I've been reading in Philippians, 1 Peter, and James a lot recently, and together that makes for a lot of reading about trials and suffering. I felt led to share what I've been learning:
Thoughts on suffering:
1. Through perseverance, trials and suffering make us mature and complete. (James 1:2-4 // Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its perfect work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.)
2. To suffer trials proves our faith to be genuine and results in praise, honor, and glory for God. (1 Peter 1:6-7 // In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that you faith - of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire - may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus is revealed.)
3. Paul's trials resulted in encouragement for other believers to speak more boldly of Christ, so more people heard of Christ. (Philippians 1:12-14 // Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the Gospel. As a result, it has become clear throughout the palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. Because of my chains, most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the Word of God more courageously and fearlessly.)
4. Suffering kills the desire for sin and increases the desire for God. (1 Peter 4:1-2 // Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves with the same attitude, because he who has suffered in his body is done with sin. As a result, he does not life for the rest of his earthly life for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God.)
5. If you suffer for what is right, you are blessed. (1 Peter 3:14 // But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. )
Call me crazy, but I actually think America could use a few trials, or go through some suffering. All these things sound like things the American church desperately need (besides maybe the need to be blessed.. we're pretty blessed as it is). Just think of underground churches like the Chinese church, who all seem to be so much more genuine and passionate than the American church. Call me crazy, but I think it's because of the suffering they are enduring. Call me crazy, but I think we could all use a little suffering, or maybe even a lot of suffering.
Suffering is hard. But when we suffer, we are still expected to be Christlike. Here's what the Bible says about how we should act when we're suffering and going through trials.
1. We are to rejoice in our sufferings and praise God. (1 Peter 4:13 // But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. // James 1:2 // Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds...)
2. We are to have the same attitude as Christ (1 Peter 4:1 // Therefore, since Christ suffered in His body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because he who has suffered in his body is done with sin.), entrusting ourselves to God and not retaliating against anyone who might be persecuting us (1 Peter 2:23 // When they hurled their insults at Him, He did not retaliate; when He suffered, he made no threats instead, he entrusted Himself to Him who judges justly.)
3. We are to be committed to God even in trials and continue to do good even when facing suffering and hardships (1 Peter 4:19 // So then, those who suffer according to God's will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.)
4. Whatever happens, we must conduct ourselves in a manner worthy of Christ. (Philippians 1:27 // Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.)
Monday, March 24, 2014
Thursday, March 20, 2014
Immeasurable
1 Peter 1:17-19
"Since you call on a Father who judges each man's work impartially, live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear. For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect."
There is so much in this passage that we could talk about, but I want to narrow it down to one point. I've mentioned in a previous post that the most probable reason unbelievers don't respect God and Christianity in general is because we don't. We say we serve a great, almighty, all-worthy, omnipotent, glorious God, but then treat Him like He's none of those things. We use His name in vain as often as those who don't even believe He exists, we disobey Him, and treat His people and His house as if they are worth nothing. No wonder people aren't willing to believe what we say! We hardly act like we do!
This passage points out something worth mentioning. Here it says to live as strangers here on earth, because we were not redeemed with something of measurable value, but with something of immeasurable value: the precious blood of Christ. The wild thing about God is He's immeasurable. You can't properly describe how big He is because everything to which we compare Him is measurable. I can say that a million suns times a thousand million is like a grain of sand next to the sun (the sun being God), but that isn't accurate because if you multiply that grain of sand enough times, it would eventually get to be the size of the sun. You can even rightly compare something measurable to something that's not. In the same way that God is immeasurably big, He's immeasurably perfect and worthy.
For He who is immeasurably perfect and worthy to die for us is huge. Huge. Like, we can't even begin to fathom how big that is. He is SO worthy, SO holy, SO perfect, that nothing we use to describe Him can even come close to coming close to being accurate. He died for us. His blood, SO precious, so much more valuable than anything measurable could ever come close to, was poured out for us.
We treat His blood like that kind of sacrifice is a thing mundane and earthly. We treat it like it's silver or gold. Here on earth those things are worth a lot, but when you consider that at the end of time, when everything physical passes away, that gold will simply pass way like everything else, it's worth nothing. In view of eternity, we need to start treating His sacrifice like it's immeasurable. We weren't redeemed by anything so mundane as gold or silver, but with the precious blood of the Lamb, and it's time we started acting like it.
