Chapter 6
God Is On Your Side
(This chapter will make most sense if you first read
Chapters 2 and 3)
Knowing that my sins set in motion God's laws, and therefore every
sin brings negative consequences, (Chapters 2 and 3) can make me
very anxious. The power and inevitability of the operation of God's
laws revealed in the following scriptures can haunt us.
What If I Don't "Get It Right"?
What happens if I don't get it right? What happens if I fail to catch
every sin and have it forgiven? We may feel alone and hopeless,
and may be set into striving to make sure we don't miss anything.
We may then become discouraged, despondent, even desperate
when we fail to catch every sin.
If the spiritual universe was simply mechanical and automatic, we
would indeed be in trouble. If at this moment we were to reap the
just consequences of every sin we ever committed, we would be
overwhelmed. The pain and bad fruit in our lives would be
unbearable.
God Is Protecting Us
Fortunately for us, God actively intervenes in this process. For His
children, God holds back most of the accumulated reaping that we
would otherwise experience. He loves us and does not want us
overwhelmed or destroyed.
We see this easily when we think of children. For example, when
children are very small, we put them in a crib with side rails. We do
this to protect them from falling out of bed and getting hurt.
However, there comes a time when we expect them to be able to
sleep without falling out of bed.
We also provide "baby sitters" for our children when they are
small. Otherwise, while we are gone they might hurt themselves, or
perhaps burn the house down. We take care of them in this way
because we know they are not yet ready to handle the
responsibilities of looking after themselves. Eventually they will
have matured enough to handle greater responsibilities, and we
can then leave them alone and expect them to be responsible. In
fact, they will eventually want to take care of themselves. Then we
no longer should protect them to the same degree. They need to
grow and practice exercising the new responsibilities while we are
still available to coach them.
God Is A Good Father
God protects us in a similar way. He only allows us to reap what
will help us, what will motivate us to pursue our healing. He only
allows us to experience what we are ready to handle, so that the
experience will bring about good in our lives, rather than
destruction.
Raising My Son
My son John was always a happy-go-lucky boy. He always had a
lot of friends, and was very generous. However, if he had a dollar in
his pocket, he spent it. After all, he knew that his parents would
meet all of his financial needs, so why not? We talked to him many
times about saving some money, but it never happened. We were
very concerned that he would grow up to be financially
irresponsible.
In the summer between his sophomore and junior year of high
school we got him a good paying job with a building contractor
who was putting an addition onto our house. As a growing boy,
when school started in the fall, none of his old clothes would fit
anymore. In the past we had always bought all his clothes. Now
that he had a well paying job, he agreed that he would pay for his
own new clothes that fall.
When fall came, he informed us that he needed some new clothes
for school. We agreed, as his pants were three inches too short.
However, over the summer he had spent all of his money, much of it
on his friends. We were then faced with either bailing him out of
his dilemma, or making him live with the consequences of his
behavior. Since our previous words had not taught him about
saving for a rainy day, we realized that he needed to experience in
his life the results of his choices. So we didn't pay for new clothes.
As we all know, peer pressure is a cruel master for teenagers.
When John had to go to school in clothes that were too small, each
day he died a thousand deaths. Later in the fall his wrestling coach
gave him an old pair of tennis shoes that he had found abandoned
in a locker. John was mortified by this. What finally bailed him out
of his unpleasant consequence was Christmas and clothing gifts
from his grandparents. John has now become a financially
responsible adult.
Were We Cruel?
Were we cruel when we allowed peer pressure to impact him?
Were we being unloving by allowing him to suffer for his
misbehavior? Not at all. It was difficult for us to watch him suffer.
We loved him, but we knew there was a lesson that he needed to
learn; and it could only be learned by experience. If he didn't
change his attitude towards money he would possibly suffer all of
his life from financial folly. As his parents, it was our responsibility
to do what was necessary to help him to grow up to be mature and
responsible.
We did not create the peer pressure that made him suffer, but we
did withdraw our "protection" from it. We had within our power the
ability to protect him from that embarrassment by buying him some
new clothes. However, it was evident that he had not yet learned to
be responsible, and perhaps the only way he would become mature
would be for us to withhold our "protection." It was in his best
interest, even though he hated it, and he suffered. In a sense, we
"used" the peer pressure, which is a cruel and merciless force, to
help him to become mature and responsible.
God Wants Us Healed
When Christians encounter difficulties they often ask, "Why didn't
God keep that from happening?" They wonder, if God is all
powerful, why didn't He intervene?
Hopefully this example with my own son will help you understand
how God works in our lives. He tries to gently tell us about
something that we need to change. But if we don't, or can't, change
our behavior, there are times that He has to allow us to suffer the
consequences for what we do. Because He loves us, even though
it hurts Him to watch us suffer, He is willing to endure this. He
knows that we need our character changed, and that experiencing
pain in our lives is sometimes the only way that we will be
motivated to seek change.
God Is Raising His Children
As parents, most of us do the best we can in raising our children,
but we don't do it perfectly. However, God is the perfect parent:
God is your Father, and He is raising you like a good father raises a
child. God speaks in relationship terms, because most of us have
been raised in families, and many have been parents. Thus He is
speaking about relationships, with which you can likely relate,
because He wants you to understand experientially what your
relationship with Him is like.
God Is Wiser Than Us
Those of us who are parents know how much we love our children.
We also know that when they were little we were much wiser than
they were, and hopefully we had their best interests at heart as we
raised them. Sometimes they did not understand all the reasons
why we were disciplining them as we were, and usually they were
not happy with the discipline. In fact, the discipline had to be
unpleasant or it would be ineffective.
God Tailors Our Walk
We also realized that one-year-old children cannot perform as five-
year-old children. Schools do not expect as much of first graders
as they do of ninth graders. In the mean time, as they gradually
grow, we need to do for them what they cannot do for themselves.
However, it is up to us as parents to decide what they can or cannot
do. Parents also need to challenge their children to help them to
grow up into mature and responsible adults. If parents were to do
everything for their children, they would grow up to be lazy,
spoiled, self-centered, and immature. But if children are properly
mentored, they grow up to be mature.
So it is with God. He is raising you for your good. He is wiser, and
He has a special plan for your life. He knows what you need at any
stage of your life. For example, all of you who have walked with the
Lord for some time have discovered that you can't "get away with"
as much as you could when you were first saved. The level of
accountability for your sins has obviously increased.
We Gave Him Permission
Before you gave your life to Jesus, you were not God's child, and
you were in rebellion against Him. At that time He let you go your
own way, and you were not under His protection.
You were in the world and of the world, and Satan was the one who
had authority over you. However, when you responded to God's
invitation and made a choice to turn your life over to Jesus, you
became God's child. At that moment reality changed for you.
When you made that choice you gave Him permission to raise you
as He saw best. At that time you probably didn’t know the full
impact of your decision. But from the moment you made Jesus
your Lord, He had your permission to do whatever it took to direct
you to maturity.
God Does Not Afflict You
It is important for you to know that God does not afflict you.
