As I was reading this today it really spoke to me. This king of Israel, Josiah, began his reign at the age of 8, his father Amon was no example of a Godly man, nor his grandfather Manasseh before him. Both of them did great evil in the eyes of the Lord. But Josaih did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, and walked in all the ways of David. After ruling for 18 years, the Book of Law was found after being lost during the reign of the evil kings.
Upon hearing from the Book of Law he was incredibly distraught by all the things the Israelites were doing. He was grieved by how far the Israelites had strayed from God’s path. What did Josiah do you might ask? He changed the course of the entire nation. He went out and destroyed all the idols and shrines to all other gods. He brought ends to all sorts of wicked practices including human sacrifice.
The thing that struck me most about all of this is that Josiah managed to do what was right before the Lord without even knowing exactly what that entailed. I know that many times I do things I shouldn't, I am guilty of stumbling off the path. The worst part about that is that I have two bibles within arm’s reach at all times, and I still do it. Knowing fully what God desires from me and what path I should follow I don't even manage to successfully apply it to myself. Josiah was able to change an entire nation and to bring it in line with God's word. He practices obedience to God that is rivaled by no other king of Israel.
His actions can be summed up in three steps.
1. He recognized the sin.
2. He eliminated sinful practices.
3. He attacked the causes of sin.
The first one is the easiest of the three. Sin is generally hard to identify. Sin can be defined pretty generally as anything that separates you from God. Having access to God’s Word means we should know what we are not to do if we want to have a relationship with God. However, knowing what to not do and not doing it are two completely different things which brings me to the second point.
Eliminating the sinful practices can be a lot harder than recognizing them. There are many times when I’m doing something that I know I probably shouldn’t because I know they aren’t right, I know I’m not alone in this. It’s so easy to get caught up in doing something just because the people around you are doing it. Or because it’s something you’ve done for so long and you kind of just end up doing anyway. It could also possibly even be something society tries to tell us that it’s really not that bad and ok to do. Or maybe because it’s hard to change you just decide that you aren’t going to do it.
Making the necessary changes in behavior only goes so far. Removing causes of sin can be the hardest of them all. Sometimes it involves leaving a situation, possibly losing friends or giving up something you’ve done for years and love. We are called to leave worldly things behind, attachments that inhibit our spiritual growth and the furthering of our relationship with Christ.
Friday, July 23, 2010
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Romans 12:2 "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world..."
"...but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will."
I used to be so insecure; I didn’t feel like I personally had anything to offer to anyone so I sought to be like anyone else. I spent so long trying to conform to the standards of others. Always trying to fit in and feel like I belong, being jealous of what others have or can do. To do this however, is to discredit God, to say that he didn’t do a good enough job creating me, that He should give me more. God didn’t mean for us to be the same, He created us to all be different, with diverse abilities and dissimilar purposes. Romans 12:6 says “We have different gifts, according to the grace given to us.” In my pursuit of conformity I was giving up what God gave me, I was denying my God given purpose in favor of someone else. I was ineffective in my pursuits because I was trying to use abilities not given to me to fulfill a purpose that wasn’t mine.
1 Peter 4:10 says “Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms. We are called to use our own gifts nowhere does the bible say that we should try to use the gifts of others. This passage also makes another important point, our gifts are not for our sole benefit, they are meant to be used in the service of others as a demonstration of God’s grace. The purpose of our gifts is the same, serving others, but in different ways and different capacities.
Can I claim total victory in this area? No, no one can claim total victory; we all covet something or someone’s ability at some time or another. Realizing we are struggling and confronting our struggles is the first step, if we never realize that we need change, we will never change. Once we confront our struggle with jealousy, with desires of conformity or with coveting we can take it to God and begin to work on letting it go and giving it to God. Matthew 11:28-29 says “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Jesus calls us to give our burdens to Him, He promises to take them from us and give us rest in Him. Trust in Him and no struggle will be overwhelming, no burden too heavy. In Jesus I have faith, I have hope, I have love and I have rest.
