Message of Life Part II

03/17/2004

If we don't accept God's "offer" for our own lives, for our own hearts, how can we offer it to anyone else by the life we live?

That was one of the last lines in the message I sent out entitled, "Message of Life." I was re-reading that message this morning and as I got to the line above, I knew it was the start of the message you are now reading. I'm not sure where God is going to take it yet, but I have started with what God has put on my heart and we shall see what follows...

(If you have not read the e-mail I wrote, "Message of Life," I am not sure what follows will make sense to you.)

In reading 2 Timothy this morning it said:

Perhaps God will change those people's hearts,
and they will believe the truth.
Then they will come to their senses and escape
from the Devil's trap. For they have been held
captive by him to do whatever he wants.
2 Tim. 2:25

Who is God talking to in the passage above? Well, Paul is talking to Timothy. That is true, but who is Paul telling Timothy about? My Bible says "This letter is from Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by God's will, sent out to tell others about the life he has promised through faith in Christ Jesus." (2 Tim. 1:1)

So whose heart is God going to change?
Who might believe the truth?
Who will come to their senses?
Who will escape from the Devil's trap?
Who has been held captive?
Who has been doing whatever the Devil wants?

In 2 Timothy 2 verses 24-25 it says:

"The Lord's servants must not quarrel but
must be kind to everyone. They must be able
to teach effectively and be patient with difficult
people. They should gently teach those who
oppose the truth."

That's when it goes on to say that "Perhaps God will change those people's hearts..."

As believers, we put ourselves in the "servants" camp. We are the ones teaching, we are the ones who should not quarrel, who should be kind to everyone. We must be patient with difficult people and "gently teach those who oppose the truth." Then perhaps God will change their hearts...
Their hearts need changing, of course they do. They need to know the truth and the truth will set them free. We know the truth...but the question is, have we accepted the freedom that we have been given with that truth? We too were held captive at some point in our lives. None of us are born believing, we had to start somewhere--and even if we started when we were three years old and can barely remember anything before that time, there still was that time when we "had been held captive by him to do whatever he wants."

For they have been held
captive by him to do whatever he wants.
2 Tim. 2:26

So where does that leave us, or maybe I should say, where does that take us? It takes us to today, and what we have done with our gift of freedom. It brings us to the point in our life where we need to take a look at ourselves before we look at others. Like the advice found in Matthew 7:3-5:

"And why worry about the speck in your friend's eye
when you have a log in your own? How can you think
of saying, 'Let me help you get rid of that speck in
your eye,' when you can't see past the log in your own
eye? Hypocrite! First get rid of the log from your own
eye, then perhaps you will see well enough to deal with
the speck in your friend's eye."

Do we have a log in our own eye? You bet we do! If we have never discovered it, we may be more blinded by it than we could ever imagine.

In talking with my sister the other day about all that I had written in "Message of Life," I shared with her how God had revealed to me what my verse was, the one I will cling to more than any other to help me stop agreeing with the Enemy about who he says I am instead of who God says I am.

This is my verse:

And having chosen us, he called us to come to him;
and when we came, he declared us "not guilty," filled
us with Christ's goodness, gave us right standing with
himself, and promised us his glory.
Romans 8:30 (Living Bible)

I knew when I read "not guilty" that was for me! I would cling to that promise from this day forth. Now, you may be saying, but haven't you already done that? I mean, you're not a new Christian, you've known for a long time that you are forgiven, where have you been?

I had been taken captive early in my life. I had been held in the Devil's trap for far too long. Even as a believer, I was not fully accepting my rightful position as a forgiven child of God. What I knew in my head had not transferred fully to my heart. There was a "log" in my eye! If you'd asked me, I would have said absolutely I'm forgiven and have been set free. If you'd looked into my heart, you might have seen a place in me, maybe more than one place, that was locked up tight, a dark and dreary dungeon filled with guilt and shame. Dungeons we all have, I might add. Logs that can blind us to what is true.

In sharing this verse with my sister, I knew that "not guilty" was God's Truth! It was His gift to me, and I had been held captive for way too long without even knowing it. And then my sister said a very wise thing; she said she needed to find her verse. She knew immediately that she needed to look inside herself and find what spoke directly to her heart and the place that she has "been held captive by him to do whatever he wants" for way too long. She knew that if she was ever going to help another be set free, she had to start with herself.

"If we don't accept God's 'offer' for our own lives, for our own hearts, how can we offer it to anyone else by the life we live?" That's the line this message started with, and it's becoming clear as to why God would have me start with that. Because we need to start at "home," making the repairs needed, before we venture out with our "tool kits" to help another.

This is hard! I'm not saying it is easy! It's much easier to see that speck in another's eye, and miss the "log" in our own. But why would God have put that in the Bible if it were not true? The "log" in our eye blinds our own vision, and we think we are just fine! We don't need any help; let's just help someone else.

