Deut. 28:47-48, Because you did not serve the LORD your God with joy and a glad heart, for the abundance of all things; therefore you shall serve your enemies whom the LORD will send against you, in hunger, in thirst, in nakedness, and in the lack of all things; and He will put an iron yoke on your neck until He has destroyed you.

If we are complaining, we are not enjoying the Lord’s presence. This statement can take a lifetime to move from head to heart. However, as we dwell on it, it will make more and more sense. We did not become Christians to work for God or to please God; the work has already been done, and the Father is well pleased with Jesus. We became Christians for God, and God alone. As the understanding of our position in Him expands, we see that His presence is in us, just as it was in the Holy of Holies. Christ Himself dwells in us! We are temples of the living God (II Corinthians 6:16)! All of life’s experiences have been moving us toward that revelation, and once we have it, everything changes. We can enjoy His presence in heavy traffic, in a hospital room, at a birth or a funeral, waiting for a taxi, sitting before the banker, walking or riding, or whatever we do. His presence is an absolute, and the peace of it is never to be surrendered to a situation. If we are looking without, we will find much to complain about. If we are looking behind the veil and seeing His presence with us in the midst of what we thought was a place of discomfort, we can have great joy. Once again we see that on this earth we make our own heaven or hell.

I Corinthians 4:5, “Therefore do not go on passing judgment before the time, but wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men’s hearts; and then each man’s praise will come to him from God.”

Peter’s statement that “a woman will be saved in childbirth” is confusing until the word saved is properly defined. The term saved, as used in the Bible, refers a majority of the time to deliverance in the present. Nothing hinders daily victory and joy as much as selfishness. Experiencing childbirth, a woman’s self-life is given a severe blow as she devotes her own wellbeing to the good of another, her newborn child. This very loss of self-centeredness allows her to be more susceptible to daily victory in Christ.

Peter’s statement is not meant to be a dig to women who have not borne children any more so than to men, who also have never borne children. He is pointing to a greater truth, and that truth is that selfishness needs a deathblow in order for mankind to find life. Childbirth seems to validate a woman’s existence (not all women, but many) in the sense that once a woman is a mother, the course of her life is believed to be set, and she therefore has validation and purpose. Men do not have such an experience, and I find that many are looking for purpose and validation. However, we seek for the things that can only be found in Him.

I have collected several suicide notes from men over the years (more men successfully commit suicide than women). The notes are predictable and often carry the same theme: “I am sorry that I did not amount to more”; “I should have done more with my life”; “I am a disappointment.” In short, they never found validation–or, rather, a fulfilled purpose–in living. Within the context of discipleship I often play a suicide game. I pretend that I am the person sitting before me wanting to commit suicide, and the person must take the name of Suicide. I say, “Suicide, why do you want to kill me?” The answer comes in various forms, but always with the same general thrust: “Because you are worthless, you have not accomplished anything with your life, and you have not lived up to your potential.” I then respond, “Exactly what is my potential? How will I know if I have accomplished enough or lived well enough to fulfill my potential? Will it be when I have made a medical discovery, become popular, obtained my own television show, gained the praise of my family, or memorized the whole Bible? The problem is that I know of men who fall into the previous categories of accomplishment that have all committed suicide, therefore proving that your definition of validation is faulty.”

Something very depressing to many is that they have “made it” in the world’s sense and wake up in the morning being their same old selves. Validation from yourself, the world, or others is like taking a dry dishrag and wringing it for a full, thirst-satisfying, glass of water. When man cannot find validation, he will live to the world, others, and self in an attempt to justify his existence on the earth. I have not mentioned the things that we do that actually, in our minds, do the opposite of validating us. There are the outbursts, the deeds of the flesh, the old habits that return, the failed marriages, and more. Men more than women need to stop looking for validation in any place other than the Lord. Naked you entered the world and naked you will leave. Frank Sinatra died and Las Vegas dimmed its lights for a short time. Wow! What a tribute. They then turned them back on full blaze and went on gambling.

If the Lord validates you, you no longer must live to the world, yourself, or others. You will be free, free indeed. He validates every man with a simple statement, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” That is enough. With that statement echoing in my heart, I am as happy sitting on a tractor turning up the grubs and watching the seagulls eat them as I am preaching before five thousand. I am as expectant in defeat as in victory. I am not watching myself obsessively, nor does the affirmation or rejection of the world or others change my day.

How often do we flee when God tells us to give ourselves to those who have hurt us?

