"For in fact the body is not one member but many. If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body," is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I am not of the body," is it therefore not of the body? If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling? But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased. And if they were all one member, where would the body be?" (1st Corinthians 12:14-19)
In the third chapter of Nehemiah we find an account of the rebuilding of the city walls around Jerusalem. Jerusalem had been destroyed in 586 BC by the Babylonians and the people carried away to Babylon. In 445 BC Nehemiah led a third group of exiles back from the captivity to rebuild the city walls. The Temple had been rebuilt around 516 BC, but the walls and gates remained broken, which left Jerusalem vulnerable to attack. In a culture based upon honor, broken walls were also a blight on the city's reputation. Nehemiah was led by the Lord to see that the walls were restored.
Nehemiah completed the restoration of the walls in under two months. In Nehemiah, chapter three, he records the various people who worked the wall. It was true team effort. Instead of having a select group of wall-builders who did all the work, different groups of people worked on sections of the wall. Nehemiah chronicles the work counter-clockwise around the wall.
Eliashab, the High priest, and some fellow priests rebuilt the sheep gate.
Men of Jericho worked next to them to rebuild their section of the wall.
The sons of Hassenaah rebuilt the fish gate.
Further down, Jehoiada the son of Paseah, and Meshullam the son of Besodeiah, repaired the old gate.
Malchijah the son of Harim, and Hashub the son of Pahathmoab, repaired part of the wall and the tower of the furnaces.
Shallum and his daughters worked on a portion of the wall. His father, Halohesh, ruled half of Jerusalem. While some nobles refused to work, they pitched right in to help.
On the south side of the city we find Shallun, the son Colhehez, the ruler of Mizpah, repairing the fountain gate.
A group of priests lived near the horse gate and each repaired the section near his home.
A group of goldsmiths and merchants fixed the walls from the northwest corner to the sheep gate.
I haven't included everyone listed by Nehemiah but I'm sure you get the point. The wall was a collective effort. People from all walks of life worked on it -- men, women, priests, Levites, merchants and goldsmiths. Sons of rulers worked alongside regular folk.
It took everyone to get the job done. In First Corinthians, chapter 12, Paul compares the church to the human body. He makes the point that every part much do its part for the body to function correctly. Everyone doesn't have the same purpose. It's when everybody is fulfilling their individual part that the whole works the way God would have it to work. We all have something to give and a part to play in what God is doing. Don't sell yourself short. Don't look at your own limitations but at the greatness of God!
Monday, July 5, 2010
Monday, May 17, 2010
The Simple Word
In Matthew, chapter 8, we read the story where a Roman centurion came to Jesus with a request to heal his servant. Jesus' responded, "I will come and heal him." The centurion then said something that Jesus was really impressed with.
He said, "Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof. But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed."
The centurion then goes on to explain his understanding of authority.
I think what I really like about this story is the simplicity of the centurion. He wasn't looking for magic acts and thunder and lightning. He just knew that if Jesus spoke the word it would be done. He had a very simple but very rooted faith.
There's a lesson there for us. While I do believe that certain people and ministries are anointed and gifted to certain tasks, I also believe that we can make a mistake chasing after people instead of simply believing what God has said in His Word. The Word of God is true for you today!
Jesus marveled (Matthew 8:10) at this man's faith. He simply believed. The enemy wants to complicate and obfuscate faith. He works on our fear, anger and disappointment. He uses bad theology and intellectual straw men against us. He reminds us of our mistakes and sins. He uses any weapon at his disposal to propagate doubt and unbelief, but we're not stuck.
God's Word is true for you today. Stand on it. Don't war against it and don't let the devil rob you of the promises found in it.
Saturday, April 17, 2010
The Grace In Which We Stand
"Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God." (Romans 5:1-2)
We have access by faith into this grace in which we stand. The eternal theological struggle seems to be the ongoing attempt to answer the questions, "What does God do? What do we do?" In this blog we've looked at different aspects of this relationship between God and man and what I think, personally, is a fruitless attempt to gather all of our theology in a neat little box with a bow on top. We want all the answers. God is just way too big for that. We only really know what He has revealed to us. Thankfully He has revealed a lot to us!
We have access by faith into this grace in which we stand. Grace is what He has done for us. Faith is our response to His grace. Access means that we gain entry to something. In this case we gain entry to God's grace by faith. Paul could hardly make it any clearer. By grace, through the finished work of Jesus Christ, God has made a way for us to enter into relationship with Him. Jesus paid for the sins of the whole world -- everyone. No sin was left out.
