(After Jesus died and resurrected:)
“I’m going out to fish,” Simon Peter told them [to the disciples that were with him], and they said, “We’ll go with you.” So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.
Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus.
He called out to them, “Friends, haven’t you any fish?”
“No,” they answered.
He said, “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.” When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish”- John 21.
The disciples had just spent three years with the Son of God. Every day they were fed to the core of spirit and soul with the life giving truth of the universe. They witnessed the glory of God, miracles, true love dying on the cross for their sins. Jesus had been with them, their friend. I am imagining what it was like for the disciples when the man they left everything for, gave themselves up for… died. They knew the truth; Jesus spoke of His death, but somehow it’s always harder to completely understand in the moment. It is usually in hindsight that things make sense to us. All this Kingdom awe and momentum… and then Jesus was mocked, ridiculed, scourged, and slain.
Things didn’t really happen in the way the disciples might have expected. The greatest thing occurred instead, too much for man to handle, too great and eternal. The resurrected Christ came to them with holes in his hands and the piercing in His side. He did signs in their presence. Jesus had conquered death.
The disciples went back to Galilee. Maybe a lapse in time occurred... "now what?" I'm sure they never could have imagined the coming things in store for them to walk in. They just went back to what they knew how to do, what was familiar: fishing. But, Jesus showed up; He always does. After the beautifully traumatic time of waiting and walking with Jesus into His death, He now says, “Throw your net on the right side of the boat.” He didn’t leave the disciples; He didn't forget them. The call to "follow me" was real and now the resurrected Jesus would fulfill the call in them, and finish the work He began through their lives. ..."when they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish."
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”- John 15:5
Friday, August 19, 2011
Friday, August 12, 2011
Our Great Delusion...
In the Western Church there is this idea that if we believe God enough, pray enough, and fast enough that all our problems will be solved and all our dreams will come true. We will be healed from cancer, financially sound, completely restored in the world’s eyes. It is as if faith in God is for the purposes of worldly deliverance and personal prosperity. But this is not the aim of Christianity. This is just a surface level of knowing God. The prosperity gospel has cheated so many people of what it really means to be victorious in Christ. For most of the world, believing in Jesus will not spare them from persecution, torture in prison, or poverty level living. A woman in India, who gives her life to Christ, may that same day return home to her same poverty and beatings from her husband.
Yes, God does bring earthly deliverance. It is His pleasure to bless us and rescue us, working miracles of physical healing and financial blessing... But there is a greater aim for us than this world. There is a greater victory to be had than what the world sees as success. God has our eternal welfare in mind, and sometimes that means that earthly suffering will be appointed for a time, or times. When trial upon trial comes, true faith is not believing to be kept from every discomfort, but believing on Jesus through them, that His love is real, that He is still good. Through trials, believing on Jesus is no longer what it once meant.
God is glorified in ways we may not think of or understand. Life is “offensive,” but there are also times of “defensive” - like in a boxing ring. Through the devastating beatings and blows of the loss of a loved one, or of a broken family, or of loss of all my possessions, I can get back up again in Christ and keep fighting. “…And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.”- Hebrews 12:1
Believing in God takes a deeper meaning when you are no longer just believing for things: financial stability, family blessings, blessings, blessings, but believing in the person of Jesus Christ as ALL your sufficiency… His ways and thoughts are perfect.... Even if I am tortured and made into a human torch like the first Christians, and burned for the delight of an evil first century emperor.
I do not agree that God always wants to spare me from suffering and loss. He does not delight in it; but God loves us too much to keep us from what will better us eternally and further the Kingdom. Job was not spared his unimaginable suffering and loss. It was appointed by God for him. Nothing made sense to him, but that didn’t matter, he was still called to follow and believe on God through everything earthly he lost. In my own life, I prayed and fasted for my brother to be spared from his death. But… he still died. Sometimes God says no. Then things turn upside down. Because now you are called to have faith in a God who is sovereign, who answers prayer, but not always how you want him to. "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD” -Isaiah 55:8. The call of a Christian is not a call of comfort and worldly victory; it is a radical call of Heavenly victory and belief. We can be beaten down by things that would totally destroy other people, and still stand victorious afterward because of Jesus.
