Amazing God
I have to tell the story because God is amazing!
We have been trying to get into this major assessment for church planting. It is the next step in planting a church so we NEED to do it. The original plan was to do it in August but miracles happened and God gave us a job for Alissa!
We needed to ask for days off and the we didn't have anybody to care for our girls while we were at the assessment/training. So by the time we had the days off approved the assessment was full and no further signups were allowed.
So we planned to go to the September one. It would give me time to complete my application and church planting profile. Plus, we now knew that we could get off from our jobs. However, we didn't have the child care figured out yet.
So we began to pray about child care. And also sitting on the couch going through the people we knew. Our first thought was my dad. He is retired and is family.
We called and it was a no go. There were too many things going on during that time frame for him to pull away. So we went back to the think tank.
I had some specific things that I were looking for for criteria. First, I wanted them to be safe for our kids. Family or good friends or well credentialed was going through my mind. Second, I wanted them to be invested in us. They needed to believe that what we were doing was important.
We thought of a church planter coordinator that had been instrumental in helping us see God's plan in church planting. His wife is such a sweet lady and so I called her. She said she would love to but that particular week she was watching her grandkids! It just seemed like it was hard.
Side note: I learned long ago that you do everything you can to pursue God's path. But don't pursue without God or get ahead of him. When life gets difficult it doesn't mean that the "door" (hate that analogy) is closed or open. It may mean that God is working but it isn't time yet. I believe that God's will is more fluid than some old door! /ramble
On Monday August 31, I got a text from a friend that learn so much from. He is a man of closeness with God. But, I didn't really have time to read it on Monday. So it lay dormant in my Messages app.
Tuesday came and here it was September 1st! No prospects to keep our girls. But I knew the time frame to register and get flights was getting shorter. I was starting to get antsy. I was talking to God on a daily basis about it and nothing was happening yet.
But God wanted to show us again that the easy way is not the miraculous way (most of the time).
On Wednesday, I woke up around 4 am. I couldn't sleep and like he normally does, I believed that God wanted to talk with me. So I went to my quiet prayer place and asked God to give us someone to watch our girls.
God responded by reminding me about my text message. The text said:
Good morning bro. I just wanted to let you know that God is impressing on me that we need to bring our prayers and petitions to him with FASTING. In case their is something you need to break loose. I encourage you to FAST and pray. I am doing this now and felt the need to share with you. Remember man of God, you are truly blessed!
I felt that God was calling me to fast over this. So I followed the leading to fast until dinner.
I got ready and headed off to work. I work around food and beverages all day long. Did you know when you are hungry that everything smells extra good??
But in my spirit, every time my stomach growled I would say to God, "You are all I truly need. I trust you, God." My stomach growled a lot.
I made it through the day and headed home.
I looked at my phone and had received a text from my wife 30 minutes earlier. It said:
I love it when God just hands us things on a silver platter!!
I called her and she told that a lady she works with, who I had meet the previous week, had come up and asked how the church plant was proceeding. (She has a friend that is going to a Wesleyan seminary and they had talked about the plant and this spurred her to ask my wife about it.) My wife told her about how we need to go to this major assessment/training for our next step and we have everything in place except . . . And the lady finished her sentence . . . childcare.
The lady simply stated, "Well, I will watch your kids."
My wife's jaw hit the floor. She is credentialed and safe. And she sees our kids everyday!
And now it is all arranged. We are going to the assessment/training! God is amazing!
I told my wife with what God had done that morning. See what he did there?? He grew both of our faiths. He gave glory and honor to himself. He provided a way (when there didn't seem to be one).
Sunday, September 6, 2015
Thursday, March 26, 2015
God's gifts are the best!
Last Sunday we talked about Genesis 21.
The Lord dealt with Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did for Sarah as he had promised. Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the time of which God had spoken to him. Abraham gave the name Isaac to his son whom Sarah bore him. And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. Now Sarah said, “God has brought laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh with me.”
God dealt with Sarah. We talked about how the word "dealt" is sometimes translated remembered. Like when it says that God remembered Noah. It doesn't really mean that we have a forgetful God. (Can you imagine God forgetting his car keys???!) No. It means that it was time for God to turn his grace toward him. And that is the same case here.
