For me, writing is a blessing, it is theraputic and it also allows me to express myself in a way I am most comfortable. I love writing, so much so that God has really placed it on my heart to spend more time with Him (yeah He does that, it's part of the whole loves us thing).
For the month of March, I'll be doing something a little different from my normal routine of life; mixing it up if you will. I love going through the book of Proverbs. Each verse is almost like a teaching all by itself. Proverbs is like the hard candy of the bible or as a friend once put it "The P90X of the bible." It isn't something you can just read once and never return to, Proverbs requires you to sit and suck on the hard candy to get all you can out of it.
This is exactly what I am going to do. Every day in the month of March, I plan on reading through a chapter in the morning and picking a verse or two that the Lord puts on my heart and writing about it. I wanted to share it with you guys because originally when I started this blog, I was very adamant about sharing with others what the Lord was showing me and doing in me. I want to do it again.
I'm never really sure who reads this blog or not, but I rest in the fact that God's word never returns void and He uses us to accomplish His good works. He puts in us according to His good pleasure works that would glorify Him. Imagine, the almighty God, creator of the universe, choosing to use the most disobedient of His creation to do His work...love Him.
Pray for me this month, that I stick to what I have placed before God as something I want to do for Him. I pray it blesses someone and that at the end of the day we all grow a little wiser, a little more faithful and that we see His love.
Habakkuk 2:2 Then the LORD answered me and said: “ Write the vision And make it plain on tablets, That he may run who reads it. 3 For the vision is yet for an appointed time; But at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; Because it will surely come, It will not tarry. 4 “Behold the proud, His soul is not upright in him; But the just shall live by his faith.
Psalm 40:10 I have not hidden Your righteousness within my heart; I have declared Your faithfulness and Your salvation; I have not concealed Your lovingkindness and Your truth From the great assembly.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Monday, February 21, 2011
Useful?
This morning Oswald Chambers got me good. For a while now, he has been speaking on something we so often miss in our own lives and it is a dangerous seed indeed; so dangerous and important, that Jesus spends most of the gospels combatting such a belief: pharisaism. All of us can have hints of it in our lives and if kept unchecked they can lead us into dangerous places. This disease can take the purest act and turn it into the most prideful, self-driven deed that exists. This is why it is so important for us to recognize it in us and give it over to God.
Here is the quote from Chambers this morning:
Holiness is a wonderful thing for us to go after, however, it can't be our ultimate goal. Our ultimate goal ought to be showing that love, grace and mercy to others in response to it first being shown to us. So often we (and I am first) get caught up in wanting to be the "best" Christian, that we lose sight of Christ crucified. Never let anything stand in the way of you and the cross. God is the one that will sanctify us, not our works, those are just evidence of sanctification. God's will for us is to continually be sanctified (1 Thess 4:1-3) and abound more and more in Him.
Let's all be careful not to make personal sanctification our end goal. Because in that phrase "personal sanctification" there is implied focus on the wrong thing: myself. Don't ever get so caught up in showing people what God has done in you that you fail to show them God and the best way to do this is love.
These verses came to mind as I read the devo, I pray they bless you and help make you better equipped for kingdom business. :D
About our righteousness
Isaiah 64:6 But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, Have taken us away.
His work
Zech 3:4 Then He answered and spoke to those who stood before Him, saying, “Take away the filthy garments from him.” And to him He said, “See, I have removed your iniquity from you, and I will clothe you with rich robes.”
5 And I said, “Let them put a clean turban on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head, and they put the clothes on him. And the Angel of the LORD stood by.
On our driver
Col 1:27 To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
Our compelling argument
2 Cor 5:14 For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died;
Here is the quote from Chambers this morning:
Concern over our personal holiness causes us to focus our eyes on ourselves, and we become overly concerned about the way we walk and talk and look, out of fear of offending God. “. . . but perfect love casts out fear . . .” once we are surrendered to God (1 John 4:18). We should quit asking ourselves, “Am I of any use?” and accept the truth that we really are not of much use to Him. The issue is never of being of use, but of being of value to God Himself. Once we are totally surrendered to God, He will work through us all the time.
