This message will never grow stale.
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
"Couldn't you watch with me even one hour?"
Disclaimer: This was a draft post I never finished,I have no idea where I was going with it but I thought the highlighted line was funny.
These were the words of Jesus to His disciples in the garden of Gethsemane,but how often does He asks this question of us. Not one hour,but maybe a week,a month,a year..a season of our life when He wants us to be vigilant and awake.
I was thinking about this evening,how long am I willing to wait on God,how long am I willing to stay vigilant...because I assure you being vigilant is not a test of ability but of will. Will I become complacent and compromise when I feel like God has stopped working on my behalf? Sometimes I do feel like some issues have been put on the back burner by God,and I get the immense desire to take things into my own hands..I let my spirit go to sleep so my flesh can wreak havoc.
Psalm 121:3 says "He will not let you stumble;the one who watches over you will not slumber. Indeed the one who watches over Israel ( I dare you to insert your own name) never slumbers or sleeps"
These were the words of Jesus to His disciples in the garden of Gethsemane,but how often does He asks this question of us. Not one hour,but maybe a week,a month,a year..a season of our life when He wants us to be vigilant and awake.
I was thinking about this evening,how long am I willing to wait on God,how long am I willing to stay vigilant...because I assure you being vigilant is not a test of ability but of will. Will I become complacent and compromise when I feel like God has stopped working on my behalf? Sometimes I do feel like some issues have been put on the back burner by God,and I get the immense desire to take things into my own hands..I let my spirit go to sleep so my flesh can wreak havoc.
Psalm 121:3 says "He will not let you stumble;the one who watches over you will not slumber. Indeed the one who watches over Israel ( I dare you to insert your own name) never slumbers or sleeps"
The Assurance of Not Falling
The assurance of not falling...
This may possibly be one of the greatest promises in the new testament,at least if you consider the current focus of the church and every other Christians broadcast on TV and radio.We dedicate so much of our time to avoiding pitfalls,working through our struggles/challenges,After all a saint is just a sinner who fell down .....and then got up,and fell and got up and so on and on.
I fall and i get up and I fall and I get up but sometimes I am tired of falling.And sometimes the amount of energy and resources I utilise in getting up detracts from the God focus in my life,it makes me weary;more like a prisoner of war than the "more than a conqueror" Paul declared us to be.
And then there is this verse,this verse that says "if ye do these things,ye shall never fall (trip). Say whaaaaaaaat? How is that possible?How is it possible to not trip,that somehow offends my 21st Century Christian senses.It implies that I have currently settled for a life of wallowing and stumbling in mud when I my face need not touch the ground...it speaks to a life of victory,a life where I am not focussing on me and the mud that lies beneath.
It really should not be a surprise,earlier in the verse it always says that if these things are in us....and abound,we shall neither be barren nor unfruitful.In John 15 :5 Jesus says "I am the vine,ye are the branches:He that abideth in me ,and I in him,that same bringeth forth much fruit".( yes I just quoted from the KJV) What Peter outlines as the 7 habits of highly effective Christians,the requirements for being fruitful,are also an indicator of abiding in Him.
In that same verse in John Jesus goes on to say that apart from Him we can do nothing. Apart from Him we will stumble,everytime we turn and fix are gaze on something or someone other than Jesus we will stumble. Somehow that changes the game,associating my stumbling not with human weakness but with my failure to abide in Him.
We ARE a new creation,the old man IS dead...at times I found this hard to reconcile with my...mm mm mm struggles forgetting that I can't walk this walk without Jesus,that any time my focus is not on Jesus I end up in the mud.
This is the generation of "follow us on Instagram,Twitter,Facebook,Pinterest..." and as a result following has become a passive activity,one click and you are following.After that there is nothing to do but wait for something to pop up.Jesus does not ask for or need such followers ,He needs followers who are willing to blister their feet in the following,go hungry in the following,lose friends in the following.Followers who will not just follow but abide in Him
Dear Lord,
Teach me to abide,to never settle for being in the crowd of those who have heard about Jesus or even seen His miracles.I want to lay my head on your bossom,totally at peace as Faith the beloved...to sit at your feet not thinking of a dish or pot,totally mesmorised by you.
