This title has been used many times I am sure, in sermons, devotions and testimonies. That does not take away from the powerful impact of these two words however when you consider the context in which they are placed. The entire passage is in Ephesians and is worth reading and memorizing I think.
Where could we place these two words when we describe the places where God has made a difference to us and for us? I know its hard sometimes to see that God is present and in control of the general circumstances, let alone our specific situation. In fact we could use them as an accusation couldn't we? "I'm going through all this and Im trying to do the right thing, BUT GOD, you could change all this, couldn't you?"
A thought came to me that I believe was a bit of wisdom from God, that the place that I was at that minute was because of Gods Grace. The things that I knew about God were only because His Grace, not my intellect. Everything that has the aroma of his Divine Self on it came to be by His Grace! The path that my feet had walked for the years leading to that point were all a result of Christs influence and mercy in my life. I'm not saying that there were not some places my feet took me that were NOT pleasing to Him. In fact if I were to pass judgement on myself I would have slammed the gavel down with all my might a long, long time ago and said "Condemned!"
But you see thats the power of the "But God" insertion. It trumps everything else and overlays His master plan and ultimate understanding of us, the human race, his calling and his nature on top (even on our very lives). Thank God for His nature!! The amplified Bible says that in order to satisfy the great and wonderful and intense love with which he loved (loves) us, EVEN when we were dead (slain) by our own shortcomings and trespasses.
Underestimating God is so easy when we only attribute to Him the limited exercising of Godly principles that we have been able to muster. I mean even on our best God day, we are a weak and cheap imitation if we try to act outside of his influence and motivation. If God gave his very life when we were enemies to Him and His work on the cross how could we not enjoy an even more privileged and blessed state as children and heirs to his promises and divine nature? Maybe he wont change the weather for us today. Maybe he wont alter the circumstances of our life so that we can avoid........ A valley. A dark and frightening place. An exhausting race that has already gone on for so very long. Relieve the suffering of loved and the unloved. Maybe he wont change the weather for us today. But in the rain (and in the storm) He is ready to go with us. What if at the end of this "thing" there were a unseen blessing? Would we look differently on the task? Maybe. Maybe not. Lets not underestimate God and limit him to only our ability to see, feel and understand.
Insert that BUT GOD into the front of the task at hand, and you will bringt His intense, great and wonderful love for us into our lives. A new friend shared with me recently that really knowing who God is and who We are in God is what makes the train (Christians life) go. I agree with that statement. I want desperately to know Him in the Light of Truth and not my filtered understanding and I want to know Who I am in Christ so that I can, with confidence and authority perform the work that needs to be done while there is still light to work.
What kind of work is there yet to do in this fading light? Lets talk about that.
Do not be conformed to this world (this age), [fashioned after and adapted to its external, superficial customs], but be transformed (changed) by the [entire] renewal of your mind [by its new ideals and its new attitude], so that you may prove [for yourselves] what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God, even the thing which is good and acceptable and perfect [in His sight for you].Rom 12:2 AMP
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not
Do you remember that game? It was played with a flower and a person would say "he/she loves me" and pulls a petal and then would say "he/she loves me not" and pulls another petal. as the flower becomes less and less petaled it can soon become apparent to the person that the end or the last petal will not be a favorable message. Flowers have as many petals as they need. Starting one way does not guarantee the last petal will affirm the love of the one that is longed for. It is chance and nothing more that has the final word.
Is our confidence in the Love of God like that some times (most of the time)? A circumstance arises and we pluck a petal and tell our selves he loves us. The next day the circumstance is not resolved or removed and we pluck the next petal and we think to ourselves that perhaps he loves us not. This goes on and chance will determine our final opinion regarding our relationship and status with God.
Romans 8:35-39 very clearly state for the believer that Nothing can separate us from the Love of God! Not things present or things to come. Not principalities or powers. Nothing. He said that. Nothing can separate you from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus. While we were enemies of the cross Christ died for us. Think about that for just a second. We were as far from a loving relationship with the Saviour as we could be on this earth and STILL he died for you, and you, and you and me, so that we could become heirs with him of a Kingdom that is far above any other on this earth.
