Deepen YOur FAith

Monday, June 6, 2011

What does God really expect from me? Do I have to be perfect in order to please him?

When you look at Abel’s life (Genesis 4), do you ever think that you have to be perfect in order to please God?

Some people view God as an impossible taskmaster with impossibly high expectations. Ever think that way?

Here’s the deal: like any loving parent, God has expects his kids to act a certain way. (Think of your parents’ expectations for you.) Some Christians may tell you about God’s expectations based on where they are in their walk with him. An abundance of advice often contributes to the belief that God expects way too much. If you are feeling overwhelmed, you might be listening to others’ expectations, rather than God’s.

So, how can you please God? The story of Cain and Abel gives a significant piece to the puzzle. Both of these men brought something to God; yet only Abel’s sacrifice pleased God. One reason was because Cain’s heart was not really in his offering. He tried to please God out of obligation instead of love.

The first step in pleasing God is to examine our motivation for doing so. Do we really want to please him, or are we going through the motions because someone told us we should?

Obedience is the second step to pleasing God. It means loving him enough to listen to what he says, then following through on what we know he tells us to do.

Through the Holy Spirit, God speaks to us as we come to him with willing hearts. He gently shows us areas in our lives that we need to examine and change according to his timetable, not someone else’s.

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Father's love letter

My Child,

You may not know me,
but I know everything about you.
Psalm 139:1

I know when you sit down and when you rise up.
Psalm 139:2

I am familiar with all your ways.
Psalm 139:3

Even the very hairs on your head are numbered.
Matthew 10:29-31

For you were made in my image.
Genesis 1:27

In me you live and move and have your being.
Acts 17:28

For you are my offspring.
Acts 17:28

I knew you even before you were conceived.
Jeremiah 1:4-5

I chose you when I planned creation.
Ephesians 1:11-12

You were not a mistake,
for all your days are written in my book.
Psalm 139:15-16

I determined the exact time of your birth
and where you would live.
Acts 17:26

You are fearfully and wonderfully made.
Psalm 139:14

I knit you together in your mother's womb.
Psalm 139:13

And brought you forth on the day you were born.
Psalm 71:6

I have been misrepresented
by those who don't know me.
John 8:41-44

I am not distant and angry,
but am the complete expression of love.
1 John 4:16

And it is my desire to lavish my love on you.
1 John 3:1

Simply because you are my child
and I am your Father.
1 John 3:1

I offer you more than your earthly father ever could.
Matthew 7:11

For I am the perfect father.
Matthew 5:48

Every good gift that you receive comes from my hand.
James 1:17

For I am your provider and I meet all your needs.
Matthew 6:31-33

My plan for your future has always been filled with hope.
Jeremiah 29:11

Because I love you with an everlasting love.
Jeremiah 31:3

My thoughts toward you are countless
as the sand on the seashore.
Psalms 139:17-18

And I rejoice over you with singing.
Zephaniah 3:17

I will never stop doing good to you.
Jeremiah 32:40

For you are my treasured possession.
Exodus 19:5

I desire to establish you
with all my heart and all my soul.
Jeremiah 32:41

And I want to show you great and marvelous things.
Jeremiah 33:3

If you seek me with all your heart,
you will find me.
Deuteronomy 4:29

Delight in me and I will give you
the desires of your heart.
Psalm 37:4

For it is I who gave you those desires.
Philippians 2:13

I am able to do more for you
than you could possibly imagine.
Ephesians 3:20

For I am your greatest encourager.
2 Thessalonians 2:16-17

I am also the Father who comforts you
in all your troubles.
2 Corinthians 1:3-4

When you are brokenhearted,
I am close to you.
Psalm 34:18

As a shepherd carries a lamb,
I have carried you close to my heart.
Isaiah 40:11

One day I will wipe away
every tear from your eyes.
Revelation 21:3-4

And I'll take away all the pain
you have suffered on this earth.
Revelation 21:3-4

