"For He (God) made Him who knew no sin (Jesus) to BE sin for us, that we might BECOME the righteousness of God in Him." II Corinthians 5:21
This may be the most important verse in the Bible. At least for me it seems to be. God made Jesus, the One who never sinned, to become sin for me so that in Jesus, God could make me to become the righteousness of God.
I had read that verse for years and even committed it to memory. I spoke of this verse often and used it to share how Jesus "bore" my sin so that I could "have" the righteousness of God. But one day it seemed God was prodding me to look at that verse again and carefully notice exactly what it said. After reading it slowly and pausing on each word, God showed me something I had not seen before.
Jesus didn’t just “bear” my sin for me. He “became” sin in my place so that God could pour out onto Jesus all of His wrath for my sin. And He did that for one reason; so that when I am in Christ, covered with the innocent Lamb of God, I could “become” the righteousness of God. I don’t just “have” the righteousness of God. I have “become” the righteousness of God.
Oh what a difference that makes. It’s not just a change in what I possess. It’s a change in what I am. I am righteous. I am now a saint and it’s all because of Jesus. It’s important that we fully understand our identity in Christ. Because of God’s transformation, we are no longer filthy sinners. We are holy and perfect saints.
Why is the distinction between "having righteousness" and "being righteous" important? Why is knowing your identity crucial to the abundant life? It's because we always act out of who we believe we are!!! If we believe we are still sinners by our identity, then we will believe that the normal thing for us to do is to sin. We'll believe that we're just "human" and we just "can't help it." And our continual sin will prohibit our living in abundance.
But once we understand that in Christ we have become holy and righteous saints we will begin to see that sinning is no longer normal or natural for us. We'll understand the truth that God has enabled us by our new identities to live lives of victory over sin which always results in abundance for living!
Have you ever really thought about who you are in Christ? Do you think of yourself as the world sees you or as God sees you? You ARE who God says you are! He says you are His holy, righteous, victorious saint!!!
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Friday, May 30, 2008
What is grace anyway?
The over-riding theme of everything I teach and write is "the grace of God." But exactly what is grace? Simply put, it is what God has done and continues to do on my behalf. Salvation in Christ and the abundant life I have in Him is totally undeserved and unmerited.
God's mercy means that I don't get what I deserved. But His grace means that I get what I don't deserve!!! Grace is a wonderful gift of pardon from the penalty of my sinfulness, a righteous standing before God, abundant blessings, and eternal life.
Romans 3:23 reads "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,"
For years I believed that the reason I was a sinner in need of a Savior was because of something I had “done”. In reading Romans 3:23 alone without the context of the entire Book of Romans, I misunderstood it. I thought that my first act of “sin” is what condemned me before God. But upon closer study in the Book of Romans I have learned that my problem was much deeper than just my actions. In fact, my problem existed even before I committed that first sinful act.
"Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation,..." Romans 5:18a
When you look at Romans 3:23 with Romans 5:18, these verses couldn’t be any clearer. Everyone who was ever born into the human race was born a sinner and therefore short of God’s glory. We committed “sins” because we were born with a bent toward sinning. In fact, we participated in the original sin of Adam in the Garden of Eden because we are all Adam’s offspring. We were “in” him since his own beginning and “in” him when he sinned. Therefore, we inherited the sin nature and subsequent penalty (death) that infected all who were born into Adam’s line.
Because of our very natures that were sinful from the day of our birth, we would never and could never do anything to receive salvation and become righteous. It is impossible for us to “attain” to righteousness on our own because we would find ourselves in a vicious cycle of trying hard only to fall back into sin again. However, we can “obtain” righteousness because God offers it to us as a free gift. He offers us the very righteousness of Jesus Christ and it requires nothing from us but faith in Him alone. It’s never been about what we can do for God. It’s always been about what God does for us. That is grace.
"...even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life." Romans 5:18b
"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. " Romans 6:23
Picture for a moment that God is on the top of one mountain and we are on the top of another. We can see across and want desperately to get to God. We try many things to reach Him. We may try good works, sacrifices, and eloquent speech. But no matter what we try, nothing will ever get us across the great valley of sin that separates us from God. Everything we do falls short and we crash to our death at the bottom of the valley.
But God’s grace, extended to us through Jesus Christ by His death on the cross, provides a bridge across that massive valley. We can run across the bridge of grace with boldness into the arms of God. We fall short on our own, but the bridge of grace that God freely provides for us expands all the way from me to Him. And that bridge will never let me fall short again.
Realizing your hopelessness before you knew Christ as your Savior, thank God for the grace He lavished on you. Though you could never earn or deserve it, He freely offered it to you as a gift. Even your acceptance of His gift was prompted by His Holy Spirit’s drawing in your life. He gave you a thirst for Himself and then satisfied your thirst with Himself. He “graciously” gave you the desire and then “graciously” gave you what you desired. He even gave you “grace” for “grace”.
God's mercy means that I don't get what I deserved. But His grace means that I get what I don't deserve!!! Grace is a wonderful gift of pardon from the penalty of my sinfulness, a righteous standing before God, abundant blessings, and eternal life.
Romans 3:23 reads "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,"
For years I believed that the reason I was a sinner in need of a Savior was because of something I had “done”. In reading Romans 3:23 alone without the context of the entire Book of Romans, I misunderstood it. I thought that my first act of “sin” is what condemned me before God. But upon closer study in the Book of Romans I have learned that my problem was much deeper than just my actions. In fact, my problem existed even before I committed that first sinful act.
"Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation,..." Romans 5:18a
When you look at Romans 3:23 with Romans 5:18, these verses couldn’t be any clearer. Everyone who was ever born into the human race was born a sinner and therefore short of God’s glory. We committed “sins” because we were born with a bent toward sinning. In fact, we participated in the original sin of Adam in the Garden of Eden because we are all Adam’s offspring. We were “in” him since his own beginning and “in” him when he sinned. Therefore, we inherited the sin nature and subsequent penalty (death) that infected all who were born into Adam’s line.
Because of our very natures that were sinful from the day of our birth, we would never and could never do anything to receive salvation and become righteous. It is impossible for us to “attain” to righteousness on our own because we would find ourselves in a vicious cycle of trying hard only to fall back into sin again. However, we can “obtain” righteousness because God offers it to us as a free gift. He offers us the very righteousness of Jesus Christ and it requires nothing from us but faith in Him alone. It’s never been about what we can do for God. It’s always been about what God does for us. That is grace.
"...even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life." Romans 5:18b
"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. " Romans 6:23
Picture for a moment that God is on the top of one mountain and we are on the top of another. We can see across and want desperately to get to God. We try many things to reach Him. We may try good works, sacrifices, and eloquent speech. But no matter what we try, nothing will ever get us across the great valley of sin that separates us from God. Everything we do falls short and we crash to our death at the bottom of the valley.
But God’s grace, extended to us through Jesus Christ by His death on the cross, provides a bridge across that massive valley. We can run across the bridge of grace with boldness into the arms of God. We fall short on our own, but the bridge of grace that God freely provides for us expands all the way from me to Him. And that bridge will never let me fall short again.
Realizing your hopelessness before you knew Christ as your Savior, thank God for the grace He lavished on you. Though you could never earn or deserve it, He freely offered it to you as a gift. Even your acceptance of His gift was prompted by His Holy Spirit’s drawing in your life. He gave you a thirst for Himself and then satisfied your thirst with Himself. He “graciously” gave you the desire and then “graciously” gave you what you desired. He even gave you “grace” for “grace”.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Were it not for grace.....
I once asked God, “Where would I be if it were not for Your grace?”
I had hoped that He would reveal that I would simply have been a “good person” who was kind and helpful to others, but lost and empty without Christ. Instead, God led me to the second chapter of Jonah to read the account of Jonah's plunge to the depths. God revealed to me that my life would have been buried in a sea of sin and its consequences. I would have been surrounded by the dangers of the world and eventually drowned by the engulfing power of my enemy. I was shocked to read that without the grace of God I would have sunk down to the very roots of the mountains, as if seaweed was wrapped around my head, choking the life from me. Like Jonah, I would have gone to the lowest possible depths that a person could go without God’s infinite grace bestowed upon them. The answer to my question did not paint a very pretty picture of life without Christ.
And like Jonah, I could never have climbed up from the depths of my transgressions. As surely as God provided a way for Jonah to emerge safely from the depths of the ocean in the belly of the whale, God did the same for me. He reached down from heaven and lifted me up from that pit, cleansed me of my filth, and established me on higher ground forever.
Oh yes, were it not for grace, I can tell you where I would surely be. But now, let me tell you where I am! I’m on top of the world. In fact, I’m even higher than that. I am now seated in the heavenlies in Christ. High above the mire and the mundane is where you can find me!
4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,
5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
If you are a believer in Jesus Christ and you do not sense that you are living life on a higher plane, then you have been deceived. God has given you an abundant life, overflowing with joy. Claim it today!
Express your gratitude to God for the grace He has shown in rescuing you from the life you would have had without His salvation. Thank God today for His abundant life whether you are currently experiencing the reality of it or not. It’s yours. You must believe that by faith. Ask God to work in your life to bring you to an understanding of all that is yours in Christ.
I had hoped that He would reveal that I would simply have been a “good person” who was kind and helpful to others, but lost and empty without Christ. Instead, God led me to the second chapter of Jonah to read the account of Jonah's plunge to the depths. God revealed to me that my life would have been buried in a sea of sin and its consequences. I would have been surrounded by the dangers of the world and eventually drowned by the engulfing power of my enemy. I was shocked to read that without the grace of God I would have sunk down to the very roots of the mountains, as if seaweed was wrapped around my head, choking the life from me. Like Jonah, I would have gone to the lowest possible depths that a person could go without God’s infinite grace bestowed upon them. The answer to my question did not paint a very pretty picture of life without Christ.
And like Jonah, I could never have climbed up from the depths of my transgressions. As surely as God provided a way for Jonah to emerge safely from the depths of the ocean in the belly of the whale, God did the same for me. He reached down from heaven and lifted me up from that pit, cleansed me of my filth, and established me on higher ground forever.
Oh yes, were it not for grace, I can tell you where I would surely be. But now, let me tell you where I am! I’m on top of the world. In fact, I’m even higher than that. I am now seated in the heavenlies in Christ. High above the mire and the mundane is where you can find me!
4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,
5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
Ephesians 2:4-6 (NKJV)
If you are a believer in Jesus Christ and you do not sense that you are living life on a higher plane, then you have been deceived. God has given you an abundant life, overflowing with joy. Claim it today!
Express your gratitude to God for the grace He has shown in rescuing you from the life you would have had without His salvation. Thank God today for His abundant life whether you are currently experiencing the reality of it or not. It’s yours. You must believe that by faith. Ask God to work in your life to bring you to an understanding of all that is yours in Christ.
Monday, May 26, 2008
The last lesson from the birds....
Here's one final thing I noticed about the birds...
Their Praise
They just sang no matter what! In spite of the fact that they didn't know the plan, they didn't have a way to provide for themselves, and they didn't have much control over the events effecting their lives, they SANG!!!
In Psalm 137, there is a sad account of a time in the lives of the Israelites. They had been taken captive in a foreign land and times were so hard that they hung their harps on a tree because they had no reason to sing.
But in the New Testament Book of Acts the account of Paul and Silas in prison tells a much different story. They were in the darkest part of the darkest prison at the darkest hour of the night and the Bible tells us that they spent their time there SINGING!!!
What made the difference?
I believe that it had to do with what was most important to the people involved. The Israelites were unhappy because they had lost their homes, ttheir lifestyles, and their identity as a nation. Because those things were so important to them, they had no desire to sing.
Paul and Silas lost that much and more, but they still enjoyed singing praises to God because they knew they could never lose what was most important to them. They would always have Jesus and Jesus would always be enough.
Habbakuk 3 says "Though the fig tree should not blossom, And there be no fruit on the vines, Though the yield of the olive should fail, and the fields produce no food, though the flock should be cut off from the fold, and there be no cattle in the stalls, YET I will exult in the Lord. I will rejoice in the God of my salvation!"
So what if I lose everything? I’ve got Jesus. And I’ll never lose Him. Sometimes it takes losing everything else before you realize that He is enough!
Their Praise
They just sang no matter what! In spite of the fact that they didn't know the plan, they didn't have a way to provide for themselves, and they didn't have much control over the events effecting their lives, they SANG!!!
In Psalm 137, there is a sad account of a time in the lives of the Israelites. They had been taken captive in a foreign land and times were so hard that they hung their harps on a tree because they had no reason to sing.
But in the New Testament Book of Acts the account of Paul and Silas in prison tells a much different story. They were in the darkest part of the darkest prison at the darkest hour of the night and the Bible tells us that they spent their time there SINGING!!!
What made the difference?
I believe that it had to do with what was most important to the people involved. The Israelites were unhappy because they had lost their homes, ttheir lifestyles, and their identity as a nation. Because those things were so important to them, they had no desire to sing.
Paul and Silas lost that much and more, but they still enjoyed singing praises to God because they knew they could never lose what was most important to them. They would always have Jesus and Jesus would always be enough.
Habbakuk 3 says "Though the fig tree should not blossom, And there be no fruit on the vines, Though the yield of the olive should fail, and the fields produce no food, though the flock should be cut off from the fold, and there be no cattle in the stalls, YET I will exult in the Lord. I will rejoice in the God of my salvation!"
So what if I lose everything? I’ve got Jesus. And I’ll never lose Him. Sometimes it takes losing everything else before you realize that He is enough!
Friday, May 23, 2008
A lesson from birds...Part 4
One more lesson I learned from the birds in my yard....
Their purpose...
Birds just do what they are created to do. I didn't see them running, jumping, or climbing. They didn’t try to meow like a cat or bark like a dog. They didn't read a book or play on a swingset. They just did what God created them to do and didn't waste time trying to do what God never intended for them to do!!!
And this is probably the most important lesson we can learn from the birds. We always get in to trouble when we try to be something we were never created to be or do things we've never been supposed to do.
For years, I thought that to be a good Christian, certain things were expected of me. I thought that the Christians that pleased God most were those that “did” the right things – worked hard for Him and tried their best to not sin. So I tried to do all those "right" things, tried to keep from doing "wrong" things, but failed often in my efforts.
And from what I saw, that was pretty much the norm for most of the Christians I knew. But the truth is that all our efforts were spent in pursuits toward something God had already done for us!!
You see, I've found that most Christians spend their whole lives trying to get what they already have (holiness and righteousness), trying to be what they already are (saints of God who are pleasing in His sight), and trying to do what God never intended for them to do (work hard "for" Him)!!!
All He wants you to do is what He made you into a holy new creature to do. What is that? It's just to rest. Does Mt. 11:28 say “Come unto Me all of you who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you an assignment?" No! It reads, "I’ll give you rest." And goes on in Mt. 11:29 to read “…and you will find rest for your souls.
God does not expect us to expend our energies. He doesn't want us to depend on our strengths and abilities. It’s not about us. It’s all about the life of Christ in us. We rest in Him and He does His work through us.