"Since you call on a Father who judges each man's work impartially, live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear. For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect."
There is so much in this passage that we could talk about, but I want to narrow it down to one point. I've mentioned in a previous post that the most probable reason unbelievers don't respect God and Christianity in general is because we don't. We say we serve a great, almighty, all-worthy, omnipotent, glorious God, but then treat Him like He's none of those things. We use His name in vain as often as those who don't even believe He exists, we disobey Him, and treat His people and His house as if they are worth nothing. No wonder people aren't willing to believe what we say! We hardly act like we do!
This passage points out something worth mentioning. Here it says to live as strangers here on earth, because we were not redeemed with something of measurable value, but with something of immeasurable value: the precious blood of Christ. The wild thing about God is He's immeasurable. You can't properly describe how big He is because everything to which we compare Him is measurable. I can say that a million suns times a thousand million is like a grain of sand next to the sun (the sun being God), but that isn't accurate because if you multiply that grain of sand enough times, it would eventually get to be the size of the sun. You can even rightly compare something measurable to something that's not. In the same way that God is immeasurably big, He's immeasurably perfect and worthy.
For He who is immeasurably perfect and worthy to die for us is huge. Huge. Like, we can't even begin to fathom how big that is. He is SO worthy, SO holy, SO perfect, that nothing we use to describe Him can even come close to coming close to being accurate. He died for us. His blood, SO precious, so much more valuable than anything measurable could ever come close to, was poured out for us.
We treat His blood like that kind of sacrifice is a thing mundane and earthly. We treat it like it's silver or gold. Here on earth those things are worth a lot, but when you consider that at the end of time, when everything physical passes away, that gold will simply pass way like everything else, it's worth nothing. In view of eternity, we need to start treating His sacrifice like it's immeasurable. We weren't redeemed by anything so mundane as gold or silver, but with the precious blood of the Lamb, and it's time we started acting like it.
Sunday, March 9, 2014
Like an athlete or like an elephant?
God is able.
What does that mean? Or to be more articulate, what image or belief does that phrase draw up in us when we hear it? I think sometimes our faith may be enough, but it isn't very big. After all, Jesus said that we need only faith the size of a mustard seed to move mountains (Matthew 17:20). But I think our faith sometimes imagines God as just barely able. We say that God is able, but we say it like it's going to be a difficult process, and that there's a chance, however small, that He might fail.
For instance, we imagine God more like an athlete in a competition than an elephant lifting a peanut. Let me explain. When you go to watch your favorite sports team, usually you go with some confidence that they will win. After all, your team is the best team, right? So you go with confidence that they will win, but throughout the game, you're on the edge of your seat, sweating and biting your nails, emotions running wild while you wait to see who will win. Because while you "know" that your team is going to win, you also know that there's a chance that they won't, and that makes you nervous. Now when we go to the zoo and see the elephants, and one goes to pick up a peanut and eat it, we don't gasp and lean in, waiting in nervous anticipation to see if the elephant can, in fact, lift the peanut. No, that would be really weird, and I'm sure we would get some stares. When an elephant at the zoo goes to pick up a peanut, we watch in relaxation, knowing that the elephant has way more than enough strength to do so.
What if we had faith like that? What if we knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that God would do immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine (Ephesians 3:20)? What if, since our faith is the measure to which God's power will be displayed, we dared to imagine God as truly omnipotent, and asked for the impossible on a daily basis? What would our world look like?
I say we find out.
What does that mean? Or to be more articulate, what image or belief does that phrase draw up in us when we hear it? I think sometimes our faith may be enough, but it isn't very big. After all, Jesus said that we need only faith the size of a mustard seed to move mountains (Matthew 17:20). But I think our faith sometimes imagines God as just barely able. We say that God is able, but we say it like it's going to be a difficult process, and that there's a chance, however small, that He might fail.
For instance, we imagine God more like an athlete in a competition than an elephant lifting a peanut. Let me explain. When you go to watch your favorite sports team, usually you go with some confidence that they will win. After all, your team is the best team, right? So you go with confidence that they will win, but throughout the game, you're on the edge of your seat, sweating and biting your nails, emotions running wild while you wait to see who will win. Because while you "know" that your team is going to win, you also know that there's a chance that they won't, and that makes you nervous. Now when we go to the zoo and see the elephants, and one goes to pick up a peanut and eat it, we don't gasp and lean in, waiting in nervous anticipation to see if the elephant can, in fact, lift the peanut. No, that would be really weird, and I'm sure we would get some stares. When an elephant at the zoo goes to pick up a peanut, we watch in relaxation, knowing that the elephant has way more than enough strength to do so.
