To Receive or NOT Receive…That is the question!

 

We have to reach a point in our spiritual walk and relationship with God where we simply allow God’s word to trump our circumstances.  It comes with maturity and understanding who we are to God as well as who He is to us.  But at some point we simply have to allow His Word to be the authority if we want to reach our intended destiny.

 

If our feelings dictated our salvation we’d all be JACKED wouldn’t we.  God knows that about every 15 minutes, most of us don’t “Feel” saved… It doesn’t take much for our feelings to boot the “Jesus high” right out the door does it?

 

We kick the floorboard of the bed and break a toe…Not feelin so SAVED now are we?  We get a call from our Ex about the kids…Yep, there’s goes our SAVED feeling!  The principal calls home to tell us that lil’ dude just got suspended… and our spiritual “pulse” flat lines…

 

Thank God that our feelings don’t dictate where we stand with God in this arena or we’d all be up the river Hades without a paddle.  We’ve come to understand that God’s Word trumps our feelings in the arena of “salvation” and we comprehend that just because we don’t feel “Saved” every second of every day doesn’t mean that we are not… We understand that our salvation is faith based and not feeling based.  We thank God under our breath when all hell breaks out in our lives and we feel so much less than “saved”, that His mercies are new every morning… Because, THAT’S WHAT THE WORD SAYS!

 

So why is it that we can believe God’s Word over how we “feel” when the subject is being “Saved” but we can’t seem to rationalize that this same “Word of God” is truth for other aspects of our lives apart from salvation?  Or maybe even better put, that the rest of the aspects are INCLUDED in our salvation!  (that just rocked somebody’s world)

 

Recognizing that God’s Word is the authority in our lives, why is it that we don’t go to that word and figure out what it says for ALL of our problems and situations and not just redemption from sin?  Why is it that God provided our salvation but when we run into financial difficulties He’s not pursued as our provider?  I mean His word SAYS that He is… but for some reason, what we “feel” in this circumstance, becomes more of our focus than God’s Word.  Why?

 

We don’t stop believing that He is our Savior just because we don’t feel saved, but when we don’t feel healthy we often stop believing that His Word says that He’s our healer.  We have no problem justifying how God has written our names in heaven and forgiven us of our sins but when faced with other opposition where we become fearful or confused or angry or just don’t understand… all of a sudden, “God’s Word doesn’t hold the same power as it did yesterday and it’s not the same “Truth” as it was when the sun was shining and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky”…Why?

 

Either God is who His Word says He is…Or He’s NOT!  It’s not rational to look at one circumstance and make God the final authority and then look at another and base our belief on our present emotions that fluctuate with the wind.  If God’s Word is truth for your salvation, it’s truth for all the other circumstances that oppose you!

 

Sometimes we need to just find out what the Word of God says about our present difficulties and then stand on that Word just like we do on our “salvation” scriptures.  If I asked any Christian why they believed that they are saved, they would say, “Because the bible says…(insert the rest of the gazillion scriptures here)”.  Just because we don’t “know” what the bible says about our other issues does not mean that there is not an answer.  Furthermore, what we feel or even experience does not change what “Truth” is.

 

For those of us who teeter totter on these issues of life (which is ALL of us at some point depending on the season that we are in) let me tell you what the bible calls that back and forth, up and down, emotional rollercoaster… It’s called being double minded.

 

James 1:4-8

Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. 6But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; 8he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.

 

Sometimes, in the face of adversity, we just have to decide what is truth and who we are going to believe!  If God’s Word is truth, then find out what it says concerning your current circumstances, and stand on that Truth!

 

There comes a point where we simply believe what God says because He said it…and regardless of how we feel, we simply believe that God’s word is truth…  I’ve lived this…let me rephrase that, I LIVE this every day!  Focusing my faith and prayers away from what I “feel” and redirecting my attention and faith on what God says about my circumstances.

 

I make Him the authority and not my emotions…I make His Word the final say in my life and choose to not focus on what is currently attempting to destroy.  I cast my cares upon the Lord because His Word says that He cares for me.  I seek wisdom from God on how to navigate my current difficulties knowing that He sees me not as I “am” presently, but as who I “will be”.

 

When I look around and feel frustrated as a shepherd boy tending to my fathers stinky sheep, God sees how my faithfulness in this season is preparing me to be the King that He created me to be in the future (a little King David analogy there).  God doesn’t see the shepherd boy, He sees the King…

 

When we determine to allow God’s word to be the final authority in our lives, we put away double mindedness and become single minded.  In the single mindedness we release Him to be able to move on our behalf.  We actually posture ourselves to receive from God when His Word becomes the authority in our lives.

 

If God’s Word is good enough for our salvation, it’s good enough for the rest of the “work”… as I’ve quoted so many times before… He who has begun a good work in you is faithful to complete it!

 

Posture yourself for completion by allowing God’s Word to be the foundation that you stand upon in EVERY circumstance!!!

 

Y’all know I love ya…and as always, If you can dig it, say WORD!

 

Addendum from my Dad, The Original “Tattooed Preacher”:

 

WORD! I think that there is a “spirit knowing” that we experience when we stay our minds on God, what He has said (Scripture), what He is saying(an acquired and developing ability to discern what God is revealing).

 

That “spirit knowing” is something our emotions and rationale will need to “catch up to”…and that happens when we SEE things from God’s perspective. When we SEE from His perspective then Body, Soul, and Spirit are proportionately balanced…”God Sense”and “common sense” become one…Nothing missing!…Nothing Broken!….”God Sense”and “common sense” are synonymous…PEACE in spite of circumstances!