You may have heard it said that it’s difficult to live the Christian life. Nope. It’s impossible to live the Christian life because it's not our life to live. Only One could live that life. Christ alone could do it. It's His life.
You were not created to live the Christian life. You were created to be the vessel through which Christ continues to live His life. As you rest in Him, He continues living His life through you and you get to “experience” the Christian life as He lives it. And what He does will always be pleasing to God!
Their purpose...
Birds just do what they are created to do. I didn't see them running, jumping, or climbing. They didn’t try to meow like a cat or bark like a dog. They didn't read a book or play on a swingset. They just did what God created them to do and didn't waste time trying to do what God never intended for them to do!!!
And this is probably the most important lesson we can learn from the birds. We always get in to trouble when we try to be something we were never created to be or do things we've never been supposed to do.
For years, I thought that to be a good Christian, certain things were expected of me. I thought that the Christians that pleased God most were those that “did” the right things – worked hard for Him and tried their best to not sin. So I tried to do all those "right" things, tried to keep from doing "wrong" things, but failed often in my efforts.
And from what I saw, that was pretty much the norm for most of the Christians I knew. But the truth is that all our efforts were spent in pursuits toward something God had already done for us!!
You see, I've found that most Christians spend their whole lives trying to get what they already have (holiness and righteousness), trying to be what they already are (saints of God who are pleasing in His sight), and trying to do what God never intended for them to do (work hard "for" Him)!!!
All He wants you to do is what He made you into a holy new creature to do. What is that? It's just to rest. Does Mt. 11:28 say “Come unto Me all of you who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you an assignment?" No! It reads, "I’ll give you rest." And goes on in Mt. 11:29 to read “…and you will find rest for your souls.
God does not expect us to expend our energies. He doesn't want us to depend on our strengths and abilities. It’s not about us. It’s all about the life of Christ in us. We rest in Him and He does His work through us.
You may have heard it said that it’s difficult to live the Christian life. Nope. It’s impossible to live the Christian life because it's not our life to live. Only One could live that life. Christ alone could do it. It's His life.
You were not created to live the Christian life. You were created to be the vessel through which Christ continues to live His life. As you rest in Him, He continues living His life through you and you get to “experience” the Christian life as He lives it. And what He does will always be pleasing to God!
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
A lesson from birds...Part 3
Another thing God taught me about the birds was:
Their provision -
Basically, the most important lesson about their provision was that they didn’t provide for their own needs. They just flew along and saw a worm. And the worm was just there ; right where they needed it to be. They didn’t plant it in the ground. They just saw it, swooped down, snatched it up, and ate it. They didn’t sow, reap, or store up what they needed. Yet, everything they needed was right where they needed it to be and right on time!
As I watched the birds in my yard, I realized that God provides for me in the same way. It's always His provision and it's always right on time. Though I'd always like to have everything I'm going to need in my possession ahead of when I need it, I know myself well enough to know that if I had it ahead of time I’d probably spend it and then not have it when I need it!! God knows me well too. So, He promises me that I already have it and God's promises are just as sure as if they have already taken place. Everything I'll ever need is already mine; it’s just not in my bank account yet.
I also realized that if the birds had everything they needed for their journey, they wouldn’t be able to fly!! The load of their possessions would have been a heavy burden and would have weighed them down.
It's the same with me. I wouldn’t be able to soar like God has planned for me, if I was weighed down with the responsibility for all the possessions I’m ever going to need to do what He calls me to do. So He keeps what I will need with Him, taking care of it till I need it.
By the way, the lesson I learned was a great lesson for churches as well. It really doesn’t matter if you don’t have enough money in your church accounts for the ministries God is calling you to do. If God is calling your church to a vision that seems too big, then it’s probably truly God. If your church only attempts what you can see a way to be able to do, then the world will only get to see your church working for God. But if you attempt what seems impossible (as God leads), then the world will see a miracle. The world will see God working through the church!!! And no matter what you need as a church, He will always provide!
Their provision -
Basically, the most important lesson about their provision was that they didn’t provide for their own needs. They just flew along and saw a worm. And the worm was just there ; right where they needed it to be. They didn’t plant it in the ground. They just saw it, swooped down, snatched it up, and ate it. They didn’t sow, reap, or store up what they needed. Yet, everything they needed was right where they needed it to be and right on time!
As I watched the birds in my yard, I realized that God provides for me in the same way. It's always His provision and it's always right on time. Though I'd always like to have everything I'm going to need in my possession ahead of when I need it, I know myself well enough to know that if I had it ahead of time I’d probably spend it and then not have it when I need it!! God knows me well too. So, He promises me that I already have it and God's promises are just as sure as if they have already taken place. Everything I'll ever need is already mine; it’s just not in my bank account yet.
I also realized that if the birds had everything they needed for their journey, they wouldn’t be able to fly!! The load of their possessions would have been a heavy burden and would have weighed them down.
It's the same with me. I wouldn’t be able to soar like God has planned for me, if I was weighed down with the responsibility for all the possessions I’m ever going to need to do what He calls me to do. So He keeps what I will need with Him, taking care of it till I need it.
By the way, the lesson I learned was a great lesson for churches as well. It really doesn’t matter if you don’t have enough money in your church accounts for the ministries God is calling you to do. If God is calling your church to a vision that seems too big, then it’s probably truly God. If your church only attempts what you can see a way to be able to do, then the world will only get to see your church working for God. But if you attempt what seems impossible (as God leads), then the world will see a miracle. The world will see God working through the church!!! And no matter what you need as a church, He will always provide!
Monday, May 19, 2008
A lesson from birds...Part 2
Continuing my thoughts on birds....
The first thing I noticed on the day that God led me to look at the birds in my yard was:
Their Plan
Here's what I noticed about their plan....they didn’t seem to have one. They just flew back and forth in what seemed like an unorganized, haphazard fashion. But as I looked closer I realized that they were actually moving with a sense of an overall direction that was miraculously clear to every bird in the massive flock. I realized that theirs was in fact, a well orchestrated plan. But it obviously wasn’t their plan. They were following some master plan by instinct.
They didn’t strategize their plan. I couldn't imagine a delegation of bird leaders sitting around strategizing the best route to take. Not one bird had a MAP or a GPS system!!! It was just instinctive. God begin to teach me through the birds that’s it’s supposed to be the same way with my life in Christ. The Christian life is not supposed to be a struggle of trying to choose what to do or where to go next. Instead it's a matter of resting in God's leadership and trusting that He will guide me when I need to know the next move to take.
We have been given the mind of Christ. We have become partakers of the divine nature of God. We have been given everything we need for life and Godliness. God has given us the instinct and power to desire, discern, and follow His will. It's not about my plan or my abilities. It’s all about what He where He wants to go through me and He’ll be faithful to show me that without my having to be involved in the planning stages.
I suddently realized that they didn’t even know their destination! They just traveled in a direction toward an unknown end, yet they were persistent in their journey. They seemed to travel with purpose, even though they didn't know where they were going. And I remembered that in the days years before, in which we began to realize that God was calling us into ministry, He made it clear to us that sometimes He would require us to commit to His will before we even knew what His will was going to require of us. Very often in our lives, God did not reveal His specific will in a situtation, yet He called us to commit to it in advance.
You may recall that when Abraham asked God where He would be leading him, God replied, "Go, and I'll let you know when you get there." He did the same for Moses and for so many others in Scripture.
It's sort of like driving my car at night. The headlights don't shine all the way to my destination. They shine just so far, and when I go a little further they shine a little further down my path. God rarely ever, maybe even never, reveals to me where I will be ten years from now. Sometimes I don't even know where I'll be in a year, or a month. He leads me day by day; sometimes even moment by moment. But one thing is for sure. If I’m where I’m supposed to be today, then I’ll be in the perfect spot for Him to get me to where He wants me to be tomorrow.
