The crook in the lot
Ecclesiastes 1:14-15 says, "I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit. That which is crooked cannot be made straight: and that which is wanting cannot be numbered."
And Ecclesiastes 7:12-13 says, "For wisdom is a defence, and money is a defence: but the excellency of knowledge is, that wisdom giveth life to them that have it. Consider the work of God: for who can make that straight, which he hath made crooked?"
To make a spiritual application, we can sometimes think of crooked as unforseen troubles that afflict, unsettle or disturb us in any way.
The idea is that there are gonna be things in our life that God makes crooked and we don't have the power to make it straight. So you gotta sweetly and in submission kiss that rod and just say let God do with me what He pleases, I am content to submit to his hand in it.
It really is all about how you respond to affliction when you're going through it. It is very important how we respond to affliction.
Look how King David responded to affliction in Psalms 119:71 - It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes.
You get so much relief from what those verses are teaching and the spiritual application of them in our lives and when you realize that, you just submit to God. It's the only way to get freedom. Freedom from all bitterness and from all mental problems. When you don't have freedom from this and just stay in bitterness, anger, etc etc, it keeps us from producing, keeps us from working and just digs us into a deeper hole of despair.
There's a peace in realizing this and just submitting. Realizing that whatever horrible things I am going through I am just gonna accept it and obey the Lord and obey His word.
It's about being Christ centered amongst the thorns and thistles of life. It is about denying self. Luke 9:23 - And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.
This is key and vital.
There is a quote that struck a chord within me in regards to this: "Christ teaches the soul [self-denial], so that, as in the presence of God on a real sight of itself, it can say, 'Lord, I am nothing. I deserve nothing. Lord, I can do nothing. I can receive nothing and can make use of nothing. I am worse than nothing. And if I come to nothing and perish, I will be no loss at all, and, therefore, is it such a great thing for me to be cut short here?' A man who is little in his own eyes will count every affliction as little and every mercy as great." I had, you see, been in a state. I'd been praying and praying about a certain rotten attitude. I suddenly realized that problem was a big ol' balloonful of somethingness, and this passage stuck a pin right in it. It was a big ol' boilful of somethingness, and the Holy Spirit used this to lance it. The relief was immediate. I went around all day rejoicing in the freedom of being nothing. You'd be amazed at how lightly a popped balloon can float!"
And whatever horrible things you're going through, you must always think about what Jesus Christ went through and suffered for you, for me and for everyone.
Isaiah 53:3-6 - He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
And keep in mind 1 Peter 4:1-2 - Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin; That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.
Just obey and submit to God. Fear God, and keep his commandments, no matter what. Rejoice in the Lord always and in every thing give thanks.
And don't forget Romans 8:28 - And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
So to all the brethren, I do hope that it helps you and increases your faith.
And Ecclesiastes 7:12-13 says, "For wisdom is a defence, and money is a defence: but the excellency of knowledge is, that wisdom giveth life to them that have it. Consider the work of God: for who can make that straight, which he hath made crooked?"
To make a spiritual application, we can sometimes think of crooked as unforseen troubles that afflict, unsettle or disturb us in any way.
The idea is that there are gonna be things in our life that God makes crooked and we don't have the power to make it straight. So you gotta sweetly and in submission kiss that rod and just say let God do with me what He pleases, I am content to submit to his hand in it.
It really is all about how you respond to affliction when you're going through it. It is very important how we respond to affliction.
Look how King David responded to affliction in Psalms 119:71 - It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes.
You get so much relief from what those verses are teaching and the spiritual application of them in our lives and when you realize that, you just submit to God. It's the only way to get freedom. Freedom from all bitterness and from all mental problems. When you don't have freedom from this and just stay in bitterness, anger, etc etc, it keeps us from producing, keeps us from working and just digs us into a deeper hole of despair.
There's a peace in realizing this and just submitting. Realizing that whatever horrible things I am going through I am just gonna accept it and obey the Lord and obey His word.
It's about being Christ centered amongst the thorns and thistles of life. It is about denying self. Luke 9:23 - And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.
This is key and vital.
There is a quote that struck a chord within me in regards to this: "Christ teaches the soul [self-denial], so that, as in the presence of God on a real sight of itself, it can say, 'Lord, I am nothing. I deserve nothing. Lord, I can do nothing. I can receive nothing and can make use of nothing. I am worse than nothing. And if I come to nothing and perish, I will be no loss at all, and, therefore, is it such a great thing for me to be cut short here?' A man who is little in his own eyes will count every affliction as little and every mercy as great." I had, you see, been in a state. I'd been praying and praying about a certain rotten attitude. I suddenly realized that problem was a big ol' balloonful of somethingness, and this passage stuck a pin right in it. It was a big ol' boilful of somethingness, and the Holy Spirit used this to lance it. The relief was immediate. I went around all day rejoicing in the freedom of being nothing. You'd be amazed at how lightly a popped balloon can float!"
And whatever horrible things you're going through, you must always think about what Jesus Christ went through and suffered for you, for me and for everyone.
Isaiah 53:3-6 - He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
And keep in mind 1 Peter 4:1-2 - Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin; That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.
Just obey and submit to God. Fear God, and keep his commandments, no matter what. Rejoice in the Lord always and in every thing give thanks.
And don't forget Romans 8:28 - And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
So to all the brethren, I do hope that it helps you and increases your faith.
31-35, M