I used to be so insecure; I didn’t feel like I personally had anything to offer to anyone so I sought to be like anyone else. I spent so long trying to conform to the standards of others. Always trying to fit in and feel like I belong, being jealous of what others have or can do. To do this however, is to discredit God, to say that he didn’t do a good enough job creating me, that He should give me more. God didn’t mean for us to be the same, He created us to all be different, with diverse abilities and dissimilar purposes. Romans 12:6 says “We have different gifts, according to the grace given to us.” In my pursuit of conformity I was giving up what God gave me, I was denying my God given purpose in favor of someone else. I was ineffective in my pursuits because I was trying to use abilities not given to me to fulfill a purpose that wasn’t mine.
1 Peter 4:10 says “Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms. We are called to use our own gifts nowhere does the bible say that we should try to use the gifts of others. This passage also makes another important point, our gifts are not for our sole benefit, they are meant to be used in the service of others as a demonstration of God’s grace. The purpose of our gifts is the same, serving others, but in different ways and different capacities.
Can I claim total victory in this area? No, no one can claim total victory; we all covet something or someone’s ability at some time or another. Realizing we are struggling and confronting our struggles is the first step, if we never realize that we need change, we will never change. Once we confront our struggle with jealousy, with desires of conformity or with coveting we can take it to God and begin to work on letting it go and giving it to God. Matthew 11:28-29 says “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Jesus calls us to give our burdens to Him, He promises to take them from us and give us rest in Him. Trust in Him and no struggle will be overwhelming, no burden too heavy. In Jesus I have faith, I have hope, I have love and I have rest.
Philippians 2:3 "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit..."
When God places things on my heart I write about them. I like write about it and share it, mainly because it's usually something I struggle with, in hopes of perhaps helping to encourage others dealing with the same thing. Even if only because it helps them to know they aren’t alone in their struggles.
"...but in humility consider others better than yourselves."
To be blunt, I can be extremely selfish, so often I focus on doing things my way, on having what I want. One huge example of selfishness was this last week during CRU’s Big Break in Panama City Beach. I was sick and I definitely knew it, but rather than pulling back and reducing my exposure to the other people and trying to protect them from getting ill, I put myself first. My attitude was pretty much, I paid $270 for this trip I’m wanted to enjoy it, I wanted to meet people, I wanted and I wanted. I can hear myself saying it many times when people said I should rest my voice, which I had lost due to illness. I told them I wanted to get the most out of the trip. I went there to serve God, and I did, but I also let it become very much about me, which it wasn’t and shouldn’t have been.
It is ok to want things, nowhere does the bible tell us we have should have no self-interests, but when you become so self-interested that we aren’t looking out for the interests of others. When this becomes true is when self-interests become problems. Philippians 2:4 says “Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.” That week I failed to live that out. I put every single person I came across at risk of illness because I wanted. I did not live by the attitude that Jesus lived out and calls us to live, Philippians 2:7-8 “but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death--even death on a cross!” He calls us to self-sacrificing humility and love for all people. Reading this scripture really broke me.
I know that I can be selfish at times, to deny it would be lying, but I always rationalized it, I’m really good at rationalizing, by saying to myself that if I serve others enough a little selfishness is ok. However, I’m pretty sure that would be selfish serving and isn’t very pleasing to God. I love to serve, and God calls us to serve each other and finds loving humble service pleasing, but serving to make ourselves feel better about our other sins is serving with the wrong heart attitude. The last part of the passage hit me hardest, to think that the Son of God came to earth, humbling Himself, giving up his seat of glory to suffer, be humiliated and die for me. It's not so much that I've never thought about it, because it's something on my mind often, it just happened to resonate strongly with me in this instance. But if Jesus can give so much for me, I can let go of my desire to have things my way and serve others with pure intentions and a heart pleasing to God. Of course, I know I can’t do it alone, as Jesus said in Matthew 19:26 “’With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.’” The first part is Jesus referring to man being unable to attain salvation alone, but the second part is important. With God all things are possible, not some things or most things, but all things. That is our God, and He is amazing!
"...but in humility consider others better than yourselves."
To be blunt, I can be extremely selfish, so often I focus on doing things my way, on having what I want. One huge example of selfishness was this last week during CRU’s Big Break in Panama City Beach. I was sick and I definitely knew it, but rather than pulling back and reducing my exposure to the other people and trying to protect them from getting ill, I put myself first. My attitude was pretty much, I paid $270 for this trip I’m wanted to enjoy it, I wanted to meet people, I wanted and I wanted. I can hear myself saying it many times when people said I should rest my voice, which I had lost due to illness. I told them I wanted to get the most out of the trip. I went there to serve God, and I did, but I also let it become very much about me, which it wasn’t and shouldn’t have been.
