Philippians 2:12-13
12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; 13 for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.
God's Kingdom is about action. It is going somewhere. Never static, never stale, never stagnant, always moving, always new. And if we are part of His Kingdom, we are called to action as well. We are called to be moving, working, carrying out His will on the earth.
In short, we are called to good works.
"But wait," someone will say, "we are about faith, not works!" That is where you are wrong. We are saved by faith, not by works, but we called to good works. In fact, Ephesians tells us God predestined us to good works! That we were created in Christ Jesus for good works.
Ephesians 2:10
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
So, work it out! Work out the salvation that God has worked into your life. Spread the news, share God's love, leave your sin behind and follow Him.
And here's the coolest part of all of this, it is God who works in us to will and to work. When we take that step and work it out, God works in us, and empowers us to do the work, so that we are not actually the ones working, but God is working in us! It's not about what we can do on our own, but what God can do through us.
So, here's the bottom line. His Kingdom is always moving, he has a plan he is carrying out on this earth, and we can choose to either be a part of that work, or not to be a part of that work. We can sit by on the sidelines and warm the bench for the players, or we can get in the game, and experience the thrill of the God of all creation working through us.
So work it out!
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
What's broken around us?
Nehemiah 1:1-4
The words of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah. It came to pass in the month of Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan the citadel, that Hanani one of my brethren came with men from Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews who had escaped, who had survived the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem. And they said to me, “The survivors who are left from the captivity in the province are there in great distress and reproach. The wall of Jerusalem is also broken down, and its gates are burned with fire.” So it was, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned for many days; I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven.
The book of Nehemiah was written during the Jewish exile. Basically the Israelites had disobeyed God, and God allowed them to be overtaken and sent into exile in another country. Hundreds of years had passed since the exile at this point, and a group of Jews had already returned home to Jerusalem, with the majority remaining in Persia and Babylon.
When we read this portion of the story, we see that the gates of Jerusalem remained broken down. The interesting thing about this is that people had lived there for nearly 100 years since they first returned to Jerusalem. People were living in their homes, going about their business, living day to day life, and they had become used to the walls being broken down. They saw the walls broken down every day. Many of them had even been born there, and only knew them having been broken down. They got so used to them that they no longer noticed. It may have bothered them a little bit, but they probably thought "Well, those have been broken for so long, they're never going to get fixed."
Nehemiah, however, had a tender heart and eyes to see what was broken around him, and it affected him. So much so that he wept and mourned for many days! He took notice, and it broke his heart. If you know the rest of the story, you know that God used Nehemiah to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, and to get the city back on its feet again. God took Nehemiah's brokenness about the situation and used it to create beauty and restoration and healing.
Several years back we bought a house, and were super excited about it. The only thing was that there was this wall in the hallway that was completely covered with wood shingles. It was the most hideous thing we had ever seen. Someone must have been on drugs when they put that thing up. So, when we first saw it, we said, "That has got to be one of the first things we fix..." But, we moved in, and got settled, and after a while, we got used to it, we stopped noticing it. We lived in that house for 2 years, and those shingles didn't get pulled out until we put it up for sale! We no longer took notice of them.
What are the things that have been broken down around us so long that we no longer take notice of them?
Here's an example, when I first moved to Denver in 2000, I was taken back by how many homeless people there were. I was moved by it. But, after a while, I got used to it, I got used to seeing them on every corner at rush hour, and I became apathetic. The problem seemed too big for anybody to really be able to affect it. But with God, all things are possible! (Matt. 19:26)
My prayer is that God would give us fresh eyes to see the things that have been broken around us, in our city, in our lives, and in our Church. That those things would break our hearts, that we would mourn over them, and allow God to come and use us to repair them.
Nehemiah wasn't anything special, but God used his broken heart to heal a nation. Take notice of what's broken around you. Let it break your heart. A broken heart is a heart that God can use. Do you know how long it took Nehemiah and his people to rebuild that wall? The entire wall around Jerusalem took the people 52 days to complete. A work that no one thought was possible was completed in 52 days. I don't think we could complete that wall in 52 days even with all of the advanced construction equipment we have today. God did a work, He took a broken heart and used it to do a God-sized job. Imagine what He could do with you or I if we would simply let our hearts break for what's broken around us?
