“You hurt my feelings.”
When we utter these words, what are we really saying?
“Shame on you. It is your job to make me feel good, and you failed in your job.”
“How you make me feel can change my day.”
“I am unstable and need you to not rock my world.”
“Christ is not sufficient for me. You can affect my mood more than He can.”
Ouch!! You want to quit reading, don’t you? All our defense mechanisms rise to counter with, “So you think I shouldn’t have any feelings?” “If Christ is really relevant in my life I’m not suppose to feel anything; I’m just going to be happy all the time?”
The truth of the matter is that our hurt feelings are symptoms of the fact that we getting our validation from someone other than God – some one or some thing is making us feel love, significant, and secure. God designed us to find our love, significance, and security in Him. He is the One who never changes, and therefore can offer us stability as He validates our identity.
God wants us to be complete in the person of Christ, the position of His child, and the possession of His righteousness. His love tells us, “You are valued.” As His children we have significance that states, “You have purpose.” Because of His righteousness we have security that declares, “You are safe.”
By expecting to gain validation from another, we give them access to the God-place of our souls—that place designed by God for God. Only He has the right to occupy this position in our lives. From this God place He rules over our souls and replenishes our hearts with His validating love while establishing our identity.
Inevitably when our chosen God substitute fails to give us the validation we desire, we experience marginalization – the sense that we are not valued. The outcome is a diminished sense of love, significance, and security. With wounded souls, our feelings are hurt. This warning signal should cause us to notice that God is not in His proper place in our lives.
Jesus said, “If you want to be my disciple, you must hate everyone else by comparison—your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:26 NLT).
The God place of our souls is designed for Jesus. Boundaries should be built around this sacred place to assure that none other but Christ resides there. It should be guarded by our fear of God with our appropriate view of God serving as the sentinel. The highest of all that is lofty should be ascribed to Jesus so that He attracts in full our hearts, minds, and souls, capturing our strength with the truth of His glory and virtue. Then Jesus becomes central because He is preeminent. We come to see Him in truth, as He actually is—Lord, Savior, lover of our souls, champion of our hearts.
When we choose to place Christ in His rightful position in our lives, peace and joy begin to pervade as the resident norm. Life now is a continuous process of experiencing Jesus relevantly to our lives—exploring how He is relevant to every new challenge of our souls.
Why then would we seek another?
Monday, August 15, 2011
Monday, August 8, 2011
Christ Is Relevant to Entertainment
relevant: having significant and demonstrable bearing on the matter at hand; affording evidence tending to prove or disprove the matter at issue or under discussion. (Webster's dictionary)
This is Travis' story:
Although I was raised in church my whole life, I was really only saved about four years ago. I had lived a life full of idolatry. I had so many gods in my life – alcohol, motorcycles, dependency on women, rock music, and positions I had, not just at work, but my ranking with other people.
About two years after I became a Christian our small group started working through the concepts of Desperate Dependency. It was a huge eye opening experience for me. My perception of what it means to be a Christian fundamentally changed. It was not necessarily just a change in how I view God, but how God views me and therefore, how I am to live in light of that.
When I was saved I was very heavily involved in alcoholism. God didn’t just help me work through it, He took it from me. He literally took the taste for it out of my mouth overnight. Which is an amazing thing to say.
But I had two idols that didn’t go away as easily – my participation with the motorcycle culture and my involvement with rock music. I was struggling with those things still. The lure of my motorcycles sort of moved out by the wayside over time, but I was still clinging to my music. It had been an anchor of my life for over 20 years. It wasn’t just that I enjoyed listening to the music, but I invested my time, my money, and my energy in traveling around the country to tape concerts for my personal pleasure. I enjoyed the thrill of being able to capture the moment and the prestige that came from others as a result. And then I would spend countless hours categorizing my accomplishments to put on display. I was very proud of my treasures.
As our small group started studying Job, I was impressed by the concept that God said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job?” (Job 1:8) Then we came to Isaiah 44:8 where God speaks and says,
God used those Scriptures to hammer home to me what I was doing. I pictured God saying, “Have you considered my servant Travis?” and pointing me out to the world saying, “Here is my witness that there is no other god.” Then a lost world looks at me, but still I was hiding behind my back the idol of rock music that gave me my worth, value, and significance. It may seem simple to have something like that there, but it was a huge thing that took away so much time from my relationship with God. It was getting to the point that when I was presented with the choice between music and studying God’s Word, I was having a real tough decision about what I wanted to do.
