I mentioned in a previous post that I have been reading a book by David Platt. It has encouraged me a lot and really challenged me as I have read it. Today was no exception. He was talking about how to know God's will for your life and suggests that the idea of us running after God's will or trying to find God's will is actually, maybe, missing the entire point of what it means to be a disciple of Christ.
That has been me. Always questioning. Always searching. Always wondering. Should I? Shouldn't I? Does God want me to pursue this or that? What if I hear wrong? Worse yet, what if I choose wrong? As I type this, I can feel the heaviness of the burden those questions lead too. Maybe that should have been a clue to me in the first place that God's will isn't intended to be found. I don't have to go on a hide and seek mission to discover it. God's will is not a to do list, something I like cause then when I check something off I feel accomplished, it is not rules....it is instead "a relationship that God wants us to experience every day."
In other words, I have been striving after something that has been smack dab in front of my face all along.....the person of Jesus. In Him is His will for me. And as I walk with Him, listen to His voice, learn to know His heartbeat as well as I know my own, in there lies His will for me.
Why have I made it so hard for myself, thinking I had to discover His will, instead of simply focusing on Him. I can imagine Him watching me and asking:
"What are you doing?"
"I'm searching."
"For what?"
"For your will for me."
"It's right here."
"Where? I don't see it and I so badly want to know what it is so I don't fail you."
"Stop."
"Stop what?"
"Stop looking and look at me. My will for you is right here in Me and I'm right here in front of you."
I don't have to keep looking. It's been there all along. It's been me that has been distracted. Distracted by trying to seek out something that has already been given. It was already offered. He pursued me. I answered. In His pursuit of me, in my answer, in our communion and fellowship lies His will for me. Oswald Chambers says it like this:
"To be so much in contact with God that you never need to ask Him to show you His will, is to be nearing the final stage of your discipline in the life of faith. When you are rightly related to God, it is a life of freedom and liberty and delight, you are God's will, and all your common-sense decisions are His will for you unless He checks. You decide things in perfect delightful friendship with God, knowing that if your decisions are wrong He will always check; when He checks, stop at once."
A few words stick out to me. YOU ARE GOD'S WILL. That is just precious. At least for me. Because that takes all the pressure of performance off of me to please Him, to make sure I don't fail. Hmmmm.....I am His will. That statement feels like the warmth of the sun on a cool spring day. That statement ushers in peace. That statement lets me know.....all I need is Him. All I need is to continue to know God, to relate to Him, to spend time with Him. It is out of that relationship that the rest of the details of my life naturally get worked out. But He is the key. There is no fear left. No fear in getting it wrong. Misunderstanding. Making a left turn when I should have gone right. All I have to do is allow Him to lead me and if I make a mistake and start down the wrong path, to trust 100%, that He will not allow me to go far without "checking" me. And all of this? All of this is born out of my relationship with Him. I can feel the weight lifting. Jesus. All I need is Jesus.
The other thing that pops out to me is this: All YOUR COMMON-SENSE DESICIONS ARE HIS WILL FOR YOU. This makes me chuckle. All my common-sense decisions. How many times have I made bone-headed decisions and then blamed the consequences on God? Common-sense. That makes me smile. Cause where is that common-sense going to come from? :) My relationship with Him, of course. Seriously, I know when I make stupid choices and just because I am having this moment of clarity right now, doesn't mean that in two minutes I might make a bone-headed decision. In fact, I'm counting on it, cause I'm not perfect. But, it's ok. Cause those bone-headed choices are just a sign that maybe I need a bit more time with my Daddy and that maybe I CHOSE not to listen to a bit of common sense that I already know born out of my time spent with Him. I will be the first to admit, sometimes I just choose not to listen because ...... well..... I don't know.....just because I don't want to listen. Because I don't feel like it. Because I think I know better. But I like that Oswald Chamber added this part....it's actually pretty important, because it would be easy to sit back and say, "Well, I have a good relationship with Jesus so no matter what I do it will be His will for me." Nope, that is treading on the edge of a 50 foot cliff. There is a bit of common-sense involved. I know what my Jesus desires for me, because I have spent time with Him. If I make stupid choices to walk away from that.....well......I am pretty much asking for a bruising. Not because Jesus will beat me up, but because I will fall and falling is a natural consequence of not using my head. He doesn't like to watch me fall anymore than I like to watch my own children fall and get bruised. But as a parent, we often watch our children struggle, not because we enjoy it, or because is what we want for them, but because they made some poor decisions. My heavenly Father doesn't like to watch me stumble and fall either....but sometimes I make some pretty poor decisions because I choose to walk out of step with Him.
It reminds me of a verse in Galatians that say: "Since we live in the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit."
All my chatter in this blog, is summed up in this last statement by David Platt:
"The more we know God, and the more we walk in his will, the more we understand how foolish it is to think that he would ever want to hide it from us. Instead, we realize that God's desire for us to know his will is exponentially greater than our desire to know it. He desires for us to know his will so much that he reveals it to us in his Word."
