I've been thinking about some verses that I believe God put in me for this year. I want to share them with you:
Psalms 147:3- He heals the brokenhearted
and binds up their wounds.
I've always been a little weary of the "God's gonna do this in this year" predictions... I feel like they rarely relate to me. But let me just say, there seems to be seasons where God does focus more on certain areas than others... or maybe humanity is just more open for His love in certain areas than others for a certain time... In any event, I can tell you that all around me I see God already healing the broken hearted. He's making things new in peoples hearts. Hope is springing up from dry and dead ground... In the places where brokenness and pain once ruled, there's healing and joy.
This is definitely true in my life and I would like to confirm that this is what God wants to do in yours in the upcoming year. Be open to it. Let down the defenses and begin to trust that God is a God that heals the wounded and weary heart.
Psalms 147:10-11-10 His delight is not in the strength of the horse,
nor his pleasure in the legs of a man,
11 but the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him,
in those who hope in his steadfast love.
Proverbs 10:22-
22 The blessing of the Lord makes rich,
and he adds no sorrow with it.
So in my mind, these two verses are tied. The favor of God, the blessing of God, rests on those who have put their faith in Christ. The curse -the necessary repercussions of our sin- was placed on Jesus and the blessing - the necessary repercussions of God's righteousness- has been placed on us. This is the eternal exchange that was made for those who believe.
Those who trust in the steadfast love of God, demonstrated perfectly through Christ Jesus, are those who will receive the blessing of God that makes rich. And those riches will never have sorrow added to them. Those who trust in their strength, though they may find riches, will have riches that leave them in poverty still...There's something wholly unsatisfactory about riches gained without God's grace.
So let me encourage you, in every area of your life, begin trusting in the steadfast love of God. It's been demonstrated fully in Jesus. Trust that love for you. This is a major focus God has put in me for the upcoming year... to fully lay myself on His love for me, and believe that, that's enough to make me rich in every area of my life. This year won't be about my ability. It'll be about His... and that's a good thing.
Wednesday, December 31, 2014
Friday, December 26, 2014
Useless... Yet Valuable
Romans 5:6-8
6 For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. 8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
We live in a world that places value on people and things based on their usefulness. In sports, the Most Valuable Player award goes to the player who helps their team win the most. A valuable player is one who is useful/helpful to their team.
We purchase items based on their usefulness. An expensive car is one that is useful in many ways: speed, safety, comfort, aesthetic appeal, status, etc... If a car is not useful in those ways, it will be seen as less valuable.
But God did this crazy thing: He saw us all, completely helpless... useless to His kingdom and harmful to ourselves and others... He saw us there, the least valuable players by earthly value systems, and that's when He died for us.
Take a moment to look at your price tag. It reads "the blood of God's only Son". Now realize somebody paid that price for you. You are literally worth the most valuable thing that will ever exist! and you were that valuable, not when you were helpful to God, but actually when you were completely useless to Him. Breath that in.
He didn't die for you when you were a good person or when you helped Him with something. In fact, Jesus never died for a good person, ever. He only died for sinners. So why would we ever determine our worth by what we do or don't do? good or bad? No your value is not attached to your usefulness to God, in any way. You are valuable simply because He chose to love you. Plain and simple.
And as we approach the dreams and goals God has put in our hearts for us to do... many of which will seem more useful to Him... let us never forget that our true value will have nothing to do with fulfilling those things. Let us always remember that our value (the blood of Christ) was bestowed on us in the middle of our shame... In the middle of our darkest, most lost, most useless hour. Let us always remember, like the Apostle Paul, that Christ died for sinners, of whom I am chief.
When we do that, we open our lungs up to breathe the goodness of God. We open up our hearts to live by faith again... Faith that His righteousness is enough for us. Faith that Jesus was the Most Valuable Person that has ever lived, and now because He died for us, so are we. I encourage you, follow this rule:
Colossians 1:6 Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him,
You received Him as a pauper in righteousness. You received Him as one, useless for any good thing in yourself. As you received Him, so walk in Him. Walk as though you are the pinnacle of value, while in yourself, completely useless for any good thing. That is a place of faith. And in that place and that place alone, the goodness of God (not you) can shine through bright as day. God's helpfulness and God's usefulness will be a bright light to everyone in your life, including yourself. This is the place of freedom in Christ. And I encourage you to walk in it.
6 For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. 8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
We live in a world that places value on people and things based on their usefulness. In sports, the Most Valuable Player award goes to the player who helps their team win the most. A valuable player is one who is useful/helpful to their team.
We purchase items based on their usefulness. An expensive car is one that is useful in many ways: speed, safety, comfort, aesthetic appeal, status, etc... If a car is not useful in those ways, it will be seen as less valuable.
But God did this crazy thing: He saw us all, completely helpless... useless to His kingdom and harmful to ourselves and others... He saw us there, the least valuable players by earthly value systems, and that's when He died for us.
Take a moment to look at your price tag. It reads "the blood of God's only Son". Now realize somebody paid that price for you. You are literally worth the most valuable thing that will ever exist! and you were that valuable, not when you were helpful to God, but actually when you were completely useless to Him. Breath that in.
He didn't die for you when you were a good person or when you helped Him with something. In fact, Jesus never died for a good person, ever. He only died for sinners. So why would we ever determine our worth by what we do or don't do? good or bad? No your value is not attached to your usefulness to God, in any way. You are valuable simply because He chose to love you. Plain and simple.
And as we approach the dreams and goals God has put in our hearts for us to do... many of which will seem more useful to Him... let us never forget that our true value will have nothing to do with fulfilling those things. Let us always remember that our value (the blood of Christ) was bestowed on us in the middle of our shame... In the middle of our darkest, most lost, most useless hour. Let us always remember, like the Apostle Paul, that Christ died for sinners, of whom I am chief.
When we do that, we open our lungs up to breathe the goodness of God. We open up our hearts to live by faith again... Faith that His righteousness is enough for us. Faith that Jesus was the Most Valuable Person that has ever lived, and now because He died for us, so are we. I encourage you, follow this rule:
Colossians 1:6 Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him,
You received Him as a pauper in righteousness. You received Him as one, useless for any good thing in yourself. As you received Him, so walk in Him. Walk as though you are the pinnacle of value, while in yourself, completely useless for any good thing. That is a place of faith. And in that place and that place alone, the goodness of God (not you) can shine through bright as day. God's helpfulness and God's usefulness will be a bright light to everyone in your life, including yourself. This is the place of freedom in Christ. And I encourage you to walk in it.
Wednesday, December 10, 2014
What Peace Looks Like
I was at work doing some work. (A novel idea, I know)
And in the middle of my work I realized that I didn't know what I should do next. I took a moment to ask God what I should do next. And He said, "Trust Me."
"No, no God. I'm asking what task you want me to do next. We have things that need to get done here." His response, "Trust Me. That's what I want you to do."
So I pressed Him further: "God, are you sure that's all you want me to do?"
And then, with the most sincere compassion, I heard Him say, "Jack, you are worried and troubled by a great many things..."
And immediately my mind went to this story:
Luke 10
38 Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word. 40 But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.” And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. 42 But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.”
I was being Martha and I didn't even know it. I was working hard. I was doing all I could to serve the people I was supposed to... but deep down there was a slight bitterness growing... The kind that comes when you're the one in charge. When it's your love, not Jesus' love that's driving you.
That's when God decided to cut me off and remind me of the kind of life I really wanted. I wanted the life that only He can bring. There are plenty of people who do life without Jesus. There are plenty of people who work at their job without trusting God. And those people will always be worried and troubled about a great many things. And they'll always know the bitterness I'm talking about.
But that's not who I am or who I was made to be. God made me to be free from heavy burdens and all worry and all anxiety. God made me to sit at His feet and simply trust Him. That's the only thing that's needful. That's the only thing that's important.
Because Jesus didn't come to be served. He came to serve. Maybe He was just waiting for Martha to sit down at His feet and let Him serve her for a change... And maybe that's what Jesus waits for us to do as well.
I was being Martha and I didn't even know it. I was working hard. I was doing all I could to serve the people I was supposed to... but deep down there was a slight bitterness growing... The kind that comes when you're the one in charge. When it's your love, not Jesus' love that's driving you.
