Thursday 9 December 2010
Tuesday 7 December 2010
Heart to face
God let us be serious.
Face to face.
Heart to heart.
Let us be fully present.
Strongly present.
Deeply serious.
The closest we may come
to innocence.
Amen
By Michael Leunig
Sunday 21 November 2010
Love perfected
Someone very wise once told me that mercy is the proper response of those who have received Gods mercy in abundance.
This got me thinking about how we as the little imperfect ants that we are, are called to perfect Gods love here on earth. Wow, can you believe that God calls US to perfect his love?? How is this even possible...its so beautiful a thought that i can barely fathom this gift.
"No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is perfected in us." 1 John 4 v 12
We can allow the world to see God IN us, and THROUGH us.
It dawned on me that those who have been in desperate need of Gods Mercy and Grace, are far more open and inclined to extend the right hand of Grace, Love and Mercy to those around us and those that God brings into our lives.
I think compassion is the key to true, Godly love.
And we obtain compassion by experiencing our own raw pain. Its hard to imagine what someone is going through without going through it yourself, its a different kind of compassion when you have walked in someone else's shoes.
I think that God truly does work everything together for good, for those who love Him, because even though there is so much suffering and sin in this world and in us, and even though we make poor choices and find ourselves in desperate need of Gods Grace...in turn, we find our own true hearts, our own identity, our own God given significance and our own unique role to play in Gods big plan. We find ourselves feeling overwhelmed with love and compassion for a world that is so broken, our hearts pour out and into those who are in pain, and it is our job as lovers of Christ to help heal that brokenness, weather it be by a kind word, a tear shared, a hand to hold or an understanding that goes deeper and beyond any form of physical comfort.
Lets take our own imperfections and all our bad choices..lets turn them inside out and use them for good.
We can perfect Gods love on earth.
This is what we are called to do.
Lets share and inspire.
Friday 19 November 2010
"The Room" by Brian Moore
In that place between wakefulness and dreams, I found myself in the room. There were no distinguishing features except for the one wall covered with small index card files. They were like the ones in libraries that list titles by author or subject in alphabetical order. But these files, which stretched from floor to ceiling and seemingly endless in either direction, had very different headings.
As I drew near the wall of files, the first to catch my attention was one that read "Girls I have liked." I opened it and began flipping through the cards. I quickly shut it, shocked to realize that I recognized the names written on each one. And then without being told, I knew exactly where I was. This lifeless room with its small files was a crude catalog system for my life. Here were written the actions of my every moment, big and small, in a detail my memory couldn't match. A sense of wonder and curiosity, coupled with horror, stirred within me as I began randomly opening files and exploring their content. Some brought joy and sweet memories; others a sense of shame and regret so intense that I would look over my shoulder to see if anyone was watching.
A file named "Friends" was next to one marked "Friends I have betrayed." The titles ranged from the mundane to the outright weird. "Books I Have Read," "Lies I Have Told," "Comfort I have Given," "Jokes I Have Laughed at."
Some were almost hilarious in their exactness: "Things I've yelled at my brothers." Others I couldn't laugh at: "Things I Have Done in My Anger", "Things I Have Muttered Under My Breath at My Parents." I never ceased to be surprised by the contents Often there were many more cards than expected. Sometimes fewer than I hoped. I was overwhelmed by the sheer volume of the life I had lived.
Could it be possible that I had the time in my years to fill each of these thousands or even millions of cards? But each card confirmed this truth. Each was written in my own handwriting. Each signed with my signature.
When I pulled out the file marked "TV Shows I have watched," I realized the files grew to contain their contents. The cards were packed tightly, and yet after two or three yards, I hadn't found the end of the file. I shut it, shamed, not so much by the quality of shows but more by the vast time I knew that file represented.
When I came to a file marked "Lustful Thoughts," I felt a chill run through my body. I pulled the file out only an inch, not willing to test its size, and drew out a card. I shuddered at its detailed content. I felt sick to think that such a moment had been recorded. An almost animal rage broke on me.
One thought dominated my mind: No one must ever see these cards! No one must ever see this room! I have to destroy them!" In insane frenzy I yanked the file out. Its size didn't matter now. I had to empty it and burn the cards...
But as I took it at one end and began pounding it on the floor, I could not dislodge a single card. I became desperate and pulled out a card, only to find it as strong as steel when I tried to tear it. Defeated and utterly helpless, I returned the file to its slot. Leaning my forehead against the wall, I let out a long, self-pitying sigh.
And then I saw it. The title bore "People I Have Shared the Gospel With." The handle was brighter than those around it, newer, almost unused. I pulled on its handle and a small box not more than three inches long fell into my hands. I could count the cards it contained on one hand.
And then the tears came. I began to weep. Sobs so deep that they hurt. They started in my stomach and shook through me. I fell on my knees and cried. I cried out of shame, from the overwhelming shame of it all. The rows of file shelves swirled in my tear-filled eyes.. No one must ever, ever know of this room. I must lock it up and hide the key. But then as I pushed away the tears, I saw Him.
No, please not Him. Not here. Oh, anyone but Jesus. I watched helplessly as He began to open the files and read the cards. I couldn't bear to watch His response. And in the moments I could bring myself to look at His face, I saw a sorrow deeper than my own. He seemed to intuitively go to the worst boxes.
Why did He have to read every one? Finally He turned and looked at me from across the room. He looked at me with pity in His eyes. But this was a pity that didn't anger me. I dropped my head, covered my face with my hands and began to cry again. He walked over and put His arm around me. He could have said so many things. But He didn't say a word. He just cried with me.
Then He got up and walked back to the wall of files. Starting at one end of the room, He took out a file and, one by one, began to sign His name over mine on each card. "No!" I shouted rushing to Him. All I could find to say was "No, no," as I pulled the card from Him.. His name shouldn't be on these cards. But there it was, written in red so rich, so dark, and so alive.
The name of Jesus covered mine. It was written with His blood. He gently took the card back He smiled a sad smile and began to sign the cards. I don't think I'll ever understand how He did it so quickly, but the next instant it seemed I heard Him close the last file and walk back to my side. He placed His hand on my shoulder and said, "It is finished."
I stood up, and He led me out of the room. There was no lock on its door. There were still cards to be written.
"For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16
As I drew near the wall of files, the first to catch my attention was one that read "Girls I have liked." I opened it and began flipping through the cards. I quickly shut it, shocked to realize that I recognized the names written on each one. And then without being told, I knew exactly where I was. This lifeless room with its small files was a crude catalog system for my life. Here were written the actions of my every moment, big and small, in a detail my memory couldn't match. A sense of wonder and curiosity, coupled with horror, stirred within me as I began randomly opening files and exploring their content. Some brought joy and sweet memories; others a sense of shame and regret so intense that I would look over my shoulder to see if anyone was watching.
A file named "Friends" was next to one marked "Friends I have betrayed." The titles ranged from the mundane to the outright weird. "Books I Have Read," "Lies I Have Told," "Comfort I have Given," "Jokes I Have Laughed at."
Some were almost hilarious in their exactness: "Things I've yelled at my brothers." Others I couldn't laugh at: "Things I Have Done in My Anger", "Things I Have Muttered Under My Breath at My Parents." I never ceased to be surprised by the contents Often there were many more cards than expected. Sometimes fewer than I hoped. I was overwhelmed by the sheer volume of the life I had lived.
Could it be possible that I had the time in my years to fill each of these thousands or even millions of cards? But each card confirmed this truth. Each was written in my own handwriting. Each signed with my signature.
When I pulled out the file marked "TV Shows I have watched," I realized the files grew to contain their contents. The cards were packed tightly, and yet after two or three yards, I hadn't found the end of the file. I shut it, shamed, not so much by the quality of shows but more by the vast time I knew that file represented.
When I came to a file marked "Lustful Thoughts," I felt a chill run through my body. I pulled the file out only an inch, not willing to test its size, and drew out a card. I shuddered at its detailed content. I felt sick to think that such a moment had been recorded. An almost animal rage broke on me.
One thought dominated my mind: No one must ever see these cards! No one must ever see this room! I have to destroy them!" In insane frenzy I yanked the file out. Its size didn't matter now. I had to empty it and burn the cards...
But as I took it at one end and began pounding it on the floor, I could not dislodge a single card. I became desperate and pulled out a card, only to find it as strong as steel when I tried to tear it. Defeated and utterly helpless, I returned the file to its slot. Leaning my forehead against the wall, I let out a long, self-pitying sigh.
And then I saw it. The title bore "People I Have Shared the Gospel With." The handle was brighter than those around it, newer, almost unused. I pulled on its handle and a small box not more than three inches long fell into my hands. I could count the cards it contained on one hand.
And then the tears came. I began to weep. Sobs so deep that they hurt. They started in my stomach and shook through me. I fell on my knees and cried. I cried out of shame, from the overwhelming shame of it all. The rows of file shelves swirled in my tear-filled eyes.. No one must ever, ever know of this room. I must lock it up and hide the key. But then as I pushed away the tears, I saw Him.
No, please not Him. Not here. Oh, anyone but Jesus. I watched helplessly as He began to open the files and read the cards. I couldn't bear to watch His response. And in the moments I could bring myself to look at His face, I saw a sorrow deeper than my own. He seemed to intuitively go to the worst boxes.
Why did He have to read every one? Finally He turned and looked at me from across the room. He looked at me with pity in His eyes. But this was a pity that didn't anger me. I dropped my head, covered my face with my hands and began to cry again. He walked over and put His arm around me. He could have said so many things. But He didn't say a word. He just cried with me.
Then He got up and walked back to the wall of files. Starting at one end of the room, He took out a file and, one by one, began to sign His name over mine on each card. "No!" I shouted rushing to Him. All I could find to say was "No, no," as I pulled the card from Him.. His name shouldn't be on these cards. But there it was, written in red so rich, so dark, and so alive.
The name of Jesus covered mine. It was written with His blood. He gently took the card back He smiled a sad smile and began to sign the cards. I don't think I'll ever understand how He did it so quickly, but the next instant it seemed I heard Him close the last file and walk back to my side. He placed His hand on my shoulder and said, "It is finished."
I stood up, and He led me out of the room. There was no lock on its door. There were still cards to be written.
"For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16
Monday 15 November 2010
Just breathe
Dear God,
Please mold us and change us.
Help us become clay in your hands. Malleable.
Walk with us through our ever changing journey.
Help us to embrace it.
May we have the strength to let go of the things we cannot control,
and have the courage to change the things we can.
Be the breath in our bodies.
Amen.
Past, present, future
The past gives us experience and memories;
the present gives us challenges and opportunities;
the future gives us vision and hope.
William Arthur Ward
For whatever things were written before were written for our learning,
that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.
Romans 15:4
the present gives us challenges and opportunities;
the future gives us vision and hope.
William Arthur Ward
For whatever things were written before were written for our learning,
that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.
Romans 15:4
Sunday 17 October 2010
Hope
To get something you never had, you have to do something you never did. When God takes something from your grasp, He's not punishing you, but merely opening your hands to receive something better. 'The will of God will never take you where the Grace of God will not protect you.'
There comes a point in your life when you realize:
Who matters,
Who never did,
Who won't anymore...
And who always will.
So, don't worry about people from your past,
there's a reason why they didn't make it to your future.
Dear God,
Thank you for your abundant love.
Thank you for your abundant blessings.
Thank you for hope.
Be with us always.
Amen.
There comes a point in your life when you realize:
Who matters,
Who never did,
Who won't anymore...
And who always will.
So, don't worry about people from your past,
there's a reason why they didn't make it to your future.
Dear God,
Thank you for your abundant love.
Thank you for your abundant blessings.
Thank you for hope.
Be with us always.
Amen.
Wednesday 13 October 2010
Walk with Me
The most discussed points about Enoch's life are the questions about how God took him, where and when, and did he really die or not? These may be the most discussed questions, but perhaps some more important questions are: How did Enoch walk with God? and How can we walk with God in the same way as Enoch?
About Enoch's life we read this: "When Enoch had lived sixty five years, he became the father of Methuselah. And after he became the father of Methuselah, Enoch walked with God 300 years and had other sons and daughters. Altogether Enoch lived 365 years. Enoch walked with God, then he was no more, because God took him away." (Genesis 5 v 21 - 24)
The man characteristic of Enoch's life was that he walked with God. What does that mean?
When I go walking with Sharon, we walk together. We hold hands, and as we walk we share intimate conversation together. There is nothing selfish about walking side by side. It is a fellowship thing. Walking together means keeping in step with one another, agreeing together, listening to each other and becoming closer friends for the experience. To do this we need to have time together, time free of other distractions.
So let us make time, as Enoch did, to walk with God. And as we spend time with him let's not only talk, but listen. Allow intimacy to happen, keeping in step with God our Father.
By Robert Prins
www.thinkythings.com
About Enoch's life we read this: "When Enoch had lived sixty five years, he became the father of Methuselah. And after he became the father of Methuselah, Enoch walked with God 300 years and had other sons and daughters. Altogether Enoch lived 365 years. Enoch walked with God, then he was no more, because God took him away." (Genesis 5 v 21 - 24)
The man characteristic of Enoch's life was that he walked with God. What does that mean?
When I go walking with Sharon, we walk together. We hold hands, and as we walk we share intimate conversation together. There is nothing selfish about walking side by side. It is a fellowship thing. Walking together means keeping in step with one another, agreeing together, listening to each other and becoming closer friends for the experience. To do this we need to have time together, time free of other distractions.
So let us make time, as Enoch did, to walk with God. And as we spend time with him let's not only talk, but listen. Allow intimacy to happen, keeping in step with God our Father.
By Robert Prins
www.thinkythings.com
Thursday 23 September 2010
The details
I have been thinking a lot lately about Gods plan, and how big that plan is...and it has prompted me to think about Gods plan for me, if he has one, and weather or not the details of my life matter in the greater scheme of His plan? How involved is God in the details of my life?
Does time and chance really happen to everyone? Or is God really in the finer details? How 'hands' is God in our lives?
Gods plan is massive, however, God is still a father (his Genesis to Revelation description of himself). And I guess we have to reflect on how a father is with his children. Although many people don’t have a ideal father figure to compare this experience with, a father is someone who cares, someone who protects, but also someone who teaches and someone who guides, and sometimes that is by learning the hard way. Tough pill to swallow.
I was talking with Adam Byrnes the other day about this very topic, and he had some pretty cool things to say which I would like to share with you.
Adam B reflected on his own experience as a father and I will quote him:
“As a father I cannot spend 24x7 walking a step ahead of my 3 kids and trying to guide them, protect them, stop them, encourage them, turn them into something. But what I do do is provide them an environment in which to grow.
I occasionally step in and do a "miracle" (eg stop them from running onto the road and getting run over or rolling down a flight of stairs) but generally Shell and I do "providence" (provide an environment in which they can grow by making their own decisions and learning things their own way and occasionally getting really involved by ensuring that certain events or things happen that will be significant in their development).
We choose to provide (a) an environment for growth and (b) to get really hands on in significant developmental matters. I wonder if that is what God provides us today?
That he doesn't care about the minute details of ensuring we get a good car parking space and get to an appointment on time. But that he is in the background working on our environment and at times he does get involved in significant developmental matters.
I have been thinking about this in the life of Jacob. God does the "miracle" thing occasionally for Jacob. But for 40 years, no less, Jacob gets no involvement from God (when at Laban's). And Jacob comes up with this idea to get rich by doing some genetic selective breeding (remember he gets all the cattle to have spotted and speckled offspring which he keeps and basically gets the best part of Laban's flock and ends up rich). The angel appears to him after 40 years and says to him -
"I did not let Laban harm you" (the environment)
"You were not clever in making yourself rich - I was doing it" (God was providentially looking after Jacob in a slightly more hands on way)
So Jacob goes through absolute hell for 40 years with getting cheated in marriage, made to be a slave for Laban for 34 years, getting ripped off in wages etc. Where was God!!??
God made sure that the environment did not harm him and then was influential in matters in the background. Otherwise the rest was up to Jacob.
The more important question is "What was Jacob's plan for God?" rather than "What was God's plan for Jacob?"
I suppose it is a similar question for Abi???....
What is Abi's plan for God? Rather than "What is God's plan for Abi?"
God loves thoroughly. And He loves you thoroughly. So I have no doubt He is interested and watching and loving you. I just wonder if He wants to see what your plan for Him is, rather than the other way around."
So, I think it is natural for us to sit back and wonder about what God is doing and what His plan is and how it is happening. But maybe it is the other way around...... God is "sitting back" and wondering what we are going to do and what our plan is and how we are going to do it. Not "sitting back" in judgement or removed isolation. Sitting back like a father does when a child starts to walk or first rides a bike. Heart full of love and concern and pride and ready to get involved if things start to go sideways.
A loving father.
I totally loved the way that Adam could relate his experience of being a father and compare it with how God could possibly father us as His children.
The other side of the coin for me on this topic is that while it is really awesome that God can give us a taste of what it is like to be a parent to a child, and once that has been experienced, i would imagine your own personal experience with your own child would bring you closer to God in so many ways...however, we are IMPERFECT parents, in every way, and God is a PERFECT father...so does that mean that he would interact with us on a level that we could not even comprehend? God could be as involved as he wanted. I mean, he does know everything before it happens, every word on our lips before we speak it, every mistake we make before we make it...so there is still this little question mark wondering of Gods father skills may precede our earthly experiences?
This brings me to another thought...does God want us to be happy in this life?
In this world filled with hurt, pain and suffering, it hardly seems a happy place to be! How should we feel about this life? Is this life just this thing we have to endure and get through to get to the next? Or is everything in this life that we experience purely to help us be better ambassadors for Christ in the Kingdom? Is it simply a big linking of arms? Like we are all here to help one another and love one another and to learn to be compassionate and completely selfless? Is the journey to find happiness through misery? To find contentment through selflessness?
We know he intends for us to experience joy in this life, but joy is different from happiness...so how important is our happiness to God? Is it just a choice? To be happy no matter what your circumstances? I feel that is a big ask for a lot of broken people in this broken world.
I read Psalm 37 the other day, and it talks about God giving you the desires of your heart. I dont know why but this is something that keeps coming up in my life! The big question is - is that intended for this life or the next? And if God does give us the desires of our heart, and if our desires are in line with Gods desires, then surely our desires would not be about our own lives at all. Surely they would be outwardly focused, so should the desires of our hearts be about everyone else's happiness? Is that they key to finding true happiness?
Too intense??? ;)
Any thoughts?
Does time and chance really happen to everyone? Or is God really in the finer details? How 'hands' is God in our lives?
Gods plan is massive, however, God is still a father (his Genesis to Revelation description of himself). And I guess we have to reflect on how a father is with his children. Although many people don’t have a ideal father figure to compare this experience with, a father is someone who cares, someone who protects, but also someone who teaches and someone who guides, and sometimes that is by learning the hard way. Tough pill to swallow.
I was talking with Adam Byrnes the other day about this very topic, and he had some pretty cool things to say which I would like to share with you.
Adam B reflected on his own experience as a father and I will quote him:
“As a father I cannot spend 24x7 walking a step ahead of my 3 kids and trying to guide them, protect them, stop them, encourage them, turn them into something. But what I do do is provide them an environment in which to grow.
I occasionally step in and do a "miracle" (eg stop them from running onto the road and getting run over or rolling down a flight of stairs) but generally Shell and I do "providence" (provide an environment in which they can grow by making their own decisions and learning things their own way and occasionally getting really involved by ensuring that certain events or things happen that will be significant in their development).
We choose to provide (a) an environment for growth and (b) to get really hands on in significant developmental matters. I wonder if that is what God provides us today?
That he doesn't care about the minute details of ensuring we get a good car parking space and get to an appointment on time. But that he is in the background working on our environment and at times he does get involved in significant developmental matters.
