This Week's Topic: My Life is a Hopeless Mess
If you think the Bible doesn't "get real" read this. . . .
“I need something more! . .. if I know the law but still can't keep it, and if the power of sin within me keeps sabotaging my best intentions, I obviously need help! 18 I realize that I don't have what it takes. I can will it, but I can't do it. 19 I decide to do good, but I don't really do it; I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway. 20 My decisions, such as they are, don't result in actions. Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time.
21 It happens so regularly that it's predictable. The moment I decide to do good, sin is there to trip me up. 22 I truly delight in God's commands, 23 but it's pretty obvious that not all of me joins in that delight. Parts of me covertly rebel, and just when I least expect it, they take charge.
24 I've tried everything and nothing helps. I'm at the end of my rope. Is there no one who can do anything for me? Isn't that the real question?
25 The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does. He acted to set things right in this life of contradictions where I want to serve God with all my heart and mind, but am pulled by the influence of sin to do something totally different." Romans 7:17-25 (MSG)
Push and Pull in Each of Us
Within each of is this thing called sin. It’s not so much that we sin, rather it’s that we are sinners. Sin is the thing that’s in me all the time which co-opts my will to seek out some other thing other than God to satisfy me at any moment, be it my anger, hunger, desire, whatever. My heart is an idol factory! Sins are the things I do or neglect to do which emanate from the factory!
But it’s not hopeless. Just read what might be the most powerful chapter in the Bible which would make it the most powerful and important ever written!! Do you want to read the most important powerful thing every written, especially since its short? Give it a try! It’s Romans chapter 8!
Prayer
“Lord, as I read and then meditate on Romans 8, please make it come alive for me in a way that is intensely personal yet practically applicable. Amen."
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Monday, July 30, 2012
This Week's Topic: My Life is a Hopeless Mess
Is THIS sometimes you?
"I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate." Romans 7:13 (ESV)
So, what's up with that?
Do you ever do exactly the opposite of what you really want, deep down, to do? Do you ever do so, even though you know, not only that you won’t be happy afterwards, but that you won’t really enjoy doing it while you’re doing it!!!
Here’s a very trite but real example for me. I want to not eat badly or overeat. Yet yesterday I went to McDonald’s for breakfast and had a sausage and egg McGriddle and a ham and egg McGriddle. I knew that I would regret doing that (and indeed I did and do) and I knew that, although they taste good, I would not enjoy eating them very much because they would be gone too fast and they’re not that good. But I did it anyway. Why? An easy answer is escape and comfort food and all the psychology stuff, none of which helps me much.
The bigger thing to me is that it keeps happening and that on my own I’m in trouble. I like very much the question in verse 24, “who will rescue me” (from doing what I don’t want to do?).
What is your answer?
Prayer
“Lord, help! I have old destructive habits and a weak will. I need to stop trying and let you train me. Help me Lord, to accept the rigor of learning new habits, however painful. Amen."
Is THIS sometimes you?
"I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate." Romans 7:13 (ESV)
So, what's up with that?
Do you ever do exactly the opposite of what you really want, deep down, to do? Do you ever do so, even though you know, not only that you won’t be happy afterwards, but that you won’t really enjoy doing it while you’re doing it!!!
Here’s a very trite but real example for me. I want to not eat badly or overeat. Yet yesterday I went to McDonald’s for breakfast and had a sausage and egg McGriddle and a ham and egg McGriddle. I knew that I would regret doing that (and indeed I did and do) and I knew that, although they taste good, I would not enjoy eating them very much because they would be gone too fast and they’re not that good. But I did it anyway. Why? An easy answer is escape and comfort food and all the psychology stuff, none of which helps me much.
The bigger thing to me is that it keeps happening and that on my own I’m in trouble. I like very much the question in verse 24, “who will rescue me” (from doing what I don’t want to do?).
What is your answer?
Prayer
“Lord, help! I have old destructive habits and a weak will. I need to stop trying and let you train me. Help me Lord, to accept the rigor of learning new habits, however painful. Amen."
Friday, July 27, 2012
This Week's Topic: Homosexuality and Gay Marriage
None of us is as wise as we think we are, and in our "wisdom" we can be very dangerous in what we advocate.
"they claimed to be wise." Romans 1:22 (NIV)
"Worse yet, they encourage others to do them, too." Romans 1:32 (NLT)
In my studied opinion, it is not too much of an overstatement to say that the biblical narrative of who God is and What God is doing begins and ends with the comprehensive oneness that is a marriage. In both cases the consummation of the marriage results in a new creation, pro-creation in Genesis and new-creation in Revelation.