That's when God decided to cut me off and remind me of the kind of life I really wanted. I wanted the life that only He can bring. There are plenty of people who do life without Jesus. There are plenty of people who work at their job without trusting God. And those people will always be worried and troubled about a great many things. And they'll always know the bitterness I'm talking about.
But that's not who I am or who I was made to be. God made me to be free from heavy burdens and all worry and all anxiety. God made me to sit at His feet and simply trust Him. That's the only thing that's needful. That's the only thing that's important.
Because Jesus didn't come to be served. He came to serve. Maybe He was just waiting for Martha to sit down at His feet and let Him serve her for a change... And maybe that's what Jesus waits for us to do as well.
Wednesday, December 3, 2014
The Lowly Heart of Christ
Matthew 11:28-30
28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
He knows our weaknesses inside and out. He knows what makes us run away. He knows our insecure spots. He knows our fear buttons. And He wants us to understand that He's going to be gentle and lowly with us there.
To the weak and tired, His heart will be lowly to you.
To the person without answers, His heart will be lowly to you.
To the hurt and the angry, His heart will be lowly to you.
28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
Every time I read this verse, I'm stunned by who Jesus is. He's gentle and lowly in heart.
It's amazing. No one who comes to Him will ever be treated harshly. He's gentle and lowly in heart. He cradles us, even inside our walls, and reminds us that He's not here to hurt us or scare us.
He knows our weaknesses inside and out. He knows what makes us run away. He knows our insecure spots. He knows our fear buttons. And He wants us to understand that He's going to be gentle and lowly with us there.
To the weak and tired, His heart will be lowly to you.
To the person without answers, His heart will be lowly to you.
To the hurt and the angry, His heart will be lowly to you.
He's not here to Lord it over you. That's never been His way. He's just looking for people who are willing to let Him carry their heavy stuff.
So don't be afraid. Talk to Him about the stuff that scares you. Talk to Him about the people who've hurt you. Ask for help. He's lowly and gentle and He's not going to hurt you.
So don't be afraid. Talk to Him about the stuff that scares you. Talk to Him about the people who've hurt you. Ask for help. He's lowly and gentle and He's not going to hurt you.
He's really not at all like people. And He's willing to gently and patiently get down to the bottom layers of whatever's causing us problems. He's only there to help, and He knows the depth of our hearts.
So my prayer for you tonight, is that you would know the depth of God's love for you. His love is deep and it reaches down to right where we are inside. Go ahead and let Him in tonight. He's with you even now.
So my prayer for you tonight, is that you would know the depth of God's love for you. His love is deep and it reaches down to right where we are inside. Go ahead and let Him in tonight. He's with you even now.
Friday, November 28, 2014
Waiting
When you make the decision to trust God, you end up spending a lot of time waiting for Him do things.
But waiting isn't wasting.
You can go off on your own and try to make it work. You can spend your entire life trying to get things done on your pensive schedule. You can even try to figure it all out... but in the end, you'll find that you were wasting your time. Because the goal of life isn't to accomplish. It's to trust God.
Waiting builds trust. It forces the struggle out. The discomfort of waiting on God forces us to kneel. True dependence is born and raised in the waiting. So waiting, as annoying as it is sometimes, is God's way of leading us to our goal in life.
If you refuse to wait, you refuse to learn to trust.
And again, fear pops up. It's always fear that tries to hold us back. I have found that the major reason I don't like waiting on God is because I'm afraid He's not going to come through.
But if we could just see that He already has come through! Like, every time I start getting afraid, God's there pointing me back to the cross. Pointing me to His perfect love for me: "Jack, if I died on the cross for you, wouldn't I also freely give you all things?" There's nothing held back from us guys! It's already been given fully!
We might not be able to understand everything right now. But we can understand that His love for us is perfect. We can understand because He already proved it. That's firm and solid ground. It's safe to trust in.
I've had this Newsboys song stuck in my head all week.
"You stay the same through the ages
Your Love never changes
There may be pain in the night
But joy comes in the morning."
Listen, if you're in the night, just take a nap. Right? The morning is coming. The morning always comes. When the morning comes, it won't be time to sleep. It won't be time to wait. So if you're waiting for morning, rest in the night. The morning IS coming.
Enjoy the rest. Enjoy trusting God. And if you can get past the brief and slight suffering, you'll find that it's actually a lot of fun waiting when you know God's going to come through for you. It's like watching a movie where you know the good guys are gonna win. It's fun. It's what you were made for.
So have fun trusting God. There is a time approaching! And He's going to come through!
But waiting isn't wasting.
You can go off on your own and try to make it work. You can spend your entire life trying to get things done on your pensive schedule. You can even try to figure it all out... but in the end, you'll find that you were wasting your time. Because the goal of life isn't to accomplish. It's to trust God.
Waiting builds trust. It forces the struggle out. The discomfort of waiting on God forces us to kneel. True dependence is born and raised in the waiting. So waiting, as annoying as it is sometimes, is God's way of leading us to our goal in life.
If you refuse to wait, you refuse to learn to trust.
And again, fear pops up. It's always fear that tries to hold us back. I have found that the major reason I don't like waiting on God is because I'm afraid He's not going to come through.
But if we could just see that He already has come through! Like, every time I start getting afraid, God's there pointing me back to the cross. Pointing me to His perfect love for me: "Jack, if I died on the cross for you, wouldn't I also freely give you all things?" There's nothing held back from us guys! It's already been given fully!
We might not be able to understand everything right now. But we can understand that His love for us is perfect. We can understand because He already proved it. That's firm and solid ground. It's safe to trust in.
I've had this Newsboys song stuck in my head all week.
"You stay the same through the ages
Your Love never changes
There may be pain in the night
But joy comes in the morning."
Listen, if you're in the night, just take a nap. Right? The morning is coming. The morning always comes. When the morning comes, it won't be time to sleep. It won't be time to wait. So if you're waiting for morning, rest in the night. The morning IS coming.
Enjoy the rest. Enjoy trusting God. And if you can get past the brief and slight suffering, you'll find that it's actually a lot of fun waiting when you know God's going to come through for you. It's like watching a movie where you know the good guys are gonna win. It's fun. It's what you were made for.
So have fun trusting God. There is a time approaching! And He's going to come through!
Friday, November 21, 2014
Jericho
There's a terror in the city
A fright that's caught my eye
Behind their heavy walls
All my friends have gone to hide
They've heard that Judgement's coming
They've heard that God's alive
They've heard that He'll be coming soon
They hope that they'll survive
But Jericho, Oh Jericho
Your walls are paper thin
You think that all your fear and doubt
Will guard you from your sin
But Jericho, Oh Jericho
What foolishness you've known
I didn't come to hurt your heart
I came to save your soul
I came to save your soul
There's a prostitute inside my heart
She cries herself to sleep
But in the terror of the night
She finds a hope to keep
Her safe from all her own mistakes
And troubles of this world
Shes found a hope in Christ alone
There is a scarlet chord
Oh Jericho, My Jericho
There's safety from your sin
The walls of strength will soon come down
And leave you safe within
The hands of one who's strong enough
To save you from yourself
You'll find your soul's been satisfied
Your heart will now be well
Your heart will now be well
And if you come across the fear
We all have to some extent
Remember walls are nothing if
The problem lies within
To deal with fear, you'll need a love
That carries all your cares
And strips away the punishment
Of all your deadly errs
The love of Christ, Oh saving Grace!