I have been thinking about this in the life of Jacob. God does the "miracle" thing occasionally for Jacob. But for 40 years, no less, Jacob gets no involvement from God (when at Laban's). And Jacob comes up with this idea to get rich by doing some genetic selective breeding (remember he gets all the cattle to have spotted and speckled offspring which he keeps and basically gets the best part of Laban's flock and ends up rich). The angel appears to him after 40 years and says to him -
"I did not let Laban harm you" (the environment)
"You were not clever in making yourself rich - I was doing it" (God was providentially looking after Jacob in a slightly more hands on way)
So Jacob goes through absolute hell for 40 years with getting cheated in marriage, made to be a slave for Laban for 34 years, getting ripped off in wages etc. Where was God!!??
God made sure that the environment did not harm him and then was influential in matters in the background. Otherwise the rest was up to Jacob.
The more important question is "What was Jacob's plan for God?" rather than "What was God's plan for Jacob?"
I suppose it is a similar question for Abi???....
What is Abi's plan for God? Rather than "What is God's plan for Abi?"
God loves thoroughly. And He loves you thoroughly. So I have no doubt He is interested and watching and loving you. I just wonder if He wants to see what your plan for Him is, rather than the other way around."
So, I think it is natural for us to sit back and wonder about what God is doing and what His plan is and how it is happening. But maybe it is the other way around...... God is "sitting back" and wondering what we are going to do and what our plan is and how we are going to do it. Not "sitting back" in judgement or removed isolation. Sitting back like a father does when a child starts to walk or first rides a bike. Heart full of love and concern and pride and ready to get involved if things start to go sideways.
A loving father.
I totally loved the way that Adam could relate his experience of being a father and compare it with how God could possibly father us as His children.
The other side of the coin for me on this topic is that while it is really awesome that God can give us a taste of what it is like to be a parent to a child, and once that has been experienced, i would imagine your own personal experience with your own child would bring you closer to God in so many ways...however, we are IMPERFECT parents, in every way, and God is a PERFECT father...so does that mean that he would interact with us on a level that we could not even comprehend? God could be as involved as he wanted. I mean, he does know everything before it happens, every word on our lips before we speak it, every mistake we make before we make it...so there is still this little question mark wondering of Gods father skills may precede our earthly experiences?
This brings me to another thought...does God want us to be happy in this life?
In this world filled with hurt, pain and suffering, it hardly seems a happy place to be! How should we feel about this life? Is this life just this thing we have to endure and get through to get to the next? Or is everything in this life that we experience purely to help us be better ambassadors for Christ in the Kingdom? Is it simply a big linking of arms? Like we are all here to help one another and love one another and to learn to be compassionate and completely selfless? Is the journey to find happiness through misery? To find contentment through selflessness?
We know he intends for us to experience joy in this life, but joy is different from happiness...so how important is our happiness to God? Is it just a choice? To be happy no matter what your circumstances? I feel that is a big ask for a lot of broken people in this broken world.
I read Psalm 37 the other day, and it talks about God giving you the desires of your heart. I dont know why but this is something that keeps coming up in my life! The big question is - is that intended for this life or the next? And if God does give us the desires of our heart, and if our desires are in line with Gods desires, then surely our desires would not be about our own lives at all. Surely they would be outwardly focused, so should the desires of our hearts be about everyone else's happiness? Is that they key to finding true happiness?
Too intense??? ;)
Any thoughts?
Tuesday 17 August 2010
Thank you God
Thank you God for this day.
Thank you God that I am alive.
Thank you God that I can feel.
Thank you God that I have the power of choice.
Thank you God that I choose you.
Dear God, please choose me too.
Amen.
Thank you God that I am alive.
Thank you God that I can feel.
Thank you God that I have the power of choice.
Thank you God that I choose you.
Dear God, please choose me too.
Amen.
Wednesday 21 July 2010
Present time
"We are so rarely in the present. Within a period of five minutes we are remembering one thing, anticipating something else, unable to focus on the only time that is ours to affect. In moments of intense exertion, physical or emotional, we are forced into the present. Part of the "high" that comes with long distance running is that there comes a point when all we can think about is the next step. There is also a "high" that comes with an emergency because we cannot think beyond what must immediately be done. But why when we are not pushed to our limits, can't our mind simply rest in the present? The present is not boring or routine. It is basically unknown and recovered only with a haze of nastalgia. When we stop skimming the surface and allow ourselves to be fully submerged in the present, we discover depths of beauty and meaning. THE PRESENT IS THE ONLY PLACE WHERE WE CAN FIND GOD."
- Carol Ochs "The Presence in the Desert"
- Carol Ochs "The Presence in the Desert"
Saturday 17 July 2010
Ask God
I asked God to take away my pain.
God said, No. It is not for me to take
away, but for you to give up.
I asked God to make my
handicapped child whole.
God said, No. Her spirit is whole
and her body is only temporary.
I asked God to grant me patience.
God said, No. Patience is a
by-product of tribulations;
it isn't granted, it is earned.
I asked God to give me happiness.
God said, No. I give you blessings.
Happiness is up to you.
I asked God to spare me pain.
God said, No. Suffering draws you
apart from worldly cares and brings
you closer to me.
I asked God to make my spirit grow.
God said, No. You must grow on
your own, but I will prune you to
make you fruitful.
I asked for all things that I
might enjoy life.
God said, No. I will give you life so
that you might enjoy all things.
I asked God to help me LOVE others,
as much as He loves me.
God said...Ahhhh,
finally you have the idea.
Author Unknown
Dear God,
Thank you for loving us.
Thank you for leading us.
Thank you for teaching us.
Thank you for life...
that we may live lives that make you smile.
Thank you for all these things.
Amen
God said, No. It is not for me to take
away, but for you to give up.
I asked God to make my
handicapped child whole.
God said, No. Her spirit is whole
and her body is only temporary.
I asked God to grant me patience.
God said, No. Patience is a
by-product of tribulations;
it isn't granted, it is earned.
I asked God to give me happiness.
God said, No. I give you blessings.
Happiness is up to you.
I asked God to spare me pain.
God said, No. Suffering draws you
apart from worldly cares and brings
you closer to me.
I asked God to make my spirit grow.
God said, No. You must grow on
your own, but I will prune you to
make you fruitful.
I asked for all things that I
might enjoy life.
God said, No. I will give you life so
that you might enjoy all things.
I asked God to help me LOVE others,
as much as He loves me.
God said...Ahhhh,
finally you have the idea.
Author Unknown
Dear God,
Thank you for loving us.
Thank you for leading us.
Thank you for teaching us.
Thank you for life...
that we may live lives that make you smile.
Thank you for all these things.
Amen
Tuesday 13 July 2010
The Blame Game
When you blame others,
you give up your power to change.
Robert Anthony
"And Jesus said, "I tell you the truth,
unless you change, and become like little children,
you will never enter the kingdom of heaven."
Matthew 18:3
you give up your power to change.
Robert Anthony
"And Jesus said, "I tell you the truth,
unless you change, and become like little children,
you will never enter the kingdom of heaven."
Matthew 18:3
Saturday 10 July 2010
Leave a mark
Live life to the fullest. True and honest, begin with yourself and extend it to others. Use your words wisely. Words have power and create influence, do not spread them carelessly. Negative words create negative energy and repel those around you. Live in the positive.
Leave your 'stamp' on everything you do. Make yourself an icon to be admired and respected. Become an inspiration to others-so think carefully before you speak and act. Every action, every word carries a consequence. Create a genuineness about you that is addictive to all those who meet you.
And finally, leave a mark on those you meet that couldn't have been left if you weren't in their lives.
Author Unknown
In all things show yourself to be an example of good deeds,
with purity in doctrine, dignified,
sound in speech which is beyond reproach….
Titus 2:7-8
Leave your 'stamp' on everything you do. Make yourself an icon to be admired and respected. Become an inspiration to others-so think carefully before you speak and act. Every action, every word carries a consequence. Create a genuineness about you that is addictive to all those who meet you.
And finally, leave a mark on those you meet that couldn't have been left if you weren't in their lives.
Author Unknown
In all things show yourself to be an example of good deeds,
with purity in doctrine, dignified,
sound in speech which is beyond reproach….
Titus 2:7-8
Friday 9 July 2010
It takes courage
It takes strength to be firm,
It takes courage to be gentle.
It takes strength to conquer,
It takes courage to surrender.
It takes strength to be certain,
It takes courage to have doubt.
It takes strength to fit in,
It takes courage to stand out.
It takes strength to feel a friend's pain,
It takes courage to feel your own pain.
It takes strength to endure abuse,
It takes courage to stop it.
It takes strength to stand alone,
It takes courage to lean on another.
It takes strength to love,
It takes courage to be loved.
It takes strength to survive,
It takes courage to live.
Author Unknown
Wait for the LORD;
Be strong and let your heart take courage;
Yes, wait for the LORD.
Psalm 27:14
It takes courage to be gentle.
It takes strength to conquer,
It takes courage to surrender.
It takes strength to be certain,
It takes courage to have doubt.
It takes strength to fit in,
It takes courage to stand out.
It takes strength to feel a friend's pain,
It takes courage to feel your own pain.
It takes strength to endure abuse,
It takes courage to stop it.
It takes strength to stand alone,
It takes courage to lean on another.
It takes strength to love,
It takes courage to be loved.
It takes strength to survive,
It takes courage to live.
Author Unknown
Wait for the LORD;
Be strong and let your heart take courage;
Yes, wait for the LORD.
Psalm 27:14
Wednesday 30 June 2010
Finger pointers
I was sitting at church on Sunday listening to a really great talk and we turned up this scripture.
"Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire;
he breaks out against all sound judgment."
Proverbs 18 v 1
This thought might not have anything to do with this verse necessarily, but it got me thinking about isolation and how we usually only look at isolation in a physical context.
Another meaning for isolation is simply "the complete separation from others".
I thought about things that could separate us emotionally from those around us and one thing that sprung to mind is the act of passing judgment on others. I feel quite strongly that when you pass judgment on someone else, you are in fact separating yourself from the rest of humanity. You are elevating yourself to an unrightful place that is unattainable to the rest of humanity.
We are called to be holy, but we are not called to judge.
"Therefore let us not judge one another anymore"
Romans 14 v 13
Let’s face it, we tend to feel strongly about our personal preferences regarding what Christians should and should not do. And, when others violate our spiritual preferences, the finger-pointing begins! Paul doesn’t seem to take sides either, instead he says, “Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. He who regards one day as special, does so to the Lord. He who eats meat, eats to the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who abstains, does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God.” Romans 14 v 5-6. So each and every one of us should be convinced that what we are doing is pleasing to God.
I have been reading a book called "To love and be loved" by Sam Keen, and he talks strongly about learning to love a person holistically and completely. In his book he talks about learning to have empathy for others and that only through empathy, comes a deep and holistic love. One can only love someone holistically if they, like an actor would study a character, take on the life of the person whom we wish to love.
We have to remove ourselves from everything we know to be true, our own pasts, our own life altering experiences and view points, all the hundreds of things that have made us who we are today with the belief and value system we have today, and accumulate information about another person. We need to metaphorically put ourselves in their shoes and walk the life they walked. See the world through their eyes. Only by doing this will we be able to open our minds up to the joys and tragedies that others have lived. Maybe then we would have a little more love...a little more patience...and be a little less judgmental of those we have been called to love...holistically.
"Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire;
he breaks out against all sound judgment."
Proverbs 18 v 1
This thought might not have anything to do with this verse necessarily, but it got me thinking about isolation and how we usually only look at isolation in a physical context.
Another meaning for isolation is simply "the complete separation from others".
I thought about things that could separate us emotionally from those around us and one thing that sprung to mind is the act of passing judgment on others. I feel quite strongly that when you pass judgment on someone else, you are in fact separating yourself from the rest of humanity. You are elevating yourself to an unrightful place that is unattainable to the rest of humanity.
We are called to be holy, but we are not called to judge.
"Therefore let us not judge one another anymore"
Romans 14 v 13
Let’s face it, we tend to feel strongly about our personal preferences regarding what Christians should and should not do. And, when others violate our spiritual preferences, the finger-pointing begins! Paul doesn’t seem to take sides either, instead he says, “Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. He who regards one day as special, does so to the Lord. He who eats meat, eats to the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who abstains, does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God.” Romans 14 v 5-6. So each and every one of us should be convinced that what we are doing is pleasing to God.
I have been reading a book called "To love and be loved" by Sam Keen, and he talks strongly about learning to love a person holistically and completely. In his book he talks about learning to have empathy for others and that only through empathy, comes a deep and holistic love. One can only love someone holistically if they, like an actor would study a character, take on the life of the person whom we wish to love.
We have to remove ourselves from everything we know to be true, our own pasts, our own life altering experiences and view points, all the hundreds of things that have made us who we are today with the belief and value system we have today, and accumulate information about another person. We need to metaphorically put ourselves in their shoes and walk the life they walked. See the world through their eyes. Only by doing this will we be able to open our minds up to the joys and tragedies that others have lived. Maybe then we would have a little more love...a little more patience...and be a little less judgmental of those we have been called to love...holistically.
Thursday 24 June 2010
Who?
Who should we pray to?
If we pray to God does Jesus get jealous? If we pray to Jesus does God get jealous? Do we pray to both?
Imagine going to someone's house and greeting the man of the house and not greeting his partner wife. Do you think this is how Jesus feels when we pray exclusively to God? Is Jesus just the mediator? And what does that really mean? Should we pray to both God and Jesus simultaneously? Or does Jesus rejoice when we pray to God. Should we just pray to God, through Jesus? And what does that mean exactly? Because God asks us to show him love by showing others love. Does that mean if we pray to Jesus that we are actually praying to God?
Any thoughts?
If we pray to God does Jesus get jealous? If we pray to Jesus does God get jealous? Do we pray to both?
Imagine going to someone's house and greeting the man of the house and not greeting his partner wife. Do you think this is how Jesus feels when we pray exclusively to God? Is Jesus just the mediator? And what does that really mean? Should we pray to both God and Jesus simultaneously? Or does Jesus rejoice when we pray to God. Should we just pray to God, through Jesus? And what does that mean exactly? Because God asks us to show him love by showing others love. Does that mean if we pray to Jesus that we are actually praying to God?
Any thoughts?
Thursday 17 June 2010
A prayer for every soul
God be with those who explore in the cause of understanding, whose search takes them far from what is familiar and comfortable and leads them into danger and terrifying loneliness. Let us try to understand their sometimes strange or difficult ways, their confronting or unusual language, the uncommon life of their emotions, for they have been affected and shaped and changed by their struggle at the frontiers of a wild darkness, just as we may be affected, shaped and changed by the insights they bring back to us. Bless them with strength and peace.
Amen.
By Leunig
Amen.
By Leunig
Thursday 27 May 2010
The Search for Self Importance
This is a great article I found on www.relevantmagazine.com - thought I would share it :)
............................
I had a Samsung Black Jack for a couple of years--the cute little red one. Unfortunately, my dog chewed on it one too many times, and some of the buttons stopped working. It did not receive emails, and picture texts were 30 cents each. My husband, who adores his iPhone, kept trying to persuade me to get one as well. It just seemed like too much work to me. Finally after my Black Jack had received it's last phone call and promptly died, I decided it was time to get an iPhone. After all, it would be nice to have all of those apps, right?
Everyone kept telling me, "If you get an iPhone you will love it!" I wasn’t totally convinced, but after a week of app-ing it up and texting pictures like crazy, I admit: I love this thing.
This morning when I was walking into the office, checking my emails on the elevator, I realized why people love the iPhone. Simply put, it makes them feel important. It makes them feel needed. It makes them feel that they are a supply in demand.
Think about the first people who started to carry pocket watches. These were the wealthy gentlemen who were imperative to society like the doctor and the mayor. Their time was so precious and their schedule so important that they had to have access to the time constantly. Before pocket watches, I am sure no one was ever on time. Nothing was pressing and no appointment was set in stone. But those people who carried time with them constantly--they were needed; they were important.
Again we saw this phenomenon with automobiles. All of the sudden someone’s affairs were so important that they had to have faster, more efficient transportation in order to get to their highly exclusive and significant events. I am convinced, that new technology is addicting because it gives people this false sense of self-worth. Any history teacher or stay at home mom can suddenly be the coolest and trendiest person with the help of that new great thing. Do you remember the first family in your neighborhood that got a desktop computer? Now they were cool.
On one hand, feeling important can be good for one’s psyche. It is the fake-til-you-make-it philosophy. I feel important, so I will act important. It is amazing what a little blind confidence can do for someone. But on the other hand, self-importance seems to be something swallowing our culture whole. Everyone wants to be famous. Everyone wants to be cool, creative, artsy. Everyone wants to have a blog—oh, wait a second ...
Everyone wants to feel important. I cannot accept this phenomenon at face value; I think this goes much deeper to an incarnate need we have as humans to feel valued and adored. Every person seeks to meet this need. Amazonian tribal members, who don’t own iPhones, seek importance through the acceptance and respect of the tribe’s elders. Infants seek to know their value displayed on their parents' faces and in the tone of their voices. And twenty-somethings with tiny seedling careers, like me, we seek it through the iPhone.
While the search for self-importance, the search for self-worth, can be extremely destructive when sought through artificial means, this ardent search is unavoidable. It is one reason why we get married, why we have careers and why we have children. It is our default setting, designed by God to make us eternal seekers for what is true, lovely and pure. I think God knew that we would, in a search for worth, pour our lives into our communities, into our children, and into others. I don't think it is an accident or wrong that we do this. Some people might protest that we should not seek to find meaning through avenues aside from Christ, but I believe that when our efforts are relational and not self-seeking, we find God there. One of the greatest surprises in life is when we realize our worth in Christ, and we weren't even looking for it.
by Kate Blackwell
............................
I had a Samsung Black Jack for a couple of years--the cute little red one. Unfortunately, my dog chewed on it one too many times, and some of the buttons stopped working. It did not receive emails, and picture texts were 30 cents each. My husband, who adores his iPhone, kept trying to persuade me to get one as well. It just seemed like too much work to me. Finally after my Black Jack had received it's last phone call and promptly died, I decided it was time to get an iPhone. After all, it would be nice to have all of those apps, right?
Everyone kept telling me, "If you get an iPhone you will love it!" I wasn’t totally convinced, but after a week of app-ing it up and texting pictures like crazy, I admit: I love this thing.
This morning when I was walking into the office, checking my emails on the elevator, I realized why people love the iPhone. Simply put, it makes them feel important. It makes them feel needed. It makes them feel that they are a supply in demand.
Think about the first people who started to carry pocket watches. These were the wealthy gentlemen who were imperative to society like the doctor and the mayor. Their time was so precious and their schedule so important that they had to have access to the time constantly. Before pocket watches, I am sure no one was ever on time. Nothing was pressing and no appointment was set in stone. But those people who carried time with them constantly--they were needed; they were important.
Again we saw this phenomenon with automobiles. All of the sudden someone’s affairs were so important that they had to have faster, more efficient transportation in order to get to their highly exclusive and significant events. I am convinced, that new technology is addicting because it gives people this false sense of self-worth. Any history teacher or stay at home mom can suddenly be the coolest and trendiest person with the help of that new great thing. Do you remember the first family in your neighborhood that got a desktop computer? Now they were cool.
On one hand, feeling important can be good for one’s psyche. It is the fake-til-you-make-it philosophy. I feel important, so I will act important. It is amazing what a little blind confidence can do for someone. But on the other hand, self-importance seems to be something swallowing our culture whole. Everyone wants to be famous. Everyone wants to be cool, creative, artsy. Everyone wants to have a blog—oh, wait a second ...
Everyone wants to feel important. I cannot accept this phenomenon at face value; I think this goes much deeper to an incarnate need we have as humans to feel valued and adored. Every person seeks to meet this need. Amazonian tribal members, who don’t own iPhones, seek importance through the acceptance and respect of the tribe’s elders. Infants seek to know their value displayed on their parents' faces and in the tone of their voices. And twenty-somethings with tiny seedling careers, like me, we seek it through the iPhone.
