Monday, January 25, 2010
A chasing after the wind
We can and never will be enough for one another. I will never satisfy any longing for another human being. The same can be said for anything else. Solomon says it best in Ecclesiastes when he repeatedly refers to our labors and efforts as a "mere chasing after the wind". How often in this life do our efforts, desires, longings, and obligations return void. Even the things inspired by the Lord can prove meaningless when whatever we are doing becomes more of our identity than the ONE who gave us the inspiration. 23Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, 24since 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...It is one of the easiest things I know to do, to esteem the inspiration over the inspirer, the gift over the giver, the breath over the one who breathes into you...May we never forget the gift of God of salvation for all to know him and to become his righteousness. Commit your plans to the Lord, true happiness is not found in getting what you want. True happiness is found in desiring God above all and allowing your desires to be shaped and molded into his good, pleasing, and perfect will. I will let you down. I have let you down. He wont let you down, for he is incapable of that which is not love.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Suffering and the Removal of False Hope
And we[b] rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. 3Not only so, but we[c] also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.
Suffering these days is talked about more and more and more but Im not sure we get the point yet. We don't look to suffer just because thats what good christians do. Of course it can be a mark of dedication but there are several scriptures that point to the benefit of suffering such as this. I was talking to a friend this morning who was talking to me about their interaction with an ex. They said it was hard and overwhelming because in some sense they still had some false hope for the situation. This scripture immediately popped into mind and made me think of the process. It says suffering produces perseverence; perseverance, character; and character, Hope...In Peter it talks about our trials Refining our faith so it can be made genuine. I was thinking about how many false hopes we have and place in this world. I asked what having that false hope removed through time seeing the ex and realizing it wasnt something that needed to happen. The answer? "Made me put my hope in christ"
What does this mean? Well the process of sanctification is not one of becoming a better person, its becoming more like christ. To do so we must place more and more trust and let go of more of ourselves. So it is fairly obvious that you cant truly trust someone in the easy times for the simple fact that you aren't really having to trust. If its a sure thing you cant really be let down. It is in times of great vulnerability when your faith is being shaken or when your heart is aching that the true measure of trust is shown. Having all of our false hope stripped away and having to rely on Christ and trust. In short all I mean to say is if you truly want to know Christ and be made more like him you must be willing to have your foundations shaken. Until you world is crumbling you cant understand the need to hold onto Christ. We know this world wont satisfy so my prayer is that you will rejoice in your sufferings just as you rejoice in the good times. It is through the mess that his glory shines through. To know him you must know hurt(he hurt unto death btw). If you long to know his hope more and share it with the world it will get hard. But the joy oh the joy of knowing him and making him known!!
Suffering these days is talked about more and more and more but Im not sure we get the point yet. We don't look to suffer just because thats what good christians do. Of course it can be a mark of dedication but there are several scriptures that point to the benefit of suffering such as this. I was talking to a friend this morning who was talking to me about their interaction with an ex. They said it was hard and overwhelming because in some sense they still had some false hope for the situation. This scripture immediately popped into mind and made me think of the process. It says suffering produces perseverence; perseverance, character; and character, Hope...In Peter it talks about our trials Refining our faith so it can be made genuine. I was thinking about how many false hopes we have and place in this world. I asked what having that false hope removed through time seeing the ex and realizing it wasnt something that needed to happen. The answer? "Made me put my hope in christ"
What does this mean? Well the process of sanctification is not one of becoming a better person, its becoming more like christ. To do so we must place more and more trust and let go of more of ourselves. So it is fairly obvious that you cant truly trust someone in the easy times for the simple fact that you aren't really having to trust. If its a sure thing you cant really be let down. It is in times of great vulnerability when your faith is being shaken or when your heart is aching that the true measure of trust is shown. Having all of our false hope stripped away and having to rely on Christ and trust. In short all I mean to say is if you truly want to know Christ and be made more like him you must be willing to have your foundations shaken. Until you world is crumbling you cant understand the need to hold onto Christ. We know this world wont satisfy so my prayer is that you will rejoice in your sufferings just as you rejoice in the good times. It is through the mess that his glory shines through. To know him you must know hurt(he hurt unto death btw). If you long to know his hope more and share it with the world it will get hard. But the joy oh the joy of knowing him and making him known!!
Monday, January 11, 2010
Wisdom...Proverbs 2
My son, if you accept my words
and store up my commands within you,
2 turning your ear to wisdom
and applying your heart to understanding,
3 and if you call out for insight
and cry aloud for understanding,
4 and if you look for it as for silver
and search for it as for hidden treasure,
5 then you will understand the fear of the LORD
and find the knowledge of God.
6 For the LORD gives wisdom,
and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
7 He holds victory in store for the upright,
he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless,
8 for he guards the course of the just
and protects the way of his faithful ones.