Fortress Eternally,
Will guard my heart and mind
With joy and more than perfect peace
He heals the wounds, He pays the debts
I'm finally set free
It's not my burden anymore
In Love, He cares for me
In Love, He cares for me
A fright that's caught my eye
Behind their heavy walls
All my friends have gone to hide
They've heard that Judgement's coming
They've heard that God's alive
They've heard that He'll be coming soon
They hope that they'll survive
But Jericho, Oh Jericho
Your walls are paper thin
You think that all your fear and doubt
Will guard you from your sin
But Jericho, Oh Jericho
What foolishness you've known
I didn't come to hurt your heart
I came to save your soul
I came to save your soul
There's a prostitute inside my heart
She cries herself to sleep
But in the terror of the night
She finds a hope to keep
Her safe from all her own mistakes
And troubles of this world
Shes found a hope in Christ alone
There is a scarlet chord
Oh Jericho, My Jericho
There's safety from your sin
The walls of strength will soon come down
And leave you safe within
The hands of one who's strong enough
To save you from yourself
You'll find your soul's been satisfied
Your heart will now be well
Your heart will now be well
And if you come across the fear
We all have to some extent
Remember walls are nothing if
The problem lies within
To deal with fear, you'll need a love
That carries all your cares
And strips away the punishment
Of all your deadly errs
The love of Christ, Oh saving Grace!
Fortress Eternally,
Will guard my heart and mind
With joy and more than perfect peace
He heals the wounds, He pays the debts
I'm finally set free
It's not my burden anymore
In Love, He cares for me
In Love, He cares for me
Friday, November 14, 2014
God Has A Future For You
It can be hard to believe sometimes. Especially, when life is hard. But God has a future for you.
It can be hard to believe sometimes. Especially when you're the one who blew it. But God has a future for you.
We think too small. We think like adults. Or to be more accurate... I think like an adult.
I spent the past week wrestling with feeling trapped. Trapped by my job, by my income, by my inability, by my past decisions and where they've led me. Like, just kind of stuck.
But I'm remembering what God's showed me in the past when I've felt trapped...
I took a walk with God out into an open field. It was square miles of open land. I remember God whispering in my heart "Where do you want to go Jack? You can go any direction you want."
I wanted what I couldn't know in that moment. I wanted the adventure with God. So I threw it back to Him. "God, I don't know exactly what I want... I have big dreams but I don't know how to get to any of them... So I really just want to trust you to get me there."
The open field showed me the truth. It didn't really matter where I went or what I did. It only mattered who I was trusting in. God had me in an open field the whole time. There was wide open space and I could go any direction my heart wanted, but He was going to lead me.
Sitting in my chair today, I hear God whispering again. "Where do you want to go Jack? You can go wherever you want."
So today I'm choosing to put the weight of my life entirely on Jesus. Not on my right or wrong decisions. Not on my job or degree. Not on my talent or performance. True faith for the moment is dependence on God's goodness, not mine. And when we see that again, we'll stop feeling trapped. We'll see reality for what it is: Open fields and bright futures, all guided by amazing grace.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make straight your paths.
It can be hard to believe sometimes. Especially when you're the one who blew it. But God has a future for you.
We think too small. We think like adults. Or to be more accurate... I think like an adult.
I spent the past week wrestling with feeling trapped. Trapped by my job, by my income, by my inability, by my past decisions and where they've led me. Like, just kind of stuck.
But I'm remembering what God's showed me in the past when I've felt trapped...
I took a walk with God out into an open field. It was square miles of open land. I remember God whispering in my heart "Where do you want to go Jack? You can go any direction you want."
I wanted what I couldn't know in that moment. I wanted the adventure with God. So I threw it back to Him. "God, I don't know exactly what I want... I have big dreams but I don't know how to get to any of them... So I really just want to trust you to get me there."
The open field showed me the truth. It didn't really matter where I went or what I did. It only mattered who I was trusting in. God had me in an open field the whole time. There was wide open space and I could go any direction my heart wanted, but He was going to lead me.
Sitting in my chair today, I hear God whispering again. "Where do you want to go Jack? You can go wherever you want."
So today I'm choosing to put the weight of my life entirely on Jesus. Not on my right or wrong decisions. Not on my job or degree. Not on my talent or performance. True faith for the moment is dependence on God's goodness, not mine. And when we see that again, we'll stop feeling trapped. We'll see reality for what it is: Open fields and bright futures, all guided by amazing grace.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make straight your paths.
Tuesday, November 11, 2014
F-ear Plugs
The two most commonly repeated things said by Jesus in the New Testament are:
1. "Those who have ears to hear, let them hear" 15 times
2. "Don't be afraid" (or some variant of "don't be afraid") 21 times
We struggle with fear and we struggle with having the right ears to hear.
Our natural world is constantly talking to our natural senses. We touch physical things. We eat physical food. We see. We hear. There's natural cause and effect. We do, and therefore we receive. We work and therefore we earn. It's predictable to our understanding. It's feels safe to us only because it's familiar. We've been trained in it our entire lives.
But Truth is different than natural knowledge.You can't hear it with your natural mind. It requires a different kind of ear and it's unfamiliar to us until we're trained in it. When we hear the truth, it forces our minds to shift from the natural order of the world. The order of getting what we deserve for our actions. The order of "karma", you could say. The order of action and reaction.
When we hear the truth, it forces our mind to switch to the place of the new ear... The place that allows us to accept the truth of Christ. The truth that we are getting a love that we never deserved. That place is unfamiliar. Getting what we can't earn is altogether contrary to our earthly experience. It's new. And when we start living with the new ear, it's inevitable that the old ears will fight for control.
Fear is the tool of the old ear. The truth rings in the old ear. The truth is dissonance to our natural mind. When the old, "earning it", ear hears the Truth of God's unmerited love and forgiveness, it fights back with fear. Fear that you haven't done enough. Fear that your trust in Jesus will bring empty results. Fear that your mistakes are still bringing their penalty. Fear that the new ear is hearing lies. That God doesn't love you. That protection, healing, answered prayers, and real relationship are figments of our imagination.
The old ear fights our new ears with lies from our past. But if you have ears to hear, go ahead and hear the words of Jesus. Don't be afraid. And if you have ears to hear, hear it again. Don't be afraid. Take out the fear plugs and start hearing again.
1. "Those who have ears to hear, let them hear" 15 times
2. "Don't be afraid" (or some variant of "don't be afraid") 21 times
We struggle with fear and we struggle with having the right ears to hear.
Our natural world is constantly talking to our natural senses. We touch physical things. We eat physical food. We see. We hear. There's natural cause and effect. We do, and therefore we receive. We work and therefore we earn. It's predictable to our understanding. It's feels safe to us only because it's familiar. We've been trained in it our entire lives.
But Truth is different than natural knowledge.You can't hear it with your natural mind. It requires a different kind of ear and it's unfamiliar to us until we're trained in it. When we hear the truth, it forces our minds to shift from the natural order of the world. The order of getting what we deserve for our actions. The order of "karma", you could say. The order of action and reaction.
When we hear the truth, it forces our mind to switch to the place of the new ear... The place that allows us to accept the truth of Christ. The truth that we are getting a love that we never deserved. That place is unfamiliar. Getting what we can't earn is altogether contrary to our earthly experience. It's new. And when we start living with the new ear, it's inevitable that the old ears will fight for control.
Fear is the tool of the old ear. The truth rings in the old ear. The truth is dissonance to our natural mind. When the old, "earning it", ear hears the Truth of God's unmerited love and forgiveness, it fights back with fear. Fear that you haven't done enough. Fear that your trust in Jesus will bring empty results. Fear that your mistakes are still bringing their penalty. Fear that the new ear is hearing lies. That God doesn't love you. That protection, healing, answered prayers, and real relationship are figments of our imagination.
The old ear fights our new ears with lies from our past. But if you have ears to hear, go ahead and hear the words of Jesus. Don't be afraid. And if you have ears to hear, hear it again. Don't be afraid. Take out the fear plugs and start hearing again.
Monday, November 3, 2014
Make God Say No
Force God to say no.
Why are we always the ones telling ourselves no? Our desires, our dreams... even the things we just want. Why do we shoot them down?
Who are you to say you can't have something? Are you God? Who told you that you couldn't have that thing you want? Was it God? Well, was it?
Nope. It never even made it to Him. You shot it down before it ever could. The lyrics to "Eye of the Tiger" hit me again:
"Don't lose your grip on the dreams of the past. You must fight just to keep them alive"
Why are we always the ones telling ourselves no? Our desires, our dreams... even the things we just want. Why do we shoot them down?
Who are you to say you can't have something? Are you God? Who told you that you couldn't have that thing you want? Was it God? Well, was it?