I should not have to know the plan for my life because God knows it. That should be good enough for me!
11 For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)
The first thing I noticed on the day that God led me to look at the birds in my yard was:
Their Plan
Here's what I noticed about their plan....they didn’t seem to have one. They just flew back and forth in what seemed like an unorganized, haphazard fashion. But as I looked closer I realized that they were actually moving with a sense of an overall direction that was miraculously clear to every bird in the massive flock. I realized that theirs was in fact, a well orchestrated plan. But it obviously wasn’t their plan. They were following some master plan by instinct.
They didn’t strategize their plan. I couldn't imagine a delegation of bird leaders sitting around strategizing the best route to take. Not one bird had a MAP or a GPS system!!! It was just instinctive. God begin to teach me through the birds that’s it’s supposed to be the same way with my life in Christ. The Christian life is not supposed to be a struggle of trying to choose what to do or where to go next. Instead it's a matter of resting in God's leadership and trusting that He will guide me when I need to know the next move to take.
We have been given the mind of Christ. We have become partakers of the divine nature of God. We have been given everything we need for life and Godliness. God has given us the instinct and power to desire, discern, and follow His will. It's not about my plan or my abilities. It’s all about what He where He wants to go through me and He’ll be faithful to show me that without my having to be involved in the planning stages.
I suddently realized that they didn’t even know their destination! They just traveled in a direction toward an unknown end, yet they were persistent in their journey. They seemed to travel with purpose, even though they didn't know where they were going. And I remembered that in the days years before, in which we began to realize that God was calling us into ministry, He made it clear to us that sometimes He would require us to commit to His will before we even knew what His will was going to require of us. Very often in our lives, God did not reveal His specific will in a situtation, yet He called us to commit to it in advance.
You may recall that when Abraham asked God where He would be leading him, God replied, "Go, and I'll let you know when you get there." He did the same for Moses and for so many others in Scripture.
It's sort of like driving my car at night. The headlights don't shine all the way to my destination. They shine just so far, and when I go a little further they shine a little further down my path. God rarely ever, maybe even never, reveals to me where I will be ten years from now. Sometimes I don't even know where I'll be in a year, or a month. He leads me day by day; sometimes even moment by moment. But one thing is for sure. If I’m where I’m supposed to be today, then I’ll be in the perfect spot for Him to get me to where He wants me to be tomorrow.
I should not have to know the plan for my life because God knows it. That should be good enough for me!
11 For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)
Friday, May 16, 2008
A lesson from birds...
In our midweek service at church Wednesday night, I looked toward the exit door just in time to see a bird fly into the sanctuary. Now, that alone is funny, but you have to know that my husband's (the pastor!) deepest fear is of birds. As a child he saw the Alfred Hitchcock movie, "The Birds". Shortly after watching that film, a bird got into his bedroom and he had to get under the covers in his bed for protection. And he's been terrified of birds ever since.
LOOK at the birds! The words just jumped off the page. LOOK AT THE BIRDS!! I finally realized that God was speaking directly to me with those instructions to look at the birds. So I did it! I looked at the birds. And God taught me a lesson that day that I've never forgotten.
I'm so glad that God loves me so much that He will direct thousands of birds to my lawn just to teach me a lesson for life. And I'm so glad that He loves Tim so much that He directed one little bird into a room where it could be imprisoned, allowing Tim to finish the awesome message he shared with us Wednesday night!!!
So I knew that he was not going to be able to continue teaching with that bird flying over his head. The bird circled for about 5 minutes during which Tim flinched and ducked in response. It finally flew into a side ro0m and someone quickly closed the door.
Well, Tim may be terrified of birds, but they can teach us a lot. One morning God taught me crucial lessons for life from watching a group of birds on my lawn. I had been reading a verse in my Bible and preparing a Sunday School lesson when I was distracted by a bird just outside my window. I tried to re-focus and read the following verse again:
(Mt. 6:26) “Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?”
I had been asking God why He was letting so many difficulties and trying situations flood into my life if He truly loved me. In fact, I had even been doubting His love for me. And as I tried to read the verse again I realized God was answering my question with the verse.
But the birds were so distracting that I couldn't focus. So I asked God to hush them so that I could focus on what He was speaking to me. And I read the verse again.
LOOK at the birds! The words just jumped off the page. LOOK AT THE BIRDS!! I finally realized that God was speaking directly to me with those instructions to look at the birds. So I did it! I looked at the birds. And God taught me a lesson that day that I've never forgotten.
So for the next few days, I want to share with you what God has taught me in my lesson from the birds. I hope it will bless you as it has me.
I'm so glad that God loves me so much that He will direct thousands of birds to my lawn just to teach me a lesson for life. And I'm so glad that He loves Tim so much that He directed one little bird into a room where it could be imprisoned, allowing Tim to finish the awesome message he shared with us Wednesday night!!!
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Just as if I've never sinned.....
Last week I was at my mother's house when a tornado warning was issued. Since a recent tornado actually destroyed many homes in my hometown, my mother is taking tornado warnings a little more seriously than she ever has. She lives in a one level house so we got in her car and rode up to her church to wait out the storm. There were a couple of other people already gathered there in the church's basement and I was pleasantly surprised to see a friend I haven't seen in a long time. He was one of the first teachers Tim and I had in Discipleship Training classes and we learned so much from his teaching. He used great teaching tools to help us remember Bible truths; tools like acronyms (Forsaking All I Trust Him for FAITH, etc.). But the one that I remember most is the play on words that forever reminds me of the meaning of the word "justification." Justification means that when God sees me it is "just as if I've never sinned."
Romans 4:25 tells us that Jesus was "delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification." In other words, He was crucified so that our sins could be forgiven, but He was resurrected so that we could stand before God in holiness; just as if we'd never sinned at all!!!
The cross of Christ once and for all proved God’s love and mercy for me. He was sacrificed on the cross to pay for my sin. But the story didn’t end at the cross. The glory of the story is in the resurrection!!
Jesus was raised to life for our justification. The meaning of the word justification includes that we are “declared righteous”. The act of resurrection made a way for God to pronounce that believers in Christ are righteous, proclaimed so by His own declaration. If God says it is so, then it is so. We are righteous, because God declares that we are. The only one who was ever truly righteous was Jesus. He never committed a single sin. Yet I have been declared to be righteous in spite of all that I have done.
Picture this. It’s as if God took the record of my life – past, present, and future – erased it and in fact, even tore it out of the book of my life. Then He replaced my record with the spotless record of Jesus. All of the just causes for the legal condemnation on my life, charges that were punishable by death, were removed from me in an instant and I was given a clean slate.
The cleansing blood of Christ, extended by the grace of God, wiped my record clean. That thought alone is amazing, but something even greater took place. The record of Jesus was then credited to me. What an awesome exchange!! I am as clean as a whistle!!
Justification – what a wonderful word!! I am so thankful that my old buddy George Martens taught me the meaning of that word so clearly that I never forgot it. I learned it so thoroughly that as God taught me more and more about His grace I have been able to receive it, believe it, and be amazed by the extent of God's grace and His justification.
Do you realize that because of God’s mercy and grace you are not just forgiven at the point of your salvation? You are CLEAN!! Sin has not even left a stain on your standing before God. Have you fully grasped that? If not, ask God to bring you to a complete understanding of His thorough cleansing. Then thank Him for His cleansing power. Praise Him for the blood of Jesus that has washed you even WHITER than snow.