Otherwise you might be angry at Him, and that wouldn't be good for
you. God allowing you to reap some of the just consequences of
your own sin is very different than God afflicting you. In the
example of raising my son, if I had been the one afflicting him, I
would be the one taunting him and making fun of him. I would be
pointing out to all of his friends his inadequate clothing and being
sure to point out his immaturity and irresponsibility. That would be
an awful thing to do! Can you imagine doing that to your own child?
God specifically tells us that He won't do this to us.
God Has A Good Plan For You
The above scripture touches on God's purpose in allowing trials in
our lives. He says, he gave us birth to be a kind of firstfruits of his
creatures. He also implies that this is a good thing: All good giving
and every perfect gift comes from above. But what does this really
mean?
What Is The Purpose Of Your Life?
Does your life have a purpose, or is it just a series of random events
that will be over when you die? As a Christian, what does God
expect of you? Does He have a plan for you? Have you ever asked
yourself questions like:
• Why do bad things happen to "good" people?
• Why do I suffer?
• Why does life sometimes seem to not go my way?
• Why do my plans so often not work out?
• Will I go to hell because I sin?
• Am I pleasing God?
• Why am I not prospering?
• Why don't I feel satisfied and fulfilled?
• What is the purpose of my life?
Truly, life is frustrating and confusing when you don't know what
God's plan is for you and what He wants from you.
Possible Purposes For Your Life
In reading the Bible it is possible to come up with quite a
challenging list of things that Christians are supposed to do with
their lives.
"The List"
We are to:
• love God.
• worship God.
• love others.
• preach the Gospel.
• bring others into the Kingdom.
• live a "good" life.
• be a good witness to the world.
• be changed into the image of God.
• resist evil.
• pray for one another.
This is an overwhelming list, and yet it isn't even exhaustive. It
seems even more overwhelming when we have been striving to live
up to any part of it. Most of us have tried very hard, and we have
not been very successful. It may even seem impossible. The
Apostle Paul experienced this same struggle.
Paul understands our struggle, and here he is saying that Jesus
can deliver us from this cycle of trying and failing, trying and failing
again. But how can this happen?
Jesus Kept The Whole "List"
Jesus kept the whole "List." How did He manage to do this? He
did it because it was his very nature, and therefore He did it
effortlessly and perfectly. A fish swims and a bird flies. They don't
have to think about it, they just do it. It is their nature. Jesus lived
perfectly because he was without sin.
Then Jesus says that we are to do the same works as He did!
How Can We Possibly Keep "The
List?"
How can we possibly keep "The List," when we find it so difficult to
keep one or two of the items? It sounds impossible. Jesus was
able to keep "The List" because it was His nature. That is also the
only way we can keep it. We need a new nature. We need to be
changed into the image of Jesus. When have been changed, we
too can keep "The List." As we are in the process of being
changed into His image, we will each incrementally gain His nature,
and we will then behave as He does, step by step. As each
segment of our "Honeycomb" (see Chapter 3) is cleansed and
inhabited by Jesus, the new "good root" (Jesus) will produce
"good fruit." In that specific area of our lives, our character has
been transformed.
Why Does God Want This For You?
We don't know all the reasons why God wants you changed into
the image of Jesus, but He does reveal some of the reasons.
As you can see, God made provision for you not only to go to
heaven and to live with Him for eternity, but He also made provision
for you in this life.
Being “Saved” Has Two Meanings.
The events that happen in your life as a Christian are not random,
or impersonal consequences of your sin, nor are they pointless.
They are God's personal, loving attention to your life.
Keep in mind that the Lord’s paramount goal is to change you into
the image of Jesus, and everything else is secondary. Just as good
parents have to allow their children to suffer difficulties if they are to
mature, so God allows the trials you go through in order to bring
about the transformation you need. He knows each of us and
carefully designs each of our training programs to fit us perfectly.
He knows our level of maturity.
This Sanctification Process Can Feel
Grievous
difficult. If everything in our life went smoothly, we would become
spoiled, self-centered, and greedy. We can see this in children who
are not properly disciplined by their parents.
Old Testament Examples
This tendency is also illustrated in the Old Testament and the
history of the nation of Israel.
New Testament Example
The apostle Paul is also an example of God using Satan to bring
about eventual blessing. Paul says of himself,
Clearly, the Lord knew that Paul might become "exalted"
(huperairomai, "to become haughty") because of the special things
that he experienced, and it was clearly implied in this passage that it
was within the Lord's power to remove the "thorn." But He didn't
remove it, because it was in the best interest of both Paul and the
cause of Christ for which Paul labored that the "thorn" remain.
God Knows What It Takes To
Transform Us
Therefore, each of us needs tests, trials, and discomfort to achieve
God's goal for us, because these things motivate us. God
undoubtedly wishes that He did not have to allow us to be afflicted
and thus experience pain, but He knows He must if we are to be
transformed. I am also convinced that He uses the minimum
amount of pain and challenge necessary to accomplish the change,
but He does use every bit of pressure that is necessary to
accomplish His purpose.
God Is Most Interested In Our
Character
He is more interested in our character than in our being free from
pain. Again, keep in mind that as Christians we are in a special
relationship with God. We are now His children and we have given
Him ownership of our life . There will be times when we, like Paul,
would rather not be experiencing the pain; but God is more
interested in our character than in our comfort. Those who are not
members of God's family do not have the same level of protection
from evil. Since God does not "own them," He therefore does not
have the same freedom to operate in their lives.
What About The Devil?
God is sovereign, and He is greater than the Devil. God protects
those who belong to Him. So as God's child, Satan does not have
access to you unless God allows it. God sometimes even uses
Satan to accomplish His purposes.
There are Christians who believe it is their job to rebuke the Devil all
the time. They see a demon behind every negative thing that
happens to them, and they believe it is totally up to them to stand
against the Devil (in the name of Jesus, of course). It is as though
they are naked and alone; and if they don't protect themselves,
nobody else will. This is based upon a misunderstanding of
Scripture, and this tendency may be evidence of striving,
performance and a need to control. Their view is totally different
than the view I am presenting.
God Protects Us As Necessary
You do need to recognize that there is an enemy and many
demons. Usually, however, they have no access to you. For most
people, their problems are not demonic (see Chapter 16,
"Deliverance and Inner Healing," for more details on this subject).
When you gave your life to Jesus, you became His property, and He
became your protector. When demons do have access, it is
because God is allowing this in order to accomplish His purpose.
There are, in fact, times when God's purpose is for you to practice
using your authority to command demons. When Paul commanded
the demon in Acts 16:16-18, he first walked by the situation for
many days before he acted, so he obviously did not command
demons every time he saw evil. Evidently, Paul only acted when
God told him to.
Random Use Of Authority Can Be
Dangerous!
If you use your authority to command a demon when that is not
what God does want you to do at that moment, you may find
yourself getting in the way of God's plan. Or worse yet, you may
find yourself in trouble and learning a hard lesson. “If God has not
directly commanded you to do this kind of spiritual warfare, you are
engaged in presumptive behavior. In essence, that is rebellion”
(Jackson, p.38). For more on this subject, read Needless Casualties
of War by John Paul Jackson.
