"The great bane of all our converse with Divine things is superficiality. When we read anything and understand it somewhat, we think that this is enough. No: we must give time, that it may make an impression and wield its own influence upon us. Read every portion the first time with consideration, to understand the good that is in it, and then see if you receive benefit from the thoughts that are there expressed"-Andrew Murray
I hope you enjoyed this as much as I did!
Friday, October 8, 2010
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Moment-by-Moment
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” 2 Corinthians 5:17
The Bible says that we are new creations— our old life of sin has died, and His new life has become manifested in ours. This means that we are no longer creatures of sin, but of purity and holiness. So if we now have Christ and all of His power dwelling in us, and if our spirits have been merged with the Holy Spirit, why is it that we continue to fall so short, and often return to old failures and habits? If we have been raised to walk in the likeness of His resurrection, why is holiness such a hard concept for us to grasp, much less live out?
“I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyways.” Romans 7:19
I used to get very frustrated with this concept, especially as I personally battled against the same temptations. I would do something wrong, apologize to God, do well for a little while, and then do the same wrong thing all over again. I couldn’t get away from the past, and the future looked as though it wouldn’t be any different. Even though I would pray and ask God to deliver me from my failures, I wasn’t really changing. Why? I wasn’t abiding in Him moment-by-moment; in the words of a Hispanic, this concept was (and is) the big enchilada.
Yes, we have been made new and we have a new nature. But we also are given a choice to live in that new nature every second, every moment, of every day. We can either choose to let Christ’s life flow through us, or we can cut off the flow of that life and choose to go back and pick up the old, dead sins that have been crucified in the hopes that they will do what they once did for us. It’s like going back and trying on clothes that you’ve outgrown— they’re not going to fit right, they’re going to be incredibly uncomfortable, and they’re going to look downright hideous on you. The things that once gave us some momentary pleasure or relief will never work now that we share a life with Jesus, because we’re not who we once were. We are now in Christ’s image, and with every choice and action and emotion we must allow Him to be in control and open our lives to His power. When we don’t do this, it’s like we’ve gotten short-term amnesia, and we forget who we are (sons and daughters of the King) and try to find power in either our old, sinful habits or ourselves. If you saw a prince rummaging through a garbage can, does that make him any less a prince? No. He may be acting incredibly foolish, but he’s still a prince. The question is not whether or not we are new creations, or whether or not we are really saved, or whether or not Christ is powerful enough to sanctify us and break our old addictions— the question is whether or not we are abiding in His life moment-by-moment. The past does not keep us in bondage and the future has no authority to intimidate us, if we can only grasp the concept of allowing Jesus’ life to flow through us continuously. And if you stop the flow in one minute, don’t give up and be discouraged! You have the very next moment to open the floodgates again.
“Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.” John 15:4
The truth is, though we are made new, we will continue to fall short of His glory for as long as we are alive on this earth. But by choosing to be sanctified in each moment of our lives, we are saying to God that He is welcome to use us as He pleases, and we become vessels through which His work can be accomplished and His power can be shown. It is then that we truly begin living as Christ did, and the old things fall away and we see them as the worthless things that they are in comparison to His glory. As we abide in Him, we show that we are, indeed, new creations, and we will live knowing the fullness of His true power.
-Kristina (Underground Grad)
The Bible says that we are new creations— our old life of sin has died, and His new life has become manifested in ours. This means that we are no longer creatures of sin, but of purity and holiness. So if we now have Christ and all of His power dwelling in us, and if our spirits have been merged with the Holy Spirit, why is it that we continue to fall so short, and often return to old failures and habits? If we have been raised to walk in the likeness of His resurrection, why is holiness such a hard concept for us to grasp, much less live out?
“I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyways.” Romans 7:19
I used to get very frustrated with this concept, especially as I personally battled against the same temptations. I would do something wrong, apologize to God, do well for a little while, and then do the same wrong thing all over again. I couldn’t get away from the past, and the future looked as though it wouldn’t be any different. Even though I would pray and ask God to deliver me from my failures, I wasn’t really changing. Why? I wasn’t abiding in Him moment-by-moment; in the words of a Hispanic, this concept was (and is) the big enchilada.
