why worry ?

The word of God really is our source of nourishment. I can feel myself shrinking spiritually when I don’t read it and I feel myself strengthened when I spend time with God in His word. For example: Galatians 3:26 says that we are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. So, where does our faith come from ? Romans 10 says that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. There is a real connection between hearing the word of God ( and I would say reading) and our faith.
God has chosen to let us live in uncertainty with regard to :
the safety of our children
our housing
how people will respond to us
whether or not our “plans” will work out

Somehow in those uncertainties, God is glorified when we put our faith in Him and when we put our faith in Him we see the results of His power. All of my anxiety and worry about the future is meaningless and an unproductive waste of time. So, if we are worried, then we must not be walking by faith. Worry and self centeredness are related. This is why we shouldn’t worry. Tonight… or tomorrow night, go for a walk at night, look at the vastness of the sky and ask God to give you eyes of faith. Ask Him to give you strength to face an uncertain future. When you stop and think about it, there are no risks with a sovereign God. Have you really come to grips with His sovereignty or are you still walking by sight, trying every angle to make it work your way ?


Philippians 4:6-7 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Nice people or new men ?

There's a chapter in CS Lewis' book "Mere Christianity" called "Nice people or New men." It is basically discussing the idea that if people are Christians, shouldn't they be nicer than non Christians. There is definitely some theology in this chapter that I disagree with...namely the thoughts about God' s inability to change our will. However, I do like the way he phrases some things about the changes God does bring about.

Listen to this: "... mere improvement is not redemption... God became a man to turn creatures into sons: not simply to produce better men of the old kind but to produce a new kind of man. It is not like teaching a horse to jump better and better but like turning a horse into a winged creature. Of course, 0nce it has wings, it will soar over fences which could never have been jumped and thus beat the natural horse at its own game. But there may be a period, while the wings are beginning to grow, when it cannot do so: and at that stage the lumps on his shoulders may even give it an awkward appearance." page 216 Mere Christianity


I think this reminds me of the fact that Christianity is not about taking bad people and making them good... it's about taking dead people and making them alive.

Another angle

I was reading an article on www.monergism.com and came across something I hadn't really thought about before. The author was asking the question: " Why was Jesus on earth for 33 years ? Couldn't he have just come in for the weekend,taken care of business and gone back to heaven ?"

He then turned my attention to Hebrews 4:15
For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses but one who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.

I guess I had never meditated on that phrase: "in all things." Jesus was tempted throughout his life ...in all of its various stages and yet didn't sin. His demonstration of a righteous life satisfied God's wrath. He lived my life for me and presented that holy life to God...on my behalf.

Proverbs 3 again

Later on in Proverbs 3 the word says we are not to lean on our own understanding. It seems to me that we have to change some of the filters that we normally view life through....

Here is what we usually say to ourselves:
1. Is this fair ?
2. Does this make sense to me ?
3. Is this what I always thought would happen ?
4. What will I get out of this ?


I think Proverbs 3 is basically saying that we need to ask these questions instead :
1. Is God glorified in what I am doing ?
2. Are God's purposes accomplished in the earth ?

What if we could change filters and ask some different questions ?

Can we really trust in the Lord and "our own understanding" at the same time ?

re disovery

At the encouragement of a friend, I re-read Proverbs 3. I felt like I was reading it for the first time in my life. So rich... There are essentially 2 things you want to keep close to you: kindness and truth. It says to bind them around your neck. I started to think about what kindness would look like:

1. listen to someone who is talking ... when everyone else has checked out of the conversation

2. calling your wife to check in and communicate with her

3. initiate restoration after conflict ...


Are you kind ? Are you committed to the truth even if it effects you financially ?

Why you should read church history

I have been reading some church history lately and read about Athanasius. He served as a bishop in Alexandria in the early years of the church. One of his contributions to the church was that he stood opposed to Arianism ( the belief that Jesus was not really God). So, the Nicene Creed was composed to assert emphatically that Jesus was "of the same substance" of the Father. What struck me about his life was this... here's a direct quote from the book...

" His strong quality was in his close ties to the people among whom he lived, and in living out his faith without the subtleties of the Arians or the pomp of so many other bishops of important churches. His monastic discipline, his roots among the people, his fiery spirit, and his profound and unshakable convictions made him invincible."
Earlier on the book said that Athanasius was not admired for his subtlety of logical argument, nor elegance of style...nor even in his political perspicacity. ( In all these areas, he could be bested by his opponents)
Basically... He walked with God and loved people.

This encouraged me today.

schedule

I have been thinking about our schedules lately. I realize that alot of people say they are "busy." Obviously, we have some level of responsibility and having a full schedule is not necessarily sin. However, do we control our schedule or does the schedule control us ?

I read this in " The Life you always wanted" by John Ortberg :


" The father of one of my friends has been involved in evangelical ministry for nearly fifty years. His dad recently told him ' Well, son, we'll have to get together soon, as soon as I can get my schedule under control.' His son's comment to me: " For all 39 years of my life my dad has talked about what we are going to do as soon as he gets his schedule under control. He actually seems to believe that someday his schedule will somehow come under control. What is worse, he refuses to talk about or even acknowledge to himself the real reason his schedule is out of control." ( page 114 )

After I read this, I just thought: " am I doing this to my kids ?" Pretty soon, I won't be able to throw them around anymore and I don't want to look back and regret the fact that we did not spend more time wrestling on the bed together.