A Change Of Attitude Results From
This New Awareness
Once you realize that God is active in all the troubles you face, your
whole attitude will change. Instead of fighting against what He is
doing, you will tend to ask, "OK, Lord, I don't like this at all. But
what are You trying to change in me through this
miserable experience?" This explains a scripture that many of
us have hated:
Now that you understand what God is doing in your life, this verse
makes perfect sense!
Comfort and Peace
I used to have comfort, peace, and financial prosperity as my life's
goals. At that time I thought that if I had enough faith, then my life
should be smooth sailing. But it seemed to me that God would
keep going by in a motorboat making waves on my placid lake.
At that time I would get angry whenever my life didn't go well. I
used to resist what was going on, thinking it shouldn't be
happening. I would either be angry with God or I would wonder
what I had done wrong that had caused the problem.
This perspective had a tendency to put me in a performance mode
by thinking that if I do right (by the power of my will, of course),
things will go well in my life. If I don't do right, then things will not
go well.
That view is in error for a New Testament believer. This erroneous
perspective eliminates God's active participation in my life. In truth,
worrying and striving are not necessary. I just need to listen and
obey.
Sin Has Consequences
Does the fact that God is committed to our sanctification mean it is
alright to sin? After all, we may conclude, He will protect us from
the consequences of our sin.
But keep in mind that God is actively in charge of our process. If we
begin to think we are so insulated from the consequences of our
sin that we can sin and get away with it, God will know this and
discipline us accordingly.
We Can't Fool God
God looks on the heart, and we can't fool Him. He is gracious to the
repentant, but committed to our sanctification. If we are being
casual about sin, we are not being like Jesus, and so He will go to
work on correcting our misperception.
Our Life Is Not Mechanical Legalism
Because God is actively in charge of our sanctification, reaping
from our sin is not simply a mechanical consequence, and the
consequences are not random. Sometimes He causes us to reap
what we sow, because that is what we need to pay attention to at
that moment. At other times He protects us from the consequences
of a sin, because that is not what He is working on in our life at that
time. The consequences are not to punish us, but to lead us to
healing (to being changed into the image of Jesus).
If We Resist
It is true that if we drag our feet or rebel against the lesson He is
giving us, it will be harder for us. Then we will have to endure more
suffering. Since He is determined to heal us, He will persist in
bringing trials until we do respond.
On the other hand, if we listen and obey, then the trial can end,
because it has accomplished its purpose. This is one very
important reason why we must understand the purpose of our
trials, so that we will not fight against what God is doing, or attempt
to evade his discipline.
We can do it the easy way, or the hard way.
God Does Whatever It Takes
Saul discovered this on the road to Damascus. He had been
persecuting the early church and was obviously ignoring any
messages from God. God had to roll out the "big guns" to get his
attention. Jesus appeared in a bright light, and Saul fell to the
ground.
In that moment, God got Saul's attention. Saul was terrified!
Trembling and astonished he asked, "Lord, what do You desire me
to do?" (verse 9:6). Saul believed, and then he obeyed what Jesus
told him to do.
The Role Of Natural Consequences
There can, of course, also be natural consequences to things that
we do in ignorance, or willfully, or because of weakness. Examples
of natural consequences would be destruction to our health
through smoking or over-eating, or physical injury from risky
behavior. If we suffer such consequences, it may not have
anything to do with God's plan for us, or His training. These
consequences may simply be the natural consequences of
physical laws.
Even in these areas, however, God will do everything He can to
warn us about the problem, and He will find a way to use these
experiences as part of our process of being transformed.
God Knows Our Limitations
God only expects us to deal with the areas of sin that He knows we
are ready to work on. In other words, He has a plan for our lives, He
has our lives under His control, and He only lets us pay the
consequences for those sins that He wants us to deal with right
now. That is part of the mystery. He has a unique and a dynamic
plan for each of us, and it is ever changing as we grow. That is why
a formula doesn't work.
The Christian Walk Is Not A Set Of
Rules - We Have A Living God
It is important to guard against trying to reduce God to a formula.
Putting Him in a box this way often happens so subtly that we are
not even aware of it. For instance, when I am faced with a problem
in my life, I go to the Bible to find an answer. This is good. But this
quest for His guidance can go astray.
Suppose a woman is married to a non-Christian. She badly wants
her husband to receive Jesus, so she "claims" Acts 16:31, spoken
to the Philippian jailer: "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you
will be saved, you and your household." But her husband remains
unsaved, year after year. Many of you may have heard this
scripture applied in this way.
I Didn't Understand This
In this same way, I once claimed a scripture at a time when my
business was struggling. I had been taught that God wants us to
have plenty, so I personally claimed 3 John 1:2:
Instead of improving, my business problems persisted. In fact,
strange things happened to thwart my business plans. It became
obvious that it was God who was getting in the way of me
prospering. I was mystified, and I was angry with God because He
wasn't answering my prayer as He was "supposed" to.
What went wrong? Didn't God make this promise? Wasn't I
praying hard enough? Was there something wrong with my faith?
Was the Devil stealing my blessing?
Yes, God did make this promise, but not necessarily to me at this
moment in my life.
I Reduced God To A Formula
I have since discovered an error in what I believed. I had tried to
reduce God to a formula. This error is quite common among
Christians. This misperception often happens so subtly that we are
not even aware that we have gotten off track. The quest for
guidance in my life goes astray when I take a scripture spoken to
someone else in another time and take it as a promise to myself in
the present.
When I make this mistake, I am taking the Bible as a legalistic
rulebook, and that particular scripture as a formula. When I do this,
I am subtly seeing God's Word as an object, not as an expression of
a living, present God. I am then reducing God to a set of rules,
and am subtly denying His active, living presence in my daily life.
God knew that the Philippian jailer's household would be saved,
and so His word through Paul and Silas was a true, living word
direct from the Living God for that household at that time. In the
same way, our living God will give us the guidance we need when
we need it, if we are seeking and listening. His direction will be
specific to us for that time in our life, will promote what is good for
us, and will always be in line with His character.
Who Is In Control?
There can be another hidden implication in this misuse of
Scripture. I may think that if I can understand "how God does
things," I can use Scripture to get what I want. One reason I fall for
this trap is because this puts me back in control. I want to be in
control of my own life, because at some level I don't trust God to
take care of me.
However, despite my need to control, God is the One in control of
my life. I used to try to use Scripture this way, but God loved me too
much to allow me to succeed in my error. He was always faithful to
prevent me from succeeding in my attempts to use Scripture in this
way. I used to get very angry with Him about it.
I now know that God frustrated me because He wanted me to know
that He is a living person with a will and emotions and a good plan
for my life.
He is God, He is actively in control, and I am not. And that
is a very good thing!
Profoundly Different, But True!
The view I am presenting may be profoundly different than what
you have believed. As a new Christian, I was greatly interested in
what my new life was all about, and I wondered what I was
supposed to be doing. I wanted so much to obey God.
