How big is your God?
The woman said to Him, ’Sir, You have nothing to draw [water] with, and the well is deep’ —John 4:11
Have you ever said to yourself, "I am impressed with the wonderful truths of God’s Word, but He can’t really expect me to live up to that and work all those details into my life!" When it comes to confronting Jesus Christ on the basis of His qualities and abilities, our attitudes reflect religious superiority. We think His ideals are lofty and they impress us, but we believe He is not in touch with reality—that what He says cannot actually be done. Each of us thinks this about Jesus in one area of our life or another. These doubts or misgivings about Jesus begin as we consider questions that divert our focus away from God. While we talk of our dealings with Him, others ask us, "Where are you going to get enough money to live? How will you live and who will take care of you?" Or our misgivings begin within ourselves when we tell Jesus that our circumstances are just a little too difficult for Him. We say, "It’s easy to say, ’Trust in the Lord,’ but a person has to live; and besides, Jesus has nothing with which to draw water—no means to be able to give us these things." And beware of exhibiting religious deceit by saying, "Oh, I have no misgivings about Jesus, only misgivings about myself." If we are honest, we will admit that we never have misgivings or doubts about ourselves, because we know exactly what we are capable or incapable of doing. But we do have misgivings about Jesus. And our pride is hurt even at the thought that He can do what we can’t.
My misgivings arise from the fact that I search within to find how He will do what He says. My doubts spring from the depths of my own inferiority. If I detect these misgivings in myself, I should bring them into the light and confess them openly—"Lord, I have had misgivings about You. I have not believed in Your abilities, but only my own. And I have not believed in Your almighty power apart from my finite understanding of it."
-Oswald Chambers
These thoughts by Os help me realize why God calls "belief" our work.
John 6:28-29 Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?” 29Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”
Value is in the eye of the beholder
My dead fleshly existence values whatever serves “me”. What my living spiritual existence values is what serves “others”. I could spend all day beating myself up for focusing on myself (which would be even more focusing on myself)…or…I could rest in the understanding that as I know Christ more, my desire to serve myself will slowly fade away, replaced by a desire to serve others.
If “Christ is our life”, the truth is our true “living” desire is to serve others. Let’s be conscious of our living desire to serve others every moment. God let us walk through the walls (past patterns of thinking) of our dead fleshly existence…let us see the true outcome of serving ourselves…biting into dead, lifeless and rotting fruit of the evil one…lead us to the ripe, fresh and living fruit of serving others. Help us to see our true need is serving others.
A life of serving others…there’s freedom in that. It’s not “what we do” but “why we do” what we do.
Dependence on money…it’s one of satan’s substitutes for God. It provides worldly protection, financial peace, abundant lifestyles, position and authority, pleasure, happiness and recognition. Problems is…it doesn’t quench our thirst for unconditional love & acceptance, purpose & meaning in life.
Visualize a life who’s main purpose for money was serving others…not what that life spent money on…but why that life spent the money. Is there freedom in that?
The right question
Ever asked, "God, what do you want me to do for you?" I have. I've been investigating this question lately. What can "I" do for an all-powerful, all-knowing, omni-present, infinite being that has always been and will always be?
Answer: nothing
What would He need me to do for Him?
Answer: nothing
What would He want me to do for Him?
Answer: believe in Him
John 6:28-29 28Then they asked him, "What must we do to do the works God requires?" 29Jesus answered, "The work of God is this:
to believe in the one he has sent."
Romans 4:3 What does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness."
Why does He want me to believe in Him?
Answer: because that is the gate through which we enter into AND continue in the abundant life He's given us and the instigator of our allowing Him to live that life in and through us. Belief (how big our God is) is the gas that fuels the car of faith (our decision to want what He wants for us).
So...with that said ...maybe we have the wrong question. Maybe the question for 2005 and beyond is...
What is God going to do for you?
Thinking out loud here....
He's already given us "everything we need for life and godliness" (2 Peter 1:3) through our 'knowledge of Him' (our knowing Him).
What more is there for Him to do?
Eph 1:17I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. 18I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19and his incomparably great power for us who believe.
Phil 3: 10I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.
Answer: Open our eyes to what He's already done for us and what He is doing in and through us.
What more can God do for us?
2 Peter 1:8For if you possess these qualities (see 5-7) in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.
Answer: Continually remind us.
John 14:26 But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.
What more do you want God to do for you today, tomorrow, this week, year and life?
