Acts 9 is where you find the story of Saul and how Jesus encountered him. It's a story worth reading if you haven't before and worth reading again if you have. It's a story of a un-deniable (especially to those involved) interaction between Jesus and Saul which completely converts a religous zealout who hated and persecuted Christians to a Christian himself. The conversion is so complete that Paul spends the rest of his days spreading the word of Jesus enduring beatings, stoning, shipwrecks, imprisonment and finally death.
Are you waiting for that Saul-Paul moment in your life? I think there are a lot of people who are. Are you looking for the un-deniable interaction; a moment that once happens; you know would change your life?
Would we recognize it if we saw it? Would I, would you?
2 Samuel 22:26 and Psalms 18:25 both state "To the faithful you show yourself faithful..."
Remember that Saul was very faithful to God; he followed all the rules, he knew the Bible (the first five books of the Bible) like the back of his hand. What Saul didn't know, what he didn't understand was that Jesus was God. It took a very impressive show of God to show Saul the error of his ways.
What are you doing with your life while you wait for that moment? Are you showing yourself faithful?
Friday, May 14, 2010
Monday, May 10, 2010
Hebrews 12:2-7
Hebrews 12:2-3 - Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
Hebrews 12:4-7 - In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons: "My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son." Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father?
The other day I heard the concept of the "passive wrath of God" for the first time. The passive wrath of God would look something like this: You are born, without blemish, perfect in every way. You have an amazing life with no hunger, no pain, no struggles with sin, no sickness, no un-met needs, no wants and no untimely death or sorrow. Basically the world at your finger tips, you appear to be blessed. You die and when judged, the Lord says I knew you NOT and you are cast into the firey pit. You went through life with no need to turn to God, no need to rely on Him. This would be the passive wrath of God.
Foruntately for us He loves us and wants us to learn to rely on Him. He places opportunities in our lives to come closer to Him, to learn to depend on Him and to love him. Opportunities you say? Yes!
In our hardships he is perfecting our faith, in our struggles with sin, the pain we endure from a lost love one, from what ever is going on in your life, He is teaching us to rely soley on Him and not our own devices. He is calling us closer and closer to Him.
Romans 8:18 - I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.
Don't let your suffering get you down, rejoice in it knowing that it's bringing you closer to God and that none of it will compare with the glory of God.
Hebrews 12:4-7 - In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons: "My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son." Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father?
The other day I heard the concept of the "passive wrath of God" for the first time. The passive wrath of God would look something like this: You are born, without blemish, perfect in every way. You have an amazing life with no hunger, no pain, no struggles with sin, no sickness, no un-met needs, no wants and no untimely death or sorrow. Basically the world at your finger tips, you appear to be blessed. You die and when judged, the Lord says I knew you NOT and you are cast into the firey pit. You went through life with no need to turn to God, no need to rely on Him. This would be the passive wrath of God.
Foruntately for us He loves us and wants us to learn to rely on Him. He places opportunities in our lives to come closer to Him, to learn to depend on Him and to love him. Opportunities you say? Yes!
In our hardships he is perfecting our faith, in our struggles with sin, the pain we endure from a lost love one, from what ever is going on in your life, He is teaching us to rely soley on Him and not our own devices. He is calling us closer and closer to Him.
Romans 8:18 - I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.
Don't let your suffering get you down, rejoice in it knowing that it's bringing you closer to God and that none of it will compare with the glory of God.
Monday, May 3, 2010
Are you following your calling?
Matthew 3:15 Jesus replied, "Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fullfill all righteousness"
I'm not sure about your Bible, but in my Bible these are the first words in RED. This is the first direct quote from Jesus (at least in the ordering of the books of the Bible) in the Bible.
Jesus came to be baptized by John the Baptizer and John said "I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?" John's calling was to prepare the way for the Lord (Isaiah 40:3) and part of that calling included baptizing Jesus.
Are you pursuing your calling or your potential? There are so many things each of us have the potential to do in this lifetime. The number of things we can do, that we can pursue are endless. We can get so caught up in that "keeping up with the Jones'" pursuit of our potential that we forget to pursue our calling.
I think it's very fitting that the first words in red are Jesus telling John to continue in his calling to prepare the way of the Lord. Now if John wouldn't have pursued his calling, I'm sure that God would have figured something else out, someone else would have baptized Jesus. So He doesn't need us to pursue our calling to accomplish his work, but he wants us to pursue our calling to accomplish his work.
How much more fruitfull would be pursuing your calling versus your potential? How much more happy would you be?
Are you following your calling?
"Let it be so now..."
I'm not sure about your Bible, but in my Bible these are the first words in RED. This is the first direct quote from Jesus (at least in the ordering of the books of the Bible) in the Bible.
Jesus came to be baptized by John the Baptizer and John said "I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?" John's calling was to prepare the way for the Lord (Isaiah 40:3) and part of that calling included baptizing Jesus.
Are you pursuing your calling or your potential? There are so many things each of us have the potential to do in this lifetime. The number of things we can do, that we can pursue are endless. We can get so caught up in that "keeping up with the Jones'" pursuit of our potential that we forget to pursue our calling.
I think it's very fitting that the first words in red are Jesus telling John to continue in his calling to prepare the way of the Lord. Now if John wouldn't have pursued his calling, I'm sure that God would have figured something else out, someone else would have baptized Jesus. So He doesn't need us to pursue our calling to accomplish his work, but he wants us to pursue our calling to accomplish his work.
How much more fruitfull would be pursuing your calling versus your potential? How much more happy would you be?
Are you following your calling?
"Let it be so now..."
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