A Few Brilliant Ideas...: God

Showing posts with label God. Show all posts

I forgot to add Will to the list, that has been updated. You can find his blog at: http://contemplativewhimsy.blogspot.com/. Due to my failure to remember to list his name, I gave him the very special title of Patrick Star, who is very near and dear to my heart. Also, I accept Simeon's Subchallenge. It is was a hard day one, we lost quite a few: Tirzah, Nathan, Aaron, Na'chelle, Nick. That brings our number down from 18 to 13. However, in Nick and Nathan's defense, they did tell me they planned on posting semi-regularly these next couple weeks. Allen Lai has a questionable post dated February 2nd, but I'll let it slide, because it was there when I checked at 12:30 and it's the first day. The rest of you however... Bom voyage.

I talk to people a lot. You probably do too. This a good thing.

I can often predict what my friend and family members will say because I've spent a lot of time talking to them. I've also spent a lot of timing listening. That's how friendships are built, this communication back and forth, verbal or otherwise. People could rock climb every day, side by side, but if they never talk, they don't know each other. They're not friends.

Friends talk. Friends listen. Friends communicate.

I have a friend named Valerie Niemann who I used to go running with my freshman year of college. We talked a lot about all kinds of things and after a while she said to me, 'Stevie you're not listening to me.' At the time it was meant more jokingly, but as the joke was repeated, I became aware of how serious this really was. My statement always started, "No, I'm listening, but what the point I'm trying to make is..." Too many but's. I don't always listen. Worse, I don't always hear, or take the time to understand what people are trying to tell me. And listening is so fundamental to a good friendship. I'm super thankful for that lesson that Val taught me. So if you're reading this, thanks Val. God used you to show me how little I really did listen.

There's a repeated statement by Jesus in the book of Mark, "He who has ears let him hear." Which means some of have ears, but we're not hearing.

As I've learned how important listening is, and how vital it is to my friendships, God has taught me some of the differences between a true friendship.

Listening is certainly part of it, but there's a particular type of listening that I want to examine that defines a deeper level of friendship.

Each person is divided into two segments: the person they are and the person they want to become.

Simply put, a friend is a person who knows who you want to be, not just who you are.

It's hard for me to demonstrate what this looks like without a specific example, but the details of describing who someone I know wants to be is a very personal thing. I wouldn't feel right in explaining this without specific permission, so I'll use a dummy-case to prove my point.

I have a friend named Jake. Jake loves to play the piano, he works for Irregular Mechanics, he spends a lot of time with his girlfriend Jessie, he is emotionally unstable, and he really likes pretzels.

That's great, I know who Jake is. This might let me buy things for Jake when he's feeling down. It helps me talk to Jake because I know where he works, and so I can start conversation about his work. I even know that Jake may flip out on me because he's emotionally unstable, so I'm totally prepared for that moment.

Yet, is knowing who Jake is enough to help me care for Jake the way a real friend would?

Maybe, but I don't think so.

Knowing that Jake dreams of being a professional writer, that he wants to be the type of guy that his girlfriend can lean on for support, knowing that Jake wants to see himself grow up and stand for what he thinks is right. Without these, instead of helping Jake be who he wants to be, at best I'm doing damage control. At worst, I could actually be encouraging him away from his dreams, crushing his hopes.

We've all had that person, who doesn't really know how important something is to us, and yet tells us that we're not very good at something. It hurts, and you begin to wonder whether that person is truly your friend. Sometimes they're loving you by telling you the truth, but in many cases they say what they say out of ignorance. There are cases where the most loving thing you can do for a person is to speak unwanted to truth in their lives. But in order to do it with wisdom, you have to know who that person wants to be. Sometimes people want to be things they shouldn't, but as a true friend it becomes your responsibility to help them avoid those things, rather than get them.

I talk a lot, and I've been learning how to listen. I want to know who you want to be, friends. I want to tell you who I want to be. Together, maybe we can help each other become those people, or stop each other from becoming the people we ought not be.

Christian, together, maybe we can become a little bit more like Christ, because that's ultimately who we want to be like, but we're complex creatures with many troubles and needs, and it's beautiful.

Let's be friends, shall we?

A nugget, a pearl.
Something that we find
after long searching and long suffering.
When we meet it, it slices us across the face
leaving a bruised imprint,
mottled black and purple.

