Walking with Jesus is no “happily ever after”!

Well, if you’ve bothered to read on then you are either mad at me for this title or curious as to what I’ve been drinking with my coffee this morning.  Let me first assure you that I love Jesus and that I count every moment in His presence as a blessing, because I have found joy there, in His presence, which cannot compare with any joy found on this earth.  And, believe me, I have searched, and nothing this side of Heaven can compare.  So, what’s my point?

We have this idea in our minds, which was planted in our infancy, about “happily ever after”.   The stories we read (and viewed) all demonstrated a common conclusion.  That is, at the end of the drama, when the villain has received his just desserts, then the story ends with, say it with me, “and they lived happily ever after”.  Now, in our young minds we accept this to be true.  We believe that the rest of their lives will be lived without conflict.  After all, the villain has been vanquished; and all of the issues experienced by sub-characters have been resolved.  Therefore, we conclude that the bad stuff is over, done, never to be seen again.

But that’s not how life is, is it?  If you’ve lived more than 10 years on this planet, you already know that that understanding of “happily ever after” doesn’t exist.  Or do we?  My experience is that many people who follow Jesus actually expect a “happily ever after”.  I’ll make this personal in an attempt to keep my offenses to a minimum.  When I accepted Christ’s gift of salvation I FULLY expected that there would be no more difficulty in my life.  Can you imagine my shock then when trouble arose?  It knocked me off my pegs!

The truth about life is that it is full of trouble.  There is no “happily ever after” that whisks us off carefree beyond the reach of pain and suffering.

1Peter 4:12-16 

Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name.

When we walk with Jesus we must expect trials and sufferings, but they are not to be feared.  On the contrary, if we suffer because of our walking with Jesus, then we can celebrate.  We celebrate because we are “blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on [us]”.  Our response is not “poor me”, but rather “praise be to God for allowing me to bear Christ’s name and to share in His suffering”.

I understand that it is very easy for me to type such a statement, but it is a huge challenge to live it out.  O but when we do live it out, what a magnificent witness it is to this world.  What a tremendous story we make when we praise God in our suffering.  But beyond our witness to the world there’s something else that comes with walking with Christ during our trials.

Even though our walk with Jesus is no “happily ever after” we actually experience something even better.  Yes, we experience something BETTER than “happily ever after”.  If we walk with Christ, even though we go through times of suffering, we will find peace.  The peace of Christ is like nothing else on earth.  And as for me, I’ll take Christ’s peace over “happily ever after” any day of the week.

If you are suffering, please turn your eyes to Jesus.  Lay down your burden of pain before Him.  Ask Jesus into your heart.  Let Him carry you for a while.  And you will find peace even in the face of suffering.  For that matter you can find Christ’s peace in every circumstance.

Philippians 4:4-7 

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Find peace,
Lon Alderman
@leaderlifter

Dancing in the Church, by Lon Alderman

First, thank you to Bill Allison at Cadre Ministries for turning me on to this video! You can see Bill's take on this video at his blog, Cup O' Joe with Bill. Thank you, Bill!



This is an awesome example of contagious behavior! The man's dance is contagious, not pretty, just contagious! He doesn't invite or coerce anyone to join him, he just dances! People join him because it looks like something they want to be a part of. Frankly, it looks fun!!

I look around the Church and, generally speaking, I don't see much dancing. I don't see much uninhibited praising of the Lord. I don't see much that I want to join!

We tell people to join us in the Church because they will find joy in God, but we don't dance ourselves! We sit around playing the music and expect people to show up and dance to the music...

Luke 7:31-32 Jesus said,
"To what, then, can I compare the people of this generation? What are they like? They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling out to each other:
" 'We played the flute for you,
and you did not dance...' "

But, what if we danced?

Lon Alderman
www.AcornMinistries.com
Over 350 additional posts at: Daily Build UP

Story Telling, by Lon Alderman

Matthew 11:1-3
That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. Then he told them many things in parables...

I have two ways of telling my story about life as a missionary. One way is full of self-pity. This telling involves the specters of future financial obligations and our inadequacy (translated "fear") to meet those demands. It includes hand wringing and a droopy countenance.

The other telling is full of God's glory. In this story I focus on God's amazing provision today and the sufficiency of His grace (2Corinthians 12:9) for today. It includes uplifted hands and a joyful countenance.

How are you telling your story?
Lon

Details, by Rachel Smith

Are you a crisis prayer-er? You know when things are going bad we throw a prayer up for some help. I did this for many years. Part of it was because I felt God was really too busy to hear about every little detail of every persons life and I know I was too busy when things were going good to stop and chat with God.

Then I reread Exodus. There are all these very detailed directions on how to do things. God is most certainly concerned with the details of our lives. He cares so much about how we do every little thing.

My prayers have turned more into daily worship. Praise to God.