And yet, we have to receive this wonderful gift by faith. A gift that is not received does the recipient no good. We stand in this grace by faith. Grace without faith is like an unopened present. Faith without grace has no leg to stand on. Thanks be to God for the wonderful provision He has made for us in Jesus Christ!
"But what does it say? 'The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart' (that is, the word of faith which we preach): that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." (Romans 10:8-10)
We have access by faith into this grace in which we stand. The eternal theological struggle seems to be the ongoing attempt to answer the questions, "What does God do? What do we do?" In this blog we've looked at different aspects of this relationship between God and man and what I think, personally, is a fruitless attempt to gather all of our theology in a neat little box with a bow on top. We want all the answers. God is just way too big for that. We only really know what He has revealed to us. Thankfully He has revealed a lot to us!
We have access by faith into this grace in which we stand. Grace is what He has done for us. Faith is our response to His grace. Access means that we gain entry to something. In this case we gain entry to God's grace by faith. Paul could hardly make it any clearer. By grace, through the finished work of Jesus Christ, God has made a way for us to enter into relationship with Him. Jesus paid for the sins of the whole world -- everyone. No sin was left out.
And yet, we have to receive this wonderful gift by faith. A gift that is not received does the recipient no good. We stand in this grace by faith. Grace without faith is like an unopened present. Faith without grace has no leg to stand on. Thanks be to God for the wonderful provision He has made for us in Jesus Christ!
"But what does it say? 'The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart' (that is, the word of faith which we preach): that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." (Romans 10:8-10)
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
An Amazing Rescue
This story is pretty darned incredible and what a great testimony to the Lord and the leading of the Holy Spirit! It's about the little girl who disappeared last week in Florida and how she was found. be sure to watch the video.
The Rescue of Nadia Bloom
The Rescue of Nadia Bloom
Friday, April 9, 2010
They Didn't Believe
"When He had come to His own country, He taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished and said, "Where did this Man get this wisdom and these mighty works? Is this not the carpenter's son? Is not His mother called Mary? And His brothers James, Joses, Simon, and Judas? And His sisters, are they not all with us? Where then did this Man get all these things?" So they were offended at Him. But Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor except in his own country and in his own house." Now He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief." (Matthew 13:54-58)
These verses open up a conundrum for a lot of believers. Here we have Jesus, back at home, and the outcome of going home is that "He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief." There's nothing here about His will or His timing. His will is, pretty obviously from scripture, that people would believe Him. His will is that we would put our faith in Him. What happens when we don't? Now that's a big question with scary ramifications.
Mark 6:5 described the situation this way --"Now He could do no mighty work there, except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them." Mark is pretty definitive.
Here's the conundrum. If God is sovereign why could he do no mighty works there? We have the answer -- because of their unbelief.
In Christianity we have a whole host of beliefs about God and what He actually does. They range from God does everything -- He ordains, arranges, and pulls the string on everything to a tacit deism -- He's out there but He doesn't actually do anything anymore. Most Christian's beliefs fall somewhere on a continuum between these two extremes.
We desperately want to figure out how things work. That includes God. There's nothing particularly wrong with that unless we come to a wrong conclusion and think we have all the answers. Thinking you are right when you are not can have some pretty serious ramifications.
What do we know from the Word? We know that God is sovereign, if the definition is correctly applied. He is in charge. He has plans that will ultimately come to fruition. We also know that faith and unbelief do matter in our individual lives. In His hometown Jesus didn't do much because of their unbelief. People argue this a few ways. Some will say that his power depends on our faith but I think, more likely, the correct answer is that we receive from Him by faith. His power was not the issue. Their unbelief was the issue. We see this all the time. We ask angry questions of God and why he let's things happen the way they do. That's another big theological wringer but the short answer is that we live in a fallen world that we surrendered to Satan. God gave Adam authority and he turned around and gave it away. In Christ we get His authority but we have to exercise it. The responsibility is placed on us. That's a hard truth for us to deal with. It is easier to just blame God.
One of my favorite stories in the Bible is found in Matthew 17. The disciples tried to cast a demon out of a young man and could not. This is an interesting story because of the way it connects illness with the demonic, but what is more interesting (to me anyhow) is how this story plays out. The disciples try to help this boy and fail.
