No matter how long we’ve been alive, there are times we can look back on and say “that was the best time of my life” or “that was the time when I was closest to God.” It seems like we are living life just trying to get by from one mountain top experience to the next. Those high times in our lives are extremely special to us and the times of great renewal and spiritual strength and healing and comfort. The mountain tops are the times of life we “enjoy” the most and times that are always much too short. So what do we do with the other 99% of our lives? Do we just mope around from mountain to mountain, living for the future and hoping the next mountain top will come tomorrow? That is kind of how I have lived my life in the past, and that makes for a life full of disappointment and never being satisfied or content. Not exactly the place to be when life is between mountain tops.
Ecclesiastes challenges this kind of life, challenges all life in general, and asks the question “why?” to pretty much everything “under the sun” humans can fill their lives with. What is the point of all this? Qoheleth (the Teacher), the author of Ecclesiastes (whoever it may be), explains how futile working for this or that in the future is, how it is nothing more than “chasing after the wind.” Specifically in chapter 3, Qoheleth focuses on the time between the mountain tops. Here is Ecclesiastes 3:1-14:
1 There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under heaven:
2 a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
3 a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
4 a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,
6 a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
7 a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
8 a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.
9 What does the worker gain from his toil? 10 I have seen the burden God has laid on men. 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. 12 I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. 13 That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil—this is the gift of God. 14 I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that men will revere him.
Verse 11 is what we are told to do with life between the mountain tops. God made everything beautiful in its time, so what is the proper response to this? A time to kill? To hate? For war? God made these things beautiful? It’s kind of hard to swallow when you think about it, but that is why God is God and we are not. There are 2 things we can do with this. Recognize and accept God’s timing and live appropriately, or fight it and reject and try to carve our own path. The former is a little tough to read and get down, but it’s simple in idea. When it’s time to laugh, laugh. When it’s time to mourn, mourn. When it is time to embrace, hug and touch. When it is time to refrain, refrain. Find what season of life God has placed in front of you and live it to the fullest.
The latter is a scary place to be. Fighting against God is always a bad idea. When choosing sides, it is always a bad side to choose the side that stands opposite God. You can fight God’s timing and try to do things your own way, and you might even succeed sometimes. But why would you want to sell yourself short of God’s plan? Why not just accept it and embrace it.
Look back to verses 12-14. The key to living between the mountain tops is finding the joy in today. Not worrying about the future, not living just “buying time” until your next mountain top experience. Today is all that exists; make the most of it and make God smile in it. Jesus hit on this in the Sermon on the Mount. Matthew 6:25-31 is usually discussed with regard to worry, and this is kind of what the root of the problem is. But I think the main point is just to live completely in today. Tomorrow doesn’t exist and will worry about itself. God will put you where he needs you to be. Live completely in it. The mountains will come and go, but God is forever.
I know this doesn’t make life between the mountain tops any less difficult, but it might bring a little more joy in every day if you go digging and trying to find what season God has placed you in, and live accordingly. Don’t miss the journey in looking for the end result; you will miss out on many small times of joy and fulfillment looking for one big one.
Monday, March 29, 2010
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
The Pursuit of Happiness
Studies have been done, countless books have been written, experts give opinions, people go to conferences, turn to drugs, and try desperately anything they can do to find happiness. We all do the best we can to fill ourselves up with what we need to make us happy. The more I read and ponder and study and ask, the more I think we have it all bassackwards.
What kinds of movies make us the happiest and bring forth the most tears? What songs make our vision blurry with tears? What gives us the deepest feeling of happiness and like we have done something good? It is when we see, hear of, do a completely selfless act, thinking nothing of ourselves and are only concerned with making God and/or someone else smile.
Think about it, what do all misery; sadness, unhappiness, and stuff that make us feel bad come from? Is the root of all of it selfishness? I think if we look hard and deep enough into it, there is no denying that selfishness is the root of all unhappiness. So it is only natural that selflessness is the root of all happiness. How can you not be happy when all you are concerned with is someone else’s needs and making God and other people smile? If all your time and focus is spent on that, there is no time to spend wallowing in your misery, loneliness, and fill-in-the-unhappy-blank. There is a reason God told us to love Him with all our heart, soul, mind and strength, and love our neighbors as ourselves. It is because God knows that the source of all our happiness comes from selflessness.