Holiness is a wonderful thing for us to go after, however, it can't be our ultimate goal. Our ultimate goal ought to be showing that love, grace and mercy to others in response to it first being shown to us. So often we (and I am first) get caught up in wanting to be the "best" Christian, that we lose sight of Christ crucified. Never let anything stand in the way of you and the cross. God is the one that will sanctify us, not our works, those are just evidence of sanctification. God's will for us is to continually be sanctified (1 Thess 4:1-3) and abound more and more in Him.
Let's all be careful not to make personal sanctification our end goal. Because in that phrase "personal sanctification" there is implied focus on the wrong thing: myself. Don't ever get so caught up in showing people what God has done in you that you fail to show them God and the best way to do this is love.
These verses came to mind as I read the devo, I pray they bless you and help make you better equipped for kingdom business. :D
About our righteousness
Isaiah 64:6 But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, Have taken us away.
His work
Zech 3:4 Then He answered and spoke to those who stood before Him, saying, “Take away the filthy garments from him.” And to him He said, “See, I have removed your iniquity from you, and I will clothe you with rich robes.”
5 And I said, “Let them put a clean turban on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head, and they put the clothes on him. And the Angel of the LORD stood by.
On our driver
Col 1:27 To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
Our compelling argument
2 Cor 5:14 For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died;
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Alarm Clocks....*sigh*
I don't think their exists in time a more annoying sound than that of my alarm clock. What is interesting is the sound itself could be a song, a beep, an obnoxious explosion, regardless of the noise, it woke me up and I wish the machine which made the noise would die. Serioulsy am I the only one that hates waking up in the morning? I mean, it isn't so much I hate my life (quite the opposite), as much as it is I hate waking up.
The alarm clock reminds me I can't sit in tranquil sleep all day, it reminds me I have things to tend to, it reminds me I'm not in heaven yet, needless to say, it tells me a lot of things I wish I could sleep through.
Alarm clocks aren't limited to just waking up though, sometimes it makes or breaks that meal you have slaved hours over, or it determines how punctual you want to be to an event. Though not always friendly, alarm clocks serve the purpose of reminding us we need to do something.
Job 1:20 Then Job arose, tore his robe, and shaved his head; and he fell to the ground and worshiped.
Something struck me about this verse as I read it. Job's alarm clock went off. It was time to get to work. What do I mean? Well recall that earlier in the chapter in what seemed to be seconds, Job lost everything to his name with the exception of his health (which he would lose not 5 verses later). Job's response is something I can't honestly say I would do, in fact for me, I may have a fist pumping moment at God and say "What the..?!?!" but not Job, though there was plenty of agony and confusion to be felt, that didn't in any way stop him from doing what he knew had to be done.
So what about you? What do you do when your alarm clock goes off? You know, the one that goes off when some random thought comes into your head and now you decide whether or not you want to dwell on it, or the one that goes off when you are unsure of what to do next, or how about the one that goes off when you don't hear anything from God in response? All of us have built into us alarm clocks. They remind us when it is time to seek His face. They have names like worry, fear, doubt, discouragement, anxiety, nostalgia, guilt, shame, self-condemnation, unforgiveness and so on. What some of us tend to do is exactly what we do every morning when we wake up, we hit snooze. Rather than respond to these alarms the way we are supposed to, we hit snooze and just ignore them, only to find that when it is time to act, we don't have enough time or confidence and then we end up losing or missing out on something huge.
Everyone worries, everyone fears, everyone has their doubts. It is normal, just don't sit there. Take action. If God has spoken, then your response should be to bring those things to light and claim those promises. Claim grace, claim peace, claim redemption. Don't let these things just remain as concepts in your mind, concepts are easily manipulated, make them realities. Live based on them, don't just think about them. Grace is a beautiful thing, however, if I leave that sitting in my head, I can easily excuse or explain away certain things and end up missing out due to what I call "analysis paralysis".
Understand something, God is constant, and His love abounds more than you and I can think or imagine. In those moments where you feel dry, or you feel as though your losing it, remember this: He will never leave you nor forsake you.
"Oh ye of little faith, why did you doubt?" Mark 4:40. How many times does He have to ask us that before we start getting it? When are we going to begin living by faith and not sight? (2 Cor 5:7).
God's command to us when we get these ways is this: Take every though captive (2 Cor 10:5). In Psalm 34, we get a beautiful picture of what happens when we continue seeking Him despite all of the above mentioned feelings,
Psalm 34:4 I sought the LORD, and He heard me, And delivered me from all my fears.
