Is God Enuf 4 U?

IS GOD ENUF 4 U?

"Is it all right with you?", and "Is God enough for you?" seem to be two sides of the same issue - the 'end of self', or, the 'moment of decision'! That is, (suffice it to say), when "it" isn't "all right" with you, you're "picking a bone" (or 'at odds') with God! And when "it" gets so bad that God is NOT "enuf 4 u", and it's "NOT all right with you!", ...you've already chosen!

They say Repentance is "turning back" - but man can never "turn back" without turning LOOSE! It is precisely this which is Circumcision! [The "Crossess-of-Repentance"] The flesh clings to the world & wars ("lusts") against the Spirit! It is into this conflict we find these two, simple, child-like questions take on a profound significance: the battle of decision!

Man is Forced to Faith (choose!) by God's Design (i.e., man's Nature). In the end ALL (men) will CHOOSE (according to their Nature) 'for' God, but Jesus tells us only "few" will choose GOD! The Truth is no more avoidable than God's Reality! Man has no choice ['cannot avoid' the Truth] here!

But God has bound Himself to man's choice, & has Said "So Be It" - to it! But, getting back to the battle over (man's) choice. . . ; "is it all right with you" speaks to the condition or quality of man's Relationship with God, whereas "is God enuf 4 u" speaks to quantity, or Supply (or Supplier!). [Faith is *always* "ENUF"!]

BOTH questions strip man of his pretended adequacy, or independence of God & reveal his 'stupor of unbelief'! That is, when we find it is NOT all right with us (God cannot do as He Wishes with us!), we realize at once we are in the flesh & not Right-with-God!

Likewise, when we are "pressed beyond measure" and discover God is NOT "enuf 4 us" (God cannot Supply ALL our needs!), our flesh is now "victor", [and like the little old lady..] we've "fallen, and we can't get up"! There is now NO SALVATION APART FROM REPENTANCE left for us! [The only "up", is "DOWN"! - HUMILIATION!]

But, (remember!), turning back means turning LOOSE! What's wrong with a god who is not "enuf 4 us"? Well, simply put, he isn't God! "Well", you might say, "just how did we get to a point where we began worshipping a "god" who is NO God?" Good question!

Lk 15:(selected verses) "And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living. And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want. And -->when he came to himself<-- . . . "I will arise and go to my father" . . . "For this my son was dead"!"

What exactly does Jesus mean here by "when he came to himself"? Does He mean he came to the end of himself? Does He mean he had an "out-of-body" experience, where he looked upon himself as if from some other, NEW perspective? Does He mean the lad "snapped out of it" & managed to throw off the stupor of rebellion (unbelief!)? Does He mean the boy was finally Humbled by the reality of his situation & his helplessness in the midst of it? Does He mean that, by acceptance and submission and Faith in the Knowledge of his Loving Father he was enabled to Repent and acknowledge (Receive-Believe, "Come to") the Truth?

But what kept him from this earlier? An idol! A "god" of his own making (in his own "image")! What "god"? Jesus called it "mammon"! "Mammon" is a Semitic word for money or riches; That is, all that this world treasures & values! Hence, man's "religion" - mortal, worldly, sensual carnality! In a word, FLESH! Without the world, the "flesh" has nothing to cling to - nothing left to live for - nothing to worship - nothing but Death to look forward to! The "world" is the "apple" (pupil, "idol") of the eye of the "flesh"! And the flesh clings ever so tightly to the life of this world!

But Jesus says in Jn 12:25 "He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal."

And, (just in case you might be tempted to think He was referring ONLY to Himself), - check out Mt 6:25 "Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?", and Mt 10:38,39 "And he that taketh NOT his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.", and Mt 16:25,26 "For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?", and Jn 5:24 "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.".

No, Jesus makes it pretty clear that God has "detailed" us to this carnal (flesh) life to choose to abandon (Repent from) it and Receive, instead, His Perfect Life of Obedience to the Truth of God - Namely, Jesus Christ! But bringing us unto that choice is all about those two child-like questions; "is it all right with you if...?", and "will you Trust Me to..." (be enuf 4 u)?".

I don't know about you, but it seems the ONLY times I've been willing to Trust Him have been the times when I had reached the end of my own expectations; my own strengths & abilities, and THEN, (with utter abandon!), threw myself on His Mercy like the Publican when he said in Lk 18:13 "And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me ...a sinner."

I guess that's about the "bottom line" of the whole issue, isn't it? Along with what John the Baptist said in Jn 3:30 "He must increase, but I must decrease." "All right with ME?" - "Enuf 4 ME?" Who says so? GOD, that's Who!

He want's to be the "Apple of our eye - the Treasure of our heart - the "idol" of our imagination"! - the Song in our ears - the Thought in our minds - the Choice of our wills, and the Preciousness of our NOW!

Our life for HIS - "OKAY & ENUF" for me??? - Amen!