Marvin Sapp's "Never Would Have Made It"

Suffering : A Profound Grace

Peter manages to call suffering a grace and asks us to stand firm: " My purpose in writings is to encourage you and assure you that what you are experiencing  is only part of God's grace for you. Stand firm in that grace" (I Peter 5:12).Some may think that suffering for good  is impossible, yet, nothing is expendable in God's economy. But, God wants to make suffering transformative. Can I trust God? Yes, I can  trust God not to waste one tear, one agonizing cry, one sleepless hour, one mind-numbing and soul-searing cry, to make of those wretched things a profound grace.

Because He experienced suffering, He left me an example of how to suffer and end victoriously, not broken, defeated, or bitter. The three Hebrew servants obeyed God and were thrown into the fire. In the fire even Shadrach, Meshcah , and Abednego, came out without even the smell of fire.  Wow! There's a reward of integrity and obedience. But don't be dismayed; their crucible of pain will buy them a front-row seat to personal deliverance by Jesus himself in His Pre-incarnate form. Daniel too obeyed and blessed the King who sent him to the lion's den. Then, God shut the lion's mouth (Daniel 6:28).


"Then King Nebuchadnezzar leaped to his feet in amazement and asked his advisers, "Weren't there three men that we tied up and threw into the fire?"
"They replied, "Certainly, O king."
"He said, "Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods."
"Nebuchadnezzar then approached the opening of the blazing furnace and shouted, "Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out! Come here!" "So Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego came out of the fire, and the satraps, prefects, governors and royal advisers crowded around them. They saw that the fire had not harmed their bodies, nor was a hair of their heads singed; their robes were not scorched, and there was no smell of fire on them."
The king had to announce that "No other god can save in this way" (Daniel 3:22-29).

Our goal should be that somehow, we leave the fire whole with Peace. Peace is wholeness spirit, soul, and body. Peace is a person: Sar Shalom. Y'Shua will be in the furnace with you. Truthfully, "And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you" (I Peter 5:10). Those around you will declare with awe like Nebuchadnezzar that Your God is the one true God.

A Fellow Sufferer,
MJ

Friend

How did I not know the meaning of Ruth's name? It is so obvious. Her name means 'friend.' Dah! I only learned her name two weeks when I sat across from a "Ruth." She truly was a friend to all whom she met. Was I too distracted by all the diva drama of Naomi? You know that don't call me Naomi or pleasant drama; call me bitter or Marah. All of that drama kind of detracts from Ruth because of her pain. I bless God for friends; during a recent heated time of spiritual warfare and personal attack on my very being, some very special friends stood (you know who you are) and my sister stood with me back to back as I fought Satan.

Jesus is the friend who sticks closer than a brother (Proverbs 18:21). So what does a friend look like? A friend must be faithful. I love this statement that says a friend is who who sticks around when he would rather be somewhere else. Ruth certainly fits that description. I am sure she would rather  have been anywhere than where she was at the time sharing Naomi's pain. Ruth literally resurrects Naomi's faith. She helps her shift from hopelessness, which is so much like a tomb or grave, to the resurrection of hope in Adonai. Adonai is truly God; He is Jehovah-Jireh- the Lord our Provider.

I am in such position right now; I am being asked to stay in place that I would rather not be. I have not been told how long I have to stay. Ruth had no promises from Naomi, but only obligations. How can I be a friend? I must be transparent and vulnerable to do so. Most of us think of others as spiritual Pez dispenser. We come to people to get what we want. We do not relationship. We want service, but not mutual responsibility. Most Christians have no sense of loyalty. They have no sense of loyalty to the church, to God, and others. If the preacher does not do what the congregation wants, they are ready to cut him out.

A friend does not look at another as merely a resource. If we are just using people, that does not honor God. Jesus was in relationship with Martha, Mary, and Lazarus. Therefore, Mary and Martha  had expectations that Jesus would raise Lazarus from the dead (John 11:1--12:11). Jesus resurrects Mary's and Martha's faith by resolutely declaring, "I am the Resurrection and the Life" (John 11:25). Jesus met their inquiries with true emotion; he wept; he was vulnerable and transparent. He met their needs, but addressed their emotional distress with His power.


