Saddened Then Rejoicing Again--My Father Is Always Giving Good Gifts

For the last few days, I had some sorrow.

I was looking forward to perhaps joining with some friends, some new contacts, in a foreign country where I would have the chance to fight the pro-family fight.

I was really looking forward to this chance. I had dreamed of this opportunity, prayed about it, held it in high esteem.

Then it seemed that it was not coming to pass. I feared that it was going to slip out of my hands. I wondered if God had disappointed me in some way.

It was really strange, the sense of sadness, of soft melancholy which lingered in my sentiments. I wish that I could write about this more directly, but I just could not. I did not understand why I was sad, but I was sad.

For the next few days, I moped quietly, didn't really talk about it with anyone.

I was disappointed, and I didn't feel that I could talk to God about it. I began to question His love for me, or to question what I had been learning about Him.

Isn't that awful? But that's what kind of crept up in my flesh, in my feelings.

Another friend of mine, to whom I confided my feelings, told me that I needed to learn to be patient.

Indeed, I had been reading this incredible passage from Isaiah that same morning, which spoke about this trait, this spiritual discipline to wait on the Lord and His timing:

"But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint." (Isaiah 40:31)

I had a deep yet subtle sadness inside of me, and the next morning, this morning in fact, I remembered this verse:

"Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance." (Isaiah 42:5)

So, the original hope that I had was not coming to pass, or perhaps more time needs to pass before my dream comes to pass.

Then again, God's in the business of not just anwering our prayers merely.

"Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us" (Ephesians 3:20)

If Daddy God is not answering our prayers, or we think that He is steadily heading toward answering a prayer, and then it seems to go nowhere, our answer should not be one of fear, doubt, or a sense of disappointment or betrayal.

I was convicted of two crimes that I did not commit. Nearly nine months ago, I looked at this terrible outcome and cried relentlessly. Today, I look at this event, and I have received nothing but blessings, revelation, wonder, joy, and honor.

People may have meant it for bad, but God has done great good for me because of it.

The same holds true for the promises that I have received from Father God, or if things do not work the way that I had hoped, God is doing something better, He has something much better planned for me.

That blessed outcome has happened to me many times over. I never have to doubt that God was not honest or forthright with me. One the contrary, He has made and continues to make all things work for my good. There is no need for me to second guess or doubt Him.

Not at all!

"7Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: 8For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. 9Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? 10Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? 11If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?" (Matthew 7:7-11)

Showing Patience As People Grow in Grace

I have made a new friend.

He lives in another country, but he and I had so much to share, to talk about.

He struggles with SSA, same-sex attraction.

He shared this struggle with me very openly when we began connecting on social media.

I then shared with him how the solution, the "break out" from this is to know the love of the Father.

This verse answers every addiction which plagues mankind:

"Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him." (1 John 2:15)

Later on, he told me that he was seeing a counselor to deal with his SSA.

I was kind of upset when I heard that. Why seek a person when the Perfect Man at the Father's right hand has redeemed you from all sin, has taken you out of death and given you Himself?

"But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, 5Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) 6And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:" (Ephesians 2:4-6)

I wanted to reproach him, ask him why he was still seeing a counselor after what I had shared with him a week ago.

Then I remembered how many times I have had to hear the Gospel of Grace, the true Gospel (Galatians 1:6), the truth which sets men free (John 8:32)

There is so much baggage in our lives, so many lies which we have held onto because we were taught so many false things, and never bothered to verify them, check them against the truth of God's Word. In many cases, there were so many things I used to believe, much like the laws and the frauds in Alcoholics Anonymous, which I had just accepted passively as Gospel Truth.

People cannot be taken right away from bad habits, or the emotional pains which come with trauma, hurt, loss, abuse from childhood or even adulthood. The grace of God goes slowly yet deeply into our hearts, not just changing our behaviors, but transforming our hearts and minds.

Abraham believed God's promises when he was 75 years old. He did not receive the fulfillment of this promise until he was 100 years old, when it would be all the grace of God and nothing to do with his own efforts. God was fully magnified, and His timing well-respected.