I like that it almost personifies fears. It is almost as if fears is a person from whom we can be delivered so long as we allow there to be only one type of fear in our lives, the fear of the Lord (Prov 1:7).
So the next time your alarm goes off, stop what your doing and respond to it, "Arise you who are asleep..." and pray.
The alarm clock reminds me I can't sit in tranquil sleep all day, it reminds me I have things to tend to, it reminds me I'm not in heaven yet, needless to say, it tells me a lot of things I wish I could sleep through.
Alarm clocks aren't limited to just waking up though, sometimes it makes or breaks that meal you have slaved hours over, or it determines how punctual you want to be to an event. Though not always friendly, alarm clocks serve the purpose of reminding us we need to do something.
Job 1:20 Then Job arose, tore his robe, and shaved his head; and he fell to the ground and worshiped.
Something struck me about this verse as I read it. Job's alarm clock went off. It was time to get to work. What do I mean? Well recall that earlier in the chapter in what seemed to be seconds, Job lost everything to his name with the exception of his health (which he would lose not 5 verses later). Job's response is something I can't honestly say I would do, in fact for me, I may have a fist pumping moment at God and say "What the..?!?!" but not Job, though there was plenty of agony and confusion to be felt, that didn't in any way stop him from doing what he knew had to be done.
So what about you? What do you do when your alarm clock goes off? You know, the one that goes off when some random thought comes into your head and now you decide whether or not you want to dwell on it, or the one that goes off when you are unsure of what to do next, or how about the one that goes off when you don't hear anything from God in response? All of us have built into us alarm clocks. They remind us when it is time to seek His face. They have names like worry, fear, doubt, discouragement, anxiety, nostalgia, guilt, shame, self-condemnation, unforgiveness and so on. What some of us tend to do is exactly what we do every morning when we wake up, we hit snooze. Rather than respond to these alarms the way we are supposed to, we hit snooze and just ignore them, only to find that when it is time to act, we don't have enough time or confidence and then we end up losing or missing out on something huge.
Everyone worries, everyone fears, everyone has their doubts. It is normal, just don't sit there. Take action. If God has spoken, then your response should be to bring those things to light and claim those promises. Claim grace, claim peace, claim redemption. Don't let these things just remain as concepts in your mind, concepts are easily manipulated, make them realities. Live based on them, don't just think about them. Grace is a beautiful thing, however, if I leave that sitting in my head, I can easily excuse or explain away certain things and end up missing out due to what I call "analysis paralysis".
Understand something, God is constant, and His love abounds more than you and I can think or imagine. In those moments where you feel dry, or you feel as though your losing it, remember this: He will never leave you nor forsake you.
"Oh ye of little faith, why did you doubt?" Mark 4:40. How many times does He have to ask us that before we start getting it? When are we going to begin living by faith and not sight? (2 Cor 5:7).
God's command to us when we get these ways is this: Take every though captive (2 Cor 10:5). In Psalm 34, we get a beautiful picture of what happens when we continue seeking Him despite all of the above mentioned feelings,
Psalm 34:4 I sought the LORD, and He heard me, And delivered me from all my fears.
I like that it almost personifies fears. It is almost as if fears is a person from whom we can be delivered so long as we allow there to be only one type of fear in our lives, the fear of the Lord (Prov 1:7).
So the next time your alarm goes off, stop what your doing and respond to it, "Arise you who are asleep..." and pray.
Friday, February 4, 2011
Happy Birthday
A year ago today, I started a blog for the sake of having a blog, little did I know then what an impact it would have on me even a year later today. Looking back on my posts and just remembering where I was and where I am now has been pretty awesome.
I am no saint, not even close, but I'm a little closer than I was last year, though some days it doesn't feel that way. God has shown me a lot in this last year and has done so much more.
I think the hardest lesson I am learning right now though is living by faith and not by sight. Something I have picked up on in myself and something I pray God helps me work out is this idea of focusing on the glory moments rather than just being faithful in the little.
Zechariah tells us not to despise the small things and he couldn't be more right. 2 Cor 5:7 has been a huge staple in my life these last few weeks. Sometimes we get so caught up in the results of what God has done in us that we forget God. Sometimes we get so used to Him spoon feeding us encouragement that we forget He isn't always going to operate that way. When we pray "God give us more faith," He does just that and as Jesus reminds us in John 15, often it requires pruning and sometimes that means He may not say much to us. That doesn't mean He isn't there, that doesn't mean you lost Him. It just means He is giving you what you asked for, more faith.
