“Love does not keep a record of wrongs.”
I Corinthians 13:5 TEV
Do you remember the story about the man who was bitten by the dog? When he learned the dog had rabies, he began making a list. The doctor told him there was no need to make a will, that the rabies could be cured. “Oh, I’m not making a will,” he replied. “I’m making a list of all the people I want to bite.”
Forgiveness is not always something that comes easy but it can be a great faith exercise. In my own personal experiences, this is the case. It is so difficult for me to forgive people for things that have happened but it's made so much easier if you look to Christ and ask him for help. The example of the sinner that points out the sliver in one mans eye while he has a plank in his own can be applied to my own life. Theoretically, it should be very simple for me to forgive those that need forgiving. I sin every day and every day I need to ask God to forgive me for the things I've done wrong so I should be more than willing to forgive the person that makes one mistake that happens to effect me. Realistically though, it's not always that easy. I think our human nature is to carry around these grudges and wait for a chance to get our revenge. Forgiving requires so many things from Christ. We need the humility to understand and know we are no better. We need trust and self control to know that God is in control and it is not for us to make sure the person that wronged us sees their mistake. If we can use Christ as our example and show the love he shows us, it is so much easier.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Failures Are Not Fatal
Thursday, July 24, 2008
“We must pay more careful attention…to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.”
Hebrews 2:1 NIV
I don't want to say that Max seems to sugar-coat his messages because although it seems that way, he is just constantly giving us the message that God wants us to hear- no matter how often or how far we turn away from God, by his grace, our mistakes are not fatal. With that being said, our mistakes do have consequences. In Hebrews 2:3 it says: "So what makes us think we can escape if we ignore this great salvation...". There are many things about God and his creation that are so far beyond us- things that are far beyond our comprehension but the guidelines he has laid down for us don't fit into this category. There is a logic to it. He gave us a set of rules to follow for our own good. As Max says, "If you lose your faith, you will probably do so gradually. You will let a few days slip by without consulting your compass. Your sails will go untrimmed. Your rigging will go unprepared. And worst of all, you will forget to anchor your boat. And, before you know it, you’ll be bouncing from wave to wave in stormy seas". God knows and we need to be aware that when we make one bad decision, it may seem like just that, one simple mistake that we can let go but there are consequences. This does need to be "the wrath of God"- look at drinking alcohol- too many drinks can seem like such a harmful and innocent mistake but there are so many consequences that we don't think of. Virtually every mistake we make, if we look at it carefully, we can see that there are consequences that result from it. Aside from the direct consequences of one mistake, we also start a process of moral decay that Max mentions- one mistake often leads to another. I know for myself this is so true. One day without prayer and devotion often leads to another and when I fail to include these things in my day, I notice the difference that day...funny how quickly the devil can get a hold on us. Thankfuly, God is always waiting at the door. We simply need to open it and let him back in!
“We must pay more careful attention…to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.”
Hebrews 2:1 NIV
I don't want to say that Max seems to sugar-coat his messages because although it seems that way, he is just constantly giving us the message that God wants us to hear- no matter how often or how far we turn away from God, by his grace, our mistakes are not fatal. With that being said, our mistakes do have consequences. In Hebrews 2:3 it says: "So what makes us think we can escape if we ignore this great salvation...". There are many things about God and his creation that are so far beyond us- things that are far beyond our comprehension but the guidelines he has laid down for us don't fit into this category. There is a logic to it. He gave us a set of rules to follow for our own good. As Max says, "If you lose your faith, you will probably do so gradually. You will let a few days slip by without consulting your compass. Your sails will go untrimmed. Your rigging will go unprepared. And worst of all, you will forget to anchor your boat. And, before you know it, you’ll be bouncing from wave to wave in stormy seas". God knows and we need to be aware that when we make one bad decision, it may seem like just that, one simple mistake that we can let go but there are consequences. This does need to be "the wrath of God"- look at drinking alcohol- too many drinks can seem like such a harmful and innocent mistake but there are so many consequences that we don't think of. Virtually every mistake we make, if we look at it carefully, we can see that there are consequences that result from it. Aside from the direct consequences of one mistake, we also start a process of moral decay that Max mentions- one mistake often leads to another. I know for myself this is so true. One day without prayer and devotion often leads to another and when I fail to include these things in my day, I notice the difference that day...funny how quickly the devil can get a hold on us. Thankfuly, God is always waiting at the door. We simply need to open it and let him back in!