What if we had faith like that? What if we knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that God would do immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine (Ephesians 3:20)? What if, since our faith is the measure to which God's power will be displayed, we dared to imagine God as truly omnipotent, and asked for the impossible on a daily basis? What would our world look like?
I say we find out.
Tuesday, March 4, 2014
On Modesty & Swimsuits
I know it's a little early in the season for this, but I know that people will be buying swimsuits soon in anticipation of spring and summer. I also know for a fact that I will step on some toes with this one. Actually, most of the people on my friends list on Facebook will probably be offended. But I feel strongly enough about this issue to speak up anyways.
First, I'd like to establish why modesty is important in the first place. If you don't agree that modesty is important, this whole post will be nonsense to you. Modesty is important for many reasons, but I'll narrow it down to three.
1. Dress modestly out of respect for God. He made you, and He loves you. He values you enough to pay the highest price possible for you. He deserves nothing but your utmost respect and honor. You honor Him with your body by choosing not to expose what would disregard the value He places on you or cause another one of His precious and invaluable children to stumble.
2. Dress modestly out of respect for yourself. As previously stated, the Creator of the Universe says that you are immensely and immeasurably valuable. To give to all freely what should be held sacred (the right to look at your body) is to dishonor the high price paid for the thing being given. Imagine a priceless pearl bought with a man's entire life savings. Then imagine him throwing the pearl out into his pigpen. Who wouldn't scream in frustration?? When you know the price paid for an item, you become distressed when the item is treated as trash. (Matthew 13:45-46: You are the precious pearl! Matthew 7:6: Don't throw pearls to the pigs. See the connection?)
3. Dress modestly out of respect for other believers. Jesus not only paid a costly and high price for you, He paid that same price for every human being that lives, has lived, and will live. Every single one of us is invaluable to Him, and every one deserves the same respect. So at the same time that you need to respect God and yourself by the way that you dress, you need to respect the other believers around you. Your dress doesn't only affect you; it affects those around you. The Christian young men in your life should be straining towards purity and training themselves to look away when someone wearing less than appropriate clothing walks by. Believe me when I say that they do NOT need any more temptation than what they already face. You as a Christian have the responsibility to try and protect them by dressing in ways that do not in any way tempt them to look at you in a lustful manner. They don't appreciate it when a woman who follows Christ makes it hard for them to do the same. You also have the responsibility to protect young girls from thinking that dressing immodestly is okay. Do you remember being a young child? Do you remember how much they look up to teenagers? They do. A lot. They mimic us as often as possible. I can almost guarantee that there's a young person in your life that looks up to you, and Jesus made it pretty clear that leading a child into sin is not a desirable situation. (Matthew 18:6)
On swimsuits, one thing can be said for sure: bikinis are not modest, in any way, ever. Period. I firmly believe that women do not have any right to say what is modest and what is not. Why? Because we can't see through a guy's eyes. We could say all we want about what is modest and what is not, but at the end of the day, if it causes a guy to stumble, it's not modest. We can't know what's modest because we don't know what makes it difficult for them to avert their eyes. I strongly recommend that every girl have a Christian guy friend who will be completely honest and straightforward to tell her if her clothes are modest or not. So, it is not on my own authority that I say this. Here's what my 18 year old brother has to say about it:
"It's not fair. Girls, I really don't believe you understand what it's like to have the hormones that a guy has, and to then have sex thrown at you from every angle of life. As men, we are constantly having to turn our eyes. ALL the time. I understand that it's our duty as men to be strong and courageous, but imagine the bullet coming not only from the enemy, but also the teammate. Imagine the sheer shock. Things like "I thought you cared about me" and "Did my life not matter to you?" And "Whose side are you on?" would go through your head. Let's change that up. "Does my innocence not matter to you?" "I thought you cared about my purity?" "Don't you know who's side you're on?" Ladies, it is extremely hard. And it's one thing to have to turn your head from someone who isn't a Christian, but having to turn your head from a Christian is like dodging a bullet fired from a teammate. This stuff matters. What if I told you that ONE wrong thought in a guy's mind can be enough to get him to look at porn. One thought can do it. It's downhill from there. Exposing yourself by wearing a bikini can not only cause a man to think about things he shouldn't, but it can also make him think things he shouldn't about you. Now don't freak out. Yes, there are times where a man may think awful thoughts about you. But, wearing a bikini has become so normal that most guys don't think twice about it. Seeing that skin doesn't mean anything to them anymore. Just another naked girl. Most guys wouldn't say that they devalue girls when they see them in a bikini. But, what you don't understand, is that boy is looking upon a body that probably isn't meant for him, he's not looking away, he doesn't care about the fact that your and his innocence is gone, and all he sees is just another body. And that is a VERY wrong thought about you! Because your body was made for ONE person and ONE person alone. And you are worth FAR more than the way your body is treated when you dress immodestly. Bikinis are not in any way, shape, or form modest. One last thing: Like I said, boys doesn't think twice about a girl wearing a bikini. It's so normal. But I will tell you this: From a Christian guy's perspective, when a girl respects herself enough to dress modestly at the beach, he almost never forgets that about you."
