Life is A Roller Coaster; But Jesus Is Unchanging And Stable

I wish I could be one of those who never have to struggle with “valley experiences” but I do. Life in my own experience can be likened to a rollercoaster. Some days are easily great and others, you may have to make great. I met a lady recently who does not have “valley experiences” but some of us do and it does not make us strange; however, we must learn to choose to make them hill top experiences. We, as believers, must learn to make the most of every day and also give thanks whether or not life feels great. In our giving thanks, I have found that no matter what life throws at us, we come out tops through Christ. I like the song that says “nobody told me that life was going to be easy” because nobody actually did but something inside us just desires for it to be easy. Interestingly, after one has gone through the tough experiences of life, you want to shield everyone you know from these experiences but reality is that one way or the other, life catches up with everyone. So please don’t think you are strange because life caught up with you; nor does it describe the extent of your walk with God. If anything, it is the way you deal or handle life’s attempts to determine the cause of your life that is a reflection of the extent of your walk with God.

 

Ecclesiastes 1: 5 – 6 “The sun rises and the sun sets, then hurries around to rise again. The wind blows South, and then turns north. Around and around it goes in circles.”

The sun rises and sets, so it’s bright sometimes and dark sometimes; that is life. How wonderful it is to have God especially at those times when life wants to act like the master in your life? These are those times when one’s needs almost determine the cause of your life because they guide your decision making and everyone tells you to be real and accept the reality of what you all see physically and they have the best intentions. Yet, you struggle with it because you know that what you see physically is not what it ought to be and because you have Jesus you have the opportunity of seeing what it ought to be through His eyes so you know what it ought to and can be. The truth is having Christ in one’s life is a privilege with several benefits. Only those who know how to take advantage of the benefits will enjoy them but it takes being strong to take advantage of these things. You have to be strong enough to determine how and what you want to see despite what goes on around you and only those who know their God can see what He sees. It takes really knowing Him to be certain that despite what you see, all will somehow be well at the end of it all. No wonder God takes us through these experiences that toughen one. The way He says to strengthen the feeble knees is almost as if He is irritated with those who pamper themselves but it’s all because it does take being strong to be more than conquerors.

Hebrews 12: 11 - 12 “No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening – it’s painful! But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way. So take a new grip with your tired hands and strengthen your weak knees.”

Daniel 11: 32b “But the people who know their God shall be strong.”

God is one Father that loves so much and yet is not excessively protective. He is with you but lets you go through the valley of the shadow of death with a certainty that if you hold on and trust Him, you will come through. I wonder sometimes why He brings one through instead of just taking us around the valley experiences after all He will still be God whether we go through or go round them; but I have found that the maturity and strength one gathers going through often helps to carry the success that comes with it well and prepares one for the difficulties that come with going even higher. There is no doubt that God not only makes good decisions, but makes the right decisions. He knows what we don’t know so that He is better placed to make decisions that have long term positive effects. I know it is tough to keep trusting God when one does not have the full picture and a part of you keeps saying there is a better way which is based on facts you have and seem able to control, but we must realize that His thoughts toward us are always thoughts of good so He will always do us good and He is much wiser than we are.

Jeremiah 29: 11 “For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord. They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”

I do know that some people are so particular about being positive in their confessions because they believe it will keep them from valley experiences but it wouldn’t. It is important, wise and in consonance with the teachings of Christ for your confessions to align with the word of God but it doesn’t mean you won’t have the experiences you prefer to evade; it just means that your confessions will keep you as you go through it all and also bring you out a better and more positive person. This is the reason we are more than conquerors. We conquer through Christ and surpass all expectations. We are built to weather the storms of life and come out victorious because Christ already won the victory for us.

Romans 8: 27 “No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.”

REGULAR INTROSPECTION IS A MUST FOR EVERY BELIEVER

Funny as this may sound, I think one of the most difficult things for a number of believers is to be quiet for a period and that includes being quiet before God. Unfortunately for us, this has made it even more difficult for us to examine ourselves. We are unable to ponder on things long enough to know where God is leading us but it is once more time to do an honest self-examination that we may make the required adjustments for us to be correctly positioned because positioning is a major factor in our reaching and enjoying our God given benefits. It is a state of the mind which definitely affects the outward. It is time to look inwards again. One may be deceived into thinking that one does it often enough but it is never too often because the enemy we deal with is very crafty and we were like him living according to that old nature which he knows and understands perfectly making it a little easier than we would like for him to gain root in our lives. Yet it is our job to put off that cunning craftiness. It is our job to change our old ways that God may then clothe us with the new us. No wonder David communed with his heart regularly. It is only to the extent that we take off that old cloak that we can be clothe with the new nature and only that new nature can be strengthened by God to take that which God has laid out for us in the presence of our enemies.

