Rev 2:7 To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.
Persevere in the faith of the first love, and you will have eternal life.
Rev 2:11 He who overcomes will not be hurt at all by the second death.
Keep hold of the faith that keeps trusting God when suffering comes, and death itself will have no sting for you.
Rev 2:17 To him who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to him who receives it.
Persist in refusing to go with the crowd, and you will be sustained and owned by your Father.
Rev 2:26 To him who overcomes and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations-
Resist corrupt leadership's pull toward corruption and stand steadfast and you will be leaders in the coming age.
Rev 3:4-5. 5 He who overcomes will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out his name from the book of life, but will acknowledge his name before my Father and his angels.
Keep on walking in a more and more holy fashion and you will live and be accepted.
Rev 3:122 Him who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will he leave it. I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on him my new name.
Keep on claiming Christ as your Saviour, and even though you're weak, I will protect you, own you, and give you a permanent home.
Rev 3:211 To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne.
Continue in the good works that I've laid out for you, and you will sit down at last to rest in a place of honor.
Rev 21:7-8He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son.
A shining new earth with a glorious ruler will be the reward of those who stay the course to the end.
Monday, November 26, 2007
Friday, November 23, 2007
Repentence Illustrated (ouch)
I quoted this verse a while ago:
Rev 3:17-227 You say, 'I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.' But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. 18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.
I was talking about the pit of self-sufficiency and this call to dependence on God. I am revisiting it tonight.
I was feeling empty and raw after preparing for Thanksgiving, celebrating it with happy feasts with loved ones, and today shopping all day for Christmas, leaving my dear family and friends at home. I realized after a while that this verse (from Isa 55) was rolling around in my head:
Why spend money on what is not bread,and your labor on what does not satisfy? Indeed, it is mighty hard to avoid the temptation to spend my strength on things that don't satisfy right now. Well, okay, always! I looked it up to see the context and found the rest:
Isa 55:1-3"Come, all you who are thirsty,come to the waters;and you who have no money,come, buy and eat!Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. 2 Why spend money on what is not bread,and your labor on what does not satisfy?Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good,and your soul will delight in the richest of fare. 3 Give ear and come to me;hear me, that your soul may live.I will make an everlasting covenant with you,my faithful love promised to David.
Cross referencing that with the Revelation verse, I was just slammed with another layer.
Jesus is the gold that was refined by fire. We can "buy" him (though we are poor) by spending ourselves, yielding our will for his much more satisfying way, a way full of worth, hope. No, it isn't for a way. It's Him. We get Him, the treasure. And as we submit to the Spirit inside us, we see what we have and benefit from it, our soul is satisfied. When I chase tasty food, idealized family expectations, the perfect gift, all that--it doesn't satisfy. Those are nice things, but if I spend my "money" (strength, attention, devotion, time, value) on them, I will be empty.
I say, "I am rich and don't need a thing." I do. You've heard me--lamenting how wonderful my life is and how I am afraid of losing it. Pah! I spend 98% of my time sinning (and I'm probably being arrogant to say that!) No, I don't mean that I'm breaking the 10 commandments, I mean that I am not acting as if I believe the truth: God is good, I'm okay, He's with me and sees, He'll reward obedience and discipline disobedience, my children are His, etc. Most the time I don't act like all those things are true.
I am rich and don't need a thing? I just spent a half hour with a sobbing child who can't stand that people kill animals to eat them. And it is horrible. I'm not an animal rights activist, I'm a farmer--and I'm telling you, it's horrible to kill things. They don't like to die, and it is unpleasant, no way around it--blood, flesh, fur, mess, smell. Will I eat meat? Yes. And use animal products. But I don't think this will be the way when the King is on His throne. He has been generous with us to allow this use of His creation, but eating meat is a part of the fall. I'm rich and don't need a thing? I live in a ruined world, with a ruined soul.
Someone did something to affront me yesterday. I wasn't really offended, but I exposed their faux pas to two others that I knew would judge that person. I did it so I could enjoy the glory of being wronged but overlooking it. "I am rich and don't need a thing?" Mercy, I need mercy. I am poor, and blind, and uncovered and I don't even know I'm pitiful and wretched. Lord, let me lay down my foolish ways and drink of you. You are my only bread, my only satisfaction, I believe you that as I submit my moments to you that I will delight in the richest of fare: Your very Self. Help my unbelief.
Rev 3:17-227 You say, 'I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.' But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. 18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.
I was talking about the pit of self-sufficiency and this call to dependence on God. I am revisiting it tonight.
