Harry-Mouse Durgin

God’s Loving Promises

We—God’s children, those whose Lord and Savior is Jesus Christ—“can joyfully live in the present in the light of the future, having learned from the past. Eternity is forever, and our problems are, in comparison, fleeting moments. The clearer we can imagine our promised future, the smaller our problems appear, and the more joyfully we can sail through life’s bad weather.” (When Storms Come: Will You Be Ready? page 99)

Studying, memorizing, meditating on God’s loving promises is a sure cure for what ails you.

Here’s one of His promises:

Glory

These whom He justified, He also glorified. (Romans 8:30)

The glory which You have given Me I have given to them. (John 17:22)

Glory Already Given

His Word states this in the past tense: He also glorified you. Christ has given us the glory His Father gave Him.

From God’s point of view, we, who trust in Christ, are in Christ, and He sees us through His Son.

From our point of view, since we are in time, our glorification comes when He takes us home and removes us from the presence of sin.

Our glory is a sure thing. Promised by God. Guaranteed.

This type of past tense is sometimes called the “Prophetic Past Tense.” Others talk about the concept of “Already but Not Yet.”

Press On to Glory

I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:14)

Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus. (Hebrews 12:1–2)

We certainly aren’t glorified in our present struggles. But, as children of God, He sees us as glorified.

We can press on in this life knowing the certainty of glory to come.

Live in Your Certain Glory

Your promised, guaranteed, glorification is something to envision, and long for.

Be encouraged.

Signed copies of my book, When Storms Come: Will You Be Ready?,  are available through KristinPSnyder.com. Or they can be purchased as paperback or ebooks on line.

Lord! No More! Get me outta here!

Have you ever prayed that? Me, too.

Sometimes it’s appropriate.

Sometimes there is something better to pray.

Instead of focusing on escaping, how about:

Lord, help me honor You in this situation.

Lord, help me be patient.

Lord, help me be wise.

Lord, I know You’ve given me everything I need for life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3). Help me use Your gifts.

Think about it.

See How to Pray for What You Already Have

TP Wars

Ok, really now…do you think TP should go over the roll or under the roll? Is this an issue in your household?

I’ve read that the “TP Over or Under Roll” is a battleground in many marriages. Even divorce. REALLY?

How in the world?

I’m sure this isn’t a problem among the readers of this blog, but you may know of people where this is a genuine conflict.

(Of course, the problem with kids in the household is likely to be replacing the roll at all!)

(And, maybe, you have a different battleground…)

Two verses:

Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves. (Philippians 2:3)

Be subject to one another in the fear of Christ. (Ephesians 5:21)

Humility

Certainly there are many issues of more importance than how to position the TP roll.

But, the underlying problem is of immense spiritual importance: Humility.

Let’s fix our eyes on Jesus, and, out of reverence for our Lord, humbly stop the TP war.

The previous post in the Praise series, Praise the Omniscient, focused on the eternal truth that Almighty God knows everything about everything and everybody all the time.

Today, let’s praise the God who is everywhere, all the time, forever. He is always with us. We can never escape Him. He is Ever-Present, Omnipresent.

“Am I a God who is near,” declares the Lord, “And not a God far off? Can a man hide himself in hiding places so I do not see him? Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?” (Jeremiah 23:23–24)

Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend to heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the dawn, if I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, even there Your hand will lead me, and Your right hand will lay hold of me. (Psalm 139:7–10)

For a Believer God’s Presence is Wonderful

For a believer, this is wonderful. God is always present. We cannot escape Him, nor do we want to. His love is always with us, His sovereignty is always active in our lives. We are never forgotten or left alone. While we may not always feel His presence, it is true that God is with us. Let’s focus on the truth.

And He said, “My presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest.” (Exodus 33:14)

He knows all we think, say, and do. For a believer, this truth stimulates us to righteous living and good deeds. We can rest, knowing He knows, and will reward us.

Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done. (Revelation 22:12)

For Those Who Don’t Believe, God’s Presence is (or should be) Terrifying

For those who haven’t received Christ as Lord and Savior, God’s presence is (or should be) terrifying. God is with them, everything they do is seen by Him, the ruler of the universe. They cannot hide their faithlessness and misdeeds.

