You know what we need to do, if we haven't already? We need to fall in love. Not with another human. Not with a hobby. Not with a job. Not with food. Not with any person or thing on or of the earth we typically use the phrase "I'm in love with..." whether it is rightly applied or not. We need to fall in love with the one who loves us so much, he gave his only son so our relationship with him could be restored. We need to fall in love with the one who loves us so much that he willing suffered and died on a cross so that we might be saved if we put our faith in him. We need to fall in love with our great and glorious God, creator of the universe, and author of life.
Why? The answer is simple. He deserves it simply because he is God. Period. We need no greater reason, not that there is one. He loves us so much, has given us so much, and offers us so much more, its incredible.
But what do we do so often? Take his blessings for granted. Take credit for the good he does through us or for the gifts he has giving us. Call stuff "ours" instead of his. Claim control over "our" lives instead of acknowledging his sovereignty. Pick and choose which parts of his word we want to hear and follow without giving it full authority in our lives. Show up to church once a week, sing a few songs, listen to a message, and walk out of there maybe feeling uplifted, maybe feeling entertained, but not really feeling the joy of a full life that God Almighty has to offer us. Not really getting it.
Shame on us whenever we do crap like that.
The first and greatest commandment is to love the LORD with all our heart, with all our mind, and with all our strength. We're supposed to love God with everything we got, not just our leftovers. God doesn't want lukewarm, half hearted love. God wants our best.
Our best starts with acknowledging who he is, and who we are compared to him. Our best starts with giving his word authority in our lives and following it. Jesus said "if you love me, you will keep my commandments". If we say we love God but don't do what his word says, living like the world, we are liars who don't really love God or know him. This means repentance. This means not sleeping with your boyfriend/girlfriend before getting married. This means not getting drunk. This means not gossiping about others. This means controlling our anger and our tongues. This means forgiving when we are wronged and not holding grudges against others. This means putting Christ at the center of our lives, making him Lord as well as Savior -- you can't have the latter without the former.
So if we're not putting God's word in its proper place of authority in our lives, and if we have not repented of our sins and turned away from the fully into the waiting arms of Jesus Christ, what should we do with these other things? Don't bother, until we get right with God. If we're not deeply in love with him and showing it, he doesn't want our half baked offerings and worship songs that amount to lies. He doesn't want our service that means nothing without a real relationship with him. What he wants is us, fully and completely. Let's give him THAT, first.
Grace and Peace brothers, sisters, friends.
Monday, May 31, 2010
Friday, May 28, 2010
Buying A Slave
I've got the "Abraham" movie on and just witnessed a really great scence. Abraham and his band come across a traveler in the desert who is headed in the opposite direction to Haran. A small group shows up soon after, saying that the man is a slave who has run away from his master, and they are there to take him back.
Abraham values the mans life very much and has compassion on him. He tells the leader of the small group that he would like to buy the slave's freedom, despite being told that the cost is high. He walks over with his money and puts some coins in the leader's hand. The hand remains outstretched, wanting more. When satisfied, the group leaves.
The slave is, of course, thrilled with his freedom, but that is not the end of it. Abraham tells him to seek out his brother when he arrives, as he may have work for an educated man. The former slave tells Abraham that there is no way he can ever repay him. Needless to say, he is incredibly grateful.
The movie makers took some liberty, as they often do, but I love this scene. What a beautiful picture of Christ -- leaving his glory in heaven to come to earth with us. Why? To pay a price for our sin that we cannot pay. When we finally realize our sinful state and run away from it into the waiting arms of Christ, we find out what love and freedom really are.
Thank you, Jesus, for your sacrifice on the cross and the new life and freedom you offer! May all who don't know you come to realize the truth of the gospel.
Grace and Peace
Abraham values the mans life very much and has compassion on him. He tells the leader of the small group that he would like to buy the slave's freedom, despite being told that the cost is high. He walks over with his money and puts some coins in the leader's hand. The hand remains outstretched, wanting more. When satisfied, the group leaves.
