God Problems

"A man came up to Jesus, falling on his knees before Him and saying, 'Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is a lunatic and is very ill; ... I brought him to Your disciples, and they could not cure him. ' And Jesus answered and said ... 'Bring him here to Me" (Matthew 17:14-17).
In life there are problems that I call "God problems." These are not problems with God, but problems only God can handle. God problems are those that cannot be fixed with your checkbook, education or influence. These problems are outside of the control of human beings and lie squarely within God's sovereign jurisdiction. They stop us in our tracks and cause us to soberly assess our associations and situation in life. They bring us face to face with our insufficiency and our need for God's sufficiency. When we face a God problem we discover what is really important in life. These problems are not designed to stop us from making progress in life, but to reveal our dependency on God. They are opportunities for us to seek and grow closer to Him. God wants to reveal something to you. He wants you to spend some time with Him, growing in your knowledge and relationship with Him, and your problem may be the vehicle He is using to do it.
Throughout the gospels people sought Jesus to do what no one else could do. In Matthew 17:14-1 7, a father had a problem that no one else had an answer for. His son was demon-possessed and no one was able to help him, including the disciples. Finally, he encountered the One who had held the key to his son's deliverance - Jesus. Jesus, looking at this seemingly impossible and long term situation, told the father to, "Bring him to Me". Jesus did in a moment what his father had been trying to do for years. Likewise, the disciples faced a seemingly impossible task of feeding a multitude with a boy's lunch. The boy only had two fish and five loaves of bread, but there were over 5000 people to feed. After taking inventory of the situation, Jesus told the disciples to, "Bring them here to me." As the fish and loaves passed through the hands of Jesus, their insufficiency was transformed into sufficiency.
You may be presently dealing with something that is outside of your control. You've done everything within your power to change the situation and have almost given up hope because nothing has changed. Before you give up, make sure that you've truly brought your problem to God and not trusted people for your solution. Like the boy's father who brought his son to the disciples - they couldn't help him. He needed God alone! Too often, God is the last stop in our search for help. You don't have to lose everything before you seek Him. God is not intimidated by what you are dealing with. Stop trying to fix it on your own. If you could fix it, it would be fixed by now. This is a "God Problem", or a "problem for God". Don't mistake your trusting people with trusting God. When God showed up, deliverance quickly followed.
The devil will do everything he can to keep you from spending time with God and discovering His sufficiency. He will put people in your way and keep you so busy and tired, that instead of things getting better, they get worse. I want to challenge you. Set aside some time in the morning, evening, (or if things are so hectic) on your lunch break or when you are lying in bed and get into God's presence undistracted. Take a deep breadth and focus on God's promises. In Matthew 11:28-30, Jesus promised, "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, .... 'For My yoke is easy and My burden is light'." God's offer still stands! Whatever it is- "bring it to Me!"

A Friend

A friend is someone who will help you move a refrigerator. A friend is someone who will hang out with you even if you have nothing to do. A friend seeks out your company. He stays with you despite the circumstances. Friendship is a mutual bond. Love can be a one-way street, because you can love someone without your love being returned. In a friendship, however, the feeling is mutual; otherwise, the relationship isn’t one of friendship. The natures of friendship and love are different, too. Love is blind. A person deeply in love can’t see the faults of the beloved. A friend sees the faults but ignores the minor ones and brings the important issues to your attention without hurting your feelings. The Bible says, “Wounds from a friend can be trusted” (Proverbs 27:6). Trust is one of the strongest tokens of true friendship. We give friendly greetings to relatives, coworkers, acquaintances, and people we meet in passing. We may hold some of those we know in admiration and respect. Yet friends are special people. We seek them out because we want them to be in our lives. Our friendship is not because work with them, occupy a place in their family tree, or meet with them because of business or other reasons. The Bible notes the difference between companions and friends with the proverb “A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother” (proverbs 18:24). Friends are equal. People begin friendships regardless of difference and status, education, wealth, or possessions. Those differences can be positive for the relationship. The Bible says, “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up!” (Ecclesiastes 4:9-10). Friendship can’t long endure, however, if one member is always in need of help. Each member must bring something to share with the other. Friendship takes time and commitment. We can act friendly toward all people, but we can be true friends to only a few. It takes effort and work to build a friendship because friendship is not an emotion it’s an action. Friendship is not maintenance free. Consequently, making new friends takes extra effort so that new friends don’t come between existing friendships. The Bible mentions many friends: David and Jonathan (1 Samuel 20:42), Jesus and Lazarus (john 11:11), Paul and Luke (Colossians 4:14), and John and Gaius (3 John 1:1). Abraham was called a friend of God (James 2:23). Every friend is a gift from God. The most blessed friendships are those between Christians.