Jesus understood this. Here are a few examples of countless times where Jesus was completely selfless, thinking nothing of himself, and in turn it made him happy and made the person he helped happy as well.
Luke 19:1-10
Jesus ignores what is “proper” and spends the afternoon with a sinner, Zacchaeus.
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=luke%2019:1-10&version=NIV"
John 4:1-42
Jesus thinks of a Samaritan woman at the well, and many are saved because of his selflessness.
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%204:1-42&version=NIV"
John 8:1-11
Jesus saves a woman from certain death, rather than proves his superior knowledge over the Pharisees.
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%208:1-11&version=NIV"
John 17
Jesus prays for us, on the eve of his death on the cross.
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=john%2017&version=NIV"
This can all be summed up with a verse that someone showed me once and taught me so much about. This verse has become close to my heart. John 3:30 says:
He must become greater, I must become less.
That is all there is to it. That is the key to happiness. Matthew 16:24-26 says:
Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?
Jesus wants us to be happy. All we have to do is quit trying to make ourselves happy. Make God smile today and somebody else too.
What kinds of movies make us the happiest and bring forth the most tears? What songs make our vision blurry with tears? What gives us the deepest feeling of happiness and like we have done something good? It is when we see, hear of, do a completely selfless act, thinking nothing of ourselves and are only concerned with making God and/or someone else smile.
Think about it, what do all misery; sadness, unhappiness, and stuff that make us feel bad come from? Is the root of all of it selfishness? I think if we look hard and deep enough into it, there is no denying that selfishness is the root of all unhappiness. So it is only natural that selflessness is the root of all happiness. How can you not be happy when all you are concerned with is someone else’s needs and making God and other people smile? If all your time and focus is spent on that, there is no time to spend wallowing in your misery, loneliness, and fill-in-the-unhappy-blank. There is a reason God told us to love Him with all our heart, soul, mind and strength, and love our neighbors as ourselves. It is because God knows that the source of all our happiness comes from selflessness.
Jesus understood this. Here are a few examples of countless times where Jesus was completely selfless, thinking nothing of himself, and in turn it made him happy and made the person he helped happy as well.
Luke 19:1-10
Jesus ignores what is “proper” and spends the afternoon with a sinner, Zacchaeus.
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=luke%2019:1-10&version=NIV"
John 4:1-42
Jesus thinks of a Samaritan woman at the well, and many are saved because of his selflessness.
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%204:1-42&version=NIV"
John 8:1-11
Jesus saves a woman from certain death, rather than proves his superior knowledge over the Pharisees.
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%208:1-11&version=NIV"
John 17
Jesus prays for us, on the eve of his death on the cross.
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=john%2017&version=NIV"
This can all be summed up with a verse that someone showed me once and taught me so much about. This verse has become close to my heart. John 3:30 says:
He must become greater, I must become less.
That is all there is to it. That is the key to happiness. Matthew 16:24-26 says:
Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?
Jesus wants us to be happy. All we have to do is quit trying to make ourselves happy. Make God smile today and somebody else too.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Omnipresent Comfort
My feelings about God being “everywhere” all the time have evolved drastically over the years. When I was a little kid, I was amazed that God could be everywhere at once, and hoped he didn’t see me when I went and got an extra cookie or made a face at my mom when she wasn’t looking. As I got up into teenage years, it started to terrify me. God could see EVERYTHING I was doing and there was nowhere I could go to get away with it. I felt much the same way Adam and Eve felt in Genesis Chapter 3 when they ate the fruit and found out they were naked. Completely open and vulnerable, so God could see every flaw and nuance that is less than perfect.
