I had gotten into a discussion with a friend recently on the subject of “cheap grace” which I will define here as “mercy without repentance” so I was continuing with my personal study for more understanding.
There are many people, I believe, who think that God Almighty will be gracious and allow them to enter into a “happily ever after” state of rest even though they live ugly, unrepentant lives and couldn’t care less about God’s plan in the here and now. I think they are in for a horrible shock.
I was reading Ezekiel 33 this morning struggling to understand a confusing passage and I wondered- why doesn’t God just clearly spell it out? He surely could have. Why are some things in the Bible still a mystery causing debate among Christians?
Suddenly I realized- What I do with the difficult passages of Scripture exposes my heart!
Do I ignore them? Exposed! Do I interpret them as cheap and easy salvation? I’m exposed!
Do I study hard and try to understand how to apply the principles to my life?
What do I do with them?
It suddenly occurred to me that God may have intentionally made the meaning of certain passages less clear and understandable. After all, He could’ve said “Thou shalt NOT… and clearly spelled it out but He didn’t. And He sees how we handle that.
He doesn’t want us to just keep a list of rules and laws. He wants us to love Him. He wants us to live for Him- please Him- honor Him in all we do. He created us for a love relationship. He doesn’t need my service or my money. He wants me to trust Him and obey what I understand and ideally to be growing- maturing- trying to understand more.
It was a sobering moment. He knows every thought I have. He sees my motive. He knows me better than I even know myself. What an amazing and personal God!
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Astounding Paradox
The enemy of our soul is truly the great deceiver and continues to do an amazing job of blinding God’s people. I recently read a powerful article on Biblical counseling and the author said that the two great pastoral challenges are “to convince the lost man that he is enslaved to sin and to convince the saved man that he is not”.
We are so deceived. Our enemy has made us powerless.
I have a Christian friend who splashes her life around wildly like globs of water casually tossed about and then wonders why she has no sense of accomplishment- no sense of purpose or fulfillment. When challenged with the idea of funneling her energies and surrendering to God’s plan she says she wants to be FREE!- she doesn’t want to lose her individuality and unique characteristics.
Water splashed around willy-nilly is not free- it’s worthless and it evaporates into nothingness. Water channeled through a pipe or hose has not lost its character and individuality- it is purposeful, useful, valued. It cleanses, refreshes, it has power because it is directed by the pipeline. The enemy of this woman’s soul has blinded and deceived her. She truly does have beautiful talents that God would use mightily for His glory and she would feel so purposeful and fulfilled- if only she would surrender to Him. But day after day she chooses to splash her time and talents about and she yearns and longs deeply for a sense of purpose. She keeps starting new things in hopes that they will fulfill her- but they never do and they never will.
Learning to surrender my minutes to a great, all powerful, all loving God, and allowing Him to direct my energies has been the most freeing and soul-satisfying experience of my life. But let’s face it- in our flesh we don’t want to be under the authority of God- we want to BE God.
That is another foundational issue that I read in that same paper- every second of every day we are either trying to BE God or be under God. I keep thinking about that.
In everything we must consider God’s plan. Take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. But in our flesh- we don’t want to consider the will of God. We want to consider ourselves wise enough. And so we splash our lives around- throwing away life-time- money- energy and our enemy profits. Only God gives life- purpose- fulfillment. "Neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth." Until we believe that wholeheartedly and surrender all of our hopes and dreams - we are just splashing life away. 1Cor 3 talks about the day when each person's life will pass thru God's holy fire and all of a man's wisdom will be shown to be foolishness and futile.
God is so merciful to subject all of creation to futility- in hope that we will search for deeper meaning and come to find Him. We have to desire truth. Most people want to BE RIGHT but their hearts are not open to receive truth. Pride and a desire to BE God dominates.
The doorway to freedom and fulfillment- is found flat on your face- in humility before Almighty God. It's the most astounding paradox in all of life.
"Only one life, ’twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last."
C.T. Studd
We are so deceived. Our enemy has made us powerless.
I have a Christian friend who splashes her life around wildly like globs of water casually tossed about and then wonders why she has no sense of accomplishment- no sense of purpose or fulfillment. When challenged with the idea of funneling her energies and surrendering to God’s plan she says she wants to be FREE!- she doesn’t want to lose her individuality and unique characteristics.
Water splashed around willy-nilly is not free- it’s worthless and it evaporates into nothingness. Water channeled through a pipe or hose has not lost its character and individuality- it is purposeful, useful, valued. It cleanses, refreshes, it has power because it is directed by the pipeline. The enemy of this woman’s soul has blinded and deceived her. She truly does have beautiful talents that God would use mightily for His glory and she would feel so purposeful and fulfilled- if only she would surrender to Him. But day after day she chooses to splash her time and talents about and she yearns and longs deeply for a sense of purpose. She keeps starting new things in hopes that they will fulfill her- but they never do and they never will.