Yes, we have been made new and we have a new nature. But we also are given a choice to live in that new nature every second, every moment, of every day. We can either choose to let Christ’s life flow through us, or we can cut off the flow of that life and choose to go back and pick up the old, dead sins that have been crucified in the hopes that they will do what they once did for us. It’s like going back and trying on clothes that you’ve outgrown— they’re not going to fit right, they’re going to be incredibly uncomfortable, and they’re going to look downright hideous on you. The things that once gave us some momentary pleasure or relief will never work now that we share a life with Jesus, because we’re not who we once were. We are now in Christ’s image, and with every choice and action and emotion we must allow Him to be in control and open our lives to His power. When we don’t do this, it’s like we’ve gotten short-term amnesia, and we forget who we are (sons and daughters of the King) and try to find power in either our old, sinful habits or ourselves. If you saw a prince rummaging through a garbage can, does that make him any less a prince? No. He may be acting incredibly foolish, but he’s still a prince. The question is not whether or not we are new creations, or whether or not we are really saved, or whether or not Christ is powerful enough to sanctify us and break our old addictions— the question is whether or not we are abiding in His life moment-by-moment. The past does not keep us in bondage and the future has no authority to intimidate us, if we can only grasp the concept of allowing Jesus’ life to flow through us continuously. And if you stop the flow in one minute, don’t give up and be discouraged! You have the very next moment to open the floodgates again.
“Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.” John 15:4
The truth is, though we are made new, we will continue to fall short of His glory for as long as we are alive on this earth. But by choosing to be sanctified in each moment of our lives, we are saying to God that He is welcome to use us as He pleases, and we become vessels through which His work can be accomplished and His power can be shown. It is then that we truly begin living as Christ did, and the old things fall away and we see them as the worthless things that they are in comparison to His glory. As we abide in Him, we show that we are, indeed, new creations, and we will live knowing the fullness of His true power.
-Kristina (Underground Grad)
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Why Don’t You Do Something? (Revelations from the book of James)
“So you see, we are shown to be right with God by what we do, not by faith alone.” (James 2:24)
I have often wondered what it would be like to have the answers to everything. To know exactly how to have the perfect relationship with God, with my friends, with my family— what would it take? Because the standard is perfection, and we are called to be pure and holy, just like our righteous God. For a long time, I thought that having enough faith was always the right answer, and it would be enough to right any situation; if I believed hard enough, and “trusted” God enough, my own desires would be fulfilled and I would be able to get through anything. All I needed was a little bit of faith, right? And plus, wouldn’t God be pleased with me if I just trusted Him to make everything perfect?
While this seemed good in theory, it proved to be completely untrue. God does not want us to idly sit twiddling our thumbs while our mouths do all of the work. We cry out to Him when things don’t go our way, and yet we sit in the puddle of our own self-despair and wait for Him to clean up our mess. What sort of character does this produce? We demand answers from Him, and explanations for all of our circumstances, and say, “I believe in You! I believe You can fix this!”
Well, great! You believe! “Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror.” (James 2:19b)
The standard, like I said, is perfection. The way this is achieved is not through the stagnation of our faith, but through it’s active perseverance, as produced by all sorts of trial and hardship. “Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.” (James 1:2-4)
Endurance. As far as I’m concerned, that comes from the verb “endure”, which implicitly implies action. Actively praying, actively working, actively seeking, and actively living. The circumstances in which you find yourself will not change through simply “having enough faith”. I’m not saying that faith in and of itself can’t move mountains, because of course, it can. Matthew 17:20, “I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it would move. Nothing would be impossible.”
However, we are called to pair works and faith together, and through trusting God and carrying out His will, we will find our circumstances changing. So, what do we do, then?
“But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves.” James 1:22
-Kristina (Underground Grad)
I have often wondered what it would be like to have the answers to everything. To know exactly how to have the perfect relationship with God, with my friends, with my family— what would it take? Because the standard is perfection, and we are called to be pure and holy, just like our righteous God. For a long time, I thought that having enough faith was always the right answer, and it would be enough to right any situation; if I believed hard enough, and “trusted” God enough, my own desires would be fulfilled and I would be able to get through anything. All I needed was a little bit of faith, right? And plus, wouldn’t God be pleased with me if I just trusted Him to make everything perfect?
While this seemed good in theory, it proved to be completely untrue. God does not want us to idly sit twiddling our thumbs while our mouths do all of the work. We cry out to Him when things don’t go our way, and yet we sit in the puddle of our own self-despair and wait for Him to clean up our mess. What sort of character does this produce? We demand answers from Him, and explanations for all of our circumstances, and say, “I believe in You! I believe You can fix this!”
Well, great! You believe! “Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror.” (James 2:19b)
The standard, like I said, is perfection. The way this is achieved is not through the stagnation of our faith, but through it’s active perseverance, as produced by all sorts of trial and hardship. “Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.” (James 1:2-4)
Endurance. As far as I’m concerned, that comes from the verb “endure”, which implicitly implies action. Actively praying, actively working, actively seeking, and actively living. The circumstances in which you find yourself will not change through simply “having enough faith”. I’m not saying that faith in and of itself can’t move mountains, because of course, it can. Matthew 17:20, “I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it would move. Nothing would be impossible.”
