Looking at the news and the circumstances of our lives can be overwhelming and devastating. But the news or our circumstances is not where our hope lies. Our hope comes from the Lord, the maker of Heaven and earth. We must look to scripture and the Lord Jesus Christ or we miss finding peace and hope in a dismissal world.
This world is like a storm twirling out of control and never ending. It’s one thing after another with no end in sight. We can become hopeless in our helplessness or we can bury our heads in the sand or try to focus on our own lives especially, if our circumstances are currently manageable and maybe even good. Eventually, the circumstances of current events will affect you and your head will have to come out of the sand…what will you do? Where will your hope come from?
Our only hope rests with Jesus and the scripture He has given us and the Spirit He has provided to lead us to the hope we so desperately need and seek.
What does scripture say...
"nothing can separate (the children) of God from the love of God" Romans 8:35-39
"I will never leave you or abandon you" Hebrews 13:5
"I can endure all things through the power of the one who gives my strength." Philippians 4:13
We may never understand why the Lord allows tragedies and trials in our lives but we can be assured that in the midst of them He is always with us; and through Him and in Him there is always hope and love.
Romans 15:13 "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."
He is our hope and miraculously we can also have joy and peace in the midst of our storms/trials. He promises this for us. We just have to choose to believe. But what if we cannot believe? What then?
You ask for help. The father in the New Testament went to Jesus when his son was sick. He had heard that Jesus could help and had helped others but he had doubts. He asked Jesus to heal his son and then he asked Jesus to help his unbelief. What happened? His son was healed. (Mark 9:24)
What can we take away from this? Will Jesus always heal our sick loved ones? Not always but belief is needed when asking Jesus for help, but even in our unbelief and doubting, Jesus meets us there. (the father mentioned earlier and even Thomas after the resurrection was not rejected but met by Jesus with love and understanding, NOT shame.)
Christ and His Word is our only hope in these times and the times to come. Seek Him and His scriptures, you will find it.
Deuteronomy 4:29 “you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul.”
Jeremiah 29:13 “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”
Matthew 7:7-8 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
So where does that leave us?
Will you believe the scriptures?
Will you trust in the Lord?
In the midst of our storms both personal and social, He can bring hope; not the hope that things will change, necessarily, but the hope that He will be there with each of us in the midst of it - loving us and giving us the strength we need to get through it. In that strength and hope, we find peace and joy.
Joy is in the Lord Jesus Christ and who He is.
Showing posts with label Jesus. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jesus. Show all posts
Monday, August 22, 2011
Friday, June 10, 2011
NEXT!
“Yes, I can forgive you. Your sin isn’t so bad. NEXT!”
“Hmmm…yes, your sin is forgiven,” as He eyes another person down the line with a long stare. “NEXT!”
“Well, you…I remember you…hmmm…your sin is a tough one…” more long and thoughtful stares and contemplation. “Yes, your sin is forgiven. But it was close. NEXT!”
“Oh…,” big sigh, a long look at me, as He sizes me up and thinks hard. “Yes, yes, yes. You. I have been waiting for you…mmmm. What do I do about you? Your sin is a doozy! I’m just not sure about your sin.” More sighs as He says, “Well, well, well…I’ll get back to you… NEXT!”
Thankfully this is not the picture of how God hands out forgiveness! Jesus’ blood covers it all, past present and future sins. None is too great or horrible to cover. It’s done. The forgiveness has been issued. We just have to believe and receive. And our sin is covered forever from the moment we believe and receive the gift of forgiveness made possible by His death on the cross.
It’s like God has created this great coat that is already made perfectly and hanging on a hanger for each person to receive. This coat is awesome because it changes colors and designs based on our needs. It is light and insulated at different times depending on our location and need. This is the last coat you will ever need and suits you perfectly but not everyone believes in its value or knows it’s there. On the day that each person hears that it is available; they chose whether they will walk away with it. Some quickly take it realizing its value. Some contemplate its worth and choose to decide later. Some look at the coat they are already wearing or know they have one in their closet and think, “I’m doing fine. I don’t really need this.” Others think, “This coat is ugly or useless,” and turn their backs and never think about it again.