I do not want to live a shallow western Christianity of “prosperity gospel” only. Jesus did not say follow me and you will prosper here. He said lose your life for my sake and you will find it. “Deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow me.” Count the cost, because if you are in it for blessings and smooth sailing, you will miss the greatest blessing and joy of all… the prize of Jesus Christ Himself.
"Whom have I in heaven but you?
And earth has nothing I desire besides you.
My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart
and my portion forever."- Psalm 73:25-26
Friday, August 5, 2011
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
"For with God nothing shall be impossible..."
God specializes with the impossible. So often, when a matter comes to the point that it has become impossible, it is easy to lose faith, and with attitude and frustration, lose heart as well. But, the point of impossiblity is the very point of expectation: that God can do it, and all glory will be His. So often, the point of impossibility is when God blows through with more than we could have asked or thought. He stretches our faith and then melts our souls with delight and awe at His total goodness. God is never in a hurry; His timing is always perfect.
God saves the very people that seem the farthest from salvation. The person that seemed the worst, the farthest, the most hostile, is the very person that might be the closest to the cross. Keep praying even though the years keep passing on, keep believing; our God is mighty to save, and he proves it over and over. God gives children to those who are barren or beyond childbirth (Abraham and Sarah, Elizabeth and Zechariah). God used a virgin to birth the Savior into the world. God heals illnesses. He restores broken, hurting families and makes lives that are nearly destroyed, brand new.
When all hope is "lost," is when to hold onto faith more than ever and look up, for your expectation comes from Him. His glory will come through like the rising sun.
After the angel told Mary she was to bear the Messiah as a virgin, she answered, "I am the Lord's servant... may it be to me as you have said." Mary didn't question for her own self: how would everyone react, is this really true, will my village stone me? She must have been so close to God in her walk, that she just accepted with faith, His plan for her life. The angel called her highly favored one. I am convinced that what pleases God is not works and performance, but a pure heart of faith. A heart so pure it wants all that God wants, no more and no less. It simply believes.... that "for with God, nothing shall be impossible."
"Now unto Him that is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us."- Ephesians 3:20
God saves the very people that seem the farthest from salvation. The person that seemed the worst, the farthest, the most hostile, is the very person that might be the closest to the cross. Keep praying even though the years keep passing on, keep believing; our God is mighty to save, and he proves it over and over. God gives children to those who are barren or beyond childbirth (Abraham and Sarah, Elizabeth and Zechariah). God used a virgin to birth the Savior into the world. God heals illnesses. He restores broken, hurting families and makes lives that are nearly destroyed, brand new.
When all hope is "lost," is when to hold onto faith more than ever and look up, for your expectation comes from Him. His glory will come through like the rising sun.
After the angel told Mary she was to bear the Messiah as a virgin, she answered, "I am the Lord's servant... may it be to me as you have said." Mary didn't question for her own self: how would everyone react, is this really true, will my village stone me? She must have been so close to God in her walk, that she just accepted with faith, His plan for her life. The angel called her highly favored one. I am convinced that what pleases God is not works and performance, but a pure heart of faith. A heart so pure it wants all that God wants, no more and no less. It simply believes.... that "for with God, nothing shall be impossible."
"Now unto Him that is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us."- Ephesians 3:20
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Consider the Lillies
I just finished Ecclesiastes and I find it one of the most elusive and strangest books of the Bible. All is vanity!
In a way, that statement offers relief. Sometimes I get this pressure of all I must do and of all I need to become, but in the end, the whole world is vanity. It will soon pass away. I don't think God wants us so much to do, as he does for us to be. For example, consider the stars, they just are! They are what God intended for them to be: expressing His glory & ministering to us as shining lights. They don't try to be the moon or a planet. Take the flower also for an example; how ridiculous would it be for a flower to try to be a tree or a cactus? A flower just is and is beautiful. All it was made to do is to look beautiful, give off a lovely fragrance, and bring happiness to those who behold it.
In the same way, people (& I am the first to admit!) can be striving to be more or other than God intended. Our hearts can be in the right place, but we may put so much pressure on others or ourselves, striving and straining, as if we are of imminent importance to the continuation of good.