It comes down to Jesus, me, and our relationship. It's that simple.
Tuesday, March 10, 2015
Wednesday, March 4, 2015
My Response to God
I often find myself in a crazy cycle. I pray. I ask God for things. He answers. If I like the answer, I sing and shout His praises. If I don't like the answer, I grump, whine, complain and doubt a bit whether He really loves me and why He doesn't seem to love me as much as my brother or sister in Christ who is getting what I want or has been receiving all of their hopes and dreams in a pretty pink hand basket. It is a really rough, emotional ride. A bit like a roller coaster. Dizzy like a merry go round.
One of the things that I have been learning more is that my need for Jesus isn't and can't be based on what He can do for me...He isn't a genie in a bottle or Santa Clause. It is, however, based on what he has already done on the cross for me. I can bring my hopes, dreams, and requests to Him knowing He will answer them with love and with the bigger picture in mind....but His answer cannot be the thing I use to choose how I respond to Him. He doesn't always answer the way I want to be answered. He is a perfect parent and takes everything into consideration and answers me accordingly. The question there is: do I trust His judgment? Do I trust Him?
If I allow His answers to be the scale on which I weigh my responses, especially when I don't like His answers, I turn into a tantrum throwing, manipulative, see-what-I-can-get-out-of-you child of God.
The thing is, God doesn't owe me anything because He has already given me everything. I desire that my response, my worship, my time, my praise is based on one thing only.....I praise Him, I desire Him, I love Him, I spend time with Him, I worship Him because of His sacrifice for me on the cross. His gift has already been given. His payment (something that was mine, but He lifted that debt for me by taking it on Himself) already paid when He chose to pay a debt I can't ever pay. My response based on this fact alone is a firm foundation compared to a response based on whether He gives me what I want right now.
It's like a read in a book recently by David Platt. God is not waiting up in heaven with a pen and paper writing my requests down as I bring them to Him. He already knows what I need before I ever whisper it to Him. What He desires and what I desire is simply time with Him. Not because He can perform for me, but because I love Him who first loved me! I want Him because of who He is, not because He is my genie in a Bible!
I will still take my requests to Him, because He said I could. Because He can handle my requests, my desires, my longings, and my hopes and dreams. He cares about what I care about because He is my Father and I am His child. But I desire that my praise no longer be hinged on whether or not He answers me the way I want Him to. It causes me to be unsteady, wishy washy, and distrustful. I don't want that. I want my feet firmly planted in the knowledge that what Jesus has already accomplished on the cross is all I need. The rest of it......the cares of this world, the distractions, are really nothing and I do not want them to any longer dictate my relationship and my response to my heavenly Father who has already given everything there is for me.
Steadily Learning and Growing in His Grace,
Melody
One of the things that I have been learning more is that my need for Jesus isn't and can't be based on what He can do for me...He isn't a genie in a bottle or Santa Clause. It is, however, based on what he has already done on the cross for me. I can bring my hopes, dreams, and requests to Him knowing He will answer them with love and with the bigger picture in mind....but His answer cannot be the thing I use to choose how I respond to Him. He doesn't always answer the way I want to be answered. He is a perfect parent and takes everything into consideration and answers me accordingly. The question there is: do I trust His judgment? Do I trust Him?
If I allow His answers to be the scale on which I weigh my responses, especially when I don't like His answers, I turn into a tantrum throwing, manipulative, see-what-I-can-get-out-of-you child of God.
The thing is, God doesn't owe me anything because He has already given me everything. I desire that my response, my worship, my time, my praise is based on one thing only.....I praise Him, I desire Him, I love Him, I spend time with Him, I worship Him because of His sacrifice for me on the cross. His gift has already been given. His payment (something that was mine, but He lifted that debt for me by taking it on Himself) already paid when He chose to pay a debt I can't ever pay. My response based on this fact alone is a firm foundation compared to a response based on whether He gives me what I want right now.
It's like a read in a book recently by David Platt. God is not waiting up in heaven with a pen and paper writing my requests down as I bring them to Him. He already knows what I need before I ever whisper it to Him. What He desires and what I desire is simply time with Him. Not because He can perform for me, but because I love Him who first loved me! I want Him because of who He is, not because He is my genie in a Bible!
I will still take my requests to Him, because He said I could. Because He can handle my requests, my desires, my longings, and my hopes and dreams. He cares about what I care about because He is my Father and I am His child. But I desire that my praise no longer be hinged on whether or not He answers me the way I want Him to. It causes me to be unsteady, wishy washy, and distrustful. I don't want that. I want my feet firmly planted in the knowledge that what Jesus has already accomplished on the cross is all I need. The rest of it......the cares of this world, the distractions, are really nothing and I do not want them to any longer dictate my relationship and my response to my heavenly Father who has already given everything there is for me.