I am your Father, and I love you
even as I love my son, Jesus.
John 17:23

For in Jesus, my love for you is revealed.
John 17:26

He is the exact representation of my being.
Hebrews 1:3

He came to demonstrate that I am for you,
not against you.
Romans 8:31

And to tell you that I am not counting your sins.
2 Corinthians 5:18-19

Jesus died so that you and I could be reconciled.
2 Corinthians 5:18-19

His death was the ultimate expression
of my love for you.
1 John 4:10

I gave up everything I loved
that I might gain your love.
Romans 8:31-32

If you receive the gift of my son Jesus,
you receive me.
1 John 2:23

And nothing will ever separate you
from my love again.
Romans 8:38-39

Come home and I'll throw the biggest party
heaven has ever seen.
Luke 15:7

I have always been Father,
and will always be Father.
Ephesians 3:14-15

My question is…
Will you be my child?
John 1:12-13

I am waiting for you.
Luke 15:11-32

Love, Your Dad
Almighty God

Thankfulness: God Is Good

“Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever.” (Psalm 107:1)

Nothing seems to turn my way: I lose my job, the baby’s breathing rasps, the car quits, and a relationship unravels. My laughter, when I laugh, jars in its cynicism.

Wave after wave, life breaks over my child-soul; I am turned in its breakers like a broken seashell. I want to cry out at the seeming indifference, to walk belligerently through the surf and present my complaint before God. “Let the oceans roar and foam” (Psalm 46:3)?

And then the Word of God appears, undemanding as a rose. It does not chide. It does not badger. It sings: “Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever.” My soul groans in the pulling. I do not want to be thankful. But here it is: God is good. His faithful love endures forever. That truth must be found in the pounding surf as much as it is in a cool cup of water.

God’s faithfulness and love do not end in the tragedy I experience or in the crumbling of what I once thought of as life. God is life and love, and my prosperity or my suffering do not change those truths. In my suffering, God shows himself faithful. In my pain, he shows himself love. These are hard truths to understand in the center of the suffering. But they are truths, and their testimony alone is cause for celebration.

So I open my closet door and step inside. I pray. I specifically present my disappointments and complaints and lay them down at the feet of the One who loves me. Regardless of whatever else happens, I am his. And if it is his will that I be broken like bread so that his people might be fed, amen.

It is imperative that I take the time to come before God in prayer, in silence, in solitude; to remember his faithfulness; and to read of his love. It is the will of God: “Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:18). And his will is my honor, my joy.

So I pray and I read. I remember God’s past faithfulness and I cling to it. I embrace the story of the Scriptures, a story of faithfulness, because it is my story too.

“Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever.”

How can we really know God?

I’ve heard so many different opinions on what God is really like that I’m beginning to wonder if anyone really knows. How can we really know God? Have you ever assembled a complicated jigsaw puzzle? If so, you know how important the picture on the box is. As you put the puzzle together, you use the picture as a reference. But what if you had the wrong box top, and the picture didn’t match the puzzle? The puzzle would be nearly impossible to assemble (at least until you realized the mistake). People throughout the world are trying to put the 'God puzzle' together. But often they’re trying to match the pieces to the wrong picture! God isn’t trying to hide. As Hebrews 1:1-3 tells us, God has clearly shown the world what he is like—through nature, through the Bible, and especially through Christ. When Jesus was asked point-blank by Philip, he was straightforward in his reply. 'Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father!' (John 14:9; see also John 10:30). It doesn’t get more obvious than that! To know what God is like, all you have to do is look at Jesus. People get their God-pictures from friends who say they believe in God, but never act like it; coaches who pray before games and then swear the paint off of the walls at halftime; and so forth. But these aren’t accurate pictures of God. If you want to know what God is like, you don’t have to settle for hearsay. Instead, look at the right picture—look at Christ. Some of my friends who are Christians say they don’t like going to church because it’s boring. Why do we have to go? Imagine growing up without a family. Families are designed to take care of your daily needs and to give you the continual love and guidance you need as you are growing up. In Hebrews 10:24-25, we’re warned against neglecting our church meetings. The body of Christ is our spiritual family. If we stay away from church gatherings, we are left to try to survive by ourselves. The church, like the family, can often be undervalued for the role it plays in our spiritual growth. Some Christians don’t recognize the positive influence of other Christians until years later. At that point, they realize that they would still be spiritual babies without the church’s influence and love.