While the search for self-importance, the search for self-worth, can be extremely destructive when sought through artificial means, this ardent search is unavoidable. It is one reason why we get married, why we have careers and why we have children. It is our default setting, designed by God to make us eternal seekers for what is true, lovely and pure. I think God knew that we would, in a search for worth, pour our lives into our communities, into our children, and into others. I don't think it is an accident or wrong that we do this. Some people might protest that we should not seek to find meaning through avenues aside from Christ, but I believe that when our efforts are relational and not self-seeking, we find God there. One of the greatest surprises in life is when we realize our worth in Christ, and we weren't even looking for it.
by Kate Blackwell
Thought for the day
"Rare is the person who can weigh the faults of others
without putting his thumb on the scale."
- Byron J. Langnefield
"Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit,
but in humility consider others better than yourselves."
Philippians 2:3
without putting his thumb on the scale."
- Byron J. Langnefield
"Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit,
but in humility consider others better than yourselves."
Philippians 2:3
Thursday 20 May 2010
Liquid
Dear God,
Help us to allow you to be liquid in our lives.
Seep into our cracks and crevices and fill our empty spaces.
Allow us the ability to let go and let you flow.
We call on you for every little thing...
no matter how big or how small.
We invite you in.
We love you.
Abide in us.
Amen.
Help us to allow you to be liquid in our lives.
Seep into our cracks and crevices and fill our empty spaces.
Allow us the ability to let go and let you flow.
We call on you for every little thing...
no matter how big or how small.
We invite you in.
We love you.
Abide in us.
Amen.
Tuesday 18 May 2010
Let's get building!
So I heard my first 'lady-exhort' on Sunday at Mt Colah meeting in Sydney...Jenni Pogson gave a brilliant talk and I enjoyed it so much that I asked her if i could share some of her thoughts with you! I hope you find as many gems as I did :) Hurrah! :)
.................................................
Now Haggai is an interesting book, it kind of doesn’t get much attention, it’s hidden away with all the other minor prophets, and it can be sometimes hard to find any encouragement or message from those guys up the back of the Old Testament, let alone trying to pronounce their names right. I’ve always said Haggai, some people say HaggAi, but I think I’ll just stick to what I am used to.
So Haggai was a prophet at a time where the people were back from exile in Babylon and had been living in Jerusalem for some years. These people had been through a lot, they had been living in a completely different country for decades in a foreign culture, a lot of them would know no other life really. I would have taken awhile to get back on their feet, get used to their country again, establish roots and find some normality in their lives. But it had been quite a few years since they had been back, probably about 16 years in fact, and everyone was settled in, had built some very nice houses for themselves. But while they were living these nice lives, God’s house, the Temple, was still lying in ruins. The foundation had actually been laid just after they arrived back in Jerusalem, but never finished, and so it just sat there, neglected and basically in ruins for years and years.
It says in Haggai that the people kept putting it off – “The time has not yet come for the Lord’s house to be built”, they said. They were waiting for the perfect time, a time when they felt it was right to be built. They had to be ready, the conditions had to be right, before they could really make an effort to build God’s house. But God would have none of that. “Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your panelled houses, while this house remains in ruins?” he says through Haggai. The people were so caught up in their own lives, so intent on making a comfortable live for themselves, on focussing on their own concerns and comforts first, that they really had no time to be thinking about God. It was them first, God second. They did not make God a priority in their lives.
Sounds familiar hey. I know it’s so easy to get caught up in our lives, to be concerned about getting our own lives in order, getting a nice house, focusing on doing well at our jobs so we can move up the ladder and do well for ourselves and our family, that God is kind of pushed to the side a little. I mean, we come to church on Sunday, but how much of a sacrifice is that? God’s not interested in playing second, third or fourth fiddle to everything else going on in our lives. He wants to be our whole lives, for us to be so consumed with passion for Him that in permeates every aspect of our every day.
And it’s so easy to think that it really has to be the right time before we can do God’s work. We have to wait for the right moment to really commit ourselves to building God’s house, to build his church, to allow ourselves to do his work here on earth, to put Him first before anything else. But while we wait for the right time, God’s house is lying in ruins. There are people in our community who need us. There are people who are so lonely that just one visit a week from a few friendly people would mean the world to them. There are people who are not able to perform tasks such as mowing their lawn or changing a light bulb, because of a disability or some sort of limitation. And there are people who have everything but feel some sort of emptiness inside and are searching for more, but don’t know where to look. The community needs us, and God needs us to build his house here in Mt Colah.
I know sometimes we’ll do a preaching effort and spend a day really trying to do good and spread the word of God. Sometimes we feel like we have “planted much, but harvested little”. That’s what the people of Haggai’s day felt. They felt they had done some pretty good stuff, but they weren’t seeing the benefits of it. It can sometimes feel like that, can’t it. We do a big preaching day and then are surprised and disappointed that no one responds. Oh well, we say, we tried. We tried to build God’s house, we spent a whole day trying to do it, but no one cared. I guess they are just not interested. Or we do something nice for someone, a good deed, and feel really good about ourselves. I don’t really think this is building God’s house. It may be laying the foundation, but then there’s no follow-up. It takes more than one day to build a house. It takes commitment and it takes care and consistency. It needs to be ongoing, we need to take an interest in people’s lives, rather than just a blitzkrieg and then nothing. If we’re going to build God’s house it takes time and it takes effort.
Haggai said to the people, “go up into the mountains and bring down timber and build the house, that I may take pleasure in it and be honoured”. Going up a mountain takes effort. Going up a mountain and carrying massive trees back down, it’s not just an afternoon activity.
It all just seems like hard work doesn’t it? But it’s not about work, it’s about changing the way we live our lives to be more responsive to what God is leading us to do. It’s putting Him and His work first in our lives. And you know what? God is with us! God says to the people “I am with you”. He is behind us 100%, because it’s not our work we’re doing, it’s His! He’s got this weird way of working where he uses the weakest things you can imagine, us, to complete his will on earth.
So the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerrubabel, the governor of Judah, and Joshua the high priest, and the spirit of the whole remnant of the people, says in verse 14. And they began work on the house of the Lord Almightly, their God.
Do you sometimes feel stirred to do something? You get a sudden enthusiasm for a particular project or idea, and you get really excited, maybe after a conference, or after hearing something, and you just really want to do it! But then after a while things get in the way, and the excitement dies, and then you pretty much forget about it. It happens to me all the time. Did you ever think that maybe God is stirring us to do something? But if that’s true, what happens when we just ignore it and do nothing?
At a recent women’s conference one of the speakers was the founder of the A21 project, an organisation that seeks to end trafficking of women and children around the world and rescue them from sexual slavery. The speaker said on a recent trip to the shelter they have for these women in Greece there was a woman, originally from somewhere in Eastern Europe, who had only been saved from sexual slavery for about two days. She was understandably angry and bitter and still untrusting of the organisation that had helped rescue her. In her broken English she asked the speaker why they had come and why they were doing this work. The speaker said they were Christians and they felt they were doing God’s work in freeing women from bondage and abuse. She felt good she could explain to this woman how great God was that he could free her and others from such horrific circumstances.
Suddenly the woman burst out, “Then why didn’t you come sooner?” The speaker was taken aback, as this was not the response she was expecting. “There are thousands of women who have been in slavery for years, why are you only coming now? Why has God only heard our cries for help now?” the woman asked angrily.
The speaker paused, then said to her: “Honey, God has always heard your cry, it just took me this long to hear it”.
God always hears cries for help. He is not deaf or busy doing something else, he hears the cries from our lips and the cries from our hearts. “When he cries out to me, I will hear, for I am compassionate,” says the Lord in Exodus 22:27.
“The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles,” David writes in Psalm 34:17.
However, the way God works in the world, the way he chooses to do his will and outwork his plan for the earth, is most extraordinary. He uses us. Us, the weak and broken people we are. He uses us to spread his message of love, justice, peace and salvation to the world. He uses the weak things of this world to shame the strong, 1 Corinthians says.
We are Christ's ambassadors, Paul says. Jesus was sent here on the earth to show us that we can become the righteousness of God.
Why does God, all throughout the Bible, urge us to “defend the cause of the weak and the fatherless” (Psalm 82:3), “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute,” (Prov 31:8), “to look after orphans and widows in their distress” (James 1:27). Why doesn’t just God do it himself? Because God works through us for his own purpose, if we allow ourselves to be his instruments. We are the answers to the millions of prayers that rise to God every day, we are the answer to the cries of help from those who are lonely, who need a friend, who need encouragement. But God will not interfere with our free will. He wants us as willing servants. He may want us to be an answer to someone’s prayer, but it is up to us whether we are willing. He may stir us to so something, but it is still up to us whether we do it.
How many answers to prayers have been delayed because we couldn’t be bothered listening to that call in our heart to reach out to someone in need? How many prayers are still waiting to be answered? We are how God defends the cause of the weak and fatherless, we are how God looks after orphans and widows in their distress. But we need to be willing participants in God’s work. The harvest is plenty but the workers are few, Jesus said. Why does God allow suffering and loneliness and injustice in the world? Because we allow it.
So next time we have an urge to call someone we haven’t spoken to in awhile, to help that elderly neighbour do some housework, to send a card, to donate money, to start a project at here at Mt Colah or your church, maybe we shouldn’t ignore it. We may just be the answer to a prayer. It may be God desperately trying to get us to help him do his work. “For it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose” (Philippians 2:13).
We need to respond. We need to build God’s house, we need to get to work! For too long God’s house has remained a ruin while we live comfortably in ours. God is with us! He has asked us to be part of this exciting adventure we call life. If we let him God can take us on an amazing journey, where we can meet amazing people and allow God to touch lives through us, and let him touch our lives as well. We should be honoured that God lets us be a part of his plans. It’s not meant to be a chore, or work, it’s meant to be our life. So let’s live it the way God wants us to, not because that’s what God told us to do, but because our will and his will align so closely together. Let us begin work on the house of the Lord Almighty, our God.
.................................................
Now Haggai is an interesting book, it kind of doesn’t get much attention, it’s hidden away with all the other minor prophets, and it can be sometimes hard to find any encouragement or message from those guys up the back of the Old Testament, let alone trying to pronounce their names right. I’ve always said Haggai, some people say HaggAi, but I think I’ll just stick to what I am used to.
So Haggai was a prophet at a time where the people were back from exile in Babylon and had been living in Jerusalem for some years. These people had been through a lot, they had been living in a completely different country for decades in a foreign culture, a lot of them would know no other life really. I would have taken awhile to get back on their feet, get used to their country again, establish roots and find some normality in their lives. But it had been quite a few years since they had been back, probably about 16 years in fact, and everyone was settled in, had built some very nice houses for themselves. But while they were living these nice lives, God’s house, the Temple, was still lying in ruins. The foundation had actually been laid just after they arrived back in Jerusalem, but never finished, and so it just sat there, neglected and basically in ruins for years and years.
It says in Haggai that the people kept putting it off – “The time has not yet come for the Lord’s house to be built”, they said. They were waiting for the perfect time, a time when they felt it was right to be built. They had to be ready, the conditions had to be right, before they could really make an effort to build God’s house. But God would have none of that. “Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your panelled houses, while this house remains in ruins?” he says through Haggai. The people were so caught up in their own lives, so intent on making a comfortable live for themselves, on focussing on their own concerns and comforts first, that they really had no time to be thinking about God. It was them first, God second. They did not make God a priority in their lives.
Sounds familiar hey. I know it’s so easy to get caught up in our lives, to be concerned about getting our own lives in order, getting a nice house, focusing on doing well at our jobs so we can move up the ladder and do well for ourselves and our family, that God is kind of pushed to the side a little. I mean, we come to church on Sunday, but how much of a sacrifice is that? God’s not interested in playing second, third or fourth fiddle to everything else going on in our lives. He wants to be our whole lives, for us to be so consumed with passion for Him that in permeates every aspect of our every day.
And it’s so easy to think that it really has to be the right time before we can do God’s work. We have to wait for the right moment to really commit ourselves to building God’s house, to build his church, to allow ourselves to do his work here on earth, to put Him first before anything else. But while we wait for the right time, God’s house is lying in ruins. There are people in our community who need us. There are people who are so lonely that just one visit a week from a few friendly people would mean the world to them. There are people who are not able to perform tasks such as mowing their lawn or changing a light bulb, because of a disability or some sort of limitation. And there are people who have everything but feel some sort of emptiness inside and are searching for more, but don’t know where to look. The community needs us, and God needs us to build his house here in Mt Colah.
I know sometimes we’ll do a preaching effort and spend a day really trying to do good and spread the word of God. Sometimes we feel like we have “planted much, but harvested little”. That’s what the people of Haggai’s day felt. They felt they had done some pretty good stuff, but they weren’t seeing the benefits of it. It can sometimes feel like that, can’t it. We do a big preaching day and then are surprised and disappointed that no one responds. Oh well, we say, we tried. We tried to build God’s house, we spent a whole day trying to do it, but no one cared. I guess they are just not interested. Or we do something nice for someone, a good deed, and feel really good about ourselves. I don’t really think this is building God’s house. It may be laying the foundation, but then there’s no follow-up. It takes more than one day to build a house. It takes commitment and it takes care and consistency. It needs to be ongoing, we need to take an interest in people’s lives, rather than just a blitzkrieg and then nothing. If we’re going to build God’s house it takes time and it takes effort.
Haggai said to the people, “go up into the mountains and bring down timber and build the house, that I may take pleasure in it and be honoured”. Going up a mountain takes effort. Going up a mountain and carrying massive trees back down, it’s not just an afternoon activity.
It all just seems like hard work doesn’t it? But it’s not about work, it’s about changing the way we live our lives to be more responsive to what God is leading us to do. It’s putting Him and His work first in our lives. And you know what? God is with us! God says to the people “I am with you”. He is behind us 100%, because it’s not our work we’re doing, it’s His! He’s got this weird way of working where he uses the weakest things you can imagine, us, to complete his will on earth.
So the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerrubabel, the governor of Judah, and Joshua the high priest, and the spirit of the whole remnant of the people, says in verse 14. And they began work on the house of the Lord Almightly, their God.
Do you sometimes feel stirred to do something? You get a sudden enthusiasm for a particular project or idea, and you get really excited, maybe after a conference, or after hearing something, and you just really want to do it! But then after a while things get in the way, and the excitement dies, and then you pretty much forget about it. It happens to me all the time. Did you ever think that maybe God is stirring us to do something? But if that’s true, what happens when we just ignore it and do nothing?
At a recent women’s conference one of the speakers was the founder of the A21 project, an organisation that seeks to end trafficking of women and children around the world and rescue them from sexual slavery. The speaker said on a recent trip to the shelter they have for these women in Greece there was a woman, originally from somewhere in Eastern Europe, who had only been saved from sexual slavery for about two days. She was understandably angry and bitter and still untrusting of the organisation that had helped rescue her. In her broken English she asked the speaker why they had come and why they were doing this work. The speaker said they were Christians and they felt they were doing God’s work in freeing women from bondage and abuse. She felt good she could explain to this woman how great God was that he could free her and others from such horrific circumstances.
Suddenly the woman burst out, “Then why didn’t you come sooner?” The speaker was taken aback, as this was not the response she was expecting. “There are thousands of women who have been in slavery for years, why are you only coming now? Why has God only heard our cries for help now?” the woman asked angrily.
The speaker paused, then said to her: “Honey, God has always heard your cry, it just took me this long to hear it”.
God always hears cries for help. He is not deaf or busy doing something else, he hears the cries from our lips and the cries from our hearts. “When he cries out to me, I will hear, for I am compassionate,” says the Lord in Exodus 22:27.
“The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles,” David writes in Psalm 34:17.
However, the way God works in the world, the way he chooses to do his will and outwork his plan for the earth, is most extraordinary. He uses us. Us, the weak and broken people we are. He uses us to spread his message of love, justice, peace and salvation to the world. He uses the weak things of this world to shame the strong, 1 Corinthians says.
We are Christ's ambassadors, Paul says. Jesus was sent here on the earth to show us that we can become the righteousness of God.
Why does God, all throughout the Bible, urge us to “defend the cause of the weak and the fatherless” (Psalm 82:3), “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute,” (Prov 31:8), “to look after orphans and widows in their distress” (James 1:27). Why doesn’t just God do it himself? Because God works through us for his own purpose, if we allow ourselves to be his instruments. We are the answers to the millions of prayers that rise to God every day, we are the answer to the cries of help from those who are lonely, who need a friend, who need encouragement. But God will not interfere with our free will. He wants us as willing servants. He may want us to be an answer to someone’s prayer, but it is up to us whether we are willing. He may stir us to so something, but it is still up to us whether we do it.
How many answers to prayers have been delayed because we couldn’t be bothered listening to that call in our heart to reach out to someone in need? How many prayers are still waiting to be answered? We are how God defends the cause of the weak and fatherless, we are how God looks after orphans and widows in their distress. But we need to be willing participants in God’s work. The harvest is plenty but the workers are few, Jesus said. Why does God allow suffering and loneliness and injustice in the world? Because we allow it.
So next time we have an urge to call someone we haven’t spoken to in awhile, to help that elderly neighbour do some housework, to send a card, to donate money, to start a project at here at Mt Colah or your church, maybe we shouldn’t ignore it. We may just be the answer to a prayer. It may be God desperately trying to get us to help him do his work. “For it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose” (Philippians 2:13).
We need to respond. We need to build God’s house, we need to get to work! For too long God’s house has remained a ruin while we live comfortably in ours. God is with us! He has asked us to be part of this exciting adventure we call life. If we let him God can take us on an amazing journey, where we can meet amazing people and allow God to touch lives through us, and let him touch our lives as well. We should be honoured that God lets us be a part of his plans. It’s not meant to be a chore, or work, it’s meant to be our life. So let’s live it the way God wants us to, not because that’s what God told us to do, but because our will and his will align so closely together. Let us begin work on the house of the Lord Almighty, our God.
Sunday 16 May 2010
Life
The adventure of life is to learn.
The purpose of life is to grow.
The nature of life is to change.
The challenge of life is to overcome.
The essence of life is to care.
The opportunity of life is to serve.
The secret of life is to dare.
The spice of life is to befriend.
The beauty of life is to give.
By William Arthur Ward
God, please help us to learn, grow, change, overcome, care, serve, dare, befriend and give.
Amen.
The purpose of life is to grow.
The nature of life is to change.
The challenge of life is to overcome.
The essence of life is to care.
The opportunity of life is to serve.
The secret of life is to dare.
The spice of life is to befriend.
The beauty of life is to give.
By William Arthur Ward
God, please help us to learn, grow, change, overcome, care, serve, dare, befriend and give.
Amen.
Wednesday 12 May 2010
The Future
“I am not afraid of tomorrow,
for I have seen yesterday
and I love today.”
- William Allen White
"…In the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing."
2 Timothy 4:8
by BlueRose
for I have seen yesterday
and I love today.”
- William Allen White
"…In the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing."
2 Timothy 4:8
by BlueRose
Sunday 9 May 2010
Hope
God help us
If our world should grow dark
And there is no way of seeing or knowing.
Grant us courage and trust
To touch and be touched
To find our way onwards
By feeling.
Amen.
By Leunig
If our world should grow dark
And there is no way of seeing or knowing.
Grant us courage and trust
To touch and be touched
To find our way onwards
By feeling.
Amen.
By Leunig
Tuesday 4 May 2010
The 8 Happiness Rules
1. Keep your mind stored with positive, constructive thoughts.
"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."
Philippians 4:8
2. Look for the beautiful, simple and pleasant things in life.
"God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good."