Unfortunately, I heard preaching that confused me. From one
teacher I would be told that our main duty was to preach the
Gospel. I tried that, but failed miserably. Another teacher
emphasized loving God. I tried that, but knew I was doing that
inadequately. At one time or another, I tried to do most of the things
on "The List." I wanted so much to please God, but kept falling
short.
God Was Patiently Leading Me
However, as time went by and I began to see what God really
wanted from me, I experienced great relief. God knew I couldn't do
those things in my own strength. He knew that the only way I could
obey Him was for Him to change me into the image of Jesus. I then
realized how confused I had previously been.
God Understands - What A Relief!
If you have tried to obey Him and failed, this new understanding will
bring great relief and will be life giving to you. When you can look
at the Bible through the eyes of this new perspective, God's plan for
you will make sense, and you will be able to see that His plan for
you is possible to fulfill! Once you can understand what God
expects, and the glorious provision that He has made so that it is
possible to achieve, many otherwise confusing scriptures will no
longer be confusing.
I Am Trying To Help You Get Set
Free
Most of this book will be devoted to showing you how you can
become like Jesus, and revealing the amazing, miraculous
provisions God has established through Jesus so that this
transformation can happen in you.
The purpose of this book is to show you how to cooperate with
God's plan for you, which is to change you into the image of
Jesus.
Knowing His Plan Is Important!
I devoted an entire chapter on the issue of God's plan for His
children, because it is so highly important.
His plan for you is the very foundation for your Christian life, here
on earth, and everything I have written in this book depends upon
this understanding. You can either resist what He is doing, or
cooperate.
When we sin, by the operation of God's laws we set in motion
negative consequences which will bring destruction in our lives.
However, God loves His children and is on our side. He has the
power to protect us from these consequences, and He does so.
However, there are times when God steps aside and allows us to
suffer these just consequences of our sin.
When He does allow us to suffer, it is always for our good.
Though the suffering is painful for the moment, He allows it
because He has a good plan for us. God wants to change us into
the image of Jesus. He knows that repenting and forgiving are
often difficult for us, and sometimes we need suffering and pain to
motivate us to surrender to His process.
God is personally committed to this process in each of His
children. He tailor makes the plan for each individual, and He
personally oversees it as it proceeds. Our sanctification is not a
mechanical or random process, so we can rest in the sure
knowledge that our loving Father is in charge.
It is a hostile world, but not a hostile God.
God is on your side!
The next chapter (Chapter 7) will explain that, in addition to "bitter
roots" which you have already learned about, there is a second
important mechanism that keeps us in bondage.
And Chapter 9, which is also on this website, is one of the
most profound chapters.
Be sure and read it.
Click here to go to Chapter 7,
or click here to go to Chapter 9..
The Rest Of The Story
Now that you have read several key chapters of my book I hope
that you have discovered some valuable insights for yourself.
There is much more!
If you like what you have read so far, you will love the rest
of the book.
The book is available in print, and you have now read less than a
fifth of what the book contains.
There are three more chapters included on this website. What has
not been included online are several additional very important
concepts that you need to understand, as well as detailed biblical
support for the whole book. I am adamant that anything that I say
needs to be supported by the Bible.
As you read the remaining three chapters,
you might want to begin thinking about buying the book,
so that you can have the whole story, and so you can
always have the information readily accessible by your
side.
You can buy the book by clicking here (or in the list on the top left
side of the page)
Unconditional Guarantee
If you buy the book, and the rest of it does not bless you,
you can return it for a full refund.
We want everyone to experience the freedom Jesus
promised!
If you can not afford to buy a copy, e-mail us your situation and we
will consider sending you a free copy.
Why The Book Isn't All Free
There are several reasons why we have not included the whole
book on our website.
Some reasons are technical. For example, the book itself has many
footnotes, which are supplied to support and enrich what is said in
the main body of text. Unfortunately, the footnote feature of
Microsoft Word is not supported by our website development
software, and so that rich additional information is missing from
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Copyright 2003 Edward Kurath
God Is On Your Side
(This chapter will make most sense if you first read
Chapters 2 and 3)
Knowing that my sins set in motion God's laws, and therefore every
sin brings negative consequences, (Chapters 2 and 3) can make me
very anxious. The power and inevitability of the operation of God's
laws revealed in the following scriptures can haunt us.
- Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man
sows, that he will also reap (Galatians 6:7).
For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with
the same measure you use, it will be measured back to you
(Matthew 7:2).
What If I Don't "Get It Right"?
What happens if I don't get it right? What happens if I fail to catch
every sin and have it forgiven? We may feel alone and hopeless,
and may be set into striving to make sure we don't miss anything.
We may then become discouraged, despondent, even desperate
when we fail to catch every sin.
If the spiritual universe was simply mechanical and automatic, we
would indeed be in trouble. If at this moment we were to reap the
just consequences of every sin we ever committed, we would be
overwhelmed. The pain and bad fruit in our lives would be
unbearable.
God Is Protecting Us
Fortunately for us, God actively intervenes in this process. For His
children, God holds back most of the accumulated reaping that we
would otherwise experience. He loves us and does not want us
overwhelmed or destroyed.
We see this easily when we think of children. For example, when
children are very small, we put them in a crib with side rails. We do
this to protect them from falling out of bed and getting hurt.
However, there comes a time when we expect them to be able to
sleep without falling out of bed.
We also provide "baby sitters" for our children when they are
small. Otherwise, while we are gone they might hurt themselves, or
perhaps burn the house down. We take care of them in this way
because we know they are not yet ready to handle the
responsibilities of looking after themselves. Eventually they will
have matured enough to handle greater responsibilities, and we
can then leave them alone and expect them to be responsible. In
fact, they will eventually want to take care of themselves. Then we
no longer should protect them to the same degree. They need to
grow and practice exercising the new responsibilities while we are
still available to coach them.
God Is A Good Father
God protects us in a similar way. He only allows us to reap what
will help us, what will motivate us to pursue our healing. He only
allows us to experience what we are ready to handle, so that the
experience will bring about good in our lives, rather than
destruction.
- The trials that you have had to bear are no more than people
normally have. You can trust God not to let you be tried
beyond your strength, and with any trial he will give you a way
out of it and the strength to bear it (1 Corinthians 10:13, The
Jerusalem Bible, underlining is mine).
Raising My Son
My son John was always a happy-go-lucky boy. He always had a
lot of friends, and was very generous. However, if he had a dollar in
his pocket, he spent it. After all, he knew that his parents would
meet all of his financial needs, so why not? We talked to him many
times about saving some money, but it never happened. We were
very concerned that he would grow up to be financially
irresponsible.
In the summer between his sophomore and junior year of high
school we got him a good paying job with a building contractor
who was putting an addition onto our house. As a growing boy,
when school started in the fall, none of his old clothes would fit
anymore. In the past we had always bought all his clothes. Now
that he had a well paying job, he agreed that he would pay for his
own new clothes that fall.
When fall came, he informed us that he needed some new clothes
for school. We agreed, as his pants were three inches too short.
