Healing choices: controlled by circumstances or character?

(adapted from a Rick Warren daily devotional)

When we say things such as, 'That makes me so mad . . . so sad . . . feel so bad,' we’re actually admitting that circumstances control the way we feel. Yet, we do have a choice. We have the ability to make healing choices. We can choose to remain positive; we can choose to not let some circumstance 'make' us mad.

The ability to control our reactions, to handle hurt without retaliating is called meekness. Jesus promised, "Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth" (Matthew 5:5 NIV). Meek people control their reactions toward life, and this gives them far more control over a situation than if they simply react.

If you are a meek person, you are no longer a victim. You control your choices. The best definition of meekness in the Bible is Proverbs 16:32: "It is better to win control over yourself than over whole cities" (TEV).

During World War II, the noted psychiatrist Victor Frankl was a prisoner in the concentration camp at Auschwitz. He said, "They took my clothes, my wife, my kids, my wedding ring. I stood naked before the SS and I realized they can take everything in my life, but they cannot take my freedom to choose how I will respond to them."

That is a freedom you will always have. How do I react? How do I choose to react to those people who hurt me?

Jesus says we will be blessed when we show self-control. You might be thinking, 'That leaves me out! I can't control my reactions! I can't get them under control!' The secret of controlling your reaction is letting God's Spirit fill your life moment-by-moment. He'll break all those bad habits, all those patterns of reacting, all those old ways of being negative, defensive―reacting in fear, in anger, in sarcasm. He can break all those old patterns in your life and fill your life with power, love, and self-control (2 Timothy 1:7).

Some of us are stressed out by life, by circumstances, by relationships. What do we need more than anything else? We need to develop the quality of meekness; the quality of controlling our reactions by the Spirit God has placed in us.

What God seeks

More than anything, God seeks our love.

God's great commandment is that we love Him, ultimately, with all our mind, heart, soul and strength. As we do, we fulfill all He requires of us (see John 14:15). And it is as we love Him that He orchestrates all things to work together for our good (see Rom. 8:28).

Beloved, loving God is not hard. We can fulfill any assignment – auto mechanic or housewife, doctor or college student – and still give great pleasure to our heavenly Father. We do not need ministry titles to love the Lord. Indeed, God measures the value of our lives by the depth of our love. This is what He requires of every true God seeker: to love Him where we're at.

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Excerpted & adapted from Francis Frangipane's newest book on seeking God (currently untitled), due out in November.

God’s Goodness will pursue you!

“Surely your goodness . . . will pursue me all the days of my life”
— King David in Psalm 23:6 (NLT)

Even in the middle of your hurts, habits, and hang-up, God is watching over you. King David is not saying, "Surely only good things are going to happen to me!" He knew as well as anyone that bad things happen to good people.

David’s point is only that God’s goodness will follow after or pursue him. No matter how bad, evil, or difficult something seems, God will work it out for good.

It’s one of God’s great promises that He has given to believers: We know all that happens to us is working for our good—if we love God and are fitting into his plans (Romans 8:28). If you're a believer, the Bible says all things are working together for good—not that all things are good—but working together for good.

There is no difficulty, dilemma, defeat, or disaster in the life of a believer that God can’t ultimately turn toward His purpose

(Adapted from a Rick Warren devotional)

Jesus cleanses and calls

By Jon Walker

One of the most effective tools the enemy will use to keep you from serving God is convincing you that you’ve either messed up too much to serve God, or that you must clean up your life before you can get God’s attention. When these thoughts pop into your head, sniff the air for the scent of sulfur, because they are lies straight from the fires of hell!

God’s intention when He convicts us of our sins is not to condemn us; rather His breath of life disperses the “fog of war”—that satanic smoke the father of lies uses to keep us on the run from God.

If you follow the sequence of Isaiah 6 (see below), you’ll see how God initiates the process that brings you into His holy presence and purifies you to remain there. Your new guilt-free, sin-atoned status will compel you and prepare you for the unique mission God sets before you.

Isaiah reports that God’s fire is a cleansing fire that burns your guilt away and purifies you from sin, sealing within you the work of Jesus Christ. The prophet also suggests God’s ultimate purpose for cleansing us is to prepare us for mission: “Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?’ And I said, ‘Here am I. Send me!’” (Isaiah 6:8).

Prior to God taking the initiative to cleanse Isaiah, the prophet felt overwhelmed and unprepared for any mission on God’s behalf. After the cleansing, Isaiah is energized with a desire to serve God.

'Woe to me!' I cried. 'I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips . . . and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.' Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal . . . which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, 'See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.' Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, 'Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?' And I said, 'Here am I. Send me!'

—Isaiah 6:5-8 (NIV)

Adapted from Growing with Purpose: Connecting with God Every Day, by Jon Walker

A pretty good religion?

In a recent book, An Atheist Defends Religion: Why Humanity Is Better Off With Religion Than Without It, author Bruce Sheiman reminds readers of what many sociologists of religion have proven time and again: that religion helps people live happier and healthier lives by giving them meaning and purpose.

'Religion' benefits society enormously, Sheiman and sociologists note, by establishing food cupboards, hospitals, schools, rescue missions, water wells and what not. As the subtitle says, humanity is better off, on the whole, as a result of religion.

But Christianity Today senior managing editor Mark Galli takes issue with that viewpoint and its consequences.

“Christianity can't help but be a religion. It is composed of human institutions that of necessity use moral and social techniques to make a go of it. There's no getting around that.

“But if people look at us and see only religion, and worse, pat us on the back because humanity is better off because of us—well, that's about the most damning thing they could say.

“.... The gospel isn't primarily about helping individuals to live the life they've always wanted; it tells people to die to their yearning for self-fulfillment. It is not about helping people feel good about themselves, but telling them that they are dying. It's not about improving people, but killing the old self and creating them anew. It's not about helping people make space for spirituality in their busy lives, but about a God who would obliterate all our private space.

"The gospel is not about getting people to cooperate with God in making the world a better place—to give it a fresh coat of paint, to remodel it; instead it announces God's plan to raze the present world order and build something utterly new.

"The gospel is about the Cross, which puts a nail in the coffin of religion as such. And the gospel is about resurrection—not an improvement nor an adjustment, but the breaking in of a completely new life because the old life has been obliterated.”

You’ve got to read the entire article (don't worry, it's short) to get the full gist!