That whole concept of me sitting there holding this god behind my back while people were looking at me just tore me up. It came down to the choice, “was I going to be obedient to what He was showing me?” It wasn’t that God was just going to take this from me like He did alcohol. I was faced with a decision as to whether or not I was going to be obedient to what God was asking me to do.
I struggled with that for two months. Once I started laying it down, the peace came to me and it started being easier and easier. The concept of divine enablement meeting with personal empowerment became clearer to me. God is giving me the strength I need to accomplish the task He asks me to do.
What idol is God asking you to put away?
This is Travis' story:
Although I was raised in church my whole life, I was really only saved about four years ago. I had lived a life full of idolatry. I had so many gods in my life – alcohol, motorcycles, dependency on women, rock music, and positions I had, not just at work, but my ranking with other people.
About two years after I became a Christian our small group started working through the concepts of Desperate Dependency. It was a huge eye opening experience for me. My perception of what it means to be a Christian fundamentally changed. It was not necessarily just a change in how I view God, but how God views me and therefore, how I am to live in light of that.
When I was saved I was very heavily involved in alcoholism. God didn’t just help me work through it, He took it from me. He literally took the taste for it out of my mouth overnight. Which is an amazing thing to say.
But I had two idols that didn’t go away as easily – my participation with the motorcycle culture and my involvement with rock music. I was struggling with those things still. The lure of my motorcycles sort of moved out by the wayside over time, but I was still clinging to my music. It had been an anchor of my life for over 20 years. It wasn’t just that I enjoyed listening to the music, but I invested my time, my money, and my energy in traveling around the country to tape concerts for my personal pleasure. I enjoyed the thrill of being able to capture the moment and the prestige that came from others as a result. And then I would spend countless hours categorizing my accomplishments to put on display. I was very proud of my treasures.
As our small group started studying Job, I was impressed by the concept that God said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job?” (Job 1:8) Then we came to Isaiah 44:8 where God speaks and says,
“‘Do not tremble and do not be afraid;
Have I not long since announced it to you and declared it?
And you are My witnesses.
Is there any God besides Me,
Or is there any other Rock?
I know of none.’” (NASB)
God used those Scriptures to hammer home to me what I was doing. I pictured God saying, “Have you considered my servant Travis?” and pointing me out to the world saying, “Here is my witness that there is no other god.” Then a lost world looks at me, but still I was hiding behind my back the idol of rock music that gave me my worth, value, and significance. It may seem simple to have something like that there, but it was a huge thing that took away so much time from my relationship with God. It was getting to the point that when I was presented with the choice between music and studying God’s Word, I was having a real tough decision about what I wanted to do.
That whole concept of me sitting there holding this god behind my back while people were looking at me just tore me up. It came down to the choice, “was I going to be obedient to what He was showing me?” It wasn’t that God was just going to take this from me like He did alcohol. I was faced with a decision as to whether or not I was going to be obedient to what God was asking me to do.
I struggled with that for two months. Once I started laying it down, the peace came to me and it started being easier and easier. The concept of divine enablement meeting with personal empowerment became clearer to me. God is giving me the strength I need to accomplish the task He asks me to do.
What idol is God asking you to put away?
Monday, August 1, 2011
Christ Is Relevant to Your Burdens
relevant: having significant and demonstrable bearing on the matter at hand; affording evidence tending to prove or disprove the matter at issue or under discussion. (Webster's dictionary)
(excerpt from Desperate Dependency by J. Kirk & Melanie D. Lewis)
As a three-and-a-half-year-old boy, I (Kirk) remember carrying water during a drought in a galvanized bucket from a spring across the dirt road where we lived in rural North Carolina. I recall using both arms and bumping the heavy pail full of water from side to side between my legs. While water sloshed out onto the ground behind me, Mama said, “Honey, there won’t be any water left by the time we get home.” Still, I was determined to carry the water. I wanted to be strong like Daddy. My hands hurt as the old metal handle dug into my palms. The bucket dragged the ground, providing temporary relief as my hands swelled with pain. But we still had not crossed the road.