Nothing changes about the coat, itself. Once it was created, it was offered and will continue to be offered for a very long time; not indefinitely but nearly. It will always meet your need. It’s waiting; you just need to take it.
When Christ died on the cross, our sin was taken care of. Forgiveness was available and complete, no matter when the sin or what the sin. It was finished. The only thing remaining is your choice to take what is being offered.
Have you? Will you?
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not die but have everlasting life.”
Romans 10:9 “If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
“Hmmm…yes, your sin is forgiven,” as He eyes another person down the line with a long stare. “NEXT!”
“Well, you…I remember you…hmmm…your sin is a tough one…” more long and thoughtful stares and contemplation. “Yes, your sin is forgiven. But it was close. NEXT!”
“Oh…,” big sigh, a long look at me, as He sizes me up and thinks hard. “Yes, yes, yes. You. I have been waiting for you…mmmm. What do I do about you? Your sin is a doozy! I’m just not sure about your sin.” More sighs as He says, “Well, well, well…I’ll get back to you… NEXT!”
Thankfully this is not the picture of how God hands out forgiveness! Jesus’ blood covers it all, past present and future sins. None is too great or horrible to cover. It’s done. The forgiveness has been issued. We just have to believe and receive. And our sin is covered forever from the moment we believe and receive the gift of forgiveness made possible by His death on the cross.
It’s like God has created this great coat that is already made perfectly and hanging on a hanger for each person to receive. This coat is awesome because it changes colors and designs based on our needs. It is light and insulated at different times depending on our location and need. This is the last coat you will ever need and suits you perfectly but not everyone believes in its value or knows it’s there. On the day that each person hears that it is available; they chose whether they will walk away with it. Some quickly take it realizing its value. Some contemplate its worth and choose to decide later. Some look at the coat they are already wearing or know they have one in their closet and think, “I’m doing fine. I don’t really need this.” Others think, “This coat is ugly or useless,” and turn their backs and never think about it again.
Nothing changes about the coat, itself. Once it was created, it was offered and will continue to be offered for a very long time; not indefinitely but nearly. It will always meet your need. It’s waiting; you just need to take it.
When Christ died on the cross, our sin was taken care of. Forgiveness was available and complete, no matter when the sin or what the sin. It was finished. The only thing remaining is your choice to take what is being offered.
Have you? Will you?
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not die but have everlasting life.”
Romans 10:9 “If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
Saturday, June 4, 2011
OUCH!
A dear friend responded to my last post “OUCH! Thanks for the reminder!”
That’s a bit how I felt when writing that post and reading that portion of my Bible study – Discerning the Voice of God. I don’t remember all I have written over the last year and half but it is pretty safe to say that what I have posted has been messages I felt God was teaching me at the same time I was writing them. I too felt an "ouch" when first thinking of that last post. But ouches can be good. Sometimes we need something prickly to get us out of our rut of habits and misdirection.
I opened up my Bible study again this morning and read a quote by Jim Cymbala, pastor at Brooklyn Tabernacle of New York:
"Our spiritual ear will never be sensitive to His voice if we have a personal agenda to which we are already committed. God leads and speaks to the humble who have surrendered their plans and want to do His will. With an ‘open heaven’ and a surrendered will, we will be able to clearly hear God’s voice in our hearts.”
According to Pastor Cymbala's quote, to hear the voice of God in our hearts we must be more dedicated to God's plans in our lives and live a life surrendered to Him.
A verse has been popping up in my head for the last week or more and even more since writing that post. James 5:16 “the prayers of a righteous man availeth much.” A reminder of righteous living from Beth Moore, a righteous person does not willing or purposefully sin against God. We cannot ever call ourselves sinless but we can be living in such a way we where we are not purposely ignoring the leading and directions of Jesus, His Word and His Spirit.
I have also been praying for quite sometime to “hear” Jesus’ voice as I once did and to be able to pray effectively for others as I once did. These are some of the answers I have been getting: hear My voice, obey My voice immediately and listen some more. Basically it comes back to John 14:23
“…if anyone loves Me, he will obey My teaching…”
I say I love Him, I must obey like I’m supposed to – immediately and completely. I want to hear Jesus' voice, so I must live a life surrendered to Him and His plans. I want my prayers to be effective and powerful for Jesus and His people, so I must live a righteous life.
