After yesterday’s service, one of our associate pastors felt like I needed to be reminded of this verse:
for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.
Philippians 2:13
And now that I’m reading it again, I’m reminded of how I’ve been lamenting on my lack of desire, and I’m also (pleasantly) reminded through this part of Scripture that there’s apparently much more than new desires that we have – we have His good pleasure, or God’s desires.
I’m led, therefore, to believe that the desires that we do have are in line with the will of God, and by default, what makes God happy is what makes us happy as well.
Last Saturday was nice, because we started our men’s fellowship again. There was the usual bunch that used to gather, and now we were all catching up – but apparently some things never change; oh, and I mean that in a good way.
I say this because one of the gentlemen who was around with us, was a frequent attendee, and each and every time we come to discussion, he has question after question after question after question. I mean, it doesn’t bother us at all, we love that sort of discourse happening.
But I’m mentioning all this because the particular topic my good Pastor Ronnie thought to bring up was ‘guarding your heart’ – and, well, if you know me for a while now, that doesn’t necessarily get a lot of ‘amens’ from me; Of course, not that I went full-on debate mode here, I just enjoyed how we were all coming together with our perspectives, and one thing we ensured was that Christ be glorified above all.
When our frequent attendee brother asked about hard habits and struggles, I felt the need to chime in. I told him about how we’ve actually already been given new hearts, new minds, new desires and so on, out of our being made new creations by Christ. All things HAVE been made new.
But I bring all of this up because when it came to me responding about hard habits, I found it much easier for me to explain one part of the coin of our being a new creation – that is, that even if we try our darndest to go ahead and sin willfully, we don’t derive as much pleasure as we used to. To me, that was a sign that the old has really passed away.
It was harder for me to explain the other side of the coin, maybe because I was still learning about it myself – I was trying to explain that when we do righteous things, we find out that (1) we do them naturally, and (2) we find pleasure in them because we find out that’s what we’ve been re-created for (for good works, after all)
But with what was shared to me last Sunday, I suppose that’s one way of seeing our being made new – That God works in us to will and to do for His good pleasure.
Sure, we’ve been made new, but this is also reminding me that we’re being made new. As in all things that Christ has done for us, it’s timeless in that it’s already done, but ongoing, and will be done in the future.
Furthermore, we’re being given His desires, just as they’ve already been poured out into us, and His good pleasure shall continue to be given to us.
If anything, it just continues to push me, and to push all of us, to keep trusting in our Father;
Let’s keep fighting the good fight, let’s keep running the race, as we wait upon the Lord, and as we receive fresh new mercies every morning, and as He renews our strength.
Let’s keep overcoming by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of our testimony.
I’m telling myself this as I’m waiting for paracetamol to fully kick in, as I have found myself once again, not in a flow state, but a flu state – a result of no food intake and over-exertion of the body, and thinking that a binge meal could set things straight.
All in all, with all the revelations and realizations which have come and are upcoming, the focus shall and will always be on our God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
And I told the Compassion kids this last Saturday as well – talk to God in prayer, listen to Him through his Word.
Speaking of which, thank You, Father, for the reading of Your Word.
Now, Psalm 44 is pretty long, so I’m going to just take in what I’m thinking is the first half of the composition. Or, heck. Let me just put in the entire thing:
Psalm 44
Redemption Remembered in Present Dishonor
To the Chief Musician. A Contemplation of the sons of Korah.
1 We have heard with our ears, O God, Our fathers have told us, The deeds You did in their days, In days of old:
2 You drove out the nations with Your hand, But them You planted; You afflicted the peoples, and cast them out.
3 For they did not gain possession of the land by their own sword, Nor did their own arm save them; But it was Your right hand, Your arm, and the light of Your countenance, Because You favored them.
4 You are my King, O God; Command victories for Jacob.
5 Through You we will push down our enemies; Through Your name we will trample those who rise up against us.
6 For I will not trust in my bow, Nor shall my sword save me.
7 But You have saved us from our enemies, And have put to shame those who hated us.
8 In God we boast all day long, And praise Your name forever. Selah
Now these first 8 verses was where I was wanting to focus on… but, well, it’s not as if life is all peachy, so let’s add ’em in here.
And I think as I’m going through all this, I MAY go through the second half again, in a separate article. Or not. We’ll see.
For now, I’m led to give an eye to what the Sons of Korah composed here. They write of how they have heard of the miracles of God. They also write about how they themselves have been perpetrators of breakthroughs that could only come from Him – and, as such, they themselves have been eye witnesses to these divine breakthroughs.
Again, it’s important for us to keep on going, with our testimonies. I mean, it’s one thing for us to trust in the Lord, but we are also given the option and opportunity to boast in Him – by way of telling all who would hear about how we’ve been helped, or even how our brothers and sisters in Christ have experienced or seen miracles for themselves.
I mean, these Sons of Korah went as far as to write – not about their own stories first, but of those shared to them by the previous generations. In all this, it is my prayer that we not only see the goodness of God in many distinct ways throughout our lifetime, but also that we are able to testify them to the next generations.
And when it comes to our own experiences, note how they write, Through You we will push down our enemies; Through Your name we will trample those who rise up against us; We behold God’s goodness when we move, and when we conquer.
Or, I guess another way of saying it is that the breakthroughs that we see for ourselves are not merely through God’s actions alone, or through our works only – No, the breakthroughs come as we partner with the Lord…
…and, as we work as He works in us – to will and to do His good pleasure.
I love how it all comes together.
Alas, I shall take back what I wanted to do – to cover the rest of this wonderful Psalm. I’ll save the second half, hopefully for another article.
We’ll see. But for now, I’m tired and happy, and I wish all of us a good rest of the week ahead.
God bless us all.
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