Many times as believers we fail to grasp the awesomeness of God. We fail to be in possession of a reverential fear of the Lord. Albeit in ignorance, it is common for Christians to pay more homage to the devil than they do to God. How you ask? By attributing every unpleasant, trying event that they encounter as being an attack of the enemy. There are many well meaning Christians that are continually binding and rebuking the devil for the trials they are in, without ever even considering that these trials may have been sent by God.

One of the things that we need to fully comprehend is that God is in control of everything! The devil never slips one by Him. If we are a child of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, we need to start recognizing just what kind of household we have been born into. In today's world it is hard to find a true man or woman of God. We have allowed the traditions of men to usurp possessing a personal knowledge of and relationship with God. God is in control of everything, the bad as well as the good. Many people are much more comfortable holding the concept that the devil is responsible for all the bad things that happen in the world and God gets credit for all the good things that happen. Well, considering that the bad far outweighs the good these days, wouldn't that make the devil someone that God is having trouble containing? Not at all. It simply means that our understanding is still darkened in this area. We have a difficult time believing that a loving God would allow all the pain and suffering we see in the world today. Our flesh is all for survival, and will accept almost any belief if it can avoid the death of self. If the truth were known, our flesh is a much bigger problem than the devil. Our flesh is the avenue that comes under attack. When our flesh is put down and made subservient to God's Spirit within us, we are then out of the devil's reach. Within the individual believer the war is waged between living according to the flesh or living according to the Spirit.

Isaiah 30:20,21 And though the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your Teacher will not hide himself any more, but your eyes will constantly behold your Teacher. And your ears will hear a word behind you saying, this is the way: walk in it, when you turn to the right hand and when you turn to the left. Our teacher is the Lord Jesus Himself. It is because the Lord loves us, that he places us in difficult and trying situations and circumstances. Living in this world we have learned how to contend with obstacles and challenges from the natural man's point of view. It requires quite another approach once we have been spiritually born again. We have to learn how to cope with troubles and tribulations in an entirely new way that is alien to the natural man. Instead of handling it ourselves, as has been our way in the past, we must now look to the Spirit within. We must seek to know how the Lord desires for us to act or respond. Should we take specific steps; should we speak or hold our peace; and the most difficult action of all, should we just simply wait on the Lord. Most of the time we jump the gun and react from our own reasoning mind. Seldom do we consult our Teacher. Crying out in despair when your world falls apart, "Help me, Lord!" is not the same as communing with God from your Spirit on an hourly, daily basis. If we seek God's guidance in the first place many of the crisis' we face can be avoided altogether. Many of the pitfalls we experience are a result of our own ignorance or carelessness. (Who of us can claim never to have done anything stupid, or that we were sorry for?) Being in right standing with God does not mean we can escape all suffering. It does however, make the suffering much more endurable when we realize that even though it has been allowed for a reason beyond our comprehension, it is working the peaceable fruit of righteousness in our lives. One of the most grievous shortcomings among believers today is found in their relationship with God. Leaders will have to give an account for what they teach (or fail to teach), but that does not negate the fact that as believers we each have an individual responsibility to seek to know God.

It is far too easy to mistakenly assume that because we faithfully attend Church, we are seeking God. Devils faithfully attend Church. Devils know the scriptures and twist and misconstrue them to the carnal mind. A graphic example of God's supremacy over the devil and his demons is found in the girl who followed Paul crying out "this is a servant of the Most High God." Paul did not glory in the fact that the devils knew of his spiritual standing. He found it annoying and abominable, and cast the demon out of the girl. The seven sons of Sceva tried to cast a demon out of a man, and the demons cried out "Jesus we know, and Paul we know, but who are you?" And the spirits fell upon them and they ran out scared and bleeding. What made the difference in these two instances? Their relationship with God. Paul had a living relationship; he walked in the Spirit. The seven sons of Sceva were just trying to imitate the man of God, without possessing the right relationship to God themselves. The dramatically different results are a reflection of relationship. The devil has no problem with religion. Religion is form without power. Religion lulls the people into a sense of safety that is not real. Religious people are no threat to the powers of darkness. Throughout the Gospels, when Jesus encountered individuals that were demon possessed, the demons would cry out, "What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? Art thou come hither to torment us before the time?" The enemy knows that God is real. They know that they have only a limited amount of time in which to work their wickedness. They know the torment that lies ahead of them. It is unfortunate that man is so slow to comprehend spiritual realities.