Nope. It never even made it to Him. You shot it down before it ever could. The lyrics to "Eye of the Tiger" hit me again:
"Don't lose your grip on the dreams of the past. You must fight just to keep them alive"
Why are we fighting to lose our dreams? Why aren't we fighting for the crazy things?
Ask God for a million dollars. Go ahead. Ask Him. Do you want a million dollars? If you don't, don't ask Him. If you do, why not ask Him?
Maybe He wants you to have it. Maybe you're supposed to ask.
Take the roof off of your dreams and visions. Take the roof off of what you want. You think too small. You think God's like a man. He's not. Stop shooting down dreams before they happen.
Let God be dad. Let yourself be the little kid who asks for the crazy things. And keep asking. And keep asking. Make God say no.
Because chances are He's actually saying "YES!" and we just aren't asking. The things in our heart that we want...
And I know this because I do it... I get this happy thought about something that could be awesome and I immediately trash it to shreds with logic.
Well, hold on a second. God never said it had to be logical! Logic is not required for your desires.. He just wants childlike imagination and trust that God loves you more than this whole world.
So let God be God. Stop taking His place and rendering your own verdict. Ask Him and trust that He loves you... even enough to say Yes.
I believe we're supposed to start asking God again because He wants to say yes. But if we're too afraid of God saying no, we'll stop asking. We won't believe. So force Him to say no, by believing He'll say yes. Who knows, you might find He's fully given what you've wanted all along.
Ask God for a million dollars. Go ahead. Ask Him. Do you want a million dollars? If you don't, don't ask Him. If you do, why not ask Him?
Maybe He wants you to have it. Maybe you're supposed to ask.
Take the roof off of your dreams and visions. Take the roof off of what you want. You think too small. You think God's like a man. He's not. Stop shooting down dreams before they happen.
Let God be dad. Let yourself be the little kid who asks for the crazy things. And keep asking. And keep asking. Make God say no.
Because chances are He's actually saying "YES!" and we just aren't asking. The things in our heart that we want...
And I know this because I do it... I get this happy thought about something that could be awesome and I immediately trash it to shreds with logic.
Well, hold on a second. God never said it had to be logical! Logic is not required for your desires.. He just wants childlike imagination and trust that God loves you more than this whole world.
So let God be God. Stop taking His place and rendering your own verdict. Ask Him and trust that He loves you... even enough to say Yes.
I believe we're supposed to start asking God again because He wants to say yes. But if we're too afraid of God saying no, we'll stop asking. We won't believe. So force Him to say no, by believing He'll say yes. Who knows, you might find He's fully given what you've wanted all along.
Friday, October 31, 2014
The Power of Weakness
For a long time I've been trying to explain to God that I feel like I'm not quite in my niche... Like I'm spending most of my time doing things I'm not very good at...And laying in bed last night, I finally realized how often and how long I've been saying that for.
It's been years.
At first I wanted to complain about it. But then I realized how many awesome things I've been learning in the long process:
When you live your life doing things you're weak at, you learn to stop trusting yourself for everyday success and start trusting God for it. Perpetual weakness can very easily turn into consistent training in trusting God's grace.
When I do things I'm bad at, I can't trust myself to be successful...and rightfully so. I'm generally not very good at what I'm doing. And in that place, my heart is immediately postured for dependence on God's unmerited favor. Because I can't very well earn success at that point. It has to be given to me as a gift or it won't happen at all.
When I look at my weaknesses, I really only have two options. Listen to my fears or start trusting God. My fears will always point me to my inability to earn it, and therefore, suffer the penalty of my mistakes. The basis of fear, in this case, is you and your inability.
The basis of peace is God and His ability. Notice how your ability is no longer in the picture. It's not about you anymore. It's not about what you do to earn success...or failure. The focus has changed. It's all about Him and what He does for you. And in that place of supreme confidence in God alone, we find space for the rhythm of God's love to take over. Our days start breathing the love of God.
When you live your life doing things you're weak at, you learn to stop trusting yourself for everyday success and start trusting God for it. Perpetual weakness can very easily turn into consistent training in trusting God's grace.
When I do things I'm bad at, I can't trust myself to be successful...and rightfully so. I'm generally not very good at what I'm doing. And in that place, my heart is immediately postured for dependence on God's unmerited favor. Because I can't very well earn success at that point. It has to be given to me as a gift or it won't happen at all.
When I look at my weaknesses, I really only have two options. Listen to my fears or start trusting God. My fears will always point me to my inability to earn it, and therefore, suffer the penalty of my mistakes. The basis of fear, in this case, is you and your inability.
The basis of peace is God and His ability. Notice how your ability is no longer in the picture. It's not about you anymore. It's not about what you do to earn success...or failure. The focus has changed. It's all about Him and what He does for you. And in that place of supreme confidence in God alone, we find space for the rhythm of God's love to take over. Our days start breathing the love of God.
We remember His perfect love for us, proven completely on the cross. This casts out our fears because we realize God is no longer holding our mistakes against us. The penalty for those mistakes was completely put on Christ and we trust in Him alone. This sets us free to live a life where we don't rely on our rightness anymore. And because our right and wrong actions aren't in the way anymore, the love of God has an avenue to express itself.
When the Apostle Paul said, "It is no longer I who lives, it is Christ who lives through me", this is what he was speaking of. Where is Paul's success or failure in this equation? Where are his good or bad actions? Where is his ability or inability? It's not there anymore because he refuses to rely on it. He's as good as dead, which means that Christ is able to live through Him. The love of God is breathed in. the love of God is breathed out.
And in that place, God's success starts showing up in ways that are outside of our ability. Weakness is only terrifying if you depend on it to be strong. But when we depend on God to be strong instead, weakness becomes our daily reminder of the powerful God who takes care of us.
So don't be afraid of living in weakness, because that ends up being the proving ground for God's strength.That's where we learn to trust again. It's worth waiting in.
When the Apostle Paul said, "It is no longer I who lives, it is Christ who lives through me", this is what he was speaking of. Where is Paul's success or failure in this equation? Where are his good or bad actions? Where is his ability or inability? It's not there anymore because he refuses to rely on it. He's as good as dead, which means that Christ is able to live through Him. The love of God is breathed in. the love of God is breathed out.
And in that place, God's success starts showing up in ways that are outside of our ability. Weakness is only terrifying if you depend on it to be strong. But when we depend on God to be strong instead, weakness becomes our daily reminder of the powerful God who takes care of us.
So don't be afraid of living in weakness, because that ends up being the proving ground for God's strength.That's where we learn to trust again. It's worth waiting in.
Saturday, October 25, 2014
Seeking and Finding God
Imagine yourself as a pirate looking for buried treasure. Arrg! Now, let's pretend that you were born into a family of pirates and none of them had ever found buried treasure. Is the treasure even out there? Will you be able to find it? As life proceeds you become pretty well convinced that the treasure is near impossible for you to find. Deep down, you believe that you're never gonna find it. But you also know that good pirates at least look for it. So you go out to search for treasure to prove that you're a good pirate.
Do you see what just happened there? When the pirate believes he won't find what he's looking for the paradigm on what he's looking for shifts. When the pirate status quo becomes looking for buried treasure, finding the buried treasure is no longer the objective. The ultimate goal (finding treasure) has become secondary to the culture created by it (the culture of looking for buried treasure).
Do you see what just happened there? When the pirate believes he won't find what he's looking for the paradigm on what he's looking for shifts. When the pirate status quo becomes looking for buried treasure, finding the buried treasure is no longer the objective. The ultimate goal (finding treasure) has become secondary to the culture created by it (the culture of looking for buried treasure).
The pirate culture screams, "If you're just looking for it, you're doing great! Arrg!" But if you don't believe you can actually find what you're looking for, are you actually looking for it anymore? Are you actually looking for the treasure? No, at that point you're just trying to be good at your culture.
When we cease to believe we can find the Treasure, our search for the Treasure has ended, and a new search for self-worth without the Treasure has begun.
But let me encourage you with something:
"7 Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened." [Matthew 7:7-8 ]
Real seekers always find. That's a promise from God.
Sometimes when I'm reading the Bible, it helps to ask myself the question: What If I actually believed that?