God turned his grace toward Sarah. He gave her the child that they had both been longing for. The days of them being laughed at for being childless were over.
So Sarah laughed. She rejoiced! And she knew in her heart that others would soon be rejoicing with her.
But they waited 25 years for this incredible gift to arrive. 25 years!! How long has any of us waited that long for something of this importance. Not many of us have had to wait that long.
Did you know that God wants to give gifts to you? He has a plan. (We already talked about this a few weeks ago.) He is extraordinary and has extraordinary for us (love, mercy, futures). (We talked about that last week.) And now, we learn that he is faithful to give us those gifts! He doesn't hold them back because he wishes us ill. He has a time and a place to release those gifts to us! They are there and in the best time God releases them to us. And they are always what we need. So, how do we respond when God has these gifts and he has or has not released them to us, yet?
Begs the question. Are you thankful for what you have? Have you looked at what God has given you, and I mean everything, and thanked him for it? Now, I know that we do that every year at Thanksgiving time. But I am going to throw a wrench in that. Here goes. I believe that there is an element of contentment in being thankful. I think that to truly be thankful for what you have your have to be content with what you have. Want an example? Think about: poorest Africa, single child, one ratty, broken doll. Now, contrast with: typical home in US, single child, 15 new, shiny toys. Process through level of thankfulness in regard to contentment.
The response to God's amazing gifts is to be thankful. And to be perfectly content in each of them. Only then can we use them to their utmost and love the very giving of them to the degree they deserve.
God is a faithful gift-giver!
The Lord dealt with Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did for Sarah as he had promised. Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the time of which God had spoken to him. Abraham gave the name Isaac to his son whom Sarah bore him. And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. Now Sarah said, “God has brought laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh with me.”
God dealt with Sarah. We talked about how the word "dealt" is sometimes translated remembered. Like when it says that God remembered Noah. It doesn't really mean that we have a forgetful God. (Can you imagine God forgetting his car keys???!) No. It means that it was time for God to turn his grace toward him. And that is the same case here.
God turned his grace toward Sarah. He gave her the child that they had both been longing for. The days of them being laughed at for being childless were over.
So Sarah laughed. She rejoiced! And she knew in her heart that others would soon be rejoicing with her.
But they waited 25 years for this incredible gift to arrive. 25 years!! How long has any of us waited that long for something of this importance. Not many of us have had to wait that long.
Did you know that God wants to give gifts to you? He has a plan. (We already talked about this a few weeks ago.) He is extraordinary and has extraordinary for us (love, mercy, futures). (We talked about that last week.) And now, we learn that he is faithful to give us those gifts! He doesn't hold them back because he wishes us ill. He has a time and a place to release those gifts to us! They are there and in the best time God releases them to us. And they are always what we need. So, how do we respond when God has these gifts and he has or has not released them to us, yet?
Begs the question. Are you thankful for what you have? Have you looked at what God has given you, and I mean everything, and thanked him for it? Now, I know that we do that every year at Thanksgiving time. But I am going to throw a wrench in that. Here goes. I believe that there is an element of contentment in being thankful. I think that to truly be thankful for what you have your have to be content with what you have. Want an example? Think about: poorest Africa, single child, one ratty, broken doll. Now, contrast with: typical home in US, single child, 15 new, shiny toys. Process through level of thankfulness in regard to contentment.
The response to God's amazing gifts is to be thankful. And to be perfectly content in each of them. Only then can we use them to their utmost and love the very giving of them to the degree they deserve.
God is a faithful gift-giver!
Friday, March 13, 2015
Dearly Imputed . . .
On Sunday we looked at Genesis 15. This is a great story of God having amazing plans for Abram and Abram's response to those plans.
Yes, he had questions. In fact, he cried out to God and shared his heart. Hey God, you have given me all these things but I still don't have a child of my own. A child through my wife Sarai. Where is that? When is that going to happen. But here is where Abram shows off what kind of character he has. God shows him the stars in the heavens and tells him that his offspring will be more than the stars in the sky. Some of us stop right here. But that would diminish the story. Because, this is when Abram says back to God, "I believe you." I mean he really believed God! And this is amazing. And God responded to him by taking his faith in God and reckoning it as righteousness. In the immortal words of Jerry Clower, "Whoooieee!" That's good.