Wisdom is not necessarily painful,
but it always leaves its mark,
and often times it is just as lacerating as foolishness.

In the core of this gem, carved and glowing with a fantastical glow,
is a hard rock.

It is not so spectacular as the gem's outer layer.

In fact, it has been called many things:
obvious, mundane, hurtful, even unnecessary.
some of these description are, once again,
not untrue.

If they all were it would be particularly offensive
since the stone is truth.

One is never exactly sure of what form this rock will come:
One time a stone.
One time a jagged rock.
One time the cool tones of marble...

Truth is many things to many people, and one thing to all people.
Truth is invariable, steadfast, strong: a rock.

But truth is also like the seed from which blooms a beautiful flower,
the petals sighing gently in the morning mist.
This flower is wisdom, with a pungent odor.

It either drives away

or attracts.

Without the seed there is no flower,
but without the flower, one knows not what to do with the seed.

Wisdom is truth,
but truth is not necessarily wisdom.

This is why you have met adults
who seem more like children
than you, the thirteen year old with the bad haircut.

It is possible that you have misjudged them,
that their wisdom is more subtle than your understanding,
but alas,
it is not always the case.
These adults wield truth, as the saying goes
"you learning something new every day."
And although their truth is vaster, wider,
they lack the pearl,
the blossom of the flower,
the smile of wonder on the face of a mother holding her newborn child.
They have truth, but lack the knowledge of what to do with it.
They lack wisdom.

Wisdom is elusive, it crops up in the oddest places:
the sleepover at a friend's house,
the football game on Sunday,
the walk in the park,
and sometimes in the places where you expect it.

But rarely, it seems.

Wisdom's shape is never fixed, which makes it able fit in the notch in your wall
which appeared from pressing your thumb against it too hard,
or in the shopping cart at the grocery store.

It is situational, dressing itself appropriately for the occasion,
wearing a tie to work on the day of the big promotion,
and hiding behind the wall while your friend calms down, remaining just around the corner.

Yet with all this, what I yearn for most
is a special type of wisdom:
a universal wisdom...
that has applications the size of the galaxy
and a length of eternity.

If once or twice, I stumble on this wisdom
it is my duty to fix it in my understanding,
to work it into my life,
to hold it dear,
and never.
ever.
forget.

For a man is not proven foolish by what he hasn't learned,
but by what he has forgotten.

Devotions

“Woe to the world for btemptations to sin!2 cFor it is necessary that temptations come, dbut woe to the one by whom the temptation comes!8 eAnd if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into fthe eternal fire. 9 eAnd if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the fhell3 of fire."

Today is Matthew 18 again. The passage it fitting, considering that I'm currently reading Tempted and Tried by Russel Moore (a thank you to a sir Nathan Lee for the book). If there's one thing I'm already aware of, twenty pages into the book it is two things.

1. Temptation is dangerous.
2. Temptation is prevalent.

The first may seem like a no-brainer, and indeed, for the most part I think it is. However, just because we "know" something, doesn't mean that we live like it's true. I may be aware temptation is dangerous, but too often I knowingly put myself into situations where I am more likely to be tempted. Jesus says temptation is necessary, not that we should pursue temptation. Even Jesus says fears for those who experience temptation, "woe to the one by whom temptation comes!" Temptation is not to be trifled with. We need to on our toes, prepared to "Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses." (1 Timothy 6:12).

However, there's one specific reason that temptation is dangerous. The one who is behind the tempting is dangerous. Matthew 4:3 refers to Satan as, "The tempter." Satan is an evil, extremely malicious person, that will try to tempt us away from the things of God. Satan would like nothing better than to elevate ourselves in our own minds. His goal is make us think we are God. Either this, or to make us think that we are so pitiful, so evil, so low that God would never choose to save us. He'll do anything to keep us from coming to our heavenly Father.

Temptation is real. The tempter is real. Be aware.

However, temptation is much more prevalent than we will often assume. Temptation is often found for guys in the form of lust, yes, it's true. However, we cannot limit temptation to one area. Temptation is much more than just this. Temptation exists to make us eat more than we should. Temptation exists to envy another person. Temptation exists to urge us to jump into a premature relationship. Temptation exists to make us look down ourselves, to grind ourselves in the dirt so we forget our identity in our savior. Temptation exists to feel good about ourselves and grow arrogant, losing sight of who saved us, and why we can feel confident in our savior's merit.