The slave is, of course, thrilled with his freedom, but that is not the end of it. Abraham tells him to seek out his brother when he arrives, as he may have work for an educated man. The former slave tells Abraham that there is no way he can ever repay him. Needless to say, he is incredibly grateful.
The movie makers took some liberty, as they often do, but I love this scene. What a beautiful picture of Christ -- leaving his glory in heaven to come to earth with us. Why? To pay a price for our sin that we cannot pay. When we finally realize our sinful state and run away from it into the waiting arms of Christ, we find out what love and freedom really are.
Thank you, Jesus, for your sacrifice on the cross and the new life and freedom you offer! May all who don't know you come to realize the truth of the gospel.
Grace and Peace
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Salvation For All
I'm not an avid studier of the Word. I enjoy listening to teaching, preaching, and just soaking in a reading of it, but I never really delve in deeply on my own to look up historical context, refer to commentaries, and so on. I'm grateful for those scholars that take the time to really unpack God's Word for us to reveal nuggets that we really wouldn't see without knowing the details of the culture at the time various events occurred.
However, in most cases, I don't think we need that highly academic excercise -- God's Word is plain enough for us to understand, and the Holy Spirit is perfectly capable of illuminated bits we find difficult.
In that light, I want to share something I just didn't get when I read it. It's not the text I didn't get, but rather the perspective of those in the first century who knew the scriptures well, yet were appalled that salvation could be meant for the Gentiles.
Check it out from Isaiah 56:
Thus says the LORD: "Keep justice, and do righteousness, for soon my salvation will come, and my deliverance be revealed. Blessed is the man who does this, and the son of man who holds it fast, who keeps the Sabbath, not profaning it, and keeps his hand from doing any evil." Let not the foreigner who has joined himself to the LORD say, "The LORD will surely separate me from his people"; and let not the eunuch say, "Behold, I am a dry tree." For thus says the LORD: "To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, who choose the things that please me and hold fast my covenant, I will give in my house and within my walls a monument and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off. "And the foreigners who join themselves to the LORD, to minister to him, to love the name of the LORD, and to be his servants, everyone who keeps the Sabbath and does not profane it, and holds fast my covenant -- these I will bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer; their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples." The Lord GOD, who gathers the outcasts of Israel, declares, "I will gather yet others to him besides those already gathered."
Okay, I'm no scholar, but to me, there's a whole lot in there that talks about others, not just Israel, being saved. I doubt I'm off in the weeds, as the heading for the section on Bible Gateway is, appropriately, "Salvation for Others".
Why some couldn't get it around their heads that the LORD was willing to offer salvation to all is beyond me. Yet another product of a sinful and hardened heart I guess. What a terrible thing it is to be in bondage to sin and not see how much God truly loves!
I almost was going to write that it is beyond me why many today completely reject God's offer of salvation through Jesus Christ. Now that the veil has been lifted from my eyes, it is perfectly clear that he is the way, the truth, and the life -- and the transformation he's made in my life is clear evidence of that. The only reason I'm not puzzled by it is that I know what it is to be an unbeliever, taking only a mere 31 years to see the light and receive Jesus as my savior and Lord!
Praise God for his patience while he draws unbelievers closer to him, and praise God for those moments where we can share the gospel and show Christ's love to a world that rejects him, so that some may be saved.
Grace and Peace friends
However, in most cases, I don't think we need that highly academic excercise -- God's Word is plain enough for us to understand, and the Holy Spirit is perfectly capable of illuminated bits we find difficult.
In that light, I want to share something I just didn't get when I read it. It's not the text I didn't get, but rather the perspective of those in the first century who knew the scriptures well, yet were appalled that salvation could be meant for the Gentiles.
