Luke 13:1 There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2 And he answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? 3 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. 4 Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? 5 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”
We have all witnessed disaster on the personnel and world level in our lifetime. My mom's mother Gugga was one of the most humble servants of God to grace this Earth. She died a terrible death in which she eventually drowned in her own fluids as her lungs filled. It was terrible. I was left to ask God: why? Looking at the videos being shot out of Haiti where estimates point to the deaths of up to 200,000 many of which are women and children we are all left to wonder: Why would God allow this to happen?
The above passage in Luke is a critical teaching of Jesus when it comes to us questioning God in disaster and grief be it personal, regional or global. Jesus sites two accounts of human suffering. One is a random act of a tower killing 18 people and the other is an account of Galileans who were killed as they were making sacrifices by Pilate. Jesus is able to detect their natural tendency to ask why this happened to them. Maybe he detected our tendency to think " what did they do to deserve this God?"
As Jesus always does, he moves the conversation to a more healthy framework for mortals to work from. He does not answer their question "why?" as He is God and does not have to give an account of Himself to any man, even though he has graciously elected to do that throughout redemptive history. No, he does not answer the question of why something happened. He poses a far better question: Do you think those who perished were worse sinners and offenders than their neighbors who lived? He answers that question sternly in verse five "No, but unless you repent, you will also like wise perish". In a nutshell, Jesus says instead of asking why those people died you should ask why you were showed the grace to live. Now that puts it in a little better perspective for us. Lets let God be God and let us than Him for the grace he gives us to live today and repent form our sins and turn to Him.
For those armchair theologians like me, this does not mean that all actions allowed by God are not judgement. It does mean that at least some are though and only God knows which is which.
So this week as you pray for Haiti, praise God for allowing you to have a day to do so......
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Monday, January 18, 2010
Gummie worms
2 Peter 1: 19 And we have something more sure, the prophetic word, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, 20 knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from some one's own interpretation. 21 For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
As Eli (my 3 yr old) and I sat this morning drinking our coffee in our "quiet time" we were greeted by a spring like bird chirping chorus outside. Eli looks at me seriously and asks His favorite questions : What is that making noise? Birds, I say. Birds, birds, what do they eat? (Me patiently trying to read my bible while not ignoring Eli) Well, Eli they eat bugs, bees and worms. Bugs and Bees are yucky daddy, but Eli likes gummy worms. Yes. Eli likes gummy worms. Not gummy worms Eli, worms. Yep daddio Eli likes gummy worms ...........
In order to communicate, we must have words that carry distinct definitions. A word can mean many different things to many different people. In my own life the meaning of the word Bible has changed in such a divine beautiful way. When I was young, the bible meant the thing I took to church that I was supposed to read. It was the book that told me what people along time ago did to be good and make God happy.
I praise God that he has shown me that the bible is a divine book that communicates His redemptive love despite our stiff necked sinful hearts. As Peter says in the above text, The Bible is a continual, congruent story authored by the Holy Spirit speaking through those he counted as faithful to His Heart, Will and Purpose. We have two options as His creation.
#1) Understand the bible is the word of God, a Divine manifestation of God and therefore something we must place ourselves under the authority of, as we fall deeper in Love our Jesus. Is it not amazing that he has revealed himself to us? The Bible is such a dynamic reflection of our creator that any "great" work of art or drama is nothing but a recycled idea of God's. Romeo and Juliet and their love unto death; Pete Townsend' let my love open the door (one of my favorite songs); and more recently Avatar, a movie about a future world of unparalleled peace and love powered by a central "Tree of Life" are three examples of recycled material from the Bible. In case you have not read it, the Bible weaves accounts of scandalous love, war, romance and "fairy tell endings" to create a tapestry of God's redemptive and sacrificial love so that we can glimpse aspects of His majesty. It is impossible not to fall in Love with Him if you get to know Him.
#2) Interpret the Bible as words from other men that we can evaluate, shape and question. Is this not exactly what Eve do in Genesis 3?
Obviously I am partial to choice #1. Why? He has changed my Heart and Life and I know that he wants to speak to me through His word. There is a vast difference between reading the Bible open to your interpretation to fit your life and Hearing from God under His authority so that he can change your heart. Which do you do?
