I love to read. Sometimes I like to read a happy little fiction story. Other times, I am wrestling with theology by reading books by Bonhoeffer and C.S. Lewis. Sometimes I read books that encourage me when I am weary. Other times, I need a book to motivate me to get outside of myself and my problems so that I can better serve those around me. Some of my favorite books are the books that challenge me and send me back to the Bible to not only to double-check the author, but to cause me to re-examine what I believe & why.
I pointed out to my husband that a lot of Christians in the Western world don't seem keen to do tough introspection. There are a lot of Christians who go for what I have termed "books of fluff": these are 'Christian' books that applaud you for being awesome as you are instead of spurring you on and encouraging you to be more Christlike.
When I think of the Church in the Western world, I realize that we have become complacent and comfortable, instead of pushing on to achieve our goal, which is spreading the Gospel.
To borrow an example from nature, if a river creates a side stream, that later gets cut off from the main river and prevented from flowing onward down the stream, than that side stream will soon become a stagnant pond and a breeding place for mosquitoes. When new water isn't flowing into a stream, it runs the risk of drying out. When water isn't flowing out of a stream, even if a little trickle is flowing into the stream, it runs the risk of stagnating.
It is the same way in the lives of Christians. When we cut ourselves off from the Source, we start to dry out spiritually. It becomes exhausting to live according to the Bible.
When we cut ourselves off from growth and outreach, we stagnant. We may get a trickle from the Source, but we are becoming self-absorbed, bitter, and just all-around icky.
There's a lot of books out there that congratulate you for being so godly and being a better person than the non-Christian culture around you. So instead of continuing to strive after becoming more Christ-like, we begin to pat ourselves on the back for being so awesome and silently judge the culture around us for their sinfulness. We are looking down at the very people we should be reaching out to in compassion.
But when we read the meaty books, that hold up Christ as our example, we still see the progress we have made from our first day as a Christian, but we are more aware that we still have a ways to go to be fully Christ-like.
I challenge you to read meaty books-biographies, auto-biographies, stories of the saints. Read the hard truths that make us uncomfortable or challenge us. And allow the Holy Spirit to grow you.
Wednesday, September 25, 2019
Thursday, September 19, 2019
Listening to God
In order to listen to God, I need to be silent.
In a conversation, I cannot expect to hear what the other person is saying if I'm talking over them. Now I haven't spent a ton of time with little kids, but I've been around them enough to learn how they tend to monologue around and over each other. Sometimes each child will be narrating what they are doing, but no one is listening, because they are ALL talking.
It is entertaining at times to witness kids monologue-ing instead of conversing, but how often do we do this to God? We say we talk with God, but we monologue the whole time. We talk AT God, not WITH Him.
This isn't to say that we should NEVER talk in our prayers, but maybe a larger portion of our prayers should be listening. Then maybe our monologues will turn into the dialogues that they should be.
What does this look like?
*I outline my problem to God*
~I listen for guidance and directions~
*I pray for people*
~I listen for guidance and directions~
*I pray for events*
~I listen for guidance and directions~
*I ask God questions like these: What would you have me do, Lord? / How would you have me respond, Lord? What do you want me to say, Lord?*
~I listen for guidance and directions~
My overarching goal is to speak when God gives me words to speak and to be silent when God would have me be silent.
Will this mean that I will be talking less? Yes
Will this mean that I will be listening more? Yep
I want to be a person who speaks the very words of God. Words of HOPE. PEACE. ENCOURAGEMENT. MERCY. GRACE. By being silent and listening, I want people to know that when I speak, it's because God is prompting me. That's living intentionally and speaking thoughtfully.
In a conversation, I cannot expect to hear what the other person is saying if I'm talking over them. Now I haven't spent a ton of time with little kids, but I've been around them enough to learn how they tend to monologue around and over each other. Sometimes each child will be narrating what they are doing, but no one is listening, because they are ALL talking.
It is entertaining at times to witness kids monologue-ing instead of conversing, but how often do we do this to God? We say we talk with God, but we monologue the whole time. We talk AT God, not WITH Him.