Monday, July 14, 2008
God Forgets
Monday, July 14, 2008
"Bless the LORD,…who forgives all your iniquities."
PSALM 103:1-2 NKJV
Simple but hard to accept. Because of what Christ did for us, all we need to do is ask him and he'll completley take it all away from us. Too simple. It seems to go against our human nature. Even as I write this, I can think of those sins that I've asked God to forgive me for and I still have this feeling like he could use them against me at some point. Maybe because I do it all the time. As Christians, we need to forgive in the same way. When we accept him, he is in us and we are made new each and every time we ask him. I feel like we shouldn't forget though- we need to learn from our mistakes- I know that if I can remember how it felt when mistakes were made- that feeling of having drifted away from what I knew was right and what he wanted for me- I can remember this the next time I am tempted or am confronted with that same sin. I think the most important thing is that we realize God has completely forgiven us and we should not feel guilt for what happened in that past because if we do, we are questioning his word. We need to truly accept that the sins of our past and really gone. As with everything else that happens to us in our lives, God uses our sin and our mistakes to make us better. Max uses a great metaphor in his book "Come Thirsty". He tells the story of a group of fishermen and the local Inn after a day of fishing. One of the men is enthusiastically telling the story of a fish that got away. His wild arm motions knock the passing waitress's tea tray against a white wall, leaving a big brown stain on the wall. The owner comes over and sees the mark and complains that the wall will need to be repainted. An artist hears him and asks him if he can work with the stain and that maybe he won't need to repaint it. The artist ends up using the stain in the creation of a beutiful wild life painting, making the wall more beautiful then it was before. And that is truly amazing. Only God- only the one true God- could take the bad in us and use it for good!
"Bless the LORD,…who forgives all your iniquities."
PSALM 103:1-2 NKJV
Simple but hard to accept. Because of what Christ did for us, all we need to do is ask him and he'll completley take it all away from us. Too simple. It seems to go against our human nature. Even as I write this, I can think of those sins that I've asked God to forgive me for and I still have this feeling like he could use them against me at some point. Maybe because I do it all the time. As Christians, we need to forgive in the same way. When we accept him, he is in us and we are made new each and every time we ask him. I feel like we shouldn't forget though- we need to learn from our mistakes- I know that if I can remember how it felt when mistakes were made- that feeling of having drifted away from what I knew was right and what he wanted for me- I can remember this the next time I am tempted or am confronted with that same sin. I think the most important thing is that we realize God has completely forgiven us and we should not feel guilt for what happened in that past because if we do, we are questioning his word. We need to truly accept that the sins of our past and really gone. As with everything else that happens to us in our lives, God uses our sin and our mistakes to make us better. Max uses a great metaphor in his book "Come Thirsty". He tells the story of a group of fishermen and the local Inn after a day of fishing. One of the men is enthusiastically telling the story of a fish that got away. His wild arm motions knock the passing waitress's tea tray against a white wall, leaving a big brown stain on the wall. The owner comes over and sees the mark and complains that the wall will need to be repainted. An artist hears him and asks him if he can work with the stain and that maybe he won't need to repaint it. The artist ends up using the stain in the creation of a beutiful wild life painting, making the wall more beautiful then it was before. And that is truly amazing. Only God- only the one true God- could take the bad in us and use it for good!
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
They'll know...
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
“I was without clothes, and you gave me something to wear.”
Matthew 25:36
So much can be said without saying a word...the old cliche "actions speak louder than words" still carries so much truth to it. Max gave the example of Mary:
"The baby Jesus, still wet from the womb, was cold and chilled. So this mother did what any mother would do; she did what love does: She covered him." Max also quotes from Matthew when Jesus says in chapter 25, I was without clothes and you gave me something to wear. We are presented with so many opportunities everyday to show our love for Jesus. In a world where we are surrounded by information, so many people telling us so many different things, I think maybe the best form of evangelism is through our actions. So many non-believers look at Christians or people of the church as hypocrites- looking down at them from their hight horse. By not saying anything and just acting out of complete love for Jesus, we can accomplish so much! The difficult part is to do this in all situations. Sometimes it's easy but other times, we would like nothing more than to turn our backs, pretend we didn't see or just tell ourselves we've done all we can. There are situations in my own life where I've simply given up on the person, telling myself it's up to them now, I've said my peice. To an extent this is true, for a person to come to God, it is up to them and God but I need to stick with them. I don't need to be constantly telling them what they need to do but I can support them and show them God's love through my own actions...perseverence is something that doesn't come easy otherwise the definition of the word simply wouldn't make sense.