As Eli (my 3 yr old) and I sat this morning drinking our coffee in our "quiet time" we were greeted by a spring like bird chirping chorus outside. Eli looks at me seriously and asks His favorite questions : What is that making noise? Birds, I say. Birds, birds, what do they eat? (Me patiently trying to read my bible while not ignoring Eli) Well, Eli they eat bugs, bees and worms. Bugs and Bees are yucky daddy, but Eli likes gummy worms. Yes. Eli likes gummy worms. Not gummy worms Eli, worms. Yep daddio Eli likes gummy worms ...........
In order to communicate, we must have words that carry distinct definitions. A word can mean many different things to many different people. In my own life the meaning of the word Bible has changed in such a divine beautiful way. When I was young, the bible meant the thing I took to church that I was supposed to read. It was the book that told me what people along time ago did to be good and make God happy.
I praise God that he has shown me that the bible is a divine book that communicates His redemptive love despite our stiff necked sinful hearts. As Peter says in the above text, The Bible is a continual, congruent story authored by the Holy Spirit speaking through those he counted as faithful to His Heart, Will and Purpose. We have two options as His creation.
#1) Understand the bible is the word of God, a Divine manifestation of God and therefore something we must place ourselves under the authority of, as we fall deeper in Love our Jesus. Is it not amazing that he has revealed himself to us? The Bible is such a dynamic reflection of our creator that any "great" work of art or drama is nothing but a recycled idea of God's. Romeo and Juliet and their love unto death; Pete Townsend' let my love open the door (one of my favorite songs); and more recently Avatar, a movie about a future world of unparalleled peace and love powered by a central "Tree of Life" are three examples of recycled material from the Bible. In case you have not read it, the Bible weaves accounts of scandalous love, war, romance and "fairy tell endings" to create a tapestry of God's redemptive and sacrificial love so that we can glimpse aspects of His majesty. It is impossible not to fall in Love with Him if you get to know Him.
#2) Interpret the Bible as words from other men that we can evaluate, shape and question. Is this not exactly what Eve do in Genesis 3?
Obviously I am partial to choice #1. Why? He has changed my Heart and Life and I know that he wants to speak to me through His word. There is a vast difference between reading the Bible open to your interpretation to fit your life and Hearing from God under His authority so that he can change your heart. Which do you do?
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Identity Crisis
Ephesians1:1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God
Romans 1:1 1:1 Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God
Phillipians 1:1Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus
My oldest son Cal discovered a passion for football as he played in an 80 pound tackle league this year. He naturally adopted Auburn as His favorite team as both Evie and I and for that matter everyone else in His family tree are alumns. In case you don't live in Alabama, the University of Alabama is Auburn's biggest rival and they just won the national championship. That might not mean as much where people have more entertainment verticals but here in Alabama, football is literally a religion (to some). Well, in addition to being an Auburn fan, Cal became a huge Texas fan in the month leading up to the national title game as he knew that was the last team that could derail his foe. An honest liking for Texas, fueled by the ribbing he took from His Alabama friends turned him rather quickly into a pretty obnoxious one I might add. Dad here did not help either by buying him a Longhorns hat and shirt on the way to Honduras a couple of weeks ago. Cal spent much energy and effort at establishing his new identity as a Texas fan which offered hope to the dark prospect of Alabama becoming champions. Despite our counseling and attempts to help him realize it was only a game, Cal was ready to see Texas bring home a win. Cal's only problem was that Texas lost and his new identity as a Texas fan failed him and sent him crying off to bed in disgust at half time.
After thinking it through, I must admit that I have adopted many new identities through out my life and to some extent they have all failed me as well. Why? Everything and everyone in which we are able to identify ourselves with or by is flawed except one thing: Jesus Christ!
Look at Paul's clarity of self definition above. Servant. Apostle.
Look at his purpose: Set apart for the Gospel of Christ
Look at the authority behind his Identity: the will of God
Unlike Cal or myself for that matter, Paul was entirely sold out to having a singular identity as a servant an apostle of Jesus Christ. His mission and purpose were fueled by having this focused identity and his life was powered of course by the Holy Spirit to accomplish the will of God. Big Point: Paul's identity never failed him!
