This whole issue began after I was talking to my friend the other day about all the decisions in our lives and how much each one truly affects our lives. Well last night, as I was lying in bed having no luck trying to fall asleep, I had this awesome revelation. I was thinking about decisions and how if you make one bad one does that screw up God's entire plan for our life…
I mean, if I made one decision that wasn't exactly what God had in mind for my life, does that mean that I'll never get back on the right path? I don't really believe that's how God works, but then I don't know how I'm suppose to make these hard decisions. I know each choice brings us closer to or farther from God's ultimate goal for our lives, but I'm just wondering if maybe there are detours. Can I get to the original destination just with a few cutoffs and side roads? I believe God knows all our decisions before we make them, and the best illustration of this is in a book I read by C.S. Lewis. In his book, he describes how God views our lives and shows how life is like a parade, we are on the ground watching each float one at a time (aka the present) but God is up above it all, seeing what has already passed and what is to come all at the same time (aka past, present, and future). I love this description because it doesn't show God causing things to happen because we do all have decisions to make, it illustrates how He simply knows the decisions that we will make and what the outcomes will be for each one before we make them. So since He knows what I'm going to do, maybe He creates other opportunities for me to get to my destination, just not in the original design.
I can't even count how many times I have sat agonizing over a decision and never really believing I have an answer from God. It helps, in these times, to know that since I am truly searching for an answer from Him no matter what choice I make He will ultimately bless my life; whether through that good decision or another opportunity if it was the wrong one because I sought Him through it all. I know this makes no sense but in order to make decisions in my life, I'd like to think that each one isn't going to change the entire course of my life because that's way too much pressure! Scripture even shows us that no matter what decision we make as long as we are seeking God He's going to bless our lives. A verse that really seems to back up my theory is found in Proverbs 16:3, it says "Committ to the Lord whatever you do and your plans will succeed."
For someone who is still trying to figure out what life has in store for them, it is so encouraging knowing that my life is going to be a success as long as I'm continually looking to Him!
June 25, 2008
June 2, 2008
David's Year Away
I heard one of the coolest messages the other day, presenting an aspect of an old bible story I’d never heard. The speaker began the lesson talking about how David was one of the MVPs of the old testament but that he had his issues just like the rest of us; he was an adulterer and a murderer but he was the man after God’s own heart because he was also a humble man who knew who held the keys to his eternity.
Well of course, if you’ve been in church for more than a few years, you’ve heard this story before, but the part of it I don’t remember or never paid attention to, was the fact that David didn’t repent immediately. I guess before I thought that he had just messed up and realized it and then corrected it, but that’s not what happened at all, in fact he doesn’t confess his sin until after the baby is born. It takes 9 months for a baby to be born, so when you do the math you realize that it is almost a year in this sinful state! He lived in this state of distance from God for an entire year which blows me away! How a man so committed to God can get to a point of distance for that long is almost unreal. It was not until his friend Nathan brought it to his attention that he got right with God. I’m sure he knew that he had sinned but he was so caught up in these sins that he couldn’t hear God’s prodding.
Nathan, being the good friend he was, showed David the error of his ways and David then made things right again. Nathan was a true friend because calling someone out on something is one of the hardest things to do; you never know how they’ll react and it could mean losing that friendship. Nathan took that chance anyways because he knew it was what was best for David. But the coolest thing about this realization was that David came back from this distant state and was still referred to as a man after God’s own heart! It’s encouraging to know that no matter what I get myself into, or for how long I stay in that state of turmoil, God will always accept me back and love me just as before and in an even more intimate way because I realize more fully the depth of His love. It reminds me of a Barlow Girl song called Harder Than The First Time. Here are some of the lyrics that show how amazing it is to grow in our relationship with the Lord…
“Was I so blind; how did I not see you? Yet in all this time you never left my side, So for all my life, I will live to know you, So here I am; I’ll take your hand I didn’t see you, but God I want toYou’ve come alive, and I think I’ve fallen harder than the first time”
Well of course, if you’ve been in church for more than a few years, you’ve heard this story before, but the part of it I don’t remember or never paid attention to, was the fact that David didn’t repent immediately. I guess before I thought that he had just messed up and realized it and then corrected it, but that’s not what happened at all, in fact he doesn’t confess his sin until after the baby is born. It takes 9 months for a baby to be born, so when you do the math you realize that it is almost a year in this sinful state! He lived in this state of distance from God for an entire year which blows me away! How a man so committed to God can get to a point of distance for that long is almost unreal. It was not until his friend Nathan brought it to his attention that he got right with God. I’m sure he knew that he had sinned but he was so caught up in these sins that he couldn’t hear God’s prodding.
