THIS WEEK I discovered GodVine.com for the first time. It's a website all about videos meant to inspire, ecourage, and amaze you. It's just my kind of thing, especially categorized as "Miracle."
There's one I really want to share with you, about a man who had a heart attack:
Watch that real quick. It only takes 6 minutes and 15 seconds. I'll wait here.
That was amazing, right? It's so awesome that God still does these things in response to our faith. My favorite part was when the cardiologist confessed that he was having a day of very small faith, but when he took the little bit of faith he did have and obeyed God with it, he saw God's power.
It isn't hard to have faith, and it isn't a weakness to have faith. Faithful people aren't dumb. It takes faith to drive a car, that when you make a turn the light will stay red for everybody else and you won't be hit. It takes faith to eat spagetti, as I did earlier this week, because you must wait patiently for it to cool before you eat it, hoping for the promise that it will be much better after it won't burn your tongue. It even takes faith to pick up a new, unsharpened pencil, faith that when you sharpen it the graphite inside won't be made of chalk and disintegrate, and that it isn't already broken straight from the pencil company.
People need some level of faith just to function in the world. Disappointment comes from putting faith in the wrong things. Pure joy comes from putting our faith where it belongs, in God.
My Life Group talked about faith and faithfulness this week, and my favorite thing we talked about was this: that it isn't how much faith you have that matters, but whether your faith is true. Jesus said that even a faith the size of a mustard seed, which is about the size of the letter O on this page, is enough to see Him move. That is because He respects and appreciates our faith and He is not shy about proving it is not in vain.
I read Psalm 27 this week and it really blew my mind.
v.1 "The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?"
It seems so easy to think about, but when trouble comes, aren't I afraid and fearful sometimes? God is completely trustworthy and it isn't hard to trust Him. The hard part about faith is learning to trust Him more than we trust ourselves. Do we try to climb the mountain alone, or do we bring a guide who knows every rock on the mountain? He makes us stroner because He is strong enough for anything.
v. 3 "Though an army may encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war may rise against me, in this I will be confident." Can you imagine having an actual war rise against you? What kind of faith does it take to make impossible odds turn out in our favor? What does that look like?
Joshua 6 tells the story of the Israelites under the leadership of Moses' successor, Joshua. God told them they could have Jericho, an extremely well-forified city with a thick wall all the way around. Okay, what should they do? Should they get out jackhammers and bulldozers and knock the wall down? No. God said just to take a walk around the city once a day for six days, carrying the Ark of the Covenant. On the seventh day they would walk around seven times, and then shout really loud, and the wall would come down. That makes sense.
I'm reminded of the Kiwi and the Dragonfruit again, how God chooses the foolish things to put to shame the wise. They Israelites knew what God was telling them to do, and He hadn't failed them before. So they walked, and they shouted, and they ran for the city, and the wall fell. All it took was faith that God is wise and has good intentions for our benefit.
That's the kind of faith we are supposed to have. Faith that whether the sun is shining or there is a hurricane outside your window, whether the answer is to walk back into a room and pray for a dead man, or to just walk around a wall a few times, God will keep the promises He has made. One way or another.
Faith in God gives us access to the power of God. It doesn't take much.
We are called the descendents of Abraham because his faith in God was enough for him to me called righteous. His faith was imputed as righteousness.
Romans 4:23-25, "[23] Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him, [24] but also for us. It shall be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, [25] who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification."
If an ounce of faith is enough for us to be saved and reconciled with God because of His sacrifice, then faith must be very strong indeed. Imagine what else can happen. Go ahead and ask.
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Monday, November 7, 2011
Kiwis and Dragonfruit
THIS WEEK I ate a kiwi. Have you ever eaten a kiwi? If you haven't it's probably because you were afraid to. It's not a good-looking fruit. It's a fuzzy, soft brown oval the about the size of an egg.
If you haven't eaten a kiwi, you should get one. They cost about 33 cents each at Walmart. You should eat a kiwi because, despite its weird appearance, it has a treasure inside.
If you cut a kiwi in half you see a lovely pattern of black seeds and bright green fruit. You can eat it right out of the skin with a spoon. It's tangy and sweet and wonderful.
The kiwi takes faith. You have to believe that when you cut it open it won't be as boring as it looks, because it isn't. That's what I thought of when I read 1 Corinthians 1 this week. Check it out:
v.27 "But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty."
God invented the kiwi in a way that it doesn't look like much, but within it shows His goodness and His ability to provide wonderful things for us.
When I thought about that, I remembered the one time I tried somethign called a dragonfruit. When I heard there was a fruit called dragonfruit, I decided I wanted it to be my favorite fruit. I couldn't wait to try it. Its skin is bright pinkish purple with frills, and inside it is pure white with thousands of little black seeds. It's pretty enough to decorate your house with.
If you haven't eaten a dragonfruit, don't bother. They don't taste good or bad. They literally taste like nothing at all. They should be called "Disappointmentfruit."
