I had one of those uh huh moments the other morning while thinking about how to explain some of my choices to non-believers. Where this revelation led me was to walking in the Spirit.
Now this topic is unfortunately twisted by some theologians to mean speaking in tongues. I couldn't disagree more. My attitude is that of the Apostle Paul, "I would rather you spoke 5 words with your mind than 10,000 words in tongues (a strange language incomprehensible language). The gift of tongues offers a number of benefits; edification of our own spirit, priming the pump to get the Spirit moving, speaking to others of a language you don't understand and a sign to believers and nonbelievers.
But on fortunately some think it is the main gift, that it is the gift that everyone should seek (even though Paul tells us otherwise). We are told at the end of chapter 12 of 1 Corinthians (in the form of rhetorical questions which expect a negative reply) that not everyone speaks in tongues, not everyone prophesies and so on. If we look closer at theses passages (from the beginning of Chapter 12 to the end of Chapter 14 of 1 Cor.) you will see that the main purpose of the gifts is for the building up of the body/one another. Speaking in tongues does little toward that end, in my mind.
So getting back to where I was headed with this, I see spiritual gifts as a necessary part of the body life so that we can be built up (become mature in Christ). I don't see the gifts as mystical per se. I seem them as very practical tools to help us help one another. But in order for us to help each other with the gifts, they must be employed. Our regular Sunday services are just not structured to make room for the proper exercising of the full range of Spiritual gifts.
I firmly believe that the spiritual gifts are not to be relegated to some obscure corner of the Christian life, rather I see them being meant to be employed in our everyday life. Imagine if you are dealing with a child who is lying to you about where they have been and by a Word of Knowledge you were informed of exactly what they were doing and who they were with. Doesn't that sound pretty practical.
I see the gifts helping us live out the fullness of what it means to be a Born Again Christian. The gifts equip us to speak with supernatural knowledge and understanding to anyone around us. Employing them as God intended would mean that we become the kinds of emissaries that God intended when the Apostle Paul told us we were Christ's Ambassadors and Ministers of Reconciliation. Our lives would reflect the fullness of Christ in his love, power, mercy and righteousness.
But unfortunately we often try to do this out of our own intellect. And our wisdom is foolishness in God's eyes. Yes spending time in the Bible is a good thing. Yes sitting under good teachers is helpful. But ultimately we must become people who walk by the Spirit and not just by our human knowledge, wisdom and understanding.
You cannot love your enemies, speak well of those who curse you or reach out to the outcasts of our society in the power of our flesh and intellect. This Christian life we are living is intended to be supernatural. First Christ laid it out for us in the Sermon on The Mount, then He demonstrated it in how He ministered and finally He sent us his Holy Spirit to empower us to live the life that He had intended for us.
Later the Apostles gave further instruction in how and why we should lives this way. My job as a pastor is to continue that tradition by pointing people to Christ, Living a life worthy of emulation and encouraging, rebuking and teaching these new children of God how to live as mature disciples of Christ.
I cannot do this only on Sundays, I need to find ways to encourage, teach and rebuke on the other 6 days of the week. My job is not just to prepare sermons or to manage programs. My job it to be training future leaders how to live by the Spirit, how to walk in the gifts and eventually how they too can be people who make disciples.
Have I got it all figured out? No. If you want someone who has a much better handle on it then go talk to Francis Chen. I really think that I could learn a few more things from him. But the reason I am writing this article is not to point you to Francis Chen, but rather to encourage each and everyone of you reading this to hunger after the things of God. To become people who chase after everything that God has for you. I don't want to be satisfied with just hanging out with some fellow believers on Sundays and go home and just sit and wait until our next encounter.
This is why I attend two small groups during the week. One is to for an opportunity to operate in the gifts to encourage others. The other group is where I teach from the Word of God, encouraging those attending to walk in the ways of God. This is also why I write articles like this to try and encourage others to live the kind of life that Christ died for. He didn't die the death of a sinner just to pay for our sins, but He died such a death to open the way for us to live in such a way that people would stop and ask us, "How come you have such love, joy, peace and hope in your life?" So that they would be envious of us in such a way as that they too would want to learn how to live such a life.
I am convinced that if we don't walk in the Spirit and by the Spirit then we are barely more than animals. It is in the Spirit where we come into God's true intent for us as humans made in His Image who can live in this world and transform it. Yes there is evil a foot, but the more of us that are walking in the fullness of God's power, in His Spirit, then the more evil is pushed back.