Then came the unexpected. From somewhere behind me with a singular motion my dad swooped his little boy onto his shoulders while he shifted my load into his large, strong hands. With both my trembling hands I desperately grasped his jet-black hair. I was terrified, I was thrilled, and I was on top of the world. Though only three-and-a-half years old I now possessed all the power of my father. I was living beyond myself, beyond my capabilities. I was now walking in the awesome power of my dad. No longer did I need to struggle to accomplish my task; I merely had to rest in his strength.
The extent of God’s blessings does not stop with the discovery of the divine treasure of salvation, for within the celestial cavern glows the continuing grace of God through Jesus Christ our Sustainer. Grace, practically understood, is the power to live supplied by God. Jesus literally gives us the capacity to live beyond ourselves. Specifically, He enables us to live beyond our fleshly abilities to be empowered by His divine nature. When our feeble flesh cries, “I can’t do this,” we can reach for His supply of grace and recognize that we do not have to face any issue in life with our meager capabilities.
What do you need from God to get through your day?
(excerpt from Desperate Dependency by J. Kirk & Melanie D. Lewis)
As a three-and-a-half-year-old boy, I (Kirk) remember carrying water during a drought in a galvanized bucket from a spring across the dirt road where we lived in rural North Carolina. I recall using both arms and bumping the heavy pail full of water from side to side between my legs. While water sloshed out onto the ground behind me, Mama said, “Honey, there won’t be any water left by the time we get home.” Still, I was determined to carry the water. I wanted to be strong like Daddy. My hands hurt as the old metal handle dug into my palms. The bucket dragged the ground, providing temporary relief as my hands swelled with pain. But we still had not crossed the road.
Then came the unexpected. From somewhere behind me with a singular motion my dad swooped his little boy onto his shoulders while he shifted my load into his large, strong hands. With both my trembling hands I desperately grasped his jet-black hair. I was terrified, I was thrilled, and I was on top of the world. Though only three-and-a-half years old I now possessed all the power of my father. I was living beyond myself, beyond my capabilities. I was now walking in the awesome power of my dad. No longer did I need to struggle to accomplish my task; I merely had to rest in his strength.
The extent of God’s blessings does not stop with the discovery of the divine treasure of salvation, for within the celestial cavern glows the continuing grace of God through Jesus Christ our Sustainer. Grace, practically understood, is the power to live supplied by God. Jesus literally gives us the capacity to live beyond ourselves. Specifically, He enables us to live beyond our fleshly abilities to be empowered by His divine nature. When our feeble flesh cries, “I can’t do this,” we can reach for His supply of grace and recognize that we do not have to face any issue in life with our meager capabilities.
“Then call on me when you are in trouble,God anticipates every challenge, while enabling us through His grace to have the power to live Jesus’ life on earth. All His spiritual, psychological, and interpersonal power that is beyond our comprehension and aptitude is made user-friendly through God’s truth in our lives. We are not required to have a thorough understanding of the inner workings of God’s abilities, nor a profound knowledge of the intricacies of our problems. It is sufficient to know, “I am hurting”; “I am afraid”; or “I am sinking”; and that God is able to rescue me from this present evil world as I desperately depend upon Jesus Christ. A desperate dependency on Jesus reveals God’s abundant power:
and I will rescue you,
and you will give me glory” (Ps. 50:15 NLT).
“The LORD is close to the brokenhearted;Jesus addresses the needs of our heart through enlightenment, drawing directly from His principles, precepts, and promises concerning Himself, thereby aiding His children to experience Him as relevant to the needs of their human condition. God works without ceasing to provide us with His grace.
he rescues those whose spirits are crushed” (Ps. 34:18 NLT).
What do you need from God to get through your day?
Monday, July 25, 2011
Christ Is Relevant to Meaninglessness
Warren Wiersbe gives us a perspective on life and living in his discussion on Ecclesiastes taken from the Be Transformed Study Bible.