Praise Greater than your Requests

Abraham didn't focus on his own impotence and say, "It's hopeless. This hundred-year-old body could never father a child." Nor did he survey Sarah's decades of infertility and give up. He didn't tiptoe around God's promise asking cautiously skeptical questions. He plunged into the promise and came up strong, ready for God, sure that God would make good on what he had said. That's why it is said, "Abraham was declared fit before God by trusting God to set him right." But it's not just Abraham; it's also us! The same thing gets said about us when we embrace and believe the One who brought Jesus to life when the conditions were equally hopeless. The sacrificed Jesus made us fit for God, set us right with God. (Romans 4 19-25MSG)
As Abraham became strong in faith, God was always with him… Notice to be strong in faith is to give God glory… being strong in faith has always something that goes with it
While Abraham is giving God glory, Abraham had to understand, look at what he’s saying, I’m a father of great blessings. I’m a father, and he’s thanking God that he is. Sarah his wife is not pregnant, and has not conceived in many years. But he’s still giving God glory. Abraham is calling those things which be not as though they were, and he’s thanking God. He gave God so much glory, that his faith assured him God would perform what He said he would. You have to understand read the word to Philip;
"You've been with me all this time, Philip, and you still don't understand? To see me is to see the Father. So how can you ask, 'Where is the Father?' Don't you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I speak to you aren't mere words. I don't just make them up on my own. The Father who resides in me crafts each word into a divine act. "Believe me: I am in my Father and my Father is in me. If you can't believe that, believe what you see—these works. The person who trusts me will not only do what I'm doing but even greater things, because I, on my way to the Father, am giving you the same work to do that I've been doing. You can count on it. From now on, whatever you request along the lines of who I am and what I am doing, I'll do it. That's how the Father will be seen for who he is in the Son. I mean it. Whatever you request in this way, I'll do. (John 14 9-14 MSG)
The point is when you praise God so much that it exceeds or is greater than your requests; you'll have your manifestation. Praise God; don’t just acknowledge your faith. You need to praise Him because you believe the acknowledgment is so.
Include in your praise to Him by saying, "I'm getting stronger everyday. I'm stronger today than I was yesterday, and I thank you for it, Father. I'm stronger in my mind, stronger in my body, stronger in my bones, stronger in every way, than I was yesterday; and thank you for it."
When Abraham followed Gods determined method for faith, he received the promise. Sarah conceived and gave birth to a son.
Now God will finalize all paperwork and close the deal on the enemy. His word is bond. Jesus is born. Jesus walks the earth, and only says what God says. Jesus only speaks that which the Father tells Him to speak. And that is so important. We need to watch what we say; it cannot be over emphasized on the importance of speaking life or death.
A bit in the mouth of a horse controls the whole horse. A small rudder on a huge ship in the hands of a skilled captain sets a course in the face of the strongest winds. A word out of your mouth may seem of no account, but it can accomplish nearly anything—or destroy it! (James 3. 2-5 MSG)
It can be tempting to say the wrong thing when your emotions are tested. But you have to stand on say what God says and parallel that with that with praise. Give God glory by praising Him in the middle of the crisis, not just after the crises. You know God cares for you.
And since you know that he cares, let your language show it. Don't add words like "I swear to God" to your own words. Don't show your impatience by concocting oaths to hurry up God. Just say yes or no. Just say what is true. That way, your language can't be used against you. (James 5.12MSG)
I’ll say this, you have to be strong in faith, and because it will help you control your tongue. So when you do your praises will be greater than your requests.

Grace

"So let's walk right up to him and get what he is so ready to give. Take the mercy, accept the help.“(Hebrews 4:16 MSG)
Grace is like the paramedic coming to help someone with a medical emergency. They offer assistance to the victim on the spot. They have examined the situation and provide immediate grace to the most serious symptoms. Then they get them an ambulance, which is equipped with more grace - more medical functions - to deal with the problem. As the paramedics are administering more grace to the patient, the ambulance races to the hospital where even more grace is waiting to deal with the patient. Once the patient is in the emergency room, the hospital keeps dispensing grace to meet the need until the problem has been addressed and the patient can go home again. As the song goes: "'Twas Grace that brought me safe thus far, and Grace will lead me home."
One day Jesus heard our emergency call: "I am a sinner and I need a Savior." He shot to your location on earth, found us dying in sin and reached out to save us. As our High Priest, He transported us from where we were, to a place that has all the grace we will ever need as long as we live, until we are finally and fully restored at the resurrection and go home with Him. So, how can we have a Savior and High Priest like this and not draw near to Him in prayer? "But I'm tired" you say. That's ok, just draw near. "But you don't understand. I'm hurting and I feel like quitting." Call upon Him.
Others may not understand, but Jesus does. Just draw near to Him. He will meet you where you are, then take you to where He is – At the throne were there is an abundance of grace ready to be dispensed, by Jesus. Grace!

I'm Sorry.