Despite the wonderful appearance of the dragonfruit, the kiwi outdoes it. God has chosen the kiwi to put to shame the dragonfruit, in a way. Of course, He made both. But I can't help but think this is something like the world. God loves to use all kinds of people to show His power and faithfulness. But His word is especially full of fishermen, shepherds, carpenters, poor people, and children. Whether He turns them into kings or reveals to them His mysteries, He honors the humble because they don't exalt themselves. Their low position is perfect for showing how He cares for those we tend to forget, and how He can provide in any situation. When He came in the flesh He even chose the humble position of a carpenter born in tiny Bethlehem and raised in backwoods Galilee, and He saved the world.
1 Corinthians 1:18-19 "[18] For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. [19] For it is written, 'I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.'"
His ways are different from our ways. He loves to do things in ways nobody expects, ways that nobody really understands right away.
He told us in Matthew 23:11-12, "[11] But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. [12] And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."
I'm inclined to think that what God thinks is great is better than what the whole world thinks is great. 1 Corinthians 1:25 "Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men."
There is a lot of good stuff in this world. People and money and theme parks and lemonade and glitter all seem pretty wonderful, and they are blessings. But next to God, everything else is dragonfruit. God puts the kiwi on the table and says that the weaker things can be greatest. He says that a mighty nation can come from a single child of old parents. He says the whole world can be saved through the sacrifice of one Man, if that Man is His Son. He says twelve guys from no special background can become fierce witnesses of a life-changing faith that sweeps over the entire world.
Then, in Matthew 16:24-25, Jesus says this "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for My sake will find it."
How do we respond when He says this? Remembering that He has always been right and always does what He says, and knowing that He honors our faith and humility, there's only one thing to do. We take up the cross and follow Him daily. We choose the funny-looking kiwi for the brilliant promise that waits inside it. Because life in Christ, no matter the cost, will always be more wonderful than all the beautiful and bland dragonfruit the world could hold.
If you haven't eaten a kiwi, you should get one. They cost about 33 cents each at Walmart. You should eat a kiwi because, despite its weird appearance, it has a treasure inside.
If you cut a kiwi in half you see a lovely pattern of black seeds and bright green fruit. You can eat it right out of the skin with a spoon. It's tangy and sweet and wonderful.
The kiwi takes faith. You have to believe that when you cut it open it won't be as boring as it looks, because it isn't. That's what I thought of when I read 1 Corinthians 1 this week. Check it out:
v.27 "But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty."
God invented the kiwi in a way that it doesn't look like much, but within it shows His goodness and His ability to provide wonderful things for us.
When I thought about that, I remembered the one time I tried somethign called a dragonfruit. When I heard there was a fruit called dragonfruit, I decided I wanted it to be my favorite fruit. I couldn't wait to try it. Its skin is bright pinkish purple with frills, and inside it is pure white with thousands of little black seeds. It's pretty enough to decorate your house with.
If you haven't eaten a dragonfruit, don't bother. They don't taste good or bad. They literally taste like nothing at all. They should be called "Disappointmentfruit."
Despite the wonderful appearance of the dragonfruit, the kiwi outdoes it. God has chosen the kiwi to put to shame the dragonfruit, in a way. Of course, He made both. But I can't help but think this is something like the world. God loves to use all kinds of people to show His power and faithfulness. But His word is especially full of fishermen, shepherds, carpenters, poor people, and children. Whether He turns them into kings or reveals to them His mysteries, He honors the humble because they don't exalt themselves. Their low position is perfect for showing how He cares for those we tend to forget, and how He can provide in any situation. When He came in the flesh He even chose the humble position of a carpenter born in tiny Bethlehem and raised in backwoods Galilee, and He saved the world.
1 Corinthians 1:18-19 "[18] For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. [19] For it is written, 'I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.'"
His ways are different from our ways. He loves to do things in ways nobody expects, ways that nobody really understands right away.
He told us in Matthew 23:11-12, "[11] But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. [12] And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."
I'm inclined to think that what God thinks is great is better than what the whole world thinks is great. 1 Corinthians 1:25 "Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men."
There is a lot of good stuff in this world. People and money and theme parks and lemonade and glitter all seem pretty wonderful, and they are blessings. But next to God, everything else is dragonfruit. God puts the kiwi on the table and says that the weaker things can be greatest. He says that a mighty nation can come from a single child of old parents. He says the whole world can be saved through the sacrifice of one Man, if that Man is His Son. He says twelve guys from no special background can become fierce witnesses of a life-changing faith that sweeps over the entire world.
Then, in Matthew 16:24-25, Jesus says this "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for My sake will find it."
How do we respond when He says this? Remembering that He has always been right and always does what He says, and knowing that He honors our faith and humility, there's only one thing to do. We take up the cross and follow Him daily. We choose the funny-looking kiwi for the brilliant promise that waits inside it. Because life in Christ, no matter the cost, will always be more wonderful than all the beautiful and bland dragonfruit the world could hold.
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Home Sweet Home
THIS WEEK I am visiting my family at home for the weekend. I had to work extra hard for the last few days to finish by Friday night so that I wouldn't have to bring anything home with me. So Thursday and Friday weren't very fun days, but it only made my weekend here even better.
I love college, but home is my favorite place. If it were up to me I would just stay here all the time, have dinner with my family every night, go to my church and see my friends.