It’s as if Solomon were telling us, “Life is filled with difficulties and perplexities, and there’s much that nobody can understand, let alone control. From the human point of view, it’s all meaningless and folly. But life is God’s gift to us, and he wants us to enjoy it and use it for his glory. So, instead of complaining about what you don’t have, start giving thinks for what you do have—and be satisfied!”
Ecclesiastes contains a message for the faithful believer who wants to serve the Lord and have a fulfilled life in Jesus Christ. Solomon wrote, in effect, “Don’t bury your head in the sand and pretend that problems don’t exist. They do! Face life honestly, but look at life from God’s perspective. Human philosophies will fail you. Use your God-given wisdom, but don’t expect to solve every problem or answer every question. What is important is to obey God’s will and enjoy all that he gives you. Remember, death is coming—so be prepared!”
Life without Jesus Christ is indeed “meaningless—like chasing the wind” (Eccl 1:14). But when you know Christ personally, and live for him faithfully, you experience "the joy of [God’s] presence and the pleasures of living with [him] forever" (Ps 16:11).
Ecclesiastes and its writer, Solomon, can best be understood by remembering the final written lines: “That’s the whole story. Here now is my final conclusion: Fear God and obey his commands, for this is everyone’s duty. God will judge us for everything we do, including every secret thing, whether good or bad” (Eccl. 12:13-14). This is one story to read with the ending in mind.
The last phrase in 12:13, “for this is everyone’s duty,” can be translated “this is the end of a person” (that is, a person’s purpose in life), or “this is for all people.” When Solomon looked at life “under the sun,” everything was fragmented and he could see no pattern. But when he looked at life from God’s point of view “under heaven,” everything came together into one whole. If a person wants to have wholeness, he or she must begin with God.
Life is tough, but it is the gift of God. Life doesn’t get easier if you try to run away from it. All the works that are done “under the sun” never truly satisfy the heart. They are “meaningless.” Both the workaholic and the alcoholic are running away from reality and living on substitutes, and one day the bubble of illusion will burst. We only make life harder when we try to escape. Instead of running away from life, we should run to God and let him make life worth living.
“While still seeking wisdom, I clutched at foolishness. In this way, I tried to experience the only happiness most people find during their brief life in the world” (Eccl. 2:3). “Anything I wanted, I would take. I denied myself no pleasure…. But as I looked at everything I had worked so hard to accomplish, it was all so meaningless—like chasing the wind. There was nothing really worthwhile anywhere” (Eccl. 2:10-11). If we rejoice in the gifts, but forget the Giver then we are ungrateful idolaters. If we cooperate with God’s timing, life will not be meaningless. Everything will be “beautiful for its own time” (Eccl. 3:11), even the most difficult experiences of life. God is sovereign and has a time and a purpose for everything (Rom. 8:28).
“He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end” (Eccl. 3:11). “God’s purpose is that people should fear him” (Eccl. 3:14). Life is not in vain if it is lived according to the will of God. So when we live for him and let him have his way, life is meaningful and manageable. Instead of complaining about what we don’t have, let’s enjoy what we do have and thank God for it.
Jesus Christ says, “My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life” (John 10:10). Paul declares, “So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless” (1 Cor. 15:58).
Is life worth living? Yes, if you are truly alive through faith in Jesus Christ. Then you can be satisfied, no matter what God may permit to come to your life. “Whoever has the Son has life, whoever does not have God’s Son does not have life” (1 John 5:12). You can receive life in Christ and–be satisfied!
Monday, July 18, 2011
Christ Is Relevant to Relationships
relevant: having significant and demonstrable bearing on the matter at hand; affording evidence tending to prove or disprove the matter at issue or under discussion. (Webster's dictionary)
When we live independently from God we search for a substitute as our validating source. Without a desperate dependency on Him we establish a counterfeit connection with people, positions, and possessions in our pursuit for validation. We extract love from illicit relationships to prove that we are lovable, to establish our significance, and to enable us to feel secure. But in actuality we suffer loss because people, positions, and possessions are incapable of fulfilling us. Ultimately we are left unfulfilled, dissatisfied, and incomplete as the result of pursuing God substitutes. The delusional sense of satisfaction that stimulates and sedates eventually fades and we are left wanting more. In our vain attempts we explore other counterfeits that may promise temporary contentment but only provide mutually satisfying exploitation and manipulation to empower our identity.
