Blade of Grief
Blade of Grief
(#360 from Suffer Well Devotional Series©)
www.sufferwell.org
“That I may know Him [become like Him] and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death [by dying to self], if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected [the Messiah being fully formed in me (Gal. 4:19); attained the Mind of the Messiah]; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which the Messiah Yahshua has also laid hold of me [to be perfected; to attain His mind].
Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended [attained the mind of the Messiah yet]; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind [old mindsets] and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call [His mind in me] of the Mighty One in the Messiah Yahshua. Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind [belief that the upward call is to attain the mind of the Messiah]; and if in anything you think otherwise [believe it is not possible or that it is not even the upward call], the Mighty One will reveal even this to you. Nevertheless, to the degree that we have already attained [come into agreement], let us walk by the same rule, let us be of the same mind [that it is possible].” (Philippians 3:10-16)
Yes, becoming like Him is the ultimate calling. It is the Kingdom of Heaven manifesting in you (Luke 17:21). But we are citizens of Heaven, where the Master Yahshua the Messiah lives [mind of the Messiah]. And we are eagerly waiting for Him to return as our Savior. He will take our weak mortal bodies [mindsets] and change them into glorious bodies like His own, using the same power with which He will bring everything under His control. (Philippians 3:20-21) You are a citizen of Heaven who will inherit a glorified body just as the one now occupied by the Messiah Himself. Ah yes, He is our brother and we are joint heirs with Him (Romans 8:17)! With that Kingdom reality in focus, ask yourself this important question. “How much of your eternity will you spend satisfying your earthly flesh?”
“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in Heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart [mind] will be also. (Matthew 6:19-21)
Do you live carnally, as if your earthly existence is all there is? Do you believe that the fish sticker on your bumper and your weekly visits to church buildings suffice as Kingdom living? It is for these errors in thinking that grief exists! It is an emotion only felt on earth and it was given to guide you. Is it not true that all of your striving brings only grief? What do people get for all the toil and anxious striving with which they labor under the sun? All their days their work is grief and pain; even at night their minds do not rest. This too is meaningless. (Ecclesiastes 2:22-23)
The ego-driven life is lived only for physical pleasure. However, when you realize how you will actually exist in eternity, without “treasures on earth,” you will reconsider the priorities of your short lifespan. You will rethink your life’s purpose.
Grief is a sign that you are not living by Yahweh’s design for your life. It is intended to warn you that you have lost eternal focus and are bound to things of the flesh. I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind. Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun. (Ecclesiastes 1:14; 2:11) Meaningless toil and chasing the wind, all grief!
And as with every weapon, grief is used to shift your consciousness; grief is meant to teach you something. Yahweh says, “It is My weapon, my warning within you, even though it will not prevail to destroy you (Isaiah 54:16-17).” You are redeemed to live as a Spirit being who is in the process of shaking off the remnants of the flesh. Live eternally minded; live like you are a Kingdom citizen, and the blade of grief, as with all earth bound emotions, will perish.