A Good Memory
Remembering the past can be a bad thing as in the case of remembering our past sinful lives. It can allow guilt to control our present and even wreck our future. This kind of sin consciousness makes our vision of our true identity in Christ blurred. Those are the things we need to forget and allow the Holy Spirit to cleanse us from our connection to them. Yet, remembering our deliverance from the bondages of the past is not a bad thing. Israel often remembered the deliverance of God and celebrated the event. At times I will reflect on my past and the deliverance the Lord has performed in me. I am no longer connected to it or in bondage to it, but remembering my deliverance strengthens my faith for future needed victories. Jesus actually used the phrase, "remember Lott's wife" in encouraging believers to press ahead in times of difficulty. My wife Teresa tells of a particularly difficult day back in the early 1990's. She was staring out the window and secretly missing a past day in another location that seemed pleasant compared to this one. She heard this soft voice say, "remember Lott's wife!" It caused her to reject a double-minded faith and get focused again on a "now faith" in the will of God. Remember your deliverance by the hand of our faithful God but forget your bondage that his deliverance ended.
Remembering deliverance also serves as a reminder not to go back again into bondages of the past. Some would say, "our love for Jesus should be our motivation and not a negative memory". While that sounds noble, we all still have the capacity to be tempted to return to past bondages and especially in moments of great trial. I remember times when a fleeting thought would try to enter my mind about "the pleasures of sin" from the past. Immediately I would be struck by remembering the power of the past bondage and how intense the battle for freedom had been. That jolted me to have a fresh faith for now and to identify with my identity in Christ. Let your memory serve to remind you of the loving power of God that has set you free from a past identity and established you firmly in your new identity in Christ!
Galatians 2:20 My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Friday, August 31, 2012
Monday, August 13, 2012
The Builders
"Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it." Psalm 127:1
What a delicate balance between God doing a thing and our working along by his side in an effort. From witnessing to an acquaintance about Jesus to building the local church, working with the Lord is a learned skill. It is so easy to start off watching His hand like a trained hunting dog not moving until his master gives the command. Then as we mature in our gifts we begin to do more and more by our experience. That's not necessarily a bad thing "IF" we are still watching and listening to Jesus for his direction and approval of our efforts and the timing of our efforts. It is just as wrong to do the right thing at the wrong time as doing the wrong thing. Yet, the Lord doesn't want us to remain novices. He is looking for mature and skilled workers in the work of the Kingdom.
When Jesus said, "I will build my church", He didn't mean he would do it all by himself. Just as if a homeowner decides to build his own house he doesn't mean to imply that he will do all the work. He means he will direct the work of the workers. The same is true of Jesus in the "building" of his church. He is looking for workers or "builders" that he can trust with following his blueprint. As builders in the work of the house of the Lord we must regularly review our labor and redouble our efforts at building according to his plan and not our opinion or taste. Once I hired a man and gave him specific instructions as to what I wanted done. I left and was gone for a trip across the country. When I returned the man I had hired said, "I think you will like what I did for you". My thoughts were, "I'll be pleased if you did what I asked you to do before I left!" He had not and I wasn't pleased. He did what he thought was best rather than what I had asked him to do. We must build with a heart to please our MASTER. When we build with our hands active on the earth but our hearts firmly anchored in heaven, we can be assured we are building according to the pleasure of the Builder.
"Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it." Psalm 127:1
What a delicate balance between God doing a thing and our working along by his side in an effort. From witnessing to an acquaintance about Jesus to building the local church, working with the Lord is a learned skill. It is so easy to start off watching His hand like a trained hunting dog not moving until his master gives the command. Then as we mature in our gifts we begin to do more and more by our experience. That's not necessarily a bad thing "IF" we are still watching and listening to Jesus for his direction and approval of our efforts and the timing of our efforts. It is just as wrong to do the right thing at the wrong time as doing the wrong thing. Yet, the Lord doesn't want us to remain novices. He is looking for mature and skilled workers in the work of the Kingdom.