Well, the real truth is that when we allow God to remove the log from our own eye, we can see more clearly what ails another. God says, "...perhaps you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend's eye."

It is not their drug problem, their alcohol addiction, their sexual promiscuity, their lies, their meanness, their anger, their envy, their hate, their debts that need to be cleared up to get them on the right path for living a good life, it is what lies deep in their heart that needs to be dealt with. If all these other things were removed, what still remains is what lies deep in their hearts that caused the problem in the first place.

Oh, I know, we already know this. Ask any counselor, psychiatrist, pastor, or any other professional and they will tell you the same thing. There are underlying problems going on, but you see...or do you?...we can't truly help others until we see it in ourselves. And we can't see the help we need without opening up those places to God and allowing His healing touch in our own lives. Then and only then can we truly reach out to another and have an understanding of what they are struggling with.

Why? Because then we can truly love them where they are at because we have ventured there too in our own hearts. So many of us look at other people's problems and the things they struggle with as something worse than what we struggle with. Our lives are nowhere near as out of control as theirs are, so we ignore our own "chains" and concentrate on theirs.

This doesn't work! Our attitude is too judgmental, our opinions too harsh, our help too righteous. We don't come to love them, we come to change them, and they know it!!

But, God has a better plan. He says, remove the log from your own eye first. Then you'll understand how it feels, then you'll realize how blind you were, you'll see things through My eyes and you will love the unlovable right where they are at.

All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach
us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong
in our lives. It straightens us out and teaches us to do
what is right. It is God's way of preparing us in
every way, fully equipped for every good thing God
wants us to do.
2 Timothy 3:16-17

God wants us to help others, without a doubt. This is a hurting world we live in. But first he wants us to "realize what is wrong in our lives." We have to get ourselves straightened out and be taught what is right first. Not for salvation, but to be set free in that salvation while we still live on this earth. "It is God's way of preparing us in every way, fully equipped for every good thing God wants us to do."

Now, I know what you want to say...you don't have a problem. Your life is fine, everything is in order, there may be a snare here or there, but nothing big. Nothing the world will ever see or even cares about. I mean, we live in a sinful world, and compared to others, I'm a saint. Guess what? You are a saint. God says believers are saints! That is true! But the Enemy "held you captive." Jesus Christ set you free...have you left the "jail cell?" The door has been flung wide open! You just have to take a step of faith into the freedom Jesus Christ has set before you!

They will act as if they are religious,
but they will reject the power that
could make them godly.
2 Tim. 3:5

Acting may be fun and a great career for some, but when it comes to everyday life, it can wear you out!! When we "act" out our lives, we reject the power that could make us godly. That power is available to us!

If you have not found your "verse," or if you have no idea what I am even talking about, then I am talking to you! If you have not discovered your own prisons and your own "agreements with the Enemy," then you are walking in your own darkness. This is not to say you can't help another at this point in your life, but you won't fully understand the depth of their pain--and you will not be able to share how Jesus has set you free also. You won't personally know what it feels like for them because you have not found it in yourself yet. If we deny our own hearts, how can we understand another's?

The Enemy will use whatever works with us, believe me. For some, it takes huge things to keep us bound in chains, for some it can be little things that seem not to matter. You don't have to be a mass murderer to have a dark place in your heart. The Enemy knows where your weak points are and he will head straight there. And when you "meet" him there, he will tell you, "Ahhh, it's nothing. Don't bother with it. Just leave me in here, I won't make too much of a mess." But as we all know, little messes can lead to bigger messes and before we know it, it's out of control and we wonder how it got that way. For many of us, that's where we find ourselves as we grow older and that may be why we have a mid-life crises. The little "mess" has eaten away at us for years and we are wearing thin. We are losing our joy, we are getting tired, life doesn't seem to hold the excitement it once did--the cell we've been locked in is starting to suffocate who God is calling us to be!

When we step out to help another, let's do so with God's wisdom after an honest look into our own hearts. What they are doing may be destroying their earthly life, but what we are doing to ourselves might be destroying our spiritual life. If we are living in "chains," we have little to offer to others who need to find the "key" that will release them. As believers we want to teach those who oppose the Truth, but we have to face the truth about ourselves first. Let's teach others out of our own experience on how Jesus has set us free!

Preach the word of God.
Be persistent, whether the time is
favorable or not. Patiently correct, rebuke,
and encourage your people with good teaching.
For a time is coming when people will no longer
listen to right teaching. They will follow their own
desires and will look for teachers who will tell them
whatever they want to hear. They will reject the
truth and follow strange myths.
2 Timothy 4:2-4

When God's Word is true in our own lives, we will be able to encourage others in their situations. God is calling us all to preach the Good News of what Jesus has done for us, but we have to allow Him to set us free first. It will be harder for them to reject the truth when we are living it!

Learning each day,

Diane