RESERVED...FOR US
Today, God's people often relegate Him to genie-in-a-bottle status. I'm sure, that most of us don't realize that is what we do. However, to live our lives in constant desire for deliverance from natural circumstances--declaring, demanding and decreeing that God change the atmosphere for us (in this life) is doing exactly that. God has never promised us that we can have whatever we want. The reason we believe that every desire is at our fingertips is due to lack of context. It's easy to manipulate the Word of God into saying anything we want, if we isolate a verse, here and there. Context changes everything--and considering how God moves and deals with His people throughout the entire Bible, will show us that is not His goal for us, in the earth. I'm still amazed that we believe we can call those those things which be not as though they were--when that is not what Paul said. He wrote to us that "...God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were", not us. We don't have that ability, and we should not even attempt it; that's God's place.
We have become miracle-chaser's, even though Jesus said, "An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas..." (And we know what happened to Jonah--his sign or miracle was being in the belly of the whale for 3 days and nights; it was miraculous, just not in a good way). "Sign" as Jesus used it in this verse refers to "miracles, signs and wonders". They are not bad things, but they have a distinct purpose--and they are not for our comfort and our desires...unless we are an "evil and adulterous generation"; in fact, over and over in the New Testament we see demonstrations of the righteous giving or selling what they had for the cause of Christ--and to bless those who were less fortunate. Jesus used miracles and spoke to unbelievers in that manner because it is all they could grasp--we are to be different, spiritual, not carnal. The supernatural is for a witness to His power, not how we live our lives--looking for God to intervene supernaturally in our affairs. The word supernatural can be broken down into two words: "super" and "natural"; so, the supernatural isn't spiritual, but an elevated level of the natural, earthy and carnal things. John 20:31 tells us why Jesus performed miracles--"But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name." In this context, Jesus had just challenged them (Thomas and the other disciples) to believe, without seeing. Although they were called and chosen by the Savior--they still did not believe, completely; it would take the power of the Holy Ghost to change them into believers.
For us, who are called, chosen and believing, God has reserved the spiritual things as His gift to us. For believers, abundant living has nothing to do with the natural, but with the spiritual. Paul, in his letter to the church at Colosse, wrote: "If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory." [Colossians 3:1-4].
If we interpret Scripture to mean that God desires His people to have the best of everything, then what do we do with those elect saints in 1 Peter, suffering immeasurably who had "joy unspeakable and full of glory" in the midst of being scattered throughout the Roman Empire, facing death, terrible suffering and false accusations? What do we do with the great cloud of witnesses who "were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection: And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth." What do we do with Paul who suffered with a "thorn in the flesh" that he persistently asked God for deliverance from--and God's response was, "My grace is sufficient for thee...". Or, what about Joseph and Job? How is it that we think God will automatically remove us from difficult circumstances when we "pray in faith"? The Word of God commends these people for their faith, yet, they suffered much. Are we any different--does God reserve something supernatural for us, but not the same deliverance for them?
When the Word of God speaks to us of abundant living, it refers to being fruitful--spiritually. Our focus is to be on the eternal things of God, not the earthly. Our fruit is spiritual and it is to be evident in our lives, by the Holy Ghost. The difference in our suffering and those who suffer without Christ is the peace and joy we have, in the midst of the chaos (that's living abundantly!). The world only has pain, but we have God in the center of our suffering giving us "peace that passes all understanding" and "joy unspeakable". There is no promise to us that we can have whatever we desire--not, contextually. When the psalmist writes, "Delight thyself also in the Lord: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart..." it is with the understanding that we are delighting ourselves in the Lord. To delight in the Lord is to crave Him so much that we are insatiable--for Him. Then, He gives us what we desire--not tangible, earthly things, but more of what we crave--HIM. God only writes that blank check for us, when our affections are set on Him.
If it takes miracles, signs and wonders to keep us attracted to God, maybe it's time to question our faith and belief in Him. It is immaturity or lack of faith that keeps us dependent on God for natural things that we can obtain ourselves with hard work, if we desire them; but they should not be our drive and motivation, in life. That is not the focus of the Holy Spirit--to give us whatever we want. If we could measure faith by substance, then Donald Trump, Oprah Winfrey and Bill Gates would be among the most faith-filled people in this nation. Faith can only be measured by a spiritual measuring stick. James, said the man with dead faith is not the poor man, but the one who withholds his substance from the poor. Jesus challenged the young ruler's faith by asking him to sell everything he had and come and follow Him. He wants us to come to Him expressing how "poor in spirit" we are, so that He can fill us with His Spirit and spiritual things.