God hasn't called us to a fortress mentality where we hunker down waiting for His return. He has equipped and empowered us so that no even the gates of hell will stand in our way. The enemy would try to convince you that you are powerless. He would say, "Your not Christ, you can't live that way!" But the Truth is that Christ was given us everything that we need so that we are more than conquerors. As I have heard it put once, we are to become people who when we wake up the devil says, "Oh sh_t they're up again!"
I want to be someone who shows all my neighbors that I am one who walks with Christ, one who loves authentically, lives out the principles of The Golden Rule. I want my neighbors to be glad that I am here. I don't want to be a religious nut but rather someone who walks by the Spirit in such a way that they might say about me, "There goes the man who walks with God".
Am I there yet? Not at all! Even still I won't give up on Christ working in me. I fully trust that He will complete the work that He has begun in me, as I trust that He will complete the work He was begun in you. To that end I will continue to pursue the purposes and gifts that God has invested in me. He didn't save us to sit on the bench for the rest of the game. His desire is that His gifts would be employed as each of us does our part in the greater tapestry of God's Will in The Kingdom of God.
He didn't leave us to figure it out by ourselves and He doesn't want us just sitting around waiting for something to happen. He has equipped each and every one of us to play a part, to be a friend and good neighbor, to be a vital part of the Body of Christ. Not everyone is called to be a Leader in the church, but everyone has been given a part to play in His Kingdom.
If you think that God couldn't use us, that somehow you are disqualified, you are wrong. God has a part for each and everyone of us to play in His plans for humanity Christ died to qualify those who were once called enemies of God. He has made a way for us all to play a part.
So I encourage you this week to think on these things, to examine your life and pray that God would reveal to you some small glimpse of what He saved you for. Your part may not be a great spectacle, but it will make a difference. When you visit those who are homebound, when provide a listening ear to a hurting co worker or neighbor, you are making room for God to use you and to touch the lives of the lonely and hurting.
If you find yourself saying, "Oh, I could never do that" Chances are that that may be the very thing God has for you, but the enemy is trying to discourage you from stepping out in the Spirit and letting God use you. The enemy hates it when we trust God and try things that we would have never tried. The enemy uses lies and fear and shame to try to disqualify us while Christ has redeemed us to serve God's purposes.
Fear not, be strong and courageous for Christ has overcome the world and His intent for you is to live an abundant life. A life filled with a cornucopia of God's grace and mercy. You don't have to grunt it up in your own strength and will, but as you trust in He who saved you, you will do more than you could have ever thought or imagined.
When we look at the Spiritual big hitters, like Mother Teresa, Albert Schweitzer, Smith Wigglesworth, Sister Aimee Semple McPherson and others. It wasn't that they were so great, it was that they trusted God at his Word and walked by the Spirit to demonstrate the reality of God's power, love and mercy.
I am encouraged in the story of an older woman, who after examining herself she realized that she had the gift of hospitality decide to invite her neighbors over, one at a time, for a cup of tea and fellowship. In the decades that she did this she led dozens of people to Christ.
Ask God to reveal to you, who you are in Him. Trust Him to put the gifts He has already provided to show when you take a step of obedience and expect Him to show up. Get in the game. We are not called to be spectators in the Great game of Life. We are meant to be participants, benefiting those around us as we let 'The Great I Am' reveal Himself in our lives.
May God's gifts and his Spirit move mightily in your lives as you seek his Face and His love, living as children of God redeemed to be salt and light in the earth.
In His Glorious Name,
Preacher Al
Showing posts with label Jesus Christ. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jesus Christ. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 1, 2020
Friday, August 28, 2020
The attitude of Walking in The Way - The Continuum Revisited
I actually preached on this subject quite some time ago but it has stuck with me all this time. I really think that this is the first topic or lesson that brought me to thinking about how we could know if we were Walking in The Way. I am not really sure that "attitude" is the right name for this aspect of the walk that I plan to examine here. Maybe it is more about self-perception in relationship to God and others.
• The extremes of hopelessness/defeatedness vs. Arrogance
• What the source of our personal esteem is
The two key factors or lane markers I see which help us to Walk in The Way are humility and confidence. I see humility marked by the scripture that says, "We can do nothing apart from Christ" and I see confidence marked by the scripture that says "I can do all things through Him (Christ) who strengthen's me." But it is not one or the other rather it is a blend of both. I realize in my humility before God and men that it is only through His working in me that I am able to do anything, which then leads do a sense of confidence that realizes that with Him there is no limit to what we can accomplish. Maybe we might call this right esteem.
