MY LIFE: #31 From Death to Life

Problems can cause us to become bitter or better. All believers must be moved to Christ as Life actions concerning a problem.

THE BIG SQUEEZE

“So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets. Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.”

(Matthew 7:12-14)

Facing death is an impossibility without Christ. While my mind fully knows taking hold of Christ inwardly and trusting Him as my problem solver, rises within me, my fleshly fears block Him at every turn. To do the will of God from within, if in these times of my sufferings scream resistance, I must by faith declare that no hardship or bondage can steal my joy, refreshment, and perfect liberty to live the victorious life. However, I tend to think things I should not.

When I was in fourth grade, due to my severe allergies, I ended up in the hospital. Since my heart was failing to keep me alive, I was injected with a stimulant to revive my little heart. To their shock, it stopped my heart completely - I died. According to my mother’s story, the doctor began pumping my chest, hoping to restart my heart.

Now, the interesting part of the story. For many years I thought of these memories as a dream. I was lying on a hospital bed watching a doctor pump my chest as I was watching from the corner of the room. A nurse was holding my mother, who was weeping. The weird part is that I felt a pull into a dark tunnel as I watched. Within moments, the darkness encompassed me - a type of darkness I cannot describe. The next thing I saw was the face of the doctor.

Many years later, I relayed this “dream” to my mother - at which time she said it was not a dream. The event was real.

When the Lord revealed the Truths contained in the following diagram, which I call the squeeze, the memory of this dark tunnel came to mind - fully experientially understanding the squeeze between life and death. I knew without question that my fourth-grade experience was for this moment.

Our diagram shows two separate truths: the first shows how an unbeliever (unsaved) is led to Salvation and the second, shows the pathway for a ‘worldly” indwelt Christian who needs to be brought to the end of self. The left wedge reveals the elements used to accomplish these goals: the world, the flesh, and Satan himself.  Notice how the wedge closes in on the individual the closer he gets to the Cross.  This is to produce the death of self.  The wedge on the right has a narrow gate by the Cross and opens up as time passes.  This symbolizes the growth in Christ of the believer.  The more a believer walks in the Spirit – the easier and freer life becomes, spiritually, that is.      

Many believers fight this process and don’t seem to get that God uses all things – good and bad, to bring us the cross for full surrender.  The next diagram reveals the truths in Romans 8:28 – God uses all that happens to us to bring about His eternal purposes.  He uses desirable and difficult things to bring us to the end of the self-life. Christ’s life within us is the wonderful result of us dying to our self-life. 

God, through Christ, allows WHAT we go through; we choose HOW we go through it.  Detours can be set by each of us and those who love us. We can set up our detours to avoid the inevitable, being brought to the Cross.  In every situation, even by our foolish choice, God has the power and prerogative to use problems to draw us to Christ from within or, if not saved, to the Cross for the first time – Salvation.  These detours, or escape routes, may look good to the self-life, but the greater value is in what the Lord wants to accomplish.  As my old friend says – “Don’t try to fix the fix that God has fixed on you to fix you from fixing self, others, and God.” Great advice!

All believers must be moved to Christ as Life actions concerning a problem.

Problems can cause us to become bitter or better.  This requires us to go against our fears and, instead, choose to trust God.  When we turn our focus away from the circumstances and focus on Christ’s mind within us, victory is sure to come.  Seeing God’s purpose is more important than solving the situation that rubs against us.  God is sovereign, so it would behoove us to stop arguing and allow Him to reign in and through us.  Trusting in His sovereign plan requires us not to base our decisions on “feelings” but on the reliable character of our loving Father.  Does seeing God, thanking God, trusting and obeying Him lead to success and fulfillment? No. They lead us to the Cross - either for surrender (as indwelt believers) or for those unsaved – for Salvation.

The Lord tells us in Matthew 5:37: "But let your statement be, 'Yes, yes' or 'no, no'; anything beyond these is of evil.”  Victorious living is based upon choices.  Above all, God knows that people of the “yes” are easily managed and grown.  He also knows that people of the “no” can be disciplined and brought back to a “yes” decision through the downward process involved in brokenness or being brought to the end of themselves.  But people who are indecisive and won’t respond with a “yes” or “no” fall into a category that Christ Himself calls evil.  The more we say “yes” as a believer, the further we walk into a lifestyle of RIGHTEOUSNESS. The more we say “no,” the further we walk into a lifestyle of UNRIGHTEOUSNESS.  The KEY is to repent, accept your consequences, make a “yes” decision, and continue on the “yes” pathway until a new lifestyle is formed.  

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. (Romans 8:37)

Bitterness is a joy killer. Bitterness is a refusal to accept that all things work together for the good. The real issue? We don’t genuinely accept God’s love. Problems can be our greatest blessings if embraced through Christ.