What about you? Do you want to recognize the voice of Jesus in your life? Do you want your prayers to avail much?
“We must trust and obey, for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus.” (A quote from an old hymn.)
Thanks for being on this journey with me!
That’s a bit how I felt when writing that post and reading that portion of my Bible study – Discerning the Voice of God. I don’t remember all I have written over the last year and half but it is pretty safe to say that what I have posted has been messages I felt God was teaching me at the same time I was writing them. I too felt an "ouch" when first thinking of that last post. But ouches can be good. Sometimes we need something prickly to get us out of our rut of habits and misdirection.
I opened up my Bible study again this morning and read a quote by Jim Cymbala, pastor at Brooklyn Tabernacle of New York:
"Our spiritual ear will never be sensitive to His voice if we have a personal agenda to which we are already committed. God leads and speaks to the humble who have surrendered their plans and want to do His will. With an ‘open heaven’ and a surrendered will, we will be able to clearly hear God’s voice in our hearts.”
According to Pastor Cymbala's quote, to hear the voice of God in our hearts we must be more dedicated to God's plans in our lives and live a life surrendered to Him.
A verse has been popping up in my head for the last week or more and even more since writing that post. James 5:16 “the prayers of a righteous man availeth much.” A reminder of righteous living from Beth Moore, a righteous person does not willing or purposefully sin against God. We cannot ever call ourselves sinless but we can be living in such a way we where we are not purposely ignoring the leading and directions of Jesus, His Word and His Spirit.
I have also been praying for quite sometime to “hear” Jesus’ voice as I once did and to be able to pray effectively for others as I once did. These are some of the answers I have been getting: hear My voice, obey My voice immediately and listen some more. Basically it comes back to John 14:23
“…if anyone loves Me, he will obey My teaching…”
I say I love Him, I must obey like I’m supposed to – immediately and completely. I want to hear Jesus' voice, so I must live a life surrendered to Him and His plans. I want my prayers to be effective and powerful for Jesus and His people, so I must live a righteous life.
What about you? Do you want to recognize the voice of Jesus in your life? Do you want your prayers to avail much?
“We must trust and obey, for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus.” (A quote from an old hymn.)
Thanks for being on this journey with me!
Saturday, November 20, 2010
I want to be with you
God wanted so badly to be with His people, to be with us. In Exodus, he even gave instructions how to build the Tabernacle that He would dwell in to be amongst His people, to dwell with them. However, He knew that His holiness would kill them if they weren't prepared so He protected them them with the veil. It wasn't until hundreds of years later, when Christ died on the cross as the final blood sacrifice for our sins that the veil was torn (Mark 15:38, Hebrews 10:19-22). Through Christ we now have access to God. Our God did all this so that He might be with us and we with Him! This is how much He loves us! He will do anything to be with us and live amongst us. In Exodus He gave detailed instructions to build His dwelling place. In the New Testament gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) we learn how He gave His life so that we may become His new living temple. 1 Corinthians 3:16 "Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you."
God has done everything He could do to be intimately in our lives. Do you have anyone who has gone to such lengths to love you and be with you?! If you can say "yes" to that, you are truly blessed. But if the "yes"' is in reference to a person, sad to say, you cannot be with that person forever but with God it is forever. He has promised to never leave us (Hebrews 13:5). Romans 10:9 says "that if you confess with your mouth, Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved."
With this act and belief, you too will have the afor mentioned indwelling of the Spirit of God and become His living temple and begin a truly intimate loving relationship with the Creator God, Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. This is the greatest love we can ever know and have. It will last all eternity.
Will you believe? Will you accept His gift of love?
Just say,
"yes."
God has done everything He could do to be intimately in our lives. Do you have anyone who has gone to such lengths to love you and be with you?! If you can say "yes" to that, you are truly blessed. But if the "yes"' is in reference to a person, sad to say, you cannot be with that person forever but with God it is forever. He has promised to never leave us (Hebrews 13:5). Romans 10:9 says "that if you confess with your mouth, Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved."
