Improvise, Adapt and Overcome

And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. (Galatians 6:9)

In His word, God promises so many good rewards to us. Of course, in order to receive a reward, something must first be accomplished. That is why most of these promises are conditional. The "If, then" promises. I cannot live my life with the goal of pleasing myself and others, and expect to receive the fulfillment of God's promises in my life.

I'm not talking about salvation. Salvation is free and it is eternal. It cannot be earned and it cannot be lost. (John 3:16, Romans 6:23, Ephesians 2:8-9, Colossians 3:3)

What I'm talking about is rewards. We can earn and lose rewards.

The 'good works' that are talked about by King Jesus and the Apostles...what are they?

If we live our everyday lives with the goal of glorifying and honoring God and the motivation in our hearts for whatever we do is to bring glory to God, then I think these are the good works.

Jesus Himself said that if we love Him, we will obey Him. (John 14:15) In our love for Christ Jesus, we will not be able to avoid bearing fruit in our spirits. (Galatians 5:22-23).

If we continue to bear fruit, we will continue to grow and the Holy Spirit will take us deeper and deeper into an intimate relationship with our creator (Colossians 1:1-12). We will be accomplishing the goal of abiding in Christ. If we are abiding in Christ, then we will overcome. (John 16:33)

There are great rewards for the ones who have overcome: Revelation 2:7, Revelation 2:11, Revelation 2:17, Revelation 2:26, Revelation 3:5, Revelation 3:12, Revelation 3:21.

It does get hard sometimes. We cannot give up just because it is hard.

Press on.

Overcome.

Unexpected

So much of the time, when God does something, it is something completely
unexpected.

Nobody saw it coming. They were on the look out for a mighty warrior king to
come and wipe out the Roman Empire and establish His kingdom right away. Instead,
they get this guy from Nazareth, which apparently is not known for producing the best
and the brightest. (John 1:45-46) Not only was he from Nazareth, he was the son of
Joseph. And everybody knew that Joseph's wife was pregnant before they were married.
Scandalous!

One of my favorite examples of the unexpected things God does is in the book of Acts. In Acts 9:1-17, Saul had just finished asking permission to hunt down and
imprison, or even execute those 'belonging to the Way'. This, of course, lead to Saul's famous conversion experience on the road to Damascus, which in itself was something completely unexpected. But there was something else. I nearly missed it, but when it hit me, I was blown away.

The Lord visited a man named Ananias in a vision. He told him to go to Judas'
house on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul. (I thought it was
pretty cool how Jesus gave him directions.) He told him that Saul was there praying and had seen a vision of Ananias lay hands on him and he regained his sight.

Ananias seemed to get a little indignant with the Lord, though. He recognized the
name Saul of Tarsus. Ananias had heard of Saul. He had heard about what Saul had
been doing to the saints in Jerusalem. He might have been harboring resentment and
unforgiveness for Saul in his heart, maybe even hate.

Jesus responded gently to his protest. He told Ananias that He had chosen Saul to
bear His name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel, and that He would
show Saul how much he would have to suffer for His name's sake.

Ananias went. I think when he heard Jesus tell him that Saul would suffer, it
made him feel better.

When Ananias got to Judas' house on Straight Street, he walked in and saw Saul
there. Who knows what went through his mind when he saw him, this man who had
imprisoned and executed his fellow saints. The air was probably thick with the tension of the moment.

Ananias walked over to Saul, and in an act of pure obedience to the Lord, he lay
his hand on Saul. As he did, something happened, his facial expression changed. He felt warm tears rolling down his cheeks. The realization had hit him. The full impact of what Jesus had done washed over him. He became overwhelmed with it. He fell to his knees next to Saul and said, "Brother Saul, ... " (v. 17)

Two hearts were healed that day on Straight Street; Saul became a new creature in
Christ, and as for Ananias, the Lord Jesus taught him how to forgive in a very unexpected way.

God is AWESOME!

With A Thankful Heart

I've been pondering thankfulness for a while now. I would like to live my life with a thankful heart.

I heard something a few weeks ago that helped put some things into perspective for me, and helped me understand a little better what a life lived in gratitude is.

A brother in Christ in my Sunday School class said something that has stuck with me. I've been turning it over in my mind and really thinking about what he said.
It had an impact on me. It was a little thing, and I almost missed the depth and significance of it.

"Most of the world is a miserable place to live."

That's what he said. The more I think about it, the more thankful I am to God. There are countries where most of the population is starving to death, or live in perpetual violence. There are places where the government keeps people oppressed and living in constant fear for their lives. Places where being a Christian carries a death sentence.

Most of the world, indeed, is a miserable place to live. (John 15:18-22)

Here in The United States, we have freedom (for how long remains to be seen). We are free to worship our God without fear of the government. We have abundance here. The poorest among us, for the most part, are wealthy in comparison to those living in most of the world. I pray I never take this for granted and allow my heart to grow hard toward those who are in such need.

Father, thank You for giving me what I'll never fully understand. Please help me to always live with a thankful heart.