Genesis 1:24-25
3. Adjust yourself to whatever happens in life so you can make the best of it.
"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."
James 1:2
4. Live in the present instead of worrying about the past or future.
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?"
Matthew 6:25 – 34
5. Give every man a square deal, whether he be prince or pauper.
"He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."
Micah 6:8
6. Do your job, no matter how humble it may be, with the best efforts you can give.
"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving."
Colossians 3:23-24
7. Do something for someone every day.
"Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven."
Matthew 5:16
8. Have faith in yourself, in others and in God.
"Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun."
Psalm 37:5-6
"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."
Philippians 4:8
2. Look for the beautiful, simple and pleasant things in life.
"God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good."
Genesis 1:24-25
3. Adjust yourself to whatever happens in life so you can make the best of it.
"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."
James 1:2
4. Live in the present instead of worrying about the past or future.
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?"
Matthew 6:25 – 34
5. Give every man a square deal, whether he be prince or pauper.
"He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."
Micah 6:8
6. Do your job, no matter how humble it may be, with the best efforts you can give.
"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving."
Colossians 3:23-24
7. Do something for someone every day.
"Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven."
Matthew 5:16
8. Have faith in yourself, in others and in God.
"Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun."
Psalm 37:5-6
Saturday 1 May 2010
Bless us
God bless our contradictions, those parts of us which seem out of character.
Let us be boldly and gladly out of character.
Let us be creatures of paradox and variety: creatures of contrast, of light and shade: creatures of faith.
God be our constant.
Let us step out of character into the unknown, to struggle and love and do what we will.
Amen.
by Leunig
Let us be boldly and gladly out of character.
Let us be creatures of paradox and variety: creatures of contrast, of light and shade: creatures of faith.
God be our constant.
Let us step out of character into the unknown, to struggle and love and do what we will.
Amen.
by Leunig
Wednesday 28 April 2010
Freedom in Christ
What does it truly mean to have freedom in Christ?
When I think of freedom in Christ, I think of a life that is lived fearlessly. I think of the peace that God fills us with when we
surround ourselves with Him. I think of the freedom I feel when I am comforted by the knowledge that God loves me, and how He desperately desires me to be in His Kingdom, and I think of a life filled with hope that I will be there. I think of His Grace & Mercy, and His abundant forgiveness...I think of Romans 8:1 and that there is no condemnation in Christ Jesus who strengthens me. I think of Psalm 139 and how God knows every word I pray before i pray it, every word i speak before I speak it. I think of the freedom I have to make brave, bold and daring decisions knowing full well that 'Gods got my back' and knows my decisions ahead of time, and uses them for His greater purpose and for the good of those around me. "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28.
Although all these things that spring to mind represent freedom in Christ to me, Gods greatest commandment to us is to firstly, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind", and secondly to "Love your neighbor as yourself." - Matthew 22:37-39. So Jesus wants us to love one another and serve one another, but first and foremost, Jesus wants our total devotion and love for Him. It is from hearts filled with love for Him that all good works and acts of love flow. Through love, we can experience freedom. But with the freedom comes the other side of the coin: responsibility. We are free to do, but we are responsible to love. We are free to eat and drink, but we are responsible to give and share what we have. We are free to accept the full grace of God, but we are responsible to share this good news.
Freedom in Christ is to do what we know is right without fear of judgement, and it's to give others the freedom to do the same.
So does freedom in Christ mean we have the freedom to behave and do whatever we like? No way! Churches were told off by Paul and the other apostles for using freedom in Christ as a scapegoat for their bad behavior. "What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? " Romans 6:1 - 2.
"Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor." 1 Peter 2:16.
We are free from many things. A huge list, in fact. Sin, the law (unclean/clean etc), fear, worry and so much more. So, yes, we are free. We are so totally free. But we can't forget the other side of the coin: we are so, so totally responsible.
So what is Freedom in Christ then? I think it is the peace of mind that we are covered by the blood of Christ...but also acknowledging the sacred responsibility we have to love and show love to others. To be free can be summed up by this statement: to both love and be loved ridiculously, ceaselessly and completely.
What amazing freedom that is.
When I think of freedom in Christ, I think of a life that is lived fearlessly. I think of the peace that God fills us with when we
surround ourselves with Him. I think of the freedom I feel when I am comforted by the knowledge that God loves me, and how He desperately desires me to be in His Kingdom, and I think of a life filled with hope that I will be there. I think of His Grace & Mercy, and His abundant forgiveness...I think of Romans 8:1 and that there is no condemnation in Christ Jesus who strengthens me. I think of Psalm 139 and how God knows every word I pray before i pray it, every word i speak before I speak it. I think of the freedom I have to make brave, bold and daring decisions knowing full well that 'Gods got my back' and knows my decisions ahead of time, and uses them for His greater purpose and for the good of those around me. "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28.
Although all these things that spring to mind represent freedom in Christ to me, Gods greatest commandment to us is to firstly, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind", and secondly to "Love your neighbor as yourself." - Matthew 22:37-39. So Jesus wants us to love one another and serve one another, but first and foremost, Jesus wants our total devotion and love for Him. It is from hearts filled with love for Him that all good works and acts of love flow. Through love, we can experience freedom. But with the freedom comes the other side of the coin: responsibility. We are free to do, but we are responsible to love. We are free to eat and drink, but we are responsible to give and share what we have. We are free to accept the full grace of God, but we are responsible to share this good news.
Freedom in Christ is to do what we know is right without fear of judgement, and it's to give others the freedom to do the same.
So does freedom in Christ mean we have the freedom to behave and do whatever we like? No way! Churches were told off by Paul and the other apostles for using freedom in Christ as a scapegoat for their bad behavior. "What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? " Romans 6:1 - 2.
"Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor." 1 Peter 2:16.
We are free from many things. A huge list, in fact. Sin, the law (unclean/clean etc), fear, worry and so much more. So, yes, we are free. We are so totally free. But we can't forget the other side of the coin: we are so, so totally responsible.
So what is Freedom in Christ then? I think it is the peace of mind that we are covered by the blood of Christ...but also acknowledging the sacred responsibility we have to love and show love to others. To be free can be summed up by this statement: to both love and be loved ridiculously, ceaselessly and completely.
What amazing freedom that is.
Be thankful
Be thankful that you don't already have everything you desire,
If you did, what would there be to look forward to?
Be thankful when you don't know something
For it gives you the opportunity to learn.
Be thankful for the difficult times.
During those times you grow.
Be thankful for your limitations
Because they give you opportunities for improvement.
Be thankful for each new challenge
Because it will build your strength and character.
Be thankful for your mistakes
They will teach you valuable lessons.
Be thankful when you're tired and weary
Because it means you've made a difference.
It is easy to be thankful for the good things.
A life of rich fulfillment comes to those who are
also thankful for the setbacks.
GRATITUDE can turn a negative into a positive.
Find a way to be thankful for your troubles
and they can become your blessing.
Author unknown.
"Now therefore, our God, we thank You, and praise Your glorious name.”
1 Chronicles 29:13
Through Jesus then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name.
Hebrews 13:15
If you did, what would there be to look forward to?
Be thankful when you don't know something
For it gives you the opportunity to learn.
Be thankful for the difficult times.
During those times you grow.
Be thankful for your limitations
Because they give you opportunities for improvement.
Be thankful for each new challenge
Because it will build your strength and character.
Be thankful for your mistakes
They will teach you valuable lessons.
Be thankful when you're tired and weary
Because it means you've made a difference.
It is easy to be thankful for the good things.
A life of rich fulfillment comes to those who are
also thankful for the setbacks.
GRATITUDE can turn a negative into a positive.
Find a way to be thankful for your troubles
and they can become your blessing.
Author unknown.
"Now therefore, our God, we thank You, and praise Your glorious name.”
1 Chronicles 29:13
Through Jesus then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name.
Hebrews 13:15
Wednesday 21 April 2010
Dinner date with God
Have you ever wondered why it is that we have the ability to make so much time for the people we have in our lives, the beautiful, tangible relationships that God has blessed us with here on earth and given us as a gift to mirror our relationship with Him, but yet for some reason the concept of putting time aside to spend with God, our Creator and our Maker, just seems like a mentally and physically impossible task! Why does spending time with the tangible relationships we have in our lives come more naturally? But yet, to put time aside for a simple 'dinner date with God' seems so unnatural? We visit friends over copious cups of coffee, we spend lazy days at the beach with our families, we go out on dinner dates with our boyfriends and husbands...I could go on but I think you get the picture?
For some reason, making time for God is just not an easy task, especially when you have so much on your plate and so many of life's daily responsibilities! Maybe there is something about the way we live our lives today that's unnatural...nothing about this life seems natural to me, not even the food we eat! It's a constant mental and physical struggle! But its so important to fight for time with God, weather it means unplugging the phone, or putting your mobile on silent for a few hours...arranging child care if you need to, or staying up when everyone is asleep...its well worth it! He makes it worth it!
I needed God to be more tangible, more real in my life, and by setting time aside, and having these little 'dinner dates with God' I feel I have become far more captivated by His beauty. It is rich. It is good. And in order to peruse intimacy with God you will no doubt have to fight for it. You will need to fight the busyness. Youll need to fight accusations. And so much more.
I've come to realise that the more we come to know God truly, as He is, the more we come to know ourselves truly, we become who He created us to be. As God reveals His identity to us, he also reveals our own identity to us.
In Him we find contentment.
In Him we find true reflections ourselves.
"Give thanks to the LORD,
call upon his name,
make known his deeds among the peoples,
proclaim that his name is exalted.
Sing praises to the LORD, for he has done gloriously;
let this be made known in all the earth.
Shout, and sing for joy, O inhabitant of Zion,
for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel."
Isaiah 12: 4-6
For some reason, making time for God is just not an easy task, especially when you have so much on your plate and so many of life's daily responsibilities! Maybe there is something about the way we live our lives today that's unnatural...nothing about this life seems natural to me, not even the food we eat! It's a constant mental and physical struggle! But its so important to fight for time with God, weather it means unplugging the phone, or putting your mobile on silent for a few hours...arranging child care if you need to, or staying up when everyone is asleep...its well worth it! He makes it worth it!
I needed God to be more tangible, more real in my life, and by setting time aside, and having these little 'dinner dates with God' I feel I have become far more captivated by His beauty. It is rich. It is good. And in order to peruse intimacy with God you will no doubt have to fight for it. You will need to fight the busyness. Youll need to fight accusations. And so much more.
I've come to realise that the more we come to know God truly, as He is, the more we come to know ourselves truly, we become who He created us to be. As God reveals His identity to us, he also reveals our own identity to us.
In Him we find contentment.
In Him we find true reflections ourselves.
"Give thanks to the LORD,
call upon his name,
make known his deeds among the peoples,
proclaim that his name is exalted.
Sing praises to the LORD, for he has done gloriously;
let this be made known in all the earth.
Shout, and sing for joy, O inhabitant of Zion,
for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel."
Isaiah 12: 4-6
Monday 19 April 2010
Rise up
Dear God,
We struggle, we grow weary, we grow tired.
We are exhausted, we are distressed, we despair.
We give up, we fall down, we let go. We cry.
We are empty, we grow calm, we are ready.
We wait quietly.
A small, shy truth arrives.
Arrives from without and within.
Arrives and is born.
Simple, steady, clear.
Like a mirror, like a bell, like a flame.
Like rain in summer.
A precious trough arrives and is born within us.
Within our emptiness.
We accept it, we observe it, we absorb it.
We surrender to our bare truth.
We are nourished, we are changed.
We are blessed.
We rise up.
For this we give thanks.
Amen.
We struggle, we grow weary, we grow tired.
We are exhausted, we are distressed, we despair.
We give up, we fall down, we let go. We cry.
We are empty, we grow calm, we are ready.
We wait quietly.
A small, shy truth arrives.
Arrives from without and within.
Arrives and is born.
Simple, steady, clear.
Like a mirror, like a bell, like a flame.
Like rain in summer.
A precious trough arrives and is born within us.
Within our emptiness.
We accept it, we observe it, we absorb it.
We surrender to our bare truth.
We are nourished, we are changed.
We are blessed.
We rise up.
For this we give thanks.
Amen.
Wednesday 14 April 2010
Thinky things
A good friend sent me the email below and I wanted to post it because I think it holds a lot of value and has some great points...its short and to the point...for a change ;)
Ephesians 1
CHOSEN TO BE HOLY AND BLAMELESS
"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight." (Ephesians 1 v 3 - 4)
How often do we think about the fact that we personally were chosen, long before we were even born, to be holy and blameless in the sight of God? If you are anything like me, this thought does not pop into my mind very often at all. Yet I am sure that if it became part of our conscious thinking, realising that we have been chosen to be holy and blameless in the sight of God, then we would make so much more effort ourselves to live up to that expectation.
It is true that even with all the hard work and trying that we can muster, we may improve somewhat, but we will never become perfect. That is why Paul continues, saying, "In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding." (v 7 - 8) We have been chosen to be holy and blameless in God's sight, and he has provided the grace of forgiveness to cover our shortcomings when we fail.
What an awesome calling we have and what amazing grace we have been given to help us move toward that calling.
Let us remember our calling, do our best to live up to it, and rely on God's grace for the rest.
1 Corinthians 8
RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD AND JESUS
As Christians it should be our greatest aim to build up our relationship with God and Jesus. There are two ways we can do this.
The first is by learning all about them through reading and study and talking about them with other people. By doing this we are going to build up a very detailed picture of their characters, nature, plans and other details of what they are like and what they do.
The other way is to love them, talk to them and show them our love in the things that we do for them.
Imagine finding the person you think would make the perfect partner for life. You have fallen in love! What are you going to do about it? Are you going to study them from afar, find out all their intimate details - date of birth, favorite colour, their full name and address, the schools they went to and so on, until you can relate their history better than they can? Or will you talk to them, do things for them, allow them to get to know you, and spend time with them? Obviously spending time with them and showing love to them is going to build the relationship much better than just knowing all about them.
The same goes for our relationship with God and Jesus. Pauls words were these: "Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up." (1 Corinthians 8 v 1)
Let's be those who put our knowledge into action and build our relationship in practical, everyday love.
May our thanksgiving and love for the grace of God grow more and more each day.
Ephesians 1
CHOSEN TO BE HOLY AND BLAMELESS
"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight." (Ephesians 1 v 3 - 4)
How often do we think about the fact that we personally were chosen, long before we were even born, to be holy and blameless in the sight of God? If you are anything like me, this thought does not pop into my mind very often at all. Yet I am sure that if it became part of our conscious thinking, realising that we have been chosen to be holy and blameless in the sight of God, then we would make so much more effort ourselves to live up to that expectation.
It is true that even with all the hard work and trying that we can muster, we may improve somewhat, but we will never become perfect. That is why Paul continues, saying, "In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding." (v 7 - 8) We have been chosen to be holy and blameless in God's sight, and he has provided the grace of forgiveness to cover our shortcomings when we fail.
What an awesome calling we have and what amazing grace we have been given to help us move toward that calling.
Let us remember our calling, do our best to live up to it, and rely on God's grace for the rest.
1 Corinthians 8
RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD AND JESUS
As Christians it should be our greatest aim to build up our relationship with God and Jesus. There are two ways we can do this.
The first is by learning all about them through reading and study and talking about them with other people. By doing this we are going to build up a very detailed picture of their characters, nature, plans and other details of what they are like and what they do.
The other way is to love them, talk to them and show them our love in the things that we do for them.
Imagine finding the person you think would make the perfect partner for life. You have fallen in love! What are you going to do about it? Are you going to study them from afar, find out all their intimate details - date of birth, favorite colour, their full name and address, the schools they went to and so on, until you can relate their history better than they can? Or will you talk to them, do things for them, allow them to get to know you, and spend time with them? Obviously spending time with them and showing love to them is going to build the relationship much better than just knowing all about them.
The same goes for our relationship with God and Jesus. Pauls words were these: "Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up." (1 Corinthians 8 v 1)
Let's be those who put our knowledge into action and build our relationship in practical, everyday love.
May our thanksgiving and love for the grace of God grow more and more each day.
Thursday 8 April 2010
Welcome Home
A couple of months ago, while I was in Australia, I got some really devastating news that my folks had to sell our family home in South Africa. This is the home where I used to jump off our rockery into our pool on lazy saturday afternoons, the home where I put my childhood art up on the fridge, the home where I discovered saying a bad word would result in a thrashing from dad, the home where we spent sunday after sunday eating moms home cooked meals under our big old tree in the back yard...this was my home...my home that held so many amazing, and not so amazing memories...but memories all the same...this home was a part of me, and to let it go...would be much like loosing a part of myself.
When I think about home, I think of 42 Princess Alice Avenue, in the heart of Durban - the city of diversity. This home is tangible for me right now, I can sit here in Cambodia and literally be back there in a second flat...I can close my eyes and walk up and down the upstairs landing...I can smell the wooden floor boards, and the delicate scent of the flowers that bloomed in spring time, its real to me, because I lived in it every day!
The way I saw my family home, is the way I want to see the Kingdom...I want to be able to close my eyes and be there...I want to imagine the smells, and what it will feel like to walk next to Jesus in the streets of Jerusalem. I want to know what it will be like, I want to see it, I want it to be tangible, I want the Kingdom to be home. I want to be a part of Gods big, broad, funny family...and I want to live it now...today.
So my question today is this...
How do we live the Kingdom today...so that we can live the Kingdom tomorrow?
And what is required of us? How do we live the Kingdom today?
Scripture tells us, "He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." - Micah 6:8
But what does it really mean to act justly? and to love mercy? and to walk humbly with God?
When I think about it, it has to start with Jesus.
"Let this mind be in you that was also in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 2:5).
The more I read the bible and study it, the more im starting to see why God sent Jesus to us, and the beauty in His life and the way He lived His life here on earth. Ive always know that God sent Jesus to be an example for us to live our lives by, but I think that concept is only just beginning to take form in my mind. I think that we have to not only want to BE like Jesus, but that we need to want to LIVE like he did.
The more I think about it, the more I see how Jesus was not concerned with himself, he was not self obsessed...so why should we be? I feel like were all far too concerned with what we want and what we 'deserve'...and I think we need a wake up call!! We need to realise why we are hear, and that the reason God put us on this earth all together like a big jar of jelly beans, is because, as I see it, were supposed to be a support to one another. A help to one another. The way I see it, is its not about you...and its not about me...its about EVERYONE ELSE!
Its not about one person winning the race...its about frantically grabbing someone else's hand and trying to make sure THEY finish the race. Jesus came as a servant to the people, and we must be a servant to one another. Brother, sister, let me serve you, let me be as Christ to you. "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many." - Mark 10:45. "He emptied Himself by assuming the form of a slave. He humbled Himself by being obedient, even to death." - Philippians 2:7-8.
So how do we take on this massive challenge God has set before us to become servants to one another? It says in John 13: 1 - 20 that Jesus "began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel". In order to fulfill the mission of spreading the gospel, the disciples would need to learn to serve. Pride and arrogance would compromise the disciples' relationship with God, with each other, and with the people they were trying to save. Humility and service to others is the evidence of love.
It's an important and great lesson for us! We can draw so much inspiration from this simple act of servanthood that Christ performed. People always seem to line up to do the tasks that are considered important, glamorous, or respected. But Jesus showed humility by doing the task that no one wanted to do. He washed his disciples' feet - a dirty job usually performed by the lowest ranking person in the room. Was Jesus the lowest ranking person? No. He was Lord, Teacher and Servant. He knew he would soon be at Gods right hand in heaven. Did he think it was too lowly a task for him to do? No. Are there tasks that we don't want to do because they are considered 'lowly'? Because they are dirty? Because they are 'uncool' or hard? And aren't those the jobs that most need to be done? And won't God reward those who do His work? We need to be willing to do whatever is needed. Jesus was not only willing, but he prepared himself to do this service. Have we made plans to serve others? I think if we can begin to live our lives like this, like Jesus did, we will be a step closer to living the Kingdom today.