"Be still, and know that I [am] God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth."- Psalm 46:10 (basically, with or without you and I, God will be just as exalted).
I think God just wants me to be. To be what He created me to be; to fulfill the purposes unique for my life. A flower just abides: it drinks water and basks in the sun, and blossoms for all to enjoy. The flower perfumes the earth just being what it was made to be, so effortlessly and refreshingly. Like this flower, God wants me to simply abide in Jesus: drinking from His rivers of living water, basking in and reflecting His light, feeding from His words of life. Any more than this and I am striving. Whatever fruit God brings from my life can never come apart from abiding. Simply abide and fruit will be the natural consequence, A flower doesn't have to struggle and strive to be a flower, it simply is and blossoms naturally in its time.
"Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the LORD."- Psalm 31:24 God will finish the work he started in us and our fruit will be as natural as the shinning of the stars.
In a way, that statement offers relief. Sometimes I get this pressure of all I must do and of all I need to become, but in the end, the whole world is vanity. It will soon pass away. I don't think God wants us so much to do, as he does for us to be. For example, consider the stars, they just are! They are what God intended for them to be: expressing His glory & ministering to us as shining lights. They don't try to be the moon or a planet. Take the flower also for an example; how ridiculous would it be for a flower to try to be a tree or a cactus? A flower just is and is beautiful. All it was made to do is to look beautiful, give off a lovely fragrance, and bring happiness to those who behold it.
In the same way, people (& I am the first to admit!) can be striving to be more or other than God intended. Our hearts can be in the right place, but we may put so much pressure on others or ourselves, striving and straining, as if we are of imminent importance to the continuation of good.
"Be still, and know that I [am] God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth."- Psalm 46:10 (basically, with or without you and I, God will be just as exalted).
I think God just wants me to be. To be what He created me to be; to fulfill the purposes unique for my life. A flower just abides: it drinks water and basks in the sun, and blossoms for all to enjoy. The flower perfumes the earth just being what it was made to be, so effortlessly and refreshingly. Like this flower, God wants me to simply abide in Jesus: drinking from His rivers of living water, basking in and reflecting His light, feeding from His words of life. Any more than this and I am striving. Whatever fruit God brings from my life can never come apart from abiding. Simply abide and fruit will be the natural consequence, A flower doesn't have to struggle and strive to be a flower, it simply is and blossoms naturally in its time.
"Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the LORD."- Psalm 31:24 God will finish the work he started in us and our fruit will be as natural as the shinning of the stars.
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
God's "bootcamp"
"Before honor is humility.... a man's gift maketh room for him, and bringeth him before great men."- Proverbs 18
There has been many a time when I have, with tears, gotten on my face before God and each time my heart is a little more changed than before. I want more than anything to glorify God with my life. I want Him to fulfill my created potential. I don't want to die and realize how much more God wanted to do through me, but I limited Him. So, God, have YOUR way! All the Way! You can do whatever you want - even the suffering that I know may come. For those of us who want desperately to be used by God, this entry may be for you.
I have come to realize that obviously, before we can be used, we must first be prepared. And the greater the call, the greater the preparation. So when I give God attitude, or whine, or am impatient (which happens often), then I am telling God (without realizing it) that I don't trust Him and that I really don't want to be used that much. But, ultimately, as time passes by, I see and understand the necessity of God's "bootcamp." How could I be any good for battle if I don't even want to go through bootcamp. If we all had it our way, we would be comfortable & blessed, but also weak & lazy wasters. Through discipline and hardship we are forged courageous and strong. And... though I gave God attitude before, I really do desire to be a courageous and "gnarly" servant of God. I want to be fearless and not regard my own life... as I know, do many of my brothers and sisters.
After the call eventually comes "bootcamp." Do you really want to be used by God for what you were created for? Do you truly want Him to have His way with you? Then be prepared to be stripped of all your preconceived notions, plans, and ... self. God will strip you to humility. All your self efforts will be shaken out and revealed pathetic. The things you thought, will turn out to be... not what you thought.
"As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts"- Isaiah 55:9.