But what does this mean? This phrase is an interesting one and I told you on Sunday that I would share a bit more about it. Did you know that the apostle Paul comes back to this specific story in Romans 4?
22 Therefore his faith[a] “was reckoned to him as righteousness.” 23 Now the words, “it was reckoned to him,” were written not for his sake alone, 24 but for ours also. It will be reckoned to us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, 25 who was handed over to death for our trespasses and was raised for our justification.
This verse in Genesis 15 that Paul is referring to intrigues me. I just keep reading it. I guess I am trying to understand it or maybe even soak in it. I feel that it is important. That somehow, I'm missing something about it.
I think part of it is this concept of righteousness being reckoned to someone. How is that possible? How is it that because Abram believed he is somehow righteous? Can I see the math on that please? Believing=Righteousness? How is that?
We use reckoning in the South all the time. I grew up there. I know. "I reckon so." "I reckon I best be goin'." So you see, I'm used to this idea.
But this is bigger than my southern culture. It is bigger because I don't think we process it correctly. Let me explain.
The reckoning is not something that Abram did. The reckoning has everything to do with God. And I think that this concept is something called imputation.
Imputation is, in reference to God, the work of God outside of us. That means, that whatever is imputed to us has nothing to do with us. It has everything to do with God. Here is one way to look at this. Let's say that every time I do a particular action, you give me $10 dollars. That is cause and effect. I do something, you give me something. The variables are defined. This is something like a transaction and this is how we think of many, many things in our lives. (Sometimes even the spiritual!!) However, let's change the scenario. Let's change it to more like a trust fund. You promise to give me the entire, unlimited trust fund. Now, the trust fund is not ours. We didn't put anything into the trust fund. We didn't cause it to happen. We didn't cause it to not be there. It is simply there and we, frankly, have not done one thing to affect it positively or negatively.
So. How do we get access to the trust fund? Here it is. In order to have access to the trust fund, we must be related to the owner of the trust fund. Now, there are some problems with this relationship. First, you aren't really related. I mean, he loves you very much but you aren't naturally blood related. But the amazing thing is this. The owner of the trust fund has decided to adopt you! Now, this may be the freaky part, but he has gone further than adoption by law only. He has adopted you through transfusion! Through his son, you are now blood-related! You got it! The son gave his blood so that you could become a full-blooded son of the owner of the trust fund! Pretty amazing, right?
So what is our part in this? We have to believe in the owner of the trust fund and that his son gave his blood for us because both the owner and the son love us that much!
This is the part of the blog where I put in a metaphorical disclaimer. No metaphor can really illustrate the relationship and total concept of imputation. So I am very aware that this metaphor cannot duly give justice to what Jesus Christ did for us on the cross and the relationship of love that God for us and with us. I get that.
Let's come back to Abram. Abram did nothing to deserve God's righteousness. He didn't earn it. There was no way for him to earn it!! What could Abram give God?? God owns it all! No. That wasn't it. God's righteousness was freely given. Abram's belief in God united him to God so that God's righteousness was credited to him. Abram's faith did not produce the righteousness. Abram's faith in God fulfilled the other half of God's extension of relationship (love) that he had made to Abram in the first place! God began the relationship. Abram's faith sealed it. (Tangental aside: which totally explains how we can walk away from God - the relationship unsealed - and God continues to seek us out, continuing to offer his love and relationship!)
Okay, I'm going to offer one more example from an article I read from www.desiringgod.com. It is another analogy and of course the previous disclaimer still applies. I put it here in case it makes more sense to some than my analogy.
Here's a very imperfect analogy. But I will risk it in the hope of greater understanding. Suppose I say to Barnabas, my sixteen-year-old son, "Clean up your room before you go to school. You must have a clean room, or you won't be able to go watch the game tonight." Well, suppose he plans poorly and leaves for school without cleaning the room. And suppose I discover the messy room and clean it. His afternoon fills up and he gets home just before it's time to leave for the game and realizes what he has done and feels terrible. He apologizes and humbly accepts the consequences.