Romans 4:25 tells us that Jesus was "delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification." In other words, He was crucified so that our sins could be forgiven, but He was resurrected so that we could stand before God in holiness; just as if we'd never sinned at all!!!
The cross of Christ once and for all proved God’s love and mercy for me. He was sacrificed on the cross to pay for my sin. But the story didn’t end at the cross. The glory of the story is in the resurrection!!
Jesus was raised to life for our justification. The meaning of the word justification includes that we are “declared righteous”. The act of resurrection made a way for God to pronounce that believers in Christ are righteous, proclaimed so by His own declaration. If God says it is so, then it is so. We are righteous, because God declares that we are. The only one who was ever truly righteous was Jesus. He never committed a single sin. Yet I have been declared to be righteous in spite of all that I have done.
Picture this. It’s as if God took the record of my life – past, present, and future – erased it and in fact, even tore it out of the book of my life. Then He replaced my record with the spotless record of Jesus. All of the just causes for the legal condemnation on my life, charges that were punishable by death, were removed from me in an instant and I was given a clean slate.
The cleansing blood of Christ, extended by the grace of God, wiped my record clean. That thought alone is amazing, but something even greater took place. The record of Jesus was then credited to me. What an awesome exchange!! I am as clean as a whistle!!
Justification – what a wonderful word!! I am so thankful that my old buddy George Martens taught me the meaning of that word so clearly that I never forgot it. I learned it so thoroughly that as God taught me more and more about His grace I have been able to receive it, believe it, and be amazed by the extent of God's grace and His justification.
Do you realize that because of God’s mercy and grace you are not just forgiven at the point of your salvation? You are CLEAN!! Sin has not even left a stain on your standing before God. Have you fully grasped that? If not, ask God to bring you to a complete understanding of His thorough cleansing. Then thank Him for His cleansing power. Praise Him for the blood of Jesus that has washed you even WHITER than snow.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Earthen vessels....
This past Sunday we talked a little bit in Sunday School about earthen vessels and it reminded me of how amazing it is that God chose to put the treasure of Jesus Christ in such frail vessels as human beings.
I was reminded that Jesus began His earthly ministry by transforming the contents of an earthen vessel at a wedding in Canaan. Water that no one wanted, was transformed into wine that satisfied the entire crowd.
It struck me that Christ’s first miracle was a foreshadowing picture of His continuing work in the world. Transforming the contents of earthen vessels is what Jesus does best.
I am such an earthen vessel. I am created by God, in the image of Christ, shaped to contain the very life of Christ. I have been transformed and filled with Jesus, who is Living Water.
God, the Potter, molds and shapes me into a vessel of His choosing.
I may be marred and chipped by sin and suffering, but a thirsty world doesn’t really care about the container. They only want the refreshing water inside, and through me flows a river of Living Water.
We have this treasure of Jesus in jars of clay, earthen vessels, so that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. When we allow Jesus, Who lives within us, to do His work through us, God will receive the glory.
As vessels, we may be hard pressed on every side, yet we will never be crushed. We may become perplexed in life, but there is no reason for us to despair. We may be persecuted, but we’ll never be forsaken. We may be struck down, but we’ll never be destroyed.
We, the chosen vessels of God, always carry in our bodies, the Lord Jesus Christ so that His life may be manifested in us, through us, around us for us, and as us.
How awesome is that?
I was reminded that Jesus began His earthly ministry by transforming the contents of an earthen vessel at a wedding in Canaan. Water that no one wanted, was transformed into wine that satisfied the entire crowd.
It struck me that Christ’s first miracle was a foreshadowing picture of His continuing work in the world. Transforming the contents of earthen vessels is what Jesus does best.
I am such an earthen vessel. I am created by God, in the image of Christ, shaped to contain the very life of Christ. I have been transformed and filled with Jesus, who is Living Water.
God, the Potter, molds and shapes me into a vessel of His choosing.
I may be marred and chipped by sin and suffering, but a thirsty world doesn’t really care about the container. They only want the refreshing water inside, and through me flows a river of Living Water.
We have this treasure of Jesus in jars of clay, earthen vessels, so that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. When we allow Jesus, Who lives within us, to do His work through us, God will receive the glory.
As vessels, we may be hard pressed on every side, yet we will never be crushed. We may become perplexed in life, but there is no reason for us to despair. We may be persecuted, but we’ll never be forsaken. We may be struck down, but we’ll never be destroyed.
We, the chosen vessels of God, always carry in our bodies, the Lord Jesus Christ so that His life may be manifested in us, through us, around us for us, and as us.
How awesome is that?
Monday, May 12, 2008
Sufficient grace....
My husband told me that my previous blogs have been too long. Imagine that - me talking too much...."Debbie," he said. "people won't spend a long time reading these - Keep it short." That's like telling me not to breathe. But admittedly I do always tend to give people a drink of water from a fire hose..so I'll try to condense these a little more in the future.
Now Paul was a writer who knew how to get right to the point. He just said, "here's how it is...whether you like it or not."
In II Corinthians 12:9, God told Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you”.
I couldn't just accept that at face value. I wanted to know what that simple phrase really meant. I mean if I'm going to go overboard when I teach it or write about it, then I've got to understand it fully. I pondered those words for a long time one morning. I began to ask God exactly how far I could stretch that promise from Him. Just how sufficient is His grace? What if I drifted really far from His presence? He assured me that drifting away from Him was not even possible. He would never allow it. I may get so caught up in pursuits of the flesh that my awareness of being in His presence diminishes, but His grace always holds me close to Him.
But I wondered what would happen if I messed up really badly? What if I returned to some recurring sin? In response to that concern, God showed me that He knew every sin I would ever commit for the rest of my life on the day that He saved me. He took care of all of them in advance. I could never make such a mess that the forgiveness He has already provided would not be enough to cover them.
He also showed me that His grace in my life has never been based on my actions. I could never do anything good enough to deserve it or bad enough to lose it. The very essence and the definition of grace makes it a gift that is totally undeserved and totally secure. Grace is what God did on my behalf; based on His love for me and not on anything I have ever done or will ever do.
God gave me a life principle that I can claim forever from II Corinthians 12:9 that morning. It was as if He was saying to me, “My unmerited favor towards you is so extreme that it will reach as far as you will ever need for it to go”.
Never take God’s grace for granted. It’s too precious for that. But never be afraid of losing it or moving out from under its provision and protection. The security of grace is based on the Giver of grace and you can’t get any more secure than that.
This reminder of the sufficiency of God’s grace gives me much reason for thanksgiving all over again. Isn’t it wonderful to know that you can never drift out of His reach? Isn’t it a relief to know that there is nothing you can do that is bad enough to cause Him to abandon you? Isn’t it comforting to know that nothing you do is a surprise to Him? It’s important to never take advantage of His promises. Instead, claim them in your life and respond with obedience that is a natural outflow of your thanksgiving. I'm going to spend a few moments now just praising God again for the sufficiency and steadfastness of His grace.
Oops - sorry Tim - I went too long again I suppose. Give me an inch and I'll take a page and a half.
Now Paul was a writer who knew how to get right to the point. He just said, "here's how it is...whether you like it or not."
In II Corinthians 12:9, God told Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you”.
I couldn't just accept that at face value. I wanted to know what that simple phrase really meant. I mean if I'm going to go overboard when I teach it or write about it, then I've got to understand it fully. I pondered those words for a long time one morning. I began to ask God exactly how far I could stretch that promise from Him. Just how sufficient is His grace? What if I drifted really far from His presence? He assured me that drifting away from Him was not even possible. He would never allow it. I may get so caught up in pursuits of the flesh that my awareness of being in His presence diminishes, but His grace always holds me close to Him.
