Romans 7:18 I Know That Nothing Good Lives In Me, That Is, In My Sinful Nature. For I Have The Desire To Do What Is Good, But I Cannot Carry It Out.

When we are full of pain, we are then tempted to be ungodly. We are tempted to give up. We are tempted to give in. When we are full of pain we blame God for not healing us. When we are in pain the part of us that is "nothing good" comes to devastate us even more. When we are in pain we do not feel godly or devout. All we feel when we are in pain is the pain. However, we can be honest. We can pray in honesty. We can pray in honesty even when we do not feel like praying. In honesty, we can tell the Lord we do not feel like praying when we are in pain. There will come a day when all our pain is gone. There will come a day when we will be free of pain forever. There will come a day when all our efforts to truly be Christ's child when we were in pain will be rewarded in infinite ways.

(Sorry I missed a few days of posting. Pain issues, etc.)

1 Cor. 1:5 For In Him You Have Been Enriched In Every Way--In All Your Speaking And In All Your Knowledge

In our pain we are poor. Our pain makes us live in an empty poverty. Yet, there is more to this picture. Along with the emptiness caused by our poverty, those of us who cling to the foot of Christ's cross have a wealth others do not have. Those of us in pain who cling to Christ's cross have wisdom beyond what is normal in this life. Those of us who possess the Lord's special wisdom in our pain know we possess a special knowledge. The Lord bestows upon us His special wisdom to help us work through our pain, to conquer our adversity, and to serve Him by serving others. Even in our pain, our life is still enriched by Christ Jesus.

Col. 2:9 For In Christ All The Fullness Of The Deity Lives In Bodily Form, 10 And You Have Been Given Fullness In Christ, Who Is The Head Over Every Power And Authority.

Every word of the gospel is absolutely true. However, right now I do not feel full of much of anything except the pain and depression. If you have been a reader of this blog and you share in the pain of life, you know what I mean. Yet, every word is absolutely true. I really do have the fullness of Christ in me, within me, above me, under me, and all around me. Although I do not feel His fullness at the moment, I do sense it. Tomorrow when the pain eases, I will have a greater sense of His fullness in love. Sometimes I have these "WOW" moments with Him and so can you. I have these moments when I am quite awestruck as I know how much He loves me…when the pain makes no difference. Praise be to God every person on earth can have a "WOW" kind of moment. Someday, some of us will have a "WOW" eternity.

Romans 8:32 He Who Did Not Spare His Own Son, But Gave Him Up For Us All--How Will He Not Also, Along With Him, Graciously Give Us All Things?

We serve a giving God. We are victimized by a taking Satan. If we can only keep this truth in our minds all of our days, our life will be immeasurably richer. We are left in the middle between the evils of Satan and the goodness of God. On this middle ground we can bless God or curse Him. On this middle ground we do battle against invisible evil foes while we have allies of the mighty angels of heaven. All things will be given to us. God will not hold anything back from us. The magnitude and majesty of all things of God we cannot know. God was willing to not spare His own Son so we might live in paradise with Him forever. Our pain disappears in the glory and grace of God. Our pain disappears in His mighty love. If God was willing to sacrifice His own Son, how could God not give us all things in heaven?

John 15:4 Remain In Me, And I Will 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. 5 "I Am The Vine; You Are The Branches. If A Man Remains In Me And I In Him, He Will Bear Much Fruit; Apart From Me You Can Do Nothing.

In our pain we are helpless. In our pain apart from God we are unproductive. Even in our pain our Lord wants us to produce good fruit for Him. But isn't this a form of torture? Isn't the Lord administering a form of torture on us to expect us to produce even in our pain? No! We must glorify God at all times and in all things. In our human mind in our human ways we do not always understand what God requires of us. How could God require us to produce for Him even when we are broken and defeated by our pain? God wants our best at our worst. God wants us to pour out, not excuses from our life, but productivity to glorify Him. Productivity glorifying God in our pain is one of our most precious gifts to God. On the day we stand before Him, He will measure our life as no one else can measure us. God will know when we struggled to serve Him. He will know when we suffered to do His work. When we suffer to do His work, the Lord will look at us, bless us, and say to us, "Well done, good and faithful servant. Look at this new mansion and new kingdom I have for you my good and faithful servant. Look at this new land of dreams where all you have ever dreamed about comes true for you in godly ways."

Galatians 2:20 I Have Been Crucified With Christ And I No Longer Live, But Christ Lives In Me. The Life I Live In The Body, I Live By Faith In The Son Of God, Who Loved Me And Gave Himself For Me.