It is ok to want things, nowhere does the bible tell us we have should have no self-interests, but when you become so self-interested that we aren’t looking out for the interests of others. When this becomes true is when self-interests become problems. Philippians 2:4 says “Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.” That week I failed to live that out. I put every single person I came across at risk of illness because I wanted. I did not live by the attitude that Jesus lived out and calls us to live, Philippians 2:7-8 “but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death--even death on a cross!” He calls us to self-sacrificing humility and love for all people. Reading this scripture really broke me.
I know that I can be selfish at times, to deny it would be lying, but I always rationalized it, I’m really good at rationalizing, by saying to myself that if I serve others enough a little selfishness is ok. However, I’m pretty sure that would be selfish serving and isn’t very pleasing to God. I love to serve, and God calls us to serve each other and finds loving humble service pleasing, but serving to make ourselves feel better about our other sins is serving with the wrong heart attitude. The last part of the passage hit me hardest, to think that the Son of God came to earth, humbling Himself, giving up his seat of glory to suffer, be humiliated and die for me. It's not so much that I've never thought about it, because it's something on my mind often, it just happened to resonate strongly with me in this instance. But if Jesus can give so much for me, I can let go of my desire to have things my way and serve others with pure intentions and a heart pleasing to God. Of course, I know I can’t do it alone, as Jesus said in Matthew 19:26 “’With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.’” The first part is Jesus referring to man being unable to attain salvation alone, but the second part is important. With God all things are possible, not some things or most things, but all things. That is our God, and He is amazing!
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Fear and Shame
This is a subject I am greatly familiar with, my life used to be ruled by fear and shame and I was feeling urged to share with you. Fear and shame are two of satan’s most powerful tools against us, fear is natural, we are afraid of things that can hurt us and that’s a good thing, but when we fear things we shouldn’t we give it power over us. And when we commit an action on accident, such as a slip of the tongue, or when we do something we look back on and find completely disagreeable we experience shame, which is also healthy, it is a feeling that lets us know we’ve done something that we know is wrong and can then correct it. The problem comes when it goes too far.
Many times we do something and we fear God’s reprisal, we fear how our friend’s will react, we fear that people will reject us, that’s a big one I used to fall prey to. I was terrified people would hate me if they knew some of the secrets I kept in my heart. I wanted nothing more than to be accepted and to have a ton of friends. Shame can ruin us just as easily. When we have a certain belief or feeling or perhaps when we do something we think will make people reject us, we fall into the pit of shame. It affects us in a way that is similar to fear, we don’t want people to know and we hide it, but it is different from fear in that the feeling of shame is directed at ourselves. We hate our feeling, our belief or our action. It makes us feel less about ourselves. This makes us believe we are less deserving of love, it makes us believe that people won’t want to love us. I am so guilty of this, so often I would get pulled into the pit of shame and nothing people could tell me would make a difference. I thought people hated me or at least couldn’t like me, that people were only tolerating me because they didn’t want to be mean. I love people, I’m a social creature. It’s just how God created us, He himself is in a relationship and He created us to be in a relationship with Him. When fear and shame damage or destroy our relationships with the people around us it’s a million times harder to feel connected to God who we can’t physically see, but instead we have to have faith in His existence. When we don’t believe in ourselves and we don’t believe those around us care for us then we can’t have faith that God really loves us.
The reality of it is that sin separates us from God and keeps us from knowing him. But it doesn’t have to be that way; we have an awesome, loving God who forgave us for all of our sins through the sacrifice of His son, Jesus Christ. Ephesians 2:4-5 says “But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions – it is by grace you have been saved.” Because of God’s grace, we don’t have to live suck in our fear, stuck in our shame; He set us free by paying a cost we could never pay. The only person whose opinion should really matter to us is God, and God will never reject us for who we are or what we have done. He is a loving God, and His love is a redemptive love.