But I wondered what would happen if I messed up really badly? What if I returned to some recurring sin? In response to that concern, God showed me that He knew every sin I would ever commit for the rest of my life on the day that He saved me. He took care of all of them in advance. I could never make such a mess that the forgiveness He has already provided would not be enough to cover them.
He also showed me that His grace in my life has never been based on my actions. I could never do anything good enough to deserve it or bad enough to lose it. The very essence and the definition of grace makes it a gift that is totally undeserved and totally secure. Grace is what God did on my behalf; based on His love for me and not on anything I have ever done or will ever do.
God gave me a life principle that I can claim forever from II Corinthians 12:9 that morning. It was as if He was saying to me, “My unmerited favor towards you is so extreme that it will reach as far as you will ever need for it to go”.
Never take God’s grace for granted. It’s too precious for that. But never be afraid of losing it or moving out from under its provision and protection. The security of grace is based on the Giver of grace and you can’t get any more secure than that.
This reminder of the sufficiency of God’s grace gives me much reason for thanksgiving all over again. Isn’t it wonderful to know that you can never drift out of His reach? Isn’t it a relief to know that there is nothing you can do that is bad enough to cause Him to abandon you? Isn’t it comforting to know that nothing you do is a surprise to Him? It’s important to never take advantage of His promises. Instead, claim them in your life and respond with obedience that is a natural outflow of your thanksgiving. I'm going to spend a few moments now just praising God again for the sufficiency and steadfastness of His grace.
Oops - sorry Tim - I went too long again I suppose. Give me an inch and I'll take a page and a half.
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Happy Mother's Day...
Growing up I had a great mother. That was wonderful when I was growing up but it raised the bar pretty high for me to try to reach when I became a mother myself.
It didn't take me long to realize that I would probably never win an award for "Mother of the Year." When my husband and I found out we were going to be parents, I was acutely aware of and terrified by my lack of experience and my abundance of inadequacies. I found that my fears were justified on the day I brought my newborn daughter home from the hospital. I was attempting to push a baby wipe cloth through the hole in the top of the plastic canister, but I accidentally pushed my finger through the hole instead. The opening latched onto my tender flesh like a vice grip and refused to release my finger back through the hole. The harder I pulled, the deeper the plastic prongs dug into my skin. We finally had to cut it off with a knife. I immediately knew I was in for a long life.
My little girl soon verified my inadequacies after church one Sunday. She had spent the morning with her favorite Sunday School teacher, my friend Sue. Later that afternoon I was playing with her and asked her, "Who's the best mommy in the whole wide world?" She replied, "Miss Sue!"
But since she reached age 4 without me losing her or harming her irreparably, we decided to try it again and had a son. I want to say that he is the best son a mother could ever have now that he's grown, but as a little boy he was enough to make me realize that if he had been my first child, he would have been an only child.
Like most mothers I suppose, there were days that I really wanted to resign my position. As my children grew older and the stakes became higher in caring for them, old fears about my inadequacies as a mom returned with a vengeance. But God did the most wonderful thing for me. When my kids were in their early teens I had to take about 6 weeks off from my job to recuperate from surgery. During that time God led me into a Bible study in the Book of Joshua. I knew that in such a study in Joshua I would learn about faith, God's power, and the consequences of not following God's will. But I had no idea that the Book of Joshua would also give me the confidence I needed to be assured that God had not made a mistake in giving me children!!!
In the second chapter of Joshua I learned about a character named Rahab. She was a prostitute in the city of Jericho. In fact, she hid the spies that Joshua sent in ahead of the Israelite army. Rahab stated that the reason she hid the spies was that she knew they were part of the army of the one true God, Jehovah.
Fast forwarding in the Bible to the first chapter of Matthew, we find a genealogy listed. In that list, the name Boaz appears. The story of Boaz is recorded in the Old Testament Book of Ruth which is the story of a kinsman redeemer (Boaz) who rescues Ruth and her family from poverty and hardship, returning the inheritance they had lost. In that role, God used Boaz as a picture of Jesus, Who would come into our world, rescue us, redeem us, and restore the inheritance we lost because of our sin. Jesus became our kinsman redeemer.
Now, what does Rahab have to do with Boaz? Well, in the genealogy of Matthew 1, we discover that Rahab was the mother of Boaz. WOW!!! God CHOSE Rahab, the former prostitute of Jericho to raise the man He planned to use as a foreshadowing picture of His own Son, Jesus. With all her inexperience as a mother and all the seeming inadequacies she must have felt, God still CHOSE her. And since God is all-wise, we must assume that He chose correctly.
Suddenly I realized that God chose me, with all my inadequacies and inexperience, to raise my children. In the years that have followed that great realization, God has confirmed His wise choice to me over and over. I am constantly reminded by their senses of humor, the family traits they exhibit, and the subtle likenesses in their mannerisms and appearances, that my two children do belong with me. I think maybe they'd agree!!!
Here's what God showed me about raising kids in the years I've spent as a mother - Just like in every other area of my life – motherhood is not up to me – I had to entrust my kids to God and trust that He would empower me to raise them successfully. He showed me that it was never my responsibility to give my kids everything they wanted and needed so that they would be happy and successful. Instead, it's my role to live a life before them that leads them to a relationship with Christ, through which HE will make them happy and successful.
I'm so glad I didn't resign my position because I'm just now getting to the best part of motherhood - GRANDKIDS!!!
Through the years, my fears and feelings of inadequacies as a mom would return every now and then. But I could always go back to one Sunday morning when God gave me a verse from a song that I claimed over and over in such times of insecurity.
"How sweet to hold a newborn baby,
And feel the pride and joy he (she) gives,
But greater still the calm assurance,
That child can face uncertain days because He lives.
Happy Mother's Day to my mom and all you Moms!!! And to my kids, "Thanks for hanging in there with me and growing into the best kids a mom ever had." - To Clay..."Thanks for being the kind of guy that everybody likes and for marrying Candi - we love her dearly - She's truly one of us." And especially to you Amy, my daughter and the mother of my five grandkids..."Thanks for the joy you and Sam have given us in our grandkids. And Amy, as I've said so many times before...You're the best mother I've ever seen. You amaze me."
It didn't take me long to realize that I would probably never win an award for "Mother of the Year." When my husband and I found out we were going to be parents, I was acutely aware of and terrified by my lack of experience and my abundance of inadequacies. I found that my fears were justified on the day I brought my newborn daughter home from the hospital. I was attempting to push a baby wipe cloth through the hole in the top of the plastic canister, but I accidentally pushed my finger through the hole instead. The opening latched onto my tender flesh like a vice grip and refused to release my finger back through the hole. The harder I pulled, the deeper the plastic prongs dug into my skin. We finally had to cut it off with a knife. I immediately knew I was in for a long life.
My little girl soon verified my inadequacies after church one Sunday. She had spent the morning with her favorite Sunday School teacher, my friend Sue. Later that afternoon I was playing with her and asked her, "Who's the best mommy in the whole wide world?" She replied, "Miss Sue!"
But since she reached age 4 without me losing her or harming her irreparably, we decided to try it again and had a son. I want to say that he is the best son a mother could ever have now that he's grown, but as a little boy he was enough to make me realize that if he had been my first child, he would have been an only child.
Like most mothers I suppose, there were days that I really wanted to resign my position. As my children grew older and the stakes became higher in caring for them, old fears about my inadequacies as a mom returned with a vengeance. But God did the most wonderful thing for me. When my kids were in their early teens I had to take about 6 weeks off from my job to recuperate from surgery. During that time God led me into a Bible study in the Book of Joshua. I knew that in such a study in Joshua I would learn about faith, God's power, and the consequences of not following God's will. But I had no idea that the Book of Joshua would also give me the confidence I needed to be assured that God had not made a mistake in giving me children!!!
