Ps 19:1-4 (NLT) “The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship. Day after day they continue to speak; night after night they make him known. They speak without a sound or word; their voice is never heard. Yet their message has gone throughout the earth, and their words to all the world.”
Dose God live, does He really exist? This question creates strong opinions with views both for and against. We know when a person resists even the possibility of there being a God, then whatever evidence we come up with will just be rationalized or explained away.
But Christians know that He lives because we experience Him. God answers our prayers, we see him work out difficulties in our lives in mysterious and miraculous ways. God gives us peace of mind as evidence of forgiveness for our sins. Yet how can a person who has not experienced Him working in their lives know that God lives?
God never asks anyone to believe, without giving them sufficient evidence upon which to base their faith. God’s existence is established by testimony all around us that appeals to our reason; and this testimony is abundant. Yet God has never removed the possibility of doubt. Our faith must rest upon evidence of things unseen, not on an impressive show or fancy demonstrations of His legitimacy. Yet, clearly, if you choose to see it, the greatest testimony of God’s existence is in the natural world all around us. Nature shouts without a sound or spoken word that God is everywhere.
Marilyn Adamson has written an excellent article on the evidence of God in the natural world. She says, there are many examples showing God's existence, more evidence than could fill volumes of books, evidence possibly with no end. But here are a few:
The Earth...its size is perfect. The Earth's size and corresponding gravity holds a thin layer of mostly nitrogen and oxygen gases, only extending about 50 miles above the Earth's surface. If Earth were smaller, an atmosphere would be impossible, like the planet Mercury. If Earth were larger, its atmosphere would contain free hydrogen, like Jupiter. Earth is the only known planet equipped with an atmosphere of the right mixture of gases to sustain plant, animal and human life.
The Earth is located the right distance from the sun. Consider the temperature swings we encounter, roughly -30 degrees to +120 degrees. If the Earth were any further away from the sun, we would all freeze. Any closer and we would burn up. Even a fractional variance in the Earth's position to the sun would make life on Earth impossible. The Earth remains this perfect distance from the sun while it rotates around the sun at a speed of nearly 67,000 mph. It is also rotating on its axis, allowing the entire surface of the Earth to be properly warmed and cooled every day.
And our moon is the perfect size and distance from the Earth for its gravitational pull. The moon creates important ocean tides and movement so ocean waters do not stagnate, and yet our massive oceans are restrained from spilling over across the continents.
Water...colorless, odorless and without taste, and yet no living thing can survive without it. Plants, animals and human beings consist mostly of water (about two-thirds of the human body is water). You'll see why the characteristics of water are uniquely suited to life:
It has an unusually high boiling point and freezing point. Water allows us to live in an environment of fluctuating temperature changes, while keeping our bodies a steady 98.6 degrees.
Water is a universal solvent. This property of water means that thousands of chemicals, minerals and nutrients can be carried throughout our bodies and into the smallest blood vessels.
Water is also chemically neutral. Without affecting the makeup of the substances it carries, water enables food, medicines and minerals to be absorbed and used by the body.
Water has a unique surface tension. Water in plants can therefore flow upward against gravity, bringing life-giving water and nutrients to the top of even the tallest trees.
Water freezes from the top down and floats, so fish can live in the winter.
Ninety-seven percent of the Earth's water is in the oceans. But on our Earth, there is a system designed which removes salt from the water and then distributes that water throughout the globe. Evaporation takes the ocean waters, leaving the salt, and forms clouds which are easily moved by the wind to disperse water over the land, for vegetation, animals and people. It is a system of purification and supply that sustains life on this planet, a system of recycled and reused water.
The human brain...simultaneously processes an amazing amount of information. Your brain takes in all the colors and objects you see, the temperature around you, the pressure of your feet against the floor, the sounds around you, the dryness of your mouth, even the texture of your keyboard. Your brain holds and processes all your emotions, thoughts and memories. At the same time your brain keeps track of the ongoing functions of your body like your breathing pattern, eyelid movement, hunger and movement of the muscles in your hands.
The human brain processes more than a million messages a second. Your brain weighs the importance of all this data, filtering out the relatively unimportant. This screening function is what allows you to focus and operate effectively in your world. The brain functions differently than other organs. There is an intelligence to it, the ability to reason, to produce feelings, to dream and plan, to take action, and relate to other people.
The eye...can distinguish among seven million colors. It has automatic focusing and handles an astounding 1.5 million messages – simultaneously. Evolution focuses on mutations and changes from and within existing organisms. Yet evolution alone does not fully explain the initial source of the eye or the brain -- the start of living organisms from nonliving matter.
Much of life may seem uncertain, but look at what we can count on day after day: gravity remains consistent, a hot cup of coffee left on a counter will get cold, the earth rotates in the same 24 hours, and the speed of light doesn't change -- on earth or in galaxies far from us.
How is it that we can identify laws of nature that never change? Why is the universe so orderly, so reliable? "The greatest scientists have been struck by how strange this is. There is no logical necessity for a universe that obeys rules, let alone one that abides by the rules of mathematics. This astonishment springs from the recognition that the universe doesn't have to behave this way. It is easy to imagine a universe in which conditions change unpredictably from instant to instant, or even a universe in which things pop in and out of existence."
Richard Feynman, a Nobel Prize winner for quantum electrodynamics, said, "Why nature is mathematical is a mystery...The fact that there are rules at all is a kind of miracle."
All instruction, all teaching, all training comes with intent. Someone who writes an instruction manual does so with purpose. Did you know that in every cell of our bodies there exists a very detailed instruction code, much like a miniature computer program? As you may know, a computer program is made up of ones and zeros, like this: 110010101011000. The way they are arranged tell the computer program what to do. The DNA code in each of our cells is very similar. It's made up of four chemicals that scientists abbreviate as A, T, G, and C. These are arranged in the human cell like this: CGTGTGACTCGCTCCTGAT and so on. There are three billions of these letters in every human cell!!