Steadily Learning and Growing in His Grace,
Melody
Tuesday, January 20, 2015
I Am Enough
I have spent most of my life feeling either like I am too much for people to deal with...to dramatic, to emotional, too perfect, too good, to excited, to complex, to active, to elaborate, dream to big, have to expensive of a taste
OR
feeling like I'm not enough....not strong enough, not big enough, not capable enough, not good enough, not acceptable enough, not perfect enough
Either way, I have felt displeasing to those around me.
And that is why I am so in love with my Jesus. Because I am finding, that in Him, I am lacking nothing. I am not too much to handle and I am not to little to be worth something. In Him, I am complete.
He can handle me. He can handle me beating Him on the chest, crying, screaming at Him that life is not fair, asking Him why, and demanding answers. He can handle my huge dreams and hopes, my drama, my complexity, my emotions, and my racing mind.
He can also handle me in my very smallness, my weakness, every time I stumble, and not just stumble, but fall over the SAME stone over and over and over again. He can handle my inabilities, my imperfections.
His response to me is always the same. Open arms and gentle love. Sometimes, He tells me what I need to hear even when He knows it will prick my soul, but He never belittles me. He never throws His hands up in defeat and says, "I don't know what to do with you anymore. You are just too much!" He strengthens me in my weakness, helps me up when I fall, dusts my pants off, kisses me on the forehead, and says, "try again. You haven't failed. Just try again."
He loves me perfectly and in Him I am complete.
And because I am complete in Him, I can learn to stand secure in who I am in Him.
I want to encourage you today....if you feel like you are too much or not enough or maybe both....there is one in whom you can find complete wholeness, in whom, no matter what, you are enough. Not because of anything you have done or not done, but simply because of what He has done for you and for me.
With arms opened wide and spread out
With a bruised brow and a broken body
He became the enough in all of our imperfections and inadequacies
That is why, in Him and only Him, you and I can be enough, can be complete, because through Him; He has made us complete and whole and enough.
You are enough. You are acceptable and you are adequate.
Wednesday, January 7, 2015
I Am Thankful Give Away
So, I just now noticed that since starting this blog, I have had 3,817 page views. That is kind of cool. :) I do not normally do give aways and things, because that is not the focus of this blog, nor do I desire to give things away in order to twist the arms of people just to get them to like my page so it looks like I have an awesome and popular blog LOL! However, today I thought, in light of the season and my last post, it might be fun to offer a give away, just for fun and to offer encouragement to others who you are friends with on Facebook by sharing your favorite blog post and something you are thankful for in your current season. I am not good at these things, nor do I even know how to do them properly, so we will see how this goes! :D
When my blog reaches 4,000 page views, I will do a random drawing for a pair of fabulous, hand knit, color of your choice, cable knit fingerless gloves for the winner to enjoy wearing during this winter season or next winter season depending on how fast I can get them knit lol! You know, a little bit of beauty to give thanks for in the midst of this season. How do you get your name into the drawing? Just take a moment to check out my blog (that helps add to the page views), Share the blog post on your page that has brought you the most encouragement, and comment under this current posting with your name or by sharing one thing you are thankful for in this winter season and/or in the life season you are currently in. :)
Give Away Details:
When my blog reaches 4,000 page views, I will do a random drawing for a pair of fabulous, hand knit, color of your choice, cable knit fingerless gloves for the winner to enjoy wearing during this winter season or next winter season depending on how fast I can get them knit lol! You know, a little bit of beauty to give thanks for in the midst of this season. How do you get your name into the drawing? Just take a moment to check out my blog (that helps add to the page views), Share the blog post on your page that has brought you the most encouragement, and comment under this current posting with your name or by sharing one thing you are thankful for in this winter season and/or in the life season you are currently in. :)
Random Thoughts on a Snowy Morning
As I was driving my children to school this morning, earlier than normal these days because of snowy and ice covered roads, I couldn't help but smile at the beauty I saw around me. Gentle snow fell as we made our way through white powdered covered roads. My favorite, cause it makes me imagine what it must have been like to live 200 years ago, traveling in an open sleigh to grandmothers house. :) I can't help myself....I know it is cold and blustery, inconvenient, hand and lip chapping, but still, I just can't get over the beauty of it all. And that is when the thought ran across my mind, "there is beauty in every season." And it dawned on me, how that statement, applies even to our personal and spiritual lives.
We all go through seasons. In my life, the season I am currently in is called "Taxi Driver Mom", at least that is the way I feel a lot of days. Running three children back and forth to school, to friends houses, to youth group, to school events, to church events....to all kinds of events. It is easy to get overwhelmed and look at how tired it makes me and how much I often want to run away to a deserted island to be left alone under a cabana with maybe a tall glass of ice tea, a good book, and my knitting...to not be needed for a moment or two or three. And if that is all I focus on, my need to get away, I miss the beauty that is a part of this "Taxi Driver Mom" season. I miss out on focusing on the joy of having healthy, involved, and inspired children, warm hugs, love notes left on the dinning room table, snuggles, private conversations with a 14 year old opening herself up to me, prayers in the van on the way to school, listening to Lecrea and Andy Mineo rap their way into my heart as I drive those dear children all over Timbuktu , and the list could go on and on......there is beauty in this season.
