I have a problem, God has the answer

     Most of us with problems wish we could change our circumstances, family, work situation or spouse. It must be someone else, Lord; surely you do not mean me!

   As the song said, “Not my brother, not my sister, but it’s me, Oh Lord, standing in the need of prayer.”

   Someone else or something else may not change, but we have a Savior who does not need to change and has already acted decisively and dramatically by sending His Son, Jesus Christ, to live, die and rise from the dead, just for you. The following benefits are just a few of the many you received from your heavenly Father:

1)      You have been forgiven and made righteous (Rom. 5:1).

2)      You died with Christ to the power of sin in your life (Rom. 6:1-7).

3)      You are free from condemnation (Rom. 8:1).

4)      You have become united with Christ by God’s doing (1 Cor. 1:30).

5)      You have received the Spirit of God into your life that you might know the things freely given to you by God (1 Cor. 2:12).

6)      You have been given the mind of Christ (1 Cor. 2:16).

7)      You have been bought with a price. You are not your own; you now belong to God (1 Cor. 6:19,20).

8)      You have been established, anointed and sealed by God in Christ and have been given the spirit as a pledge, guaranteeing your inheritance to come (2 Cor. 1:21, 22; Eph. 1:13,14).

9)      You have been crucified with Christ and it is no longer you who live, but Christ lives in you (Gal. 2:20).

10)  You have been made complete in Christ (Col. 2:10).

11)  You have been blessed with every spiritual blessing (Eph. 1:3).

12)  You have been redeemed and forgiven, and you are a recipient of His lavish grace (Eph. 1:7,8).

13)  You have been made alive together with Christ (Eph. 2:5).

14)  You have been raised up and seated with Christ in the heavenly places (Eph. 2:6).

15)  Your life in now hidden with Him in God, and Christ is now your life (Col. 3:1-4).

   We do not have to plead for God to do something about our problem. God has done something. We can rest in the finished work of Christ. It is our choice to believe what He has done for us and start walking by faith according to what He says is true.

How is your walk today?

Excerpts from One Day at a Time Mike/Julia Quarles page168-9

Who has the problem?

Who is the answer?

“Not my brother, not my sister, but it’s me, Oh Lord, standing in the need of prayer.”

God's answers to our struggles

How many of the following characteristics describe your life: inferiority, insecurity, inadequacy, guilt, worry and doubt?

Read what Scripture says about your feelings.

 Do you feel insecure? Your God will never leave you nor forsake you (see Heb. 13:5).

Inadequate? You can do all things through Christ (see Phil. 4:13).

 Guilt? There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (see Romans 8:1).

  

Worried? God has offered His peace for your anxiety (see John 14:27; Phil. 4:7;

1 Peter 5:7).

Do you doubt? God provides wisdom for those who ask (see James 1:5).

Which of the six negative characteristics listed have you struggled with the most, and why?

Further reading and study One Day at a Time by Mike and Julia Quarles page167

God supplies our needs

“And my God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” 

Philippians 4:19

 “Freedom is found in trusting God’s resources, not our own. We are the only ones who can prevent God from meeting our needs. We suffer needlessly when we attempt to be our own god…Heaven is when we say, ’Thy will be done.’ Hell is when God says to us, ‘Your will be done.’

Hannah Whitall Smith wrote:

The greatest lesson a soul has to learn is that God and God alone is enough for all its needs. This is the lesson that all God’s dealings with us are meant to teach, and this is the crowning discovery of our entire Christian life. GOD IS ENOUGH! No soul can really be at rest until it has given up dependence on everything else and has been forced to depend on the Lord alone. As long as our expectation is from other things, nothing but disappointment awaits us. Feelings may change, doctrines and dogmas may be upset, the Christian work may come to naught, prayers may seem to lose their fervency, promises may seem to fail, everything we have believed in or depended on may seem to be swept away and only God is left-just God, the bare God, if I may be allowed the expression, simply and only God…then we must come to the positive conviction that He is, in Himself alone, enough for all our needs and that we may safely rest in Him absolutely and forever.’

When are you most tempted to be self-sufficient? Why is it so hard for you to surrender your will to God’s will?” 

One Day at a Time Mike and Julia Quarles page73-75

The God of All Comfort Hannah Whitall Smith page 242-243

Am I focusing on the need or on God, Jesus and abiding, resting to see how He will provide for that need?

God's love

“Because God is love, he pursues love relationships with the people he created. A love relationship begins as you commit your life in faith and trust to Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. It continues in daily prayer, Bible study, and obedience as he shows you where he is at work, and you lovingly join in that work. A love relationship means:

Ø  You are closer to God than to any person on earth.

Ø  Everything about your life depends on the quality of your love relationship with God.

Ø  Love for God leads you to love and serve other people.

Ø  Christ is in your life through the Holy Spirit to guide each decision you make and reveal God’s will to you.

Ø  You can never be separated from God’s love.

Ø  God loves you and promises to protect and bless you.

Ø  Everything God says and does is an expression of love.

Ø  You can be totally satisfied and fulfilled.

Ø  You will invest your life in lasting, eternal things and ways.

Ø  God will be present in real and practical ways in your life.”