Well, just like you can program your phone to beep for specific reasons, DNA instructs the cell. DNA is a three-billion-lettered program telling the cell to act in a certain way. It is a full instruction manual.
Why is this so amazing? One has to ask....how did this information program wind up in each human cell? These are not just chemicals. These are chemicals that instruct, that code in a very detailed way exactly how the person's body should develop.
Natural, biological causes are completely lacking as an explanation when programmed information is involved. You cannot find instruction, precise information like this, without someone intentionally constructing it.
Share some of the things that proves to you that God is real? Compare the faith of science in evolution with the faith of Christians in creation?
Friday, July 31, 2009
Thursday, July 30, 2009
I Corinthians 15:55-57
1 Cor 15:55-57 (NIV) "Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
What is more dismal then the prospect of death? What is more depressing than the thought that our lives are nothing more than an infinitesimally tiny speck in the universe that briefly appears and then vanishes forever. Without God death is the most powerful force in the universe. Your life is no more meaningful than the life of a mosquito. Everything that you have done is doomed to go out of existence; can there be any ultimate significance? To what consequence is the world or man in the end? There can be no hope, no purpose for anything.
But God is real, and because He lives the loss of life no longer means that in death we become nonexistent. With God we have no fear of death, we have hope for eternal life, there is no longer despair because the good that comes from our lives will continue on in the next life.
However, because God is real then sin is also real. And as sinners we cannot live in the presence of a pure and holy God so we would still be doomed because death is once again our destiny. “But thanks be to God! who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” In Isaiah 53:5-7 the scriptures tell us how Jesus stole the victory away from sin and death. “He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter” and overcame death and the grave for us. Romans 5:18-19 explains it this way, Adam's one sin brought condemnation for everyone, but Christ's one act of righteousness brought a right relationship with God and new life for everyone. Because one person disobeyed God, all became sinners. But because one other person, Jesus Christ, obeyed God, all are made righteous.
What is there left for us to fear? Death no longer deprives us of our existence. The power of sin and death have been conquered, Jesus was victorious over both of them. Beyond that, He has restored meaning and purpose to our lives, we can now live for the same purpose He lived for, which was to love God with all our heart, with all our understanding and with all our strength, and to love our neighbors as ourselves (Mark 12:33.) Also to proclaim the good news to the poor, and to bind up the wounds of the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives, and release from darkness those who are in prison (Isa 61:1.)
Describe your feelings about death? Compare your feelings about death with the feelings someone without hope may have?
What is more dismal then the prospect of death? What is more depressing than the thought that our lives are nothing more than an infinitesimally tiny speck in the universe that briefly appears and then vanishes forever. Without God death is the most powerful force in the universe. Your life is no more meaningful than the life of a mosquito. Everything that you have done is doomed to go out of existence; can there be any ultimate significance? To what consequence is the world or man in the end? There can be no hope, no purpose for anything.
But God is real, and because He lives the loss of life no longer means that in death we become nonexistent. With God we have no fear of death, we have hope for eternal life, there is no longer despair because the good that comes from our lives will continue on in the next life.
However, because God is real then sin is also real. And as sinners we cannot live in the presence of a pure and holy God so we would still be doomed because death is once again our destiny. “But thanks be to God! who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” In Isaiah 53:5-7 the scriptures tell us how Jesus stole the victory away from sin and death. “He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter” and overcame death and the grave for us. Romans 5:18-19 explains it this way, Adam's one sin brought condemnation for everyone, but Christ's one act of righteousness brought a right relationship with God and new life for everyone. Because one person disobeyed God, all became sinners. But because one other person, Jesus Christ, obeyed God, all are made righteous.
What is there left for us to fear? Death no longer deprives us of our existence. The power of sin and death have been conquered, Jesus was victorious over both of them. Beyond that, He has restored meaning and purpose to our lives, we can now live for the same purpose He lived for, which was to love God with all our heart, with all our understanding and with all our strength, and to love our neighbors as ourselves (Mark 12:33.) Also to proclaim the good news to the poor, and to bind up the wounds of the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives, and release from darkness those who are in prison (Isa 61:1.)
Describe your feelings about death? Compare your feelings about death with the feelings someone without hope may have?
John 3: 16-17
John 3:16-17 (NIV) “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”
In this verse, John explains in the Greek language that God loved the world with “agape” love. Agape is the Greek word used for unconditional love. God’s love is unconditional, as a matter of fact God is love, and His love is very different from human love. God's unconditional love is not based on feelings or emotions. He doesn't love us because we're lovable or because we make Him feel good; He loves us because He is love. He created us to have a loving relationship with Him, and He sacrificed His own Son (who also willingly died for us) to restore that relationship. Additionally, God’s love was not just for a select few, or for the saved. God’s unconditional love is for the “world” and all of us who have ever lived in it. Again in 2 Cor 5:19, the Bible tells us that “God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ” He reconciled everyone to God by his death. Not just the elect, nobody was to be left out, the entire world is included. But not everyone in the world understands they are included or chooses to receive the reconciliation with God that belongs to them if they choose to embrace it.
Can anyone really comprehend "unconditional" love? It seems that the love parents have for their children is a close comparison to God’s unconditional love, or as close as we can get to it without the help of God's love in our lives. Parents continue to love our children through good times and bad times, and we don't stop loving them if they don't meet our expectations that we put on them. We choose to love our children even when they are pretty much unlovable. Our love doesn't stop when we don't "feel" love for them. In this way a parent’s love is similar to God's love for us, but actually God's love transcends our human definition of love to a point that is nearly impossible for us to comprehend. In Romans 5:8, "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." In this verse and in John 3:16, we find no conditions placed on God's love for us. God doesn't say, "as soon as you clean up your act, I'll love you" nor does He say, "I'll sacrifice my Son if you promise to love Me." In fact, in Romans 5:8, we find just the opposite. God wants us to know that His love is unconditional, so He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to die for us while we were still unlovable sinners.
