understanding

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Our Personal Winters

In the book, Christian Maturity by Madam Guyon, she compares the Christian life to the life of a tree. She says, “ In the winter when a tree loses its leaves it is no longer beautiful in its surface appearance…It’s just that the leaves are no longer there to hide what is real. The same is true of believers. We can each look so beautiful until the obvious signs of life disappears.”

What a great analogy.  When the winters of our life happen, it may seem as if our life has all but disappeared. Like the tree, when our personal winters occur God is allowing our leaves to fall to reveal all the ugliness and inconsistencies that we have been hiding.  It becomes a moment of personal reflection to show us who we really are.  No, we don’t lose our identity in Christ but in those moments we are like a tree in the winter time without its leaves it is totally exposed. Without the outward adorning of its leaves, it looks lifeless and is totally exposed to the elements.  

Regarding the tree, even though it seems like the tree has lost its life, there is something going on deep inside.  Something that will allow it to be fully leafed come spring. There is something happening that we can’t see deep inside the tree and in its roots that will allow it to extend to new heights and more fully express its grandeur in the spring and summer.

In a similar manner during our spiritual winters, God is doing something deep inside of us that could only be accomplished during our winter time.   By revealing who we really are we come to the point of brokenness, then abandonment and surrender.  We are given the opportunity to come clean with the Lord and move toward a new level of trust.

If it wasn’t for those spiritual winters we would never know the joy of fully trusting God through the storms of life.  We would be ignorant of His ability to carry us through when things seem out of control.

Bottom Line

It is good to remember that during every season of our life, including our spiritual winters, God is doing something deep within us that will allow us to be fully adorned with His glory.  He wants to expose our fleshly ways, and all those things we do just to to get acceptance from others.  Sometimes we may experience rejection and deep hurt from those whom we have loved and helped the most.  Maybe we have been getting our acceptance from what we do rather than who we are in Christ.  God allows these winter moments to redirect us toward the indwelling Christ for our peace and acceptance.

God is never asleep at the wheel during times of crisis.  But He is fully aware of our circumstances and plight. He is merely waiting for us to acknowledge that we are fully dependent upon Him. He wants free rein in our life so that we can be useful and fruitful vessels.

During your times of personal winter, will you allow God to have free rein in your life? Will you trust Him to prepare you for your season of full blooming?

Prayer:  Lord I give you permission to strip everything from my life that causes me to trust other things or people more than we trust you. During the winter seasons of my life I submit to the deeper work you will do in my heart to prepare me for the next season.

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The Essence of Our Faith

When we become a committed follower of Jesus we enter into a realm of faith that is unique to every other religion.  Its uniqueness is expressed in its essence.  Essence is defined by Websters as “the intrinsic nature or indispensable quality of something”.

I love the Bible and believe it to be a living book that is the inspired, infallible and inerrant Word of God.  By reading and heeding its instruction it gives me guidance, comfort, gems of wisdom and a worldview to live by.  But as important as the Scriptures are to my daily life it is not the essence of my faith. 

Prayer is something I practice daily.  Sometimes I set aside a block of time to pray and sometimes I pray a lot of little prayers during my daily routine. Prayer keeps me connected to my Heavenly Father. I pray to understand the will of God for my life.  I sometimes pray for healing, for wisdom, discernment and even for a miracle.  Prayer is a vital element in my daily communication with Heaven.  As important as prayer is to my life, it is not the essence of my faith.

I love to fellowship with my Christian brothers and sisters.  In a way, it’s like having a foretaste of  Heaven.  We are on the same page, we enjoy the same Lord and we base and plan our lives on Kingdom principles.  As much as we enjoy going to church and good Christian fellowship, it’s not the essence of my faith.

The Risen Savior is the essence of our faith

The unique aspect of our faith is the risen Christ.  Jesus’ virgin birth, his sinless life and his sacrificial death on the cross mean little without his bodily resurrection.  Rising from the dead was the divine trump card. In that one act, Jesus became victor over death, hell, and the grave. The resurrection gives “indispensable quality” to our faith.  No other religion can claim their teacher and leader rose from the dead.