Why did I feel this way? Why was I so scared God was out to get me and was “always watching me” and in my business? Well, because He was first of all. But the older I get, the more I realize God is watching me to love and protect me and be there for me to run to when I am feeling… no just run to Him always. I was afraid because my motives were selfish and my love was for myself and what I wanted to do. That is a good way to invite the fear of God in you. But God is changing my fear to comfort. God is always there. Always. Jesus said in Matthew 28:20 that “[he] would be with us always, even until the end of the age.” How awesome is that? Jesus loves us so much that he is going to be with us no matter what we go through. Right there by our side, giving us every tool and everything we need.
The Psalmist in Psalm 139 completely understood this. This Psalm is a beautiful illustration of completely embracing God’s omnipresence and finding deep peace and love in it. Read it:
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+139&version=NIV
Verses 23-24 are the challenging part. The Psalmist invites God into the inner depths of his heart and tells him to pretty much lay him wide open so God can see it all. Find my faults God, every dark spot in my heart. But he doesn’t stop there. He tells God, not asks, tells God to “lead him in the way everlasting.” That is close intimate relationship with God. That is omnipresent comfort.
Here are a few more passages for further digging:
Genesis 3
Jeremiah 23:23-24
Psalm 16
Proverbs 15:3
Isaiah 66:1-2
Acts 16:27
Revelation 6:16
Why did I feel this way? Why was I so scared God was out to get me and was “always watching me” and in my business? Well, because He was first of all. But the older I get, the more I realize God is watching me to love and protect me and be there for me to run to when I am feeling… no just run to Him always. I was afraid because my motives were selfish and my love was for myself and what I wanted to do. That is a good way to invite the fear of God in you. But God is changing my fear to comfort. God is always there. Always. Jesus said in Matthew 28:20 that “[he] would be with us always, even until the end of the age.” How awesome is that? Jesus loves us so much that he is going to be with us no matter what we go through. Right there by our side, giving us every tool and everything we need.
The Psalmist in Psalm 139 completely understood this. This Psalm is a beautiful illustration of completely embracing God’s omnipresence and finding deep peace and love in it. Read it:
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+139&version=NIV
Verses 23-24 are the challenging part. The Psalmist invites God into the inner depths of his heart and tells him to pretty much lay him wide open so God can see it all. Find my faults God, every dark spot in my heart. But he doesn’t stop there. He tells God, not asks, tells God to “lead him in the way everlasting.” That is close intimate relationship with God. That is omnipresent comfort.
Here are a few more passages for further digging:
Genesis 3
Jeremiah 23:23-24
Psalm 16
Proverbs 15:3
Isaiah 66:1-2
Acts 16:27
Revelation 6:16
Thursday, February 4, 2010
The Great Problem amidst The Greatest Commandments
Matthew 22:34-40
34Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. 35One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question:
36"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" 37Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' 38This is the first and greatest commandment. 39And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."
Christianity in two sentences. Love God. Love your neighbor. The quintessential “easier said than done statement.” But when we break it down this way, our following of Christ is very simple. Is God going to be the axis by which our entire world revolves around and are we going to be concerned with others as much as we are with ourselves? There is not a simpler and more challenging teaching than when Jesus answers that question. How can we love God with everything in our heart, soul, and mind even when we feel like God has turned away and abandoned us? How can we love our “neighbor” who is gossiping about us, trying to kill us? (Fill in your favorite thing that makes you hate your neighbors.)
This is the greatest dichotomy of the human heart. Love a God whom we cannot see or hear or even think hears us at times, and love others that hate us as much as we love ourselves. But if Jesus did it, then it can be done.
Before we settle in an answer though, there are a couple Psalms I would like you to explore and chew on in light of The Greatest Commands. These are some of the darkest most desperate and heartbreaking passages in the Psalter, and I want to delve into them and see what we can find.
Here are the Psalms:
Psalm 88 in light of:
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%2088&version=NIV
Psalm 109 in light of:
Love your neighbor as yourself.
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+109&version=NIV
Dig into these Psalms for a while. See the raw emotion and appearance of contrast to the greatest commands they bring. Are these Psalms even worthy to be in the Bible? Is this something we should get up and read on Sunday morning during worship (Both Psalm 88 and Psalm 109 were written for the director of music)? Where does the darkness fit in light of these great commands?