Another thing I think is important to notice about Jesus is that He lead by example. What a beautiful way to influence others! No one I know ever managed to influence someone just by words alone. Jesus is the perfect example to live our lives by. Jesus set the standard by which all future leadership is to be assessed. He was the natural leader. He did not have to raise His voice to be heard. He didn't need to strike the synagogue pulpit to be heard. When He entered the room, a hush fell over the people. He was a born leader. He lead by taking action.
Jesus led by the quality of His life.
He led a life of depth and compassion. When his friend Lazarus was declared dead, the Scriptures tell us that this strong leader, Jesus, wept for His friend (John 11:35). WOW!! Jesus wept! Jesus also felt raw emotion like we do...how awesome! And when the sister of Lazarus was under pressure from Martha, Jesus came to her defense (Luke 10:42). So we can see that leadership without compassion is arid and sterile. Jesus, a strong, bold leader, revealed a sensitivity and compassion that enhanced and balanced His strength of character and leadership. Jesus sets the example for leadership and He calls us to follow.
We need to draw from the example of Christ, to see how we can live the Kingdom today. After all, Christ lived the Kingdom in His time, and by His example, we can live it today.
I think the more we get to know Jesus, the more vivid our vision of the Kingdom becomes. I think we start to taste it, smell it, see it, feel it, and once we get to that point, where we know Jesus so well that we know what its like to walk in His shoes, and walk beside Him, we can close our eyes and be right there with Him, we can begin to feel the intoxicating excitement that comes with living an eternity with our friend, servant and Lord...Jesus!
So what do we need to do? We need to live simple, humble lives. Live lives with fearlessness and reckless abandon, forgiveness, grace and mercy. Swim upstream when every natural inclination in us, is to let the current just effortlessly carry us. Lets eat on the sabbath and share a meal with a beggar instead of a person of 'worth and privilege', lets live outside of the box, live boldly & bravely, live with passion and sincerity, with love and compassion. Lets rebel against the norm. Lets live like Jesus did. Then we will be living the Kingdom today, so that we can live the Kingdom tomorrow. For eternity!
Welcome home indeed! :)
2 Cor 6:2 - "Behold now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation."
Any other ideas or examples by Jesus of how we can live the Kingdom today?
When I think about home, I think of 42 Princess Alice Avenue, in the heart of Durban - the city of diversity. This home is tangible for me right now, I can sit here in Cambodia and literally be back there in a second flat...I can close my eyes and walk up and down the upstairs landing...I can smell the wooden floor boards, and the delicate scent of the flowers that bloomed in spring time, its real to me, because I lived in it every day!
The way I saw my family home, is the way I want to see the Kingdom...I want to be able to close my eyes and be there...I want to imagine the smells, and what it will feel like to walk next to Jesus in the streets of Jerusalem. I want to know what it will be like, I want to see it, I want it to be tangible, I want the Kingdom to be home. I want to be a part of Gods big, broad, funny family...and I want to live it now...today.
So my question today is this...
How do we live the Kingdom today...so that we can live the Kingdom tomorrow?
And what is required of us? How do we live the Kingdom today?
Scripture tells us, "He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." - Micah 6:8
But what does it really mean to act justly? and to love mercy? and to walk humbly with God?
When I think about it, it has to start with Jesus.
"Let this mind be in you that was also in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 2:5).
The more I read the bible and study it, the more im starting to see why God sent Jesus to us, and the beauty in His life and the way He lived His life here on earth. Ive always know that God sent Jesus to be an example for us to live our lives by, but I think that concept is only just beginning to take form in my mind. I think that we have to not only want to BE like Jesus, but that we need to want to LIVE like he did.
The more I think about it, the more I see how Jesus was not concerned with himself, he was not self obsessed...so why should we be? I feel like were all far too concerned with what we want and what we 'deserve'...and I think we need a wake up call!! We need to realise why we are hear, and that the reason God put us on this earth all together like a big jar of jelly beans, is because, as I see it, were supposed to be a support to one another. A help to one another. The way I see it, is its not about you...and its not about me...its about EVERYONE ELSE!
Its not about one person winning the race...its about frantically grabbing someone else's hand and trying to make sure THEY finish the race. Jesus came as a servant to the people, and we must be a servant to one another. Brother, sister, let me serve you, let me be as Christ to you. "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many." - Mark 10:45. "He emptied Himself by assuming the form of a slave. He humbled Himself by being obedient, even to death." - Philippians 2:7-8.
So how do we take on this massive challenge God has set before us to become servants to one another? It says in John 13: 1 - 20 that Jesus "began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel". In order to fulfill the mission of spreading the gospel, the disciples would need to learn to serve. Pride and arrogance would compromise the disciples' relationship with God, with each other, and with the people they were trying to save. Humility and service to others is the evidence of love.
It's an important and great lesson for us! We can draw so much inspiration from this simple act of servanthood that Christ performed. People always seem to line up to do the tasks that are considered important, glamorous, or respected. But Jesus showed humility by doing the task that no one wanted to do. He washed his disciples' feet - a dirty job usually performed by the lowest ranking person in the room. Was Jesus the lowest ranking person? No. He was Lord, Teacher and Servant. He knew he would soon be at Gods right hand in heaven. Did he think it was too lowly a task for him to do? No. Are there tasks that we don't want to do because they are considered 'lowly'? Because they are dirty? Because they are 'uncool' or hard? And aren't those the jobs that most need to be done? And won't God reward those who do His work? We need to be willing to do whatever is needed. Jesus was not only willing, but he prepared himself to do this service. Have we made plans to serve others? I think if we can begin to live our lives like this, like Jesus did, we will be a step closer to living the Kingdom today.
Another thing I think is important to notice about Jesus is that He lead by example. What a beautiful way to influence others! No one I know ever managed to influence someone just by words alone. Jesus is the perfect example to live our lives by. Jesus set the standard by which all future leadership is to be assessed. He was the natural leader. He did not have to raise His voice to be heard. He didn't need to strike the synagogue pulpit to be heard. When He entered the room, a hush fell over the people. He was a born leader. He lead by taking action.
Jesus led by the quality of His life.
He led a life of depth and compassion. When his friend Lazarus was declared dead, the Scriptures tell us that this strong leader, Jesus, wept for His friend (John 11:35). WOW!! Jesus wept! Jesus also felt raw emotion like we do...how awesome! And when the sister of Lazarus was under pressure from Martha, Jesus came to her defense (Luke 10:42). So we can see that leadership without compassion is arid and sterile. Jesus, a strong, bold leader, revealed a sensitivity and compassion that enhanced and balanced His strength of character and leadership. Jesus sets the example for leadership and He calls us to follow.
We need to draw from the example of Christ, to see how we can live the Kingdom today. After all, Christ lived the Kingdom in His time, and by His example, we can live it today.
I think the more we get to know Jesus, the more vivid our vision of the Kingdom becomes. I think we start to taste it, smell it, see it, feel it, and once we get to that point, where we know Jesus so well that we know what its like to walk in His shoes, and walk beside Him, we can close our eyes and be right there with Him, we can begin to feel the intoxicating excitement that comes with living an eternity with our friend, servant and Lord...Jesus!
So what do we need to do? We need to live simple, humble lives. Live lives with fearlessness and reckless abandon, forgiveness, grace and mercy. Swim upstream when every natural inclination in us, is to let the current just effortlessly carry us. Lets eat on the sabbath and share a meal with a beggar instead of a person of 'worth and privilege', lets live outside of the box, live boldly & bravely, live with passion and sincerity, with love and compassion. Lets rebel against the norm. Lets live like Jesus did. Then we will be living the Kingdom today, so that we can live the Kingdom tomorrow. For eternity!
Welcome home indeed! :)
2 Cor 6:2 - "Behold now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation."
Any other ideas or examples by Jesus of how we can live the Kingdom today?
Wednesday 7 April 2010
Simple things...
Dear God,
Thank you for quiet places
Thank you for open spaces
Thank you for all things green,
and even for the things unseen
Thank you for diversity,
and the beauty in simplicity
Thank you that we get to be bold and brave,
and that we know we are yours to save
Thank you for my spiritual heart,
one that can be set apart.
Amen
Thank you for quiet places
Thank you for open spaces
Thank you for all things green,
and even for the things unseen
Thank you for diversity,
and the beauty in simplicity
Thank you that we get to be bold and brave,
and that we know we are yours to save
Thank you for my spiritual heart,
one that can be set apart.
Amen
Friday 2 April 2010
Why did Jesus need to die?
"I can't understand why Jesus died?
Why did Jesus die and how did that save us?
God could have saved us anyway He wanted, He can do anything, so why did we need Jesus to die?
And how did His blood give us life?
God didn't need blood to forgive us... if He did, surely that is limiting His power?
These are my questions at the moment, so basic but fundamental."
These are some thoughts and questions from one friend to another :)
Meale, this one is for you! :)
.....................................................................
So all these questions got me thinking...and I am NO expert on the subject, most of this is just random ideas - and I don't have any scriptures to back it up (enter Bazza) - but I had a few thoughts about it and wondered if anyone else could shed some light on these questions :)
I have 2 thoughts:
Firstly, I'm not totally sure why Christ had to die...Maybe Christ didn't necessarily HAVE to die...is it possible that God knew that the world could not accept and hold such perfect love and He knew Christ would be rejected and crucified because of it?
Im not sure that it was the ONLY way God could save us...but its the way that things panned out maybe? Im not sure that God NEEDED BLOOD! I think God knew that WE needed blood! Because we are such crazy brutal people, maybe we were the ones who required Jesus' blood, not God. Is it possible that God just knew from the beginning of time what would eventuate and He worked through that and used Christ's suffering as a portal for our Salvation? Just like He works through all the suffering in our lives for the greater good? "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28.
OR....
Secondly, if God did require Christ to die, was it because the fear of death is something us mere mortals can relate to? After all, giving your life up for someone else is the ultimate sacrifice! "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." John 15:13.
And does the way Christ died have something to do with it? Because if Christ NEEDED to die...if God NEEDED blood, then it might not have had so much impact if Christ just died in a natural manner and not such a brutal manner? The way He died was severe and shocking...and if He had not been so brutally killed...how much of a sacrifice would His life have been? If Christ just died in a natural manner, surely there would be far less impact and reason for us to acknowledge what He actually did for us? Like there is beauty in the pain He suffered.
Isn't that what its about? That Christ was a living sacrifice?
The Lamb to the slaughter?
"For it is impossible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins.... Lo, I have come to do thy will... And every priest stands at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifice, which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God ... For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are sanctified" - Hebrews 10:11-18.
So maybe thats why God needed Christ to die! Because we can see time and time again in the Old Testament how God required perfect and spotless, living sacrifices and spilt blood as a sacrifice to Him, and after all, it is the blood that runs through our veins that keeps us alive...its where the life is...so is that where the symbology lies? Thats why we "eat His flesh and drink His blood" to remember Him and what He did for us!
Life in the blood = Life in Christ?
We also know that Jesus was perfect, and that the wages of sin is death, so the grave could not hold Him. Our death would therefore not be sufficient to atone for sin because atonement requires a perfect, spotless sacrifice, offered in just the right way. Jesus, the one perfect man, came to offer the pure, complete and everlasting sacrifice to remove, atone, and make eternal payment for our sin.
I guess the other thing to consider is that we all know its not about Christ's death...it's also about Christ's resurrection and His life, and what the resurrection represents. Maybe its about the physical representation of a new life in Christ, of second chances and of baptism, and how we can see that there is a new life in Him after baptism?
Maybe it all started with Adam and Eve, and the fall of man, and how sin came into the world, and how because of sin, we live and die and because death reigns in this world, God chose for Christ to die, so that we could draw comparisons by His death, in our daily dealings and daily lives.
Death is rife in our lives...its everywhere and it is mans ultimate fear! Maybe God knew that we as imperfect creatures would find value in Christ's death...maybe no other way would be as impactful or hold such sacred power in our hearts!
"He has also set eternity in the hearts of men" Ecclesiastes 3:11
Maybe its about showing us how fragile our earthly lives are, and that death is real and even though we are all destined to die one day, we too can be raised into perfection with Christ in the kingdom! Maybe if Christ didn't die...maybe if there was no physical representation, we would not have all these comparisons in our daily lives to draw inspiration from? And maybe if Christ didn't die, we wouldn't see Him in everything around us, like how animals must die brutal deaths to sustain us and nourish us, through their death comes life in us, and how every tree that grows, eventually dies, and when it dies, it gives back to the earth to provide more nourishment for new growth. Think about how hopeless our lives would be without the hope that Christ has put in our lives through the representation of His death and resurrection!
I guess these are good questions to ask...but when you really think about it, we are told that Christ was killed for us, that His death has washed our sins away, and that by dying He disabled death itself. I guess the truth of the matter is Christ DID die...and he died the way He died, for US, and I suppose its secondary weather or not that was because the world could not hold such perfection or because God needed Jesus' blood for a specific reason for our salvation.
Any thoughts?
The point is...we have salvation through Christ's death! Which is the greatest gift in itself!
So lets remember Him today! Lets remember what He did for us!
Behold The Man!
.....................................................................
The Cup Of Life Outpoured
by Jim Cowan
Who am I, that I should receive
The cup of life outpoured?
The bread of life, the blood of Christ
The body of my Lord
Lord, I believe! Help my unbelief
Cause me to see You as You are
The King of glory, the Lord of love
The Shepherd of my heart
Lamb of God, Holy God
I come to receive You now
Come into my heart, fill my life
With Your very presence, Lord
To great for me
This wisdom of the Lord
To hold the Savior in my hand
And greater still, the gift of God
That I should be one with Him
Why did Jesus die and how did that save us?
God could have saved us anyway He wanted, He can do anything, so why did we need Jesus to die?
And how did His blood give us life?
God didn't need blood to forgive us... if He did, surely that is limiting His power?
These are my questions at the moment, so basic but fundamental."
These are some thoughts and questions from one friend to another :)
Meale, this one is for you! :)
.....................................................................
So all these questions got me thinking...and I am NO expert on the subject, most of this is just random ideas - and I don't have any scriptures to back it up (enter Bazza) - but I had a few thoughts about it and wondered if anyone else could shed some light on these questions :)
I have 2 thoughts:
Firstly, I'm not totally sure why Christ had to die...Maybe Christ didn't necessarily HAVE to die...is it possible that God knew that the world could not accept and hold such perfect love and He knew Christ would be rejected and crucified because of it?
Im not sure that it was the ONLY way God could save us...but its the way that things panned out maybe? Im not sure that God NEEDED BLOOD! I think God knew that WE needed blood! Because we are such crazy brutal people, maybe we were the ones who required Jesus' blood, not God. Is it possible that God just knew from the beginning of time what would eventuate and He worked through that and used Christ's suffering as a portal for our Salvation? Just like He works through all the suffering in our lives for the greater good? "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28.
OR....
Secondly, if God did require Christ to die, was it because the fear of death is something us mere mortals can relate to? After all, giving your life up for someone else is the ultimate sacrifice! "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." John 15:13.
And does the way Christ died have something to do with it? Because if Christ NEEDED to die...if God NEEDED blood, then it might not have had so much impact if Christ just died in a natural manner and not such a brutal manner? The way He died was severe and shocking...and if He had not been so brutally killed...how much of a sacrifice would His life have been? If Christ just died in a natural manner, surely there would be far less impact and reason for us to acknowledge what He actually did for us? Like there is beauty in the pain He suffered.
Isn't that what its about? That Christ was a living sacrifice?
The Lamb to the slaughter?
"For it is impossible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins.... Lo, I have come to do thy will... And every priest stands at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifice, which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God ... For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are sanctified" - Hebrews 10:11-18.
So maybe thats why God needed Christ to die! Because we can see time and time again in the Old Testament how God required perfect and spotless, living sacrifices and spilt blood as a sacrifice to Him, and after all, it is the blood that runs through our veins that keeps us alive...its where the life is...so is that where the symbology lies? Thats why we "eat His flesh and drink His blood" to remember Him and what He did for us!
Life in the blood = Life in Christ?
We also know that Jesus was perfect, and that the wages of sin is death, so the grave could not hold Him. Our death would therefore not be sufficient to atone for sin because atonement requires a perfect, spotless sacrifice, offered in just the right way. Jesus, the one perfect man, came to offer the pure, complete and everlasting sacrifice to remove, atone, and make eternal payment for our sin.
I guess the other thing to consider is that we all know its not about Christ's death...it's also about Christ's resurrection and His life, and what the resurrection represents. Maybe its about the physical representation of a new life in Christ, of second chances and of baptism, and how we can see that there is a new life in Him after baptism?
Maybe it all started with Adam and Eve, and the fall of man, and how sin came into the world, and how because of sin, we live and die and because death reigns in this world, God chose for Christ to die, so that we could draw comparisons by His death, in our daily dealings and daily lives.
Death is rife in our lives...its everywhere and it is mans ultimate fear! Maybe God knew that we as imperfect creatures would find value in Christ's death...maybe no other way would be as impactful or hold such sacred power in our hearts!
"He has also set eternity in the hearts of men" Ecclesiastes 3:11
Maybe its about showing us how fragile our earthly lives are, and that death is real and even though we are all destined to die one day, we too can be raised into perfection with Christ in the kingdom! Maybe if Christ didn't die...maybe if there was no physical representation, we would not have all these comparisons in our daily lives to draw inspiration from? And maybe if Christ didn't die, we wouldn't see Him in everything around us, like how animals must die brutal deaths to sustain us and nourish us, through their death comes life in us, and how every tree that grows, eventually dies, and when it dies, it gives back to the earth to provide more nourishment for new growth. Think about how hopeless our lives would be without the hope that Christ has put in our lives through the representation of His death and resurrection!
I guess these are good questions to ask...but when you really think about it, we are told that Christ was killed for us, that His death has washed our sins away, and that by dying He disabled death itself. I guess the truth of the matter is Christ DID die...and he died the way He died, for US, and I suppose its secondary weather or not that was because the world could not hold such perfection or because God needed Jesus' blood for a specific reason for our salvation.
Any thoughts?
The point is...we have salvation through Christ's death! Which is the greatest gift in itself!
So lets remember Him today! Lets remember what He did for us!
Behold The Man!
.....................................................................
The Cup Of Life Outpoured
by Jim Cowan
Who am I, that I should receive
The cup of life outpoured?
The bread of life, the blood of Christ
The body of my Lord
Lord, I believe! Help my unbelief
Cause me to see You as You are
The King of glory, the Lord of love
The Shepherd of my heart
Lamb of God, Holy God
I come to receive You now
Come into my heart, fill my life
With Your very presence, Lord
To great for me
This wisdom of the Lord
To hold the Savior in my hand
And greater still, the gift of God
That I should be one with Him
Thursday 1 April 2010
Tuesday 30 March 2010
The Measuring Stick
Have you ever wondered why we compare ourselves to others? We do it all the time! Do you ever feel like your not quite measuring up? To what you think God expects from you? To your own expectations of yourself? To other peoples expectations of you?
Measuring up is about perfection...and our lack of it.
I really battle with comparing myself to others sometimes...I find myself saying things like "Aaah...God why can't I be as spiritual as her" (sense my whiny, whingey tone ;) or "I wish I could pray like him", or "I wish I could sing like her" etc. I think there is something inside of us that makes us want to pull out our measuring sticks and hold them up to the people around us. Its horrible! Im not saying that we should isolate ourselves or withdraw from the awareness of others, or that we should dismiss the examples of what is attainable for each and every one of us through the people God portrays to us in the Bible, but I don't think we should compare ourselves to them. I think if we do, it can be really dangerous and destructive because comparing ourselves to others can leave us with feelings of inadequacy, which can not only make you bitter, jealous and resentful, but when we get obsessed with comparing ourselves to others, it also draws our focus to OURSELVES instead of GOD.