The resurrection gives authority and validity to the Bible.  The Scriptures predicted that a Savior would be born and he would be rejected by those He came to save. The Scriptures record that He would be falsely accused and murdered. Then he would rise from the dead three days later.  All this happened just at the Scriptures recorded centuries earlier. 

Because Jesus taught us the value of prayer and how to pray, we can now “come boldly to the throne room of heaven”.( Hebrews 4:16 )  Prayer takes on a new power and meaning.  The resurrection enabled the Holy Spirit to indwell every believer.  We now have divine guidance who teaches us how to pray, illumines the Scripture and then convicts us of our sin so that we can maintain continual fellowship with our Heavenly Father.

The resurrection gives us a new identity and a new power.  Jeremiah wrote about this “I will put my instructions deep within them, and I will write them on their hearts. (Jeremiah 31 NLT)  Because of the resurrection, we can now be indwelt by the risen savior. Jesus prayed just before he was taken up to heaven.  

“I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in me through their message. I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me.”(John 17:20-21)

Because of the risen Savior we now have oneness with Christ.  The moment we are born again we are placed into Christ and Christ is placed into us.  That means wherever we go Christ goes with us. But it also means wherever Christ is (at the right hand of the Father) we are also.

“Even  when we were dead in our transgressions,  (God) made us alive together with Christ ( By grace you have been saved),  we are raised up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus”  (Ephesians 2:5-6 NAS)

Bottom Line

The essence of our faith is the resurrection. The resurrection gives the Scripture further credibility, it gives prayer its power, and it creates oneness with other believers.  Our faith is more than just a religious creed and a social gathering. Our faith is a relationship that was made possible because of the risen Jesus. He became victor over death, sin, hell and the grave. His resurrection gave us an identity that has a connection to an eternal, heavenly home.  

The resurrection is not just an Easter Holiday, it is the very essence of our faith.  Take time today to rejoice in your salvation made possible by the Cross and sealed by the resurrection. Because He lives we can now live. 

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Abandonment Leads to Conflict

After his resurrection Jesus appeared to his disciples several times. One of the encounters occurred on a beach, after they had been fishing all night. The disciples were close to shore and they noticed Jesus on the beach, he was cooking breakfast for them.

After they had finished eating Jesus asked Peter three times, ”Do you love me?” Most of us are familiar with this discourse between Jesus and Peter. Peter responded all three times that he truly loved Jesus. Then Jesus told Peter to do three things, (1) tend my lambs, (2) take care of my sheep, and (1) feed my sheep.” (John 21)

There is plenty to learn from the three questions Jesus ask and the three things he told Peter to do. But I think the deeper and more profound words of Jesus is what He said to Peter next.

“I tell you the truth, when you were young, you were able to do as you liked; you dressed yourself and went wherever you wanted to go. But when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and others will dress you and take you where you don’t want to go. Jesus said this to let him know by what kind of death he would glorify God.” (John 21:18-19 NLT)

Jesus’ point to Peter is that his life from this point forward was going to be difficult. Jesus is telling Peter that there will come a time that he will be taken where he doesn’t want to go, and he will be treated like he doesn’t want to be treated, and then he will die.

This is not about “when you get old you will have to be led around and then you will die.” There is a deeper message behind this foretelling of Peter’s future. The deeper message is Jesus telling Peter how he is going to live.

In a way, Jesus was telling him that life is not all about Peter. His life is about a bigger story. His life is now about his mission, his mission of bringing the gospel to the nations. With that task comes a life of “being led about where you don’t want to go.”

Life is not about being the main player, but its about your role of being a part of the big picture. In other words, life is not about creating a plan and knowing what is going to happen every season of your life. Life is about conflict, difficult days, disappointment and failure. But God has a purpose in all of that. He wants to lead us to the point of, “If you want to keep your life you must be willing to lose it.” It’s about abandonment.

God wants us to get to the point of surrendering every aspect and every season of our life to Him, so we can give our life away.  That’s where radical Christianity comes in – when we let go of our life, we will find it.

