Does This Describe You?

(excerpts from Desperate Dependency by J. Kirk & Melanie D. Lewis)

Does this passage from Jeremiah 5 describe you?

Listen, you foolish and senseless people,
      with eyes that do not see
      and ears that do not hear.
Have you no respect for me?
      Why don’t you tremble in my presence?
I, the LORD, define the ocean’s sandy shoreline
      as an everlasting boundary that the waters cannot cross.
The waves may toss and roar,
      but they can never pass the boundaries I set.
But my people have stubborn and rebellious hearts.
      They have turned away and abandoned me.
They do not say from the heart,
      ‘Let us live in awe of the LORD our God,
for he gives us rain each spring and fall,
      assuring us of a harvest when the time is right.’
Your wickedness has deprived you of these wonderful blessings.
      Your sin has robbed you of all these good things.

A horrible and shocking thing
      has happened in this land—
the prophets give false prophecies,
      and the priests rule with an iron hand.
Worse yet, my people like it that way!
      But what will you do when the end comes? (Jer. 5:21-25, 30-31 NLT)

The benefits of God include His purchasing our freedom through His Son, Jesus Christ. This freedom affords the privilege of entering His home as His child, where we can sit at His table dressed in our royal robes washed in the blood of Jesus. The price was not paid to merely release us to seek our independence or to indulge ourselves with the pleasures of this world. We are now free to belong to Him. It is sad, however, when the selfish mind misses this whole truth and insists freedom gives liberty to sin and do what we want to do when we want to do it. For these deluded individuals, eternal life in heaven is more important than being children of God. The idea of a relationship with Jesus holds no value to such people. It is yet another form of indulgence waiting for them in the next life of everlasting bliss. But for the authentic Christian, relationship with Jesus is vital. Possessing the privilege of the position as His child, our persistent pursuit is His divine nature and Christlikeness.

“And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires” (2 Peter 1:4 NLT).

The great and precious promises of God connect us to His divine nature. As a result of this connection, we possess the moral capacity to be holy and the emotional ability to be healthy. His promises give us the direction to arrive at His ultimate destination of Christlikeness.

Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do. For if you live by its dictates, you will die. But if through the power of the Spirit you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.

So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.” For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children. And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory. But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering.

Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later. (Rom. 8:12–18 NLT)

Although we are not fully aware of all aspects of our inheritance, God’s promises provide a taste of the expectations He fulfills so we may live with earnest anticipation as we experience His life living through us. His promises are not merely for the hereafter, but encompass life here and now.

God provides the solution for life change. By acting on His promises we have His resolution to all problems and deliverance from the social ills that plague us. We do not comprehend that the solutions to all of life’s problems stem from believing and acting on the promises of God. God is literally saying to you, “I can solve your emotional problems, your parenting problems, your relationship problems, your mental problems, all of your problems, if you will trust My truths.” If our Christianity does not make a difference with our problems, then we have a problem with our Christianity.

God is extending deliverance to us as we rely on Him. “It is not by force nor by strength, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies” (Zech. 4:6 NLT).

The question is, will you in your desperation depend on God? Will you respond to the invitation God gives to you? Will you continue in your self-effort? Will you believe the same lies? Will you commit the same sins? Will you experience the same problems over and over again? Or will you realize that you are a child of the King with an inheritance already in your possession?