And God Knows

"... and He is how we overcome them."

I DRINK of the cup in God’s hand. I prefer juice. He is water. He will let me drink as I want, but it isn’t what’s in His hand. We fail to see this. We drink of what we think; we call it God when it isn’t. Worse, we say things like “drink of Him” when what we’re drinking, what we’re offering others, is mixed. In a wine glass is our own water and an embellishment, like an olive, to give a false impression.

Think on this. God speaks to those who are listening and will keep what He says as treasure in their heart. He looks for the humble, the submitted. The silent. He wants to hold conversation with His children, but He will not pour out of His pitcher into those glasses who will not keep it pure. Water should look like water. This goes to our behavior. Being loud, being boisterous, does not make it of Him. Similarly, my glass of juice may be pure but not what He’s dispensing.

I’ve done it, written what was on my mind and not His heart. I’ve heard it preached. The speaker was sincere, but the Truth was either hidden or not Truth. God anoints those He’s called. He anoints pastors, teachers, evangelists, prophets, and apostles. But though the anointing of the office is present, the anointing on the message comes because we hold it close. Jesus told the scribes and Pharisees what they taught was their own doctrine and not from Him. Here were men who’d chosen to serve the people through the commandments of the Law, yet they didn’t know the God who’d written it. God is IN US and WITH US. We should know better.

“They say that I am powerful and important. But what they say has no purpose. They teach their own rules, which I did not give to them.” (Matthew 15:9, EasyEnglish)

Who has our adoration? He who saved us from sin and death? Or those we’re trying to impress? Sometimes, we don’t realize this is our motive. There are behaviors I will not indulge in because to me they are conceited, in me they would show conceit. There is church language, phrases and common statements, I will not use in what I share because it lacks understanding. There are things I’ve wanted to use that the Spirit, the Savior, and the Father have asked me to set down, and being honest, it angered me at first. But now, my heart is Theirs. What are these things to me if they are not what God chooses? Jesus lived in completed submission. He never argued, as I’ve done. He refused strife and anger and chose peace. Can we do that? I’m going to say no.

“People who live following their sinful selves think only about what they want. But those who live following the Spirit are thinking about what the Spirit wants them to do.” (Romans 8:5 ERV)

And God knows. He knows our shortcomings and mistakes, and He is how we overcome them. The Spirit pulls down or demolishes the strong holds in our mind (2 Corinthians 10:4). These are “arguments and reasonings” by which we try to “fortify and defend our opinions (G3794, Thayer).” While we’re arguing for the right to think on what isn’t God, God’s turning our thoughts toward Him to alter our point-of-view. We think too human. He knows how we think and what we think and is merciful and kind to forgive us and, often, indulge us in those things we say that aren’t His. He is patient and kind. He bears all things (1 Corinthians 13:4,7).

Photo by Mark Fletcher-Brown on Unsplash


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Suzanne D. Williams, Author
www.suzannedwilliams.com
www.feelgoodromance.com