Archive for March, 2009
Posted on March 27, 2009 - by bj
It’s enough to make me go crazy
Jesus’s main concern is not that we stop sinning, but that we experience and live in His love and grace. He didn’t come to earth to make us stop sinning. He didn’t come to turn bad people into good people. He wanted to be with the people He loved forever. He was and is the means of an eternal relationship with the Father. We were hopeless without Him. He paid the price that WE DESERVED. So in knowing what we really deserve, why is it that we somehow get in the mindset that we deserve certain standards from this world–particularly from people. For example, we think we deserve to be treated nicely by others, we think we deserve a thank you after every good deed, etc… And when these things don’t happen, many times it effects us. This world is so corrupt and we expect so much good from it, which doesn’t make sense at all. And yet…..i do this far too often. Jesus was rejected his whole life, was beaten and spit on, and nailed to a cross–dying a criminals death to bring life to the world and here i am getting upset because someone didn’t thank me after i gave them a compliment, or wasn’t appreciative of my help. My gosh, who am i serving here?…..certainly not the Lord. The answer is myself. i know there’s a problem when i do something for someone and i let it affect me negatively because they didn’t act a certain way or didn’t say what i expected. i’m no longer serving them or God at this point and never was in the first place. We are a culture so insulated within our own selfishness and pride that we’ve lost what i means to wholeheartedly serve our neighbor. Our idea of service is, many times, based on the benefits that we receive as a result of serving……I want to do something for someone because it makes me feel good; I want to do this for him/her so they think highly of me; I want to give some money to my church or this organization so I can get a charitable contribution deduction on my tax return. Here’s the thing……..when we make these our ends for serving, whatever it may be, that’s all we get—you might feel good….for a little while, but it won’t last. All these things are temporary fixes to a problem that is much bigger than we understand–our pride, which fights to have control over us everyday. i just think it would be so amazing if we could learn to serve the Lord first and allow His love to pour out of us into the lives of others. i feel like that’s what real service is–i mean, He loved us first and He is love. When we learn to serve the Lord, and only Him, we’ll find that all of the things mentioned above and so much more will be thrown in—yes, even the tax deduction. So i ask, what does it look like for you/for us to serve wholeheartedly?
Posted on March 16, 2009 - by bj
Walk in the Word update
Ok, so i’m through the first 11 chapters of Genesis. i want to comment on a few things that stand out. i’ll try to keep it as brief as possible.
Gen 4 –> Cain and Able: It’s in verse 5 that Cain became angry and it’s here that temptation crept in. The Lord intervened to let him know that “sin is crouching at his door” if he can’t control his anger. We have to master sin, recognizing when it’s at our door and not let our feelings and emotions get the best of us. Cain’s sin was not being angry, but it happened when he acted out of his anger and jealousy. Offerings are a type of worship to God. There is a right and wrong way to worship. The thing is, God is free to accept or reject and we should always be mindful of our motives.
Gen 6 –> God’s instructions to Noah: The world is just as evil today as it was back then, if not worse. I wonder, what would it look like for each of us to be the Noah of today, for each of us to find favor in the eyes of the Lord? Verse 11: The earth was corrupt in God’s sight. Here’s the thing……our perception of corruption will be off unless we see through the eyes of Christ. There are things that we do that feel right and pleasurable but also corrupt our souls. We can’t assume that the things that feel right are always right. We need to tune our hearts to be in sync with His so we can monitor our actions and words and do His will.
Gen 11 –> Tower of Babel: How often do we try to make a name for ourselves just like these people? We start thinking that our lives are all about us instead of doing the work of God. We confuse (which is what Babel means) ourselves. This story shows that we have magnificent potential when we work together, but our potential is damaging when we ignore God. The goal is to bring the two together–to have people working together with one heart and one purpose; a heart focused on Jesus and a purpose to know Him and make Him known–i mean, that’s what the church is, right? Our potential is far more magnificent when this happens.
Posted on March 9, 2009 - by bj
My Daily Prayer, for the time being or maybe forever
So, it’s on my heart to read the entire bible, cover-to-cover. However, more than my desire to do this is my desire to know the Father more and more each day-to draw in close to Him. For this purpose i didn’t put a time frame on when i want to complete it, but i do need accountability.
So….my prayer is:
God, give me the desire and discipline me to live in
Your word daily. You are the source of life and all
that is good in my life is from You. i want to draw
near to You and know You more intimately. Father,
lift me out of my selfishness and pride, so that i
may live in the light of Your glory and grace, and
live a life that is pleasing in Your sight.
Lookout Genesis
