"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.
Monday, September 29, 2014
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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