However, over the summer he had spent all of his money, much of it
on his friends. We were then faced with either bailing him out of
his dilemma, or making him live with the consequences of his
behavior. Since our previous words had not taught him about
saving for a rainy day, we realized that he needed to experience in
his life the results of his choices. So we didn't pay for new clothes.
As we all know, peer pressure is a cruel master for teenagers.
When John had to go to school in clothes that were too small, each
day he died a thousand deaths. Later in the fall his wrestling coach
gave him an old pair of tennis shoes that he had found abandoned
in a locker. John was mortified by this. What finally bailed him out
of his unpleasant consequence was Christmas and clothing gifts
from his grandparents. John has now become a financially
responsible adult.
Were We Cruel?
Were we cruel when we allowed peer pressure to impact him?
Were we being unloving by allowing him to suffer for his
misbehavior? Not at all. It was difficult for us to watch him suffer.
We loved him, but we knew there was a lesson that he needed to
learn; and it could only be learned by experience. If he didn't
change his attitude towards money he would possibly suffer all of
his life from financial folly. As his parents, it was our responsibility
to do what was necessary to help him to grow up to be mature and
responsible.
We did not create the peer pressure that made him suffer, but we
did withdraw our "protection" from it. We had within our power the
ability to protect him from that embarrassment by buying him some
new clothes. However, it was evident that he had not yet learned to
be responsible, and perhaps the only way he would become mature
would be for us to withhold our "protection." It was in his best
interest, even though he hated it, and he suffered. In a sense, we
"used" the peer pressure, which is a cruel and merciless force, to
help him to become mature and responsible.
God Wants Us Healed
When Christians encounter difficulties they often ask, "Why didn't
God keep that from happening?" They wonder, if God is all
powerful, why didn't He intervene?
Hopefully this example with my own son will help you understand
how God works in our lives. He tries to gently tell us about
something that we need to change. But if we don't, or can't, change
our behavior, there are times that He has to allow us to suffer the
consequences for what we do. Because He loves us, even though
it hurts Him to watch us suffer, He is willing to endure this. He
knows that we need our character changed, and that experiencing
pain in our lives is sometimes the only way that we will be
motivated to seek change.
God Is Raising His Children
As parents, most of us do the best we can in raising our children,
but we don't do it perfectly. However, God is the perfect parent:
- For they (our earthly parents) indeed for a few days chastened
us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may
be partakers of His holiness (Hebrews 12:10).
God is your Father, and He is raising you like a good father raises a
child. God speaks in relationship terms, because most of us have
been raised in families, and many have been parents. Thus He is
speaking about relationships, with which you can likely relate,
because He wants you to understand experientially what your
relationship with Him is like.
God Is Wiser Than Us
Those of us who are parents know how much we love our children.
We also know that when they were little we were much wiser than
they were, and hopefully we had their best interests at heart as we
raised them. Sometimes they did not understand all the reasons
why we were disciplining them as we were, and usually they were
not happy with the discipline. In fact, the discipline had to be
unpleasant or it would be ineffective.
God Tailors Our Walk
We also realized that one-year-old children cannot perform as five-
year-old children. Schools do not expect as much of first graders
as they do of ninth graders. In the mean time, as they gradually
grow, we need to do for them what they cannot do for themselves.
However, it is up to us as parents to decide what they can or cannot
do. Parents also need to challenge their children to help them to
grow up into mature and responsible adults. If parents were to do
everything for their children, they would grow up to be lazy,
spoiled, self-centered, and immature. But if children are properly
mentored, they grow up to be mature.
So it is with God. He is raising you for your good. He is wiser, and
He has a special plan for your life. He knows what you need at any
stage of your life. For example, all of you who have walked with the
Lord for some time have discovered that you can't "get away with"
as much as you could when you were first saved. The level of
accountability for your sins has obviously increased.
We Gave Him Permission
Before you gave your life to Jesus, you were not God's child, and
you were in rebellion against Him. At that time He let you go your
own way, and you were not under His protection.
You were in the world and of the world, and Satan was the one who
had authority over you. However, when you responded to God's
invitation and made a choice to turn your life over to Jesus, you
became God's child. At that moment reality changed for you.
When you made that choice you gave Him permission to raise you
as He saw best. At that time you probably didn’t know the full
impact of your decision. But from the moment you made Jesus
your Lord, He had your permission to do whatever it took to direct
you to maturity.
God Does Not Afflict You
It is important for you to know that God does not afflict you.
Otherwise you might be angry at Him, and that wouldn't be good for
you. God allowing you to reap some of the just consequences of
your own sin is very different than God afflicting you. In the
example of raising my son, if I had been the one afflicting him, I
would be the one taunting him and making fun of him. I would be
pointing out to all of his friends his inadequate clothing and being
sure to point out his immaturity and irresponsibility. That would be
an awful thing to do! Can you imagine doing that to your own child?
God specifically tells us that He won't do this to us.
- Happy the man who remains steadfast under trial, for having
passed that test he will receive for his prize the gift of life
promised to those who love God. No one under trial or
temptation should say, "I am being tempted by God"; for God is
untouched by evil, and does not himself tempt anyone.
Temptation arises when a man is enticed and lured away by
his own lust; then lust conceives, and gives birth to sin; and
sin full-grown breeds death. Do not deceive yourselves, my
friends. All good giving and every perfect gift comes from
above, from the Father of the lights of heaven. With him there
is no variation, no play of passing shadows. Of his set
purpose, by declaring the truth, he gave us birth to be a kind of
firstfruits of his creatures (James 1:12-18, New English Bible).
God Has A Good Plan For You
The above scripture touches on God's purpose in allowing trials in
our lives. He says, he gave us birth to be a kind of firstfruits of his
creatures. He also implies that this is a good thing: All good giving
and every perfect gift comes from above. But what does this really
mean?
What Is The Purpose Of Your Life?
Does your life have a purpose, or is it just a series of random events
that will be over when you die? As a Christian, what does God
expect of you? Does He have a plan for you? Have you ever asked
yourself questions like:
• Why do bad things happen to "good" people?
• Why do I suffer?
• Why does life sometimes seem to not go my way?
• Why do my plans so often not work out?
• Will I go to hell because I sin?
• Am I pleasing God?
• Why am I not prospering?
• Why don't I feel satisfied and fulfilled?
• What is the purpose of my life?
Truly, life is frustrating and confusing when you don't know what
God's plan is for you and what He wants from you.
Possible Purposes For Your Life
In reading the Bible it is possible to come up with quite a
challenging list of things that Christians are supposed to do with
their lives.
"The List"
We are to:
• love God.
• worship God.
• love others.
• preach the Gospel.
• bring others into the Kingdom.
• live a "good" life.
• be a good witness to the world.
• be changed into the image of God.
• resist evil.
• pray for one another.
This is an overwhelming list, and yet it isn't even exhaustive. It
seems even more overwhelming when we have been striving to live
up to any part of it. Most of us have tried very hard, and we have
not been very successful. It may even seem impossible. The
Apostle Paul experienced this same struggle.
