Dec 23, 2010
A friend once told me “We were created to worship. It just depends on whom or what we will choose to worship?”
This morning I read Psalm 111 and verse 10 really stuck out to me
“Reverence for the Lord is the foundation of true wisdom.
The rewards for wisdom come to all who obey him.
Praise His name forever!”
I thought what is the definition of reverence and if I truly revered the Lord?
Reverence: to show devoted deferential honor to . (Syn)Worship, Adore: to honor and admire profoundly and respectfully.
To me that meant to be singly devoted to God, to adore Him above all else, to set a part all my worship and honor for Him .
After even more contemplation 🙂 I realized how much I settle for the plastic gods of this world and for the small dreams of my heart.
When in fact I was made for a higher, more beautiful and precious purpose- To worship God Almighty. The Great I Am.
That my friends is called – INSANITY and if I could be so bold ADULTERY
Who in their right mind would settle for rocks and ruble when there is gold and diamonds to be had.
And don’t you agree that God cannot be likened to gold and diamonds . It is a pathetic example because He is so much more.
So I pray as I continue on in my journey with Jesus that I never let go of His hand. Running after the things of this world, following the selfishness of my heart-instead of the gentle perfection of his unfailing Love and purpose for my life.
P.S. You want to know something astounding-When I do leave him, He is that faithful husband waiting with open arms to take his bride back.
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Oct 16, 2010
A couple days ago the Lord taught me something really cool. As a part of the GFA home team we are on a rotation to clean bathrooms. (Glamorous right?) So, today as I was cleaning the bathroom and checking things off of the list, I was praying through some struggles. The end my prayer was just “I want to be more and more like Jesus. I want to be more and more like Him.” So I was almost finished with my job and was polishing the wooden door, when Keith, one of the core staff members at GFA stopped to say thank you. He thanked me for doing the job all the way and making sure that everything got done right. I’m thinking, “Everything done right? If only you knew.”
He said that what I was doing indirectly made him look good since he is in charge of building and grounds upkeep. When K.P. looks at things he would say “Wow, Keith’s doing a good job.”
“What? Excuse me, I’m the one doing this work. Why should he get the credit?”
It made me think, what if we all did things just to give our Father the credit? He’s the boss. If we did things just so that he’d get the praise, life would be so much better. It wouldn’t be a competition to do more because no one would know that you did it in the first place. It’d just be something that God did.
So, what if we did things all the way all the time? Not just on the outside where people can see it, like this door; but sweeping next to the garbage can and dusting the corners? What if we made sure Christ got the credit for that too?
What is there in your life that you are doing half way? Is it trying to make money – or is it your Bible study? Which one is it that Christ is getting credit for? What would you change if you knew everything you were doing in life went into His account and not yours? If everything you did showed up on Jesus’ background check, would you want to hire him?
So that’s what Christ taught me as I was cleaning the bathroom – that I need to be doing things for Him because everything I do is going on His account.
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Oct 14, 2010
I was thinking about my year as a student this week. I think the lesson that was etched all over my year was to own up to who I am and then see it in light of who Christ is. I am really good at dodging the truth, trying to hide my flaws, shifting the blame. I’m so totally flawed, and I know it, but I don’t want anyone to think so.
Through my year as a student God used almost everything I experienced (my house leader, my roommates, my job) to show me that (1) I need to be completely honest before Him about who I am, that means all my sin and shortcomings. (2) when I’m honest before Him, when I repent and take responsibility for my sin and failures, He goes about changing me and making me like Him in ways I never thought possible. And (3), my fellowship with those around me is so much richer and deeper as a result.
There’s complete honesty and humility at the foot of the cross. Jesus redeems our messyness. He is so good.
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Oct 12, 2010
Have you ever had one of those days that started off really bad?
Today that is exactly what happened.
At 4:30 am I arose to get ready for work , 5:00 I attempted to leave for work . Key word “attempted” but once out of the drive thru I couldn’t move the van. You see while in the drive way the brake light came on-which always happen in our now disintegrating vehicle when one pushes on the pedal. But it being so early (my excuse of choice) I thought -oh the emergency brake is on. So I proceeded to lift it up. Now this is when the van wouldn’t move.