So there you have it. Do you really need another reason not to wear a bikini? Here's a video about the history of the bikini and what looking at a woman in a bikini actually does to a guy's mind psychologically:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJVHRJbgLz8
Jessica Rey, who spoke in the video, has her own swimsuit line of cute and modest swimwear. It can be found at http://www.reyswimwear.com/, and I strongly recommend you look at their adorable suits! Here's a few:
Fashion doesn't have to be compromised to be modest!
Thank you so much for reading this ridiculously long post! You can find my brother's blog at http://wretchedyetdivine.blogspot.com/
First, I'd like to establish why modesty is important in the first place. If you don't agree that modesty is important, this whole post will be nonsense to you. Modesty is important for many reasons, but I'll narrow it down to three.
1. Dress modestly out of respect for God. He made you, and He loves you. He values you enough to pay the highest price possible for you. He deserves nothing but your utmost respect and honor. You honor Him with your body by choosing not to expose what would disregard the value He places on you or cause another one of His precious and invaluable children to stumble.
2. Dress modestly out of respect for yourself. As previously stated, the Creator of the Universe says that you are immensely and immeasurably valuable. To give to all freely what should be held sacred (the right to look at your body) is to dishonor the high price paid for the thing being given. Imagine a priceless pearl bought with a man's entire life savings. Then imagine him throwing the pearl out into his pigpen. Who wouldn't scream in frustration?? When you know the price paid for an item, you become distressed when the item is treated as trash. (Matthew 13:45-46: You are the precious pearl! Matthew 7:6: Don't throw pearls to the pigs. See the connection?)
3. Dress modestly out of respect for other believers. Jesus not only paid a costly and high price for you, He paid that same price for every human being that lives, has lived, and will live. Every single one of us is invaluable to Him, and every one deserves the same respect. So at the same time that you need to respect God and yourself by the way that you dress, you need to respect the other believers around you. Your dress doesn't only affect you; it affects those around you. The Christian young men in your life should be straining towards purity and training themselves to look away when someone wearing less than appropriate clothing walks by. Believe me when I say that they do NOT need any more temptation than what they already face. You as a Christian have the responsibility to try and protect them by dressing in ways that do not in any way tempt them to look at you in a lustful manner. They don't appreciate it when a woman who follows Christ makes it hard for them to do the same. You also have the responsibility to protect young girls from thinking that dressing immodestly is okay. Do you remember being a young child? Do you remember how much they look up to teenagers? They do. A lot. They mimic us as often as possible. I can almost guarantee that there's a young person in your life that looks up to you, and Jesus made it pretty clear that leading a child into sin is not a desirable situation. (Matthew 18:6)
On swimsuits, one thing can be said for sure: bikinis are not modest, in any way, ever. Period. I firmly believe that women do not have any right to say what is modest and what is not. Why? Because we can't see through a guy's eyes. We could say all we want about what is modest and what is not, but at the end of the day, if it causes a guy to stumble, it's not modest. We can't know what's modest because we don't know what makes it difficult for them to avert their eyes. I strongly recommend that every girl have a Christian guy friend who will be completely honest and straightforward to tell her if her clothes are modest or not. So, it is not on my own authority that I say this. Here's what my 18 year old brother has to say about it:
"It's not fair. Girls, I really don't believe you understand what it's like to have the hormones that a guy has, and to then have sex thrown at you from every angle of life. As men, we are constantly having to turn our eyes. ALL the time. I understand that it's our duty as men to be strong and courageous, but imagine the bullet coming not only from the enemy, but also the teammate. Imagine the sheer shock. Things like "I thought you cared about me" and "Did my life not matter to you?" And "Whose side are you on?" would go through your head. Let's change that up. "Does my innocence not matter to you?" "I thought you cared about my purity?" "Don't you know who's side you're on?" Ladies, it is extremely hard. And it's one thing to have to turn your head from someone who isn't a Christian, but having to turn your head from a Christian is like dodging a bullet fired from a teammate. This stuff matters. What if I told you that ONE wrong thought in a guy's mind can