Temptation is everywhere. It is your friend next door who gives a bag of cookies. It is the girl or guy who smiles at you, urging you onward in your friendship. It is the person who says that your sin is: "not that big of a deal." God thinks temptation is important. The severity of God's view on temptation is seen above, "if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the hell of fire."

Even physical infirmity is better then not entering the kingdom of heaven. We must strive to avoid putting ourselves in situations which will tempt us. We must be aware of the danger that temptation poses. We must prepare ourselves to fight, for temptation will come, and, when we overcome it, we will grow.

Now that we're free, let's live like those alive.

Sincerely,

Tempted and Tempter

Devotions

"At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” 2 And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them 3 and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you uturn and vbecome like children, you wwill never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 xWhoever humbles himself like this child is the wgreatest in the kingdom of heaven.

5 y“Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, 6 butzwhoever causes one of these alittle ones who believe in me to sin,1 it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea."

Today is Matthew 18. I fell asleep last night promising myself I would read my devotions when I awoke. Unfortunately I woke up at 4 PM, so here I am. This evening I was struck by the audacity of the disciples. They openly ask Jesus who is the greatest in God's kingdom for the obvious purpose, I first thought of becoming the greatest. I mean that's why I would ask. However, as I thought over the question again, it occurred to me that the disciples might be asking Jesus something much more serious. Was it possible the disciples were asking if God was the greatest in heaven? This claim was equally audacious, however, as I ponder it further, I realize this can't be the case. The context of Jesus's reply implies that the disciples question was indeed geared at the former. Besides, at this point in the scriptures the disciples would have had to be blind to realize that Jesus was not synonymous with God, what with the dove descending upon him, His commands for the winds and seas to stop, and most recently the transfiguration where he tabernacled with God, Elijah, and Moses. The disciples knew for certain that Jesus was God. Peter we know for sure as he confesses it back in Matthew 16:16 "Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”" It would be silly for the disciples to ask this question for any other reason than to find out how they could obtain greater position in God's kingdom. However, they also asserted Jesus as God, once again, for only God knows the nature of heaven.

I've often pondered what I'd ask Jesus if I ever got to meet Him on this earth. "Jesus, why did you make mosquitoes?" But honestly, this is one of the better of the disciples' questions. All over the Bible we see the questions regarding how to defeat our sin, and the answer is always to become like Christ. Since Christ, God, is the greatest in Heaven, by reason we must become more like Him. This makes Jesus's answer interesting, as it tells us a piece of the nature of God. Jesus says that only those who are like children will enter the kingdom of Heaven, however, the greatest is he who "humbles himself like this child." God is the greatest of all, because he is the one who has most greatly humbled himself. If you think the magnitude of God's glory, and how much greatly above us He is in his attributes: perfect, omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient. God is infinitely more glorious than we are, and yet he humbled Himself as a child, in the form of Jesus. Not only has He humbled himself into human form, but into the form of a babe in swaddling clothes, born in a stinking stable. The other day I was thinking about how different the Bible story would be if Jesus was a prince rather than a poor child. I came to the conclusion, He would no longer be God, at least not the God I know. God is the greatest because He has most greatly humbled himself. We should therefore make ourselves more like Christ, humbling ourselves to be like Him. At the Resolved retreat I just got back from, the preacher talked about Jesus washing the disciples' feet. We need to be willing to wash one another's feet, perhaps not literally, but doing equally undesirable tasks in order to humble ourselves.
God connects himself with children here, or perhaps more accurately all the virtuous traits a child has, is similar to the nature of God. God is not limited by social boundaries. He is innocent. He loves to make things. He is enthusiastic. God is childlike in nature. We should become more like Him.
The last point of the passage is God's overwhelming love for children. You can see in the passage Jesus's severe warning for someone who harms children. God has a blazing, fire-filled, passionate love for children. This is true for those who are very young, who do not belong to Him, but it is also true for those that He has adopted into His family. The church. The body of Christ. The next time you face a challenge, remember this, God has not only chosen each one of us as one of His children, not only ransomed us from sin. God loves you passionately, with an undying love. His wrath against those who assault those who believe in Him is great. He will take care of us. None of us needs to fear.
So live encouraged, children of God. When you feel small, God is big. He is with us in the valleys and the peaks. Give praise to Abba, our heavenly father.
Sincerely,

Thoughts of a Wayfaring Child

Family, friends, and all those that dwell on this fallen earth. I tell you these things because I care for you.