God's grace has been an issue for me as well. Accepting it I have found is harded than I thought. When your mind is bent on working for your stuff and the flesh says you have to go out and get on it, it truly is a situation of death to self. I heard an interesting quote this morning from Bob Coy, (I'll paraphrase), God is in the business of blessing us and giving us gifts that we should put to use and give back to Him for His glory, the one thing though that God can't give us is obedience, that originates in us. God can't force us to obey, He can only take things from us and that isn't obedience, that is chastening.
I'm learning that God isn't always going to work the way you think He is, and just when you think (because we all do at some point) that you have it figured out, He may have had something else in mind.
Love isn't as easy as everyone paints it out to be, in fact, it is sometimes a hard decision to make, especially when your flesh is always looking out for itself. Love is centered around being others-centered. For an example, see the cross of calvary.
Most of our problems and questions can be answered at the cross and by that I mean that our tribulations, our trials, those things about us we hate, they can all be left at the foot of the cross.
Don't think you have it all, it will hurt so much more when you realize you don't.
God isn't done with you, it is a lifelong process, that's why we are called to run with endurance. If it were to run with speed then many of us would have died by now...
You aren't always going to feel God. The Euphoric feelings will come and go, you will have your ups and downs, valleys and mountain tops. Thankfully, our faith is based on a constant, consistent Person, not our own hearts....(could you imagine it the other way around...?)
The devil is a jerk and he knows what he is doing, God is bigger though.
It has been a sweet year, plenty more lessons this year I am sure. Hopefully God has some serious rain on the horizon for us all. If you're in a desert right now, be of good cheer, it is nice to know that this isn't eternity for us, and that is something we need to remind ourselves of everyday...
Happy Birthday blog!
I am no saint, not even close, but I'm a little closer than I was last year, though some days it doesn't feel that way. God has shown me a lot in this last year and has done so much more.
I think the hardest lesson I am learning right now though is living by faith and not by sight. Something I have picked up on in myself and something I pray God helps me work out is this idea of focusing on the glory moments rather than just being faithful in the little.
Zechariah tells us not to despise the small things and he couldn't be more right. 2 Cor 5:7 has been a huge staple in my life these last few weeks. Sometimes we get so caught up in the results of what God has done in us that we forget God. Sometimes we get so used to Him spoon feeding us encouragement that we forget He isn't always going to operate that way. When we pray "God give us more faith," He does just that and as Jesus reminds us in John 15, often it requires pruning and sometimes that means He may not say much to us. That doesn't mean He isn't there, that doesn't mean you lost Him. It just means He is giving you what you asked for, more faith.
God's grace has been an issue for me as well. Accepting it I have found is harded than I thought. When your mind is bent on working for your stuff and the flesh says you have to go out and get on it, it truly is a situation of death to self. I heard an interesting quote this morning from Bob Coy, (I'll paraphrase), God is in the business of blessing us and giving us gifts that we should put to use and give back to Him for His glory, the one thing though that God can't give us is obedience, that originates in us. God can't force us to obey, He can only take things from us and that isn't obedience, that is chastening.
I'm learning that God isn't always going to work the way you think He is, and just when you think (because we all do at some point) that you have it figured out, He may have had something else in mind.
Love isn't as easy as everyone paints it out to be, in fact, it is sometimes a hard decision to make, especially when your flesh is always looking out for itself. Love is centered around being others-centered. For an example, see the cross of calvary.
Most of our problems and questions can be answered at the cross and by that I mean that our tribulations, our trials, those things about us we hate, they can all be left at the foot of the cross.
Don't think you have it all, it will hurt so much more when you realize you don't.
God isn't done with you, it is a lifelong process, that's why we are called to run with endurance. If it were to run with speed then many of us would have died by now...
You aren't always going to feel God. The Euphoric feelings will come and go, you will have your ups and downs, valleys and mountain tops. Thankfully, our faith is based on a constant, consistent Person, not our own hearts....(could you imagine it the other way around...?)
The devil is a jerk and he knows what he is doing, God is bigger though.