Check it out from Isaiah 56:
Thus says the LORD: "Keep justice, and do righteousness, for soon my salvation will come, and my deliverance be revealed. Blessed is the man who does this, and the son of man who holds it fast, who keeps the Sabbath, not profaning it, and keeps his hand from doing any evil." Let not the foreigner who has joined himself to the LORD say, "The LORD will surely separate me from his people"; and let not the eunuch say, "Behold, I am a dry tree." For thus says the LORD: "To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, who choose the things that please me and hold fast my covenant, I will give in my house and within my walls a monument and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off. "And the foreigners who join themselves to the LORD, to minister to him, to love the name of the LORD, and to be his servants, everyone who keeps the Sabbath and does not profane it, and holds fast my covenant -- these I will bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer; their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples." The Lord GOD, who gathers the outcasts of Israel, declares, "I will gather yet others to him besides those already gathered."
Okay, I'm no scholar, but to me, there's a whole lot in there that talks about others, not just Israel, being saved. I doubt I'm off in the weeds, as the heading for the section on Bible Gateway is, appropriately, "Salvation for Others".
Why some couldn't get it around their heads that the LORD was willing to offer salvation to all is beyond me. Yet another product of a sinful and hardened heart I guess. What a terrible thing it is to be in bondage to sin and not see how much God truly loves!
I almost was going to write that it is beyond me why many today completely reject God's offer of salvation through Jesus Christ. Now that the veil has been lifted from my eyes, it is perfectly clear that he is the way, the truth, and the life -- and the transformation he's made in my life is clear evidence of that. The only reason I'm not puzzled by it is that I know what it is to be an unbeliever, taking only a mere 31 years to see the light and receive Jesus as my savior and Lord!
Praise God for his patience while he draws unbelievers closer to him, and praise God for those moments where we can share the gospel and show Christ's love to a world that rejects him, so that some may be saved.
Grace and Peace friends
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
What Doesn't Matter
It doesn't matter what really awesome television shows or movies you watched.
It doesn't matter what great tunes you listened to.
It doesn't matter what car you drove or how big your house was.
It doesn't matter how far you climbed up the corporate ladder.
It doesn't matter how much you sacked away for retirement.
It doesn't matter what degrees you got or from where.
It doesn't matter how much you traveled around the world.
It doesn't matter what great new ideas you came up with and marketed.
It doesn't matter what creative thing you wrote, directed, or produced.
It doesn't matter how many friends you had, fair weather or not.
It doesn't matter how many awesome sporting events you attended.
It doesn't matter how many moments of fame you had.
It doesn't matter how many trophies are on your shelf or how shiny they are.
It doesn't matter how good looking you are or what size clothes you fit into.
It doesn't matter what style you embodied or what label you fell under.
It doesn't matter how much you can lift, how fast you can run, or how high you can jump.
It doesn't matter how many books you read.
It doesn't matter how high of a score you got on that new cool video game.
So many things don't matter.
Only one thing does truly matter, and that is your response to the question "who is Jesus?" I'm not talking about the verbal response only either, but the response deep in one's heart and the evidence in one's life to back it up. For Jesus is the Lord of Lords and the King of Kings, God in the flesh come to earth to die as an atoning sacrifice for our sins, conquering sin and death and making right with God those who come to him and accept him as Savior and Lord.
As a song my girls like says - life is good, but eternal life is better!
Praise God for his mercy!
Grace and Peace
It doesn't matter what great tunes you listened to.
It doesn't matter what car you drove or how big your house was.
It doesn't matter how far you climbed up the corporate ladder.
It doesn't matter how much you sacked away for retirement.
It doesn't matter what degrees you got or from where.
It doesn't matter how much you traveled around the world.
It doesn't matter what great new ideas you came up with and marketed.
It doesn't matter what creative thing you wrote, directed, or produced.
It doesn't matter how many friends you had, fair weather or not.
It doesn't matter how many awesome sporting events you attended.
It doesn't matter how many moments of fame you had.
It doesn't matter how many trophies are on your shelf or how shiny they are.
It doesn't matter how good looking you are or what size clothes you fit into.
It doesn't matter what style you embodied or what label you fell under.