With this act and belief, you too will have the afor mentioned indwelling of the Spirit of God and become His living temple and begin a truly intimate loving relationship with the Creator God, Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. This is the greatest love we can ever know and have. It will last all eternity.
Will you believe? Will you accept His gift of love?
Just say,
"yes."
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
An Expectant Father
Ephesians 1:3-6
Vs.3 “…who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ…” This is past tense. He has already put forth the order to bless us with every spiritual blessing available in Christ Jesus. Christ said I must leave to prepare a place for you in heaven. The room is ready, the blessings are wrapped, gifts and talents are waiting. Are you ready to receive them? Are you looking? What have you found? Praise Him, thank Him. Are you living a like one who is blessed?
Vs.4 “…for the Father has chosen us before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight…” When God chose to create the world, He knew we would fail Him, hurt Him, and disobey Him. He looked into the future and saw you, saw me and said,
“I want that precious one. I don’t want to miss out on the chance of having this one as My own. This one is too important to Me. I will create the world and send My only Son to die for the sins of this dear one, so that she/he can be holy and blameless and be a part of my kingdom.”
Jesus said,
“This precious child is worth all the pain and suffering I will endure.”
Do you know the Father’s love? Have you received the gift of salvation from the penalty of sin that Christ died to give you? *
Vs.5 “In love, the Father, determined that He wanted to adopt you and me through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will…” Adopting us brings Him pleasure and is in accordance with His will. Each of us is important enough to bring Him pleasure and be in His will. Each of us is a part of God’s plan! We are accepted, loved and pleasing to the King, the Lord Jesus Christ. He wants you to be a part of His will.
Vs.6 “…to the praise of His glorious grace, which He freely gives us in the One he loves.” Our part in His will (as if being in His will wasn’t enough) brings Him praise- just being and choosing Him, brings Him praise. Not what we do, what we have to offer, just choosing Him and being in His will. That is amazing! Think on this for a moment….when was the last time someone appreciated you choosing him or her? When was the last time you were valued for just being and not doing?
God knew before He created the world, which ones would choose Him and follow Him. He has been waiting, like an expectant Father, for the one who would say, “Yes”. He knew your name, who you would be and what you would look like. He waited thousands of years to die for you and than waited almost 2,000 more years to have you in His family. He did this knowing how many times you would fall short. He loved each of you enough to wait anyway and loves you despite your shortcomings. Wow!
He loves you more than you will ever know.
* Romans 10:9 “That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”
Vs.3 “…who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ…” This is past tense. He has already put forth the order to bless us with every spiritual blessing available in Christ Jesus. Christ said I must leave to prepare a place for you in heaven. The room is ready, the blessings are wrapped, gifts and talents are waiting. Are you ready to receive them? Are you looking? What have you found? Praise Him, thank Him. Are you living a like one who is blessed?
Vs.4 “…for the Father has chosen us before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight…” When God chose to create the world, He knew we would fail Him, hurt Him, and disobey Him. He looked into the future and saw you, saw me and said,
“I want that precious one. I don’t want to miss out on the chance of having this one as My own. This one is too important to Me. I will create the world and send My only Son to die for the sins of this dear one, so that she/he can be holy and blameless and be a part of my kingdom.”
Jesus said,
“This precious child is worth all the pain and suffering I will endure.”
Do you know the Father’s love? Have you received the gift of salvation from the penalty of sin that Christ died to give you? *
Vs.5 “In love, the Father, determined that He wanted to adopt you and me through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will…” Adopting us brings Him pleasure and is in accordance with His will. Each of us is important enough to bring Him pleasure and be in His will. Each of us is a part of God’s plan! We are accepted, loved and pleasing to the King, the Lord Jesus Christ. He wants you to be a part of His will.
Vs.6 “…to the praise of His glorious grace, which He freely gives us in the One he loves.” Our part in His will (as if being in His will wasn’t enough) brings Him praise- just being and choosing Him, brings Him praise. Not what we do, what we have to offer, just choosing Him and being in His will. That is amazing! Think on this for a moment….when was the last time someone appreciated you choosing him or her? When was the last time you were valued for just being and not doing?
