Categories
Christian Living

Astonished

What astonishes you?

For example –
Paige is astonished by how quickly I can fall asleep (and begin snoring)!
My dogs seem to be astonished that they are going to be fed again today, even though we feed them every day.
My church is astonished at how quickly I can put my foot in my mouth from the pulpit.

And me – One of the things that astonishes me is that Jesus could be astonished.

The idea that the Creator has made us in such a way that He can still be astonished by us is a remarkable thing.

In two instances Jesus is said to be astonished about faith (or the lack thereof).

When Jesus encounters a man who easily believes that Jesus can heal by just the power of His spoken word, Jesus is astonished at the faith of the man. I don’t know that I have that type of faith. I want to! But if my child were sick, I would want to make sure that Jesus came to the house. In fact, I would be dragging Him by the hand, and then bring Him to my child’s bed and have Him heal my child by laying His hands on Him. That way, if it didn’t work (see, I’m already doubting), Jesus could do it again. This guy was willing to tell Jesus – “You don’t need to bother with coming all the way to my house. Just say the word and I know that my child will be healed because of Your great power.” Wow.

But when Jesus went to His own hometown, even though they had certainly heard the reports of Him healing people in other areas, they just couldn’t believe in Him or His abilities. And it says that Jesus was astonished by their lack of faith & their unbelief.

That’s more like me. Maybe you too? We find it so easy to slip into worry and doubt. When life throws us a curveball, when difficult circumstances appear on the horizon, we lack the faith to trust God during the storm.

What would Jesus say about my faith? Or about yours?

Is your trust in Him so complete that you never worry nor are anxious due to your complete surrender to His authority & plan for your life? When we make it to that place of faith, then even when the security & peace we desire are shattered, we are OK and keep trusting without worry, because we know that God will walk with us through whatever we are facing.

Do you cause Him to marvel because you trust Him completely?
Or instead, does He marvel at your lack of faith in His plans and ability?

We need to be like the child on the edge of the swimming pool that fully believes Dad when he says “Jump to me! I’ll catch you!”

How do you keep a childlike faith and trust in God?

Categories
Christian Living

Choosing To Stand With God Will Separate You From Others

“The man who really loves God can do as he chooses, for if he really loves God he will choose to do the will of God.”

The problem is that if you choose the will of God, if you stand with God, you can quickly find yourself put outside some of the circles of people in which you were previously included. The issue is that your new ethic of living morally condemns others without you saying a word. Even though you don’t look down on others, even though you don’t condemn them with your words, nor attempt to persuade them to follow your choices, just by simply living for God many people will feel uncomfortable being around you. It is because they are already convicted, but they have been able to silence that still small voice. But now they find that when they are around you who no longer engage in the same behaviors, it makes it clear to them again that they are not living properly. So they pull away and no longer include you. It has been that way from the beginning.

“Men always view with suspicion people who are different. Conformity, not distinctiveness, is the way to a trouble-free life. So the more early Christians took their faith seriously the more they were in danger of crowd reaction. Thus, simply by living according to the teachings of Jesus, the Christian was a constant unspoken condemnation of the pagan way of life. It was not that the Christian went about criticizing and condemning and disapproving, nor was he consciously self-righteous and superior. It was simply that the Christian ethic in itself was a criticism of pagan life.”

It is still this way today. As you set yourself apart in holiness and your light shines more and more brightly, those who have actions that are “dark” will shrink away from you. You find that you are no longer included in some of the water cooler talk, because they know that you won’t laugh at some of the off-color statements. You no longer get invited to certain events after work, because they know that you won’t join in with some of the activities. But remember that as you stand strong in your faithfulness to Christ, when someone encounters a crisis of belief and look for an escape from ungodly living, they will know who to come to – You!

You can help turn the world upside down, just as the early disciples did. “In Rome, Caesar worship was made universal and compulsory for every person within the empire…. On a certain day in the year every Roman citizen had to come to the Temple of Caesar and had to burn a pinch of incense there, and say: “Caesar is Lord.” When he had done that, he was given a certificate to guarantee that he had done so….

“Caesar worship was primarily a test of political loyalty; it was a test of whether or not a man was a good citizen. If a man refused…he was automatically branded as a traitor and a revolutionary. Exaltation of the emperor, then, created a problem for the Christians. They had not failed to pray for the emperor, but they would not pray to him in private or in public. How could a Christian compromise with this?

“Who was worthy to ascend the throne of the universe and direct the course of history? Caesar, or Christ?
Thus, Christian worship and Caesar worship met head-on. The one thing that no Christian would ever say was: “Caesar is Lord.” For the Christian, Jesus Christ and he alone was Lord. To the Roman the Christian seemed utterly intolerant and insanely stubborn; worse, he was a self-confessed disloyal citizen. Had the Christians been willing to burn that pinch of incense and to say formally, “Caesar is Lord,” they could have gone on worshiping Christ to their heart’s content; but the Christians would not compromise. That is why Rome regarded them as a band of potential revolutionaries threatening the very existence of the empire.”

We still seem that way to those whose lifestyles do not honor God – utterly intolerant and insanely stubborn. But we need to stand strong and not compromise. Christian worship and Caesar worship met head-on… and we know who won! As we stand strong in the morality of God, we can also cause a revolution that turns the world upside-down for Christ!

(quotes taken from Bruce Shelley, Church History In Plain Language)

Categories
Christian Living

Defining The Word “Good”

All of us want to define the word “good” such that we get our way. But what happens when something that pleases me dictates that something unpleasant happens to you? Can we still call something good if it is not good for us both?