To which I say, "Barnabas, I am going to credit your apology and submission as a clean room. I said, 'You must have a clean room, or you won't be able to go watch the game tonight. Your room is clean. So you can go to the game." What I mean when I say, "I credit your apology as a clean room," is not that the apology is the clean room. Nor that he really cleaned his room. I cleaned it. It was pure grace. All I mean is that, in my way of reckoning - in my grace - his apology connects him with the promise given for a clean room. The clean room is his clean room. I credit it to him. Or, I credit his apology as a clean room. You can say it either way. And Paul said it both ways: "Faith is credited as righteousness," and "God credits righteousness to us through faith."
I feel by writing this I understand it a bit more. I am going to have to continue to work through this because I feel that there is still so much more here than I currently able to process. I hope this has helped understanding this amazing verse(s) in the Bible and perhaps has helped you along your journey.
Yes, he had questions. In fact, he cried out to God and shared his heart. Hey God, you have given me all these things but I still don't have a child of my own. A child through my wife Sarai. Where is that? When is that going to happen. But here is where Abram shows off what kind of character he has. God shows him the stars in the heavens and tells him that his offspring will be more than the stars in the sky. Some of us stop right here. But that would diminish the story. Because, this is when Abram says back to God, "I believe you." I mean he really believed God! And this is amazing. And God responded to him by taking his faith in God and reckoning it as righteousness. In the immortal words of Jerry Clower, "Whoooieee!" That's good.
But what does this mean? This phrase is an interesting one and I told you on Sunday that I would share a bit more about it. Did you know that the apostle Paul comes back to this specific story in Romans 4?
22 Therefore his faith[a] “was reckoned to him as righteousness.” 23 Now the words, “it was reckoned to him,” were written not for his sake alone, 24 but for ours also. It will be reckoned to us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, 25 who was handed over to death for our trespasses and was raised for our justification.
This verse in Genesis 15 that Paul is referring to intrigues me. I just keep reading it. I guess I am trying to understand it or maybe even soak in it. I feel that it is important. That somehow, I'm missing something about it.
I think part of it is this concept of righteousness being reckoned to someone. How is that possible? How is it that because Abram believed he is somehow righteous? Can I see the math on that please? Believing=Righteousness? How is that?
We use reckoning in the South all the time. I grew up there. I know. "I reckon so." "I reckon I best be goin'." So you see, I'm used to this idea.
But this is bigger than my southern culture. It is bigger because I don't think we process it correctly. Let me explain.
The reckoning is not something that Abram did. The reckoning has everything to do with God. And I think that this concept is something called imputation.
Imputation is, in reference to God, the work of God outside of us. That means, that whatever is imputed to us has nothing to do with us. It has everything to do with God. Here is one way to look at this. Let's say that every time I do a particular action, you give me $10 dollars. That is cause and effect. I do something, you give me something. The variables are defined. This is something like a transaction and this is how we think of many, many things in our lives. (Sometimes even the spiritual!!) However, let's change the scenario. Let's change it to more like a trust fund. You promise to give me the entire, unlimited trust fund. Now, the trust fund is not ours. We didn't put anything into the trust fund. We didn't cause it to happen. We didn't cause it to not be there. It is simply there and we, frankly, have not done one thing to affect it positively or negatively.
So. How do we get access to the trust fund? Here it is. In order to have access to the trust fund, we must be related to the owner of the trust fund. Now, there are some problems with this relationship. First, you aren't really related. I mean, he loves you very much but you aren't naturally blood related. But the amazing thing is this. The owner of the trust fund has decided to adopt you! Now, this may be the freaky part, but he has gone further than adoption by law only. He has adopted you through transfusion! Through his son, you are now blood-related! You got it! The son gave his blood so that you could become a full-blooded son of the owner of the trust fund! Pretty amazing, right?
So what is our part in this? We have to believe in the owner of the trust fund and that his son gave his blood for us because both the owner and the son love us that much!
This is the part of the blog where I put in a metaphorical disclaimer. No metaphor can really illustrate the relationship and total concept of imputation. So I am very aware that this metaphor cannot duly give justice to what Jesus Christ did for us on the cross and the relationship of love that God for us and with us. I get that.