There has been a lot of talk in past years about children who have low self-esteem. This topic has worked itself into the church as well. I really think that it is a bit heretical. In the OT when men were building the tower in Babylon, God said that we can accomplish anything, so He then confused the speech of humanity to keep us from thinking too highly of ourselves. There is an inherent problem in thinking that we are good in and of ourselves; this is the basis of Humanism. Pretty soon we begin to think that we can accomplish anything and that we don't need to listen to someone else. I have read a few articles where people are recognizing that some children/people's esteem in themselves is so high that they think themselves better than others or more deserving than others. This leads to problems like sociopaths who view other people as mere objects to be used for their benefit.
Now I admit that there are also people out there whose esteem of self is so low that they they can only see themselves as failures. They see their future as nothing more than a long series of potential blunders. I do not think this as humility but something else entirely.
When we are walking in the Way of God our self-perception is almost a contradiction or paradox. In part we see that we are powerless apart from God, but then we see that in Him or by Him, we can do anything He sets before us to do. I believe that our true esteem is found in that we are created beings, who are redeemed to live a life worthy of God according to his work in us. Our esteem is not found in our perception of ourselves (good or bad) and our esteem is not to be found in the eyes of others (whether that be positive or negative). Our true esteem should only be found in the eyes of our Redeemer/Creator as tempered by his Grace and Mercy.
Our Redeemer knows everything there is to know about us. He knows our thoughts, our intentions and our motivations, and yet He still chooses to love us. Some people think that they must earn their ways in to his heart, others think that it doesn't matter what we do; both are wrong. We are reminded by scripture that we cannot earn our salvation through works, but rather it is a free gift from God. Yet on the other hand we know that there are behaviors that are hated by God (God hates sin if not sinners). Even if our salvation is a free gift, once we have it we are called to walk it out or work it out with fear and trembling.
So when I consider people who are walking in hopelessness or defeat (I also refer to this as brokenness), I get images of them saying how bad they are and how irredeemable they are. It's as if they are saying that their actions or their perception of self are beyond God's ability to forgive or redeem. I am convinced that this is a form of idolatry. I believe it is rooted in a lie from the evil one. These people have come to believe a lie that says their sin is too great or their hurt is too terrible for God to forgive or heal. This is typical of most lies from the devil. He twists or perverts God's word to serve his desires. Nothing pleases him more than being able to convince us that we are beyond the reach of God's love and mercy. But when we believe that our sin is so great that God cannot forgive us, we make our sin greater than God and that is idolatry.
The flip side of this also a form of idolatry, but here the person has become convinced that they in and of themselves are sufficient to every problem they face. They are convinced that they do not need God or anyone else. I think this is similar to the lie that the serpent used in the Garden of Eden. He convinced Adam and Eve that they could be like God if they just followed his advice. Arrogant people are just as deceived as those thinking they can do nothing good at all.
Now in our culture we tend to see defeated people as being victims and we tend to see some arrogant people as successful and confident people. I think it is really important that if we are to walk in the Way of God, then we must forsake these cultural ideals and instead embraced the ideals/values of The Kingdom of God. We are sinners redeemed from our former ways by the grace of God in the Person of Jesus Christ and his sacrifice upon the cross. We have been sealed with the Holy Spirit and now belong to God. As God's children, our thoughts, intentions and actions should be shaped by this redeemed relationship.
I would like to remind you that my writings on walking in the way, are not a "how to be more godly" plan. But rather indicators that we should use to examine ourselves. Neither of these articles are meant to condemn anyone. If you find that you are off the path, it is just a reminder of where you need to be. When we find that our ways do not align with the Path/Way of God, then we must confess our wrong attitudes, repent of, change our ways and return to God, seeking his help and his wisdom so that we might live as children of God. It is an ongoing process, that refines us much as gold and silver are refined by fire.
I pray then that you will learn to experience the freedom and joy of walking in God's ways. Jesus himself has gone before us to show us how to live for God. Jesus sent his Holy Spirit to remind us and help us that we might live as the children of God. I pray that you will learn to fully cooperate with the work that God has begun in you, that you may see it completed and experience the fullness of a life in and with Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior.
Key themes:
• The pathway markers of humility and confidence• The extremes of hopelessness/defeatedness vs. Arrogance
• What the source of our personal esteem is
The two key factors or lane markers I see which help us to Walk in The Way are humility and confidence. I see humility marked by the scripture that says, "We can do nothing apart from Christ" and I see confidence marked by the scripture that says "I can do all things through Him (Christ) who strengthen's me." But it is not one or the other rather it is a blend of both. I realize in my humility before God and men that it is only through His working in me that I am able to do anything, which then leads do a sense of confidence that realizes that with Him there is no limit to what we can accomplish. Maybe we might call this right esteem.
There has been a lot of talk in past years about children who have low self-esteem. This topic has worked itself into the church as well. I really think that it is a bit heretical. In the OT when men were building the tower in Babylon, God said that we can accomplish anything, so He then confused the speech of humanity to keep us from thinking too highly of ourselves. There is an inherent problem in thinking that we are good in and of ourselves; this is the basis of Humanism. Pretty soon we begin to think that we can accomplish anything and that we don't need to listen to someone else. I have read a few articles where people are recognizing that some children/people's esteem in themselves is so high that they think themselves better than others or more deserving than others. This leads to problems like sociopaths who view other people as mere objects to be used for their benefit.
Now I admit that there are also people out there whose esteem of self is so low that they they can only see themselves as failures. They see their future as nothing more than a long series of potential blunders. I do not think this as humility but something else entirely.
When we are walking in the Way of God our self-perception is almost a contradiction or paradox. In part we see that we are powerless apart from God, but then we see that in Him or by Him, we can do anything He sets before us to do. I believe that our true esteem is found in that we are created beings, who are redeemed to live a life worthy of God according to his work in us. Our esteem is not found in our perception of ourselves (good or bad) and our esteem is not to be found in the eyes of others (whether that be positive or negative). Our true esteem should only be found in the eyes of our Redeemer/Creator as tempered by his Grace and Mercy.
Our Redeemer knows everything there is to know about us. He knows our thoughts, our intentions and our motivations, and yet He still chooses to love us. Some people think that they must earn their ways in to his heart, others think that it doesn't matter what we do; both are wrong. We are reminded by scripture that we cannot earn our salvation through works, but rather it is a free gift from God. Yet on the other hand we know that there are behaviors that are hated by God (God hates sin if not sinners). Even if our salvation is a free gift, once we have it we are called to walk it out or work it out with fear and trembling.
So when I consider people who are walking in hopelessness or defeat (I also refer to this as brokenness), I get images of them saying how bad they are and how irredeemable they are. It's as if they are saying that their actions or their perception of self are beyond God's ability to forgive or redeem. I am convinced that this is a form of idolatry. I believe it is rooted in a lie from the evil one. These people have come to believe a lie that says their sin is too great or their hurt is too terrible for God to forgive or heal. This is typical of most lies from the devil. He twists or perverts God's word to serve his desires. Nothing pleases him more than being able to convince us that we are beyond the reach of God's love and mercy. But when we believe that our sin is so great that God cannot forgive us, we make our sin greater than God and that is idolatry.
The flip side of this also a form of idolatry, but here the person has become convinced that they in and of themselves are sufficient to every problem they face. They are convinced that they do not need God or anyone else. I think this is similar to the lie that the serpent used in the Garden of Eden. He convinced Adam and Eve that they could be like God if they just followed his advice. Arrogant people are just as deceived as those thinking they can do nothing good at all.
Now in our culture we tend to see defeated people as being victims and we tend to see some arrogant people as successful and confident people. I think it is really important that if we are to walk in the Way of God, then we must forsake these cultural ideals and instead embraced the ideals/values of The Kingdom of God. We are sinners redeemed from our former ways by the grace of God in the Person of Jesus Christ and his sacrifice upon the cross. We have been sealed with the Holy Spirit and now belong to God. As God's children, our thoughts, intentions and actions should be shaped by this redeemed relationship.
Final thoughts
I would like to remind you that my writings on walking in the way, are not a "how to be more godly" plan. But rather indicators that we should use to examine ourselves. Neither of these articles are meant to condemn anyone. If you find that you are off the path, it is just a reminder of where you need to be. When we find that our ways do not align with the Path/Way of God, then we must confess our wrong attitudes, repent of, change our ways and return to God, seeking his help and his wisdom so that we might live as children of God. It is an ongoing process, that refines us much as gold and silver are refined by fire.
I pray then that you will learn to experience the freedom and joy of walking in God's ways. Jesus himself has gone before us to show us how to live for God. Jesus sent his Holy Spirit to remind us and help us that we might live as the children of God. I pray that you will learn to fully cooperate with the work that God has begun in you, that you may see it completed and experience the fullness of a life in and with Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior.
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
The Continuum
This is an idea that occurred to me sometime back and I have been refining it in an attempt to create a picture of walking with God. The continuum represents the side to side representation of our walk in life as defined in attitude. In this image I am suggesting that the middle of the road is our objective and that there are markers that let us know where the edges of the road are and I will even go on to describe what the sides of the road are.
This road, which I will refer to here as a godly attitude, is marked by two aspects or qualities. The first is humility. Humility in my simplest understanding is just that we are not sufficient in and of ourselves for anything. The scripture that I think of is "We can do nothing apart from Him."
Some see humility as a weakness. To them, it is some sort of groveling, "I am useless and helpless" kind of attitude. I see it more as a sober-minded attitude that admits that no one person can have all the answers; that no one person is the answer to all problems. As a humble person, I can admit that I don't have all the answers and be okay with myself. A humble person has no difficulty in asking for help. A humble person doesn't think that they are better than others. A humble person realizes that we are all different and we all have different gifts and abilities, but that doesn't make us better or worse than someone else especially in God's eyes. God is the giver of gifts. God is who created me. I must look to him find my value, while at the same time realizing that as his creation, I am only adequate to do what He has created me to do. Humility is freeing. I don't have to be perfect, I just have to know where to look for help.
The other key aspect of a godly attitude that I think we need to walk with faith in "The Way of God" is confidence. I find confidence in the scripture that says that I can do all things through Him who gives me strength. Confidence says that I trust God to help me to accomplish that which He has called me to do. Confidence says, I am confident in whom God made me to be. I am not a mistake and I can use my talents, abilities and gifts to do immeasurably more than I can think or imagine because His power is at work in me to will and to do.
So then I see us in this, tension between humility, which says I can do nothing apart from Him, and confidence, which says I can do all things through Him. To walk with a godly attitude in The Way of God we need both. Confidence helps us to be obedient and prevents us from falling into fear and condemnation. Humility helps us to avoid arrogance and thinking that we don't need God.
Walking in the way of God is then a combination of humility and confidence. Its not one or the other. The two are not opposites but rather compliments. Together they combine to give us a right perspective of self - right esteem.
This leaves us to define the two sides of the road. When we lose either confidence or humility we end up off the path. Without humility confidence can be twisted into arrogance. Arrogance says "I don't need anyone else, I am sufficient in and of myself to face anything". Arrogance says, "I don't need God." Its idolatry where we elevate ourselves to godhood. We become our own god. It doesn't make us necessarily atheists, but such an attitude makes dependence on God a weakness instead of a strength. There is much more I would like to say about arrogance and it causes and consequences, but I will have to leave that for a later article.
Now on the other side of The Way of God there is, for lack of a better word, "Brokenness." When we try to live lives without confidence in God and who God has made us to be we fall into this defeated mindset that seems to say "Even God can't help me." People who have strayed off the path here may want God's help and even cry out for it, but they really don't believe it will come, because they have no confidence in Him. One might even say they have more confidence in their ability to fail than in God's ability to help them.
Now my objective in this article is not to condemn anyone who gets off the path. It's more an attempt to help people recognize when they are in "The Way of God" or off the path. Our walk with God is a constant effort to seek His Face and His Will. To do so we have to die to ourselves in a act of humility and trust and we must rise in to a new life where we are more than conquerors. To live such a life takes being self-aware and working at examining ourselves and asking God for guidance. I pray that I have given you some tools to help you in your pursuit to follow God. Tools that will help you find your way.
This road, which I will refer to here as a godly attitude, is marked by two aspects or qualities. The first is humility. Humility in my simplest understanding is just that we are not sufficient in and of ourselves for anything. The scripture that I think of is "We can do nothing apart from Him."
Some see humility as a weakness. To them, it is some sort of groveling, "I am useless and helpless" kind of attitude. I see it more as a sober-minded attitude that admits that no one person can have all the answers; that no one person is the answer to all problems. As a humble person, I can admit that I don't have all the answers and be okay with myself. A humble person has no difficulty in asking for help. A humble person doesn't think that they are better than others. A humble person realizes that we are all different and we all have different gifts and abilities, but that doesn't make us better or worse than someone else especially in God's eyes. God is the giver of gifts. God is who created me. I must look to him find my value, while at the same time realizing that as his creation, I am only adequate to do what He has created me to do. Humility is freeing. I don't have to be perfect, I just have to know where to look for help.
