"You are my strength; I wait for you to rescue me, for you, O God, are my fortress." Psalm 59:9
I know it's oftentimes difficult to associate strength with inactivity but with God that is precisely the case. In fact, the more inactive you are as you wait for Him the stronger you become. Completely oxymoronic I know.
You can ask King Saul what waiting a little while would have done for his kingdom, or even the 5 virgins who decided to cavort and have fun instead of being ready waiting for the bridegroom. Each of these examples at one point or another reasoned to themselves that waiting wasn't worth it.
I'm a firm believer that if you don't know what to do, do nothing. I know this to be a sound method of activity because if I do something when there was uncertainty there is a 50% chance I made the wrong decision. However, if I wait for God to rescue me my chances of success are realized without any measure of doubt.
David, the man whom inherited the throne after Saul's failure knew this and as a result saw the grace of God manifest itself in his life in unprecedented ways. I wonder what following his example would do for us.
Friday, July 26, 2013
Wednesday, July 17, 2013
A Servants Heart
"Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must become your slave. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Matthew 20:26b-28
There seems to be a prevailing thought in society today that this generation is all about entitlement. Demanding things that they necessarily haven't earned. I seem to think that while it may be a generational thing we all have a bit of entitlement in us. Why else would we feel the way we do others get something we want? Or better yet, criticize how someone got something because we "felt" they didn't deserve it.
Jesus dealt with that mentality here in this passage. Two disciples vocalized what I'm sure they all were thinking. They wanted a spot next to Jesus in the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus however, knowing the condition of their heart postulated something to them that was probably the furthest thing from their mind as He told them, "why don't you be a slave instead?" (paraphrase mine)
The simplicity of this statement was overshadowed by the harshness of the reality these disciples must have faced. I'm sure they thought, "I just asked to be on top but Jesus told me it's better to be on the bottom instead, better being a servant to others instead of a leader." What they missed however, was Jesus was doing this all along. Sure he did the miracles and wonders, but He was a servant first. Jesus tried first showing them his example, hoping that maybe he wouldn't have to tell them what they didn't want to hear.
I wonder how many of us pay attention to his example and really recognize that the power is not in asking for what we think we deserve, but instead recognizing that its better for us to give what we have then demand to receive what we don't. I think that's what a servants heart is all about.
There seems to be a prevailing thought in society today that this generation is all about entitlement. Demanding things that they necessarily haven't earned. I seem to think that while it may be a generational thing we all have a bit of entitlement in us. Why else would we feel the way we do others get something we want? Or better yet, criticize how someone got something because we "felt" they didn't deserve it.
Jesus dealt with that mentality here in this passage. Two disciples vocalized what I'm sure they all were thinking. They wanted a spot next to Jesus in the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus however, knowing the condition of their heart postulated something to them that was probably the furthest thing from their mind as He told them, "why don't you be a slave instead?" (paraphrase mine)
The simplicity of this statement was overshadowed by the harshness of the reality these disciples must have faced. I'm sure they thought, "I just asked to be on top but Jesus told me it's better to be on the bottom instead, better being a servant to others instead of a leader." What they missed however, was Jesus was doing this all along. Sure he did the miracles and wonders, but He was a servant first. Jesus tried first showing them his example, hoping that maybe he wouldn't have to tell them what they didn't want to hear.
I wonder how many of us pay attention to his example and really recognize that the power is not in asking for what we think we deserve, but instead recognizing that its better for us to give what we have then demand to receive what we don't. I think that's what a servants heart is all about.
Wednesday, July 10, 2013
Of Whom
"The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?" Psalm 27:1 AMP
People I'm sure have wondered why did David start off with referring to God as light and salvation. I know I have, but as I began to think of it I realized that the answer could possibly be found in one of the very first acts God did on this earth as most of us know that in Genesis 1:3 "...God said, "Let there be light"...."
God saw that earth was dark and formless and He solved that problem with bringing His presence of light to the earth. David having a full understanding of the character and nature of God saw illumination as a part of His characteristic, so even if David saw darkness invading his personal situation he knew inside his heart there was nothing to fear.
Similarly, David knew that God over the past 800 years of the existence of the people of Israel countlessly provided protection from the enemy against all odds, becoming a fortress or stronghold for them in the presence of their enemies. And if God doesn't change then, it stands to reason that this same God could be the very same thing for David, then of what should he be afraid of?
Often times, we want to overcomplicate God when all we have to do is realize there is nothing we should fear or be afraid of because of who God is. Simple as that. He has eon's of data to support His character and it has been remarkably consistent throughout the history of earth. I guess the simple question we have to ask ourselves is of whom should we put our trust in?
People I'm sure have wondered why did David start off with referring to God as light and salvation. I know I have, but as I began to think of it I realized that the answer could possibly be found in one of the very first acts God did on this earth as most of us know that in Genesis 1:3 "...God said, "Let there be light"...."
God saw that earth was dark and formless and He solved that problem with bringing His presence of light to the earth. David having a full understanding of the character and nature of God saw illumination as a part of His characteristic, so even if David saw darkness invading his personal situation he knew inside his heart there was nothing to fear.
Similarly, David knew that God over the past 800 years of the existence of the people of Israel countlessly provided protection from the enemy against all odds, becoming a fortress or stronghold for them in the presence of their enemies. And if God doesn't change then, it stands to reason that this same God could be the very same thing for David, then of what should he be afraid of?
Often times, we want to overcomplicate God when all we have to do is realize there is nothing we should fear or be afraid of because of who God is. Simple as that. He has eon's of data to support His character and it has been remarkably consistent throughout the history of earth. I guess the simple question we have to ask ourselves is of whom should we put our trust in?
Tuesday, July 2, 2013
A Gentle Tongue
"A gentle tongue is a tree of life, but perverseness in it breaks the spirit." Proverbs 15:4 (ESV)
We live in a society of opinions today. Lots of people have lots of things to say, and rarely the things they have to say bring edification to others. It's quite sad if you really think about it. Yet, there are those rare people who always have something nice to say and are a pleasure to be around. Got me to thinking... which person am I?
I love how the bible says that a gentle tongue is a tree of life. Back in the day, when God first created the world he created two trees for Adam and Eve and one of them was a tree of life (they could have eaten of that tree, by the way) yet, Adam and Eve chose the tree of knowledge of good and evil instead of the tree of life. I think it's curious how sometimes we too prefer knowledge over life, just an observation I guess.
My challenge is and always has been to be the man that God wants me to be, and I'm realizing more and more that in order to be like this I have to chose to speak life into the lives of others. To tell the one who wants to give up You can do it, or It's going to be alright. I guess I want to bring enough encouragement to others that I would be accused of being a Tree of life.
We live in a society of opinions today. Lots of people have lots of things to say, and rarely the things they have to say bring edification to others. It's quite sad if you really think about it. Yet, there are those rare people who always have something nice to say and are a pleasure to be around. Got me to thinking... which person am I?
I love how the bible says that a gentle tongue is a tree of life. Back in the day, when God first created the world he created two trees for Adam and Eve and one of them was a tree of life (they could have eaten of that tree, by the way) yet, Adam and Eve chose the tree of knowledge of good and evil instead of the tree of life. I think it's curious how sometimes we too prefer knowledge over life, just an observation I guess.
My challenge is and always has been to be the man that God wants me to be, and I'm realizing more and more that in order to be like this I have to chose to speak life into the lives of others. To tell the one who wants to give up You can do it, or It's going to be alright. I guess I want to bring enough encouragement to others that I would be accused of being a Tree of life.
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