Outer Collapse - Inner Strength Part 2

INSTANT GRATIFICATION!!!

I am an American. I grew up on McDonalds and the fast food concept. Seven Eleven being open twenty for hours a day seven days a week just to meet my unexpected needs. And oh the frustration, when I would not find what I needed there. Instant everything. Today with divorce at an all time high we even have instant families. The church has done a great job promoting this concept as well. I have seen church signs promoting the 45 minute Sunday morning worship service. Sometimes we present the Gospel and salvation message as though there is nothing else. Salvation is a journey not a destination. INSTANT GRATIFICATION! It's the western worlds way! Everything about us goes through the grid of the western world. That brings to mind another scripture that I was led to while preparing another teaching last week. Wow...... last weeks prep was about far more than the teaching we did on Saturday. It is reaching far deeper and further into my life this week than last week. Did I miss it? Did I teach the wrong thing? No..... I don't believe so. While I'd like to say "I'm not the only one" who is into INSTANT GRATIFICATION, I sense that I am to stay focused on me.

INSTANT -
the point of time now present, succeeding without any interval of time; prompt; immediate:
pressing or urgent: occurring, done, or prepared with a minimal amount of time and effort; produced rapidly and with little preparation: instant answers; instant history.

GRATIFY -

to give pleasure to (a person or persons) by satisfying desires or inclinations or feelings: to satisfy; indulge

Well, that seems to be what I want. I don't say that proudly, only truthfully. And might I add, sooner than later would be better. But....... I must say that I don't think minimal amount of time is correct as I turn 56 next week. I have been at this a long time. I also must disagree that I am, or ever have looked for a minimal amount of effort to be put forth. We have given what we thought was our all. Pay or no pay made no difference. Hours required,... not even a thought. Out of pocket cost? Worth every penny. I don't want to give credit to a lie of the enemy when it's not due him. Maybe INSTANT is the wrong word. Perhaps REASONABLE would fit better.

REASONABLE -

not exceeding the limit prescribed by reason; not excessive: reasonable terms. moderate, capable of rational behavior

YES! That's much better. REASONABLE GRATIFICATION! Not exceeding the limit prescribed by reason.

Instant History..... Trails and tribulations come (It's scriptural) and are history in a time frame not exceeding the limit prescribed by reason.

Outer Collapse - Inner Strength Part 1

My OUTER collapses take place because my INNER strength cannot sustain them.

Outer collapses? I'm in pretty good shape compared to David. He had a few outer collapses yet it was said, by God that, "he was a man after God's own heart." Imagine a murder being a man after God's own heart." What part of adultery makes David a man after God's own heart? Certainly we don't have to dance naked in the streets to be a man after God's own heart? As I said, "I'm in pretty good shape compared to David." But as I've written before comparing myself to anyone else will only lead to incorrect conclusions.

This is all so God like. I was preparing another teaching last week and Galatians 5 was apart of it as a way to show the differences between the things of the flesh and the things of the Spirit. In light of yesterdays definitions I think these things would be considered outer collapses. Now the doings (practices) of the flesh are clear (obvious): they are immorality, impurity, indecency, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, anger (ill temper), selfishness, divisions (dissensions), party spirit (factions, sects with peculiar opinions, heresies), envy, drunkenness, carousing, and the like. Verse 26 - Let us not become vainglorious and self-conceited, competitive and challenging and provoking and irritating to one another, envying and being jealous of one another.

Well..... I must admit that one or two of those ......................... okay several of those have shown up in my outer life. I recognize that every time they do, I have an enormous sense a loss. I have known that those moments were not coming from a strength but from weakness but what can I do. It is obvious to me that those moments are outer collapses. The sense of loss was due to the collapse of something that means a lot to me. I say a lot, yet.... not enough to hold on to it. The enemy would have me believe that my whole life is just one big outer collapse. It's his character and nature to lie and deceive.

I was recently asked why I did not have peace. This is why. My lack of peace is actually frustration. Not with God, not with circumstances but with myself. I shared yesterday how Paul expressed his frustration with himself and his outer collapses. He says on other occasions that he has not mastered this "inner strength" thing, but that he was pressing in toward the prize of the High calling of God.

As God continues to draw me in closer to Him, more must be removed. It's not that I don't want that. Oh my gosh...... I heard these words this past weekend in some commercial and it was like a bomb going off in my head. I had no idea why until now. INSTANT GRATIFICATION. INSTANT GRATIFICATION! Is that what I want. INSTANT GRATIFICATION! Am I wanting God to give me instant gratification?

Outer Collapse - Inner Strength - Intro

My OUTER COLLAPSES take place because...

my INNER STRENGTH cannot sustain them.

I don't need much thought to understand what outer collapses are. The widow was experiencing one. I would have thought that spending my days in a Prayer Center would have eliminated any "outer collapses." But.... obviously not, or why am I being brought back to those words now?