What if I believed my search for the Treasure would never end in failure? What if I believed I would always find?
It would change my life! I would ask God more questions. I would read the Bible in anticipation of God talking to me. I wouldn't get discouraged if I didn't understand something. I'd just believe that God was taking me on a finding journey. There's no such thing as "not finding" for me. I'm knocking on God's front door and He always opens up.
Even if it's a spiral journey to the Treasure, its gonna be an awesome, dangerous, fun adventure all the way... Arrg! a pirates dream. God doesn't always work in straight lines and we don't actually need him to. So go ahead and start believing that you're going to find. Every day believe it. You're going to find again today!
When we cease to believe we can find the Treasure, our search for the Treasure has ended, and a new search for self-worth without the Treasure has begun.
But let me encourage you with something:
"7 Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened." [Matthew 7:7-8 ]
Real seekers always find. That's a promise from God.
Sometimes when I'm reading the Bible, it helps to ask myself the question: What If I actually believed that?
What if I believed my search for the Treasure would never end in failure? What if I believed I would always find?
It would change my life! I would ask God more questions. I would read the Bible in anticipation of God talking to me. I wouldn't get discouraged if I didn't understand something. I'd just believe that God was taking me on a finding journey. There's no such thing as "not finding" for me. I'm knocking on God's front door and He always opens up.
Even if it's a spiral journey to the Treasure, its gonna be an awesome, dangerous, fun adventure all the way... Arrg! a pirates dream. God doesn't always work in straight lines and we don't actually need him to. So go ahead and start believing that you're going to find. Every day believe it. You're going to find again today!
Monday, October 20, 2014
Lessons From a Half Marathon
Yesterday I ran my first half-marathon (13.1 miles)! Super happy about it!
Right now, walking is only possible if I wobble like a penguin. Stairs also cause immense suffering. This will be my life for the next few days...
On the brighter side, I wanted to briefly cover some important things I learned along the way:
1. It's so cold in the D- Seriously though. It was really cold yesterday... and yet I still managed to sweat a ton. I was sweating like that guy on that one Axe deodorant commercial... which leads me to my next point.
2. Sweating in the cold leads to Hypothermia- Les Stroud and Bear Grills taught me this truth many years ago, but my body refused to learn from it. I didn't quite reach hypothermia, but my legs were pretty much numb by mile 10...Stupid over-productive sweat glands...Which brings me to point #3.
3. Sweating + not drinking enough water + cold muscles= Lebron style leg cramps at mile 11- My penguin wobble actually began near mile 11 when my frozen legs decided they'd had enough. I managed to finish the race but it wasn't the glorious sprint through the end line that I envisioned. Instead, imagine a mix between the Tin Man and a toddler a with full diaper... That's probably how I looked running at that point.
And out of all the important lessons I learned, this next one stuck out to me the most:
Encouragement actually matters- Basically the entire 13 mile stretch was lined with people who were just there to cheer the runners on... and they probably cheered for a good two or three hours straight as all the waves of runners passed by. That's literally all they did.
At first I didn't really notice them but as the race went on, I realized how important to my running they actually were. When I got tired or reached a steep incline, their cheers helped me keep going. And when my legs cramped up and I was visibly struggling, they encouraged me on all the more.
Somehow, they actually helped. They weren't providing my legs with physical energy. And sometimes, it didn't feel like what they were saying was true. "You're almost there!" at mile 9 didn't initially feel true. But the more they said it, the more I realized that they were actually right. Really, they were encouraging me to believe. And the more I believed, the easier the running became.
So if you love to encourage people, please realize that our world needs you more than it will ever admit. And it needs you now more than ever before.
There's a lie in our world that says that you, individually, have to do everything that Jesus did in order to fulfill your destiny in God. It's not true. If God made you awesome at encouraging people and you love doing it, don't let anyone pressure you into doing something else. Maybe your not supposed to run the same race they're running. Maybe your job is simply to be amazing at encouraging the people around you... It actually does matter. So do it like it's your race. You're extremely important. I need your encouragement and so does everyone else.
Let your heart be free to encourage!
Right now, walking is only possible if I wobble like a penguin. Stairs also cause immense suffering. This will be my life for the next few days...
1. It's so cold in the D- Seriously though. It was really cold yesterday... and yet I still managed to sweat a ton. I was sweating like that guy on that one Axe deodorant commercial... which leads me to my next point.
2. Sweating in the cold leads to Hypothermia- Les Stroud and Bear Grills taught me this truth many years ago, but my body refused to learn from it. I didn't quite reach hypothermia, but my legs were pretty much numb by mile 10...Stupid over-productive sweat glands...Which brings me to point #3.
3. Sweating + not drinking enough water + cold muscles= Lebron style leg cramps at mile 11- My penguin wobble actually began near mile 11 when my frozen legs decided they'd had enough. I managed to finish the race but it wasn't the glorious sprint through the end line that I envisioned. Instead, imagine a mix between the Tin Man and a toddler a with full diaper... That's probably how I looked running at that point.
And out of all the important lessons I learned, this next one stuck out to me the most:
Encouragement actually matters- Basically the entire 13 mile stretch was lined with people who were just there to cheer the runners on... and they probably cheered for a good two or three hours straight as all the waves of runners passed by. That's literally all they did.
At first I didn't really notice them but as the race went on, I realized how important to my running they actually were. When I got tired or reached a steep incline, their cheers helped me keep going. And when my legs cramped up and I was visibly struggling, they encouraged me on all the more.
Somehow, they actually helped. They weren't providing my legs with physical energy. And sometimes, it didn't feel like what they were saying was true. "You're almost there!" at mile 9 didn't initially feel true. But the more they said it, the more I realized that they were actually right. Really, they were encouraging me to believe. And the more I believed, the easier the running became.
So if you love to encourage people, please realize that our world needs you more than it will ever admit. And it needs you now more than ever before.
There's a lie in our world that says that you, individually, have to do everything that Jesus did in order to fulfill your destiny in God. It's not true. If God made you awesome at encouraging people and you love doing it, don't let anyone pressure you into doing something else. Maybe your not supposed to run the same race they're running. Maybe your job is simply to be amazing at encouraging the people around you... It actually does matter. So do it like it's your race. You're extremely important. I need your encouragement and so does everyone else.
Let your heart be free to encourage!
Tuesday, October 14, 2014
Order
I walked down a sidewalk and saw 2 things:
On the right: A well maintained, mowed, and landscaped strip of grass and trees. My sidewalk was one border. The street was the other.
On the left: Miles of chaotic nature. My sidewalk as one border and the blue sky the other.
Which side was more orderly? The well maintained grass with evenly spaced trees? Or the as-it-lies nature?
When man makes order, we expect the right side of the road. When God makes order, He expects the left.
When man comes up with orderly theology to define God, he comes up with the right side of the sidewalk. Every tree neatly spaced. Every aspect, outlined appropriately. When God comes up with theology of how to define Himself, He expects the left side. It is what it is. He is what He is.
The order isn't found in how we place the trees. It's found in the DNA of the trees themselves. You have to get to the fundamentals of what makes nature, in any way predictable. Nature is orderly only in that DNA is orderly. Understanding God isn't about understanding landscaping. It's not about placing the puzzle pieces. God is only orderly because his DNA is orderly. But He isn't landscaped. He won't always fit the patterns we've made for Him. He will be what He is.
And even when we put Him in our neatly spaced doctrines, still the only thing that's orderly is His DNA.... His heart. Our landscaping is nothing. Our puzzle mapping is nothing. God is as wild as nature and as orderly as nature.
God is more similar to the left side of the road and if we could, perhaps, begin viewing Him like that, we would stop throwing out cheap answer's to messy questions. Perhaps we would have to dig deeper into the motivations of God's heart before we claimed to understand anything. And perhaps, God's answer would meet the complicated requirements of our difficult questions... because that's who He is.
On the right: A well maintained, mowed, and landscaped strip of grass and trees. My sidewalk was one border. The street was the other.
On the left: Miles of chaotic nature. My sidewalk as one border and the blue sky the other.
Which side was more orderly? The well maintained grass with evenly spaced trees? Or the as-it-lies nature?
