Are you exposed to the Word of God or do you really intake the Word of God? The difference between the two may not often be seen by the casual look of someone else, but there is a vast difference in the stability of your life!
Most of us are familiar with Jesus’ story of the two men who built houses, one on a rock and the other on sand. When the storm came only one house was left standing. The fellow who thought that the sandy beach was a perfect place for his house found out that it was truly a faulty foundation to build on. His house was destroyed.
I have to admit that all of the sermons that I have heard on this story and several sermons that I have preached have given emphasis only to how Jesus is the Rock – the one and only foundation to build a life on. How true – How true! Yet His story goes beyond just knowing and trusting Him as Savior. It has everything to do with following Him as Lord and obeying God’s Word. Remember ole Jonah, a prophet of the Lord? He may have been familiar with God’s Word but he sure wasn’t obeying it and applying it to his own life. And that sandy and slippery slope of his life just about did him in when the storm hit. Personally, I am one of those who believe that he really did die in the belly of the fish and God raised him from the dead. Nevertheless, the fact is he had been exposed to God’s Word but did not intake it into his life.
I believe The Message paraphrase emphasizes this point quite pointedly. Can I recommend that you read the following slowly and meditatively, seeking to evaluate your life as to your response to God’s Word – are you just exposing your life to it or are you making sure you intake, digest and apply God’s Word?
“These words I speak to you are not incidental additions to your life, homeowner improvements to your standard of living. They are foundational words, words to build a life on. If you work these words into your life, you are like a smart carpenter who built his house on solid rock. 25 Rain poured down, the river flooded, a tornado hit—but nothing moved that house. It was fixed to the rock. 26 "But if you just use my words in Bible studies and don't work them into your life, you are like a stupid carpenter who built his house on the sandy beach. 27 When a storm rolled in and the waves came up, it collapsed like a house of cards.” Matt 7:24-27 (MSG)
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Peeling An Onion
Why is forgiveness so hard? Could it be that you never have to forgive someone for something that doesn’t matter? Think about it…you never have to forgive someone for helping you or making you feel good. The times you and I have to forgive are occasions when we’ve been hurt. Forgiving someone who has hurt us is very difficult indeed.
One of the words for forgiveness in the New Testament is macrothumia. This is a compound word of macro meaning “big” and thumia meaning “to set aside your anger” Thus, macrothumia means “to completely set aside your anger”. This is a conscious decision you make with your will. Long before your feelings change toward another person, God commands us to forgive – macrothumia – to set aside our anger toward that person.
Forgiveness is not a onetime event. It needs to be done repeatedly. It’s like peeling an onion. I initially decide to set aside my anger toward someone who has hurt me. I peel off a layer. But, guess what I still have left? More onion – more to be forgiven – more anger to set aside. So I forgive, and then something comes up. Something reminds me of what that person has done. And I get mad. So what do I do now? I peel another layer off the onion. I forgive again.
And if it’s a fresh wound I may have to forgive 5-6 times a day. If it’s an older wound, I might feel myself having feelings to set aside every few weeks, or maybe every few years.
Sometimes when you peel an onion, tears come. That doesn’t happen every time, but often. It’s the same with forgiveness. Tears may be a part of the process – we are seeking to deal with the hurt, aren’t we?
When you forgive, realize that you have to forgive the same offense more than once – keep peeling off layers. Now this is not because an offense needs to be forgiven multiple times. No, it’s because you need to set aside your anger multiple times. We need to keep on forgiving. How many times? Jesus says in Matthew 18:22 that we need to forgive 77 times [in the NIV and the KJV says 7 X 70 or 490 times]. The message is that we need to forgive as many times as is necessary for us set aside our anger…again and again and again.
Forgiving someone is a process – peeling an onion layer by layer. Over time as we repeatedly set aside our anger – when we remember the hurt [you won’t forget it] it doesn’t hurt as much as it used to. Our emotions don’t heal by themselves so we have to make the conscious decision to set aside our anger over and over again. And over time God will honor our choice to forgive by healing the hurt little by little.
