Adversities are part of our success - II Those who think life is easy are not mature. Studying is not all. Knowledge is not enough. Experience counts. One has to go through hard times so as to learn how to deal with problems and adversities. We also have to understand the kind of suffering or situation we are living. Affliction and pain are part of our success and victories. No one is victorious without suffering. If you observe ballet for example, you see that those dancers have gone though pain in order to train their feet and body. Today I read a testimony of a man who was living a difficult time in his life. He was sauins that he turned on the TV and saw a documentary about climbing and how hard it is to reach the top. However, when a climber reaches the top of a really tall mountain he eventually and surprisingly realizes there is no life up there. So if I want to see growth and what God wants to do in my life I have to make an effort. But where do I come from? The valley. The valley gives provision for us to get to the top. We say that we want live at high places, but we have to consider that provision comes from the valley. The valley feeds us. Remember the disciples and Jesus as they were on the mountain where Jesus was transfigured. They wanted to put up a tent. They liked what was happening there so much that they wanted that moment to last forever. But Jesus did not allow it to happen. They had to go back to the valley. That is where we bear fruit. Do not tell God what to do in your life! Do not determine or declare things to happen. There are principles we have to follow and it is up to God to do as He pleases. Take Joseph: He was just a tool in Gods hands. His life was lived according to Gods will, not according to his own will. Do you think Joseph would have chosen to be a slave and go to prison? Of course not. But he had faith, he was obedient. Joseph went into Egypt as a slave. Would you have chosen that for yourself? God is looking for people who want to be used by Him His way. As Joseph dies, a new time comes to the people of Israel. If I want a new phase to start in my life, certain things will have to die. If I want to have strength, wisdom and success, things will have to die in my life. Back to Joseph, he died and a time of growth started. Times passes and changes so that there is multiplication, like the waters of a river. There is life as it passes by and along the shores. 400 years went by and the people of Israel become strong and grow. When you think everything is gone and over, it might be the time when a new time of growth and maturity might be coming. God blesses Joseph with two sons: Manasseh and Ephraim - the first one refers to the fact that he forgot the past and the suffering he went through and the second one means prosperity that comes from the fact that he made the decision of forgetting the past. You and I belong to a special generation, a special lineage. Our lineage is from God so it is all about expansion, growth, multiplication (remember what he said to Adam and Eve and remember Israel in Egypt) because multiplication and growth belong to God. Our lineage is about growth. If you are in sorrow at the moment remember you will be glorified. Adversities are not about defeat. Brazil was defeated in the World Cup, however the coach did not admit to the mistakes and problems the team had. Pride. He missed the opportunity of being glorified later. We were not created to be beaten up or defeated. We were created to be winners. However, through pressure we learn. But when is God glorified? When there is a need. There was a need for food. Jesus multiplied the bread. If Lazarus had not died, Jesus would not have manifested His glory. Adversities are part of our lives. Joseph had a triumphant death: take my bones away when you leave this place. He understood what he was living and what was about to come, no matter the many adversities. Stephen was stoned to death. Was it so horrible? It was the death of a faithful man of God! It was a glorious death because he saw the glory of God. If he had died of a heart attack, for example, we would not have this testimony of a glorious death. Angels, an open heaven! So when the children of God die we now know what happens and what we will see. The apostle Paul: he had a triumphant death: I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 2 Timóteo 4:7 So adversities come so as we can see the glory of God. We are not like ostriches that stick their heads into the ground. God has the right to conceal things from us because our glory and honor and goal is to discover them. Proverbs 25:2 says: It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings. Take Job for example, the end of his story and fate was in Gods hands. He did not reveal it to him. Bereans were noble. Why? Because they kept searching for more. When God told Moses to go to the Red Sea did He tell him He would open the sea? No, he would only know that at the right time. On the other hand, Joseph was instructed to go to the River Jordan because God told him He would do what He had done to Moses. God does things the way He wants. It is up to us to seek His face and will. The noble Christians are the ones who seek the will of God. There are Christians who do not know their God or His Word. If it is revealed I want to discover it. Nobility is how you receive the teachings of those who teach you about God: As soon as it was night, the believers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea. On arriving there, they went to the Jewish synagogue.Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. Acts 17:10,11 What have you been listening to? What have you been taking for your life? Do not eat any food! Examine it. Go to the Bible! Go to the Scriptures! Compare. Study. As a result, many of them believed, as did also a number of prominent Greek women and many Greek men. (v.12) Women seem to have a hunger for the Word. Dont they? But when the Jews in Thessalonica learned that Paul was preaching the word of God at Berea, some of them went there too, agitating the crowds and stirring them up. The believers immediately sent Paul to the coast, but Silas and Timothy stayed at Berea. Those who escorted Paul brought him to Athens and then left with instructions for Silas and Timothy to join him as soon as possible. (vv. 13-15). Back to Egypt - Josephs time is over. So we have a time of transition. When I go through adversities I have to allow for the power of bearing fruit to be activated in our lives. Adversities become victories for those who are in God. Josephs generation lived a nice life, but the generations that came after his would suffer. A new Pharaoh comes and enslaves them. They just did not know that a time of slavery comes before a time of freedom., Pressure makes us better. Diamonds and graffiti both of them have carbon. However, what made diamond much more valuable? There was high pressure on it. The north of Argentina has one of the best kinds of grapes. They say those grapes do not grow much. They are really small and very sweet. Why? Because it is a very hot place. What makes that grape delicious and precious? The heat!!! Our precious and most beloved Jesus: (...) He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. Isaiah 53:2b Adversities allow for growth. It depends on you. I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. John 15:1,2 We have to go through the stage of pruning so that we can bear fruit. God might be saying to us: Although you are growing so much, you are not bearing enough fruit. You have to be pruned! Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. John 15:4,5 The fruit we bear comes from God. We have to realize we are nothing without God. He has the right over us. He has the right to conceal or reveal things. It is up to us to seek His will. Allow God to prune you. His thoughts are not our thoughts. His ways are not our ways. Message preached in the Nova Vida Church Sunday morning - July 13, 2014 Niterói, Rio de Janeiro May God bless you richly and abundantly Marcos Paiva, Pr. and MD novavidaniteroi.org.br marcosdepaiva.blogspot facebook/invniteroi
Posted on: Thu, 17 Jul 2014 01:47:12 +0000
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