And how does that work with God? God says He is always working for the good of those who love Him. But we want comfort and peace and security and happiness – no pain, no struggle. God wants the advancement of His Kingdom. He wants His Name to be glorified.

“Men always view with suspicion people who are different. Conformity, not distinctiveness, is the way to a trouble-free life. So…simply by living according to the teachings of Jesus, the Christian is a constant unspoken condemnation of the secular lifestyle.” (Bruce Shelley, Church History In Plain Language)

If living to exalt Him might cause me to be condemned or criticized, then at times, my desire for comfort will be at odds with His desire for being exalted. So who gets to define the word “good”?

We find that exalting God can often cause difficulty in life – which is the opposite of my comfort and security. So how can these two goals that are at odds with each other – my comfort, security, and happiness vs. God’s glory – be determined that God is always working for my good?

Remember that God is not going to give us every one of our heart’s desires until every one of our hearts desires are exactly in line with His will.

If we truly can be like Paul and see that “to live is Christ and to die is gain” and “that God’s strength is perfected in our weakness,” then whatever God sends us we can say – God use this to advance Your goals and Your kingdom because I want the things that You want and I know that whatever You send me can be used to bring you more praise. Even physical illness or a handicap or a loss of material possessions or even loss of life – all of these can be used for the advancement of God’s kingdom and for bringing glory to Him. But will we trust Him that His plans are always the best plans? When His kingdom plans conflict with our plans for security and peace and happiness, will we continue to have faith in Him and be able to see that the increase of His kingdom, even if it causes suffering in us, is best for everyone and is therefore for our good as well?

“The man who really loves God can do as he chooses, for if he really loves God he will choose to do the will of God.” (Bruce Shelley, Church History In Plain Language)

Categories
Christian Living

Where Is The “Good” That God Promised Me?

Ummm…. Excuse Me, God… But just so You know… This life of mine ain’t always working out the way I think it should. And if I remember the Scriptures right, You said You came that I might have abundant life and that You would always work for the good of those who love You… Well I love You, so what seems to be the problem?

I don’t know about you, but it doesn’t always seem that God is working things together for my good. Sometimes life is stressful, sometimes it might even seem downright miserable. What is going on?

God tells me to trust Him to provide for all my needs. I am told to hunger and thirst after His righteousness… to seek Him first… and all of my other needs will be met.

I read these passages in the Bible that tell me if I will just keep seeking to be like Jesus and trusting in God’s plans, then I will have everything I need and even more than I could imagine. But it doesn’t seem that way to me on the difficult, stressful days. Some things that aren’t good are happening to me. So what is the problem? Is God not faithful to His promises? Or is my definition of “good” at odds with His definition?

When I ask these questions He reminds me – I am just a child, and He is the loving Father. You know what parents realize – sometimes what a child wants is not what he or she needs. Many times a parent knows what is truly good for a child, but that child wants immediate gratification or has wrong motives, and a parent says “no” to a request, because they are seeking the child’s greater good. And so sometimes I might not realize that what I think I want might not be for my own good, but God can look down the road and see what I truly need.

The other thing I have to remember is that God didn’t promise me that life would always be a bed of roses. Just look at the life of Jesus, the disciples, the prophets, and all the martyrs. Sometimes instead of the rose petals, we just get “stuck” with the thorns! We live in a sin-filled world of evil. Sometimes, because of the choices and consequences of sin in myself or others, I will face tragedy and pain. But God says that when I encounter those times, He will walk right beside me and keep working to bring good out of it for me.

I think the problem is that I have defined life to be all about me instead of all about Him. Maybe my definition of good needs to be more along the lines of Paul. To live is to live for Christ and that is a great joy no matter the consequences I encounter along the way, and to die would be even greater because I would then be with Him. But that is surely a hard place to get to.

Any thoughts on how we can reorient our thoughts such that we see living for Him and serving Him as our “good,” even when life gets hard?

Categories
Worship

Seeking Can Be Serious Business

So my cell phone is lost, and I must’ve left it on silent. Calling it from another phone isn’t working. I’ve looked in the usual spots on the kitchen counter, the nightstand, the desk. No luck. Now I’m looking in every room. I’ve searched high and low, near and far. I’ve even looked in the crazy places – under the car seats, in the refrigerator, between the couch cushions. The phrase “hide & seek” is taking on a new meaning.

I’m sure you’ve had a similar experience – one where you had to seek for something important that you just couldn’t find. How long did you search? How serious were you about finding it?

If we are serious about finding something important, we will seek for it intensely and for a long time…you’ll do all you can to seek it out.

So… am I seeking God with the same intensity that I have for my lost cell phone?

Can I say that I am truly seeking God with a 5 minute prayer time? With short little prayer times and no significant time alone with Him without distractions, can I truly say I sought God and His will today? Seeking Him means I should be setting a “big chunk” aside each day, as well as working to be more constant in prayer throughout the day.

I need both types of prayers, but I know that it takes more than 5 minutes, more than 10, to truly seek God and His heart and will.

Are you really “seeking” God in your prayer time?
Fortunately, He is not lost like a silent cell phone, so that when we are ready to seek Him, we will find Him. But it also takes the discipline to set aside significant time to hear from His heart!

And don’t worry, we called in the FBI search party. They sent out the tracking hounds and finally found my cell phone!