World Changers...

We want to do big things. We want recognition. We would desire nothing more than to get our picture on the front page of the top newspapers as some epic hero. We want to be able to say that through us, some 20 million people were affected and led to the Lord. We want to be able to say that choices we made changed the way of life for scores of people. We want our name to roll down through history as a person who rocked the world to the core. We envy those who seem to have the world by the tail and have it all together. That's great...or is it? There is one key problem with our desires. Most of the desires are not bad in and of themselves, but they still all point to us. And that is exactly where the problem lies. WE want to be important. We forget about the true meaning of life; the glorification and exaltation of God and God alone. What about letting God do the big stuff, and being content to be perfectly faithful in the little things? We want to change the world? How about making life wonderful for those who we have influence over. You want to rescue a country from poverty and illness? Why does your elderly neighbor pine away in utter solitude? Sometimes I think that we confuse God's desires with our own. God has given each of us gifts and abilities. I am confident of that. If we are honest with ourselves, we all feel a bit unworthy and insecure but God loves us AND our weakness. In it, HIS strength shines through. Nevertheless, I still maintain that most of us have things RIGHT UNDER OUR NOSES that we could be doing for God instead of wishing that we would be used for a bigger purpose. I'm sure Jesus felt like it was a waste of his short life to be building chairs in a carpenter's shop. He remained faithful until God called Him to other things. Are we better than Jesus? Not at all. So, you want to be a world-changer? Don't wait for the opportunity to arise, go out and be faithful in the little things, change the things you CAN change, and then see what God will do with your life. Remember, faithfulness is enduring.... It may be 30 years of faithfulness before God really "shows" you what a blessing you really are in people's lives. It may never be shown to you. But God blesses the faithful. Job never knew that his story would be the most known and quoted story of suffering throughout the history of the ages. We would probably go through twice as much if we knew our lives would bless even half as many people. But all that is for eternity to reveal. For now, just remember: "When opportunity comes, it is too late to prepare." Why not invest time in scripture memory, serving your neighbors, encouraging lonely people in your church, and being a blessing in your home. If God rewards someone giving a cup of cold water, he surely smiles upon faithfulness in the smallest things. In fact, I am convinced that the same sensitivity that God has for sin, he has for faithfulness. In other words, if you do the smallest little sin, and expect to be able to hide it from God, you are so mistaken. Nothing passes his notice. The same applies to our faithfulness. Every little bitty thing you do in Jesus name and for his sake, he remembers. He is not slack concerning his promises. Nothing is too small or too big to do for God.

Sporadic...

This is truly pathetic. It's been forever since I have posted anything worth reading here... I have a story in the works, and some ideas for future posts, but I have honestly not had any time.

I'm out here in California, so just had a few moments of rest and peace from all other distractions. Wow, it's nice.

Blessings to all!

Faith Despite Failure

“But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” Hebrews 11:6

As I was sharing with a dear friend the other evening, they mentioned the fact that we must believe God and His Word even when we don't feel His presence. I was deeply struck by this simple thought as I had been wrestling with the fact that I was not living my Christian life to God's full potential, and feeling discouraged because of that. As I stated in my previous post, we are not promised the fact that we will FEEL God at every moment of our lives, but we ARE promised that He will never leave us.

Likewise, we MUST retain faith in God even when we don't feel that he is doing what he promised. Think of Abraham, and of his promise. He was told that he was going to be the "Father of many nations" (Gen 17:4) and that God would "multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore." (Gen 22:17) How many years did he wait for the fulfillment of that promise, seeing, feeling, and experiencing absolutely nothing. What could have caused him to retain hope against all odds? (Hebrews 11:1) We see in Romans 4 what the core of that faith was: “He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God;” (Romans 4:20) He trusted God implicitly, because he had a love relationship with him. And so should we. Many times for myself, the aspect of trust is missing from my relationship since I view God as a distant, supreme, non-tangible being, rather than a loving, caring, and understanding Father.