In the second chapter of Joshua I learned about a character named Rahab. She was a prostitute in the city of Jericho. In fact, she hid the spies that Joshua sent in ahead of the Israelite army. Rahab stated that the reason she hid the spies was that she knew they were part of the army of the one true God, Jehovah.
Fast forwarding in the Bible to the first chapter of Matthew, we find a genealogy listed. In that list, the name Boaz appears. The story of Boaz is recorded in the Old Testament Book of Ruth which is the story of a kinsman redeemer (Boaz) who rescues Ruth and her family from poverty and hardship, returning the inheritance they had lost. In that role, God used Boaz as a picture of Jesus, Who would come into our world, rescue us, redeem us, and restore the inheritance we lost because of our sin. Jesus became our kinsman redeemer.
Now, what does Rahab have to do with Boaz? Well, in the genealogy of Matthew 1, we discover that Rahab was the mother of Boaz. WOW!!! God CHOSE Rahab, the former prostitute of Jericho to raise the man He planned to use as a foreshadowing picture of His own Son, Jesus. With all her inexperience as a mother and all the seeming inadequacies she must have felt, God still CHOSE her. And since God is all-wise, we must assume that He chose correctly.
Suddenly I realized that God chose me, with all my inadequacies and inexperience, to raise my children. In the years that have followed that great realization, God has confirmed His wise choice to me over and over. I am constantly reminded by their senses of humor, the family traits they exhibit, and the subtle likenesses in their mannerisms and appearances, that my two children do belong with me. I think maybe they'd agree!!!
Here's what God showed me about raising kids in the years I've spent as a mother - Just like in every other area of my life – motherhood is not up to me – I had to entrust my kids to God and trust that He would empower me to raise them successfully. He showed me that it was never my responsibility to give my kids everything they wanted and needed so that they would be happy and successful. Instead, it's my role to live a life before them that leads them to a relationship with Christ, through which HE will make them happy and successful.
I'm so glad I didn't resign my position because I'm just now getting to the best part of motherhood - GRANDKIDS!!!
Through the years, my fears and feelings of inadequacies as a mom would return every now and then. But I could always go back to one Sunday morning when God gave me a verse from a song that I claimed over and over in such times of insecurity.
"How sweet to hold a newborn baby,
And feel the pride and joy he (she) gives,
But greater still the calm assurance,
That child can face uncertain days because He lives.
Happy Mother's Day to my mom and all you Moms!!! And to my kids, "Thanks for hanging in there with me and growing into the best kids a mom ever had." - To Clay..."Thanks for being the kind of guy that everybody likes and for marrying Candi - we love her dearly - She's truly one of us." And especially to you Amy, my daughter and the mother of my five grandkids..."Thanks for the joy you and Sam have given us in our grandkids. And Amy, as I've said so many times before...You're the best mother I've ever seen. You amaze me."
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Considering the Creator and His creation....
3 When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,
The moon and the stars, which You have ordained,
4 What is man that You are mindful of him,
And the son of man that You visit him?
Psalms 8:3-4 (NKJV)
Last night I got to enjoy one of my favorite activities. Actually I'm not sure you can call it an activity because it's the "inactivity" that I love most about it. It's sitting on my porch overlooking beautiful Logan Martin Lake at night. Last night it was especially enjoyable. The sky was vivid, the breeze was blowing lightly, the temperature was perfect, the bugs were chirping, and the only sound besides the sounds of nature was an occasional boat passing in front of our house.
There under the stars I was actually able to do what the psalmist suggested for a moment. But you can do it right now in your imagination. Consider the universe; the heavens, the stars and the clouds. Think about God’s creation of the sky, the moons, sun, planets, and galaxies. Now, consider that on our planet alone there are mountains, plains, oceans, forests, deserts, and creatures unique to each of them. Now consider the vast masses of humanity on earth and that in the midst of all created things, there is a seemingly insignificant speck which is you.
No wonder David said in these verses, “What is man that You are mindful of him”? Why would God give any thought to man and particularly to me? Yet, things are not exactly as they might seem. You are not insignificant amidst the vastness of creation.
Because of the grace of God, out of all created things, He chose to breathe life and the possibility of a relationship with Himself into mankind alone. He chose to pour out His grace with abandonment on the human race and make a way for us to enjoy intimate fellowship with Him. He did that for no other part of His creation. We are the special and exclusive recipients of God’s grace.
And though His offer of salvation by grace extends to millions of other people, it is still an invitation that has been personalized and customized for you. God sees you as an individual with unique characteristics, strengths, weaknesses, hurts, joys, likes, and dislikes. He doesn’t just see you as part of a mass. He sees you as if you were the only one alive. And His grace is offered to you personally.
Today you may feel as if you need a special outpouring of God’s grace to get through something you are experiencing. Isn’t it a comfort to know that even in the midst of masses of humanity and the miracle of His creation, He sees YOU and knows YOU intimately? Thank Him for His personal attention on your life. Thank Him for choosing you to be a recipient of His gift of grace. Pour out your heart today in the full confidence of knowing that He truly cares about your needs. Thank Him that in the midst of all created things, He is mindful of YOU.
The moon and the stars, which You have ordained,
4 What is man that You are mindful of him,
And the son of man that You visit him?
Psalms 8:3-4 (NKJV)
Last night I got to enjoy one of my favorite activities. Actually I'm not sure you can call it an activity because it's the "inactivity" that I love most about it. It's sitting on my porch overlooking beautiful Logan Martin Lake at night. Last night it was especially enjoyable. The sky was vivid, the breeze was blowing lightly, the temperature was perfect, the bugs were chirping, and the only sound besides the sounds of nature was an occasional boat passing in front of our house.
There under the stars I was actually able to do what the psalmist suggested for a moment. But you can do it right now in your imagination. Consider the universe; the heavens, the stars and the clouds. Think about God’s creation of the sky, the moons, sun, planets, and galaxies. Now, consider that on our planet alone there are mountains, plains, oceans, forests, deserts, and creatures unique to each of them. Now consider the vast masses of humanity on earth and that in the midst of all created things, there is a seemingly insignificant speck which is you.
No wonder David said in these verses, “What is man that You are mindful of him”? Why would God give any thought to man and particularly to me? Yet, things are not exactly as they might seem. You are not insignificant amidst the vastness of creation.
Because of the grace of God, out of all created things, He chose to breathe life and the possibility of a relationship with Himself into mankind alone. He chose to pour out His grace with abandonment on the human race and make a way for us to enjoy intimate fellowship with Him. He did that for no other part of His creation. We are the special and exclusive recipients of God’s grace.
And though His offer of salvation by grace extends to millions of other people, it is still an invitation that has been personalized and customized for you. God sees you as an individual with unique characteristics, strengths, weaknesses, hurts, joys, likes, and dislikes. He doesn’t just see you as part of a mass. He sees you as if you were the only one alive. And His grace is offered to you personally.
Today you may feel as if you need a special outpouring of God’s grace to get through something you are experiencing. Isn’t it a comfort to know that even in the midst of masses of humanity and the miracle of His creation, He sees YOU and knows YOU intimately? Thank Him for His personal attention on your life. Thank Him for choosing you to be a recipient of His gift of grace. Pour out your heart today in the full confidence of knowing that He truly cares about your needs. Thank Him that in the midst of all created things, He is mindful of YOU.
Friday, May 9, 2008
First things first...