Psalm 51:17-18
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit,
A broken and a contrite heart—
These, O God, You will not despise.
Do good in Your good pleasure to Zion;
Build the walls of Jerusalem.
The words of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah. It came to pass in the month of Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan the citadel, that Hanani one of my brethren came with men from Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews who had escaped, who had survived the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem. And they said to me, “The survivors who are left from the captivity in the province are there in great distress and reproach. The wall of Jerusalem is also broken down, and its gates are burned with fire.” So it was, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned for many days; I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven.
The book of Nehemiah was written during the Jewish exile. Basically the Israelites had disobeyed God, and God allowed them to be overtaken and sent into exile in another country. Hundreds of years had passed since the exile at this point, and a group of Jews had already returned home to Jerusalem, with the majority remaining in Persia and Babylon.
When we read this portion of the story, we see that the gates of Jerusalem remained broken down. The interesting thing about this is that people had lived there for nearly 100 years since they first returned to Jerusalem. People were living in their homes, going about their business, living day to day life, and they had become used to the walls being broken down. They saw the walls broken down every day. Many of them had even been born there, and only knew them having been broken down. They got so used to them that they no longer noticed. It may have bothered them a little bit, but they probably thought "Well, those have been broken for so long, they're never going to get fixed."
Nehemiah, however, had a tender heart and eyes to see what was broken around him, and it affected him. So much so that he wept and mourned for many days! He took notice, and it broke his heart. If you know the rest of the story, you know that God used Nehemiah to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, and to get the city back on its feet again. God took Nehemiah's brokenness about the situation and used it to create beauty and restoration and healing.
Several years back we bought a house, and were super excited about it. The only thing was that there was this wall in the hallway that was completely covered with wood shingles. It was the most hideous thing we had ever seen. Someone must have been on drugs when they put that thing up. So, when we first saw it, we said, "That has got to be one of the first things we fix..." But, we moved in, and got settled, and after a while, we got used to it, we stopped noticing it. We lived in that house for 2 years, and those shingles didn't get pulled out until we put it up for sale! We no longer took notice of them.
What are the things that have been broken down around us so long that we no longer take notice of them?
Here's an example, when I first moved to Denver in 2000, I was taken back by how many homeless people there were. I was moved by it. But, after a while, I got used to it, I got used to seeing them on every corner at rush hour, and I became apathetic. The problem seemed too big for anybody to really be able to affect it. But with God, all things are possible! (Matt. 19:26)
My prayer is that God would give us fresh eyes to see the things that have been broken around us, in our city, in our lives, and in our Church. That those things would break our hearts, that we would mourn over them, and allow God to come and use us to repair them.
Nehemiah wasn't anything special, but God used his broken heart to heal a nation. Take notice of what's broken around you. Let it break your heart. A broken heart is a heart that God can use. Do you know how long it took Nehemiah and his people to rebuild that wall? The entire wall around Jerusalem took the people 52 days to complete. A work that no one thought was possible was completed in 52 days. I don't think we could complete that wall in 52 days even with all of the advanced construction equipment we have today. God did a work, He took a broken heart and used it to do a God-sized job. Imagine what He could do with you or I if we would simply let our hearts break for what's broken around us?
Psalm 51:17-18
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit,
A broken and a contrite heart—
These, O God, You will not despise.
Do good in Your good pleasure to Zion;
Build the walls of Jerusalem.
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Update time!
I guess it's about time for an update, as I've only posted devos lately!
God has been so faithful! We have been down here in Denver for about 7 weeks now, and God has already done an amazing work. We moved in and got settled for 2 weeks, and then went straight into having Church in our house! It was a bit crazy at first, but I think we are getting in the groove at this point.