That’s how a highly trained physician can leave a financially lucrative career and become a missionary doctor in the bush of a third world country.  Its how a professional school teacher can quit her secure job with a good salary and benefits and go teach illiterate children in a poverty stricken country.

The issue is not are you willing to be a missionary.  The issue is are you willing to lay down your life, your dreams and your plans at Jesus’ feet and give him a blank pad, and have him write your story as He sees fit?

The Bottom Line


All rememberable stories and movies have an unpredictable and unseen surprise ending.  It’s that conflict and tension that etches the story in your mind. Our life is one big story being written by God. That means we are going to be led into situations that are uncomfortable, unpredictable, and like Peter, we may be led to places that we don’t want to go.

As a committed follower of Christ we must remember that life is about faith and trust. It’s trusting God in every situation and even sometimes, being led down a path where we don’t want to go.

Be encouraged because God passionately loves you and He always has a purpose for everything He allows in your life.  As your story is being written, your struggle is part of the big picture.

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Depth of Our Love

“I tell you the truth, everyone who acknowledges me publicly here on earth, the Son of Man will also acknowledge in the presence of God’s angels. (Luke 12:8 NLT)

The above verse is not just about publicly declaring our faith, but its about the depth of our love and commitment. Our love for God must transcend the expression of a vocal witness because it goes beyond mere words.

The depth of our love is measured by the inward response to the Holy Spirit’s promptings. It’s not enough to just have our “elevator speech” ready when someone is inquiring about our faith. We must be willing and ready to speak from the depth of our personal fellowship with the Lord.

It’s is not about knowing Bible facts and memorized witnessing plans. It is about being able to reach into the well of our transformed heart and pour out living water to those we encounter. It’s being transparent to the point that what we share comes from the depths of our spiritual well. Our heart is full and running over because we have been drinking from God’s well and passionately seeking after Him.

Drinking from God’s well helps us deal with the deception about ourselves. That’s the reason searching the scriptures is so important. The Word becomes a two edged sword (Hebrews 4:12), it wounds us, it reveals our weakness and exposes our self-centeredness.

The Lord desires to move us beyond the need to openly declare that we are “just an ole sinner saved by grace”. This declaration sounds spiritual but it can be a barrier that hinders us from allowing the Holy Spirit to reveal the deception about ourselves.

“Confessing me before men” is more than a verbal acknowledgment, it’s evidence that we are letting go of our life in order that Christ’s life may be prevalent. This is God’s intention for His children, that we manifest Christ’s life to the world. This is the element that causes the world to recognize that there is something different about us, something that attracts them to our quality of life.

Bottom Line

How do we make sure that our life is manifesting Christ’s life? Here are three things that may help us toward that goal.

Meditate regularly on the Scripture, asking the Holy Spirit to reveal our sin and our attitude. – I know, its not PC to talk about sin. But that’s the unique aspect of Scripture, it’s ability to expose our sin. Often it’s not the big sins that make us stumble, but those little sins that cause us to grow cold toward the Holy Spirit’s prompting and leadership. The Scripture, properly applied, penetrates our sensitivities and enables us to destroy the barriers that keep us from intimacy with the Father.

Intentional and targeted prayer – This is moving beyond the typical believer’s prayer of “bless me and my family and watch over and protect us today”. It’s prayer that is focused on asking the Lord to reveal our self-centeredness, selfishness, pride, anger, and most of all, our level of unbelief.

Trust God – Trusting God is a faith issue. Do we really believe that God is greater than our situation or dilemma? Do we believe that He can deliver us when we have no way out or no options left?

When we are depressed, can we believe that we can cast our care and depression on Him and He will change our thinking and deliver us from our depression? The answer is a resounding YES!

“Trust in the Lord with your whole heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your path.” (Proverbs 3:5-6)

If we let God’s Word shape our spiritual character, and we develop a prayer life that seeks to act like a search light on our soul, then we will develop a depth of trust that will carry us through every situation.