Home is a great place to see just how much my cup is running over. I have the happiest, prettiest, funniest family in the world. The fall weather is perfect. My cat is happy to see me. Yesterday we went and bought a lovely pumpkin and carved it up. I've never seen a nicer Jack-o-Lantern. We had corned beef and cabbage and watched our favoreite shows. This morning I attended my church with my pastor and saw my friends, and afterward we went to lunch with the wonderful Poole family. Now I'm blogging in my own house and everybody is sitting around watching the Texans beat the Jaguars. My brother is playing video games and my mom is eating yogurt. It's been as close to perfect as a weekend can be.
I enjoy my school, but how do I leave home again? How do I miss out on everybody coming home from school and work, and eating dinner, and the dog chewing up somebody's underwear, and having parties for people's birthdays? My brother's birthday is this Friday, and I won't be here.
I begin to ask God how I can miss those things, and how I can go back, and then I see Him standing there. Everything changes around Him, even while anything and everything else changes. How do I go away after a weekend like this one? I'll just follow God right back to Gainesville.
Last night I read Psalm 23, which is probably the best-known of the psalms. Every time I read it I get something new out of it.
It starts (v. 1) "The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want. (ESV)"
Like sheep depend on their shepherd just to survive, we depend on God. And just as sheep listen when the shepherd says it's time to graze somewhere else, we go where God says we should go. That's because the field isn't our home. The Shepherd is.
The psalm ends (v.6) "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. (ESV)"
As long as we are with God, our souls have what we need. Things might not always go well, and we will have happy and sad times, but He provides for us through everything. I realized that following Him necessarily involves walking, and walking involves moving, and moving involves change. So as much as I'd like to stay in this weekend and stroke my cat and eat pumpkin pie, I have to stay in God's will. And right now that means going to college in another city and just coming back every few weeks.
But that's okay. As wonderful as my home is, this isn't heaven. As long as we're in God's will, as long as we're close to Him and seeking to be closer, we are home. That's what makes heaven, heaven. It's not where we go, but who is there. And since eternal life has already begun for you and me, and because God is with us all the time, heaven is always around us like a little beam of light coming out of the clouds.
I read this to my grandma earlier this week, because there's more treatment to be done to take care of her cancer:
Philippians 4:11-13, "[11] Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. [12] I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and in every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. [13] I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. (ESV)"
What a wonderful life God offers us, that we get to go through life with the option of being happy with whatever happens just because we trust in God. It's a glimpse into a home where all the trouble we've ever gone through is like a blink, and there is no lack of time for overflowing joy in the presence of God.
Our God is our heaven. Our Heavenly Father is our home. My family is probably what I love most in this whole world, but I can't help but love God more. He's the only one who can get me to leave this place and still be satisfied in my heart.
So tonight I'll pick up and go back to Gainesville, and I'll look forward to coming back for Thanksgiving. Maybe this is all just meant to show me that our homecoming into heaven is going to be so much greater. It's really something to look forward to. And when we go home there, to the perfect weather and heavenly pumpkin pie, we won't ever have to leave home again.
I love college, but home is my favorite place. If it were up to me I would just stay here all the time, have dinner with my family every night, go to my church and see my friends.
Home is a great place to see just how much my cup is running over. I have the happiest, prettiest, funniest family in the world. The fall weather is perfect. My cat is happy to see me. Yesterday we went and bought a lovely pumpkin and carved it up. I've never seen a nicer Jack-o-Lantern. We had corned beef and cabbage and watched our favoreite shows. This morning I attended my church with my pastor and saw my friends, and afterward we went to lunch with the wonderful Poole family. Now I'm blogging in my own house and everybody is sitting around watching the Texans beat the Jaguars. My brother is playing video games and my mom is eating yogurt. It's been as close to perfect as a weekend can be.
I enjoy my school, but how do I leave home again? How do I miss out on everybody coming home from school and work, and eating dinner, and the dog chewing up somebody's underwear, and having parties for people's birthdays? My brother's birthday is this Friday, and I won't be here.
I begin to ask God how I can miss those things, and how I can go back, and then I see Him standing there. Everything changes around Him, even while anything and everything else changes. How do I go away after a weekend like this one? I'll just follow God right back to Gainesville.
Last night I read Psalm 23, which is probably the best-known of the psalms. Every time I read it I get something new out of it.
It starts (v. 1) "The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want. (ESV)"
Like sheep depend on their shepherd just to survive, we depend on God. And just as sheep listen when the shepherd says it's time to graze somewhere else, we go where God says we should go. That's because the field isn't our home. The Shepherd is.
The psalm ends (v.6) "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. (ESV)"
As long as we are with God, our souls have what we need. Things might not always go well, and we will have happy and sad times, but He provides for us through everything. I realized that following Him necessarily involves walking, and walking involves moving, and moving involves change. So as much as I'd like to stay in this weekend and stroke my cat and eat pumpkin pie, I have to stay in God's will. And right now that means going to college in another city and just coming back every few weeks.
But that's okay. As wonderful as my home is, this isn't heaven. As long as we're in God's will, as long as we're close to Him and seeking to be closer, we are home. That's what makes heaven, heaven. It's not where we go, but who is there. And since eternal life has already begun for you and me, and because God is with us all the time, heaven is always around us like a little beam of light coming out of the clouds.
I read this to my grandma earlier this week, because there's more treatment to be done to take care of her cancer:
Philippians 4:11-13, "[11] Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. [12] I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and in every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. [13] I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. (ESV)"
What a wonderful life God offers us, that we get to go through life with the option of being happy with whatever happens just because we trust in God. It's a glimpse into a home where all the trouble we've ever gone through is like a blink, and there is no lack of time for overflowing joy in the presence of God.
Our God is our heaven. Our Heavenly Father is our home. My family is probably what I love most in this whole world, but I can't help but love God more. He's the only one who can get me to leave this place and still be satisfied in my heart.
So tonight I'll pick up and go back to Gainesville, and I'll look forward to coming back for Thanksgiving. Maybe this is all just meant to show me that our homecoming into heaven is going to be so much greater. It's really something to look forward to. And when we go home there, to the perfect weather and heavenly pumpkin pie, we won't ever have to leave home again.
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Sickness
THIS WEEK on Wednesday morning my room mate Sarah woke up very sick. She was exhausted and had chest pains, and she stayed in bed for the entire morning.
I tried to take care of her as much as I could, but I really just had an unusually strong urge to pray for her. So I did. I prayed while I made some food, and I prayed while I was leaving the room for class. I prayed with my friend Shannon when we had lunch together, and I prayed when I was coming back from lunch. I was praying she would feel better soon and be able to have a good afternoon.
When I got back to the room Sarah was wide awake and on her feet. She had eaten some food and was ready for her afternoon. It was an amazing change: she could hardly move at the beginning of the day, but by the end she was driving a car to Bible Study and shopping in Walmart, feeling just fine. She made it to her club meeting and got the chance to enjoy the perfect fall weather. I'm still thanking God for that.
I think it's really something that God cares when people get sick. Sickness is just another kind of brokenness, a form of vulnerability that reminds us of how limited we are. One of the greatest scientists alive today, Stephen Hawking, suffers from a paralyzing motor neurone disease and speaks with the use of a computer program connected to his wheelchair. In the perfect world God created, before sin introduced suffering, there was never going to be any sickness. There won't be any sickness in heaven. But since it's here, God can use it to teach us about many things.
On Wednesday I learned from Sarah's brief sickness about the power of prayer. In James 5:13-15 James writes: "[13] Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms. [14] Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. [15] And the prayer of faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven."
It's wonderful that God answers our prayers for each other. He still performs the same miracles we read about in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John when His followers are praying with faith. It's true that sometimes a really sick person won't make it, but think - maybe that's God's way of raising him up.
Sickness can also teach us about peace. The day after Sarah was sick, my grandma had a surgery to treat her breast cancer. It's a real blessing that it was caught very early on, but the treatment was still not fun at all.
I call my grandma a couple times a week. Leading up to this treatment she has been tellign me about the peace she has about it. She is a worrier, so it's unusual that she would have such peace about something like this. But she says it's because God is helping her not to worry.
Peace is a fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23), an amazing contentedness that comes from trusting God to be able to control any situation. I get it too: I find I don't have to focus on trying to get peace from Jesus, because He is alread ywalking me through the things that are troubling to be. My grandma's peace is spilling out onto everybody else as she goes through this. It's a concerning and unpleasant situation, but we aren't panicking because God says that everything is going to be okay. If nobody can ever take us from His hand, and if He is our helper, whom shall we fear?
God hates sickness and pain and all other sorts of evil, but He loves to turn them into good things. The most wonderful way I've seen Him use them is to show His power to save.
Last night I read Isaiah 53 (which I would recommend highly to every atheist out there) which was written about Jesus centuries before He entered the world. In Isaiah 53:4 the prophet writes, "Surely He took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered Him stricken by God, smitten by Him, and afflicted." God not only cares about our suffering but He gave His life to free us from it. Peopel still get sick, but we have eternal life in Him, so our souls are well.
God won't be stopped from turning things back to how they were always supposed to be.
Revelation 21:4-5 declares, "[4] 'And God will wipe away every tears from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.' [5] Then He who sat on the throne said, 'Behold, I make all things new.' And He said to me, 'Write, for these words are true and faithful.'"
The world has got cancer, but the Great Physician says that everything is going to be okay.
I tried to take care of her as much as I could, but I really just had an unusually strong urge to pray for her. So I did. I prayed while I made some food, and I prayed while I was leaving the room for class. I prayed with my friend Shannon when we had lunch together, and I prayed when I was coming back from lunch. I was praying she would feel better soon and be able to have a good afternoon.
When I got back to the room Sarah was wide awake and on her feet. She had eaten some food and was ready for her afternoon. It was an amazing change: she could hardly move at the beginning of the day, but by the end she was driving a car to Bible Study and shopping in Walmart, feeling just fine. She made it to her club meeting and got the chance to enjoy the perfect fall weather. I'm still thanking God for that.
I think it's really something that God cares when people get sick. Sickness is just another kind of brokenness, a form of vulnerability that reminds us of how limited we are. One of the greatest scientists alive today, Stephen Hawking, suffers from a paralyzing motor neurone disease and speaks with the use of a computer program connected to his wheelchair. In the perfect world God created, before sin introduced suffering, there was never going to be any sickness. There won't be any sickness in heaven. But since it's here, God can use it to teach us about many things.