Post a comment or email or facebook me and let me know what you think. If you can’t figure out how to comment on the blog, I will do it for you and give you credit (or leave you anonymous if you prefer), but I want to know how you wrestled with this. And even if you do not want to have something posted, let me know what you discovered in your digging.
Hope you brought your shovel.
34Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. 35One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question:
36"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" 37Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' 38This is the first and greatest commandment. 39And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."
Christianity in two sentences. Love God. Love your neighbor. The quintessential “easier said than done statement.” But when we break it down this way, our following of Christ is very simple. Is God going to be the axis by which our entire world revolves around and are we going to be concerned with others as much as we are with ourselves? There is not a simpler and more challenging teaching than when Jesus answers that question. How can we love God with everything in our heart, soul, and mind even when we feel like God has turned away and abandoned us? How can we love our “neighbor” who is gossiping about us, trying to kill us? (Fill in your favorite thing that makes you hate your neighbors.)
This is the greatest dichotomy of the human heart. Love a God whom we cannot see or hear or even think hears us at times, and love others that hate us as much as we love ourselves. But if Jesus did it, then it can be done.
Before we settle in an answer though, there are a couple Psalms I would like you to explore and chew on in light of The Greatest Commands. These are some of the darkest most desperate and heartbreaking passages in the Psalter, and I want to delve into them and see what we can find.
Here are the Psalms:
Psalm 88 in light of:
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%2088&version=NIV
Psalm 109 in light of:
Love your neighbor as yourself.
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+109&version=NIV
Dig into these Psalms for a while. See the raw emotion and appearance of contrast to the greatest commands they bring. Are these Psalms even worthy to be in the Bible? Is this something we should get up and read on Sunday morning during worship (Both Psalm 88 and Psalm 109 were written for the director of music)? Where does the darkness fit in light of these great commands?
Post a comment or email or facebook me and let me know what you think. If you can’t figure out how to comment on the blog, I will do it for you and give you credit (or leave you anonymous if you prefer), but I want to know how you wrestled with this. And even if you do not want to have something posted, let me know what you discovered in your digging.
Hope you brought your shovel.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Communication Breakdown
The more time I spend with someone in a relationship, whether it is romantic or friendship or partnership or teachership or whatevership, if I spend enough time in it, there will be times where I am angry and unsatisfied with that relationship. And it seems like the longer they go on, the better you get to know the person, and the more things start to hurt your feelings, bug you, etc. Part of having a relationship of any kind is times of misunderstanding, confusion, and conflict. It’s just a hard fact of life and relationships. The more you invest in someone or something, the more it hurts when they (or you) fail.
I want to take this a step further into our relationship with God. Having been born and raised a church boy, God and I have spent quite a bit of time together over the last 20 (21 tomorrow) years. We have been through good times, rough times, all sorts of times, but in them I have felt bad, unworthy, etc. to ever get mad at God. God is the supreme mighty ruler of the universe, who am I to question him? He does not want to hear my complaints, my confusions, my sorrows. I learned that I was supposed to praise God in all circumstances, and just suck it up and swallow it and deal with it when things don’t go like I understand they might. I guess what I am trying to remove is this misconception:
Questioning God means I do not have faith.
I think if we have a healthy, growing relationship with our Father in Heaven, then there better be times when we argue, fight, etc. or else the relationship is superficial. Don’t get me wrong here, I am not saying you are right and God is wrong, all I am saying is you have the right to scream at God sometimes. Yell at him, explode your emotions all over him, and get mad at him. It is ok. God is plenty big enough to handle it.
I feel like the more I experience God, the more I see he wants a genuine loving relationship for us. Yes He is sovereign and Holy, but Jesus knows what we have been through, he has lived a life that was completely human. He has questioned God while he was here. In the Garden, while Jesus was praying to God, he pleaded with God to make sure there was no other way but the cross. While Jesus hung on the cross, he cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me.” This is a reference to Psalm 22, one of the most powerful passages of Old Testament scripture.
