Pleasing vs. Necessary?

Many of us at least to some degree have errors in our thinking about what pleases God.  I am assuming this based on the conversations I have had with a lot of folks and the thoughts I have on a regular basis.  We tend to think of certain things that we do as spiritual and directly for God, while other things we view as waste or only 'the necessary.'  We struggle with guilt over time wasted in the necessary things (going to work, cleaning the house, eating lunch, etc.),  while we spend so little time doing the truly spiritual things (going to church, going to Bible studies, sharing our faith, going on missions work, etc.).  Do you feel like that sometimes?  I do, and a whole lot of other christians I have talked to do.  So here we are we think, stuck with so much time that must be spent doing the necessary things, and so little time to do the really spiritual things.  There are a lot of reasons why we think like this, but the fact is that line of thinking is faulty.  If taken out of context, this next line could be harmful, but it's the truth.  Teaching a history class is no less spiritual and pleasing to God than missionary work in China.  Both can either be pleasing or displeasing to Him.  The question is motivation.  Here I will let a wiser man explain 

"The Lord Jesus Christ Himself is our perfect example, and He knew no divided life.  In the Presence of His Father He lived on earth without strain from babyhood to His death on the cross.  God accepted the offering of His total life, and made no distinction between act and act.  "I do always the things that please him," was His brief summary of His own life as it related to the Father (John 8:29).  As He moved among men He was poised and restful.  What pressure and suffering He endured grew out of His position as the world's sin bearer; they were never the result of moral uncertainty or spiritual maladjustment."  (The Sacrament of Living in The Pursuit of God, by A.W. Tozer)

A Sense of Humor

My mom used to quote a verse about laughter being like medicine.  I was just trying to remember exactly how it goes, but I can't.  The jest of it was what I just stated though.  I'm almost positive is in Proverbs somewhere.  Anyway, I know I have felt the truth of that verse many times in my life.

It just feels good to get a good belly laugh at something or myself.  But I also know that all too many times I laughed at things that grieve the heart of God.  Either because of feeling uncomfortable not to laugh or because the remaining filth still within me, I have laughed at things that are not funny to our Lord at all.  I am making this post to get my thoughts out about a conversation I have been having with another christian about a post he made on facebook.  I told him that I didn't think it was right to joke about some things.  I can't and wouldn't want to make a list of the things that are wrong to joke about, but I think a good question to ask is if our Lord would find humor in it.  Or can I say thank to God for the humor about whatever it is I'm laughing at.  We can know this for sure.  God has a special place in His heart for the hurting and needy.  To laugh at anyone like this is very dangerous.  For the Bible speaks over and over again about the 'Defender of the weak.'  God is not a cosmic killjoy.  He is happy.  He wants you be as well........In Him.  I pray that I would do this, and not just write a post to others.

I really believe that we can tell a lot about who we really are by what we think is funny.  God help us all not sacrifice grieving our Lord for a good laugh.

A Better Look At Something

I can't quite remember what made me think of it this way, but Sunday morning during the worship service something was said that made me see this in a new way.  

About nine months and five days ago my son was born.  Emily and I had been at the hospital for 24 hours when the doctor decided that due to my son's heart rate it would be very dangerous to continue with a vaginal birth.  So within thirty minutes or so Emily was taken back to have a C-section.  We did not plan it that way, but we did what we and the doctor thought was best for him.

Everything went very good and Emily and Garrison came out healthy.  

Well with the C-section, Emily has went through some hard times of guilt about it.  I assure her all the time that she did what was the most loving thing she could do for Garrison, but it is still hard for her for many reasons that I won't go into detail about.  But Sunday I was given a new view about the loving sacrifice my wife chose to be for Garrison's safety.  

There was another one who laid down His rights to do the most loving thing for His children.

It was not the popular way.  He didn't choose the pretty way.  He did what was necessary, because of His great love for us.  He gave up His precious body to beaten and nailed to a tree.  The Bible says that He was crushed for our iniquities.  He so loved us, His children that He gave up His body to be cut and pierced and His soul to be crushed.  He gave up His life so we could live, and He chose to keep the scars.  The Bible says that His hands still have the pierce markings and His side still has the gash.  We have them as a reminder forever of how much He loves us.    

My wife has a scar now too.  It is right below her waist line, a precious reminder of just how much she loves my son Garrison.  She and I both would have chose another way, but she did what was necessary to ensure his safety.  Is that not a glimpse of calvary love.  I think it is.

Thank you so much Emily

Hard work and grace

"For you remember, brothers, our labor and toil: we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any or you, while we proclaimed to you the gospel of God." (1 Thessalonians 2:9 ESV)

"You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my necessities and to those who were with me.  In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive." (Acts 20:34-35 ESV)

