Partners With God

1 Corinthians 3:9 (NIV) For we are God’s fellow workers...

John 15:15 (NKJV) No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.

1 Peter 4:13 (NIV) But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.

2 Peter 1:4 (NIV) Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

Ephesians 2:10 (NKJV) For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

Matt 11:28 (NKJV) Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

What are the heavy burdens we carry? Are they not our sin, our guilt, our regret? Our worries for the future? Our sorrows from the past? Jesus will relieve you of those burdens.

John 14:27 "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."

What is peace? Is it the mere absence of conflict? It is an uneasy truce with a very active and powerful enemy? No. Peace is total victory over the enemy, the complete vanquishment of the adversary, the utter subjugation of your opponent. This is what Jesus accomplished on the cross and with His resurrection.

Col 2:13 And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, 14 having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. 15 Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.

Who is the adversary? The enemy of our souls is called the adversary; that is the meaning of the word Satan. How does Satan wage war against our souls? By lying, by tempting, and by accusing. Satan is called the accuser of the brethren.

When we are cleansed of all sin and unrighteousness and our sins are forgiven by God, Who has the power to forgive them, Satan has nothing left of which to accuse us. Then our souls can experience real peace.

"Be still and know that I am God"...

Psalm 46:10 (ERV) God says, “Stop fighting and know that I am God! I am the one who defeats the nations; I am the one who controls the world.” 11 The Lord All-Powerful is with us. The God of Jacob is our place of safety.

Psalm 46:10 (GW) Let go ⌞of your concerns⌟! Then you will know that I am God. I rule the nations. I rule the earth. 11 The Lord of Armies is with us. The God of Jacob is our stronghold.

Or, "Cease from striving and know that I am God."

How can we cease from striving?

By knowing that God is with us, that He is for us.

James warns us about double-mindedness. James 1:6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

This is similar to what Paul described in Romans chapter 7 19 For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. 20 Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.

What can cure us of double mindedness and of striving against our own mind? What can bring us that peace that passes understanding?

The love of God. The assurance that God accepts us and receives us and will no wise cast us out, that He is on our side.

John 6:37 (NKJV) "All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out."

He made us, and He loves us.

Luke 12:7 (NKJV) "But the very hairs of your head are all numbered."

1 John 4:18 (NKJV) There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.

1 John 4:18 (NIV) There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

God knows all our faults, sees all our thoughts and the intentions of our hearts, and He loves us anyway.

Not only did He create us, not only does He love us with the love of a father, but He also redeemed us. There is nothing that can separate us from the love of God.

We who are parents know what it is to love somebody and want what is best for them. But remember when you were a kid and thought mom and/or dad or gramma or whoever raised you was out to get you and just wanted to stop all your fun and punish you for no reason? We who are married also know that there is a tendency in intimate relationships to develop an adversarial relationship. We start looking at our loving partner as not a partner but as a sort of enemy, somebody we're in competition with, somebody who we cannot entrust our deepest secrets with.

We must isolate and expose this dynamic if it comes up in our relationship with God. He already knows everything you try to keep a secret. You think you have to hide things from Him, but He sees them more clearly than you see them yourself. And He still loves you anyway. He has already forgiven you. He has already paid the price for all of your misdeeds, all of your impure thoughts, all of your past mistakes, all of the wrong ways your mind wants to turn. Whenever you see something or are reminded of something that brings you shame, hold that thought or that image before God and let Him take it from you. Don't try to shut out that memory or hide yourself from Him in shame. Do not be tempted to condemn yourself. He has cleansed you already from that and accepts you in His Son Jesus. He alone has the power to set you free from it.

When God brings to your mind past mistakes, He is doing three things:

#1 He wants you to let that thing go and be washed under the blood of Jesus and cast into the ocean of His forgiveness never to come up again.

#2 He is bringing this thing up in order to take away something that you are feeling the need to separate yourself from Him over. He does not want that separation; He wants you fully restored to His fellowship with nothing between you and Himself.

#3 He is gently sitting down with you and offering His assistance to create a game plan and a strategy with you so you can avoid making the same type of mistakes again in the future. He will help you dismantle the destructive patterns of behavior and tear down the blind spots in your heart that are causing you pain in your life and causing you to miss His loving plan for you.

God is not a big meany or a buzz kill. He has unimaginable joys and pleasures to share with you in His presence and His amazing love and miraculous powers to exhibit and work and flow through you. He wants first of all to be near you and to love you. And second, He wants to partner with you to live your absolute best life. He is on your side. He is your coach, your life-coach, your advisor, your advocate, your friend. He is for you, He is there with you and in you to help you. Phil 2:13 for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure. God's good pleasure is a pleasure He shares equally with us. The rewards for the good things that God does in you and through you are placed on your account. He witholds no good thing from you.

What is the best possible life? To do God's will. To have His plan perfectly expressed in you and through you and for His kingdom to be expressed in you and through you. This is heaven on earth.

Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

The lost (prodigal) son Luke 15:11-32

Notice: But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him.

God sees our INTENTION to draw near to Him, and He immediately closes the distance and draws near to us.

His love for us is tender and unfathomable and absolutely dependable. It is deeper than we can comprehend. He is a strong tower, He is our hiding place. Psalm 91:1 He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.