The eyes of the Lord are in every place, watching the evil and the good. (Proverbs 15:3)

It is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment. (Hebrews 9:27)

Praise the Ever-Present God

God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—I praise Your constant presence throughout Your creation. I praise You for being everywhere all the time and that no one can escape Your presence. I praise You that no one can “get away” with anything—good deeds or bad, and that one day You will judge the world in righteousness. Please help me absorb this truth and live my life aware that You are with me.

God’s Love

God’s love for His children, those who trust in His Son, and have received Christ as Lord and Savior, is unchanging and eternal.

God is for us (Romans 8:31).

Christ Jesus intercedes for us (Romans 8:34).

NOTHING can separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:35-39).

While God’s love for His children is steadfast, we can grieve Him or please Him.

Grieving God

Do not quench the Spirit. (1 Thessalonians 5:19)

Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. (Ephesians 4:30)

Paul gives examples of how we can grieve the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:25-29), all of which are illustrations of sin.

Even though we can grieve the Holy Spirit, we are sealed by Him and cannot lose our salvation.

But! As long as He is grieved, we have lost fellowship with Him, and therefore direction and joy. The remedy is to confess your (my) sin, knowing that God will “forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1John 1:9)

Pleasing God

On the other hand, we can please God. Amazing isn’t it? We, mortal humans, but children of God, can please Almighty God! Woohoo!

And we can learn to please Him.

Learn what is pleasing to the Lord. (Ephesians 5:10)

Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him. (2 Corinthians 5:9)

God Helps Us Please Himself

Determine to please Him in all respects (Colossians 1:10), and know that God is working in you both to want to please Him and to actually work to please Him.

For it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure. (Philippians 2:13)

For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. (Philippians 1:6)

God is helping us please Him!

Set Your Mind

Resolve to increasingly know Him and know what He wants you to do. Determine to live your life His way. You’ll please Him!

Don’t Think About It!

Have you ever been told not to think about something? Or, maybe, you’ve told yourself to stop thinking about something.

You may have done this exercise as a party game or in corporate training. “Picture an elephant.” ………… “Now stop thinking about the elephant.”

How did that work for you?

Probably not well, unless…

The Bible Tells Us How to Stop

Remember a time you were stuck in some unwanted thought. How long were you trapped? What enabled you to focus on something else?

It doesn’t work just to try to stop.

In fact, if you focus on trying to stop thinking about something in particular, you are more likely to keep remembering it.

What does work is to substitute a different thought.

Put Off. Put On.

Let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. (Romans 13:12)

Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts. (Romans 13:14)

Lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.” (Ephesians 4:22–24)

Don’t Do It!

This principle also works for behavior. Do you want to stop doing something? Find a godly substitute and do that instead.

I wanted to stop being so angry at certain behaviors in my company I thought were outrageous. One day I read a story about how to tell a true southerner: “A true Southerner knows you don’t scream obscenities at little old ladies who drive 30 mph on the freeway. You just say, ‘Bless her heart’ and go your own way.” I laughed, but immediately saw how to apply this to my situation. So, when I saw or heard something that made my angry, I deliberately said: “Bless her/his heart.” The thought made me laugh and provoked me to bless and not curse. (When Storms Come: Will You Be Ready? page 214.)

Apply this to yourself

What do you want to stop thinking about? What do you want to stop doing?

Plan a substitute thought or a substitute action.

Think the godly substitute.

Perform the godly substitute.

This is how to not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. (Romans 8:4)

Practice! Press on!

This post describes HOW to stop thinking or doing something, but is the intellectual “how.” Conceptually, this is not difficult. However, we still must learn HOW to apply this to our lives, reliably and well. Actually employing this learning takes our best effort in the power of God. We are to “labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me” (Colossians 1:29)

Let’s press on!

Uh-Oh. Someone is on the wrong side!

When someone asks for forgiveness, I’ve sometimes said: “There is nothing to forgive.” And a friend recently said that to me for something I felt bad about.