This is how Joel tells his story.
“I have been a Christian since the age of five. I had been very active in church my whole life. But there were two things I wanted out of life. Since kindergarten I wanted to be married and I wanted to be a soldier. I was actually listed in the city newspaper on Valentine’s Day for having the most girlfriends in my school, in kindergarten, because that’s what I’ve always wanted—a relationship with a special woman. I believed there was a person out there who would complete me and that I could complete her.
“I was introduced to a beautiful, wonderful woman and within a year asked her to marry me. I found the full realm of everything that interdependence had to offer. She was drop-dead gorgeous and made me feel loveable, significant, and secure. I attained my goal.
“I also believed my job could give me identity. So I signed up to be a soldier at the age of seventeen (actually, my parents had to sign me in through the Delayed Entry Program). I can’t even describe how I felt when I graduated basic training. I had made it. This was my purpose in life. The military. Strong. Proud. Full of honor. I had a place to belong. Kids looked up to me. People thanked me. I was honored. I had love, significance, and security. I had it all.
“Because my title of soldier was in my God place, I sacrificed myself for my god. Physically I was pushed by my unit and pushed myself to the point that I sustained many permanent injuries, and for a short time I couldn’t even walk. After cycling through recovery and re-injury, I continued to drive myself even with my limitations. Following many visits to doctor’s offices, emergency rooms, and twelve surgeries, the military said I was no longer fit for service. At twenty-six years of age I was medically retired from the only career I ever wanted. I was filled with anger, frustration, and pain.
“But no matter how bad life got, I was convinced I would be okay because I still had what really completed me, my wife. People were awestruck by our marriage. Friends admired us and were jealous of our relationship. I’d like to say I forgot about God because I figured that since I was a Christian He would just bless off on what I wanted. The truth is, He just wasn’t my priority.
“Then one of us was no longer interested in “till death do us part.” To say I was crushed would be like saying the ocean is a drop of water on a small pile of dirt. Emptiness resulted.
“But that didn’t mean God took His rightful place. That wasn’t what I really wanted. What does it matter if God loves me? My wife doesn’t love me. I can’t serve in my beloved military anymore. I was empty. There was no human love that mattered, no value, no worth, no purpose, no security, no fulfillment. Nothing mattered, nothing was safe, and nothing was secure. There was nothing to keep me going, no reason for living.
“Although God had been God all my life, there was little to no evidence of that in my life. I had dedicated my existence to the idolatry of God substitutes, depending on something that’s not God. Because God is who He is, He can bring good out of evil. But that doesn’t mean He will give back our God substitutes. In His proper place God can foster love, value, worth, security, and significance.
“God will meet us in our pain if we allow Him to. To be honest, I’m not so sure God doesn’t welcome pain in our lives. Not because He’s sadistic or cruel, but because He knows He’s big enough to handle it, and He is enough to bring us through it. The pain just happens to give God a very tangible opportunity to prove it.
"God’s love will do what you can’t fathom. God values me. My life has worth. His love fosters security. God’s got me. I fully expect to go through more hard times in my life, but God will be there before them, after them, and most importantly through them, and He will provide what is necessary for my life. I must evaluate my life and my responses to what happens in life. I should be concerned and afraid if He is not filling the God place in my life. I must continuously beg Him to protect me from what I am and weed out the nonessentials that desire to be idols in my life."
Joel looked to people, positions, and possessions to empower love, significance, and security in his life. His gods enabled him to feel complete and contented for a time. But it is the compulsion of any of us to become reliant on whomever we reverence. And when what we reverence becomes the defining entity in our lives, our god, we live in service to what will ultimately disappoint.
Jesus said, “If you want to be my disciple, you must hate everyone else by comparison—your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:26 NLT). The God place of our souls is designed for Jesus. Boundaries should be built around this sacred place to assure that none other but Christ resides there. It should be guarded by our fear of God with our appropriate view of God serving as the sentinel. The highest of all that is lofty should be ascribed to Jesus so that He attracts in full our hearts, minds, and souls, capturing our strength with the truth of His glory and virtue. Then Jesus becomes central because He is preeminent. We come to see Him in truth, as He actually is—Lord, Savior, lover of our souls, champion of our hearts.
