What quenches the fire of people who used to be " on fire for God" ? I can't speak for everyone, but I have identified one thing for me: selfishness. Self absorbed wallowing in self pity is such a deterrent to evangelism and discipleship. When I sit and think about the past in destructive, fruitless ways I am the furthest from being a disciple who is pleasing to the Lord. There is too little time during our lives to waste it pondering the things of the past. Past, present and future is such an interesting idea because the present is such a thin slice of who you are. Who is making you ? What are you reading, thinking and talking about ? Who is influencing you ? You are being conformed to something right now. What is it ? I know that when I neglect to read, I feel shallow, disinterested and bored. When I read the word and other men who follow God, I feel invigorated, challenged, bold and armed. I suppose that media is like sugar...we reach for the m&m's when we should be cutting up cucumbers and carrots. It's not that you can never have the m&m's , but too much of them and you end up with diseases. Here are some cucumbers and carrots:
1. Holiness by JC Ryle
2. From Jerusalem to Irian Jaya Ruth Tucker
3. Just Do Something Kevin DeYoung
4. Spiritual depression Martyn Lloyd Jones
5. Proverbs
6. The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment Jeremiah Burroughs
Monday, January 18, 2010
worth repeating
You may have read or heard this before ...but it's worth repeating here :
I was searching in a greek dictionary for the development of the word : COURAGE and came across the greek word for boldness ( parrhesia) which means the freedom to say all.
In the same definition I found this sentence in the discussion of the boldness that the disciples had in the book of Acts.
Here it is: " This boldness which provokes astonishment, division, and persecution is not something that man has under his control. It is the fruit of the Holy Spirit ( Acts 4:31) that has to be sought again and again ( 4:29). " Later on this sentence appears: " Such courage is not a human quality; it comes from God and Christ ( see I Thessalonians 2:2 and Philemon 8).
I am struck by the phrase: " sought again and again."
So I looked up I Thessalonians 2:2 " For you yourselves know, brethren, that our coming to you was not in vain, but after we had already suffered and been mistreated in Philippi as you know, we had the boldness in our God to speak to you the gospel of God amid much opposition. 3 For our exhortation does not come from error or impurity or by way of deceit; 4 but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God who examines our hearts."
Footnotes: Colin Brown Dictionary of New Testament Theology
So, this raises a question in my mind : " Why do we hesitate to share the gospel with all boldness ? " It could be because we haven't been willing to seek that courage "again and again." We had it at one point in our lives because we were excited about something, but the inevitable fade happened and we went back to the rut of just work, eat, sleep, tv, internet,etc. What keeps that fire burning to see the truth spread out in the city you live in ? Faith comes from hearing and hearing by the word of Christ.
I was searching in a greek dictionary for the development of the word : COURAGE and came across the greek word for boldness ( parrhesia) which means the freedom to say all.
In the same definition I found this sentence in the discussion of the boldness that the disciples had in the book of Acts.
Here it is: " This boldness which provokes astonishment, division, and persecution is not something that man has under his control. It is the fruit of the Holy Spirit ( Acts 4:31) that has to be sought again and again ( 4:29). " Later on this sentence appears: " Such courage is not a human quality; it comes from God and Christ ( see I Thessalonians 2:2 and Philemon 8).
I am struck by the phrase: " sought again and again."
So I looked up I Thessalonians 2:2 " For you yourselves know, brethren, that our coming to you was not in vain, but after we had already suffered and been mistreated in Philippi as you know, we had the boldness in our God to speak to you the gospel of God amid much opposition. 3 For our exhortation does not come from error or impurity or by way of deceit; 4 but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God who examines our hearts."
Footnotes: Colin Brown Dictionary of New Testament Theology
So, this raises a question in my mind : " Why do we hesitate to share the gospel with all boldness ? " It could be because we haven't been willing to seek that courage "again and again." We had it at one point in our lives because we were excited about something, but the inevitable fade happened and we went back to the rut of just work, eat, sleep, tv, internet,etc. What keeps that fire burning to see the truth spread out in the city you live in ? Faith comes from hearing and hearing by the word of Christ.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
