Pray Without Ceasing

Many times I have been struck by reading scripture passages that come right before or after verses that are well known or recently discussed. So it was today with one that had come up in our sunday school class this past week, Romans 8:26-27

The entire passage is worth looking at:

"I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustrations, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.

We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, grown inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will." Romans 8:18-27

We have trials in our lives. We are tested, frustrated, and suffer. We cannot begin to fathom the will of our God in these sufferings, but He means them for His Glory. Both in the world around us and in our inward groaning. Part of that will is surely to trust Him more. To pray to Him without ceasing. Not because He needs our prayers, but because we need Him. And when we don't have the words to pray, the Spirit gives us the words, because God knows our hearts and the Spirit can only act in God's will. The day will come when we will be liberated from bondage to decay and brought into glorious freedom as children of God. We have not even seen a glimpse of the glory yet to come.

Hold on friends to the hope of God's redemption. Trust in the Spirit to dwell within the depths of your being. Pray without ceasing and live each day for Christ!

Hold me to it

I long to write here. My mind races with thoughts, yet I never seem to put them down. Hold me to it in the future.

Interesting Thought

Do we live our lives as Christians to flee the world or free the world?

More to come...

Family Prayer

Family Prayer

God made us a family
We need one another
We love one another
We forgive one another
We work together
We play together
We worship together
Together we use God's word
Together we grow in Christ
Together we love all men
Together we serve our God
Together we hope for Heaven
These are our hopes and ideals
Help us to attain them, O God,
Through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Author Unknown

Testament to Faith

I am what our Pastor recently described as a “cradle Christian.” I was a part of the Christian church before I knew how to tie my show laces. My home growing up was a model of what Christ discipleship should be. My parents participated in the life of the church. They instilled in me a need to know God, follow His command. Yet with all of that, I still became lost. I knew of God, I thought that he existed. I attended church and Sunday school, sang his praises in choirs. I studied his word in youth groups and Bible studies, but it simply didn’t fully engulf my life, I struggled to truly understand. One of the main issues was an apparent contradiction in the Bible. James 2:26 says, “Faith without works is dead.” Yet in Ephesians 2 we read, “For by grace we are saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” These two verses did not seem to fit together. This tragic confusion has cost many their faith; I too was on that road. My loss of understanding came to a climax while in a small group Bible study in college. The leader explained that “once we were saved, we could not loose that salvation.” Or at least that is what I had heard. But I am a sinner, how could God accept me? From that point forward, I began to search for what I defined my faith to be. Years past and I simply gave up on understanding and attempted to continue my walk with this gapping hole in my faith. I covered it well, even being elected to our church Council without a complete understanding of the relationship between faith and works. Again, I thought God existed, but I wanted to define him.

Then one Saturday morning about two years ago, I was led to a Men’s Breakfast Bible Study. I had not attended in more than a year, yet I woke up and went. The discussion centered on the very topic of “defining God and faith.” What I learned was that the flaw is with me defining God. In all that I do in relationship with God, God should be the focus. Not me or my faith. This understanding was monumental to my walk with Him. I opened my eyes to the self-centered way I had been living out my faith. I came to understand that what I needed to do was to bring myself closer to God. Until that morning I had been attempting to bring God into my life. Instead, I should have brought my life to God. In one simple moment, my faith had been renewed. I soon came to understand that faith and works are related. They are cohesive, not contradicting. My salvation is in Christ Jesus. In His death, I am renewed. I am not saved by my faith or by my deeds. I am saved by His grace. It is through my faith and my works that I show my Lord that I trust in Him. The Apostle Paul describes faith as “being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” It is this faith through which we stand and proclaim our salvation through our Lord, Jesus. A proclamation made by our works.

Moving forward from that day, I now know that I am saved. I am secure in that faith. I know that I need Him. I am learning to lean on Him more, to study His Word, to work for His mission, and to pray to Him always. To give Him thanks in all things, to allow Him to work through me and in me, and return to Him the glory. I struggle every day at this task. I fail every day. Yet I wake up anew, come back to Him who is all things. I leave to Him my worries and my shortcomings, my failures and my offenses. I try to praise Him in all things, overcome my own ambition and pride. Through these works I proclaim my assurance of salvation; assurance that I have through my faith in a salvation that I have by His grace and nothing more.

Some Parents Never Grow Up

We were at a small gathering tonight. We sat around a campfire with several close friends, all of whom could have easily been our parents. Shortly after we arrived, one couple's daughter left on her new motorcycle, while my two rolled around on their little Radio Flyer scooters. Then her mother broke down.

It's difficult to see them go that way, even when they are 37!

She was in tears, as she watched her baby ride off in the darkness on a motorcycle. It occurred to me, some parents never grow up. Parents shouldn't grow up. No matter how old your baby is, they will always be your baby. God put these precious ones in our lives to be cared for, to be cared about. Whether they are 4 & 2 or 37 & 35. Whether we are 30 or 60, we will always care about our babies. They will always be percious in our sight, just as in His. May God give me the grace to live out my life in His service, before them as they grow. Someday, sooner than I can imagine, they will be thirty-something and riding off into the rest of their lives. God grant me the wisdom, the patience, the trust, and the faith to see them through!