It has been a sweet year, plenty more lessons this year I am sure. Hopefully God has some serious rain on the horizon for us all. If you're in a desert right now, be of good cheer, it is nice to know that this isn't eternity for us, and that is something we need to remind ourselves of everyday...
Happy Birthday blog!
Monday, January 31, 2011
Disarmed...
Ever felt disarmed? Ever felt as though right where you stood, you had no means, no weapons, no control? Nothing could prepare you for what you were in and it was at that point in time that you felt as though you could do and offer nothing? It is interesting what happens to us in those moments, we discover what really does work and what doesn't.
It is something I took from Nehemiah when I went through the book and something that springs up time and again in the gospels. Prayer. Prayer is so important to us and yet we often forget it should be our first response to any and every situation. It is amazing what a prayer can do to a soul that is squirming inside itself. You can start a prayer in one state of mind and quickly find yourself in another by the end of it.
We are never disarmed and God had to show me this in a way I never saw. There I sat with a very close friend of mine next to a woman who needed ministering. Now, this wasn't just any woman, her name was Emelina, and she was 98 years old. She was alone in a nursing home room living out the last days of her life. There she sat by herself, almost motionless, with nothing but an oxygen tank and a bed. Around her were pictures of a once vibrant woman who looked like she belonged in a magazine. Now she sat alone, in a half lit room, with little if anything to say.
What was going through her mind? You think she was thinking back on all the things she did as a child? Think she was so happy about all the times she spent worrying about things? Think she enjoyed having nothing to look forward too? A sad reality rushed into me and at that point I had nothing to say. I was looking at the end of life in person, "but it didn't have to be that way!" I thought to myself. How on earth could I fill the gulf that stood between her and I? What could I possibly have to offer her? No apologetics, no teachings, no wise words, nothing I had in my mind could in any way fill the gap that stood between her and I. We fed her some vanilla pudding and spoke to her regarding how beautiful she was and how beautiful her dress was, really I didn't say anything, I sat and cried. Then He spoke to me, "Pray Chris, just pray." So I did.
After praying on my own, I looked up and said, "I think we should pray for for her, could you pray?" My close friend looked at me, now teary eyed, and began to pray for her. We both began sobbing as she prayed that God would remind this old woman of the love He had for her and what His son had done for her. I have never in my life wanted a person to accept that more than I did as I sat and wept. I wanted so bad for that woman to respond. I wanted her to truly feel what is the depth of God's love for her.
At that moment, the gap was gone. The gulf was closed. I felt in my heart she had heard us. All this woman needed was prayer, a simple reminder of God's love for her. It was at that moment I realized we were His reminder, our prayer, our presense was His reminder to her that God was thinking of her.
It is true what Paul says in 1 Cor 1, God uses the foolish to shame the wise. At that moment in that room, I was shamed. My human intellect, my human ability to reason, all of that went out the window when I looked into what many would call hopeless. Dry bones, as Ezekiel described them. And yet, who am I to judge if they could live or not? Wasn't Ezekiel's response to God "Oh Lord only you know"? At that moment, God used a person who said nothing to me, to bring me to my knees and humble me.
Sometimes words won't go far, sometimes reasoning will do nothing, gaps created my age will seem huge, gulfs caused by circumstance will seem eternal and yet, in the midst of all that, His voice travels over from the other side. We may not have anything in common with someone, but few people will deny prayer. Its language is universal and its impact, eternal. Sometimes, like Jesus tells us "This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting." (Mark 9:29)
I'm not sure what will happen to my new friend, however, I do know this, Pray. I ask you to consider this woman in your prayers this next week, and do read Ezekiel 37. Whoever that person is in your life you think is far off, consider Jesus' words to us in Mark 9 and consider Ezekiel's response to God......then pray
It is something I took from Nehemiah when I went through the book and something that springs up time and again in the gospels. Prayer. Prayer is so important to us and yet we often forget it should be our first response to any and every situation. It is amazing what a prayer can do to a soul that is squirming inside itself. You can start a prayer in one state of mind and quickly find yourself in another by the end of it.
We are never disarmed and God had to show me this in a way I never saw. There I sat with a very close friend of mine next to a woman who needed ministering. Now, this wasn't just any woman, her name was Emelina, and she was 98 years old. She was alone in a nursing home room living out the last days of her life. There she sat by herself, almost motionless, with nothing but an oxygen tank and a bed. Around her were pictures of a once vibrant woman who looked like she belonged in a magazine. Now she sat alone, in a half lit room, with little if anything to say.
