The mundane...we face it almost everyday. The routines, the schedules, the to-do lists...things that never seem to go away.
Being newly married the things that many find "mundane" are very new and fresh and even exciting for me. I guess I am still in that honeymoon phase where sweeping the floor can be fun. However, the more I think about it, and the more I pray about it, the more I realize how much I need to guard against my heart attitude toward these "mundane" tasks. I am not too naive to recognize that after deep cleaning the bathroom for the hundreth time, I might, in my flesh, find it much more "mundane" and purposeless.
As I have been thinking about these very things, and the reality of the mundane in each of our lives, the Lord has put a couple verses on my heart over and over again: 1 Corinthians 15:58- "Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord." AND "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, 24 since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving" (Colossians 3:23-24). These verses convict, exhort and encourage EVERY believer, that no matter what your callings are in life, to always be working as unto the Lord.
You see each of us, as His kids, have been given tasks to complete for His glory. Some of us have been called to full time ministry in the church, some of us to business jobs, some of us to classrooms, some of us to motherhood; whatever the calling, it is not by chance that you have been placed there. And moreover, it is not for yourself that you are working, but for the Lord. God sees every thing you do and more importantly He sees your heart behind it. You may do excellent work, but if you have become bitter with it in your heart, and have done it with a bad attitude, or to get some recognition or glory for yourself, you have not done what you have been called to do.
The mundane will never end this side of heaven. There will be tasks to get done, the 8-5 workday will stay the same, and the cleaning cycles will continue on; therefore we must guard against our heart's attitudes toward the mundane things in our life. We must continually refocus our hearts and the purposes we have in the callings we have been given. We must never forget that our labor is not in vain, never forget that God is sanctifying us through it all, and never forget that God is using us in it. We must fight for joy in the mundane, for the pursuit of excellence in all we do...never for our own glory, but for the glory of our great God!
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
He Sees It ALL
How is it that so often the fear of man drives us to obedience rather than the fear of God? Why do we choose to refrain from sinful behavior or speech in the presence of others and yet indulge in it when we are alone, in the quietness of our own hearts and minds. Is it odd to you as a Christian that the fact that God is ALWAYS there and watching doesn't seem to be a big enough deal at times to say NO to that temptation. Instead of saying, "What would God think of this", we might say, "What would my pastor/parent/spouse/friends etc. think of this". The more I think about this reality, the more ashamed I am, and the more I realize the need I have to comprehend who God is and the fear of Him.
I recently read a Grace Gems on this very topic that was convicting and challenging. The Puritan writer James Smith exhorts his reader to think about the TRUTH of the human heart as described in Jeremiah 17:9 "The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked! Who really knows how bad it is?" God knows. Think about that for a second. God knows who wicked YOUR heart is. He knows every fleeting thought, every defeated temptation, every indulgent pleasure, EVERY sin. He knows it all. He sees it, and yet He still loves YOU believer. That is just dumbfounding.
If our family and our friends, whom we often hide sin from, saw what God sees, if He revealed that concealed sin to the world, what would they think then? You see we may worry about what others think, but our focus shouldn't be on them, for they see only part of our sinfulness, of who we truly are, if that. Rather, we should fear what God thinks because He sees it all. Smith says, "How kind it is of our gracious God, to conceal from others--what He Himself sees within us; and which if known by others--would alienate them from us, and fill them with disgust! What contemptible creatures we would appear to our friends--if they knew all about us! "
What a truly gracious and loving God we serve, who loves us IN SPITE of our sin. But may that grace we receive never give us a license to indulge in sin, may we never forget that He is always watching...and knowing those two truths MUST transform our lives!
I recently read a Grace Gems on this very topic that was convicting and challenging. The Puritan writer James Smith exhorts his reader to think about the TRUTH of the human heart as described in Jeremiah 17:9 "The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked! Who really knows how bad it is?" God knows. Think about that for a second. God knows who wicked YOUR heart is. He knows every fleeting thought, every defeated temptation, every indulgent pleasure, EVERY sin. He knows it all. He sees it, and yet He still loves YOU believer. That is just dumbfounding.
If our family and our friends, whom we often hide sin from, saw what God sees, if He revealed that concealed sin to the world, what would they think then? You see we may worry about what others think, but our focus shouldn't be on them, for they see only part of our sinfulness, of who we truly are, if that. Rather, we should fear what God thinks because He sees it all. Smith says, "How kind it is of our gracious God, to conceal from others--what He Himself sees within us; and which if known by others--would alienate them from us, and fill them with disgust! What contemptible creatures we would appear to our friends--if they knew all about us! "
What a truly gracious and loving God we serve, who loves us IN SPITE of our sin. But may that grace we receive never give us a license to indulge in sin, may we never forget that He is always watching...and knowing those two truths MUST transform our lives!