I think we all get caught in the trap of striving to measure up...we focus on ourselves and I don't think that was ever Gods plan. We are designed to focus on Him, that's the way He made us. So shifting our attention from ourselves to God should change our perspective. God longs for our obsession to be on Him. "I am the Lord, that is my name! I will not give my glory to another or my praise to idols." Isaiah 42:8
Every one of us suffers from a standard of perfection that's impossible to attain, and it leaves us with feelings of inadequacy and guilt...and the hard truth is, (bold statement to follow)...NONE of us can measure up to the perfect standard of Jesus. NONE OF US! And God knows this! Which is why, thankfully, we are saved by GRACE, and NOT our perfection. "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift from God, not by works, so that no one can boast." Ephesians 2:8-9.
"In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace, which He lavished upon us in all wisdom and insight making know to us the mystery of His will, according to his purpose, which He set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in HIm, things in heaven and things on earth." Ephesians 1:7-10
However, should we still strive to be living lives that make God smile everyday??? YES!!! And yes, we should be aware of the areas of ourselves that need improvement, but I think God intends that we should "grow and bloom where we are planted" so to speak, that we should thrive in our own God given uniqueness so that we can all function together as a healthy body in Christ...and we all have our own part to play!
"For the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as He chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body." 1 Corinthians 12:14-20.
God made us in His image and knit us together in our mothers womb. He has searched us and He knows us. He knows every word before you speak it. Every prayer before you pray it. We are fearfully and wonderfully made. Your purpose is to be a God-loving you. So why are we constantly trying to live up to the ideals and expectations of others? Maybe instead, we should start pursuing the passions that are written on our own hearts. Our own God given passions. Our role in the body of Christ is important! I think God wants us to stop trying to measure up to everyone else around us and be content in Him. You were made to be you, just like I was made to be me, and you are called to be uniquely you, for Him.
God loves us with an overwhelming, perfect love, and His mercy reaches past ALL of our inadequacies, our inferiorities, our imperfections and our weaknesses. Through the shed blood of Christ, Jesus came to earth to REMOVE these measuring sticks by which we measure ourselves and those around us. Gods grace is not bound by limits and it is a gift for anyone that seeks Him sincerely. We should find comfort and peace in Him, the one who gives us the gift of Grace...abundantly!
"Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord". Romans 5:20.
"The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all." 2 Corinthians 13:14
Measuring up is about perfection...and our lack of it.
I really battle with comparing myself to others sometimes...I find myself saying things like "Aaah...God why can't I be as spiritual as her" (sense my whiny, whingey tone ;) or "I wish I could pray like him", or "I wish I could sing like her" etc. I think there is something inside of us that makes us want to pull out our measuring sticks and hold them up to the people around us. Its horrible! Im not saying that we should isolate ourselves or withdraw from the awareness of others, or that we should dismiss the examples of what is attainable for each and every one of us through the people God portrays to us in the Bible, but I don't think we should compare ourselves to them. I think if we do, it can be really dangerous and destructive because comparing ourselves to others can leave us with feelings of inadequacy, which can not only make you bitter, jealous and resentful, but when we get obsessed with comparing ourselves to others, it also draws our focus to OURSELVES instead of GOD.
I think we all get caught in the trap of striving to measure up...we focus on ourselves and I don't think that was ever Gods plan. We are designed to focus on Him, that's the way He made us. So shifting our attention from ourselves to God should change our perspective. God longs for our obsession to be on Him. "I am the Lord, that is my name! I will not give my glory to another or my praise to idols." Isaiah 42:8
Every one of us suffers from a standard of perfection that's impossible to attain, and it leaves us with feelings of inadequacy and guilt...and the hard truth is, (bold statement to follow)...NONE of us can measure up to the perfect standard of Jesus. NONE OF US! And God knows this! Which is why, thankfully, we are saved by GRACE, and NOT our perfection. "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift from God, not by works, so that no one can boast." Ephesians 2:8-9.
"In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace, which He lavished upon us in all wisdom and insight making know to us the mystery of His will, according to his purpose, which He set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in HIm, things in heaven and things on earth." Ephesians 1:7-10
However, should we still strive to be living lives that make God smile everyday??? YES!!! And yes, we should be aware of the areas of ourselves that need improvement, but I think God intends that we should "grow and bloom where we are planted" so to speak, that we should thrive in our own God given uniqueness so that we can all function together as a healthy body in Christ...and we all have our own part to play!
"For the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as He chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body." 1 Corinthians 12:14-20.
God made us in His image and knit us together in our mothers womb. He has searched us and He knows us. He knows every word before you speak it. Every prayer before you pray it. We are fearfully and wonderfully made. Your purpose is to be a God-loving you. So why are we constantly trying to live up to the ideals and expectations of others? Maybe instead, we should start pursuing the passions that are written on our own hearts. Our own God given passions. Our role in the body of Christ is important! I think God wants us to stop trying to measure up to everyone else around us and be content in Him. You were made to be you, just like I was made to be me, and you are called to be uniquely you, for Him.
God loves us with an overwhelming, perfect love, and His mercy reaches past ALL of our inadequacies, our inferiorities, our imperfections and our weaknesses. Through the shed blood of Christ, Jesus came to earth to REMOVE these measuring sticks by which we measure ourselves and those around us. Gods grace is not bound by limits and it is a gift for anyone that seeks Him sincerely. We should find comfort and peace in Him, the one who gives us the gift of Grace...abundantly!
"Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord". Romans 5:20.
"The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all." 2 Corinthians 13:14
Friday 26 March 2010
Just do something
I've been reading this pretty great book called "Just do something" by Kevin DeYoung. Its a liberating approach to finding God's will OR ...ehim...and i quote..."How to make a decision without dreams, visions, fleeces, impressions, open doors, random bible verses, casting lots, liver shivers, writing in the sky, etc." This little book is a mini pocket rocket! It has some eye opening, life changing wonderful things to say...and I totally recommend everyone who reads this to get your butt over to your nearest Koorong bookshop and buy yourself a copy! :)
OK...so all marketing ploys aside, I would like to share some cool thoughts with you...brace yourself...and let me reiterate - every inspired word below is all Kevin DeYoung...but i have tried to summarise as best as i can...sorry to disappoint... ;)
......................................................
The hesitancy so many of us feel in making decisions and settling down in life and therefore diligently searching for the will of God in our lives has at least two sources.
First, the new generations enjoy - or at least think they enjoy "unparalleled freedom." Nothing is settled after high school or even college anymore. Life is wide open and filled with endless possibilities, but with this sense of opportunity comes confusion, anxiety, and indecision. "With everything I could do and everywhere I could go, how can i know what's what?" - Enter a passion to discern "Gods will for my life."
Second, our search for the will of God has become an accomplice in the postponement of growing up, a convenient out for the young (or old) christian floating through life without direction or purpose. Too many of us have passed off our instability, inconsistency and endless self exploration as "looking for Gods will", as if not making up our minds and meandering through life were marks of spiritual sensitivity. As a result we are full of passivity and empty on follow through. When it comes to our future, we should take some responsibility, make a decision, and just do something.
If God has a wonderful plan for my life, then why doesn't he tell me what it is? After all, our lives down here are a confusing mess of fits and starts, dead ends and open doors, possibilities and competing ideals. There are so many decisions to make and none of the answers seem clear. We seek relief from the responsibility of decision-making and we feel less threatened by being passive rather than active when making important decisions.
The way many Christians treat Gods will is no different than you might treat a horoscope. We come to God and we want to know "Is the job market good for Kevin today? Will I find my true love? Should I live in states that start with the letter A?" Our fascination with the will of God often betrays our lack of trust in Gods promises and provision. We want him to show us the end from the beginning and prove to us that He can be trusted. And so we obsess about the future and we get anxious, because anxiety, after all, is simply living out the future before it is here.
We should be hopeful in looking to the future because God is in control, not us. We must renounce our sinful desire to know the future and to be in control. We are not gods. We walk by faith, not by sight. We risk because God does not risk. We walk into the future in Gods-glorifying confidence, not because the future is known to us but because it is know to God. And that's all we need to know. Worrying about the future is not simply a character tic, it is the sin of unbelief, an indication that our hearts are not resting in the promises of God. Worry and anxiety are not merely bad habits or idiosyncrasies. They are sinful fruits that blossom from the root of unbelief. Gods way is to tell us that He knows tomorrow, He cares for us, and therefore, we should not worry. Lamentations 3:22-23
God expects us to make choices, confident that He's already determined how to fit our choices into His sovereign will. Passivity is a plague among Christians. Its not just that we don't do anything, its that we feel spiritual for not doing anything. We imagine that our inactivity is patience and sensitivity to Gods leading. When we hyper-spiritualise our decisions, we can veer off into impulsive and foolish decisions. But more likely as Christians we fall into endless patterns of vacillation, indecision and regret.
The fact is, most big decisions in life leave us feeling a bit unsettled. They are after all, big decisions, but this does not mean the Lord is with-holding peace about the decision to get you to back out. I'm not saying subjective decisions are wrong. We make decisions based on a 'feeling' all the time. But a subjective divining of Gods will should not be your decision making process. I'm just saying that we don't have to wait for the "all clear" feeling in our bones before we head out. Would God really spare us all from all accidents if we simply asked Him enough particulars and prayed hard enough at the start of the day? And how do we do His will anyway other than probing some subjective feeling in our gut that inevitably leads to much hand-wringing and second-guessing?
If there really is a perfect will of God we are meant to discover, in which we will find tremendous freedom and fulfillment, why does it seem that everyone looking for God's will is in such bondage and confusion? Christ died to give us freedom from the law (Galations 5:1), so why turn the will of God into another law leading to slavery? What a burden. Expecting God, through our subjective sense of things, to ping the way for every decision we face, no matter how trivial, is not only impractical and unrealistic, it is a recipe for disappointment and false guilt. And that's hardly what intimacy with Jesus should be all about.
God never assures us of health, success, or ease. But He promises us something even better, to make us...loving, pure and humble like Christ. In short, Gods will is that you and I get happy and holy in Jesus. So go get a job, provided its not wicked. Go live somewhere in something with somebody or nobody. But put aside the passivity and the quest for complete fulfillment and the perfectionism and the preoccupation with the future, and start making some decisions in your life. If you are seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, you will be IN Gods will, so just go out and do something.
So what is Gods will? Gods will is your growth in Christlikeness. God promises to work all things together for our good that we might be conformed to the image of his son. (Romans 8:28 - 29).
God wants us to stop obsessing about the future and trust that He holds the future. We should put aside the passivity and the perfectionism and the quest for perfect fulfillment and get on with our lives. God does not have a specific plan for our lives that He means for us to decipher ahead of time.
Paul, for example, on occasion, God directly told him to go somewhere, but most of the time Paul made decisions like the rest of us. He used rather tentative phrases like, "It seamed good to the Holy Spirit and to us" (Acts 15:28-29). In almost every case, he simply decided where to go and how to get there (Acts 20:16). We have no record in the New Testament of anyone anxious to hear God tell him what to do. Paul never sought out special words of knowledge concerning his future. He seems very concerned to know and obey Gods moral will. But when he gets to a fork in the road, hesitating and pleading with God to know which way to go seems completely foreign to the apostle.
What we should be doing is praying for wisdom. What is wisdom? Wisdom is understanding the fear of the Lord and finding the knowledge of God. Wisdom, in Proverbs, is always moral. The fool, the opposite of the wise person, is not a moron or oaf. The fool is the person who does not live life Gods way. Wisdom is knowing what God is doing as He commands. Isn't it interesting that we are never told in scripture to ask God to reveal the future or to show us His plan for our lives? But we are told - in no uncertain terms - to call out for insight and to cry aloud for understanding. In other words, God says "Don't ask to see all the plans I've made for you. Ask me for wisdom so you'll know how to live according to my book".
Gods word is living and active. When we read the Bible, we hear from God with a confidence we find in no other book and from no other voice. But the Bible is not a casebook. It doesn't give us explicit information about dating or careers or when to build a church or buy a house. We've all wished that the Bible was that kind of book, but it's not because God is interested in more than getting us to follow His to-do list, He wants transformation. God doesn't want us to merely give external obedience to His commands. He wants us to know Him so intimately that His thoughts become our thoughts, His ways our ways our ways, His affections our affections. God wants us to drink so deeply of the scriptures that our heads and hearts are transformed so that we love what He loves and hate what He hates. Romans 12:1-2 is the classic text about this kind of spiritual transformation. If we do these 3 things God asks in this passage, then we will be able to discern what Gods will is.
One of the virtues I appreciate most in others, and its a virtue I hope I have in some measure, is teach-ability. Are you willing to change your mind when another persons case has more merit than yours? Are you able to hear good advice when it comes from some mouth other than your own and may even contradict your preconceived ideas? If no one has ever heard you change your mind about something, then you are either a god or you have mistaken yourself for one. I can say without a doubt that I make better decisions with my wife. I make better decisions with the elders rather than without them. I am wiser when I listen to my friends first. Now, of course, often you just have to decide things on your own. And sometimes you need to make an unpopular decision because you know its right. But for most of our decisions we would do well to simply ask someone else. We spend all this time asking God, "what's your will?" when He's probably thinking, "Make a friend, would you? Go talk to someone. There is a reason I've redeemed a lot of you because you do fewer dumb things when you talk to each other. Get some advice. You might just hear My voice."
The way of wisdom means 3 things: searching the scriptures, seeking wise council, and praying to God. But what do we pray for if we aren't asking God to tell us exactly what to do? Firstly We ask God to open our minds so we can understand the scriptures and apply them to our lives. Secondly we pray for wisdom. The way of wisdom is a way of life. And when its a way of life, you are freer than you realise. God wants us to make good decisions that will help us be more like Christ and bring Him glory. And thirdly, pray for things that you already know are gods will. Pray for good motives in your decision making. Pray for an attitude of trust and faith and obedience. Pray for humility and teach-ability. Pray for His gospel to spread. You know that He wants these things in the world and in your life. Pray for them. Seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness.
Many of us want to spare ourselves poor decision making by waiting and thinking...but we can also miss good opportunities and waste valuable time by grinding the wheels of choice into a pseudo-spiritual halt before we pencil something in on the diary. Study the scriptures, listen to others, and pray continually, that's the best course of action, not just at the moment of crisis, but as a way of life. And as you engage in these practices, don't forget to make a decision - always with wisdom, always with freedom, and sometimes even with speed.
So the end of the matter is this: Live for God. Obey the scriptures. Think of others before yourself. Be holy. Love Jesus. And as you do these things, do whatever else you like, with whomever you like, wherever you like, and you'll be walking in the will of God!
:)
OK...so all marketing ploys aside, I would like to share some cool thoughts with you...brace yourself...and let me reiterate - every inspired word below is all Kevin DeYoung...but i have tried to summarise as best as i can...sorry to disappoint... ;)
......................................................
The hesitancy so many of us feel in making decisions and settling down in life and therefore diligently searching for the will of God in our lives has at least two sources.
First, the new generations enjoy - or at least think they enjoy "unparalleled freedom." Nothing is settled after high school or even college anymore. Life is wide open and filled with endless possibilities, but with this sense of opportunity comes confusion, anxiety, and indecision. "With everything I could do and everywhere I could go, how can i know what's what?" - Enter a passion to discern "Gods will for my life."
Second, our search for the will of God has become an accomplice in the postponement of growing up, a convenient out for the young (or old) christian floating through life without direction or purpose. Too many of us have passed off our instability, inconsistency and endless self exploration as "looking for Gods will", as if not making up our minds and meandering through life were marks of spiritual sensitivity. As a result we are full of passivity and empty on follow through. When it comes to our future, we should take some responsibility, make a decision, and just do something.
If God has a wonderful plan for my life, then why doesn't he tell me what it is? After all, our lives down here are a confusing mess of fits and starts, dead ends and open doors, possibilities and competing ideals. There are so many decisions to make and none of the answers seem clear. We seek relief from the responsibility of decision-making and we feel less threatened by being passive rather than active when making important decisions.
The way many Christians treat Gods will is no different than you might treat a horoscope. We come to God and we want to know "Is the job market good for Kevin today? Will I find my true love? Should I live in states that start with the letter A?" Our fascination with the will of God often betrays our lack of trust in Gods promises and provision. We want him to show us the end from the beginning and prove to us that He can be trusted. And so we obsess about the future and we get anxious, because anxiety, after all, is simply living out the future before it is here.
We should be hopeful in looking to the future because God is in control, not us. We must renounce our sinful desire to know the future and to be in control. We are not gods. We walk by faith, not by sight. We risk because God does not risk. We walk into the future in Gods-glorifying confidence, not because the future is known to us but because it is know to God. And that's all we need to know. Worrying about the future is not simply a character tic, it is the sin of unbelief, an indication that our hearts are not resting in the promises of God. Worry and anxiety are not merely bad habits or idiosyncrasies. They are sinful fruits that blossom from the root of unbelief. Gods way is to tell us that He knows tomorrow, He cares for us, and therefore, we should not worry. Lamentations 3:22-23
God expects us to make choices, confident that He's already determined how to fit our choices into His sovereign will. Passivity is a plague among Christians. Its not just that we don't do anything, its that we feel spiritual for not doing anything. We imagine that our inactivity is patience and sensitivity to Gods leading. When we hyper-spiritualise our decisions, we can veer off into impulsive and foolish decisions. But more likely as Christians we fall into endless patterns of vacillation, indecision and regret.
The fact is, most big decisions in life leave us feeling a bit unsettled. They are after all, big decisions, but this does not mean the Lord is with-holding peace about the decision to get you to back out. I'm not saying subjective decisions are wrong. We make decisions based on a 'feeling' all the time. But a subjective divining of Gods will should not be your decision making process. I'm just saying that we don't have to wait for the "all clear" feeling in our bones before we head out. Would God really spare us all from all accidents if we simply asked Him enough particulars and prayed hard enough at the start of the day? And how do we do His will anyway other than probing some subjective feeling in our gut that inevitably leads to much hand-wringing and second-guessing?
If there really is a perfect will of God we are meant to discover, in which we will find tremendous freedom and fulfillment, why does it seem that everyone looking for God's will is in such bondage and confusion? Christ died to give us freedom from the law (Galations 5:1), so why turn the will of God into another law leading to slavery? What a burden. Expecting God, through our subjective sense of things, to ping the way for every decision we face, no matter how trivial, is not only impractical and unrealistic, it is a recipe for disappointment and false guilt. And that's hardly what intimacy with Jesus should be all about.
God never assures us of health, success, or ease. But He promises us something even better, to make us...loving, pure and humble like Christ. In short, Gods will is that you and I get happy and holy in Jesus. So go get a job, provided its not wicked. Go live somewhere in something with somebody or nobody. But put aside the passivity and the quest for complete fulfillment and the perfectionism and the preoccupation with the future, and start making some decisions in your life. If you are seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, you will be IN Gods will, so just go out and do something.
So what is Gods will? Gods will is your growth in Christlikeness. God promises to work all things together for our good that we might be conformed to the image of his son. (Romans 8:28 - 29).
God wants us to stop obsessing about the future and trust that He holds the future. We should put aside the passivity and the perfectionism and the quest for perfect fulfillment and get on with our lives. God does not have a specific plan for our lives that He means for us to decipher ahead of time.
Paul, for example, on occasion, God directly told him to go somewhere, but most of the time Paul made decisions like the rest of us. He used rather tentative phrases like, "It seamed good to the Holy Spirit and to us" (Acts 15:28-29). In almost every case, he simply decided where to go and how to get there (Acts 20:16). We have no record in the New Testament of anyone anxious to hear God tell him what to do. Paul never sought out special words of knowledge concerning his future. He seems very concerned to know and obey Gods moral will. But when he gets to a fork in the road, hesitating and pleading with God to know which way to go seems completely foreign to the apostle.