What was going through her mind? You think she was thinking back on all the things she did as a child? Think she was so happy about all the times she spent worrying about things? Think she enjoyed having nothing to look forward too? A sad reality rushed into me and at that point I had nothing to say. I was looking at the end of life in person, "but it didn't have to be that way!" I thought to myself. How on earth could I fill the gulf that stood between her and I? What could I possibly have to offer her? No apologetics, no teachings, no wise words, nothing I had in my mind could in any way fill the gap that stood between her and I. We fed her some vanilla pudding and spoke to her regarding how beautiful she was and how beautiful her dress was, really I didn't say anything, I sat and cried. Then He spoke to me, "Pray Chris, just pray." So I did.
After praying on my own, I looked up and said, "I think we should pray for for her, could you pray?" My close friend looked at me, now teary eyed, and began to pray for her. We both began sobbing as she prayed that God would remind this old woman of the love He had for her and what His son had done for her. I have never in my life wanted a person to accept that more than I did as I sat and wept. I wanted so bad for that woman to respond. I wanted her to truly feel what is the depth of God's love for her.
At that moment, the gap was gone. The gulf was closed. I felt in my heart she had heard us. All this woman needed was prayer, a simple reminder of God's love for her. It was at that moment I realized we were His reminder, our prayer, our presense was His reminder to her that God was thinking of her.
It is true what Paul says in 1 Cor 1, God uses the foolish to shame the wise. At that moment in that room, I was shamed. My human intellect, my human ability to reason, all of that went out the window when I looked into what many would call hopeless. Dry bones, as Ezekiel described them. And yet, who am I to judge if they could live or not? Wasn't Ezekiel's response to God "Oh Lord only you know"? At that moment, God used a person who said nothing to me, to bring me to my knees and humble me.
Sometimes words won't go far, sometimes reasoning will do nothing, gaps created my age will seem huge, gulfs caused by circumstance will seem eternal and yet, in the midst of all that, His voice travels over from the other side. We may not have anything in common with someone, but few people will deny prayer. Its language is universal and its impact, eternal. Sometimes, like Jesus tells us "This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting." (Mark 9:29)
I'm not sure what will happen to my new friend, however, I do know this, Pray. I ask you to consider this woman in your prayers this next week, and do read Ezekiel 37. Whoever that person is in your life you think is far off, consider Jesus' words to us in Mark 9 and consider Ezekiel's response to God......then pray
Friday, January 7, 2011
Silence Denotes Agreement
Numbers 20:12 Then the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, "Because you did not believe Me, to hallow Me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them."
Moses and Aaron, two guys who spent a whole mess of time together. Brothers, both representing the Lord in the ministry that was leading the children of Israel. So what happened when Moses struck the rock twice instead of speaking to it? Why were both Moses and Aaron disallowed? I mean I can see why Moses would be, after all he was the one who struck the rock.
Notice though in verse 12 that Aaron was punished as well, why? Reminds me of something a creative writing teacher of mine used to tell us whenever we would practice for mock-debates in class: "Silence denotes agreement." Where was Aaron's voice throughout chapter 20? Why didn't Aaron speak out against Moses and remind him "Hey bud, this isn't how God told us to do it!" Iron is supposed to sharpen iron and as Moses' brother, Aaron should have been there to speak against Moses on the way he was going about the whole thing, not to mention Aaron was high priest!
1 Tim 5:20 tells us that when an elder is in the wrong, it is best we correct them, and in public, lest some be misguided and in the same way Aaron should have said something to Moses. But he didn't and this cost him. James 4:17 says "Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin," and because sin is sin in God's eyes, Aaron was at fault just as much as Moses.
Moses blatantly misrepresented God, it was a conscious decision in his head most likely fueled by anger and frustration. Where God told him to love the people, Moses chose anger and gave into his frustration. Where God told Aaron to be Moses' speaker, Aaron chose silence and did nothing to correct or guide Moses.
So my question then is how often do we do the same? Whether consciously or unconsciously, how often do we misrepresent God in todays world? The bible calls us to be ambassadors for Him, however, how often (and I hate that this is true of myself) do we neglect those around us? We were as Paul says "trusted with this glorious gospel" and yet so many of us live as though we have nothing to share with the world, when in reality, we have THE good news.