There is no other way to speak to God than to be completely honest. Tell God you are hurt, tell God you don’t like what He did. He will bless you for your honesty and may even show you a little glimpse of why these things are happening to you. The following list is a few of the Psalms that are known as laments. These are a beautiful photograph to the dark side of emotion, the painful side of Christianity, that we don’t spend much time singing or talking about. And these are only a few, for the majority of the Psalter is Psalms of Lament. But pay close attention to how all of them end.
Psalm 13
Psalm 22
Psalm 32
Psalm 42-43 (read them together)
Psalm 38
Psalm 86
Psalm 130
David, the man after God’s own heart, struggled and pleaded and yelled and begged with God many times. And God loved him for it. His relationship with God was so intimate, so personal, so vital to his being that he wanted to know why things were wrong when they went wrong. Sometimes it was for sin, sometimes for just no particular reason at all, but God listens. God hears.
Be honest with God. He hurts when you hurt.
I want to take this a step further into our relationship with God. Having been born and raised a church boy, God and I have spent quite a bit of time together over the last 20 (21 tomorrow) years. We have been through good times, rough times, all sorts of times, but in them I have felt bad, unworthy, etc. to ever get mad at God. God is the supreme mighty ruler of the universe, who am I to question him? He does not want to hear my complaints, my confusions, my sorrows. I learned that I was supposed to praise God in all circumstances, and just suck it up and swallow it and deal with it when things don’t go like I understand they might. I guess what I am trying to remove is this misconception:
Questioning God means I do not have faith.
I think if we have a healthy, growing relationship with our Father in Heaven, then there better be times when we argue, fight, etc. or else the relationship is superficial. Don’t get me wrong here, I am not saying you are right and God is wrong, all I am saying is you have the right to scream at God sometimes. Yell at him, explode your emotions all over him, and get mad at him. It is ok. God is plenty big enough to handle it.
I feel like the more I experience God, the more I see he wants a genuine loving relationship for us. Yes He is sovereign and Holy, but Jesus knows what we have been through, he has lived a life that was completely human. He has questioned God while he was here. In the Garden, while Jesus was praying to God, he pleaded with God to make sure there was no other way but the cross. While Jesus hung on the cross, he cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me.” This is a reference to Psalm 22, one of the most powerful passages of Old Testament scripture.
There is no other way to speak to God than to be completely honest. Tell God you are hurt, tell God you don’t like what He did. He will bless you for your honesty and may even show you a little glimpse of why these things are happening to you. The following list is a few of the Psalms that are known as laments. These are a beautiful photograph to the dark side of emotion, the painful side of Christianity, that we don’t spend much time singing or talking about. And these are only a few, for the majority of the Psalter is Psalms of Lament. But pay close attention to how all of them end.
Psalm 13
Psalm 22
Psalm 32
Psalm 42-43 (read them together)
Psalm 38
Psalm 86
Psalm 130
David, the man after God’s own heart, struggled and pleaded and yelled and begged with God many times. And God loved him for it. His relationship with God was so intimate, so personal, so vital to his being that he wanted to know why things were wrong when they went wrong. Sometimes it was for sin, sometimes for just no particular reason at all, but God listens. God hears.
Be honest with God. He hurts when you hurt.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Enough is Enough
God has saved us from an eternity apart from His Glory in hell. Not because of anything we have done, not because we are worth it, not because he was bored so he created us to save us.
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
That verse needs no reference, its on every sign and bumper sticker and written in the memory of every Christian who has read it. But do we really love that verse? Do we really fully comprehend the love our God has for each and every one of us?
Sure we do, that’s why we complain and argue and throw a fit and “get busy”. We are such self-centered creatures that God saving us from an eternity of suffering is not enough for us. We want that and an easy perfect care-free life that goes exactly how we plan it. We want a cure for cancer, we want no pain, no suffering, no “trouble”, no mistakes. Because of course all of those things are stuff God needs to get rid of. Saving our souls from eternal damnation is not enough.