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
These Were Written For Your Example
There is something so sweet about knowing that we have the whole counsel of God in His Word, and because of that, the ability to learn from the past in order to avoid the consequences and peril of sin today. Throughout all of the Word, we constantly read "these were written for your example"...a phrase that is becoming more and more precious to me throughout the years. The cultural idea of learning from your own mistakes (aka sin) is anything but a biblical principle and should be cast out with every other crazy idea that society tries to bombard us with. Instead we should read the Word, study it and LEARN...learn from the past so that we might most importantly bring glory to the name of God (not shame) and avoid the pain sin brings. As believers we are called to diligently study the Word of God and allow it to transform our hearts and our lives. If we would only spend more time seeing what God's will for our lives is rather than seeking it on our own, much pain (from the consequences of sin) could be avoided. We need to stray away from the cultural norm of learning in our own ways, and learn the Biblical way, from God, His Word, and His people.
This brings me to 1 Corinthians 10, I am in the book of 1 Corinthians and learning so much from this church. Paul doesn't seem to avoid speaking of any and every area of sin that this church committed in order to not only call them out, but also to admonish, and furthermore, exhort us. In this specific part of Corinthians, Paul is reminding the Church of Israel's failures and mistakes and exhorting them to learn from them. Look at verse 6, "Now these things happened as examples for us, so that we would not crave evil things as (I)they also craved." The examples set before us are in order to curb our sinful flesh and point us towards righteous living.
But it is in verse 13 that we see something so powerful, "No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it." Paul explains to the church here that there will be no temptations that they will face that are new, they have all been experienced. He goes on to remind them that God will never allow one of His kids to be tempted in a way in which they can not flee from it, He will always provide a way to say no, to obey, and to glorify Him. The temptations are "common to man", think about that for a moment...that means that whatever difficult temptation you may face, chances are someone in Scripture, or another believer you know, has walked down that road. The encouraging thing then is that you can find Truth in the Word of God, and/or spoken from other believers, to encourage and admonish you to flee that temptation. You can learn the Godly way instead of the "hard" way.
You might be saying, well that's great and all, but I'm just one of those people who has to learn on my own. What I would say to you is, that is sinful thinking. God does not encourage that, or even excuse that kind of behavior. He has commanded you to walk in obedience to Him, in newness of life; putting off the desires of the flesh and putting on a spirit of righteousness. He has given you the wisdom in Scripture, and set forth examples, as His Word says, to learn and to do what is right in His eyes.
And if that's not convincing enough, take a look at verse 31 of this chapter, "Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." That means that IN ALL THINGS you are to glorify Him. There is no ifs, ands, or buts about it. You are called to a life of holiness, to bringing Him glory.
But remember, all of this is not only for His glory, but for YOUR good. He is intimately concerned with His children and desires to protect you from the harmful and damaging effects of sin. He has given us His Spirit, His Word, and the encouragement of other believers to point us in the way in which we should walk. Trust Him...He is good, He is faithful, He is loving, and He KNOWS what's best! Therefore, as you read through the Word, and walk through life, remember..."these things were written for your example".
This brings me to 1 Corinthians 10, I am in the book of 1 Corinthians and learning so much from this church. Paul doesn't seem to avoid speaking of any and every area of sin that this church committed in order to not only call them out, but also to admonish, and furthermore, exhort us. In this specific part of Corinthians, Paul is reminding the Church of Israel's failures and mistakes and exhorting them to learn from them. Look at verse 6, "Now these things happened as examples for us, so that we would not crave evil things as (I)they also craved." The examples set before us are in order to curb our sinful flesh and point us towards righteous living.
But it is in verse 13 that we see something so powerful, "No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it." Paul explains to the church here that there will be no temptations that they will face that are new, they have all been experienced. He goes on to remind them that God will never allow one of His kids to be tempted in a way in which they can not flee from it, He will always provide a way to say no, to obey, and to glorify Him. The temptations are "common to man", think about that for a moment...that means that whatever difficult temptation you may face, chances are someone in Scripture, or another believer you know, has walked down that road. The encouraging thing then is that you can find Truth in the Word of God, and/or spoken from other believers, to encourage and admonish you to flee that temptation. You can learn the Godly way instead of the "hard" way.
You might be saying, well that's great and all, but I'm just one of those people who has to learn on my own. What I would say to you is, that is sinful thinking. God does not encourage that, or even excuse that kind of behavior. He has commanded you to walk in obedience to Him, in newness of life; putting off the desires of the flesh and putting on a spirit of righteousness. He has given you the wisdom in Scripture, and set forth examples, as His Word says, to learn and to do what is right in His eyes.