 

2 Corinthians 13: 5a “Examine yourselves to see if your faith is genuine. Test yourselves.”

Indeed to ensure that one is still on the right path to heaven, since we can veer off so easily even without meaning to, one needs constant self-examination. I don’t think we understand how easy it is to become the person you said you would never be, without consistent self-examination. For our self-examination to be effective, we need to be sincere with ourselves which is really tough for a number of us because it requires some sort of maturity. Very often we ask sincerity of others yet we cannot be sincere with ourselves. I admit that introspection may sometimes be tough because it is easier to blame others for our own issues and refuse to take responsibility. Seeing one's wrongs comes with some responsibilities which we really would prefer to pass on so we are always the best person as far as we are concerned. We have become so insincere that we are unable to be sincere with God. How can we then improve on ourselves and become the person God made? God crafted every one of us beautifully so all the ugly personality is definitely not of God and is not in any way a reflection of God.

1 Corinthians 5: 8 “So let us celebrate the festival, not with the old bread of wickedness and evil, but with the new bread of sincerity and truth.”

There is no doubt that we all come to Christ just as we are but according to scriptures, we are to become more like God so that we are then able to manifest His glory. Where we elect to reject that change that makes us more like Him, the challenge is with us and not Him. God provides all the help we would ever need to see and make these changes. Transformation requires a consistent introspection. One must be willing to look inwards sincerely; an experience that the Holy Spirit makes so much easier. We need Him to help us turn on the lights within us and give us the grace to face ourselves.  In my opinion, refusal to look inward sincerely is a decision to hand over the control of one’s life to others; all those others that we blame for things that are actually our fault. It is another way of declaring openly that you will not allow for transformation and as a result are willing to give up a lot of what God ordained for you. The new things God wants to do at different points in our lives may not fit into what would be our old nature at the point where He is ready to do a new thing in our lives. It behooves God not to do new things in our lives if we refuse to move forward in our journey of transformation because we may be ruined if He insists on doing the new thing despite our state.

Luke 5: 37 - 38 “And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. For the new wine would burst the wineskins, spilling the wine and ruining the skins. New wine must be stored in new wineskins.”

This translates to a truth which is that we suffer loss when we refuse to make progress on this journey of transformation. One would live and die and not touch all that God ordained for them. The sooner we make a habit of looking inward, the better for us; and the sooner we learn to do it with the help of the Holy Spirit, the faster we move forward on that journey. Fortunately, we are not required to be in a special place for this introspection; neither is there a pattern for doing it. All we need is the help of the Holy Spirit that it may be sincere.

Is The Peace Of God Ruling In Your Hearts?

There is no doubt that the world is lacking in peace. It appears to get worse as time passes; but worse is the fact that men also lack peace. Peace is such an issue in the world today that some people take unhealthy drugs and smoke unhealthy things because they want to live in an unreal world where they forget all their troubles and seem to live in peace but are in truth more troubled than any other person. Sometimes you talk to people and you can tell just from their responses that they are totally confused and lacking in peace but it ought not to be so with the believer. I am not by any means suggesting that life is always smooth sailing for the believer, because the storms of life do not leave any adult out and as some say “peace is not the absence of troubles”, but there is something about the peace for God which the believer should enjoy. This peace is a gift, one of the privileges enjoyed by the believer and He whom God chooses to bless. It is definitely beyond understanding because it is despite all the storms one may be going through.

Isaiah 48: 22 “But there is no peace for the wicked, says the lord.”

Isaiah 32: 17 “And the righteousness will bring peace. Yes, it will bring quietness and confidence forever.”

This peace which comes from within is not one that men can buy. It is a fruit of the Spirit of God and an outflow of the presence of Christ in  life. Christ is The Prince of Peace and that is the reason every believer is entitled to peace. Though men can’t buy peace, God can and already did.  He paid for the peace and gave it freely to all who receive Christ as their personal Lord and Saviour. Unfortunately, this peace may be inside a person and yet be inaccessible because Jesus is not allowed to be Lord in their lives. Those who have not experienced Him cannot understand this peace; it remains a mystery to them. Such people don’t understand one who is calm and peaceful despite being in the midst of storms. Sometimes, they may even think one is crazy or not smart enough to realize the depths of the storms in their lives but that is not correct. The believer enjoys a certain peace that makes them calm in the face of even the worst storms. This is such a major advantage because one makes the best decisions when they are at peace and we are required to make decisions whenever there are storms in one’s life. Only the right decisions can bring you out well.

Philippians 4: 7 “Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.”

2 Thessalonians 3: 16 “Now may the God of all peace give you his peace at all times and in every situation.”

Nothing and no one can give peace; only Jesus Christ can because He is peace. This peace which people seek in various places and yet are unable to get or even buy since a price which no man can pay, the blood of Jesus has been paid for it by God, has transforming power. This is not happiness because one can be happy and still have that nagging unsettling feeling that is so troubling one can’t get past it. It is much more powerful than happiness; it is a calm assurance that says “even this will pass” and not by power but by God who is with you. This peace though, can be lost for even the silliest reasons which could go from insecurities to selfishness or any other such things which could seem frivolous and small but can ruin lives. Whenever we take our eyes off Jesus, we lose our peace; and that even when our focus is on us. Self cannot give peace; no one else can even if they love you so much. I think if we know how important this peace is we would guard it. It is so important that, as a friend pointed out to me, Paul opened all his all his letters in the New Testament with a prayer for peace to be increased in the lives of people he wrote to. We, as believers ought to take advantage of the fact that we have this peace. It is our decision whether or not we do.

Colossians 5: 15a “And let the peace of that comes from Christ rule in your hearts.”