This is where we are so much of the time. We throw a prayer up and see what happens. If something good comes of it we assume God said yes, if not, we assume God said no. But what happened here?
The disciples couldn't help the boy. That's where we invariably say that it must not have been God's will. But what happened when God came down the road?
The boy was healed and delivered.
The disciples asked, "How come we couldn't cast it out?" Jesus did not say that it wasn't His will or it wasn't His timing. He simply said that it was because of their unbelief.
Ouch.
That puts a little pressure on me. In his home country we read in Matthew 13 how "they were offended at Him." They knew Jesus back in the day. It wasn't an easy leap to recognize Him for who He really was. But that's just one of many excuses we can come with.
It doesn't really matter what causes unbelief. What matters is that unbelief will keep you from receiving from God. It will render you powerless and ineffective. God will still love you, That won't change at all. You'll just miss out on so many of the good things He has for you.
These verses open up a conundrum for a lot of believers. Here we have Jesus, back at home, and the outcome of going home is that "He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief." There's nothing here about His will or His timing. His will is, pretty obviously from scripture, that people would believe Him. His will is that we would put our faith in Him. What happens when we don't? Now that's a big question with scary ramifications.
Mark 6:5 described the situation this way --"Now He could do no mighty work there, except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them." Mark is pretty definitive.
Here's the conundrum. If God is sovereign why could he do no mighty works there? We have the answer -- because of their unbelief.
In Christianity we have a whole host of beliefs about God and what He actually does. They range from God does everything -- He ordains, arranges, and pulls the string on everything to a tacit deism -- He's out there but He doesn't actually do anything anymore. Most Christian's beliefs fall somewhere on a continuum between these two extremes.
We desperately want to figure out how things work. That includes God. There's nothing particularly wrong with that unless we come to a wrong conclusion and think we have all the answers. Thinking you are right when you are not can have some pretty serious ramifications.
What do we know from the Word? We know that God is sovereign, if the definition is correctly applied. He is in charge. He has plans that will ultimately come to fruition. We also know that faith and unbelief do matter in our individual lives. In His hometown Jesus didn't do much because of their unbelief. People argue this a few ways. Some will say that his power depends on our faith but I think, more likely, the correct answer is that we receive from Him by faith. His power was not the issue. Their unbelief was the issue. We see this all the time. We ask angry questions of God and why he let's things happen the way they do. That's another big theological wringer but the short answer is that we live in a fallen world that we surrendered to Satan. God gave Adam authority and he turned around and gave it away. In Christ we get His authority but we have to exercise it. The responsibility is placed on us. That's a hard truth for us to deal with. It is easier to just blame God.
One of my favorite stories in the Bible is found in Matthew 17. The disciples tried to cast a demon out of a young man and could not. This is an interesting story because of the way it connects illness with the demonic, but what is more interesting (to me anyhow) is how this story plays out. The disciples try to help this boy and fail.
This is where we are so much of the time. We throw a prayer up and see what happens. If something good comes of it we assume God said yes, if not, we assume God said no. But what happened here?
The disciples couldn't help the boy. That's where we invariably say that it must not have been God's will. But what happened when God came down the road?
The boy was healed and delivered.
The disciples asked, "How come we couldn't cast it out?" Jesus did not say that it wasn't His will or it wasn't His timing. He simply said that it was because of their unbelief.
Ouch.
That puts a little pressure on me. In his home country we read in Matthew 13 how "they were offended at Him." They knew Jesus back in the day. It wasn't an easy leap to recognize Him for who He really was. But that's just one of many excuses we can come with.
It doesn't really matter what causes unbelief. What matters is that unbelief will keep you from receiving from God. It will render you powerless and ineffective. God will still love you, That won't change at all. You'll just miss out on so many of the good things He has for you.
"Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them." (Mark 11:24)
Friday, March 19, 2010
Trust
"But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him." (Hebrews 11:6)
"Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them." (Mark 11:24)
What does it mean to simply believe? Belief operates under different paradigms. There's belief that is a mental assent. I believe there is a president of the United States. I've never met him or seen him personally but I'm pretty confident that he exists. I give a mental assent to his existence.
Then there's the concept of believing in someone or something. That concept is closely connected to faith. You can only truly trust someone you know well.
Our calling in the Christian life is to know God. Romans 10:17 tells us that, "Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God." Jesus is the Word who became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14). Hearing is a relationship word. We grow in the Lord and in our walk with Him as we give place to the Word of God in our lives.