When man makes order, we expect the right side of the road. When God makes order, He expects the left.
When man comes up with orderly theology to define God, he comes up with the right side of the sidewalk. Every tree neatly spaced. Every aspect, outlined appropriately. When God comes up with theology of how to define Himself, He expects the left side. It is what it is. He is what He is.
The order isn't found in how we place the trees. It's found in the DNA of the trees themselves. You have to get to the fundamentals of what makes nature, in any way predictable. Nature is orderly only in that DNA is orderly. Understanding God isn't about understanding landscaping. It's not about placing the puzzle pieces. God is only orderly because his DNA is orderly. But He isn't landscaped. He won't always fit the patterns we've made for Him. He will be what He is.
And even when we put Him in our neatly spaced doctrines, still the only thing that's orderly is His DNA.... His heart. Our landscaping is nothing. Our puzzle mapping is nothing. God is as wild as nature and as orderly as nature.
God is more similar to the left side of the road and if we could, perhaps, begin viewing Him like that, we would stop throwing out cheap answer's to messy questions. Perhaps we would have to dig deeper into the motivations of God's heart before we claimed to understand anything. And perhaps, God's answer would meet the complicated requirements of our difficult questions... because that's who He is.
Friday, October 10, 2014
The New Normal- A Worry Free Life
Did you know that it's actually normal to not worry about anything?
Philippians 4:6-Don’t worry about anything...
You're not being irresponsible or naive by not worrying. You're actually doing what God said to do.
I think we would all love to live worry free, but the question is how do you do it? Here are some things I've really found helpful:
1. Realize that worrying doesn't provide any benefit to you whatsoever.
Matthew 16:27- Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?
Worrying isn't helping you. There's something in humans that feels more in control of a situation when we're hanging onto it in our minds. Realize that it's a lie. You don't have control of a situation because you are thinking about it. Your worrying is literally gaining you no advantage.
2. Cast your worry on God
1 Peter 5:6-7- Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.
Humility is synonymous with living care free. Holding your cares is proof that you think yourself more able than God for any given situation. Instead, remove the heavy weight of responsibility completely off of you and on to God. God wants the pressure! Let him take care of the outcome.
3. Rejoice in His amazing love!
Philippians 4:6- Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.
Prayer is casting the worry on God. Thankfulness is rejoicing because He loves you and will give you good in your situation.
Romans 8:32- He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?
He's already proven His love for you on the cross. The more we rejoice in the cross, the more confidence we'll have that God will give us the perfect outcome for our situation.
4. The wind is your theme music
Sometimes there's an excitement and energy in life that we don't know how to deal with. For example, an interview is a very exciting situation. I recently had one. Even if you're truly not worried, the excitement and energy of the moment might feel a bit overwhelming.
It's probably a similar feeling to what was going through Peter when he walked on water with Jesus. The wind in the moment started howling so loud and strong that he couldn't avoid it.
But what if, instead of becoming afraid of the wind, he just started dancing to it?
I hate that I'm about to reference a Taylor Swift song but I just have to: What if the wind was just the music in his mind, saying it's gonna be alright? What if the excitement and energy of the moment is the wind giving you a theme song worth dancing to?
God didn't create life to be boring. So have fun in the storms! They're your epic theme music for life's greatest victories. Treat excitement and energy that way. Don't let them scare you. It's gonna be alright!
Philippians 4:6-Don’t worry about anything...
You're not being irresponsible or naive by not worrying. You're actually doing what God said to do.
I think we would all love to live worry free, but the question is how do you do it? Here are some things I've really found helpful:
1. Realize that worrying doesn't provide any benefit to you whatsoever.
Matthew 16:27- Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?
Worrying isn't helping you. There's something in humans that feels more in control of a situation when we're hanging onto it in our minds. Realize that it's a lie. You don't have control of a situation because you are thinking about it. Your worrying is literally gaining you no advantage.
2. Cast your worry on God
1 Peter 5:6-7- Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.
Humility is synonymous with living care free. Holding your cares is proof that you think yourself more able than God for any given situation. Instead, remove the heavy weight of responsibility completely off of you and on to God. God wants the pressure! Let him take care of the outcome.
3. Rejoice in His amazing love!
Philippians 4:6- Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.
Prayer is casting the worry on God. Thankfulness is rejoicing because He loves you and will give you good in your situation.
Romans 8:32- He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?
He's already proven His love for you on the cross. The more we rejoice in the cross, the more confidence we'll have that God will give us the perfect outcome for our situation.
4. The wind is your theme music
Sometimes there's an excitement and energy in life that we don't know how to deal with. For example, an interview is a very exciting situation. I recently had one. Even if you're truly not worried, the excitement and energy of the moment might feel a bit overwhelming.
It's probably a similar feeling to what was going through Peter when he walked on water with Jesus. The wind in the moment started howling so loud and strong that he couldn't avoid it.
But what if, instead of becoming afraid of the wind, he just started dancing to it?
I hate that I'm about to reference a Taylor Swift song but I just have to: What if the wind was just the music in his mind, saying it's gonna be alright? What if the excitement and energy of the moment is the wind giving you a theme song worth dancing to?
God didn't create life to be boring. So have fun in the storms! They're your epic theme music for life's greatest victories. Treat excitement and energy that way. Don't let them scare you. It's gonna be alright!
Monday, October 6, 2014
The Joy of Admitting You Don't Know
Don't be afraid to ask questions.
Don't be afraid to not know.
Don't be afraid to not know.
I'm not talking about asking questions that just turn out to be walls.There's such a fine line between asking a question because you want to know and asking a question because you don't want to know.
Some questions are just walls... nothing more.
Some answers are just walls too. Many times our answers are just defenses against what we don't want to believe. They have very little to do with a real, meaningful discovery.
But there's a real joy in admitting when you honestly don't know something. I'm talking about genuine questions. The kinds that make you laugh at how little you understand.
It's a humbling experience to not know. It forces you to sit down and realize for a moment that you are not God... That you aren't in control like you thought you were. It forces you to let go, and trust again. What a good and healthy experience that is!
But a lot of people, I've found, don't treat "not knowing" like that. It actually scares them. They feel insecure when they don't know...And I think that's why we get a lot of bogus answers to difficult questions. The answers are generated out of fear of not knowing, rather than confidence in the love of God.
But let me just encourage you: God doesn't protect you because you know everything. He protects you because you're his kid. The fears aren't coming because you don't know something. The fears are coming because you've forgotten how much God loves you in spite of your ignorance.
Even babies know how to grab for their parents. It doesn't take great intelligence to trust. It simply takes confidence that somebody's gonna love you. And God proved it to you, right? God proved that He loved you by giving Jesus to die on the cross. He gave His only Son so that you could become his child. Because he wants to protect you and keep you safe.
My encouragement to you today is to not let fear drive you to a bogus answer. Don't be afraid to not know something... or even a lot of things... instead, rejoice because the heavy weight of being God does not fall on you. Rejoice because he answers prayers and even difficult questions. It may take time for God to answer our questions, or it might be as quick as lightening... But until your answers come, trust that God loves you and by all means, don't be afraid! Don't let you heart be troubled!
And even right now, as weird as this is, I just see that God has placed mighty angels there to protect and save you. I don't know how that can be possible, as I have no idea who is reading this or who needs to hear that but it's true.
Psalm 91:11
For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways.
God is there to protect and save. So don't be afraid!
Some answers are just walls too. Many times our answers are just defenses against what we don't want to believe. They have very little to do with a real, meaningful discovery.
But there's a real joy in admitting when you honestly don't know something. I'm talking about genuine questions. The kinds that make you laugh at how little you understand.
It's a humbling experience to not know. It forces you to sit down and realize for a moment that you are not God... That you aren't in control like you thought you were. It forces you to let go, and trust again. What a good and healthy experience that is!
But a lot of people, I've found, don't treat "not knowing" like that. It actually scares them. They feel insecure when they don't know...And I think that's why we get a lot of bogus answers to difficult questions. The answers are generated out of fear of not knowing, rather than confidence in the love of God.
But let me just encourage you: God doesn't protect you because you know everything. He protects you because you're his kid. The fears aren't coming because you don't know something. The fears are coming because you've forgotten how much God loves you in spite of your ignorance.