And if that's not convincing enough, take a look at verse 31 of this chapter, "Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." That means that IN ALL THINGS you are to glorify Him. There is no ifs, ands, or buts about it. You are called to a life of holiness, to bringing Him glory.
But remember, all of this is not only for His glory, but for YOUR good. He is intimately concerned with His children and desires to protect you from the harmful and damaging effects of sin. He has given us His Spirit, His Word, and the encouragement of other believers to point us in the way in which we should walk. Trust Him...He is good, He is faithful, He is loving, and He KNOWS what's best! Therefore, as you read through the Word, and walk through life, remember..."these things were written for your example".
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
"Christian Freedom?"
I recently read a pretty powerful blog from John MacArthur. Although encouraged by many youth of today who are pursuing Christ passionately, grasping the doctrines of Grace, and motivated by writings and sermons from reformed authors of the past, he sees a tragic pattern, one in which must be addressed. To read his blog follow this link: http://www.gty.org/Blog/B110809 . I highly recommend you reading it.
Although JMac tends to speak most directly to alcohol, he is really speaking to a much greater issue... "Christian liberty"; I put that in quotes because the liberty my generation is speaking of, is anything but what the Bible speaks about when it comes to Christian liberty.
Throughout the new testament there is a clear distinction made...we are now FREE in Christ. There is no more bondage to the Law, no more ceremonial patterns that must be kept, and no more sacrifices that need to be made...the Law has been fulfilled IN and through Christ's death and ressurrection. The reality of this Truth is powerful. Knowing that we are no longer slaves to sin (once redeemed), and that grace covers us until the end is amazing to cling to.
Yet somewhere in the understanding of Christian freedom, as Paul talks about in Galatians, Romans, and other places in the N.T., something went awry. Christians began to take legalism to a whole new meaning...it became legalistic to call gray areas sin, and even some clear areas of sin, sin. What one must realize is that legalism is simply this- a reliance on oneself, keeping of the law, for a right standing before the Holy God. It has nothing to do with calling out sin among the brethren, or speaking of convictions which may convict other believers in turn.
"Christian liberty is giving up one's freedoms." (JMac) You see, Christian liberty is recognizing that we are called to bring glory to God in ALL things, and to be a light, an example, an encouragement, and anything but a stumbling block to both brethren and nonbelievers. If we are striving to do these things, many of the "gray areas" in life soon become quite clear, black and white. Selfish pride is what robs us of seeing clearly and allowing our hearts to make decisions that go against our conscience and even conviction. We begin to justify sinful attitudes and actions by our Christian freedom in order to fit in with the culture, or to even "reach" the culture. What a false perspective this is, and a damaging one at that. People will often say "Jesus hung out with tax collectors and sinners and participated in what they did", but this is FAR from the Truth. Yes, Jesus ministered to these kinds of people, sinners, but did so with one purpose, to share the Truth by calling out sin, telling them to repent and giving them the hope of the promised ressurrection. He DID NOT do what they did or behave the way they did when it came to "gray areas" or sinful behavior. Many of these things, like today, are things that were keeping these unbelievers in bondage, why would he encourage and spur on that sin? If anything he called it out. We are never once in Scripture called to become like the world to win the world, rather the opposite is true...we are to be set apart in this world, beaming brightly for Jesus.
As we grow in our knowledge of Jesus, and the Word, we must grow in our desire to glorify Him. We must be willing to lay aside ANYTHING that might misrepresent Him, entangle us, mislead an unbeliever, or criple a brother in the Lord. We MUST be willing to lay aside so called "freedoms" for the Gospel, seeing if they truly are honoring to the Lord, or rather, just honoring to our flesh and this world. JMAC says it well, "It should not take a doctor of divinity to notice that Scripture consistently celebrates virtues such as self-control, sober-mindedness, purity of heart, the restraint of our fleshly lusts, and similar fruits of the Holy Spirit's sanctifying work in our lives. Surely these are what we ought hold in highest esteem, model in our daily lives, and honor on our websites, rather than trying so hard to impress the world with unfettered indulgence in the very things that hold so many unbelievers in bondage."
Although JMac tends to speak most directly to alcohol, he is really speaking to a much greater issue... "Christian liberty"; I put that in quotes because the liberty my generation is speaking of, is anything but what the Bible speaks about when it comes to Christian liberty.
Throughout the new testament there is a clear distinction made...we are now FREE in Christ. There is no more bondage to the Law, no more ceremonial patterns that must be kept, and no more sacrifices that need to be made...the Law has been fulfilled IN and through Christ's death and ressurrection. The reality of this Truth is powerful. Knowing that we are no longer slaves to sin (once redeemed), and that grace covers us until the end is amazing to cling to.
