Glory

Romans 5

¹ Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, ² through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. ³ And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; ⁴ and perseverance, character; and character, hope. ⁵ Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

 

As I read this I have a question for everyone to ask themselves. Do you have Glory in your tribulation or are you blaming someone or something or circumstances. Are you doing the pour me? If you are, then are you taking away God's glory from shinning?

God’s seat

I put myself in God's seat again. I became the judge. You would think after finding out 18 months ago how judgmental I was I would be better and I am to a degree. Judgment reared its ugly head yesterday. Without going into detail I judge my son. He called me and asked me a question and I assumed he was asking for this reason and when he came over I found out that what I thought was not the truth, but my judgment that I had place on him. In turn by the time he got to my house I was pissed and had gotten myself all worked up over nothing. You see, I decided why he called. I decided why he needed the money. I decided why he did not ask his boss for money. I could have stopped all of the pain by simply telling myself, I will wait until I get his sided of the story before I make a decision. Therefore eliminating any pain caused by my judgment. A quote from chpt 2 on "how to stop the Pain" "The heart is desperately wicked: who can know it?" Jeremiah 17:9 God is the only one who can truly know the heart. When people assume to know why, then their reactions are not based on reality; they are based on judgment. That judgment causes confusion, pain, and loss.

Matthew 7:1 "Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2 For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

I attached significance to the situation; I attached a "why" to what he was doing. The moment I attached the "why" to the situation I then gave it all of the power and then I caused all of my own pain

Question? Who has judged someone lately; you decided why they did what they did without talking to them. You did the negative self-talk and got yourself all worked up over nothing. Then when you did talk to them, you were completely wrong and felt like dumb #$%

 

If you don’t change ……. Then nothing changes!

If you don't change ……… then nothing changes. I have written about this before, so I am writing again about it. I am 50 lbs. over weight. I have chosen not to do anything about it! My eating habits are horrible and I have no discipline in these areas of my life. I am not complaining, because that will not accomplish anything, it is really about the first line in this paragraph. I just need to get off my butt! I guess it is just not bad enough yet. If I don't change………. Then nothing changes. That goes for every area of my life. Scripture says your body is a temple, 1 Corinthians 6:19 Do you not know that your body is the temple (the very sanctuary) of the Holy Spirit Who lives within you, Whom you have received [as a Gift] from God? You are not your own, 20 You were bought with a price [purchased with preciousness and paid for, made His own]. So then, honor God and bring glory to Him in your body. This is my Goliath! Sometimes I feel this is how my life is supposed to be. Well that is a lie strait from the enemy and I refuse to believe that. If I don't do something then in a couple of months I will weigh more.

If you don't change ……… then nothing changes I have ran into several people over the last couple of weeks who have had the attitude that if this is all there is then just take me home now …… I'm done. This attitude pains me; if you don't do anything to change your circumstances then you circumstances will never change. It is not God's job to change you it is your job. Just like me I can gripe about my situation or do something about it! God does not say anywhere in the bible that this life on earth would be easy. In fact He says to welcome the trials. Look it up! 1 Cor. 10:13, James 1:2-4, James 1:12 just to name a few.

I heard a speaker yesterday and he is a very anointed man. Here a couple things that he said that really struck me.

• If you really have made Jesus the Lord of your life then you will have trouble every day! Realistically I do have some type of trouble every day when I go back and think about it
  
• There is no exit strategy in your life except Jesus. What is your exit strategy?
  
• What would happen if you went back to your Egypt? If I go back to the Old Man or my Egypt, everything goes awry!
  
• God is not going to bless a retreat of rebellion. This one really got me!
  
• The children of Israel were fed miraculously because they were following the Lord. Are you been fed?
  
• If you choose to go back to your Egypt, where would you get your water? The fresh manna? How would you cross the Red Sea? Do you think the Lord is going to part the Red Sea for you?
  

These statements and questions are for me as much as they are for anyone else. I leave you with this scripture from
2 Corinthians 4:8 we are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. 9 We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed. 10 Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies. 11 Yes, we live under constant danger of death because we serve Jesus, so that the life of Jesus will be evident in our dying bodies. 12 So we live in the face of death, but this has resulted in eternal life for you.

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