Arielion

Aquarium, Bag or Stream

Aquarium, Bag or Stream

Scripture: Phillipians 4:12-13 “I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” (New American Standard version)

Human souls are like fish swimming in the containers of our lives. And there are three kinds of containers.

Most self-professed Christians live in an aquarium. Their souls only know a facade of how one must act & believe & their circumstances must not change or be out of control. They prefer their world predictable and anything uncomfortable or troubling is seen as an act of GOD to show they have sinned & need punishment. This is because they know in their hearts the facade is false but any thought of being out of absolute control & order is terrifying & that GOD would allow trauma for obedience seems unthinkable.

Most self-professed non-Christians or immature Christians live in a bag. They fool themselves into thinking they’re free but they are the most trapped of all. The slightest influence of circumstance of any kind is jarring. They are affected by every passing thought, desire, lust, or influence. “Every wind of doctrine” sways them. The result is that they go into a spiritual shock of humanism. Or some self-delusion that since things are so changeable no one must be in charge or if there is, it is a power, being or concept like the reflection of themselves they see in the bag. So they can respond as they will to what they will. And their reactionary lifestyle quickly stuns & kills their spiritual senses.

True (mature) Christians/Believers live in a stream. They know that, because of the influence of evil in every person & circumstance of life, even Believers sometimes experience or even cause trauma. Their response is to rely not on circumstances never changing. Not on returning to things as they have always been. But to rely on what Scripture teaches about the Nature of GOD & the Gospel.

Life in the stream of GOD’s loving providence & provision means relying on JESUS Christ as the only means of forgiveness & eternal life no matter what, in every circumstance, knowing that He who did not spare His only Son but freely gave Him up for us all will also, with Him, freely give us all things. No matter how confusing the situation or startling the circumstance they respond “I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I’ve committed unto Him against that day.” Their concern isn’t to control or change with circumstances, but to rely upon the One in charge of time & eternity and keep their thoughts and actions toward being Home with Him in the future no matter what is going on in the here and now. And their focus on a future with their Father allows them to share that future & hope with others along the way. Because of JESUS Christ, GOD come down to humanity to suffer, die and rise from the dead to bring forgiven, believing humans back home to the Father, they pass from being just “fish” to being “fishers of men.”

My prayer for each of us for 2010 is that we may flourish in the stream of Salvation. It may be a battle upstream at times, but the destination is Glory.

Scriptures used in this message: Romans 8:32; Ephesians 4:14; 1 John 1:8; 2 Timothy 1:12; Mark 1:17