Romans 8:19-22 For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. 20For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, _in hope 21that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now.
Jonah 4:9-11, Then God said to Jonah, “Do you have good reason to be angry about the plant?” And he said, “I have good reason to be angry, even to death.” Then the LORD said, “You had compassion on the plant for which you did not work and which you did not cause to grow, which came up overnight and perished overnight. Should I not have compassion on Nineveh, the great city in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know the difference between their right and left hand, as well as many animals?” In Scripture we see that creation has suffered by the hand of man and that redeemed man treats creation differently. However, the lesser will always give way to the greater, and man is the greater. It is amazing to watch as people show more compassion to plants and animals than to people, to live in a society where it is more important to protect a bird egg than the heart, mind, and innocence of a child or the life of a human fetus. Often the reason why people are that way is that they have been hurt by others, which makes loving a pet or a tree safer than giving themselves to others. I can only imagine the rejection and suffering that Jonah had experienced at the hands of others, so much so that when he was commanded to go to people, he fled. How often do we flee when God tells us to give ourselves to those who have hurt us? The amazing thing about Jesus is that where we fail, He succeeded. Though everyone rejected Him in the end, we see Him going forward to a cross to give Himself for all those who had hurt Him. We must admit where we are. After so much hurt, many of us have decided never to give ourselves to others again. However, if we invite Christ to be our love, we will find that what is impossible for us is easily possible for Him.

In the village next to the Niger River I had noticed a cage holding one lone, odd-looking eagle. All the basic features were there; the body, neck, and two-thirds of the wings were white. Yet the end of the wings and the head were black. I was told, “That is a white eagle.” You could understand my confusion, since it had black on its wings, and the head was completely black. Upon questioning I was told, “It is a young white eagle; as the bird grows, the white will push its way to the tip of the wings and beak. The mature bird will be completely white in the end.” Again, all things created are preaching Jesus. The DNA of the bird dictates that it will be a white bird. As the bird grows, it expands into what it really is in fact: a white eagle. It doesn’t become a white eagle; it is a white eagle even when the black is on it. Growth and maturity will force out what does not belong to the very nature of the bird. The head is where the thoughts of the flesh hide in hopes of manifesting themselves. The black on the wings, our unbelief, is the only thing associating us with earthly living. Would it in any way be possible to stop the growth of this bird? No, but if it remained caged, the expression and exercise of its growth and maturity will never be seen. This white eagle gives me hope. First, it will grow, and what it is will be revealed; it has no choice. Second, God will not keep it captive. There will be a mounting up in the fullness of time. Imagine giving birth to a child if it were up to you to make it grow. Wouldn’t you be a nervous wreck? You can’t make a child grow, for that is God’s work. Likewise, you don’t make yourself grow spiritually! That is God’s work, a work that He has ordained by writing into your very DNA that you are a child of God. In the end, you cannot make one hair [one feather] black or white. Your “color” is the outgrowth of the new nature that He has given you. Christ’s life is written into your very nature. By the way, eagles devour the serpent and are feared by all the other little creatures that sneak about.

He enjoys living in you!

Col. 1:27, “to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

My unbelief astounds me! The fact that it astounds me is a revelation that I still think that in my flesh dwells some good thing. You see, I knew that Christ could live in the flesh of a man and conquer all things, but I never believed that He could live in my flesh and conquer all things. What was I thinking, that somehow, when Jesus moved into my flesh, His power was stripped away? What unbelief. Actually, when I had my last birthday, I just stopped and pondered. I never thought I would make it to that age. I didn’t think that He who had begun a good work in me would complete it. I didn’t think that He would prove to me that He was love. It was all proof of my unbelief. Well, I want to testify that He can live in your flesh. He has lived in thousands of people’s flesh, and He is more than able. And I will tell you one more secret: He enjoys living in you!

We are pregnant with the great truth of Christ in us.

Rev. 12:2, and she was with child; and she cried* out, being in labor and in pain to give birth.
We are pregnant with the great truth of Christ in us. We must give birth to it. Has anyone told you what a spiritual pregnancy will look like? You are carrying something that is eternal. There are many symptoms, and here is one: You must have continued revelations of yourself, your flesh, in order to have continued revelations of Him, which come from need. You must see your need for Him in an area before He will be your life in that area. You must see yourself as selfish before He can become your selflessness. Don’t be discouraged but be realistic. We can easily think of three things the people at work do to annoy us, three things our mate does, three things the children do, and three things that are done at church. But can you think of three things you do in all these areas? Do you really believe yourself to be so pleasant and perfect to live with? Stop examining others, come under His light (“Search me, oh God”), see your weakness, accept His strength and have a move in God, a revelation of Jesus.