The big question for us is: why do we try all these new identities even though we all know they are temporary? The answer is that until we truly rest in the perfected identity as a follower of Christ our souls will bounce from place to place, and thing to thing, trying to fill up the emptiness that only Jesus can provide!
So lets set our affections on Him and put our hope and identity in Him. Everything else will fail us.
Romans 1:1 1:1 Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God
Phillipians 1:1Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus
My oldest son Cal discovered a passion for football as he played in an 80 pound tackle league this year. He naturally adopted Auburn as His favorite team as both Evie and I and for that matter everyone else in His family tree are alumns. In case you don't live in Alabama, the University of Alabama is Auburn's biggest rival and they just won the national championship. That might not mean as much where people have more entertainment verticals but here in Alabama, football is literally a religion (to some). Well, in addition to being an Auburn fan, Cal became a huge Texas fan in the month leading up to the national title game as he knew that was the last team that could derail his foe. An honest liking for Texas, fueled by the ribbing he took from His Alabama friends turned him rather quickly into a pretty obnoxious one I might add. Dad here did not help either by buying him a Longhorns hat and shirt on the way to Honduras a couple of weeks ago. Cal spent much energy and effort at establishing his new identity as a Texas fan which offered hope to the dark prospect of Alabama becoming champions. Despite our counseling and attempts to help him realize it was only a game, Cal was ready to see Texas bring home a win. Cal's only problem was that Texas lost and his new identity as a Texas fan failed him and sent him crying off to bed in disgust at half time.
After thinking it through, I must admit that I have adopted many new identities through out my life and to some extent they have all failed me as well. Why? Everything and everyone in which we are able to identify ourselves with or by is flawed except one thing: Jesus Christ!
Look at Paul's clarity of self definition above. Servant. Apostle.
Look at his purpose: Set apart for the Gospel of Christ
Look at the authority behind his Identity: the will of God
Unlike Cal or myself for that matter, Paul was entirely sold out to having a singular identity as a servant an apostle of Jesus Christ. His mission and purpose were fueled by having this focused identity and his life was powered of course by the Holy Spirit to accomplish the will of God. Big Point: Paul's identity never failed him!
The big question for us is: why do we try all these new identities even though we all know they are temporary? The answer is that until we truly rest in the perfected identity as a follower of Christ our souls will bounce from place to place, and thing to thing, trying to fill up the emptiness that only Jesus can provide!
So lets set our affections on Him and put our hope and identity in Him. Everything else will fail us.
Monday, January 11, 2010
whatSINitforme?
The Temptation of Jesus
Luke 4:3 The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.” 4 And Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone.’” 5 And the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, 6 and said to him, “To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. 7 If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” 8 And Jesus answered him, “It is written, “‘You shall worship the Lord your God,and him only shall you serve.’”
9 And he took him to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, 10 for it is written,
“‘He will command his angels concerning you,to guard you,’11 and “‘On their hands they will bear you up,lest you strike your foot against a stone.’” 12 And Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” 13 And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time.
What is your perception of sin? Is it acting a certain way,doing certain things or having a certain purpose in what you are doing? Could our perceptions be only half right? Well God is in the process of using His word to change my understanding of many things and sin is one of them. Let's look at the three temptations of Jesus to sin.
#1) Jesus is hungry after a forty day fast. The sinful temptation: Command that this stone become bread and you will be satisfied by food.
#2) The Devil tries to create an appetite of self empowerment. The sinful temptation: Worship the devil and you will have power (even though it is limited power granted temporarily to the devil by God)
#3) The Devil says Jesus throw yourself off the temple and see if God will save you. The sinful temptation: doubt God's care and put it to the test.
Jesus powered by the Holy Spirit and the Word of God is able to resist these temptations which of course is great news for us! Of the three temptations, #2 definitely is dark. Devil worship is flat out evil and that is apparent. I would like to ponder the more "camouflaged" Temptations #1 and #3 a bit with you. Have making bread from stones and jumping into danger ever topped your "gross sins to avoid" list? What strikes me the most about these scriptures is that sin is not defined by the action but rather the purpose of the action. What do I mean? Didn't Jesus create bread when He fed the 4,000 and 5,000. Didn't He as part of the Trinity create manna in the desert for the Israelites daily? So the action of miracle bread making is not a sin, only a miracle. We must conclude then that it would have been sin in the temptation because the action was stimulated by something other than God.
