I was pondering the other day what it really means to please God. Most people in the Christian religion today are quite preoccupied with trying to please God. Somehow it seems we have this idea that if we please God enough then He'll bless us. Of course, if asked directly we may say that doing good doesn't get us into heaven because we know it's not all about works (the Bible flat-out says it isn't). Why should it be any different while we live on earth? Why should God reward or punish us based on our works while we live on earth, but when it comes to eternity, now we can rely on Christ's sacrifice?
This is not to say works are unimportant. After all, James says that faith without works is dead. But, even though it isn't directly stated in so many words, the Bible also says that works without faith is dead. Hebrews 11:6 says that without faith it is impossible to please God. What then? Again, it is the thermometer vs compass aspect. James says "Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works."
Hebrews 11 also says that God rewards those who believe Him. So then, we are awarded for faith and not for works; and our faith produces works as a natural byproduct. HOWEVER, it is important to realize that just as we are not capable of doing good enough works to please God, so we also cannot manufacture faith that pleases God. I have heard people try to "psych" themselves up into faith. They think that if they say they have faith and do crazy things and call it "stepping out on faith" that it will somehow produce faith. But what does the Bible say? "Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God."
This was a very interesting concept for me when I first began to grasp it. I decided to try it out. I got on Bible Gateway and listened to my daily Bible reading while reading along. The results were stunning! I can't even begin to explain the faith that welled up in me. Just simply by hearing the Bible read aloud rather than silently reading inside my head. Now, that is not to say that if you read your Bible aloud every day that your problems will be over--you will have faith a'plenty and the works to go along with it. No, you still have to exercise and grow your faith and act upon it. But there is just something about hearing the truth aloud that just drowns out all the lies. What does Ephesians say about the shield of faith? "[with it] you will be able to extinguish ALL the fiery darts of the wicked one."
There are many more things to be said about faith, but I don't want to write a novel here and overwhelm my readers. And I feel like with all I've learned I am still only beginning to scratch the surface. Next time I plan to tackle a bit more of the works aspect. Do your works show that you believe in God? Do you try to motivate faith with works or do you simply believe and act accordingly? Think about it.
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Friday, September 16, 2011
It's nice to know you're not alone
I read this wonderful blog post this morning. And it sounded familiar. But some people have a better way with words. Or maybe it just sounds better coming from someone else
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Fruit Salad
This post is sort of related to the last one. I brushed across the tip of the subject, anyway. I had said that you can tell what your priorities are by looking at where you invest your resources. In the same way you can tell what you are on the inside by what shows up on the outside.
Jesus said "by their fruits you shall know them." In that context, though it is unpopular to say this, Jesus was talking about evaluating teachers as to whether or not they were false. I say it is unpopular because so many people start hollering "JUDGE NOT" when you talk about whether someone is *actually* preaching the gospel or not. However, they never quite finish that verse either. But that's a topic for another day. The point is, you can tell an apple tree by whether it produces apples. If it produces oranges, you can pretty much bank on the fact it is indeed not an apple tree.
Jesus also said in the same passage that good trees bear good fruit and bad trees bear bad fruit.
Then in the Parable of the soils, Jesus speaks of the fertile soil causing the seed to bear fruit.
Oh, and then there's the part where Jesus says that He's the vine and we're the branches and if we abide in Him we'll bear MUCH fruit.
Come to think of it, the Bible talks a lot about fruit. The point is, the fruit of your life is very important. Let's take the aforementioned fruit we bear through Christ, for example. Basically Jesus is saying, if you're a Christian, people are going to be able to take a look at your fruit and say "woah! That guy's a Christian!" It's going to be obvious. If you don't have fruit, it means you're not abiding in the vine. So again, this is the thermometer by which I can guage my life. Am I bearing fruit for the Kingdom of God? If not, maybe I'm not getting sap from the vine.
Now let's look at the fruits of the spirit. In sunday school you learn about the fruits of the spirit. They're cute little fruit characters. Nine of them. A nice little fruit salad, they make. Aside from the fact this caused me to have a distored view of fruits as a child, I also grossly misunderstood how the fruits of the spirit worked. You see, I always learned "You have to be loving, have joy, peace, and patience, be kind" etc. It was all doing and being. But does an apple tree have to *try* to produce apples? Or does it just do so naturally, so long as it is a healthy tree? Does a gardener have to do something special to make the apple tree specifically produce apples rather than, say, bananas? There's no guesswork involved. Apple trees bear apples. Period. You know it's an apple tree because it has apples, you don't have to hang apples on it to make an apple tree. Fruit is the thermometer, not the compass.