Exodus 25:10-16
“And they shall make an ark of acacia wood; two and a half cubits shall be its length, a cubit and a half its width, and a cubit and a half its height. And you shall overlay it with pure gold, inside and out you shall overlay it, and shall make on it a molding of gold all around. You shall cast four rings of gold for it, and put them in its four corners; two rings shall be on one side, and two rings on the other side. And you shall make poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold. You shall put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark, that the ark may be carried by them. The poles shall be in the rings of the ark; they shall not be taken from it. And you shall put into the ark the Testimony which I will give you.

300th Post - Celebrate!, by Lon Alderman

Psalm 145:3-7

Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise;
his greatness no one can fathom.

One generation will commend your works to another;
they will tell of your mighty acts.

They will speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty,
and I will meditate on your wonderful works.

They will tell of the power of your awesome works,
and I will proclaim your great deeds.

They will celebrate your abundant goodness
and joyfully sing of your righteousness.

This is the 300th Daily Build Up posting! I celebrate the Lord's goodness for it His hand that has accomplished this milestone. Sing praises to the Lord!

Through God's awesome work in this blog, God has encouraged hundreds of people around the world! Praise the Lord!

God is abundantly good!

Lon

PP (ie., post-post) Please send your praises for how God is moving in your life. You can make a comment on this post or email your thoughts to: Lon@AcornMinistries.com

Unite and Pray, by Rachel Smith

I was reading in the old testament today the story of Jehoshaphat defeating Moab. (2 Chronicles 20) I would encourage you to read it.

We are often in battles where there is no possible way we can win. The numbers tell the story. The other side has more people to fight and appear to be in better condition to advance their position. This was the case for Jehoshaphat.

But, instead of hanging his head low and giving up he did a very interesting thing. He gathered all the people to fast and pray. They praised God. He even prays, "We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you." (vs12).

When you don't know what to do- gather the troops. Unite in praise and prayer and fix your eyes on God.

2 Chronicles 20:12-13
O our God, will you not judge them? For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you."

All the men of Judah, with their wives and children and little ones, stood there before the LORD.

Build UP: Sufficiency

I had a small case of writer's block tonight, so I asked the Lord to guide me to a topic. The response I received was this:

2Corinthians 12:9
But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.

Had I, with a great exercise of will, determined and written a brilliant post, then I would have been tempted to wrestle the Lord for the praise. After all, I put all my mental powers to work discerning and crafting my thoughts.

My sense of my own power gets me in a lot of trouble. I feed my pride, until God takes me to the limits of my power. He takes me to a place where I come to the end of my strength; to a place of weakness.

It is there that the Lord reminds me of my limited power while simultaneously showing me the limitlessness of His. It is then that my pride is surrendered. It is then that I lift praises to the Lord.

And the next thing I knew, God had created this post!

Praise the Lord!
Lon

Build Up: Praise

Matthew 5:16

In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

Thank you for your prayers as I traveled to Manchester, Iowa.  What a weekend!  The leaders of the United Methodist church there invested over 10 hours seeking the Lord for His direction for their church.  The Holy Spirit moved in a mighty way and revealed a compelling vision for the future of their ministry.

My role in the retreat was to guide the group through a process of discernment. We prayed, sang, studied scripture, and worked in small focus groups.  In the end the group gave a huge ovation and many compliments for my work.

This is the kind of work the Lord has me doing.  My purpose for sharing this is found in today's scripture: "let your light shine before men".  Typically when we share such things it is for our benefit.  My motivation here is to give God the glory.  Every scrap of "my good deeds" came from the Lord.  I could have accomplished nothing without His guidance and wisdom.

I'd be very curious to know how God has accomplished good deeds through you.  Please leave a comment on this post, or send me an email, that describes how you let your light shine.  I'll post them so we can all praise our Father in heaven.

Praise God!

Lon

Acorn Build Up: Audience

Audience

Galatians 1:10
Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.

I've just finished a very busy season of musical theatre. I played trumpet in the pit band for "West Side Story" in our local community theatre. Because of this experience the concept of "audience" is fresh in my head. Every ounce of effort that went into this production was for the purpose of pleasing the audience.

In this passage, Paul calls our attention to our chosen audience in life. To whom are we performing? Singer and songwriter Sara Groves put it wonderfully in her song "This Journey is My Own". Here are some selected lyrics:

When I stand before the Lord,
I’ll be standing alone.
This journey is my own.
Still I want man’s advice,
and I need man’s approval,
but this journey is my own.

So much of what I do is to make a good impression.
This journey is my own.
So much of what I say is to make myself look better.
This journey is my own.

I have never felt relief like I feel it right now.
This journey is my own.
‘Cause trying to please the world
it was breaking me down...
Now I live and I breathe for an audience of one...
‘Cause I know this journey is my own

You can live for someone else
And it will only bring your pain
I can’t even judge myself
Only the Lord can say, “Well done.”