People will always fail you...

...BUT GOD NEVER WILL!

It seems like I am learning this at least once a week. Do I expect too much of people? Do I not give them enough slack? Do I expect them to be perfect?

Yeah, I think I do sometimes. I think it comes from my desire for perfection. My desire to be perfect someday! When I fail, I am discouraged. Will I never learn?

I am such a sinner! I realize it anew every day! I cannot do right on my own! The things I want to do I do not do, and the things I despise I do (to paraphrase Paul in Romans 7). Without God I can do no good, like it says in Psalm 14:1-3, "there is none who does good, no not one."

And yet, why do I expect others to be better than I?

I expect the other kids in my youth group to be responsible, sincere and attentive.

I expect my parents to have ALL the answers and always have it together.

I expect my little siblings to always obey, with a cheerful smile.

I expect my friends on facebook to always say something that reflects the Lord's work in their lives.

I expect everyone I meet to greet me with a smile and a kind word.

Alas, I expect perfect people and a perfect world, whereas I live in quite the opposite.

Not to say that those things I expect do not happen ever, they do at times. But I should consider that a blessing, not normal.

I'm so grateful for the Lord's work in my life and in those around me, because without Him I would never be blessed by anyone or anything. As in Genesis 6:5, in which "every intent of the thoughts of man's heart was only evil continually."

But now, in Christ Jesus, we who were utterly depraved and dead in our wicked works, are now His workmanship, "created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them."

If I look to people for joy, for encouragement, for blessings, I will be disappointed.

But if I look to MY GOD, Who is always faithful, always loving, always comforting, always holy, always good, always sovereign, always gentle, always just, always merciful, always all-powerful, always all-knowing, always in control....I will never be disappointed.

In Him we all consist and have our being. In Him alone we can do good and bless those around us. In Him we are new creatures, "zealous for good works." In Him we are capable of doing what was impossible before: pleasing Him.

"Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ." Philippians 1:6

Wasting Your Life

I'm meditating today on what it means to waste your life.  Last year I read John Piper's book on the subject, and just found my list of quotes from the book in my documents. 

The wasted life is the life without a passion for the supremacy of God in all things for the joy of all peoples. Pg 31

Life is wasted when we do not live for the glory of God. Pg. 32

We waste our lives when we do not pray and think and dream and plan and work toward magnifying God in all spheres of life. Pg 32

If you don’t point people to God for everlasting joy, you don’t love. You waste your life. Pg 35

Every one of these quotes is blunt, to the point, and hard hitting.  In every moment our prevailing thought and desire needs to be "how can I glorify God through this?" And if there is not a way, don't do it!
I want my life to be characterized by passion: a passion to glorify God.  How often I fall short! How often I waste minutes, hours, days!  Life is short.

You don’t have to know a lot of things for your life to make a lasting difference in the world. But you do have to know the few great things that matter, perhaps just one, and then be willing to live for them and die for them. Pg 44  (emphasis mine)

Desire that your life count for something great! Long for your life to have eternal significance. Want this! Don’t coast through life without a passion. Pg 46 (emphasis mine)

If we do not learn with Paul the Christ-exalting paradoxes of life, we will squander our days pursuing bubbles that burst. Pg 63

  Don't squander your days pursuing bubbles. As C.S. Lewis said, “Nothing that you have not given away will ever be really yours.” And Jim Elliot agreed, "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose."
You have been bought with a price, and you are not your own.  The purpose of your life is to glorify God and lift Him up!  Do not try to live life for yourself...you will not find joy.  The joyful, meaningful, passionate, fulfilling, Christ-exalting life is the only one that satisfies, and is the only one that counts for eternity.

 

God does not call us to ease, but to faithful joy. He is closing in on some of you, smiling and with tears in his eyes, knowing how much of himself he is going to show you—and how much it will cost.

Far Too Small

One of the verses in the great hymn, "When I Survey" has been in my mind and heart lately...

Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were a present far too small,
Love so amazing, so divine,
demands my soul, my life, my all.