On Wednesday I learned from Sarah's brief sickness about the power of prayer. In James 5:13-15 James writes: "[13] Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms. [14] Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. [15] And the prayer of faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven."
It's wonderful that God answers our prayers for each other. He still performs the same miracles we read about in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John when His followers are praying with faith. It's true that sometimes a really sick person won't make it, but think - maybe that's God's way of raising him up.
Sickness can also teach us about peace. The day after Sarah was sick, my grandma had a surgery to treat her breast cancer. It's a real blessing that it was caught very early on, but the treatment was still not fun at all.
I call my grandma a couple times a week. Leading up to this treatment she has been tellign me about the peace she has about it. She is a worrier, so it's unusual that she would have such peace about something like this. But she says it's because God is helping her not to worry.
Peace is a fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23), an amazing contentedness that comes from trusting God to be able to control any situation. I get it too: I find I don't have to focus on trying to get peace from Jesus, because He is alread ywalking me through the things that are troubling to be. My grandma's peace is spilling out onto everybody else as she goes through this. It's a concerning and unpleasant situation, but we aren't panicking because God says that everything is going to be okay. If nobody can ever take us from His hand, and if He is our helper, whom shall we fear?
God hates sickness and pain and all other sorts of evil, but He loves to turn them into good things. The most wonderful way I've seen Him use them is to show His power to save.
Last night I read Isaiah 53 (which I would recommend highly to every atheist out there) which was written about Jesus centuries before He entered the world. In Isaiah 53:4 the prophet writes, "Surely He took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered Him stricken by God, smitten by Him, and afflicted." God not only cares about our suffering but He gave His life to free us from it. Peopel still get sick, but we have eternal life in Him, so our souls are well.
God won't be stopped from turning things back to how they were always supposed to be.
Revelation 21:4-5 declares, "[4] 'And God will wipe away every tears from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.' [5] Then He who sat on the throne said, 'Behold, I make all things new.' And He said to me, 'Write, for these words are true and faithful.'"
The world has got cancer, but the Great Physician says that everything is going to be okay.
Sunday, October 16, 2011
What We Need
THIS WEEK I have again become fixated on the Person of Jesus. I have noticed Him everywhere - in the studio, in my room, in His word, everywhere I look. I realize that from the perspective of someone whose life has been completely changed and revived by Christ, it's hard to understand sometimes how everyone doesn't see Him. It's sad to think that the majority of the world doesn't know Him, and probably never will.
I talked to a few people this week who, curiously, told me the same thing about their beliefs. They said they didn't have any religion, not that they were atheists, but that they didn't believe anything in particular. They said they thought Christianity is okay, and Christians are nice people, but if they were to pick a religion it would probably be something else.
Some people don't like organized religion. Some prefer to make their own way, and just try to be good people. Some think the Bible is a storybook and the world is a mystery.
While of course I can't agree with them on most things, I do agree with them on this: that we don't need religion. I mean, not in the sense of all the rules and systems people set up to get to God. We don't need that. In fact, it's not even Christianity that saves, because Christianity is the way saved people live. It's Christ. We need Christ, and that's all.
John writes in 1 John 5 about what it means to be "in Christ."
v.10-12 "[10] He who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself; he who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed the testimony that God has given of His Son. [11] And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. [12] He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son does not have life."
My friend made a good point at an outreach activity this week. We can't save anybody. The best we can do is love people and share with them what saved us and can save them too - the grace of God. That's different from forcing our beliefs on people. If we believe Jesus is the only way, it would be really selfish not to tell anyone.
His real blood poured out on the earth we walk on. His miracles have truly been performed not only two thousand years ago but ever since then. His own Spirit really dwells with us, and His righteousness covers our faults. Who is this God who sees the earth spinning out of control and gives all Himself to salvage broken souls from the doomed planet?
No one ever spoke like Jesus. He speaks the truth in perfect wisdom and without shame. He sets aside what is easy for the sake of God's glory. He has made a lot of enemies, but He calls us who believe as His friends.
John 8:57-58 "[57] Then the Jews said to Him, 'You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?' [58] Jesus said to them, 'Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.'"
I have seen this same Jesus moving all around me this week. Just a few days ago I had the privilege of seeing two guys praying together at a table in a courtyard. They had a stack of cards I recognized as an outreach tool, so I could tell great things were happening.
We don't need the rules and standards that people call religion. We don't need to prove anything or try to be good enough, because the perfection of Jesus already takes the place of our incompleteness.
What we need is unconditional love, purpose in the will of God, fulfilling worship, neverending friendship with God. We need to be followers of Jesus who make our will match His, and we will watch our prayers get answered and His dreams for our good come true. If you want to call that religion, then yeah, we need it. Let's just not forget the real Savior, who is what we really need every day.
I talked to a few people this week who, curiously, told me the same thing about their beliefs. They said they didn't have any religion, not that they were atheists, but that they didn't believe anything in particular. They said they thought Christianity is okay, and Christians are nice people, but if they were to pick a religion it would probably be something else.
Some people don't like organized religion. Some prefer to make their own way, and just try to be good people. Some think the Bible is a storybook and the world is a mystery.