Whoever believes and is baptized shall be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. Mark 16:16
The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life. Romans 6:23
How hard is it to accept the gift of God? Easy. But shouldn’t that be enough for us in our lives? Do we even have the right to ask for anything else? Of course God wants to give us what we want, but I think sometimes we love God for his blessings more than we love God for just being God! Is God being God not enough for us? Here are a couple more scriptures about what Jesus said the cost of our following him, and Paul’s powerful piece on the cost of being a disciple:
Matthew 16:21-28
Matthew 10:32-42
I Corinthians 9
This life is not supposed to be easy.
God was enough for Jeremiah. He spent his entire life preaching the word to people who would hear none of it. And he never gave up: I say to myself, "The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him." Lamentations 3:24. God was enough for Jeremiah.
God was enough for Paul to spend his life as a Roman fugitive under constant pursuit and persecution. God was enough for Steven to die of stoning, praying for his murderers as they ended his life. God was enough for Esther to call an entire city not to eat or drink for 3 days, then approach the throne of a king and risk her life for a nation. And the stories continue.
There is a song, I believe Chris Tomlin wrote called Enough. I will put a link to the music at the bottom, but the chorus goes like this:
All of You is more than enough for all of me
For every thirst and every need
You satisfy me with Your love
And all I have in You is more than enough
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TI9RIbaa87I
Shouldn’t we be able to pray this prayer to God? Is God more important to us than food? What about Sunday when the preacher goes too long? Is God more important to us than water? Is God more important to us than a dying loved one? A broken relationship? Shattered plans? Money?
Is God enough?
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
That verse needs no reference, its on every sign and bumper sticker and written in the memory of every Christian who has read it. But do we really love that verse? Do we really fully comprehend the love our God has for each and every one of us?
Sure we do, that’s why we complain and argue and throw a fit and “get busy”. We are such self-centered creatures that God saving us from an eternity of suffering is not enough for us. We want that and an easy perfect care-free life that goes exactly how we plan it. We want a cure for cancer, we want no pain, no suffering, no “trouble”, no mistakes. Because of course all of those things are stuff God needs to get rid of. Saving our souls from eternal damnation is not enough.
Whoever believes and is baptized shall be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. Mark 16:16
The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life. Romans 6:23
How hard is it to accept the gift of God? Easy. But shouldn’t that be enough for us in our lives? Do we even have the right to ask for anything else? Of course God wants to give us what we want, but I think sometimes we love God for his blessings more than we love God for just being God! Is God being God not enough for us? Here are a couple more scriptures about what Jesus said the cost of our following him, and Paul’s powerful piece on the cost of being a disciple:
Matthew 16:21-28
Matthew 10:32-42
I Corinthians 9
This life is not supposed to be easy.
God was enough for Jeremiah. He spent his entire life preaching the word to people who would hear none of it. And he never gave up: I say to myself, "The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him." Lamentations 3:24. God was enough for Jeremiah.
God was enough for Paul to spend his life as a Roman fugitive under constant pursuit and persecution. God was enough for Steven to die of stoning, praying for his murderers as they ended his life. God was enough for Esther to call an entire city not to eat or drink for 3 days, then approach the throne of a king and risk her life for a nation. And the stories continue.
There is a song, I believe Chris Tomlin wrote called Enough. I will put a link to the music at the bottom, but the chorus goes like this:
All of You is more than enough for all of me
For every thirst and every need
You satisfy me with Your love
And all I have in You is more than enough
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TI9RIbaa87I
Shouldn’t we be able to pray this prayer to God? Is God more important to us than food? What about Sunday when the preacher goes too long? Is God more important to us than water? Is God more important to us than a dying loved one? A broken relationship? Shattered plans? Money?
Is God enough?
Monday, January 18, 2010
My Body is My Slave
The older we get, the less important it becomes in our lives to exercise. For one reason or another, usually because of the lack of time, exercise becomes less and less important on our priority list. Bills, work, school, life, children, having to have a membership to a gym, etc. all are major inconveniences that happen and keep us from getting the exercise and proper diet we need. It’s easier a lot of times to just grab a quick bite of fast food, and tastes better too. It is yet another convenience in this time and day and culture that have made us fat. Literally.