God has brought together such a cool group of people for our little fellowship. We've had 14 people come to our Thursday night services (not counting kids, we've had 8 kids!) , and it has been such a great time of community building and fellowship in the Lord. It's been so great to get to share a meal together each week and really talk about life and grow in the Lord together. We start with dinner at 6pm, and spend some time in fellowship, and then at 7pm we worship the Lord together in song, and spend time in the Word. God has been growing us and stretching us all to love Him and each other more in the Word (you can listen to our bible studies on the "Talks" page). We've typically had 8-10 adults here each week, as some people cannot make it every week.
We certainly did not expect that God would bless us with such sweet, quality fellowship right from the start. It's been such a blessing to be a part of.
We have named the Church, as you can probably tell by the title on the website. We are "Calvary Belmar." We chose the name "Calvary" as we were born out of the Calvary Chapel movement, and the word Calvary has such rich connotations with the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross. As our desire is to be about "Jesus Christ and Him crucified" (1 Cor. 2:2), we feel this name is appropriate. And the Belmar part, well, we are located in the Belmar area of Lakewood, so it just makes sense ;-)
Right now the things that you can pray about for us are:
- SPACE! We are already running out of space, and need some room for the kids to hang out and play, and more people to be able to sit and hang out for study. We are praying that we would either find a good solution here in our home, or be able to find a meeting place that is either free or really inexpensive.
- Continued community growth in our little body. We've already established such cool relationships, I can't imagine what God's going to do with this group, but it's going to be good! Pray that we would keep our "small church community" feel as we grow. Our heart is that people would be able to plug-in and connect with the body, not just attend church, but BE the Church (see blog post "church or Church?"). To that end, pray that we continue to engage in meaningful relationships with each other, and with the Lord.
- Matthew 9:37-38
Love, love, love... because of His Love!
Nate
God has been so faithful! We have been down here in Denver for about 7 weeks now, and God has already done an amazing work. We moved in and got settled for 2 weeks, and then went straight into having Church in our house! It was a bit crazy at first, but I think we are getting in the groove at this point.
God has brought together such a cool group of people for our little fellowship. We've had 14 people come to our Thursday night services (not counting kids, we've had 8 kids!) , and it has been such a great time of community building and fellowship in the Lord. It's been so great to get to share a meal together each week and really talk about life and grow in the Lord together. We start with dinner at 6pm, and spend some time in fellowship, and then at 7pm we worship the Lord together in song, and spend time in the Word. God has been growing us and stretching us all to love Him and each other more in the Word (you can listen to our bible studies on the "Talks" page). We've typically had 8-10 adults here each week, as some people cannot make it every week.
We certainly did not expect that God would bless us with such sweet, quality fellowship right from the start. It's been such a blessing to be a part of.
We have named the Church, as you can probably tell by the title on the website. We are "Calvary Belmar." We chose the name "Calvary" as we were born out of the Calvary Chapel movement, and the word Calvary has such rich connotations with the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross. As our desire is to be about "Jesus Christ and Him crucified" (1 Cor. 2:2), we feel this name is appropriate. And the Belmar part, well, we are located in the Belmar area of Lakewood, so it just makes sense ;-)
Right now the things that you can pray about for us are:
- SPACE! We are already running out of space, and need some room for the kids to hang out and play, and more people to be able to sit and hang out for study. We are praying that we would either find a good solution here in our home, or be able to find a meeting place that is either free or really inexpensive.
- Continued community growth in our little body. We've already established such cool relationships, I can't imagine what God's going to do with this group, but it's going to be good! Pray that we would keep our "small church community" feel as we grow. Our heart is that people would be able to plug-in and connect with the body, not just attend church, but BE the Church (see blog post "church or Church?"). To that end, pray that we continue to engage in meaningful relationships with each other, and with the Lord.
- Work for me! I have started my graphic and website design business up again to be able to provide for us, and so far God has blessed us incredibly with some work. But, please pray for our daily bread, and that God would provide enough that I wouldn't have to get another job (and, if you know someone who needs some web or graphic design work, send them to www.vervecreativedesign.com!)
