I haven’t asked the question in awhile: How are you doing with your Read through the Bible for 2009? Are you on task with your goal for the year? Have you begun to develop a healthy habit in reading the Bible? I hope so!
The past several weeks have been tough for me. My routine and schedule has been turned upside down. I have been feeling a bit guilty for not staying on track with where I wanted to be. Everyday I think, “I need to read the Bible.”
Has reading the Bible become all about checking a box? Or is reading the Bible drawing us closer and deeper in a relationship with Jesus?
Of course, Oswald Chambers would have something to say on this!
Your god may be your little Christian habit— the habit of prayer or Bible reading at certain times of your day. Watch how your Father will upset your schedule if you begin to worship your habit instead of what the habit symbolizes. (My Utmost for His Highest, May 12).
This was a great reality check for me. Reading God’s Word should never be about getting through it – like some book. God’s Word is His voice to us… Providing truth, life, freedom, and correction. The focus of our everyday reading should never be about just being able to say, “I read the Bible for the day.” It needs to be about, “What does God want to say to me today?”
As you continue reading through the Bible this year, make sure you are spending time to draw closer to Him as you read. Don’t trade God in for the Christian habit (god).
Love means that there are no visible habits— that your habits are so immersed in the Lord that you practice them without realizing it. (My Utmost for His Highest, May 12).
I received a comment from my “Are you hungry?” post. Instead of posting a lengthy comment there I have decided to write one here. The question posted was, “Is it possible to be filled with the Holy Spirit and be sad at the same time?” There were several thoughts that came to mind as I read this question. If anyone would like to add to the discussion please jump in.
One thing about sadness and the Christian I believe is that the sadness should draw us closer to God. Ecclesiastes 7:3 states, “Sorrow is better than laughter, because a sad face is good for the heart.”(NIV). I first came in contact with this verse back in the late 80’s when The Choir released their CD Chase the Kangaroo. The song “Sad Face” has been a great inspiration to me over the years.
I loved the song then as I do now. This verse puzzled me as a young believer. I was in a church at the time that was very focused on the Holy Spirit. (Can one get out of balance when it comes to the Holy Spirit?) I felt as though when something “bad” happened to me that there was something wrong (with me)… like I wasn’t spiritual (enough) or I wasn’t as good as the other believers I hung out with… Or I was out of God’s will.
I remember a night when I shared this verse sitting in the worship center with some of the youth and youth leaders. I basically said then that it is OK to have issues of sadness, loneliness, etc… then quoted this verse. But I didn’t understand what it really meant. I had not ever drank from the cup of true sadness and hurt.
Before I go there lets look at John 16 where Jesus talks to his disciples about the coming work of the Holy Spirit. Jesus says,
Now I am going to him who sent me, yet none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ Because I have said these things, you are filled with grief. But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you… (v 5-7).
But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you… (v. 13-15).
I tell you the truth, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world. So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy. In that day you will no longer ask me anything. I tell you the truth, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete. (v. 20-24).
I think now I have come to understand sadness and how it relates to my walk with God as a Christian. As a young believer in my late teens early 20’s, I had not had the opportunity to walk a road of real sadness, heartbreak, separatedness, etc. Now that I am in my young 40’s I have had a taste of that road. I think I am beginning to understand why sadness is allowed in the life of the Holy Spirit driven believer. Jesus said, “Your grief will turn to joy.” He goes on to say, “My Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.”
As a Christian, I believe it is possible to become sad and to stay there – to live in sadness that ultimately leads to a depression. Remember Jesus said, “My Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.” It’s in those times of sadness He wants us to come to Him. It is through turning over that situation with trust to the Father so that the Counselor has opportunity to work in our lives. If we choose to sit in our sadness we choose to stay focused on ourselves – which leads to bondage in self pity.