I was feeling empty and raw after preparing for Thanksgiving, celebrating it with happy feasts with loved ones, and today shopping all day for Christmas, leaving my dear family and friends at home. I realized after a while that this verse (from Isa 55) was rolling around in my head:
Why spend money on what is not bread,and your labor on what does not satisfy? Indeed, it is mighty hard to avoid the temptation to spend my strength on things that don't satisfy right now. Well, okay, always! I looked it up to see the context and found the rest:
Isa 55:1-3"Come, all you who are thirsty,come to the waters;and you who have no money,come, buy and eat!Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. 2 Why spend money on what is not bread,and your labor on what does not satisfy?Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good,and your soul will delight in the richest of fare. 3 Give ear and come to me;hear me, that your soul may live.I will make an everlasting covenant with you,my faithful love promised to David.
Cross referencing that with the Revelation verse, I was just slammed with another layer.
Jesus is the gold that was refined by fire. We can "buy" him (though we are poor) by spending ourselves, yielding our will for his much more satisfying way, a way full of worth, hope. No, it isn't for a way. It's Him. We get Him, the treasure. And as we submit to the Spirit inside us, we see what we have and benefit from it, our soul is satisfied. When I chase tasty food, idealized family expectations, the perfect gift, all that--it doesn't satisfy. Those are nice things, but if I spend my "money" (strength, attention, devotion, time, value) on them, I will be empty.
I say, "I am rich and don't need a thing." I do. You've heard me--lamenting how wonderful my life is and how I am afraid of losing it. Pah! I spend 98% of my time sinning (and I'm probably being arrogant to say that!) No, I don't mean that I'm breaking the 10 commandments, I mean that I am not acting as if I believe the truth: God is good, I'm okay, He's with me and sees, He'll reward obedience and discipline disobedience, my children are His, etc. Most the time I don't act like all those things are true.
I am rich and don't need a thing? I just spent a half hour with a sobbing child who can't stand that people kill animals to eat them. And it is horrible. I'm not an animal rights activist, I'm a farmer--and I'm telling you, it's horrible to kill things. They don't like to die, and it is unpleasant, no way around it--blood, flesh, fur, mess, smell. Will I eat meat? Yes. And use animal products. But I don't think this will be the way when the King is on His throne. He has been generous with us to allow this use of His creation, but eating meat is a part of the fall. I'm rich and don't need a thing? I live in a ruined world, with a ruined soul.
Someone did something to affront me yesterday. I wasn't really offended, but I exposed their faux pas to two others that I knew would judge that person. I did it so I could enjoy the glory of being wronged but overlooking it. "I am rich and don't need a thing?" Mercy, I need mercy. I am poor, and blind, and uncovered and I don't even know I'm pitiful and wretched. Lord, let me lay down my foolish ways and drink of you. You are my only bread, my only satisfaction, I believe you that as I submit my moments to you that I will delight in the richest of fare: Your very Self. Help my unbelief.
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Update on the Dirt Battle
I am sure many of you are wondering how I'm doing on cleaning my house. Well, both of you. Except, you, Kevin, since you've been here lately, so you know where I'm at with this already. But I digress...
I am still chipping away at my house. For about a month now, I've been more or less doing what my schedule says that I'm supposed to be doing. I've hauled a number of boxes away to goodwill and the burn pile. Each room is roughed out--it can be vacuumed, and at least the dirtiest parts have been wiped down. I had no idea how dirty my house was. I've painted our master bathroom--it had never been painted in 10 years, and had smudges not only from five years of our family, but also three other renting families before us...ew! So that's WAY better, although it took me several days to adjust to the color. Our bedroom is in bad need of paint also, but I want to paint the trim around the house first. It's really bad.
To my perception, it is still really embarassing. I don't have a hope of making it all spiffy. BUT, several things are really nice: I can have company whenever I want, and the house is pretty close to as good as it can be for now. When the day's chores are done, they are done: we can play, and I don't have to feel like I should run for cover when my hubby's truck pulls in, no matter what nonsense I'm engaged in. And things just go smoother like this. If someone gets sick, they have a clean toilet to barf in. If you need a piece of paper or pencil, it doesn't take a half hour to find one. My cell phone has a place that it belongs, and on a good day, I can answer it when it rings instead of going on a frantic hunt. When I get up, I can make breakfast because there are no dishes in my way. I've arranged storage in each of the bedrooms for the items they contain. It isn't necessarily perfect storage--metal office shelves in the little kids' room, stacked wooden boxes making closet shelves in another--but things aren't in heaps so much, things can be put away. It's getting more practical every day.