I have given up guessing or planning what will come in the future. Only God can know and I don't ever want to place my limitations on Him. Paul could never have known early on that he would eventually bring a new continent the good news of Jesus and that he was going to stand before emperors. How could he have ever guessed these things or planned them? And neither can we. Really, we have only God as our assurance of anything. But, this is actually very exciting. Because God will take you higher and farther than you could ever take yourself (an I am not speaking of the world's measurements).
"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us"- Ephesians 3:20
If God has given you vision for something to come, that is a good thing, but don't be surprised if He goes about it in a way you may never have expected, or if He keeps it a ways off to prepare you first. The "bootcamp" is necessary so we learn absolute dependence and trust in God. Then, when the unexpected comes, we won't be thrown off by it or go into a faith crises, because all our hope and strength rest on Jesus. Nothing can derail us this way. God Himself is already our exceeding great reward and the power at work.
In this generation of servants who wants to be "gnarly" for the Kingdom, I am hearing similar accounts of God preparing and forging us. We are all being stretched, grown, tested, and thrown with loving pride into the refiner's fire. Don't lose heart! Cling to God alone and know in your heart His love for You. Forsake everything else you held dear, forsake all the things you kept a death grip on and exchange them for Christ alone. That is my conclusion. God is everything and He can use us most when we surrender all else for Him.
"But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well"- Matthew 6:33.
There is eternal, unfathomable blessing in God's "bootcamp." Prepare yourself for a honey-moon with Him that I KNOW exceeds ANYTHING this world can offer.
"I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God"- Ephesians 3:16-19.
"Greater things have yet to come, Greater things are still to be done...."- Chris Tomlin.
There has been many a time when I have, with tears, gotten on my face before God and each time my heart is a little more changed than before. I want more than anything to glorify God with my life. I want Him to fulfill my created potential. I don't want to die and realize how much more God wanted to do through me, but I limited Him. So, God, have YOUR way! All the Way! You can do whatever you want - even the suffering that I know may come. For those of us who want desperately to be used by God, this entry may be for you.
I have come to realize that obviously, before we can be used, we must first be prepared. And the greater the call, the greater the preparation. So when I give God attitude, or whine, or am impatient (which happens often), then I am telling God (without realizing it) that I don't trust Him and that I really don't want to be used that much. But, ultimately, as time passes by, I see and understand the necessity of God's "bootcamp." How could I be any good for battle if I don't even want to go through bootcamp. If we all had it our way, we would be comfortable & blessed, but also weak & lazy wasters. Through discipline and hardship we are forged courageous and strong. And... though I gave God attitude before, I really do desire to be a courageous and "gnarly" servant of God. I want to be fearless and not regard my own life... as I know, do many of my brothers and sisters.
After the call eventually comes "bootcamp." Do you really want to be used by God for what you were created for? Do you truly want Him to have His way with you? Then be prepared to be stripped of all your preconceived notions, plans, and ... self. God will strip you to humility. All your self efforts will be shaken out and revealed pathetic. The things you thought, will turn out to be... not what you thought.
"As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts"- Isaiah 55:9.
I have given up guessing or planning what will come in the future. Only God can know and I don't ever want to place my limitations on Him. Paul could never have known early on that he would eventually bring a new continent the good news of Jesus and that he was going to stand before emperors. How could he have ever guessed these things or planned them? And neither can we. Really, we have only God as our assurance of anything. But, this is actually very exciting. Because God will take you higher and farther than you could ever take yourself (an I am not speaking of the world's measurements).
"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us"- Ephesians 3:20
If God has given you vision for something to come, that is a good thing, but don't be surprised if He goes about it in a way you may never have expected, or if He keeps it a ways off to prepare you first. The "bootcamp" is necessary so we learn absolute dependence and trust in God. Then, when the unexpected comes, we won't be thrown off by it or go into a faith crises, because all our hope and strength rest on Jesus. Nothing can derail us this way. God Himself is already our exceeding great reward and the power at work.
In this generation of servants who wants to be "gnarly" for the Kingdom, I am hearing similar accounts of God preparing and forging us. We are all being stretched, grown, tested, and thrown with loving pride into the refiner's fire. Don't lose heart! Cling to God alone and know in your heart His love for You. Forsake everything else you held dear, forsake all the things you kept a death grip on and exchange them for Christ alone. That is my conclusion. God is everything and He can use us most when we surrender all else for Him.