Learning to surrender my minutes to a great, all powerful, all loving God, and allowing Him to direct my energies has been the most freeing and soul-satisfying experience of my life. But let’s face it- in our flesh we don’t want to be under the authority of God- we want to BE God.
That is another foundational issue that I read in that same paper- every second of every day we are either trying to BE God or be under God. I keep thinking about that.
In everything we must consider God’s plan. Take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. But in our flesh- we don’t want to consider the will of God. We want to consider ourselves wise enough. And so we splash our lives around- throwing away life-time- money- energy and our enemy profits. Only God gives life- purpose- fulfillment. "Neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth." Until we believe that wholeheartedly and surrender all of our hopes and dreams - we are just splashing life away. 1Cor 3 talks about the day when each person's life will pass thru God's holy fire and all of a man's wisdom will be shown to be foolishness and futile.
God is so merciful to subject all of creation to futility- in hope that we will search for deeper meaning and come to find Him. We have to desire truth. Most people want to BE RIGHT but their hearts are not open to receive truth. Pride and a desire to BE God dominates.
The doorway to freedom and fulfillment- is found flat on your face- in humility before Almighty God. It's the most astounding paradox in all of life.
"Only one life, ’twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last."
C.T. Studd
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Busy With Trivia
Recently I was pondering the shallowness of our culture and how we waste so much of our time in shallow amusement. Digging down to the root meaning of the word amusement I discovered that the prefix "a" means without and "muse" means thought so amusement is "without thought." Well, it is true that when we want to be entertained and amused we don't want to have to do a lot of thinking.
It is sad to see how frantically busy we are- how jam packed our schedules are- but so much of our activitiy is of very little value- to anyone or anything. Think of how much money, time and energy we spend in this country manicuring lawns. Originally lawns served a purpose- they enabled the pioneers to see enemy, wolves, rattlesnakes etc. The lawn was a clearing that provided some safety but nowadays it is an idol.
Someone told me recently about how she had gone to a sick friend's house to mow their yard for them. She was mowing along when the next door neighbor came rushing out and was irate because she had crossed onto their property a few inches. The irate neighbor boasted that SHE took great pains with HER yard and didn't SCALP IT! My friend apologized profusely and tried to explain that she hadn't intended offense- she was only trying to help but there was no grace extended. How very sad to value grass blades over a human life.
One day we will stand before a great an awesome God and give an account for what we did with the precious time He allotted to us. May God give us eyes to see what He values while we still have time.
It is sad to see how frantically busy we are- how jam packed our schedules are- but so much of our activitiy is of very little value- to anyone or anything. Think of how much money, time and energy we spend in this country manicuring lawns. Originally lawns served a purpose- they enabled the pioneers to see enemy, wolves, rattlesnakes etc. The lawn was a clearing that provided some safety but nowadays it is an idol.
Someone told me recently about how she had gone to a sick friend's house to mow their yard for them. She was mowing along when the next door neighbor came rushing out and was irate because she had crossed onto their property a few inches. The irate neighbor boasted that SHE took great pains with HER yard and didn't SCALP IT! My friend apologized profusely and tried to explain that she hadn't intended offense- she was only trying to help but there was no grace extended. How very sad to value grass blades over a human life.
One day we will stand before a great an awesome God and give an account for what we did with the precious time He allotted to us. May God give us eyes to see what He values while we still have time.
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Zeal and Passion
I once had a pastor rebuke me for my zeal. He told me I was like a "great dane puppy- cute and enthusiastic but you don't want it on your lap." Quite honestly I deserved the rebuke because I lacked maturity and wisdom but that was also my first taste of how lifeless Christianity can be. We want everything to be calm and in control- respectable and upright. We are much more concerned about the opinion of man than we are about our walk with God.
I believe God is worthy of all our praise. There is a great song out by Mercy Me right now called "All of Creation" and I just can't get it loud enough! I imagine the day when all of creation- all of the fish and birds look heavenward- the trees lift their branches- the corn plants all raise their leaves in praise! Every knee bends - no more energy spent with creatures running in every direction- fighting and pulling. All of creation- sing with me now! Look heavenward and give Him the praise due Him!
Friday I was playing that song in the car while I drove to work and I had to open the sunroof and raise my hands out the opening just because I was so filled with praise I thought I would burst with the joy and enthusiam of it all! I was on a stretch of county highway and I doubt if anyone saw me- but I really didn't care if they did! God is worthy of all our praise. One line in the song says "the reason we breathe is to sing of His glory!" I say "Amen!"