Isn’t there an onion in your life that you need to peel?
One of the words for forgiveness in the New Testament is macrothumia. This is a compound word of macro meaning “big” and thumia meaning “to set aside your anger” Thus, macrothumia means “to completely set aside your anger”. This is a conscious decision you make with your will. Long before your feelings change toward another person, God commands us to forgive – macrothumia – to set aside our anger toward that person.
Forgiveness is not a onetime event. It needs to be done repeatedly. It’s like peeling an onion. I initially decide to set aside my anger toward someone who has hurt me. I peel off a layer. But, guess what I still have left? More onion – more to be forgiven – more anger to set aside. So I forgive, and then something comes up. Something reminds me of what that person has done. And I get mad. So what do I do now? I peel another layer off the onion. I forgive again.
And if it’s a fresh wound I may have to forgive 5-6 times a day. If it’s an older wound, I might feel myself having feelings to set aside every few weeks, or maybe every few years.
Sometimes when you peel an onion, tears come. That doesn’t happen every time, but often. It’s the same with forgiveness. Tears may be a part of the process – we are seeking to deal with the hurt, aren’t we?
When you forgive, realize that you have to forgive the same offense more than once – keep peeling off layers. Now this is not because an offense needs to be forgiven multiple times. No, it’s because you need to set aside your anger multiple times. We need to keep on forgiving. How many times? Jesus says in Matthew 18:22 that we need to forgive 77 times [in the NIV and the KJV says 7 X 70 or 490 times]. The message is that we need to forgive as many times as is necessary for us set aside our anger…again and again and again.
Forgiving someone is a process – peeling an onion layer by layer. Over time as we repeatedly set aside our anger – when we remember the hurt [you won’t forget it] it doesn’t hurt as much as it used to. Our emotions don’t heal by themselves so we have to make the conscious decision to set aside our anger over and over again. And over time God will honor our choice to forgive by healing the hurt little by little.
Isn’t there an onion in your life that you need to peel?
Monday, September 21, 2009
Humidifier or Dehumidifier?
The other day I escaped from the office and went to the basement parlor of the church to have some quiet time with the Lord. It's good to get away from the phone and possible visitors on occasion to clear my head, to think through and pray about the ministries of our church. Now when I say "quiet time" in this instance I don't mean "silence" because that is not the case in my choice of locations. Like many other basement situations we are blessed with a good bit of moisture in the air and therefore we've placed several dehumidifiers downstairs. So while the Lord and I were enjoying some intimate time together there was a constant drone in the background as the dehumidifiers did their needed work.
At one point in our conversation my mind began to wander [I'm sure you don't have that problem]. It wasn't that the drone was getting on my nerves, it was just that it was SO, SO constant, and my mind began to focus on what was taking place outside the room I was in. I started giving thought to how the machine was sucking the water right out of the air. Then I began to think about the number of dehumidifiers we have and that all three need to be emptied at least once each day. That's a lot of water being drawn out of the atmosphere.
As I said, my mind was wandering, but it was a directed wandering. How do I know that? Well, the Holy Spirit immediately filled my thoughts with Scriptures about how God [Jeremiah 2:13], Jesus [John 4:7-13], and the Holy Spirit Himself [John 7:38-39] are descibed in terms of water. And with those descriptions are words like "spring of living water" and "spring of water welling up" and "streams of living water that will flow from within him". The whole idea is that God's life is to infiltrate, fill and flow through our life.
Then the arrow of God's conviction struck my heart as He said, "Steve, you are allowing too many things to suck my life right out of your living and ministry. There are too many dehumidifiers and I'm not able to fill and flow through you. I want you to be a Humidifier that injects Me into all areas of your life and into your relationships with others. It's time to shut down the dehumidifiers that are draining you spiritually"
Can you relate with any of this? Now the Lord and I are going to have to do our own personal work about turning off the dehumidifiers on this end, so that He can expand His territory and control of me and my situations. But, how about on your end? Do you need to let the Lord lead in some directed wandering as you think about what is hindering the Water of Life from filling and flowing through you?