As For Me and My Household, We Will Serve the Lord

As Christians we struggle to break free from the chains of the world. We try by our own strength to live past the lifestyles, the habits, the clouded belief systems. We look for acceptance, over accepting the sovereignty of Christ. We look to define what is right, instead of doing what is right by Him who made us. We place the world before God in our lives. Whether it be our personal satisfaction, our work, our habits, our hobbies. Maybe even our good works over our service in our Lord. The truth of the matter is that an idol is an idol, whether it is the Golden Calf of the Israelites or the parts of our life that we bow down to and worship instead of the Lord our God. Joshua said, “Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve... But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

What does this mean? We are called, commanded by our God, to put aside false idols. We shall not bow down to anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. Jesus tells us to “Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.” A servant is to obey his master's command and carry out his master's work. At its simplest, we are to live our lives the way God would live our lives. We are to love our brothers and sisters as God loves them. We are to do all things as unto the Lord. The song “Lifesong” by Casting Crowns puts it perfect:

Lord I give my life
A living sacrifice
To reach a world in need
To be Your hands and feet

So may the words I say
And the things I do
Make my lifesong sing
Bring a smile to You

Every work of our body, every word of our mouths is to be to His Glory, to His gain. Not because He needs us, but because we need Him. Because we need to center our hearts, our minds, our works, and our lives around Him. Paul tells those in Philippi, “Whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ – the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.”

Fellowship is serving beside one another in the deepest fulfillment of the work of Christ's church even, or especially, at the cost of our own worldly satisfaction. It is being the left and right hands of Christ's body together extending into the world. Working in the world to fulfill His command. Doing as He wants us to do, instead of what the world says we should do. Defining ourselves by Christ and in Him alone. Together, let's reach our arms out, touch those who need to feel His tender embrace. Let's take up His cross, carry His message of salvation into the world, into our community, into our lives. To His honor and glory!

His Joyful Servant

Tie them as Symbols on Your Hands

JUNE 2008

Most of us have our favorite Scripture readings we turn to for guidance. Many could be recited from memory. One such verse touched my soul this week. Deuteronomy 6:6 reads, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” What a powerful command. We are instructed to give all we are to the Lord. When we examine our daily lives, how do we measure up in this task? Do we truly give ourselves over to His Name? To His mission? We are to love our Lord with all that we feel, with all that we are, and with all that we do. Like a child loves his father. My children are young enough to be openly outward about their love for me and Brittny. They yearn for our presence. When one of us is away, they moan aloud, “I want my mommy” or “I need daddy to come home.” Could we say that we love God with such fervor? We are to love Christ Jesus as a bride loves her bridegroom. We are Christ's church. We are His bride. As we spend our day time separated from our spouses, we long for their presence. We yearn for security of being by their side. So too, our hearts should ache to be one with Christ. To be in Him. To serve His cause. Matthew 6:33 begins, “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness...” We are called so many times to Love God first in every way.

This topic is very powerful. But what touched me this week was reading on in Deuteronomy 6. Moses lays out how we are to show our love for God. “These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.” We are to always have our focus on God, and now Christ. We are to teach our children, our young ones the glory of Christ Jesus. We are to build up His lineage in them for His name's sake. They are to be heirs to His Kingdom. We must live for Christ in all we do. In our personal, private lives and outwardly as a sign to the world. We are to be an active, prosperous limb of His body at all times.

Finally, Deuteronomy 6:8-9 says, “Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates.” What an image. We are to put the mark of Christ on our hands. More closely, we are to put the mark of Jesus Christ on the world through our hands, by what we do. By all that we do. We are to label ourselves at Christ followers. I think about how eager I am to wear a cap with my favorite sporting team, my favorite race car driver. What about your college choice? Are you a Ford man or a Chevy Trucks guy? What would it say to the world if we all walked around with shirts or hats that read, “I long to be in Christ.” What would it mean if we didn't have to; because everyone would know simply by what we do? By what we say, or left unsaid. By the way we interact with the world around us.

Let us all, as individuals and as the body of Christ, strive to show the world the glory, the promise we all have in Jesus. That we may grow His Kingdom. For “God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Amen

To Him Be All Glory!

Faith Without Deeds Is Dead

APRIL 2008

What is our mission as Christians? Why has God placed us on this earth? Our mission statement here at St Paul Church is to “know God, serve others, grow disciples.” How effectively are we as a congregation carrying out this mission? I've always believed that the true measure of our congregation is not in the number of pews filled or the money in the offering plate, but in the spiritual strength of our members. It is we as individual Christ followers that make up the body of our congregation and that of Christ's Church. We, individually, are the true measure of the strength of our congregation. How well do we live up to our mission statement? This is a question that has weighed heavy on my personal life for some time now. Am I doing God's will in all that I say? In every action? It is with sorrow that I admit no. There are things in my life I could be doing to know God better. I am certainly lacking in serving others and growing disciples as I should. But what is the standard against which we measure?

God, do I pray enough? No. Do I worship enough? No. Do I study Your Word? Surely not as much as I could. But will how much I do get me by? I must follow your command more than that guy over there. Jesus said, “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” We must not compare ourselves to others, as individuals or the church. For in the end, it will be us that is judged. Instead, let us make the one comparison that truly matters. Let us hold ourselves against Christ. How do we measure up then? For it is not by our deeds that we are saved, but by His sacrifice. Our salvation is through Him. The apostle John writes, “This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.”

So why do we follow His command? Our salvation rests only in Christ and His sacrifice. “As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.” It is not by our deeds that we are saved, but by our deeds we show our faith in that salvation. By what we say and do, we stand before God showing that we have assurance of salvation in Christ, through Christ. “If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ.”

By our actions, we show our dedication to God. By our conviction we express our faith in Christ's resurrection as our one true path to eternal salvation. By our deeds, we display God's chosen life for us, that it may be a guiding light for those around us. It may serve as a reminder that we are disciples in Christ. May we continue to grow, as individuals, as a congregation, and as a church toward that mission.

To Him Be All Glory!