Facing the Tarantula
God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.2 Timothy 1:7 NIV
I had an unfortunate incident years ago where as I walked into a spider web. The spider swung out on a single piece of silk like a pendulum only to return and land on my face. Since then, just saying the word "spider" would make me queasy. I dealt with my arachnophobia by facing the biggest and most ghastly spider I could find. My wife took me to a "Creatures of the Night" demonstration. After they displayed several nocturnal creatures such as an owl, a bat, a flying squirrel and a millipede, they pulled out a tarantula. The creature wrangler asked if he could let "her" walk on anyone. Every kid in the place screamed in horror. Moments later I realized I was one of the people screaming. After a brief prayer I lifted my hand in approval. As the spider man walked over to me, the children parted sort of like the Red Sea. He placed the spider on my leg and the children gathered around me. We all began to gasp as each of “her” eight legs began to edge her large hairy body up my leg and eventually onto my stomach. I called for our creepy bug guy and told him, "Man, you better come and get this thing! I am about to drop and roll!"
Fear is a powerful emotion. When it is rational, it acts as a protection device to keep us safe. But irrational fear entangles and imprisons us. I wonder if irrational fear is the tool that the devil uses to strangle the testimony out of the saints? While our salvation in Christ is the most exciting part of our lives, we oftentimes hide it away with a myriad of excuses. For some reason we tend to believe lies like, "I have not been called to witness to people" or "I don't have the intellect." And even worse, "What if I make them angry?" or "What if I mess it up?" More than anything else, I think that these excuses are based on irrational fears and less so on the power of God.
God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and love. No matter if you are facing the big momma of arachnids or a person in need of Christ, there is no fear that has gripped you that cannot be overpowered by the Word and Spirit of God. Whatever you have to face, know that it has been overpowered and subdued by the blood of Christ. I faced my fear by literally coming face to face with a tarantula. I encourage you to take control of your fear and come face to face with those in need of Christ.
Friday, September 26, 2014
Friday, September 19, 2014
Determined Mind
Determined Mind
But when he asks [of God] he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.
James 1:6-8 NIV
When God calls us to be His, He never accepts half. He calls for the whole. Maybe God calls for the whole person to try and remove their inner conflict, the indecisiveness that can reside in the heart of His people? Or, maybe the Lord knows that having half is like having nothing at all.
Can a person stand next to God and all the while envy what the world has? He or she must abandon one or fully commit to the other. If a person will find genuine godly peace, he or she must defy the ways of this world and become a stranger in a strange land, that is, someone who is in the world, but no longer of the world (John 15:19). When we put on the salvation of Christ, we release our hold on this place and become citizens of God’s Kingdom. We become His ambassadors in this world.
The double-minded person will never be able to fully understand God’s righteousness, judgment and salvation. But the fully committed will have the ability to see and understand these things and so much more. The determined mind will always remember that they rest in hands that will never let them slip away (John 10:27-28). They will hear and obey the Spirit and bring Christ to others with freedom and assurance in God. We have assurance that He will reign in the hearts and minds of the elect forever. And this is but one of the things a determined mind seeks, the reign of God in the world, but also for God to reign in our minds and in the whole of our being.
But when he asks [of God] he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.
James 1:6-8 NIV
When God calls us to be His, He never accepts half. He calls for the whole. Maybe God calls for the whole person to try and remove their inner conflict, the indecisiveness that can reside in the heart of His people? Or, maybe the Lord knows that having half is like having nothing at all.
Can a person stand next to God and all the while envy what the world has? He or she must abandon one or fully commit to the other. If a person will find genuine godly peace, he or she must defy the ways of this world and become a stranger in a strange land, that is, someone who is in the world, but no longer of the world (John 15:19). When we put on the salvation of Christ, we release our hold on this place and become citizens of God’s Kingdom. We become His ambassadors in this world.
The double-minded person will never be able to fully understand God’s righteousness, judgment and salvation. But the fully committed will have the ability to see and understand these things and so much more. The determined mind will always remember that they rest in hands that will never let them slip away (John 10:27-28). They will hear and obey the Spirit and bring Christ to others with freedom and assurance in God. We have assurance that He will reign in the hearts and minds of the elect forever. And this is but one of the things a determined mind seeks, the reign of God in the world, but also for God to reign in our minds and in the whole of our being.
Friday, September 12, 2014
Meeting a Need
Meeting a Need
My brothers, consider yourselves fortunate when all kinds of trials come your way, for you know that when your faith succeeds in facing such trials, the result is the ability to endure. James 1:2-3 Good News Bible
I have been facing some trials lately. I witnessed to around eight people; one is showing a mustard seed of promise. My wife and I have been doing some marriage counseling, one person out of the two is making an effort... sort of. So far this week, I was laughed at for being a Christian by three people and another person told me that "born again" people are nuts. Lastly, I had been praying with one woman for months, I thought I was helping her on her faith walk. She sort of shocked me by giving up on “the living” God in favor of following "Mother Earth". All of the effort and so little "reaping" have caused me to wonder if "living" for God is worth it? This wasn’t what I expected when I started sharing the good news of Christ...