Pastor Steve
At one point in our conversation my mind began to wander [I'm sure you don't have that problem]. It wasn't that the drone was getting on my nerves, it was just that it was SO, SO constant, and my mind began to focus on what was taking place outside the room I was in. I started giving thought to how the machine was sucking the water right out of the air. Then I began to think about the number of dehumidifiers we have and that all three need to be emptied at least once each day. That's a lot of water being drawn out of the atmosphere.
As I said, my mind was wandering, but it was a directed wandering. How do I know that? Well, the Holy Spirit immediately filled my thoughts with Scriptures about how God [Jeremiah 2:13], Jesus [John 4:7-13], and the Holy Spirit Himself [John 7:38-39] are descibed in terms of water. And with those descriptions are words like "spring of living water" and "spring of water welling up" and "streams of living water that will flow from within him". The whole idea is that God's life is to infiltrate, fill and flow through our life.
Then the arrow of God's conviction struck my heart as He said, "Steve, you are allowing too many things to suck my life right out of your living and ministry. There are too many dehumidifiers and I'm not able to fill and flow through you. I want you to be a Humidifier that injects Me into all areas of your life and into your relationships with others. It's time to shut down the dehumidifiers that are draining you spiritually"
Can you relate with any of this? Now the Lord and I are going to have to do our own personal work about turning off the dehumidifiers on this end, so that He can expand His territory and control of me and my situations. But, how about on your end? Do you need to let the Lord lead in some directed wandering as you think about what is hindering the Water of Life from filling and flowing through you?
Pastor Steve
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Matchmaker! Matchmaker!
This week we have launched our Fireproof small groups based on the movie by the same title. The response has been good with many of our members and some from the community getting involved in the Fireproof Your Marriage and Fireproof Your Life small groups. Lucy and I are excited about the group we've been assigned to. There are four couples in our group - one couple has young grade school children, another couple has a young and older grade school child, one couple had teenagers and small kids, while Lucy and I have married children. From the experiences of our first session together, we can tell that this is going to be an exciting adventure for all eight of us.
The opening icebreaker still lingers in my mind. We were asked about how we met as a couple. One couple met in college while being involved in the same Christian campus organization. The other three couples met through the help of a third party. A friend was instrumental in one couple meeting each other. The mom of one of the young ladies in our group was a key link in her and her future husband meeting. And with Lucy and me it was also close friends that initiated our connection.
I've often wondered how in the world I, a midshipman at Annapolis Maryland, could have ever met a gal from Snow Camp, NC attending High Point College were it not for the help of others [I mean the first time I drove to Lucy's home, it was so far out in the country that I thought we'd left the country]. We were worlds apart and yet through my best friend and her roommate, who were dating at the time [later to marry], Lucy Hill and I were connected to each other. For the rest of our lives we will be grateful to how God used them to lay the foundation of what eventually developed into a wonderful relationship and marriage.
Since our first small group gathering I've given a lot of thought to the idea of how those third parties have been key in our marriages. Without their involvement we may not be married to the one who means everything to us - I know that would probably be the case in my life. Wow, what a tragedy that would be, for next to Jesus, Lucy is the most important part of my life. We'd still be worlds apart if it wasn't for somebody bridging those two worlds and being a springboard to our connection. Though our friends didn't set out to be matchmakers, they were serious enough to make the effort to bring us together.
SO - the thought comes - Do you think we could be instrumental in connecting Jesus with His next marriage partner? Do you think we could be involved in connecting two people [Jesus and one of our friends/relatives/associates] who are worlds apart with each other? As I said, I'm continually grateful to our friends for connecting us as a couple. And I will be eternally grateful to the ones involved in leading me into my connection with Jesus. That's a marriage that will last into eternity.
Earthly marriages - are any of them marriages made in heaven? That's a question that probably could stir a good bit of debate. But I am sure that my marriage with Jesus is definitely a marriage made in heaven! And wouldn't it be exciting if we could arrange a few more of those kinds of marriages?