I don't know about you, but I have spent more time in my life trying to define a safe list of actions that are not sinful instead of simply allowing the will of God to express itself through me. Doesn't it seem easier to try and control our actions instead of giving God control of our Hearts?
God has spoken and defined many things specifically as sin, yet there is no exhaustive list of every possible sinful action. Some of our actions then are defined as either righteous or sin based on our Heart's intentions that drive them. So what would have been wrong with Jesus's bread making, power grabbing and temple jumping?
It would have been sin because it would have been an attempt to leverage the things and majesty of God to achieve a non Holy purpose that was outside of His will. It would have been an attempt to use resources designed for God's glory on things other than His Kingdom. I don't know about you but that hits close to home for me. I know I have committed many, many sins that looked "good" to everyone else, but were really "deals" I had tried to cut with God to serve my wants and needs. Yes, I battle the ugly gross sins we all are aware of too, but the desire to play God with God's grace and love might be the worst thing I do......
So let's all realize that any thing we do based solely on a selfish "whatSINitforme" attitude will glorify us, not God.
More importantly, are we willing to ask the right question of "what is in it for God" with every thing? I pray that we allow Him to change our hearts so that He may receive the Glory He is due.
Luke 4:3 The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.” 4 And Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone.’” 5 And the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, 6 and said to him, “To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. 7 If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” 8 And Jesus answered him, “It is written, “‘You shall worship the Lord your God,and him only shall you serve.’”
9 And he took him to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, 10 for it is written,
“‘He will command his angels concerning you,to guard you,’11 and “‘On their hands they will bear you up,lest you strike your foot against a stone.’” 12 And Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” 13 And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time.
What is your perception of sin? Is it acting a certain way,doing certain things or having a certain purpose in what you are doing? Could our perceptions be only half right? Well God is in the process of using His word to change my understanding of many things and sin is one of them. Let's look at the three temptations of Jesus to sin.
#1) Jesus is hungry after a forty day fast. The sinful temptation: Command that this stone become bread and you will be satisfied by food.
#2) The Devil tries to create an appetite of self empowerment. The sinful temptation: Worship the devil and you will have power (even though it is limited power granted temporarily to the devil by God)
#3) The Devil says Jesus throw yourself off the temple and see if God will save you. The sinful temptation: doubt God's care and put it to the test.
Jesus powered by the Holy Spirit and the Word of God is able to resist these temptations which of course is great news for us! Of the three temptations, #2 definitely is dark. Devil worship is flat out evil and that is apparent. I would like to ponder the more "camouflaged" Temptations #1 and #3 a bit with you. Have making bread from stones and jumping into danger ever topped your "gross sins to avoid" list? What strikes me the most about these scriptures is that sin is not defined by the action but rather the purpose of the action. What do I mean? Didn't Jesus create bread when He fed the 4,000 and 5,000. Didn't He as part of the Trinity create manna in the desert for the Israelites daily? So the action of miracle bread making is not a sin, only a miracle. We must conclude then that it would have been sin in the temptation because the action was stimulated by something other than God.
I don't know about you, but I have spent more time in my life trying to define a safe list of actions that are not sinful instead of simply allowing the will of God to express itself through me. Doesn't it seem easier to try and control our actions instead of giving God control of our Hearts?
God has spoken and defined many things specifically as sin, yet there is no exhaustive list of every possible sinful action. Some of our actions then are defined as either righteous or sin based on our Heart's intentions that drive them. So what would have been wrong with Jesus's bread making, power grabbing and temple jumping?
It would have been sin because it would have been an attempt to leverage the things and majesty of God to achieve a non Holy purpose that was outside of His will. It would have been an attempt to use resources designed for God's glory on things other than His Kingdom. I don't know about you but that hits close to home for me. I know I have committed many, many sins that looked "good" to everyone else, but were really "deals" I had tried to cut with God to serve my wants and needs. Yes, I battle the ugly gross sins we all are aware of too, but the desire to play God with God's grace and love might be the worst thing I do......
So let's all realize that any thing we do based solely on a selfish "whatSINitforme" attitude will glorify us, not God.