I am tired. I got fed up this week and wondered if normal people spend this much time cleaning. According to the internet, yep, they do--and normal people don't have such helpful children as I do, either. I can't complain. It's a very good life, even with scrubbing floors. And getting my chores done makes me free to give, which is a great pleasure.
I am still chipping away at my house. For about a month now, I've been more or less doing what my schedule says that I'm supposed to be doing. I've hauled a number of boxes away to goodwill and the burn pile. Each room is roughed out--it can be vacuumed, and at least the dirtiest parts have been wiped down. I had no idea how dirty my house was. I've painted our master bathroom--it had never been painted in 10 years, and had smudges not only from five years of our family, but also three other renting families before us...ew! So that's WAY better, although it took me several days to adjust to the color. Our bedroom is in bad need of paint also, but I want to paint the trim around the house first. It's really bad.
To my perception, it is still really embarassing. I don't have a hope of making it all spiffy. BUT, several things are really nice: I can have company whenever I want, and the house is pretty close to as good as it can be for now. When the day's chores are done, they are done: we can play, and I don't have to feel like I should run for cover when my hubby's truck pulls in, no matter what nonsense I'm engaged in. And things just go smoother like this. If someone gets sick, they have a clean toilet to barf in. If you need a piece of paper or pencil, it doesn't take a half hour to find one. My cell phone has a place that it belongs, and on a good day, I can answer it when it rings instead of going on a frantic hunt. When I get up, I can make breakfast because there are no dishes in my way. I've arranged storage in each of the bedrooms for the items they contain. It isn't necessarily perfect storage--metal office shelves in the little kids' room, stacked wooden boxes making closet shelves in another--but things aren't in heaps so much, things can be put away. It's getting more practical every day.
I am tired. I got fed up this week and wondered if normal people spend this much time cleaning. According to the internet, yep, they do--and normal people don't have such helpful children as I do, either. I can't complain. It's a very good life, even with scrubbing floors. And getting my chores done makes me free to give, which is a great pleasure.
The Repulsive Christ
One thing that really strikes me in reading through the gospels with the kids is that Jesus worked hard to put people off. Anytime the crowds are too overwhelmingly supportive, and begin to border on crowning him their king, he says things like "Eat my flesh" and "Hate your mother and Father" and "take up your cross" (which was a humilating and abasing way that only the lowest were executed), "liquidate your wealth and donate it." He makes it *hard* for people to come to him.
We just read the section in Luke where Jesus is telling them to count the cost of being a disciple, and telling them it will cost them everything.
The first thing that hits me in reading these things is how unlike today's church ministries was Christ's ministry. We lower the bar, using immoral TV shows to illustrate points, video games and coffee bars to make people feel at home, slick music videos and all manner of ways to make people comfortable, make church cool, make the message clear and attractive. Jesus made the message hard to understand and offensive--on purpose. He taught in riddles. He told people that unless they were willing to do the hardest things, then don't bother coming. He didn't just give recommendations on how to be successful, but told them to be "Perfect." He also called religious people names like hypocrit and snake, and other things that would certainly be called divisive and critical.
Am I saying that it is wrong to use media and seeker-friendly means to bring people to Christ? Am I saying we should be more like Jesus by being inflamatory and obtuse? No, not really. But I think, as we make those decisions, we do have to ask ourselves why Jesus didn't do everything he could to collect the largest number of followers he could. And perhaps there is something in that motive that we could learn from. God is not a God that does everything possible to pave a road for people to come to him. He made a way, but it is not a highway. He loves us, but he isn't easy.
The other thing that really squeezes my heart is the demand for total allegiance, and unshakeable commitment. There were days when I could make declarations about how fully committed I am and how permanent my faith was. But now, I find my heart weak, and my faith flimsy. I can teach my children how worthy the Lord is and how good our hope is, but that doesn't mean that my own heart never waivers. I get tripped up in looking to the future. I feel full of the grace of God today, when the only death in my life is having to get off the computer and make lunch. But what about when I need more sustenance than that? Can God still raise the dead? What a silly nail-biter I am. I'm glad that God gives me the daily manna I need, and I know from past days of suffering that he gives a double portion of his presence in those times. May I walk fearlessly.
We just read the section in Luke where Jesus is telling them to count the cost of being a disciple, and telling them it will cost them everything.
