Over the past month, Jesus has been reminding and challenging Vanessa and I. When we think about the day when we will meet our Loving Savior, we ponder what our hands will do, what our lips will say, and what our minds will think? Then I think about our fleeting lives today, what are my hands doing, what are my lips saying, and what is my mind thinking? These past few months, I have been holding on to things of this world with a worthless grip. I have been constantly thinking about how to improve our apartment, what new music I could own, or other fanciful new things I could buy. New things drove my mind’s passions. As a result, weak and brief prayers have flowed from lips. When I hung around others, I was dwelling on how I could pridefully show off what I bought, rather than how I could encourage someone with the life changing words of Jesus.
Jesus works through our failures and gives us mercy to see where we have led ourselves. One Sunday, Pastor Jim spoke on Psalm 16, reminding me that my confidence should be in our God rather than in the fading things of this life that seem to give security. The Psalmist says, “The Lord is my portion of my inheritance and my cup; You support my lot.” God is the one who provides my every need. He also says, “I have set the Lord continually before me; because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.” Am I continually thinking about how I can live my life for Jesus?
The next Saturday, ACTS, our Sunday School group, raised money for missionaries Justin & Amy Culp by putting on a garage sale. That day we made about $200. We made a last minute decision to go ahead and do the sale again on Sunday morning. We prayed and asked Jesus to provide for people to come, then we quickly hung up signs. By the end we raised over $500. Jesus faithfully answered our prayers.
That same day, the Antioch High School Ministry presented to our church their mission trip to Peru. They led worship with grateful hearts lifted to their Savior because of the many wondrous works Jesus performed in their lives and the lives that were touched with their love and the life-transforming gospel. They told the story of how a pastor’s son needed a new wheelchair, but they did not have the money to get him one. The students, by their own initiative, pooled their souvenir money together and raised more than enough to meet the need. The pastor’s eyes filled with tears at the amazement of how Jesus worked through the students hearts to help provide.
After hearing over and over again messages of prayer and dependence on Jesus, Vanessa and I decided to change our life style. We sat down and wrote in my journal how we are to live differently in the area of prayer and dependence.
In the area of prayer:
1. We purposefully spend time thinking about and praying for others. Throughout the day, when someone shares a need, instead of saying we will pray for them and then forget about it later, we pray with or for that person immediately.
2. We pray to Jesus for the little and big things. No matter what time of day it is and no matter how seemingly small and insignificant a matter may be, we are to bring that to God, expecting Him to answer in His timing.
In the area of Dependence:
1. We release our grip on the vanishing stuff that we own, realizing that Jesus is the one who owns everything.
2. We allow the Holy Spirit to show us how we can help those around us in need. A small example is when my mom gave my brother a laptop for his birthday. He said he needed a backpack for the laptop. I just bought a laptop backpack from a garage sale and had sewn the hole on the top of the bag. I had a choice to release the backpack to meet the need or selfishly keep it for myself. Now my brother has a backpack to hold his laptop.
Being able to let go material things and start giving them away, and to pray more often and with a purpose, has helped in many ways: 1. I am starting to feel more at peace with what Jesus has provided for us up to this very moment. Everything I have right now is enough to glorify Jesus. 2. I am starting to feel more in tune with physical and spiritual needs of those around me. 3. I am starting to resist stuffing my day full of useless activities. 4. Instead of thinking about the next material item I can buy, I am starting to think more about how I can encourage others.
Everything that I have mentioned are continual reminders that Jesus will bring to our attention over and over again for the rest of our lives. I pray that one day at a time Jesus will help us to use our hands to release our grip on material things of this life and give them away to those in need; use our lips to pray and encourage others; and to use our minds to best think about how we can glorify His name. I pray that this has been an encouragement to you as you live for Jesus one day at a time.
Thursday, August 2, 2012
Saturday, March 17, 2012
Making Decisions
There are many books written on the will of God. What is the will of God? The meaning can be lost in the onslaught of foolish mystic tendencies. These include praying and waiting to receive a feeling of peace or unpeace in the gut about a certain decision. Not to say that one will not recieve a spiritual peace about a decision based on the will of God. Our faith is based on the truthful fact of the gospel and because of that fact we have certain feelings. Let us figure out what will of God is and some practical questions to ask when seeking to make a decision on a certain matter.
First off, we know that God has a sovereign will, meaning he is in control of everything that goes on in the universe. God's sovereign will cannot be fully understood and sometimes it really leaves us asking the question why in certain situations. But we can be sure that he knows what is best for us.
Next we have God's revealed will. When we, as Christians, are trying to understand what God wants us to do in regard to a certain decision we need focus on His scriptures. When faced with seemingly insignificant decisions or monumental decisions there are basic biblical questions that we can ask ourselves.
1. Will it glorify God?
I Corinthians 10:31 says, "Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." How do we know what will glorify God? From his revealed will. Our relationship with God is most important. If the action will not glorify God, then don't do it.
2. Will it build up other believers?
Ephesians 4:15-16 says, "from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love." A close relationship with God expects a edifying relationship with believers. The New Testament, especially Ephesians, is filled with examples, rebukes, and commands on how to build up our fellow believer.
