Holy is the Lord God almighty, the Holy One who makes all things new!!
I just wanted to come on and share a little bit with anyone who would see this. As we come into passion week I can’t help but think of how awesome our God is. I am reminded daily of His deep personal love that He showers on His creation. The story of Jesus continues to move me not only in what He taught but what He lived. The Almighty God in the form of a man became like a helpless lamb to the slaughter. He did this for us, He did this so that we could have a relationship with the Father and so that we could be saved from ourselves and sin. But this story is a constant reminder to be humble. OH The cost of our salvation! I almost come to tears every time I consider the cost and I am not a very emotional man but this story grabs me at the core of my heart.
The fact that our God, timeless, ever present, all powerful and never ending humbled Himself in the form of a man, came to Earth dwelt among us not as a King but as a humble carpenters son, took on a counter cultural ministry, denied Himself due worship, honor and praise, was humiliated, had His character questioned, mocked, shamed, beaten, and unjustly convicted to death because of our sin, our God, a God that is infinite in nature, that will know no end, experienced an end when He was crucified and was killed, as a created being I understand what it is to have a beginning and end, but our God who will experience an ever lasting self existence experienced an end in death…for us.
The story doesn’t end there,we know that because sin has no hold on our God, Jesus rose again through resurrection and is now seated in heaven, offering up prayer for us even to this day. He never stopped loving us, He never stopped putting us first, and He will never stop yearning for those outside the flock, because His love goes to the deepest level of our existence. This is why God desires all people, because the cost of salvation was so significant, that it covers even the most wicked.
So as we go about this week, remember our Lord, remember the price. I pray that we all remember so that we are so moved as to live out our days in thankfulness. Rejoice because our God is an intimate God, One who redeems His people and loves them without end. Let us be inspired by His love so that in turn we may truly love others.
Word or Work?
I happened to be pondering this after a long study session. Where has our sense of awe in regard to scripture gone?
I find myself in the middle of my studies, reading the Bible, reading books about the Bible, reading books about books people have read on the Bible…ect. I study the Word of God and soak it up. But I have to admit, I find myself looking at the Bible as some sort of text book for life. That I must glean as much from it as possible and in some cases this is a good thing. But what is lost is the relationship forming power in the Word when its treated like a textbook.
Its great to learn something new and to understand every single aspect about historical context, literary context and so on, but at the base the Word was given to us so that we could form a tight bond with the One who inspired it. In the quest to better understand and scrutinize the Word I have been trying to reduce God into something that can just be studied. Have we been so caught up into extracting moralisms (do’s and don’ts) or doctrine from the Bible that we have missed the point in which it was given? A guide to the lost and the church to reunite us to a longing God. I mean I really have to ask the question, what has been lost when we are always critically analyzing every verse or cannibalizing every teaching? Is this what our religion is about?
Do not get me wrong, it is good to be inquiring of the Word of God, please do not hear me say I am advocating for anti-intellectualism. But what I am advocating for is, taking the time to appreciate what it is. It’s God’s letter to us, explaining who He is and most importantly just how much He loves us and what He has done to be with us. Let God renew a passion in us for His Word, so that we can see it for what it is, a life giving/relationship building/edifying word to us. Let us resolve to not just make the Bible into work but something we can do to connect with out creator. Remember it is not by our works God reveals Himself, Sometimes we just have to truly be still and know that He is God.
The difficulty of Silence
Above is a video that really hit home to me. I am what you describe as an antsy person. I love to constantly be doing something. I love to read, write, research, play games, music and so on. But what I really wrestle with is the issue of being silent before God.
Some claim that prayer is a problem because they don’t know what to say, well that is the exact opposite for me. I can pray for extended periods of time with so many people, issues and things to pray for. Prayer is wonderful and it fulfills my sense of duty from Paul’s words in 1 Thessalonians 5, to pray without ceasing. But in my quest to fulfill this I have lost something very important. I have lost my ability to just rest in the presence of God and just “drink Him in”. It is easy to get caught up in the things we must do and all of those things are important, but just as equally important is the ability “to be still and know that He is God”. It is in silence that the heart begins to reflect and if your heart is turned to God you will begin to see His love displayed all through your life. You reflect on the grandness of God and how big He truly is. Also in silence the Spirit brings to mind the things God has written on your heart and allows God a chance to simply just love on you.
