I have been in prayer over my children quite a bit lately. It seems like every day brings more to pray over. This is by far the hardest time in my life as far as my children go. I got to a point yesterday where I realized some of the mistakes I've made as a parent. This led to a lot of guilt. I dropped everything and prayed right there on the spot for forgiveness and help to make it right. I think my exact words were, "God, what do I do? How do I fix this?" It wasn't 5 minutes after I had prayed when the book, "My Utmost For His Highest" caught my eye. I began reading from the October 9 devotion. Here's what it said:
" 'Yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness.' Romans 6:13-22. I cannot save and sanctify myself; I cannot atone for sin; I cannot redeem the world; I cannot make right what is wrong, pure what is impure, holy what is unholy. That is all the sovereign work of God. Have I faith in what Jesus Christ has done? He has made a perfect Atonement, am I in the habit of constantly realizing it? The great need is not to DO things, but to BELIEVE things. The Redemption of Christ is not an experience, it is the great act of God which He has performed through Christ, and I have to build my faith upon it. If I construct my faith on my experience, I produce that most unscriptural type, an isolated life, my eyes fixed on my own whiteness. Beware of the piety that has no pre-supposition in the Atonement of the Lord. It is of no use for anything but a sequestered life; it is useless to God and a nuisance to man. Measure every type of experience by our Lord Himself. We cannot do anything pleasing to God unless we deliberately build on the pre-supposition of the Atonement."
"The great need is not to DO things, but to BELIEVE things." This statement has begun to free me, not to do what I want, but rather to be obedient. My ultimate goal has always been the outcome rather than the obeying. However, this statement says to me, I am only responsible for the obeying, not the outcome. God alone is Sovereign, not me. I can't "fix" anything. I can only obey and trust God to work.
"We cannot do anything pleasing to God unless we deliberately build on the pre-supposition of the Atonement." Jesus' work on the cross did it all. Building on anything less than that is vanity and pride. It is pride that makes me feel guilty over the choices that my children are making, for it stems from a belief that I can change them - that I should be able to change their hearts. In reality, I can only trust my God to change them through Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit. This releases me to simply "trust and obey".
Friday, October 10, 2008
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
The Love of Christ
My brother, sister-in-law, and I had "church" very briefly on Sunday afternoon. I have been thinking on Knuckle-head's statements ever since. Our conversation was based on James 2:12-13 "So speak and act as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty. For judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment." The idea being, we (who are in Christ) are not going to be judged by the law (for he who lives by the law will be judged by it), but rather by the command to love and have mercy as Christ loves and has mercy upon us.
The scripture that came to my mind this week is, "The love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf." II Cor 5:14-15. The LOVE of Christ controls us.... and what is this love? Check out I Cor. 13 for starters. (Love is patient, kind, not jealous, does not brag, is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly, does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, rejoices in truth, bears all things, hopes all things endures all things, and never fails.) Wes King says in one of his songs, "it's laying down your life". The above stated verse says "...no longer live for themselves." Love takes no thought for itself....no selfishness. My brother challenged me to love ALL without condition. This includes my enemies, my friends, my family, and those who have hurt me either intentionally or unintentionally. Easier said than done (hence the need for a new heart). True love cares more for the other person than itself, at all times. It takes no thought for itself. It doesn't need to be noticed. Its pride doesn't need to be stroked. It just loves for love's sake.
God loves us in Christ in an amazing and awesome way. God pursues us! We, who have sinned terribly, rebelled against Him constantly and refused to acknowledge him. I have just begun reading a C.H. Spurgeon sermon entitled "The Backslider's Door of Hope". In it he said, "The Law had failed, in that it was weak through the flesh, so He would use the Gospel - He would bring the Omnipotent power of love into the field! ....'I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak to her heart.' And I sought, then, to set forth the strange ways in which God, with wondrous love, allures His people to Himself - how He draws them away from all their former confidences and hopes and brings them into a wilderness alone with Him. And there He must feed them, or they must die - there He must guide them, or they must hopelessly stray. And there He must be everything to them, or else they must be destroyed with a great destruction. When the Lord, in love, brings His people to be alone with Him, then it is that He makes His promises come home to their hearts - and His person, His purposes, His ancient love and all the great preparations of that love as to the eternal future are laid home to the hearts of God's backsliding children - and they are made, again to rejoice therein so that they are comforted."