The test of faith is not how much we can get if we believe, but how much we believe when we don't have everything we want. Will we still hold on and serve Him, with all of our hearts, when things don't go our way? Habakkuk put it this way: "Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation." Even though "the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls:". Why and how was this (and is this) possible, in the face of such trouble and lack? Because, "The Lord God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds' feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places."
We have become miracle-chaser's, even though Jesus said, "An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas..." (And we know what happened to Jonah--his sign or miracle was being in the belly of the whale for 3 days and nights; it was miraculous, just not in a good way). "Sign" as Jesus used it in this verse refers to "miracles, signs and wonders". They are not bad things, but they have a distinct purpose--and they are not for our comfort and our desires...unless we are an "evil and adulterous generation"; in fact, over and over in the New Testament we see demonstrations of the righteous giving or selling what they had for the cause of Christ--and to bless those who were less fortunate. Jesus used miracles and spoke to unbelievers in that manner because it is all they could grasp--we are to be different, spiritual, not carnal. The supernatural is for a witness to His power, not how we live our lives--looking for God to intervene supernaturally in our affairs. The word supernatural can be broken down into two words: "super" and "natural"; so, the supernatural isn't spiritual, but an elevated level of the natural, earthy and carnal things. John 20:31 tells us why Jesus performed miracles--"But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name." In this context, Jesus had just challenged them (Thomas and the other disciples) to believe, without seeing. Although they were called and chosen by the Savior--they still did not believe, completely; it would take the power of the Holy Ghost to change them into believers.
For us, who are called, chosen and believing, God has reserved the spiritual things as His gift to us. For believers, abundant living has nothing to do with the natural, but with the spiritual. Paul, in his letter to the church at Colosse, wrote: "If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory." [Colossians 3:1-4].
If we interpret Scripture to mean that God desires His people to have the best of everything, then what do we do with those elect saints in 1 Peter, suffering immeasurably who had "joy unspeakable and full of glory" in the midst of being scattered throughout the Roman Empire, facing death, terrible suffering and false accusations? What do we do with the great cloud of witnesses who "were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection: And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth." What do we do with Paul who suffered with a "thorn in the flesh" that he persistently asked God for deliverance from--and God's response was, "My grace is sufficient for thee...". Or, what about Joseph and Job? How is it that we think God will automatically remove us from difficult circumstances when we "pray in faith"? The Word of God commends these people for their faith, yet, they suffered much. Are we any different--does God reserve something supernatural for us, but not the same deliverance for them?
When the Word of God speaks to us of abundant living, it refers to being fruitful--spiritually. Our focus is to be on the eternal things of God, not the earthly. Our fruit is spiritual and it is to be evident in our lives, by the Holy Ghost. The difference in our suffering and those who suffer without Christ is the peace and joy we have, in the midst of the chaos (that's living abundantly!). The world only has pain, but we have God in the center of our suffering giving us "peace that passes all understanding" and "joy unspeakable". There is no promise to us that we can have whatever we desire--not, contextually. When the psalmist writes, "Delight thyself also in the Lord: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart..." it is with the understanding that we are delighting ourselves in the Lord. To delight in the Lord is to crave Him so much that we are insatiable--for Him. Then, He gives us what we desire--not tangible, earthly things, but more of what we crave--HIM. God only writes that blank check for us, when our affections are set on Him.
If it takes miracles, signs and wonders to keep us attracted to God, maybe it's time to question our faith and belief in Him. It is immaturity or lack of faith that keeps us dependent on God for natural things that we can obtain ourselves with hard work, if we desire them; but they should not be our drive and motivation, in life. That is not the focus of the Holy Spirit--to give us whatever we want. If we could measure faith by substance, then Donald Trump, Oprah Winfrey and Bill Gates would be among the most faith-filled people in this nation. Faith can only be measured by a spiritual measuring stick. James, said the man with dead faith is not the poor man, but the one who withholds his substance from the poor. Jesus challenged the young ruler's faith by asking him to sell everything he had and come and follow Him. He wants us to come to Him expressing how "poor in spirit" we are, so that He can fill us with His Spirit and spiritual things.
The test of faith is not how much we can get if we believe, but how much we believe when we don't have everything we want. Will we still hold on and serve Him, with all of our hearts, when things don't go our way? Habakkuk put it this way: "Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation." Even though "the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls:". Why and how was this (and is this) possible, in the face of such trouble and lack? Because, "The Lord God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds' feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places."
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