Nathan, being the good friend he was, showed David the error of his ways and David then made things right again. Nathan was a true friend because calling someone out on something is one of the hardest things to do; you never know how they’ll react and it could mean losing that friendship. Nathan took that chance anyways because he knew it was what was best for David. But the coolest thing about this realization was that David came back from this distant state and was still referred to as a man after God’s own heart! It’s encouraging to know that no matter what I get myself into, or for how long I stay in that state of turmoil, God will always accept me back and love me just as before and in an even more intimate way because I realize more fully the depth of His love. It reminds me of a Barlow Girl song called Harder Than The First Time. Here are some of the lyrics that show how amazing it is to grow in our relationship with the Lord…
“Was I so blind; how did I not see you? Yet in all this time you never left my side, So for all my life, I will live to know you, So here I am; I’ll take your hand I didn’t see you, but God I want toYou’ve come alive, and I think I’ve fallen harder than the first time”
May 15, 2008
Lukewarm
Lately I’ve been having a big issue with the standards that Christians are lacking, me especially. Why don’t we hate sin as much as we should? We are told to flee ALL appearances of evil yet we put ourselves in tempting situations daily! I guess we become so desensitized to it that we get to a state of indifference. So how do we stop ourselves from becoming desensitized?
Well I thought about this for a while and realized that we have to begin by relearning what it means to be a Christian before we’ll understand the importance of living this life the way God desires. So the first thing to think about is our definition of the Christian life. We do this by understanding the word standard. When I asked people around me, the consensus for a good definition was a reference or a compass for how things should be. Basically, it is what you choose to live your life by. So, for a Christian, the thing we use as our compass for life is the Bible. But what does that mean? Each person has their own convictions about the issues that the Bible raises, so it is hard to figure out what we use as our example.
Well, more than the Bible alone, our standard is Christ. Christian means little Christ, so every aspect of our lives should immolate Christ. Again we ask what that means, because it is easy to argue that He was perfect so there is no way to live up to His standard. But shouldn’t we, in all ways possible, strive for that mark however far it may seem? That old saying goes “if we are aiming for the sky and miss, at least we’ll be numbered among the stars.” So if we are trying our hardest to live as Christ would, then things will undoubtedly fall into place.
We become more and more like whoever we place ourselves around, so we will obviously become more like Christ; the things that He hates will eventually become detestable to us if we are seeking to be in His presence. For example, I used to hate drunkenness not solely because the Bible says it’s wrong, but because I hated how it changed the personality of the drinker. I would never allow myself to be around drinking and heaven forbid I ever had a drink myself! But it only takes a few times of letting your guard down enough until you finally get to a place of simply not caring. It wasn't like I decided one day to change my beliefs, I just got out of that close fellowship with Christ and my standards changed. I no longer loathed drunkenness like Christ does because I wasn't close enough to Him. I am not about to preach a sermon on drinking because there are not enough clear distinctions in the Bible, but it does say that we are to never let something become our master and alcohol has that ability without us realizing until it is too late. So if we allow something into our lives that the Bible clearly warns against, we are taking away from the example of Christ that we are called to live. How do I sin and immolate Christ? I don’t, that’s called hypocrisy!