This coming part is a little of what I learned from James MacDonald about true repentance. There are 5 signs of true repentance:
1.) Godly grief over sin. This means we are focused on how our sin has affected God, not us or others. When someone is only sorry they were caught and not sorry for what they did, this is not Godly grief, it is worldly grief. 2 Corinthians 7:8-10 “yet now I am happy, not because you were made sorry, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you became sorrowful as God intended and so were not harmed in any way by us. Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.” Only when we experience Godly grief can we begin the process of repentance.
2.) Repulsion towards sin. True desire to be free from sin and be disgusted by the sin. This is to the point where even having access to sin is painful because we desire o strongly to be free from it.
3.) Restitution towards others. It’s important to note that we cannot make things right with God if we don’t make things right with others. 2 Corinthians 7:11 “See what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what concern, what readiness to see justice done.” Godly sorrow fills us with a desire to see our wrongs we have committed righted.
4.) Revival towards God. You feel a new faith in God and a new passion for Him. Understanding that we can’t do anything apart from Him and seeking to never be apart from Him.
5.) Moving Forward. Not looking back and dwelling on past actions. Philippians 3:12-13 “Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead” What Paul is saying here is that we can never be done with our journey, our goal will never be reached in this life, but we should strive for it, not looking back, forgetting the bygone things that will just bog us down as we try to move forward towards what God has planned for us.
These principles apply to all but one sin. Matthew 12:31-32 “And so I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.” God is willing to take it all from us if we repent, there is only one sin that God will not forgive, and that is the rejection of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is our guide and counselor, we must not reject Him.
By repenting, we receive God’s grace, which can be described in four ways:
1.) Grace redeems – Penalty of sin is gone. Colossians 1:13-14 “For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” Cost of sin is paid.
2.) Grace Releases – Power of sin is gone. Romans 6:14 “For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.” Released from sin.
3.) Grace Reconciles – Prejudice of sin is gone. Ephesians 2:14-16 “For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility.” We are made one in Christ.
4.) Grace Removes – Past sin is gone. Colossians 2:13-14 “When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross.” We don’t have to dwell in our sins.
In summary, God loves us, His love for us and what He thinks for us is all that matters. We shouldn’t strive for the acceptance for others because God accepts us as we are and He has more love than all people alive combined, as long as we place our trust in Him. Not to say we don’t need relationships. Earthly relationships are essential for personal growth. Once you have gone to God and asked for forgiveness of your sins, the best way to deal with the fear and shame is to just make yourselves vulnerable to others. You will never get over the fear of rejection until you give someone the opportunity to reject you. They will either accept you, which is amazing when you’ve feared rejection for so long, or they will reject you which will hurt a great deal, but you are better off without shallow friends who only want to be with perfect people, because they will find themselves with no one. Being in trusting vulnerable relationships helps to keep you accountable and prevent you from sinning in the future, it also provides the groundwork for support. One loving companion with whom you can be totally vulnerable with is worth more than several hundred shallow friends. When we confess our sins to God and repent, and make ourselves vulnerable to one another, the fear of rejection and the shame of sin will hold power over us no longer. Can I say I’m never afraid of anything? No. Can I say that I never experience shame? No. But it’s ok because I know God loves me and forgives me, and I know that I am loved by my friends and I know that they will never reject me. They are natural instincts and incredibly useful when kept in check by relationships with God and fellow Christians.
I know I’m long winded, and I promise I am almost done. Some people never get to confession and vulnerability because they fear God doesn’t love them, so I just wanted to add one little story from the bible. Jesus talks about the prodigal son in Luke 15:11-32. The younger son wanted his inheritance, so his father gave it to him. He proceeded to run off with it and lose all of it. He sought his father’s forgiveness, not believing himself worthy of it. Luke 15:21-24 “So he got up and went to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. The son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.' But the father said to his servants, 'Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let's have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' So they began to celebrate.” It didn’t matter what the on had done, where he had been or that he had lost all of his inheritance, his father loved him and rejoiced at his return. This is like God’s love for us. No matter where we go, what we experience or what we do, when we seek Him, we will find Him waiting for us with open arms.
This kinda got out of my hands, it’s way more than I had originally intended to write, so if anything is unclear due to my effort to trim it as best as possible, let me know.