However, we are called to pair works and faith together, and through trusting God and carrying out His will, we will find our circumstances changing. So, what do we do, then?
“But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves.” James 1:22
-Kristina (Underground Grad)
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Q & A with Pastor Francis Chan...
Below, Pastor Francis Chan (Cornerstone, CA) answers a few questions about content in his book "Crazy Love" and his overall approach to ministry. Caution! He tells it like it is:)
Q: In one chapter you state, “dare to imagine what it would mean for you to take the words of Jesus seriously.” What does this mean? Why do you think so many Christians would turn down this dare?
A: We’ve conditioned ourselves to hear messages without responding. Sermons have become Christian entertainment. We go to church to hear a well-developed sermon and a convicting thought. We’ve trained ourselves to believe that if were convicted, our job is done. If you’re just hearing the Word and not actually doing something with it, you’re deceiving yourself.
I remember preaching on Luke 6 and I brought up the passage that says: “do good to those who hate you.” I told the congregation to think of someone that hated them, and I asked: Are you willing to go do something good for them? Will you do that? Yes or no? I said, tell God right now, “No I will not do that.” We’re not willing to make that statement because we don’t want to say that to God, but we’re doing that everyday.
We don’t think it through because we’ve developed a habit of listening to the Word of God and not obeying it. If we take Scripture literally and if we actually apply it, we won’t have what our flesh desires, so we walk away sad or we run to the church where no one else is doing it, but they seem okay with that.
Q: You talk about being a lukewarm Christian. You make a bold statement that “churchgoers who are ‘lukewarm’ are not Christians...We will not see them in heaven.” How do you explain this? How does grace play into this statement?
A: I explain it through the passage of Revelation 3 and look at the passage objectively. God says that the lukewarm will be spit out of His mouth, and that is drastically different than God embracing you and welcoming you into heaven. The lukewarm still need to be saved. How can we say a lukewarm Christian is saved?
Salvation has nothing to do with my performance. If I’m truly saved than my actions are going to show. All through the New Testament a person’s faith is shown through his actions. New Testament teachings are clear that someone who loves God and doesn’t obey God is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
It’s not popular to question someone’s actions and salvation, and Scripture tells us to test ourselves and see if we’re really in the faith. I believe 100% in grace, that I did nothing, and I’m completely saved by the cross. By the grace of God we believe and are saved. If someone has the Holy Spirit in them, there will be fruit and there will not be a lukewarm life.
Q: How does the American dream play into a lukewarm faith?
A: It’s interesting when we talk about the American dream. In Luke 12, Jesus tells the parable of the rich fool. There’s this guy who is rich and has an abundance of crops. He builds bigger barns so that he can store it up. He says, “I have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink, and be merry.” Basically, he’ll retire and enjoy himself, the American dream. God says, “You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you.”
We shouldn’t worry about our lives, what we’ll eat, buy, or wear. God says the American dream is absolute foolishness. It’s exactly what Christians are doing and defending. God could take your life at any time. Don’t conform to the patterns of this world.
Q: Do you think God calls you to live a radical, crazy life?
A: It’s not that this lifestyle should be crazy to us. It should be the only thing that makes sense. Giving up everything and sacrificing everything we can for the afterlife is logical. Crazy is living a safe life and storing up things while trying to enjoy our time on earth, knowing that any millisecond God could take your life. To me that is crazy, and that is radical. The crazy ones are the ones that live life like there is no God. To me that is insanity.
Q: So how does one begin to love God more? To love him radically?
A: The fact is, I need God to help me love God. And if I need His help to love Him, a perfect being, I definitely need His help to love other, fault-filled humans. Something mysterious, even supernatural must happen in order for genuine love for God to grow in our hearts. The Holy Spirit has to move in our lives.
It is a remarkable cycle: Our prayers for more love result in love, which naturally causes us to pray more, which results in more love.
Q: In one chapter you state, “dare to imagine what it would mean for you to take the words of Jesus seriously.” What does this mean? Why do you think so many Christians would turn down this dare?
A: We’ve conditioned ourselves to hear messages without responding. Sermons have become Christian entertainment. We go to church to hear a well-developed sermon and a convicting thought. We’ve trained ourselves to believe that if were convicted, our job is done. If you’re just hearing the Word and not actually doing something with it, you’re deceiving yourself.
I remember preaching on Luke 6 and I brought up the passage that says: “do good to those who hate you.” I told the congregation to think of someone that hated them, and I asked: Are you willing to go do something good for them? Will you do that? Yes or no? I said, tell God right now, “No I will not do that.” We’re not willing to make that statement because we don’t want to say that to God, but we’re doing that everyday.
We don’t think it through because we’ve developed a habit of listening to the Word of God and not obeying it. If we take Scripture literally and if we actually apply it, we won’t have what our flesh desires, so we walk away sad or we run to the church where no one else is doing it, but they seem okay with that.