9 Then you will understand what is right and just
and fair—every good path.
10 For wisdom will enter your heart,
and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.
11 Discretion will protect you,
and understanding will guard you.
12 Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men,
from men whose words are perverse,
13 who leave the straight paths
to walk in dark ways,
14 who delight in doing wrong
and rejoice in the perverseness of evil,
15 whose paths are crooked
and who are devious in their ways.
16 It will save you also from the adulteress,
from the wayward wife with her seductive words,
17 who has left the partner of her youth
and ignored the covenant she made before God. [a]
18 For her house leads down to death
and her paths to the spirits of the dead.
19 None who go to her return
or attain the paths of life.
20 Thus you will walk in the ways of good men
and keep to the paths of the righteous.
21 For the upright will live in the land,
and the blameless will remain in it;
22 but the wicked will be cut off from the land,
and the unfaithful will be torn from it.
May we all seek wisdom in the days to come. To know Gods heart, to delight in his ways, and to understand his justice. Just as the Lord was pleased with Solomons request for wisdom to know and understand how to live for him I believe this could be one of the most important things we could ever pray for. It says in Corinthians that he will make the foolish the wisdom of the wise. So, together lets seek wisdom to know him and his ways.
and store up my commands within you,
2 turning your ear to wisdom
and applying your heart to understanding,
3 and if you call out for insight
and cry aloud for understanding,
4 and if you look for it as for silver
and search for it as for hidden treasure,
5 then you will understand the fear of the LORD
and find the knowledge of God.
6 For the LORD gives wisdom,
and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
7 He holds victory in store for the upright,
he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless,
8 for he guards the course of the just
and protects the way of his faithful ones.
9 Then you will understand what is right and just
and fair—every good path.
10 For wisdom will enter your heart,
and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.
11 Discretion will protect you,
and understanding will guard you.
12 Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men,
from men whose words are perverse,
13 who leave the straight paths
to walk in dark ways,
14 who delight in doing wrong
and rejoice in the perverseness of evil,
15 whose paths are crooked
and who are devious in their ways.
16 It will save you also from the adulteress,
from the wayward wife with her seductive words,
17 who has left the partner of her youth
and ignored the covenant she made before God. [a]
18 For her house leads down to death
and her paths to the spirits of the dead.
19 None who go to her return
or attain the paths of life.
20 Thus you will walk in the ways of good men
and keep to the paths of the righteous.
21 For the upright will live in the land,
and the blameless will remain in it;
22 but the wicked will be cut off from the land,
and the unfaithful will be torn from it.
May we all seek wisdom in the days to come. To know Gods heart, to delight in his ways, and to understand his justice. Just as the Lord was pleased with Solomons request for wisdom to know and understand how to live for him I believe this could be one of the most important things we could ever pray for. It says in Corinthians that he will make the foolish the wisdom of the wise. So, together lets seek wisdom to know him and his ways.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
LOVE HURTS
We hear it all the time. The cheesy line about Love, and how it hurts. Movies portray it, people believe it and girls even believe they are in the right relationships because of it. Im here to say they are right when they say Love hurts. Im also ready to say weve misinterpreted who is supposed to be hurting and what Love is. 1 Corinthians 13 gives us a pretty clear understanding of Love and 1 John lets us know that God is love. John 15:13 says Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. God is love. Jesus was fully God fully man. Jesus died a painful brutal death that we might know him. Yes. Love HURT. Love hurt so that we might know love. We were created in the image of God(Imago Dei). We were created through and for God. We typically when saying love hurts have made ourself a god by putting our needs, desires and affections above anything else. Love is putting other needs desires and affections above anything else. Love was humiliated on a cross. To know love we must be humiliated on this earth. All of our comfort must go if we want to ever truly experience love. Love cannot commune with hate for they do not agree by nature. We must suffer by losing our agendas and self interest to ever know of love eternal. To ever know love we must know Pain. The Lord promises to cleanse us and sanctify us. This isnt and wasnt ever supposed to be easy. If it was all about ease why would Christ have had to suffer the ultimate disgrace? Couldnt the Lord have done it another way? Maybe, but the truth is through the pain comes the beauty, through the stripes came the ransom, and through suffering comes Love. Patient Kind trusting beautiful. the Kind that never fails...If you hurt today let it be that you might know him more tomorrow. If you lack worth today let it be that the Redeemer who paid your debt might show you his delight in you tomorrow. Let not the troubles of this world be in vein, but in preparation to become the righteousness of God! HE MADE HIM WHO KNEW NO SIN TO BE SIN THAT WE MIGHt BECOME THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD! 2 cor. 5:21...Oh what an inheritance...Trust and lean not on your own understanding. His ways are higher...
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