While of course I can't agree with them on most things, I do agree with them on this: that we don't need religion. I mean, not in the sense of all the rules and systems people set up to get to God. We don't need that. In fact, it's not even Christianity that saves, because Christianity is the way saved people live. It's Christ. We need Christ, and that's all.
John writes in 1 John 5 about what it means to be "in Christ."
v.10-12 "[10] He who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself; he who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed the testimony that God has given of His Son. [11] And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. [12] He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son does not have life."
My friend made a good point at an outreach activity this week. We can't save anybody. The best we can do is love people and share with them what saved us and can save them too - the grace of God. That's different from forcing our beliefs on people. If we believe Jesus is the only way, it would be really selfish not to tell anyone.
His real blood poured out on the earth we walk on. His miracles have truly been performed not only two thousand years ago but ever since then. His own Spirit really dwells with us, and His righteousness covers our faults. Who is this God who sees the earth spinning out of control and gives all Himself to salvage broken souls from the doomed planet?
No one ever spoke like Jesus. He speaks the truth in perfect wisdom and without shame. He sets aside what is easy for the sake of God's glory. He has made a lot of enemies, but He calls us who believe as His friends.
John 8:57-58 "[57] Then the Jews said to Him, 'You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?' [58] Jesus said to them, 'Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.'"
I have seen this same Jesus moving all around me this week. Just a few days ago I had the privilege of seeing two guys praying together at a table in a courtyard. They had a stack of cards I recognized as an outreach tool, so I could tell great things were happening.
We don't need the rules and standards that people call religion. We don't need to prove anything or try to be good enough, because the perfection of Jesus already takes the place of our incompleteness.
What we need is unconditional love, purpose in the will of God, fulfilling worship, neverending friendship with God. We need to be followers of Jesus who make our will match His, and we will watch our prayers get answered and His dreams for our good come true. If you want to call that religion, then yeah, we need it. Let's just not forget the real Savior, who is what we really need every day.
Sunday, October 9, 2011
My Best Friend
THIS WEEK I'm working on an important project for my Design One class that is just driving me nuts. To be honest I've been really stressed over trying to finish it as well as balancing my work with my other classes. To top it off, I've been in college for two months and I'm very homesick. As weeks go, it has been a tough one.
But I haven't quit.
I just want to use this post to talk about my best friend, the only reason I don't give up and go home. He keeps telling me every day, no matter how happy or frustrated I get, that this is what I need to do right now, and that sometimes the best thing is the hardest to go through. He shows me the light at the end of the tunnel and shows me the difference between what I want and what I need. God is my best friend, and He has walked through this crazy week right along with me.
I love God because He answers prayer. For months before I started college I was praying for a good relationship with my room mate, for friends, a church, a Christ-loving Christian group, a Life Group, and other Christians in Architecture. Two months into college, I have all of those things and more. So although I am away from my family, which is probably the hardest thing to deal with, I am surrounded by people who lift me up and make me grow. I have the perfect room mate, who is the kind to write a note for me on the white board when I'm having a rough time and she knows she won't be home.
I love God for His faithfulness. When I left the studio at 2:00 AM (a new record) on Tuesday night, I stood outside and waited for my ride to come take me back to my residence hall. It had been a very hard night of work. But I could feel God all around me as I looked up and saw the stars and planets. I felt Him so closely that it doesn't even matter that I can't see Him. And as He said, he who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much. So although there are still plenty of things about Him I don't understand, I trust He is faithful and just in those things too.
I love the way He speaks. In a quiet room if my room mate isn't around, I can talk to Him so that I don't have to eat my lunch alone, and He fills the room. When I open up His word late at night and pray to hear Him, He meets me. The other night, I was writing down some references that I thought Sarah could use. There was one I was thinking about, but I couldn't remember where it was. Oh well. But when I prayed and opened my Bible for something ot read, I saw it. Romans 12:18, "If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men." I heard it in my heart that it was what she really needed, and I'm thankful that He showed it to me so that I could show it to her.
I love God for everything He does. He gives us peace even during stressful times to show us that we are still in His will. He keeps the gravity working and the sunshine coming down. He confirms the validity of our faith by showing His presence in countless ways, from the answering of outrageous prayer to the pointing of a dizzy heart in the right direction.
But what really get me is that this God is both Creator and Savior. He is our King as well as our friend. It's astounding to me that He not only pays mind to us, but He paid His own life for us. That our God loves us more than life, enough to give life to the dying, is more than I can understand.
A few days ago I heard a Taylor Swift song called "Cold As You" which is about a girl dealing with a relationship with a rude and indifferent guy who she really cares about. There was one part of the song I never noticed before that made me replay it a few times:
"You never did give a [darn] thing honey but I cried, cried for you. And I know you wouldn't have told nobody if I died, died for you."
If we love God so much, and if we are in the least bit thankful for His sacrifice and everything He does each day, we won't be like the jerk in that song. Isn't it something? God Himself is so in love with us that He died to give us life. We don't deserve anything from Him. Isaiah 64:6 says "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." Even the merit and goodness we think we have is like nothing before the holiness of God. That's the mess God loves anyway. We should be thankful to Him for every blessing from salvation to salsa. So I'm praying for the heart of an evangelist and a mouth that just won't shut up about my best friend, my love and my God: my Jesus.
