Fearlessly Courageous
Desk of Dennis Piller
2 28 2024
I am putting my body through a bootcamp of Cardiac Rehab. It’s amazing that after a near-death experience of a triple bypass, chest splitting operation you find a deeper level of motivation to discipline your body into a different setup regiments to help it grow stronger. It clearly does not want to. It is out of shape to begin with, repaired but in the massive state of healing itself and rebelling at every turn. It is without stamina, without strength except for the words of the Doctor. Do this or you will not be happy with the quality of your life, and you cannot expect to live a long one!
Discipline never feels good at the time. Hebrews 12;11 says it clearly: “No discipline seems enjoyable at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it yields a harvest of righteousness and peace to those who have been trained by it.”
I suffered for a while before my heart attack but it’s amazing what we can get used to. Fatigue, weariness to the bone, feeling overwhelmed, anxious about little things. I started to fall back, lacking the will to fight harder, to push through because I was battling something I couldn’t see and didn’t know.
We do that as Christians. We suffer through different experiences with no internal insight or discipline to press into God to see what he is saying. We will often consult our doctor when our physical symptoms get to be a little too much or our spouse pushes us to go. And then MAYBE we listen.
I think it’s harder for too many Christians to ask God the question; What is going on here? Am I under attack? Is this something that has a meaning or a lesson beyond the natural? Lord, what are you trying to teach me in this? Because I’m hurting. This is hard!
So how will you respond to these unexpected and unwanted trials in your life? In the scripture above it says God uses suffering to train us…to build us up, and NOT necessarily as a sign of his displeasure. When we seek God in faith and trust him, look for his wisdom, then we can avoid the testimony of men like Esau. Do you remember the lesson of Esau and Jacob his brother?
Hebrews 12:15-17 He sold his birthright as the firstborn for a bowl of porridge. It is an illustration of a man putting worldly attractions over spiritual blessings. If you stop and think for a minute, how many times do we do that? Maybe every day!
Amazing God is changeless, but he is ever-changing us into his image. He is the potter we are the clay, and he forms us as he wills for his glory but also our good. Jesus said in Matt 3:2 GW “Turn to God and change the way you think and act because the kingdom of heaven is near.”
I have a choice in how I respond to the regiments of discipline to make my body stronger and more vibrant. I can choose to stay lazy and take the easy road…for now. Kind of like Esau did. He took the easy way and paid dearly for his compromise far beyond his initial perception of what it would mean.
God transforms us as we read his word. He strengthens us daily as the milk of his word builds up our faith, persistence, and hope for the abundant grace he freely offers us to win the battles of faith before us. All of this and more flows from reading his word every day. The Milk is the spiritual nutrient that feeds us and fortifies us to know and grasp God’s love…A father’s love, and in that…the Holy Spirit changes us. Proverbs 21:1. We know that only God has the power to change the hearts of men. We can only bring them water, but it is up to the man to drink.
The Lord can make the man thirsty so he will drink.
That is what God’s word does to us by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Examine the fruit of your life and your lifestyle. Be honest.
Remember God’s grace is more powerful than any of our shortcomings and mistakes.
Expose the roots of your life. Take a hard close look and involve an accountability partner to be an honest set of eyes. In this case, it may be your spouse. We need true humility here to know that our bad fruit comes from a wrong attitude, lust of the eyes, and unprotected thoughts.
We must go to the heart of the matter.
Seek forgiveness. No excuses… stop rationalizing. Your life is not everyone else’s life.
The Holy Spirit is changing you into the image of Christ and that will take some painful chiseling at times to change your old patterns of thinking and living. Discipline will hurt for a while it will reward you with the Joy of forgiveness, and open up amazing opportunities for ministry and serving others. You will find the soothing words of kindness and gentleness escaping your lips to love those in a new way. Wisdom will become so abundantly clear, and hope will shine a light you have never seen.
Embrace your change. God is in it. Love Him for it and talk with him about it.
What a wonderful name it is Hillsong