3. Will it build a good witness with unbelievers?
1 Peter 2:12 says, "Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation." As believers one of our main tasks is bringing the gospel of our Lord to the world. God expects certain guidelines on how we are to act toward the unbeliever as we do this. 1 Peter is a helpful book on figuring out how to behave toward the unbeliever.
4. Will it be the wisest thing to do?
Ephesians 5:15 says, "Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil. So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is." Right after this verse Paul reveals some of God's will to help us be wise or careful in our walk with other believers. Proverbs is filled with this principle of being wise instead of foolish in our decisions and actions toward others.
There are more questions we could add, but this is a basic place to start. Some other helpful tips are: get wise counsel (not foolish, people telling you what you want to hear kind of counsel), so that you can receive good advice; get a accountability partner that will help you think through these questions and search scriptures for answers; and study scripture often, so that you can understandably know the revealed will of God.
Some decision are really hard to make. If you have to choose between two really good decisions, then do your best and choose. God will not punish you for choosing one good choice over another. If you have sought His will as revealed is scripture, know that your decision is what God wants you to do. You don't have to wait for a gut feeling to know if it is the will of God. Let His revealed will be your guide. I pray this is helpful advice in making decisions in your daily life.
First off, we know that God has a sovereign will, meaning he is in control of everything that goes on in the universe. God's sovereign will cannot be fully understood and sometimes it really leaves us asking the question why in certain situations. But we can be sure that he knows what is best for us.
Next we have God's revealed will. When we, as Christians, are trying to understand what God wants us to do in regard to a certain decision we need focus on His scriptures. When faced with seemingly insignificant decisions or monumental decisions there are basic biblical questions that we can ask ourselves.
1. Will it glorify God?
I Corinthians 10:31 says, "Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." How do we know what will glorify God? From his revealed will. Our relationship with God is most important. If the action will not glorify God, then don't do it.
2. Will it build up other believers?
Ephesians 4:15-16 says, "from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love." A close relationship with God expects a edifying relationship with believers. The New Testament, especially Ephesians, is filled with examples, rebukes, and commands on how to build up our fellow believer.
3. Will it build a good witness with unbelievers?
1 Peter 2:12 says, "Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation." As believers one of our main tasks is bringing the gospel of our Lord to the world. God expects certain guidelines on how we are to act toward the unbeliever as we do this. 1 Peter is a helpful book on figuring out how to behave toward the unbeliever.
4. Will it be the wisest thing to do?
Ephesians 5:15 says, "Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil. So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is." Right after this verse Paul reveals some of God's will to help us be wise or careful in our walk with other believers. Proverbs is filled with this principle of being wise instead of foolish in our decisions and actions toward others.
There are more questions we could add, but this is a basic place to start. Some other helpful tips are: get wise counsel (not foolish, people telling you what you want to hear kind of counsel), so that you can receive good advice; get a accountability partner that will help you think through these questions and search scriptures for answers; and study scripture often, so that you can understandably know the revealed will of God.
Some decision are really hard to make. If you have to choose between two really good decisions, then do your best and choose. God will not punish you for choosing one good choice over another. If you have sought His will as revealed is scripture, know that your decision is what God wants you to do. You don't have to wait for a gut feeling to know if it is the will of God. Let His revealed will be your guide. I pray this is helpful advice in making decisions in your daily life.
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Trusting
These past few weeks have been really hectic for Vanessa and I. We started another school semester, our car's head gasket blew, family situations changed, on the I am on the verge of getting hired for a job at Gillis. This past Saturday I felt overwhelmed with everything. A brother in Christ encouraged me to spend a period of time praying and resting my anxiety in the Jesus' hands. That I did, and the benefits were great. I thought about the experiences in relation to who God is and how he is involved with His people.
A month a ago Vanessa and I were discussing how everything was going so well and how everything was being provided for. We had this feeling of confidence in ourselves. Then two weeks later Jesus in his sovereignty allowed us to experience the pressures of life in order to be brought to our knees in our trust before Him. We were definitely reminded that God wants our complete trust and dependence in Him and not in ourselves. I know God will have to repeatedly remind us of this Biblical truth throughout our lives.
I am also reminded of 1 Peter 5:5-8 which says, "You younger men, likewise, be subject to your elders; and all of you cloth yourselves with humility toward one another, for God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Therefore humble yoursleves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you. Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour."
Vanessa and I are praying this experience would be a very good reminder for us to put our total trust and dependence in Christ and give us an opportunity to show that God is faithful to provide.
A month a ago Vanessa and I were discussing how everything was going so well and how everything was being provided for. We had this feeling of confidence in ourselves. Then two weeks later Jesus in his sovereignty allowed us to experience the pressures of life in order to be brought to our knees in our trust before Him. We were definitely reminded that God wants our complete trust and dependence in Him and not in ourselves. I know God will have to repeatedly remind us of this Biblical truth throughout our lives.
I am also reminded of 1 Peter 5:5-8 which says, "You younger men, likewise, be subject to your elders; and all of you cloth yourselves with humility toward one another, for God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Therefore humble yoursleves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you. Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour."
Vanessa and I are praying this experience would be a very good reminder for us to put our total trust and dependence in Christ and give us an opportunity to show that God is faithful to provide.
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