In the Dumps Today?
GIVE UP ON MEASURING UP!
“No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us”. (Romans 8:37)
The Lord has only one standard. His standard, and it’s a Godly standard. If we compare what we’ve done to others, or what our integrity is, we must measure it to Gods standard. We must always strive to reach Christ’s example. Paul says “follow my example, as I follow Christ’s example.”
“False weights and unequal measures— the LORD detests double standards of every kind”. (Proverbs 20:10)
Let’s be brave enough to share our own experiences of being downcast and wounded. Don’t be afraid. God commands us to love, and anytime we love…we become vulnerable.
* “…so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.”2 Corinthians 1:4
Biblical Example ON MEASURING UP!
“The people feared the presence of the Lord . . . and they came and worked on
the house of the Lord of hosts, their God” (Haggai 1:12, 14).
Here in chapter 1 Haggai’s people are unconcerned with God or the things of God. They are wrapped up in Themselves.
*God calls them to repent and put Him first in their lives.
* They choose to heed His call and return to Him.
**How amazing it must have felt to hear the message from the Lord, “I am with you!”. God responded to their obedience. God requires our obedience.
***” Even though Jesus was God’s Son, he learned obedience from the things he suffered”. (Hebrews 5:8).
*Help us Lord to put God first in every area of Our life!!!
*Help us that we will seek to obey not just know God.
After all our hard work, all our
sacrifice and obedience, all our putting God’s interests first, we don’t
measure up!
This is nothing compared to what we once saw. Why struggle, why go
on, when we see so little for all that we’ve done?
A host of God’s people today are “giving up” because they do not think they
will ever “measure up”!
Like the Israelites, they have gone back to God, back to putting Him first, seeking His will, building His house. BUT when they look at their lives, they say,
*I have so little to show for all my struggles!
*I have so little of God’s holiness, so little of His glory in my life.
* Compared to other Christians, I’ll never measure up.
* What’s the use of struggling?
****I’ll never have victory.”
LISTEN to the WORD!
“For the LORD your God is going with you! He will fight for you against your enemies, and he will give you victory!’” (Duet. 20:4).
*God sent His precious and only Son to die on Calvary’s tree for you. God redeemed you.
*More than God bringing you out of a watery grave, He delivered you from eternal damnation into glorious communion with Him forever!
God saved YOU! What more could you possibly want?????
*Are you down in the dumps today?
* Do you feel like the victim of a bad situation?
* Do you feel like God has abandoned you?
*Do You feel you do not measure?
Then write down Deuteronomy 20:4 on a piece of paper and meditate on it until you believe it.(“For the LORD your God is going with you! He will fight for you against your enemies, and he will give you victory!’”).
I am convinced this is why many devoted Christians give up the fight. They Compare themselves to other believers and become discouraged because they feel hopelessly inferior!
“You were running the race so well. Who has held you back from following the truth? It certainly isn’t God, for he is the one who called you to freedom”.
(Galatians 5:7-8)
*** As we continue to run the race that is set before us, am I fueling myself for the hills that lie ahead? Have I filled my inner man with the spiritual food of God’s word, regular fellowship with His people, and the presence of His Spirit within me?
*Have I refrained from spiritual “junk food” that would provide temporary satisfaction but doesn’t really give me the strength and energy I need?
* Am I really committed to doing this God’s way, or mine?
If you will just stay true to the Lord and not try to measure yourself by
anything except “Your own Love for Jesus”, you can be assured that you are
growing—and God promises to be with you!
The Lord’s discipline is designed for one purpose: for us, his children, to REPENT and to put him FIRST in our lives.
Are you feeling the absence of the Holy Spirit in your life?
Prayerfully consider those areas where you are NOT putting Jesus first, and then adjust your priorities accordingly.
Nowhere in the Bible does God condemn people for longing to be happy.
People are condemned for forsaking God and seeking their happiness elsewhere (Jeremiah 2:13). This is the essence of sin. The Bible actually commands us to delight in the Lord (Psalm 37:4).
Jesus teaches us to love God more than money because our heart is where our treasure is (Matthew 6:21).
Paul wants us to believe that gaining Christ is worth the loss of everything else (Philippians 3:8) and the author of Hebrews exhorts us to endure suffering, like Jesus, for the joy set before us (Hebrews 12: 1-2). Examine the Scriptures and you’ll see this over and over again.
I will not be confined by my circumstances. Though mountains and giants be before me, God strengthens me. For it is “not by power, nor by might, but by My Spirit, says the Lord” that the mountains of my life become plains. I am more than a conqueror through Him (Christ Jesus) who loves us.
Psalms 139:
1 OLORD, you have examined my heart and know everything about me.
7 I can never escape from your Spirit! I can never get away from your presence!
13 You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14 Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it. 15 You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. 16 You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. 24 Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.
Lord help me to be more than just someone who knows you, but help me be a person that obeys you. I’ve read your Word and from it I have gained much knowledge about what you desire from me…help me live by and obey what I know. If only I was as good at obeying as I am about knowing. Thank you for being so Patient and Gracious with me. I would have given up on me by now, Your mercy is new every morning. Help me to show you the love you have shown me by a life of obedience and dedication to you. Help me to do the giftings you have given me to glorify You-verses Measuring myself by others giftings. We need the whole Body and help me see my part for Your Glory and my Joy Amen.
“For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” Ephesians 2:10.
(Today read Colossians 2— God’s mysterious plan, which is Christ himself. In Jesus lie hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge-Don’t let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking-These worldly rules may seem wise because they require strong devotion, pious self-denial, and severe bodily discipline. But they provide no help in conquering a person’s evil desires. )