Let me ask myself: I am a true friend like Ruth or am I more like Naomi encouraging others to go back to their gods, instead of pressing my friends to find God's face

Your Transparent Friend,
MJ

Shepherd Me

Even now,
You cover me
You reign over me
You cover me

Your rod and staff,

They comfort me
You make me lie
down in green pastures

With your hook,
you gently pull me away
from the precipice
back into the safety of the fold

Your rod, heavy
beats back the prey
carried in your chest
close to your heart

The Healing Power of Wounds

I am sure that you know that wounds have a way of embittering. The pain of rejection can send a message to your soul: you are not good enough.  You have meditated, fast, read, and you are still empty. Where is God in all this pain, especially pain that you have no control over. But, did you know that wounds also have the possibility of healing, too?

There is a sweet girl in my class, Havah. She has a cleft-lip  that has been improved by surgery, but the damage is still noticeable. To me, the child is lovely, but outside of my room, who knows what other voices say to her precious ears. God reminded that when He sees me, He sees lovely, not ___________. But when I leave our secret place (Psalm 91), I need to take the mirror and picture that God has of me, although that is sometimes hard to do. It makes me frightened for little Havah and sad for the child parts of you and me.

After our daily excursion into the world, we often return home smeared with dirt and excrement.  We certainly don't feel pretty or special. We feel soiled. Satan uses those feelings of inadequacies and ugliness to turn is away from Our Father. When we look in the distorted mirrors of the world's carnival or the devil's haunted house, we feel grotesque and strange. We don't resemble the perfect creation that God says He sings over (Zephaniah 3:17). We ask, "Why did you lie to me?"  It's not so much a lie as love for God sees you as an exquisite work of his hands. When I see Havah, I see her petite frame, energy, joy, and I love that crooked smile just as God must have loved Jacob's limp. We may be people who limp into heaven, but Abba's face well be the first face we will see beaming at us at the end of the race. We will hear Him say, "Welcome home, Beloved. You done good." God, of course, is Southern. I don't care how you get there, just get there. You will surely have a testimony.

No matter where you have been wounded, keep running toward the prize: Jesus. Remember, that His mirror and His words are the only ones of the truth. Only your Creator can know your true value: "We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God's throne" (Hebrews 12:2).

Just keeping going,
MJ
P.S. After Jacob's battle and wounding, he got a name-change which signaled a greater nature transformation. He was no longer the schemer and trickster; he became Israel, a holy patriarch whose name means God perseveres or contends. Let God contend for you because one touch from Him in the right place will leave you forever changed even if it leaves a wound.

"Wallflower"

What is a wallflower?  The girl who is never asked to dance; she is so painfully shy that she literally melts into the wall. She holds her head down and because she knows that she will not be chosen to dance, or at least, so she thinks. Walls, what are their purposes? For me, I built walls to protect myself from the pain that others brought and just life itself. Yet, God declares that, "this sin will become for you like a high wall, cracked and bulging, that collapses suddenly, in an instant" (Isa 30:13). God tells the Israelites that they trusted in their walls, other means of salvation and deliverance, in this case, the Egyptians. Yet, those very walls would crash and ultimately, destroy them.

In fact, "It will break in pieces like pottery, shattered so mercilessly that among its pieces not a fragment will be found for taking coals from a hearth or scooping water out of a cistern" (v. 14). God promises nothing useful will be taken from these idolatrous walls. God asks the Israelites and us today to accept his solution, "In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength" (v.15). God asks  us to trust in Him and not in our own defenses, but how can we do this?

After experiencing pain recently, I was offered the choice of retreating behind my walls, but I knew that those walls were idols that I used to control my emotions. They were vain imaginations that I used instead of leaning my entire personality on Christ.  So, what choice did I have?  I heard God say that He desired for me to know truth in my inner parts (Psalm 51:6): "Surely you desire truth in the inner parts; you teach me wisdom in the inmost place." What exactly does that mean? It really meant to tear down every vain imagination and high lofty wall I had built that contradicted who God said He made to be and who He was to me. II Corinthians 10:5 declares that we must "demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." The truth is  "I am accepted in the Beloved" (Ephesians 1:6); "I am more than a conqueror" (Romans 8:37), not this wallflower myth I have believed for so many years. Thank God for freedom! Let the redeemed of the Lord say so!

