7 Life Lessons From God
Life Lessons From God
Good parents teach their children life lessons in order to help them navigate through life’s various obstacles and detours, hoping to prepare and strengthen them for their journey through life. In that same way, God wants to teach His children His heavenly wisdom and guidance. He knows all the areas we struggle in; He knows which lessons will be hardest for us to learn. But through obedience and faith, these life lessons from God will grow and mature you in ways you didn’t even realize were possible. I wanted to share with you guys a handful of lessons from God that have impacted me the most and have continued to stay with me as I grow and mature in my relationship with Him.
Some lessons I’ve learned from God were challenging; I learned tough lessons through tears and some through much patience. To learn a lesson from God is to tear down the wall of mistruths that you’ve built up around yourself. The lessons God teaches you won’t necessarily be the same He teaches me since we’re all at different levels in our walks. But I believe there are core lessons we all must learn in order to follow Christ. Which is why I thought it beneficial to write a post about it. While reading through these 7 Relevant Life Lessons From God, consider the life lessons God has been trying to teach you.
1. You Can’t Be A People Pleaser And Please God.
Being a people pleaser doesn’t exactly fall in line with serving God, and can make for some really uncomfortable reproofs and rebukes from the Holy Spirit. This is something I am still learning, as I am a self-admitted people pleaser to an unhealthy extent. Yes, Christ teaches us to love our neighbors and yes, we are to absolutely walk in “biblical love”. But there is a distinct difference between walking in the love of Christ towards others and putting others above Christ. This was a lesson God wanted me to learn. God had given me a prompting to turn from certain worldly/pagan traditions, no longer participating in them. After much prayer and confirmation, I obeyed, well initially. I shared this prompting with friends and family explaining to them, I no longer wanted to take part in these things. Now here is where I went wrong. I allowed their opinions, disagreements, and discomfort to produce doubt within me, and as soon as I opened the door to that, I fell into pleasing people over God.
I began to second guess the word I was given and completely avoided making a decision. I tried to justify my disobedience in many ways, all of which were an absolute joke. However, I couldn’t shake the conviction or prompting of The Holy Spirit as He reminded me of Matthew 6:24 which says, you can’t serve two masters. No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.
Our allegiance should always be to Christ, not man. I realized that being a people pleaser often puts people above God. And I cannot be obedient to God while pleasing others because obedience to Christ displeases many, especially when it inconveniences them just as I experienced.
2. The Truth You Stand For Will Offend Others.
It doesn’t matter how eloquently you speak or how kind your tone is when delivering the gospel message. You will come across people who are offended by the truth you stand for, God’s word. People do not want to hear what they are doing wrong, they don’t want to give up their sins, and they definitely don’t want to humble themselves in sight of God. The gospel message you share will offend people, but you can’t take it personally; Understand you are dealing with people who are in so much bondage, with hardened hearts and reprobate minds. There are people who are so bound up by unclean spirits and the lies they perpetuate they cannot receive the love of Christ. There will be times while witnessing that God will prompt you to walk away and dust the dirt from your shoes in order to move to the next person who needs to hear the gospel message, as some are not willing to receive it. And if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet when you leave that house or town. Matthew 10:14.
3. The Flesh And The Spirit Are Constantly At War!
I don’t care if you have been a Christian for 5 minutes or 5 decades, the war against the flesh and spirit is ongoing and rather relentless. For the time being while in our physical bodies awaiting eternity in our glorified bodies, we will war with our flesh. In such a way, your spirit will prompt you to read the Bible, but your flesh will tell you it’s okay to put it off till later, but if you notice later never comes and the next thing you know you have gotten no closer to God, then you were at the start of all of this. That is the war of the flesh vs spirit. The sooner you realize this war is constant, the easier it will become to identify those moments of intense war between your flesh and the spirit. Some people who are new in their walk think something must be wrong with them since they have to fight so hard sometimes to just read or pray, but if we look at Paul in Romans 7: 14-25, he shares something very telling and very relatable,
For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.
So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.
I don’t know about you, but what Paul said sounds pretty familiar. This is the war of the flesh vs spirit that wars within all believers. Yes, it does get easier to deny your flesh as you grow in Christ, but this inner war will never cease in this life. Not until we are home with The Father.
4. His Ways Are Higher Than Our Ways!
Let me save you the trouble of learning this lesson the hard way. God’s ways are higher than our ways. That’s it. Nothing more, nothing less. Look at 1 Corinthians 1:25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
How’s that for perspective?
More often than not, you will be required to walk by faith and not by sight. This is because it takes faith and trust in God to hand over the reins, even though you have no idea what He’s up to. This is why I urge you guys to learn about the Attributes of God and the true meaning of God’s love vs Human Love. Once you know The Father and the goodness and holiness only He possesses, it is much easier to let go of control and realize the futility in trying to wrap your head around God’s ways. It doesn’t matter if you are a biblical scholar, a well-studied theologian, or just a really intelligent individual; God’s ways will still be higher than ours, and you will still need faith in order to trust and follow Him to the promised land of eternity.
Just as the Israelites who were fleeing Egypt and the Pharaoh, they approached a dead end, surrounded on all sides with the enemy army swiftly approaching. These people could not phantom God parting the Red Sea. What God had planned to do was so out of the norm of anything they could have imagined.
No matter how bad the situation may seem or how impossible, remind yourself that your human mind cannot phantom or compute the majesty of God and His awesomeness. So, rather than behaving as the Israelites did in the wilderness, remember you serve a God who specializes in the great and impossible things. Trust in His word and in the promises He’s made. When you can’t see a way out, He has already made a way for you if you would trust in Him.