He said He would do anything you "ask in my name (according to His will)". So...what do you want God to do for you that you know is His will?
John 14:14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.
Conscious: Having an awareness of one's environment and one's own existence.
I want to be conscious of my walking in community with other believers.
I want to be conscious of my living/being in the Kingdom of God.
I want to be conscious of His presence all around me.
I want to be conscious of His life flowing in/through me.
I want to be conscious of His peace in the midst of whatever circumstances.
I want to be conscious of Christ as my life.
I want to be conscious of His eternal, unconditional love & acceptance of me.
I want to be conscious of my mind of Christ.
That's my short list...what are some things you would add
Will we receive?
dunno…maybe it’s just me…but it seems the man with the withered hand “responded” to Jesus’ initiation to stretch it out. I used to believe man initiated God into action…not anymore. God is the initiator, man is the responder. God offers an eternal abundant life (it’s not an overcoming life it’s Christ’s life – Col 3:4)…our response is to believe the life He offers is what He says it is…because action follows belief. The only reason Abraham took his son up on the mountain to sacrifice Him is that He believed God. Moses believed before He stuck his foot in the red sea. Daniel believed before he was cast into the lions den. David believed before he went up before Goliath. If we “believe” God loves & accepts us unconditionally, wants the “best” for us, wants us to experience peace despite our circumstances…when He calls us to some end or moves us toward something we are faced with a choice. If God is who He says He is and wants for us what He says He wants for us…then…will we “receive” His offer (initiation). The gift of life must be received each moment of our existence. We must learn how to receive.
The man with the withered hand believed in Jesus and he stretched out his hand in response. The ol’ ‘overcoming’ faith seems empty to me…like a hamster running on a treadmill…lots of effort is expended without getting anywhere. It’s not our faith that big…it’s our God that’s big. If our faith was a big as a mustard seed (smallest seed in the garden), we could move mountains…seen any mountains moved lately? What’s that say about the “size” of our faith?
. <---see the speck to the left...that's my faith...magnified to the 10th power so you can see it with the naked eye...boy...that's some faith eh?
Rick
Romans 4:3 What does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”
John 6:29 Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”
Matthew 17:20He replied, “Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”
Without my contriving
I want to free what waits within me
So that what no one has dared to wish for
May for once spring clear
Without my contriving.
I believe deeply that we all yearn to free what waits within us – to celebrate our life in our work. The above poem speaks of wanting to "free what waits within me" and to do so "without my contriving." This is like the alignment of a tuning fork with the right note on the piano. When the
right note is found there is an easy and beautiful resonance. Until then, all the wrong notes create dissonance. In this dissonance there is a natural struggle to find the matching note. All the dissonance dissolves when that one right note is found. And there is only one right note in all
those keys on the piano. We need to figure out how to line up with the right note – to get out of
the way so we can let God come through us.
Pg 163 "Radical Loving Care" Erie Chapman.
The way it really is..
Not living for yourself is a very rare lifestyle, one that's foreign to man's standard mode of thinking. It's not that we're called to deprive ourselves, heck, it's when we die to ourselves that we truly "live" and walk in the abundant life... I don't really think having "all we need for life and godliness", " living the abundant life", being unconditionally loved & accepted and having true purpose and meaning in life is a self-deprivation lifestyle. It's just rare that someone "sees" life from that perspective (i.e. death = life) and desires it and goes after it headlong. It's kinda like our encountering someone born/raised in the middle east...we don't really understand their way of thinking & lifestyle. We are citizens of the Kingdom of God, ambassadors representing 'that' kingdoms way of thinking and rule in a foreign lan d...to those not "from there" it looks horrible, requiring much self-deprivation and effort...To those who "see" the kingdom of God for what it truely is...who have gone after it headlong with a faith of reckless abandon...there is peace that passes understanding, its burden is light and its requirements fit perfectly.
I was reminded this morning of the pizza place illustration. Sometimes those of us with the capability to see the Kingdom, are so acclimated to our wordly vision/version of "life" that we've not enough 'light' to see the abundance of the Kingdom. Just as you can enter Pizza Hut and initially have difficulty seeing because of the low light, you can also enter into the Satan's deceptions and begin "seeing" with wordly vision (concepts of success, peace, freedom and life). After a while, you are used to the the 'low light' of Satan's deception and begin to think such conditions/ways of thinking are normal...until...you leave the ol' pizza joint into the light.