Give some examples of God's unconditional love that you have experienced in your own life? Compare your examples of God's love and the differences between them and human love?
In this verse, John explains in the Greek language that God loved the world with “agape” love. Agape is the Greek word used for unconditional love. God’s love is unconditional, as a matter of fact God is love, and His love is very different from human love. God's unconditional love is not based on feelings or emotions. He doesn't love us because we're lovable or because we make Him feel good; He loves us because He is love. He created us to have a loving relationship with Him, and He sacrificed His own Son (who also willingly died for us) to restore that relationship. Additionally, God’s love was not just for a select few, or for the saved. God’s unconditional love is for the “world” and all of us who have ever lived in it. Again in 2 Cor 5:19, the Bible tells us that “God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ” He reconciled everyone to God by his death. Not just the elect, nobody was to be left out, the entire world is included. But not everyone in the world understands they are included or chooses to receive the reconciliation with God that belongs to them if they choose to embrace it.
Can anyone really comprehend "unconditional" love? It seems that the love parents have for their children is a close comparison to God’s unconditional love, or as close as we can get to it without the help of God's love in our lives. Parents continue to love our children through good times and bad times, and we don't stop loving them if they don't meet our expectations that we put on them. We choose to love our children even when they are pretty much unlovable. Our love doesn't stop when we don't "feel" love for them. In this way a parent’s love is similar to God's love for us, but actually God's love transcends our human definition of love to a point that is nearly impossible for us to comprehend. In Romans 5:8, "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." In this verse and in John 3:16, we find no conditions placed on God's love for us. God doesn't say, "as soon as you clean up your act, I'll love you" nor does He say, "I'll sacrifice my Son if you promise to love Me." In fact, in Romans 5:8, we find just the opposite. God wants us to know that His love is unconditional, so He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to die for us while we were still unlovable sinners.
Give some examples of God's unconditional love that you have experienced in your own life? Compare your examples of God's love and the differences between them and human love?
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Genesis 28:12; John 1:51
Gen 28:12 (NLT); John 1:51 (NLT) As Jacob slept, “he dreamed of a stairway that reached from the earth up to heaven. And he saw the angels of God going up and down the stairway.”; Then Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, you will all see heaven open and the angels of God going up and down on the Son of Man, the one who is the stairway between heaven and earth."
Jesus, the Son of God, is the stairway to peace and spiritual healing on our Journey to heaven. Jesus described himself as the ladder in Jacob’s dream that bridged the gap between man and God. The ladder is provided by Christ's death for our sins. Isaiah 53:4-5, TLB. "Yet it was our grief He bore, our sorrows that weighed Him down. And we thought His troubles were a punishment from God, for His own sins! But He was wounded and bruised for our sins. He was chastised that we might have peace; He was lashed—and we are healed." All of us who have been touched by sin are in great need of spiritual healing. Forgiveness is ours for the taking, peace is found by making things right with God. Romans 5:1, (TLB) tells us, "So now, since we have been made right in God's sight by faith in His promises, we can have real peace with Him because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us." However, it took years for sin to create deep festering wounds in our lives, and as anyone who has worked in the health field knows, wounds take 10 times longer to heal than they did to form. But Praise God, as we climb Jacob’s ladder each round takes us higher and closer to the spiritual healing the Bible promises us is ours on the quest to the Kingdom of God.
“Every round goes higher” So the second round of the staircase involves removing what causes the wound from our lives. This round of the staircase is obedience. Psalm 119:165, (NIV) "Great peace have they who love Your law, and nothing can make them stumble." Disobedience is what caused the spiritual wounds in our lives to begin with so it makes sense that obedience removes what causes the wounds to keep growing. Doing the right thing because it is what God wants us to do is the essence of righteousness by faith. Isaiah 32:17-18, (NIV) "The fruit of righteousness will be peace; the effect of righteousness will be quietness and confidence forever."
“Every round goes higher” So the third round in the stairway looks easy, but it is actually the most challenging part of the climb. It is finding peace by letting go of self. It is a battle within ourselves against God’s will in areas of our life where we don’t want to let go, but where we need to grow. Job 22:21, (TLB) "Quit quarreling with God. Agree with Him and you will have peace at last. His favor will surround you if you will only admit that you were wrong." Self putrefies in our wounds, but Praise God, removing self cleanses the wounds to allow healing to begin to take place.
“Every round goes higher” in this round God gives us discipline, which is the fourth round in the stairway of peace and spiritual healing. Hebrews 12:5-11, (NIV) "My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son. Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live! Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it." Medicine on a deep wound stings and burns, discipline is the medicine providing the antiseptic environment necessary for the spiritual wound to keep infection out. Praise God, that Jesus is the Balm of Giliad, by trusting in Him, the Balm of Gilliad will heal the sin sick soul. Isaiah 26:3-4, (TLB) "He will keep in perfect peace all those who trust in Him, whose thoughts turn often to the Lord! Trust in the Lord God always, for in the Lord Jehovah is your everlasting strength."
What are some other steps on Jacob's ladder that you feel have been important on your spiritual journey? Share an example of some of the spiritual healing you have experienced on your Christian journey?
