Monday, November 10, 2008

Being Fed By God

by Donna L. Watkins

What a great many good things God can bring out of the ruin of your health! I have been on this spiritual journey of weeding my way through various diseases with the inner thought that I can handle it and I can make it through.

© 2008 Donna L. Watkins - Juvenile Red-shouldered Hawk
God doesn't want us to just "make it," He wants us to overcome and live victorious lives through Jesus' work on the Cross.

Of course, determination provides a lot of strength and stamina ... but sometimes it's not about strength, it's about bowing down and allowing God to fight the battle, as any good Papa would do for his child.

Why do we try so hard to handle our own problems when we have somebody who will take care of them more efficiently and thoroughly than we ever could, and in record time if we allow it? Pride! It takes us down every rabbit trail we can find on the map of life, hoping we'll see the solution jump out at us.

I've done this with the task of finding some place to move that is warmer since the cold has caused a lot of structural damage to my hands and joints. Last year God gave me the wonderful experience of 9 weeks in Costa Rica and it really opened a whole world of love and direction for me ... but getting back into my usual environment, "life" seems to take back over. Pride comes back in to get things done, to administrate and manage. God has given me gifts and natural talents for administration and organization and getting things done in order ... but don't we often misuse our gifts?

You would think in the eight (8) months since I've been back from Costa Rica that I could have found a warmer climate with a home that we want, but it's not happened because I am not able to see the entire picture that God has for us. I change the parameters because I do not know what my needs are and I also don't like making life decisions based on a disease since we are healed by the stripes of Jesus, so it's a weak foundation for planning.

The real "place" is to find out what God wants through all of this and allow Him to work through it to bring about the beauty in life that only He can provide if we allow Him to feed us with His Word, Truth, Peace, Joy and Grace for the journey.

I know Jesus' work on the Cross purchased my healing and that within I am healed ... but to bring it from the spiritual realm to the physical realm is up to me. As one message at church was titled, "I Am The Answer." That can be interpreted to mean I need to act and move and administrate to return to full health, or it can mean that I am to SIMPLY BELIEVE and tune in to what the steps are.

Jesus said, "Everything is possible for the person who believes!" (Mark 9:23)

Our salvation hangs only on our belief as Romans 10:9 says, "For if thou confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in thy heart that God hath raised him up from the dead, thou shalt be saved."

We trust our eternal life to a belief, but do not trust our lives here on earth to be determined by our beliefs.

God knows exactly what we need to turn our hearts fully on Him and He allows the devil to do His dirty work, knowing all along that He is going to use it for good in our lives ... as long as we meet the "if clause"" of Romans 8:28:

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."


Jesus tells us what the greatest commandment is in Matthew 22:36: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind."

When we place ourselves within those parameters we have all the promises of God. What we often don't realize is that just having the emotion of love or the feeling of love towards God is not what love truly is.

Vern Sheridan Poythress comments on this Scripture: "Heart and soul and mind are not three distinct small pieces of ourselves that we may offer. They all point to what we really are. The Bible indicates that our heart is central: 'The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks' (Luke 6:45 NIV). Everything we are and have, beginning with our inmost commitments and all our thoughts, we must devote to loving, adoring, and serving God."

That's where we fall off the Faith Train. We want to deal with life in our own manner and with our own methods, even though we've proven time and time again that they don't work. Our Creator knows so much more about us. He designed us each uniquely and knows our past and future. We were born for a purpose and we have no hope of finding it unless we trust Him to guide us and train us and mold and shape us to enter into that divine purpose.

Look for the extraordinary within the ordinary moments of life. Troubles come and go, but within them is our secret to life. God can turn curses into blessings. He has placed power within us to battle the enemy. That's the only place we should be strong and of good courage and determined. In the spiritual realm! By putting on our armor each day and taking the authority we have in Christ to come against the wrong thoughts and replace them with God's Word, as Jesus did when He was tempted in the wilderness.

Remember when there were 5,000 people to feed and the disciples said there was no food, so they suggested sending the people away so they could eat. The solution was already there. We have to look above what we see (troubles, circumstances, diseases, finances, grief and heartaches). The "loaves of bread" are already in the midst of them. God has solutions in your hands. Don't scurry about trying every idea that pops into your head ... spend more time in prayer and study than you do in actual application and you will find greater results.

For me, I've spent days and nights online looking for "the town" and "the place" and "the home" for us. Because of God's love for me, there's always something that makes me mentally rule them out. As Randal says, "We wouldn't know it if we saw it." The answer isn't "out there" somewhere, it's right here in my heart and soul and to find it I only need to remain with God. He will feed us all that we need. Fear only enters in when we think our own abilities are all we have to work with. Faith is knowing that God is always for us, with us, and molding us to be more of who we truly want to be. Stay sitting at His feet ... your food is on the way!

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© 2008 Donna L. Watkins - This article was reprinted with permission from TheNatureInUs.com.
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