Those who have been abused suffer a second-time for not having been believed, so it is tempting to try and prove our innocence. But, God is our vindicator and defender. We cry out to God who delivers us from our enemies. We don’t need walls to retreat behind. We don’t have to deaden our pain through food, exercise, and alcohol. We can come from behind the walls because Adonai Tzvaot, the Lord of Hosts, rouses Himself, to fight on our behalf: "Let God arise and let his enemies be scattered; let those who oppose Him run in defeat from his presence" (Numbers 10:35).There is no fear in love (1 John 4:18). If I fear, I hide behind walls. I become a wallflower. Read the questions and answer them truthfully. What if you could accept what Christ has done for you?

Why does rejection speak louder than Your Acceptance, Y’Shua?

Why does fear speak louder than Your Love, Y’Shua?

Why do curses speak louder than Your Blessings, Y’Shua?

Why do criticisms speak louder than Your Exhortations, Y’Shua?

Why do lies speak louder than Your Promises, Y’Shua?

Why does loneliness speak louder than Your Presence, Y’Shua?

Why does pain speak louder than Your Peace, Y’Shua?

Why does sadness speak louder than Your Joy, Y’Shua?

Why does emptiness speak louder than Your Spirit,  Y’Shua?

Why does doubt speak louder than Your Cross, Y’Shua?

Why does fear speak louder than Your Love, Y'Shua?

Gladly, No longer a Wall-flower,

MJ

"Why the Long Pause?"

I wonder what Ruth thought and felt on the day of  her second betrothal. It had been a long and arduous path she'd taken. From the dusty hills of Moab, thru barren plains, the inhospitableness of desert stretches, to the small village of Bethlehem. Saddled with losses of home, kin, and husband, her outlook certainly could have been bleak. Upon arriving in town, hearing the well-wishes of the neighbors returned with  bitter acrimony from Naomi certainly would not have put any wind in my sails. So, why keep trying? Why get up every morning and head down the dusty lane to pick up the barley left by the harvesters? Why work to feed and clothe a body that only covers an empty soul?

There are silences in the Bible: in fact, too many for my liking. I want know the in-between stories of how Joseph persevered or what happened before king so and so rested with his fathers. Those lulls in the story where we all wonder how 'they got over' or 'how they put one foot in front of the other' through the long walk of faith and perseverance. How did hope not die within these Bible heroes like a forgotten stalk of wheat in the field?
All of my blogs are from my heart, but this one even more so because it is being written out of place of pain and hope.  Pain, because of loss, and hope, because somehow I must believe that God can be trusted in the midst of my hurt and disappointment: "All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own.  If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them" (Hebrews 11:13-16).

Even when God chooses not to rescue us from our pain, we must remain convinced of His goodness.  When we are disappointed and disillusioned by our relationships, we must make sense of our feelings of abandonment that occur when God chooses not to rescue us from painful situations- such as widowhood or poverty as in Ruth's situation. How did Ruth hope and not fear being left alone again? Brother Andrew, who is best known for his idea of practicing the presence of God, states, "He sees, he hears, he understands." Even if Boaz had not taken notice of Ruth, God saw her. His protection of her was more real than that  which Boaz promised- His care more tangible than Boaz's promise to attempt to redeem Naomi's land and Ruth herself.

I must ask myself if I trust that everything that has happened in my life is necessary to bring me to the place where Christ is formed in me- where His beautiful face is reflected in my own. God used the famine, the death of all the male members of Naomi's immediate family, Naomi's bitterness, and Boaz's long-standing singleness, and even Orpah's return to her people, to bring about his plans for Ruth, Naomi, Boaz, and even us, through the Messiah. Why did God use a maniacal leader and a series of nasty plagues to achieve the release of his Israelite people? Surprise! God uses the messy, inconvenient, and mostly painful realities of our relationships to change us into useful servants: "And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit" (2 Corinthians 3:18). May you and I allow God to form Christ in us, especially in our trials.  Remember that God sees you; He hears you; and He understands. He will not let your hope wither on the vine. He will bring fruitfulness from this desert. He is present and He is holding you even now.

In Hope and Trust,

MJ