July 7, 2004

[Kidan]

Quote[/b] ]Enter by the narrow gate . . . . Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life . . .
—Matthew 7:13-14

Quote[/b] ]If we are going to live as disciples of Jesus, we have to remember that all efforts of worth and excellence are difficult. The Christian life is gloriously difficult, but its difficulty does not make us faint and cave in— it stirs us up to overcome. Do we appreciate the miraculous salvation of Jesus Christ enough to be our utmost for His highest— our best for His glory?

God saves people by His sovereign grace through the atonement of Jesus, and "it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure" ( Philippians 2:13 ). But we have to "work out" that salvation in our everyday, practical living (Philippians 2:12). If we will only start on the basis of His redemption to do what He commands, then we will find that we can do it. If we fail, it is because we have not yet put into practice what God has placed within us. But a crisis will reveal whether or not we have been putting it into practice. If we will obey the Spirit of God and practice in our physical life what God has placed within us by His Spirit, then when a crisis does come we will find that our own nature, as well as the grace of God, will stand by us.

Thank God that He does give us difficult things to do! His salvation is a joyous thing, but it is also something that requires bravery, courage, and holiness. It tests us for all we are worth. Jesus is "bringing many sons to glory" ( Hebrews 2:10 , and God will not shield us from the requirements of sonship. God’s grace produces men and women with a strong family likeness to Jesus Christ, not pampered, spoiled weaklings. It takes a tremendous amount of discipline to live the worthy and excellent life of a disciple of Jesus in the realities of life. And it is always necessary for us to make an effort to live a life of worth and excellence.

 

[Kidan]

It still amazes me to this day the number of people who get saved and expect their lives to now be on easy street.  After all, we're sons of God now!  Shouldn't a son of God have a life filled with ease and rest?


What an utter sad lie.

Life for a son is hard, for the father is constantly there to shape the son into the man the son should be.  As a father I see this in how I treat my own son. Do I want to give my son a life of ease?  of constant playtime without restriction?  Of course!  I want my son to be happy.  Yet as a father, I realize that those restrictions are part and parcel of making my son happy.  Giving my son a life of ease, contrary to whatever opinion he may have now or in the future, would do nothing for my son.  By making him obey authority, by making him respect others, by making him work, by allowing him to get hurt, by ensuring that he occasionally fails, I'm giving him the tools and the emotional resources to succeed in this life.

God treats us all the same way.  He ensures we have obstacles in our paths, He ensures that we don't have everything laid at our feet on a silver platter. He ensures that we have ample opportunity to grow in Him.  It is His responsibility as the Father, just as it's my responsibility as a father to ensure my son becomes a good, just man.


The only beings in my household that even get something close to a life of ease are my cats.  Why?  Because they are not my son, they are pets.  They are not worth as much to me as my son.  I show how much more I value my son, by how much more effort and work I put into making his life harder, more challenging and more structured.





So thank God that your life is hard.  Thank God that He cares enough about you to ensure you don't have a life of ease.  Thank God that you are a son or a daughter, and not the family cat.

 

[Avesther]

I was reading this and contemplating upon the words you wrote Kidan and Mathew 11:30 was pressed onto my heart. When you look at these two you get a wonderful contrast and answer.

Mathew 11:25-30

Quote[/b] ]At that time Jesus said "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure.All things have been commited to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

Even though throughout our walks, we will face obsticles, the obsticles are:

A. Placed there lovingly by our Father,
B. There to reveal Gods will and Nature to us,
C. Never more then we can bear,
D. If we give it back to God, he will get us through it.

It has been my experience, everytime, that when ever I give a problem back to God, he opens to doors that I should walk through to attain the solution. Everytime I try and solve it myself, I fail to solve it, or I create a slew of new ones.

Everytime I go back to God (and I've had to beat my head against the perverbiale brick wall many times) and admit I can not find a solution, I hand that over to him (making the solution known) and I submit myself to his will, the door opens so wide, I can't help but walk through it.