Let's come back to Abram. Abram did nothing to deserve God's righteousness. He didn't earn it. There was no way for him to earn it!! What could Abram give God?? God owns it all! No. That wasn't it. God's righteousness was freely given. Abram's belief in God united him to God so that God's righteousness was credited to him. Abram's faith did not produce the righteousness. Abram's faith in God fulfilled the other half of God's extension of relationship (love) that he had made to Abram in the first place! God began the relationship. Abram's faith sealed it. (Tangental aside: which totally explains how we can walk away from God - the relationship unsealed - and God continues to seek us out, continuing to offer his love and relationship!)
Okay, I'm going to offer one more example from an article I read from www.desiringgod.com. It is another analogy and of course the previous disclaimer still applies. I put it here in case it makes more sense to some than my analogy.
Here's a very imperfect analogy. But I will risk it in the hope of greater understanding. Suppose I say to Barnabas, my sixteen-year-old son, "Clean up your room before you go to school. You must have a clean room, or you won't be able to go watch the game tonight." Well, suppose he plans poorly and leaves for school without cleaning the room. And suppose I discover the messy room and clean it. His afternoon fills up and he gets home just before it's time to leave for the game and realizes what he has done and feels terrible. He apologizes and humbly accepts the consequences.
To which I say, "Barnabas, I am going to credit your apology and submission as a clean room. I said, 'You must have a clean room, or you won't be able to go watch the game tonight. Your room is clean. So you can go to the game." What I mean when I say, "I credit your apology as a clean room," is not that the apology is the clean room. Nor that he really cleaned his room. I cleaned it. It was pure grace. All I mean is that, in my way of reckoning - in my grace - his apology connects him with the promise given for a clean room. The clean room is his clean room. I credit it to him. Or, I credit his apology as a clean room. You can say it either way. And Paul said it both ways: "Faith is credited as righteousness," and "God credits righteousness to us through faith."
I feel by writing this I understand it a bit more. I am going to have to continue to work through this because I feel that there is still so much more here than I currently able to process. I hope this has helped understanding this amazing verse(s) in the Bible and perhaps has helped you along your journey.
Wednesday, March 4, 2015
Under the Rug
The phrase I wanted people to remember this week was this:
God helps us put others first.
This is a sound biblical phrase. It was one of Jesus' greatest commandments. Put others first. How noble! How valuable! How incredibly counter to what our culture truly believes.
I was driving behind a vehicle the other day that had a bumper sticker. It stated something to effect of vote for equality for all in marriage. Basically it was saying (command form) that homosexual couples should be allow to marry in the name of equality.
How does this play into Put Others First? Isn't that the goal of this bumper sticker? Aren't homosexual couples a part of the others?
I have been meaning to go back and find the first use of a couple getting married in history. I don't mean the way we categorize marriage as such that it is. Huge ceremony. Big dresses. Large bills. I mean the first marriage where a covenant was made.
The earliest one I can think of is the Genesis example of God (as priest) presenting the bride, which he had just created, to Adam the first groom.
And I have been thinking.
Marriage is not and has never been an equality issue. God didn't make it to be one. It wasn't created to be one. Marriage has always been about the covenant of relationship between husband, wife and God. Here it is: God created marriage. He created covenant. He created husband and wife. No, this debate has never been about equality. This debate must be about the real issue. The issue of marriage as gift. By placing and belittling marriage to the role of an equality issue, we are stating and propagating the myth that marriage is a right. An inalienable right. Something everyone should have access. However. And this is a big however. Marriage is not a right. We do not own marriage.
Maybe we should make a bumper sticker that says that the IRS should get out of my marriage. Ahhh, I could see it now. Divorce the IRS out of marriage! And didn't we allow the IRS to dictate what the advantage of marriage is? It started out okay. But over time this has become the issue of our age. The definition of marriage has become tied to tax deductions and equal rights. But that is not what and how marriage was designed to be. God designed marriage as a gift of relationship between a man and a woman before God. God did not make it a right, but it was truly the first bridal shower. The covenant of relationship before a holy God. And this is just one area. There are many, many more!