It’s a very beautiful thing. Just as man and woman are made for one another, so also heaven and earth are distinct and different from one another, yet made for one another.
The Bible actually concludes by comparing that which results in a New Creation (the eternal destiny of all believers) to the marriage of a man and a woman. Like wow!
If you are married, this is really, really big. And when you attend a wedding maybe knowing this will help you see something at work which is way, way bigger than a ceremony and a free meal.
Prayer
“Lord, it is amazing how the Bible, when rightly read, puts all things together in a way that makes sense of the world. Thank you. Help me to read it anew every day. Amen."
None of us is as wise as we think we are, and in our "wisdom" we can be very dangerous in what we advocate.
"they claimed to be wise." Romans 1:22 (NIV)
"Worse yet, they encourage others to do them, too." Romans 1:32 (NLT)
In my studied opinion, it is not too much of an overstatement to say that the biblical narrative of who God is and What God is doing begins and ends with the comprehensive oneness that is a marriage. In both cases the consummation of the marriage results in a new creation, pro-creation in Genesis and new-creation in Revelation.
It’s a very beautiful thing. Just as man and woman are made for one another, so also heaven and earth are distinct and different from one another, yet made for one another.
The Bible actually concludes by comparing that which results in a New Creation (the eternal destiny of all believers) to the marriage of a man and a woman. Like wow!
If you are married, this is really, really big. And when you attend a wedding maybe knowing this will help you see something at work which is way, way bigger than a ceremony and a free meal.
Prayer
“Lord, it is amazing how the Bible, when rightly read, puts all things together in a way that makes sense of the world. Thank you. Help me to read it anew every day. Amen."
Thursday, July 26, 2012
This Week's Topic: Homosexuality and Gay Marriage
A Description of 21st Century America?
"they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator . . . . Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. . . . women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones . . . men . . . were inflamed with lust for one another. ."
Romans 1:25-27 (NIV)
Some Thoughts and Implications
1. When we take what we know of God and change it to what we want, we are suddenly idolaters, worshiping what we think. The result is not good. The result is a replay of what happened to Adam and Eve.
2. I do not think that all homosexuals any more than all heterosexuals do nothing but pursue shameful lusts. However I am told by psychologists and sociologists that our culture of glamorized sex has resulted in a teen culture that now values same sex experimentation among teens who are heterosexually oriented.
3. The term “unnatural”, however, does allude to something. Although most who have a same sex orientation did not choose to have it, that does not mean God made them that way. God makes no mistakes, but when God created you it was with flaws and ungodly desires. We are all fallen and broken, even from birth, and some of that brokenness is in our genes. You and I are flawed, sinful, non – mistakes!
4. From a Christian perspective, the worst thing we can do is to follow our hearts. Check out Jeremiah 17:9. Our hearts are untrustworthy and their desires must be retrained. Without retraining we are incredibly susceptible to “exchanging the truth of God for a lie”.
Prayer
“Lord, forgive me for all the times I have tried to read your word in a way that it matches what I want to say. And worse forgive me for reconfiguring in my mind who you are into a God in my image. Amen."
A Description of 21st Century America?
"they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator . . . . Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. . . . women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones . . . men . . . were inflamed with lust for one another. ."
Romans 1:25-27 (NIV)
Some Thoughts and Implications
1. When we take what we know of God and change it to what we want, we are suddenly idolaters, worshiping what we think. The result is not good. The result is a replay of what happened to Adam and Eve.
2. I do not think that all homosexuals any more than all heterosexuals do nothing but pursue shameful lusts. However I am told by psychologists and sociologists that our culture of glamorized sex has resulted in a teen culture that now values same sex experimentation among teens who are heterosexually oriented.
3. The term “unnatural”, however, does allude to something. Although most who have a same sex orientation did not choose to have it, that does not mean God made them that way. God makes no mistakes, but when God created you it was with flaws and ungodly desires. We are all fallen and broken, even from birth, and some of that brokenness is in our genes. You and I are flawed, sinful, non – mistakes!
4. From a Christian perspective, the worst thing we can do is to follow our hearts. Check out Jeremiah 17:9. Our hearts are untrustworthy and their desires must be retrained. Without retraining we are incredibly susceptible to “exchanging the truth of God for a lie”.