Silence: God’s Questions

“Go out and stand before me on the mountain,” the LORD told him. And as Elijah stood there, the LORD passed by, and a mighty windstorm hit the mountain. It was such a terrible blast that the rocks were torn loose, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake there was a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire there was the sound of a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And a voice said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” (1 Kings 19:11–13).

There was a Lutheran seminary not far from where I attended college. One evening some friends and I went to the rustic A-frame chapel on the seminary’s campus and walked in. We didn’t bother with the lights because the windows in the ceiling let in the fullness of the moon. Awed by the chapel, we withdrew from each other, pulled down the kneeler benches, and spent some time with God in the silence. It was ethereal and perspective-altering. We felt God there.

Our bodies are rustic temples. Silence, stillness, and quiet—these things are the windows that let in his fullness.

I don’t think we really want to let in God’s fullness. We fear the questions that will come in the silence. We fear communion with the Almighty. We know that he is not content with the spiritual place in which we are so comfortable. We know he wants us to move forward.

Once Elijah hears the gentle whisper, he knows the Lord is in the silence, not in the raw display of power. Preparing for the encounter, he wraps his cloak around his face. Perhaps he is trying to hide his nakedness, perhaps he knows he will die if he sees God, or perhaps he is cold. And as he steps out to meet God, he is met with a question: “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

That’s the question I fear. That’s the question that keeps me from the silence. I falsely believe that if I wrap myself up in a cloak of noise and busyness, I will have a chance at slipping away from the Father, the Almighty, the one who sees all things.

Elijah is made of sterner stuff. He faces his God, knowing the questions will come. But he also knows something else: God is not in the fury, but in the gentle whisper. God is life and love. And it is in the safety of that embrace that Elijah can endure his questions. It is in the safety of that embrace that we can face ourselves. It is in the safety of that embrace that we can change.

Be silent and let God speak. Let him ask the questions, and he will gently whisper the Word of God into your heart. And his fullness will be in you.

My Future

I’m afraid to give my whole life to God because I think he’ll tell me to do something I don’t want to do. What happens if I hold back part of my life from God?

Imagine going out for the basketball team and telling the coach that you only want to practice, not to play in the games. How do you think your coach or teammates would react?

Undoubtedly they would be a little put off by your attitude. After all, if you’re going to be on the team, you should play in the games.

Unfortunately, many people have that attitude about their relationship with God. They want it on their terms—with all the benefits and no hassles.

A relationship with God requires a full commitment like that in any good relationship. God wants your whole life so he can make something extraordinary out of it.

His goal isn’t to make you miserable. Just take a look at Jeremiah 29:11. '‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ says the LORD. ‘They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.’'

So what does that mean? It means that God has good plans for your life. He knows you better than anyone else does and knows what will fulfill you the most in life. If you choose any other direction, you’ll be settling for second best. Please don’t

Holy War?

The involvement of our country in the war in Iraq inspired many polls for or against the war on the Internet. While many people are quick to point out the need for the war (to gain justice for the human rights violations and acts of terrorism suffered by many; to punish the terrorists), others seem doubtful. Some Christians have asked themselves, Should a Christian ever go to war? Or should Christians be pacifists, refusing to take up arms no matter what the cause? Have you asked yourself those questions as well? Let’s examine God’s orders for his chosen nation of Israel in the Old Testament. In Numbers 31, God tells his people to go to war with the Midianites and to utterly destroy them. Why did God require such terrible punishment for Israel’s enemies? Aren’t Christians supposed to be loving and kind peacemakers? To answer this, we have to understand some basic differences between the Old Testament nation of Israel and God’s people today. In the Old Testament, God led his nation to their new home—Canaan. Along the way, they were opposed by numerous other nations, like the Midianites. (After all, who would voluntarily give up his or her home?) The problem wasn’t simply that these other people were in the way. They also worshiped idols and routinely sacrificed children to these idols. For Christians today, however, our war is a spiritual one. 'For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places' (Eph 6:12). God’s people today are not determined by nationality, but by spirituality. Whereas God’s blessings and promises before belonged to Abraham’s physical descendants, they now belong to those who are spiritually 'grafted' into Abraham’s line (Rom 11:17). Therefore, when any nation goes to war today, its cause may be just, but it cannot be considered holy in the way Israel’s wars were. Israel had God himself fighting battles for them, and he often gave Israel miraculous assistance and assurance of victory. No modern nation can make that claim. So, should a Christian go to war? Unfortunately, you won’t find the final answer here. We see in God’s Word that God has, at times, told his people to go to war with other people; therefore, those who believe war is never right should reconsider.

