the future. Due to His choices, His ways, He has managed to prove Himself in the changes within me and how those changes have altered my dynamics within this world - whether private or public.

If anyone has ever told you "People don't change". Please feel free to borrow my reply, which oddly enough came out of the mouth of a christian counselor.  "If people do not change, then why on earth did Christ have to suffer and die?"  People say many things for many reasons......however, the undisputed sovereign truth states: change what you believe, change the way you think, change the way you act that you may change while you live and also change your eternity.  That seems to be a WHOLE LOT of changing for one person - just sayin'!

There is more I wanted to ponder here from scripture; but another time.  As for today, I am ending with something Charles Spurgeon wrote reminding us that God doe not change:
Remember God is the same, whatever is removed. Your friends may be disaffected, your ministers may be taken away, every thing may change, but God does not. Your brethren may change and cast out your name as vile: but God will love you still. Let your station in life change, and your property be gone; let your whole life be shaken, and you become weak and sickly; let everything flee away—there is one place where change cannot put his finger; there is one name on which mutability can never be written; there is one heart which never can alter; that heart is God's—that name Love. 
Charles Spurgeon 

My prayer for us is to worship and serve the One who will never cease to stay with us and save us beyond what we call "REAL".  May each of you have a magnificent day; God gave us light and said each day is good.  And while people don't change unless they desire something better for themselves, God will never stop changing those who are willing for Him to do it.

Let's start thinking about our life from His vantage point ;)

Kisses,
Candace

© 2015 by Candace Huffmaster
Kaleidoscope Butterfly, Inc°

March 11, 2015

God's Jealous Desire

We last were considering sitting at the feet of Christ, allowing Him to teach us and walking with Him.

The problem is we drag our feet when it comes to participating in what is really God's will, God's way.  We have our own will and frankly, most of the time, we simply think it is no big deal; we know, in our heads, that He knows what we are doing.  However I think we minimize the whole "grieving the Holy Spirit" situation.  We are not tender any longer because we think more of our wants, than focusing on how we hurt others, otherwise we would see how unloving, ungodly and sinful we are almost 24/7.

In Galatians 5 we are advised to walk in the Spirit so that we will not carry out things which are not loving in the eyes of God, toward one another.  If we cannot submit ourselves to the Lord, then we are submitting our selves to sin;  It really is that simple.  Of course we are not damned to hell if we are saved; but we sure will be grieving the holy spirit.  Yet the holy spirit perseveres in loving kindness towards us by the power of God anyway.  Christ came, suffered and died that the spirit might come to help us.  Christ is in heaven now, but the holy spirit has settled right down in our muck! This I think best represents LONG...Suffering...

 Out from our darkness, His light shines forth, as best we will allow it.  His voice is calling out within our darkness,  imploring and empowering us to do as Romans 12 encourages us to do: And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

Can we begin to prove what the will of God is.......that which is good, acceptable and perfect? 

James tells us to draw near to God and He will draw near to you, Why do you think God would ever desire to draw close to any of us, other than the fact that no one loves a child more than their parent does.  But we have hated Him, killed His son, our savior and we continually grieve His holy spirit........Do you get it? It is for the His holy spirit within us, working so hard for no earthly reason at all except to bring God's will to fruition: to reconcile the body that He so desire and calls His own.  The Holy Spirit is the embodiment of Gods powerful, lovely, hopeful, forgiving, pure and perfect Holiness.  Of course God wants to pull Him, His own holiness, close and never let go!  James wrote:
"He jealously desires the Spirit which He has made to dwell in us"?

In chapter 12 of Romans we are warned: the night is almost gone, and the day is near. Therefore let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Think about a few things: Most of us know when we are covering up the mouth of the holy spirit, sitting on Him so He cannot run us out of a situation or dragging him grieving along as we do things, which are neither holy, lovely or pure, around or toward other person.  When we say we are a Christ follower and desire to be used by God, for His glory, we must stop doing anything which we would not do, or say, if we could see Him (as He is) right here with us.  Even the thoughts we have, the conversations in our mind, we deceive our self forgetting that the Holy Spirit is right there comprehending everything!

Let me end today with these passages from James Chapter 4:13-17: Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.” Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.” But as it is, you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil. Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin.

My prayer for each of us is that we consider how we feel when we are grieved, humble ourselves by asking His forgiveness for our multitude of grievances toward Him, the gift of His holy spirit, and then thank Him for allowing us another opportunity to show love to His Spirit, asking that the holy spirit teach us how to show Him preference.  I pray that we will quickly turn our faces toward Him, submit all our thoughts, actions and will for today and tomorrow, as we pray for all our efforts and communications with others to be proof as to what His will is on earth as it is in heaven.

In my opinion That would prove something mighty for His glory.

With Love, in Christ,
Kisses,
Candace
© 2015 by Candace Huffmaster
Kaleidoscope Butterfly, Inc°