*Originally posted as a comment by Dan on Kingdom Quest Blog on July 29, 2009 3:47 PM
Jesus, the Son of God, is the stairway to peace and spiritual healing on our Journey to heaven. Jesus described himself as the ladder in Jacob’s dream that bridged the gap between man and God. The ladder is provided by Christ's death for our sins. Isaiah 53:4-5, TLB. "Yet it was our grief He bore, our sorrows that weighed Him down. And we thought His troubles were a punishment from God, for His own sins! But He was wounded and bruised for our sins. He was chastised that we might have peace; He was lashed—and we are healed." All of us who have been touched by sin are in great need of spiritual healing. Forgiveness is ours for the taking, peace is found by making things right with God. Romans 5:1, (TLB) tells us, "So now, since we have been made right in God's sight by faith in His promises, we can have real peace with Him because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us." However, it took years for sin to create deep festering wounds in our lives, and as anyone who has worked in the health field knows, wounds take 10 times longer to heal than they did to form. But Praise God, as we climb Jacob’s ladder each round takes us higher and closer to the spiritual healing the Bible promises us is ours on the quest to the Kingdom of God.
“Every round goes higher” So the second round of the staircase involves removing what causes the wound from our lives. This round of the staircase is obedience. Psalm 119:165, (NIV) "Great peace have they who love Your law, and nothing can make them stumble." Disobedience is what caused the spiritual wounds in our lives to begin with so it makes sense that obedience removes what causes the wounds to keep growing. Doing the right thing because it is what God wants us to do is the essence of righteousness by faith. Isaiah 32:17-18, (NIV) "The fruit of righteousness will be peace; the effect of righteousness will be quietness and confidence forever."
“Every round goes higher” So the third round in the stairway looks easy, but it is actually the most challenging part of the climb. It is finding peace by letting go of self. It is a battle within ourselves against God’s will in areas of our life where we don’t want to let go, but where we need to grow. Job 22:21, (TLB) "Quit quarreling with God. Agree with Him and you will have peace at last. His favor will surround you if you will only admit that you were wrong." Self putrefies in our wounds, but Praise God, removing self cleanses the wounds to allow healing to begin to take place.
“Every round goes higher” in this round God gives us discipline, which is the fourth round in the stairway of peace and spiritual healing. Hebrews 12:5-11, (NIV) "My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son. Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live! Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it." Medicine on a deep wound stings and burns, discipline is the medicine providing the antiseptic environment necessary for the spiritual wound to keep infection out. Praise God, that Jesus is the Balm of Giliad, by trusting in Him, the Balm of Gilliad will heal the sin sick soul. Isaiah 26:3-4, (TLB) "He will keep in perfect peace all those who trust in Him, whose thoughts turn often to the Lord! Trust in the Lord God always, for in the Lord Jehovah is your everlasting strength."
What are some other steps on Jacob's ladder that you feel have been important on your spiritual journey? Share an example of some of the spiritual healing you have experienced on your Christian journey?
*Originally posted as a comment by Dan on Kingdom Quest Blog on July 29, 2009 3:47 PM
Sunday, July 26, 2009
James 1:2-4
James 1:2-4 (NIV) “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”
God took Joseph’s trials, the betrayal by his brothers, years of suffering as a slave, falsely accused of adultery, then cast in prison, and polished him. A rough gem stone is valuable, but after it has been cut and lightly hammered to knock off brittle, fractured material, and it has been put in a grinder that uses progressive abrasion using finer and finer grits of harder substances to polish the gem the process increases its value sometimes as much as 80%. After all that Joseph suffered, which caused him to be cut and polished spiritually, he grew to depended on God more and more. When he was ready God elevated him to the highest place next to the Pharaoh. Sometimes our trials can lead to our greatest blessings and God’s greatest victories.
Joseph’s story reminds me of a sermon I heard on Focus on the Family years ago. A minister was telling his story, he had been pastoring a normal little church and reached a plateau in his life and ministry when his life was turned upside down after he and his wife had a severely autistic child. To make a long story short, just having a child that severely handicapped made their home life terribly chaotic and their church was not structured to handle the noise and disruption of an autistic child. His frustration at God rattled his relationship with God and nearly drove him out of the ministry. But just like Joseph, his trials turned into triumph as he developed church programs that focused on how to minister to autistic children, a project that revolutionized his church and turned it into the largest congregation in the community and nationally recognized as a pioneer church for this kind of ministry.
Share what trials you have had in your life and how God turned them to triumph? Explain how those trials have made you into a more balanced person?
*Originally posted as a comment by Dan on Kingdom Quest Blog on July 26, 2009 12:10 AM
God took Joseph’s trials, the betrayal by his brothers, years of suffering as a slave, falsely accused of adultery, then cast in prison, and polished him. A rough gem stone is valuable, but after it has been cut and lightly hammered to knock off brittle, fractured material, and it has been put in a grinder that uses progressive abrasion using finer and finer grits of harder substances to polish the gem the process increases its value sometimes as much as 80%. After all that Joseph suffered, which caused him to be cut and polished spiritually, he grew to depended on God more and more. When he was ready God elevated him to the highest place next to the Pharaoh. Sometimes our trials can lead to our greatest blessings and God’s greatest victories.
Joseph’s story reminds me of a sermon I heard on Focus on the Family years ago. A minister was telling his story, he had been pastoring a normal little church and reached a plateau in his life and ministry when his life was turned upside down after he and his wife had a severely autistic child. To make a long story short, just having a child that severely handicapped made their home life terribly chaotic and their church was not structured to handle the noise and disruption of an autistic child. His frustration at God rattled his relationship with God and nearly drove him out of the ministry. But just like Joseph, his trials turned into triumph as he developed church programs that focused on how to minister to autistic children, a project that revolutionized his church and turned it into the largest congregation in the community and nationally recognized as a pioneer church for this kind of ministry.
Share what trials you have had in your life and how God turned them to triumph? Explain how those trials have made you into a more balanced person?
*Originally posted as a comment by Dan on Kingdom Quest Blog on July 26, 2009 12:10 AM
Friday, July 24, 2009
John 16:33
John 16:33 (NIV) "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."
