Showing posts with label Philippians 2:13. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Philippians 2:13. Show all posts

Friday, October 7, 2022

The Work is Done, and Jesus is Still Working in Our Lives


This may seem like a contradiction to some, but I can make this make sense.

Yes, Jesus has Finished the Work. He put aside all our sins, and He gave us His righteousness. We have become the righteousness of God in Him (2 Corinthians 5:21), meaning that our nature, our identity is new, defined by His righteousness, not our wretchedness.

We no longer have to do "our part" to make sure that Jesus does His Part.

But here's the part that I did not understand for the longest time: Jesus is alive, and He is working for us!

Jesus is not some figment of our imaginations who comes and goes if we feel bad, think bad, or even do something bad.

He is alive, and Hes serves us ever still!

"[Jesus] is made, not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life. For he testifieth, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec." (Hebrews 7:16-17)

Jesus is not seated at the right hand of our Daddy God doing nothing:

"Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us." (Romans 8:34)

He is also working in us and through us:

"For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure." (Philippians 2:13)

Why have I struggled with this, and what has been changing in my mind? How has Daddy God been transforming me from glory to glory via His Holy Spirit, as I behold His Son in the Scriptures?

I am really starting to understand now that all the upsets in my mind, the assaults and fears that have plagued me and demanded my attention, they are not only from me, but all these fears and tumults are answered by the Cross!

That's what Paul is writing about when he tells the Corinthians:

"4(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) 5Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; 6And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled." (2 Corinthians 10:4-6)

It's not my job to bring those thoughts into captivity. God brings those thoughts into captivity, and He does so through the obedience of Christ, that is what His Son accomplished at the Cross!

The weapons of our warfare are indeed mighty, and yet for the longest time I had believed that bad thoughts, bad fears, upsets in my mind or feelings, all of that was my job to do something about. Today, I understand that all of those premonitions are nothing but mind control from the AA Cult. Furthermore, I know that Jesus is ALIVE, that He is providing for me in all my work and my walk. I am not trying to live this life on my own. It's about seeing Jesus by faith, with the eyes of my heart further and further enlightened (Ephesians 1:17-18). It's not about looking at myself. It's not about trying to figure things out in my head. It's not about trying to seek God's presence through my feelings or some kind of rational discernment. He was already made present to me the moment that I believed in His Son, and I accepted His sacrifice on the Cross.

What has been happening since then? I have had to unlearn so much of the garbage, the mistakes, the distortions, the outright wrong-believing of my parents. Many of us have to go through this, and there is no reason for me to feel bitter about it. Christ Jesus makes all things better:

"And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful." (Revelation 21:5)

Sunday, February 23, 2020

Working Within Us Both to Will and To Do



"For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure." (Philippians 2:13)

This passage may strike some people as too metaphyiscal to be practical.

For more, this verse makes more sense than I could have ever imagined.

God is real, outside of me, yet living within me:



"To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:" (Colossians 1:27)

Christ is not just present within us, but He is our "hope of glory". We can rest confident that He is invested and determined to grant us His glory.

Paul writes that we "reign in life" through Christ Jesus! (Romans 5:17)

He is very much in and around me. He is at work, and He is actively working within me.

God is not interested in making us do things that we do not want to do. He gives us the desire, and He gives us the ability.

It's not a lazy life, but a dynamic life, because He is our life (Colossians 3:4).

The issue for me was that I used to think that my bad thoughts, my bad feelings were putting God away from me. I thought for the longest time that I was responsible to clean out, get rid of bad thoughts, bad feelings so that God could flow through me.

Yet all this time, God's love for me was lavish, strong, rushing through me, regardless of how I felt, and it did not depend on me one bit. I have been made the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:21) because of all that He has done.

It's not my job to keep God close to me. It's not my job to ward off fears and worries. It's my job to rest in Him.

No wonder the writer of Hebrews declares to his Jewish brethren:

"Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief." (Hebrews 4:11)

I used to wonder, to worry, to wander around in these weird thoughts, these fearful premonitions which used to test me, to press on me, and ultimately distracted me for so long from the truth.

For the longest time, I was egged on by these inner tensions.

It's only now, only NOW that I realize how present, how real, how loving, how precious my Jesus is. He is just wonderful! He is altogether lovely, and He has indeed taken care of everything for me.

There is no reason for me to plot and play on my own, as though He is not watching out for me.

Jesus' words mean so much more to me now:

"But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." (Matthew 6:33)

I have His Kingdom within me today:

"For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost." (Romans 14:17)

It's no a longer a life of demands, but a life of grace, resting in His flow, and allowing Him to carry me where He wishes to carry me.

He is indeed working within me. There is no longer a need to challenge or worry about whether I am being led astray. I understand now the mistakes that I had made in the past, the misunderstandings which had been prevalent in my life.

God is in the business of providing me everything. He will never be angry with me again, or rebuke me (Isaiah 54:9). When He disciplines me, it is so that I will rest more in Him and receive more from Him:

"Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby." (Hebrews 12:11)

Peaceable fruit of righteousness comes as a result of God's grace flowing in our lives.

Today, I no longer pay attention to the nagging fears and worries. I don't wonder about tomorrow, because I know that He is mapped everything for my good:



"Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:" (Isaiah 46:10)

and

"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)

All those feelings, hurts, wonders, worries--none of that was mine, none of that pertained to me, none of that belonged to me. The shames, the lusts, the temptations, none of that belongs to me, none of that has anything to do with me.

No wonder Paul could write so definitively:

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

Wow! What a life this is! It's His Life, and it is grand! He is working within me, He is working in and around me, and because He is working, I flow with Him!