There is a line here, but I dont think that it is a fine one. We must seek to follow the Master and learn to hear his voice and respond to his commands. A rebellious sheep will hear the call and still see what is on the other side of the fence. Green yes but also crawling wiht danger and death. Love will not keep us from being taken in the fowlers snare if we are unwise. Love will keep reaching for us to the last second of our lives.
I think we undersize God and his Word and its promises to us. In an effort to keep the newly saved safe from the strong temptations that exists in the world we are filled with uncertainty about our status with Christ given the struggles that we fight each day. Paul said that he saw a Law, that when he would do good, that evil wasw present. That with his mind he served the Saviour but with is flesh he served sin. And in midst of this turmoil of relationship was that I am persuaded that nothing can seperate me from the love of God! Persuaded!!!!
Lets see where that leads us tomorrow.
Is our confidence in the Love of God like that some times (most of the time)? A circumstance arises and we pluck a petal and tell our selves he loves us. The next day the circumstance is not resolved or removed and we pluck the next petal and we think to ourselves that perhaps he loves us not. This goes on and chance will determine our final opinion regarding our relationship and status with God.
Romans 8:35-39 very clearly state for the believer that Nothing can separate us from the Love of God! Not things present or things to come. Not principalities or powers. Nothing. He said that. Nothing can separate you from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus. While we were enemies of the cross Christ died for us. Think about that for just a second. We were as far from a loving relationship with the Saviour as we could be on this earth and STILL he died for you, and you, and you and me, so that we could become heirs with him of a Kingdom that is far above any other on this earth.
There is a line here, but I dont think that it is a fine one. We must seek to follow the Master and learn to hear his voice and respond to his commands. A rebellious sheep will hear the call and still see what is on the other side of the fence. Green yes but also crawling wiht danger and death. Love will not keep us from being taken in the fowlers snare if we are unwise. Love will keep reaching for us to the last second of our lives.
I think we undersize God and his Word and its promises to us. In an effort to keep the newly saved safe from the strong temptations that exists in the world we are filled with uncertainty about our status with Christ given the struggles that we fight each day. Paul said that he saw a Law, that when he would do good, that evil wasw present. That with his mind he served the Saviour but with is flesh he served sin. And in midst of this turmoil of relationship was that I am persuaded that nothing can seperate me from the love of God! Persuaded!!!!
Lets see where that leads us tomorrow.
Are ALL THINGS everything?
Romans 8:32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?
The Bible sometimes leaves a person scratching their head. I dont believe that it is because we dont or cant possess the ability to understand the instruction and commandments. I think that our problems arise out of some core or beginning belief set that we have. Perhaps we inherited it from our upbringing, or developed it based on our understanding of life and circumstance along the way. Regardless the filtering that we do when we read the Word or hear the whisper of the Spirit sometime changes the meaning of the instruction for us.
A filter by nature is designed to let some things pass through and to capture and prohibit other things from passing through. The filter is also by nature biased. We cant really know what foreign or unwanted things we might come in contact with, so we construct the filter to allow only right sized or right shaped, or right sounding things to pass through and everything else is blocked, regardless of its value or true nature. It just doesn't fit the hole that we have developed in our filter. Interesting.
How much of our head scratching is because we have poured into our minds and spirits the Word of God but our filters have caught things, questioned them and then excluded them from entering our spirit? We could be left with half a thought or worse we could be left with an untrue thought that will lodge in our spirit. This means that the filtration going on will be validated and reinforced the next time some perceived rogue idea comes in contact with it.
I dont believe that this happens with every Word we read, but I do believe that it happens and it happens more often than perhaps we would like. A recent small group question provides some light on this idea. A question was asked, "Do you believe that Jesus loves you no matter what you have or could say or do?" Only one person could answer in the affirmative. I was stunned by the honesty of the group and equally stunned that this most basic of truths is still in question in our hearts and minds (I was not the affirmative responder by the way). What does this mean?!?