Jesus Christ is the Word made flesh. It is the Spirit that quickens the Word to our understanding. Jesus Christ came with One Message; One Gospel; the Gospel of the Kingdom. He commanded us to follow Him. As we begin to comprehend the reality of God, the things of this world begin to fade in comparison. All that will live Godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. We are made perfect by the things that we suffer. Our flesh is nailed to the cross as we suffer. Our Lord never intended for us to suffer alone. He said, "I will never leave you or forsake you," "My yoke is easy and my burden is light." We have to believe Jesus' words above our fears and feelings. We have to seek Him for the wisdom of how to be in this world. All of man's concepts and theologies are vain and empty of life giving power. A vital, living union with Jesus Christ, forged in the furnace of affliction is where life really begins. If we cannot accept that God is Supreme; in absolute control of all the apparent chaos in the world, then how can we accept that He loves us at all? We cannot partially believe that which is easy to accept, and refuse to concede what we don't understand. The sooner we let God be God, the sooner we find the way to the freedom in Christ that is freely offered to all. It is up to us to accept this freedom. It is up to us to walk in the path set before us, one not of our own choosing. It is our responsibility to believe, to obey, and to learn how to be a member of God's family, living by the Spirit and putting down the flesh.

Psalm 46:10 Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth. To be still and know is not a one-time act. It is a progressive revelation. It requires an act of our will. The revelation of God unfolds within the spirit of man, completely overwhelming our thoughts and ideas. We cannot talk ourselves into knowing God. Matthew 6:7 But when you pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. When you pray: Our Father, which art in heaven, Hallowed by thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Thy will be done! Not our will, not what we want, but what God wants in our lives and in this world. Knowing God is demonstrated not in word, but in power! There are multitudes making profession of many things; but there are few demonstrating the power of what they are saying.

Belief and faith start out as seeds. In the beginning they are more of a hope than a firmly grounded reality to us. As we seek to know God, as we keep His commandments, the seed grows. We need to acknowledge that we only know in part. Our judgment is carnal. Our sense of right and wrong is founded in self-preservation. What we think is good for us (feeds our flesh) may be in direct contrast to God's will and what is genuinely best for us. Many years ago I read an analogy concerning our point of view. A woman was sorrowful over things in her life, and asked the Lord "why these things were happening?" The Lord showed her a giant tapestry cloth from the underside. All she could see was a jumble of colored strings and knots with no discernible pattern. Then he showed her the right side and it was a beautiful picture. From our vantage point in this world, we only see God's plan from the underside. We cannot make out the picture or what the end result will be. One day we will see the finished product and we will rejoice at the beauty of God's perfect plan.

Our belief grows in direct correlation to our relationship to God. The more we discern the awesome wonder of our Creator, the more we submit our will to His will, the greater our faith becomes. Our charge is to be as He is in this world. We are called to be a peculiar people. It is impossible to do this in our own strength. But with God, all things are possible. The key to unraveling all the mysteries of life is found in coming to a knowledge of all that is Holy. We need to be less full of ourselves and more full of God. Ps.8:3, 4 When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; What is man, that thou art mindful of him? And the son of man, that thou visitest him? We need to get things in their proper perspective. It is an awesome privilege to know God. It is an honor to be called to be a servant of the Most High. It requires our total devotion, commitment and surrender to walk with God.

Isaiah 43:18,19 Do not earnestly remember the former things: neither consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs forth; do you not perceive and know it and will you not give heed to it? I will even make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. These are the last days. The last days of man's fleshly reign on this earth. God is preparing His Body in these last days. He is calling out to all who love Him. The wilderness is the systems of man that try to control other men. The desert is the religious structures man has erected in place of knowing God and keeping His commandments. Outside of an intimate personal relationship we will get lost in the wilderness; we will die of hunger and thirst in the desert.