It doesn't matter how much you can lift, how fast you can run, or how high you can jump.
It doesn't matter how many books you read.
It doesn't matter how high of a score you got on that new cool video game.
So many things don't matter.
Only one thing does truly matter, and that is your response to the question "who is Jesus?" I'm not talking about the verbal response only either, but the response deep in one's heart and the evidence in one's life to back it up. For Jesus is the Lord of Lords and the King of Kings, God in the flesh come to earth to die as an atoning sacrifice for our sins, conquering sin and death and making right with God those who come to him and accept him as Savior and Lord.
As a song my girls like says - life is good, but eternal life is better!
Praise God for his mercy!
Grace and Peace
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
God's Word Is A Pain In The Butt Sometimes
God's Word is sometimes is a pain in the butt.
Literally, in my case. By God's good grace I am getting more fit. Eating healthier, eating less, exercising more. You know its the supernatural power of God at work that enabled me to stop drinking Mountain Dew cold turkey with no headaches. That was my crack, man.
But back to the point. I've got this little Bible I usually have in my back pocket. And now because I have less padding on the posterior, God's Word hurts when I sit down in my car without taking it out of the pocket -- it's a pain in the butt!
That silly little thought got me to thinking also -- that's just what the world says with a totally different meaning. An unbelieving world just doesn't want to hear about what God's Word says. They don't want absolute standards for morality, what's right and what's wrong. They don't want to hear that Jesus is the only way to heaven. They don't want to hear that there is a God whose character is perfect love, perfect mercy, and perfect justice -- and that there is a judgement coming where all wrongs will be righted.
But let's be perfectly clear here. If someone's standing on some train tracks, and a train is coming, no amount of closed-eye-fingers-in-the-ears nonsense is going to change the fact that if that person doesn't move, they're going to be in a heap of trouble.
The same goes for the Word.
It spells out perfectly clearly that God made this world, man's choice to rebel against God brought sin and death into it, God put a plan in action to reconcile man to himself, and that plan culminated in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Because of God's immense love and patience, we have such an opportunity now to accept the offer of salvation through Christ and spread that good news to others. One day Christ will return and the world will be judged, and those not in Christ are like the poor intentionally deaf and blind soul on the train tracks about to get mowed down.
It may be a pain in the butt to hear, but its the truth -- and that trumps everything.
If you're in Christ, spread the message. If you're not, today is the day of salvation -- you never know what tomorrow will bring.
Grace and Peace friends
Literally, in my case. By God's good grace I am getting more fit. Eating healthier, eating less, exercising more. You know its the supernatural power of God at work that enabled me to stop drinking Mountain Dew cold turkey with no headaches. That was my crack, man.
But back to the point. I've got this little Bible I usually have in my back pocket. And now because I have less padding on the posterior, God's Word hurts when I sit down in my car without taking it out of the pocket -- it's a pain in the butt!
That silly little thought got me to thinking also -- that's just what the world says with a totally different meaning. An unbelieving world just doesn't want to hear about what God's Word says. They don't want absolute standards for morality, what's right and what's wrong. They don't want to hear that Jesus is the only way to heaven. They don't want to hear that there is a God whose character is perfect love, perfect mercy, and perfect justice -- and that there is a judgement coming where all wrongs will be righted.
But let's be perfectly clear here. If someone's standing on some train tracks, and a train is coming, no amount of closed-eye-fingers-in-the-ears nonsense is going to change the fact that if that person doesn't move, they're going to be in a heap of trouble.
The same goes for the Word.
It spells out perfectly clearly that God made this world, man's choice to rebel against God brought sin and death into it, God put a plan in action to reconcile man to himself, and that plan culminated in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Because of God's immense love and patience, we have such an opportunity now to accept the offer of salvation through Christ and spread that good news to others. One day Christ will return and the world will be judged, and those not in Christ are like the poor intentionally deaf and blind soul on the train tracks about to get mowed down.
It may be a pain in the butt to hear, but its the truth -- and that trumps everything.