"But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well"- Matthew 6:33.
There is eternal, unfathomable blessing in God's "bootcamp." Prepare yourself for a honey-moon with Him that I KNOW exceeds ANYTHING this world can offer.
"I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God"- Ephesians 3:16-19.
"Greater things have yet to come, Greater things are still to be done...."- Chris Tomlin.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Delayed Gratification
I think one of the hardest things to ever learn in life is the practise of delayed gratification. Even those words make my nose shrivel... but its what God has been teaching me... for a long time. Sometimes I will pray and God will immediately and so obviously answer my prayer. It builds my faith and I thank God so much because I can see that He moved so fast and powerfully.
Sometimes God seems to have "forgotten" my prayers. I get frustrated, but by His grace, I am taught to keep praying and believing.
Delayed gratification is a foreign concept in today's society: have fun now, party now, please yourself now, if its not now then make your own way. We are the society that wants desert before dinner (and I am not excluded from this). Four years ago I asked God for patience and after I asked Him, I regretted it because He definitely took charge of personally teaching me the ways of patience... by making me wait. Of course, I am glad He is though.
"The final stage in the life of faith is the attainment of character... the life of faith is not a life of mounting up with wings, but a life of walking and not fainting"- Oswald Chambers. Abraham went out not knowing where he went (Hebrews 11:8). Right now, God is leading me in a new way than ever before, a harder growing of faith. I don't know the destination, I only can know the One who holds my life in His hands, the One who is leading me. "The root of faith is the knowledge of a Person" (Jesus Christ) - O.C. Abraham's faith was a tried faith built on God. One of my favorite lines in the whole Bible is this: "Abraham believed God."
If God tells us to wait for the thing we prayed for, or even to wait because we are praying for the wrong thing, then we sometimes assume nothing is happening and He is doing other things. Our perspective is like a worm in the light of galaxies. God is always moving and working in a way beyond our figuring out. He is always thinking good thoughts about us and for us. He is always moving behind the scenes and positioning events. We must trust in the hidden work of God. Often we must wait because God has the perfect timing and He wants to do more than we asked. For those who love God and wait for Him, He has the best in store. My teacher said to not let the good things keep you from the best things.
I have an example of this concept that continues to encourage me: Over a year ago, I randomly was looking online for church trips to Israel. I NEVER EVER thought I would ever go to Israel. I was thinking how someday I could take one of those 2 week tours when I was old. But, God always surprises me with more than I could NEVER even think of. I couldn't even have planned it. God ended up taking me to Israel for 3 months for half the cost of a two week trip. I have adventures and memories that I still can't believe even happened. I even had the best group of people ever to have shared it with. And I encountered God in ways I can't even describe.
Sometimes we hear that God's ways are better. But this is just one proof in my own life that they are. Even horrible circumstance left in God's hands with be turned around and made beautiful. Only God can do that.
In the same way, "Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith"-Galatians 3:6. We are not righteous because of what we do, but because of Who we believe on: Jesus.
"Faith never knows where it is being led, but it loves and knows the One Who is leading. It is a life of faith, not of intellect and reason, but a life of knowing Who makes us 'go'"- Oswald Chambers
Sometimes God seems to have "forgotten" my prayers. I get frustrated, but by His grace, I am taught to keep praying and believing.
Delayed gratification is a foreign concept in today's society: have fun now, party now, please yourself now, if its not now then make your own way. We are the society that wants desert before dinner (and I am not excluded from this). Four years ago I asked God for patience and after I asked Him, I regretted it because He definitely took charge of personally teaching me the ways of patience... by making me wait. Of course, I am glad He is though.
"The final stage in the life of faith is the attainment of character... the life of faith is not a life of mounting up with wings, but a life of walking and not fainting"- Oswald Chambers. Abraham went out not knowing where he went (Hebrews 11:8). Right now, God is leading me in a new way than ever before, a harder growing of faith. I don't know the destination, I only can know the One who holds my life in His hands, the One who is leading me. "The root of faith is the knowledge of a Person" (Jesus Christ) - O.C. Abraham's faith was a tried faith built on God. One of my favorite lines in the whole Bible is this: "Abraham believed God."