And doesn't it really come down to the context? Take putting others first as an example in context. If we put everybody first, even before God, then this becomes a massive failure of initiative. It takes what was meant as a servant song and creates a chromatic nightmare. For Jesus said that we were to love God first. Put God first. And then out of that relationship we could then put others first. But that isn't what we are in danger of doing. The danger is putting others first before God and to the exclusion of God.
I was counseling a couple and I noted that they put a great many things before their relationship with each other, but as we talked longer and had more sessions, I realized that they were putting a great many things before God! They were upside down in their relationships!! They had swept/allowed/shoved their relationship with God under the rug. It had been relegated to the place of apathy and irrelevance in their lives. Powdered with dust and coated with neglect.
It is time to pull our relationships out from under the rug and set them in the proper place of worth and honor in our lives. God: first and foremost.
Friday, February 27, 2015
Hold on Tight
This past Sunday we talked about Genesis 12 and Abram's trust that he had in God.
One thing that I have observed about God is that he is a responsive God. Are you familiar with responsive websites? That's what I think about. Ever taken your smart phone or tablet and gone to a website where it doesn't seem to fit your screen? You have to scroll this way and that. You have to scale and re-scale to make sure you see everything and can actually use the website. This is a website that is not made to be responsive. When you get to a responsive website (which is all the rage right now), the information and the theme of the website is made to fit whatever size browser or screen you are on. That is responsive.
God makes it so we can respond to his action. He is the maker of our spiritual website. He makes it responsive. We point and click and act and God enables us to respond. He scrolls with us and he pans where we are. He zooms in on our life to give us perspective and then zooms back out to help us see his work. God initiates. We respond. That is the nature of our God.
God reached out to Abram. Abram responded by choosing to leave his father and extended family. He left so much. In fact, he left more than he took with him. And he did it because he was responding to God telling him to go. He trusted God.
And that is how our God is. He builds trust by giving us opportunity to respond to what he is doing. Without God's action in reaching out, Abram had no response. There was simply nothing to respond to. However, God did reach out and when Abram responded, trust was made, created, built and stored. That is what I mean by saying that God puts trust in our way. In many ways, God creates the trust in us, faith if you will, by creating an opportunity for us to trust in him.
Faith and trust cannot exist if God does not act to cause them or grow them. God does the action. Our job is to respond to that action.
Our God is a god that over promises and over delivers. Have you heard that phrase before? Probably not in that order. Usually it is used to say something about good customer service. Something like, X company underpromised and then over delivered. They went above and beyond what they had said. However, have you noticed that God normally over promises? He promises to do amazing things, things that we simply can't even imagine. And we are wow-ed by God's promises, to the extent that we can't believe that he would even do those things? Why is that? But then, it comes. God does even more than he promised. He does something that goes far beyond what you could expect. He over delivers on promises that were over promised! That is our God!! And only he can do that!
That is what Abram experienced. Read the passage and follow Abram through the story of God. You will see it. It is truly amazing.
This is no different for us. God has a story with each of us. This is a story where God wants us to grow in and through all things. A plan for our lives that will astonish us. He wants the very best for us. And we need to be prepared, seek him and then . . . Hold. On. Tight.
One thing that I have observed about God is that he is a responsive God. Are you familiar with responsive websites? That's what I think about. Ever taken your smart phone or tablet and gone to a website where it doesn't seem to fit your screen? You have to scroll this way and that. You have to scale and re-scale to make sure you see everything and can actually use the website. This is a website that is not made to be responsive. When you get to a responsive website (which is all the rage right now), the information and the theme of the website is made to fit whatever size browser or screen you are on. That is responsive.
God makes it so we can respond to his action. He is the maker of our spiritual website. He makes it responsive. We point and click and act and God enables us to respond. He scrolls with us and he pans where we are. He zooms in on our life to give us perspective and then zooms back out to help us see his work. God initiates. We respond. That is the nature of our God.
God reached out to Abram. Abram responded by choosing to leave his father and extended family. He left so much. In fact, he left more than he took with him. And he did it because he was responding to God telling him to go. He trusted God.
