The Word Restores

Sometimes we get to the point that our issues or even the troubles of this world seem to weigh us down. It takes every ounce of our strength to get through this sickness, this disease, this job loss, this bank overdraft, this credit rating drop, this mid-year school grade, this divorce, this separation, this death, this slow death, this addiction, this prostitution, this…. You name it… We are going through something AND if we are not, hang on, we will be going through. Nobody told us that the road would be easy, but Lord, why is it this hard?

Do we understand that even this thing we’re going through is only meant to strengthen us, to make us a witness to them that follow us, that they will see in our witness that they can also go through?

Proverbs 14:7 tells us: Go from the presence of a foolish man, when thou perceiveth not in him the lips of knowledge (KJV). In the NIV, we read “Stay away from a fool, for you will not find knowledge on their lips.” Or how about this from the Amplified version? “Leave the presence of a [shortsighted] fool, for you will not find knowledge or hear godly wisdom from his lips.”

So what can we make of this? HOW WILL WE BE ABLE TO PERCEIVE that this is a foolish person? Let's see what we can glean from the Word of God, particularly from the Proverbs, to give us some clues about the foolish and about foolishness! As we go along, let’s also be mindful that a couple of fingers are pointing back at us in some areas of our own lives… OUCH!  So let's take heed!

Welcome to Part 2 of our discussion on being still in the flesh. This addition was prompted by a comment from one of our listeners in the first episode. She wrote: "A friend of mine and I had a conversation, and she gets condemned and convicted, confused a lot of times how should that be handled." I know she's not the only one!

In the last episode, we were reminded of the apostle Paul’s admonition to us in 2 Corinthians 10:3 that "though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh." But, he is reminding us that we are still walking in the flesh! No wonder we are condemned, convicted, and confused! So today, let’s delve into the scriptures to determine what we could do to combat this enemy so that we would not succumb to combat fatigue.

You know, there are times when we ‘go off’! It may be on someone close, very close, or even someone who got on your last nerve! Or maybe it was on some innocent person who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time! Try as you may, you just couldn’t help it! You see, it wasn’t spontaneous… Something had been brewing for a while. It was creeping up, until the explosion, “bang!” So how do we find the resources to hold ourselves together? We’ve been praying, staying in the Word, hoping to stay on the spiritual side, but, what happened? What caused us to flip the switch so easily?

I want us to know that we are in a spiritual battle. There is an enemy that does not want us to succeed, that does not want us to be reminded to stay in the Spirit. He wants us to stay off-balance, not sure whether we are in the flesh or in the Spirit.

In our last episode, we looked at trusting God in the storm. As we were unfolding our Scriptures, the Lord placed in me the need to research “how do we trust God?” We SAY we trust Him, but do we really know what trusting Him means? We may not even know how to trust at all! We may have had negative experiences when we thought we were trusting someone — which perhaps tainted our perception of trust. Some of us even say that “it’s easier said than done!”

So, let’s search the scriptures for a roadmap on first — how do we trust God? Then we will delve into what can we do to begin to recognize we are truly trusting Him? Finally, we’ll answer how do we know that we are continuing to trust Him?

In our last episode, we looked at trusting God in the storm. As we were unfolding our Scriptures, the Lord placed in me the need to research “how do we trust God?” We SAY we trust Him, but do we really know what trusting Him means? We may not even know how to trust at all! We may have had negative experiences when we thought we were trusting someone — which perhaps tainted our perception of trust. Some of us even say that “it’s easier said than done!”

So, let’s search the scriptures for a roadmap on first — how do we trust God? Then we will delve into what can we do to begin to recognize we are truly trusting Him? Finally, we’ll answer how do we know that we are continuing to trust Him?

In our last broadcast, we focused on 3 points to consider as we looked toward the Light at the end of the tunnel. We recognized that 1) this period of trouble will surely end, 2) there is a transition between the end and the new beginning, and 3) we are going into unchartered territory, and therefore, we need to allow Jesus to lead us. In other words, we must continue to follow the same Light we saw when we were coming out.

We also recognized that, as the new reality begins to manifest itself, we must be intentional about getting even closer to God. But, how can we let Jesus lead us without a relationship with Him? And how can we have a relationship with Him without getting to know Him or even communicating with Him? So today, let us get to know Him in a much more intimate way, through communicating our requests to Him through prayer.

As we listen to the news today, we will find ourselves being optimistic that this pandemic is coming to an end for us. No doubt, we have come through a lot of stuff, drama, and trauma over the past fifteen months. We can now look back and say that we survived the bad news, negative diagnoses, crazy theories, and just plain nonsense. It does not mean that it did not leave us shaken, confused, and shell shocked. There is NO need to go through the litany of events because each and every one of us was touched to some degree. But, through it all, we, as Christians could not help but continue to call on the Lord for ourselves and in intercession for our loved ones, or friends of friends, or family of friends.

Was there any one of us who would say that they haven’t prayed now more than they did before the pandemic? Or read the Word more than they did before? Or watched or listened to more sermon broadcasts than they did before? Somehow, intentionally, or unintentionally, we got a little closer to the Lord. Now what?

A couple of months ago, the Lord placed in my spirit that we should spend some time focusing on our youth – our millennials and Gen Z’s. During the pandemic, we had not been able to interface with them as we used to. Sunday mornings were good opportunities to interact, however, this pandemic has now forced us to become intentional about seeking the welfare of our younger saints. Paul urged Timothy that older saints should be teachers of good things. But how can we reach out to teach the younger if we don’t know what they are doing, or how they are faring? Let us not find ourselves, at the end of all this, missing one or two generations just because we focused on our own issues and needs.

So in today's episode, we reach out as a community to show the love of Jesus to our special guest Calahna, RN. How can we come alongside Calahna to spur her to continue on her journey?

When Christians speak of being in the flesh, what do we think about? Is it the fact that we are encased in skin and bone? Is it that we are moving, living, and breathing, and we can see ourselves and each other? Or, is it that we would rather not see ourselves as spiritual, that we prefer to insist we are made in the flesh? Some of us insist that we are 'natural,' afraid to launch out into the spiritual. Could it be that we’ve watched too many, and bought into too many “Ghostbusters” movies? Whatever the theory, or speculation, it seems that many of us shy away from speaking of being “in the spirit,” and would rather remain “in the flesh.”

There is something that we must recognize and consider. We are either in the flesh or in the Spirit. There is no middle ground. In Romans 8:8, the apostle Paul tells us bluntly that they that are in the flesh cannot please God. So, what's your choice?