Month: September 2015

God tells us to: Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. Romans 12:15

A Christian community is therefore a healing community, not because wounds are cured and pains are alleviated, but because wounds and pains become openings or occasions for a new vision. Mutual confession then becomes a mutual deepening of hope, and shared weakness becomes a reminder to one and all of the coming strength. Community arises where the sharing of pain takes place, not as a stifling form of self-complaint, but as a recognition of God’s saving promises.
–Henri Nouwen

Become part of a healing community of Christian brothers and sisters.

Doing so will not keep you from all pain nor cure you from all wounds. But doing so will provide you with more hope, will remind you of coming strength, and will help you recognize God’s promises as you allow others to share your struggles. Walking together with one another through the difficult parts of life helps protect us from isolation and loneliness as we seek to be Christ’s hands and feet to one another.

Trusting in Your goodness and great mercy, O Lord, I come…
   as one sick to the Healer,
   as one hungry and thirsty to the Fountain of life,
   as one in need to the King of heaven,
      a servant to his Lord,
      a creature to his Creator,
      a soul in desolation
         to my gentle Comforter.
–Thomas à Kempis

Come to the Comforter knowing you are in need of healing, in need of His filling, in need of His leadership.
Come to this Gentle and Loving King as His servant, wanting to be touched and changed by this One who created you and who desires that you experience His Abundant Life and Love.

A faith that hasn’t been tested can’t be trusted.
–Adrian Rogers

This is my shortest quote to date. But Adrian Rogers packs a lot into that one short sentence.

It is easy for someone to tell me that they’ll stick beside me through thick and thin. But it is another thing to actually do it.

It is easy for two people to say the words “I do” and to say that I’m with you “for better or for worse; for richer or for poorer; in sickness and in health; as long as we both shall live.” But it is another thing to meet a couple like we had visit the church last night who were celebrating their 77th wedding anniversary! 77 years of commitment – knowing that their vows of commitment had been tested numerous times throughout seven and a half decades!

And in regard to our Christian commitment, it is easy to say “Jesus, I will follow you.” But until our faith is tested, it cannot be trusted to weather the storms of life that will come our way. Many told Jesus that they would follow. And many fell away. Even Peter had a momentary lapse. But when Peter was restored by our gracious, loving, compassionate God who forgives over and over and over again, Peter’s faith became strong and he died for his faith in Jesus.

I don’t know how life may be testing your faith today, but know this… God is there to walk with you through the midst of the struggles. And He wants your faith to become stronger than ever. Hold on to Jesus. If you will do so, then as you come through the pain and suffering you are having to endure, your faith will not only have been tested… it will become trustworthy.

Man needs salvation not because he is imprisoned in a body but because he willfully chooses his own way rather than God’s way. Man’s evil is not in his body; it is in his affections. He loves the wrong things. This affliction is so deep, so basic to man’s life on earth, that only a special Savior can free him from himself. That is why Christianity insists that Ghandhi and all who agree with him are wrong:
     Man does not need a teacher;
        He needs a Savior.
–Bruce Shelley

We need more than a teacher, because our insides are messed up.
From within us we love the wrong things.
We value the wrong things.
We desire the wrong things.

Our affections are for things that are not God-honoring – things that boost our pride, feed our selfishness, drive us to be greedy, stoke our envy and jealousy, etc.

Therefore, we need someone to transform us. To take what is inside and change it so that our desires and affections change.

For that, we need more than a teacher.
We need Jesus… the transforming Savior.

Are you allowing Him to change your affections?

The Bible does not take us as far as we might like to go into the mysteries it contains. Rather it says, “The secret things belong to…God.” The heart of the Bible and the heart of Christianity is not an explanation of where evil came from, but a demonstration of how God enters into it and turns it for the very opposite — everlasting righteousness and joy.
–John Piper

God doesn’t give us all the answers we want. But he does give us all of the answers we need.
It is not extremely important for us to know the full explanation of where evil came from.
But it is important for us to know what we are to do about evil – allow God to enter into the midst of our sin and evil and pain and suffering and turn all of it into everlasting righteousness and joy.

No matter what you are struggling through the midst of right now, know that God is there with you and can turn it in such a way that it will bring glory to Him. Trust Him in the midst of it to take your hand and walk you through it such that you may never get an answer to “Why” but you will understand the answer to “To What End?” and “For What Purpose?” as He shows you how He can use your experience to bring more glory to His Great Name.