What’s up with that?

Okay, first we’re told that we can’t earn salvation. Next we’re told that we have to do stuff to prove that we’re saved. What’s up with that? James 1:22-27 and 2:14-26 have caused much debate. Here’s a sample of both: 'Don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. . . . If you claim to be religious but don’t control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless. Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you' (James 1:22-27). 'Faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless' (2:17). To put both passages simply, actions speak louder than words. If someone declared his or her love for you, but within minutes began spreading vicious rumors about you, would you believe that he or she loved you? Not likely, right? On the same token, many people claim to be Christians. Yet their lives don’t reflect the fruit of the Spirit (see Gal 5:22-23) or a willingness to grow. In fact, they don’t seem any different than they were B.C. (Before Christ). We can’t earn God’s forgiveness. Jesus already paid the price for that by dying on the cross. We can, however, show our gratitude and acceptance of that act of love by showing his love toward other

Past, Present, and Future

Past, Present, and Future And he did rescue us from mortal danger, and he will rescue us again. We have placed our confidence in him, and he will continue to rescue us. — 2 Corinthians 1:10 Imagine holding a winning lottery ticket worth millions of dollars, but not claiming what is rightfully yours. According to one article I read, it happens quite often. Someone beat the odds of 76,275,360 to 1 to win a jackpot of $46 million, but the prize went unclaimed. And in California, a $25 million prize was never collected. God has a prize for us that is of greater value than millions and millions of dollars. It is called salvation. For some it is unclaimed, for others it is unused, and for many, it is unappreciated and perhaps somewhat unknown. But when we put our faith in Jesus Christ, the Bible is adamant in saying that we are saved. It is our present possession. Salvation covers your past. When you are tempted to think that you are not worthy, that you don't deserve salvation, you can be assured that God has forgiven you of all your sin. We base our salvation not on our feelings in the moment, but on the fact of what the Word of God says. Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent me have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins, but they have already passed from death into life" (John 5:24). Salvation covers your present, because not only has God saved you, but He is saving you—saving you from the power and control of sin. In 2 Corinthians 1:10 we read that God "did rescue us from mortal danger, and he will rescue us again. We have placed our confidence in him, and he will continue to rescue us." Salvation covers your future as well, because God will deliver you from future judgment. Romans 5:9 says, "And since we have been made right in God's sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God's condemnation." Salvation means that God has saved you. God is saving you. And God will save you in the future.

What’s so wrong about horoscopes? They’re just harmless entertainment, right?

Many activities that seem harmless unfortunately lead to more harmful activities like those of the occult. The Bible mentions several examples of occult activity among the people of Israel and other nations. When King Saul of Israel wanted information about an upcoming battle, he consulted someone who claimed to be able to speak to the dead (see 1 Sam 28). Other passages deal with astrology, divination, wizards, and sorcery (see Deut 18:10-14; 2 Chron 33:6; Isa 47:12-15; Dan 2:1-2; Acts 8:9-13; 16:16-19). God always condemned these activities. If Satan can get people to take in evil small doses at a time, eventually they may become desensitized and not recognize that they are being fed something that will dull their interest in God. Satan would never get anyone to follow him if he revealed all of his evil at once. Instead, he slowly gives us small doses of evil until we’re so desensitized to it that it seems a normal part of life. This is the strategy: to capture our mind through one small compromise into darkness after another. Our best defense is to know the truth of the Word of God, so we can discern when we are being tempted by evil. God knows it is real. And Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil. Remember, 'the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world' (1 John 4:4).

Monday, June 6, 2011

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