“I was without clothes, and you gave me something to wear.”
Matthew 25:36
So much can be said without saying a word...the old cliche "actions speak louder than words" still carries so much truth to it. Max gave the example of Mary:
"The baby Jesus, still wet from the womb, was cold and chilled. So this mother did what any mother would do; she did what love does: She covered him." Max also quotes from Matthew when Jesus says in chapter 25, I was without clothes and you gave me something to wear. We are presented with so many opportunities everyday to show our love for Jesus. In a world where we are surrounded by information, so many people telling us so many different things, I think maybe the best form of evangelism is through our actions. So many non-believers look at Christians or people of the church as hypocrites- looking down at them from their hight horse. By not saying anything and just acting out of complete love for Jesus, we can accomplish so much! The difficult part is to do this in all situations. Sometimes it's easy but other times, we would like nothing more than to turn our backs, pretend we didn't see or just tell ourselves we've done all we can. There are situations in my own life where I've simply given up on the person, telling myself it's up to them now, I've said my peice. To an extent this is true, for a person to come to God, it is up to them and God but I need to stick with them. I don't need to be constantly telling them what they need to do but I can support them and show them God's love through my own actions...perseverence is something that doesn't come easy otherwise the definition of the word simply wouldn't make sense.
Monday, April 28, 2008
Thank you
Thank You
Monday, April 28, 2008
“Oh, love the Lord, all you His saints! For the Lord preserves the faithful.”
Psalm 31:23 NKJV
Max talks about saying thank you to all those who carry out the work of our God- all of his saints- teachers, pastors, missionaries, etc. The list goes on and on because we all have a job to do. The one message we get from Jesus throughout his time on earth was to be "fishers of men". We are all disciples. We have been called to serve him in many different capacities. I am so thankful to so many people in my life for what they've done for me, the help they have provided for me in my walk with God but it's not enough for me to simply say thank you and continue on with my life. I also have a job to do. Sometimes when I sit and think about this I start to get ancy...I want to get out and do something. Studying sociology has stirred this up even more. K.P. Yohannan said some pretty powerful things in his book about how the developing world doesn't need social programs, they don't need people telling them how to improve their health care and their education system. They need people to tell them about God. The problems of the developing world are not social problems, they are not having God in their lives problems. K.P. is from India where evidence of this is so clear and simple. The majority of Indians believe in a religion that tells them people that their great ancestors, if they were pure and holy would reincarnate to the body of a cow. People go hungry, going with less than one meal per day and they are giving what little food they do have to cows. Good point from a man of God. That being said, I'm not sure my gift is evengalizing the way K.P has but I know there are many different ways to evanggelize. They will know we are Christians by our love. There are so many projects I want to be a part of and I think through these projects, God will give me the opportunity to evengelize and tell others about Him. I can't wait to get started!
Monday, April 28, 2008
“Oh, love the Lord, all you His saints! For the Lord preserves the faithful.”
Psalm 31:23 NKJV
Max talks about saying thank you to all those who carry out the work of our God- all of his saints- teachers, pastors, missionaries, etc. The list goes on and on because we all have a job to do. The one message we get from Jesus throughout his time on earth was to be "fishers of men". We are all disciples. We have been called to serve him in many different capacities. I am so thankful to so many people in my life for what they've done for me, the help they have provided for me in my walk with God but it's not enough for me to simply say thank you and continue on with my life. I also have a job to do. Sometimes when I sit and think about this I start to get ancy...I want to get out and do something. Studying sociology has stirred this up even more. K.P. Yohannan said some pretty powerful things in his book about how the developing world doesn't need social programs, they don't need people telling them how to improve their health care and their education system. They need people to tell them about God. The problems of the developing world are not social problems, they are not having God in their lives problems. K.P. is from India where evidence of this is so clear and simple. The majority of Indians believe in a religion that tells them people that their great ancestors, if they were pure and holy would reincarnate to the body of a cow. People go hungry, going with less than one meal per day and they are giving what little food they do have to cows. Good point from a man of God. That being said, I'm not sure my gift is evengalizing the way K.P has but I know there are many different ways to evanggelize. They will know we are Christians by our love. There are so many projects I want to be a part of and I think through these projects, God will give me the opportunity to evengelize and tell others about Him. I can't wait to get started!
