Sometimes I find it so easy to let my “used to be” (you know, the me without God) speak to who I am now. I wallow in my shame, sadness and loss. That’s not the greif that God desires for us or that Jesus made possible for us. Again, that’s the old way and the [...]
Sometimes I find it so easy to let my “used to be” (you know, the me without God) speak to who I am now. I wallow in my shame, sadness and loss. That’s not the greif that God desires for us or that Jesus made possible for us. Again, that’s the old way and the old way leads to death. Though I may still be alive, I might be better off dead if I live there, living a dead life.
No, God in all His mercy and love sent His Son to lift me out of the pit (and to add me to His team of lifters) so I would no longer have to live in that kind of greif. In the new life I have greif that leads to life, that moves me forward in becoming who I am to be.
No regrets!
For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death 2 Corinthians 7:10
In 2010 there are a few goals that I have – some are personal and some are God goals. God has put on my heart and in my mind, “Prayer”. He has been working on me for a while in this area . . . last year I listened to a series by John Eldredge & Ransomed Heart called “Hope of Prayer”, and I could feel the kindling start to smolder. At the beginning of this year it feels like a gigantic pile of brush doused in gasoline so I’m going to drop the match on it and dig deeper, follow Him.
I am going to start with “attending” the “Hope of Prayer” seminar (via the mp3’s on my iPhone) and then journal my notes, thoughts, questions and revelations here. I would love to hear your thoughts, experiences & insights.
If you would like to join me on this journey (or just have one of your own) you can get this “seminar” at the Daily Audio Bible Resource Page or at the Ramsomed Heart Website on CD (or as a download).
The other “goals” on my heart for this year are Grace, Health, Finances, resolution.
Representing God to the world. Now that’s a task. I was listening to a message from Francis Chan about grace and he said:
Even though I may say he’s a God of grace, if I don’t represent him and show grace to everyone, I’m giving a distorted picture of God.
When I first heard that statement I thought, “right on!” Isn’t this just what we, as followers of Christ need to be doing? How many people do I know who have been turn off a path towards God by the church misrepresenting who God is? Later that day I was discussing it with a friend and they brought up the issue that we can’t really do that – only God can, because of our fallen nature.
So, is it too much to take on, accurately representing God to the world? Ultimately, yes. We are all fallen and even at our best we do not give a true representation of God . . . whatever it is we do or say, He is so much more! So what am I to do?
Pray! Again, He can do so much more and He chooses to us in that doing.
Francis Chan is the Non-Staff Elder & Teaching Pastor at Cornerstone, Simi Valley, CA and author of “Crazy Love”. Message podcasts are available at their PodCast Page.