The first thing that hits me in reading these things is how unlike today's church ministries was Christ's ministry. We lower the bar, using immoral TV shows to illustrate points, video games and coffee bars to make people feel at home, slick music videos and all manner of ways to make people comfortable, make church cool, make the message clear and attractive. Jesus made the message hard to understand and offensive--on purpose. He taught in riddles. He told people that unless they were willing to do the hardest things, then don't bother coming. He didn't just give recommendations on how to be successful, but told them to be "Perfect." He also called religious people names like hypocrit and snake, and other things that would certainly be called divisive and critical.
Am I saying that it is wrong to use media and seeker-friendly means to bring people to Christ? Am I saying we should be more like Jesus by being inflamatory and obtuse? No, not really. But I think, as we make those decisions, we do have to ask ourselves why Jesus didn't do everything he could to collect the largest number of followers he could. And perhaps there is something in that motive that we could learn from. God is not a God that does everything possible to pave a road for people to come to him. He made a way, but it is not a highway. He loves us, but he isn't easy.
The other thing that really squeezes my heart is the demand for total allegiance, and unshakeable commitment. There were days when I could make declarations about how fully committed I am and how permanent my faith was. But now, I find my heart weak, and my faith flimsy. I can teach my children how worthy the Lord is and how good our hope is, but that doesn't mean that my own heart never waivers. I get tripped up in looking to the future. I feel full of the grace of God today, when the only death in my life is having to get off the computer and make lunch. But what about when I need more sustenance than that? Can God still raise the dead? What a silly nail-biter I am. I'm glad that God gives me the daily manna I need, and I know from past days of suffering that he gives a double portion of his presence in those times. May I walk fearlessly.
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Never Trust Anyone...
until you know what they struggle with. Because everybody struggles with something, and if you can't see it on the surface, you can be sure it's lurking under there somewhere. Best you know if it is molesting children or obsessively cleaning their house.
Repentence
What is repentence? If you've been in church for more than ten minutes, you likely know that that repentence is to turn around, to change your thinking. But in what way does our thinking change in repentence? Usually, when we are doing something wrong, we know and think it is wrong and do it anyway. We say in our heart, "Yep, God, this is wrong. Here I go again!" So how does repentence differ than this helpless or rebellious stance?
We need to go back to the nature of our original repentence as our example. When we first came to God, we came to Him because we realized that we couldn't make our life work, that we were broken and needed to be saved. We start walking with God as we believed his word that he would take us, save us, and be with us to live his life through us. It was, at its foundation, a laying down of trust in ourselves and a placing of trust in Him instead.
All repentence is of this same nature. Sin, at its core, is faithlessness: an action that declares our committment to meeting our own needs rather than trusting God to act on our behalf. We are lonely or craving comfort so we turn to sexual sin, rather than stay in the suffering and wait on God. We resent our stingy boss and compensate by helping ourselves to office resources, rather than believe God is taking care of us. We are hurt by our spouse's careless words, and steel our hearts against futher injury, rather than rest in the declared love of God--a position of strength even in vulnerability. If you want to fruitfully repent--to see change that makes it natural to not sin, Believe in the rest God has provided.
We don't have to produce a perfect life. We aren't going to--but the blood of Jesus has that covered. It is no longer our problem to make something of ourselves. We are the subjects of our Maker, and we have entered a covenant of trust and submission to his leading Spirit within us. We remove all human-applied labels: "Successful," "Loser," "Smart," "Slow," "Worthless," "Talented," etc, and we wear only one: "His." As His child, we abandon self-definition. He will make us what he desires as we submit in the moments, and in the end, we will be something beautiful, and entirely of his making. That's repentence.
Repentence is resting in the finished work of Christ, the Spirit's abiding presence, and in the hope of his physical return to set up a perfect kingdom on earth. When we act to meet our own needs for significance, comfort, or whatever, we let go of the much better thing he has offered. If you want to stop sinning, find the point of faith: what is God calling you to believe? Because it is as you embrace what is true and put your feet in the path that follows logically, that you will find youself walking in faith and the resulting righteousness.
We need to go back to the nature of our original repentence as our example. When we first came to God, we came to Him because we realized that we couldn't make our life work, that we were broken and needed to be saved. We start walking with God as we believed his word that he would take us, save us, and be with us to live his life through us. It was, at its foundation, a laying down of trust in ourselves and a placing of trust in Him instead.
All repentence is of this same nature. Sin, at its core, is faithlessness: an action that declares our committment to meeting our own needs rather than trusting God to act on our behalf. We are lonely or craving comfort so we turn to sexual sin, rather than stay in the suffering and wait on God. We resent our stingy boss and compensate by helping ourselves to office resources, rather than believe God is taking care of us. We are hurt by our spouse's careless words, and steel our hearts against futher injury, rather than rest in the declared love of God--a position of strength even in vulnerability. If you want to fruitfully repent--to see change that makes it natural to not sin, Believe in the rest God has provided.