All things created have an awareness of their Creator, for it is in Him that all things are held together.

To destroy anything mindlessly is a sin against Jesus.

Romans 8:19, For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. 20For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope 21that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. I feel sorry for creation, from the cows and chickens that are forced by man to be cannibals, to the fish that have industrial waste dumped on them, to the forests that are destroyed. All things created have an awareness of their Creator, for it is in Him that all things are held together. To destroy anything mindlessly is a sin against Jesus. God never intended us to mess with His artwork the way we do. There is nothing wrong with need; you can eat a cow and you can eat the calf, but you are not to boil the calf in the mother’s milk. Putting genetic material from one being into another doesn’t lead to improvement but to distortion. The trees and mountains proclaim Him. Jesus said that even the rocks would shout out His name. No wonder creation longs for the revelation of the sons of God. As a child I remember killing a small bird, not to eat, but for nothing. It haunted me and still does. I know that coming to Christ changed my view and treatment of creation. It just wouldn’t be right to visit my earthly father and break everything he has made around the house. It is not right for man to break what the Father in heaven has made. The abuse of creation is most obvious in countries without a Christian base. Where there is abuse of man, you can imagine the abuse of creation. I am not a “greenie”; I just love what my Father has made. Come quickly, Lord Jesus.

The result of the fall is “Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

God had one Son in heaven; this Son needed a bride. God’s plan was to have many sons in heaven that would make a bride for the One Son.If man had not fallen, then the world would be perfect and populated with perfect people, but there would be no sons in heaven. It means that Jesus was not Plan B, that God is not playing catch-up to sin, Satan, and the world. Jesus was the lamb slain from the foundation of the world. The whole thing was in the mind of God from the beginning.

Does this mean that God is the author of sin? No, may it never be. Does it mean that God knew that putting man in a body of flesh would lead to sin? Yes. Think about it. Man is made in the image of God. What would make him submit to God? Therefore, God gives him what he wants: freedom to choose, freedom to have a kingdom, righteousness, and strength. Freedom to imitate God. The end result is that man, not God, messes the whole thing up.

However, in messing the whole thing up, man is not willing to exercise his chooser to choose God’s kingdom, glory, strength, and righteousness. It means that the defective life of man will need to be replaced. That can only happen through a new birth, and that means Christ in man and more sons in heaven.

Wonderful! Beautiful! Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom of God. Instead of weeping over your failure, why don’t you ask why you failed, then release yourself to God at the point of your why. The why is what He is dealing with. He knew there would be failures and He is using them. He isn’t playing catch-up with Satan. If God is for us, then who can be against us?

Your True Nature!

In the village next to the Niger River I had noticed a cage holding one lone, odd-looking eagle. All the basic features were there; the body, neck, and two-thirds of the wings were white. Yet the end of the wings and the head were black. I was told, “That is a white eagle.” You could understand my confusion, since it had black on its wings, and the head was completely black. Upon questioning I was told, “It is a young white eagle; as the bird grows, the white will push its way to the tip of the wings and beak. The mature bird will be completely white in the end.”

Again, all things created are preaching Jesus. The DNA of the bird dictates that it will be a white bird. As the bird grows, it expands into what it really is in fact: a white eagle. It doesn’t become a white eagle; it is a white eagle even when the black is on it. Growth and maturity will force out what does not belong to the very nature of the bird.

The head is where thoughts of the flesh hide in hopes of manifesting themselves. The black on the wings, our unbelief, is the only thing associating us with earthly living. Would it in any way be possible to stop the growth of this bird? No, but if it remains caged, the expression and exercise of its growth and maturity would not be seen.

This white eagle gives me hope. First, it will grow, and what it is will be revealed; it has no choice. Second, God will not keep it captive. There will be a mounting up in the fullness of time.

Imagine giving birth to a child if its actual growth was in your hands, being up to you to make it grow. Wouldn’t you be a nervous wreck? You can’t make a child grow, for that is God’s work. Likewise, you don’t make yourself grow spiritually! That is God’s work, a work that He has ordained by writing into your very DNA that you are a child of God. In the end, you cannot make one hair [one feather] black or white. Your “color” is the outgrowth of the new nature that He has given you. Christ’s life is written into your very nature.

By the way, eagles devour the serpent and are feared by all the other little creatures that sneak about.