I begin to wonder isn’t this the nature of a healthy relationship? I begin to think of the story of Mary and Martha. Where Martha is busy away doing things for her Lord and Mary is resting at His feet. Martha gets upset at Mary for not doing all the work she was and when she confronted Jesus about it, Jesus says to her ““Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one.Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” I am sure Martha was astounded by what Jesus said because it goes against our very nature. We feel the need to simply just “do” things for the sake of feeling accomplished or to honor our Lord and these things while being good can distract us from what is really important and that is not leaving the side of Jesus. So again in my silence I am reminded of who I serve, I see the things that He has done and my heart is renewed by His presence. I love God more than anything, but I can’t shut up long enough for Him to tell me how much He loves me. So let us resolve to make time for silence because in that silence God will be found because just as we are seeking God, He is seeking us as well.
A Heart Heavy Reflection
I haven’t written in a while and I decided that I really should, not because I have something more of value than anyone on the internet or even because I think I deserve to be heard more than anyone. Instead I write to pour out my heart, my frustrations, my sorrows, my joy and even my own hurt. I decided from the beginning I wanted to use this as a means of not only teaching but sincere reflections on faith. So it is with a humble heart that I approach whoever may read this.
My heart is heavy tonight and it is not unusual for this has weighed heavily for a long time. You see I am a Christian and I use that term lightly, not with a sense of pride or superiority, but a Christian who has been saved by our selfless God and only by grace. It was by God’s grace that I am where I am today, even as broken as I am. God is the love of my life, I treasure Him more than I treasure my own life. This is something I know to be true even to the very core of my being. But this is not going to be a love letter, at least not on my part. You see I DO proclaim this from my very core, but I am challenged daily with keeping His word. I am attending a University where I am learning theology and it is easy to be comfortable with the lessons, the abstract concepts, and the “proper” ways to conduct church. There is always something more to do, something to say, something to write about theology but when it comes down to it what really matters is our actions.
Jesus is a beautiful example of what it is to personify unconditional, selfless and sacrificial love. A love that transcends solely emotional ties and goes into complete selflessness, a pure love that blends words with actions. To grant some perspective Jesus being the eternal God, worthy of all praise, comforts, power and worship emptied Himself to become a servant. The God of the universe came to serve us when He deserved to be served. How great is His selflessness! This is the short version of the full theology but nonetheless it is mind blowing. So where am I going with this? Simply put is that I have been reflecting on what it means to be a “Christian” and this can be answered several ways but what I wanted to focus on here is love personified through Christ. How can we become this outwardly focused as Jesus was and consider others over even ourselves? This is the question I wrestle with now, because every part of me wants to reach out to God and this is how we personify love like Jesus did.
I can confess wholeheartedly that I love Christ, I can attend church and even preach sermons. But I have realized that all of those things are only the tiniest portion of what it means to be a Christian let alone a pastor. I am going to be the first to admit that I have not been the best at personifying love. I have been hypocritical, angry, overly judgmental and impatient. But again by the grace of God my heart is being soften daily. So this is a confession and an encouragement.
I know there isn’t too much that is deep here. I didn’t want to bog everyone down with theology, I just want to have you realize that it is important to ask ourselves the question as believers, how can we better personify love, the same love Jesus shared with the world. If we can learn to personify love imagine what we could do and how much we could improve the lives of everyone we meet. Just something to consider, if everyone that claimed to be a Christian actually lived their lives like Jesus did we could literally with all the numbers cure world hunger, take care of the majority of the sick, and leave a larger lasting impact on this world that would bring even greater glory to the One we claim to serve. This is not a guilt trip, but some perspective.
So what I am going to do because I fall into the lacking area as well is get my butt in gear and make more of an effort to live my life as Christ did and not just confess it because honestly at the end of the day I can’t say with my whole heart I love our God if i don’t live for Him.
Reverent Reflections 