The other key aspect of a godly attitude that I think we need to walk with faith in "The Way of God" is confidence. I find confidence in the scripture that says that I can do all things through Him who gives me strength. Confidence says that I trust God to help me to accomplish that which He has called me to do. Confidence says, I am confident in whom God made me to be. I am not a mistake and I can use my talents, abilities and gifts to do immeasurably more than I can think or imagine because His power is at work in me to will and to do.
So then I see us in this, tension between humility, which says I can do nothing apart from Him, and confidence, which says I can do all things through Him. To walk with a godly attitude in The Way of God we need both. Confidence helps us to be obedient and prevents us from falling into fear and condemnation. Humility helps us to avoid arrogance and thinking that we don't need God.
Walking in the way of God is then a combination of humility and confidence. Its not one or the other. The two are not opposites but rather compliments. Together they combine to give us a right perspective of self - right esteem.
This leaves us to define the two sides of the road. When we lose either confidence or humility we end up off the path. Without humility confidence can be twisted into arrogance. Arrogance says "I don't need anyone else, I am sufficient in and of myself to face anything". Arrogance says, "I don't need God." Its idolatry where we elevate ourselves to godhood. We become our own god. It doesn't make us necessarily atheists, but such an attitude makes dependence on God a weakness instead of a strength. There is much more I would like to say about arrogance and it causes and consequences, but I will have to leave that for a later article.
Now on the other side of The Way of God there is, for lack of a better word, "Brokenness." When we try to live lives without confidence in God and who God has made us to be we fall into this defeated mindset that seems to say "Even God can't help me." People who have strayed off the path here may want God's help and even cry out for it, but they really don't believe it will come, because they have no confidence in Him. One might even say they have more confidence in their ability to fail than in God's ability to help them.
Now my objective in this article is not to condemn anyone who gets off the path. It's more an attempt to help people recognize when they are in "The Way of God" or off the path. Our walk with God is a constant effort to seek His Face and His Will. To do so we have to die to ourselves in a act of humility and trust and we must rise in to a new life where we are more than conquerors. To live such a life takes being self-aware and working at examining ourselves and asking God for guidance. I pray that I have given you some tools to help you in your pursuit to follow God. Tools that will help you find your way.
Friday, June 8, 2012
Introduction to walking in the way.
I have been thinking more and more about what it means to "Walk in The Way". In Apostolic times the new church was called "The Way". And I have a lot of ideas about what it means to "Walk in The Way" or to live in a way that pleases God. But before I talk about how we determine if we are actually walking "in The Way" I thought it would be more important to examine why do we do this, or what is the ultimate purpose of "Walking in The Way"
God's purpose for us
I am not sure that everyone will agree with me on this, but I think primary our belief in God is not so much that He exists, but rather that He created us to be in relationship with Him. In Genesis we see God walking in the Garden looking for Adam. In the Gospel of John we are told that God so loved us that He sent is only begotten Son to die for us. When God loves us, its not like a human loves chocolate or even as a person loves their pet, but rather as a parent loves their child. He wants to converse with us. He wants us to live out the life He has intended for us. He wants us to succeed in the plans He has for us. Now this does not describe the whole of God's purpose in us. I really think that as He is eternal and His thoughts are not our thoughts, that we can never know the fullness of Him and his purposes. But we can know Him as much as much He is willing to reveal Himself in The Holy Bible (The Word of God), in worship, in prayer and in the person of the Holy Spirit.
Primary theme of this post
• God The Father's primary purpose is for us to be in relationship with Him
• Jesus, God the Son, points us to the Father
• God the Holy Spirit points us to the Father through Jesus Christ
• The Bible's most important purpose is to point us into a relationship with God the Father through Jesus Christ, the Son of God by the guiding of the Holy Spirit
• One of the biggest obstacles to our coming into relationship with God the Father and living as his children is people misusing the Bible for their own gain or desires.
I am a trinitarian. I believe that God is the one true God who exists eternally in three persons; Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Now in the realm of relationship I believe that what is most important is that God the Father desires for us to be in relationship with Him. To that end I believe that God wants us to come into his presence (as much as possible in this earthly realm) and to commune and communicate with Him. We see the authors of the Psalms sharing practically every human emotion as they pour their hearts out to God. In the New Testament we see God speaking to his followers through the third Person of the Trinity - the Holy Spirit.