My husband Tim has been posting to a blog for quite a while now and he has been encouraging me to start one of my own. I have resisted for a number of reasons - mostly just the time and dedication it takes to keep posting to it - but when his counter hit over 4,000 this week I decided that it was an great opportunity to share important things that God is teaching me. It was too great an opportunity to miss.
So hopefully this will be the first of many blogs to come. We're actually both sitting on our porch in the dark with our laptops posting to our individual blogs at the same time. Technology is amazing. Just the other night we sat in our den, not 6 feet from each other, and communicated by sending emails to each other! Doing so gave us both documentation of details concerning upcoming appointments, etc. It automatically posted dates to remember on both our calendars. And it gave me an opportunity to remind him of some "to do" items in a way that he can't come back later and say that he didn't know about them!!! Yep, technology is amazing!!! It has changed the way we communicate and if there is anything I love, it is "communicating"....
I love communicating with God. But it is so amazing to me that God enjoys communicating with me! I can pour out my heart to God with full assurance that He is listening and that He cares. But true communication always involves two actions. I speak, but I also listen.
The Bible describes for us the perfect picture of the connection we have with Christ and it is a perfect duplication of Christ’s connection with God. Both connections are two-way. God is in Christ and Christ is in God. We are in Christ and Christ is in us.
Now following that thinking, you have to agree that if all of God is in Christ and all of Christ is in me, then all of God must also be in me. And if I am in Christ and Christ is in God, then I am in God
Because of this connection, I can hear the very voice of God speaking directly to me through His heart to my Spirit. I hear Him in the sounds of nature. I hear Him in the words to a song or even through the chords of a beautiful melody. I hear Him in a sermon as He takes the words I’m hearing with my ears and applies them to particular areas of my life. I hear Him through reading His Word as He shows me the meaning a particular passage of Scripture has in the situations of my life. He speaks words of warning, comfort, and love just when I need to hear them. True communication with God means that you are so in tune with Him that you can hear His faintest whisper.
The summer that I Tim and I got married, he lived with his parents in North Alabama and I lived with my parents near Birmingham. Since those days were before cellphones and email so we had to wait till the "rates dropped" after 9:00 p.m. to talk on the phone. He would call me every night and it would only take about 10 minutes to discuss everything about our days. But we just couldn’t hang up the phone. As long as the phone line stayed open we were “together”, even though many miles separated us. We would sit for long spans of time without saying a word. But the connection was open. We weren't just communicating. We were “communing.” We were “abiding.” If at any moment, I wanted to say something I could do so, knowing that he would hear me, and the same was true for him. There was a constant awareness of his presence on the other end of the line.
Communion with God is sort of like I’m on the phone with Him. I may not be saying anything to Him and He may not be saying anything to me, but the line is open. If He speaks, I’ll hear Him and if I speak I know He’ll hear me. There is a constant awareness of His presence and a constant sense of my dependence on Him.
Now, let’s take this illustration a step further. If for some reason I don’t stay in touch with Him on a moment-by-moment basis, then it’s like I hung up the phone on my end. My end of the line may stay hung up for months, but eventually I will become miserable and realize that I am missing the intimacy I once shared with God. God will remind me that there is only one thing that will satisfy me. So I return to partake of Him again. That’s when I pick up my end of the line and when I do, I find out He’s been holding on all that time, just waiting for me to return. God never stops communing with me, even when I don’t live out of the reality of my oneness with Him.
Yes, technology is amazing. But it is so wonderful to know that no technology is required to communicate with God. My "union" with Him makes a way for me to communicate with sending an email, dialing a number, or even saying a word. I can "commune" with Him; "abide" in Him and know that He abides in me.
Now that is truly amazing.
So hopefully this will be the first of many blogs to come. We're actually both sitting on our porch in the dark with our laptops posting to our individual blogs at the same time. Technology is amazing. Just the other night we sat in our den, not 6 feet from each other, and communicated by sending emails to each other! Doing so gave us both documentation of details concerning upcoming appointments, etc. It automatically posted dates to remember on both our calendars. And it gave me an opportunity to remind him of some "to do" items in a way that he can't come back later and say that he didn't know about them!!! Yep, technology is amazing!!! It has changed the way we communicate and if there is anything I love, it is "communicating"....
I love communicating with God. But it is so amazing to me that God enjoys communicating with me! I can pour out my heart to God with full assurance that He is listening and that He cares. But true communication always involves two actions. I speak, but I also listen.
The Bible describes for us the perfect picture of the connection we have with Christ and it is a perfect duplication of Christ’s connection with God. Both connections are two-way. God is in Christ and Christ is in God. We are in Christ and Christ is in us.
Now following that thinking, you have to agree that if all of God is in Christ and all of Christ is in me, then all of God must also be in me. And if I am in Christ and Christ is in God, then I am in God
Because of this connection, I can hear the very voice of God speaking directly to me through His heart to my Spirit. I hear Him in the sounds of nature. I hear Him in the words to a song or even through the chords of a beautiful melody. I hear Him in a sermon as He takes the words I’m hearing with my ears and applies them to particular areas of my life. I hear Him through reading His Word as He shows me the meaning a particular passage of Scripture has in the situations of my life. He speaks words of warning, comfort, and love just when I need to hear them. True communication with God means that you are so in tune with Him that you can hear His faintest whisper.
But the sweetness of my fellowship with God is not found in mere communication with Him. It’s found in “communion” with Him. Communion is more than just communicating. In fact, it’s actually communicating without uttering a word. It’s union. The definition of communion is “to be one with.”
“But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him.”
I Corinthians 6:17 (NKJV).
“But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him.”
I Corinthians 6:17 (NKJV).
.
This divine union has been the desire of God’s heart for you, even before the foundation of the world. Everything that happens in a Christian’s life is for the purpose of leading them to an awareness of this communion with God. God wants you to realize that you are one with Him. This action of communing is what God calls “abiding” in John 15 and abiding is the key to abundance in the Christians’ life.
The summer that I Tim and I got married, he lived with his parents in North Alabama and I lived with my parents near Birmingham. Since those days were before cellphones and email so we had to wait till the "rates dropped" after 9:00 p.m. to talk on the phone. He would call me every night and it would only take about 10 minutes to discuss everything about our days. But we just couldn’t hang up the phone. As long as the phone line stayed open we were “together”, even though many miles separated us. We would sit for long spans of time without saying a word. But the connection was open. We weren't just communicating. We were “communing.” We were “abiding.” If at any moment, I wanted to say something I could do so, knowing that he would hear me, and the same was true for him. There was a constant awareness of his presence on the other end of the line.
Communion with God is sort of like I’m on the phone with Him. I may not be saying anything to Him and He may not be saying anything to me, but the line is open. If He speaks, I’ll hear Him and if I speak I know He’ll hear me. There is a constant awareness of His presence and a constant sense of my dependence on Him.
Now, let’s take this illustration a step further. If for some reason I don’t stay in touch with Him on a moment-by-moment basis, then it’s like I hung up the phone on my end. My end of the line may stay hung up for months, but eventually I will become miserable and realize that I am missing the intimacy I once shared with God. God will remind me that there is only one thing that will satisfy me. So I return to partake of Him again. That’s when I pick up my end of the line and when I do, I find out He’s been holding on all that time, just waiting for me to return. God never stops communing with me, even when I don’t live out of the reality of my oneness with Him.
Yes, technology is amazing. But it is so wonderful to know that no technology is required to communicate with God. My "union" with Him makes a way for me to communicate with sending an email, dialing a number, or even saying a word. I can "commune" with Him; "abide" in Him and know that He abides in me.
Now that is truly amazing.
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