Month: July 2015

There may come times in our lives when God seems so far away. When that happens it sets us to wondering such questions as:

Why do some persons “find” God in a way that others do not?
   Why does God manifest His presence to some and let multitudes of others struggle along in the half-light of imperfect Christian experience?
   Of course, the will of God is the same for all. He has no favorites within His household. All He has ever done for any of His children He will do for all of His children.
   The difference lies not with God but with us.
–A. W. Tozer

These words from Tozer remind me of a story and a Bible passage.
The story requires you to go back to the time when many cars had bench seats instead of the individual bucket seats that most all vehicles seem to have now.
   A farmer and his wife are driving down the road at a leisurely pace in their old pickup truck when they are passed by another truck. As the other vehicle pulls ahead, they both notice that it is a young couple, and the girl isn’t on her side of the truck but is in the middle of the bench seat, sitting right beside her guy, and he has his arm slung over her shoulder, pulling her in close to him.
   The wife then looks over at her farmer husband and says, “That is so sweet. I remember when I used to sit in the middle and you used to put your arm around me like that. Honey, I wonder why don’t we sit like that anymore when we go out for a drive?”
To which the farmer replies, “Dear, I haven’t moved.”

I wonder if we aren’t often asking questions like that to God. We wonder why we aren’t as close to Him as we felt we were in the past? If we ever feel like that, we can be assured that it is not God who has moved away. It is our fault for sliding further from Him, just like the farmer’s wife.

The Bible verse that it makes me think of is Deuteronomy 30:11-14 (NASB)
   “For this commandment which I command you today is not too difficult for you, nor is it out of reach. It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will go up to heaven for us to get it for us and make us hear it, that we may observe it?’ Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will cross the sea for us to get it for us and make us hear it, that we may observe it?’ But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may observe it.”

God isn’t far from us. He isn’t way up in heaven unconcerned about our lives. He is not out of reach. He is very near to us. And God “has no favorites within His household. All He has ever done for any of His children He will do for all of His children.”

“The difference lies not with God but with us.”

If you feel far from Him, it is time for you to move back toward Him – with Bible reading, prayer, involvement with a church family.

I hope that you will never feel far from God, but if you do, know that He is waiting on you to turn and begin moving toward Him again. The moment you do, you will find what the Prodigal Son discovered, that God has been watching for you and is running toward you with open arms to receive you to Himself again.

Every year, millions and millions of snowflakes fall from the sky to cover the ground and make the landscape beautiful. Of course, within a short period of time they will melt and fade from memory. And even though their “lifespan” is so very short, every snowflake is remarkably unique and therefore valuable…

     …the snowflake couldn’t have done anything to contribute to its value. We know that each of the gazillions of snowflakes is significant because a master Designer took time to make each one absolutely unique. “Experts” say that no two snowflakes have ever been exactly the same. Ever. Incredible, isn’t it? The fact that God took pains to give each one a unique crystal structure all its own gives that snowflake intrinsic value. Again, there is nothing any snowflake can do to add or detract from that value. It comes from a source completely outside itself.
     Likewise, we are valuable because of the intrinsic worth that comes from being designed by, enjoyed by, and given purpose by the Creator.
–Anonymous, Embracing Obscurity

When life gets difficult or people treat you nasty or you make a mistake that sticks with you, it is easy to forget your value. But when that happens, remember that God created you remarkable unique – and you have intrinsic worth that comes from a source completely outside of yourself.

You are loved by the Creator who shaped and fashioned you, and therefore, you are so very valuable.
Always remember that.

We desperately crave to be significant. We want to feel significant. We want others to think of us as significant. But God isn’t interested in us feeling significant. He wants us to realize that HE is the only one truly significant. He wants us to become completely obedient to Him so that others see just how glorious and significant He is.

…we want our lives to count, to have great results, to focus on the end instead of the means.
But we need to move:
from the pursuit of significance in our lives
    to the pursuit of simple obedience to the things of God.

The means are more important than the end.
The journey more important than the destination.
–David Goetz

We must be careful about pursuing significance, because it leads to selfishness and arrogance, whereas obedience to God which shows how significant He is will actually help us to find the fulfillment in life we all desire!

     The most common objection I hear when I am training churches in evangelism is this: “All my friends are Christians! With work, parental responsibilities, church activities, there‘s no time left to form a friendship with a seeker.”
     Life does get more complicated with greater responsibilities as we get older. Yet to have no time to be “the aroma of Christ” to an unbelieving neighbor, friend, or colleague means we aren’t taking seriously God’s command to “go and make disciples.”
     What an insidious reversal of the biblical command to be salt and light to the world! The rabbit-hole Christian remains insulated and isolated from the world when she is commanded to penetrate it. How can we be the salt of the earth if we never get out of the saltshaker?
–Rebecca Pippert

We are all busy.
We all have many responsibilities… at home, at work, with family, with recreation.
But shouldn’t I take the responsibility given to me by God – the One who sent His Son; the One who died for me – shouldn’t I take what He says as being of the utmost importance?

How many of us live more for ourselves than for His kingdom?
He tells us to “love your neighbor as yourself”…. Have I even gone across the street to meet my neighbor?
He tells be to be on mission for Him…. With all the vacations that I take as being my prerogative or privilege for all my hard work, have I ever chosen to use that time to take a mission trip?

Too many of us have bought into the lie that we are too busy to get out of the saltshaker. But I wonder if maybe it is just that my selfishness keeps getting in my way and keeping me from being willing to obey Christ in the ways I know I should. He tells us to lay down our lives, our wants, our desires, our plans to minister to others in His Name. Why am I so unwilling?

He tells us that the Christian life means serious business… And that may mean that we have to get rid of some of our busy-ness so that we can prioritize His business.

We make times for the things that we want to do.
Let us want to do His will.
Let’s get out of that saltshaker!

We all want that easy, comfortable, safe, secure life. In fact, we pray about it often. But is that what God wants for you? Is that His high priority for your life?

    No one ever said that they learned their deepest lessons of life, or had their sweetest encounters with God, on the sunny days. People go deep with God when the drought comes. That is the way God designed it.
    Christ aims to be magnified in life most clearly by the way we experience him in our losses. Paul is our example: “We were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead” (2 Corinthians 1:8-9).
    The design of Paul’s suffering was to make radically clear for his own soul, and for ours, that God and God alone is the only treasure who lasts. When everything in life is stripped away except God, and we trust him more because of it, this is gain, and he is glorified.
     …If we can learn to enjoy Christ and magnify Him even in the midst of pain and suffering, we show the world where our true love lies.
     …Jesus’ beauty shines most brightly when He is treasured above wealth, above health, and above life itself.
–John Piper

Though this may not be what we want to hear, I think it is right on target. The valleys of life show us who we can trust, and when we come out of the valley after holding God’s hand through it, we find that He is the One most worthy of all our trust. He is the One who is ever faithful to His promises to always be with us. I don’t know what you are struggling with today, but I know that if you will hold on to Jesus, you will not be disappointed. You will discover that even if you have no safety, security, or comfort other than Him… He is enough!