Prayer
“Lord, forgive me for all the times I have tried to read your word in a way that it matches what I want to say. And worse forgive me for reconfiguring in my mind who you are into a God in my image. Amen."
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
This Week's Topic: Homosexuality and Gay Marriage
We are not free to Alter the Image of God
"Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools . . . they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator . . Because of this, God gave them over to . . . . .(Paul now lists many things but goes straight back to Genesis 1:27 and lists first of all homosexual behavior as a practice which he puts in the category of idolatry)" Romans 1:25-27 ff (NIV)
Two Big Thoughts
1. The Image of God as male and female played out in marriage which includes the intended potential and trajectory of bearing, loving and rearing children is also the foundational building block or structure of all of human society. No society anywhere has not somehow institutionalized and regulated the sexual bonding of men and woman and their subsequent responsibility for rearing children.
Here’s an amazing stat “Bill Galston, a senior fellow at Brookings who served as President Clinton's domestic policy advisor, has explained that an American today must only do three things to avoid living in poverty: graduate from high school, marry before having a child, and have children after age 20. Only 8 percent of people who do these three things are poor, while a stunning 79 percent who fail to meet these expectations live in poverty” (From Marriage is a social Justice Issue)
Society, therefore, has a huge stake in how it chooses to regulate sexual practices.
2. Whatever we do about gay partnerships, we must not redefine marriage. We must instead invest in it. The Apostle Paul sees that there is a sense in which the redefinition of marriage is a reconfiguring of the image of God. Same sex partnerships, whatever they look like are not marriage. And it’s hard to see how Paul is not connected this basic institution of marriage with one of the crucial biblical images of God.
Prayer
“Lord, help each of us to read the Bible in a way that transcends what we prefer it to mean. Amen."
We are not free to Alter the Image of God
"Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools . . . they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator . . Because of this, God gave them over to . . . . .(Paul now lists many things but goes straight back to Genesis 1:27 and lists first of all homosexual behavior as a practice which he puts in the category of idolatry)" Romans 1:25-27 ff (NIV)
Two Big Thoughts
1. The Image of God as male and female played out in marriage which includes the intended potential and trajectory of bearing, loving and rearing children is also the foundational building block or structure of all of human society. No society anywhere has not somehow institutionalized and regulated the sexual bonding of men and woman and their subsequent responsibility for rearing children.
Here’s an amazing stat “Bill Galston, a senior fellow at Brookings who served as President Clinton's domestic policy advisor, has explained that an American today must only do three things to avoid living in poverty: graduate from high school, marry before having a child, and have children after age 20. Only 8 percent of people who do these three things are poor, while a stunning 79 percent who fail to meet these expectations live in poverty” (From Marriage is a social Justice Issue)
Society, therefore, has a huge stake in how it chooses to regulate sexual practices.
2. Whatever we do about gay partnerships, we must not redefine marriage. We must instead invest in it. The Apostle Paul sees that there is a sense in which the redefinition of marriage is a reconfiguring of the image of God. Same sex partnerships, whatever they look like are not marriage. And it’s hard to see how Paul is not connected this basic institution of marriage with one of the crucial biblical images of God.
Prayer
“Lord, help each of us to read the Bible in a way that transcends what we prefer it to mean. Amen."
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
This Week's Topic: Homosexuality and Gay Marriage
The Image of God Part 2
"ever since the world was created, people . . . . Through everything God made . . . . can clearly see his invisible qualities—his . . . . divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God” Romans 1:20 (NLT)
“God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply”
Genesis 1:28 (NIV)
“For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh” Genesis 2:24 (NIV)
The Image of God is Procreative
1. Male and Female were created to become one
2. Part of this oneness is procreation.
3. Oneness is comprehensive: Mind, body, spirit, soul, future, emotions, the whole ball of wax. Although I am not a complete image of God, not least because of my sin, but also because I am only one sex, nevertheless the organs of my body (lung, heart, etc) coordinate to give me life. Yet there is one area in which I am organically incomplete, the area of reproduction. For that I need the rest of the image of God, a woman.
4. This comprehensive, procreative oneness of man and woman is called marriage.
5. The inability of a man and woman to conceive in marriage only serves to make the point. "The exception proves the rule”
6. We have in the marriage of a man and woman oneness in plurality, just as we saw in Genesis 1:26. Marriage is a picture of the image of God. We could even make a formula: 1 + 1 + 1 = 1 . . . Father + Son + HS = God . . . . Man + Woman + God (a Christian Marriage) = a Trinitarian Image of God.
