When God Says No
He walked away, about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed, “Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.” Then an angel from heaven appeared and strengthened him. He prayed more fervently, and he was in such agony of spirit that his sweat fell to the ground like great drops of blood. (Lk. 22:41-44 NLT)
His Father’s silence was a “No.”
Take a moment to imagine yourself in Jesus’s place. Breathe in that experience. Take your time. Notice the scene, the garden. How dark is it? How alone do you feel?
When we embrace the call of Jesus to follow him, we will all encounter our personal Gethsemanes, the Father’s no.
This is a “garden of agony” of unmet expectations, shattered families, financial fears, unhealed diseases, and broken promises.
In 1976, a church in Turlock, California, invited me to serve as their pastor. They were impressed by the growth of Calvary Baptist Church in Hayward and wanted me to help them increase their membership. God made it clear that I was to go.
What I didn’t understand was that those in power wanted me to help them grow by recruiting people who would sustain their image in the community, people just like them. Within months, individuals from different socioeconomic backgrounds began attending the church.
The old guard criticized my preaching, sparking conflicts over programs and the budget. I lost confidence, but we stayed for six and a half years.
Three pastor selection committees heard me preach. Each decided not to invite me to be their pastor.
I was devastated by their rejection. I could not understand why God would say no and leave my family and me in such a painful situation.
When the situation became untenable, I resigned.
In September 1982, the Turlock Community Fellowship was born from fifty people who desired more than the traditional church offered. They were captivated by the vision of being involved in God's activity in their everyday lives.
This tiny church eventually impacted many here in the States and around the world.
God also brought four remarkable partners into our children's lives and enabled me to bring healing to many through the Sonburst Counseling ministry.
As extraordinary as those things were, the Holy Spirit brought me into a depth of intimacy with Jesus Christ that still stuns me today.
Townsend and Cloud committed the depth of any relationship is revealed in how we respond to another’s “no.
“No,” is a complete sentence and Lamont
“It is not what we do that matters, but what a sovereign God chooses to do through us. God doesn't want our success; he wants us. He doesn't demand our achievements; he demands our obedience. The kingdom of God is a paradox where through the ugly defeat of the cross, a holy God is utterly glorified victory comes through defeat; healing through brokenness; finding yourself through losing self.*
Consider a recent significant experience when God said no. What were the issues for you? What did you come to realize out of that experience? Who, if any, was the angel supporting you? Who went to sleep on you?
*https://www.azquotes.com/:quotehtml#google/top 25 brokenness quotes |
The Promise of Problems
What makes life difficult is that the process of confronting and solving problems is painful. And since life poses an endless series of problems, life is always difficult and is full of pain as well as joy. Yet it is in this whole process of meeting and solving problems that life has meaning. Problems are the cutting edge that distinguishes between success and failure. They call for our courage and our wisdom, and indeed they create our courage and our wisdom. It is only because of problems that we grow mentally and spiritually.
Our Mind Shaped Faith
Faith brings into existence what is in the unseen spiritual dimension and has the confidence that God will bring it to fulfillment. Faith is a choice to commit to that which is beyond us and gives us significance and meaning. It is an allegiance or loyalty, a faithfulness of a subordinate to a superior or to a group or cause.
Our brain’s nerve cells’ firing patterns are influenced by past experiences, which hampers openness, adaptability, and a balanced state of mind.
The Dimensions of Forgiveness
I became aware of shift in my spirit. It was gradual, quiet and most surprisingly, evolving. I’m becoming more patient with myself and situations. I discovered the core, the rigidity of self- criticism.
Who has you on their hook for the reason you are not willing to forgive? Are you inclined to hold resentment, anger or bitterness against them giving them power over you? What would it cost you if you did forgive?
The Ongoing Activity of God
It gradually dawned on me He expected to occupy every area of that which Christ paid such a high price: the household of me and my life. No matter how long it was going to take or how much I would protest, He was going to rearrange every room, hidden closed and dark corner I declared as my own.
What the Holy Spirit wanted from me in this renovation was a teachable heart. And THAT spirit was not going to be easy for me to surrender.
When God is Silent
The entire transaction at Gethsemane is for our benefit. Jesus had a word from His Father – the cross. He was in great distress and pain. When we have a word from God and there is silence, Jesus here lets us know we can be authentic with the Father.
I knew God wanted us in Turlock. In the years of excruciating pain created by a traditional church, God did not explain what was on His heart.