…the greatest destroyer of that confident relationship to God, so necessary for intercession, is our own personal sympathy and preconceived bias. Identification with God is the key to intercession, and whenever we stop being identified with Him it is because of our sympathy with others, not because of sin. It is not likely that sin will interfere with our intercessory relationship with God, but sympathy will. (Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest, May 3).
I know there is so much more that can be said on this. This is probably not even an answer to the question but rather the beginning of a dialogue on the subject. Below is the song that I referenced above.
Sad Face by Steve Hindalong as performed by The Choir. I think this song was written after Hindalong’s wife miscarried their baby. You may also recognize the name Steve Hindalong as the co-writer of the song God of Wonders we have all come to love in our churches.
There’s a crystal in the window
Throwing rainbows around
There’s a girl by the mirror
And her feet won’t touch the ground
‘Cause she never saw the sky so bright
Isn’t that like a cloud, to come by night
Nevermind the sky
There’s a tear in her eye
A sad face is good for the heart
Go on cry, does it seem a cruel world?
A sad face is good for the heart of a girl
A sad face
There’s a woman in my kitchen
With a rainbow on her cheek
Well isn’t that a promise?
Still I never felt so weak
There’s a tiny spirit in a world above
Cradled so sweetly in our Father’s love
So you don’t have to cry
No there’s something in my eye
A sad face is good for the heart
Maybe just now I don’t understand
A sad face is good for the heart of a man
A sad face
A sad face is good for the heart
It’s alright you don’t have to smile
A sad face is good for the heart of a child
For the heart of a child
For the heart of a child
For the heart of a child
A sad face
A sad face…
I don’t have the opportunity to see either of my parents very much. In fact almost never. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen either of my parents. I was hoping to make the rounds this Thanksgiving and Christmas season to see them both. My Dad is in South Georgia and my Mom is up in Virginia. Conversations on the phone is about as good as it gets. Seeing my Mom is off since I will be working the day after Thanksgiving and seeing my Dad is still on the table in the next 2 or 3 weeks.
So, yesterday I spent some time making the rounds talking with them over the phone. I was out with my son yesterday afternoon riding bikes. He is still using his training wheels up and down our long driveway. As he drove past he asked, “Who are you talking to?” It was his Meme (My Mom) in Virginia.
Once he was done riding he wanted to tell Meme about his bike riding… That he had some mud on his pants… and more importantly the mud that was on his front tire. My mother told him, “I bet you have changed so much that I wouldn’t recognize you.” Walker’s response, “Well, I still have the same face.”
2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (NIV). When we live a surrendered life to Christ he changes us on the inside. Our heart changes and it takes on the heartbeat of God. As we grow in God’s Word, our mind begins to think the thoughts of God. See Psalm 119:9-11. The changes begin to take place inwardly.
As the changes begin to take place – we still have the same face. Our thoughts, attitudes, and praise given to God will lead to a world of changes on the outside. But we still have the same face. People that know us will look at us and recognize us and they will see the change as it is lived out. It is not for us to go about telling others, “Look at the changes, listen to how I pray, or see how I have sacrificed.” Once we go about bragging spiritually speaking who gets the glory?
It’s one thing to go through a crisis grandly, yet quite another to go through every day glorifying God when there is no witness, no limelight, and no one paying even the remotest attention to us. If we are not looking for halos, we at least want something that will make people say, “What a wonderful man of prayer he is!” or, “What a great woman of devotion she is!” (Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest, November 16).
Today, spend some time thinking about your human life and how it is impacting your spiritual life. What is it that you seek in life? Who are you seeking in life? Whose attention is it that you seek? Are you looking for the approval of others or that of God? Seek first His kingdom and is righteousness. Matthew 6:33.
In today’s devotion Chamber’s goes on to say,
The true test of a saint’s life is not successfulness but faithfulness on the human level of life. We tend to set up success in Christian work as our purpose, but our purpose should be to display the glory of God in human life, to live a life “hidden with Christ in God” in our everyday human conditions ( Colossians 3:3 ).