Even babies know how to grab for their parents. It doesn't take great intelligence to trust. It simply takes confidence that somebody's gonna love you. And God proved it to you, right? God proved that He loved you by giving Jesus to die on the cross. He gave His only Son so that you could become his child. Because he wants to protect you and keep you safe.
My encouragement to you today is to not let fear drive you to a bogus answer. Don't be afraid to not know something... or even a lot of things... instead, rejoice because the heavy weight of being God does not fall on you. Rejoice because he answers prayers and even difficult questions. It may take time for God to answer our questions, or it might be as quick as lightening... But until your answers come, trust that God loves you and by all means, don't be afraid! Don't let you heart be troubled!
And even right now, as weird as this is, I just see that God has placed mighty angels there to protect and save you. I don't know how that can be possible, as I have no idea who is reading this or who needs to hear that but it's true.
Psalm 91:11
For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways.
God is there to protect and save. So don't be afraid!
Thursday, October 2, 2014
Seeing the Invisible (Part 3)
Much of learning to see God's love for you comes with practicing it in daily experiences. When life happens, you'll have the choice to trust the love of God for you that isn't visible or trust the natural consequences of this world which are visible.
Quite often I have found that Christians, including myself, are absolutely willing to believe in God, but struggle to trust Him with life's realities. We believe in a God who's a spirit but sometimes live our lives like naturalists...Or said a different way: We believe God like Christians but sometimes, we trust Him like atheists.
We can live as though He's ineffective. We can live as though He's dead to our today experience. But Jesus rose from the dead to live with me in my everyday, from now until forever.
So let's do this right now: What would you ask God for if He was real? What would you ask God for if He was alive today?
Think about it for a moment. It can even be impossible. You can even not deserve it.
Once you've decided what that desire is, put it into your left hand.
Now while holding on to this desire, remember that God already fully proved His love for you on the cross. God welcomes you as a great friend. He's not ashamed of you and he's not holding your mistakes against you. In fact, He promised to never remember your sins because your sins were placed on Jesus forever. In Him, you have perfect righteousness. He approves of you and accepts you because of Christ.
Now take God's hand with your right hand. And give him your desire with your left.
In truth, God has already decided to completely satisfy the desire you just handed Him with a good thing. It might not be exactly what we expect, but we can trust that it's the perfect thing for our desire. And we can trust that, not because of what we see visibly in front of us... and not because we even see or don't see the gift... but because He's already given us His Everything in Jesus. Jesus is always the proof that we look at.
Now do that everyday. Every worry, every care, every desire. And when we do that, we'll start finding the pieces of the puzzle we've been missing. There will be a lot more peace in our everyday experience.
I've been jamming to this song lately... I just love the line, "not earthly confidence, it's only by your blood!" Trusting the blood will build real confidence that won't be shaken. Enjoy it friends!
Quite often I have found that Christians, including myself, are absolutely willing to believe in God, but struggle to trust Him with life's realities. We believe in a God who's a spirit but sometimes live our lives like naturalists...Or said a different way: We believe God like Christians but sometimes, we trust Him like atheists.
We can live as though He's ineffective. We can live as though He's dead to our today experience. But Jesus rose from the dead to live with me in my everyday, from now until forever.
So let's do this right now: What would you ask God for if He was real? What would you ask God for if He was alive today?
Think about it for a moment. It can even be impossible. You can even not deserve it.
Once you've decided what that desire is, put it into your left hand.
Now while holding on to this desire, remember that God already fully proved His love for you on the cross. God welcomes you as a great friend. He's not ashamed of you and he's not holding your mistakes against you. In fact, He promised to never remember your sins because your sins were placed on Jesus forever. In Him, you have perfect righteousness. He approves of you and accepts you because of Christ.
Now take God's hand with your right hand. And give him your desire with your left.
In truth, God has already decided to completely satisfy the desire you just handed Him with a good thing. It might not be exactly what we expect, but we can trust that it's the perfect thing for our desire. And we can trust that, not because of what we see visibly in front of us... and not because we even see or don't see the gift... but because He's already given us His Everything in Jesus. Jesus is always the proof that we look at.
Now do that everyday. Every worry, every care, every desire. And when we do that, we'll start finding the pieces of the puzzle we've been missing. There will be a lot more peace in our everyday experience.
I've been jamming to this song lately... I just love the line, "not earthly confidence, it's only by your blood!" Trusting the blood will build real confidence that won't be shaken. Enjoy it friends!
Monday, September 29, 2014
Seeing the Invisible (Part 2)
"Peter said to Him, 'Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.' 29 And He said, 'Come!' And Peter got out of the boat, and walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But seeing the wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink,..."
Yep. I've been there too, Peter. Most Christians have at some point. We're trusting Jesus. We're believing His love for us and it's allowing us to do things that would otherwise be impossible for us. It's allowing us to live from our hearts without fear and do the things we've always dreamed of. We're feeling pretty good, just like Peter.
And then life turns on the fans, if you know what I mean. Peter looks at the wind and becomes afraid. Peter starts doubting that God's love will protect him and save him. Peter stops doing the impossible. And all of the weight of his worries and cares start closing in over him.
"then he (Peter) cried out, 'Lord, save me!' 31 Immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him, and *said to him, 'You of little faith, why did you doubt?'"
Jesus saved Peter. Peter stopped looking at Jesus. He failed at trusting God. He believed the wind was more visible than Jesus' love for him.
And Jesus still saved him !
How liberating is that!? Even when you fail. Even when you can't help but stare at the wind of life all around you and you're overwhelmed by fear... And even when you start to sink in life because of it, you can trust that Jesus is there to save you! He won't let you fall.
And the more life you live, the more you'll see how true that is... and every time Jesus saves you from yourself again, He'll whisper to your heart once more "Why did you doubt?"
Now here's the million dollar question: If Peter had known the end of the story... if he knew that Jesus was absolutely going to save him regardless of his failures, would Peter have ever been afraid of the wind in the first place? Would he have even noticed it?
And if he didn't notice the wind because he wasn't afraid (because he knew Jesus would save him), would he have ever sank?
See, getting rid of fear isn't only about making you feel better... It's about getting you free enough to do the things God put in your heart. It's about letting you chase your impossible dreams and actually have it work. It's about walking on water again, and this time not sinking. So trust the love of God for you, even when you fail, Because He won't fail to save you.
P.S. I've had this old Casting Crowns song stuck in my head all week. Definitely worth a listen.
Yep. I've been there too, Peter. Most Christians have at some point. We're trusting Jesus. We're believing His love for us and it's allowing us to do things that would otherwise be impossible for us. It's allowing us to live from our hearts without fear and do the things we've always dreamed of. We're feeling pretty good, just like Peter.
And then life turns on the fans, if you know what I mean. Peter looks at the wind and becomes afraid. Peter starts doubting that God's love will protect him and save him. Peter stops doing the impossible. And all of the weight of his worries and cares start closing in over him.
"then he (Peter) cried out, 'Lord, save me!' 31 Immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him, and *said to him, 'You of little faith, why did you doubt?'"
Jesus saved Peter. Peter stopped looking at Jesus. He failed at trusting God. He believed the wind was more visible than Jesus' love for him.
And Jesus still saved him !
How liberating is that!? Even when you fail. Even when you can't help but stare at the wind of life all around you and you're overwhelmed by fear... And even when you start to sink in life because of it, you can trust that Jesus is there to save you! He won't let you fall.
And the more life you live, the more you'll see how true that is... and every time Jesus saves you from yourself again, He'll whisper to your heart once more "Why did you doubt?"
Now here's the million dollar question: If Peter had known the end of the story... if he knew that Jesus was absolutely going to save him regardless of his failures, would Peter have ever been afraid of the wind in the first place? Would he have even noticed it?
And if he didn't notice the wind because he wasn't afraid (because he knew Jesus would save him), would he have ever sank?
See, getting rid of fear isn't only about making you feel better... It's about getting you free enough to do the things God put in your heart. It's about letting you chase your impossible dreams and actually have it work. It's about walking on water again, and this time not sinking. So trust the love of God for you, even when you fail, Because He won't fail to save you.