Sunday, April 20, 2008
reason vs. believing without seeing
We, as mankind, need to find reason and justify things before we can accept it as truth, this is just natural. People want to understand and make sense of something before they can fully call it their own. Theories or doctrines will be studied until a level of understanding is gained, until then, it is difficult for someone to mentally embrace and pursue their belief. An example of this is the path that a one takes before converting to beliefs, for example, the teachings of Ron Hubert’s Scientology. You often hear of reports of people coming to accept a belief after years of study, they feel it “benefits humanity” or “works for their lifestyle”, they are comfortable with it only after they come to a level of understanding.We do not know Christ by our minds figuring it out, and slowly coming to some realization and converting, because our minds can never understand who Christ is. Christ is known to us by revelation, by the Holy Spirit, supernaturally! Jesus comes to people by being proclaimed not by being explained. The natural instinct of man is to explain, to make it reasonable , to make it understandable. But Jesus is so much more than us that He can never be reasoned, can never be understood by the natural mind, He can only be revealed by the Holy Spirit. Praise God!And with this supernatural revelation comes a new life. We are no longer are bound to sin for we have been liberated by His blood, we live by the grace of God, and walk in His light. He is proclaimed through our changed lives, and we must be ready to give explanation for this change. Give God the glory and rejoice in the life He has given us. Colossians 1:16 All things were created through Him and for Him. This means for His glory! Enjoying life and embracing what God had created for us is paralleled to glorifying Him and joyfully displaying His supremacy.
Covered with Christ
Your life is now hidden with Christ in God.
Colossians 3:3 NIV
Funny how often we can be thinking about something. We can't find the answer and then it's laid out for us right after. I can remember on several different occasions at the dinner table, growing up having family discussions and not really coming to any conclusion that we were all willing to accept. We would end the discussion and start our devotions and what we would read from the
Bible was like a response from God. Anyway, it happened to me again. I was just taking a shower thinking about this- basically what I wrote to myslef in a few blogs ago and not really being happy with my own answer. The issue was this idea about how God gives us choice- it's for us to decide if we want to follow him so where do we draw the line...
Max gives me such a great response to this question. "Christians are like their ancestor Abel. We come to God by virtue of the flock. Cain came with the work of his own hands. God turned him away." As colossians says, when we come to God, there really isn't a choice, we don't need to make decisions anymore. We "set our sights on the realities of heaven". I guess the point is that yes we're going to make mistakes because sometimes we loose focus but as long as we keep our eyes focused on Him and we're living a righteous life- because our life is hidden with Christ- it's not us making the right decisions, it' not really even us
being righteous, it's Jesus' grace bestowed upon us.
If I've really given my life over to him, he
takes away all of the difficult decisions.
Colossians 3:3 NIV
Funny how often we can be thinking about something. We can't find the answer and then it's laid out for us right after. I can remember on several different occasions at the dinner table, growing up having family discussions and not really coming to any conclusion that we were all willing to accept. We would end the discussion and start our devotions and what we would read from the
Bible was like a response from God. Anyway, it happened to me again. I was just taking a shower thinking about this- basically what I wrote to myslef in a few blogs ago and not really being happy with my own answer. The issue was this idea about how God gives us choice- it's for us to decide if we want to follow him so where do we draw the line...
Max gives me such a great response to this question. "Christians are like their ancestor Abel. We come to God by virtue of the flock. Cain came with the work of his own hands. God turned him away." As colossians says, when we come to God, there really isn't a choice, we don't need to make decisions anymore. We "set our sights on the realities of heaven". I guess the point is that yes we're going to make mistakes because sometimes we loose focus but as long as we keep our eyes focused on Him and we're living a righteous life- because our life is hidden with Christ- it's not us making the right decisions, it' not really even us
being righteous, it's Jesus' grace bestowed upon us.
If I've really given my life over to him, he
takes away all of the difficult decisions.
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