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 Since some people were having problems with this blog, I’ve moved it. Hopefully that will resolve any issues.

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MORE ON MOUNTAINTOPS AND VALLEYS

I’ve talked a lot about mountaintops and valleys. A friend asked me to clarify what I meant by that. At first I struggled trying to explain myself. I love it when a brother or sister in Christ challenges me to think more clearly about something. Obviously I’m talking about them from a spiritual perspective. Often when we talk about valleys it tends to imply times of discouragement, self-doubt, distance from our Father and even depression. Unfortunately that often seems to be the case. I know it has been for me over the years. I can say with no doubt that is NOT what our Father wants for us. Yes, there are ups and downs in life but how we view them is what is important. 

When I was on a mountaintop the first couple months of this year everything was so clear. Scripture came alive like it hadn’t for a long time. I could see the Abba heart of God like I hadn’t for years. These posts have come from an overflowing heart. Those mountaintop times are exhilarating. They fill us with joy and a feeling of closeness with God. I think I may have shared before that while I was on that mountaintop, God pointed to another mountaintop off in the distance. One I could see was even higher and more majestic than the one I was on and He said “see that mountaintop over there? That’s where I want to take you. But in order to get there you’re going to have to go through the valley in between”. I’m in the valley now and I think I’ve finally come to understand the purpose. You see, I think the “valley” times in our lives are the times God gives us to reflect on what he has taught us on the “mountaintops”. To reflect on His goodness and love. And yes, to reflect on our lives. And even more importantly, to learn to trust Him more. Things are not as clear in the valley and it’s harder to see what’s ahead. Those are the times we need to learn to hold onto His hand tightly. When we let go, even for a short time, that’s when discouragement can set in. That’s when we start to wonder if He really loves us and hears us. So if you are in a valley, please hold His hand as tight as you can and don’t let go. If you have found that you have let go I can assure you from my own experience that He’s right there walking with you and just waiting for you to reach your hand back to Him. 

ABIDING

As I think I’ve mentioned, I’m spending my morning times with my Abba reading through the gospel of John. This morning I was in Chapter 15, It talks about abiding. It’s actually one of my favorite passages because it talks about our Father’s love and what He can do through us if we abide in Him.  It’s also a passage that I’ve always struggled with because it says that if we abide in Him, we will bear much fruit. My problem is that I’ve never felt like I was much of a fruit bearer. I’ve always felt that I fell way short of what God wanted from me. I think that Dad spoke to me once again this morning through His Spirit to let me know that there has been more fruit than I realize. At least I hope that’s true.

You see, I don’t think we see even the tip of the iceberg as to what God accomplishes through us. That’s a good thing. It would likely create huge egos in us.  A number of years ago a gentleman contacted me through Facebook. He told me that he had been in a Bible study that I had led in college and that it had a big influence on him and his life. I could not remember him at all. I had a vague recollection of the study but not at all of him. I felt bad that I couldn’t but I shared with him how much of an encouragement that was that he made the effort to hunt me down and tell me that. My point is that God uses us in so many ways to bear fruit that we may have no idea about this side of heaven. So the next time you may be discouraged and thinking you are bearing little or no fruit remember that our God is active in your life in ways you aren’t even aware of.

An update on a previous post: God was asking me to do a hard thing. The time came for me to do it and only by His grace and the peace He gives was I able to follow through. Another burden lifted by Him and even more of a sense of freedom. Someday I hope I’ll share with you what it was all about but not today.

CONVERSATIONS WITH MY FATHER

Do you ever talk to yourself. I mean those conversations that go on in your head. I do. Often. Especially when I’m spending intentional time in prayer or in His Word. I’ve always considered them a distraction. Something I needed to block out. Something that keeps me from my intention of spending time with God. This morning I had a different thought about them. Maybe they aren’t conversations with myself. Maybe, just maybe they are the conversations I’m having with God. Maybe, just maybe those are the conversations going on between my heart and His. All of these posts that I’ve been doing are a result of those conversations. After today I don’t think I’ll be looking on them as distractions. I think I will just sit back and enjoy these conversations with Dad.

TAKE THIS CUP

Have you ever had God ask you to do something hard? I mean really hard. Something you thought you could never do. In the garden the night He was betrayed He asked His Father to remove the cup before Him. He wavered in what He was being asked to do. But His desire was to do His Father’s will and He resolved Himself to doing just that. He’s asking one of those things from me right now. He showed me what He wanted me to do weeks ago and the time is coming that I’m going to have to make a choice. It’s not much of a choice at all really. I’m resolved to do His will. Please don’t get me wrong. No choice He puts before us can compare to the choice Jesus had to make.

Yes, I have wavered. Many times. Is this really what God wants me to do? Wouldn’t it be better to just let this pass? But I know what God has told me and I will do it. 

“And he said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”” Mark‬ ‭14‬:‭36‬ ‭ESV‬‬

IN THE VALLEY

I’ve talked about the mountaintops and the valleys previously and right now I’m in a valley. The trek down the mountain was a bit hard. It’s hard to go from seeing so clearly to having your view obscured by life. Now that I’m in the valley, my times with God are becoming refreshing. A time of refreshing and becoming reacquainted with my Saviour. Yes, sometimes...well, maybe often...those old fears creep in. Sometimes it’s hard to see where the path ahead lies. 

I mentioned yesterday that I’m spending time in the Gospel of John.  It’s helping me through the valley to focus on Jesus and who He is. Right now I can see God’s blessings in my life. It’s not always that way though. Take the blind man in John chapter nine. Jesus was asked by His disciples who had sinned, this man or His parents. I’ve read these words many times but Jesus’s reply really struck me this morning. He said “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in Him.” (John 9:3). Recently God freed me from a couple things that I had struggled with most of my life. He healed me. He’s given me some real insight as to why I struggled with them in the first place. I think this morning He was telling me why I went through that. “So that the works of God might be displayed in him”. 

So, whether you have struggled with something your entire life or you are going through a particularly difficult time, keep in mind that God may just be taking you through that in order that His works might be displayed in you. 

TO BE LIKE JESUS

I’ve heard it said that Jesus was both 100% man and 100% God while in His human form. I don’t pretend to be a theologian but I’m not sure about that. I believe he gave up the 100% God part when he was born in a manger. I may be totally off base here but my reason for saying that is because “we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.” (Hebrews‬ ‭4‬:‭15‬ ‭ESV‬‬). In order to be tempted as we are, he had to be 100% man and nothing else. Otherwise He still would not have been able to “sympathize with our weaknesses”. That creates another question though. If He was truly 100% man, how did He not sin? Years ago I taught an adult Sunday School class using Henry Blackaby’s book entitled “Experiencing God: Knowing & Doing the Will of God”. The basic premise is to have such a deep personal relationship with God that you can see what He is doing around you and to join Him in that work. That’s what Jesus had while on earth. I think He had such a deep relationship and love with the Father that He was able to both resist the temptations before Him and that the Father was able to work through Him in the ways He did. 

I’ve been reading in John’s Gospel during my morning times with God lately. Jesus talks a lot about His relationship with His Father.  I prayed that I would become more and more like Jesus. That’s a wonderful thing to desire. Then the whole magnitude of that prayer hit me.  To become like Jesus? I would have to totally give up myself. Totally. Nothing held back. Honestly, that’s kind of a scary thought. But I know God helps us take baby steps. One day at a time. After all, He really does “sympathize with our weaknesses”.