Our culture thrives on performance. Faster cars, cheaper prices, less downtime, optimized workflows. These are all keys to success and advancement. Many times I fear that I attribute that same "American Spirit" upon God. I feel that the more that I do, the better I perform, the faster I get things done for Him, the better my "wage;" His love and acceptance. That is wrong. I am not intimating that we should be lazy Christians, but I think we take this "diligence" thing a little too far. Let's take a quick look at one of Jesus' lesser known parables in Matthew 20 verses 1 through 16. Basically, Jesus likens the kingdom of heaven to a householder that goes out and hires different workers at different times throughout the day. In the end, he pays them all the wages that they had agreed upon; which happens to be the same amount for everyone. This generated no little stir among those that had bestowed the most labor in the vineyard, for they thought that surely they worked harder, and earned more. Somehow, again, I don't think God works that way. Our Christian life is not a race for the top of a corporate ladder, it is a war against the world, the flesh, and the devil, as well as an opportunity to glorify our Father while we are on this earth.

What does all this mean? Well, first off, let me clarify again, as Paul does in his epistles: what then, shall we be lazy in our Christian walk so that we get the most for the least amount of effort? God Forbid! No, God's heart is not to breed laziness, but to encourage the weaker among us. We're not all meant to be "Christian Superstars," if there even is such a thing, and God does not expect us to even attempt to be one. We are all given talents; our requirement is to simply make the best use of what we have. (Matthew 25:14-30) The main point I am trying to make here is that we are all failing in some point or another, but let's not let the devil get us down. We have all sinned, and come short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23) This begs the question: if our performance does not affect our gift, then what is the impetus to keep pressing onward for the Lord? The same exact reason that we don't continue in sin even though we are completely free from the law (Romans 6:1, 15; 7:6) In plain English: L O V E. We don't sin while under grace because of love, and we do the best that we can for Him because of love. Whose love? Both sides. We love Him because He first loved us. The only reason that we CAN love Him is because of His love for us and His love in us. If you love someone and you know they love you, you WANT to do things for them. (Anyone watched siblings or friends go through courtship?) :) You get the idea. It's a 'perform because you WANT to,' rather than 'perform to get ahead,' or 'perform because you HAVE to' deal.

All this to say that God IS near us whether we feel Him or not, and He wants our love, for he loves us "with an everlasting love." (Jeremiah 31:3) He desires the best for us, and sometimes the best is times of dryness; times where we look to heaven and just cry out. Times where we truly seek Him because of desperation.

“And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:13

"In My Weakness"

"Bread of life, pure living water; Lover of my soul,
In my weakness be my strength to reach the final goal.

Lamb of God, dear hope of glory, Savior crucified,
By your blood I am redeemed, my debt now satisfied!

Though they slay me, though I fall; in darkness You are light!
Jesus, I will keep my eyes on you 'till my faith becomes sight!

Precious, holy, Lord and King, so full of love and grace.
Though I live, or though I die, I rest in your embrace."

-Lucinda Bateman (1877)

This song circled through my head this morning as I was pondering recent events in life. Lately, I have been struggling with not really feeling God’s power in my life, and feeling like a total failure because I am not some über man of God after a few years of being a Christian.

God never promised instant advancement in this war. He told us simply to follow him, and that we were to be soldiers. “Endure hardness...” That does not really sound inclusive of being “carried to the skies on flow’ry beds of ease.” It also never was promised that we would be coddled and protected the whole way to heaven. Yes, we are promised: “Lo, I am with you alway; even to the end of the world,” but that is not saying that we will ALWAYS have the feeling that God is there. There are times of dryness, times of testing, and times where we may wonder what is wrong… Don’t you think Paul and Silas may have felt rather blue as they awaited their sentence in the prison house? What about all the disciples at certain times? How did they feel when Jesus was securely buried in the tomb?

It was not in vain that our Lord said: “In the world, ye shall have tribulation, but fear not, I have overcome the world.” Our Lord is with us; He will save us, but we MUST NEVER lose faith, ‘sight,’ and trust in our captain.

I think we forget how much that Jesus truly loves us. At least I do. I get this horrific idea that somehow Jesus is so busy with other better Christians, and he doesn't have time for those like me, who just don't quite hit the mark every time. No, NO, NO!. We are weak, but in our weakness, he is made strong. It is only through the blood of HIS death that we are justified in the sight of God. Remember, our debt is SATISFIED because of the suffering of Jesus, who LOVED us! That is so incredible!

That simple little song is so full of meat; it's incredible. And the tune is almost the same way. Very simple, but incredibly beauteous in how she arranged the structure.

“Though I live, or though I die, I rest in your embrace.”