So as I look at the Godhead and consider the workings of each part of Him, I see a theme at work. As God the Father desires relationship with us, so then each of the other aspects of the Godhead point to God the Father. Jesus tells us that if we want to see The Father, then we can look at Him. Jesus tells us that He is the way, the truth and the life. In this I see an image of Jesus pointing to the Father and saying, "This is the way." Jesus made a practice of talking to The Father and then saying and doing what He heard The Father say and did. It's as if Jesus looks at us and then points to The Father to say, "This is the way".
I see a similar role in the Holy Spirit. Like The Son, The Holy Spirit is also God, but He is not The Father nor is He The Son. Now Jesus told us that He would send the Paraclete to help us. He also said that the Holy Spirit would remind us of everything that Jesus said, as if pointing to Jesus (who is pointing to The Father) to say, "He is the way."
And God didn't leave it there, Through the work of the Holy Spirit, men wrote the scriptures. They are an account of humanity's relationship with God, the good and the bad of it. But to me, I see the Bible then serving a primary purpose of pointing us towards the Godhead. I sincerely believe that when the Bible is not used with the intent of bringing more and more people in to a relationship with God through Jesus Christ, by the ministry of the Holy Spirit, then we misuse it. The Bible was given to us that we might know God better. I believe it has other purposes as well, but for me this is its primary purpose - to point us to God.
Now Jesus gave The Church (his body) apostles, prophets, evangelists pastors and teachers to prepare us for works of service. But whose works? Obviously these are the good works that God has prepared in advance for his people to do. Well, obvious to me. Too often I see the people who say they are leaders in God's church trying to divert God's people and pervert God's Word. Too often I see men and women saying look at me or using the Bible to say, "See I am right!" If the leaders in the church are not pointing us to God first, then no matter how well intentioned their efforts may be - they are wrong. We who believed we have been called into God's service must first be pointing people into relationship with God. Then we can prepare them for the works of service that God has foreordained them to do. I firmly believe that works come out of right relationship with God the Father, through Jesus Christ and the workings and giftings of the Holy Spirit. And like the apostle James, I believe if there are no good works there is no relationship. Works are not the proof our our relationship, as many do good works thinking that it proves they know God. But good works are an outcome of that relationship.
The greatest commandment is to love God and love our neighbors as ourselves. All of The Law, The Prophets and The Writings boil down to this simple premise. But to love someone you must be in relationship with them otherwise you are just a fan. God doesn't want fans, He wants men and women, girls and boys, to know Him as their/our Heavenly Father. I firmly believe that it is out of this eternal and heavenly relationship that all of our good works will flow. As we love God, it becomes possible to love people; even our enemies. This relationship is where we will find the strength and the power and the knowledge to live as children of God. Without the relationship we are nothing more than a God fan club and nothing really eternal or truly good can come of it. As fans we will make our club exclusive only admitting those we deem worthy. As fans, we will fixate on the form of our fanaticism rather than what walking out the dictates of an eternal relationship with the Godhead.
There are rights and wrongs in this relationship. Some are more obvious than others. The Apostle John tells us that we must love our brothers (and sisters) as ourselves otherwise there is no evidence of God in us - we are not in relationship with Him. I hope to explore more of these concepts in this blog, looking at what it means to "Walk in the way of God" which to me means walking in relationship with God. I believe as we examine the written Word of God, we will see road side markers that help us stay on the path so to say. Each of the articles that will follow will examine a different aspect of our relationship with God and hopefully help us stay in "The way of God"
To God be the Glory and the Honor, Amen
God's purpose for us
I am not sure that everyone will agree with me on this, but I think primary our belief in God is not so much that He exists, but rather that He created us to be in relationship with Him. In Genesis we see God walking in the Garden looking for Adam. In the Gospel of John we are told that God so loved us that He sent is only begotten Son to die for us. When God loves us, its not like a human loves chocolate or even as a person loves their pet, but rather as a parent loves their child. He wants to converse with us. He wants us to live out the life He has intended for us. He wants us to succeed in the plans He has for us. Now this does not describe the whole of God's purpose in us. I really think that as He is eternal and His thoughts are not our thoughts, that we can never know the fullness of Him and his purposes. But we can know Him as much as much He is willing to reveal Himself in The Holy Bible (The Word of God), in worship, in prayer and in the person of the Holy Spirit.