Just like outside. There is beauty in the cold of winter. In the snow that gently falls, drifting like whipped cream covering a banana cream pie and as it coats the branches of the pine trees like powdered sugar. There is beauty in each intricate snow flake, none of which are ever exactly alike. Just that, draws of breath of admiration and awe out of me.
....And it reminds me to apply this simple thought to my life
...."There is beauty in every season"
....What will I choose to focus on? The cold or the beauty of the snow? The days of endless running and being needed or the joy of watching little people spread their wings and learn to fly?
What will be my focus?
It is the choice of my focus that makes or breaks the outcome of my moment, my season, my day, my year, my life. I want to learn even better to focus on the beauty of every season, no matter what that might be. I know the danger of a statement like this.....cause usually God speaks to my heart in order to prepare me for what is next....hmmmm....like maybe a season coming that I am not so thrilled about or maybe a season of more waiting....that is part of my season right now too. That season has been going on for a while.
It reminds me a bit of another thought that came to me the other day, that it is thankfulness that awakens the soul and I think that goes well with these random thoughts today. I think in order to find the beauty I must find the thankful in the midst of the season and then I must GIVE thanks. And in the giving of thanks, I will have my eyes opened up to the beauty of any and every season.
How about you? What season are you in right now? Maybe you are in a difficult season right now. Maybe it feels a little cold, blustery, and hand and lip chapping at the moment. I want to encourage you along with myself, to change your focus. Find the thankful even in the cold and give thanks for it. Focus on the beauty of that thankful moment and I think I can almost guarantee you....that in the moment you and I decide to give thanks, our eyes will be opened up to the beauty of the season we are in.
Blessings!
We all go through seasons. In my life, the season I am currently in is called "Taxi Driver Mom", at least that is the way I feel a lot of days. Running three children back and forth to school, to friends houses, to youth group, to school events, to church events....to all kinds of events. It is easy to get overwhelmed and look at how tired it makes me and how much I often want to run away to a deserted island to be left alone under a cabana with maybe a tall glass of ice tea, a good book, and my knitting...to not be needed for a moment or two or three. And if that is all I focus on, my need to get away, I miss the beauty that is a part of this "Taxi Driver Mom" season. I miss out on focusing on the joy of having healthy, involved, and inspired children, warm hugs, love notes left on the dinning room table, snuggles, private conversations with a 14 year old opening herself up to me, prayers in the van on the way to school, listening to Lecrea and Andy Mineo rap their way into my heart as I drive those dear children all over Timbuktu , and the list could go on and on......there is beauty in this season.
Just like outside. There is beauty in the cold of winter. In the snow that gently falls, drifting like whipped cream covering a banana cream pie and as it coats the branches of the pine trees like powdered sugar. There is beauty in each intricate snow flake, none of which are ever exactly alike. Just that, draws of breath of admiration and awe out of me.
....And it reminds me to apply this simple thought to my life
...."There is beauty in every season"
....What will I choose to focus on? The cold or the beauty of the snow? The days of endless running and being needed or the joy of watching little people spread their wings and learn to fly?
What will be my focus?
It is the choice of my focus that makes or breaks the outcome of my moment, my season, my day, my year, my life. I want to learn even better to focus on the beauty of every season, no matter what that might be. I know the danger of a statement like this.....cause usually God speaks to my heart in order to prepare me for what is next....hmmmm....like maybe a season coming that I am not so thrilled about or maybe a season of more waiting....that is part of my season right now too. That season has been going on for a while.
It reminds me a bit of another thought that came to me the other day, that it is thankfulness that awakens the soul and I think that goes well with these random thoughts today. I think in order to find the beauty I must find the thankful in the midst of the season and then I must GIVE thanks. And in the giving of thanks, I will have my eyes opened up to the beauty of any and every season.
How about you? What season are you in right now? Maybe you are in a difficult season right now. Maybe it feels a little cold, blustery, and hand and lip chapping at the moment. I want to encourage you along with myself, to change your focus. Find the thankful even in the cold and give thanks for it. Focus on the beauty of that thankful moment and I think I can almost guarantee you....that in the moment you and I decide to give thanks, our eyes will be opened up to the beauty of the season we are in.
Blessings!
Wednesday, December 10, 2014
Encouragement from 1 Corinthians
This afternoon, I sat down to spend a bit of time with Jesus. I opened up my Bible...well, the Bible on my phone.....
Please don't judge me....
..... and started reading where I had left off on Monday....1 Corinthians 12. I had it set to the Message translation and a whole new thought and perspective from this chapter popped out at me.