be enough to get him to look at porn. One thought can do it. It's downhill from there. Exposing yourself by wearing a bikini can not only cause a man to think about things he shouldn't, but it can also make him think things he shouldn't about you. Now don't freak out. Yes, there are times where a man may think awful thoughts about you. But, wearing a bikini has become so normal that most guys don't think twice about it. Seeing that skin doesn't mean anything to them anymore. Just another naked girl. Most guys wouldn't say that they devalue girls when they see them in a bikini. But, what you don't understand, is that boy is looking upon a body that probably isn't meant for him, he's not looking away, he doesn't care about the fact that your and his innocence is gone, and all he sees is just another body. And that is a VERY wrong thought about you! Because your body was made for ONE person and ONE person alone. And you are worth FAR more than the way your body is treated when you dress immodestly. Bikinis are not in any way, shape, or form modest. One last thing: Like I said, boys doesn't think twice about a girl wearing a bikini. It's so normal. But I will tell you this: From a Christian guy's perspective, when a girl respects herself enough to dress modestly at the beach, he almost never forgets that about you."
So there you have it. Do you really need another reason not to wear a bikini? Here's a video about the history of the bikini and what looking at a woman in a bikini actually does to a guy's mind psychologically:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJVHRJbgLz8
Jessica Rey, who spoke in the video, has her own swimsuit line of cute and modest swimwear. It can be found at http://www.reyswimwear.com/, and I strongly recommend you look at their adorable suits! Here's a few:
Fashion doesn't have to be compromised to be modest!
Thank you so much for reading this ridiculously long post! You can find my brother's blog at http://wretchedyetdivine.blogspot.com/
Monday, March 3, 2014
Build Your Kingdom Here
Rend Collective Experiment has a song called Build Your Kingdom Here (which I listen to on a daily basis because it's my jam), and I've been doing some thinking on the lyrics. I thought of a scenario where a church was wanting to remodel their building to make room for a new youth room or office or children's ministry room or whatever. They call a contractor and discuss where they want the room and how big it should be, the cost, etc. The contractor and the church agree, and the next day the contractor shows up with his workers and starts tearing down walls and ripping up floors, removing pillars and building new walls, when the pastor runs in and screams at them to stop immediately. "What do you think you're doing? This is my church! I asked you to build a new room, not mess up my church! Look at this wreck! How are we going to have service on Sunday? What will people think?"
The contractor and workers stare. I bet you can imagine what they're thinking. You can't build anything without changing things a little. They were tearing down walls and ripping up floors so they could make room for the new space. It wouldn't be possible to build the new room without making changes.
Now take yourself out of the scenario, and put yourself in your own life. I see a church that says to God, "Build Your Kingdom Here!" but then freaks out whenever He tries to make changes. I have seen it in my own life more times than I care to remember. I ask Him to be my entire life, to manifest Himself in my life and establish His kingdom on earth through me, but when He starts to make changes in me to do just that, I kick and scream and protest. "What are you doing?!? I like that sin! It's too hard and uncomfortable to give it up!" I ignore that He has to make changes in order to build anything. I ignore that any change inevitably makes a little bit of a mess before things start to get better. But in the end, it's worth it. He's worth it. He is always worth it.
The contractor and workers stare. I bet you can imagine what they're thinking. You can't build anything without changing things a little. They were tearing down walls and ripping up floors so they could make room for the new space. It wouldn't be possible to build the new room without making changes.
Now take yourself out of the scenario, and put yourself in your own life. I see a church that says to God, "Build Your Kingdom Here!" but then freaks out whenever He tries to make changes. I have seen it in my own life more times than I care to remember. I ask Him to be my entire life, to manifest Himself in my life and establish His kingdom on earth through me, but when He starts to make changes in me to do just that, I kick and scream and protest. "What are you doing?!? I like that sin! It's too hard and uncomfortable to give it up!" I ignore that He has to make changes in order to build anything. I ignore that any change inevitably makes a little bit of a mess before things start to get better. But in the end, it's worth it. He's worth it. He is always worth it.