When we live independently from God we search for a substitute as our validating source. Without a desperate dependency on Him we establish a counterfeit connection with people, positions, and possessions in our pursuit for validation. We extract love from illicit relationships to prove that we are lovable, to establish our significance, and to enable us to feel secure. But in actuality we suffer loss because people, positions, and possessions are incapable of fulfilling us. Ultimately we are left unfulfilled, dissatisfied, and incomplete as the result of pursuing God substitutes. The delusional sense of satisfaction that stimulates and sedates eventually fades and we are left wanting more. In our vain attempts we explore other counterfeits that may promise temporary contentment but only provide mutually satisfying exploitation and manipulation to empower our identity.
This is how Joel tells his story.
“I have been a Christian since the age of five. I had been very active in church my whole life. But there were two things I wanted out of life. Since kindergarten I wanted to be married and I wanted to be a soldier. I was actually listed in the city newspaper on Valentine’s Day for having the most girlfriends in my school, in kindergarten, because that’s what I’ve always wanted—a relationship with a special woman. I believed there was a person out there who would complete me and that I could complete her.
“I was introduced to a beautiful, wonderful woman and within a year asked her to marry me. I found the full realm of everything that interdependence had to offer. She was drop-dead gorgeous and made me feel loveable, significant, and secure. I attained my goal.
“I also believed my job could give me identity. So I signed up to be a soldier at the age of seventeen (actually, my parents had to sign me in through the Delayed Entry Program). I can’t even describe how I felt when I graduated basic training. I had made it. This was my purpose in life. The military. Strong. Proud. Full of honor. I had a place to belong. Kids looked up to me. People thanked me. I was honored. I had love, significance, and security. I had it all.
“Because my title of soldier was in my God place, I sacrificed myself for my god. Physically I was pushed by my unit and pushed myself to the point that I sustained many permanent injuries, and for a short time I couldn’t even walk. After cycling through recovery and re-injury, I continued to drive myself even with my limitations. Following many visits to doctor’s offices, emergency rooms, and twelve surgeries, the military said I was no longer fit for service. At twenty-six years of age I was medically retired from the only career I ever wanted. I was filled with anger, frustration, and pain.
“But no matter how bad life got, I was convinced I would be okay because I still had what really completed me, my wife. People were awestruck by our marriage. Friends admired us and were jealous of our relationship. I’d like to say I forgot about God because I figured that since I was a Christian He would just bless off on what I wanted. The truth is, He just wasn’t my priority.
“Then one of us was no longer interested in “till death do us part.” To say I was crushed would be like saying the ocean is a drop of water on a small pile of dirt. Emptiness resulted.
“But that didn’t mean God took His rightful place. That wasn’t what I really wanted. What does it matter if God loves me? My wife doesn’t love me. I can’t serve in my beloved military anymore. I was empty. There was no human love that mattered, no value, no worth, no purpose, no security, no fulfillment. Nothing mattered, nothing was safe, and nothing was secure. There was nothing to keep me going, no reason for living.
“Although God had been God all my life, there was little to no evidence of that in my life. I had dedicated my existence to the idolatry of God substitutes, depending on something that’s not God. Because God is who He is, He can bring good out of evil. But that doesn’t mean He will give back our God substitutes. In His proper place God can foster love, value, worth, security, and significance.
“God will meet us in our pain if we allow Him to. To be honest, I’m not so sure God doesn’t welcome pain in our lives. Not because He’s sadistic or cruel, but because He knows He’s big enough to handle it, and He is enough to bring us through it. The pain just happens to give God a very tangible opportunity to prove it.
"God’s love will do what you can’t fathom. God values me. My life has worth. His love fosters security. God’s got me. I fully expect to go through more hard times in my life, but God will be there before them, after them, and most importantly through them, and He will provide what is necessary for my life. I must evaluate my life and my responses to what happens in life. I should be concerned and afraid if He is not filling the God place in my life. I must continuously beg Him to protect me from what I am and weed out the nonessentials that desire to be idols in my life."