Earlier in 1 Corinthians, Paul spent a great deal of time answering questions from the Corinthian church. Questions like: Is it ok to eat food that has been sacrificed to an idol? Should women wear coverings? Should men wear coverings? Should he, Paul, be paid or receive accommodations and/or food for his work? Should church members marry? Should they stay single?
And on and on.
And then at the end of chapter 11, Paul says to the Corinthians, "the rest of your questions I will answer when I see you again in person"....and chapter 12 opens with this:
"What I want to talk about now is the various ways God's Spirit gets worked into our lives. This is complex and often misunderstood, but I want you to be informed and knowledgeable."
I love this.
Because this is how it reads to me beginning at the end of Chapter 11 and going into the beginning of Chapter 12:
"Ok, enough of trying to sort out the do's and don'ts, the fine lines, the tit for tat. I will answer more of those questions later when I see you all again. What I would like to focus on now is how God's Spirit works in our lives. When God is at work in our lives, then we won't worry so much about the nit picky questions. See, we are a body all working together in unity, each part of equal importance and very much needed for the healthy function of the body." (This is my interpretation of what I read.)
I hope I am not reading into this too much, but then, this is my commentary ;)
You know what I found so encouraging about this? While there are definitely some issues that need to be dealt with, our focus needs to rather be on how to better allow God's Spirit to work inside of you and me so that the body of Christ is functioning at it's maximum capacity.
Paul goes on to speak of the different parts and how to walk in unity with one another....
And then comes the end of Chapter 12....
And it gets better.....
He ends with this...
"But now I want to lay out a far better way for you."
I had to smile when I read that last sentence of Chapter 12, because I knew what was coming next.
Chapter 13
The Love Chapter!
Paul goes from addressing some of the petty issues, to turning the church's gaze towards walking in unity with each other, and then to LOVE!
I love that! Because how often is my focus drawn towards the petty issues of life? How often do I get hung up on small issues? Do they need to be dealt with? Most likely, BUT they shouldn't be my focus. Instead, my focus should be on walking in unity with my brothers and sisters and this done on the foundation of LOVE!
Gotta love it! I hope it encourages you like it did me! Let go of the small things and grab a hold of the big thing, LOVE itself. It's amazing, when unity and love become the focus, how quickly those small things seem to not really matter so much anymore.
Blessings!
Please don't judge me....
..... and started reading where I had left off on Monday....1 Corinthians 12. I had it set to the Message translation and a whole new thought and perspective from this chapter popped out at me.
Earlier in 1 Corinthians, Paul spent a great deal of time answering questions from the Corinthian church. Questions like: Is it ok to eat food that has been sacrificed to an idol? Should women wear coverings? Should men wear coverings? Should he, Paul, be paid or receive accommodations and/or food for his work? Should church members marry? Should they stay single?
And on and on.
And then at the end of chapter 11, Paul says to the Corinthians, "the rest of your questions I will answer when I see you again in person"....and chapter 12 opens with this:
"What I want to talk about now is the various ways God's Spirit gets worked into our lives. This is complex and often misunderstood, but I want you to be informed and knowledgeable."
I love this.
Because this is how it reads to me beginning at the end of Chapter 11 and going into the beginning of Chapter 12:
"Ok, enough of trying to sort out the do's and don'ts, the fine lines, the tit for tat. I will answer more of those questions later when I see you all again. What I would like to focus on now is how God's Spirit works in our lives. When God is at work in our lives, then we won't worry so much about the nit picky questions. See, we are a body all working together in unity, each part of equal importance and very much needed for the healthy function of the body." (This is my interpretation of what I read.)
I hope I am not reading into this too much, but then, this is my commentary ;)
You know what I found so encouraging about this? While there are definitely some issues that need to be dealt with, our focus needs to rather be on how to better allow God's Spirit to work inside of you and me so that the body of Christ is functioning at it's maximum capacity.
Paul goes on to speak of the different parts and how to walk in unity with one another....
And then comes the end of Chapter 12....
And it gets better.....
He ends with this...
"But now I want to lay out a far better way for you."
I had to smile when I read that last sentence of Chapter 12, because I knew what was coming next.
Chapter 13
The Love Chapter!
Paul goes from addressing some of the petty issues, to turning the church's gaze towards walking in unity with each other, and then to LOVE!
I love that! Because how often is my focus drawn towards the petty issues of life? How often do I get hung up on small issues? Do they need to be dealt with? Most likely, BUT they shouldn't be my focus. Instead, my focus should be on walking in unity with my brothers and sisters and this done on the foundation of LOVE!
Gotta love it! I hope it encourages you like it did me! Let go of the small things and grab a hold of the big thing, LOVE itself. It's amazing, when unity and love become the focus, how quickly those small things seem to not really matter so much anymore.
Blessings!
Tuesday, November 18, 2014
As Shrewed as Serpants and Innocent as Doves
This morning has dawned bright, early, snowy, and very cold! And I love it! Why? It affords me the time to press into the Word of God, something I do not get to do very often. Most mornings, if I have time for devotions, they are quick as I hustle around to get myself and three children out the door. But this morning.....the call came at 5:30 am proclaiming that school had been canceled and just like that, time was given to me to do more than a quick read, but to dig. Something I love to do :)
What an encouragement I found as I opened up my Bible to begin reading in 1 Corinthians 1. These words jumped off the page at me:
"Paul, called as an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother, to the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling, with all who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours"
and then in verse 11:
"For I have been informed concerning you, my brethren, by Chloe's people, that there are quarrels among you. Now I mean this, that each one of you is saying, 'I am of Paul,' and 'I of Apollos,' and 'I of Cephas,' and 'I of Christ.' Has Christ been divided? Paul was not crucified for you, was he? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?"
First off, I think it is cool that even back in the time of the Corinthians that somebody had people! You know, my people will call your people? Well apparently, Chloe had people too! :D Sorry, I just found that humorous! I digress.
Paul opens up his letter talking to the local church in Corinth. These were not unchurched people. They were called, sanctified, baptized, saved, Holy Spirit filled believers in Jesus Christ. They were church people. And they had a problem. So early in the history of the church too, so close yet still to when Jesus had walked the earth, when he had died, when He had risen and yet they had a problem. They disagreed on who to follow. Same problem we have today, accept today, this problem has been distinguished by something we like to call "denominations". That's all denominations are. A group of people who agree with the teaching of a specific leader, pastor, teacher, prophet, or apostle. We could easily fill in verses 11-13 like this:
"For I have been informed concerning you, my brethren, by Chloe's people, that there are quarrels among you. Now I mean this, that each one of you is saying, 'I am of Menno Simons' (Mennonites), and 'I of Martin Luther'(Lutherans), and 'I of the Apostle Peter' (Roman Catholics) and 'I of Christ'. Has Christ been divided? Menno Simons was not crucified for you, was he? Or were you baptized in the name of Martin Luther?"
As I read through these chapters, I was amazed at how early division came into the church. It completely mimics the present day church at large. Even within these denominations there is division. For example, cause I know this denomination the best, take the Mennonites (and I will add a disclaimer right now. Please hear me, I am not picking on the Mennonites or on any one denomination. Just hear me out for a moment.) There are Conservative Mennonites, Mennonite Brethren, Mennonite USA, and that is just to name a few. In other words, within each denomination, there are actually more division, each one slightly different based on who they are following.
Now on the surface, all of us would loudly stand up and proclaim, no matter the denomination, "We SERVE JESUS CHRIST!" But I think the early church would have said the same thing. "serve Jesus Christ", and under their breathe would add, "but we follow the teachings, theology, thought process of *fill in the blank*". Do we not do the same thing today? "We Serve Jesus Christ", we shout this out boldly, and under our breathe, "but we follow the teachings, theology, thought process of *fill in the blank*."
I am NOT at all saying we should have one global church, cause some might go there with this. What this passage of Scripture did for me, though, was caused me to ask this question:
What would happen to the Body of Christ if we stopped the division and simply followed Christ? What would happen if we no longer followed the teaching of a specific teacher, leader, apostle, preacher....all mere men....and instead followed the teaching only of Jesus Christ? It seems so simple and yet it proves to be incredibly difficult as we all have our own idea of what that means.
So, how can we get to the place that Paul was calling the Corinthian church to, which was unity in the wisdom of Jesus Christ through the revelation of the Holy Spirit and not through the wisdom or revelation of man? How do we bring the church into unity?
At this point in my devotional time, I stopped, opened up my laptop, and began the process of emailing my pastor to ask him my questions...
And then.......
I stopped myself.....
dead in my tracks.
I shook my head at my own actions.....
and I chuckled a little.
In the midst of my discovery this morning, I found myself falling into the very same temptation the early church fell too. I was just about to turn to a pastor, a leader, seeking wisdom from a man to help me discern the revelation of God! Good Grief! (Disclaimer: I talk about this a bit later. I'm not saying to not seek counsel! Our pastors are GIFTS to us as are apostles, evangelists, teachers, and prophets. We need them!)
As I stopped myself, I began to instead, talk to God. I often forget. I am His temple. His spirit lives inside of me. And the Holy Spirit was given to us as a helper, an advocate:
John 14:26
"But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you."
I asked my heavenly Father, "How do we bring the church into unity? What is the answer? Because you have definitely given us teachers, preachers, prophets, apostles, pastors, and evangelists for our good. To teach us, to build us up, to edify us. We do need them and they are definitely a gift from you!"
And this is where my Jesus led me:
Ephesians chapter 4:
"I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, entreat you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing forbearance to one another in love, being diligent to preserve the UNITY of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is ONE body and ONE Spirit, just as also you were called in ONE hope of your calling; ONE Lord, ONE faith, ONE baptism, ONE God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all."
and then further into chapter 4....