I believe God is worthy of all our praise. There is a great song out by Mercy Me right now called "All of Creation" and I just can't get it loud enough! I imagine the day when all of creation- all of the fish and birds look heavenward- the trees lift their branches- the corn plants all raise their leaves in praise! Every knee bends - no more energy spent with creatures running in every direction- fighting and pulling. All of creation- sing with me now! Look heavenward and give Him the praise due Him!
Friday I was playing that song in the car while I drove to work and I had to open the sunroof and raise my hands out the opening just because I was so filled with praise I thought I would burst with the joy and enthusiam of it all! I was on a stretch of county highway and I doubt if anyone saw me- but I really didn't care if they did! God is worthy of all our praise. One line in the song says "the reason we breathe is to sing of His glory!" I say "Amen!"
Truth Hunting
Maybe I should have called my blog site "truth hunting" because it is truth that brings peace. If you want your stomach to be filled you search for food. The satisfaction of a filled stomach is the end result not the object of the search.
I was struck this morning by something I read in "My Utmost for His Highest". Chambers says, and I'm paraphrasing -the test of our spirituality comes when we come up against injustice, meanness, ingratitude and turmoil all of which tend to make us spiritual sluggards. We use God to get peace and joy. We aren't searching for a deep knowledge of Him but for the gifts He gives to us. I had to pause and examine my motives to see if that is true of my hunt for peace. I can honestly say that I don't think it is my motive at all.
The suffering that I endured as a child caused so much emotional pain and confusion inside my head that my search for peace is truly a search for truth. I want to be filled with the truth of God. I want to be filled with God! He is the God of all truth. It is the enemy of our soul that is the great deceiver.
People who question God with thoughts such as "how could a good God allow this..." are actually claiming to be wiser than God Almighty! They are supposing that they know all- understand all- and they are judging God! They have been seriously deceived! And this is a common line of thought. The deceiver is not all that creative- he uses the same lies over and over because we are so easily deceived. I remember when I was a young adult, I thought "all Christians are hypocrites" and I have been amazed at how many times I've heard other people say that exact same line. Of course we are all hypocritical at times- we are broken and wounded people. But the point and purpose of the line that "all are hypocrites" is to keep people from exploring the truth of Christianity! And sadly, the line works all too well.
God has blessed my pursuit of truth. He has opened my eyes to see and experience life from a different perspective. I am learning more and more to be content in whatever circumstances I find myself because I truly believe that I am just passing thru this life- on my way to paradise. It doesn't make me complacent about sin and evil- I still hate it with a passion and fight against it- but even in the midst of a passionate fight -I can trust that God is good and righteousness will win in the end! And I am on the winning team!
I was struck this morning by something I read in "My Utmost for His Highest". Chambers says, and I'm paraphrasing -the test of our spirituality comes when we come up against injustice, meanness, ingratitude and turmoil all of which tend to make us spiritual sluggards. We use God to get peace and joy. We aren't searching for a deep knowledge of Him but for the gifts He gives to us. I had to pause and examine my motives to see if that is true of my hunt for peace. I can honestly say that I don't think it is my motive at all.
The suffering that I endured as a child caused so much emotional pain and confusion inside my head that my search for peace is truly a search for truth. I want to be filled with the truth of God. I want to be filled with God! He is the God of all truth. It is the enemy of our soul that is the great deceiver.
People who question God with thoughts such as "how could a good God allow this..." are actually claiming to be wiser than God Almighty! They are supposing that they know all- understand all- and they are judging God! They have been seriously deceived! And this is a common line of thought. The deceiver is not all that creative- he uses the same lies over and over because we are so easily deceived. I remember when I was a young adult, I thought "all Christians are hypocrites" and I have been amazed at how many times I've heard other people say that exact same line. Of course we are all hypocritical at times- we are broken and wounded people. But the point and purpose of the line that "all are hypocrites" is to keep people from exploring the truth of Christianity! And sadly, the line works all too well.
God has blessed my pursuit of truth. He has opened my eyes to see and experience life from a different perspective. I am learning more and more to be content in whatever circumstances I find myself because I truly believe that I am just passing thru this life- on my way to paradise. It doesn't make me complacent about sin and evil- I still hate it with a passion and fight against it- but even in the midst of a passionate fight -I can trust that God is good and righteousness will win in the end! And I am on the winning team!
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Thank God for the Pain
I love the changing seasons! I love the slower pace of life in the winter but I am so ready and anxious for the birds to return in the spring and for the plants to grow. I love the crispy crunchy leaves of fall. Sometimes I go for walks and just praise God for the beauty of nature. He didn't HAVE to make leaves turn vibrant colors and be crunchy. He could have made them turn black and slimy and fall off the trees in globs.