7. Just God’s Plurality in Oneness resulted in creation, so also the plurality and oneness of marriage results in a creation.
When we read the rest of the Bible we see marriage throughout as the dominant picture of God’s character, what he is doing on earth, and who He is.
That put a big responsibility on married Christians to live our marriages out well, does it not?
Prayer
“Lord, it seems that marriage is in a very large sense, sacramental. Forgive me for treating it as less than it is. Amen."
The Image of God Part 2
"ever since the world was created, people . . . . Through everything God made . . . . can clearly see his invisible qualities—his . . . . divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God” Romans 1:20 (NLT)
“God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply”
Genesis 1:28 (NIV)
“For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh” Genesis 2:24 (NIV)
The Image of God is Procreative
1. Male and Female were created to become one
2. Part of this oneness is procreation.
3. Oneness is comprehensive: Mind, body, spirit, soul, future, emotions, the whole ball of wax. Although I am not a complete image of God, not least because of my sin, but also because I am only one sex, nevertheless the organs of my body (lung, heart, etc) coordinate to give me life. Yet there is one area in which I am organically incomplete, the area of reproduction. For that I need the rest of the image of God, a woman.
4. This comprehensive, procreative oneness of man and woman is called marriage.
5. The inability of a man and woman to conceive in marriage only serves to make the point. "The exception proves the rule”
6. We have in the marriage of a man and woman oneness in plurality, just as we saw in Genesis 1:26. Marriage is a picture of the image of God. We could even make a formula: 1 + 1 + 1 = 1 . . . Father + Son + HS = God . . . . Man + Woman + God (a Christian Marriage) = a Trinitarian Image of God.
7. Just God’s Plurality in Oneness resulted in creation, so also the plurality and oneness of marriage results in a creation.
When we read the rest of the Bible we see marriage throughout as the dominant picture of God’s character, what he is doing on earth, and who He is.
That put a big responsibility on married Christians to live our marriages out well, does it not?
Prayer
“Lord, it seems that marriage is in a very large sense, sacramental. Forgive me for treating it as less than it is. Amen."
Monday, July 23, 2012
This Week's Topic: Homosexuality and Gay Marriage
The Image of God
“The basic reality about God is plain enough" Romans 1:19 (Msg)
Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground."
“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.” Genesis 1:26-27 (NIV)
What does this teach us about the Image of God and human beings?
1. Human Beings are part of the animal kingdom but differentiated from it by having the image of God conferred on them. Our DNA may be 98% the same as an ape, but that 2% difference is vast and unbridgeable.
2. “us” and “our” tell us that God is plural, yet one.
3. One aspect of God’s image is to take benevolent responsibility for the rest of creation.
4. The image of God is not male alone, nor female alone, but male and female together. As we shall see, this “image of God together” is consummated in Genesis chapter two in the comprehensive oneness (1+1=1) of marriage.
What are some of the implications of today’s passage for your thinking about your life and life in society at large?
Prayer
“Lord, please help me and all believers to be guided by your Word. Although the reality of biblical moral guidance requires making judgments about right and wrong, help each of us never, never, never to allow our emotions to fuel judgmentalism against those who disagree with us. Amen."
The Image of God
“The basic reality about God is plain enough" Romans 1:19 (Msg)
Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground."
“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.” Genesis 1:26-27 (NIV)
What does this teach us about the Image of God and human beings?
1. Human Beings are part of the animal kingdom but differentiated from it by having the image of God conferred on them. Our DNA may be 98% the same as an ape, but that 2% difference is vast and unbridgeable.
2. “us” and “our” tell us that God is plural, yet one.
3. One aspect of God’s image is to take benevolent responsibility for the rest of creation.
4. The image of God is not male alone, nor female alone, but male and female together. As we shall see, this “image of God together” is consummated in Genesis chapter two in the comprehensive oneness (1+1=1) of marriage.
What are some of the implications of today’s passage for your thinking about your life and life in society at large?
Prayer
“Lord, please help me and all believers to be guided by your Word. Although the reality of biblical moral guidance requires making judgments about right and wrong, help each of us never, never, never to allow our emotions to fuel judgmentalism against those who disagree with us. Amen."
Friday, July 20, 2012
This Week's Topic: The Problem of Pain
The Great Paradox
“This is why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong." 2 Corinthians 12:10
When God Shouts
"God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks to us in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: It is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.” CS Lewis The Problem of Pain
My life bears witness to today's scripture. The times I have encountered the deepest pain are the times I have encountered God's presence most profoundly. God's "shout" to us both wake us up and drive us back to square one, back to what matters most. It's unfortunate that without these "shouts" of pain that I drift and fall into complacency. But I do.
