"The Valley Perspective"

"I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys".  Song of Solomon 2:1

Valleys, like we already talked about wildernesses, are not places to be dreaded.  It is all about our perspective.  It depends on how you view them.  If you view them through the eyes of the flesh, if you view them through your emotions, if you view them on a natural plain, they will be feared, dreaded and ran from. 

No one wants to go into a "valley", but they are needful.  Everyone wants to stay on the "mountain top".  We can't.  In the natural if you climb a mountain, once you reach a point it is what is called the timberline.  Above that spot nothing grows.  It is barren.  In the spiritual sense the same is true.  Mountain top experiences are good from time to time-- they help us get a breath of fresh air, they let us see from another viewpoint and they give us a temporary boost of the feeling of enthusiasm and victory.  But you can't stay there.

On the other hand, the valley is a place of life.  It is where things grow.  It is where there are green pastures.  It is where the still waters are.  This is the place where we find the Shepherd.

If you are in a valley today, don't dread it, don't complain about it, don't get discouraged about it, look at it from God's perspective and see it as the place of life and growth that it really is. 

Have a great day.  The valley is a place of life, so don't dread it.   

"A Spanking Perspective"

"My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord; neither be weary of his correction.  For whom the Lord loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth".  Proverbs 3:11,12

I hated getting a spanking when I was growing up.  It did not feel good and was painful!  Now that I am an adult, of course, I no longer get spanking in my body, but I still have a Heavenly Father who will "spank" me from time to time.

The spanking/chastening that He gives doesn't feel very good either.  It hurts.  It hurts my pride.  But I have learned that it is needful, and I have learned how to rejoice when He does.

It is needful because without it I will set my life on a course that will lead me in a wrong direction.  Without it I can bring harm to others.  Without it I will be self-centered, self-willed and bring destruction upon myself.  Without it all others will see is me and not how wonderful He is through me.  It is needful because it puts what has gotten out of line in my life back in order.  It also puts back the fear of the Lord in my life.    

I have learned to rejoice when I am chastened because He loves me and cares about me enough to do it.  If He didn't love me He would not chasten me.  He would allow me to continue to go down a path that will, as I have already said, destroy me.  I have learned to rejoice because it puts "reality" back in my heart.  It helps refocus things.  It helps put what is really important and priority back in its proper place.  It clears the air between me and Him and opens up my spirit to be able to hear Him better.  

When we see the chastisement of God for what it really is and intended by the Father to be, instead of despising it we will be thankful and rejoice that He loves us enough to do it.

Have a great day.  Don't despise the spanking that the Lord gives you.  Be thankful and rejoice that He did. 

"The God Perspective"

"And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose".  Romans 8:28

Yesterday we talked about changing our perspective of the situations that we go through.  I want to continue talking about that this morning.  This is an area that the Lord has been speaking to me about personally as well. 

If we are going to be victorious, if we are going to be transformed spiritually, if we are going to fulfill God's plan, purpose and destiny we are going to have to change the way we view our trials, temptations, situations and circumstances.  We are going to have to stop looking at them through natural "eyes", through our emotions, through the lens of our feelings and at face value.  We have to move past that-- and we can.  We are supposed to because the Word tells us that we don't walk after the flesh but after the Spirit.  We are no longer "natural" men but "spiritual" men living in natural bodies in a natural world, but we are not "of" the world.

What then does it mean to see it from God's perspective?  It means to see things the way the Lord sees them.  Can we do that?  Is that possible?  Not entirely because we aren't God.  We can't see the end from the beginning.  We don't know what tomorrow will bring.  We are not omniscient.  But, nevertheless, we can to a degree see things from His perspective.  He has made that possible.  For us "finite beings", seeing from God's perspective means that we grasp the truth that--- "all things work together for our good".  That is one way we see things from God's perspective. 