Hopefully as followers of Christ we have all experienced the peace that comes from forgiveness and reconciliation through Jesus. But there are other real difficult situations where it is harder to find peace. In theory peace is always available for everyone in every circumstance. In practice finding peace during chronic illness, death, divorce, phobias, financial disaster, infertility, unwanted pregnancy, loneliness, or during verbal, emotional, or physical abuse is often much more difficult than in theory. God has never promised us that we would never have pain, suffering and problems. In fact without pain, suffering and problems we would never appreciate the joy of peace. Here are some suggestions for finding peace in the midst of suffering by June Hunt from “Hope For The Heart Biblical Counseling Keys” © 2005 by Hope For The Heart.
Receive the compassion of God.
• God understands your pain.
• God is aware of your needs and weaknesses.
• God loves you even more than you may love your own children.
• God’s compassion never fails.
Leave the past in the past.
• Don’t play the “blame game.”
• Don’t rehearse the “what if’s.”
• Don’t try to figure out what went wrong.
• Don’t assume responsibility for other people’s choices.
Entrust the future to God.
• God is the God of a second chance.
• God has a timetable different from mine.
• God is working continually.
• God has all the resources He needs to accomplish His purposes.
Exchange your pain for God’s peace.
• Choose to trust in God’s goodness.
• Choose to rely on God’s faithfulness.
• Choose to believe in God’s involvement.
• Choose to live in God’s presence.
Share some of the heartbreaks this world has inflicted upon you? Compare the peace you have found in Christ with the pain this world has caused you to suffer?
*Originally posted as a comment by Dan on Kingdom Quest Blog on July 24, 2009 10:24 PM
Hopefully as followers of Christ we have all experienced the peace that comes from forgiveness and reconciliation through Jesus. But there are other real difficult situations where it is harder to find peace. In theory peace is always available for everyone in every circumstance. In practice finding peace during chronic illness, death, divorce, phobias, financial disaster, infertility, unwanted pregnancy, loneliness, or during verbal, emotional, or physical abuse is often much more difficult than in theory. God has never promised us that we would never have pain, suffering and problems. In fact without pain, suffering and problems we would never appreciate the joy of peace. Here are some suggestions for finding peace in the midst of suffering by June Hunt from “Hope For The Heart Biblical Counseling Keys” © 2005 by Hope For The Heart.
Receive the compassion of God.
• God understands your pain.
• God is aware of your needs and weaknesses.
• God loves you even more than you may love your own children.
• God’s compassion never fails.
Leave the past in the past.
• Don’t play the “blame game.”
• Don’t rehearse the “what if’s.”
• Don’t try to figure out what went wrong.
• Don’t assume responsibility for other people’s choices.
Entrust the future to God.
• God is the God of a second chance.
• God has a timetable different from mine.
• God is working continually.
• God has all the resources He needs to accomplish His purposes.
Exchange your pain for God’s peace.
• Choose to trust in God’s goodness.
• Choose to rely on God’s faithfulness.
• Choose to believe in God’s involvement.
• Choose to live in God’s presence.
Share some of the heartbreaks this world has inflicted upon you? Compare the peace you have found in Christ with the pain this world has caused you to suffer?
*Originally posted as a comment by Dan on Kingdom Quest Blog on July 24, 2009 10:24 PM
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Galations 5:22-23
Gal 5:22-23 (NASB) “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control”
At my lowest point of depression, no matter how hard I wanted to make myself feel better and stop feeling fear and anxiety I was incapable to change my own feelings. Because God was not controlling me; my feelings were controlling me.
Call me melancholy, or call me a wet blanket, but I am afraid of going on an emotional “joy” ride. Because I know from experience that at the end of the “joy” ride is a crash. I have learned that when I let my emotions (feelings) control my mind (thoughts) and my will (choices) I often have difficulty sustaining joy for a long period of time. This is a cycle very hard to regulate because when feelings are the controlling influence, the emotional high sends the pendulum swinging from joy to depression, leaving the individual feeling guilty in addition to depressed. “Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again.” John 4:13
When joy feels as distant to you as the horizon across the ocean? And you are wondering whether you can ever regain joy in your life? The first thing to keep in mind is that joy is not a feeling, but rather is a gift to you from God! Here lies a much better way. Step 1, God teaches or refreshes our mind (what we think.) Steps 2, then we allow Him to direct our will (our choices.) Steps 3, then we allow Him to control our emotions. Jesus said, “Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.” John 4:13 (KJV)
“For the joy of the Lord is your strength.” Neh 8:10-11 (KJV), God’s sustainable joy is “of the Lord,” it is not “of our feelings” or effort. It is a gift, if we ask for it then it is ours. It is a fruit of the spirit, and all we need to do is be connected to the giver to qualify for the gift.
Share an experience you have had with sorrow or depression? Explain the process you have gone through or are going through to re-discover joy?
*Originally posted as a comment by Dan on Kingdom Quest Blog on July 21, 2009 5:46 PM
At my lowest point of depression, no matter how hard I wanted to make myself feel better and stop feeling fear and anxiety I was incapable to change my own feelings. Because God was not controlling me; my feelings were controlling me.
Call me melancholy, or call me a wet blanket, but I am afraid of going on an emotional “joy” ride. Because I know from experience that at the end of the “joy” ride is a crash. I have learned that when I let my emotions (feelings) control my mind (thoughts) and my will (choices) I often have difficulty sustaining joy for a long period of time. This is a cycle very hard to regulate because when feelings are the controlling influence, the emotional high sends the pendulum swinging from joy to depression, leaving the individual feeling guilty in addition to depressed. “Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again.” John 4:13
When joy feels as distant to you as the horizon across the ocean? And you are wondering whether you can ever regain joy in your life? The first thing to keep in mind is that joy is not a feeling, but rather is a gift to you from God! Here lies a much better way. Step 1, God teaches or refreshes our mind (what we think.) Steps 2, then we allow Him to direct our will (our choices.) Steps 3, then we allow Him to control our emotions. Jesus said, “Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.” John 4:13 (KJV)
“For the joy of the Lord is your strength.” Neh 8:10-11 (KJV), God’s sustainable joy is “of the Lord,” it is not “of our feelings” or effort. It is a gift, if we ask for it then it is ours. It is a fruit of the spirit, and all we need to do is be connected to the giver to qualify for the gift.