One definition of matchmaker is "one who habitually tries to arrange marriages". I believe our Lord is looking for more Heavenly Matchmakers. Do you think you and I can make the connections?
--Pastor Steve
The opening icebreaker still lingers in my mind. We were asked about how we met as a couple. One couple met in college while being involved in the same Christian campus organization. The other three couples met through the help of a third party. A friend was instrumental in one couple meeting each other. The mom of one of the young ladies in our group was a key link in her and her future husband meeting. And with Lucy and me it was also close friends that initiated our connection.
I've often wondered how in the world I, a midshipman at Annapolis Maryland, could have ever met a gal from Snow Camp, NC attending High Point College were it not for the help of others [I mean the first time I drove to Lucy's home, it was so far out in the country that I thought we'd left the country]. We were worlds apart and yet through my best friend and her roommate, who were dating at the time [later to marry], Lucy Hill and I were connected to each other. For the rest of our lives we will be grateful to how God used them to lay the foundation of what eventually developed into a wonderful relationship and marriage.
Since our first small group gathering I've given a lot of thought to the idea of how those third parties have been key in our marriages. Without their involvement we may not be married to the one who means everything to us - I know that would probably be the case in my life. Wow, what a tragedy that would be, for next to Jesus, Lucy is the most important part of my life. We'd still be worlds apart if it wasn't for somebody bridging those two worlds and being a springboard to our connection. Though our friends didn't set out to be matchmakers, they were serious enough to make the effort to bring us together.
SO - the thought comes - Do you think we could be instrumental in connecting Jesus with His next marriage partner? Do you think we could be involved in connecting two people [Jesus and one of our friends/relatives/associates] who are worlds apart with each other? As I said, I'm continually grateful to our friends for connecting us as a couple. And I will be eternally grateful to the ones involved in leading me into my connection with Jesus. That's a marriage that will last into eternity.
Earthly marriages - are any of them marriages made in heaven? That's a question that probably could stir a good bit of debate. But I am sure that my marriage with Jesus is definitely a marriage made in heaven! And wouldn't it be exciting if we could arrange a few more of those kinds of marriages?
One definition of matchmaker is "one who habitually tries to arrange marriages". I believe our Lord is looking for more Heavenly Matchmakers. Do you think you and I can make the connections?
--Pastor Steve
Welcome to the world of blogging
Blogging is a new adventure for our church and certainly this pastor. I’ve recently advanced from the “Computer Illiterate” stage to the “Since things are being backed-up I’ll take a chance and try a few things” stage. Never in my biggest dreams did I think I’d be launching out into the area of blogging. Hey, to be honest, I don’t even know what it is or how it works. But when our church webmaster suggested we go in this direction, the Spirit of God confirmed the step of faith in my heart. So this will be just that – a step of faith. For a fellow who still types with two fingers and likes to stay as private as possible, this will be a faith adventure for me and will require complete reliance on the my Father who is leading me kicking and making excuses. I can anticipate this new ministry being as much for me as anyone who might read the entries on the blog. So let’s grow together.
To begin well I grabbed my trusty dictionary to find out exactly what “blogging” is…and it was nowhere to be found. I guess its development has occurred since 2001 [date of the dictionary edition I use]. I then consulted Wikipedia [the on-line encyclopedia] about its definition of blog/blogging. Here is what I found out: “A blog (a contraction of the term "weblog")[1] is a type of website, usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse-chronological order.” So, over the next few weeks and months I’ll see if we can make this website a real weblog or blog. Let the adventure begin!
To begin well I grabbed my trusty dictionary to find out exactly what “blogging” is…and it was nowhere to be found. I guess its development has occurred since 2001 [date of the dictionary edition I use]. I then consulted Wikipedia [the on-line encyclopedia] about its definition of blog/blogging. Here is what I found out: “A blog (a contraction of the term "weblog")[1] is a type of website, usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse-chronological order.” So, over the next few weeks and months I’ll see if we can make this website a real weblog or blog. Let the adventure begin!
-- Pastor Steve
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