Pain is a gift of God's tough Grace, a Grace of severe and intense love which refuses to let us drift away.
Prayer
“Lord, thank you for loving me with a love that hurts, heals an restores. Forgive me for desiring less than what you want to give me. Amen."
I could not recommend the following Book more highly!!
The Great Paradox
“This is why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong." 2 Corinthians 12:10
When God Shouts
"God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks to us in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: It is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.” CS Lewis The Problem of Pain
My life bears witness to today's scripture. The times I have encountered the deepest pain are the times I have encountered God's presence most profoundly. God's "shout" to us both wake us up and drive us back to square one, back to what matters most. It's unfortunate that without these "shouts" of pain that I drift and fall into complacency. But I do.
Pain is a gift of God's tough Grace, a Grace of severe and intense love which refuses to let us drift away.
Prayer
“Lord, thank you for loving me with a love that hurts, heals an restores. Forgive me for desiring less than what you want to give me. Amen."
I could not recommend the following Book more highly!!
Thursday, July 19, 2012
This Week's Topic: The Problem of Pain
Power through Weakness
“Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. 9 Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me." 2 Corinthians 12:8-9(NLT)
The Power of Vulnerability
"To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket- safe, dark, motionless, airless--it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable.” CS Lewis The Problem of Pain
If weakness leads to vulnerability, then God has in you a conduit, a conductor of his Grace. The greatest healing occurs when one hurting, vulnerable soul opens his or her heart to another. In doing so the Spirit of God in one connects with the spirit of God in the other and God’s supernatural healing power does it’s work. It is unfortunate that in today’s world we resort to paying a counselor (although many are great) to be our friend. It is in being a vulnerable conduit for God’s healing and in being a recipient thereof that the real power resides.
Prayer
“Lord, I hate pain and I love pills that take it away. Yet, Lord, if this pain be your will, I accept it and will choose to be grateful for experiencing You in a way I never could without it. Amen."
Power through Weakness
“Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. 9 Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me." 2 Corinthians 12:8-9(NLT)
The Power of Vulnerability
"To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket- safe, dark, motionless, airless--it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable.” CS Lewis The Problem of Pain
If weakness leads to vulnerability, then God has in you a conduit, a conductor of his Grace. The greatest healing occurs when one hurting, vulnerable soul opens his or her heart to another. In doing so the Spirit of God in one connects with the spirit of God in the other and God’s supernatural healing power does it’s work. It is unfortunate that in today’s world we resort to paying a counselor (although many are great) to be our friend. It is in being a vulnerable conduit for God’s healing and in being a recipient thereof that the real power resides.
Prayer
“Lord, I hate pain and I love pills that take it away. Yet, Lord, if this pain be your will, I accept it and will choose to be grateful for experiencing You in a way I never could without it. Amen."
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
This Week's Topic: The Problem of Pain
The "Intolerable Compliment"
“Even though I have received such wonderful revelations from God. . . .to keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud."
2 Corinthians 12:7 (NLT)
Reflect
“We are, not metaphorically but in very truth, a Divine work of art, something that God is making, and therefore something with which He will not be satisfied until it has a certain character. Here again we come up against what I have called the “intolerable compliment.” Over a sketch made idly to amuse a child, an artist may not take much trouble: he may be content to let it go even though it is not exactly as he meant it to be. But over the great picture of his life—the work which he loves, though in a different fashion, as intensely as a man loves a woman or a mother a child—he will take endless trouble—and would doubtless, thereby give endless trouble to the picture if it were sentient. One can imagine a sentient picture, after being rubbed and scraped and re-commenced for the tenth time, wishing that it were only a thumb-nail sketch whose making was over in a minute. In the same way, it is natural for us to wish that God had designed for us a less glorious and less arduous destiny; but then we are wishing not for more love but for less.”
C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain
Prayer
“Lord, I accept your "intolerable compliment". I choose to believe that the pain you allow is used by you to ensure that I become the person that you intend me to become. Thank you, Lord. Amen."
The "Intolerable Compliment"
“Even though I have received such wonderful revelations from God. . . .to keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud."