If God tells us to wait for the thing we prayed for, or even to wait because we are praying for the wrong thing, then we sometimes assume nothing is happening and He is doing other things. Our perspective is like a worm in the light of galaxies. God is always moving and working in a way beyond our figuring out. He is always thinking good thoughts about us and for us. He is always moving behind the scenes and positioning events. We must trust in the hidden work of God. Often we must wait because God has the perfect timing and He wants to do more than we asked. For those who love God and wait for Him, He has the best in store. My teacher said to not let the good things keep you from the best things.
I have an example of this concept that continues to encourage me: Over a year ago, I randomly was looking online for church trips to Israel. I NEVER EVER thought I would ever go to Israel. I was thinking how someday I could take one of those 2 week tours when I was old. But, God always surprises me with more than I could NEVER even think of. I couldn't even have planned it. God ended up taking me to Israel for 3 months for half the cost of a two week trip. I have adventures and memories that I still can't believe even happened. I even had the best group of people ever to have shared it with. And I encountered God in ways I can't even describe.
Sometimes we hear that God's ways are better. But this is just one proof in my own life that they are. Even horrible circumstance left in God's hands with be turned around and made beautiful. Only God can do that.
In the same way, "Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith"-Galatians 3:6. We are not righteous because of what we do, but because of Who we believe on: Jesus.
"Faith never knows where it is being led, but it loves and knows the One Who is leading. It is a life of faith, not of intellect and reason, but a life of knowing Who makes us 'go'"- Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
The Risk
The other morning, I went with my family to hike to the top of a local mountain. As we were driving through my town to get to the mountains, the weather was dark, overcast, and foggy. It was rather depressing and ominous. We arrived at the mountain and started the round trip, 6 mile hike.
About halfway up, I looked out over the valley and all of it was under the cloud cover. From my elevation, however, I could see the sun and clear, bright skies to the left of the mountains. I thought, "Oh good! Today will turn out to be a beautiful, bright day. The sun is around the corner." If I were still in the valley, I would never have known that sunny and clear skies were just around the corner; I would have assumed that the day was going to be rainy and gloomy. It made me think about perspectives. I only knew the hope of the sun, because from where I was looking out; I could see both sides of the mountain. God always sees both sides of the mountain and every other angle we are not even conscious of. He has resources in places we could never think of. He has gifts and hope at every turn. Though we often must walk through the winter times of rain and tribulation, there is always a Spring that is around the corner. In fact, the harder the winter is, the more rain it sheds, and the more magnificent the Spring will be. But Spring will never come, if one does not endure the winter first.
Christians are called to not be shaken by circumstances. We are not to live by what we can see in front of us, because faith is not by sight. We do not take steps of faith only when we can control and understand the situation. Rather, faith requires an abandonment to God. Though I cannot make sense of what He is doing, I will trust in Him. I will follow God because I love Him and His Word proves true. If I lose my life, I will only find it.
“Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it”- Jesus
Often, we do not want to step out in faith because we will be taking a risk. We might be risking life as we know it, possessions, image, the opinions of others, even our physical lives. Faith takes a risk - you fork over the control to God.
But once you take the step of faith, you find liberation and that God is a God who is more than trustworthy. You begin to experience the amazing, incredible liberation of a life that is truly free: free of what others think, free of the world's ways, free of the threat of death and fear. The "risk" turns into victory, because all you risked was your own self, and what you found is much more than that. You gain life abundant and the discovery of the adventure God created you for. You'll never know if you never take the "risk" ;)
About halfway up, I looked out over the valley and all of it was under the cloud cover. From my elevation, however, I could see the sun and clear, bright skies to the left of the mountains. I thought, "Oh good! Today will turn out to be a beautiful, bright day. The sun is around the corner." If I were still in the valley, I would never have known that sunny and clear skies were just around the corner; I would have assumed that the day was going to be rainy and gloomy. It made me think about perspectives. I only knew the hope of the sun, because from where I was looking out; I could see both sides of the mountain. God always sees both sides of the mountain and every other angle we are not even conscious of. He has resources in places we could never think of. He has gifts and hope at every turn. Though we often must walk through the winter times of rain and tribulation, there is always a Spring that is around the corner. In fact, the harder the winter is, the more rain it sheds, and the more magnificent the Spring will be. But Spring will never come, if one does not endure the winter first.
