Wednesday, May 27, 2015

I’LL GIVE YOU TIME TO GO NUMB

 

I had a dental appointment this week and after the inevitable injection before a little drilling the technician said while leaving the room, "I’ll give you a little time to go numb." Of course this brought up the question, “How much time does it take to go numb?”

What comes to mind in a religious sense; is how much time does it take to harden your heart? How much time does it take before you feel no sense of guilt when you no longer look to God for guidance, let alone worship him?

I know so many people who at one time had a love for God and a love for his church; then unexpectedly it seems that they are no longer interested. They lost their joy; the joy of gathering with others; to worship the God of the universe. Sometimes I hear comments such as: "Going to church just doesn't excite me anymore,"  "I can worship as well at home," or "I find God on the lake or golf course."

How long does it take for someone to go numb? Going numb is when you have a lack of feeling. Could it be the responsibility of the people or place you have been worshiping? Possibly it is, but more than likely it is a change in your own heart that has taken place. Could you be going numb? Maybe you are already there!

The church at Ephesus was a shining light for God before the people of the world. They have a whole book of the bible devoted to the church there, most of it positive. Yet, in Revelation 2:4-5 we read a message from God for them. He says, "But I have this against you, that you left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen and repent and do the first works again; or else I come to you, and will move your candlestick out of its place, unless you repent and return to loving me and putting me first."

How did that happen? How could this God loving, Mission supporting, Evangelist church forget God? When did they go numb? The answer is, One day at a time… one thought at a time… one action at a time and before they knew it they no longer felt what they had before for God and His church.

How about you, how are you doing?


Friday, May 15, 2015

Inside



I was lying in bed saying my prayers the other night and I said something that surprised me. I was praying for many of my family, friends and acquaintances, many of who are struggling in their faith. These are the words that formed in my strange brain, "Lord, inside of them is a spiritual person struggling to get out." 

Isn't that true of so many of us? There is a struggle within us to be more than we are, to have a better and stronger relationship with our God. It is so easy for us to observe the outer person we see and forget the ongoing struggle and the potential that is there. It's like looking at the caterpillar before it turns into a butterfly. That caterpillar is not the most attractive thing I ever saw, but hidden inside is that which can be one of God's most beautiful creations.
You may be the one struggling to overcome the "caterpillar syndrome". You may be wondering if you will ever be able to be the spiritual person you desire so strongly to be. It is so easy to look at others and think, "I wish I were like them," but we don't know how they struggle or have struggled in their lives to become who they are today. The change (metamorphosis) from spiritual caterpillar to butterfly doesn't come easily for anyone, yet it is possible.

The apostle Paul used this Greek word "metamorphosis", talking about our spiritual change in 2 Corinthians 3:17-18 where he said: "Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord's glory, are being transformed (metamorphosis) into his image with ever increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit."

When you think about the change you want for your life, don't limit yourself in the area of time. Don't expect to be "transformed into his image" over night and don't expect that of anyone else either. Just remember that inside of them (and us) is a spiritual person struggling to get out. Jesus understood that also, which is part of the power behind his words when he said in Matthew 19:26 "With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible". It may seem like a silly prayer to some, but I truly believe that inside many of us is a spiritual person struggling to get out.



Wednesday, May 6, 2015

Dear God, I'm ready to listen

I had gotten a new tea mug about a year ago; you know the kind with a neat saying on it. I was more interested in the fact that it was huge and I like a "big" cup of tea, not one of those tiny ones where you can't even get your fingers through the handle.
Anyway, I was sitting and sipping my tea the other morning and took notice of the message printed on the cup. Now I know I have read it before, but if you had asked me what it said, I wouldn't have been able to tell you. It may just be that I am more in need of the message now than before. Anyway, the message touched my heart this time. A simple message that said, "Dear God… I'm ready to listen now". The other side of the mug said in part, "God never puts a call on hold…. I can ask Him about anything and he is ready to listen."
We seem to understand the part about God always being ready to listen, but what about the other part, the part where we listen?
Part of the problem may be that we often expect an immediate, clearly stated answer from God and He doesn't always answer that way. The eleventh chapter of Hebrews deals with how God answers; take time to read it sometime... Simply, God sometimes doesn't answer in anyway which is perceivable to us. We continue to serve him and do what he asks of us anyway, which is called, "walking by faith". "By faith," we read that all of the great people of the Old Testament served God, never personally seeing the end result of the promise of God.
They married, had children, dealt with the daily stresses and problems, and went to work everyday having faith that God was in control, and knew what he was doing even if they didn't. How do we do that today? By believing that God is in control, one day at a time, or one hour at a time or even a few minutes at a time, because he is either in control of this world or he is not. That's the decision we have to make and live by.
Here is how they did it: Hebrews 11:13-16, "All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth… they were longing for a better country; a heavenly one.."(NIV)

Someone else put it this way, "Each one of these people of faith died not yet having in hand what was promised, but still believing. How did they do it? They saw it way off in the distance, waved their greeting, and accepted the fact that they were transients in this world. People who live this way make it plain that they are looking for their true home."


Living in this world, looking for our true home! That’s the secret of living by faith and listening for God. As the old hymn says, "This world is not my home, I'm just a passing through…"