God knew before He created the world, which ones would choose Him and follow Him. He has been waiting, like an expectant Father, for the one who would say, “Yes”. He knew your name, who you would be and what you would look like. He waited thousands of years to die for you and than waited almost 2,000 more years to have you in His family. He did this knowing how many times you would fall short. He loved each of you enough to wait anyway and loves you despite your shortcomings. Wow!
He loves you more than you will ever know.
* Romans 10:9 “That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Giving joy away
It is always pretty amazing when the communications/worship leader is the one who does the sermon. I often marvel at the way these people in particular can take what they are speaking on and carry the theme of that message all the way until the end leaving us with a complete package of what the message was.
This happened again this morning. Our worship leader did the sermon at our church. We have been going through Philippians and the message this morning was on chapter 4 verses 1-7. I have heard and read many different messages on this popular portion of scripture. I have even written on this portion of scripture. The Holy Spirit never ceases to amaze me at how He can teach us something new from an “old” or familiar portion of scripture, if we keep our minds and hearts open to Him. This morning was no exception. Tom, our speaker/teacher this morning drew something from this passage that I don’t think I’ve heard before. He focused on the relationship and responsibility of the church to help bring resolution to conflicts and unity back to the church by helping two women who were having a conflict in the church of Philippi. He also brought out the Webster’s definition of rejoice that also shed new light unto the passage for me. Rejoice according to Webster means to give joy. To attempt paraphrase a 30min sermon, Tom was telling us that in and through Jesus we can give joy to those in the church to bring unity, resolution of conflict and in his words, power. Our willingness to give joy through word and action is powerful. He weaved the illustration of this power in light. He had a light bulb and then at the end a woman danced in the darkened auditorium with illuminated balls on string. It was a very powerful illustration for me regarding the power of joy as we give it to others.
As Tom was speaking of the light and the power of the light, I couldn’t help but remember 1 John 1:7 “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another...” We can only give powerful and lasting joy away when we have gotten it from Jesus Himself, the Light of the world. There was one moment when Tom was standing near the light and from my perspective his face was obscured by the brightness of the light. Essentially, Tom disappeared and only the light was visible. Isn’t this what we want in the church? If we are close enough to the Light and interact with others (the church in this sermon) those we are interacting with won’t see us at all just the Light, Jesus.
Hmm….something to meditate on….
Another interesting thing about Tom’s sermon was his challenge to us to not give up on each other. We have the choice to just do nothing, nothing at all. When we choose to do nothing either the person we could have brought power, hope and joy to will die in some way or we will. So we either choose life or we choose death. This weekend my husband and I were on a retreat for our church and Tom and his wife were there as well. Tom may not have realized it but his comment to me about how he has read my blog when it’s posted on our church facebook page, brought life (power) to me. As you know, I have given into the relaxed schedule of the summer and have not posted a blog for some time. His simple comment encouraged me to make the time to sit down again and do what I know God has asked me to do. Thanks, Tom for bringing power into my life by giving away some the joy Jesus has given you!
Cavat: I just learned from Tom that Jeff Smith was the one who helped with the program. Way to go Jeff!
This happened again this morning. Our worship leader did the sermon at our church. We have been going through Philippians and the message this morning was on chapter 4 verses 1-7. I have heard and read many different messages on this popular portion of scripture. I have even written on this portion of scripture. The Holy Spirit never ceases to amaze me at how He can teach us something new from an “old” or familiar portion of scripture, if we keep our minds and hearts open to Him. This morning was no exception. Tom, our speaker/teacher this morning drew something from this passage that I don’t think I’ve heard before. He focused on the relationship and responsibility of the church to help bring resolution to conflicts and unity back to the church by helping two women who were having a conflict in the church of Philippi. He also brought out the Webster’s definition of rejoice that also shed new light unto the passage for me. Rejoice according to Webster means to give joy. To attempt paraphrase a 30min sermon, Tom was telling us that in and through Jesus we can give joy to those in the church to bring unity, resolution of conflict and in his words, power. Our willingness to give joy through word and action is powerful. He weaved the illustration of this power in light. He had a light bulb and then at the end a woman danced in the darkened auditorium with illuminated balls on string. It was a very powerful illustration for me regarding the power of joy as we give it to others.