Somehow in my thinking and I think in other believers' thinking we have a hard time seeing the connection between grace and hard work.  You see I know without a doubt that I brought nothing and still bring nothing to the table as far as my right standing before God goes.  I trust completely in everything He has done.  I can't add a thing to it.  I received it and I do still receive that wonderful message that Jesus paid it all.  Now that is called justification.  We understand that, not perfectly but we do have a grasp of it.  I think we also know something about the next theological term sanctification, but it is here that the disconnect in our thinking happens.  We know in the Bible that everything done in the flesh does not honor God.  We know that the Holy Spirit must be the main source of our energy that we work with for it to be God-glorifying.  I have had a hard time with this, because I think, 'well how do I know if the work I am doing is generated by my flesh or the Holy Spirit?'.  Is there a certain feeling or certain prayer that I feel or pray?  How do I know?  What I have found as the pattern in the Paul is that he continually expressed to God his need for His power and help, and he sought to do the things that he knew were God's desire.  If there is a certain feeling we must have to know for certain we are being led by the Holy Spirit I have not found it explained in the NT.  And we know from reading the NT that Paul prayed all kinds of different prayers.  So what is key?  We must continually ask for God to help us, and we must get to doing the things we see in His Word that are pleasing to Him.  This does not just mean going to the church building on Sunday and Wednesday and having Bible studies, and going witnessing.  These are awesome things to do and are essential, but Paul was also a tent-maker.  Undoubtably God didn't think that Paul was wasting his time making tents while he could have been doing what we tend to think of a spiritual.  The fact is tent-making, grass cutting, dish-washing, baby-changing, and all the other seemingly monotonous jobs turn into the living worship when we do them with our hearts turned toward God in thanksgiving.  Some of my most favorite memories as a baby christian in high school was cutting grass.  I can remember for the first time ever I was enjoying cutting grass.  I was working hard for my parents and God singing every worship song I had heard lately.  And there in the middle of the summer in Creola sweating and stinking behind an old push-mower I spent some of the most precious times in my life with Jesus.  So it is not what you do, but how and who you look to while you are doing it, whatever it may be.  Go work hard for the glory of the precious Savior that bought you.  

Please don't grow dull of hearing

You know, in the christian life we revisit things all the time.  In one sense we are saying and reading the same things over and over again.  It is evident by all the new christian books sold that we are discontent.  Now I know that christian books outside of the Bible can be very helpful to us, but I know at least for me that many times I would rather read a christian book than the Bible.  There are times when it is good to read other books, in fact it is good to do a lot to freshen our view and be encouraged to pursue God.  But I want to encourage anyone who might possibly read this; God still speaks in the pages of Scripture, and if you will ask Him to help you honestly hear what He says you will understand and be better off than you would by reading any other book.  I really believe this.  You may not understand the entire passage you read, but if you pray and look to God honestly He will make what you need to understand clear.  I promise.  Jesus promised that if anyone seeks he will find.  He is willing to show His wisdom to people that search like dependent children.  If you have become discontent with reading the Bible, or have never really understood it when you read, you are not alone.  I used to read it growing up and it never made much sense to me.  But I promise it is not God's inability to communicate.  Try praying then reading with the intent to really understand and follow and I promise you will not be disappointed.  Remember our christian walk begins and ends in the same place.......... Jesus.  Its only more intimate as we go.  We found this Jesus through the words of Scripture, so we must assume that we will understand Him and His will through Scripture.  This is the argument that Peter makes for us to desire the Word of God.  Read 1Peter1:22-2:3.  So please do not grow dull of hearing Jesus.  Listen to Him in His Word.  

He is!

God is and we adapt.  He is.  He describes Himself as 'I am'

The Bible states that we know inherently that there is a God that we ought to be thankful to.  I am not speaking to christians only.  This is true for every coherent man and woman on the planet.  Ok, my intention was not to defend creation.  My intention is to help wake us up!  I heard a very strong message this morning.  I was shook pretty good.  The main point of it was that the great God of the universe, the entire everything, that you see and don't, is just in all His ways.  He is.  Do you believe that?  Do I really believe that?  He is just to condemn sinners.  He is just to condemn me, but He gives me grace.  We run past the justice part to fast many times to get to the love part, but when we do we inevitably weaken the love.  God's love and mercy and forgiveness is so wonderful because of His justice.  Christ gave His life because He is just.  We need to let it sink in.  Don't just run past it.  Remember God is who He is and we adapt to Him.  It is not the other way around.  We are the created, He is the Creator.  I pray He helps us all see this as wonderful and relieving as it can be.

Ryan

A Clarification

I said something in my last post about Paul saying in the Bible that he would not even eat meat again if it caused someone to stumble.  I want to talk about that for a moment.  The context in which Paul said this was the place Corinth.  Paul was writing to believers in Corinth.  The problem was that many of the christians were buying meat at discounted prices that had been sacrificed to idols.  Undoubtably many people thought the value of the meat diminished or something.  But many of the christians had come out of a religion that sacrificed things to idols and therefore thought it was wrong to buy the meat.  So you had one group of christians that thought it was wrong to eat meat that had been sacrificed to idols and another that thought it was ok.  If you would like to read about it, check out the book of 1 corinthians.  Anyway, Paul states that there is indeed nothing wrong with eating any kind of meat, but he said that the ones that thought it was ok to buy and eat the meat that had been sacrificed to idols should lay aside their right to do this for the sake of their brothers and sisters in Christ.  You see, even though there was nothing wrong with the act itself, if it caused someone else to stumble in their walk with Christ then the loving thing to do was give up the right.  The key ingredient is true love that holds a precious soul as more important than any right I have.  This is not to say that I should live my life as a mere people pleaser.  This is not that type of attitude.  A people-pleaser has as their god people, this attitude has as its God Christ.  

So how does this apply to smoking a cigar, drinking a beer, or buying on bag of chewing tobacco every four months.  The attitude of doing whatever possible to promote Christ being glorified in others has to be here too.  The fact is, here in the south especially many people think that all uses of tobacco and alcohol are sins.  I do not agree.  So here I am with a similar problem as that of the early church in Corinth.  So what should I do?  I think that I should lay aside what I think is ok, (and I truly do think that some of these things are ok) in order to not put an unnecessary stumbling block in people's way that may hinder their relationship with Christ.  I felt like I needed to elaborate a little more to make myself clear.  

Ryan