What about when we see a brother or sister living like a fool, do we take time to pray for them and ask God to open the door to approach them or do we enjoy our own security and just watch as they are burned? I have a heart for this because I was that fool at one point in my life (sometimes still feel like him). James 5:19-20 exhorts us to turn a brother from sin and with it comes a promise:
19 Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back, 20 let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.
So think about it, next time you see a brother or sister doing or saying something foolish, don't be so slow to pray and talk to them. Just be sure to do it in love. We all need to be less consumed with ourselves and more with Christ, that should then produce a love for others. This doesn't happen overnight, however, the more you show love, even when you don't want to, the more you'll enjoy it. And if you're in the face of someone who isn't a Christian, then love is a must! Remember that "Of 100 men, 1 reads the bible, the other 99 read the Christian" - DL Moody.
"Love is first a commitment, then a feeling" - Tim Keller
"Could a mariner sit idle if he heard the drowning cry? Could a doctor sit in comfort and just let his patients die? Could a fireman sit idle, let men burn and give no hand? Can you sit at ease in Zion with the world around you DAMNED?" - Leonard Ravenhill
Moses and Aaron, two guys who spent a whole mess of time together. Brothers, both representing the Lord in the ministry that was leading the children of Israel. So what happened when Moses struck the rock twice instead of speaking to it? Why were both Moses and Aaron disallowed? I mean I can see why Moses would be, after all he was the one who struck the rock.
Notice though in verse 12 that Aaron was punished as well, why? Reminds me of something a creative writing teacher of mine used to tell us whenever we would practice for mock-debates in class: "Silence denotes agreement." Where was Aaron's voice throughout chapter 20? Why didn't Aaron speak out against Moses and remind him "Hey bud, this isn't how God told us to do it!" Iron is supposed to sharpen iron and as Moses' brother, Aaron should have been there to speak against Moses on the way he was going about the whole thing, not to mention Aaron was high priest!
1 Tim 5:20 tells us that when an elder is in the wrong, it is best we correct them, and in public, lest some be misguided and in the same way Aaron should have said something to Moses. But he didn't and this cost him. James 4:17 says "Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin," and because sin is sin in God's eyes, Aaron was at fault just as much as Moses.
Moses blatantly misrepresented God, it was a conscious decision in his head most likely fueled by anger and frustration. Where God told him to love the people, Moses chose anger and gave into his frustration. Where God told Aaron to be Moses' speaker, Aaron chose silence and did nothing to correct or guide Moses.
So my question then is how often do we do the same? Whether consciously or unconsciously, how often do we misrepresent God in todays world? The bible calls us to be ambassadors for Him, however, how often (and I hate that this is true of myself) do we neglect those around us? We were as Paul says "trusted with this glorious gospel" and yet so many of us live as though we have nothing to share with the world, when in reality, we have THE good news.
What about when we see a brother or sister living like a fool, do we take time to pray for them and ask God to open the door to approach them or do we enjoy our own security and just watch as they are burned? I have a heart for this because I was that fool at one point in my life (sometimes still feel like him). James 5:19-20 exhorts us to turn a brother from sin and with it comes a promise:
19 Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back, 20 let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.
So think about it, next time you see a brother or sister doing or saying something foolish, don't be so slow to pray and talk to them. Just be sure to do it in love. We all need to be less consumed with ourselves and more with Christ, that should then produce a love for others. This doesn't happen overnight, however, the more you show love, even when you don't want to, the more you'll enjoy it. And if you're in the face of someone who isn't a Christian, then love is a must! Remember that "Of 100 men, 1 reads the bible, the other 99 read the Christian" - DL Moody.
"Love is first a commitment, then a feeling" - Tim Keller
"Could a mariner sit idle if he heard the drowning cry? Could a doctor sit in comfort and just let his patients die? Could a fireman sit idle, let men burn and give no hand? Can you sit at ease in Zion with the world around you DAMNED?" - Leonard Ravenhill
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Source Amnesia
Exodus 33:14 And He said, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” 15 Then he said to Him, “If Your Presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here."