As Tom was speaking of the light and the power of the light, I couldn’t help but remember 1 John 1:7 “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another...” We can only give powerful and lasting joy away when we have gotten it from Jesus Himself, the Light of the world. There was one moment when Tom was standing near the light and from my perspective his face was obscured by the brightness of the light. Essentially, Tom disappeared and only the light was visible. Isn’t this what we want in the church? If we are close enough to the Light and interact with others (the church in this sermon) those we are interacting with won’t see us at all just the Light, Jesus.
Hmm….something to meditate on….
Another interesting thing about Tom’s sermon was his challenge to us to not give up on each other. We have the choice to just do nothing, nothing at all. When we choose to do nothing either the person we could have brought power, hope and joy to will die in some way or we will. So we either choose life or we choose death. This weekend my husband and I were on a retreat for our church and Tom and his wife were there as well. Tom may not have realized it but his comment to me about how he has read my blog when it’s posted on our church facebook page, brought life (power) to me. As you know, I have given into the relaxed schedule of the summer and have not posted a blog for some time. His simple comment encouraged me to make the time to sit down again and do what I know God has asked me to do. Thanks, Tom for bringing power into my life by giving away some the joy Jesus has given you!
Cavat: I just learned from Tom that Jeff Smith was the one who helped with the program. Way to go Jeff!
Monday, June 14, 2010
Death of True Life – Pure Life
James 1:14-15
“But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.”
I don’t want death. Jesus died to give life; complete life, whole life, pure life. I don’t want to have any death in me. In my mind this death is like a stench to You. I know that spiritually by believing in Your Son and receiving the cleansing of my sins by His death, I have received spiritual and eternal life, but what does my continued sin look like to You? Can You smell it like rotting flesh? Or does it merely sadden You; deeply sadden You? You know the plans You have for me, plans that do not harm me but prosper me. Yet there are times that I choose sin and even choose to allow it to become fully grown and bring a death unto myself.
This death that I have brought on myself…what form does it take? The only answer that comes to mind is the death of the life and blessings that You intend and want to give to me. Death of times I can participate in Your plans or fully receive the blessing of participating in Your plans. Whatever form the death takes, it is not Your best for me. I want Your best for me. I want to experience You fully and truly, nothing held back.
Forgive me for allowing my desire to birthed into sin and get fully grown leading to a death. Forgive me Lord Jesus for choosing my desire over You, for accepting a hollow shell of fulfillment instead of a fulfillment and blessing from You that would be lasting and precious.
By the power of Your Name and the blood that was shed for me, cleanse me from all unrighteousness and help me to allow You to purify my mind and heart to live the life You desire for me; one that is intimately connected to You. I want all You have for me, Lord. I want the intimate love relationship that brings true and lasting fulfillment and joy; completeness.
“But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.”
I don’t want death. Jesus died to give life; complete life, whole life, pure life. I don’t want to have any death in me. In my mind this death is like a stench to You. I know that spiritually by believing in Your Son and receiving the cleansing of my sins by His death, I have received spiritual and eternal life, but what does my continued sin look like to You? Can You smell it like rotting flesh? Or does it merely sadden You; deeply sadden You? You know the plans You have for me, plans that do not harm me but prosper me. Yet there are times that I choose sin and even choose to allow it to become fully grown and bring a death unto myself.
This death that I have brought on myself…what form does it take? The only answer that comes to mind is the death of the life and blessings that You intend and want to give to me. Death of times I can participate in Your plans or fully receive the blessing of participating in Your plans. Whatever form the death takes, it is not Your best for me. I want Your best for me. I want to experience You fully and truly, nothing held back.
Forgive me for allowing my desire to birthed into sin and get fully grown leading to a death. Forgive me Lord Jesus for choosing my desire over You, for accepting a hollow shell of fulfillment instead of a fulfillment and blessing from You that would be lasting and precious.
By the power of Your Name and the blood that was shed for me, cleanse me from all unrighteousness and help me to allow You to purify my mind and heart to live the life You desire for me; one that is intimately connected to You. I want all You have for me, Lord. I want the intimate love relationship that brings true and lasting fulfillment and joy; completeness.
