Wait. There is a world of articles, books, and information out there when it comes to Christianity, but we are mostly stuck with rhetoric and double talk when it comes to our relationship with the Lord, our new identity as believers, and the security and finality of the work of Christ. Are you getting everything you need spiritually from your church? Or do you find yourself feeling hungry for more? Join Lenny as he unpacks what Scripture really taught about our Lord Jesus Christ in context and why this matters to you. Wake up, wake up, wake up to grace.

When we think to ourselves, why does God allow us to suffer? Our minds will drift into all kinds of places. Many people use worldly suffering as a reason to accuse God of being evil, or even to say there must not be a God at all. But did God ever promise anyone there would be no physical suffering in this life? In order to blame God or lose trust in him, we must first prove that he lied to us or broke a promise. If what he says is true, then we can trust him. In John 16, thirty three, Jesus says, I've said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation, but take heart, I have overcome the world. Jesus made this statement to his followers before he handed himself over to be brutally tortured and killed. Being that Jesus was in fact God, I think it's safe to say that our Lord led by example. He didn't spare himself from suffering in order to fulfill his good purpose. Is our suffering in any way superior to what the Lord experienced in his human body? Jesus had to bear the weight of our sin and face a separation from his Father. Our Lord suffered and died as one of us in order to save us from what we truly deserved. He got what we deserved, and he gave us what he deserved. Through a most terrible degree of suffering, God displayed the greatest act of love that has ever and will ever take place on earth. He died so that we might live through him now and forever. A life fully dependent on the Father. How about that, huh? We might want to think twice next time we're tempted to blame God for the troubles of the world produced by mankind. In our Christian walk, we can always know that there's a means to an end when it comes to physical suffering. Our Lord will always provide a way out for us. If not in this life, certainly when the veil lifts and we enter into the next. Nothing is permanent when it comes to Christian suffering. This is a promise. In 2 Corinthians chapter 1 verses 7 through eleven, we read of a time when Paul was tortured and imprisoned, some of his followers. He proclaimed, Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort. For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia, for we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves, but on God who raises the dead. He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again. You also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many. Why do you think that he needed to rely on God who raises the dead? It's because he knew the Lord had a plan for him. Paul understood his mission, and I think he fully realized it wasn't over. In his mind, due to the extreme punishment he was enduring from those who rejected Christ, God would have to raise him from the dead in order to complete his work. I think we can attempt to imagine the physical abuse he must have undergone. We know that Paul was no lightweight when it came to enduring abuse, and they knew how to punish quite well back then. How might it feel to be severely flogged and then stretched out in shackles to sit in your own excrement in a dark prison cell? Have you ever felt like God's plan for you might fall short? Like something shouldn't be happening this way in light of how dedicated you've been to a cause or how much energy you've contributed to a goal? Think about Paul here. He was sent directly by the Lord to fulfill an apostolic mission, and it seemed like that journey was about to end before it was finished. Then he proclaims that the Lord used this to display his saving power so they could let go of their own. If Paul's message was that the Lord was calling him into dependence, what was his response? It was to trust in the power of the Lord. He was burdened beyond his strength. So whose strength did he turn to? Did he just try harder? Or did he let go of his own strength and cling to another who is greater than himself? In Philippians 4 11, Paul writes, Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me. Do you believe that your suffering is greater than Paul's? Would you agree that we have a place to go in our scriptures when we need someone who can relate with our suffering? In life we often seek other people who have suffered similar situations as us in order to gain some insight. This can be very good for us in Christ, but should we not begin with our Bible? The authors of our New Testament scriptures experience more than we often give them credit for. We always have a place to go where our suffering is understood, whether it be suffering from sin, physical ailments, or suffering for Christ. Do you think that you can learn to be dependent like Paul and rise above your circumstances? Or is Paul describing something only found among the apostles? Personally, I don't believe he'd be sharing this if it wasn't to teach others that it's possible also for them in Christ. I believe every Christian has this power within them. They just have to believe and learn to place their dependence on Christ. Consider all the things we can become dependent on in our lives. Society around us depends on all kinds of things to live a balanced life. As I talked about in message number seventy, we need so much entertainment, so many vacations. Our kids need a certain number of hobbies to keep them out of trouble. Then we need to make enough money to operate all these things so we depend on a good job. When all else fails, we can depend on loans from the bank and credit cards. The Lord gives us entertainment. We don't have