There is this wonderful and liberating paradox we run across in the Christian life. First we are to take responsibility for our actions, and we have free will to do so. We can not palm off the blame on the devil as Flip Wilson use to say, "The Devil made me do it". We are decision makers and can choose the path we take. On the other hand we are to be surrendered to God. Our lives are to be totally laid before Him.
Our lives are to be projected onto the greater backdrop of the Lordship of Jesus. To call Jesus Lord is to state your relinquishing of control to Him.
When we invite the Holy Spirit to fill us we are no longer calling the shots. Even our self control becomes a product of His work (Galatians 5:22-23) We don't get to be in union with God's Spirit so we can choose the road we will travel. The action of the Holy Spirit is referred to as "like a wind" in the New Testament (John 3, Acts 2); this is not a wind that you can give orders to, you can not command this wind, it "goes where it wills". If you are going to partner with the Holy Spirit you must surrender and align yourself with God's agenda, and I assure you He is up to something.
We can close ourselves off and go through the motions of being a Christian, impress people, feel good about ourselves, but until we surrender to God we can never be totally a partner with the work of the Holy Spirit; God in you.
But God's plan is send us out into the world to testify to His great works and love. We can not do this without Him at the wheel. We need to surrender that wheel to him; As you surrender to His Lordship, then the Holy Spirit of God can work through us.
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Homecoming
We bring the Word of God to the world because of what we have seen God do in our own lives; we follow the commands of Jesus to be a witness to the world and makers of disciples. But what is our motivation? What is our true intent?
First and foremost we should be motivated by our love for God "John 14:21
Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”, but what about those we call "the lost", how much do we love them? Are we motivated by the immense and extravagant love that God has for them or are we just trying to fill a pew, or like some evangelist gunslinger, put another notch in our bible for leading someone in "the sinners prayer"?
I find it interesting that in the descriptions in the bible of when believers gathered there are no alter calls mentioned, no sinners prayer, no evangelism. What is depicted is a community of people getting together to share life, and love, and all the other blessings of God. And when evangelism is portrayed it is out in the streets and homes; wherever life happens, and people are. The community that meets for meals and prayers and teachings also meets in the world.
When the Church is functioning as God intended, its' power and potential is unlimited. When we break out of the "box" of our beautiful buildings and comfortable pews then we can be examples of the miraculous life God desires for us. We need to become a Church that is "working right". We are the Body of Christ; we are His hands and feet, His voice and eyes, and yes, His love and compassion. We can comfort the grieving and heal the broken. We can build bridges for the one who is seeking and offer truth to the confused. We reach out to the lost, the lonely, the un-loved.
A friend of mine once stated "I don't understand why people spend so much of their time in bars". I replied "For the same reason we go to church, for fellowship".
The church is a family, and the world is waiting to be welcomed home.
“When love, acceptance and forgiveness prevail, the church becomes what Jesus was in the world: a center of love, designed for the healing of broken people, and a force for God… One of the greatest services a church can offer a community is to provide a place for people to be brought to wholeness – to be healed physically, spiritually and emotionally… People are fragmented. They are torn. Life doesn’t work for them because they are without Jesus... They need a place to be healed.” (Jerry Cook).
First and foremost we should be motivated by our love for God "John 14:21
Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”, but what about those we call "the lost", how much do we love them? Are we motivated by the immense and extravagant love that God has for them or are we just trying to fill a pew, or like some evangelist gunslinger, put another notch in our bible for leading someone in "the sinners prayer"?
I find it interesting that in the descriptions in the bible of when believers gathered there are no alter calls mentioned, no sinners prayer, no evangelism. What is depicted is a community of people getting together to share life, and love, and all the other blessings of God. And when evangelism is portrayed it is out in the streets and homes; wherever life happens, and people are. The community that meets for meals and prayers and teachings also meets in the world.
When the Church is functioning as God intended, its' power and potential is unlimited. When we break out of the "box" of our beautiful buildings and comfortable pews then we can be examples of the miraculous life God desires for us. We need to become a Church that is "working right". We are the Body of Christ; we are His hands and feet, His voice and eyes, and yes, His love and compassion. We can comfort the grieving and heal the broken. We can build bridges for the one who is seeking and offer truth to the confused. We reach out to the lost, the lonely, the un-loved.
A friend of mine once stated "I don't understand why people spend so much of their time in bars". I replied "For the same reason we go to church, for fellowship".
The church is a family, and the world is waiting to be welcomed home.
“When love, acceptance and forgiveness prevail, the church becomes what Jesus was in the world: a center of love, designed for the healing of broken people, and a force for God… One of the greatest services a church can offer a community is to provide a place for people to be brought to wholeness – to be healed physically, spiritually and emotionally… People are fragmented. They are torn. Life doesn’t work for them because they are without Jesus... They need a place to be healed.” (Jerry Cook).
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Faith
Faith is living as if what can not be seen or touched exists - Faith is the relinquishing of control; we give up sensory affirmation of what is true and real; we begin walking in the Kingdom of God.
Faith is releasing our will to truly accept and receive God's creation. We can no longer configure the world as we would like it, but release to God in a merging of visible and invisible. By faith we embrace life as God's gift and open ourselves not only to God himself but to what He's doing.
Faith is releasing our will to truly accept and receive God's creation. We can no longer configure the world as we would like it, but release to God in a merging of visible and invisible. By faith we embrace life as God's gift and open ourselves not only to God himself but to what He's doing.
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