More importantly, are we willing to ask the right question of "what is in it for God" with every thing? I pray that we allow Him to change our hearts so that He may receive the Glory He is due.
Saturday, January 9, 2010
What about Him Jesus?
John 21 (After a deep personal meeting with the the risen Christ in which Jesus restores Peter 3 times for the 3 denials, receives the blessed command to Follow Christ again and learns of his upcoming death) 20:Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved (John) following them ...v21 and Peter asked "Lord what about Him?" 22 Jesus answered, " If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You follow me."
A common, loud, reoccurring conversation at our house between Cal and Alison (my two elder children) goes something like this every night as I remind them of their chores: (Alison) Dad, it is not fair that Cal gets to take out the trash, why can't I take out the trash. I always have to feed Riley (our 11 year old, wonderful, female lab) and there are two bowls. I have two bowls and there is only one trash can. (Cal) Dad, tell her that her job is easier, she does not even have to go outside. She just has to get two bowls, and fill them with food and water, that's easy! (Alison and Cal) Why do I have to do this same thing every night, it is not fair. (me) Because I am your father, you need to trust me, and you should want to help your family and we need you to do what is asked of you!
When you look at Peter in John 21 above it should be a warning to us, especially me. You see, I have lived much of my Christ following life in frustration as I tried to figure out how Jesus wants to work in others instead of letting Him change me to change others. Immediately after Jesus had restored and Blessed Peter immensely, Peter chose not to praise and worship the active Grace that Christ had just shown Him, instead he questions Him about John's role and future. Jesus sternly, yet lovingly, corrects that and says in a way "John is my concern! I am your concern! Follow me!".
Isn't it so much easier to see ministry gaps and sin in others and spend time evaluating other's roles and issues rather than letting Christ have His way with us, so that we become a vessel of His glory that changes the world around us. Let me be clear, Christ wants us to help others, and change the world, but only if we Follow Him into our ministry roles that he has called us to. That is obedience that He wants to reproduce, not a look a like disobedience that we can fake as we make our own plans, that quota is already over exceeded in the world today. Our callings are fueled through the ministry of Christ and the Holy Spirit in us, so that the world sees a Holy Love, Truth and Love that is Divine and contains Majestic healing and restoration powers that are God's alone.
So if you are like me and have thought, "Lord, it isn't fair, that person looks so much more important or blessed than me, and You are asking me to do this obscure thing over there!". Let us pause and understand that He has spoken on that issue clearly in the above text and said in effect: That is not your concern, you follow Me! Will we be obedient to our savior? Or, will we continue to see ourselves as the solution for everyone else instead of Him? Perhaps more importantly, will we quit questioning God's authority in other's and start submitting to His authority over us! I am pretty sure that is the key ingredient to following Him!
A common, loud, reoccurring conversation at our house between Cal and Alison (my two elder children) goes something like this every night as I remind them of their chores: (Alison) Dad, it is not fair that Cal gets to take out the trash, why can't I take out the trash. I always have to feed Riley (our 11 year old, wonderful, female lab) and there are two bowls. I have two bowls and there is only one trash can. (Cal) Dad, tell her that her job is easier, she does not even have to go outside. She just has to get two bowls, and fill them with food and water, that's easy! (Alison and Cal) Why do I have to do this same thing every night, it is not fair. (me) Because I am your father, you need to trust me, and you should want to help your family and we need you to do what is asked of you!
When you look at Peter in John 21 above it should be a warning to us, especially me. You see, I have lived much of my Christ following life in frustration as I tried to figure out how Jesus wants to work in others instead of letting Him change me to change others. Immediately after Jesus had restored and Blessed Peter immensely, Peter chose not to praise and worship the active Grace that Christ had just shown Him, instead he questions Him about John's role and future. Jesus sternly, yet lovingly, corrects that and says in a way "John is my concern! I am your concern! Follow me!".
Isn't it so much easier to see ministry gaps and sin in others and spend time evaluating other's roles and issues rather than letting Christ have His way with us, so that we become a vessel of His glory that changes the world around us. Let me be clear, Christ wants us to help others, and change the world, but only if we Follow Him into our ministry roles that he has called us to. That is obedience that He wants to reproduce, not a look a like disobedience that we can fake as we make our own plans, that quota is already over exceeded in the world today. Our callings are fueled through the ministry of Christ and the Holy Spirit in us, so that the world sees a Holy Love, Truth and Love that is Divine and contains Majestic healing and restoration powers that are God's alone.