to separate ourselves from these things to be holy. We can be thankful for these things. When I'm doing physical work, it's such a blessing to be able to turn on some good old classic rock and roll music. My team is the same way. I can't imagine not having some melody to enhance our workday. Activities like sports are great for teaching our children, to engage them in something with purpose. A good movie can be a great way to spend a Friday evening after a long week of work. But what do we see happening around us in all this? We see misplaced dependency, don't we? How many people in our society do you see living dependent on the Lord? Of course, Christians throw them a scrap of their lives by going to church and singing praises once a week. They might even mention God once and again in conversation, saying, I'm blessed. We always pray when we need things, but how much of our lives have we devoted to Him? How much do we trust the Lord with our lives? When you find yourself in trouble, do you pray for help finding your way out? Or do you pray for the Lord to guide you in his way? When you become scared, are you more afraid of what the Lord might do if you offered your troubles entirely to him? Is it terrifying to trust the Lord with your entire future and let go of your own worries and desires? We don't always want advice from a holy and just God, do we? It's easier to ask for help doing it our way than to ask if this is the way our Lord would even want it at all. We don't want to change our path, so we seek help instead of guidance. Can you see the difference? Help is good provided that we have accepted guidance, but without guidance, what are we asking for help with? Have you drifted away from that moment at salvation when you wanted everything the Lord had planned for you? When you just want to be filled with His love and guidance? We should remind ourselves once again what our Lord Jesus asked the lame man by the pool. Do you want to be healed? Are you done beating yourself up and ready to experience the supernatural healing love of Jesus Christ? The best way to avoid falling into sin is not to try harder. The way to loving more and living a holy life isn't about doing better. It's about letting go. It's about resting in Christ. It's about surrender. It's not about stopping everything you're doing right now and starting all over, but it's about stopping the way you're thinking. And your desires may change. Don't play tug of war with God. Let go of the rope and cling to Christ for your salvation. Whose will is it that you ought to seek first? Your own or the one who raises the dead? In Luke fourteen twenty eight, Jesus says, For which of you desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he's laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying that this man began to build and was not able to finish. Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. When we look at the context of this passage, Jesus is teaching that he is the peace. You cannot accomplish anything without him. Just as he directly says in John 15 5, you're not capable of living a holy life. You'll never finish the job. So what does a Christian do to be more holy? Depend on Christ alone. He will guide you into a supernatural life if you let him. You can live above your circumstances if you believe it. Remember that overflowing joy and peace you had in the beginning when you were called into salvation? That joy doesn't have to fade. How can I know this? Because I've lived a life of misdirected dependence. I've also lived a life of dependence on Christ that brought me back to a supernatural joy far beyond my initial regeneration. We must train our minds for this. We have to continue to pray for the love of Christ to flow through our lives. There will always be distractions. We must guard our minds in Christ. If there's any advice I can offer you based on my life experience, it's this don't set aside grace in your life for any amount of time and for any reason, even if it seems necessary in that moment. This is advice I remind myself of constantly. We have to cling to this and never forget. There's no level of achievement, health, or success that will ever be truly fulfilling without Christ driving our life into His purpose. As we try and fill ourselves up with worldly gratification from a worldly mindset, we drain ourselves spiritually. When we seek praise from the world, we seek what's temporal. Seeking praise from our Heavenly Father is eternal and supernatural. Temporal praise does not sustain us, it doesn't fulfill us. We'll always be running on empty. Fill your tank with the love of God. We need to stop fighting against the will of our Lord, simply step aside and let him do what he does. Jesus take the wheel as a great concept and a touching song. But what I see is a Jesus that has the wheel, and we keep trying to steer it in another direction, because we know what's best for us. We sing, Jesus, give me back that wheel. In this way I see a surrender necessary. We need to seek peace from our Lord. Stop grabbing the wheel and let Him drive. Let your heart be in heaven with the Lord, even while your two feet remain planted firmly on the ground. Experience the supernatural life of Christ Jesus, guiding your journey. Let Jesus lift you up above your circumstances to a place where trouble fades into the background, and you benefit from the perfect fellowship with the Most High God that you've been given. No matter what type of suffering we experience in this life, the solution is the same. If we find ourselves dependent on anything other than Christ, we must redirect our focus. If we find ourselves afraid to follow his clear guidance, we must pray for a strength that transcends our own. Ask and it will be given, we're told in 1 John 5 fourteen. This we can rely on if we believe that God raises the dead. If God can raise the dead, he can raise you above your circumstances. If we don't let go of our own guidance and our