from a conversation I'm having on theoooze (click link for thread).
When we begin to value what God values...
We look at the cover of People magazine with Brad Pitt & Jennifer Aniston and see suffering and strife rather than peace and prosperity.
We see a retirement account as laying up treasure here on earth...taking away our need to depend on Him daily...every moment.
We see our true motivation in all that we do/say. Our resting in His acceptance or our searching for acceptance apart from him.
There is a "quiet life" a simple-mindedness that comes from focusing on only one thing.
but alas...we are torn.
Many would tell us there is a "balance" a way of living in wordly comfort/ease and serving in the kingdom. We believe this because we want to believe it. To live a compassionate life...giving out of our abundance.
but...in living that "balanced" life our thirst is not quenched.
We hunger after that which we will not receive...because, to us, the cost out-weighs the benefit.
The people of Isreal faced it...wilderness vs promised land.
We face it today...The good life vs The Kingdom of God.
Belief isn't good enough...it gives no peace and quenches no thirst.
We hunger because we do not eat.
We thirst because we do not drink.
We work because we do not rest.
faith vs belief
A high wire artist took his act to niagra falls. A great crowd assembled to witness His ability to walk across a wire stretched out over the very edge of the falls. He walked back and forth and then rode a bicycle back and forth.
After his trip back on the bicycle, he asked the crowd if they thought he could ride across with someone on the handlebars. The crowd responded in earnest that he could do so. He asked, who will be the first to go with me?
Not one person, who moments ago express an earnest belief in his abilities, would go.
I find myself responding to God's unconditional acceptance & love, purpose & meaning for me, Rick Harris, in the same way the crowd responded to the high wire artist...belief as opposed to faith.
My relationship with God/Jesus/Holy Spirit, my reading of scripture and my conversation with others confirms my "belief" that God does unconditionally accept & love me and that He give me purpose (to know Him) and meaning (to bear fruit)...but...or rather BUT...I find myself more often than not...not depending on it...but rather seeking acceptance, love, meaning and purpose through other things (i.e. performance, talent, behavior, recognition of others, etc).
The Spirit is revealing specifics in my interaction with others, my thoughts and behavior which originate from my desire to acquire that which He has already given me. For example...
Fear
When I walk in a local coffee shop to meet a friend, my flesh immediately begins gathering information on those in the coffee shop and comparing it with myself...measuring my "status" with the others there. To ward off the uncomfortableness of walking into a crowed room, I begin talking somewhat loudly with the owner about whatever...whew...I think...I've comforted myself through establishing (and communicating to others there) that I know the owner and that he accepts me and is interested in a conversation with me. You see "I" have status now...whereas before I was just another customer.
I could walk in, consiously aware of God's acceptance, and not need the acceptance of others...and therefore not need to use my resources (time, energy, etc) to acquire that which I already have.
What could/would/should/might...God have used those resources for if I had not used them for myself?
God unconditionally accepts & loves us.
God's purpose for us is to know Him (John 17:3).
Our meaning in life is bearing fruit produced by God through our abiding (faith) in the above.
John 15:5
Not one is in America.
Click the title bar to read Wolfgang Simson's short blog.
Plowed ground
In the last six years much of my understandings and beliefs about God were plowed, turned over and aired out. Sometimes I find myself confused, unsure and wondering. It was like that Sunday morning as I kayaked across Percy Priest lake. After my workout I sat in the boat looking at the shoreline and pondering my state of mind.
As I took in the creation of a simple lake shoreline, the water, birds and occasional slap of a fish, a sense of assurance washed over me. The being who created can assuredly take care of little ol' me. I've never been freer to love and accept myself and others as I am now. I've never desired to know my creator more than I am/do now. I've never been more at rest & peace than I am now.
Sure alot of ground has been plowed under...but fertile soil deep within me has come up to the surface of my consciousness.
They simply are
"Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin"— they simply are! Think of the sea, the air, the sun, the stars, and the moon— all of these simply are as well— yet what a ministry and service they render on our behalf! So often we impair God’s designed influence, which He desires to exhibit through us, because of our own conscious efforts to be consistent and useful. Jesus said there is only one way to develop and grow spiritually, and that is through focusing and concentrating on God. (John 15:5) In essence, Jesus was saying, "Do not worry about being of use to others; simply believe on Me." In other words, pay attention to the Source, and out of you "will flow rivers of living water" ( John 7:38 ). We cannot discover the source of our natural life through common sense and reasoning, and Jesus is teaching here that growth in our spiritual life comes not from focusing directly on it, but from concentrating on our Father in heaven. Our heavenly Father knows our circumstances, and if we will stay focused on Him, instead of our circumstances, we will grow spiritually— just as "the lilies of the field."
The people who influence us the most are not those who detain us with their continual talk, but those who live their lives like the stars in the sky and "the lilies of the field"— simply and unaffectedly.
-Oswald Chambers
Discussion: Is knowing the Father the initiator of His working within you/us?
Good for the soul but hard on the reputation
Confession...
Concerning my previous post about resting in His unconditional acceptance & love.
Monday night I was priviledged to attend the Wilson county police department's traffic school. The attending officer involved the class in discussion over many different aspects of driving about which he would quiz us prisoners (er attendees). He called on me three times...THREE TIMES!! My pride got the best of me on each occasion. I was sure he framed the questions to trick us into the embarrasment of answering incorrectly (part of our punishment, I thought). The questions were all straight forward but my reading too much into them tripped me up and I didn't answer the first one correctly. On the way home I reviewed over and over just how big a fool I was in the eyes of all the other attendees. Through various mental gymnastics I began to plan how to "make myself 'feel' better" through doing well in an area that others would applaud rather than snicker.
On my bike ride into work this morning, the Spirit was reminding me that He loved and accepted me as the fool, the prideful and the schemer of last night. I even found myself saying outloud into the wind "Jesus loves me in my foolish acts and my prideful scheming". As I embraced that truth my searching and scheming to fill my sense of embarrasment was replaced by a confidence in a worth that wasn't dependent on me, my thoughts or actions but on a loving, kind & merciful God who desires beyond all that I rest in Him.
yes...confession is good for the soul...ta hell with my reputation.
Overflowing with energy & time
The bible's epic story is God's unconditional acceptance and love, and His desire to know each one of us in an intimate personal relationship. There is no truth, higher learning, more sophisticated understanding or enlightenment other than God's unconditional acceptance and love of you...that's why it says we need the power of God...to know how wide, deep, long and high is His acceptance and love.
In our humaness we are motivated by a pursuit of acceptance, love, worth and meaning. We seek them in friendships, family, sports/recreation, the workplace, society, everything and everywhere...it's what drives us.
We have them. Yep...WE HAVE THEM...in our most significant relationship with our most important person, God-Christ-Holy Spirit...but our search continues. We don't rest in His unconditional acceptance and love because we don't value it as much as the
conditional acceptance and love of others.
What would life be like if our need for unconditional acceptance and love was satisfied? What would motivate/drive us then?
In our human existance we have a limited amount of energy and time. Seeking unconditional acceptance and love is the major user of these limited resources. Resting in His unconditional acceptance and love frees up huge amounts of energy and time...but...to what end?
What happens with our energy and time freed up from resting in His unconditional acceptance/love?
It pours out...like filling a glass (us) with water and not stopping when the glass is full but continuing to fill it...the water overflows and gets all that's near it wet. When we receive and rest in His unconditional acceptance and love...it overflows and gets everybody around us "wet" (covered with His love). Our energy and time spills out in unconditional acceptance and love of those around us...like it says...faith expressing itself in love.