Christians are called to not be shaken by circumstances. We are not to live by what we can see in front of us, because faith is not by sight. We do not take steps of faith only when we can control and understand the situation. Rather, faith requires an abandonment to God. Though I cannot make sense of what He is doing, I will trust in Him. I will follow God because I love Him and His Word proves true. If I lose my life, I will only find it.
“Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it”- Jesus
Often, we do not want to step out in faith because we will be taking a risk. We might be risking life as we know it, possessions, image, the opinions of others, even our physical lives. Faith takes a risk - you fork over the control to God.
But once you take the step of faith, you find liberation and that God is a God who is more than trustworthy. You begin to experience the amazing, incredible liberation of a life that is truly free: free of what others think, free of the world's ways, free of the threat of death and fear. The "risk" turns into victory, because all you risked was your own self, and what you found is much more than that. You gain life abundant and the discovery of the adventure God created you for. You'll never know if you never take the "risk" ;)
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Living the Promise Life
How do you live a life that moves from victory to victory? How do you lay hold of all God's promises for you? If you are like me, we don't want to settle for a life less than what God intended for us. I don't want to die and realize how much potential I wasted following after my own flesh. I once read (paraphrased) that the world has yet to see what God can do through a man who is absolutely surrendered to Him. Not that I have in any way "arrived," but I want to see what my God can do.
After the Hebrews escaped from slavery in Egypt, by the hand of God they safely crossed the Red Sea on dry land. They came into a wilderness, but after 11 days they arrived at the threshold of the Promise Land (Israel). The Hebrews were too afraid to enter in; they saw the "giants" of the land and their strong walled cities. They did not trust that God would give the land over to them like He said He would. The Hebrews thus wandered 40 years in the wilderness until a whole generation of them died.
The believer likewise, will go through a time of wilderness in his or her life. A wilderness of living one foot in the Kingdom and one foot in the world. It is an unstable time of ups and downs, a war over the absolute surrender of the soul to God. A time will come however, when each will stand at the threshold of the promise land (promise life) and decide to either trust God and enter in, or turn back to continue wandering in the wilderness. A time in my life came where, after the wilderness, God showed me the promise land (promise life). By God's grace I was brought in, and there is no turning back now. I have entered into the promise life.
But entering into the promise land (promise life) is not all of it, but just the beginning. Once the Hebrews finally came into their land, they never claimed all that God intended for them to have. Sadly, they stopped short of laying hold of all that God had conquered for them. By the grace of God, I pray that you and I will not stop, until we lay hold of every promise of God, walking by faith and not by sight, lest we scurry away from the "giants" we encounter. The battle is the LORD's and He has already won the victory for us. Amen!
After the Hebrews escaped from slavery in Egypt, by the hand of God they safely crossed the Red Sea on dry land. They came into a wilderness, but after 11 days they arrived at the threshold of the Promise Land (Israel). The Hebrews were too afraid to enter in; they saw the "giants" of the land and their strong walled cities. They did not trust that God would give the land over to them like He said He would. The Hebrews thus wandered 40 years in the wilderness until a whole generation of them died.
The believer likewise, will go through a time of wilderness in his or her life. A wilderness of living one foot in the Kingdom and one foot in the world. It is an unstable time of ups and downs, a war over the absolute surrender of the soul to God. A time will come however, when each will stand at the threshold of the promise land (promise life) and decide to either trust God and enter in, or turn back to continue wandering in the wilderness. A time in my life came where, after the wilderness, God showed me the promise land (promise life). By God's grace I was brought in, and there is no turning back now. I have entered into the promise life.
But entering into the promise land (promise life) is not all of it, but just the beginning. Once the Hebrews finally came into their land, they never claimed all that God intended for them to have. Sadly, they stopped short of laying hold of all that God had conquered for them. By the grace of God, I pray that you and I will not stop, until we lay hold of every promise of God, walking by faith and not by sight, lest we scurry away from the "giants" we encounter. The battle is the LORD's and He has already won the victory for us. Amen!
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