Yet somewhere in the understanding of Christian freedom, as Paul talks about in Galatians, Romans, and other places in the N.T., something went awry. Christians began to take legalism to a whole new meaning...it became legalistic to call gray areas sin, and even some clear areas of sin, sin. What one must realize is that legalism is simply this- a reliance on oneself, keeping of the law, for a right standing before the Holy God. It has nothing to do with calling out sin among the brethren, or speaking of convictions which may convict other believers in turn.
"Christian liberty is giving up one's freedoms." (JMac) You see, Christian liberty is recognizing that we are called to bring glory to God in ALL things, and to be a light, an example, an encouragement, and anything but a stumbling block to both brethren and nonbelievers. If we are striving to do these things, many of the "gray areas" in life soon become quite clear, black and white. Selfish pride is what robs us of seeing clearly and allowing our hearts to make decisions that go against our conscience and even conviction. We begin to justify sinful attitudes and actions by our Christian freedom in order to fit in with the culture, or to even "reach" the culture. What a false perspective this is, and a damaging one at that. People will often say "Jesus hung out with tax collectors and sinners and participated in what they did", but this is FAR from the Truth. Yes, Jesus ministered to these kinds of people, sinners, but did so with one purpose, to share the Truth by calling out sin, telling them to repent and giving them the hope of the promised ressurrection. He DID NOT do what they did or behave the way they did when it came to "gray areas" or sinful behavior. Many of these things, like today, are things that were keeping these unbelievers in bondage, why would he encourage and spur on that sin? If anything he called it out. We are never once in Scripture called to become like the world to win the world, rather the opposite is true...we are to be set apart in this world, beaming brightly for Jesus.
As we grow in our knowledge of Jesus, and the Word, we must grow in our desire to glorify Him. We must be willing to lay aside ANYTHING that might misrepresent Him, entangle us, mislead an unbeliever, or criple a brother in the Lord. We MUST be willing to lay aside so called "freedoms" for the Gospel, seeing if they truly are honoring to the Lord, or rather, just honoring to our flesh and this world. JMAC says it well, "It should not take a doctor of divinity to notice that Scripture consistently celebrates virtues such as self-control, sober-mindedness, purity of heart, the restraint of our fleshly lusts, and similar fruits of the Holy Spirit's sanctifying work in our lives. Surely these are what we ought hold in highest esteem, model in our daily lives, and honor on our websites, rather than trying so hard to impress the world with unfettered indulgence in the very things that hold so many unbelievers in bondage."
Friday, August 05, 2011
Run Together
I have the privilege of not only being able to read the Bible each and every day, but alongside my husband. There is something so sweet about being in the Word TOGETHER. We each gain perspective we may never have seen without the other, and encouragement and exhortation as we sharpen one another.
It has got me thinking about how vital it is to run this race WITH other believers...we can't do it alone. We are swimming upstream, against the currents of the culture, people, and Satan. Trying to do that alone will leave you weak and discouraged. Yet we often try to run alone, not because there are no believers among us, but rather because in our pride we become "self sufficient" and "self reliant"; we think we can do it. Truth be told we weren't meant to walk this life, set apart, alone. There are countless pictures throughout Scripture of this from David and Jonathan to Jesus and His disciples to Paul and Timothy...believers stuck together, encouraging one another and exhorting one another throughout their earthly ministry.
Proverbs 27:17 may be a familiar verse to most of it but look at it for a moment and pause...ask yourself, do I live this out?
"Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another. "
If we seek to sharpen one another we will be more effective not only in our pursuit of holiness but in our ministry of the Gospel and showing the glory of God. We must seek opportunities to spend time in the word together, to pray together, to serve together, to serve one another, to love one another, to run together!
It has got me thinking about how vital it is to run this race WITH other believers...we can't do it alone. We are swimming upstream, against the currents of the culture, people, and Satan. Trying to do that alone will leave you weak and discouraged. Yet we often try to run alone, not because there are no believers among us, but rather because in our pride we become "self sufficient" and "self reliant"; we think we can do it. Truth be told we weren't meant to walk this life, set apart, alone. There are countless pictures throughout Scripture of this from David and Jonathan to Jesus and His disciples to Paul and Timothy...believers stuck together, encouraging one another and exhorting one another throughout their earthly ministry.
Proverbs 27:17 may be a familiar verse to most of it but look at it for a moment and pause...ask yourself, do I live this out?
"Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another. "
If we seek to sharpen one another we will be more effective not only in our pursuit of holiness but in our ministry of the Gospel and showing the glory of God. We must seek opportunities to spend time in the word together, to pray together, to serve together, to serve one another, to love one another, to run together!
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