"And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors, and teachers, FOR THE EQUIPPING OF THE SAINTS FOR THE WORK OF SERVICE, TO THE BUILDING UP OF THE BODY OF CHRIST; until we all attain to the UNITY of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves, and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him, who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by that which every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love."
Wow! In there lies the answer.....
Mere men, praised God He is able to use us mere men!, are gifted by Jesus Christ to be pastors, evangelists, prophets, teachers, and apostles in order to equip the saints, that's us :), for the work of the service, to build us up, and to call us into unity, BUT NOT TO FOLLOW THEM PERSONALLY! This is what Paul was saying in 1 Corinthians as well.
"Paul didn't save you, neither did any of these men! And you were not baptized into the name of Paul or of anyone else OTHER THAN JESUS CHRIST AND JESUS CHRIST ALONE!"
The answer is so simple and inside of the answer is the encouragement I found this morning. I pray it encourages you as well. There is hope for unity within the Body of Christ, there is hope for unity within our local churches, there is hope for unity between the different churches dwelling inside of our communities.
Unity in Christ comes from all of us pursuing, not the mere men who have been gifted, called and sent to edify us, (though they are needed, beneficial, and desired inside of the body of Christ) but in the Giver of those gifts. Unity will be found in our pursuit of Jesus Christ and in Him alone and in our relationship with Him. My heart cries out to be in tune with His very heartbeat so I may understand His wisdom and His revelation! It is only through my continued pursuit of Him, learning to listen to His voice, and to know His heart that I will begin to have His revelation revealed to me. Not because I am anything great, but because He is great! Each of us have this opportunity to press in deeper and deeper into who He is. To know Him intimately.
So, I hear the question askers, but what if what He reveals to me is different than what He reveals to you? Don't worry, I asked the question as well. I am a question asker to the core....this verse was brought to my mind:
Matthew 10:16
"Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of the wolves; therefore be shrewd as serpents, and innocent as doves."
And how do we obtain this shrewdness and this innocence? Only through the pursuit of Jesus Christ. It is only through His wisdom that He can reveal Himself to us and fill us with His wisdom so we are not tossed to and fro by different doctrines or men. Just like the people of the church in Berea...they pressed into the scripture, into Jesus Himself, to see if what the Apostle Paul was telling them was truth. It is only through the wisdom of the Holy Spirit the Jesus is revealed to us. It us through His revelation to us that we will be able to discern what is from Him and what is not from Him. It is through His revelation to us that unity will come.
I was impressed so much today, how important it is to press into Jesus. To rely on Him to reveal Himself to us, to bring us together unified, to send us out to the nations, and to be his light....not divided, but united.
What an encouragement I found as I opened up my Bible to begin reading in 1 Corinthians 1. These words jumped off the page at me:
"Paul, called as an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother, to the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling, with all who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours"
and then in verse 11:
"For I have been informed concerning you, my brethren, by Chloe's people, that there are quarrels among you. Now I mean this, that each one of you is saying, 'I am of Paul,' and 'I of Apollos,' and 'I of Cephas,' and 'I of Christ.' Has Christ been divided? Paul was not crucified for you, was he? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?"
First off, I think it is cool that even back in the time of the Corinthians that somebody had people! You know, my people will call your people? Well apparently, Chloe had people too! :D Sorry, I just found that humorous! I digress.
Paul opens up his letter talking to the local church in Corinth. These were not unchurched people. They were called, sanctified, baptized, saved, Holy Spirit filled believers in Jesus Christ. They were church people. And they had a problem. So early in the history of the church too, so close yet still to when Jesus had walked the earth, when he had died, when He had risen and yet they had a problem. They disagreed on who to follow. Same problem we have today, accept today, this problem has been distinguished by something we like to call "denominations". That's all denominations are. A group of people who agree with the teaching of a specific leader, pastor, teacher, prophet, or apostle. We could easily fill in verses 11-13 like this:
"For I have been informed concerning you, my brethren, by Chloe's people, that there are quarrels among you. Now I mean this, that each one of you is saying, 'I am of Menno Simons' (Mennonites), and 'I of Martin Luther'(Lutherans), and 'I of the Apostle Peter' (Roman Catholics) and 'I of Christ'. Has Christ been divided? Menno Simons was not crucified for you, was he? Or were you baptized in the name of Martin Luther?"
As I read through these chapters, I was amazed at how early division came into the church. It completely mimics the present day church at large. Even within these denominations there is division. For example, cause I know this denomination the best, take the Mennonites (and I will add a disclaimer right now. Please hear me, I am not picking on the Mennonites or on any one denomination. Just hear me out for a moment.) There are Conservative Mennonites, Mennonite Brethren, Mennonite USA, and that is just to name a few. In other words, within each denomination, there are actually more division, each one slightly different based on who they are following.