In Jesus Name,
Amen
This may possibly be one of the greatest promises in the new testament,at least if you consider the current focus of the church and every other Christians broadcast on TV and radio.We dedicate so much of our time to avoiding pitfalls,working through our struggles/challenges,After all a saint is just a sinner who fell down .....and then got up,and fell and got up and so on and on.
I fall and i get up and I fall and I get up but sometimes I am tired of falling.And sometimes the amount of energy and resources I utilise in getting up detracts from the God focus in my life,it makes me weary;more like a prisoner of war than the "more than a conqueror" Paul declared us to be.
And then there is this verse,this verse that says "if ye do these things,ye shall never fall (trip). Say whaaaaaaaat? How is that possible?How is it possible to not trip,that somehow offends my 21st Century Christian senses.It implies that I have currently settled for a life of wallowing and stumbling in mud when I my face need not touch the ground...it speaks to a life of victory,a life where I am not focussing on me and the mud that lies beneath.
It really should not be a surprise,earlier in the verse it always says that if these things are in us....and abound,we shall neither be barren nor unfruitful.In John 15 :5 Jesus says "I am the vine,ye are the branches:He that abideth in me ,and I in him,that same bringeth forth much fruit".( yes I just quoted from the KJV) What Peter outlines as the 7 habits of highly effective Christians,the requirements for being fruitful,are also an indicator of abiding in Him.
In that same verse in John Jesus goes on to say that apart from Him we can do nothing. Apart from Him we will stumble,everytime we turn and fix are gaze on something or someone other than Jesus we will stumble. Somehow that changes the game,associating my stumbling not with human weakness but with my failure to abide in Him.
We ARE a new creation,the old man IS dead...at times I found this hard to reconcile with my...mm mm mm struggles forgetting that I can't walk this walk without Jesus,that any time my focus is not on Jesus I end up in the mud.
This is the generation of "follow us on Instagram,Twitter,Facebook,Pinterest..." and as a result following has become a passive activity,one click and you are following.After that there is nothing to do but wait for something to pop up.Jesus does not ask for or need such followers ,He needs followers who are willing to blister their feet in the following,go hungry in the following,lose friends in the following.Followers who will not just follow but abide in Him
Dear Lord,
Teach me to abide,to never settle for being in the crowd of those who have heard about Jesus or even seen His miracles.I want to lay my head on your bossom,totally at peace as Faith the beloved...to sit at your feet not thinking of a dish or pot,totally mesmorised by you.
In Jesus Name,
Amen
Sunday, January 13, 2013
The Spoils of War
Why settle for the spoils of war?
" For everything in the world-the cravings of sinful man,the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does-come not from the Father but from the world.The world and its desires pass away,but the man who does the will of God lives forever" John 2:16-17
The lust of the eyes,boasting in what we have or what we have done are what I call the "the spoils of war".The epic battle between good and evil is not only the stuff of blockbuster movies, its the reality of our existence in a broken world.Regardless of who's side you are on you might find yourself in an aerial dogfight or a close combat situation,you may even lose a limb...or two.Let's face it,life is not an easy and is seldom smooth sailing.
Now this is where the problem comes.As a weak and weary soldier you can choose to receive two things.The first is rest,clean clothes'shelter, a meal prepared just for you and total satisfaction or you can choose to receive the spoils of war....everything you never had the opportunity to own while the battle was raging,anything you can capture and keep,its yours! But here's the catch, in order to obtain the first option you must surrender and follow the ways of the one to whom you have surrendered and if you chose the second option you will never be satisfied...actually sounds kind of depressing.Unless you surrendered to someone who was kind, and merciful.and gave you above and beyond what you deserved.