Thursday, February 27, 2014
The man & the treasure; the merchant & the pearl
I read Matthew 13:44-46 in a whole new light the other day. It's the parables of the hidden treasure and the pearl, and it reads:
44 The Kingdom of God is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field. 45 Again, the Kingdom of God is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. 46 When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had, and bought it.
I've always just read these two parables as basically saying the same thing two different ways. We're to pursue God and give everything for Him like a man who found a treasure in a field. We're to seek God and give everything for Him like a merchant who's found a precious and valuable pearl.
God has recently been teaching me about our relationship with Him as represented by the Bride and the Bridegroom. The great romance. God seeking us, cherishing us, pursuing us, loving us passionately, and our response: seeking Him, cherishing Him, pursuing Him, loving Him passionately. It's a big love story. We both just throw ourselves into each other's arms. The love is tangible.
So when I read these parables again, I noticed something I had never noticed before. Verse 44 compares the Kingdom of God to the treasure. This implies, in the context of the parable, that we are to pursue God like a man who finds the treasure in the field and gives everything to get it. But verse 45 compares the Kingdom of God to the merchant. Do you understand what this means? It means He's the merchant who found us, the pearl of great worth, and gave everything to get us!! Just like we seek Him with everything, He seeks us with everything!
My heart can hardly bear the weight of this. He finds me to be a fine pearl of great worth! It's all a big love story! The church, madly in love with God, and God, madly in love with His church, His bride.
44 The Kingdom of God is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field. 45 Again, the Kingdom of God is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. 46 When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had, and bought it.
I've always just read these two parables as basically saying the same thing two different ways. We're to pursue God and give everything for Him like a man who found a treasure in a field. We're to seek God and give everything for Him like a merchant who's found a precious and valuable pearl.
God has recently been teaching me about our relationship with Him as represented by the Bride and the Bridegroom. The great romance. God seeking us, cherishing us, pursuing us, loving us passionately, and our response: seeking Him, cherishing Him, pursuing Him, loving Him passionately. It's a big love story. We both just throw ourselves into each other's arms. The love is tangible.
So when I read these parables again, I noticed something I had never noticed before. Verse 44 compares the Kingdom of God to the treasure. This implies, in the context of the parable, that we are to pursue God like a man who finds the treasure in the field and gives everything to get it. But verse 45 compares the Kingdom of God to the merchant. Do you understand what this means? It means He's the merchant who found us, the pearl of great worth, and gave everything to get us!! Just like we seek Him with everything, He seeks us with everything!
My heart can hardly bear the weight of this. He finds me to be a fine pearl of great worth! It's all a big love story! The church, madly in love with God, and God, madly in love with His church, His bride.
Tuesday, February 18, 2014
How the enemy works like communism
Yesterday I watched a movie called Red Dawn. It's a remake of an 80's movie with the same title, and it was a really good movie. It had a little too much language for me, so I wouldn't watch it again, but a very good movie nonetheless. In the movie, international tensions are rising as North Korea continually attacks various nations. The story follows two brothers, one a former marine and the other a high school student, who are caught in the middle of it all when a North Korean attack on America invades their town. The brothers escape to the woods with a few friends, but the North Koreans take control of the town and set up a dictatorship-type government. Throughout the movie, the brothers and their friends continually set up small attacks on the North Koreans, then escape back to the woods, creating an irritating disturbance for the Koreans and rousing the Americans caught in the town to action, while the Koreans try to convince everyone that they're here for the Americans' good. It's a movie that definitely makes one feel patriotic! At the end of the movie, I thought, "That was a great movie, but it doesn't really happen that way." I wasn't referring to the unlikelihood of them surviving in the woods with thousands of North Koreans nearby, or the unexplained fact that they had to have food for all that time (where did that come from?). I was referring to communism.
Yes, sometimes communists invade a country with guns blaring, bombs exploding, and men controlling. But if you've ever studied communism, like I did last year in government class, you know that most of the time communists don't operate that way. They come in as one of our own. An American citizen rises to government, promising wonderful change, new jobs, a fixed economy, etc. From there, they gradually wean the people off their dependency on themselves to dependency on the government through law changes. When the people are willingly depending on the government, to shift is made from a free country to a country under what is called socialism, which is the step under communism. Once the country has accepted socialism and is completely dependent on the government, the government seizes all control, and becomes a Communist state. The people are then so dependent on the government, they cannot rise up to fight the government. They have trapped themselves.
