This morning, during my quiet time, randomly Harold Camping came to mind. I thought, "Lord, didn't you say?..." I opened my Bible and turned right to Matthew 24:36, He says, "No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angles in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father."
Yeah, I thought so.
When lies are all around us, even coming from 'so called Christians' (and who's to say, because H. Camping could have his trust in Christ, although; listening to some of his interviews I fear his theology is way off base and it sure sounds like he is taking advantage of some naive people) What are we to do?
I looked around Chapter 24 of Matthew to see if I could find something, God always reveals His truth when our goal is to know Him more.
Matthew 24:13 says,
"but he who stands firm to the end will be saved."
Stands. A present tense verb, an action. And it is repeated throughout Scripture as instruction for God's people. Stand. Not ' defend,' not 'be on the offense,' not 'be agreeable' but simply to stand. The American Heritage Dictionary defines stand: To rise to an upright position. To assume or maintain an upright position. To remain stable, valid, or intact.
Paul loved to remind the early church members to stand.
1 Corinthians 15:1
"Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand."
2 Corinthians 1:21
"Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ He anointed us"
2 Corinthians 1: 24 (one of my early favorites)
"Not that we lord it over your faith, but we work with you for your joy, because it is by faith you stand firm."
Ephesians 6:11
"Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes."
Galatians 5:1
"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery."
There are actually, many, many more. If you want to find them, do a word search on biblegateway.com.
Because God is God in the Old Testament as well as the New, He instructed us to stand for Him before Jesus came to earth.
Isaiah 7:9
"If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all."
It sounds simple, but it is not. In most of the passages, the way we stand is described as 'firm' to 'stand firm.' My natural disposition fights me on this. Trusting in the gospel, is standing in the knowledge of the finished work of Jesus Christ.
But my natural tendency is to argue and need to be in control, be critical of others and become bitter, think I need to fix others' problems, need to be right, worry, compete with others or compare myself to others, or compromise.
One of the hardest things about being a Christian is just trusting in the power of Christ! We really have nothing to prove, and that can be hard to remember. So, I pray that God continues to work in me because even when I stumble and fall, I always want to stand firm with Him.
Monday, May 30, 2011
Thursday, May 26, 2011
THIS
By: Sally Llyod-Jones in The Storybook Bible
"Now, some people think the Bible is a book of rules, telling you what you should and shouldn't do. The Bible certainly does have some rules in it. They show you how life works best. But the Bible isn't mainly about you and what you should be doing. It's about God and what he has done. Other people think the Bible is a book of heroes, showing you people you should copy. The Bible does have some heroes in it, but (as you'll soon find out) most of the people in the Bible aren't heroes at all. They make some big mistakes (sometimes on purpose). They get afraid and run away. At times they are downright mean. No, the Bible isn't a book of rules, or a book of heroes. The Bible is most of all a Story. It's an adventure story about a young Hero who comes from a far country to win back his lost treasure. It's a love story about a brave Prince who leaves his palace, his throne - everything - to rescue the one he loves. It's like the most wonderful of fairy tales that has come true in real life!
You see, the best thing about this Story is - it's true. There are lots of stories in the Bible, but all the stories are telling one Big Story.The Story of how God loves his children and comes to rescue them. It takes the whole Bible to tell this Story. And at the center of the Story, there is a baby. Every Story in the Bible whispers his name. He is like the missing piece in a puzzle - the piece that makes all the other pieces fit together, and suddenly you can see a beautiful picture. And this is no ordinary baby. This is the Child upon whom everything would depend."
(Lloyd-Jones, The Jesus Storybook Bible)
"Now, some people think the Bible is a book of rules, telling you what you should and shouldn't do. The Bible certainly does have some rules in it. They show you how life works best. But the Bible isn't mainly about you and what you should be doing. It's about God and what he has done. Other people think the Bible is a book of heroes, showing you people you should copy. The Bible does have some heroes in it, but (as you'll soon find out) most of the people in the Bible aren't heroes at all. They make some big mistakes (sometimes on purpose). They get afraid and run away. At times they are downright mean. No, the Bible isn't a book of rules, or a book of heroes. The Bible is most of all a Story. It's an adventure story about a young Hero who comes from a far country to win back his lost treasure. It's a love story about a brave Prince who leaves his palace, his throne - everything - to rescue the one he loves. It's like the most wonderful of fairy tales that has come true in real life!