"Come to me,all who are weary and burdened,and I will give you rest.Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,for I am gentle and humble in heart,and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light:" Matthew 11:28-30
In our minds it can seem like an obvious choice,or at least it seems like an obvious choice in my mind... until I remember all the times when I have chosen the spoils of war rather than surrender...anything but surrender.When we refuse to surrender we settle for the spoils of war: our stuff and our vain ambitions.At first it may seem nice,after all you can have as much of it as you want....whatever you think will satisfy you.But at some point you start to realise that its never enough and you become obsessed with getting more and the more is never enough..and the freedom you thought you had starts to feel like a captivity,you have become a slave to your own desires.
But there's more.
Its the story of grace when we read about the Prodigal's Son...after going broke pursuing all of his desires and living independently the son realises that its better to live under his father's roof and abide by the laws of his father's house than to live hungry and destitute.The son returned home to a rejoicing father and the feast of the decade ( well maybe not the feast of the decade but you get my point). Likewise our weary soldier surrenders expecting to be put in chains,but instead he finds that in exchange for his rags he receives a brand new set of clothes and instead of being mocked and accused he is given a place of honour.
Like a little child who has made a mistake the fear of being found out is worse than actually being found out ie. the fear of surrendering is worse than actually surrendering.And too often because of fear..and sometimes plain old stubbornness,we refuse to surrender and prefer to stand outside the dinner party with an unquenchable thirst and an insatiable hunger.
I know what it is to fear surrender....but I also know what it is to be tired and weary and on that note..
" For everything in the world-the cravings of sinful man,the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does-come not from the Father but from the world.The world and its desires pass away,but the man who does the will of God lives forever" John 2:16-17
The lust of the eyes,boasting in what we have or what we have done are what I call the "the spoils of war".The epic battle between good and evil is not only the stuff of blockbuster movies, its the reality of our existence in a broken world.Regardless of who's side you are on you might find yourself in an aerial dogfight or a close combat situation,you may even lose a limb...or two.Let's face it,life is not an easy and is seldom smooth sailing.
Now this is where the problem comes.As a weak and weary soldier you can choose to receive two things.The first is rest,clean clothes'shelter, a meal prepared just for you and total satisfaction or you can choose to receive the spoils of war....everything you never had the opportunity to own while the battle was raging,anything you can capture and keep,its yours! But here's the catch, in order to obtain the first option you must surrender and follow the ways of the one to whom you have surrendered and if you chose the second option you will never be satisfied...actually sounds kind of depressing.Unless you surrendered to someone who was kind, and merciful.and gave you above and beyond what you deserved.
"Come to me,all who are weary and burdened,and I will give you rest.Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,for I am gentle and humble in heart,and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light:" Matthew 11:28-30
In our minds it can seem like an obvious choice,or at least it seems like an obvious choice in my mind... until I remember all the times when I have chosen the spoils of war rather than surrender...anything but surrender.When we refuse to surrender we settle for the spoils of war: our stuff and our vain ambitions.At first it may seem nice,after all you can have as much of it as you want....whatever you think will satisfy you.But at some point you start to realise that its never enough and you become obsessed with getting more and the more is never enough..and the freedom you thought you had starts to feel like a captivity,you have become a slave to your own desires.
But there's more.
Its the story of grace when we read about the Prodigal's Son...after going broke pursuing all of his desires and living independently the son realises that its better to live under his father's roof and abide by the laws of his father's house than to live hungry and destitute.The son returned home to a rejoicing father and the feast of the decade ( well maybe not the feast of the decade but you get my point). Likewise our weary soldier surrenders expecting to be put in chains,but instead he finds that in exchange for his rags he receives a brand new set of clothes and instead of being mocked and accused he is given a place of honour.
Like a little child who has made a mistake the fear of being found out is worse than actually being found out ie. the fear of surrendering is worse than actually surrendering.And too often because of fear..and sometimes plain old stubbornness,we refuse to surrender and prefer to stand outside the dinner party with an unquenchable thirst and an insatiable hunger.
I know what it is to fear surrender....but I also know what it is to be tired and weary and on that note..
" I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord..." Philipians 3:21
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