P.S. I've had this old Casting Crowns song stuck in my head all week. Definitely worth a listen.
Friday, September 26, 2014
Seeing the Invisible (Part 1)
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| 2 Corinthians 4:18 |
If I were to measure God's love for me on a scale, my life circumstances would never be able to balance it out. No matter how good or bad my circumstances treat me, the love of God for me is always far greater. There is no greater love than what He has already shown on the cross.
The cross is telling me the perfect truth. My life is not.
Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
This is how God has chosen to demonstrate His love. Christ dying for me IS the demonstration. It IS the proof that He loves me. All other proof is secondary, lesser, and often unreliable.
The cross is telling me the perfect truth. My life is not.
Romans 8:32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?
We can believe God will freely give us all things because He's already given His son. What more is there to give? What love has He held back? The cross proves that He's held nothing back from us and that He's perfectly willing- today- to give all good things to us.
The cross is the proof. My life is not.
See, we have to come to this conclusion in our own mind: to value the cross above what we can see in our visible world in the here and now. The visible world does not communicate perfectly the love of God for us because it can't. Sin and death still operate in it.
But We believe in a God we can't see. We believe that God has sent His Holy Spirit, a spirit we can't see, to comfort us. We believe in a heaven that we haven't seen, a resurrection from the dead that we haven't seen, and countless promises from God to us that we haven't fully seen.
We can believe God will freely give us all things because He's already given His son. What more is there to give? What love has He held back? The cross proves that He's held nothing back from us and that He's perfectly willing- today- to give all good things to us.
The cross is the proof. My life is not.
See, we have to come to this conclusion in our own mind: to value the cross above what we can see in our visible world in the here and now. The visible world does not communicate perfectly the love of God for us because it can't. Sin and death still operate in it.
But We believe in a God we can't see. We believe that God has sent His Holy Spirit, a spirit we can't see, to comfort us. We believe in a heaven that we haven't seen, a resurrection from the dead that we haven't seen, and countless promises from God to us that we haven't fully seen.
Our faith is based in realities that are outside of our vision. And if we are to live by faith, then we must live our lives in the invisible realities, not the visible ones. If we are to experience the unfiltered love of God, it must come by faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus. It must come in the ways I can't see visibly... because that's where perfect love resides.
Saturday, September 20, 2014
Look at the Birds
Then Jesus is all like,
"Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?"
"Look at the birds of the air?" I mumbled sarcastically.
It was a hard month at work. The type of month that proves to you that you're not doing what God called you to do. There's no other way of explaining it than that.
So I looked at the birds... I watched them for a couple hours, hoping to find anything that could give me hope.
I stopped and stared. "These stupid geese!" I said in utter frustration. "They don't do anything! All they do is eat grass, poop, and float in a pond all day!"
And that was it wasn't it? I was working so hard. There was stress and sweat and anxiety. I felt worthy of my pay... But these birds? They didn't earn a thing. They ate what God provided.
Sitting back on the grass I realized my problem: I wanted the birds life but I couldn't have it. I was bitter and jealous and I couldn't have it... Because you don't get the birds life by working harder for it. You get the birds life by receiving the gifts that God provides exactly when He provides them.
I'll just be honest..it's been hard for my intellect to receive that. Deep down I know it's true... and every time I watch the geese, I see it again and I believe.
Someone I think who gets it is my Grandmum... I have never met a more peace loving person in my life. She lives in a tiny apartment by herself. I have seen elderly women in similar scenarios become bitter and difficult... but not her. No, she is just the most thankful, grace-filled person that I have ever met. You can hear it in the way she talks about her life. She knows it's all been a wonderful gift. She doesn't claim to have sown or reaped or stored... She doesn't act like she's earned it. She has joy because her entire life was a love gift straight from Jesus... And it continues to be that even now.
She's like the geese. And as I go through life, I'm learning to trust God more. I'm learning to trust Him with the deep things and the heavy things. I'm learning to trust that He'll provide.
"Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?"
"Look at the birds of the air?" I mumbled sarcastically.
It was a hard month at work. The type of month that proves to you that you're not doing what God called you to do. There's no other way of explaining it than that.
So I looked at the birds... I watched them for a couple hours, hoping to find anything that could give me hope.
I stopped and stared. "These stupid geese!" I said in utter frustration. "They don't do anything! All they do is eat grass, poop, and float in a pond all day!"
And that was it wasn't it? I was working so hard. There was stress and sweat and anxiety. I felt worthy of my pay... But these birds? They didn't earn a thing. They ate what God provided.
Sitting back on the grass I realized my problem: I wanted the birds life but I couldn't have it. I was bitter and jealous and I couldn't have it... Because you don't get the birds life by working harder for it. You get the birds life by receiving the gifts that God provides exactly when He provides them.
I'll just be honest..it's been hard for my intellect to receive that. Deep down I know it's true... and every time I watch the geese, I see it again and I believe.
Someone I think who gets it is my Grandmum... I have never met a more peace loving person in my life. She lives in a tiny apartment by herself. I have seen elderly women in similar scenarios become bitter and difficult... but not her. No, she is just the most thankful, grace-filled person that I have ever met. You can hear it in the way she talks about her life. She knows it's all been a wonderful gift. She doesn't claim to have sown or reaped or stored... She doesn't act like she's earned it. She has joy because her entire life was a love gift straight from Jesus... And it continues to be that even now.
She's like the geese. And as I go through life, I'm learning to trust God more. I'm learning to trust Him with the deep things and the heavy things. I'm learning to trust that He'll provide.
Thursday, September 18, 2014
Stepping Out Into the Unknown
Picture yourself in a pitch black room. You're standing up and you begin to walk.
Where are you headed?
What's the goal?
And what if you stub your toe?
There are so many questions. You don't know what's ahead next. And you may not understand why it's worth venturing into that unknown.
When we step into the unknown any number of things can attack us... However, the only thing that is sure to attack us is fear.
But...
1 John 4:18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.
The only reason we're afraid is because we don't perfectly trust the love of God for us. We don't trust fully that God has removed all penal consequence from us. Fear always involves negative retribution for an action. But God's love has placed that penalty on Christ for our sake!
Now, Picture yourself in a pitch black room again.
Close your eyes and take that first step. Trust the love of God for you. You're going to receive good for that step. There will be no penalty. There will be no error. Any error that exists, the punishment has gone to Christ. It's clean.
Now take another step and breathe. There will be no penalty for that step either. Trust the love of God that walks in you and with you. No penalty. No error. Trust Jesus with all that.
Another step. Trust the love of God. There will be no punishment. Another step. No error. No punishment. And suddenly, we're walking. And suddenly we're running.
And suddenly the darkness becomes light to us. And suddenly we see clearly the only thing that has ever really mattered: The love of God that guards our hearts and shepherds our feet. Suddenly we know that where we're going will always be right. The unknown is now known. The love of God for me will always be there.
Where are you headed?
What's the goal?
And what if you stub your toe?
There are so many questions. You don't know what's ahead next. And you may not understand why it's worth venturing into that unknown.
When we step into the unknown any number of things can attack us... However, the only thing that is sure to attack us is fear.
But...
1 John 4:18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.
The only reason we're afraid is because we don't perfectly trust the love of God for us. We don't trust fully that God has removed all penal consequence from us. Fear always involves negative retribution for an action. But God's love has placed that penalty on Christ for our sake!
Now, Picture yourself in a pitch black room again.
Close your eyes and take that first step. Trust the love of God for you. You're going to receive good for that step. There will be no penalty. There will be no error. Any error that exists, the punishment has gone to Christ. It's clean.
Now take another step and breathe. There will be no penalty for that step either. Trust the love of God that walks in you and with you. No penalty. No error. Trust Jesus with all that.
Another step. Trust the love of God. There will be no punishment. Another step. No error. No punishment. And suddenly, we're walking. And suddenly we're running.
And suddenly the darkness becomes light to us. And suddenly we see clearly the only thing that has ever really mattered: The love of God that guards our hearts and shepherds our feet. Suddenly we know that where we're going will always be right. The unknown is now known. The love of God for me will always be there.
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