With this full understanding of how God's grace works in our lives, I understood that I had to give my friend a break.

If we see people looking at temporal solutions for deeper problems., the answer is not to tell them to give them up. The answer is to give them the deeper, eternal solution, and keep providing that solution to them!

The answer is to keep revealing, to keep sharing the love of the Father with them!

"No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him." (John 1:18)

This same love, John practiced throughout his account of Jesus' ministry, too:

"23Now there was leaning on Jesus' bosom one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved. 24Simon Peter therefore beckoned to him, that he should ask who it should be of whom he spake. 25He then lying on Jesus' breast saith unto him, Lord, who is it? 26Jesus answered, He it is, to whom I shall give a sop, when I have dipped it. And when he had dipped the sop, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon." (John 13: 23-26)

We don't get better by getting rid of the bad.

It's not enough to tell people to stop doing certain things. Such advice doesn't help, but brings people into a tighter, more painful vise of pain and hurt.

Those who are suffering need something better. Whatever they are looking for, whatever they are searching for, that needs to be provided for them.

Man's greatest need is righteousness, and with that comes the unconditional love of the Father!

We get better when we receive more of the good!

It's the goodness of God that leads to repentance, after all! (Romans 2:4)

And it is the grace of God which teaches us to stay NO to sin and yes to godliness (Titus 2:11-14)

Not Sexual Needs, But the Need for God's Unconditional, Everlasting Love

Psychiatrists often talk to patients about their "Sexual needs."

Something is really wrong here.

People do not need to have sex. Men and women can live highly functional, fulfilling lives without jumping on someone.

Of all the creatures on earth, human beings can choose not to have sex. They can refrain from reproducing.

Man's greatest need is unconditional love. Not sex, but love!

Consider what John said to his readers in His First Epistle:

"Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him." (1 John 2:15)

What is of the world, according to John?

16For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. 17And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever." (1 John 2:16-17)

What the world has to offer, the pleasures, the contentments which we seek from the world, are simply not enough!

They don't last. We need something eternal, for that is what we were made for!

"He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world [lit. eternity] in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end." (Ecclesiastes 3:11)

So, we need God's eternal LOVE!

"The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee." (Jeremiah 31:3)

and

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." (John 3:16)

and therefore:

"38For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 39Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:38-39)

Now, what is God's love, precisely? How does the Bible define it?

"9In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him." (1 John 4:9)

Love is about God sending his Beloved Son to the world. We live because of Him, and we love through Him!

Then the definition becomes clearer:

"10Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins." (1 John 4:10)

God sent His Son to be our Mercy Seat, where our sins are paid for forever!

Because of Jesus' Finished Work on the Cross, we have been made the righteousness of God in Christ! (2 Corinthians 5:21)

This righteousness, this blessed status of being fully and forever justified before God, means that we can know and believe in God's love for us.

Because of this righteousness, we can rest assured that God will never be made at us again (Isaiah 54:9)

This is what man needs.

He does not have sexual needs. He needs unconditional love, and that love can only be provided by God through His Son JESUS!

Our Flesh Does Not Block Us From the Love of the Father

In a previous post, I wrote about the sin in the flesh.

Notice that this sin still abides in everyone, even in those who are saved.

Jesus has redeemed us in our spirit.

Our minds still need to be renewed to the truth of God's Word:

"And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." (Romans 12:2)

In our bodies, there still abides sin in the flesh.

Thankfully, Christ Jesus dealt with this problem within us handily at the Cross:

"1There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. 2For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. 3For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:" (Romans 8:1-3)

Jesus came in the likeness of sin flesh. He had no sin in His flesh, no sin in Him at all:

"And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin." (1 John 3:5)

Let's never forget: Jesus, the Son of God, was--IS--sinless. He cannot sin, He could not sin while on earth during His earthly minister, and by His death He has put away sin forever!

Now, this same wonderful Jesus, He came in the likeness of sinful flesh. God the Father sent His Beloved Son to take on His full wrath against sin, and thus in Jesus' perfect, sinless body---condemned sin in the flesh!

So, let's get real, brothers and sisters in Christ.