- Matthew 9:37-38
Love, love, love... because of His Love!
Nate
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
What entangles you?
2 Timothy 2:4
No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier.
Imagine a soldier in Afghanistan. He gets deployed, and arrives at his new base. He works hard for a few weeks, and follows orders. The one day he decides that he's tired of living on the military base, he's going to go into town and rent a house. He lives a ways off base now, so he decides that he doesn't want to make the drive back to the base for drills or exercises, he'll just go out with the troops when they go on missions. He doesn't really spend time with his fellow soldiers, as he's got a lot to take care of at his new house in the city, he's got plants growing, and he just bought a dog that needs lots of attention. He comes in for the really important meetings to make sure he's still in the loop on the big stuff, but is nowhere to be seen for the day-to-day activities on base. He seems to show up less and less for his unit's drills and exercises.
Now, we know that in the military, this would not take place, this soldier would be declared awol for missing meetings and drills, and would be punished. But imagine if it could happen. Imagine if a soldier could do this. What would happen when the unit goes out to fight? He would be totally unprepared. He would likely be the first one taken out, because he is not connected with his unit, and doesn't know all of the calls and commands that are given. He may have had a bit of a nice life at his house in the city, but the minute he stepped out onto the battlefield, his life would be over, all because he got entangled with the affairs of the world around him, rather than being focused on his mission.
As followers of Christ, we are like soldiers on a mission. Now, our warfare is not the violent kind, it is the kind that spreads the love of God, but it is a battle nonetheless, and we are soldiers on a mission from God, each of us. So, what are you entangled in? What are the affairs of this life that you've let yourself get wrapped up in? Is it material things, a car, a house, a boat? Is is a relationship? Is it an achievement, recognition, a new position at work? What entangles you?
None of those things are bad in and of themselves, but when they get our focus off our mission, we are in trouble. Slowly we start to lose our focus on God. We start to read our bible less. We spend less time with God and with other believers. We may go to church on Sunday, but we don't connect outside of that. Our focus is on paying off the debt, or getting the new house, or impressing this or that person. We are entangled in the affairs of this world. When the battle comes, we will fall.
Remember, if you are a follower of Christ, you are a citizen of Heaven (Phil. 3:20). You are an alien here on earth. This place is not your home. It is only a temporary base that God has you stationed to carry out His mission to spread His message of love and grace to the world.
Whatever is entangling you, throw it off! Don't let it dominate your thoughts, your time or your checkbook anymore. Instead invest your energy, thoughts, time and money in the Kingdom of Heaven. Carry out your mission.
What is the mission? Love like your life depends on it. Share God's amazing love with every person you can, however you can. If we keep our focus on how good God is, it's easy to carry out our mission!
Think about it this way, if you are in a relationship with your husband or wife (boyfriend/girlfriend, etc...), you probably talk about them a lot. They come up in conversation all day long. Why? Because you love them! Because you are thinking about them, because you spend time with them. If you are in a relationship with God, shouldn't He come up just as easy? Yes, and He does. We just too often choose to leave Him out of our conversations. I did it just the other day. I had a chance to talk about what God was doing in my life with a stranger, and I passed it up. Why? Because I was nervous about it. I had my thoughts entangled with worldly cares of what people think about me.
Take chances. Love with crazy love. Live like you don't belong here.
Throw off the stuff that's entangling you and run free!
No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier.
Imagine a soldier in Afghanistan. He gets deployed, and arrives at his new base. He works hard for a few weeks, and follows orders. The one day he decides that he's tired of living on the military base, he's going to go into town and rent a house. He lives a ways off base now, so he decides that he doesn't want to make the drive back to the base for drills or exercises, he'll just go out with the troops when they go on missions. He doesn't really spend time with his fellow soldiers, as he's got a lot to take care of at his new house in the city, he's got plants growing, and he just bought a dog that needs lots of attention. He comes in for the really important meetings to make sure he's still in the loop on the big stuff, but is nowhere to be seen for the day-to-day activities on base. He seems to show up less and less for his unit's drills and exercises.