Passages I am reading these past few days. John 14:12-14. Take note of verse 13.
12I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. 14You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. (NIV).
“So that the Son may bring glory to the Father.”
The FOCUS of our lives is God… bringing glory to the Son – who in turn gives the glory to God. How do we bring glory to the Son? By obeying the teaching of Jesus. See John 14:23-27.
23Jesus replied, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. 24He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.
25“All this I have spoken while still with you. 26But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. 27Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. (NIV).
I learned something or noticed something a month or so ago while fasting. Normally when I fast I spend my time thinking and praying about the situation or need I have. This past time I FOCUSED on God and His Son. Not on my specific need. I didn’t really think about this at the time… but later it came to mind that this was how I spent that day.
So… why bring this up now? Because this is what God is teaching me. Our lives are to be spent giving ourselves to Him. Our purpose for living. We aren’t to seek the things of God but rather God.
God is supernatural. He wants us to live life supernaturally. In The Love of God, it states, “Has God been trying to bring into your life the fact that He is supernatural, and have you been asking Him what He is going to do? He will never tell you. God does not tell us what He is going to do; He reveals to us who He is.” (Oswald Chambers, 114).
God wants us to get close to Him. On the eve of Father’s Day, draw near to your Heavenly Father… solely for the purpose of drawing near to Him… the benefit will be that He will draw near to you. But don’t do it for the benefit do it for the Father.
I was reading Mark 6 and 7 this morning. In Mark 6:45-56, he writes about Jesus walking on the water. The disciples were told by Jesus to go ahead of him across the lake. Once they had gotten about halfway across the winds picked up and hindered their progress…
When I was a Youth Pastor, I had a tremendous desire for the youth to learn to worship God with their lives. For them to live everyday throughout each day with an attitude of prayer. I also wanted them to experience worship together when we met. I only knew a few chords on my guitar. So I began working on it.
I would learn whatever song I could. Then I would have a few of the youth sing while I played. After doing this for a couple of years I had built up some confidence in playing my guitar. Well, after I moved to Albuquerque my good friend Jason and partner in ministry asked me to play in a service.
I was a little nervous but I knew I could do it. I’ll never forget that Sunday morning standing in the cafeteria at Rio Rancho High School. We started off with “Come, Now is the Time to Worship.” What happened next was horrible… I drew a blank on the next song I was to play… the song started off with me. I was afraid. I never did recall the song – in both services! It was tough. That was my last time to play in a worship service.
I allowed the wind from the storm to paralyze me. I haven’t played my guitar much since that time.
I can’t tell you how many times God has given me something to do – just for me to end up paralyzed with fear. I don’t know why this is my response to things at times. I’m bold as a lion in my own closet… put me in the arena of life and I’m pretty timid.
Jesus says in Mark 6:50, “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”
As I mentioned at the begninning of the month, a part of keeping focus in June is to read Mark. As I read these chapters there are a couple of things that pop out to me.
Jesus led by example… He taught… Displayed his teaching through actions and then sent his disciples out to do the work – see Chapter 6.
I’m reminded in this that I am also a disciple commissioned to “do the work” of Christ. I have a mission in life. Just as he sent out his disciples then – I am called to go out into all the world and make disciples. (Matthew 28:16-20).
I pray when I go to Jesus I am like the faith of this woman in Mark 5:21-34.
She thought to herself, “If I can put a finger on his robe, I can get well.” Touch him is what she did. The crowd was pushing in on Jesus. People were touching him left and right… calling his name. I’m sure it was chaos around him yet he said, “Who touched my robe?”
His disciples replied, “What are you talking about? With this crowd pushing and jostling you, you’re asking, ‘Who touched me?’ Dozens have touched you!”
Everyone was crowding around Jesus and he knew someone with faith came to him. This woman knew what it meant to come to Jesus. Did Jesus have to ask the question, “Who touched me?” I don’t think so… I think this question was to make a point to his disciples and those around.