- For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do,
that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. . . O wretched
man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I
thank God - through Jesus Christ our Lord! (Romans 7:15, 24-
25).
Paul understands our struggle, and here he is saying that Jesus
can deliver us from this cycle of trying and failing, trying and failing
again. But how can this happen?
Jesus Kept The Whole "List"
Jesus kept the whole "List." How did He manage to do this? He
did it because it was his very nature, and therefore He did it
effortlessly and perfectly. A fish swims and a bird flies. They don't
have to think about it, they just do it. It is their nature. Jesus lived
perfectly because he was without sin.
Then Jesus says that we are to do the same works as He did!
- "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the
works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these
he will do, because I go to My Father" (John 14:12).
How Can We Possibly Keep "The
List?"
How can we possibly keep "The List," when we find it so difficult to
keep one or two of the items? It sounds impossible. Jesus was
able to keep "The List" because it was His nature. That is also the
only way we can keep it. We need a new nature. We need to be
changed into the image of Jesus. When have been changed, we
too can keep "The List." As we are in the process of being
changed into His image, we will each incrementally gain His nature,
and we will then behave as He does, step by step. As each
segment of our "Honeycomb" (see Chapter 3) is cleansed and
inhabited by Jesus, the new "good root" (Jesus) will produce
"good fruit." In that specific area of our lives, our character has
been transformed.
Why Does God Want This For You?
We don't know all the reasons why God wants you changed into
the image of Jesus, but He does reveal some of the reasons.
- 1. He loves you. As a result of this love, He gave His Son
to make it possible for you to be set free from the just
consequences of your sins. He hates sin, because it causes
His children to suffer. He wants this cycle of sin and death to
stop.
2. You are here to be changed into the image of Jesus in
order to be prepared to rule and reign with Him in eternity.
You need to be like Him to be trustworthy so that you can
carry out this assignment.
3. He wants companions, beings that have freely chosen
Him, despite the fact that in many ways it would have been
easier not to choose Him.
As you can see, God made provision for you not only to go to
heaven and to live with Him for eternity, but He also made provision
for you in this life.
Being “Saved” Has Two Meanings.
- 1. The first meaning refers to the one time event that
occurred when you made Him Lord of your life. At that
moment you turned over to Him the "title deed," the
ownership rights, to your life. We call this event such things
as: becoming a Christian, being born again, or "justification."
This event happens at the point in time when you believed in
the Lord Jesus Christ and received Him into your life.
From then on, you belong to God . You are a member of His
family , a child of His, and thus He has permission to do
whatever He wants to in your life.
Because He loves you, whatever He does is always for your
best interest. He knows how to take care of those who
belong to Him.
2. The second meaning of being “saved” refers to
the ongoing process that then takes place in which you are
being changed into His image. We call this process
"sanctification," or discipleship, or growing in Godliness, or
being transformed into the image of Jesus. This is a lifetime
process, and is sometimes called “Inner Healing, " though this
particular term does not appear in the Bible. Your
sanctification is His major goal for you, and He spares no
resources to bring this about. Everything else in your life is
secondary to this goal. You may have some other goal in life,
such as happiness, or abundance, or a life without difficulties.
If these other things are your goals in life, whenever you don't
reach these other goals, it can be frustrating and confusing.
However, it is only confusing because you don’t see God’s
priority in that moment, because you have your eyes on the
wrong goal. You may also want to read about "justification"
and "sanctification" in the Glossary.
Recognize that the "one-time" event does not change you into
the image of Jesus (being sanctified). It only puts you into a
legal position for God to take you on your journey of being
sanctified.
The events that happen in your life as a Christian are not random,
or impersonal consequences of your sin, nor are they pointless.
They are God's personal, loving attention to your life.
Keep in mind that the Lord’s paramount goal is to change you into
the image of Jesus, and everything else is secondary. Just as good
parents have to allow their children to suffer difficulties if they are to
mature, so God allows the trials you go through in order to bring
about the transformation you need. He knows each of us and
carefully designs each of our training programs to fit us perfectly.
He knows our level of maturity.
This Sanctification Process Can Feel
Grievous
- Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but
grievous; nevertheless afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of
righteousness to those who have been trained by it. (Hebrews
12:11).
difficult. If everything in our life went smoothly, we would become
spoiled, self-centered, and greedy. We can see this in children who
are not properly disciplined by their parents.
Old Testament Examples
This tendency is also illustrated in the Old Testament and the
history of the nation of Israel.
- • When King David began to prosper and experience a life
of ease, he sinned with Bathsheba.
• King Solomon had the throne handed to him, and he
always experienced a life of ease and luxury. He sinned
mightily. For example, he had 700 wives and 300 concubines,
and his wives turned away his heart (1 Kings 11:3). He also
greatly oppressed the people (1 Kings 12:4).
• When God gave prosperity to the people of Israel, they
strayed from God because they felt self-sufficient. They only
came back to Him when threatened with destruction. This
happened many times in their history. He warned them about
this tendency in Deuteronomy 6:12: "then beware, lest you
forget the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from
the house of bondage."
New Testament Example
The apostle Paul is also an example of God using Satan to bring
about eventual blessing. Paul says of himself,
- And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance
of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a
messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above
measure. Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three
times that it might depart from me. And He said to me, 'My
grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in
weakness'. Therefore most gladly I will rather boast of my
infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me (2
Corinthians 12:7-10).
Clearly, the Lord knew that Paul might become "exalted"
(huperairomai, "to become haughty") because of the special things
that he experienced, and it was clearly implied in this passage that it
was within the Lord's power to remove the "thorn." But He didn't
remove it, because it was in the best interest of both Paul and the
cause of Christ for which Paul labored that the "thorn" remain.
God Knows What It Takes To
Transform Us
Therefore, each of us needs tests, trials, and discomfort to achieve
God's goal for us, because these things motivate us. God
undoubtedly wishes that He did not have to allow us to be afflicted
and thus experience pain, but He knows He must if we are to be
transformed. I am also convinced that He uses the minimum
amount of pain and challenge necessary to accomplish the change,
but He does use every bit of pressure that is necessary to
accomplish His purpose.
God Is Most Interested In Our
Character
He is more interested in our character than in our being free from
pain. Again, keep in mind that as Christians we are in a special
relationship with God. We are now His children and we have given
Him ownership of our life . There will be times when we, like Paul,
would rather not be experiencing the pain; but God is more
interested in our character than in our comfort. Those who are not
members of God's family do not have the same level of protection
from evil. Since God does not "own them," He therefore does not
have the same freedom to operate in their lives.
What About The Devil?
God is sovereign, and He is greater than the Devil. God protects
those who belong to Him. So as God's child, Satan does not have
access to you unless God allows it. God sometimes even uses
Satan to accomplish His purposes.
There are Christians who believe it is their job to rebuke the Devil all
the time. They see a demon behind every negative thing that
happens to them, and they believe it is totally up to them to stand
against the Devil (in the name of Jesus, of course). It is as though
they are naked and alone; and if they don't protect themselves,
nobody else will. This is based upon a misunderstanding of
Scripture, and this tendency may be evidence of striving,
performance and a need to control. Their view is totally different
than the view I am presenting.
