For the Battle is Not Yours, But God's Pt. 4

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WE ARE NOT OUR OWN

In times of peace and times of battle it is profitable to remember:

 God’s liberating love,

 Relinquishing our troubles or assumptions to God

 And…

Remembering we are not our own.

This morning I started to think of two groups of people.  The first group was made up of people like Alexander the Great to King Herod to Medieval Kings to Hitler. 

The second group was made up of people of great faith in God.  They were people like Noah, Abraham, Joseph, King Jehoshaphat, David, Elijah, Elisha, Samuel, Moses, Joshua, Gideon, Job, Daniel, Jeremiah, Isaiah, Esther, Mordecai … to name a few.

The first group believed in themselves.  They believed they were in control.  They believed they didn’t have to answer to anyone.  They believed they were gods.  But still thinking these things, they felt compelled to prove and compare themselves to others.  They seemed to be at continual unrest for they had only themselves to turn to.

The second group believed in God.  They trusted in God not themselves.  They believed they were not their own.

  The ones who believed they were their own- death and evil ensued.

The ones who believed and put their trust in God not themselves – life, peace, and blessing ensued.    

We as Christians are told:

“Don't you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself,” 1 Corinthians 6:19

We are also told we are God's very own possession.

Probably the most reassuring thing to me is coming to the great and humbling reality that I am not my own.  I am God’s.  Knowing that, I can lift up my soul to God and he overshadows me.

“Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty” Psalm 91:1

“The Lord says, ‘I will rescue those who love me.  I will protect those who trust in my name.  When they call on me, I will answer; I will be with them in trouble.  I will rescue them and honor them.  I will satisfy them with a long life and give them my salvation.’” Psalm 91:14-16

Amen…

“For the LORD your God has arrived to live among you.  He is a mighty savior.  He will rejoice over you with great gladness.  With his love, he will calm all your fears.   He will exult over you by singing a happy song.” Zephaniah 3:17

Does this sound like some distant God?  Does this sound like a removed God? Does God sound like a God that doesn’t care about of his creation? Yet more amazing he claims us as his own and takes great care to show his faithfulness.

God’s love goes far beyond our understanding.  Our meaning to Him is beyond our understanding as well.

On the dawning of my faith in Jesus Christ, before the dark shroud was lifted and scales had fallen from my eyes, I saw very little value in my life and didn’t feel as if I measured up to anything worthy - all I felt was brokenness, hurt, and resentful.  I was tired and saw no real point to life so I offered my life to God knowing all his monuments of goodness and faithfulness he had built in my life.  Like a dream they stood in the barren landscape waiting for me to look back.  They were monuments; I really don’t think I even thanked him for.  I don’t even think it occurred to me that God pursued me into this barren wasteland away from more pleasant accommodations.   And not only did he take my life, a life I saw very little value in but told me he loved me despite all my failings and faults and he transformed me by giving me his Spirit (reborn).

Our value has always been in God not our self.     Our life was created by and for Him.

“But we know that there is only one God, the Father, who created everything, and we live for him. And there is only one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom God made everything and through whom we have been given life.” 1 Corinthians 8:6 (NLT)

“He created everything there is.  Nothing exists that he didn’t make.  Life itself was in him, and this life gives light to everyone.  The light shines through the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.” John 1:3-5 (NLT)

“But although the world was made through him, the world didn’t recognize him when he came.  Even his own land and among his own people, he was not accepted.  But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God.  They are reborn!  This is not a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan- this rebirth comes from God.” John 1:10-13 (NLT)

“Christ is the one through whom God created everything in heaven and earth.  He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see-kings, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities.  Everything has been created through him and for him.  He existed before everything else began, and he holds all creation together.”  Colossians 1:16-17 (NLT)

If a person never turns to God as their Heavenly Father they will only value themselves, based on how they see themselves and the world values them and they will act and behave accordingly to those influences.  And instead of inheriting eternal life in Heaven, made possible by Jesus Christ, they will inherit suffering and death.

 That’s why the Holy Spirit had Peter remind Christians that their value in not in what they perceive and receive from the world but in the value God’s see them in.

 “And the Scriptures also say, ‘He is the stone that makes people stumble, the rock that will make them fall.’  They stumble because they do not obey God’s word, and so they meet the fate that was planned for them.” 1 Peter 2:8

People stumble because they doubt, don’t believe or chose to ignore God’s word.  They do not seek to love God with all their heart, mind, soul and all their strength nor do they seek the liberating love God has for them.  They stumble over Jesus Christ because they don’t realize they were made for Him and not realizing THIS they remain unsatisfied.  They value the world’s perception of them over what God knows of them and desires for them.  Hence making the things of this world their god instead of God himself.

Peter continues with “But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people.  You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession.  As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. ‘Once you were not a people; now you are the people of God.  Once you received none of God’s mercy; now you have received mercy.’”  1 Peter 2:9

God continues to show me that the battles that want to entice us, bait us, entrap us, drown us, taunt us, paralyze us- are not our fights.  What we see, perceive or imagine are not our battles.  What wants to make us justify and prove ourselves to others are battles not our own.  What people think of us are battles not our own.  Even the persecution and illnesses we suffer are battles not our own.

When Jesus confronted Saul who later become known as the Apostle Paul.  Jesus did NOT say why are you persecuting my people or my brothers and sisters but said “Saul! Saul! Why are you persecuting me?” Note: Acts 9:1-5 (NLT)

When battles come against you, they are coming against God himself.  As I had mentioned before: God does not need protecting from us so let Him fight the battles for you as you turn to him in prayer and trust.

Our lives, that we tend to hold so tightly to, and that we foolishly think we have some control over are not our own.  We don’t know what tomorrow brings or what will come a couple hours from now but God does.  Knowing that, I glad I am God’s. I am not my own.  My life is in his care.  No matter what happens, he will see me through it - not in some prepackage way but in HIS personal intimate LOVE.

May we live in thankfulness to God.  May we turn our eyes on Jesus and may the things of earth go strangely dim.