Moses, someone the bible says was the humblest of men (Num 12:3) and yet he too had his own issues. I can’t help but remember what happened to him when he went up to the mountain and was in the presence of the Lord. What it would be like to be face to face, one on one with God in such a manner, where he “speaks face to face as a man speaks to his friend.” Could you imagine? Must have been pretty awesome, majestic, scary and glorious all at the same time, standing in the presence of God and Him talk to you clear as day.
The part that always gets me is later on in Exodus where he covers his face with a veil because he doesn’t want the children of Israel to be discouraged. That spoke to me. Moses fades. Moses needed that constant replenishing as do we. How many times do we begin to rise up to something and as soon as we hit the top, we often forget God. We forget that He got us there, we forget all His work, we forget His hands, we forget Him.
I find comfort though in verses like 2 Tim 2:13, though we might be faithless, He will remain faithful. I think something a lot of us miss out on these days is God. No seriously, we miss out on Him. We are very good at remembering we are forgiven, we are good at remembering we have grace, we love the idea of having mercy and we enjoy every last one of our blessings, however we miss out sometimes on one key thing: God. Notice in the verse above, Moses wasn’t promised anything outside of His Presence. That was it.
I aspire to be the kind of leader Moses was. Though he didn’t always glow with the glory, though he stuttered, though he was at his beginnings over zealous and over confident he still prayed, still lead the children and in order that they wouldn’t know the glory was fading, he veiled himself, so that they wouldn’t lose hope. Moses even went so far as to be willing to have his name removed from the book of life for the sake of those he was leading. Moses may not have always had the best speech, he may not have had the best wife, he may not have always made the wisest decisions, however, he had one thing, and he knew he had it well, God’s Presence.
Let us this day remember the Forgiver, let us remember the Giver of grace, the Merciful whose mercies are made new every day. Though we might sometimes fall out of touch with the forgiver, though we might sometimes fall out of touch with the Grace Giver, don’t ever think He has fallen out of touch with you. Though you may be faithless, He will remain faithful. You are still forgiven, you are still under grace, and those mercies, they are new EVERY morning.
You probably heard it a million times during Christmas, but I’ll say it again, and hopefully it’ll carry more weight for you this time around.
“It is not about the presents, it is all about the Presence” – a million different people
Moses, someone the bible says was the humblest of men (Num 12:3) and yet he too had his own issues. I can’t help but remember what happened to him when he went up to the mountain and was in the presence of the Lord. What it would be like to be face to face, one on one with God in such a manner, where he “speaks face to face as a man speaks to his friend.” Could you imagine? Must have been pretty awesome, majestic, scary and glorious all at the same time, standing in the presence of God and Him talk to you clear as day.
The part that always gets me is later on in Exodus where he covers his face with a veil because he doesn’t want the children of Israel to be discouraged. That spoke to me. Moses fades. Moses needed that constant replenishing as do we. How many times do we begin to rise up to something and as soon as we hit the top, we often forget God. We forget that He got us there, we forget all His work, we forget His hands, we forget Him.
I find comfort though in verses like 2 Tim 2:13, though we might be faithless, He will remain faithful. I think something a lot of us miss out on these days is God. No seriously, we miss out on Him. We are very good at remembering we are forgiven, we are good at remembering we have grace, we love the idea of having mercy and we enjoy every last one of our blessings, however we miss out sometimes on one key thing: God. Notice in the verse above, Moses wasn’t promised anything outside of His Presence. That was it.
I aspire to be the kind of leader Moses was. Though he didn’t always glow with the glory, though he stuttered, though he was at his beginnings over zealous and over confident he still prayed, still lead the children and in order that they wouldn’t know the glory was fading, he veiled himself, so that they wouldn’t lose hope. Moses even went so far as to be willing to have his name removed from the book of life for the sake of those he was leading. Moses may not have always had the best speech, he may not have had the best wife, he may not have always made the wisest decisions, however, he had one thing, and he knew he had it well, God’s Presence.
Let us this day remember the Forgiver, let us remember the Giver of grace, the Merciful whose mercies are made new every day. Though we might sometimes fall out of touch with the forgiver, though we might sometimes fall out of touch with the Grace Giver, don’t ever think He has fallen out of touch with you. Though you may be faithless, He will remain faithful. You are still forgiven, you are still under grace, and those mercies, they are new EVERY morning.
You probably heard it a million times during Christmas, but I’ll say it again, and hopefully it’ll carry more weight for you this time around.
“It is not about the presents, it is all about the Presence” – a million different people
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