Gospel. You've probably heard that word before, it means "good news." You probably knew that too. If you didn't, welcome to Christianity. It's a weird world we live in filled with muddled, confused people unsure and unable to differentiate the truth of the Word of God from the traditions passed down from the past generations of equally confused believers.

There are a lot of "Christians" who think they have it right because they attend church once a week, or twice a week, or even every day. That's not what makes a Christian. There's a lot of "Christians" who think they have it right because they open that sixty-six love letter every night called the Bible and give air to empty phrases filled with the hollow tones of a man standing before a courtroom, bound to tell the truth on a book he doesn't really care to open up. That's not what Christianity is, and if that's all they think it is, it's honor-bound, Hell-bound duty. I relish in the fact that I get to burst your little bubble by informing good people don't go to heaven. Not in the sense that you think anyway. Why does this give me so deep a pleasure? Simply because it's the beginning of illumination. Just because you worked and slaved doesn't guarantee you anything. Karma isn't any realer, than the synthetic carbohydrates you see on the shelves in the stores.

So what are these Christians? These people that you see walking down the street with the tracks in their hands trying to convince you that this Jesus guy died thousands of years ago and came back to life. After all, last time you checked your great-great-grandma was still in the grave. Why should Jesus be so special? The truth is some of them are fakers, not truly knowing Christ, but proclaiming him anyway. There are others though, people who are genuine believers, with genuine spirit-breathed faith. Where did that come from?

You've probably heard the story of that little baby born in Bethlehem, the city of David. Born, grown, living the perfect life and imparting us with wisdom not our own. Then dying a death he did not deserve on a cross that was his to have from the dawn of time. Why? Why did Jesus die? I hope you're insisting. Here's where things get tricky, it's why the "good news" tends to be a little too "good" to swallow. According to the Bible and its revelations, the reason Jesus died is because you, frankly, suck. Just to be clear, it isn't just you but every single person, with Christians included. The Lord Jesus spoke and told us that if we committed but one sin, that guilt was enough to condemn us of them all. It's not that Christians have some type of diplomatic immunity from the wrath of God because they wear nice clothes every Sunday and sing songs that rhyme quite nicely. No. They've accepted that they can't save themselves, that Jesus died for them and living a perfect life took on all of their sin. They've asked him to work in their hearts, to remove their sin and abide within them. It's not that they're perfect, because heaven knows there are plenty of genuine Christians that make mistakes. But, if you're a Christian, you're being reformed to the image of God. This is the Gospel.

I don't expect you find it easy to accept all of this. If you do, then you're not truly looking yourself in the eyes. Every day I get up, walk into the bathroom, look in the mirror, and see a guy that I think looks pretty good. That's sin at work though, and it's not natural for me to see that I fall short of God's glory. I want to believe that I'm perfect. I earnestly do. It's only by God's grace that He makes me take a second look in the mirror. This time, with Gospel powered lenses, I see my full despicable self: a rotting corpse covered with sin. It's only as God's grace washes over me that I am made clean... Clean in the image of the one who saved me, Jesus of Nazareth.

People confuse the Gospel. It happens. It's the critical struggle of the church throughout the ages, not baptism or communion. You'll meet a lot of people on this side of eternity that say they're Christians. Some of them will be, others won't be. If you're a Christian, keep in mind the truth of God's word. Look for it. Cling to it. Do not let it be confused with rite and ritual, a man made religion. If you don't know God, run to Him, and when you do, run to the truth, run to the Gospel, because when you realize the full weight of your sin and your inability to be flawless, the Bible becomes not only a book, but marvelous, glorious, good news.

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A Few Brilliant Ideas...

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Worship Leading

Know Your Friends

Wisdom

Yearning

Love or Desire

Forgotten - The Cross

Devotions - Temptation

Devotions - Who Is the Greatest?

Wonder No More

The Love of God

Unwanted Storytelling

How Long?

Armageddon

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