But I haven't quit.
I just want to use this post to talk about my best friend, the only reason I don't give up and go home. He keeps telling me every day, no matter how happy or frustrated I get, that this is what I need to do right now, and that sometimes the best thing is the hardest to go through. He shows me the light at the end of the tunnel and shows me the difference between what I want and what I need. God is my best friend, and He has walked through this crazy week right along with me.
I love God because He answers prayer. For months before I started college I was praying for a good relationship with my room mate, for friends, a church, a Christ-loving Christian group, a Life Group, and other Christians in Architecture. Two months into college, I have all of those things and more. So although I am away from my family, which is probably the hardest thing to deal with, I am surrounded by people who lift me up and make me grow. I have the perfect room mate, who is the kind to write a note for me on the white board when I'm having a rough time and she knows she won't be home.
I love God for His faithfulness. When I left the studio at 2:00 AM (a new record) on Tuesday night, I stood outside and waited for my ride to come take me back to my residence hall. It had been a very hard night of work. But I could feel God all around me as I looked up and saw the stars and planets. I felt Him so closely that it doesn't even matter that I can't see Him. And as He said, he who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much. So although there are still plenty of things about Him I don't understand, I trust He is faithful and just in those things too.
I love the way He speaks. In a quiet room if my room mate isn't around, I can talk to Him so that I don't have to eat my lunch alone, and He fills the room. When I open up His word late at night and pray to hear Him, He meets me. The other night, I was writing down some references that I thought Sarah could use. There was one I was thinking about, but I couldn't remember where it was. Oh well. But when I prayed and opened my Bible for something ot read, I saw it. Romans 12:18, "If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men." I heard it in my heart that it was what she really needed, and I'm thankful that He showed it to me so that I could show it to her.
I love God for everything He does. He gives us peace even during stressful times to show us that we are still in His will. He keeps the gravity working and the sunshine coming down. He confirms the validity of our faith by showing His presence in countless ways, from the answering of outrageous prayer to the pointing of a dizzy heart in the right direction.
But what really get me is that this God is both Creator and Savior. He is our King as well as our friend. It's astounding to me that He not only pays mind to us, but He paid His own life for us. That our God loves us more than life, enough to give life to the dying, is more than I can understand.
A few days ago I heard a Taylor Swift song called "Cold As You" which is about a girl dealing with a relationship with a rude and indifferent guy who she really cares about. There was one part of the song I never noticed before that made me replay it a few times:
"You never did give a [darn] thing honey but I cried, cried for you. And I know you wouldn't have told nobody if I died, died for you."
If we love God so much, and if we are in the least bit thankful for His sacrifice and everything He does each day, we won't be like the jerk in that song. Isn't it something? God Himself is so in love with us that He died to give us life. We don't deserve anything from Him. Isaiah 64:6 says "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." Even the merit and goodness we think we have is like nothing before the holiness of God. That's the mess God loves anyway. We should be thankful to Him for every blessing from salvation to salsa. So I'm praying for the heart of an evangelist and a mouth that just won't shut up about my best friend, my love and my God: my Jesus.
Sunday, October 2, 2011
The First Day
THIS WEEK my great-grandmother Sophia Champagne passed away at the age of 95. She was a sweet lady who lived a long and happy life, and now people are gathering in New York for her funeral tomorrow.
When my Mom told me over the phone that she had died, I took a minute to stand and look out a window to think.
We called her Mem. I got my name from her. She was Polish, and her mother Antoinette came to America all by herself when she was 15 about a century ago. She was my grandpa's mother and my Mom's grandmother. The last time I spoke to her over the phone, I had asked her how she was, and she had said that she wasn't doing very well at all. Nobody was very surprised when she passed away. Mem was very sick and very old, and it was sad to see her go.
But as I looked out the window, just letting the news sink in, I was only a little sad. More than that, I was happy for her. Looking up into the perfect blue sky, I could imagine her flying up out of her dear old, sick body to the gates of heaven, finally well again. Finally surrounded once more by all the people she had loved in her youth. Finally home, where nobody grows old or gets sick or goes away. Finally with her husband and her parents, and with Jesus. I'm sad that Mem is gone, but I know she is doing a lot better now than she ever has been.
The day after Mem passed away, my Aunt Jennifer gave birth to my new cousin Seth. Jennfier is the wife of my Dad's brother John, and Seth is their second son after Elijah, who is two years old. He is healthy and happy, and he is fortunate to have a pair of really wonderful parents.
It's always a miracle when a new baby is born. How can it be that a new person has been formed with ten fingers and ten toes and two eyes, put together exactly right, ready to breathe and eat and learn? It's marvelous to think of this system God invented, how two people's lives can result in other lives, and how a baby can enter the world with everything brand new to him.
So my family saw a death and a birth in one week, and it got me thinking about birth, life, and death. And I wonder whether we have our perspective a little backwards.
Once Jesus was visited at night by a Pharisee named Nicodemus, who knew that Jesus was from God. They spoke about how a person could enter the kingdom of God.