That being said, the list of the fruits of the spirit (which, incidentally are preceded by the fruits of the flesh) is *not* an exhaustive list. The preceding list of the fruits of the flesh is not exhuastive list either. But Paul throws out several so you have an idea of what he's talking about. And he's not saying "do these things to stop sinning" or "do these things to be spiritual." He's saying "Do you do these things? That's because you follow after the flesh or spirit respectively."
This all may be a bit of an "of duh" moment for some of you. Or for some of you it may be an "oh wow" moment. For me it was an epiphany the first time I read Galatians through like it was intended to be read. Everything made so much more sense. Instead of trying to do the right things, all I had to do was follow the Spirit. And if I ever wondered whether I was walking in the spirit all I had to do was look at the fruit my life was producing. Amazing! What a relief to not have to worry about following a list of do's and don'ts, and what freedom!
This what God intends for us. Not a list of rules, but an abiding in the vine--a walking in the spirit-- whereby we know in our hearts and by the fruit of our lives that we are doing what God ultimately wants from us. THAT is true relationship. Not the little cliché about religion vs relationship (can you tell I hate clichés?). The real deal.
What does your fruit say about you? Are you abiding in the vine, or are you a sickly branch? Are you bearing good fruit that indicates the spirit root or are you bearing bad fruit that indicates a flesh-focused root? Think about it.
Jesus said "by their fruits you shall know them." In that context, though it is unpopular to say this, Jesus was talking about evaluating teachers as to whether or not they were false. I say it is unpopular because so many people start hollering "JUDGE NOT" when you talk about whether someone is *actually* preaching the gospel or not. However, they never quite finish that verse either. But that's a topic for another day. The point is, you can tell an apple tree by whether it produces apples. If it produces oranges, you can pretty much bank on the fact it is indeed not an apple tree.
Jesus also said in the same passage that good trees bear good fruit and bad trees bear bad fruit.
Then in the Parable of the soils, Jesus speaks of the fertile soil causing the seed to bear fruit.
Oh, and then there's the part where Jesus says that He's the vine and we're the branches and if we abide in Him we'll bear MUCH fruit.
Come to think of it, the Bible talks a lot about fruit. The point is, the fruit of your life is very important. Let's take the aforementioned fruit we bear through Christ, for example. Basically Jesus is saying, if you're a Christian, people are going to be able to take a look at your fruit and say "woah! That guy's a Christian!" It's going to be obvious. If you don't have fruit, it means you're not abiding in the vine. So again, this is the thermometer by which I can guage my life. Am I bearing fruit for the Kingdom of God? If not, maybe I'm not getting sap from the vine.
Now let's look at the fruits of the spirit. In sunday school you learn about the fruits of the spirit. They're cute little fruit characters. Nine of them. A nice little fruit salad, they make. Aside from the fact this caused me to have a distored view of fruits as a child, I also grossly misunderstood how the fruits of the spirit worked. You see, I always learned "You have to be loving, have joy, peace, and patience, be kind" etc. It was all doing and being. But does an apple tree have to *try* to produce apples? Or does it just do so naturally, so long as it is a healthy tree? Does a gardener have to do something special to make the apple tree specifically produce apples rather than, say, bananas? There's no guesswork involved. Apple trees bear apples. Period. You know it's an apple tree because it has apples, you don't have to hang apples on it to make an apple tree. Fruit is the thermometer, not the compass.
That being said, the list of the fruits of the spirit (which, incidentally are preceded by the fruits of the flesh) is *not* an exhaustive list. The preceding list of the fruits of the flesh is not exhuastive list either. But Paul throws out several so you have an idea of what he's talking about. And he's not saying "do these things to stop sinning" or "do these things to be spiritual." He's saying "Do you do these things? That's because you follow after the flesh or spirit respectively."
This all may be a bit of an "of duh" moment for some of you. Or for some of you it may be an "oh wow" moment. For me it was an epiphany the first time I read Galatians through like it was intended to be read. Everything made so much more sense. Instead of trying to do the right things, all I had to do was follow the Spirit. And if I ever wondered whether I was walking in the spirit all I had to do was look at the fruit my life was producing. Amazing! What a relief to not have to worry about following a list of do's and don'ts, and what freedom!