I then ran in to my mom who was still very sleepy asking for her help. She came out and explained to me that the brake goes down when driving not up.
Finally I arrived to my place of employment to find abosolutely no one there. I was supposed to be there at 5:30am for inventory. I was early and thought ok call mom…. After figuring some things out I waited till about six when a manager will arrive to open the store.
She came and I asked “Isn’t today the inventory day?”
She looked at me and said with regret “No that was Monday”
My heart sunk. We then proceeded to go inside and check the schedule. I had written down the wrong day and felt terrible. She was so gracious to reassure me that we all make mistakes and that it was ok.
I called my mom again (thank you Jesus for Mom’s!) we talked and then she said she would see me soon.
I made it to the second stop light before I started crying. This is not a good idea when your core of vision is being completely clouded.
I kept arguing with myself that I better stop crying b/c I needed to stay alive, but then thinking all I wanted to do was cry .
After a while I stopped crying and sat at a stop light wishing I could turn back time when I say the car in front of me . It had a bumper sticker that read “Look to Jesus”.
You see I was worried about my own reputation and the consequences of my actions instead of letting Jesus have it all. In spite of myself, Jesus would take care of me.
I’ll end with this 🙂 I have been memorizing Phil 4.
V4-7 says
“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again rejoice. Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be afraid about anything but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving ,present your requests to God. And the peace of God which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”
So when all seems like a mess turned upside down. Keep all focus on Jesus and Rejoice!
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Sep 30, 2010
Some thoughts on different teachings over the past two months…
“For thus the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel, has said, ‘In repentance and rest you will be saved, in quietness and trust is your strength.’ But you were not willing . . .” (Isaiah 30:15). “ . . . ‘Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind and makes flesh his strength, and whose heart turns away from the LORD. For he will be like a bush in the desert and will not see when prosperity comes, but will live in stony wastes in the wilderness, a land of salt without inhabitant’” (Jeremiah 17:5-6).
Monday, Thursday, and Friday morning prayer, Tuesday night prayer, and Friday night prayer, and daily we work and pray to see the lost multitudes of Asia reached. But the trap in my life is to be doing the work of God, wholehearted, and yet I miss God Himself. I can easily pray for the Dalits of India in all their depravity and be strong and bold in my words, why I’ve done it 100 times the past month, yet not do it in His strength. We can lead a Bible study, or children’s lesson, and the kids behave and the lesson was composed and we spoke clearly. But in all that fine glorious business could have MISSED GOD HIMSELF!
Jesus did not look to lead the masses of crowds to Himself but looked for individuals. He would say turn away from your selfish and evil ways, take up your cross and follow me. Jesus all to well knew and saw those people who wanted some part of Him because His ministry was attractive and had a good reputation. As Keith Green put it, Americans are the people who always pray, “Bless me, bless me,” and let the culture dictate what is righteous and “how much” God you can have. Jesus said, “ . . . unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit” (John 12:24). Paul said he pressed on, leaving EVERYTHING behind, his successes and failures.
I must reject any notion that I have anything to offer God. God said if we repent and rest in Him we will be saved. It is so simple. He said our strength would be our quietness and trust in Him. I don’t want to be sacrificing my life for the lost but come to Heaven and find it was all fruitless work done in my own flesh. K.P. Yohannan challenged us the other night, “When was the last time you spent an hour on your face before God in quietness?” If we are just running around being busy outside the strength and rest of Christ then Satan is just waiting for the time he will yank the rug out on us (Daniel 7:25). “Self-centered Christians cannot and will not respond to Christ because they are not submitted to Him as their head” (Road to Reality, p30). I must let my self-centeredness die and realize that our strengths and weakness are not what decide what God can do in my life.
Application for me:
- Stop running here and there for a solution that only requires quieting ourselves and waiting in prayer. SEEK GOD FIRST.
- Stop feeding ourselves with unspiritual things (Things that may take my time away from the Lord). Isaiah 30:15.
- Work to discipline the flesh. It isn’t by trying to be more spiritual to win over the flesh but by constantly praying and seeking God to change and convert the flesh.
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