Share an experience you have had with sorrow or depression? Explain the process you have gone through or are going through to re-discover joy?
*Originally posted as a comment by Dan on Kingdom Quest Blog on July 21, 2009 5:46 PM
Friday, July 17, 2009
Psalms 1:3
Ps 1:3 (KJV) “And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.”
The question is am I connected? God desires for us, the tree, to be planted by the water of life. Jeremiah 17:13 says that The LORD (YAHWEH) is the spring of living water. Just as Jesus says in John 15:5 NASB “he who abides in Me, and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing.” We are totally unable to produce fruit by trying real hard to produce it. However, it is a natural process of a vine connected to a branch to produce fruit automatically without even trying. Likewise a tree planted by the waterside bears a bumper crop year after year. Not because it tries harder than the other trees, but rather because it is connected to a never-ending supply of nourishment.
Jeremiah 2:13 NIV says, “My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water. “ This leads me to ask, do I trust in a pit that collects rainwater but cannot hold it? Have I built a religious experience in which to store truth, but it is a cistern that is worthless? I am thinking of a book my friend Shari recommended to me, “Christianish: What If We’re Not Really Following Jesus At All?” by Mark Steele. According to the author, symptoms of Christianish include: the right behavior, but for the wrong reason; going through the motions, but not going through the change; and knowing Christ’s words, but not always applying His truth. I think these are areas I need to focus on in order to vitalize my spiritual life.
But in a real world what are the practical steps I need to take in order to strengthen my spiritual life, and discover the source of living water and to forsake the broken cisterns. First, I need to accept that going to church, knowing the proper catch phrases, and even carrying a Bible isn't what makes me a Christian. I cannot be just going through the motions of what I believe I should do but rather allowing a true relationship with Christ to motivate me and change me. Second, I need to reconsider how I treat other Christians. Am I at times bashing people with the Gospel ("spitting Bible" instead of love). Do I try to make everyone bow to my spiritual rules and regulations and then in the process am I showing off and focusing on myself and what a great Christian I am rather than discipling people to Jesus and being attentive to the needs of others. Third, are there times when I need to learn how not to use Christianity to lecture or bully or berate non-Christians because of their sinful lifestyles. This kind of attitude portrays Christianity as judgmental, mean-spirited, spiteful and closed minded. In attacking society’s behaviors am I depersonalizing individuals by stereotyping them to their actions rather than discovering who they are as unique individuals that Christ died for?
Having a real connection to Christ is the water of life that Jesus offered to the woman at the well. And as His disciples returned looking down their noses at this sinful Samaritan woman, Jesus was trying to teach them to stop drinking from their own broken cisterns.
What does "really" following Christ mean to you? Compare the "water of life" experience with any "broken cistern" experiences you have mistakenly fallen into?
*Originally posted as a comment by Dan on Kingdom Quest Blog on July 17, 2009 4:48 PM
The question is am I connected? God desires for us, the tree, to be planted by the water of life. Jeremiah 17:13 says that The LORD (YAHWEH) is the spring of living water. Just as Jesus says in John 15:5 NASB “he who abides in Me, and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing.” We are totally unable to produce fruit by trying real hard to produce it. However, it is a natural process of a vine connected to a branch to produce fruit automatically without even trying. Likewise a tree planted by the waterside bears a bumper crop year after year. Not because it tries harder than the other trees, but rather because it is connected to a never-ending supply of nourishment.
Jeremiah 2:13 NIV says, “My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water. “ This leads me to ask, do I trust in a pit that collects rainwater but cannot hold it? Have I built a religious experience in which to store truth, but it is a cistern that is worthless? I am thinking of a book my friend Shari recommended to me, “Christianish: What If We’re Not Really Following Jesus At All?” by Mark Steele. According to the author, symptoms of Christianish include: the right behavior, but for the wrong reason; going through the motions, but not going through the change; and knowing Christ’s words, but not always applying His truth. I think these are areas I need to focus on in order to vitalize my spiritual life.
But in a real world what are the practical steps I need to take in order to strengthen my spiritual life, and discover the source of living water and to forsake the broken cisterns. First, I need to accept that going to church, knowing the proper catch phrases, and even carrying a Bible isn't what makes me a Christian. I cannot be just going through the motions of what I believe I should do but rather allowing a true relationship with Christ to motivate me and change me. Second, I need to reconsider how I treat other Christians. Am I at times bashing people with the Gospel ("spitting Bible" instead of love). Do I try to make everyone bow to my spiritual rules and regulations and then in the process am I showing off and focusing on myself and what a great Christian I am rather than discipling people to Jesus and being attentive to the needs of others. Third, are there times when I need to learn how not to use Christianity to lecture or bully or berate non-Christians because of their sinful lifestyles. This kind of attitude portrays Christianity as judgmental, mean-spirited, spiteful and closed minded. In attacking society’s behaviors am I depersonalizing individuals by stereotyping them to their actions rather than discovering who they are as unique individuals that Christ died for?
Having a real connection to Christ is the water of life that Jesus offered to the woman at the well. And as His disciples returned looking down their noses at this sinful Samaritan woman, Jesus was trying to teach them to stop drinking from their own broken cisterns.
What does "really" following Christ mean to you? Compare the "water of life" experience with any "broken cistern" experiences you have mistakenly fallen into?
