things

“…Doing things for God is the opposite of entering into what God does for you…”

Do I think that I can finish here what God started? Talk about ego.

Do I think that God does what He does because I work really hard? Does someone have a pin to stick in my overinflated head?

No, it’s simple really. God does what He does, because I am one of God’s children. I can’t do things for God which will make Him love me. He loved me first, and that doesn’t change. His plan for my redemption all along was because of His love.

So instead of doing things, I need to be in a relationship with Him. He’s provided the means, setup all arrangements, made reservations for us. I just have to be with Him every day. Amen!

no bargain

“…when we try to keep within us an area that is our own, we try to keep an area of death…”

You see, there is nothing that God wants except for ourselves. He doesn’t need me to help lead worship, or help with a bible study, or feed people…etc.

Nope, He just wants me, and in the end that is the only acceptable offering. Since He sent His son to die for me, I need to give myself to Him as an offering. I’m able to now because of Jesus’ sacrifice which set me free from sin.

Amen!

swimming lessons

“…swimming lessons are better than a life-line to the shore…”

In this passage, C.S. Lewis is making a metaphor of God being a Sea or an Ocean. And his temptation is not to dive in, or float out, but to just stick his toes in…because he’s afraid of that vast expanse. His “solution” is to have a life-line.

Well, as he later explains, that idea of just dabbling, not jumping in, comes from the Tempter. Moderation, out of fear, is winning. Then, paralysis sets in, and you don’t grow at all. You don’t experience. You don’t help others…the list can go on and on.

But we have this assurance; “…I will be with you…” God didn’t say those words just so that one person could feel relieved (even though He could). No, those words were spoken to me and you as well. S

So, I’m going to jump in. How about you?

sufficient

Praise our God whose grace is sufficient. No prerequisites, no additional items to add, no dogmas, no creeds to learn, nothing. God’s grace, which was delivered through the sacrifice of His son Jesus the Messiah, received through Faith, is enough!!

good

“He does not think God will love us because we are good, but that God will make us good because He loves us…”

We can’t make it to God’s level…we can’t even get close. Nope, not possible. But we can be loved, and we can know that God makes us good because of His love.

In fact, I want to do good because of His love. I want to honor Him. It’s sort of like that passage from Romans 7 where the Paul is telling the Romans that he does not do what he’s supposed to do, but does what he does not want to do.

I can be good, but only because of God’s Love. His grace sets me free from my past, and I can be good and be fulfilled through this love as well.

it would take a lot of planning

Seriously…let’s look at some evidence.

1. the baby would have to be born in Bethlehem

2. his mother would be a virgin

3. his mother would also be of the line of Judah

4. another baby (john) would have to be born preceding him

5. Simeon just happened to have been told that he would see the Messiah before he died

6. Anna the prophetess just happens to be there at the temple

7. a star appears and guides wise men, kings to his new home after being born

8. he’d have to flee to Egypt first, and then back to Israel but to Nazareth later

And that’s only the beginning. This would take an awful lot of planning to pull off, if it weren’t true. The reality of this is that it is true. Only one being can do all of this…God. He planned all of this, hundreds of years if not thousands or millions of years in advance. Wow!

reality

“…it [Christianity] is a religion you could not have guessed. If it offered us the kind of universe we had always expected, I should feel we were just making it up…”

Yesterday I was doing a lot of thinking about being blessed, and thankful, that God is bigger and so different than I. That is on my mind today. I think that out of all religions, Christianity is “other”. Yes, there’s a moral code that is often lumped in, but what is it really about?

God, who lacks nothing, chooses everyday to need us, and saved us from sin by sending the only solution, his son, to bring His Grace down to us. We don’t try to work towards Him, and hope that what we do is sufficient. It can’t be.

No, His mercies, His love, His forgiveness, His grace, all come down to us and meet us where we are. God is Good!

There you are

And if ever I’m faithless, I can’t escape your greatness. From the brightest of places, to the infinite spaces. There you are, there you are. Lovelite

I was thinking about God’s greatness this morning, and then I remembered that His Greatness is indescribable. You see, God is so much “Other” than what we can wrap our heads around. I’m thankful this afternoon to know that my God is not something that I could try to make on my own. He’s supreme, majestic, and completely unlike me.

Amen

rlational

Now, if you look at that word, you know that a very important part of it is missing, right?

I know that it’s sort of like a cheap joke, but taking out one of the letters from that word is what I do every time I think that I can be good, and do things that make my faith look good. I take Jesus out of the picture.

It’s not an equation, not a formula. I’m supposed to love Jesus, and love his people. Plain and simple. No complicated things, no lists, nothing else. I’m going to do that.

the humiliation of myth into fact

“…That is the humiliation of myth into fact, of God into Man; …what was everywhere, imageless…condensing itself into a man…”

Yesterday I talked about facts. Well, today I’m backtracking a second to think about where the facts started. I believe that Jesus was the only solution for my sin. He had to come down and be humiliated and die on my behalf to save me from sin.

Humiliation…not a word that conjures up very many positive feelings. In fact, I often feel humiliated when I think about what I’ve done in my life…which tells me how much I need Jesus, every day! God allowed his Son to be humiliated, and die so that we could be free. And I walk around with a grumpy attitude sometimes. I need to shape up a little bit. I need to be more thankful, I need to be filled with the Spirit!