Praising God In Your Worst Case Scenario
Wednesday,June 12. Early morning, after a time of personal worship, I was overwhelmed with anxiety, dread and fear. My daughter, Madeline, her husband, Mike, and my granddaughter, Amanda are working together to sell their home in Wyoming to move to a smaller place closer to Madeline’s work. The issue? Mike has become totally disabled and cannot work. Madeline’s and Amanda’s income are inadequate to cover the mortgage.
What Do You Fear Losing?
I sat in church before the service praying and reflecting when the Holy Spirit reveal to me how terrified I can be when I “future-cast.” “The inner child” I identify as a network in my brain created in an unsafe environment as a child catastrophizing the worst scenario when I do “future-cast,” fearful of the “other shoe dropping.”
I have known about this issue for a long time. However, I’ve come to see a revealed truth by the Holy Spirit is more than knowledge; it had become a heart understanding with that knowledge integrated.
The Vocabulary of the Holy Spirit
“Ought“ and “should“ are not the vocabulary of the Holy Spirit but rather the vernacular of shame. His terminology is Jesus, or truth (revealed reality) bathed in grace regarding the Lordship of Jesus Christ, who we are and the world we live in.
Tuesday, I had only two appointments for prayer. The rest of the day was open, except for a doctor’s appointment later that afternoon.
The Grace of a Finding God
A working definition of grace: it’s too good to be true…..BUT IT IS!!!! Our God is not only a searching God (1 Ch. 28:9, Ro. 8:27), He is also a finding God.
In the well-known parable of Luke 15, Jesus describes His mission as a shepherd searching and finding a lost sheep, a woman searching and finding a lost coin, and a father searching and finding his lost son.
The Grace of Obscurity
I was informed by the publishers they would require, the use of a fictitious name as author in the book, The Power of Resurrection Living. Even though all the names in book were changed, they still demanded I use a pseudonym. Tried reasoning. I pouted. During the self-centered, feeling sorry for myself, the Lord let me know very clearly I was rebelling against His will. He reminded me he would get the glory as I embraced obscurity.
You Can be Heard
“Do you mean?” is one of the most effective tools you can use to communicate and be heard. It’s important you and your partner read this together completely before you consider this process. As only 7% of our communication has to do with the words we use, the other 93% has to do with body language and tone of voice, the purpose of this technique is to enable you to really hear what’s being said.
When God Says No
The man who had been freed from the demons begged to go with him. But Jesus sent him home, saying, “No, go back to your family, and tell them everything God has done for you.” So he went all through the town proclaiming the great things Jesus had done for him. (lk.8:38-39 NLT)
He Is Not Here
He is not here…”
As I reflected on that short phase, I realized I have had expectations about Jesus and finding He was not there. I’ve often stopped short, because of my own personal need to hear, and heed the rest of the truth, “He has risen.“ That violated expectation has kept me in bondage from experiencing the depth of God’s love, power and promise.
The Crux of the Christian Life
I would like to begin with one of the oldest stories many of us are acquainted with: Moses in the wildness of wilderness.
“The great illusion of leadership is to think that a man can be led out of the desert by someone who has never been there.”*
I want to apply the story in a much larger context: everyday life. It is in the wildness of the wilderness the Holy Spirit re-orients us to a new economy of living.
Your Brain & Adam’s Shame
Shame is more than the loss of face or embarrassment. Shame is the inner sense of being completely diminished as a person. Shame is the self—judging of self. A moment of shame may be humiliation so painful or an indignity so profound that one feels one has been robbed of his or her dignity or exposed as basically inadequate, bad, or worthy of rejection. A pervasive sense of shame is the ongoing premise that one is fundamentally bad, inadequate, defective, unworthy, or not fully valid as a human being.
How to Have a Sweet Time with Jesus
In offering admiration to something or someone outside us, gratitude enables us to interact with something not only larger than ourselves but also profoundly worthy and encouraging. It opens our eyes to the wonder of life, something to admire, delight in, and rejoice in. In this process be open to the vibrant, resurrection life of Christ flowing through us.
It Ain’t Your Lack of Faith
To be steadily transformed, to be changed, it is our responsibility to renew our thinking then we will come to know God’s heart. Dr. Gary Sibcy explains, “Spirituality is not some separate part of our functioning but refers to how well all the different components of our life work in a synchronized and coherent way. It is about how well our thinking, feeling, behaving, relating, communicating, and problem-solving in relationship to others and to God.
The Power of Resurrection Living
Johnnie Erickson Tada, author, singer, artist, radio personality, and advocate for the disabled, when asked in an interview by Dr. Tim Clinton, how she coped with being a quadriplegic “I have come to know HIS presence is enough.”1
In the challenges of life we can live in God’s presence to discover He is setting us free to be the person He created us to be.