We don't have to produce a perfect life. We aren't going to--but the blood of Jesus has that covered. It is no longer our problem to make something of ourselves. We are the subjects of our Maker, and we have entered a covenant of trust and submission to his leading Spirit within us. We remove all human-applied labels: "Successful," "Loser," "Smart," "Slow," "Worthless," "Talented," etc, and we wear only one: "His." As His child, we abandon self-definition. He will make us what he desires as we submit in the moments, and in the end, we will be something beautiful, and entirely of his making. That's repentence.
Repentence is resting in the finished work of Christ, the Spirit's abiding presence, and in the hope of his physical return to set up a perfect kingdom on earth. When we act to meet our own needs for significance, comfort, or whatever, we let go of the much better thing he has offered. If you want to stop sinning, find the point of faith: what is God calling you to believe? Because it is as you embrace what is true and put your feet in the path that follows logically, that you will find youself walking in faith and the resulting righteousness.
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
What's in it for me?
"If laying your life down for Christ is going to get you something then you are missing the whole point of being a Christian."
I got a comment from someone with this quote. I have to say, if we get nothing for laying down our lives, then we are simply engaging in pointless self destruction, and I don't know why a healthy person would do that. God is not asking us to lay down our lives for nothing. Laying down our lives is the essence of Walking in the Spirit--and it will yield many personal benefits--love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, self-control, etc. God will also reward us eternally for it. He is faithful to reward those who seek him, and his ways are good.
I think that this belief is also falsely pious. You got saved because there was something in it for YOU, not God. What did God get by saving you from destruction? Certainly, we walk in gratitude for what God has done. But God knows we are weak and small. God alone is great. The greatest believer's pile of "something for God" is the tiniest thing, no where near a worthy sacrifice. We are the beficiaries in Christ, not God. It isn't selfish or greedy to say so, it's acknowledgement of our smallness and His Greatness.
We need to understand that God is not on a quest to get blood from a turnip. He offers us the good works to do, gives us the will and power to do them, and also the reason to step into them--not just gratitude, but also temporal and eternal reward for obedience and disclipline for disobedience. It's all His. The glory for it is All His. Why does he give us good works to do? Because it is good for us to participate with Him in what he's doing--a blessing. Does he need us to serve him? No, we serve as a priveledge and blessing--like a poor person allowed to drive a rich person's car to deliver the gift of the rich person to someone in need, and in return the driver gets a million dollars. His goodness is all out of proportion to ours, and there is absolutely more in it for us than Him.
So I do not think that it is out of line to consider that as we lay down our lives, we receive many blessings much greater than what we lay down. That is WHY we lay down our lives, not because God has something to gain from us.
I got a comment from someone with this quote. I have to say, if we get nothing for laying down our lives, then we are simply engaging in pointless self destruction, and I don't know why a healthy person would do that. God is not asking us to lay down our lives for nothing. Laying down our lives is the essence of Walking in the Spirit--and it will yield many personal benefits--love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, self-control, etc. God will also reward us eternally for it. He is faithful to reward those who seek him, and his ways are good.
I think that this belief is also falsely pious. You got saved because there was something in it for YOU, not God. What did God get by saving you from destruction? Certainly, we walk in gratitude for what God has done. But God knows we are weak and small. God alone is great. The greatest believer's pile of "something for God" is the tiniest thing, no where near a worthy sacrifice. We are the beficiaries in Christ, not God. It isn't selfish or greedy to say so, it's acknowledgement of our smallness and His Greatness.
We need to understand that God is not on a quest to get blood from a turnip. He offers us the good works to do, gives us the will and power to do them, and also the reason to step into them--not just gratitude, but also temporal and eternal reward for obedience and disclipline for disobedience. It's all His. The glory for it is All His. Why does he give us good works to do? Because it is good for us to participate with Him in what he's doing--a blessing. Does he need us to serve him? No, we serve as a priveledge and blessing--like a poor person allowed to drive a rich person's car to deliver the gift of the rich person to someone in need, and in return the driver gets a million dollars. His goodness is all out of proportion to ours, and there is absolutely more in it for us than Him.
So I do not think that it is out of line to consider that as we lay down our lives, we receive many blessings much greater than what we lay down. That is WHY we lay down our lives, not because God has something to gain from us.
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