We have to come to terms with the fact that we belong to the Lord-- our lives are His to do with them whatever He pleases.  He loves us.  He has our best interest at heart.  He has a plan for us.  There is a destiny that He has determined that awaits us.  He leads, guides, directs and orchestrates things in our lives that fit into His divine purpose for us.  When we truly get ahold of this, then the fact that all things work together for our good becomes our perspective.  This means that whether the thing is good, bad or otherwise, whether it is a pit, a furnace, a wilderness, a valley, a mountain, darkness or light, I know God has a plan for my life and this will work together for my good.  

Have a great day. Seeing from God's perspective means that we understand that all things that we may go through will work together for our good.   

 

"The Wilderness Perspective"

"In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren".  2 Corinthians 11:26

I have a word for someone this morning who is going through a wilderness in their lives.  We all find ourselves in a wilderness at some point.  The word is-- change your perspective of the wilderness.  We often see the wilderness as a place of defeat, despondency, hopelessness and barren.  Let's look at the wilderness this morning from God's perspective.

Sometimes the wilderness we are experiencing is "God intended".  God led the children of Israel into the wilderness through Moses.  The Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.  When the Lord leads you into the wilderness, He has a purpose behind it.  He does not intend for you to stay there forever.  Jesus only stayed for forty days.  The Israelites stayed forty years because of their rebellion.  

The wilderness is a place where you see God's miraculous provisions.  Jesus was supernaturally sustained by God physically while He was fasting in the wilderness. The Israelites saw the Lord do miracle after miracle during those forty years in providing for them.  They ate manna, supernaturally provided daily.  They drank water from a rock, not a dug well.  Their clothes and shoes didn't wear out.  

The wilderness teaches us how to trust the Lord. Jesus had to trust God to see Him through. Each and every day in the wilderness the Israelites had to trust God to take care of them. 

The wilderness is a place of transformation.   When Jesus came out of the wilderness, He was empowered to start His ministry.  The Israelites were released slaves when they went into the wilderness, but when they came out, they were warriors who conquered the inhabitants of the land. 

The wilderness is a place of victory.  Jesus defeated the devil in every area of temptation while in the wilderness.

I could go on and on, but it would be a book instead of a devotional.  But let the things that we have talked about this morning change your perspective of the wilderness that you are in.  Stop seeing it as a place of defeat but of victory.  Stop seeing it as a place of hopelessness but a place where hope, trust and faith can be renewed. 

Have a great day.  Change the way you look at the wilderness you are going through.    

"Celebrate A True Victory"

" And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it".  Colossians 2:15

Several weeks ago, we celebrated the crucifixion of Jesus-- Easter.  It seems odd to celebrate a death.  Normally we mourn and weep over a death.  But the day Jesus was crucified there was a whole lot of celebrating going on. 

The Jews, namely the Pharisees, were celebrating because this "deceiver" who claimed to be God was finally out of their way.  They celebrated the fact that the people would turn back to them as their "voice from God".  They celebrated what they thought was a victory-- a victory for them and their religion.

The devil and demons celebrated.  They celebrated because they had "defeated" God.  They celebrated because they had killed the Son of God and now satan would have the power that he always wanted-- to exalt his throne above the Most High.  They celebrated what they thought was a victory-- a victory over God Himself because they knew who Jesus was.

For those of us who follow Jesus our celebration was not because an enemy has been killed.  It was not because a deceiver got what he deserved.  It was not because a foe is out of the way and we don't have to be bothered by him again.  We celebrated because we know that it wasn't men who killed Jesus-- it was the will of the Father that He die for our sins.  We celebrated because our relationship with the Father has been restored through His death.  We celebrated because we can now enjoy eternal life.  We celebrated because our enemies have been defeated.  We celebrated because the great love of the Father has been extended to us.  We celebrated because through His death and resurrection we see how Mighty, Victorious, and Glorious Jesus really is-- He is Who He said He was and did what He said He would do.  When we celebrated Jesus' death and resurrection, we were not celebrating something that we only "think" was a victory, but what truly was and still is a victory!

Have a great day.  We have reason a to celebrate the death of Jesus-- daily-- because it is a time to celebrate a victory!