It struck me that perhaps too few of us (if any) really comprehend the love of Christ and "how wide, how high, how deep and how long" His love toward us is. When we truly understand the depths of the love of God through Jesus Christ, we cannot help but be controlled by it. To love as He loves. To see as He sees. When it happens in someone, it is unmistakable. You see it in them. They cannot be called "hypocrite" for they desire nothing so much as to be pleasing to Christ. When we love - the law is fulfilled completely, naturally, and wholly, for we do not want to do those things that we formally found to be so appealing and delightful because it hurts God and it hurts those around us. Hence, no need for the law.
Therefore, it becomes not so much about what we do or don't do in terms of works. ("Did I read my Bible? Did I say the Lord's name in vain? Did I do work on Sunday? Did I pray today?") It becomes a delight and a natural overflow of who we now are in Christ. Not burdensome and unattainable - a goal that must be reached before we can enter the Kingdom of God. If we delight in our works, we become a burden to those around us, and Christ's work becomes nothing more than a ticket to heaven.
The scripture that came to my mind this week is, "The love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf." II Cor 5:14-15. The LOVE of Christ controls us.... and what is this love? Check out I Cor. 13 for starters. (Love is patient, kind, not jealous, does not brag, is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly, does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, rejoices in truth, bears all things, hopes all things endures all things, and never fails.) Wes King says in one of his songs, "it's laying down your life". The above stated verse says "...no longer live for themselves." Love takes no thought for itself....no selfishness. My brother challenged me to love ALL without condition. This includes my enemies, my friends, my family, and those who have hurt me either intentionally or unintentionally. Easier said than done (hence the need for a new heart). True love cares more for the other person than itself, at all times. It takes no thought for itself. It doesn't need to be noticed. Its pride doesn't need to be stroked. It just loves for love's sake.
God loves us in Christ in an amazing and awesome way. God pursues us! We, who have sinned terribly, rebelled against Him constantly and refused to acknowledge him. I have just begun reading a C.H. Spurgeon sermon entitled "The Backslider's Door of Hope". In it he said, "The Law had failed, in that it was weak through the flesh, so He would use the Gospel - He would bring the Omnipotent power of love into the field! ....'I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak to her heart.' And I sought, then, to set forth the strange ways in which God, with wondrous love, allures His people to Himself - how He draws them away from all their former confidences and hopes and brings them into a wilderness alone with Him. And there He must feed them, or they must die - there He must guide them, or they must hopelessly stray. And there He must be everything to them, or else they must be destroyed with a great destruction. When the Lord, in love, brings His people to be alone with Him, then it is that He makes His promises come home to their hearts - and His person, His purposes, His ancient love and all the great preparations of that love as to the eternal future are laid home to the hearts of God's backsliding children - and they are made, again to rejoice therein so that they are comforted."
It struck me that perhaps too few of us (if any) really comprehend the love of Christ and "how wide, how high, how deep and how long" His love toward us is. When we truly understand the depths of the love of God through Jesus Christ, we cannot help but be controlled by it. To love as He loves. To see as He sees. When it happens in someone, it is unmistakable. You see it in them. They cannot be called "hypocrite" for they desire nothing so much as to be pleasing to Christ. When we love - the law is fulfilled completely, naturally, and wholly, for we do not want to do those things that we formally found to be so appealing and delightful because it hurts God and it hurts those around us. Hence, no need for the law.
Therefore, it becomes not so much about what we do or don't do in terms of works. ("Did I read my Bible? Did I say the Lord's name in vain? Did I do work on Sunday? Did I pray today?") It becomes a delight and a natural overflow of who we now are in Christ. Not burdensome and unattainable - a goal that must be reached before we can enter the Kingdom of God. If we delight in our works, we become a burden to those around us, and Christ's work becomes nothing more than a ticket to heaven.
