Godliness with Contentment

1 Timothy 6:6: "Godliness with contentment is great gain."

Sermon over.  Now application...ouch.

Verses like these convince me that I can spend an entire lifetime walking through the Word, and never ever be able to fully put It into practice.  Godliness is one thing, contentment another.  Let me chew on the second piece today though.  Because isn't the grass always greener on the other side of the fence?  Don't we always want to be number one?  Don't we always want to win?  Don't we always want to get the highest scores, the best stuff, and work the hardest at work to be awarded or appreciated the most?  Don't we want to be the person at church who the pastor leans on and goes to whenever he needs something?  Don't we want to be the better spouse, the better child, the smartest guy in the room?

But The Lord says that contentment is key...that we should toss all those other yearnings and desires in the trash can because they do not satisfy.

Should we be excellent at what we do? Yes.  But that should not be our end.  We shouldn't do anything out of selfish ambition, but instead be truly humble (summary of Philippians 2:3).  But aren't we taught and trained to set a goal which usually has some great value to us (selfish goal) and then put everything we have behind it so that we can obtain it?  This happens all the time in sales and is pretty much the basis for most advertising...showing things we "have to have" to get us to buy.  But isn't that the exact opposite of the sort of life God calls us to?

Be content.  Stop chasing after anything but God.

What if nearly everything we think, we feel, we do, and we say is counter to the yearning of the Lord?  We need a heart transplant.  We need a brain transplant.  We need the Lord to transform our lives.

Coming back to start again

It is s good thing that Godis faithful, and that He is faithful no matter what Matt does.

I've spent much of the last six months studying through scripture as I have worked through a great resource called "Learn the bible in 24 hours."  As I have read through and learned, I see the same story repeated all through scripture:  Israel becomes close to the Lord and then wanders away and God continues to pursue her always.  He has made a commitment to her forever, that no matter what she does, she will be His people.

I see that same commitment by God to me as I have chosen to walk with Him through the years.  I, just like Israel, continue to go through cycles of pursuing Him and His path and then changing course slowly and drifting towards Matt's path, finding myself lost, then returning to Him again.

For years now, a verse that has become a great anchor to me in these times of getting lost.  Jeremiah 6:16.  It is a promise and a curse.  And both are blessings from the Lord.  This is exactly his love for his people.  "Stand at the crossroads and look.  Ask for the the ancient path, the godly path where the good way is; walk in it and you will find rest for your souls."

After several weeks of sleepless nights and a mind that is constantly running as if the whole world depended on me- which I sometimes arrogantly believe it does-rest for my soul sounds like the greatest gift in the world.  Maybe you can relate?

We're entering for most of us the busiest time of the year, giving us plenty of opportunity to get off track, miss the point, and end up tired and worn out.  This isn't the ancient path, the good way.  This is the way of the world, the way of American life in 2014.  I encourage you to also seek the ancient path.  Because the next part of the verse tells us how God is faithful to get our attention when we don't turn back to him...it's not a pretty picture.

It's much better to fall on The Rock and be broken and humbled than to have The Rock fall on you and be crushed under it's weight.  And with a promise of rest for your soul if you choose and walks the godly way, why would we ever choose another way?  May we return to the Lord and cast off the worldly way.  May we choose to live not for ourselves, what we can gain, get, take, but instead what we may do to serve and love others.  May we continually be crucified with Christ so that we no longer live, but it is Christ who lives in us.

Fig Newton Anyone?

I just read through Matthew 21:18-22 where Jesus gets hungry, goes to the fig tree to find a fig to eat, finds no figs, and curses the tree since it bore no fruit so that it instantly withers.

I pray that I may always have a life that produces good fruit for Jesus.  Otherwise, I may find myself following the same path as the fruit tree...a shortened life and destruction.  May we not become complacent in our lives, seeking our own gain, but instead, live in such a way that we honestly and intentionally love Jesus and others more than we love ourselves.  May we produce fruit in our lives that is sweet and good and quenches the hunger of Our Lord.

