Archive for the ‘Christian Living’ Category
Ever caught yourself asking God what you were to do next? I have.
As I think about the disciples, I do not think they spent a lot of time asking Jesus where are we going? What about our bills? What about our meals? What’s the calendar look like for the next week? No, I think they simply stayed close to and listened to Jesus. They knew that Jesus was the “Way” and the Good Shepherd.
It is often much easier to create a plan than to cultivate a relationship.
You see, the man who walks with God always gets to his destination. When we spend time with the Father, growing our relationship, we simply follow Him where He leads us. There is no need to rush into His throne room asking for directions – darting back out again in all of our busyness.
There is an old hymn that says it like this:
Look full in His wonderful face
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of His glory and grace.
Cultivate the relationship.
Ever thought that you were pretty good at something only to have someone else come along and beat the pants off you? I used to see this all the time working with teenagers. There would be this sense of confidence (bordering on arrogance) that they would carry going into a sporting event or meet. Then wham! It is always somewhat funny (unless of course it is you or your child).
I try to always remind myself (and my children) that we really only compete against ourselves. There will always be someone that I can outperform, but many more that can outperform me.
The last time you attended church – did you enter with this sense of competiveness? Did you look around at the others and measure yourself against their performance? Or do you come as you are? Acknowledging your strengths and weaknesses and that you are a work in progress?
How about this – the next time we go to church, let’s compare ourselves to Jesus. Let’s all acknowledge our wretchedness and uselessness without Him. When was the last time we responded like Isaiah in a worship service? “Woe is me!” (Isaiah 6:5). Can we really encounter the living, holy God and walk away unchanged?
Let’s fix our eyes on Jesus (not comparing or competing with each other or even ourselves), be grateful for His mercies that are new every morning, and know that we all are more than conquerors through Him (Rom. 8:37).
“…looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith,…” (Hebrews 12:2, ESV)
Related articles
- The Radical Way of Jesus (tomakechristknown.wordpress.com)
Have you ever heard the statement that “change is the only constant”? There seems to be an oxymoron in this statement. Nevertheless, think about it – living organisms are growing and changing, and dying things are decaying and changing.
Do you remember the serenity prayer of St Francis? “Lord grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”
I would add to this: Do not be anxious or worry about the things you can change – it is wasted energy. Just change them. Conversely, do not be anxious or worry about the things that you cannot change – it is wasted energy because you cannot change them!
The Apostle Paul said that he knew what is was like to live large and be in need, and through it all, Christ gave him the ability to handle both ends of the spectrum and all things in between (Phil. 4:11-13). If you know Paul’s story, then you know he went through a bunch of junk. Yet, he is the same guy who told us not to be anxious or worry about things either (Phil. 4:6).
You see, change happens, change is a constant, but anxiety and worry should not be.
God is infinitely holy and powerful. God never changes. You should caste all your cares on God (1 Peter 5:7).
“Casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.” (1 Peter 5:7, ESV)