But is there another way to look at this? Is there something to exercise in the spiritual sense? Paul uses training, exercise, and athletics in I and II Timothy as analogies of faith and ends his life with this from II Timothy 4:7-8:
7I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:
8Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.
His farewell address compares life to a great “course” or “fight”. But this just means a spiritual journey, right? I want to challenge that thought for a second. In I Corinthians 9, Paul talks about his rights as an apostle of Christ, and concludes with this powerful statement in verses 25-27:
25Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. 26Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. 27No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others; I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.
Pay attention to verse 27, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize. Could spiritual health and discipline be connected to physical discipline and exercise? Now don’t get me wrong here, I am as bad about exercising as the next guy, but there could be something to this. I feel like God has blessed me with this small revelation.
What if we looked at exercise not as something to get us back into shape or lose weight, but as an encounter with the Most High God and an opportunity to worship Him and improve our spiritual discipline? What if our diet was not to make us skinnier and more appealing to the eye of man, but to show God we have discipline and want more of it? I think this is a prime opportunity to work on our self-discipline and learn some things from God.
Here are some other passages that might provide some insight into what I am trying to explain:
Daniel 1 (The diet of the men of the LORD and its results)
I Corinthians 6:19-20 (usually seen through the lens of sexual morality, but I think it speaks to it)
I Corinthians 9
Romans 12:1
This is very encouraging to me and gives being healthy a much deeper meaning.
But is there another way to look at this? Is there something to exercise in the spiritual sense? Paul uses training, exercise, and athletics in I and II Timothy as analogies of faith and ends his life with this from II Timothy 4:7-8:
7I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:
8Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.
His farewell address compares life to a great “course” or “fight”. But this just means a spiritual journey, right? I want to challenge that thought for a second. In I Corinthians 9, Paul talks about his rights as an apostle of Christ, and concludes with this powerful statement in verses 25-27:
25Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. 26Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. 27No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others; I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.
Pay attention to verse 27, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize. Could spiritual health and discipline be connected to physical discipline and exercise? Now don’t get me wrong here, I am as bad about exercising as the next guy, but there could be something to this. I feel like God has blessed me with this small revelation.
What if we looked at exercise not as something to get us back into shape or lose weight, but as an encounter with the Most High God and an opportunity to worship Him and improve our spiritual discipline? What if our diet was not to make us skinnier and more appealing to the eye of man, but to show God we have discipline and want more of it? I think this is a prime opportunity to work on our self-discipline and learn some things from God.
Here are some other passages that might provide some insight into what I am trying to explain:
Daniel 1 (The diet of the men of the LORD and its results)
I Corinthians 6:19-20 (usually seen through the lens of sexual morality, but I think it speaks to it)
I Corinthians 9
Romans 12:1
This is very encouraging to me and gives being healthy a much deeper meaning.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Fasting
Fasting seems to be a bit of a weakness in a culture with so much. So much opportunity, so much food, so much money, it’s no wonder our fasting habits have become anemic. When we have all this access to so much “stuff”, the temptation to fast from things we really like (television, chocolate, caffeine, etc.) and we feel like it is a Holy and tough experience. While these things are not bad, have we gotten a little fat with our fasting? Are we blessed with so much that when we give up just a small part of our immense blessing, we are now fasting?
Was this the fasting God designed for us to be an act of worship for him and an experience to see him? Why fast? What is the proper way? Jesus had something to say about the process in the Sermon on the Mount. Matthew 6:16-18 says
16"When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 17But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, 18so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”
Here are some other scriptures that tell more aspects of fasting and examples of it:
Isaiah 58
Daniel 9:1-19
Jonah 3
Zechariah 7
Mark 2:18-22 (Story in Luke also)
Acts 13:1-2
Acts 14:21-24
These passages helped me dig for a deeper understanding of fasting. I hope they inspire some discussion
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