Primary theme of this post
• God The Father's primary purpose is for us to be in relationship with Him
• Jesus, God the Son, points us to the Father
• God the Holy Spirit points us to the Father through Jesus Christ
• The Bible's most important purpose is to point us into a relationship with God the Father through Jesus Christ, the Son of God by the guiding of the Holy Spirit
• One of the biggest obstacles to our coming into relationship with God the Father and living as his children is people misusing the Bible for their own gain or desires.
I am a trinitarian. I believe that God is the one true God who exists eternally in three persons; Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Now in the realm of relationship I believe that what is most important is that God the Father desires for us to be in relationship with Him. To that end I believe that God wants us to come into his presence (as much as possible in this earthly realm) and to commune and communicate with Him. We see the authors of the Psalms sharing practically every human emotion as they pour their hearts out to God. In the New Testament we see God speaking to his followers through the third Person of the Trinity - the Holy Spirit.
So as I look at the Godhead and consider the workings of each part of Him, I see a theme at work. As God the Father desires relationship with us, so then each of the other aspects of the Godhead point to God the Father. Jesus tells us that if we want to see The Father, then we can look at Him. Jesus tells us that He is the way, the truth and the life. In this I see an image of Jesus pointing to the Father and saying, "This is the way." Jesus made a practice of talking to The Father and then saying and doing what He heard The Father say and did. It's as if Jesus looks at us and then points to The Father to say, "This is the way".
I see a similar role in the Holy Spirit. Like The Son, The Holy Spirit is also God, but He is not The Father nor is He The Son. Now Jesus told us that He would send the Paraclete to help us. He also said that the Holy Spirit would remind us of everything that Jesus said, as if pointing to Jesus (who is pointing to The Father) to say, "He is the way."
And God didn't leave it there, Through the work of the Holy Spirit, men wrote the scriptures. They are an account of humanity's relationship with God, the good and the bad of it. But to me, I see the Bible then serving a primary purpose of pointing us towards the Godhead. I sincerely believe that when the Bible is not used with the intent of bringing more and more people in to a relationship with God through Jesus Christ, by the ministry of the Holy Spirit, then we misuse it. The Bible was given to us that we might know God better. I believe it has other purposes as well, but for me this is its primary purpose - to point us to God.
Now Jesus gave The Church (his body) apostles, prophets, evangelists pastors and teachers to prepare us for works of service. But whose works? Obviously these are the good works that God has prepared in advance for his people to do. Well, obvious to me. Too often I see the people who say they are leaders in God's church trying to divert God's people and pervert God's Word. Too often I see men and women saying look at me or using the Bible to say, "See I am right!" If the leaders in the church are not pointing us to God first, then no matter how well intentioned their efforts may be - they are wrong. We who believed we have been called into God's service must first be pointing people into relationship with God. Then we can prepare them for the works of service that God has foreordained them to do. I firmly believe that works come out of right relationship with God the Father, through Jesus Christ and the workings and giftings of the Holy Spirit. And like the apostle James, I believe if there are no good works there is no relationship. Works are not the proof our our relationship, as many do good works thinking that it proves they know God. But good works are an outcome of that relationship.
The greatest commandment is to love God and love our neighbors as ourselves. All of The Law, The Prophets and The Writings boil down to this simple premise. But to love someone you must be in relationship with them otherwise you are just a fan. God doesn't want fans, He wants men and women, girls and boys, to know Him as their/our Heavenly Father. I firmly believe that it is out of this eternal and heavenly relationship that all of our good works will flow. As we love God, it becomes possible to love people; even our enemies. This relationship is where we will find the strength and the power and the knowledge to live as children of God. Without the relationship we are nothing more than a God fan club and nothing really eternal or truly good can come of it. As fans we will make our club exclusive only admitting those we deem worthy. As fans, we will fixate on the form of our fanaticism rather than what walking out the dictates of an eternal relationship with the Godhead.
There are rights and wrongs in this relationship. Some are more obvious than others. The Apostle John tells us that we must love our brothers (and sisters) as ourselves otherwise there is no evidence of God in us - we are not in relationship with Him. I hope to explore more of these concepts in this blog, looking at what it means to "Walk in the way of God" which to me means walking in relationship with God. I believe as we examine the written Word of God, we will see road side markers that help us stay on the path so to say. Each of the articles that will follow will examine a different aspect of our relationship with God and hopefully help us stay in "The way of God"
To God be the Glory and the Honor, Amen
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