22 “And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. 23 I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me. 24 However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.
25 “Now I know that none of you among whom I have gone about preaching the kingdom will ever see me again. 26 Therefore, I declare to you today that I am innocent of the blood of any of you. 27 For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God.
Acts 20:22-27
These words that Paul spoke to the Ephesians as he was leaving convict me so much because I know that I don't live this way at all. Paul declares to them that he has no regrets and that he is innocent of their blood because he has spoken to them boldly of the will of God. This is a guy that is crazy about God. A man that was willing to give up his whole life for Him, to leave everything behind, including his sin, so that he can take the Gospel to the ends of the earth because thats what God asked of him! Thats incredible to me that he heard God's calling and was so obedient and bold.
When I look at how Paul preached with such an urgency, it makes hell so real to me. You can tell that he just wanted people to believe. He wanted them to know the truth and to be satisfied. He preached with such a boldness and confidence because he believed what he was saying. But then I think about myself and I'm forced to think, do I really fear hell the way Paul did? If I did, the Gospel would be shared a lot more, not out of obligation but out of need!
In verses 25-27, it makes me think of all of the conversations I have with people on campus and all of the times I ignore the Holy Spirit's guidance. I know that the majority of these people I'll never see again, but I refuse to even bring up the topic of God out of fear and I hate to say it but shame. What will this person think of me? How will they react? Will they judge me? My lack of trust in God's sovereignty in my conversations is disgusting to Him and proves how I place my trust in myself and not in Him. I fear losing my reputation and being rejected by others but in turn, it results in disapproval from the only one that matters. I fear this rejection but did it ever occur to me that the very word rejected pretty much summed up Jesus' life spent on earth.
"He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with
grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we
esteemed him not."
Isaiah 53:3
If we are going to take the path Jesus took, we need to be reminded of what Jesus endured while he traveled it. We oftentimes get sucked into this trap that the world sets that makes us think that different is bad, but he didn't come to be accepted and neither did we. We are here to speak boldly, correct gently, and live courageously.
Monday, December 31, 2012
Sunday, December 23, 2012
Then, Come Follow Me!
I was talking to a friend today about Christmas-time and presents today and the frustration in me just came out... why do we put so much worth in the things that don't matter?! The things that I'm referring to are that name brand shirt, or that 57th pair of shoes, or that newest version of a video game because the first 3 editions are outdated. I sound psychotic but when I think of this mad world around me and everyone around me constantly "needing" more, I can't help but wonder am I mad or are they?
As I sat in the car at the mall today 3 days before Christmas and watched the chaos around me, people yelling, horns being honked, cars cutting each other off for parking spots, I couldn't help but feel a deep saddness. As gifts were being bought, the greatest gift of all was being forgotten. It was as if God's gift was not sufficient enough. How could these people be happy? How could they sing of it being the most wonderful time of the year when they were leaving out the best part! They're searching high and low for that "perfect" gift, that great deal, the best bargain, but the most PERFECT gift of all is right in front of them and costs NOTHING and they're just passing it up!!!
No matter how hard we try to please everyone and fulfill all of these Christmas wishlists, someone always walks away sad or unfulfilled because the world doesn't satisfy! This world cannot, does not, and will not EVER satisfy. Have you ever been unhappy and thought that if you just get the one thing, it will solve the problem? Have you ever realized that time and time again you were wrong? I fall victim to this trap that the world offers way too often. I think that if I just get that t-shirt or that sweater that it will somehow feel this void that I have deep inside of me. But once I get it, I walk away feeling unchanged. My problem is that I'm putting my hope in a t-shirt to solve my problems instead of my savior!!! There is a very clear difference between the two. When I think of all that Jesus has to offer and all that He has gone through for my sin, how could I not choose him? Lord, help me overcome these worldy desires!
This break, the verse that has continously stuck with me is “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth." (Matthew 5:5) Jesus constantly warns of how hard it is to enter the kingdom of heaven if you are rich, and lately this is beginning to make more and more sense to me. I used to always think, times aren't the same as they were back then. I'm sure that passage doesn't apply as much but it couldn't be more true. When I think of the meek that Jesus was talking about, I think of how much they have to rely on God to provide and how much of a presence He is in their life. Those who have a little in todays society end up having so much more spiritually and those who are "physically" rich are so spiritually poor and lacking heavenly riches. I think of the verse in Matthew 6:24 when Jesus says “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money." Money is something that man created, it is of the world. God is not created. He always was and always will be! He existed before creation! He existed before time! He is infinite! When I think of this verse I think of how you can't have a divided heart between the two... either your heart is surrendered to man and the world, or your heart is wholly surrendered to God and His infinince. There is no way to have them both because they are both such opposites and like the verse says they are impossible to balance.
“But woe to you who are rich,
for you have already received your comfort." Luke 6:24
I'd rather be poor in this life and rich in the next life any day! This life is gone in the blink of an eye so why waste it storing up all of these riches when all they do is waste away and waste your time? Instead, I'll fix my eyes on eternity and what is to come and the promises we have in Christ!
When Jesus heard this, he said to him, "You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." Luke 18:22
AMEN!
As I sat in the car at the mall today 3 days before Christmas and watched the chaos around me, people yelling, horns being honked, cars cutting each other off for parking spots, I couldn't help but feel a deep saddness. As gifts were being bought, the greatest gift of all was being forgotten. It was as if God's gift was not sufficient enough. How could these people be happy? How could they sing of it being the most wonderful time of the year when they were leaving out the best part! They're searching high and low for that "perfect" gift, that great deal, the best bargain, but the most PERFECT gift of all is right in front of them and costs NOTHING and they're just passing it up!!!