You see, the best thing about this Story is - it's true. There are lots of stories in the Bible, but all the stories are telling one Big Story.The Story of how God loves his children and comes to rescue them. It takes the whole Bible to tell this Story. And at the center of the Story, there is a baby. Every Story in the Bible whispers his name. He is like the missing piece in a puzzle - the piece that makes all the other pieces fit together, and suddenly you can see a beautiful picture. And this is no ordinary baby. This is the Child upon whom everything would depend."
(Lloyd-Jones, The Jesus Storybook Bible)
Saturday, May 7, 2011
What if there's a bigger picture?
These past several weeks I have been struggling with something that I hate. I found myself thinking highly negative and critical thoughts toward others, nagging and resentment toward even loved ones. Harboring and voicing distain toward others' wrongs. It is difficult to see in yourself the very things you know is wrong, that you can so easily see in other people.
I have been thinking about John 3:17 "For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him." At first, I said, how nice, thanks Jesus. I like to personalize God's word to me, "For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn Haley, but to save Haley through him." Okay, save me from what? Well, that took me about 26 years to figure out. If Jesus did NOT come into the world to condemn (definition: to pronounce to be guilty; sentence to punishment) us, but to save (definition: to preserve something from harm, injury, loss, etc) us then what is it He is saving us from? Well, just what I stated above, my sin. Not only the hateful thinking of today, but of all my past sin and future sin. He came for the rest of the world too, to save us from all the sin here on earth, one person at a time.
In honor of Mother's Day, I want to illustrate what God is doing here. When my little sister was younger, like 2 years old, she would get sick with ear infections or flu or something. My mom would take her to the doctor who would perscribe some medicine. It was always a liquid medication, and Aubrey would refuse to take it. Mom knew it would help make her better, she pleaded and even at one point pinned her down to open her mouth to take it. But Aubrey would just spit it right back up in her face! That did not stop mom from desperately wanting Aubrey to agree to just swallow the medicine, knowing that it may not taste good right off, but would soon make her feel much, much better.
When I finally agree to swallow my pride, and take in the love and grace of God in Jesus, I feel much better and stronger.
This came to light for me this week. I am reading a book, Half the Sky, recommended by some ladies at our church and I quickly became critical, while overlooking the amazing job these authors put forth. Some background, this married couple, journalists investigate and bring forth the stories of women in our world today in what can only be considered our society's slavery and modern slave trade. Hundreds and thousands of women due to poverty or just in unsafe circumstances get tricked and sold into forced prostitution and are fiercely abused. They also discuss issues in countries like China and India "disappearing women" phenomion. One point the authors made confused me a little in his conclusion.
In China, women are under so much pressure from their culture and economic situations, to have sons and not daughters, that at one point when given ultrasounds if they found that the baby was a girl they would select to have an abortion. This is so sad, and a tragic problem because hundreds of girls were 'going missing' as the chapter first began in stating the problem of 'missing girls' So, regulations were made so that pregnant women were not allowed to know the gender of the child from the ultrasound. Sadly, this has led to the problem of neglected and abadoned babies---girls, in China. The author then insinuates that an easy solution to this would be to allow selective abortions......wait, what? Solve a problem with another problem? I felt this was a contradiction, and I get upset when people want to 'put bandaids over huge surgical wounds' so to speak. Just wash your hands of it rather than looking at the root of the problem. Now, the authors do spend time in other chapters doing just that, and they do talk about the heart of these issues and what we can do about it. But in this instance, I did not like how they suggest to solve one problem by using another. In these issues, I know there are no easy solutions. This book illustrated and discussed openly many of the major sins that have taken hold in our society, but what I really liked about the book is the authors gave some redemption stories.
One like Rath, a young Cambodian woman who went to Thailand thinking she was getting a job washing dishes and was instead forced into a brothel where she was betten, raped, and drugged routinuely. After more than one attempt, she finally escaped and when she returned to Cambodia there was an aid group in place that was able to give her a $400 starter loan so that Rath could start her own small business selling drinks, snacks, and souvenirs to tourists at the Thai-Cambodian border walk.
John 3:16 is a famous Bible quote, you might see it on billboards or shopping bags even. "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."
"For God so loved Haley...."
"For God so loved Zach..."