When the life you live in the body is full of pain you live a diminished life. When your life is diminished by pain, by sin, by mistakes, or by natural events like disasters your faith is under attack. When the pain comes, you want to live more by sight rather than living by faith. When the pain comes, you want tangible relief. However, you must hang on and never relent for one moment. Living life in the body does not bring the kind of power and relief we want and need. Our body suffers. However, our soul or spirit can remain untouched by our pain if we hold fast to Christ. Christ brings us spiritual power. Our spiritual power can bring us insulation from the pain we feel. We may never find the total relief we need on earth. However, we keep believing and trusting in Christ each day because we know He will bring us total relief and total healing when we cross over from our life on earth to our life in heaven.

1 John 2:28 And Now, Dear Children, Continue In Him, So That When He Appears We May Be Confident And Unashamed Before Him At His Coming.

Pain is satanic. The origin of pain is from Satan. Satan uses your pain to destroy your faith in Christ. Hour after hour, day after day, month after month of pain wears down your heart, mind, and soul. The battle of your life is keeping your faith. The moment of His appearing, whether His appearing is in heaven or on earth you shall not be overridden with our pain. When you see Him your pain will be replaced with joy.

Christ first won the victory over death. Now our turn is to win the victory over our pain. When we continue on no matter what we must face, Christ will deliver to us the greatest prize one could ever imagine. Christ will deliver to us not just a life going on forever, but a life without pain lasting forever. When we see Him we shall not be ashamed of winning out over our pain. When we see Him every part of our being shall be immersed in eternal joy, happiness, peace, and love. Brothers and sisters…keep on keeping on for the victory is just ahead. The victory is ours!!

Romans 7:24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God--through Jesus Christ our Lord!

God wants us to deal with the realities of life. God wants us to deal with life as life is for us in this moment. Our life may stink because of our pain and afflictions. However, God is not blessed by our lying and misconstruing the truth about our difficulties. This does NOT mean we have permission to whine and complain about our pain. Our mission is to lift others up to heaven, not pull them down to earth through our complaining. Indeed we are wretched in the eyes of God because of our sinfulness. Indeed we do live within a body of death. However, God sent Christ into the world to turn us from being wretched into being creatures of heavenly beauty. God sent Christ into the world to rescue us from living within our body of death…if we are willing.

Because of your pain, these words may seem only like empty sounds or empty thoughts. But you must keep trying to meet Him. I promise you, the more you try to meet Christ in the air, the closer your meeting becomes. Praise God. Amen.

Be With The Lord

Be with me the Lord rather than being in the past or in the future. In your thinking, although you are inextricably drawn to thinking about what may be, what could have been, etc., be with the Lord in the here and now. God's presence in the here and now is where you will find His power. God's presence in the here and now is the ultimate preparation for your future moments.

Romans 8:10 But If Christ Is In You, Your Body Is Dead Because Of Sin, Yet Your Spirit Is Alive Because Of Righteousness.

We all know our body is slowly wasting away past a certain age. Our dead bodies have no hope to live forever. Most of us do not really want our body to live forever. Imagine the burden of living into an age where you would be two or three centuries old! Our pain can make us well aware our life on earth is limited. As the verse notes above, our body is already dead because of our sin. In our body, we have no hope. However, in our spirit, in our renewed and reborn spirit, we look forward to a pain-free eternity. We can look forward to endless times of joy with no hint of pain, no hint of discomfort, and disease. We can look forward to perfect days forever. We maintain our eternal hope because of righteousness. We maintain our eternal hope by living, think, doing, and worshipping Christ in righteousness.

1 John 2:6 Whoever Claims To Live In Him Must Walk As Jesus Did.

Those of us who live in pain must do two things. First, we must be honest about our pain. Second, we must walk as Jesus did. For many of us, these two things present to us seemingly insurmountable challenges. We must be honest about what our pain does to us. In spite of our pain, we must live a holy, godly, righteous life. For some of us, we are barely able to walk. However, Jesus knows our every trial. He knows our every temptation. If we are honest with Him then He will be with us. The Lord will give us power to do His will even when we do not want to do His will. The Lord will give us power to overcome temptation when Satan wants us to turn away from doing Christ's will. When we are hurting too much to feel the love of God, God will come to us, be with us, and turn our hearts to Him so we live our life as His children.

Romans 7:18 I Know That Nothing Good Lives In Me, That Is, In My Sinful Nature. For I Have The Desire To Do What Is Good, But I Cannot Carry It Out.