Joel looked to people, positions, and possessions to empower love, significance, and security in his life. His gods enabled him to feel complete and contented for a time. But it is the compulsion of any of us to become reliant on whomever we reverence. And when what we reverence becomes the defining entity in our lives, our god, we live in service to what will ultimately disappoint.
Jesus said, “If you want to be my disciple, you must hate everyone else by comparison—your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:26 NLT). The God place of our souls is designed for Jesus. Boundaries should be built around this sacred place to assure that none other but Christ resides there. It should be guarded by our fear of God with our appropriate view of God serving as the sentinel. The highest of all that is lofty should be ascribed to Jesus so that He attracts in full our hearts, minds, and souls, capturing our strength with the truth of His glory and virtue. Then Jesus becomes central because He is preeminent. We come to see Him in truth, as He actually is—Lord, Savior, lover of our souls, champion of our hearts.
Monday, July 11, 2011
Christ Is Relevant to Finances
In Desperate Dependency: Finding Christ Relevant to Every Area of Life, chapter 1, we presented this scenario:
The culminations of the counterfeit Fruit of the Spirit adequately describe Howard: emptiness, futility, turmoil, frustration, anger, inadequacy, anxiety, alienation, and discouragement. Through his own power he sought to fill the voids in his heart.
Galatians 5:16-25 (NLT) offers the solution.
Apart from a relevant relationship with Jesus Christ, the best we can attain are the culminations of the counterfeit Fruit of the Spirit. Only by being empowered by the Holy Spirit can we enjoy authentic Fruit of the Spirit – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
The complete Fruit Chart with evidences of fruit, counterfeits, culminations, and action verses is available for download on our website http://www.desperatedependency.com under the “Evaluation” tab.
What empowers your life?
The ladder of success possessed a mesmerizing appeal for Howard. His definition of success was having enough money. Enough to buy the cars he wanted. Enough to live in a house in a prestigious neighborhood. Enough to enable his children to attend the most elite schools. Enough to purchase the clothes that identified his family as upper class. Enough to be able to do what he wanted when he wanted. Enough to make people stand in awe and be jealous of what he attained. Enough.In the Insight Journal we suggested that you consider how each person in the examples of chapter 1 used
Howard followed one promising proposal after another. His computer continuously relayed more enticing opportunities. He was proficient in every investment strategy. Pages were added to his portfolio daily. But even with all he attained, it was never enough. Anxiety plagued him. Discouragement hounded him. Lust continuously tempted him.
people to search for satisfaction,In our assessment of Howard we can note that he was looking to his possessions to produce significance. The lust for more empowered his life with the opinions of people stimulating his significance.
positions to seek fulfillment, and
possessions to produce significance.
The culminations of the counterfeit Fruit of the Spirit adequately describe Howard: emptiness, futility, turmoil, frustration, anger, inadequacy, anxiety, alienation, and discouragement. Through his own power he sought to fill the voids in his heart.
Galatians 5:16-25 (NLT) offers the solution.
So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions. But when you are directed by the Spirit, you are not under obligation to the law of Moses.
When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.
But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!
Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives.
Apart from a relevant relationship with Jesus Christ, the best we can attain are the culminations of the counterfeit Fruit of the Spirit. Only by being empowered by the Holy Spirit can we enjoy authentic Fruit of the Spirit – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
The complete Fruit Chart with evidences of fruit, counterfeits, culminations, and action verses is available for download on our website http://www.desperatedependency.com under the “Evaluation” tab.
What empowers your life?
Monday, July 4, 2011
Christ Is Relevant to Freedom
Thousands of stories have been told about the deprivation and horror of the Second World War, there is one aspect that has received comparatively little attention: the story of those who lost the same war twice, the people of Germany. Not the military, the Nazis, or the government itself, but the villagers, the grandparents, the wives, and the children—the people who had little more control over their future than did the victims of the concentration camps.
In the book, Refuge, Liane Guddat Brown [Melanie’s mother], recounts sixteen months of her life as a young German girl under Russian occupation in an area that is now part of Poland. Those in her little family were the last representatives of a town of twenty thousand residents. All others had been murdered, forced to flee, or starved to death. Despite brutal treatment and harsh conditions, the Guddats survived, escaped, and reunited their family, bringing with them to the free world a compelling story of God’s marvelous grace.
