What is my view on God…how do I truly perceive God and how does He effect me? Jehovah Jirah? Abba father? I know that he provides for me and I know he loves me beyond compare. But what? What does that knowledge do for me? Is it supposed to do somethifng for me? In what real way is my knowledge of Gods character changing my attitude and the way I go through life?
Is this just another step in maturity Christ? Is my asking these questions evidence of God working through me, working in me? Or is it just the way I was wired? To be inquisitive about my own life? And the way I work through things?
What about the people that seem to be asking the same questions I am? More evidence of Gods providence maybe?
I see two, maybe three things beginning to change in my thought processes and how I view my life as a christian.
I have listened to people take such hard stances on certain, what i figure, to be peripheral issues. Issues that tend to be so devisive that i might go so far as to say that i think its less a matter of a Biblical principle anymore, than it is a way in which satan has manipulated verses in the bible and how humans read them (in or out of context) in order to “divide and conquor” the people of the church. The fact that i saw it happening so much in both church and in different social groups, led me to take the stance of “Ya know…i wont know it all, we wont ever know it all…most of it doesnt matter anyway so why bother.” I think thats a good attitude to have, because it is so true. However, to let that seep into your study of the Bible, is more detrimental than it is glorifying. We need to know Gods words so that we can discern truth from lies in our interaction with others in our lives, and, i think at times more importantly, the lies that can float around in our heads as we contemplate the truly hard things to the mundane things in our lives.
I was thinking about this next one during work.
I think ive taken the faith that i have in God for granted. Ive become so hollowly confident in His sovereignty that i have forgotten how amazing He truly is. The small things in my life that have gotten me from point A to point B in difficult yes, and sometimes seemingly impossible situations, i have taken little notice. I have written about how i have the faith part down, and that now i need to work out the knowledge. I cant remember where i heard this, but someone said “One indicator of humility, is that the person is unaware of it in themselves” The same goes for faith.
Once you start calling yourself something, you start to lose that something. You start taking that quality for granted. You start getting arrogant in your humility. You start getting self assured in your faith and start losing the point of having the faith in the first place, you lose the riliance you have in Christ.
Maybe its just in my life, but, i like to think the same thing can apply to everyone. Losing one part of your relationship, you begin to lose the whole. Because i lost sight of my faith, the confidence i have in who i am in Christ has suffered greatly. Not only in that i have begun to rip into myself disregarding the grace i have recieved through faith in Christ, but i have begun to question, and to a point, disregard who the Father, Son and Holy spirit are.
One thing i will say, is that God is providential…if thats even used correctly…
The struggles that the people around me have gone through in their past, and the struggles they are going through right now, begging them to ask similar questions about faith and God in ways that are helping me grow, in such a timely manner is proof enough that it is true that God works all things to our benifit and to the benifit of those around us…
I guess ill end with this…your greatest ministry isnt going to come from where you struggle the least, its going to come from where you struggle the most…
“At just the right time I heard you, On the day of Salvation, I helped you”
-2 Corinthians 6:2
“So that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with which we ourselves are comforted by God.”
-2 Corinthians 1:3-7
I was thinking the last few days. How often do we ask God to show us His presence? To show us His glory? More than just to notice it in the trees, or to notice it in our friends but to truly SEE Him?
Just a minute ago i remembered the story of Moses before he got the ten commandments…Exodus 33:12-20
12
Moses said to the LORD, “You have been telling me, ‘Lead these people,’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. You have said, ‘I know you by name and you have found favor with me.’ 13 If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you. Remember that this nation is your people.”
14 The LORD replied, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”
15 Then Moses said to him, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. 16 How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?”
17 And the LORD said to Moses, “I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name.”
18 Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.”
19 And the LORD said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the LORD, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. 20 But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.”
Im not implying that we should demand that God “show us his glory.” I honestly dont know how God allowed Moses to do that haha. But what im taking out of it…is that…as a christian we are now children of God, His chosen people. Gods presence is always with us. So wouldnt you think we would want to see his glory all the time? How wrong would it be for us to ask, to implore God to show it to us constantly so that we never forget?
What about David in Psalm 4:1?
Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness! You have given me relief when I was in distress. Be gracious to me and hear my prayer!
And what if He answers? What if He answers in such a way that He did with Moses? How incredible would that be?! Imagine the life change?
Maybe what I am getting at, is that I should live my life with that attitude, that prayer as the thread woven throughout…”God, show me your glory”…
Its so great to see how God works in the lives of those around us. How what seems to be just a subject you are working out in your life, turns out to be a reoccurring theme in the lives of your friends.
Its more than just a “Nice to know im not alone” kind of thing, but, for me its such an awesome reminder that God truly is sovereign and he moves to make the church body as a whole grow together.
“Create in me a clean heart, oh God, and renew a right spirit within me”
-Psalm 51:10
What an awesome “theme” to have running through the student body here at Moody…Restore the joy of our salvation!!!!
So im sitting here trying to come up with some quick little quip to set the tone for this. There are girls upstairs, who i have no idea WHO they are, but are talking and sound like they’re having a good time with my roomates.
Its so great to be living in a house where people can come over and feel completely comfortable just hanging out, sitting around the island, eating our food and just talking about nothing in particular.
Im so thankful for the community that God has set me in and surrounded me with. College is one place where everyone, although stressed out by the huge workload brought on by school, just get together and have fellowship and can still act like there isnt a care in the world…refreshing…
Its amazing how powerful laughter is…
There is a line that needs to be struck as humans and more specifically as Christ Followers when it comes to people. There have been things going on around me that has made me more aware that humans are inconsistent, imperfect, and easily influenced by the people around them. Im not bashing our nature, im just voicing the fact that no matter how solid a person might seem to us, or how others view us or even how we view ourselves, we all make mistakes. We all do things in weak moments, and weak situations that we normally wouldn’t do the other 99% of our lives. We as created human beings are hypocrites in some part of our lives. We can try to act and speak in such a way that our inconsistencies and hypocrisies are either hidden or kept to a minimum, but the fact is, is that we all trip up at some point.
What has been on my mind lately is how we react to those facts.
If we live our lives ignorant of that, whether self imposed or just due to the lack of thought about it, then we will always be disappointed in the people that are around us. If I were to live my life thinking that I rarely ever took a miss-step and because of that, held people to the same standard, I would be greatly embittered if I was ever to be called out on my faults and constantly be disappointed in those around me. I would, rather than understand that I am human and am capable of making mistakes, be sure to call out the faults of the people calling me out, showing in blazing color how much of a hypocrite I am.
If we don’t realize that we all make mistakes, how is that going to affect our relationships? We are called to give grace to those around us. We are called to forgive each other. If we don’t have the attitude that we are all capable of making the same mistakes then how will we react when someone calls out our own faults?
I have a point I swear!
Some people live their lives holding on to imperfections. They don’t have the attitude of forgive and move on. They let the mistakes people make, define the people that make them, being completely inconsistent with the message of Christ. In doing that, in carrying those mistakes in their mind, they remember that people hurt, and keep the people that they need to, and are called to care about (humans in general) at a distance, not showing the compassion and grace that Christ over and over again teaches.
Live your lives with a little humility. Know that you are a hypocrite, that you can be inconsistent, and that you are nowhere near perfect. By doing that, you will see the things people do around you, and will be able to handle them with grace. Let that be your testimony. Let the people in your life see you as full of grace, full of forgiveness and full of acceptance. If nothing else, pray that you will be consistent in that.
(Source: facebook.com)