Many times we do something and we fear God’s reprisal, we fear how our friend’s will react, we fear that people will reject us, that’s a big one I used to fall prey to. I was terrified people would hate me if they knew some of the secrets I kept in my heart. I wanted nothing more than to be accepted and to have a ton of friends. Shame can ruin us just as easily. When we have a certain belief or feeling or perhaps when we do something we think will make people reject us, we fall into the pit of shame. It affects us in a way that is similar to fear, we don’t want people to know and we hide it, but it is different from fear in that the feeling of shame is directed at ourselves. We hate our feeling, our belief or our action. It makes us feel less about ourselves. This makes us believe we are less deserving of love, it makes us believe that people won’t want to love us. I am so guilty of this, so often I would get pulled into the pit of shame and nothing people could tell me would make a difference. I thought people hated me or at least couldn’t like me, that people were only tolerating me because they didn’t want to be mean. I love people, I’m a social creature. It’s just how God created us, He himself is in a relationship and He created us to be in a relationship with Him. When fear and shame damage or destroy our relationships with the people around us it’s a million times harder to feel connected to God who we can’t physically see, but instead we have to have faith in His existence. When we don’t believe in ourselves and we don’t believe those around us care for us then we can’t have faith that God really loves us.
The reality of it is that sin separates us from God and keeps us from knowing him. But it doesn’t have to be that way; we have an awesome, loving God who forgave us for all of our sins through the sacrifice of His son, Jesus Christ. Ephesians 2:4-5 says “But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions – it is by grace you have been saved.” Because of God’s grace, we don’t have to live suck in our fear, stuck in our shame; He set us free by paying a cost we could never pay. The only person whose opinion should really matter to us is God, and God will never reject us for who we are or what we have done. He is a loving God, and His love is a redemptive love.
This coming part is a little of what I learned from James MacDonald about true repentance. There are 5 signs of true repentance:
1.) Godly grief over sin. This means we are focused on how our sin has affected God, not us or others. When someone is only sorry they were caught and not sorry for what they did, this is not Godly grief, it is worldly grief. 2 Corinthians 7:8-10 “yet now I am happy, not because you were made sorry, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you became sorrowful as God intended and so were not harmed in any way by us. Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.” Only when we experience Godly grief can we begin the process of repentance.
2.) Repulsion towards sin. True desire to be free from sin and be disgusted by the sin. This is to the point where even having access to sin is painful because we desire o strongly to be free from it.
3.) Restitution towards others. It’s important to note that we cannot make things right with God if we don’t make things right with others. 2 Corinthians 7:11 “See what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what concern, what readiness to see justice done.” Godly sorrow fills us with a desire to see our wrongs we have committed righted.
4.) Revival towards God. You feel a new faith in God and a new passion for Him. Understanding that we can’t do anything apart from Him and seeking to never be apart from Him.
5.) Moving Forward. Not looking back and dwelling on past actions. Philippians 3:12-13 “Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead” What Paul is saying here is that we can never be done with our journey, our goal will never be reached in this life, but we should strive for it, not looking back, forgetting the bygone things that will just bog us down as we try to move forward towards what God has planned for us.
These principles apply to all but one sin. Matthew 12:31-32 “And so I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.” God is willing to take it all from us if we repent, there is only one sin that God will not forgive, and that is the rejection of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is our guide and counselor, we must not reject Him.
By repenting, we receive God’s grace, which can be described in four ways:
1.) Grace redeems – Penalty of sin is gone. Colossians 1:13-14 “For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” Cost of sin is paid.
2.) Grace Releases – Power of sin is gone. Romans 6:14 “For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.” Released from sin.
3.) Grace Reconciles – Prejudice of sin is gone. Ephesians 2:14-16 “For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility.” We are made one in Christ.
4.) Grace Removes – Past sin is gone. Colossians 2:13-14 “When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross.” We don’t have to dwell in our sins.