What we should be doing is praying for wisdom. What is wisdom? Wisdom is understanding the fear of the Lord and finding the knowledge of God. Wisdom, in Proverbs, is always moral. The fool, the opposite of the wise person, is not a moron or oaf. The fool is the person who does not live life Gods way. Wisdom is knowing what God is doing as He commands. Isn't it interesting that we are never told in scripture to ask God to reveal the future or to show us His plan for our lives? But we are told - in no uncertain terms - to call out for insight and to cry aloud for understanding. In other words, God says "Don't ask to see all the plans I've made for you. Ask me for wisdom so you'll know how to live according to my book".
Gods word is living and active. When we read the Bible, we hear from God with a confidence we find in no other book and from no other voice. But the Bible is not a casebook. It doesn't give us explicit information about dating or careers or when to build a church or buy a house. We've all wished that the Bible was that kind of book, but it's not because God is interested in more than getting us to follow His to-do list, He wants transformation. God doesn't want us to merely give external obedience to His commands. He wants us to know Him so intimately that His thoughts become our thoughts, His ways our ways our ways, His affections our affections. God wants us to drink so deeply of the scriptures that our heads and hearts are transformed so that we love what He loves and hate what He hates. Romans 12:1-2 is the classic text about this kind of spiritual transformation. If we do these 3 things God asks in this passage, then we will be able to discern what Gods will is.
One of the virtues I appreciate most in others, and its a virtue I hope I have in some measure, is teach-ability. Are you willing to change your mind when another persons case has more merit than yours? Are you able to hear good advice when it comes from some mouth other than your own and may even contradict your preconceived ideas? If no one has ever heard you change your mind about something, then you are either a god or you have mistaken yourself for one. I can say without a doubt that I make better decisions with my wife. I make better decisions with the elders rather than without them. I am wiser when I listen to my friends first. Now, of course, often you just have to decide things on your own. And sometimes you need to make an unpopular decision because you know its right. But for most of our decisions we would do well to simply ask someone else. We spend all this time asking God, "what's your will?" when He's probably thinking, "Make a friend, would you? Go talk to someone. There is a reason I've redeemed a lot of you because you do fewer dumb things when you talk to each other. Get some advice. You might just hear My voice."
The way of wisdom means 3 things: searching the scriptures, seeking wise council, and praying to God. But what do we pray for if we aren't asking God to tell us exactly what to do? Firstly We ask God to open our minds so we can understand the scriptures and apply them to our lives. Secondly we pray for wisdom. The way of wisdom is a way of life. And when its a way of life, you are freer than you realise. God wants us to make good decisions that will help us be more like Christ and bring Him glory. And thirdly, pray for things that you already know are gods will. Pray for good motives in your decision making. Pray for an attitude of trust and faith and obedience. Pray for humility and teach-ability. Pray for His gospel to spread. You know that He wants these things in the world and in your life. Pray for them. Seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness.
Many of us want to spare ourselves poor decision making by waiting and thinking...but we can also miss good opportunities and waste valuable time by grinding the wheels of choice into a pseudo-spiritual halt before we pencil something in on the diary. Study the scriptures, listen to others, and pray continually, that's the best course of action, not just at the moment of crisis, but as a way of life. And as you engage in these practices, don't forget to make a decision - always with wisdom, always with freedom, and sometimes even with speed.
So the end of the matter is this: Live for God. Obey the scriptures. Think of others before yourself. Be holy. Love Jesus. And as you do these things, do whatever else you like, with whomever you like, wherever you like, and you'll be walking in the will of God!
:)
Thursday 25 March 2010
God give us...
God give us rain when we expect sun.
Give us music when we expect trouble.
Give us tears when we expect breakfast.
Give us dreams when we expect a storm.
Give us a stray dog when we expect congratulations.
God play with us, turn us sideways and around.
AMEN!!!!
Give us music when we expect trouble.
Give us tears when we expect breakfast.
Give us dreams when we expect a storm.
Give us a stray dog when we expect congratulations.
God play with us, turn us sideways and around.
AMEN!!!!
Tuesday 23 March 2010
"Wait" by Russel Kelfer
Desperately, helplessly, longingly, I cried;
Quietly, patiently, lovingly, God replied.
I pled and I wept for a clue to my fate . . .
And the Master so gently said, "Wait."
"Wait? you say wait?" my indignant reply.
"Lord, I need answers, I need to know why!
Is your hand shortened? Or have you not heard?
By faith I have asked, and I'm claiming your Word.
"My future and all to which I relate
Hangs in the balance, and you tell me to wait?
I'm needing a 'yes', a go-ahead sign,
Or even a 'no' to which I can resign.
"You promised, dear Lord, that if we believe,
We need but to ask, and we shall receive.
And Lord I've been asking, and this is my cry:
I'm weary of asking! I need a reply."
Then quietly, softly, I learned of my fate,
As my Master replied again, "Wait."
So I slumped in my chair, defeated and taut,
And grumbled to God, "So, I'm waiting for what?"
He seemed then to kneel, and His eyes met with mine . . .
and He tenderly said, "I could give you a sign.
I could shake the heavens and darken the sun.
I could raise the dead and cause mountains to run.
"I could give all you seek and pleased you would be.
You'd have what you want, but you wouldn't know Me.
You'd not know the depth of my love for each saint.
You'd not know the power that I give to the faint.
"You'd not learn to see through clouds of despair;
You'd not learn to trust just by knowing I'm there.
You'd not know the joy of resting in Me
When darkness and silence are all you can see.
"You'd never experience the fullness of love
When the peace of My spirit descends like a dove.
You would know that I give, and I save, for a start,
But you'd not know the depth of the beat of My heart.
"The glow of my comfort late into the night,
The faith that I give when you walk without sight.
The depth that's beyond getting just what you ask
From an infinite God who makes what you have last.
"You'd never know, should your pain quickly flee,
What it means that My grace is sufficient for thee.
Yes, your dearest dreams overnight would come true,
But, oh, the loss, if I lost what I'm doing in you.
"So, be silent, my child, and in time you will see
That the greatest of gifts is to truly know me.
And though oft My answers seem terribly late,
My most precious answer of all is still . . . Wait."
Quietly, patiently, lovingly, God replied.
I pled and I wept for a clue to my fate . . .
And the Master so gently said, "Wait."
"Wait? you say wait?" my indignant reply.
"Lord, I need answers, I need to know why!
Is your hand shortened? Or have you not heard?
By faith I have asked, and I'm claiming your Word.
"My future and all to which I relate
Hangs in the balance, and you tell me to wait?
I'm needing a 'yes', a go-ahead sign,
Or even a 'no' to which I can resign.
"You promised, dear Lord, that if we believe,
We need but to ask, and we shall receive.
And Lord I've been asking, and this is my cry:
I'm weary of asking! I need a reply."
Then quietly, softly, I learned of my fate,
As my Master replied again, "Wait."
So I slumped in my chair, defeated and taut,
And grumbled to God, "So, I'm waiting for what?"
He seemed then to kneel, and His eyes met with mine . . .
and He tenderly said, "I could give you a sign.
I could shake the heavens and darken the sun.
I could raise the dead and cause mountains to run.
"I could give all you seek and pleased you would be.
You'd have what you want, but you wouldn't know Me.
You'd not know the depth of my love for each saint.
You'd not know the power that I give to the faint.
"You'd not learn to see through clouds of despair;
You'd not learn to trust just by knowing I'm there.
You'd not know the joy of resting in Me
When darkness and silence are all you can see.
"You'd never experience the fullness of love
When the peace of My spirit descends like a dove.
You would know that I give, and I save, for a start,
But you'd not know the depth of the beat of My heart.
"The glow of my comfort late into the night,
The faith that I give when you walk without sight.
The depth that's beyond getting just what you ask
From an infinite God who makes what you have last.
"You'd never know, should your pain quickly flee,
What it means that My grace is sufficient for thee.
Yes, your dearest dreams overnight would come true,
But, oh, the loss, if I lost what I'm doing in you.
"So, be silent, my child, and in time you will see
That the greatest of gifts is to truly know me.
And though oft My answers seem terribly late,
My most precious answer of all is still . . . Wait."
Sunday 21 March 2010
Forgiveness - The Peace in Trusting Him
Part 2 of Kev Fengers DYM talks...its long...but well worth it :)
Luke 5:17-23 Jesus heals a paralytic
The human race is made up of a whole lot of broken people. A lot of people will deny that they are broken, that they have faults, because it hurts the ego, but it takes clarity and courage to see the truth, that I am a sinner and that God loves me. One of the names Jesus is called is the great Physician. He came to heal the sick. He healed them of their physical ailments, and then he would also add: “Your sins are forgiven”. There is a very close link in scripture between Jesus healing people and sins being forgiven. This link is not there by accident. Firstly, forgiveness is not something that we can see from the outside, it is something that we can only feel and it takes place on the inside. So in order to show that forgiveness had happened, Jesus would accompany it with a miracle that people could see.
A miracle! Wow! Imagine witnessing a miracle! I freak out at the thought. I mean, I read it so many times in the bible that it has become one of those words I read and understand what it means, but don’t GET what it means. I am such a skeptic, that if I were to see a miracle happen, I’d be like … woah … how did you do that? This has to be a con! Maybe there was nothing wrong with him in the first place and he was faking it. I mean … we are talking about something that goes against everything that is natural. It goes against nature itself, that a man who was blind can see or that a man who was paralysed can walk. It can’t and shouldn’t happen; it’s just ‘not right’.
Well do you know what? Forgiveness is a miracle! Forgiveness is just ‘not right’. It is not natural to forgive someone; in fact forgiveness deeply offends the rational mind. The rational mind calls for justice! When someone has hurt us, or abused us, or taken advantage of us; or stolen peace of mind from us, or harmed or taken the life of someone we love… Why should we let that offence go? There is no rational reason why they should ‘get away’ with it. There is no rational reason why I should ‘let it go’ let alone try to have compassion on that person or pray for their growth. No, forgiveness is not natural … nor is it easy to do. And when it is so difficult for us to do, that also makes it difficult for us to accept. Why should I be forgiven for doing what I did? Well that’s just it. You shouldn’t be forgiven. The blind man shouldn’t see. The paralysed man shouldn’t walk. But Jesus made all that happen: He made the blind see and the paralysed man get up, take his mat and go home. And, get this: He forgives you your sins. That’s a miracle right there. You can’t see it from the outside, there may be no visual evidence at all (other than a smile), but that’ a miracle
And that brings me to the second reason for the link between healing and forgiveness in scripture is that there is a great healing power in forgiveness, for both the person giving forgiveness and the person receiving it. When whatever it is you were carrying, you put down. When you feel something – very nearly ‘a thing’ has left you. You are no longer carrying the load you were. Muscular tensions ease. You are less vulnerable to infection. Your immune system lifts. There is a physical healing that accompanies forgiveness. But, there is no external evidence that forgiveness has taken place, it’s internal. The evidence may only be in how we feel.
I recall in South Africa asking a group of young people who were not yet baptised into Christ, what was holding them back… And the overwhelming response was: “I don’t feel they were good enough.” They had a perception that in order to commit your life to Christ you had to get baptised to wash away your sins and then be a better person. They had this perception that you need to transform yourself from being a sinner into being a good person. But the reason you commit your life to Christ is precisely BECAUSE you’re not good enough. And if you try to transform yourself, you’re destined to fail. The only thing that can transform you, your heart, your behaviour, is the love of God.
What you are committing to when you commit your life to Christ through baptism is a relationship with him. You are making a choice in your life to take Jesus on as your Saviour and I believe that to be a wise choice. But it is important to bear in mind that you will continue to make poor choices after that. But in Christ, through our good choices and through our bad choices he does not condemn us. We need to understand and embrace that forgiveness.
Rom 8:1 Therefore there is now NO CONDEMNATION for those who are in Christ Jesus.
So do we need to examine ourselves? Yes, but not to see if we have been good boys and girls, not to take stock of our lives, but to examine whether or not we feel forgiven. Do you feel forgiven? Do you feel free? Or are you filled with self loathing? Self loathing I believe is very detrimental to your spiritual well-being and can lead to trying to make yourself a better person. And when that fails, and it will, it can then lead to finding comfort in pulling others down. And that is not a place we want to find ourselves. That is certainly not a place of love and compassion and acting in the best interests of others. If you are feeling self-loathing and not feeling the peace and freedom of the forgiveness achieved for you, then you need to start reflecting on your relationship with God. Firstly, do you really know him? And secondly, do you really trust him? Do you believe that he loves you just the way you are?
Hebrews 10:12-14 tells us that this priest, Jesus, offered for all time one sacrifice for sins and sat down at the right hand of God, because by that one sacrifice he made perfect forever those who are being made holy. So you’re not holy yet, you’re still a sinner, you still make poor choices, but you’re being made holy,
(Phillipians 1:6 says that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ).
So you are still being made holy, but you are forever perfect in the blood of Jesus. You may not feel perfect, but that’s because you still think its all about YOU: that it is YOU who is meant to be perfect. No, Jesus is the one who is perfect and what he did has covered your sins, forever. God is working on you. He is molding you into a masterpiece. He is making you. Discover your Maker! What he has said is that the sacrifice for sin is DONE! It was one sacrifice for ALL TIME. Whatever guilt you feel: Whatever you feel you deserve! That price has been paid! If you think you are worthless and deserve to die … That sacrifice has been made. You know the high priest used to go and STAND in the Holy place and offer sacrifices for sins year after year after year, but Jesus did it once and SAT DOWN at His Father’s right hand. So the High priest had to stand because he had to keep working, year after year making sacrifice after sacrifice, but Jesus made one sacrifice and then He sat down! The job was over: it’s done. When Jesus said: “It is finished”, he meant it. He’s done all he can for you… he’s given everything, and now he waits for you to accept what he has done.
So when you sit there on any given Sunday morning thinking: “I have done such and such wrong last week and I did this again this week and I’m still sorry I did it.” “I’m sorry again.” “I feel like such a slacker because I said I was sorry last week and now I’ve done it again and I know I’ll probably do it again next week.” You need to stop it! There is no condemnation. It’s not about what you did or what you are doing or even what you are going to do; it’s about what He has done. He has nailed sin and death to the cross and there is nothing that will take that away. That is history, it is done, it has been achieved.
Negotiating with God over sins every Sunday saying I’ll do better this week is a TRAP – Repeat after me … It’s a TRAP! … You want to be better? What are you going to do? Sin less? There is NOTHING you can do… He has done it all. As soon as you think you can earn anything by being a better person, you’ve fallen back into the trap. How can you feel free if you keep slipping back into the trap?
There are many people that live under a cloud of guilt and cannot seem to free themselves from it. I was one of them. Even after I was baptised, in fact especially after baptism, I kept trying to be a better person, I kept trying to sin less, thinking that somehow my effort was linked to my forgiveness. It sounded logical to me that that was what I should be doing. But it was a trap. How could I make myself perfect? And the more I failed, the more disillusioned I became and the more I became a prisoner of guilt. I had neglected to acknowledge that I couldn’t do it in my own strength. Oh if you’d asked me directly I would have said, no of course I can’t, but that hadn’t stopped me from trying. It was only when I understood that there is NOTHING I can do and NOTHING that I need to do, that I started to fully appreciate the love of God. Jesus has done it all. He has set me free. And now that I am free, I can choose how I want to live my life in His love. If I depart from His love, then I have all kinds of problems. If I try to take my inheritance and run, then I am like the prodigal son. But in His love, I trust him.
You know Peter is such an awesome disciple, because you can learn so much about human weakness through him. When Jesus declares that all his disciples will fall away that night, Peter argues. He boasts about how much better he is than the rest. Even though everyone here falls away, I’ll never fall away. Jesus says, you will Peter, you will disown me three times before the rooster crows. And he still argues, he says even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you. What about you and I? Do we sit there on a Sunday saying: I’ll never disown you again? Peter disowned him and wept bitterly. How much did that affect him?
Well Jesus said in Luke 22:31 that Satan had desired to sift him as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers. I believe Peter had a period of self loathing after he denied Jesus. And he would have been in a dark place, being unable to forgive himself for what he had done… after he had not only promised he wouldn’t, but been told exactly what he would do … and then he still did it. He wept. He felt the guilt … and so he should have. He had made a poor choice, but he didn’t let that guilt consume him, he didn’t say I am too sinful, I’ll never get it right, woe is me … let me go and hang myself. No, that’s what Judas did. I believe Peter got to a place of despair and what echoed in his head were the same words that he had said in John 6 when everyone was leaving because Jesus had said they must eat his flesh and drink his blood.
“Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe you are the Holy One of God.” He acknowledged that there was nowhere else to go…
Are you feeling guilty? Where are you going to go? You can only go to God. Trust Him. Let him work with you. You know the forgiveness of God is so soothing… There is a psalm I want you to read, but before we do, we need to mention the context.
King David was considered a man after God’s own heart. But he made a series of compounding mistakes. He got lost. He was so lost that he could here nothing from his heart. Lust had turned to adultery … God’s voice calling DAVID … couldn’t hear it. Tried to pretend it didn’t happen. God wants him to acknowledge what he has done. Bathsheba is pregnant! How does David respond? Does he acknowledge? Nope, how can I hide this? I know I’ll get her husband to come home and sleep with her and so everyone thinks it’s his child. So he turns to deceit. But Uriah is has too much integrity to go home and sleep with his wife while his soldiers are fighting the battle, so he sleeps on his mat at the entrance to the palace with David’s servants. So that didn’t work… Does David acknowledge? No way, in fact he gets angry with Uriah and has Uriah killed. Can you see how things are just getting worse? And David is getting himself in deeper trouble, his guilt is making him do anything he can to deflect, minimise, justify, deny that he has done anything wrong. He is trying to hide his guilt his own way. That is what happens when we try to do things on our own. That is what happens when we don’t go to God and acknowledge our sin. David still didn’t do that after killing Uriah. O what does God do?
Well, remember how the Father runs through the train station looking for his child? Look at 2 Sam 12 and see how God comes to find him through Nathan the prophet.
God opens David’s eyes to what he has done, and teaches him that these things have consequences and that is the reality we have to face with our sins too. They all have consequences. David, when he is confronted with what he has done immediately feels the guilt and the shame and confesses that he has sinned against the Lord. (vs 13) Nathan the prophet tells him, “Yes, but the Lord has taken away your sin and you are not going to die.”
Don’t worry about that David, I’m not here to throw you to the law of sin and death. That’s taken care of. I’m here to tell you about the consequences of your actions. You know you have made some pretty poor choices and those choices are going to have some consequences. This is not to punish you for being naughty, but to help you understand that making poor choices is really not in your best interests.
So David thought no-one would know. But God knew, God could see his boy wandering off into danger and just like the mother in the train station, the Father comes running to find His boy, running to throw his arms around him. He sends Nathan the prophet to open his eyes and acknowledge the truth: To admit that he has sinned and to know that God loves him.
How do you think David would have felt after that? Let’s read Psalm 32
That’s what it means to be forgiven. He describes his anguish before he acknowledges his sin very well. His words are just so honest… and those famous words that the truth will set you free seem so appropriate every time I read this chapter. What does it mean to him to be forgiven? His sins are carried away, removed, and will not count against him. You can almost taste the extent of the peace in his heart. That’s what it means to be forgiven. It’s a supernatural miracle from God.
Video: Chiseling Masterpiece - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyOIBnExlrw
Dad knows what’s best
Matthew 18:21-35 - The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant
So, to recap, we’ve looked at how much our Father loves us. And we’ve looked at how he’s done everything he can for us and is just waiting for us to accept His love and forgiveness.
Now we are going to look at how we forgive others… and I would like to start by saying:
Forgiveness rarely occurs in an instant. It is usually a process. You may move through the process quickly, or you might stumble along backwards and forwards, getting stuck from time to time in seasons of un-forgiveness.
