Finger Thinking 010313 Doom and Gloom?

Finger Thinking 010313
Doom and Gloom

I have no problem with the "doom" thing.  He's got me covered on that.  But the "gloom" thing is another matter.

Maybe it's just me and our circumstances :-X  But I don't need any more worry than I develop all by myself.  How about you?

My situation - and that of some folks very dear to me - are bad and looking like (I said looking like) they are not going to get better - I conjure up the getting worse part without any encouragement - thank you very much.

So what do we do with the "gloom" part?

First - don't let it get it's hooks into you.  If He is in charge everything is really ok whether we feel it is or not.  It's very easy to get caught up in the "The sky is falling...," thing and once it has you it doesn't let go so easy.  Also keep in mind that "fear" sells and the more afraid I can make you the more I can sell you.

For me avoiding all the fear mongering is as much a part of resisting the devil and changing the channel when a V's Secret commercial comes on.  Remember the devil is a roaring lion and what he wants to do is get you to run from him right into the rest of the pride.  (It's the lionesses that do most of the killing).

Second - get your head in the Word - I don't much care where you start but get into it and get it into you.  Of course the Psalms are wonderful in helping us see that God works for His and that what we face is not new.

Third - pray (or maybe first ;-}).  Pray that you won't be distracted from Him and His work by all the hoopla and fear mongering.  Again, the Psalms - read them, pray them, sing them - they are good!!! 

Also dive into the book of Acts - there is real insight and assurance and comfort there.  If God got them through all they faced He'll get us through too.

Fourth - FELLOWSHIP ! ! !  It's about time the body began to take better care of itself instead of going to war with the culture.  "We" - believers - need to take a lesson from the book of Acts and start taking better care of one another.  That includes sharing our needs and fears and encouraging one another.  Isolation is a killer and it is definitely not "being one" as He prayered we would be.  To be alone in your fear and concern is about as smart as being locked in a room with a hungry lion - who do you think's going to leave the room?

We get together and pretend we'll all just fine and then we go home and it all crashes down.  Ok - so maybe it's just me (and some friends) that experiences that.  But any review of the "one anothers" in the Word should convict us that we've surrendered, refused, rejected, lost -- or something -- the "oneness" and all the encouragement and comfort that brings.  

I'm not talking "pity parties" but sound and safe gatherings where we can share and seek, seek and share TOGETHER about real specific things.  Why don't we do that?  who came up with the idea that any of "us" were ok without the rest of "us?"

I spent some time today with a dear friend discussing real issues that the "fear" factor is raising.  We didn't chew on the big scary things we're hearing and seeing.  But we did have a sound and encouraging conversaion about trusting God in the middle of whatever mess is coming. 

Yeah, we did some, "What will you do if," stuff.  We even got into standard, "had you been in Nazi Germany......," discussion.  But what was so wonderful is that we both abdicated our choices to Him and His will.  We worked hard on discerning the boundaries by which a believer is constrained.  For me it was a wonderful and powerful time of sharing and encouraging.  It really meant a lot.

When all is said and done we have to come back to the main and plain:

Proverbs 3:5-8 ESV
Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. [6] In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. [7] Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD, and turn away from evil. [8] It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones.

Let us pray and consider how we might come together and encourage one another in this.  Let us pray and consider being not an institution but a body of believing men and women seeking to serve and submit to Him while we await His dispelling of the gloom.

We need one another.  He knew that.  He prayed for that.  Let's do that!

Anybody in Greensboro - or close by up for that?

sheepdog.ms@gmail.com

Peter’s Pen 1st Peter 1:22-25

1Pe 1:22-25  Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart,  (23)  since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God;  (24)  for "All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls,  (25)  but the word of the Lord remains forever." And this word is the good news that was preached to you.

Peter continues with an application for all he has written prior to this:

“love one another earnestly from a pure heart”

But notice, this is placed right in the middle of “how” we are even able to hope to do it.

It is not some feeling or affection we take on or put on, but rather something that can only be done because of what He has done.  It is smack dab in the middle of “purified your souls,” and “born again.”  There is no place else we can ever hope to follow Peter’s admonition.  It is only “in Him” that we can have a sincere love for one another.

This love, this sincere love is a love without pretense.  It is unfeigned, not an act, soundly based, real.  It is based upon His love for His redeemed. 

1Jn 4:10  In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

This is the foundation and power of our loving.  If God so loved our brothers and sisters, can we ever be satisfied with loving them less?

Joh 17:20-21  "I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word,  (21)  that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.

This love we are called to is His; He has poured it out into our hearts and we are to recognize it in and give it to one another.  Oh, our flesh makes it so hard at times.  We are all struggling with our “me-ness.”  But this love can and will over-ride that [“selfness”], if we will diligently seek His grace and mercy for that to happen.  This love is absolutely impossible if it is not sought and received from the throne of grace, from the scarred hand of the Savior.

Pray, pray and pray again that He will take from you anything that prohibits you from loving your brothers and sisters in the same way and with the same love as He always loves you .

UIH 3

What a blessing it is to have a brother or sister in Christ to come along side you and “restore” you gently and kindly.  Paull writes:

Finally, brothers, rejoice. Aim for restoration, comfort one another, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you.   (2Co 13:11)

I am particularly focused on, “aim for restoration.”

Restoration:  καταρτίζω, katartizō

Thayer Definition:

1) to render, i.e. to fit, sound, complete

1a) to mend (what has been broken or rent), to repair

1a1) to complete

1b) to fit out, equip, put in order, arrange, adjust

1b1) to fit or frame for one’s self, prepare

1c) ethically: to strengthen, perfect, complete, make one what he ought to be

UIH is a place where we pray that will happen.  We all get “down” either through circumstances or sin (ours or that of others) and we need to be, “restored.”  We find that same word in:

Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.  (Gal 6:1-2)

This is one of the most wonderful things the fellowship of believers can do for one another.  But it can be a tough thing to be willing to have done to one’s self.  Admitting a need, a lack of understanding, being caught in a transgression is a very uncomfortable thing to do.  The promise of meeting, “a spirit of gentleness,” goes a long way to easing our way into reaching out.

Us in Him, through the study, counseling and fellowship  seeks to do this.  We pray that He will hold us and keep us in that “spirit of gentleness,”  as we seek, all of us, to be restored – together.   James makes it clear:

For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body.  (Jas 3:2)

Note, “we all,” stumble and we do it in, “many ways.”  So we need helping hearts and hands to lift us up and steady us as we gain our feet.

Just this week I had several in my circle of believers comfort and restore me.  It was hard to admit I needed restoring but once I was willing to let go of my pride and the ickiness of it God blessed me gently and greatly through others.  As we are admonished to do this we need to be willing to have it done to us.  

It’s scarier out there when you feel all alone.