"For God so loved Dan...."
"For God so loved Rachael..."
"For God so loved Aubrey...."
"For God so loved Helen..."
"For God so loved Charlie...."
"For God so loved Atticus..."
"For God so loved Rath that he gave his one and only Son for her, that if Rath believes in him she shall not perish but have eternal life."
No matter where you are, what kind of culture you live in, and what status you have here, God desperately wants you. And these women's stories remind me of how God loves each of us, and wants us to turn to Him.
I have been thinking about John 3:17 "For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him." At first, I said, how nice, thanks Jesus. I like to personalize God's word to me, "For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn Haley, but to save Haley through him." Okay, save me from what? Well, that took me about 26 years to figure out. If Jesus did NOT come into the world to condemn (definition: to pronounce to be guilty; sentence to punishment) us, but to save (definition: to preserve something from harm, injury, loss, etc) us then what is it He is saving us from? Well, just what I stated above, my sin. Not only the hateful thinking of today, but of all my past sin and future sin. He came for the rest of the world too, to save us from all the sin here on earth, one person at a time.
In honor of Mother's Day, I want to illustrate what God is doing here. When my little sister was younger, like 2 years old, she would get sick with ear infections or flu or something. My mom would take her to the doctor who would perscribe some medicine. It was always a liquid medication, and Aubrey would refuse to take it. Mom knew it would help make her better, she pleaded and even at one point pinned her down to open her mouth to take it. But Aubrey would just spit it right back up in her face! That did not stop mom from desperately wanting Aubrey to agree to just swallow the medicine, knowing that it may not taste good right off, but would soon make her feel much, much better.
When I finally agree to swallow my pride, and take in the love and grace of God in Jesus, I feel much better and stronger.
This came to light for me this week. I am reading a book, Half the Sky, recommended by some ladies at our church and I quickly became critical, while overlooking the amazing job these authors put forth. Some background, this married couple, journalists investigate and bring forth the stories of women in our world today in what can only be considered our society's slavery and modern slave trade. Hundreds and thousands of women due to poverty or just in unsafe circumstances get tricked and sold into forced prostitution and are fiercely abused. They also discuss issues in countries like China and India "disappearing women" phenomion. One point the authors made confused me a little in his conclusion.
In China, women are under so much pressure from their culture and economic situations, to have sons and not daughters, that at one point when given ultrasounds if they found that the baby was a girl they would select to have an abortion. This is so sad, and a tragic problem because hundreds of girls were 'going missing' as the chapter first began in stating the problem of 'missing girls' So, regulations were made so that pregnant women were not allowed to know the gender of the child from the ultrasound. Sadly, this has led to the problem of neglected and abadoned babies---girls, in China. The author then insinuates that an easy solution to this would be to allow selective abortions......wait, what? Solve a problem with another problem? I felt this was a contradiction, and I get upset when people want to 'put bandaids over huge surgical wounds' so to speak. Just wash your hands of it rather than looking at the root of the problem. Now, the authors do spend time in other chapters doing just that, and they do talk about the heart of these issues and what we can do about it. But in this instance, I did not like how they suggest to solve one problem by using another. In these issues, I know there are no easy solutions. This book illustrated and discussed openly many of the major sins that have taken hold in our society, but what I really liked about the book is the authors gave some redemption stories.
One like Rath, a young Cambodian woman who went to Thailand thinking she was getting a job washing dishes and was instead forced into a brothel where she was betten, raped, and drugged routinuely. After more than one attempt, she finally escaped and when she returned to Cambodia there was an aid group in place that was able to give her a $400 starter loan so that Rath could start her own small business selling drinks, snacks, and souvenirs to tourists at the Thai-Cambodian border walk.
John 3:16 is a famous Bible quote, you might see it on billboards or shopping bags even. "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."
"For God so loved Haley...."
"For God so loved Zach..."
"For God so loved Dan...."
"For God so loved Rachael..."
"For God so loved Aubrey...."
"For God so loved Helen..."
"For God so loved Charlie...."
"For God so loved Atticus..."
"For God so loved Rath that he gave his one and only Son for her, that if Rath believes in him she shall not perish but have eternal life."
No matter where you are, what kind of culture you live in, and what status you have here, God desperately wants you. And these women's stories remind me of how God loves each of us, and wants us to turn to Him.
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