When was the last time you told God how you really felt? Not the last time you spoke to Him, but the last time you bared your soul and emotions? It seems every time someone is asked "How are you?", a "I am fine" or something similar is guaranteed. We have become very good at masking our feelings, our inner selves; not wanting anyone to know what is really going on with us. Unfortunately, we take that into our relationship with God as well. Sure we talk to Him at different times, but how many of those prayers were petitions for things on our laundry list of needs? If we didn't have physical and/or material needs we have to rely on Him to meet, would we still have a reason to talk to God?
Yet, even as we try to put our best selves on public display, in the quietness of our thoughts we are intimately acquainted with our fears, our anxieties, and all the things that perplexes our minds. We know who we really are, and in the event that we have "forgotten", so does God. There is nothing to be gained by hiding our innermost feelings from Him because there is nothing about us that surprises Him. For most of us, we are not always on top of the mountain spiritually or otherwise. Despite our best efforts the challenges of life not only wear on us, they also wear us down. We doubt ourselves, we doubt our faith, and if truth be know, we doubt God.
These thoughts came to mind as I read Jeremiah's, "But thou, O LORD, knowest me: thou hast seen me, and tried mine heart toward thee" (12:3, KJV). In context, these words are a part of his prayer to God as he questioned "Why do bad people have it so good? Why do con artists make it big?" (v.1, The Message), questions we ourselves may have pondered at different times, but we can borrow his words because of the timelessness of the truths espoused. So if there is nothing about us that God doesn't know, doesn't it make sense that the next time we talk to Him we tell it like it really is?
That is the kind of relationship He wants us to have with Him. David writes, "What you're after is truth from the inside out" (Psalm 51:6, The Message), and it really doesn't matter what that "truth" is. It will not frighten or intimidate God who invites us to come boldly into His presence and not be ashamed. The next time you prepare yourself for prayer, resolve to come clean and tell Him exactly how you feel. Not only can He handle it, but collectively it is only then that we will genuinely experience His peace standing guard over our hearts and minds (Philippians 4:6-7), and the fullness of joy that comes with being in His presence as He works all things together for our good and for His pleasure (Psalm 16:11; Romans 8:28; Philippians 2:13).
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
The Cross in the Middle
If you were in the audience at the time of Christ's crucifixion, what would you have thought of Jesus? Was He the son of Joseph the Carpenter, who lost His mind and thought He was the Son of God? A good man who was misguided by His religion? Was He was just another one of those self-proclaimed Messiah who thought they could deliver God's people from Roman servitude? Would you have thought, "Good riddance; enough of Him already!"? As you look at the man on the cross in the middle, crown of thorns on His head, fresh wound in His side from which blood and water flowed, and everyone waiting for Him to die, what would you have thought?
As Christians the world over celebrate Good Friday, we look back and wonder, "How could they not have known?" They had seen the miracles - the blind received their sight, the lame walked, the lepers were cleansed, the deaf heard, the dead raised (Luke 7:22). He taught in the synagogue like none other (Matthew 13:54), He turned water into wine (John 2:11), fed the multititude with five loaves and two fishes (Matthew 14:15-21), the evidence was there for all to see; the spiritual leaders would have read of Him in the Scriptures of the day. The man on that cross was not a criminal, a raving lunatic, or an emeny of the State. He was who He said He was - Jesus, the Son of God.
That was almost 2,000 years ago, yet the chant of "Give us Barabbas" still echoes across time. From as far back as the garden of Eden, whenever mankind is faced with the choice of God's way or the other way, we have taken the other way. The first time God expelled man from the garden; this time man tried to kill Him. Yet the cross remains an expression of God's love; the intersection where His love and justice meet, and a powerful reminder of the extreme steps that He has taken to reconcile mankind to Himself. That cross in the middle was ours. We should have been crucified, we should have suffered and died, we should have hung on the cross in disgrace, but Jesus, God's Son, took our place.
On that grim and fateful Friday afternoon, those standing there made their choice. Today, we have to make ours. What do you think of Jesus? What are you going to do with Him? Will you accept Him as Saviour and Lord, or crucify Him afresh?