When Jesus said, "I will build my church", He didn't mean he would do it all by himself. Just as if a homeowner decides to build his own house he doesn't mean to imply that he will do all the work. He means he will direct the work of the workers. The same is true of Jesus in the "building" of his church. He is looking for workers or "builders" that he can trust with following his blueprint. As builders in the work of the house of the Lord we must regularly review our labor and redouble our efforts at building according to his plan and not our opinion or taste. Once I hired a man and gave him specific instructions as to what I wanted done. I left and was gone for a trip across the country. When I returned the man I had hired said, "I think you will like what I did for you". My thoughts were, "I'll be pleased if you did what I asked you to do before I left!" He had not and I wasn't pleased. He did what he thought was best rather than what I had asked him to do. We must build with a heart to please our MASTER. When we build with our hands active on the earth but our hearts firmly anchored in heaven, we can be assured we are building according to the pleasure of the Builder.
Monday, August 6, 2012
Revisiting an older blog:
Saving Private Ryan
I just finished watching "Saving Private Ryan" again for the "umteenth" time. My wife was out of town so I watched it alone. She was never really very fond of it. Yes, I think I cried more than ever while watching the now old man fall at the grave of the Captain who died saving the Private. Sixty years earlier, while watching this Captain die on the field of battle, Ryan had to endure hearing the last words of the dying officer say, "earn this". Today, few know the real cost of freedom or the blood that was shed securing it. It's a difficult thing to have to endure listening to someone, without a clue, speaking against the process of democracy. It's a delicate thing this democracy and not without it's problems. Yet, generation after generation, we have those arise who are the cynics of that day. Cynics are "fault finders". They don't have answers nor the courage to pay a price for change but they continue to spew forth the cheap words of protest. There are times when it would appear that each generation is going the way of the cynic. However, by the grace of God, when each generation faces it's hour of crisis and is confronted by it's own challenge of tyranny, the heros arise. From the cities to the farmlands they begin to march toward their own potential demise for the sake of the common good. Again and again they make decisions that often go against reason in order to seek to ensure that the next generation has the right to protest or to serve based upon their own internal motivation.
We have the same problem in the church world. So many see only the problems of the church and yes here too, we have those with all the answers but no stomach to work for the cure. Will we continue to see those arise, generation after generation who will hear the Call and sacrifice for the Mission? I know we will. I choose to believe that and not hear the cynics. When all is said and done and the voices of the nay sayers are silenced, I only want to know that my Lord will say to me, "well done thou good and faithful servant".
I just finished watching "Saving Private Ryan" again for the "umteenth" time. My wife was out of town so I watched it alone. She was never really very fond of it. Yes, I think I cried more than ever while watching the now old man fall at the grave of the Captain who died saving the Private. Sixty years earlier, while watching this Captain die on the field of battle, Ryan had to endure hearing the last words of the dying officer say, "earn this". Today, few know the real cost of freedom or the blood that was shed securing it. It's a difficult thing to have to endure listening to someone, without a clue, speaking against the process of democracy. It's a delicate thing this democracy and not without it's problems. Yet, generation after generation, we have those arise who are the cynics of that day. Cynics are "fault finders". They don't have answers nor the courage to pay a price for change but they continue to spew forth the cheap words of protest. There are times when it would appear that each generation is going the way of the cynic. However, by the grace of God, when each generation faces it's hour of crisis and is confronted by it's own challenge of tyranny, the heros arise. From the cities to the farmlands they begin to march toward their own potential demise for the sake of the common good. Again and again they make decisions that often go against reason in order to seek to ensure that the next generation has the right to protest or to serve based upon their own internal motivation.
We have the same problem in the church world. So many see only the problems of the church and yes here too, we have those with all the answers but no stomach to work for the cure. Will we continue to see those arise, generation after generation who will hear the Call and sacrifice for the Mission? I know we will. I choose to believe that and not hear the cynics. When all is said and done and the voices of the nay sayers are silenced, I only want to know that my Lord will say to me, "well done thou good and faithful servant".
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