*Originally posted as a comment by Dan on Kingdom Quest Blog on July 17, 2009 4:48 PM
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Matthew 18:3
Matt 18:3 (NIV) "Jesus said: I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”
"Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and everything you need for life will be added to you."-Matthew 6:33. The kingdom of God or God’s priorities are not in contrast with our needs. They are in perfect unison, if God is the source of our needs. But if we think our money or our job or our own efforts are our source of our needs then we don’t trust in God to provide our every need. We will end up putting all our strength and energy in acquiring all our needs for ourselves.
But with trust in God we lay aside all our concerns for our daily needs and put all our efforts into seeking first the kingdom of God and God provides us with everything we need, often slower than we would like but He provides. Is it possible to seek God and put all your energy in the Kingdom, to personally grow in the understanding of God and then learn how to share that understanding with others? Easier said than done, because it is against our natural tendencies to not worry about all these things we think we need.
Unless we become like children who don’t worry about if their parent’s have money in the bank account to buy groceries, pay our mortgage, and car payments or not then we cannot see the Kingdom. If they outgrow the clothes we bought for them last month and there is no more money for more new clothes so soon, children don’t worry about it, they know the money will come.
Give some examples of ways you think you would like to become more childlike spiritually? Share some of your experiences, how you have been rewarded by seeking the kingdom of God first rather than your own needs?
*Originally posted as a comment by Dan on Kingdom Quest Blog on July 14, 2009 3:07 PM
"Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and everything you need for life will be added to you."-Matthew 6:33. The kingdom of God or God’s priorities are not in contrast with our needs. They are in perfect unison, if God is the source of our needs. But if we think our money or our job or our own efforts are our source of our needs then we don’t trust in God to provide our every need. We will end up putting all our strength and energy in acquiring all our needs for ourselves.
But with trust in God we lay aside all our concerns for our daily needs and put all our efforts into seeking first the kingdom of God and God provides us with everything we need, often slower than we would like but He provides. Is it possible to seek God and put all your energy in the Kingdom, to personally grow in the understanding of God and then learn how to share that understanding with others? Easier said than done, because it is against our natural tendencies to not worry about all these things we think we need.
Unless we become like children who don’t worry about if their parent’s have money in the bank account to buy groceries, pay our mortgage, and car payments or not then we cannot see the Kingdom. If they outgrow the clothes we bought for them last month and there is no more money for more new clothes so soon, children don’t worry about it, they know the money will come.
Give some examples of ways you think you would like to become more childlike spiritually? Share some of your experiences, how you have been rewarded by seeking the kingdom of God first rather than your own needs?
*Originally posted as a comment by Dan on Kingdom Quest Blog on July 14, 2009 3:07 PM
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Romans 8:30-34
Rom 8:30-34 (NLT) "And having chosen them, he called them to come to him. And having called them, he gave them right standing with himself. And having given them right standing, he gave them his glory. Nothing Can Separate Us from God's Love. What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won't he also give us everything else? Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one—for God himself has given us right standing with himself. Who then will condemn us?"
I believe that from the moment Christ died for us, God's predestination came running to each of us. In the story of the prodigal son, in Luke 15:11-32, the Father of the prodigal son waited for his son to come home, not to use the situation as an opportunity to scold his son but the Father waited in anticipation so that he could run with forgiveness in his heart out to his son. In Romans 8, first God calls us home to his kingdom. Some translations say in this verse that we were predestined rather than called. I say yes, the cross did predestine all the world back into the family of God so that whosoever would believe in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. We walk home expecting to ask the Father to take us back and become a hired worker. But no, God predestined us to be His sons and daughters and not a hired worker, he runs to us, takes us in his arms and holds us close to his chest then before we can even make our plea that we are unworthy to be his son. The Father tells us we are already in right standing with him, because of the cross, nothing can separate us from his love.
Then even beyond that God gives us his Glory! We are Glorified? Yes, we are even glorified. By faith the glorification we are to receive in the next life is ours now to claim as if we were already there because the promise that he will receive it is as good as literally having it. Likewise, in a sense, at the beginning of our quest back home we are already at the destination and the destination is at every step of our journey. Because the promise that we will arrive is as good as literally being there, because God ran and gave it to us while we were yet still a far way off.
I heard Max Lucado say not long ago, that in the Hebrew culture there is one thing that an elderly Jewish man will never do. He will never run. It has been recorded that even in situations where a building was collapsing the elderly Jewish men would rather die in the rubble than run out of the building to save their own lives. The act of running is humiliating for them. In the same way as Christ’s death, hanging naked on a cross, tortured and beaten, laughed at, ridiculed and spit upon was a humiliation for God. At the cross is when God ran.
"And the only time, the only time I ever saw Him run
Was when He ran to me,
Took me in His arms, held my head to His chest
And said "My son's come home again".
Looked in my face, wiped the tears from my eyes
With forgiveness in His voice He said "Son, do you know I still love you?"
It caught me by surprise
When God ran
The day I left home, I knew I'd broken His heart
I wondered if things could ever be the same,
Then one night, I remembered His love for me
And down that dusty road, ahead I could see
It's the only time, the only time I ever saw Him run
Was when He ran to me,
Took me in His arms, held my head to His chest
And said "My son's come home again".
Looked in my face, wiped the tears from my eyes
With forgiveness in His voice He said "Son, do you know I still love you?"
It caught me by surprise, He brought me to my knees
When God ran
I saw Him run to me
And then I ran to Him"
Share your own personal "prodigal son" story? What does it feel like to be like the Father, waiting for your prodigal to return home? Share an experience in your life when you know that God was running to you?