Let me end here and pick up with a few thoughts on this last question.
The Bible sometimes leaves a person scratching their head. I dont believe that it is because we dont or cant possess the ability to understand the instruction and commandments. I think that our problems arise out of some core or beginning belief set that we have. Perhaps we inherited it from our upbringing, or developed it based on our understanding of life and circumstance along the way. Regardless the filtering that we do when we read the Word or hear the whisper of the Spirit sometime changes the meaning of the instruction for us.
A filter by nature is designed to let some things pass through and to capture and prohibit other things from passing through. The filter is also by nature biased. We cant really know what foreign or unwanted things we might come in contact with, so we construct the filter to allow only right sized or right shaped, or right sounding things to pass through and everything else is blocked, regardless of its value or true nature. It just doesn't fit the hole that we have developed in our filter. Interesting.
How much of our head scratching is because we have poured into our minds and spirits the Word of God but our filters have caught things, questioned them and then excluded them from entering our spirit? We could be left with half a thought or worse we could be left with an untrue thought that will lodge in our spirit. This means that the filtration going on will be validated and reinforced the next time some perceived rogue idea comes in contact with it.
I dont believe that this happens with every Word we read, but I do believe that it happens and it happens more often than perhaps we would like. A recent small group question provides some light on this idea. A question was asked, "Do you believe that Jesus loves you no matter what you have or could say or do?" Only one person could answer in the affirmative. I was stunned by the honesty of the group and equally stunned that this most basic of truths is still in question in our hearts and minds (I was not the affirmative responder by the way). What does this mean?!?
Let me end here and pick up with a few thoughts on this last question.
Sunday, October 17, 2010
And Now It Begins......
Its kind of a long story and this is probably a good place for a long story but I dont have the energy to recount it with the proper detail. Let me simply say that I have been, or thought that I had been, on a path to re-find and re-new my faith in God.
As God would have it I was led to a chiropractor who has been helping not only my physical self but also the inner man. Since a recent appointment I have been reflecting on a brief bit of enlightment I recieved in his office. In a nutshell I have been struggling with some anxiety and it seemed to be centered around my job. The enlightenment was a thought (a God thought I believe) that it was not my job causing my anxiety but my relationship with God and my unwillingness to respond to his purpose and call for my life. I have been reflecting on that moment ever since.
A more recent experience included having another God thought impress me that I would be broken and that now it would begin. Nothing more or less was shared. Since then I have been penning some thoughts about this Breaking and Beginning. These are the thoughts up to this point:
As God would have it I was led to a chiropractor who has been helping not only my physical self but also the inner man. Since a recent appointment I have been reflecting on a brief bit of enlightment I recieved in his office. In a nutshell I have been struggling with some anxiety and it seemed to be centered around my job. The enlightenment was a thought (a God thought I believe) that it was not my job causing my anxiety but my relationship with God and my unwillingness to respond to his purpose and call for my life. I have been reflecting on that moment ever since.
A more recent experience included having another God thought impress me that I would be broken and that now it would begin. Nothing more or less was shared. Since then I have been penning some thoughts about this Breaking and Beginning. These are the thoughts up to this point:
Breaking! Hammer stroke after hammer stroke. Anvil, tong and the furnace bellows breathing in and breathing out. Heat to change what is to what will be. Breaking! And now it begins..........
And now it begins...... When will it end? What will I become? Will the breaking hurt or will I just break free? Clay doesn't argue with the potter. Iron doesn't argue with the hammer. Breaking! And now it begins......
The hammer pounds the Masters beat. He stirs the coals to raise the heat, and by creations force brings forth in me the thing that only I can be!! And now it begins.......
And Nooooow it Begins! The changes that He's planned for me. And Nooooow it Begins! To be what only He can see. And Nooooow it Begins! Replace my fear with confidence, and put in my hands the weapons that I need,,,, TO DESTROY THE ENEMY and be FREE! NOW, it has begun!
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