So if you are like me and have thought, "Lord, it isn't fair, that person looks so much more important or blessed than me, and You are asking me to do this obscure thing over there!". Let us pause and understand that He has spoken on that issue clearly in the above text and said in effect: That is not your concern, you follow Me! Will we be obedient to our savior? Or, will we continue to see ourselves as the solution for everyone else instead of Him? Perhaps more importantly, will we quit questioning God's authority in other's and start submitting to His authority over us! I am pretty sure that is the key ingredient to following Him!
Friday, January 8, 2010
Connected ?
John 15:7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.
John 8:31 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples,
Like most people in 2010 I have come overly dependent on my "smart phone". It has every thing I need to stay connected to family, friends, clients and anything else in the world at the touch of a screen. A quirky thing happened to me today on the way to work. As I turned on the interstate I realized that I had forgotten my phone and left it on the counter at home. Instinctively I starting charting a quick course in my mind to return home to retrieve it. God had other plans as I drove in silence (I would recommend this to all as a side note - driving is where I get a lot of focused time to talk to God). As I was thinking "How in the world can I live without my phone today?" He laid this question on my heart "If you viewed your connection to me as integral to your connection to the world you would be blessed".
After thinking it through, that it is exactly what Christ repeated over and over and over. I came to restore you and link you back to the father both in this world and eternally so follow Me , abide in Me and glorify Me. I love Jesus' analogy of Him being the Vine and us being branches that need Him to sustain us. Branches that are separated from the vine quickly turn brown, shrivel and die. I know for a fact that I don't want that for me or my family or my friends or anyone else and what is more important is that God does not want that either - hence Jesus Christ hanging on a cross and rising to defeat death to overcome sin so that God can receive great glory from all of our praise and worship.
So let's bring this home a little closer. How do you abide in Christ? Is it a brief website devotional visit before you start your day? A once a week visit to your local church? Spotty bible reading when someone challenges you? Maybe some service thrown in there during the Holidays?
This is serious stuff. I know that I have a lot of changing to do in my life. To start, I am going to pray more intensely, more often to God today and trust that being more connected to Him will bring me through the day more fruitful than if I had my phone. And oh yeah - if you need me don't call or text me, send an email.
In the Abiding Love of Christ,
Chad
John 8:31 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples,
Like most people in 2010 I have come overly dependent on my "smart phone". It has every thing I need to stay connected to family, friends, clients and anything else in the world at the touch of a screen. A quirky thing happened to me today on the way to work. As I turned on the interstate I realized that I had forgotten my phone and left it on the counter at home. Instinctively I starting charting a quick course in my mind to return home to retrieve it. God had other plans as I drove in silence (I would recommend this to all as a side note - driving is where I get a lot of focused time to talk to God). As I was thinking "How in the world can I live without my phone today?" He laid this question on my heart "If you viewed your connection to me as integral to your connection to the world you would be blessed".
After thinking it through, that it is exactly what Christ repeated over and over and over. I came to restore you and link you back to the father both in this world and eternally so follow Me , abide in Me and glorify Me. I love Jesus' analogy of Him being the Vine and us being branches that need Him to sustain us. Branches that are separated from the vine quickly turn brown, shrivel and die. I know for a fact that I don't want that for me or my family or my friends or anyone else and what is more important is that God does not want that either - hence Jesus Christ hanging on a cross and rising to defeat death to overcome sin so that God can receive great glory from all of our praise and worship.
So let's bring this home a little closer. How do you abide in Christ? Is it a brief website devotional visit before you start your day? A once a week visit to your local church? Spotty bible reading when someone challenges you? Maybe some service thrown in there during the Holidays?
This is serious stuff. I know that I have a lot of changing to do in my life. To start, I am going to pray more intensely, more often to God today and trust that being more connected to Him will bring me through the day more fruitful than if I had my phone. And oh yeah - if you need me don't call or text me, send an email.
In the Abiding Love of Christ,
Chad
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