So the answer to the question of how we keep ourselves from becoming callous to these detestable things is to draw so close to Christ that we take on His character. I should be sold out to Him because we are called to be set apart and it is as simple as just doing it! God works in awesome ways, because when I really started thinking about this topic, a friend showed me this song that illustrates the reactions I'll get when I'm truly living for Him and how that shouldn't matter because I'm completely devoted to Him. It is an amazing song that is so helpful for those days that are discouraging my Christlike desires…
“Am I foolishness to you, And is it laughable the things I do Can your callused minds see past yourselves to His divine Am I foolishness to you Can I sing about my Maker, And have you not role your eyes Can I weep about my Savior, And the way He died I know it don't make sense, To those who ride the fence But I'm sold out to Christ You call it loosening up, Loosening up I call it spiraling down, Only one thing's the same, Only one thing remains, Jesus Jesus Can I sing about my Maker, And have you not role your eyes Can I weep about my Savior, And the way He died I know it don't make sense, To those who ride the fence But I'm sold out to Christ You're all asleep, You're all asleep You're all asleep oh children But He's all you need, You don't see it no Can I sing about my Maker, And have you not role your eyes Can I weep about my Savior, And the way He died I know it don't make sense, To those who ride the fence But I'm sold out to Christ” Fence Riders by Jimmy Needham
Well I thought about this for a while and realized that we have to begin by relearning what it means to be a Christian before we’ll understand the importance of living this life the way God desires. So the first thing to think about is our definition of the Christian life. We do this by understanding the word standard. When I asked people around me, the consensus for a good definition was a reference or a compass for how things should be. Basically, it is what you choose to live your life by. So, for a Christian, the thing we use as our compass for life is the Bible. But what does that mean? Each person has their own convictions about the issues that the Bible raises, so it is hard to figure out what we use as our example.
Well, more than the Bible alone, our standard is Christ. Christian means little Christ, so every aspect of our lives should immolate Christ. Again we ask what that means, because it is easy to argue that He was perfect so there is no way to live up to His standard. But shouldn’t we, in all ways possible, strive for that mark however far it may seem? That old saying goes “if we are aiming for the sky and miss, at least we’ll be numbered among the stars.” So if we are trying our hardest to live as Christ would, then things will undoubtedly fall into place.
We become more and more like whoever we place ourselves around, so we will obviously become more like Christ; the things that He hates will eventually become detestable to us if we are seeking to be in His presence. For example, I used to hate drunkenness not solely because the Bible says it’s wrong, but because I hated how it changed the personality of the drinker. I would never allow myself to be around drinking and heaven forbid I ever had a drink myself! But it only takes a few times of letting your guard down enough until you finally get to a place of simply not caring. It wasn't like I decided one day to change my beliefs, I just got out of that close fellowship with Christ and my standards changed. I no longer loathed drunkenness like Christ does because I wasn't close enough to Him. I am not about to preach a sermon on drinking because there are not enough clear distinctions in the Bible, but it does say that we are to never let something become our master and alcohol has that ability without us realizing until it is too late. So if we allow something into our lives that the Bible clearly warns against, we are taking away from the example of Christ that we are called to live. How do I sin and immolate Christ? I don’t, that’s called hypocrisy!
So the answer to the question of how we keep ourselves from becoming callous to these detestable things is to draw so close to Christ that we take on His character. I should be sold out to Him because we are called to be set apart and it is as simple as just doing it! God works in awesome ways, because when I really started thinking about this topic, a friend showed me this song that illustrates the reactions I'll get when I'm truly living for Him and how that shouldn't matter because I'm completely devoted to Him. It is an amazing song that is so helpful for those days that are discouraging my Christlike desires…
“Am I foolishness to you, And is it laughable the things I do Can your callused minds see past yourselves to His divine Am I foolishness to you Can I sing about my Maker, And have you not role your eyes Can I weep about my Savior, And the way He died I know it don't make sense, To those who ride the fence But I'm sold out to Christ You call it loosening up, Loosening up I call it spiraling down, Only one thing's the same, Only one thing remains, Jesus Jesus Can I sing about my Maker, And have you not role your eyes Can I weep about my Savior, And the way He died I know it don't make sense, To those who ride the fence But I'm sold out to Christ You're all asleep, You're all asleep You're all asleep oh children But He's all you need, You don't see it no Can I sing about my Maker, And have you not role your eyes Can I weep about my Savior, And the way He died I know it don't make sense, To those who ride the fence But I'm sold out to Christ” Fence Riders by Jimmy Needham
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