No matter how hard we try to please everyone and fulfill all of these Christmas wishlists, someone always walks away sad or unfulfilled because the world doesn't satisfy! This world cannot, does not, and will not EVER satisfy. Have you ever been unhappy and thought that if you just get the one thing, it will solve the problem? Have you ever realized that time and time again you were wrong? I fall victim to this trap that the world offers way too often. I think that if I just get that t-shirt or that sweater that it will somehow feel this void that I have deep inside of me. But once I get it, I walk away feeling unchanged. My problem is that I'm putting my hope in a t-shirt to solve my problems instead of my savior!!! There is a very clear difference between the two. When I think of all that Jesus has to offer and all that He has gone through for my sin, how could I not choose him? Lord, help me overcome these worldy desires!
This break, the verse that has continously stuck with me is “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth." (Matthew 5:5) Jesus constantly warns of how hard it is to enter the kingdom of heaven if you are rich, and lately this is beginning to make more and more sense to me. I used to always think, times aren't the same as they were back then. I'm sure that passage doesn't apply as much but it couldn't be more true. When I think of the meek that Jesus was talking about, I think of how much they have to rely on God to provide and how much of a presence He is in their life. Those who have a little in todays society end up having so much more spiritually and those who are "physically" rich are so spiritually poor and lacking heavenly riches. I think of the verse in Matthew 6:24 when Jesus says “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money." Money is something that man created, it is of the world. God is not created. He always was and always will be! He existed before creation! He existed before time! He is infinite! When I think of this verse I think of how you can't have a divided heart between the two... either your heart is surrendered to man and the world, or your heart is wholly surrendered to God and His infinince. There is no way to have them both because they are both such opposites and like the verse says they are impossible to balance.
“But woe to you who are rich,
for you have already received your comfort." Luke 6:24
I'd rather be poor in this life and rich in the next life any day! This life is gone in the blink of an eye so why waste it storing up all of these riches when all they do is waste away and waste your time? Instead, I'll fix my eyes on eternity and what is to come and the promises we have in Christ!
When Jesus heard this, he said to him, "You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." Luke 18:22
AMEN!
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
12-19
Knowing you don't know anything... the reason I picked that title is because this year I have truly come to the point where I've realized that I know nothing. After encountering God and all of his holiness, after having just the smallest taste of all of his power and knowledge and majesty, how could I even claim to know anything? Being before a God so big makes me realize how truly small I am. Every time I learn something new, whether its in church or at a Bible study and I think that I finally get it, that I finally understand God, I find myself quickly brought back to reality by my sin and by the sheer fact that God is God, and I am just human. In the words of my high school math teacher, you can't add apples and oranges, and its so true because how can we even try to compare our sinful selves with a holy God?? But thats the thing that completely blows my mind, that this righteous God would want to hang out with a sinner like me, that His thoughts about me, a sinner, are too numerous to even count! A love like that I will never even be able to begin to understand other than to look at the love his son had for us when he freely (asking for NOTHING in return) gave his life, so that we might gain life.
So how does someone respond to this beautiful exchange... to Jesus taking the penalty I deserved and paying it all for me so that I can one day have eternal life, to him choosing to die for me even though I have rejected him more times than I can count! When I think of how I should react, I picture myself giving him eternal praise and gratitude but in reality how do I actually react? In my relations with others and just my attitude alone reflects that I act in way thinking that I deserve all of the praise. How often do I get frustrated when I do something and I don't receive credit for it, or how mad does it make me when I'm "underappreciated". These attitudes of mine reflect a state of my heart that is prideful and entitled.
Its so easy to lose focus, or even to place our focus in a place where it doesn't belong (ourselves). God, I pray that you would become my focus again. This life doesn't and isn't supposed to make sense unless youre in the center of it. I lift up this sinful heart to you and ask that you would refine it not to worship myself, but instead worship you who is so worthy of praise! God, Im frustrated, frustrated that I'm corrupt and that my heart has this tendency to make things about myself when I so badly want them to be about you. Please strip me of this ego and pride and replace these things that are of me with things that are of you! I pray that my response to your sons sacrifice would be a response of humbleness and eagerness to serve, that I would respond in a way fit for the one who gave it ALL! God, you are so gracious to someone who is so undeserving and I pray that my love for you would grow in response to your great love for me!
So how does someone respond to this beautiful exchange... to Jesus taking the penalty I deserved and paying it all for me so that I can one day have eternal life, to him choosing to die for me even though I have rejected him more times than I can count! When I think of how I should react, I picture myself giving him eternal praise and gratitude but in reality how do I actually react? In my relations with others and just my attitude alone reflects that I act in way thinking that I deserve all of the praise. How often do I get frustrated when I do something and I don't receive credit for it, or how mad does it make me when I'm "underappreciated". These attitudes of mine reflect a state of my heart that is prideful and entitled.
Its so easy to lose focus, or even to place our focus in a place where it doesn't belong (ourselves). God, I pray that you would become my focus again. This life doesn't and isn't supposed to make sense unless youre in the center of it. I lift up this sinful heart to you and ask that you would refine it not to worship myself, but instead worship you who is so worthy of praise! God, Im frustrated, frustrated that I'm corrupt and that my heart has this tendency to make things about myself when I so badly want them to be about you. Please strip me of this ego and pride and replace these things that are of me with things that are of you! I pray that my response to your sons sacrifice would be a response of humbleness and eagerness to serve, that I would respond in a way fit for the one who gave it ALL! God, you are so gracious to someone who is so undeserving and I pray that my love for you would grow in response to your great love for me!
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