I did not just accept these words gracefully back then and I'm not going to do so now. After all, they were not then, and are not now, the most flattering words ever spoken to me. But as bold and blunt as they were and are, I again feel a sense of......... gentleness. My mind, will and emotions say "they are in your face again." My spirit says, "that they are words of life and not death, that they are prophetic. They are not a rebuke, to bring on guilt and condemnation, but a calling to a still deeper, more intimate, relationship with the Father.

Upon the arrival of these words the first time I made an adjustment here and a modification there, but never really dug deep to reveal what God was really saying. I thought they were pretty clear...... and that I understood them, that I got them. Since the words did not come with chapter and verse, this time I am going to search for one. If it was and is God speaking to me, it will be confirmed in His written word. Okay! Before I could close this out for the day I got my chapter and verse. It took all of oh....... about 1 minute and somewhat to my dismay. They say that misery loves good company. For me and I'd venture to say that Paul would agree, that is not the case.

Romans 7:18-20 (Amplified Bible)
For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot perform it. [I have the intention and urge to do what is right, but no power to carry it out.] For I fail to practice the good deeds I desire to do, but the evil deeds that I do not desire to do are what I am [ever] doing. Now if I do what I do not desire to do, it is no longer I doing it [it is not myself that acts], but the sin [principle] which dwells within me [fixed and operating in my soul].

And as always I must let Webster weigh in with definitions of the words outer collapse.

Outer - situated on or toward the outside; external; exterior: situated farther out or farther from the center.

Collapse - to fall or cave in; crumble suddenly: to break down; come to nothing; fail: to fall unconscious or as if unconscious or physically depleted, as from a stroke, heart attack, disease, or exhaustion. to sink into extreme weakness. To break down suddenly in strength or health and thereby cease to function.

Paul defines collapse as sin. Webster defines collapse as caving in, sinking into extreme weakness, ceasing to function. That stirs up some thoughts. Oh, and add to that the words of ownership. My outer collapses. My sin! My cravings! My sinking into extreme weakness! My ceasing to function! I'm sure glad the Holy Spirit told me this was a calling to, rather than a recalling of!

The Elijah Proclamation! - Part 12

I Kings17:19 And he said to her, “Give me your son.” So he took him out of her arms and carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his own bed.

Can you imagine someone giving their child to the man that they thought killed their son? The widow appears to be where I find myself many times. The battlefield if the mind. She is commanded by God so she believes. She gives water and what she thinks will be the last of her flour and oil. She sees it multiplied and eats from the abundance of the word Elijah spoke. Her son dies and she doubts the man of God? Yet.... yet she hands her dead sons body over to him. Is he a man of God or not? Did he come to take her son or not? Did God take her sons life or not? WIDOW...... ED WHERE IS YOUR FAITH?

This weekend I was reminded that it was two years ago when I felt God speak to me with absolute clarity about where I was at in the relationship between Him and myself. It's quite the story how He spoke but really unimportant when compared to what He spoke so I'll spare you the story of how and just tell you what. The words still speak with a sharp edge on them. They still are cutting. Oh, this may be what Ann MArie calls a bunny trail and it may lead us away from Elijah?

What I thought I first heard God say was "My outer collapse takes place because my inner strength cannot sustain it." Then I heard it again and it became personal. "Ed your outer collapse takes place because your inner strength cannot sustain it."

The Elijah Proclamation! - Part 11

I Kings 17:17 Now it happened after these things that the son of the woman who owned the house became sick. And his sickness was so serious that there was no breath left in him.

OOPS? Just one verse prior said that the widow, her son and Elijah ate for many days? Things change quickly. One thing for sure is that God is unpredictable. He was then and still is now. Why send Elijah with a word, from the Lord, to the widow, to care for him first and then they the widow and her son, would be taken care of, all to have her son die after a few good meals?

I can so relate to what must have been going through the widows mind.

18 So she said to Elijah, “What have I to do with you, O man of God? Have you come to me to bring my sin to remembrance, and to kill my son?”

OOPS! Just one verse prior and the very same widow is doing exactly as the same man of God asked. People change quickly. One thing for sure is that people are unpredictable. They were then and still are now. "What have I to do with you, O man of God?" After giving him water and baking him a cake, all by faith remember, because she only had enough for her and her son and then they were going to die, she asks, "what have I to do with you?" The flour has not been used up and the oil has not run dry and, "what have I to do with you?" Did she think that happened on her account? It appears to be a case of "what have you done for me lately."

The widow recognizes Elijah as a man of God but where has her faith gone? However many days earlier this widow and her son were preparing to die. Was it the unexpectedness of her sons death? Had hope been restored through the never ending flour and oil and now she feels like it has been taken away? I recognize the widows feelings. She then asks, "have you come to me bring my sin to remembrance?" It's like me asking what have I done wrong, what am I not doing, did I miss God? And the death of her son is my seemingly unanswered prayer or unmet expectations. What's changed? The flour and oil are still flowing. Elijah is still there and he's still the man of God?