Friday, October 26, 2007
The Sword of the Spirit
"All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in rigteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work." 2 Timothy 3:16-17
We have an ongoing series at church about the Word. What makes this compilation of 66 books any different than any other book? Our pastor made an interesting comment that I have been thinking about over the last couple of weeks. He said, "we sit down to read and disect this piece of literature only to find that soon we are the ones being read and disected." "The Word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart." Hebrews 4:12
I think that these passages are very familiar to a lot of Christians, myself included. But what our pastor talked about this Sunday convicted my heart. He claimed that there are dangers in reading the Word if it is not read "spiritually".
We can atomize it - break it down into parts and lose the big picture. Gleen only what you want and throw the rest away. We see this a lot today in the wishy washy theology being taught. (I'm okay, you're okay)
We can privatize it - taking it as a series of inspirational thoughts and use it to get a "buzz on". In this case it becomes a commodity. It is all about me-me-me.
We can exclusivise it - put it on a pedestal under a glass case and never read it, or allow it to mold us.
We can systematize it - using it as a tool to come up with doctrines and arguments to prove ourselves.
In reality the Scriptures are over us - we are not to be master over them. We are to allow them to mold and change our hearts. We can know an aweful lot in our head without ever allowing the Bible to transform us. We must "spriritually" read it as Samuel the prophet exemplified, "Speak, Lord, for Your servant is listening." The important question to ask while reading is not "what does it say?", but rather, "How do I obey?" "Your Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path." Psalm 119:105
My brother posted a blog once about all the Christian literature there is out there. He said we shouldn't have a problem in the world with all the self-help books out there. Then why do we? I say that it's quite possible that we are not reading the Book of Books. We're too busy reading the next on the bestseller list. We want easy - let the pastor read it and explain it to me. And when we finally pick up and dust off our Bible, we are not reading it in the right way. This Book is powerful and must be wielded with respect to its power. It is the only book that can be used as a weapon - it is called the "Sword of the Spirit" in Ephesians 6:17 It must be read under the guidance and direction of the Holy Spirit. It is the Word that helps us in battle - it is our only offensive weapon. Interesting that it is the Word that Satan attacked in the garden, "Did God really say....?"
We have an ongoing series at church about the Word. What makes this compilation of 66 books any different than any other book? Our pastor made an interesting comment that I have been thinking about over the last couple of weeks. He said, "we sit down to read and disect this piece of literature only to find that soon we are the ones being read and disected." "The Word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart." Hebrews 4:12
I think that these passages are very familiar to a lot of Christians, myself included. But what our pastor talked about this Sunday convicted my heart. He claimed that there are dangers in reading the Word if it is not read "spiritually".
We can atomize it - break it down into parts and lose the big picture. Gleen only what you want and throw the rest away. We see this a lot today in the wishy washy theology being taught. (I'm okay, you're okay)
We can privatize it - taking it as a series of inspirational thoughts and use it to get a "buzz on". In this case it becomes a commodity. It is all about me-me-me.
We can exclusivise it - put it on a pedestal under a glass case and never read it, or allow it to mold us.
We can systematize it - using it as a tool to come up with doctrines and arguments to prove ourselves.
In reality the Scriptures are over us - we are not to be master over them. We are to allow them to mold and change our hearts. We can know an aweful lot in our head without ever allowing the Bible to transform us. We must "spriritually" read it as Samuel the prophet exemplified, "Speak, Lord, for Your servant is listening." The important question to ask while reading is not "what does it say?", but rather, "How do I obey?" "Your Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path." Psalm 119:105
My brother posted a blog once about all the Christian literature there is out there. He said we shouldn't have a problem in the world with all the self-help books out there. Then why do we? I say that it's quite possible that we are not reading the Book of Books. We're too busy reading the next on the bestseller list. We want easy - let the pastor read it and explain it to me. And when we finally pick up and dust off our Bible, we are not reading it in the right way. This Book is powerful and must be wielded with respect to its power. It is the only book that can be used as a weapon - it is called the "Sword of the Spirit" in Ephesians 6:17 It must be read under the guidance and direction of the Holy Spirit. It is the Word that helps us in battle - it is our only offensive weapon. Interesting that it is the Word that Satan attacked in the garden, "Did God really say....?"