own worry, we can't embrace his peace. You can't hang on to both at the same time. Doesn't work that way. We're not taught to abide in our emotions, but to abide in truth. Jesus didn't say abide in your own best effort, he says abide in me. In his second epistle, John wrote, Because of the truth that abides in us and will be with us forever. It's important to understand what type of suffering we're enduring as we walk with Christ. This pertains to living by truth. As our minds are renewed, we'll gain clearer insight into our lives. When we read Scripture, the Lord will speak to us. When we study and carefully discern truth received from others, the pieces start coming together. If we find we're living in sin, we should pray for the love to overcome. We should be focused on rising above that and desiring love to do it. Love of Christ gives us the power to overcome. He will guide us through and love us through. Be patient and diligent in your prayer and don't stop believing that you have the power of Christ within you. It's not your own strength that you're looking for, it's the strength of Christ. Now there's a difference between suffering for the Lord and suffering for your sin. In Scripture we have a sovereign God that has power and authority over all creation. He's in control. We also have a mankind that's responsible for their actions. We're not puppets, we're responders, and our response matters. Sometimes we may feel helpless and powerless. That's okay. This is the best position to be in, according to Paul. In Second Corinthians chapter twelve, Paul says, But he said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. I don't know about you, but when I read about Paul in Scripture, I don't see weakness. This is because he was trained by Christ to depend on the love of the Father. Paul was led by love. 1 Corinthians thirteen says, If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I'm a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. Then verse thirteen he says, So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three, but the greatest of these is love. If you're caught in the trap of depending on yourself, pray for the love of God to fill you up with its supernatural powers. Ephesians five eighteen and do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit. Being filled with the Spirit is more intoxicating than any alcoholic beverage, and it fills us up with living water. John seven thirty seven. On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. This living water is real, and it's supernatural. No matter how bad your life may seem, this water will heal you. When Christ taught his disciples how to abide in him for these things, we read that he taught them so they wouldn't fall away. He knew that if they depended on their own effort, they would never survive the life they were facing. Christ taught of a dependency that produced supernatural fruit, a vine and branches dependency. When we depend on ourselves, what can we expect? Emptiness. Depending on ourselves as Christians, is much like depending on alcohol. We don't want to become drunk on our own self effort, depending on our own intellect to do what's right. We're to be filled with the Spirit. Christ and his apostles prove that no circumstance could ever take them away from the love of God. Romans eight thirty seven. No in all these things we're more than conquerors through him who loved us, for I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Dependency on our own effort lead us to emptiness. Doesn't matter how hard you try. No matter how good you think you're doing, it's all going to fall apart without Christ. Legalism will cause you to wrestle with spiritual growth, bouncing in and out of fellowship in your mind minute after minute, hour after hour. Legalism will cause many to stop growing altogether. When we sprinkle additives into our gospel, it can become like poison. Teachers add words like positional before we say forgiveness. They make our grace positional and our relationship conditional. This makes them hypocrites. They're blind guides when it comes to grace. They only see grace through a dense fog as they go back and forth between self effort and grace. Don't learn grace from the blind. Now when we suffer for Christ, we have another situation. We're not bearing the fruit of emptiness when we suffer for Christ. We now bear the fruit of our salvation. When we suffer for doing what is right and depending on the Lord we learn and grow. When we depend on Him, we can learn from all of our mistakes. We can see ourselves in truth. Depending on the Lord in our lives produces all kinds of fruit. Romans five we read, Therefore since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character. Character produces hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. Can you see the theme of love here? We know that this life will bring suffering, but do you want to suffer emptiness or the fullness of the love of God that surpasses all knowledge? Christianity is more than putting away your drinking and smoking habits. It's salvation from a faithless mindset. It's the strength of Christ at work within you. Ephesians three sixteen says that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his spirit and your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us. That's what I got for this week, guys. I look forward to seeing you next week. Next week, I'll talk to you then. Grace and peace. The content of this message can be found on my blog post at wakinguptograce.com. My writings include linked references and visual aids, which will give even more valuable insight, and it's always free of charge. The comment section below each message is a place where we can share mutual encouragement and insight with one another outside of the social media madness. My blog post is always a click away, linked right in the description section of each episode in your podcast app. And don't forget to support us by leaving a review.