Embrace the Within no. 211

“I solemnly charge you before God and the Messiah Yeshua, who will judge the living and the dead when he appears and establishes his Kingdom: proclaim the Word! Be on hand with it whether the time seems right or not. Convict, censure and exhort with unfailing patience and with teaching. For the time is coming when people will not have patience for sound teaching, but will cater to their passions and gather around themselves teachers who say whatever their ears itch to hear. Yes, they will stop listening to the truth, but will turn aside to follow myths. But you, remain steady in every situation, endure suffering, do the work that a proclaimer of the Good News should, and do everything your service to God requires” (2 Timothy (2 Ti) 4:1-5). To proclaim the Good News I need patience. To discern the Good News I need patience. Impatience leads to poor choices and poor theology.

On my own I make poor choices. A lot of my poor choices are based on a temporary time frame I set up in my own mind. If things are not going according to the time table I have set up, I am often quick to make my own choices. And a lot of those choices are poor. And all of those impatient decisions are based on what I want. Those impatient decisions are based on my desires.

Patience is praying for answers. Patience is fasting for answers. Patience is studying for answers. Patience is waiting for God to answer. If I am truly trusting in God, then I can wait on His answer. Waiting on Him to deliver me from my situations is allegiance to Him. Impatience is trusting in myself more than Him.

On my own I come to poor conclusions. A lot of my poor conclusions are based on a temporary time frame for God to fulfill His promises. If things do not make immediate sense, then I jump to conclusions. Those impatient conclusions are based on my desire for His Word to say what I desire.

Patience is praying for answers. Patience is fasting for answers. Patience is studying for answers. Patience is waiting for God to answer. If I truly trust in God, then I can wait on His answer. Waiting on Him to explain His Word to me is allegiance to Him. Impatience is trusting in my own understanding.

Impatience leads to poor choices and shows a distrust in Him. I need to wait on His timing and show my allegiance to Him. If I truly trust Him, then I need to wait on Him. Teach me patience, “Moreover, dear friends, do not ignore this: with the Lord, one day is like a thousand years and a thousand years like one day The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some people think of slowness; on the contrary, he is patient with you; for it is not his purpose that anyone should be destroyed, but that everyone should turn from his sins” (2 Kefa (2 Pe) 3:8-9).

Grace and Shalom to your home.

I love you. I forgive you. Have a blessed and abundant day!

#ThinkBetter #BeBetter #NoKingButChrist #EmbraceTheWithin #NotMyWayYHWH

Embrace the Within no. 210

“Not that I am saying this to call attention to any need of mine; since, as far as I am concerned, I have learned to be content regardless of circumstances. I know what it is to be in want, and I know what it is to have more than enough — in everything and in every way I have learned the secret of being full and being hungry, of having abundance and being in need. I can do all things through him who gives me power” (Philippians (Php) 4:11-13). Am I content regardless of my circumstances? Paul writes he “learned to be content regardless of circumstances”. Paul has known prison and freedom. Paul has known plenty and poverty. Paul has known persecution and acceptance. He has seen the ends of the spectrum and what lies between the poles. And Paul writes that the “secret of being full and being hungry, of having abundance and being in need. I can do all things through him who gives me power”. Am I content regardless of my circumstances?

Paul is not secret about his struggles, “Therefore, to keep me from becoming overly proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from the Adversary to pound away at me, so that I wouldn’t grow conceited. Three times I begged the Lord to take this thing away from me; but he told me, ‘My grace is enough for you, for my power is brought to perfection in weakness.’ Therefore, I am very happy to boast about my weaknesses, in order that the Messiah’s power will rest upon me. Yes, I am well pleased with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions and difficulties endured on behalf of the Messiah; for it is when I am weak that I am strong” (2 Corinthians (2 Co) 12:7-10). Regardless, he has found the “secret of being full and being hungry, of having abundance and being in need”. And that simple secret is that God allows him, God allows you, and God allows me to “do all things through him who gives me power”. Am I content regardless of my circumstances?

If I am not content, then why? And that is a great question to ask both myself and Him. “For this mitzvah which I am giving you today is not too hard for you, it is not beyond your reach” (D'varim (Deu) 30:11). He will not make following Him difficult because I cannot do difficult things. He will not make my contentment difficult because I cannot do difficult things. Am I content regardless of my circumstances?

Grace and Shalom to your home.

I love you. I forgive you. Have a blessed and abundant day!

#ThinkBetter #BeBetter #NoKingButChrist #EmbraceTheWithin #NotMyWayYHWH