Sunday, July 29, 2007
The Real Me - Natalie Grant
Foolish heart looks like we're here again
Same old game of plastic smile
Don't let anybody in
Hiding my heartache, will this glass house break
How much will they take before I'm empty
Do I let it show, does anybody know
But You see the real me
Hiding in my skin, broken from within
Unveil me completely
I'm loosening my grasp
There's no need to mask my frailty
Cause You see the real me
Painted on, life is behind a mask
Self-inflicted circus clown
I'm tired of the song and dance
Living a charade, always on parade
What a mess I've made of my existence
But You love me even now
And still I see somehow
But You see the real me
Hiding in my skin, broken from within
Unveil me completely
I'm loosening my grasp
There's no need to mask my frailty
Cause You see the real me
Wonderful, beautiful is what You see
When You look at me
You're turning the tattered fabric of my life into
A perfect tapestry
I just wanna be me
But You see the real me
Hiding in my skin, broken from within
Unveil me completely
I'm loosening my grasp
There's no need to mask my frailty
Cause You see the real me
And You love me just as I am
Wonderful, beautiful is what You see
When You look at me
Same old game of plastic smile
Don't let anybody in
Hiding my heartache, will this glass house break
How much will they take before I'm empty
Do I let it show, does anybody know
But You see the real me
Hiding in my skin, broken from within
Unveil me completely
I'm loosening my grasp
There's no need to mask my frailty
Cause You see the real me
Painted on, life is behind a mask
Self-inflicted circus clown
I'm tired of the song and dance
Living a charade, always on parade
What a mess I've made of my existence
But You love me even now
And still I see somehow
But You see the real me
Hiding in my skin, broken from within
Unveil me completely
I'm loosening my grasp
There's no need to mask my frailty
Cause You see the real me
Wonderful, beautiful is what You see
When You look at me
You're turning the tattered fabric of my life into
A perfect tapestry
I just wanna be me
But You see the real me
Hiding in my skin, broken from within
Unveil me completely
I'm loosening my grasp
There's no need to mask my frailty
Cause You see the real me
And You love me just as I am
Wonderful, beautiful is what You see
When You look at me
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Love
I Corinthians 13 is weighing heavy on my mind and I felt the need to write it out.
"If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal." - To whom do I become that noisy gong or clanging symbol? To God? Or to whomever I'm speaking? Perhaps both? When speaking to someone, I must do it out of love whether it be in the training up of my children, the conversations with my husband or to the stranger on the street. More often than not my motives in speaking are self-centered. Perhaps I just need to shut up sometimes. I am reminded of the constant drip, drip, drip of a nagging wife that Proverbs speaks of or the provoked children of Eph. 6:4.
"If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing." Nothing, zero, zilch...
"And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing." There it is again - nothing. Is this the same as "Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain that build." Or perhaps these are the works that are burned up in the fire - done in vain - wasted.
"Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part; but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away." A good reminder. This speaks for itself. Bears all things...this is the one that speaks to me today. I have a real tendancy to fall into the martyrdom mentality.
"When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things." It's time to grow up!
"For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known." Ah, the hope! Praise be to God! This is not all there is - "For the love of Christ controls me..."
"But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love." Amen!
"If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal." - To whom do I become that noisy gong or clanging symbol? To God? Or to whomever I'm speaking? Perhaps both? When speaking to someone, I must do it out of love whether it be in the training up of my children, the conversations with my husband or to the stranger on the street. More often than not my motives in speaking are self-centered. Perhaps I just need to shut up sometimes. I am reminded of the constant drip, drip, drip of a nagging wife that Proverbs speaks of or the provoked children of Eph. 6:4.
"If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing." Nothing, zero, zilch...
"And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing." There it is again - nothing. Is this the same as "Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain that build." Or perhaps these are the works that are burned up in the fire - done in vain - wasted.
"Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part; but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away." A good reminder. This speaks for itself. Bears all things...this is the one that speaks to me today. I have a real tendancy to fall into the martyrdom mentality.
"When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things." It's time to grow up!
"For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known." Ah, the hope! Praise be to God! This is not all there is - "For the love of Christ controls me..."
"But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love." Amen!
Friday, July 6, 2007
The Greatness of God
I went to the "praise and worship" portion of a church on Sunday. After we had sung "God of Wonders" (one of my all time favorites, by the way), the worship leader spoke these words that have been on my mind ever since. He said that the Bible speaks of God as the most great, or greater. He went on to say that this statement is limited to our own puny knowledge or perception of what greatness is. We will always strive to make God controllable. God is greater than our circumtances, greater than our abilities, greater than money, greater than fame, and the list could go on and on.
So what is greatness in our eyes? Greatness in American culture has been reduced to being able to act, sing, play a sport well or build a business. Even a couple of the disciples had an argument over what greatness was as Luke 22:24-27 records for us. "And there arose a dispute among them as to which one of them was regarded to be greatest. And He said to them, 'The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who have authority over them are called benefactors. But it is not this way with you, but the one who is the greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like the servant. For who is greater, the one who reclines at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at the table? But I am among you as the one who serves.'" (NASB) Jesus makes it clear here that they (and we like them) have no idea what true greatness is.
I Chronicles 29:11-13 "Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, indeed everything that is in the heavens and the earth; Yours is the dominion, O LORD, and You exalt Yourself as head over all. Both riches and honr come from You, and You rule over all, and in Your hand is power and might; and it lies in Your hand to make great and to strengthen everyone. Now therefore, our God, we thank You, and praise Your glorious name."
Luke 9:42-43a - "While he was still approaching, the demon slammed him to the ground and threw him into a convulsion. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, and healed the boy and gave him back to his father. And they were all amazed at the greatness of God."
Psalm 48:1 - "Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised, in the city of our God, His holy mountain."
Psalm 96:4 "For great is the Lord and greatly to be praised; He is to be feared above all gods."
I believe this word great comes from a root word that means to exceed. God exceeds all else. He is above - and well above - anything we can think or imagine.
So what is greatness in our eyes? Greatness in American culture has been reduced to being able to act, sing, play a sport well or build a business. Even a couple of the disciples had an argument over what greatness was as Luke 22:24-27 records for us. "And there arose a dispute among them as to which one of them was regarded to be greatest. And He said to them, 'The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who have authority over them are called benefactors. But it is not this way with you, but the one who is the greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like the servant. For who is greater, the one who reclines at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at the table? But I am among you as the one who serves.'" (NASB) Jesus makes it clear here that they (and we like them) have no idea what true greatness is.
I Chronicles 29:11-13 "Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, indeed everything that is in the heavens and the earth; Yours is the dominion, O LORD, and You exalt Yourself as head over all. Both riches and honr come from You, and You rule over all, and in Your hand is power and might; and it lies in Your hand to make great and to strengthen everyone. Now therefore, our God, we thank You, and praise Your glorious name."
Luke 9:42-43a - "While he was still approaching, the demon slammed him to the ground and threw him into a convulsion. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, and healed the boy and gave him back to his father. And they were all amazed at the greatness of God."
Psalm 48:1 - "Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised, in the city of our God, His holy mountain."
Psalm 96:4 "For great is the Lord and greatly to be praised; He is to be feared above all gods."
I believe this word great comes from a root word that means to exceed. God exceeds all else. He is above - and well above - anything we can think or imagine.
Friday, May 18, 2007
Method or Madness?
Here you go, Captain Caveman!
Ecclesia and I have been talking a lot about methods people have for sharing the Gospel, so naturally I decided to throw some thoughts out there and see what other's take on it is.