As we grow in our walk with Him we grow in trust of Him! As we grow in trust our faith increases. Sometimes, I think that we have tried to teach faith without the concept of relationship. We've tried to teach it as a belief apart from the context that causes it to thrive. Faith doesn't exist in a vacuum.
How do we simply believe? We simply get to know God. The more we know; the more we learn to trust and to rest. How do we get to know God? We spend time in His Word and in prayer and with other believers. It's pretty simple. We just have to do it.
We grow up in a world that would rob our faith (after all Satan is called the god of this world and he comes to steal, kill and destroy) and keep us from the very relationship we were created for but God, in His wonderful goodness, has made abundant provision for us in Jesus Christ!
"Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them." (Mark 11:24)
What does it mean to simply believe? Belief operates under different paradigms. There's belief that is a mental assent. I believe there is a president of the United States. I've never met him or seen him personally but I'm pretty confident that he exists. I give a mental assent to his existence.
Then there's the concept of believing in someone or something. That concept is closely connected to faith. You can only truly trust someone you know well.
Our calling in the Christian life is to know God. Romans 10:17 tells us that, "Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God." Jesus is the Word who became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14). Hearing is a relationship word. We grow in the Lord and in our walk with Him as we give place to the Word of God in our lives.
As we grow in our walk with Him we grow in trust of Him! As we grow in trust our faith increases. Sometimes, I think that we have tried to teach faith without the concept of relationship. We've tried to teach it as a belief apart from the context that causes it to thrive. Faith doesn't exist in a vacuum.
How do we simply believe? We simply get to know God. The more we know; the more we learn to trust and to rest. How do we get to know God? We spend time in His Word and in prayer and with other believers. It's pretty simple. We just have to do it.
We grow up in a world that would rob our faith (after all Satan is called the god of this world and he comes to steal, kill and destroy) and keep us from the very relationship we were created for but God, in His wonderful goodness, has made abundant provision for us in Jesus Christ!
Monday, March 15, 2010
First Things first
"But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you." (Matthew 6:33)
This is such a powerful picture of sowing and reaping. To put it simply, what Jesus is saying here is that when we really put God first in our lives then He will take care of the rest. I think the problem comes in that we have a very low bar for what we consider seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.
Let's make one thing clear. This is not about legalism in the Christian life. It is about reaping the benefits of a love relationship with God. This is not about being saved or going to heaven or how much God loves you. It is about you making yourself available to all the wonderful promises that God has for you.
This kind of relationship is more than about going to Church or reading our Bibles. Those are pieces of the whole but they are not the totality. And maybe that's a big part of the point.
Our walk with God is not found in some single aspect of Christianity and the things we should do. Relationships are multifaceted. They involve give and take. They involve talking and listening. They cost you. A good relationship will cost you some time and some effort.
It has been said that things that are worth doing are worth doing well. That is certainly true of our walk with God. Getting saved and going to Church is a start, but the true joy in the journey comes as we grow in Him. We learn to hear His voice. We become vessels for His glory. Life becomes less and less about us and more and more about Him.
Take a good, honest look at your life. Does God really get first place in your life? Are you truly seeking first His kingdom and His righteousness? What adjustments do you need to make? What can you do differently?
A life truly given over to God will be a life lived well.
This is such a powerful picture of sowing and reaping. To put it simply, what Jesus is saying here is that when we really put God first in our lives then He will take care of the rest. I think the problem comes in that we have a very low bar for what we consider seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.
Let's make one thing clear. This is not about legalism in the Christian life. It is about reaping the benefits of a love relationship with God. This is not about being saved or going to heaven or how much God loves you. It is about you making yourself available to all the wonderful promises that God has for you.
This kind of relationship is more than about going to Church or reading our Bibles. Those are pieces of the whole but they are not the totality. And maybe that's a big part of the point.
Our walk with God is not found in some single aspect of Christianity and the things we should do. Relationships are multifaceted. They involve give and take. They involve talking and listening. They cost you. A good relationship will cost you some time and some effort.
It has been said that things that are worth doing are worth doing well. That is certainly true of our walk with God. Getting saved and going to Church is a start, but the true joy in the journey comes as we grow in Him. We learn to hear His voice. We become vessels for His glory. Life becomes less and less about us and more and more about Him.
Take a good, honest look at your life. Does God really get first place in your life? Are you truly seeking first His kingdom and His righteousness? What adjustments do you need to make? What can you do differently?
A life truly given over to God will be a life lived well.
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