September 2018 Archives
Changing Seasons
I don’t like change, and there are especially seasons of life that are difficult. My family has been through a lot of seasons over the years–good times and bad times, ups and downs–but, as much as I have bucked against the changes, I would not be the person I am today if I had not gone through them.
I think the reason that I vehemently dislike change is that I don’t care for the unknown. I like to be in control, and how can I control something that I can’t see … like the future?
I started writing this a while ago but what better time to post than at a time when we are fixin’ to head into autumn. Although I am enjoying the cooler days, and I can appreciate the colored leaves, I do not like what it represents: the coming of winter! Even in this, though, I know God’s plan is perfect. The land needs the moisture that the snow provides so that the farmers can produce better crops (or so I have heard). Therefore, whereas I used to complain about winter, I don’t anymore. I know it serves a purpose, and spring will come again. The same is true of the seasons of life.
If nothing ever changed, we would never grow. If we never grew, we would stagnate and become lukewarm. If we were lukewarm, God would spit us out of his mouth. Now that I think about it, I love change! 🙂
Swallow Your Pride
I think the biggest reason more people don’t accept the Lord stems from a root of pride. You see, in order to acknowledge they need anyone, much less God, they would have to admit that they do not have it all together. This is a humbling admission.
The majority of relational issues are rooted in pride as well. We naturally want to be right. If we admit we are wrong, it could speak negatively of us, and we want to be liked, so we allow pride to ruin relationships instead of exercising the humility needed to strengthen them.
Throughout Scripture, we are told to humble ourselves. If we do that, then He can lift us up. If we puff ourselves up, He has no choice but to bring us down. After all, pride and God cannot dwell together.
There is not a person on earth that doesn’t struggle with pride in some form or fashion. The key is in not allowing it to rear its head. Sure, it may be hard at times but pride and flesh walk hand in hand. If we desire the Spirit to reign, we must be willing to put to death (with God’s help) the things that would hinder His reign. I think swallowing our pride is a good place to start.
Photo by Victor Benard on Unsplash
God Chooses the Lowly
A while back, I was reading through the prophets and was struck by how, throughout Scripture, God chose the lowliest people–the ones others would have looked at as insignificant–to be a voice or a leader for Him.
He chose Gideon, who was the “least in my family” (Judges 6:15). He chose Moses who was “slow of speech and of a slow tongue” (Exodus 4:10). He chose Peter, a poor fisherman who had a knack for putting his foot in his mouth.
First Corinthians 1:27 tells us that God chooses the foolish things (people?) to confound the wise. In Matthew 22:14, Jesus tells us that “many are called, but few are chosen.” Why is this?
If God only chose the powerful, the brilliant, or the exceptionally talented, it would be easy for those people to assume they were accomplishing everything in their own strength. They would most likely become puffed up. But when God chooses someone like you or like me, we realize that we are incapable of achieving anything apart from the grace of God. Matthew 5:3 sums it up well: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.”
Let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth (Jeremiah 9:24).
It is not by works of righteousness that we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us (Titus 3:5).
Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:12-14).
When we realize that it’s not about us but is, instead, all about Jesus and what He is able to do in and through us, that is when we can really be used of God. Let us be faithful to pray for humble hearts that will diligently serve Him all our days.
Photo by Naassom Azevedo on Unsplash
Legalism: The Unpardonable Sin?
It is sad to me that many Christians seem to view legalism as the worst thing that one can be entrapped by. Sin can be forgiven, but legalism? Probably not.
If your definition of legalism is “strict rules intended to earn favor with God,” then you are right that this can be a danger for Christians, but I believe the greater danger is in not obeying God’s Word. I hear more people warning against legalism than I do pastors preaching about Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.
For myself, it encourages me when I see people who want to live like Christ. Maybe I have more “freedom” than they do in certain areas, but I would never encourage them to do something that they feel is wrong, nor would I tell them to stop doing something that they think they should be doing.
Romans 14:5-6 says, “One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God.”
If it is not a sin issue, why does it bother us if others live differently than we do? Rather than judging others for what we consider to be legalism, we should be praying that God will show us how He desires us to live.