Q: You talk about being a lukewarm Christian. You make a bold statement that “churchgoers who are ‘lukewarm’ are not Christians...We will not see them in heaven.” How do you explain this? How does grace play into this statement?
A: I explain it through the passage of Revelation 3 and look at the passage objectively. God says that the lukewarm will be spit out of His mouth, and that is drastically different than God embracing you and welcoming you into heaven. The lukewarm still need to be saved. How can we say a lukewarm Christian is saved?
Salvation has nothing to do with my performance. If I’m truly saved than my actions are going to show. All through the New Testament a person’s faith is shown through his actions. New Testament teachings are clear that someone who loves God and doesn’t obey God is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
It’s not popular to question someone’s actions and salvation, and Scripture tells us to test ourselves and see if we’re really in the faith. I believe 100% in grace, that I did nothing, and I’m completely saved by the cross. By the grace of God we believe and are saved. If someone has the Holy Spirit in them, there will be fruit and there will not be a lukewarm life.
Q: How does the American dream play into a lukewarm faith?
A: It’s interesting when we talk about the American dream. In Luke 12, Jesus tells the parable of the rich fool. There’s this guy who is rich and has an abundance of crops. He builds bigger barns so that he can store it up. He says, “I have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink, and be merry.” Basically, he’ll retire and enjoy himself, the American dream. God says, “You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you.”
We shouldn’t worry about our lives, what we’ll eat, buy, or wear. God says the American dream is absolute foolishness. It’s exactly what Christians are doing and defending. God could take your life at any time. Don’t conform to the patterns of this world.
Q: Do you think God calls you to live a radical, crazy life?
A: It’s not that this lifestyle should be crazy to us. It should be the only thing that makes sense. Giving up everything and sacrificing everything we can for the afterlife is logical. Crazy is living a safe life and storing up things while trying to enjoy our time on earth, knowing that any millisecond God could take your life. To me that is crazy, and that is radical. The crazy ones are the ones that live life like there is no God. To me that is insanity.
Q: So how does one begin to love God more? To love him radically?
A: The fact is, I need God to help me love God. And if I need His help to love Him, a perfect being, I definitely need His help to love other, fault-filled humans. Something mysterious, even supernatural must happen in order for genuine love for God to grow in our hearts. The Holy Spirit has to move in our lives.
It is a remarkable cycle: Our prayers for more love result in love, which naturally causes us to pray more, which results in more love.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
What are your expectations?
I started reading this book called "The Forgotten God" by Francis Chan today. He said something that was very interesting to me.
“If you or I had never been to church before and had only read the Old and New Testament; we would have significant expectations of the Holy Spirit in our lives!”
While I understand there is a tad bit of irony in reading that in his book, it still drives home the point of how civilized the church has become (It’s ironic because, had I only read the bible I would have never read his book.)
Our expectation of the Holy Spirit is very low if not non-existent. He mentioned that if you have a charismatic speaker, a good worship band, and some hip, creative events, people will attend your church. I don’t think it’s bad to have those things, but I also think that there should be things that happen at your church that cannot be explained by lights, smoke and mirrors. Jesus said “Greater things than this you will do!”
This reminds me of a book I read when I first became passionate about the Lord called “The Barbarian way.” The main theme expressed in that book is abandon safety, and stand in the gap for Jesus Christ. A friend of mine once said “If you want to see the miracles of God; you will need the Red Sea in front of you and the Pharaoh’s army behind you.”
I said all of that to say this…What are your expectations of the Holy Spirit? Are they limited to what only man can do? Or can God only do it? Greater things than this you will do…
“If you or I had never been to church before and had only read the Old and New Testament; we would have significant expectations of the Holy Spirit in our lives!”
While I understand there is a tad bit of irony in reading that in his book, it still drives home the point of how civilized the church has become (It’s ironic because, had I only read the bible I would have never read his book.)
Our expectation of the Holy Spirit is very low if not non-existent. He mentioned that if you have a charismatic speaker, a good worship band, and some hip, creative events, people will attend your church. I don’t think it’s bad to have those things, but I also think that there should be things that happen at your church that cannot be explained by lights, smoke and mirrors. Jesus said “Greater things than this you will do!”
This reminds me of a book I read when I first became passionate about the Lord called “The Barbarian way.” The main theme expressed in that book is abandon safety, and stand in the gap for Jesus Christ. A friend of mine once said “If you want to see the miracles of God; you will need the Red Sea in front of you and the Pharaoh’s army behind you.”
I said all of that to say this…What are your expectations of the Holy Spirit? Are they limited to what only man can do? Or can God only do it? Greater things than this you will do…
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