And that is how our God is. He builds trust by giving us opportunity to respond to what he is doing. Without God's action in reaching out, Abram had no response. There was simply nothing to respond to. However, God did reach out and when Abram responded, trust was made, created, built and stored. That is what I mean by saying that God puts trust in our way. In many ways, God creates the trust in us, faith if you will, by creating an opportunity for us to trust in him.
Faith and trust cannot exist if God does not act to cause them or grow them. God does the action. Our job is to respond to that action.
Our God is a god that over promises and over delivers. Have you heard that phrase before? Probably not in that order. Usually it is used to say something about good customer service. Something like, X company underpromised and then over delivered. They went above and beyond what they had said. However, have you noticed that God normally over promises? He promises to do amazing things, things that we simply can't even imagine. And we are wow-ed by God's promises, to the extent that we can't believe that he would even do those things? Why is that? But then, it comes. God does even more than he promised. He does something that goes far beyond what you could expect. He over delivers on promises that were over promised! That is our God!! And only he can do that!
That is what Abram experienced. Read the passage and follow Abram through the story of God. You will see it. It is truly amazing.
This is no different for us. God has a story with each of us. This is a story where God wants us to grow in and through all things. A plan for our lives that will astonish us. He wants the very best for us. And we need to be prepared, seek him and then . . . Hold. On. Tight.
Monday, February 2, 2015
Reality of Redemption
Yesterday, Oswald Chambers (here) wrote about Paul's Gospel. How it means something for Paul that others may not understand. He calls it the Reality of Redemption.
Here is a quote from that writing:
"The fact that we can experience redemption illustrates the power of its reality, but that experience is a byproduct and not the goal of redemption."
Most weeks, as I study, I struggle for a title for the message that God has for me to deliver. I struggle for the key image of that message. Professors in seminary taught that the title doesn't matter because no one will see the title. For me, this is like saying that the title of a book doesn't matter. Frankly, I believe it does. I believe that a title to a message matters. And of this to say, I struggled with the title this week and God gave me this one. The Reality of Redemption. Many weeks I know why I get the titles I get. Why I get the images I get. And they are supposed to be linked to help the main point of the message that God has given.
This week I choose them separately and frankly, I could think of a lot better titles for this image.
However, it wouldn't be what God gave me. So Reality of Redemption it is/was.
On this side of yesterday, I see the point. I understand after the fact. Which, I think, is common with how God works.
He was teaching me something. Yesterday, I referred to the poem by Lord Alfred Tennyson, Charge of the Light Brigade. In it, this is written:
Theirs not to make reply,
Theirs not to reason why,
Theirs but to do and die:
(If you want to read more about this famous event, go here.)
Basically, they received orders and no matter what they thought about the orders, they followed them. They received them and carried them out.
This is sometimes called blind obedience. And is in human terms, not wise. Namely because the person giving the orders could be wrong.
However, as we know, God is not human and only has the best in line for you life. Therefore, to blindly follow and instantly obey God is his ultimate desire for your life! He wants the best for you and plans to guide you there, if you will let him and follow him.
This is the nature of obedience to God. It is the nature of a relationship with God. And why shouldn't we obey him?!!
Obedience keeps us devoted to him. Dependent. Aware that our very existence is because of our loving God that, when we submit our will and seek out his, we are blessed. We are redeemed. And that is the reality of redemption. Blessed Redeemer.
The title, to me, did not make sense. But, to a God that wanted to show me to trust him, and in a small exercise to do so, list a title that didn't make as much sense to me, it made perfect sense to him.
Here is a quote from that writing:
"The fact that we can experience redemption illustrates the power of its reality, but that experience is a byproduct and not the goal of redemption."
Most weeks, as I study, I struggle for a title for the message that God has for me to deliver. I struggle for the key image of that message. Professors in seminary taught that the title doesn't matter because no one will see the title. For me, this is like saying that the title of a book doesn't matter. Frankly, I believe it does. I believe that a title to a message matters. And of this to say, I struggled with the title this week and God gave me this one. The Reality of Redemption. Many weeks I know why I get the titles I get. Why I get the images I get. And they are supposed to be linked to help the main point of the message that God has given.
This week I choose them separately and frankly, I could think of a lot better titles for this image.
However, it wouldn't be what God gave me. So Reality of Redemption it is/was.