In summary, God loves us, His love for us and what He thinks for us is all that matters. We shouldn’t strive for the acceptance for others because God accepts us as we are and He has more love than all people alive combined, as long as we place our trust in Him. Not to say we don’t need relationships. Earthly relationships are essential for personal growth. Once you have gone to God and asked for forgiveness of your sins, the best way to deal with the fear and shame is to just make yourselves vulnerable to others. You will never get over the fear of rejection until you give someone the opportunity to reject you. They will either accept you, which is amazing when you’ve feared rejection for so long, or they will reject you which will hurt a great deal, but you are better off without shallow friends who only want to be with perfect people, because they will find themselves with no one. Being in trusting vulnerable relationships helps to keep you accountable and prevent you from sinning in the future, it also provides the groundwork for support. One loving companion with whom you can be totally vulnerable with is worth more than several hundred shallow friends. When we confess our sins to God and repent, and make ourselves vulnerable to one another, the fear of rejection and the shame of sin will hold power over us no longer. Can I say I’m never afraid of anything? No. Can I say that I never experience shame? No. But it’s ok because I know God loves me and forgives me, and I know that I am loved by my friends and I know that they will never reject me. They are natural instincts and incredibly useful when kept in check by relationships with God and fellow Christians.
I know I’m long winded, and I promise I am almost done. Some people never get to confession and vulnerability because they fear God doesn’t love them, so I just wanted to add one little story from the bible. Jesus talks about the prodigal son in Luke 15:11-32. The younger son wanted his inheritance, so his father gave it to him. He proceeded to run off with it and lose all of it. He sought his father’s forgiveness, not believing himself worthy of it. Luke 15:21-24 “So he got up and went to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. The son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.' But the father said to his servants, 'Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let's have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' So they began to celebrate.” It didn’t matter what the on had done, where he had been or that he had lost all of his inheritance, his father loved him and rejoiced at his return. This is like God’s love for us. No matter where we go, what we experience or what we do, when we seek Him, we will find Him waiting for us with open arms.
This kinda got out of my hands, it’s way more than I had originally intended to write, so if anything is unclear due to my effort to trim it as best as possible, let me know.
A Truly Loving Commitment
"You will never knowingly suffer at my hands. I will never say anything or do anything knowingly to hurt you. I will always, in every circumstance, seek to help and support you. If you're down and I can lift you up - I'll do that. If you need something and I have it, I'll share it with you. If I need to, I'll give it to you. No matter what I find out about you, no matter what happens in the future - either good or bad - my commitment to you will never change. And there is nothing you can do about it."
This is a commitment made by the members of a church in Washington State to one another. Their church grew to 4,000 people in just 14 years. That is the power that God can show through our love for one another. I can't say that this would describe me currently, but it is my hearts desire to be able to fulfill this commitment. I just thought I would share it with anyone who wishes to read it.
This is a commitment made by the members of a church in Washington State to one another. Their church grew to 4,000 people in just 14 years. That is the power that God can show through our love for one another. I can't say that this would describe me currently, but it is my hearts desire to be able to fulfill this commitment. I just thought I would share it with anyone who wishes to read it.
If it’s broken…
Maybe you aren’t supposed to fix it. I have been struggling with an inability to let things go. If it’s broken I have to fix it. But sometimes it is possible to try too hard. Sometimes, the harder you try the more damage you do. Sometimes you can desire something so much that you actually just push it farther away. I personally push and push and push until either I’ve managed mash it back together as a shadow of what it was before or I pulverize it until all I have left is sand and a sense of failure.
I’ve been told so many times, Ryan, maybe you can’t fix it, just let it go. Yet still I try, and still I push, I’m pretty stubborn like that. But last night I was struck by an example that was directly applicable to my life, and I said this myself, “maybe we are trying to hard to get what we want out of this, trying so hard to restore a something we’ve lost that we are actually making attaining it harder”. Considering the personal trouble I have with this I was kind of surprised that I even thought about it this way. It was an eye-opener in a way.
So, if we can’t fix it, what are we supposed to do? It’s something I’m not good at, not at all. Some things can only be fixed in one way, by letting God handle it. If something is broken, and despite your best attempts you can’t seem to get anywhere, maybe it isn’t meant to be fixed, at least not by you or not right now. God has His plan, and no matter how hard we try, we can never know better than Him, we can’t do something now if He wants it done later. Maybe He has a way for you to fix it later, or maybe He will fix it through some other method.
It’s incredibly hard, I know, I’ve suffered a lot of things because of an inability to let go and let God. But learning patience and to trust in our amazing savior to do things in His way in His time is the only way we’ll be able to be at peace with some of the things in our lives. So whether it is a group trying to rekindle some lost spark, or trying to rebuild a tattered relationship with a friend, sometimes, we just need to let go.