If you're in Christ, spread the message. If you're not, today is the day of salvation -- you never know what tomorrow will bring.
Grace and Peace friends
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Working The System
I was led to think about something on the way home that I haven't often thought much about. We as humans get pretty good at working systems when we're in them long enough. And we've got a lot of them.
On the way home I was working the rush hour traffic system for one. I've got my route for efficiency. Hit the bypass -- if the line's too long to get on you go down the side, turn right and make a U-turn. Cheesy but it works. Then you don't get on the 56 right away, take the first exit and stay to the right and merge in -- pass about 20-30 slow movers that way. Then get off the next exit if traffic's too slow and go through the light -- no meter or pile up so you pass another 30-40 slow movers that way. Then immediately change to the left lane because the right slows down ahead. And so on. Home in no time!
Same at work. I'm slow on part of my project because I don't know the system. Different OS, different build system, different source control, different processes, everything! I suck at it -- slow as molasses uphill in the winter. Get me in Windows under VS2005 writing in C# and I'll fly baby -- I know that system.
That got me to thinking, praise the LORD we are not under a religious system. Oh man sure has invented plenty of his own, but they have nothing to do with a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Thank God I was not saved while under any religious system either, so there is no question in my mind! Nothing but the power of Christ working in my heart and mind and raising me from the dead state I was in to new life, period!
Because guess what? Since we're good with systems and develop ways to work them, we certainly can do the same with religious systems. We figure out quickly what to do, what to say, how to act in various situations, and so on. As my brother would say also in this country we're very into methods. Do evangelism this way. Follow this laid out program. Pray that way. Lock it down and box it up so its cookie cuttered and canned -- an easy thing for us to work.
It's hogwash! Stay away! We try to box in God enough, stupid humans we are. Yielding to the Spirit and allowing him to lead us in our walk with the living God is so much better of a way to go. We should test ourselves to see how we're doing in the faith, but if our measuring stick is a man-made system rather than the Word of God, we're headed for trouble.
Praise the LORD for his ability to work in anyone, and through anyone and anything, to get his purposes accomplished.
Grace and Peace my friend.
On the way home I was working the rush hour traffic system for one. I've got my route for efficiency. Hit the bypass -- if the line's too long to get on you go down the side, turn right and make a U-turn. Cheesy but it works. Then you don't get on the 56 right away, take the first exit and stay to the right and merge in -- pass about 20-30 slow movers that way. Then get off the next exit if traffic's too slow and go through the light -- no meter or pile up so you pass another 30-40 slow movers that way. Then immediately change to the left lane because the right slows down ahead. And so on. Home in no time!
Same at work. I'm slow on part of my project because I don't know the system. Different OS, different build system, different source control, different processes, everything! I suck at it -- slow as molasses uphill in the winter. Get me in Windows under VS2005 writing in C# and I'll fly baby -- I know that system.
That got me to thinking, praise the LORD we are not under a religious system. Oh man sure has invented plenty of his own, but they have nothing to do with a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Thank God I was not saved while under any religious system either, so there is no question in my mind! Nothing but the power of Christ working in my heart and mind and raising me from the dead state I was in to new life, period!
Because guess what? Since we're good with systems and develop ways to work them, we certainly can do the same with religious systems. We figure out quickly what to do, what to say, how to act in various situations, and so on. As my brother would say also in this country we're very into methods. Do evangelism this way. Follow this laid out program. Pray that way. Lock it down and box it up so its cookie cuttered and canned -- an easy thing for us to work.
It's hogwash! Stay away! We try to box in God enough, stupid humans we are. Yielding to the Spirit and allowing him to lead us in our walk with the living God is so much better of a way to go. We should test ourselves to see how we're doing in the faith, but if our measuring stick is a man-made system rather than the Word of God, we're headed for trouble.
Praise the LORD for his ability to work in anyone, and through anyone and anything, to get his purposes accomplished.
Grace and Peace my friend.
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