*lyrics taken from the song "When God Ran" by Benny Hester
**Originally posted as a comment by Dan and Karl on Kingdom Quest Blog on July 9, 2009 3:45 PM
I believe that from the moment Christ died for us, God's predestination came running to each of us. In the story of the prodigal son, in Luke 15:11-32, the Father of the prodigal son waited for his son to come home, not to use the situation as an opportunity to scold his son but the Father waited in anticipation so that he could run with forgiveness in his heart out to his son. In Romans 8, first God calls us home to his kingdom. Some translations say in this verse that we were predestined rather than called. I say yes, the cross did predestine all the world back into the family of God so that whosoever would believe in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. We walk home expecting to ask the Father to take us back and become a hired worker. But no, God predestined us to be His sons and daughters and not a hired worker, he runs to us, takes us in his arms and holds us close to his chest then before we can even make our plea that we are unworthy to be his son. The Father tells us we are already in right standing with him, because of the cross, nothing can separate us from his love.
Then even beyond that God gives us his Glory! We are Glorified? Yes, we are even glorified. By faith the glorification we are to receive in the next life is ours now to claim as if we were already there because the promise that he will receive it is as good as literally having it. Likewise, in a sense, at the beginning of our quest back home we are already at the destination and the destination is at every step of our journey. Because the promise that we will arrive is as good as literally being there, because God ran and gave it to us while we were yet still a far way off.
I heard Max Lucado say not long ago, that in the Hebrew culture there is one thing that an elderly Jewish man will never do. He will never run. It has been recorded that even in situations where a building was collapsing the elderly Jewish men would rather die in the rubble than run out of the building to save their own lives. The act of running is humiliating for them. In the same way as Christ’s death, hanging naked on a cross, tortured and beaten, laughed at, ridiculed and spit upon was a humiliation for God. At the cross is when God ran.
"And the only time, the only time I ever saw Him run
Was when He ran to me,
Took me in His arms, held my head to His chest
And said "My son's come home again".
Looked in my face, wiped the tears from my eyes
With forgiveness in His voice He said "Son, do you know I still love you?"
It caught me by surprise
When God ran
The day I left home, I knew I'd broken His heart
I wondered if things could ever be the same,
Then one night, I remembered His love for me
And down that dusty road, ahead I could see
It's the only time, the only time I ever saw Him run
Was when He ran to me,
Took me in His arms, held my head to His chest
And said "My son's come home again".
Looked in my face, wiped the tears from my eyes
With forgiveness in His voice He said "Son, do you know I still love you?"
It caught me by surprise, He brought me to my knees
When God ran
I saw Him run to me
And then I ran to Him"
Share your own personal "prodigal son" story? What does it feel like to be like the Father, waiting for your prodigal to return home? Share an experience in your life when you know that God was running to you?
*lyrics taken from the song "When God Ran" by Benny Hester
**Originally posted as a comment by Dan and Karl on Kingdom Quest Blog on July 9, 2009 3:45 PM
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Psalms 5:1-3
Ps 5:1-3 (KJV) “Give ear to my words, O Lord (Yahweh), consider my meditation. Hearken unto the voice of my cry, my King, and my God: for unto thee will I pray. My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.”
In Psalms 5 David addresses God by his personal name, Yahweh, in a very intimate way. David requests that Yahweh please pay close attention to his thoughts and prayer. In the Hebrew culture, as a matter of respect, you would always address an individual with authority by their title, like Rabbi, Master or King. But the original translation of “LORD” in this scripture is actually “Yahweh,” God’s name. Only a person who has a close personal relationship with such a person, like a spouse or someone that might be considered their equal would be permitted to call them by their personal name.
But David is not showing disrespect here because he understands that God is eager to be our close friend. Yahweh wants us to have a loving and affectionate relationship with Him. In contrast, those who are afraid to offend God and put Him on a pedestal may have a formal or superficial relationship with Him and never really come to understand the tender relationship God desires to share with us.
Never the less, in the very next sentence David points out Yahweh’s high and exalted position by calling Him “my King and my God.” (NLT) interprets the next line to say “for I pray to no one but you” as recognition that only his God is powerful enough to hear and answer our cries. With confidence, David knows beyond a shadow of a doubt that Yahweh will hear his voice during his morning devotional time and with total expectation David “looks up” to wait and see how God will answer him.
Psalm 5 is my theme to this blog. I fully expect Yahweh to hear me in my devotional time I spend in this blog, I know He will consider my meditation. But like David, who shared his Psalms with the world. I also wish to open myself up to all who read this post to consider my meditations with me, and I would love to hear your comments, positive or negative, and together we can “look up” and see God in action.
What do you typically do for your devotion time with God? Describe the quality of time you spend with God?
In Psalms 5 David addresses God by his personal name, Yahweh, in a very intimate way. David requests that Yahweh please pay close attention to his thoughts and prayer. In the Hebrew culture, as a matter of respect, you would always address an individual with authority by their title, like Rabbi, Master or King. But the original translation of “LORD” in this scripture is actually “Yahweh,” God’s name. Only a person who has a close personal relationship with such a person, like a spouse or someone that might be considered their equal would be permitted to call them by their personal name.
But David is not showing disrespect here because he understands that God is eager to be our close friend. Yahweh wants us to have a loving and affectionate relationship with Him. In contrast, those who are afraid to offend God and put Him on a pedestal may have a formal or superficial relationship with Him and never really come to understand the tender relationship God desires to share with us.
Never the less, in the very next sentence David points out Yahweh’s high and exalted position by calling Him “my King and my God.” (NLT) interprets the next line to say “for I pray to no one but you” as recognition that only his God is powerful enough to hear and answer our cries. With confidence, David knows beyond a shadow of a doubt that Yahweh will hear his voice during his morning devotional time and with total expectation David “looks up” to wait and see how God will answer him.
Psalm 5 is my theme to this blog. I fully expect Yahweh to hear me in my devotional time I spend in this blog, I know He will consider my meditation. But like David, who shared his Psalms with the world. I also wish to open myself up to all who read this post to consider my meditations with me, and I would love to hear your comments, positive or negative, and together we can “look up” and see God in action.
What do you typically do for your devotion time with God? Describe the quality of time you spend with God?
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