I’ve been told so many times, Ryan, maybe you can’t fix it, just let it go. Yet still I try, and still I push, I’m pretty stubborn like that. But last night I was struck by an example that was directly applicable to my life, and I said this myself, “maybe we are trying to hard to get what we want out of this, trying so hard to restore a something we’ve lost that we are actually making attaining it harder”. Considering the personal trouble I have with this I was kind of surprised that I even thought about it this way. It was an eye-opener in a way.
So, if we can’t fix it, what are we supposed to do? It’s something I’m not good at, not at all. Some things can only be fixed in one way, by letting God handle it. If something is broken, and despite your best attempts you can’t seem to get anywhere, maybe it isn’t meant to be fixed, at least not by you or not right now. God has His plan, and no matter how hard we try, we can never know better than Him, we can’t do something now if He wants it done later. Maybe He has a way for you to fix it later, or maybe He will fix it through some other method.
It’s incredibly hard, I know, I’ve suffered a lot of things because of an inability to let go and let God. But learning patience and to trust in our amazing savior to do things in His way in His time is the only way we’ll be able to be at peace with some of the things in our lives. So whether it is a group trying to rekindle some lost spark, or trying to rebuild a tattered relationship with a friend, sometimes, we just need to let go.
Suffering
Some days, I find myself wondering why God lets such suffering happen. Why people starve, and die alone and scared in parts of the world whose name I can’t pronounce, and even in those places not to far from home. But suddenly, with a simple phrase, I came to realize that God isn’t letting such suffering happen, we are. The phrase that came to me was so simple, and yet struck me extremely profoundly: God determines the situation, we determine the circumstance. I’ve heard speaking and preaching on this subject before, but never before was it so clear. God blesses some with little so that those of us who He blesses with much can share with them. What could be more blessing to someone starving than to receive help, and be brought out of starvation? What could be more of a blessing to someone who is sick than to be cured? God wants us to help each other; He created us to have a relationship with Him. Our wonderful, all powerful God who could have done anything He wanted created us and blessed us with free will so that we could be more than mere playthings, but instead so that we could seek Him. Since every man, woman, and child is created in his likeness, helping each other is building our relationship with Him. By helping others who are in need, we are providing our God with pleasure even though we may not even know it. He loves to see us acting in a way that honors Him and shows our devotion to Him. I love to see people helping each other; I love to help other people. Making another person life even a little better is more pleasurable to me than all the “things” in creation that I could have. This supreme pleasure is what makes me believe God loves to see us help one another. I cannot attribute the indescribable, overwhelming feeling of joy in my heart to anything else.
And yet, people still suffer, not because God hates them, or that God does not exist, but in fact through a lack of action on our part. We who have and want not are too comfortable with our live. We give a little here, we give a little there, but we never give our all. We are too afraid to leave the comfort of our “things”. I am not, and would never claim to be any different. I am far too comfortable with my life; I’ve grown far too much into the life I lead. Nor am I going to be pretentious enough to say I have an answer, that I have a solution for the problem. My only suggestion is that we let God into our hearts, minds, and bodies and let Him work through us. We let him use us to provide for those who need food, shelter, clothing; the list goes on and on.
In other words, God creates people and places them in various levels of need and it is our job as children and servants of the Lord to decide whether they stay there or we bring them up.
Like I said, I don’t have any ideas of any kind, this was just on my heart last night and I felt like sharing.
And yet, people still suffer, not because God hates them, or that God does not exist, but in fact through a lack of action on our part. We who have and want not are too comfortable with our live. We give a little here, we give a little there, but we never give our all. We are too afraid to leave the comfort of our “things”. I am not, and would never claim to be any different. I am far too comfortable with my life; I’ve grown far too much into the life I lead. Nor am I going to be pretentious enough to say I have an answer, that I have a solution for the problem. My only suggestion is that we let God into our hearts, minds, and bodies and let Him work through us. We let him use us to provide for those who need food, shelter, clothing; the list goes on and on.
In other words, God creates people and places them in various levels of need and it is our job as children and servants of the Lord to decide whether they stay there or we bring them up.
Like I said, I don’t have any ideas of any kind, this was just on my heart last night and I felt like sharing.
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