Recently I was cleaning out an old aquarium and I got to looking at the polished rocks I had placed in there. They were beautiful! Why would God bother to make rocks pretty? I think it is because He absolutely adores us and wants to delight and charm us at every turn.
I worked for nearly 20 years as a seed analyst examining tiny little grass and flower seeds under a microscope. We would identify types- every seed has unique characteristics that make it identifiable. We would open the seed up and check for viability. It was amazing to see that several root nodes and the primary leaves are all there inside the seed. What an amazing Creator we have. He is worthy of praise.
Sometimes what prevents us from enjoying God deeply is our misunderstanding of pain. "How could a good God allow (fill in the blank)?" Thankfully, God hates sin more that I do and He is coming again to set things right! I rejoice in that truth! I long for the day!
I thank God for the pain I have endured because if not for the pain- I am not sure I would ever have been driven to search for truth and a reason to live. Ease and comfort are dangerous things.
Recently I was cleaning out an old aquarium and I got to looking at the polished rocks I had placed in there. They were beautiful! Why would God bother to make rocks pretty? I think it is because He absolutely adores us and wants to delight and charm us at every turn.
I worked for nearly 20 years as a seed analyst examining tiny little grass and flower seeds under a microscope. We would identify types- every seed has unique characteristics that make it identifiable. We would open the seed up and check for viability. It was amazing to see that several root nodes and the primary leaves are all there inside the seed. What an amazing Creator we have. He is worthy of praise.
Sometimes what prevents us from enjoying God deeply is our misunderstanding of pain. "How could a good God allow (fill in the blank)?" Thankfully, God hates sin more that I do and He is coming again to set things right! I rejoice in that truth! I long for the day!
I thank God for the pain I have endured because if not for the pain- I am not sure I would ever have been driven to search for truth and a reason to live. Ease and comfort are dangerous things.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Let the Pain Stop With Me
There seems to be a tendency in humanity to pass along the pain. When we are hurting, one option is to inflict pain on someone else and it temporarily distracts us. We all are responsible for our actions so I am not excusing them but I would guess that prisons are full of people who have suffered in one way or another and then acted out their pain on someone else.
I remember a terrifying night shortly after I had given birth to my first child. She was crying and crying. I was exhausted and sleep deprived. She had a belly ache and wouldn't stop crying. I had fed her and rocked her. She fell asleep in my arms and I gently put her back into the crib so I could get some sleep but she woke up and started crying again. I remember standing there starring down at her as she screamed- feeling a slurry of emotions- many of them not good. I remember wondering if I was capable of hurting a child- if there was an abuser inside of me. I felt terrified at the thought of passing on the pain but I knew that I was capable.
I think we are all capable of heinous crimes. We'd like to believe that we are "above it" but the heart of man is wicked and evil. Thankfully I chose to wake up my husband and I did not hurt my baby but sometimes when I see the news and hear about a woman who "lost it" and did something awful to her children... well, I feel compassion for her. I feel sad that she did not have someone to help -who would not judge or criticize her. I hear folks say " How could anyone ever do that to their child!?" implying that THEY would NEVER do such a thing. I think that remark indicates either naivete or pride. We are all capable of evil.
I have experienced a lot of emotional, mental and physical pain but I desperately wanted the pain to stop with me. I've made mistakes and I've passed on some of my pain but God mercifully protected me from repeating the abuse that I grew up with.
We need the power of God and the loving support of others to successfully make it through this life. Accepting that fact and embracing it wholeheartedly brings peace of mind.
I remember a terrifying night shortly after I had given birth to my first child. She was crying and crying. I was exhausted and sleep deprived. She had a belly ache and wouldn't stop crying. I had fed her and rocked her. She fell asleep in my arms and I gently put her back into the crib so I could get some sleep but she woke up and started crying again. I remember standing there starring down at her as she screamed- feeling a slurry of emotions- many of them not good. I remember wondering if I was capable of hurting a child- if there was an abuser inside of me. I felt terrified at the thought of passing on the pain but I knew that I was capable.
I think we are all capable of heinous crimes. We'd like to believe that we are "above it" but the heart of man is wicked and evil. Thankfully I chose to wake up my husband and I did not hurt my baby but sometimes when I see the news and hear about a woman who "lost it" and did something awful to her children... well, I feel compassion for her. I feel sad that she did not have someone to help -who would not judge or criticize her. I hear folks say " How could anyone ever do that to their child!?" implying that THEY would NEVER do such a thing. I think that remark indicates either naivete or pride. We are all capable of evil.
I have experienced a lot of emotional, mental and physical pain but I desperately wanted the pain to stop with me. I've made mistakes and I've passed on some of my pain but God mercifully protected me from repeating the abuse that I grew up with.
We need the power of God and the loving support of others to successfully make it through this life. Accepting that fact and embracing it wholeheartedly brings peace of mind.
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