Two Cents

I've been thinking about the Apostle Paul. He spoke of a 'thorn in the flesh' that he was given in order to keep him humble (2 Corinthians 12:7-9).

I've heard a lot of speculation about what this 'thorn' may have been. Some say that it was some sort of health issue. After all, Dr. Luke traveled with him. I've also heard that it was because he was nearly blind from his encounter with King Jesus on the road to Damascus. After all, no one comes away from an encounter like that unscathed.

I was thinking about what this 'thorn' could have been. Not that it is all that important in the big picture. But while everyone is speculating, I may as well throw in my two cents.

When the Apostle Paul said anything about himself, the one negative thing that he talked about the most was his sin. (Romans 7:19-24) I believe the 'thorn' he talked about was his sin. He wanted to be free of his sin once and for all. (2 Corinthians 12:8 and Philippians 1:21-26)

God said that His grace is sufficient. That His power is made perfect in weakness. Our sin is our greatest weakness, it is where God's grace is most abundant (Romans 5:20-21).

Paul had an encounter with Christ Jesus that very few (only a handful of men in all of history) had ever experienced. An encounter that was so significant that it left Paul with a passionate hatred for his sin. An absolute disdain for his own flesh. He, through his encounter with the King of Glory, was able to see sin the same way God does, and it sickened him.

Thank you, Father, for Your grace. That it is sufficient. Help me come to the point of humility that I am able to view my sin as You do.

Artsy Fartsy

God's love for us is so much bigger than anything we can comprehend. He poured out His wrath and judgement on His very own Son so that the relationship He so longed for could be restored.

God's Word is so rich with the poetry of His love for us. We are His living poetry (Ephesians 2:10). When we allow the Holy Spirit to take the helm of our imagination, such beautiful art spills out (Exodus 31:1-5).

Here are a couple of poems I'd like to share with you.


God’s Robe
(Matthew 27:51 and Isaiah 53)

He knew suffering
He knew affliction
He came to break our sin addiction
He is the beloved Son
He is the despised One
He took on my sin and put on my pride
He is the Advocate spoken of by Job
He poured Himself out and then He died
God limped away and tore His robe


Lamb of God, Lion of Judah
(Luke 22:39-44, John 28:30, Revelation 5)

In the garden begging and bleeding
The Lamb of God awaits the beating
In the cold night air as demons were leaping
His friend wandered shivering and weeping (Luke 22:54-62)
On the cross broken and bent
The Word accomplished the reason for which He was sent (Isaiah 55:11)
In a vision filled with despair an elder tells John to look
The Lion of Judah steps forward and takes hold of the book

Thinking About Stuff

I watched a movie today. It had aliens and car chases and space ships. It was a good one. The main characters in it espoused the evolutionist/atheistic world view. Christians were (of course) portrayed as irrational superstitious bumpkins.

That got the wheels in my head turning.

Let's say, for argument sake, that the big bang theory is true. That, somehow, these gases and materials started moving without any outside cause. They collided and it caused this huge, chaotic explosion. Out of this chaos, somehow, order. Okay.

Then, through a series of (for lack of a better term) miraculous events, life sparked in this primordial muck. Then, without any outside guidance or intelligence, this life, over billions of years formed into countless forms of life. Fliers, swimmers, eight legs, six legs, four legs, two legs. Wow. Okay.

If we are the result of an accident billions of years ago, I have a few questions. Where did we get the ability to reason? Why did other creatures not develop that ability? From where did the desire to know our origin come? Why did orderly, civil societies form? How did such order come from such chaos with absolutely no guidance whatsoever?

Just wondering.

Does this make me an irrational superstitious bumpkin?

The Source

Who, exactly, is Jesus Christ? Why is His name the source of such controversy? Why do governments forbid the use of His name? Why are we told not to pray in His name? Why does the name of Jesus Christ evoke such a strong response?

Jesus Christ is the The Way, The Truth and The Life. (John 14:6)

The Way: There is no other way to Heaven apart from Christ Jesus. He is the only way. That is a very controversial thing to say these days. Other religions teach that there are many ways. Some say that it is unreasonable to teach that there is only one way, and a narrow way at that. But this is what Jesus and the Apostles teach. (John 14:6 and Acts 4:12)

The Truth: I think we, as human beings, naturally react with hostility toward truth. Truth brings to light things that we don't want to acknowledge and things we don't want seen. Who among us wants anyone else to be able to hear the deepest thoughts or able to peer into the darkest recesses of the mind? The light of truth is something that we naturally recoil from. John the Baptist and a Christian named Stephen are two people who come to mind when I think of how people react to truth. (Mark 6:17-28 and Acts 7:54-58)

The Life: John 1:1-4. Jesus is life. We have heart beats and breath in and out because of Him. He is the source of all life, and all life is sustained in Him (Colossians 1:15-17). In Him is eternal life (John 3:16).

So, who is Jesus? He is the Source. He is the Source of all meaning, all knowledge, all of existence. In Christ Jesus alone is our salvation.

God is AWESOME!