One hard thing about following God is that you hardly ever have a sense of where you are, or how well you are doing. You have to listen for God and respond, listen and trust, listen and step into danger or pain. It is always a "faith walk" with God, never a site walk. As such, we cannot judge the outcome of our works. God uses our efforts, our tears and the sweat of our brows to lead those to Himself that are being saved. And the Lord also uses those same works to bring judgment on those who ignore or deride His word. We are not in control of the outcome of our service to God, The outcome and purpose of our work belongs to Him.
When I can't see the value of following God, I need to remember to trust Him. If I persevere in the faith even when I am laughed at or facing derision, then I have been blessed. If I unrelentingly hold to faith in the face of trials and pain, then I have gained endurance. And that may be the real blessing that God wants to give His children. God may not give us all that we want, but He ALWAYS gives what we need.
My brothers, consider yourselves fortunate when all kinds of trials come your way, for you know that when your faith succeeds in facing such trials, the result is the ability to endure. James 1:2-3 Good News Bible
I have been facing some trials lately. I witnessed to around eight people; one is showing a mustard seed of promise. My wife and I have been doing some marriage counseling, one person out of the two is making an effort... sort of. So far this week, I was laughed at for being a Christian by three people and another person told me that "born again" people are nuts. Lastly, I had been praying with one woman for months, I thought I was helping her on her faith walk. She sort of shocked me by giving up on “the living” God in favor of following "Mother Earth". All of the effort and so little "reaping" have caused me to wonder if "living" for God is worth it? This wasn’t what I expected when I started sharing the good news of Christ...
One hard thing about following God is that you hardly ever have a sense of where you are, or how well you are doing. You have to listen for God and respond, listen and trust, listen and step into danger or pain. It is always a "faith walk" with God, never a site walk. As such, we cannot judge the outcome of our works. God uses our efforts, our tears and the sweat of our brows to lead those to Himself that are being saved. And the Lord also uses those same works to bring judgment on those who ignore or deride His word. We are not in control of the outcome of our service to God, The outcome and purpose of our work belongs to Him.
When I can't see the value of following God, I need to remember to trust Him. If I persevere in the faith even when I am laughed at or facing derision, then I have been blessed. If I unrelentingly hold to faith in the face of trials and pain, then I have gained endurance. And that may be the real blessing that God wants to give His children. God may not give us all that we want, but He ALWAYS gives what we need.
Friday, September 5, 2014
Singing His Song
Singing His SongHow can we sing the songs of the Lord while in a foreign land?
Psalms 137:4 NIV
We live in times where people have grown hostile toward Christianity. The world is none too happy with those that try to live according to the scripture. I suspect their resentment stems from the fact that we remind them of God. We carry the aroma of Christ (2 Corinthians 2:15), and they just don't like it. They don't want to hear about their sin and God's redemptive love and His judgment. They want us to abandon the sound teaching of God and embrace their opinions, ideas and preferences. They want to silence anything that sounds like God by calling it hate, narrow-mindedness, and out dated thinking. They tell us, "Sing a song we like. Give us a word that will tickle our fancy." (2 Timothy 4:3)
It feels lonely to be the object of scorn. It feels even worse when you are scorned by other believers that hold a "world view", instead of a "Christ view." I admit to feeling a bit like my spirit has been broken, sort of disillusioned about God's call on my life. Is there a point to sharing Christ with people that only think of you as an old and useless religious fool? As a Christian, I feel like a foreigner in a strange land. How can I sing His song in this place, among these people?
I'll sing His song because of the hope I have in Christ! The day is coming when tears of pain will be a distant memory and death will have lost its sting (Revelation 21:4). When my circumstances are void of hope or joy, I will remember what the Lord has promised to those who trust in Him and persevere to the end. When I think of the goodness of the Lord, I feel a song coming on.
Psalms 137:4 NIV
We live in times where people have grown hostile toward Christianity. The world is none too happy with those that try to live according to the scripture. I suspect their resentment stems from the fact that we remind them of God. We carry the aroma of Christ (2 Corinthians 2:15), and they just don't like it. They don't want to hear about their sin and God's redemptive love and His judgment. They want us to abandon the sound teaching of God and embrace their opinions, ideas and preferences. They want to silence anything that sounds like God by calling it hate, narrow-mindedness, and out dated thinking. They tell us, "Sing a song we like. Give us a word that will tickle our fancy." (2 Timothy 4:3)
It feels lonely to be the object of scorn. It feels even worse when you are scorned by other believers that hold a "world view", instead of a "Christ view." I admit to feeling a bit like my spirit has been broken, sort of disillusioned about God's call on my life. Is there a point to sharing Christ with people that only think of you as an old and useless religious fool? As a Christian, I feel like a foreigner in a strange land. How can I sing His song in this place, among these people?
I'll sing His song because of the hope I have in Christ! The day is coming when tears of pain will be a distant memory and death will have lost its sting (Revelation 21:4). When my circumstances are void of hope or joy, I will remember what the Lord has promised to those who trust in Him and persevere to the end. When I think of the goodness of the Lord, I feel a song coming on.
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