 

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Different is Good

It’s funny how life’s personal failures and disappointments help clear the fog from your eyes. Dale Carnegie said, ”You develop success from failures. Discouragement and failure are two of the surest stepping stones to success.”

It was my personal search for significance that led me to discover two things. Firstly, that real significance is found in your identity in Christ. His life in you makes you complete and gives purpose for living. Secondly, that people see things differently because they observe and determine life from their personality and temperament perspective.

That’s the reason that opposites attract. I have seen this play out hundreds of times during my counseling career. When I would do pre-marital counseling one the first questions I would ask a couple is, “Why do you think you are right for each other?” Often I would get the answer, “We are just alike in every area.” Now that would always throw up a red flag. I would then go into my speech that opposites naturally attract because they help complete each other. The last thing you want to do is marry someone just like you.

Even when a couple would not indicate that they were alike in every area, I would still give them the speech that opposites are usually good for a marriage. That would setup my next major point which was, “Just because someone is different, doesn’t mean they are wrong.”

I have been married to Brenda, the love of my life, for many years. We married just out of high school. Nearly half of that time I didn’t understand the value of us being different. Early on I discovered she views life differently than me. She is highly organized, exact, deliberate and practical. All the clothes in her side of the closet are folded, properly stacked, color coordinated and arranged in seasonal order. On my side of the closet the clothes are described as hanging and stuffed in drawers. They only get folded when she folds them after washing.

With her desk, everything is organized and the desk is primarily clean. With my desk, don’t touch the mess because I know where everything is located. Maybe I am giving the impression that I am a slob, no not really, I’m just not hung up on needing to have everything, down to the last detail, categorized and organized. I like things orderly but not just the way she does.

If you wanted to put a label on the way we see life, Brenda would be considered as one who is Decisive Orderly and I am Spontaneous Flexible. A Decisive Orderly looks at someone on the Spontaneous Flexible side and says, “You are indecisive, a procrastinator, and you don’t have any goal in life but to play. A Spontaneous Flexible person would say to a Decisive Orderly person, “You are wound too tight and far too serious about life. Loosen up, let your hair down and have fun, you are going to have a stroke.”

Over the years, Brenda and I have moved toward the middle. I am more ordered and organized than earlier in our marriage and she became much more flexible, and has even had a few episodes of pure spontaneity. (Ha! Ha!)
Trying to change someone who doesn’t think and approach life like you is a major misuse of your time. Rather than trying to change them, try looking at life from their perspective. Let me give you another personal example.

Early in our marriage I might suggest to Brenda on Wednesday, “Let’s take this weekend off and go to the Tennessee Mountains for a couple of days.” I would immediately get a response from her that she couldn’t possibly go because she had do the laundry, clean the house, wash the clothes, etc. I couldn’t understand why she couldn’t just break away from the routine and go.

It took me quite a few years to learn how selfish I had been. I was only thinking of how I felt. I failed to understand that her perspective on decision making was just as important as my view. I then began to look at life through her eyes, attempting to think from her perspective. I learned I needed to give her time to make a decision. I also learned that spontaneity may be good occasionally, but most of the time that would cause me to make decisions too quickly without getting all the facts and evaluating the consequences.

One of the key elements of being a good leader, a good friend, a good wife/husband or parent is to learn to look at life from their perspective. Don’t just assume that they are naturally disagreeable. Ask yourself the question, how do they look at life? Do they make quick decisions or are they slow to act, not jumping at the first urge? Are they more moved by their emotions or must they have all the facts, even the little details before they take action? Are you giving them too many options and too many facts? Are they a visual person or must they see details.

Think for a moment, do you like it when someone really gets who you are? Does it cause you to feel valued and loved when someone looks you in the eye and knows where you are coming from? When we learn to listen from that person’s perspective and view of life, then a real connection is made.

What’s my point? Being different isn’t right or wrong, it’s just different. God made us that way. I am thankful for my careful, orderly, detail oriented wife. And I am pretty sure she is thankful for her visionary, creative, spontaneous husband. We have both learned from each other and have met in the middle. Maybe that’s the reason we are still desperately in love after 45 years of marriage.