God Protects Us As Necessary
You do need to recognize that there is an enemy and many
demons. Usually, however, they have no access to you. For most
people, their problems are not demonic (see Chapter 16,
"Deliverance and Inner Healing," for more details on this subject).
When you gave your life to Jesus, you became His property, and He
became your protector. When demons do have access, it is
because God is allowing this in order to accomplish His purpose.
There are, in fact, times when God's purpose is for you to practice
using your authority to command demons. When Paul commanded
the demon in Acts 16:16-18, he first walked by the situation for
many days before he acted, so he obviously did not command
demons every time he saw evil. Evidently, Paul only acted when
God told him to.
Random Use Of Authority Can Be
Dangerous!
If you use your authority to command a demon when that is not
what God does want you to do at that moment, you may find
yourself getting in the way of God's plan. Or worse yet, you may
find yourself in trouble and learning a hard lesson. “If God has not
directly commanded you to do this kind of spiritual warfare, you are
engaged in presumptive behavior. In essence, that is rebellion”
(Jackson, p.38). For more on this subject, read Needless Casualties
of War by John Paul Jackson.
A Change Of Attitude Results From
This New Awareness
Once you realize that God is active in all the troubles you face, your
whole attitude will change. Instead of fighting against what He is
doing, you will tend to ask, "OK, Lord, I don't like this at all. But
what are You trying to change in me through this
miserable experience?" This explains a scripture that many of
us have hated:
- My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials,
knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But
let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and
complete, lacking nothing (James 1:2-4).
Now that you understand what God is doing in your life, this verse
makes perfect sense!
Comfort and Peace
I used to have comfort, peace, and financial prosperity as my life's
goals. At that time I thought that if I had enough faith, then my life
should be smooth sailing. But it seemed to me that God would
keep going by in a motorboat making waves on my placid lake.
At that time I would get angry whenever my life didn't go well. I
used to resist what was going on, thinking it shouldn't be
happening. I would either be angry with God or I would wonder
what I had done wrong that had caused the problem.
This perspective had a tendency to put me in a performance mode
by thinking that if I do right (by the power of my will, of course),
things will go well in my life. If I don't do right, then things will not
go well.
That view is in error for a New Testament believer. This erroneous
perspective eliminates God's active participation in my life. In truth,
worrying and striving are not necessary. I just need to listen and
obey.
Sin Has Consequences
Does the fact that God is committed to our sanctification mean it is
alright to sin? After all, we may conclude, He will protect us from
the consequences of our sin.
But keep in mind that God is actively in charge of our process. If we
begin to think we are so insulated from the consequences of our
sin that we can sin and get away with it, God will know this and
discipline us accordingly.
We Can't Fool God
God looks on the heart, and we can't fool Him. He is gracious to the
repentant, but committed to our sanctification. If we are being
casual about sin, we are not being like Jesus, and so He will go to
work on correcting our misperception.
- Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But
where sin abounded, grace abounded much more, so that as
sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through
righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace
may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live
any longer in it? (Romans 6:1-2).
Our Life Is Not Mechanical Legalism
Because God is actively in charge of our sanctification, reaping
from our sin is not simply a mechanical consequence, and the
consequences are not random. Sometimes He causes us to reap
what we sow, because that is what we need to pay attention to at
that moment. At other times He protects us from the consequences
of a sin, because that is not what He is working on in our life at that
time. The consequences are not to punish us, but to lead us to
healing (to being changed into the image of Jesus).
If We Resist
It is true that if we drag our feet or rebel against the lesson He is
giving us, it will be harder for us. Then we will have to endure more
suffering. Since He is determined to heal us, He will persist in
bringing trials until we do respond.
On the other hand, if we listen and obey, then the trial can end,
because it has accomplished its purpose. This is one very
important reason why we must understand the purpose of our
trials, so that we will not fight against what God is doing, or attempt
to evade his discipline.
We can do it the easy way, or the hard way.
God Does Whatever It Takes
Saul discovered this on the road to Damascus. He had been
persecuting the early church and was obviously ignoring any
messages from God. God had to roll out the "big guns" to get his
attention. Jesus appeared in a bright light, and Saul fell to the
ground.
- And Saul said, "Who are You, Lord?" And He said, "I am
Jesus, Whom you are persecuting. It is dangerous and it turns
out badly for you to keep kicking against the goad - that is, to
offer vain and perilous resistance" (Acts 9:5, Amplified Bible).
In that moment, God got Saul's attention. Saul was terrified!
Trembling and astonished he asked, "Lord, what do You desire me
to do?" (verse 9:6). Saul believed, and then he obeyed what Jesus
told him to do.
The Role Of Natural Consequences
There can, of course, also be natural consequences to things that
we do in ignorance, or willfully, or because of weakness. Examples
of natural consequences would be destruction to our health
through smoking or over-eating, or physical injury from risky
behavior. If we suffer such consequences, it may not have
anything to do with God's plan for us, or His training. These
consequences may simply be the natural consequences of
physical laws.
Even in these areas, however, God will do everything He can to
warn us about the problem, and He will find a way to use these
experiences as part of our process of being transformed.
God Knows Our Limitations
God only expects us to deal with the areas of sin that He knows we
are ready to work on. In other words, He has a plan for our lives, He
has our lives under His control, and He only lets us pay the
consequences for those sins that He wants us to deal with right
now. That is part of the mystery. He has a unique and a dynamic
plan for each of us, and it is ever changing as we grow. That is why
a formula doesn't work.
The Christian Walk Is Not A Set Of
Rules - We Have A Living God
It is important to guard against trying to reduce God to a formula.
Putting Him in a box this way often happens so subtly that we are
not even aware of it. For instance, when I am faced with a problem
in my life, I go to the Bible to find an answer. This is good. But this
quest for His guidance can go astray.
Suppose a woman is married to a non-Christian. She badly wants
her husband to receive Jesus, so she "claims" Acts 16:31, spoken
to the Philippian jailer: "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you
will be saved, you and your household." But her husband remains
unsaved, year after year. Many of you may have heard this
scripture applied in this way.
I Didn't Understand This
In this same way, I once claimed a scripture at a time when my
business was struggling. I had been taught that God wants us to
have plenty, so I personally claimed 3 John 1:2:
- Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in
health, just as your soul prospers.
Instead of improving, my business problems persisted. In fact,
strange things happened to thwart my business plans. It became
obvious that it was God who was getting in the way of me
prospering. I was mystified, and I was angry with God because He
wasn't answering my prayer as He was "supposed" to.
What went wrong? Didn't God make this promise? Wasn't I
praying hard enough? Was there something wrong with my faith?
Was the Devil stealing my blessing?
Yes, God did make this promise, but not necessarily to me at this
moment in my life.