Now on the surface, all of us would loudly stand up and proclaim, no matter the denomination, "We SERVE JESUS CHRIST!" But I think the early church would have said the same thing. "serve Jesus Christ", and under their breathe would add, "but we follow the teachings, theology, thought process of *fill in the blank*". Do we not do the same thing today? "We Serve Jesus Christ", we shout this out boldly, and under our breathe, "but we follow the teachings, theology, thought process of *fill in the blank*."
I am NOT at all saying we should have one global church, cause some might go there with this. What this passage of Scripture did for me, though, was caused me to ask this question:
What would happen to the Body of Christ if we stopped the division and simply followed Christ? What would happen if we no longer followed the teaching of a specific teacher, leader, apostle, preacher....all mere men....and instead followed the teaching only of Jesus Christ? It seems so simple and yet it proves to be incredibly difficult as we all have our own idea of what that means.
So, how can we get to the place that Paul was calling the Corinthian church to, which was unity in the wisdom of Jesus Christ through the revelation of the Holy Spirit and not through the wisdom or revelation of man? How do we bring the church into unity?
At this point in my devotional time, I stopped, opened up my laptop, and began the process of emailing my pastor to ask him my questions...
And then.......
I stopped myself.....
dead in my tracks.
I shook my head at my own actions.....
and I chuckled a little.
In the midst of my discovery this morning, I found myself falling into the very same temptation the early church fell too. I was just about to turn to a pastor, a leader, seeking wisdom from a man to help me discern the revelation of God! Good Grief! (Disclaimer: I talk about this a bit later. I'm not saying to not seek counsel! Our pastors are GIFTS to us as are apostles, evangelists, teachers, and prophets. We need them!)
As I stopped myself, I began to instead, talk to God. I often forget. I am His temple. His spirit lives inside of me. And the Holy Spirit was given to us as a helper, an advocate:
John 14:26
"But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you."
I asked my heavenly Father, "How do we bring the church into unity? What is the answer? Because you have definitely given us teachers, preachers, prophets, apostles, pastors, and evangelists for our good. To teach us, to build us up, to edify us. We do need them and they are definitely a gift from you!"
And this is where my Jesus led me:
Ephesians chapter 4:
"I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, entreat you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing forbearance to one another in love, being diligent to preserve the UNITY of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is ONE body and ONE Spirit, just as also you were called in ONE hope of your calling; ONE Lord, ONE faith, ONE baptism, ONE God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all."
and then further into chapter 4....
"And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors, and teachers, FOR THE EQUIPPING OF THE SAINTS FOR THE WORK OF SERVICE, TO THE BUILDING UP OF THE BODY OF CHRIST; until we all attain to the UNITY of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves, and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him, who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by that which every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love."
Wow! In there lies the answer.....
Mere men, praised God He is able to use us mere men!, are gifted by Jesus Christ to be pastors, evangelists, prophets, teachers, and apostles in order to equip the saints, that's us :), for the work of the service, to build us up, and to call us into unity, BUT NOT TO FOLLOW THEM PERSONALLY! This is what Paul was saying in 1 Corinthians as well.
"Paul didn't save you, neither did any of these men! And you were not baptized into the name of Paul or of anyone else OTHER THAN JESUS CHRIST AND JESUS CHRIST ALONE!"
The answer is so simple and inside of the answer is the encouragement I found this morning. I pray it encourages you as well. There is hope for unity within the Body of Christ, there is hope for unity within our local churches, there is hope for unity between the different churches dwelling inside of our communities.
Unity in Christ comes from all of us pursuing, not the mere men who have been gifted, called and sent to edify us, (though they are needed, beneficial, and desired inside of the body of Christ) but in the Giver of those gifts. Unity will be found in our pursuit of Jesus Christ and in Him alone and in our relationship with Him. My heart cries out to be in tune with His very heartbeat so I may understand His wisdom and His revelation! It is only through my continued pursuit of Him, learning to listen to His voice, and to know His heart that I will begin to have His revelation revealed to me. Not because I am anything great, but because He is great! Each of us have this opportunity to press in deeper and deeper into who He is. To know Him intimately.
So, I hear the question askers, but what if what He reveals to me is different than what He reveals to you? Don't worry, I asked the question as well. I am a question asker to the core....this verse was brought to my mind:
Matthew 10:16
"Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of the wolves; therefore be shrewd as serpents, and innocent as doves."
And how do we obtain this shrewdness and this innocence? Only through the pursuit of Jesus Christ. It is only through His wisdom that He can reveal Himself to us and fill us with His wisdom so we are not tossed to and fro by different doctrines or men. Just like the people of the church in Berea...they pressed into the scripture, into Jesus Himself, to see if what the Apostle Paul was telling them was truth. It is only through the wisdom of the Holy Spirit the Jesus is revealed to us. It us through His revelation to us that we will be able to discern what is from Him and what is not from Him. It is through His revelation to us that unity will come.
I was impressed so much today, how important it is to press into Jesus. To rely on Him to reveal Himself to us, to bring us together unified, to send us out to the nations, and to be his light....not divided, but united.
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