As Christians the world over celebrate Good Friday, we look back and wonder, "How could they not have known?" They had seen the miracles - the blind received their sight, the lame walked, the lepers were cleansed, the deaf heard, the dead raised (Luke 7:22). He taught in the synagogue like none other (Matthew 13:54), He turned water into wine (John 2:11), fed the multititude with five loaves and two fishes (Matthew 14:15-21), the evidence was there for all to see; the spiritual leaders would have read of Him in the Scriptures of the day. The man on that cross was not a criminal, a raving lunatic, or an emeny of the State. He was who He said He was - Jesus, the Son of God.
That was almost 2,000 years ago, yet the chant of "Give us Barabbas" still echoes across time. From as far back as the garden of Eden, whenever mankind is faced with the choice of God's way or the other way, we have taken the other way. The first time God expelled man from the garden; this time man tried to kill Him. Yet the cross remains an expression of God's love; the intersection where His love and justice meet, and a powerful reminder of the extreme steps that He has taken to reconcile mankind to Himself. That cross in the middle was ours. We should have been crucified, we should have suffered and died, we should have hung on the cross in disgrace, but Jesus, God's Son, took our place.
On that grim and fateful Friday afternoon, those standing there made their choice. Today, we have to make ours. What do you think of Jesus? What are you going to do with Him? Will you accept Him as Saviour and Lord, or crucify Him afresh?
Sunday, April 05, 2009
"Don't Worry!"
Isn't it ironic that the majority of professing Christians trust God with their eternal security but have difficulty trusting Him with the details of everyday life? On the basis of John 3:16, they fully expect to spend eternity with Him yet seem unable to take hold of Philippians 4:6, "Don't worry about anything, but pray about everything" (CEV). Is it that God who created the universe, and everything in it, cannot handle the details of the here and now?
God cares about us and the things that impact our lives far more than we realize. Like a good and loving parent, His heart breaks as He watches His children wrestle with things that provoke doubt, fear, and rob us of peace of mind and heart as He waits for us to bring those concerns to Him. He did not intend for us to worry about how we are going to make it from one day to the next, but rather that we should cast those cares upon Him (1 Peter 5:7). Not some of it, but "all"; everything, nothing - not even what seem to be the most trivial - left out. For some of us, that is an extremely difficult thing to do because worry is like a worn out pair of shoes - we need to throw it out but it is most comfortable. Yet there is no ambiguity to Father's instructions; He says "Don't do it!" for "Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?" (Matthew 6:30, KJV).
If God takes care of the fowls of the air, He will take care of those who are His. This is the same God who so loved the world that He gave His Son Jesus that all who believe in Him might have life and have it more abundantly (John 3:16; 10:10). Surely, having demonstrated the extent of His love for His children, how can we doubt Him when He says "Dont worry"? Is there anything too hard for Him to handle? (Genesis 18:4).
Whatever it is that weighs heavily on your heart and mind, why not resolve to come boldly to the throne of grace and leave it there? "Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God's wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It's wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life" (Philippians 4:6-8, The Message).
God cares about us and the things that impact our lives far more than we realize. Like a good and loving parent, His heart breaks as He watches His children wrestle with things that provoke doubt, fear, and rob us of peace of mind and heart as He waits for us to bring those concerns to Him. He did not intend for us to worry about how we are going to make it from one day to the next, but rather that we should cast those cares upon Him (1 Peter 5:7). Not some of it, but "all"; everything, nothing - not even what seem to be the most trivial - left out. For some of us, that is an extremely difficult thing to do because worry is like a worn out pair of shoes - we need to throw it out but it is most comfortable. Yet there is no ambiguity to Father's instructions; He says "Don't do it!" for "Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?" (Matthew 6:30, KJV).
If God takes care of the fowls of the air, He will take care of those who are His. This is the same God who so loved the world that He gave His Son Jesus that all who believe in Him might have life and have it more abundantly (John 3:16; 10:10). Surely, having demonstrated the extent of His love for His children, how can we doubt Him when He says "Dont worry"? Is there anything too hard for Him to handle? (Genesis 18:4).
Whatever it is that weighs heavily on your heart and mind, why not resolve to come boldly to the throne of grace and leave it there? "Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God's wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It's wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life" (Philippians 4:6-8, The Message).
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