In the desert they will tell you that you just have to say the sinner's prayer and you will be saved. Seldom will you be taught or encouraged to press into a personal relationship with God. Instead you will be kept in a spiritually infantile state, never being allowed to grow up. As long as you support the works and projects of the church you attend, they do not care whether you grow spiritually or not. If all you hear from the pulpit is that God wants nothing more than to bless you, to bring peace to your world, you are in the desert.

Hebrews 12:4 You have not yet struggled and fought agonizingly against sin, nor have you yet resisted and withstood to the point of pouring out your own blood. (5) ...My son, do not think lightly or scorn to submit to the correction and discipline of the Lord, nor lose courage and give up and faint when you are reproved or corrected by Him. (6) For the Lord corrects and disciplines everyone whom He loves, and He punishes, even scourges, every son whom He accepts and welcomes to His heart and cherishes. (8) Now if you are exempt from correction and left without discipline in which all of God's children share, then you are illegitimate offspring and not true sons at all. (11) For the time being no discipline brings joy, but seems grievous and painful; but afterwards it yields a peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it, a harvest of fruit which consists in righteousness, in conformity to God's will in purpose, thought and action, resulting in right living and right standing with God.

If we think we can avoid all pain and suffering by accepting Jesus as our Savior, we have been mislead. 2 Timothy 3:12 Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. Our suffering is minor compared to the suffering that Christ endured on our behalf. Tribulation is rapidly approaching. This world is in confusion and turmoil. Demonstrators and marchers across the globe are calling for peace. There is no peace. We should be seeking for the revelation of Jesus Christ within our own hearts. Jesus is the embodiment of all our hearts desires. Galatians 5:22-25 Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, meekness, humility, against such things there is no law that can bring a charge. If we live by the Holy Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. If by the Holy Spirit we have our life in God, let us go forward walking in line, our conduct controlled by the spirit. We cannot experience the peace of God, if we do not know God; or more importantly, if God does not know us, as legitimate sons. We need to realize (fully comprehend) that God has everything under control. He has had a plan in place since before the creation of the world, and it is right on schedule. Pain and suffering are as much a part of this plan as love, peace and redemption. Our flesh does not like discipline or correction. Yet as we submit to the correction of our heavenly Father, we will be changed into His likeness.

What fruits does tribulation produce?

We come to complete recognition of our need for and dependence on God.

We experientially learn that there is no good thing in us of ourselves.

What we really believe is manifested, for all to see. We come to full acknowledgment that our being in control is an illusion.

We are content to let God be God.

God made man in His Own Image. God is a Spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and in truth. Jesus said, "It is finished." It is our responsibility to believe, to obey, to keep all of His commandments to us, if we would receive God's blessing and safety. Jesus finished the work. He made the way, set the example we are called to follow, He is with us at every step to be our strength and guide us in the path set before us. Now is the time to prepare our hearts. Now is the time to seek the righteousness that comes from above. Matthew 6:21 "For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." Where is your treasure? What do you value above all else? What are you willing to do to obtain it? From the beginning of time man has attempted to offer what they wanted as sacrifices to God. Cain is the first recorded example. Man has followed the example set by Cain down through the ages. The acceptable sacrifice we are called to set before the Lord today is our life. Our surrendered will. Our obedience is better than any other offering. May we get our eye on God and not the things of this world. May we give the Holy Spirit within preeminence in all things. May we live by our Spirit and put down our flesh. From the moment Jesus spoke the words, "It is finished," our redemption back to God has been a finished work. It is there for any who will take advantage of it and claim the prize as their own. It is time for us to wake up, to grow up, and to live in this world as children of the King. Our walk with God is an ever expanding, evolving, growing experience. God will constantly amaze and surprise you. Seldom will things happen in the way you anticipated them. The restoration of the world back to God is a monumental job beyond our ability to comprehend; yet God knows exactly how He is going to bring it to pass. Let us all come into proper relationship with God personally. Nothing else matters. We are Christ's Body in this earth. We are the vessels through which the work will be done. Let us humbly accept our placement in this body, and do all that we are charged to do, keeping our eye steadfastly on Christ.