Our pain comes from the same source as does our sinful nature. Our pain comes from Satan. The same Satan who caused Adam and Eve to fall from the Garden of Eden…the same Satan who caused Adam and Eve to feel pain when they lost the Garden of Eden. Our pain is a sign we are not perfect creatures. We want relief from our pain, but we often cannot find relief. Having sin in us does not relieve us of our accountability before God. Having pain in us does not give us a power to relieve us of being a person embedded in sin. We might think our being in pain should give us some extra privilege to make our pain go away. However, Satan puts our pain on us and Satan will try to use our pain against us to make us turn away from God. How many times have you seen others who are in pain curse God? How many times have you cursed God when you are in pain? Our ultimate challenge in our life of pain is be holy, godly, devout, and to love God each moment even in our pain. Our ultimate challenge is winnable by us because God gives us the power to be His winning children…even in our pain.

John 15:4 Remain In Me, And I Will 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.

When we are in pain, we want and we need a refuge. How can we bear fruit for Christ or for ourselves when we are in pain? In human terms, bearing fruit is impossible on our own. We can do nothing in our pain, on our own. Yet, in Christ, in the shelter of His arms and in the shelter of His love, we can do mighty works…even in our pain. Every prayer you pray, even in your pain, is heard in the highest heaven. Every prayer you pray, even in your pain, has a special place in the heart of God. Every twinge of pain is a challenge to our faith. Every time we hurt and we do not relent or turn back does mightier works in heaven than any human can imagine. We may never know about the fruit we bear. We must never be concerned about the fruit we bear for if we need to know about the fruit we bear we are being selfish. Of course, if we let our pain take its natural satanic course, we are selfish in our pain. Being selfish in our pain bears no fruit for Christ. As we turn our back on all things selfish and satanic, God knows us. As we turn our back on all things selfish, God walks with us and talks with us at every moment. Praise His Almighty Name. Amen.

Hebrews 11:16 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.

In your pain, how you carry your life determines the pride God feels for you. If you let your pain determine how you live, how you behave, and determine your faith in God, you are at a substantial disadvantage with God. Although your pain tries to rule over you (and let's be honest, sometimes our pain does rule over us) we must continually battle against what the power of pain or the power of darkness tries to do to us. For if we live a holy, godly, righteous life, in spite of our pain, God has already prepared a city for us…a city beyond our wildest dreams. We can look forward and looking forward we can see beyond our pain. Because we can see beyond our pain we have unbounded hope. In living with unbounded hope, God pours His infinite power over us…even in our pain.

Acts 1:11 "Men Of Galilee," They Said, "Why Do You Stand Here Looking Into The Sky? This Same Jesus, Who Has Been Taken From You Into Heaven, Will Come Back In The Same Way You Have Seen Him Go Into Heaven."

What if you where there gazing into the sky? What if you had seen Jesus disappear into the blue sky by sailing upward out of sight? I do not know about you, but for me, my heart would be breaking once again. My heart would have broken at the foot of His cross. My heart would have broken in joy at His empty tomb. My heart would have broken in joy when He appeared after His resurrection. My heart would have broken anew in grief when He disappeared into the sky a last time. Yet my heart would have been filled with hope He was coming again to take me home to be with Him in eternity. My heart would have been lifted up at the appearance of one of His angels.

We will see Him again. We must never ever forget. We will see Him again in His glorious splendor. No matter how much trouble we must face here on earth…no matter how much pain we endure from one day to the next…our pain-free eternal days will consume us as we meet Him. Praise God we have such hope.

Hebrews 10:37 For In Just A Very Little While, "He Who Is Coming Will Come And Will Not Delay."

The words "in just a little while" can be troublesome. These words were spoken two thousand years ago. In the heart and soul of the person with pain, on the surface, these words can seem fake and even false. So where is He? We must realize the realm of God and Christ does not work like our realm. We must realize the other reality of God and Christ is a timeless reality. When we see Jesus, and He has erased all our pain, "a little while" will be nothing. For us today, we must remember the love of Christ in us this moment literally makes the time fly. Christ will return for us if we are left upon the Earth or we will see His return from above. We must not lose heart. Instead of losing heart, we must keep our hope alive by seeing the reality of Christ within our heart each moment. Jesus will not just come again. Jesus will bring with Him a grand fun house of eternal joy and happiness totally devoid of pain.

James 5:7 Be Patient, Then, Brothers, Until The Lord's Coming. See How The Farmer Waits For The Land To Yield Its Valuable Crop And How Patient He Is For The Autumn And Spring Rains. 8 You Too, Be Patient And Stand Firm, Because The Lord's Coming Is Near.

Those of us who are in pain are not patient people. We want our relief. We do not want our relief yesterday. We definitely do not want our relief tomorrow. We impatiently want our relief now. However, no matter how impatient we may be, we must wait. We must wait knowing there will come a time when we will not be in pain any more. Not only must we wait, we must be strong in our time of waiting. Knowing we will have a day of no more pain can make all the difference. We can look forward to the Lord's appearing on planet Earth or look forward to our seeing Him in heaven. Christ will give us strength in our time of waiting. He has not left us as orphans. While we are waiting we must pray. We must pray for others rather than for ourselves. We must put others first because the Lord knows our needs before we could ever pray about our needs. We can wait because the Lord loves us. We can wait if we put the Lord's mission before all our other plans and designs.