Even the whole world is not enough...what he wants is my all! The song all in all comes to mind as well, can I really say "You are my all in all!" His love is so amazing and indescribably--it DEMANDS my all, my everything.  Every fiber of my being is His, ever thought, feeling, and action is His. 
And even when I give Him my all...it is not enough! I must continually surrender my all, every day, every moment to Him, not out of duty or obligation, but because of His Love!
And yet I am so unworthy! My righteousness is like filthy rags, how can it be acceptable to Him? I am but a jar of clay, how can I be worthy   to serve Him? I am but a blade of grass, how can I be pleasing to Him?
I am FAR TOO SMALL!
"Lord, You are greater of an adoration far great than my dull heart can give You."

Take my love, my Lord I pour, at Thy Feet its treasure store,
Take myself and I will be Always, Only, All for Thee!

If we really think about the words we are singing when we sing these great old hymns, wouldn't that cause such a stirring our hearts!
O God, may the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Thy Sight! 
Galations 2:20 "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me."

His Love demands our all...what are you giving Him?

Walking Worthy-Pleasing the Lord

"that you walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him..."


Walking worthy is directly tied to pleasing God.  He is pleased when we walk worthy.  When we please Him, we are walking worthy of Him. Pleasing God is not simply the omission of doing wrong (NOT doing evil), but committing things that glorify Him (doing good).


It reminds me of parents and their teenagers. Parents are glad when their kids are not doing drugs, drinking, and participating in wild parties, but does it please them? If that pleases them (delights them, gives them satisfaction) then it is evidence of a culture completely out of whack!  What pleases my parents is not just the fact that I am not being bad, but that I am doing good.  It pleases them  when I love the Lord, not only abstain from, but HATE evil, serve with a willing heart, and demonstrate a genuine love for others.  When I am pleasing to them, then they are proud (in a good way) to introduce my as their daughter.


When I am pleasing God, not only is He "not ashamed to be called my God," but He is delighted to claim me. Like in Job 1, "Have you observed my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?" 


But what is pleasing to the Lord? What brings Him delight and satisfaction?
"Finally, then, brothers, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, just as you are doing, that you do so more and more." 1 Thess. 4:1  
We should already know how to please God, because the Scriptures tell us how!


~God is pleased when we obey our parents.  Colossians 3:20 says, "Children, obey your parents in all things, for this pleases the Lord."


~God is pleased when our priorities are in the right place. In 1 Kings 3:9-10, Solomon, instead of asking for gold and riches, says, "So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?" The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this."


~God is pleased when we are selfless. Hebrews 13:16 "Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God."


~God is pleased when our desires are the same as His. 1 Timothy 2:1-4 "First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth."

~God is pleased when by our faith in Him we draw near and are spurred into action. "By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God. And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him." Hebrews 11:5-6

These are amazing verses!  Faith pleases God.  It is important, therefore, to understand what faith is. "Faith is being confident in what we hope for, and certain in what we do not see" says the unknown writer in Hebrews 11, the Great  of Chapter of Faith..  In verse 6, which is listed above, faith is knowing two things: God exists and there are Consequences as to whether we will seek  Him and please Him or not.  

Whoa! Wait a minute! There are consequences to whether we please God or not? Absolutely! There are rewards for those who please God!  "For to the one who pleases him God has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner he has given the business of gathering and collecting, only to give to one who pleases God." Ecclesiastes 2:26

And yet, the very fact that you are pleasing God should be reward enough.  The thought of God being delighted by me and what I am doing thrills my very soul! Spurgeon said, "To please God even a little is infinitely greater than to have the acclamations of all our race throughout the centuries."


If I were to die today, getting mauled by a herd of stir-crazy pigs escaping from their pens, what would be said at my funeral? Would it be completely honest to say, "Sophie lived a life pleasing to the Lord?" I am trying to live my life as if each day were my last, and that today is the day that my eulogy will speak of.  How I live today will be what people will remember me by, and what God will judge me by.  Am I walking worthy? May I be unashamed and may God be pleased and delighted to welcome me into His kingdom, "Well done, good and faithful servant!"


Hebrews 13:20-21 "Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen."