Are You Ready to Let God Help?

Are You Ready to Let God Help?

Good Morning Friends,

People need Christ if they want to really experience the impact of a life that matters. And yes such a life might well experience persecution and that means anxiety unless one consciously allows Christ to carry the weight of the problems. Unfortunately allowing God to handle our problems is one of the most difficult parts of trusting. Friends, we can learn the easy way or the hard way. But this simple truth remains: we cannot do this on our own. Are You Ready to Let God Help?

Scripture: An argument arose among them as to which one of them was the greatest. But Jesus, aware of their inner thoughts, took a little child and put it by his side, and said to them, “Whoever welcomes this child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me; for the least among all of you is the greatest.”

Luke 9.46-48 (NRSV)

And all of you must clothe yourselves with humility in your dealings with one another, for “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you.
Discipline yourselves, keep alert. Like a roaring lion your adversary the devil prowls around, looking for someone to devour. Resist him, steadfast in your faith, for you know that your brothers and sisters in all the world are undergoing the same kinds of suffering.
And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, support, strengthen, and establish you. God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.

1 Peter 5:6-10 (NRSV)

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 5:3 (NRSV)

Message: The lowest are the highest. That is the nature of God’s distribution of His good gifts. To experience them we have to stoop down and serve and let God help in the service. The problem is that the overabundance of pride has turned humility into a resource of great scarcity. A realistic evaluation tells us we all are pretty pitiful. It was a problem for the disciples and it is a problem for us as well. Here the conscience of the prideful needs cleaning in the conviction and awareness of the reality of how God sees us and how we are to see God. The first beatitude, “Blessed are the poor in spirit” is first for a reason. We cannot be filled up with the experience of God until we have been emptied. Here head knowledge is not enough. We have to feel the reality of God and His promise of love in our lives. Then, when we are humble enough to love those He loves, we discover the power of knowing God. Then we might just realize that God is in control. Take your sins, your worries and cares to God. He has the answer. Seek Him and He will satisfy your desires and give you rest. Peter asks those who have been called out to follow Jesus to remember His teachings about leadership, humility, anxiety and adversity. Peter makes it clear that not all suffering is a product of having done something wrong. Some suffering is because we are fighting the right cause against the right foe learning the importance of endurance and hope in the process…being pruned of behaviors that are not needed in the Kingdom. Writing these commentaries has taught me that I cannot be reading and writing about God and worrying about all the things I would like to control. So if I am tormented in my sleep I turn to scripture and that does wonders to get my mind right with God. My very soul is restless until I find rest in God. So if I seek Him, draw close to Him, knowing I need Him just like I need food and air and water…He draws close to me. And that is a great help.

Pray that we discover the captivating presence of grace. Pray that we embrace the compassionate purpose and changing power of grace. Pray that the paradox of grace be made clear, that all the dots be connected. Pray that we enjoy the comforting provision of grace and its confident promise. Pray that we measure up as the Body of Christ…Pray that we have stability and comfort during times of trouble. Pray we experience God and the abundant life He offers. Pray for all those struggling with pride. Help us to admit we need Jesus and each other. Pray that every valley shall be filled up and every mountain and hill made low. Pray we not think more of ourselves than we ought to think. Pray that we humble ourselves before the almighty God. Pray that we be humble enough to receive the full measure of God’s gifts to our souls without growing proud because of it. Pray we discover the joy, fellowship and unmerited grace in humility.

Blessings,

John Lawson