John 3:3-8, "[3] Jesus answered and said to him, 'Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.' [4] Nicodemus said to Him, 'How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?' [5] Jesus answered, 'Most anssuredly, I say to you, unless on is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. [6] That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. [7] Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.' [8] The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from or where it goes. So is eeryone who is born of the Spirit.'"
What if life and death aren't what they seem? Jesus is saying that in order to be saved and enter God's kingdom, we must be born again through His Spirit. That means that when we put our faith in Christ, we are born again. The temporary gives way to the eternal, and eternal life starts now.
John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life."
In a way, death is like birth. For a while you're alive but haven't started living, becuase you're still inside your mother getting ready to go. But you can't stay there. After a while, you enter a world that is so full of things to see and places to go that the little dark space you knew before is like nothing.
In the same way, we only stay here in this world for a little while. We are alive in Christ because we have been spiritually reborn through faith in Him, but we haven't seen anything yet. We are just here for a while to give us time to grow. And when we are done, this time we will really start living a life so vibrant and full of God that it makes our few days here seem like a short walk down a dark hallway.
1 Corinthians 2:9-10, "[9]But as it is written, 'Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.' [10] But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God."
Because we are made new by God's Holy Spirit, we understand that God's big plan is not confined to the small number of our days. He has even more planned than He is showing us while we are running around on this earth.
Romans 6:22-23 "[22] But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life. [23] For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord."
Death is not the end of everything. For a believer in Christ, it's only the beginning. As my family says goodbye to Mem and welcomes baby Seth, I cannot help but think that this week my family did not see a birth and a death, but rather two births. And while the mourners cry for Mem at her funeral, I hope that some of the same tears of joy that came with Seth's first day also come down alongside those tears of sadness, as Mem's eternal first day in Paradise finally dawns for her.
In loving memory of Sophia Champagne.
When my Mom told me over the phone that she had died, I took a minute to stand and look out a window to think.
We called her Mem. I got my name from her. She was Polish, and her mother Antoinette came to America all by herself when she was 15 about a century ago. She was my grandpa's mother and my Mom's grandmother. The last time I spoke to her over the phone, I had asked her how she was, and she had said that she wasn't doing very well at all. Nobody was very surprised when she passed away. Mem was very sick and very old, and it was sad to see her go.
But as I looked out the window, just letting the news sink in, I was only a little sad. More than that, I was happy for her. Looking up into the perfect blue sky, I could imagine her flying up out of her dear old, sick body to the gates of heaven, finally well again. Finally surrounded once more by all the people she had loved in her youth. Finally home, where nobody grows old or gets sick or goes away. Finally with her husband and her parents, and with Jesus. I'm sad that Mem is gone, but I know she is doing a lot better now than she ever has been.
The day after Mem passed away, my Aunt Jennifer gave birth to my new cousin Seth. Jennfier is the wife of my Dad's brother John, and Seth is their second son after Elijah, who is two years old. He is healthy and happy, and he is fortunate to have a pair of really wonderful parents.
It's always a miracle when a new baby is born. How can it be that a new person has been formed with ten fingers and ten toes and two eyes, put together exactly right, ready to breathe and eat and learn? It's marvelous to think of this system God invented, how two people's lives can result in other lives, and how a baby can enter the world with everything brand new to him.
So my family saw a death and a birth in one week, and it got me thinking about birth, life, and death. And I wonder whether we have our perspective a little backwards.
Once Jesus was visited at night by a Pharisee named Nicodemus, who knew that Jesus was from God. They spoke about how a person could enter the kingdom of God.
John 3:3-8, "[3] Jesus answered and said to him, 'Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.' [4] Nicodemus said to Him, 'How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?' [5] Jesus answered, 'Most anssuredly, I say to you, unless on is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. [6] That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. [7] Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.' [8] The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from or where it goes. So is eeryone who is born of the Spirit.'"
What if life and death aren't what they seem? Jesus is saying that in order to be saved and enter God's kingdom, we must be born again through His Spirit. That means that when we put our faith in Christ, we are born again. The temporary gives way to the eternal, and eternal life starts now.
John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life."
In a way, death is like birth. For a while you're alive but haven't started living, becuase you're still inside your mother getting ready to go. But you can't stay there. After a while, you enter a world that is so full of things to see and places to go that the little dark space you knew before is like nothing.
In the same way, we only stay here in this world for a little while. We are alive in Christ because we have been spiritually reborn through faith in Him, but we haven't seen anything yet. We are just here for a while to give us time to grow. And when we are done, this time we will really start living a life so vibrant and full of God that it makes our few days here seem like a short walk down a dark hallway.
1 Corinthians 2:9-10, "[9]But as it is written, 'Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.' [10] But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God."
Because we are made new by God's Holy Spirit, we understand that God's big plan is not confined to the small number of our days. He has even more planned than He is showing us while we are running around on this earth.
Romans 6:22-23 "[22] But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life. [23] For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord."
Death is not the end of everything. For a believer in Christ, it's only the beginning. As my family says goodbye to Mem and welcomes baby Seth, I cannot help but think that this week my family did not see a birth and a death, but rather two births. And while the mourners cry for Mem at her funeral, I hope that some of the same tears of joy that came with Seth's first day also come down alongside those tears of sadness, as Mem's eternal first day in Paradise finally dawns for her.
In loving memory of Sophia Champagne.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)