This what God intends for us. Not a list of rules, but an abiding in the vine--a walking in the spirit-- whereby we know in our hearts and by the fruit of our lives that we are doing what God ultimately wants from us. THAT is true relationship. Not the little cliché about religion vs relationship (can you tell I hate clichés?). The real deal.
What does your fruit say about you? Are you abiding in the vine, or are you a sickly branch? Are you bearing good fruit that indicates the spirit root or are you bearing bad fruit that indicates a flesh-focused root? Think about it.
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Priorities: treasures of the heart
Idol-worship. Idolatry. Tricky word. What does it bring to your mind? Not long ago the term "idol worship" would trigger in my mind an image of some sort of pagan worship-- something akin to the Israelite's golden calf on Sinai, or the grand temples we read about in the Bible and other History books, dedicated to all sorts of "gods" made of stone. The first two commandments clearly put the nix on that sort of thing. So I thought I was safe. But is that what idolatry really is? Yes. But no. Certainly, cutting wood or stone into an image and bowing down and paying homage to it is idolatry. But that's not all idolatry is.
Recently I came across a very eye-opening video on this subject:
<iframe width="560" height="345" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/QPil9Br-5lE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
This video struck me pretty deeply because it resonated with something God had been showing me. My idol is not necessarily a physical carved image, and it's not necessarily something I consciously think about being "greater than God" per se. In fact, in our culture more often than not that is not the case. My idols are much subtler than that. People I love, my job, social status, entertainment, leisure, hobbies, sports, money or possessions--literally anything in my life can be my idol.
How can I tell what my idol is? Simple: What's my priorty? Where do I focus my energies and resources? What do I think about or look forward to all the time? Jesus put it quite well in Matthew 6:21, "where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." So, looking for your treasure? Where's your heart? Looking for your heart? Where's your treasure? They hang out together like kids dating in school-- one is never far from the other.
I became terribly convicted when I realized where my treasure was. I didn't save up my money to support God's work. I didn't look forward with anticipation to "devotions" time. I didn't spend all my time thinking about God and praying. It was all about me. And I realized something: These things I was seeing were the thermometer, not the compass. The places I put my energies and resources were the fruit of the tree of a me-centered life, not the other way around. If I tried to make myself do all the right things I was going to fail. The only way to change the fruit is to change the root-- rather than being me-centered, I must put the focus on God and HIS kingdom, then the fruit I bear will be for HIS glory. How freeing to realize!
Where are your priorities? When was the last time you had to drag yourself away from your Bible to watch TV? Would you rather go boating with friends or serve the needy in the name of Christ? Are you committed to understanding and learning more about God? Or are you busy chasing the temporal? Think about it.
Recently I came across a very eye-opening video on this subject:
<iframe width="560" height="345" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/QPil9Br-5lE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
This video struck me pretty deeply because it resonated with something God had been showing me. My idol is not necessarily a physical carved image, and it's not necessarily something I consciously think about being "greater than God" per se. In fact, in our culture more often than not that is not the case. My idols are much subtler than that. People I love, my job, social status, entertainment, leisure, hobbies, sports, money or possessions--literally anything in my life can be my idol.
How can I tell what my idol is? Simple: What's my priorty? Where do I focus my energies and resources? What do I think about or look forward to all the time? Jesus put it quite well in Matthew 6:21, "where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." So, looking for your treasure? Where's your heart? Looking for your heart? Where's your treasure? They hang out together like kids dating in school-- one is never far from the other.
I became terribly convicted when I realized where my treasure was. I didn't save up my money to support God's work. I didn't look forward with anticipation to "devotions" time. I didn't spend all my time thinking about God and praying. It was all about me. And I realized something: These things I was seeing were the thermometer, not the compass. The places I put my energies and resources were the fruit of the tree of a me-centered life, not the other way around. If I tried to make myself do all the right things I was going to fail. The only way to change the fruit is to change the root-- rather than being me-centered, I must put the focus on God and HIS kingdom, then the fruit I bear will be for HIS glory. How freeing to realize!
Where are your priorities? When was the last time you had to drag yourself away from your Bible to watch TV? Would you rather go boating with friends or serve the needy in the name of Christ? Are you committed to understanding and learning more about God? Or are you busy chasing the temporal? Think about it.
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