Now I have a question just to think about: Why do I need to forgive someone. If God already forgives people, why does he need me to forgive them as well? What’s with the double portion of forgiveness?
Remember that forgiveness offends the rational mind. It’s unnatural for us to forgive. Why does God want us to forgive others?
He knows that forgiving is actually good for you. It’s not that you are doing the other person a favor by forgiving them. It’s actually about you and the pain you are feeling. If you’re taking notes, I have 3 key points that we’re going to look at.
Why does God want us to forgive others?
• It frees you from bitterness and releases the chains of something that was or is holding you captive.
• When you forgive someone, you are more able to receive His forgiveness, because you understand that forgiveness is not something that can be earned, but that it is a gift … freely given.
• It is also something that transforms you, by the renewing of your mind. Naturally, your mind wouldn’t want to forgive.
The need for forgiveness begins with an act of betrayal, of cruelty, of separation, or of loss. You need to think about what that might be for you. Something may jump to mind straight away, it may take you a while, or you may not be able to think of anything.
Maybe someone has put you down, or been rude or disrespectful. But then maybe you are at the other end of the spectrum and have experienced unspeakable abuse and betrayal. Or perhaps for you, the thought of having to consider forgiveness at all is a major struggle: Such is the extent of what you have been through and may be continuing to go through.
If you can’t think of anything in your life, let me give you someone else’s shoes to stand in. In the news recently, a 19 year old man was arrested for abducting an 8 year old girl from her home, using her body for his sexual pleasure and discarding it in a gutter. Think about how that child’s parents might feel toward that 19 year old.
There are a number of things we need to talk about to understand what exactly forgiveness is and what it is not. If you’re taking notes there are 4 things that forgiveness is not that you need to be very clear about.
We need to understand that when we forgive others:
• Forgiveness is not the same as pretending that something never happened. It doesn’t mean forgetting that the event took place, because it did take place! It did take place!
• It does not mean that whatever took place is acceptable. It is still not acceptable and will never be acceptable. It will never be acceptable!
• Forgiving someone does not mean you need to be friends with the person you are forgiving. You may always be disgusted by what they have done. You may find you never want to see that person, speak to that person, or spend any amount of time with them.
• Forgiving certainly doesn’t mean putting yourself back in the same situation to allow yourself to be abused or taken advantage of again. Nor does it mean you need to remain in a situation of abuse. If you are being abused, get out!
It is really important to consider these things that forgiveness is not, because if you think that forgiveness is any of these things, they can be a barrier that keeps you from forgiving.
False forgiveness: Forgiving because it is the right thing to do or forgiving out of duty - does not bring healing. This is not forgiveness from the heart, which is what God is seeking as we read in Matt 18.
It’s also worth mentioning that forgiveness can never be something that you bestow either as a triumph over someone or as a means to humiliate them or have power over them. No matter what you may call it, that is not forgiveness.
Right, so now that we are clear on what forgiveness is not, it’s time to look at what it is.
Forgiveness has a number of layers and elements and we’re going to look at 3 main aspects of what forgiveness is and what true forgiveness from the heart does mean:
• What forgiveness does mean is letting go of the anger and bitterness toward the person.
When there has been an act of betrayal, cruelty, separation or loss, bitterness toward that person can take root in your heart and Proverbs 4:23 says that ABOVE ALL ELSE, guard your heart, because from it flow all the issues of life.
Bitterness is a damaging thing and if we let that grow in our hearts, it can keep us from moving forward in the life of love that God has in store for us. Think of a rear view mirror in a car that allows you to see what is behind you, but it doesn’t get in the way of the vision required for moving forward. Now imagine that mirror were to grow and become the size of your windscreen. How do you move forward in your life of love when you are so bitter about what has happened in the past? You have let the bitterness drown out the voice of God in your heart.
• What forgiveness does mean, is taking the desire for retribution or justice and handing it over to God. 1 Peter 2:23 … So if you were to talk about the cost of forgiveness, this is it. Forgiveness is costly because it costs you your right to justice and it only costs one party. But it’s worth it.
• And what forgiveness does mean, is acknowledging that the other person is no more and no less deserving of God’s love than you are.
Luke 5:17-23 Jesus heals a paralytic
The human race is made up of a whole lot of broken people. A lot of people will deny that they are broken, that they have faults, because it hurts the ego, but it takes clarity and courage to see the truth, that I am a sinner and that God loves me. One of the names Jesus is called is the great Physician. He came to heal the sick. He healed them of their physical ailments, and then he would also add: “Your sins are forgiven”. There is a very close link in scripture between Jesus healing people and sins being forgiven. This link is not there by accident. Firstly, forgiveness is not something that we can see from the outside, it is something that we can only feel and it takes place on the inside. So in order to show that forgiveness had happened, Jesus would accompany it with a miracle that people could see.
A miracle! Wow! Imagine witnessing a miracle! I freak out at the thought. I mean, I read it so many times in the bible that it has become one of those words I read and understand what it means, but don’t GET what it means. I am such a skeptic, that if I were to see a miracle happen, I’d be like … woah … how did you do that? This has to be a con! Maybe there was nothing wrong with him in the first place and he was faking it. I mean … we are talking about something that goes against everything that is natural. It goes against nature itself, that a man who was blind can see or that a man who was paralysed can walk. It can’t and shouldn’t happen; it’s just ‘not right’.
Well do you know what? Forgiveness is a miracle! Forgiveness is just ‘not right’. It is not natural to forgive someone; in fact forgiveness deeply offends the rational mind. The rational mind calls for justice! When someone has hurt us, or abused us, or taken advantage of us; or stolen peace of mind from us, or harmed or taken the life of someone we love… Why should we let that offence go? There is no rational reason why they should ‘get away’ with it. There is no rational reason why I should ‘let it go’ let alone try to have compassion on that person or pray for their growth. No, forgiveness is not natural … nor is it easy to do. And when it is so difficult for us to do, that also makes it difficult for us to accept. Why should I be forgiven for doing what I did? Well that’s just it. You shouldn’t be forgiven. The blind man shouldn’t see. The paralysed man shouldn’t walk. But Jesus made all that happen: He made the blind see and the paralysed man get up, take his mat and go home. And, get this: He forgives you your sins. That’s a miracle right there. You can’t see it from the outside, there may be no visual evidence at all (other than a smile), but that’ a miracle
And that brings me to the second reason for the link between healing and forgiveness in scripture is that there is a great healing power in forgiveness, for both the person giving forgiveness and the person receiving it. When whatever it is you were carrying, you put down. When you feel something – very nearly ‘a thing’ has left you. You are no longer carrying the load you were. Muscular tensions ease. You are less vulnerable to infection. Your immune system lifts. There is a physical healing that accompanies forgiveness. But, there is no external evidence that forgiveness has taken place, it’s internal. The evidence may only be in how we feel.
I recall in South Africa asking a group of young people who were not yet baptised into Christ, what was holding them back… And the overwhelming response was: “I don’t feel they were good enough.” They had a perception that in order to commit your life to Christ you had to get baptised to wash away your sins and then be a better person. They had this perception that you need to transform yourself from being a sinner into being a good person. But the reason you commit your life to Christ is precisely BECAUSE you’re not good enough. And if you try to transform yourself, you’re destined to fail. The only thing that can transform you, your heart, your behaviour, is the love of God.
What you are committing to when you commit your life to Christ through baptism is a relationship with him. You are making a choice in your life to take Jesus on as your Saviour and I believe that to be a wise choice. But it is important to bear in mind that you will continue to make poor choices after that. But in Christ, through our good choices and through our bad choices he does not condemn us. We need to understand and embrace that forgiveness.
Rom 8:1 Therefore there is now NO CONDEMNATION for those who are in Christ Jesus.
So do we need to examine ourselves? Yes, but not to see if we have been good boys and girls, not to take stock of our lives, but to examine whether or not we feel forgiven. Do you feel forgiven? Do you feel free? Or are you filled with self loathing? Self loathing I believe is very detrimental to your spiritual well-being and can lead to trying to make yourself a better person. And when that fails, and it will, it can then lead to finding comfort in pulling others down. And that is not a place we want to find ourselves. That is certainly not a place of love and compassion and acting in the best interests of others. If you are feeling self-loathing and not feeling the peace and freedom of the forgiveness achieved for you, then you need to start reflecting on your relationship with God. Firstly, do you really know him? And secondly, do you really trust him? Do you believe that he loves you just the way you are?
Hebrews 10:12-14 tells us that this priest, Jesus, offered for all time one sacrifice for sins and sat down at the right hand of God, because by that one sacrifice he made perfect forever those who are being made holy. So you’re not holy yet, you’re still a sinner, you still make poor choices, but you’re being made holy,
(Phillipians 1:6 says that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ).
So you are still being made holy, but you are forever perfect in the blood of Jesus. You may not feel perfect, but that’s because you still think its all about YOU: that it is YOU who is meant to be perfect. No, Jesus is the one who is perfect and what he did has covered your sins, forever. God is working on you. He is molding you into a masterpiece. He is making you. Discover your Maker! What he has said is that the sacrifice for sin is DONE! It was one sacrifice for ALL TIME. Whatever guilt you feel: Whatever you feel you deserve! That price has been paid! If you think you are worthless and deserve to die … That sacrifice has been made. You know the high priest used to go and STAND in the Holy place and offer sacrifices for sins year after year after year, but Jesus did it once and SAT DOWN at His Father’s right hand. So the High priest had to stand because he had to keep working, year after year making sacrifice after sacrifice, but Jesus made one sacrifice and then He sat down! The job was over: it’s done. When Jesus said: “It is finished”, he meant it. He’s done all he can for you… he’s given everything, and now he waits for you to accept what he has done.
So when you sit there on any given Sunday morning thinking: “I have done such and such wrong last week and I did this again this week and I’m still sorry I did it.” “I’m sorry again.” “I feel like such a slacker because I said I was sorry last week and now I’ve done it again and I know I’ll probably do it again next week.” You need to stop it! There is no condemnation. It’s not about what you did or what you are doing or even what you are going to do; it’s about what He has done. He has nailed sin and death to the cross and there is nothing that will take that away. That is history, it is done, it has been achieved.
Negotiating with God over sins every Sunday saying I’ll do better this week is a TRAP – Repeat after me … It’s a TRAP! … You want to be better? What are you going to do? Sin less? There is NOTHING you can do… He has done it all. As soon as you think you can earn anything by being a better person, you’ve fallen back into the trap. How can you feel free if you keep slipping back into the trap?
There are many people that live under a cloud of guilt and cannot seem to free themselves from it. I was one of them. Even after I was baptised, in fact especially after baptism, I kept trying to be a better person, I kept trying to sin less, thinking that somehow my effort was linked to my forgiveness. It sounded logical to me that that was what I should be doing. But it was a trap. How could I make myself perfect? And the more I failed, the more disillusioned I became and the more I became a prisoner of guilt. I had neglected to acknowledge that I couldn’t do it in my own strength. Oh if you’d asked me directly I would have said, no of course I can’t, but that hadn’t stopped me from trying. It was only when I understood that there is NOTHING I can do and NOTHING that I need to do, that I started to fully appreciate the love of God. Jesus has done it all. He has set me free. And now that I am free, I can choose how I want to live my life in His love. If I depart from His love, then I have all kinds of problems. If I try to take my inheritance and run, then I am like the prodigal son. But in His love, I trust him.
You know Peter is such an awesome disciple, because you can learn so much about human weakness through him. When Jesus declares that all his disciples will fall away that night, Peter argues. He boasts about how much better he is than the rest. Even though everyone here falls away, I’ll never fall away. Jesus says, you will Peter, you will disown me three times before the rooster crows. And he still argues, he says even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you. What about you and I? Do we sit there on a Sunday saying: I’ll never disown you again? Peter disowned him and wept bitterly. How much did that affect him?
Well Jesus said in Luke 22:31 that Satan had desired to sift him as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers. I believe Peter had a period of self loathing after he denied Jesus. And he would have been in a dark place, being unable to forgive himself for what he had done… after he had not only promised he wouldn’t, but been told exactly what he would do … and then he still did it. He wept. He felt the guilt … and so he should have. He had made a poor choice, but he didn’t let that guilt consume him, he didn’t say I am too sinful, I’ll never get it right, woe is me … let me go and hang myself. No, that’s what Judas did. I believe Peter got to a place of despair and what echoed in his head were the same words that he had said in John 6 when everyone was leaving because Jesus had said they must eat his flesh and drink his blood.
“Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe you are the Holy One of God.” He acknowledged that there was nowhere else to go…
Are you feeling guilty? Where are you going to go? You can only go to God. Trust Him. Let him work with you. You know the forgiveness of God is so soothing… There is a psalm I want you to read, but before we do, we need to mention the context.
King David was considered a man after God’s own heart. But he made a series of compounding mistakes. He got lost. He was so lost that he could here nothing from his heart. Lust had turned to adultery … God’s voice calling DAVID … couldn’t hear it. Tried to pretend it didn’t happen. God wants him to acknowledge what he has done. Bathsheba is pregnant! How does David respond? Does he acknowledge? Nope, how can I hide this? I know I’ll get her husband to come home and sleep with her and so everyone thinks it’s his child. So he turns to deceit. But Uriah is has too much integrity to go home and sleep with his wife while his soldiers are fighting the battle, so he sleeps on his mat at the entrance to the palace with David’s servants. So that didn’t work… Does David acknowledge? No way, in fact he gets angry with Uriah and has Uriah killed. Can you see how things are just getting worse? And David is getting himself in deeper trouble, his guilt is making him do anything he can to deflect, minimise, justify, deny that he has done anything wrong. He is trying to hide his guilt his own way. That is what happens when we try to do things on our own. That is what happens when we don’t go to God and acknowledge our sin. David still didn’t do that after killing Uriah. O what does God do?
Well, remember how the Father runs through the train station looking for his child? Look at 2 Sam 12 and see how God comes to find him through Nathan the prophet.
God opens David’s eyes to what he has done, and teaches him that these things have consequences and that is the reality we have to face with our sins too. They all have consequences. David, when he is confronted with what he has done immediately feels the guilt and the shame and confesses that he has sinned against the Lord. (vs 13) Nathan the prophet tells him, “Yes, but the Lord has taken away your sin and you are not going to die.”
Don’t worry about that David, I’m not here to throw you to the law of sin and death. That’s taken care of. I’m here to tell you about the consequences of your actions. You know you have made some pretty poor choices and those choices are going to have some consequences. This is not to punish you for being naughty, but to help you understand that making poor choices is really not in your best interests.
So David thought no-one would know. But God knew, God could see his boy wandering off into danger and just like the mother in the train station, the Father comes running to find His boy, running to throw his arms around him. He sends Nathan the prophet to open his eyes and acknowledge the truth: To admit that he has sinned and to know that God loves him.
How do you think David would have felt after that? Let’s read Psalm 32
That’s what it means to be forgiven. He describes his anguish before he acknowledges his sin very well. His words are just so honest… and those famous words that the truth will set you free seem so appropriate every time I read this chapter. What does it mean to him to be forgiven? His sins are carried away, removed, and will not count against him. You can almost taste the extent of the peace in his heart. That’s what it means to be forgiven. It’s a supernatural miracle from God.
Video: Chiseling Masterpiece - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyOIBnExlrw
Dad knows what’s best
Matthew 18:21-35 - The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant
So, to recap, we’ve looked at how much our Father loves us. And we’ve looked at how he’s done everything he can for us and is just waiting for us to accept His love and forgiveness.
Now we are going to look at how we forgive others… and I would like to start by saying:
Forgiveness rarely occurs in an instant. It is usually a process. You may move through the process quickly, or you might stumble along backwards and forwards, getting stuck from time to time in seasons of un-forgiveness.
Now I have a question just to think about: Why do I need to forgive someone. If God already forgives people, why does he need me to forgive them as well? What’s with the double portion of forgiveness?
Remember that forgiveness offends the rational mind. It’s unnatural for us to forgive. Why does God want us to forgive others?
He knows that forgiving is actually good for you. It’s not that you are doing the other person a favor by forgiving them. It’s actually about you and the pain you are feeling. If you’re taking notes, I have 3 key points that we’re going to look at.
Why does God want us to forgive others?
• It frees you from bitterness and releases the chains of something that was or is holding you captive.
• When you forgive someone, you are more able to receive His forgiveness, because you understand that forgiveness is not something that can be earned, but that it is a gift … freely given.
• It is also something that transforms you, by the renewing of your mind. Naturally, your mind wouldn’t want to forgive.
The need for forgiveness begins with an act of betrayal, of cruelty, of separation, or of loss. You need to think about what that might be for you. Something may jump to mind straight away, it may take you a while, or you may not be able to think of anything.
Maybe someone has put you down, or been rude or disrespectful. But then maybe you are at the other end of the spectrum and have experienced unspeakable abuse and betrayal. Or perhaps for you, the thought of having to consider forgiveness at all is a major struggle: Such is the extent of what you have been through and may be continuing to go through.
If you can’t think of anything in your life, let me give you someone else’s shoes to stand in. In the news recently, a 19 year old man was arrested for abducting an 8 year old girl from her home, using her body for his sexual pleasure and discarding it in a gutter. Think about how that child’s parents might feel toward that 19 year old.
There are a number of things we need to talk about to understand what exactly forgiveness is and what it is not. If you’re taking notes there are 4 things that forgiveness is not that you need to be very clear about.
We need to understand that when we forgive others:
• Forgiveness is not the same as pretending that something never happened. It doesn’t mean forgetting that the event took place, because it did take place! It did take place!
• It does not mean that whatever took place is acceptable. It is still not acceptable and will never be acceptable. It will never be acceptable!
• Forgiving someone does not mean you need to be friends with the person you are forgiving. You may always be disgusted by what they have done. You may find you never want to see that person, speak to that person, or spend any amount of time with them.
• Forgiving certainly doesn’t mean putting yourself back in the same situation to allow yourself to be abused or taken advantage of again. Nor does it mean you need to remain in a situation of abuse. If you are being abused, get out!
It is really important to consider these things that forgiveness is not, because if you think that forgiveness is any of these things, they can be a barrier that keeps you from forgiving.
False forgiveness: Forgiving because it is the right thing to do or forgiving out of duty - does not bring healing. This is not forgiveness from the heart, which is what God is seeking as we read in Matt 18.
It’s also worth mentioning that forgiveness can never be something that you bestow either as a triumph over someone or as a means to humiliate them or have power over them. No matter what you may call it, that is not forgiveness.
Right, so now that we are clear on what forgiveness is not, it’s time to look at what it is.
Forgiveness has a number of layers and elements and we’re going to look at 3 main aspects of what forgiveness is and what true forgiveness from the heart does mean:
• What forgiveness does mean is letting go of the anger and bitterness toward the person.
When there has been an act of betrayal, cruelty, separation or loss, bitterness toward that person can take root in your heart and Proverbs 4:23 says that ABOVE ALL ELSE, guard your heart, because from it flow all the issues of life.
Bitterness is a damaging thing and if we let that grow in our hearts, it can keep us from moving forward in the life of love that God has in store for us. Think of a rear view mirror in a car that allows you to see what is behind you, but it doesn’t get in the way of the vision required for moving forward. Now imagine that mirror were to grow and become the size of your windscreen. How do you move forward in your life of love when you are so bitter about what has happened in the past? You have let the bitterness drown out the voice of God in your heart.
• What forgiveness does mean, is taking the desire for retribution or justice and handing it over to God. 1 Peter 2:23 … So if you were to talk about the cost of forgiveness, this is it. Forgiveness is costly because it costs you your right to justice and it only costs one party. But it’s worth it.
• And what forgiveness does mean, is acknowledging that the other person is no more and no less deserving of God’s love than you are.
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