I wonder if that is right.

For some reason the person and I asked for forgiveness. It could be a mis-directed conscience. It could be a genuine mis-step. It could be sin. It could genuinely be nothing.

But the person is troubled

Even if you aren’t troubled by whatever happened, the person was troubled enough to ask for forgiveness.

After thinking about when I’ve used the phrase or been the recipient of the phrase, I will never again say it.

Instead, I plan to ask about what prompted the request for forgiveness, explore, if appropriate, what the person thinks about the issue and, if there is an issue, how I can help.

Possible questions

What’s going on?

Why did you ask?

What do you think was wrong?

A possible opportunity

Maybe this is an opportunity to help the person move forward in his/her Christian life. Help them understand if there really was nothing amiss. Or help them understand how to tackle, with God’s help, an issue.

If there really was no issue at all, the person wouldn’t have asked for forgiveness!

Things to think about

If there really is something awry, you don’t want to condone a problem.

If the person needs some help, you don’t want to ignore it.

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God knows everything. He is omniscient.

OLord, You have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You understand my thought from afar. You scrutinize my path and my lying down, and are intimately acquainted with all my ways. Even before there is a word on my tongue, behold, O Lord, You know it all. You have enclosed me behind and before, and laid Your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is too high, I cannot attain to it. (Psalm 139:1–6)

His understanding is infinite. (Psalm 147:5)

Your Father… sees what is done in secret… (Matthew 6:6)

Lord, You know all things… (John 21:17)

And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. (Hebrews 4:13)

Awesome. Scary.

God knows everything about everything and everybody all the time.

God knows everything about you—and me–all the time. He knows everything you—and I—think, feel, say, do. There is nothing you or I can hide.

Simultaneously, God’s omniscience is comforting and fearful.

He knows all our sins, which should lead us to confession and repentance, thereby receiving His forgiveness (1 John 1:9).

He knows all our sins—past, present, and future—and saved us anyway, which should lead us to worship Him and give us confidence.

For unbelievers, though, God’s omniscience is a frightful reality since God, when He judges, knows everything the person did. Everything.

For unbelievers, this truth should help them know they need a Savior.

Praise the Omniscient

God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—I praise Your Omniscience. You know the end from the beginning. You know everything about everything and everybody all the time, and knit everything all together to accomplish Your glorious will. Help me relax in light of this truth, resting on You.

Too often I will pray for something God has already given me.

My problem isn’t that I lack God’s resources but that I don’t apply His provision in my life.

Don’t Pray to Receive What You Already Have

If I pray for strength to cope with something, or the ability to do what He told me, I’m praying for the wrong thing. I’ve been told that I “can do all things through Him who strengthens” me (Phil. 4:13).

If I pray for His guidance, I’m ignoring that He always guides me (John 16:13).

If I pray for His grace, I overlook that He has freely and richly given me His grace (Ephesians 1:6-7).

If I pray for joy, I discount Jesus’ promise: “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full” (John 15:11).

I have been given “everything pertaining to life and godliness” (2 Pet. 1:3).

But I Don’t Always Use What I’ve Been Given

But I am not always joyful.

I too often believe I am not able to do what I know the Lord wants me to do.

I pray for the wrong things.

Pray to Apply What You Already Have

Instead of praying for peace, or joy, or guidance, or strength, which you’ve already been given as a child of God, pray that the Lord will help you understand and apply His gifts in your life, in your situation.

Lord, thank You that You have given me the ability to accomplish Your direction. Thank You that You will guide me as I work in this situation. Please help me clearly understand what to do. Please help me get started and keep going.

Lord, thank You that You given me Your Word, help me understand what You would have me do. Thank You that You are with me now and will be with me as I, in Your strength, go about my day. Help me stay alert to You (Luke 21:36).

Lord, thank You that You already have given me everything pertaining to life and godliness. I am determined to use Your gifts in the life You have given me. Help me continually look to You for the guidance You’ve promised. Help me demonstrate Your power and love today.

Question

How are you going to pray—right now?