I Reduced God To A Formula
I have since discovered an error in what I believed. I had tried to
reduce God to a formula. This error is quite common among
Christians. This misperception often happens so subtly that we are
not even aware that we have gotten off track. The quest for
guidance in my life goes astray when I take a scripture spoken to
someone else in another time and take it as a promise to myself in
the present.
When I make this mistake, I am taking the Bible as a legalistic
rulebook, and that particular scripture as a formula. When I do this,
I am subtly seeing God's Word as an object, not as an expression of
a living, present God. I am then reducing God to a set of rules,
and am subtly denying His active, living presence in my daily life.
God knew that the Philippian jailer's household would be saved,
and so His word through Paul and Silas was a true, living word
direct from the Living God for that household at that time. In the
same way, our living God will give us the guidance we need when
we need it, if we are seeking and listening. His direction will be
specific to us for that time in our life, will promote what is good for
us, and will always be in line with His character.
Who Is In Control?
There can be another hidden implication in this misuse of
Scripture. I may think that if I can understand "how God does
things," I can use Scripture to get what I want. One reason I fall for
this trap is because this puts me back in control. I want to be in
control of my own life, because at some level I don't trust God to
take care of me.
However, despite my need to control, God is the One in control of
my life. I used to try to use Scripture this way, but God loved me too
much to allow me to succeed in my error. He was always faithful to
prevent me from succeeding in my attempts to use Scripture in this
way. I used to get very angry with Him about it.
I now know that God frustrated me because He wanted me to know
that He is a living person with a will and emotions and a good plan
for my life.
He is God, He is actively in control, and I am not. And that
is a very good thing!
Profoundly Different, But True!
The view I am presenting may be profoundly different than what
you have believed. As a new Christian, I was greatly interested in
what my new life was all about, and I wondered what I was
supposed to be doing. I wanted so much to obey God.
Unfortunately, I heard preaching that confused me. From one
teacher I would be told that our main duty was to preach the
Gospel. I tried that, but failed miserably. Another teacher
emphasized loving God. I tried that, but knew I was doing that
inadequately. At one time or another, I tried to do most of the things
on "The List." I wanted so much to please God, but kept falling
short.
God Was Patiently Leading Me
However, as time went by and I began to see what God really
wanted from me, I experienced great relief. God knew I couldn't do
those things in my own strength. He knew that the only way I could
obey Him was for Him to change me into the image of Jesus. I then
realized how confused I had previously been.
God Understands - What A Relief!
If you have tried to obey Him and failed, this new understanding will
bring great relief and will be life giving to you. When you can look
at the Bible through the eyes of this new perspective, God's plan for
you will make sense, and you will be able to see that His plan for
you is possible to fulfill! Once you can understand what God
expects, and the glorious provision that He has made so that it is
possible to achieve, many otherwise confusing scriptures will no
longer be confusing.
I Am Trying To Help You Get Set
Free
Most of this book will be devoted to showing you how you can
become like Jesus, and revealing the amazing, miraculous
provisions God has established through Jesus so that this
transformation can happen in you.
The purpose of this book is to show you how to cooperate with
God's plan for you, which is to change you into the image of
Jesus.
Knowing His Plan Is Important!
I devoted an entire chapter on the issue of God's plan for His
children, because it is so highly important.
His plan for you is the very foundation for your Christian life, here
on earth, and everything I have written in this book depends upon
this understanding. You can either resist what He is doing, or
cooperate.
- • For many, the awareness that God is in charge of every
aspect of their life will require a huge shift in perspective as to
how they view themselves and their life as a Christian.
• This walk is not just for a sick few, but rather it is the
normal life for every Christian.
• The goal of Inner Healing is not simply to remove your
pain, but it has the larger goal of changing you into the image
of Jesus. Pain is simply a motivator.
• Inner Healing is a new way of life, living in a new way
every day for the rest of your life. You cannot go back to your
old way of living or you will again be stuck.
• Inner Healing is the very core of God's plan for your life.
Life will only go well if you are pursuing His plan for you.
When we sin, by the operation of God's laws we set in motion
negative consequences which will bring destruction in our lives.
However, God loves His children and is on our side. He has the
power to protect us from these consequences, and He does so.
However, there are times when God steps aside and allows us to
suffer these just consequences of our sin.
When He does allow us to suffer, it is always for our good.
Though the suffering is painful for the moment, He allows it
because He has a good plan for us. God wants to change us into
the image of Jesus. He knows that repenting and forgiving are
often difficult for us, and sometimes we need suffering and pain to
motivate us to surrender to His process.
God is personally committed to this process in each of His
children. He tailor makes the plan for each individual, and He
personally oversees it as it proceeds. Our sanctification is not a
mechanical or random process, so we can rest in the sure
knowledge that our loving Father is in charge.
- What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who
can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but
delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also
freely give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against
God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who
condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also
risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes
intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of
Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution or famine,
or nakedness, or peril, or sword? . . . Yet in all these things we
are more than conquerors through Him who loved us (Romans
8:31-35, 37).
It is a hostile world, but not a hostile God.
God is on your side!
The next chapter (Chapter 7) will explain that, in addition to "bitter
roots" which you have already learned about, there is a second
important mechanism that keeps us in bondage.
And Chapter 9, which is also on this website, is one of the
most profound chapters.
Be sure and read it.
Click here to go to Chapter 7,
or click here to go to Chapter 9..
The Rest Of The Story
Now that you have read several key chapters of my book I hope
that you have discovered some valuable insights for yourself.
There is much more!
If you like what you have read so far, you will love the rest
of the book.
The book is available in print, and you have now read less than a
fifth of what the book contains.
There are three more chapters included on this website. What has
not been included online are several additional very important
concepts that you need to understand, as well as detailed biblical
support for the whole book. I am adamant that anything that I say
needs to be supported by the Bible.
As you read the remaining three chapters,
you might want to begin thinking about buying the book,
so that you can have the whole story, and so you can
always have the information readily accessible by your
side.
You can buy the book by clicking here (or in the list on the top left
side of the page)
Unconditional Guarantee
If you buy the book, and the rest of it does not bless you,
you can return it for a full refund.
We want everyone to experience the freedom Jesus
promised!
If you can not afford to buy a copy, e-mail us your situation and we
will consider sending you a free copy.
Why The Book Isn't All Free
There are several reasons why we have not included the whole
book on our website.
Some reasons are technical. For example, the book itself has many
footnotes, which are supplied to support and enrich what is said in
the main body of text. Unfortunately, the footnote feature of
Microsoft Word is not supported by our website development
software, and so that rich additional information is missing from
what you have read.
Another reason is financial. This is a ministry, and revenue from the
book helps support this website and our other outreaches.
Also Consider Making A Donation
We believe that all Christians desperately need the
message of Christ's healing ways described in this
book.
If the posting of these chapters on the web has blessed you, we
would like you to consider making a donation to this ministry, so
that others can also be set free.
Click here to make a donation. Click on the "Make A Donation"
button, and then enter the amount you wish to contribute.
Copyright 2003 Edward Kurath
Divinely Designed
Being changed into the image of Jesus
Being changed into the image of Jesus
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