There has been an ongoing debate recently about our responsibility in sharing the Gospel with others and what is the best way to do that? I think my conclusion is - there is no best way. I remember hearing an interview with Sara Groves one day on WRBS - she apparently had really struggled with the whole "working mom" issue. If I remember the circumstance correctly, she had been guilt ridden by the fact that she was the primary bread winner in the family, and how this didn't seem to jive with all she had been taught about what a "good, respectful, submissive" wife is. After much battling in prayer over the issue and her trying to force herself to do things the "right way" all the while feeling like she was trying to force a square peg into a round hole, she was given this revelation: God gives us a fence or framework within to work - in this case it was "respect your husband". Then He allows us creative reign within that fence with which to work. So her family situation is not going to look like mine, or yours. I feel the very same way about evangelism. God has given us the scriptures as a fence or a framework within to work, and then allows us to be creative within that fence to share the Gospel. What I need to find out is what is God calling ME to. I tried for years to be a "good fundamentalist Christian" and use the methods well-known to all of us and it felt forced, unnatural, and really unfruitful and I began feeling like a failure. I am coming to the conclusion that I failed because I relied on the method, not the Holy Spirit.
I was reading in John 15:13-17 "Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. You are My friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you. You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you. This I command you, that you love one another." It seems to me that Christ is calling us to two things here: love and obedience. We cannot do either of these things without abiding in the Vine - which is what the beginning of John 15 explains. Jesus calls us to make disciples, not clones. We are a wonderfully diverse creation - I think that we all agree that not one person is like another. This is amazing to me -- so why do we insist on boxing people, and ultimately God into one way of doing things?
God is calling me to be alone, still and quiet. This is not an easy task for an extravert. But it is only in my aloneness that I can allow the Holy Spirit to focus my attention in the right area. It is only in my aloneness that I can hear what God is calling me to, because I cannot obey if I don't know what He is teling me. I have to stop listening to other's convictions and start allowing Jesus to lead me through the Holy Spirit. Iron sharpens iron and I am grateful for all the wonderful people that God has placed in my life -- this "great cloud of witnesses" -- but I am not called to follow people, I am called to follow Christ.
Ecclesia and I have been talking a lot about methods people have for sharing the Gospel, so naturally I decided to throw some thoughts out there and see what other's take on it is.
There has been an ongoing debate recently about our responsibility in sharing the Gospel with others and what is the best way to do that? I think my conclusion is - there is no best way. I remember hearing an interview with Sara Groves one day on WRBS - she apparently had really struggled with the whole "working mom" issue. If I remember the circumstance correctly, she had been guilt ridden by the fact that she was the primary bread winner in the family, and how this didn't seem to jive with all she had been taught about what a "good, respectful, submissive" wife is. After much battling in prayer over the issue and her trying to force herself to do things the "right way" all the while feeling like she was trying to force a square peg into a round hole, she was given this revelation: God gives us a fence or framework within to work - in this case it was "respect your husband". Then He allows us creative reign within that fence with which to work. So her family situation is not going to look like mine, or yours. I feel the very same way about evangelism. God has given us the scriptures as a fence or a framework within to work, and then allows us to be creative within that fence to share the Gospel. What I need to find out is what is God calling ME to. I tried for years to be a "good fundamentalist Christian" and use the methods well-known to all of us and it felt forced, unnatural, and really unfruitful and I began feeling like a failure. I am coming to the conclusion that I failed because I relied on the method, not the Holy Spirit.
I was reading in John 15:13-17 "Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. You are My friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you. You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you. This I command you, that you love one another." It seems to me that Christ is calling us to two things here: love and obedience. We cannot do either of these things without abiding in the Vine - which is what the beginning of John 15 explains. Jesus calls us to make disciples, not clones. We are a wonderfully diverse creation - I think that we all agree that not one person is like another. This is amazing to me -- so why do we insist on boxing people, and ultimately God into one way of doing things?
God is calling me to be alone, still and quiet. This is not an easy task for an extravert. But it is only in my aloneness that I can allow the Holy Spirit to focus my attention in the right area. It is only in my aloneness that I can hear what God is calling me to, because I cannot obey if I don't know what He is teling me. I have to stop listening to other's convictions and start allowing Jesus to lead me through the Holy Spirit. Iron sharpens iron and I am grateful for all the wonderful people that God has placed in my life -- this "great cloud of witnesses" -- but I am not called to follow people, I am called to follow Christ.
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