After-thought on Mis-Match #1

Following on from Mis-Match #1: 'we fear death, not God', here is a wonderful quote a friend of mine sent me a while ago.

“how strange this fear of death is! we are never frightened at a sunset. / you can only come to the morning through the shadows"

Mis-Match #1: 'We fear death, not God'

Sometimes as Christians we will do anything to avoid suffering, pain and death in this world. There's insurance, health policies, medication and door locks; all of which in themselves are not bad things at all.

But what is our heart's position in all this? In our lives do we end up fearing illness, suffering and death more than the God who thought up, and brought up, this whole universe into being?

Once saved by Christ we are brought from death to life (Colossians 1:13). This doesn't mean that we won't get ill or suffer or die, but that death can never ultimately define our direction as those who have been saved, because Christ does. So there really is no need to fear death: with Christ we can wholeheartedly say "Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?"- 1 Corinthians 15:55. This assurance can never come about through anything other than a saving relationship with Jesus!

When we are told that "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom" (Psalm 9:10), it essentially tells us that when we begin to see God for who He is, we'll actually be able to see everything else for what it is.

This fear isn't an unhealthy anxiety filled knowledge of God- but rather an acknowledgment of who He is in ALL his glory, grace and power.

Right, this is all quite rushed, and my laptop battery is about to die (the irony)! So to sumerise: death doesn't deserve our fear, but God does!

Christian Mis-Matches

Hey all.

So after a short break from blogging I thought i'd start up again with a series on 'Christian Mis-Matches'.

Our world-view (how we interpret life and the world around us) can often be warped and rooted in things other than the Grace and Truth of the gospel. In light of this, as those who have entered into a relationship with Christ, we will look at six biblical truths which might challenge how we look at things.

We'll be kicking off this series with 'Fear God, not death'.

Cross and throne

A.W Tozer once wrote this...

"In every Christian's heart there is a cross and a throne, and the Christian is on the throne untill he puts himself on the cross; if he refuses the cross he remains on the throne"

Get off the throne!

I'm a bit silly/God is rich in mercy.

I'm a bit silly you see. In my wallet I have a small business card with a few words on it. It's been in there for years, and to be honest i can't even remember where I got it from. For Christmas one of my sisters got me an excellent 'flying Scotsman' leather wallet (it's a beauty!) and as I transferred all the contents of my old wallet to it I realised that I had no clue what was written on this card. Which was:

I am no longer my own but yours.
Put me to what you will,
rank me with whom you will;
put me to doing, put me to suffering;
let me be employed for you or laid aside for you;
let me be full, let me be empty.
let me have all things, let me have nothing;
I freely and wholeheartedly yield all things to your
pleasure and disposal

I couldn't believe it. I had opened up my wallet and seen its worn corners regularly but never got around to actually reading it. Literally years it had been there. Known about but un-read. Silly Billy! ;-)

Maybe our faith can sometimes be like the card in my wallet which I knew was there but never explored it further.

Have a look at Ephesian 2: 4-5...

"But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved"

Amazing!!!

Instead of living as Spiritual orphans (who claim to live in God's household and supposedly know Him as Father but actually live homeless on the street), we can now enter His house and be welcomed in the fullness of His grace through Christ :-)

Mindblowing.

Work the land

"He who works his land will have abundant food, but he who chases fantasies lacks judgement"
Proverbs 12:11

In this proverb there are two men.

One man who acknowledges what is in front of him, and works away at it.
One man who doesn't know what is in front of him, and chases fantasies.

We are told that the first man has abundant food. And that the second man lacks judgement.

This is a very simple proverb but I think it has a lot to it.

Here are some thoughts...

1. Stop seeking others 'fields' and comparing yours to theirs.
2. But be diligent and work with what God has placed in front of you right now.
3. You probably won't be in this place forever so work with it for God's Glory while you can.
4. Trust that God is Good and Gracious and that there will be abundant 'food'.

As Christians we are working together as a community for God's Glory, and God calls us all differently but by no means is this an individual tihng. It's all for the same purpose right?

"If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen."
1 Peter 4:11

Discipleship

"Since our Master Himself found it essential to rise early in the morning to pray, and jealously to guard time for quiet meditation, we may safely say that it is impossible for His followers to manage the difficult business of living without taking time, jealously guarded, to look up into the face of God, to offer our lives afresh to Him, to seek guidance for the day before us, to listen to His voice and to lift up our hearts in petition and intercession"

Quoted from the book 'Discipleship' by Leslie D. Weatherhead