On this side of yesterday, I see the point. I understand after the fact. Which, I think, is common with how God works.
He was teaching me something. Yesterday, I referred to the poem by Lord Alfred Tennyson, Charge of the Light Brigade. In it, this is written:
Theirs not to make reply,
Theirs not to reason why,
Theirs but to do and die:
(If you want to read more about this famous event, go here.)
Basically, they received orders and no matter what they thought about the orders, they followed them. They received them and carried them out.
This is sometimes called blind obedience. And is in human terms, not wise. Namely because the person giving the orders could be wrong.
However, as we know, God is not human and only has the best in line for you life. Therefore, to blindly follow and instantly obey God is his ultimate desire for your life! He wants the best for you and plans to guide you there, if you will let him and follow him.
This is the nature of obedience to God. It is the nature of a relationship with God. And why shouldn't we obey him?!!
Obedience keeps us devoted to him. Dependent. Aware that our very existence is because of our loving God that, when we submit our will and seek out his, we are blessed. We are redeemed. And that is the reality of redemption. Blessed Redeemer.
The title, to me, did not make sense. But, to a God that wanted to show me to trust him, and in a small exercise to do so, list a title that didn't make as much sense to me, it made perfect sense to him.
Thursday, December 18, 2014
Greetings and Exhortations!
Exhortations sounds like something a horse would make. But it is a great word. It means to urge to act.
And that is the purpose of the joy that we have if we are followers of Christ. As I said on Sunday, it doesn't seem like Christmas to talk about axes, sacrificing, fire and fruit. In fact the whole story of Jesus doesn't seem like something that would bring joy. Or hope. Or love. It rather seems like a tragedy. Not the festive light filled fun that we call Christmas.
We were watching Merry Larry, a Veggie Tales movie, last night with the kids at small group. It was talking about this exact topic. Christmas is about our joy found in Jesus turning into joyful acts that show Jesus. The inward transfers to the outward. The church becomes mobile and ready to impact those around it.
I hope your week has been full of offering joy to others. I hope God has laid an opportunity in your path this week that he wanted to change you through. I hope you listened and followed through.
I hope it encouraged you and grew your faith.
In fact, if you followed through, I know it did. If not, why not? Did you miss it? Do you wish you had listened and followed through on what God was trying to do through you?
Your heart does.
God wants us (exhorts us!) to show others acts of joy because of the joy we have in us. God doesn't ask the impossible from us. He gives us everything we need to succeed in the plan that he has for us.
I exhort you to go into your Friday, Saturday and into Sunday filled with God's joy and his purpose.
Don't miss it. Seek him tomorrow morning before you go to work or school. Listen and receive his presence, his love, his hope and his joy for you. Treasure it and then show that joy to others.
May God richly bless you this week.
Amen.
And that is the purpose of the joy that we have if we are followers of Christ. As I said on Sunday, it doesn't seem like Christmas to talk about axes, sacrificing, fire and fruit. In fact the whole story of Jesus doesn't seem like something that would bring joy. Or hope. Or love. It rather seems like a tragedy. Not the festive light filled fun that we call Christmas.
We were watching Merry Larry, a Veggie Tales movie, last night with the kids at small group. It was talking about this exact topic. Christmas is about our joy found in Jesus turning into joyful acts that show Jesus. The inward transfers to the outward. The church becomes mobile and ready to impact those around it.
I hope your week has been full of offering joy to others. I hope God has laid an opportunity in your path this week that he wanted to change you through. I hope you listened and followed through.
I hope it encouraged you and grew your faith.
In fact, if you followed through, I know it did. If not, why not? Did you miss it? Do you wish you had listened and followed through on what God was trying to do through you?
Your heart does.
God wants us (exhorts us!) to show others acts of joy because of the joy we have in us. God doesn't ask the impossible from us. He gives us everything we need to succeed in the plan that he has for us.
I exhort you to go into your Friday, Saturday and into Sunday filled with God's joy and his purpose.
Don't miss it. Seek him tomorrow morning before you go to work or school. Listen and receive his presence, his love, his hope and his joy for you. Treasure it and then show that joy to others.
May God richly bless you this week.
Amen.
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