5. Emotions Do Not Have To Dominate You
By the world’s standards, your emotions are meaningful and valid. The world will say your ‘being true to yourself’ whenever you embrace your emotions and allow it to be “your truth”. By God’s standards, emotions are deceiving and should not be exalted as truth. God created us in His image, and He created us to feel and experience a vast array of emotions. But as you probably guessed, the fall corrupted our emotions. Now we experience emotional bondage because we trust our misleading emotions and feelings over God; therein lies the problem.
The enemy can manipulate our emotions, influence, and even misdirected them. So whenever we allow our emotions to trump God, we commit idolatry. This is something I have to remind myself of often. For so long I viewed my emotions as something permanent, in-changeable, and mostly out of my control. Over time God has taught me to bring my emotions into submission, to recognize the unreliability of ever-changing human emotions.
God is the only one who can deliver us from the bondage of worshipping our emotions. Whenever I’m being overemotional, or just stuck in my feelings, I go to the word of God. There is something about God’s word that quickly shifts things into perspective. By reading the Bible I am reminded of the flesh I am in and the Holiness that is God. Scripture brings about self-examination and when viewing my emotions from a biblical lens, I clearly see the misalignment of my emotions in contrast of God’s word.
6. The Importance of Stillness
Before anything else, you have to first learn how to be still. Because without stillness, you cannot rest in the peace of Jesus. Without stillness, we cannot hear the voice of God. I catch myself all too often forgetting to slow down and be still. This world is so demanding between our careers, our families, our daily commitments, and responsibilities, we can run ourselves ragged from sunup to sundown without taking time to be still with God. Stillness can be as simple as taking a walk and meditating on the word and prayer, or listening to praise and worship, to glorify God. But the best stillness is found in complete silence, with nothing distracting you from the presence of God. The point is to slow the heck down and put God first.
When I do not remain still and in the peace of Jesus, I always notice the same old habits returning, leaning on my own understanding and trying to solve or fix things through my own might. And that always leads to burnout, stress, anxiety, and exhaustion. Next time you catch yourself doing the same, remember this and put aside time to be still and see if you don’t walk away feeling much better and at ease, that is resting in the peace of Christ.
“Be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!”
7. It’s Okay To Not Have All The Answers
I’m going to tell you right now, I do not have all the answers nor do I claim to have all the answers, and if anyone claims to, run in the opposite direction. All I know is I want to share what God has given me in order to grow and edify people with this blog.
I think too many Christians believe they have to be able to answer every question from unbelievers and believers alike. But, if we truly believe what Scripture says, that God’s ways are higher than our ways, there will be areas and things we will not be able to understand. I’m sure there are many things that God holds back from us that will not be revealed in this life.
Personally, I would much rather someone tell me they don’t know something than to fudge an answer that might be completely false and misleading. Many people base their belief in god or lack thereof, on whether they can find adequate answers to all their questions. If God meant for us to have all the answers, we wouldn’t need to have faith because by that logic we could walk by sight, but that’s not what the Bible tells us. It’s foolish to expect God to always give us an answer. Imagine that, the creation demanding answers from the Creator. We need to accept individually and collectively that we won’t know all the answers or reasons for why God moves the way He does.
Like that time when you didn’t get that promotion, you were so sure about, or when God closed a door you wanted to walk through, or when someone you loved was unexpectedly taken from this life. Sometimes there is no suitable answer or reason we will find. And that is what truly disturbs us, isn’t it? We can’t stand not knowing, we can’t bear not having that closure. Just the same, we don’t enjoy not having power or control. However, as believers, we are called to stand strong in the faith we have in who God is, in His sovereignty and righteousness. Remember, it’s okay to not know why God does or does not do something. If you know the heart of God, you will not be shaken by such things.
Hebrews 11:1-3
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the people of old received their commendation. By faith we understand that the word of God created the universe, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.
Takeaway
When we encounter lessons from God, we ought to pay attention to what He is trying to teach us. Too often when God is teaching us a lesson, we miss it completely. Why? Because our true nature in this flesh is selfish and prideful, we can’t even see the lesson being manifested before our very eyes. This results from being too distracted and not spending enough time alone with God. Unrepented sin, pride, and unforgiveness can also prevent you from discerning a lesson from God. The Bible is an awesome collection of life lessons from God to His people. Don’t overlook the wisdom you will gain from studying scripture. Has God taught you a life lesson you’d like to share? I’d love to hear what life lessons God has taught you. Tell me about it in the comment section below.
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Baptism of the Holy Spirit: How to Receive This Promised Gift By Reuben A. Torrey / Aneko Press |
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The Essential Tozer Collection: The Pursuit of God, The Purpose of Man, and The Crucified Life By Compiled & edited by James L. Snyder / Bethany House A collection of enduring spiritual classics! The Pursuit of God will challenge you to renew your relationship with the Lord. In The Purpose of Man, Tozer reminds us that we are called to worship. And in The Crucified Life, he leads us to the cross so that we can be raised anew. 560 pages, paperback. |
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Defeat the Devil: Dismantling the Enemy’s Plan to Destroy Your Life / Revised edition By Derek Prince / Whitaker House The fall of Lucifer set up “the battle of all ages.” And we are positioned right in the midst of this historic struggle! Satan, the fallen archangel, desires nothing more than to win the loyalty, hearts, and minds of the entire human race-and he won’t quit in his attempt to win you over. Defeat the Devil: Dismantling the Enemy’s Plan to Destroy Your Life reveals these crucial facts: The enemy attempts to seduce Christians from rising to their full potential and to distract them from closely following God. Internationally renowned Bible teacher Derek Prince exposes Satan’s greatest weapon for putting people in bondage. Use the mighty spiritual warfare weapons revealed in this compelling book, and victory can be yours! |
All these are true saying