There have been few reports about the suffering Germans had to endure after the war. The peace treaty, while giving hope to the West Germans, did not alleviate suffering for millions of East German refugees, forced from their homes by the Soviets. Starving and exhausted, few survived the treks during the harsh winter. But in her book, From Fear to Freedom, Liane Guddat Brown [Melanie’s mother], completes a bridge between the Berlin refugee camp, and the new home in the United States of American.
Emmy Guddat [Melanie’s grandmother] and her four children managed to arrive in the West despite near starvation and bodies riddled with boils only to move from one refugee camp to another. With God’s help she had survived sixteen months of the communistic ravages of their Russian enemies. . With His help she would also survive the abusive West Germans who considered refugees scum and dirt. God preserved the entire family, including the father whose whereabouts were not known for over three years.
Truly, the Lord does care for His own. The Guddats’ story, while containing hardships and trials of which most people will never know anything, clearly shows the Lord’s protecting hand on their family. While all around them other families were being killed or split up, dying of disease or starvation, and suffering untold horrors, the Guddats emerged into freedom, intact as a family unit and relatively healthy.
Above are excerpts from Melanie’s mother’s books. Throughout my [Melanie] life I grew up hearing the stories of how a relationship with God impacted my heritage. Because of these stories I know it has been easier for me to trust His care and guidance in my life. Christ is relevant to freedom, not just from the standpoint of living in a free country like America, but also being free from the bondage of all that seeks to enslave us.
In the book, Refuge, Liane Guddat Brown [Melanie’s mother], recounts sixteen months of her life as a young German girl under Russian occupation in an area that is now part of Poland. Those in her little family were the last representatives of a town of twenty thousand residents. All others had been murdered, forced to flee, or starved to death. Despite brutal treatment and harsh conditions, the Guddats survived, escaped, and reunited their family, bringing with them to the free world a compelling story of God’s marvelous grace.
There have been few reports about the suffering Germans had to endure after the war. The peace treaty, while giving hope to the West Germans, did not alleviate suffering for millions of East German refugees, forced from their homes by the Soviets. Starving and exhausted, few survived the treks during the harsh winter. But in her book, From Fear to Freedom, Liane Guddat Brown [Melanie’s mother], completes a bridge between the Berlin refugee camp, and the new home in the United States of American.
Emmy Guddat [Melanie’s grandmother] and her four children managed to arrive in the West despite near starvation and bodies riddled with boils only to move from one refugee camp to another. With God’s help she had survived sixteen months of the communistic ravages of their Russian enemies. . With His help she would also survive the abusive West Germans who considered refugees scum and dirt. God preserved the entire family, including the father whose whereabouts were not known for over three years.
Truly, the Lord does care for His own. The Guddats’ story, while containing hardships and trials of which most people will never know anything, clearly shows the Lord’s protecting hand on their family. While all around them other families were being killed or split up, dying of disease or starvation, and suffering untold horrors, the Guddats emerged into freedom, intact as a family unit and relatively healthy.
Above are excerpts from Melanie’s mother’s books. Throughout my [Melanie] life I grew up hearing the stories of how a relationship with God impacted my heritage. Because of these stories I know it has been easier for me to trust His care and guidance in my life. Christ is relevant to freedom, not just from the standpoint of living in a free country like America, but also being free from the bondage of all that seeks to enslave us.
So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son. He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins. He has showered his kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding. (Eph. 1:6–8 NLT)As our Savior He purposed to free us from the bondage of sin that keeps us stuck in the mire. His gracious action was prompted by His eternal desire to be in an intimate relationship with His creation. The resulting freedom and union enables His child to live devoted to God and totally committed to doing good deeds.
For the grace of God has been revealed, bringing salvation to all people. And we are instructed to turn from godless living and sinful pleasures. We should live in this evil world with wisdom, righteousness, and devotion to God, while we look forward with hope to that wonderful day when the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, will be revealed. He gave his life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us his very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds. (Titus 2:11–14 NLT)
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