Fridays Frivolous Feature

I've been thinking lately about the way in which we, as Christians think about God; how we interpret Him and what He has always tried to communicate to us. It seems to me that when situations get frustrating or we find ourselves in places we never thought we would, we begin to lose faith in the God of the Bible.

You know, I listen to students and friends who begin to get it into their head that because of certain things that are going on in their life, that God probably just became too small to take care of that situation. That God is not ready to deal with this one, and the only reason they can truly cite is that it is their problem. And the reality is, I have found myself doing this as well.

The fact here is, the only reason that we think that He is not big enough to handle this one is because we are unwilling to give it to Him. The lie that we get stuck in our head is that we can handle this one. I don't need to give something so ridiculously small to God. I can handle this one on my own.

I'm not sure why we do it, but I'm confident of a couple things. In Deuteronomy (31:5-6), God said to be strong and courageous because He would never leave us or forsake us. In Matthew (28:20), Jesus reiterates something similar telling the disciples that He would surely be with them until the end of the age. What's more, Jesus promised us to come and give us life to the full (John 10:10).

So today, when you begin to get the Friday "Feel-Bad-For-Yourselves-Simply-Because-It-Is-Friday" Feelings, remember that God...

... is big enough to take on your problems, no matter what...
...is able to be trusted with everything...
...can take you being mad at him...
...is willing to help you through it...

...and that no matter what, He loves you just the same.

Live in Love today. Share it with someone. Glorify God in Everything.

Let us be a people who live outside the gloom, self-hatred, depressed, lifestyle that hampers the rest of the world from living lives in the fullness of a relationship with Christ.

GC

Monday Afternoon Reflection...

So, I have been working through this thing about stuff and where I am with being sacrificial in my life. Through this, I think that God is bringing me closer to him. However, at the center of this discussion, I am drawn to the fact that there are still times in my life where I am holding onto things; stuff that I'm not sure that they are to be mine. Furthermore, for so long, I have counted them as blessings from God and perhaps they were not that at all. And so what do I do with this stuff?

You see, for so long, I have been conditioned by this culture, by my family, by the world around me, that the things that I am able to purchase, or the things that I am able to do because of the wealth that I have worked so diligently for were considered blessings from God. And while they may seem like blessings from God, they don't seem to line up with what God describes as fruit of a prosperous life; the Christian life. They almost seem as deals with the Devil himself! They have the essence of being portals into my life that allow for the deceiver to pry his way in and try and put shackles around my feet.

So, are they blessings or are they "shackles?" I am convinced that God can use all things for good; immaterial (words, situations) or material (my car/TV/cell phone etc.). But the one thing that I don't want to allow is that I backslide into allowing these things to remain in my life because they are good things if I "make them work for God." You know what I mean? If I use my TV to build community then it might be a blessing and not a detriment. Well, I guess that I am just not sure that this is good enough. Maybe it is... but maybe not.

I guess the core of my wrestling right now is just dealing with the issues that surround me falling back into a complacent lifestyle that allows for me to do some of the things that I want to without any type of accountability or need for God to enrich my life in an obvious way if I can just say that everything that happens might be God trying to bless me.

In the end, I don't want some TV to hinder my relationship with Christ. I don't want some idealistic view that allows me to have that TV when God is asking me to give it up. And I am not sure what that means in the long run, but I want to commit myself to following Jesus in ways that make typical Christians, uneasy. I want to take up my cross, and not allow things of this world be my drive; my goal. I want Jesus. I don't want some huge mansion in Heaven or any of the stuff that might seem good.

I don't want riches.
I don't want to be prosperous on this earth.
I don't want to need fame or fortune.

I just want Jesus.
I just want to sit and chillax with my Savior.

A Monday Morning Rant

So, last night I was reading one of my current pieces of reading material, The Prodigal God by Tim Keller and I have been stewing on the latest sermon that I watched by John Piper and combined those with the sermon that Pastor Dave offered this week at NMC and I am convicted beyond belief to do some changing in my life. I have been on this season of examining my life and seeing where I can cut costs, improve effectiveness, and continue to live my life for the coming reward, rather than that of the empty rewards here on earth. Last night, I had this moment when I was sitting in my house, reading and waiting on laundry where I asked myself, "Self, are you even living a life that desires Christ more than anything?" I was singing songs that seemed to desire God and to love Him with reckless abandon, but I was overcome with this sense that I was still holding onto some things and areas of my life that needed to be His.

I am struck by the fact that there are hundreds of students around me that are beginning to get it and yet, I sit here and still have some to give. I look at the ways that "God has blessed me" on this earth and I begin to recognize, as I read and try to take time to become closer to Jesus, that I was counting blessings that weren't blessings at all...

What I was counting as blessings were actually becoming detriments to me and the cause that God has laid on my heart... more on this later this afternoon.