Why do communists do it this way? For the very reason as displayed in the movie Red Dawn. When governments try to seize control of country that has all of its freedoms, we recognize that they're taking our freedoms and fight back. However, when it comes slowly, when they convince us that what they're doing is a good thing, when they wean us off dependency on ourselves, we rarely see the shift until it's too late.
Why did I just talk about all that? Because Satan is the exact same way. He doesn't come to a strong follower of Christ and say "Hey! Why don't you do drugs/get drunk/have sex outside of marriage/commit adultery/etc,' because the immediate answer would be a resounding "NO!" He comes slowly, distracting us until our quiet time gets ignored all day, or convincing us a tiny little cuss word in a song is okay, or telling us its okay to be disrespectful to our parents behind their back just this once because it's justified this time. He weans us off our righteousness, one compromise at a time.
An example of this would be a time I was reading a book I had gotten from the library, and I was about a hundred pages into it (about a forth of the way in) when BAM! F-bomb. I set the book down in shock. I was not expecting that! But now, I was faced with a choice. Put the book down and move on to the next, or continue reading. It was only one word. There was a high probability that there was no more in the rest of the book, and I was already past that one. I sat there, undecided, until I had a thought straight from God. "I can either lower my standards and keep reading or uphold them and stop." I had not seen it that way until then. We rarely do when faced with such choices. See, if it was okay with that book, what keeps it from being okay in the next? Or if it's okay once when it wasn't before, what keeps it from being okay two times, or three, or four?
Satan doesn't come in asking us to make huge, life-altering choices right off the bat. He slowly weans us off righteousness until everything is questionable, every moral thrown up for grabs. Because if one thing that was wrong before is now right, what keeps the next thing from becoming okay too?
Yes, sometimes communists invade a country with guns blaring, bombs exploding, and men controlling. But if you've ever studied communism, like I did last year in government class, you know that most of the time communists don't operate that way. They come in as one of our own. An American citizen rises to government, promising wonderful change, new jobs, a fixed economy, etc. From there, they gradually wean the people off their dependency on themselves to dependency on the government through law changes. When the people are willingly depending on the government, to shift is made from a free country to a country under what is called socialism, which is the step under communism. Once the country has accepted socialism and is completely dependent on the government, the government seizes all control, and becomes a Communist state. The people are then so dependent on the government, they cannot rise up to fight the government. They have trapped themselves.
Why do communists do it this way? For the very reason as displayed in the movie Red Dawn. When governments try to seize control of country that has all of its freedoms, we recognize that they're taking our freedoms and fight back. However, when it comes slowly, when they convince us that what they're doing is a good thing, when they wean us off dependency on ourselves, we rarely see the shift until it's too late.
Why did I just talk about all that? Because Satan is the exact same way. He doesn't come to a strong follower of Christ and say "Hey! Why don't you do drugs/get drunk/have sex outside of marriage/commit adultery/etc,' because the immediate answer would be a resounding "NO!" He comes slowly, distracting us until our quiet time gets ignored all day, or convincing us a tiny little cuss word in a song is okay, or telling us its okay to be disrespectful to our parents behind their back just this once because it's justified this time. He weans us off our righteousness, one compromise at a time.
An example of this would be a time I was reading a book I had gotten from the library, and I was about a hundred pages into it (about a forth of the way in) when BAM! F-bomb. I set the book down in shock. I was not expecting that! But now, I was faced with a choice. Put the book down and move on to the next, or continue reading. It was only one word. There was a high probability that there was no more in the rest of the book, and I was already past that one. I sat there, undecided, until I had a thought straight from God. "I can either lower my standards and keep reading or uphold them and stop." I had not seen it that way until then. We rarely do when faced with such choices. See, if it was okay with that book, what keeps it from being okay in the next? Or if it's okay once when it wasn't before, what keeps it from being okay two times, or three, or four?
Satan doesn't come in asking us to make huge, life-altering choices right off the bat. He slowly weans us off righteousness until everything is questionable, every moral thrown up for grabs. Because if one thing that was wrong before is now right, what keeps the next thing from becoming okay too?
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