For the rest of this love relationship with our God focus,  read and study The Experiencing God Study Bible edited by Henry T. Blackaby and Claude V. King.

    Anabel Gillham tells the story of how her son taught her about God’s love. Her son, Mason, was born profoundly retarded, and it got to the point that he had to be institutionalized because he could no longer communicate or even feed himself. Of course, Anabel and her husband still loved and missed him, so they would often bring him home on weekends.

   One Sunday, a little while before it was time to take Mason back, Anabel was at the kitchen sink washing dishes. Mason was sitting at his special chair/table with his bib on. There was food scattered everywhere as Mason stared into space, totally detached from his surroundings. Anabel put her dishcloth aside and knelt down in front of her son and said, “Oh, Mason I love you so much. If only you knew how much I loved you.” But he did not respond. He could not. When she went back to the sink with tears flowing down her cheeks, God spoke to her heart: “Anabel, that is the way I love you. Even if you couldn’t perform one deed or perfectly respond to Me, I would still love you.”

Victorious Christian Living audio Bill and Anabel Gillham

How could you develop the habit of abiding in Christ’s love? What impact would it have on your life if you practiced His presence 24 hours of every day?

May the love in your heart radiate to all those around you every day.

Satisfaction: my needs met in Christ

“Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.” Psalms 37:4

Satisfaction: to fulfill the needs or desires.

What needs to happen for me to be fulfilled, content, at peace, and full of joy?

What have you done, or where have you looked, to try to attain a sense of peace, fulfillment and satisfaction?

Could you name your desires? How would your desires bring you closer to God? What are you willing to give up to have the desires of your heart? Our desires reveal who we are. Can you write them out?

“….pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.” 2 Tim. 2:22

You created me God, what is your will/desire for my life? We cannot have the desires of the heart apart from a personal relationship with Jesus.

This is a divine promise with human responsibilities. These responsibilities are:

Ø  “Delight self in the Lord” the pleasure in knowing Him, talking, serving, aware of His presence. God have I been delighting self in you or me?

Ø  “Commit your way to Lord.” This means transferring your desire to God.

Ø  “Trust in Him.” I believe in His faithfulness.

Ø  “Rest in the Lord.” My desire is placed in His hand. God will work it out. I can go about daily life with complete confidence and peace. Wait patiently; with a strong desire I want answers now; wait without murmuring, criticizing, manipulating. Watch how God operates. It takes strength to wait for God’s timetable especially on my strong desire. Does God not know when we are best ready? The desire and timing come from Him. Can I present a strong desire to God and know in His time it will come about?

Manipulation always leads to:

Ø  Disappointment

Ø  Pain

Ø  Loss

Ø  And more

Before getting out of bed think “Father, I want to thank you. You are giving me the desires of my heart. Today I am going to delight myself in you. Today I am going to commit everything to you. I put my trust in you. I am going to rest in the fact you are my heavenly Father and have everything under control. I am going to wait for your perfect timing to give me the desires of my heart.”

Wake up with commitment to delight self in the Lord. The result will be different in each of us.

At the end of the day, look back and reflect on how God has worked.

You decide, do you want your desires or God’s desires?

“Thank you for giving me what you know I desired not what I thought I desired.”

source The Desires of Your Heart Dr. Charles Stanley sermon December 31, 2000 MX310

Significance in Christ

Significance: a sense of value, importance, and worth, having a meaning.

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. Genesis 1:27

For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Ephesians 2:10

You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bearfruit-fruit that will last…John 15:16

Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you?

1 Corinthians 3:16

Wow!!! Wonderful!!! God’s definition of how significant I am to Him. This is beyond my wildest dreams! These versus are just a few that tell you and me how much we are worth- our significance- to God.

Where do you think you have looked to find significance?

What do you think you have tried to do to make you significant?

Additional Resource: Search For Significance Robert S. McGee

Satisfaction, Security, and Significance in Chirst

"So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him: male and female he created them: Genesis 1:27

The entire human race was created to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. He created us for Himself. Before the fall, man was in the likeness of God, bearing the image of God. Adam and Eve chose knowledge of good and evil which left them needy and empty. We have all inherited this neediness.  Most of our basic human needs can be categorized under the headings of satisfaction (forgiveness, rest, fulfillment), security (belonging, unconditional love, acceptance, connectedness, protectedness), and significance (value, importance, identity, separateness, adequacy).

Answer the following questions for your own better understanding of how you have attempted to get your needs met in your own way.

SATISFACTION

What have I done, or where have I looked to try to attain a sense of peace, fulfillment and satisfaction?

SECURITY

Where do I think I have looked to find security? What have I done to try to feel secure?

SIGNIFICANCE

Where have I looked to find significance? What do I think I have tried to do to have a sense of value?

Has confusion, disappointment and frustration been the results?

Ø  Isaiah 53:6 We have turned, everyone, to his own way.

Ø  Proverbs 12:15 The way of a fool is right in his own eyes.

Ø  Proverbs 21:2 Every way of man is right in his own eyes.

Ø  Proverbs 3:5 lean not on your own understanding

Ø  Romans 13:14 Put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh

Ø  John 6:63 It is the Spirit who gives life

Ø  Galatians 5:16 Walk by the spirit and you won’t carry out the desire of the flesh