People say sorry a lot, often leaving its meaning ambiguous. Many of the words we rely upon most are ambiguous. Love, for example, can mean what you feel for your children or your socks—kind of a wide range there.
If we really new what the word meant saying and receiving it will be two different things, but has the same outcome.
God saw that human evil was out of control. People thought evil, imagined evil—evil, evil, evil from morning to night. God was sorry that he had made the human race in the first place; it broke his heart. God said, "I'll get rid of my ruined creation, make a clean sweep: people, animals, snakes and bugs, birds—the works. I'm sorry I made them." (Genesis 6:5)
Did God just say get rid! Destroy us all? Is that profound?
Samuel left immediately for Ramah and Saul went home to Gibeah. Samuel had nothing to do with Saul from then on, though he grieved long and deeply over him. But God was sorry he had ever made Saul king in the first place. (1 Samuel 15:34)
Oh God!
Do we know Who we are playing with. “God said in both instances that He was sorry He ever “made”. What would He do next, I don’t want to know. If God feels that way about the use of the word and it’s implication, we haven’t yet to live up to Gods will let alone the person we said it to. I’m sorry, we need to heed that warning can you imaging if God made that statement today. Have mercy Lord. If we live like Jesus, then we would live each waking moment with love, the love that should dwell in our heart should never have to be sorry. If we do need to be sorry are we to realize we made a great mistake and need to take it so serious.
We also use sorry as a predicate adjective, a special type of adjective that follows a linking verb and modifies (directly refers to) the subject of the sentence. In other words, “I’m sorry that . . . ” followed by a pronoun.
I’m sorry that I hurt you. I’m sorry that you’re upset. I’m sorry that he caused you pain. I’m sorry that it’s so difficult. I’m sorry that we are so incompatible about this. I’m sorry that they are so hard on you.
These play indexical roles, like index fingers pointing at the source of the difficulty: the source is me, you, we, or some outside (he, she, it, they) forced, together with plain “sorry,” then, there are five kinds of sorry based on the source of the problem:
1. Me
2. You
3. Us
4. Something or someone outside us
5. Don’t know or won’t venture to say
From whether something is wrong to whose fault it is.
From whose fault it is to whose burden it is to fix it.
From whose burden it is to another topic altogether.
From whose fault it is to whose burden.
From whose problem it is to another topic altogether
1. Me
2. You
3. He
4. She
5. It
6. We
7. They
8. Don’t know
9. Know but won’t say
It just gets more complicated. How do we go forth after saying I’m sorry?
Sorry can be nested in a hierarchy:
Well, I’m sorry . . . Well, I’m sorry you’re sorry . . . Well, I’m sorry you’re sorry I’m sorry . . .
That may sound like a joke but in practice the hierarchy is what often makes conversations about who is and should be sorry such cans of worms:
“Look, I’m sorry.” “For what you did?” “No, that you feel bad when I didn’t do anything wrong.” “But you did do something wrong.” “Well, I’m sorry.” “For what you did?” “No, I’m sorry that you feel I did something wrong when I didn’t.” “I don’t want you sorry that I feel you did something wrong. I want you to apologize for what you did.” “Well, I’m sorry.” “For what you did?” “No I’m sorry that you don’t want me to feel sorry that you want me to feel I did something wrong.” “I don’t want you to, oh, never mind.”
Consider what would have happened in the Garden of Eden if Adam and Eve had repented. God, of course, knew that they had eaten the forbidden fruit as soon as they had done so. But he didn’t immediately confront Adam with his sin; he gave him a chance to repent. He first said to Adam, who was hiding in the bushes, “Where are you?” God knew where he was, but he wanted to give him an opportunity to explain. But Adam did not take advantage of it. He said, “I heard your voice and I was afraid because I was naked.” What he should have said was, “Oh God, I have sinned and done that which you told me not to do. Have mercy on your unworthy servant.” However, God gave him a second chance to repent. He said, “Who told you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree which I commanded you not to eat?” The correct answer would have been, “Yes, oh wretched man that I am! Have mercy on me, oh Lord, and forgive my transgression.” But Adam answered, “The woman that you gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree and I ate.” That is, he blamed God for giving him a defective mate. And we recall that when given the opportunity to repent, Eve employed a similar tactic and blamed the serpent.
What would have happened if Adam and Eve had repented? St. Simeon the New Theologian says, “Had they repented, they would not have been expelled. They would not have been condemned; they would not have been sentenced to return to the earth from which they had been taken.” Instead, God said to them, “dust you are and to dust you shall return.”
Unfortunately, when confronted with our sins, our nature is to act like Adam. We try to avoid the topic, and if pushed, try to shift the blame. Repentance does not come naturally. But we must learn that when dealing with God as when dealing with a loved one, we cannot expect mercy without sincere contrition. Without repentance, as we learn from Adam, we have a great deal to lose. There is more to being sorry.