Even when you have been saved, you will still sense these negative tendencies. You may find yourself next to a guard rail near a cliff, and something in you says "Jump off!"

You may find yourself feelings of lust around people. Like me, you may find yourself remembering bad things that bad people have done to you, and you get MAD!

Hey, it's part of the Christian walk--we are called to rest and recognize that those feelings, bare manifestations of "sin in the flesh" have all been condemned.

Now comes more that I can share with you.

I struggled with the negative feelings of past hurts. Those sentiments would well up inside of me. Just today, I was thinking about--all of a sudden, mind you--these painful sentiments.

Today, I recognize how much bondage I found myself in. I was convinced that the only way that God could work through me was that I had to be free, to be rid of these painful feelings, the rush of anger, the rush of lusts--I had to get rid of them.

THAT'S NOT TRUE!

Our flesh--my flesh--does not block me from my Father. NOT AT ALL!

YES! YES! YES!

I still remember Pastor Prince rejoicing when he shared this in his sermon:

"YES! I LOVE MY JOB!"

For the longest time, I feared bad sentiments suddenly rising up in my mind, in my body.

I would struggle so hard against them, whether to stop bad thoughts, or bad feelings.

When I would get really angry about someone or something, this feeling that I had to "do something" about it was just so strong, that it just overwhelmed me.

Whenever I felt bad, felt sad, felt guilty, felt anything, I felt that I had to get rid of that feeling.

It took me so long, and the revelations have gotten deeper, I realize now that all of that was merely "sin in the flesh", all of which has been condemned at the Cross!

Nothing can separate me from my Father. His love is real, robust, roundabout, and nothing can break it away from me. Nothing.

Paul the Apostle could not have made it clearer:

"38For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 39Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:38-39)

For the longest time, I was looking at myself, my skin, my sin, the struggles within.

All of that is gone, useless, unimportant today. I know that my Daddy loves me, and that He will never leave me nor forsake me! (Hebrews 13:5)

I do not have to worry about doing something about thoughts and feelings that bother me, because His love for me, His blessings in and around me have nothing to do with me.

THANK YOU, JESUS!

Why God Does Not Answer The Prayer to "Pray the Gay Away"

I have listened to a number of compelling accounts from people who struggled with same-sex desires and temptations. They often mention that would pray to God to "take the gay away". They wanted those feelings removed from them. They didn't want to struggle with same-sex desires and temptations.

And yet, those feelings remained, despite their best efforts to put them away from them.

This is a concern. God wants to us to have life and that more abundantly, does He not?

Why does He not take awa these desires?

The fact is that every person in the world, on the earth, has been and will be born in sin, born dead in their trespasses (Ephesians 2:1)

When we are born again, we still have sin in the flesh. Paul the Apostle writes:

"For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not." (Romans 7:18)

The more that Paul wants to do good, the more that bad, that sin manifests itself:

"19For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. 20Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me." (Romans 7:19-20)

Notice that Paul writes that this sin principle is in his flesh.

When we are born again, our spirit is brought back to life, and our minds are slowly renewed, but we still inhabit this body, which has sin in it.

When Jesus died on the Cross, our sins were all paid for, but also sin in the flesh was condemned!

"3For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:" (Romans 8:3)

Now, sin has not be removed from us, for we are still in the flesh, that is in our earthen bodies.

Our bodies will be redeemed one day:

"20For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: 21Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself." (Philippians 3:20-21)

We are citizens of heaven, but we still reside in these earthen bodies. One day, there will be the full redemption of our bodies:

"53For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. 54So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory." (1 Corinthians 15:53-54)

Now, let's look at this "pray the gay away" plea from those who still struggle.

Let's face it. If God were to "take the gay away", we would have to be taken off the earth, taken home. We would have to be fully liberated from our flesh, and that means "Dead."

Really, we should thank God that He does not answer our prayers when we pray "God, take away my temper problem", or "God, please remove these lustful feelings from me."

We have sin in our flesh, but it has been condemned. We are called to identify with Christ Jesus, for we have received His standing, His life!

"Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world." (1 John 4:17)

He is our life! Why look at our flesh and ask God to remove the sin in our flesh?

Let's consider the full consequence of God answering this prayer: God woiuld have to remove us from this earth. Even if we would receive our newly-redeemed body later on, we would become literally no earthly good. God wants to minister to the world through us, by the power of His Holy Spirit. The light affliction of sin in our flesh is nothing compared with the glory of God's grace working in our lives, granting us power to reign in life and reign over sin, even in our flesh.

God wants to save more of His creation, and He chooses to do so through us! Imagine if God had answered our prayers, and we would be removed from the earth for good. How sad that would be.

The second response to this "Pray the Gay Away" problem.

When we face a problem, a challenge, a struggle, God's way is not to take something away, but to add something more, something better.

Consider the Israelites, when they prayed for help following the snakebites they suffered in the wildnerness, because the complained about God's manna from heaven:

"7Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD, and against thee; pray unto the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us." (Numbers 21:7)

Notice that after they were bitten by the fiery serpents, the Israelites begged Moses to take away the snakes. But think about it--taking away the snakes would not have healed them from the poison running their bodies.

Taking away the problem would not have helped them, who would not have set them free. 

Read what happened next:

"And Moses prayed for the people. 8And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. 9And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived." (Numbers 21:7-9)

Consider this account during the ministry of Elisha the Prophet:

"38 And Elisha came again to Gilgal: and there was a dearth in the land; and the sons of the prophets were sitting before him: and he said unto his servant, Set on the great pot, and seethe pottage for the sons of the prophets.

39 And one went out into the field to gather herbs, and found a wild vine, and gathered thereof wild gourds his lap full, and came and shred them into the pot of pottage: for they knew them not.

40 So they poured out for the men to eat. And it came to pass, as they were eating of the pottage, that they cried out, and said, O thou man of God, there is death in the pot. And they could not eat thereof.

41 But he said, Then bring meal. And he cast it into the pot; and he said, Pour out for the people, that they may eat. And there was no harm in the pot." (2 Kings 4:38-41)

Notice that one of the prophets in training but a wild (literally, glittering) vine into the pot of food, which ruined it.

Elisha did not fix this problem by taking out the glittering vine, but by putting meal, or fine flour into the pot. The fine flour speaks of our Lord Jesus! Allow more of Jesus into your situation. 

Consider also Jesus' High Priestly prayer before His death on the Cross:

"I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil." (John 17:15)

God wants us to rule in the midst of our enemies, whether internal or external (Psalm 110:2), and we reign in His Life! (Romans 5:17)

The answer our problems, our challenges, the sin in our flesh is not "Take away the problem."

The answer is "Show me more of the Cross. Explain to me further what Jesus has done and is doing for me and in me."

In other words, as Peter wrote to his fellow believers:

"But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen." (2 Peter 3:18)

It's not about trying to remove something bad, but to keep receiving more of His favor, more of God's grace in our lives.

We don't need God to take away the sinful desires in our flesh. We need to see more of Jesus taking care of us, and recognize that the sins, the lustful feelings, the bankrupted thoughts have all been paid for and condemned. They are no longer part of us!

Consider what Paul writes to the Romans:

"11Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord." (Romans 6:11)

and

"14For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace." (Romans 6:14)

We are not striving in our efforts, but living by His grace, His favor, His love!

Final Reflection

Recently, I spoke with another man who was struggling with these issues. He was very heartful about breaking free, and he even told me that he had been praying for a long time to be set free from these same-sex desires.

I told him plainly that if God answered that prayer, He would have to take him home. Then I told him that the sin in our flesh has been condemned, and that therefore there is no further reason to pray that prayer. Why identify with something that is not you?

That was one of the most moving times I had in ministering to a fellow brother in Christ. I thank God that He worked with me at great length through all those trying times. We are not separated from God when sin in our flesh flares up. Let's us rather recognize that those sins are condemned, they are no longer part of who we are.

We are now in Christ, and so let us grow in grace and reign with Him! Let's set our affections abovm at the Father's right hand -- for that is where we are now!