And Now I Celebrate

Okay, now that I've grieved for America and prayed for America, it is time to celebrate.  It still may be a screwy country with problems politically and morally, etc, but it is still the best country on the planet!  We may not have it all together (or even close!), but when I take a look around the world, things are falling apart in much bigger ways.  I am very thankful that we do have a democracy that works, an economy that is stable (especially compared to globally) and a culture that has laws to hold things together.  There are many things I'd change if I could, but then again, I bet there always have been as long as we've been a country.

So, let us celebrate our Independence Day with not a blind adoration for a country, nor a cynical view of the world.  Instead, let us thank God that we have the freedoms we do and keep fighting to make sure they continue.  May we continue to turn towards Him, fuel love towards each other, and may God bless America!

Grieving for America

Each day an app on my phone flags a verse for me to read.  What I love about this app, is that the verses are always words of Jesus'.  Today's was this:
Luke 6:32-36 "If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you?  For even sinners love those who love them.  And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you?  For even sinners do the same.  And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you?  Even sinners lend to sinners to get back the same amount.  But love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungratefull and the evil.  Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful."

Clearly, this verse struck to my heart as I need to work through these pieces and follow Jesus.  I feel that most of the time, the words of Jesus are in the back of my mind, prodding me to do follow in his footsteps, but I often take a separate path.  May I choose Jesus instead.

However, today, as I read this verse, it confirmed my thoughts and feelings about July 4th.  I won't be hanging a flag, I won't be celebrating all that much except in the ceremonial time with friends and grilling.  Instead, I'll be grieving.  Because the Independence Day we celebrate from 1776 is overshadowed now by our own decay.  What do we have to celebrate for our country?  That we're the richest country in the world?  That we can go to war with anyone we want to?  That we choose power, success, money, pleasure, or achievement over love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodnesss, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control?

I can't help but think that this isn't the America that our founding fathers would have chosen. 

When the nation was built on faith in God, yet now is lived as if God doesn't exist, this is of concern.  The amazing stories we hear daily of pain and suffering of people hurting other people breaks my heart.  When once we were a united states, standing up against tyranny and for freedom, now to create new kinds of slavery and hardship on ourselves.  Like dogs returning to their vomit. 

Anyway, I won't be celebrating America tomorrow.  I'll be grieving for Her, praying that love is enfused into Her, and pleading with Jesus to give more faith to our nation.

Are non-profits and government programs killing a dying Christian Church?

As we read in Acts 2, the Christian Church is very much alive.  They are growing, inspiring, and transforming the world.  How do they do this?  Summarizing John Piper:
1. Burning conviction
2. Really GOOD news in the midst of a broken world
3. Christian communities marked by purity
4. Christian communicties without classes or discrimination
5. Charitable service
6. Readiness and willingness to give all away, even to the point of death

Unfortunately, Christianity in America is pretty much focused on only number 2 with a little 1 thrown in.  And I can understand why...the ACLU has taken of the case of descrimination 4
3. Has been eradicated because of a myth that since "we are not under the law", we must not really worry about purity.
4. The ACLU and government makes sure that we do our best not to discriminate.  Of course, this doesn't actually bind people of different classes and races together like the early church did, but we've let that be enough.
5. Charitable service is now the sole property of non-profits and government programs like welfare and food stamps.
6.  We have either bought into the lies of consumerism and are unwilling to give, OR we do not associate with enough people who are poorer than we are so there is no one to give to.

Obviuosly many of these things are very good and helpful to many people, and I firmly believe that God is at work in many of these things.  Is it possible that this is the hands and feet of the Church outside of the Christian communities of old?  Or do we as the church need to reclaim these lost tenants of our faithful service to follow in the footsteps of Jesus?  Do we stop supporting non-profits and begin including that in the work of the Church?  Do we seek out people who are different to make them well-respected and honored people in our relationships?  Do we seek out the poor and find ways to give beyond the 10% that some of us give? 

And what should we pray for?  That God would drive the Christian Church in America underground so that we can find our way again?  Or that somehow, we would all come to our senses and begin afresh?

May we continue seeking the heart of Our Lord today and tomorrow, never stopping in this race until it is finished.

Well that was quick!

I never would have guessed 2 weeks later that I've made a job offer and have hired exactly the person I've been looking and praying for.  The Lord be praised!

May we all continue seeking and ask for the godly way so that we can walk it and find peace for our souls.