a 'True Perspective'
this post represents some unrefined thoughts about how/why we as Christians seem to get so easily derailed in our spiritual lives. I really have to thank Dan Mohler for it has been his teaching that has helped me (and our community) to see some things that many Christians miss on a regular basis.
recently in worship, the Lord gave me a picture that helped me to articulate in some ways a summary of what Dan Mohler has taught us and more importantly a summary of what the New Testament teaches as truth.
How is it that the Apostle Paul was able to learn "the secret" of being content in ALL circumstances? (Phil 4:12). He was under "house arrest" when he wrote Philippians. He knew beatings, abandonment, being in desperate need, etc. (see 2 Cor. 11:20-32 for a list of those hardships). In other words, his life was marked with suffering, both physical and psychological. And from multiple sources, both human and demonic. In the midst of that type of life, that ended ultimately in his own martyrdom, he boasted about being always content.
Fast forward 2000 years, and we can think of how, if we are honest, our circumstances all-too-often dictate our spiritual well being. I can't even begin to count how many Christians I have known through the years who have due to circumstances, wandered away from the faith: an untimely death, a broken marriage, losing a job, financial struggles, being hurt by "the Church", unanswered prayer, etc. Circumstances dictated their contentment, or lack thereof.
The Apostle Paul knew most of those realities in his life and yet somehow his faith endured in the midst of all the shakings, all the hardship, all the problems. What a challenge! Oh that we would "learn the secret" that Paul learned. And I should emphasize the word "learned" because it implies a process - not an automatic state.
The picture the Lord gave me during worship was that of a massive ocean liner of incalculable value - an unsinkable vessel that will reach its destination with 100% certainty. Through faith in Christ, we have been invited onto this vessel and into relationship with its owner as our eternal inheritance. We can endure the storms, not because they won't be constant, but because of the nature of the vessel in which we now live. It is the indestructible nature of the vessel that enables us to overcome any and all circumstances we will face.
recently in worship, the Lord gave me a picture that helped me to articulate in some ways a summary of what Dan Mohler has taught us and more importantly a summary of what the New Testament teaches as truth.
How is it that the Apostle Paul was able to learn "the secret" of being content in ALL circumstances? (Phil 4:12). He was under "house arrest" when he wrote Philippians. He knew beatings, abandonment, being in desperate need, etc. (see 2 Cor. 11:20-32 for a list of those hardships). In other words, his life was marked with suffering, both physical and psychological. And from multiple sources, both human and demonic. In the midst of that type of life, that ended ultimately in his own martyrdom, he boasted about being always content.
Fast forward 2000 years, and we can think of how, if we are honest, our circumstances all-too-often dictate our spiritual well being. I can't even begin to count how many Christians I have known through the years who have due to circumstances, wandered away from the faith: an untimely death, a broken marriage, losing a job, financial struggles, being hurt by "the Church", unanswered prayer, etc. Circumstances dictated their contentment, or lack thereof.
The Apostle Paul knew most of those realities in his life and yet somehow his faith endured in the midst of all the shakings, all the hardship, all the problems. What a challenge! Oh that we would "learn the secret" that Paul learned. And I should emphasize the word "learned" because it implies a process - not an automatic state.
The picture the Lord gave me during worship was that of a massive ocean liner of incalculable value - an unsinkable vessel that will reach its destination with 100% certainty. Through faith in Christ, we have been invited onto this vessel and into relationship with its owner as our eternal inheritance. We can endure the storms, not because they won't be constant, but because of the nature of the vessel in which we now live. It is the indestructible nature of the vessel that enables us to overcome any and all circumstances we will face.
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