When God commanded the widow even before Elijah had arrived He knew of her sin. When God made the four and oil to last long enough to feed them all for many days, He knew of her sin. The widow knew of her sin all this time as well. What was she thinking? God commands her, Elijah shows up and speaks to her, she responds in faith, there is plenty of flour and oil, the widow and her son do not die. And yet she asks Elijah, if he has killed her son because of her sin. Why would he feed them and then kill one of them? That seems to be a fair question......... doesn't it? I think my question, would not be of Elijah but of God. God what are you thinking, what are you doing? I'd be asking God why save us only to take my son after a few meals? I thought you sent the four and oil that we might live. Why give me hope only to take my son. Why didn't you just let us die when we had already prepared to? CIRCUMSTANCES sure do bounce us around. I tend to find great security in them. If there is food today then there will always be food. If Ann Marie is with me today then she will be with me tomorrow. Truth be told...... There is no security in what God is doing....... only in who He is! That seems to be the widows problem. She found some security in the flour and oil and not in who He is?

The Elijah Proclamation! - Part 10

I Kings 17:15 So she went away and did according to the word of Elijah; and she and he and her household ate for many days. 16 The bin of flour was not used up, nor did the jar of oil run dry, according to the word of the LORD which He spoke by Elijah.

Not only did her household eat but they did not die. I am wondering what will come of the widow and her son when the rain does come? She may still end up eating one day and dying but she and her son will have lived as the word says "many" more days than she would have if this whole experience had not happened. Also Elijah was provided for, for the "Many" more days. He had a place to stay, food and drink.

The "many" days is undefined here. The total time between Elijah speaking that there would be no rain and when he allows it to rain is somewhere between three and for years. Most say that it was probably closer to four that three. How much of that was spent at the brook and how much with the widow is not revealed but is really unimportant. My mind wanders and would like to know what the widow was thinking. Was she surprised? Was she indifferent realizing that one day the rain would come and the barrel and jar would dry up and that ultimately she may end up in the same place? Or was she grateful for every extended day that she had with her son?

I am reminded today that words are important! They have life and death in them. If the widow had not been placed into this situation with Elijah she would have eaten her meal with her son and died just as she spoke. Elijah spoke life to her and she ate and lived many more days. A verse that Ann Marie and I have used for over twenty five years comes out of Revelations. They overcame by the blood of the lamb and the WORD of their testimony. Elijah spoke the testimony of what God spoke to him and look what came about.

SO..... did God send Elijah for the widow and her son or did God send the widow and her son for Elijah? There is much more to read about Elijah but very little about the widow and her son. What was it that God wanted for the widow and her son that required Him to extend what she thought was the end of their lives? She already believed in God. Perhaps this is another Job incident? Job 41:“I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, But now my eye sees You. Therefore I abhor myself, And repent in dust and ashes.”

The Elijah Proclamation! - Part 8

Let's due just a little review.

God tells Elijah, "I have commanded a widow in that place to supply you with food."

Elijah goes to Zarephath as instructed.

When Elijah comes to the town gate, a widow was there gathering sticks.

Elijah called to her and asked, "Would you bring me a little water in a jar so I may have a drink?" As she was going to get it, he called, "And bring me, please, a piece of bread."

I had to think on this next portion for a few moments. God said, I have commanded a widow in that place to supply you with food." She says, "As surely as the Lord your God lives, I don't have any bread." Seems to be a little misunderstanding between what God commanded her and what she thinks she has and is able to do? It appears that her circumstances were so consuming that she may not have even heard God's command?

"As surely as the LORD your God lives," she replied, "I don't have any bread—only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it—and die."

The widow sounds like she is beyond desperate? "I have just enough for myself and my son to eat and die." At least they will not die hungry.

Elijah said to her, "Don't be afraid. Interesting? I am not picking up on the widow being afraid.

Elijah says, "Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small cake of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son."

Make you a small cake of bread first? The widow had to be thinking, if only for a moment, what part of, "I have just enough for myself and my son" didn't you understand? This may be where fear enters in. That if she makes Elijah a small cake first there will not be enough for her and her son. Okay this is where faith is required on the widows part and fear is the opposite of faith so this may be why Elijah says, "don't be afraid." What he is really saying is, trust what God has already commanded you. Have faith in what God has commanded you and what I have confirmed for you.

But immediately Elijah tells her why she is to do as he has said. "For this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: 'The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the LORD gives rain on the land.' "

Now there is a king waiting for it to rain and a widow hoping it won't rain. When king Ahab gets what he wants the widow apparently loses what she wants.

She went away and did as Elijah had told her. So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family. For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the LORD spoken by Elijah.

And again I say, "of course she went and did as Elijah told her." God had already commanded her, Elijah gave her a "thus saith the Lord" and then he told her why she needed to do it. God did his part. Elijah did his part. The widow did her part. Oh........ it seems as though God's decision to send a poor needy prophet, with only a word from the Lord was enough for the widow.