Now, we know that in the military, this would not take place, this soldier would be declared awol for missing meetings and drills, and would be punished. But imagine if it could happen. Imagine if a soldier could do this. What would happen when the unit goes out to fight? He would be totally unprepared. He would likely be the first one taken out, because he is not connected with his unit, and doesn't know all of the calls and commands that are given. He may have had a bit of a nice life at his house in the city, but the minute he stepped out onto the battlefield, his life would be over, all because he got entangled with the affairs of the world around him, rather than being focused on his mission.
As followers of Christ, we are like soldiers on a mission. Now, our warfare is not the violent kind, it is the kind that spreads the love of God, but it is a battle nonetheless, and we are soldiers on a mission from God, each of us. So, what are you entangled in? What are the affairs of this life that you've let yourself get wrapped up in? Is it material things, a car, a house, a boat? Is is a relationship? Is it an achievement, recognition, a new position at work? What entangles you?
None of those things are bad in and of themselves, but when they get our focus off our mission, we are in trouble. Slowly we start to lose our focus on God. We start to read our bible less. We spend less time with God and with other believers. We may go to church on Sunday, but we don't connect outside of that. Our focus is on paying off the debt, or getting the new house, or impressing this or that person. We are entangled in the affairs of this world. When the battle comes, we will fall.
Remember, if you are a follower of Christ, you are a citizen of Heaven (Phil. 3:20). You are an alien here on earth. This place is not your home. It is only a temporary base that God has you stationed to carry out His mission to spread His message of love and grace to the world.
Whatever is entangling you, throw it off! Don't let it dominate your thoughts, your time or your checkbook anymore. Instead invest your energy, thoughts, time and money in the Kingdom of Heaven. Carry out your mission.
What is the mission? Love like your life depends on it. Share God's amazing love with every person you can, however you can. If we keep our focus on how good God is, it's easy to carry out our mission!
Think about it this way, if you are in a relationship with your husband or wife (boyfriend/girlfriend, etc...), you probably talk about them a lot. They come up in conversation all day long. Why? Because you love them! Because you are thinking about them, because you spend time with them. If you are in a relationship with God, shouldn't He come up just as easy? Yes, and He does. We just too often choose to leave Him out of our conversations. I did it just the other day. I had a chance to talk about what God was doing in my life with a stranger, and I passed it up. Why? Because I was nervous about it. I had my thoughts entangled with worldly cares of what people think about me.
Take chances. Love with crazy love. Live like you don't belong here.
Throw off the stuff that's entangling you and run free!
Friday, July 23, 2010
Empowered by Grace
You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. - 2 Timothy 2:1 (NKJV)
What does it mean to be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus? Isn't grace just God's forgiveness?
Absolutely not! Grace is soooo much more than just forgiveness. Grace is all that God has to offer us. It is His forgiveness, His mercy, His love, His justification, and in this instance, His power.
Grace is God's power for us to live. So, when Paul is telling Timothy to be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus, he's literally saying to be empowered by Christ's grace. The word translated strong literally means to be "continually empowered."
Be continually empowered by the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
Many of us might look at that verse and miss this. We might say, "Be strong in the grace, or forgiveness, of Christ," and simply try to remind ourselves that we are forgiven (which is the truth by the way). But God wants us to move past "just forgiven" to living lives continually empowered in Christ Jesus. He wants us to move past the basics to living a life empowered by God! (Hebrews 6:1-3)
Why else would Peter tell us to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ? (2 Peter 3:18) Do we need to grow in being forgiven? No! That would mean we need to sin more, which the Bible clearly does not teach. No, we grow in the grace of God by growing in His empowerment, growing in His strength, growing in His love.
I don't know about you, but I could use to grow in the grace of Jesus. I could use to be continually empowered by the grace of Jesus Christ. I need him like I need air to breathe. I couldn't live my life good enough before I met Jesus, and I can't live it good enough since I met Him either. I need His grace to empower me. I need the grace that saved me to be the grace that gives me life.
God doesn't desire to just forgive us, but to perfect us, and we can only be perfected by His grace. Let's grow in grace together, and be continually empowered by His grace through the Spirit.
Amen!
What does it mean to be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus? Isn't grace just God's forgiveness?
Absolutely not! Grace is soooo much more than just forgiveness. Grace is all that God has to offer us. It is His forgiveness, His mercy, His love, His justification, and in this instance, His power.
Grace is God's power for us to live. So, when Paul is telling Timothy to be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus, he's literally saying to be empowered by Christ's grace. The word translated strong literally means to be "continually empowered."
Be continually empowered by the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
Many of us might look at that verse and miss this. We might say, "Be strong in the grace, or forgiveness, of Christ," and simply try to remind ourselves that we are forgiven (which is the truth by the way). But God wants us to move past "just forgiven" to living lives continually empowered in Christ Jesus. He wants us to move past the basics to living a life empowered by God! (Hebrews 6:1-3)
Why else would Peter tell us to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ? (2 Peter 3:18) Do we need to grow in being forgiven? No! That would mean we need to sin more, which the Bible clearly does not teach. No, we grow in the grace of God by growing in His empowerment, growing in His strength, growing in His love.
I don't know about you, but I could use to grow in the grace of Jesus. I could use to be continually empowered by the grace of Jesus Christ. I need him like I need air to breathe. I couldn't live my life good enough before I met Jesus, and I can't live it good enough since I met Him either. I need His grace to empower me. I need the grace that saved me to be the grace that gives me life.
God doesn't desire to just forgive us, but to perfect us, and we can only be perfected by His grace. Let's grow in grace together, and be continually empowered by His grace through the Spirit.
Amen!
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Monday, July 19, 2010
Re-kindle the fire!
2 Timothy 1:6-7 (NASB)
For this reason I remind you to kindle afresh the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.
Are you on fire for the Lord today? Do you feel His flame burning in your heart? Do you feel overcome by His presence?
Or, do you feel blah, weary, tired, worn-out? Do you feel like you've been walking on your own for too long, and you need a break?
Paul wrote these words above to his dear friend and "son" in Christ at a time when we can see that Timothy was struggling. He was wearing out and wearing thin. He had reached the end of his rope.
Paul's encouragement to Timothy is to re-kindle his gift, walk in a spirit of power and love. He's saying "Stir up those dying coals, add some fresh wood, get that fire going again!"
Often, we ask God to be set on fire for Him, or that He would stir us up and get us excited about serving Him or following Him again. But, here's the thing. God's fire, passion and zeal is always available to us. We don't need to pray really hard for Him to give it to us. It's always there! The Holy Spirit is the source of that power, of that love, of that fire, and the Spirit is ALWAYS with us. So, we always have access to that fire, that passion, that power.
Then why don't we always live in that state? Why doesn't God just keep us there, keep us fired up? Because that fire is for us to take, not for Him to force. He wants US to get the fire going! Just as Paul told Timothy to kindle afresh the gift of God in him, God is saying, "I've given you all that you need! Just use it! Fall in love with Me, pour out your heart to Me, know Me!" You see, it's knowing Jesus that sets us on fire for Him. When we know Him, we can't help but be on fire. Now, you're probably saying "I know Jesus, but I'm not fired up right now, in fact I feel burnt out!" Let me ask you this, do you "know" Jesus, or are you "knowing" Jesus? There's a difference. Saying "I know Jesus" is good, you need to know Jesus to be saved, but having met someone is different than living with someone right? Knowing Jesus is living with Him day in and day out. Waking up to Him in the morning, going to bed to Him at night. Learning about Him during the day. Knowing involves active participation in a relationship, it's more than having Him as an acquaintance. Knowing Him is experiencing Him, and you cannot experience God and not be moved.
