Month: October 2015

Jesus’ appearance in our midst has made it undeniably clear that changing the human heart and changing human society are not separate tasks, but are as interconnected as the two beams of the cross.
–Henri Nouwen

We look out at our society and find ourselves frustrated with the fact that it does not seem to be changing for the better. And yet, the only way it will truly change for the better is if individuals have a heart change. One heart change at a time…one transformation at a time…that one change is one small step toward societal change. And as many hearts change, so also does a society. Jesus came to change the human heart – one-at-a-time – and in so doing to change entire societies. And he changes these individual human hearts by his love and power – shown by the cross and the empty tomb.

God change my heart.
Make me into the image of Jesus.
Send a revival, and let it begin in me.

We seem to have a hard time reconciling love and anger within God. We want to say things like: “If God is so full of love, then how can He have anger and wrath?” We seem to forget that even in our own lives anger is often manifested due to love.

If someone says an unkind word toward one of our family members, we rightly get angry. And it is because we love them.

If someone bullies one of our children, we rightly get angry. And it is because we love them.

If someone tries to harm our spouse, we rightly get angry. And it is because of our love.

When we stop and thinks about it, we realize that in our own lives, anger is often a function of love. Righteous anger is anger that is justified because of how someone is mistreating someone we care about. And this is the type of anger that God displays.

The root cause of our unhappiness seems to be a disquieting suspicion that ideas of wrath are in one way or another unworthy of God. Thus, God’s love, as the Bible views it, never leads him to foolish, impulsive, immoral actions in the way that its human counterpart too often leads us. And in the same way, God’s wrath in the Bible is never the capricious, self-indulgent, irritable, morally ignoble thing that human anger so often is. It is, instead, a right and necessary reaction to objective moral evil. God is only angry where anger is called for. Even among humans, there is such a thing as righteous indignation, though it is, perhaps, rarely found. But all God’s indignation is righteous.
–J. I. Packer

All God’s indignation is righteous. And I’m glad he loves me so much that he is willing to be angry over the evil and sinfulness that has the potential to harm me, one of his beloved children.

It is one thing to follow God’s way of service if you are regarded as a hero, but quite another thing if the road marked out for you by God requires becoming a doormat under other peoples’ feet. God’s purpose may be to teach you to say, “I know how to be abased” (like Paul). Are you ready to be less than a drop in the bucket? To be so totally insignificant that no one remembers you even if they think of those you served? Are you willing to give and be poured out until you are all used up and exhausted — not seeking to be ministered to, but to minister?
–Oswald Chambers

These are some difficult questions about becoming a willing doormat. And yet, that is the life that Christ lived and called his followers to embrace. Jesus, the One who deserved all praise, glory, and honor, said that he did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life. He put himself below all others in his submission to the Father’s will. He then tells us that the one who would be great in his kingdom must become a servant also.

God, may I be willing to become totally insignificant in my service to you and to the people you have put around me. Help me be willing to give and be poured out until I am all used up for you.

May we never worry over the cost of following Jesus and walking in His truth.

The true follower of Christ will not ask, “If I embrace this truth, what will it cost me?”
Rather he will say, “This is truth. God help me to walk in it, let come what may!”
–A.W. Tozer

    The call to be a Christian was not a call to leave your secular vocation. That’s the clear point of 1 Corinthians 7:17-24. Paul had a high view of the providence of God — that God had sovereignly “assigned” or “called” unbelievers to positions in life where their conversion would have significant impact for his glory. Paul does not mean that changing jobs is wrong in the Christian life…. What Paul does mean is that when we are converted we should not jump to the conclusion, my job must change.

…Our aim is to joyfully magnify Christ — to make Him look great by all we do. Boasting only in the cross, our aim is to enjoy making much of Him by the way we work.
–John Piper

Are you going to work today with the right mindset of making much of Jesus at your workplace – by how you work? by how you show your love for Him to others? by how you change your conversations with those you talk to? You have been placed in your position at work “for such a time as this,” so use your relationships there as a platform or springboard to exalt Christ at your place of employment.

Certainly, that is a bit “easy” for me to say, as I work at a church. But I know of people is so many different occupations who have made this their goal, and are impacting God’s kingdom at their store, their school, their hospital, their law office, their marketing agency. You can too. It takes a choice to go to the work the right way – not going for the primary goal of making money, but going for the primary goal of working for Him… the One who gave His life for you, wants you to give your life at work to Him!