Sunday, May 30, 2010
religions...spirituality...
Acts 17:16-34
Paul visits Athens while he waits for Silas and Timothy in Berea. While he is there, he walks around the city and marketplace discovering the people. He “reasons with the Jews and the God-fearing Greeks in the synagogues, as well as in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there.”
One of the things he discovers is that the people of Athens are “in every way very religious.” They even have an altar in the marketplace for an unknown god. The poets of Athens even write of us as being God’s offspring. They appear to be open-minded. There are even some men of the Areopagus who consider themselves to be the custodians of teachings that introduce new religions and foreign gods. Paul knew that being religious wasn’t enough and we cannot capture Him in objects to worship. He also explains that in the past God overlooked the idol worship of Gentiles (He didn’t overlook it for the Jews, as seen in many accounts of the Old Testament). No longer will the Gentiles’ worship of idols and other gods be overlooked by God. We are all held accountable for our decisions and there will come a time where we will have to answer to God for our decisions.
Does some of this sound familiar to you? Aren’t we encouraged in this day to be open-minded and tolerant of other religions and spiritual practices? People are even described as being spiritual and this is a positive comment and sometimes a compliment or a way to tolerate your form of worship. This is not what Paul is saying here in Acts. Not all forms of religion/spirituality are acceptable to God. We must examine what we are choosing to practice and how we practice it. We may go to a church that speaks of Christ but is it a form of religion for us, going through the motions or a love relationship with Jesus where we are seeking to know Him more and love Him well?
Don’t get caught up in religion and spirituality and be deceived that it is enough. Jesus doesn’t simply want you to know that He lived here on earth and ascended to heaven, He wants you to know that He came to earth especially for you to make a way for you to follow Him to heaven. He wants YOU to be with Him in heaven. That’s why He died on the cross and rose again. He paid the price for your sin, my sin, so we wouldn’t have to and so we could one day be with Him in heaven. This isn’t religion; it’s discovering who Jesus is and why He loves us so much and how this can make a difference in your life like no other form of religion or spiritual practice can.
Paul visits Athens while he waits for Silas and Timothy in Berea. While he is there, he walks around the city and marketplace discovering the people. He “reasons with the Jews and the God-fearing Greeks in the synagogues, as well as in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there.”
One of the things he discovers is that the people of Athens are “in every way very religious.” They even have an altar in the marketplace for an unknown god. The poets of Athens even write of us as being God’s offspring. They appear to be open-minded. There are even some men of the Areopagus who consider themselves to be the custodians of teachings that introduce new religions and foreign gods. Paul knew that being religious wasn’t enough and we cannot capture Him in objects to worship. He also explains that in the past God overlooked the idol worship of Gentiles (He didn’t overlook it for the Jews, as seen in many accounts of the Old Testament). No longer will the Gentiles’ worship of idols and other gods be overlooked by God. We are all held accountable for our decisions and there will come a time where we will have to answer to God for our decisions.
Does some of this sound familiar to you? Aren’t we encouraged in this day to be open-minded and tolerant of other religions and spiritual practices? People are even described as being spiritual and this is a positive comment and sometimes a compliment or a way to tolerate your form of worship. This is not what Paul is saying here in Acts. Not all forms of religion/spirituality are acceptable to God. We must examine what we are choosing to practice and how we practice it. We may go to a church that speaks of Christ but is it a form of religion for us, going through the motions or a love relationship with Jesus where we are seeking to know Him more and love Him well?
Don’t get caught up in religion and spirituality and be deceived that it is enough. Jesus doesn’t simply want you to know that He lived here on earth and ascended to heaven, He wants you to know that He came to earth especially for you to make a way for you to follow Him to heaven. He wants YOU to be with Him in heaven. That’s why He died on the cross and rose again. He paid the price for your sin, my sin, so we wouldn’t have to and so we could one day be with Him in heaven. This isn’t religion; it’s discovering who Jesus is and why He loves us so much and how this can make a difference in your life like no other form of religion or spiritual practice can.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)