I was pretty tired and weary the other day. Just having a rough morning, and Jen and I went to church with her mom, just to visit her church. As we started to sing worship songs, at first I didn't feel much like worshipping. The music was loud, and the sound mix wasn't very good (there's my musician brain kicking in). I just didn't feel like it. But then I started to let my guard down a little bit, I let go of my weariness and frustration. I began to move toward Jesus. And when I did that, God met me in a powerful, love filled wave of fire. It was too much for me! Being face-to-face with the God of all creation overwhelmed me and I began to cry, I couldn't keep the tears back. It was power, it was love, it was life! It was experiencing God. You cannot experience God and not be moved, but you have to be willing to experience Him.
Are you willing? Take a look in His face today. Worship Him today. Take a break and put on a worship song and sing to him. Don't let it just play in the background, actually sing out to Him. If you need to leave work during your lunch break and get in your car to be able to sing, then go do it! Take a step toward Jesus today. Re-kindle the fire in your heart. Let it burn for Him. Let yourself be overwhelmed by His presence.
For this reason I remind you to kindle afresh the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.
Are you on fire for the Lord today? Do you feel His flame burning in your heart? Do you feel overcome by His presence?
Or, do you feel blah, weary, tired, worn-out? Do you feel like you've been walking on your own for too long, and you need a break?
Paul wrote these words above to his dear friend and "son" in Christ at a time when we can see that Timothy was struggling. He was wearing out and wearing thin. He had reached the end of his rope.
Paul's encouragement to Timothy is to re-kindle his gift, walk in a spirit of power and love. He's saying "Stir up those dying coals, add some fresh wood, get that fire going again!"
Often, we ask God to be set on fire for Him, or that He would stir us up and get us excited about serving Him or following Him again. But, here's the thing. God's fire, passion and zeal is always available to us. We don't need to pray really hard for Him to give it to us. It's always there! The Holy Spirit is the source of that power, of that love, of that fire, and the Spirit is ALWAYS with us. So, we always have access to that fire, that passion, that power.
Then why don't we always live in that state? Why doesn't God just keep us there, keep us fired up? Because that fire is for us to take, not for Him to force. He wants US to get the fire going! Just as Paul told Timothy to kindle afresh the gift of God in him, God is saying, "I've given you all that you need! Just use it! Fall in love with Me, pour out your heart to Me, know Me!" You see, it's knowing Jesus that sets us on fire for Him. When we know Him, we can't help but be on fire. Now, you're probably saying "I know Jesus, but I'm not fired up right now, in fact I feel burnt out!" Let me ask you this, do you "know" Jesus, or are you "knowing" Jesus? There's a difference. Saying "I know Jesus" is good, you need to know Jesus to be saved, but having met someone is different than living with someone right? Knowing Jesus is living with Him day in and day out. Waking up to Him in the morning, going to bed to Him at night. Learning about Him during the day. Knowing involves active participation in a relationship, it's more than having Him as an acquaintance. Knowing Him is experiencing Him, and you cannot experience God and not be moved.
I was pretty tired and weary the other day. Just having a rough morning, and Jen and I went to church with her mom, just to visit her church. As we started to sing worship songs, at first I didn't feel much like worshipping. The music was loud, and the sound mix wasn't very good (there's my musician brain kicking in). I just didn't feel like it. But then I started to let my guard down a little bit, I let go of my weariness and frustration. I began to move toward Jesus. And when I did that, God met me in a powerful, love filled wave of fire. It was too much for me! Being face-to-face with the God of all creation overwhelmed me and I began to cry, I couldn't keep the tears back. It was power, it was love, it was life! It was experiencing God. You cannot experience God and not be moved, but you have to be willing to experience Him.
Are you willing? Take a look in His face today. Worship Him today. Take a break and put on a worship song and sing to him. Don't let it just play in the background, actually sing out to Him. If you need to leave work during your lunch break and get in your car to be able to sing, then go do it! Take a step toward Jesus today. Re-kindle the fire in your heart. Let it burn for Him. Let yourself be overwhelmed by His presence.
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