Take a minute with me right now...what false conceptions of success, peace, freedom and life are you "seeing through" right now? Let's encourage one another with truth of the Kingdom of God.
To LIFE .
Do we truly want what He's offering?
Is our mindset such that we look forward to the reality of "Christ as our life"? Are our values, outlook and mindset such that we really value a life solely based on the life of Christ flowing through us? Do we desire to live in the reality of having been crucified with Christ and living solely through His existence? Are we really prepared for God to perform in us everything for which He separated us? And after He has done His work, are we then prepared to separate ourselves to God just as Jesus did? Sanctification means being made one with Jesus so that the nature that controlled Him will control us. Are we looking forward to that reality? Is that really the abundant life? The cost "seems" high...but aren't we really trading in the wooden nickels of our fleshly patterns/desires for the abundant wealth of His reality? If we don't desire it, do we want to? Will God place/grow His desire in us if we ask? Are we yet at a place where His reality is more desirable than the reality of man?
Does dying to self mean we are to give up all that we have in this world? If you are willing to give it all up, would you mind if all your friends jumped on the opportunity to take all that you are giving up?
Where would the origin of your worth be found if you had nothing in this world? Nothing.
Do we really see the abundant life Christ talks about as something better than the life we have now?
Jesus prayed that we might be one with Him, just as He is one with the Father (see
John 17:21-23 ). The resounding evidence of the Holy Spirit in a person's life is the unmistakable family likeness to Jesus Christ, and the freedom from everything which is not like Him. Are we prepared to set ourselves apart for the Holy Spirit's work in us?
Just some questions I've been asking of myself lately. I'm fine with dying to "myself" but what of my wife, children and friends?
That's pretty compelling
The love of God compels us. Of all that motivates our attitudes and actions there is only one true motivation that brings peace, rest and joy despite the circumstances. The schtick being so captivated by His love that it motivates/compels our every thought, attitude, action or moment.
so...
(insert your name) & Rick...
God is patient with you even when your every thought is selfish.
Jesus treats you with kindness despite your treating others poorly.
God isn't trying to take credit for your success...however you define it.
Jesus isn't thinking about Himself...His every moment is spent thinking about you and loving you into the abundant life.
God won't barge in and make you do anything, have a particular attitude or love Him. He wants you to choose Him...and He desire your choice be motivted by His love for you.
Jesus is always thinking, captivated, desiring you. That where His thoughts are right now...wanting Jerry and Rick to understand how wide, high, deep and long is the His love.
God's anger is directed at sin, because sin hurts people (and He loves them)...and even in that He is slow to anger.
God's put our sins behind His back never to be seen again. He's cast them as far as the east is from the west. He chooses to have no record of our disobedience...nothing to bring up from the past. He wants to deal with us in the present...this moment.
Jesus finds great joy when we choose to walk in the freedom He provides. He is ecstatic when a husband and wife choose to walk the spiritual journey of life together.
God is always trusting us...he never feels causcious about putting Himself out-there again. He's always hoping for the best, persevering through all of our stupidity. God is always protecting us.
that's pretty compelling...
Questioning it all
The past six years I have questioned and I'm still questioning everything I've ever concluded about God, who He is and what He wants with me. In doing so I've offended many folks who consider their opinion or the opinion of someone else (preacher, prophet, "saint") above reproach. My desire isn't to offend them but to continue in my desire to walk in the freedom of Jesus rather than the slavery of man's opinion. I believe John 16:13 teaches me to rely on the Spirit to lead me into all truth. A man, preacher, apostle may tell me what the Spirit has revealed to them about scripture or God, but for me to know what it means, I must rely on the Spirit to lead/teach me. Then, through the Spirit, I've heard from God Himself and upon that foundation I am secure. In doing so I've been ridiculed as someone who's "out there" or "on a perilous path"...If I've learned anything in the past few years I've learned that my worth, my sense of self, my identity can not come from any person, organization, group of friends or family...but solely from my place as a child of Him.
Anytime I speak, write, do anything on my own...when the ridicule or praise comes it is me who receives it. It's become a good sign for me to see when I'm acting in the flesh...for if I was doing/saying what I heard from the Father...the ridicule/praise would flow through me to Him.
A favorite saying for me when someone does something/says something that offends me is "I could do/say that"...it's the truth...and it sure knocks the "high and mightyness" right out from under me.
