Spiritual Vertigo

Often, even in the midst of discipleship our lives just don’t make sense.

We hear the preacher talking about the abundant life of Jesus as we live drawing on the flow of His riches in the Kingdom Amongst us, and we have the tendency to say, wake up and smell the thorns.

A rather severe case of spiritual vertigo.

It is in those times I find whether I really trust, or I just really talk about it.

But it is not whether we experience the bitterness of life that defines our discipleship, it is our response. 3 things to remember during these times.

1. God is here - even when life turns sour.

God is not far away, He is here. That was the gospel Jesus Christ preached.

Our Father in Heaven not far away in space and time…He is right here.

The answer is not going to heaven when we die, the answer is to live in His presence right now.

2.  Nothing too hard for God.

Because God holds everything together anyway. Nothing too hard for Him.

Col. 1:17 In Him all things hold together. See: Luke 1:37

Not to hard for Him to redeem even your sufferings if submitted to Him.

3. God is good.

1 John 1:5 This is the message of Jesus Christ…God is light and in Him there is no darkness at all. NONE. Don’t believe anything bad about God.

Nahum 1:7 (You can’t have the God of Nahum 1 without verse 7)

   The LORD is good, A stronghold in the day of trouble,

   And He knows those who take refuge in Him.

I would paraphrase Nahum 1 like this:

Give up, the battle is over, He won, quit fighting because you can go home now. You can go home because God is good and you can take refuge in Him. We sing at Christmas the great lines from the prophet Daniel:
The Kingdoms of this world have become those of our God and of His Christ and He shall reign forever and ever and ever…

What is the next word? hallelujah.

- Pastor Brian

Thinking bigger...

The life God has for us here as we learn to trust Him is much richer than we have been led to believe.

God has called us to and will empower us to live a life of actual moral goodness that flows from inside the life of One committed to trusting Him and desirous of living in the conscious reality of the very presence of God.

We are today living the consequences of not thinking big enough regarding our life with Christ. It is not that we do not acknowledge our sinfulness, it is our failure to acknowledge our place in His life. We so easily forget that the plans He has for us are something so grand we can hardly begin to fathom. We are so busy bemoaning our lot in life we forget the position we hold in His life as we live eternity right now.

The reason for learning to trust Him is not just that it is good for us, though it is and not just that it will see us through the hurts of life as it will, but because we are involved in a world, indeed universe wide conspiracy where God is undermining the very evil structures that have dominated and existed in human history with the perpetual good of His people.

Overcoming evil is not just a personal effort we engage in, it will actually come about. That is God’s plan and the resurrection of Jesus is proof He will bring it about---and He has made us indispensable participants in this.

God is about making us into the kind of person who will be able to stand up to the rigors of an eternity that stretches before us in an endless life.

That takes training in this phase as we ‘reign in life through One Jesus Christ’-Romans 5:17

You can learn to live in the conscious reality of the presence of God. Don't let them tell you otherwise.

- Pastor Brian