Have you ever known someone who just loves being seen with people of importance… or at least they talk a big game of the people they know? This same game gets played in the Christian world too. We go to our churches leading the other Christians to believe we Know Jesus and spend all this time with him – that we know Him intimately. When actually all we are doing is pretending to be something that we are not. Hiding behind our stained glass windows.
This woman wanted to do more than to be seen with Jesus. She had a mission to know him intimately. She received the desire of her heart – to be healed. Jesus blessed her beyond what she sought. She had a face to face conversation with him. It didn’t stop there either… it was recorded in God’s word for the entire world to know – for eternity!
I originally posted this on Trifilo’s Journey Group Blog on March 15, 2008. I’ve been thinking about trust these past few days. And thought about this too.
*****************************
We ate Chinese tonight!! Lori said she would take me out to dinner on the tip money she made this week… she was ready to do anything just so she wouldn’t have to cook.Well, I ate the Almond Chicken… boy it was good!! I finished off my meal with a nice crunchy little “Fortune Cookie.” Yum! My fortune read, “A short stranger will soon enter your life with blessings to share.” Let me tell you – I am on the lookout for a short stranger.
I was reading Matthew 5:1-12 tonight. Before I’m reprimanded I know I’m off track with the days… sorry. While reading this moments ago, I was reminded of that fortune cookie. I thought about how many other things we put our trust in on a daily basis. A fortune cookie, fortune-tellers, stock market, wishing upon a star, the lottery, that rich relative’s leftovers that we are banking on… the list goes on.
Too often we get our hopes on so many things that we forget the real hope we have to live for. In these 12 verses alone we are blessed with:
the kingdom of heaven
comfort
inheritance of the earth
filled with righteousness
shown mercy
we will see God
be called the sons of God
Living is all about having the right priorities. God, spouse, children… Blessed are we when we live as Jesus would have us live.
What a challenging week this past week has been. That which I face has not been solved. I have no idea where the solution is going to come from. I know God has a solution and that is what is mind blowing. I’m just one person on this planet. Think about it for a second… you are just one person… a tiny speck in the face of humanity. Yet God cares deeply for each one of us. This is all so hard to comprehend.
What’s even more difficult to grasp is He is constantly calling us to Himself. I was at my daughter’s ballet performance last night. What an incredible display of the arts to proclaim God’s love, grace, mercy, creation, and sovereignty. God’s creation in the heavens even declares His love.
David writes in Psalm 19:1-4:
1 The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. 2 Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. 3 There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. 4 Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. (NIV).
I like how The Message reads in Psalms19:3-4, “Their words aren’t heard, their voices aren’t recorded, But their silence fills the earth: unspoken truth is spoken everywhere.”
It’s hard sometimes to keep our focus in times of trouble. Our natural tendency is to try and fix things on our own without going to the Problem Solver. The problem is we often fight in the natural when God requires things to be fought in the supernatural.
I know I’m learning a lot these days. I know God is helping me get things in order for a reason. I believe He is preparing me for a specific work and He knows I need to have things in order for that very purpose. Again I quote Chambers,
If the majesty, grace, and power of God are not being exhibited in us, God holds us responsible. “God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you . . . may have an abundance . . .” ( 2 Corinthians 9:8 )— then learn to lavish the grace of God on others, generously giving of yourself. Be marked and identified with God’s nature, and His blessing will flow through you all the time.
While I was in college, we closed out each chapel service quoting Psalm 19:14. This is my prayer as I walk through this moment in time.
May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.
As I read these verses in Philippians 4:8-9, Paul states, ”…I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious – the best, not the worst, the beautiful, not the ugly, things to praise, not things to curse….” (The Message).
So my response: To put down those things that weigh heavy on me and cast them aside. And think about those things that will only bring life… those things found in these verses.
Recent Comments