This isn't to say that we should NEVER talk in our prayers, but maybe a larger portion of our prayers should be listening. Then maybe our monologues will turn into the dialogues that they should be.
What does this look like?
*I outline my problem to God*
~I listen for guidance and directions~
*I pray for people*
~I listen for guidance and directions~
*I pray for events*
~I listen for guidance and directions~
*I ask God questions like these: What would you have me do, Lord? / How would you have me respond, Lord? What do you want me to say, Lord?*
~I listen for guidance and directions~
My overarching goal is to speak when God gives me words to speak and to be silent when God would have me be silent.
Will this mean that I will be talking less? Yes
Will this mean that I will be listening more? Yep
I want to be a person who speaks the very words of God. Words of HOPE. PEACE. ENCOURAGEMENT. MERCY. GRACE. By being silent and listening, I want people to know that when I speak, it's because God is prompting me. That's living intentionally and speaking thoughtfully.
Friday, September 6, 2019
To Deny Myself, Take Up My Cross, Follow Jesus
Some parts of the Bible are very clear and easy to understand. "Love your enemies." "Love your neighbor as yourself." These may not be easy to apply, but we can understand them.
Other parts of the Bible seem clear, until we go to apply them. One such part of the Bible for me is the call of Jesus to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Him. It seems simple, but what does this look like in our present day & age?
Throughout the Gospels, Jesus repeats a call to take up our cross and follow Him. (Matthew 10:37-39 and Luke 14:25-34). He also tells his disciples to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Him (Matthew 16:24-27, Mark 8:34-38, and Luke 9:23-26)
I get caught on these instructions. They seem so clear and simple, but then they are so hard to live out.
Deny Ourselves: This one is unpopular in our current culture in the USA. Modern wisdom says that if we deny ourselves we are striking a blow to the economy because we should be spending money instead of denying ourselves things. To deny myself...what exactly?
Take Up Our Cross: Very few people take this one literally. What is our cross?
Follow Him: What does it look like to follow Jesus? Do we need to eat like He ate? Talk to the kinds of people He talked to? Wear the kinds of clothes that He wore? Do the things that He did? Do the things that He commanded?
We like to live comfortable lives, but to follow Christ is to set aside our preferences and our rights in order to follow and obey Him.
It's to choose not to spend all of my money on myself, but to recognize that it is God's money and I am the steward of a portion of His money. It's to spend in accordance and alignment with His will.
We are called to die daily to ourselves in order to live for Christ.
When we follow Jesus, there is an aspect of obedience. We aren't saved through our obedience, but rather our obedience stems from our love of Christ and our gratitude for His saving grace.
What does it look like to live out this passage in this world today?
Other parts of the Bible seem clear, until we go to apply them. One such part of the Bible for me is the call of Jesus to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Him. It seems simple, but what does this look like in our present day & age?
Throughout the Gospels, Jesus repeats a call to take up our cross and follow Him. (Matthew 10:37-39 and Luke 14:25-34). He also tells his disciples to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Him (Matthew 16:24-27, Mark 8:34-38, and Luke 9:23-26)
I get caught on these instructions. They seem so clear and simple, but then they are so hard to live out.
Deny Ourselves: This one is unpopular in our current culture in the USA. Modern wisdom says that if we deny ourselves we are striking a blow to the economy because we should be spending money instead of denying ourselves things. To deny myself...what exactly?
Take Up Our Cross: Very few people take this one literally. What is our cross?
Follow Him: What does it look like to follow Jesus? Do we need to eat like He ate? Talk to the kinds of people He talked to? Wear the kinds of clothes that He wore? Do the things that He did? Do the things that He commanded?
We like to live comfortable lives, but to follow Christ is to set aside our preferences and our rights in order to follow and obey Him.
It's to choose not to spend all of my money on myself, but to recognize that it is God's money and I am the steward of a portion of His money. It's to spend in accordance and alignment with His will.
We are called to die daily to ourselves in order to live for Christ.
When we follow Jesus, there is an aspect of obedience. We aren't saved through our obedience, but rather our obedience stems from our love of Christ and our gratitude for His saving grace.
What does it look like to live out this passage in this world today?
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