Hebrews 13:14 For Here We Do Not Have An Enduring City, But We Are Looking For The City That Is To Come.

Our reality is tinged with death, suffering, and pain. In our plane of existence upon the earth, the dark powers are aligned against us. Yet in the deathly prison of our life we have a hope beyond hope. In our pain-filled reality things break down, rot and decay. Nothing endures in our reality without mankind making enormous effort at maintenance. Even making enormous efforts at maintenance, over the eons of time, nothing endures forever in man-made forms. However, we must not be fooled. Although we may live in pain, we have an enduring city…a city lasting into time eternal. Our city of the future, our city of hope eternal, is a place of no pain. In our enduring city of the future, the beams of God's love and grace shine forever. Our joy lasts forever in our enduring city standing in our Lord's mighty power keeping all pain, suffering, and heartbreak away for all time.

John 14:3 And If I Go And Prepare A Place For You, I Will Come Back And Take You To Be With Me That You Also May Be Where I Am.

So many times, in so many ways, we do not want to be where we are when we are in pain. So many times, in so many ways, we read in the Lord's gospel how He is going to take us away from where we are in our pain. He is going to take us to a better place…His place where we will be with Him. All of us know, no matter how much pain we are in, there is a better place than the place we are in at the pain-filled moment. Jesus does not lie. The Lord does not tell half-truths. We will live in His emerald city above our present pain and trials. We do not know all the glory and grandeur He has in store for us. All we can do is imagine and we cannot ever imagine enough. We will not have to try and get to His place on our own for He will come and take us to where He lives. Even now, even in our most painful moments, He is working to prepare the most perfect of perfect places for us. Let us not be left out of His home. Let us accept Christ into our heart and life just as He will accept us into His heart, life, and home in eternal joy, peace, fun, and love.

1 John 5:11 And This Is The Testimony: God Has Given Us Eternal Life, And This Life Is In His Son. 12 He Who Has The Son Has Life; He Who Does Not Have The Son Of God Does Not Have Life.

Our life in pain is diminished compared to our life without pain. Our life in pain does not have the hope of our life without pain. Our life in pain does not have the same substance of our life without pain. For those of us in pain, the idea of living forever may not have the same meaning because our suffering diminishes even our view of eternal life. Without Christ, we have no hope. Without Christ, we have a future filled with the torment of outer darkness. Even in our pain, we must keep hold of Christ. Through Christ we will have an eternal life unlike our painful life in the here and now. Through Christ we will have an eternal a pain-free life full of joy, peace, happiness, and incredible fun.

Romans 5:17 For If, By The Trespass Of The One Man, Death Reigned Through That One Man, How Much More Will Those Who Receive God's Abundant Provision Of Grace And Of The Gift Of Righteousness Reign In Life Through The One Man, Jesus Christ.

When we are in pain, we do not think much about reigning in life. The words "provision of grace" and "gift of righteousness" can ring hollow to those of us who hurt. Our pain drives out our ability to elevate theological ideas above our pain. Only those of us in pain can truly understand how debilitating pain can become. However, God's power within us can give us the ability to affirm Christ's love for us. We can affirm Christ is the Lord who died to give us eternal life. In spite of our pain, we can repent and be baptized in the power and spirit of the living God. When we sail into heaven we shall know fully and completely the infinite grace of Christ. When we sail into heaven we shall be able to receive the infinite love as a result of Christ's gift of righteousness. Our pain may take us down now. Our Lord Jesus will lift us up in the morning in ways we cannot begin to imagine.

John 10:10 The Thief Cometh Not, But For To Steal, And To Kill, And To Destroy: I Am Come That They Might Have Life, And That They Might Have It More Abundantly.

The pain we suffer does not come from God. The pain we suffer comes from Satan. Satan comes and puts pain upon us to steal our life and eventually kill us. Christ came into the world so we could not only be pain free, but Christ came into the world so we could also be alive and pain free forever. All human beings face the task of dealing with pain on some level. When we face pain head on, we must remember who our foe is and who our friend is. Satan is our foe. Christ is our friend. Christ does not want us to have "some" life. Christ wants us to have an eternal life overflowing with joy, peace, love, and fun forever. If we keep the picture of what Christ wants us to have for eternity, our picture of our eternity helps us stand up to every attack of the pain. When our pain overwhelms us and we think we cannot go on, Christ is standing next to us calling out to us to walk His path leading to His wonderful eternal home prepared just for us.