2 Corinthians 12:7 (NLT)
Reflect
“We are, not metaphorically but in very truth, a Divine work of art, something that God is making, and therefore something with which He will not be satisfied until it has a certain character. Here again we come up against what I have called the “intolerable compliment.” Over a sketch made idly to amuse a child, an artist may not take much trouble: he may be content to let it go even though it is not exactly as he meant it to be. But over the great picture of his life—the work which he loves, though in a different fashion, as intensely as a man loves a woman or a mother a child—he will take endless trouble—and would doubtless, thereby give endless trouble to the picture if it were sentient. One can imagine a sentient picture, after being rubbed and scraped and re-commenced for the tenth time, wishing that it were only a thumb-nail sketch whose making was over in a minute. In the same way, it is natural for us to wish that God had designed for us a less glorious and less arduous destiny; but then we are wishing not for more love but for less.”
C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain
Prayer
“Lord, I accept your "intolerable compliment". I choose to believe that the pain you allow is used by you to ensure that I become the person that you intend me to become. Thank you, Lord. Amen."
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
This Week's Topic: The Problem of Pain
Boasting and Humility
“This boasting will do no good, but I must go on. I will reluctantly tell about visions and revelations from the Lord. 2 I was caught up to the third heaven fourteen years ago. Whether I was in my body or out of my body, I don’t know—only God knows. 3 Yes, only God knows whether I was in my body or outside my body. But I do know 4 that I was caught up to paradise and heard things so astounding that they cannot be expressed in words, things no human is allowed to tell. 5 That experience is worth boasting about, but I’m not going to do it. I will boast only about my weaknesses."
2 Corinthians 12:1-5 (NLT)
Reflect
Paul had been to “heaven and back”. He had met Jesus and saw and experienced the world that will one day fill our world. We know about the Kingdom of God from Jesus and Paul who had each been there. Yet neither used that knowledge as a weapon or point of pride or in any way to be superior. Jesus went to the cross and Paul was reviled and martyred. Each proclaimed that their strength was found in their human weakness and in God’s strength.
Paul was genuine in this. Let’s make sure we do not express the false humility that speaks of weakness, but is really just bringing attention to oneself. True humility is not thinking less of oneself, rather not thinking of oneself at all.
Prayer
“Lord, help me to be grateful for every glorious encounter with you and to view every experience of humiliation, failure, and pain as a tool that you are using for your sake and, yes, for mine as well. Amen."
Boasting and Humility
“This boasting will do no good, but I must go on. I will reluctantly tell about visions and revelations from the Lord. 2 I was caught up to the third heaven fourteen years ago. Whether I was in my body or out of my body, I don’t know—only God knows. 3 Yes, only God knows whether I was in my body or outside my body. But I do know 4 that I was caught up to paradise and heard things so astounding that they cannot be expressed in words, things no human is allowed to tell. 5 That experience is worth boasting about, but I’m not going to do it. I will boast only about my weaknesses."
2 Corinthians 12:1-5 (NLT)
Reflect
Paul had been to “heaven and back”. He had met Jesus and saw and experienced the world that will one day fill our world. We know about the Kingdom of God from Jesus and Paul who had each been there. Yet neither used that knowledge as a weapon or point of pride or in any way to be superior. Jesus went to the cross and Paul was reviled and martyred. Each proclaimed that their strength was found in their human weakness and in God’s strength.
Paul was genuine in this. Let’s make sure we do not express the false humility that speaks of weakness, but is really just bringing attention to oneself. True humility is not thinking less of oneself, rather not thinking of oneself at all.
Prayer
“Lord, help me to be grateful for every glorious encounter with you and to view every experience of humiliation, failure, and pain as a tool that you are using for your sake and, yes, for mine as well. Amen."
Monday, July 16, 2012
This Week's Topic: The Problem of Pain
Suffering Should Be Expected
“since others boast about their human achievements, I will, too . . . . Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they descendants of Abraham? So am I. 23 Are they servants of Christ? I know I sound like a madman, but I have served him far more! I have worked harder, been put in prison more often, been whipped times without number, and faced death again and again. 24 Five different times the Jewish leaders gave me thirty-nine lashes. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked. Once I spent a whole night and a day adrift at sea. 26 I have traveled on many long journeys. I have faced danger from rivers and from robbers. I have faced danger from my own people, the Jews, as well as from the Gentiles. I have faced danger in the cities, in the deserts, and on the seas. And I have faced danger from men who claim to be believers but are not. 27 I have worked hard and long, enduring many sleepless nights. I have been hungry and thirsty and have often gone without food. I have shivered in the cold, without enough clothing to keep me warm. 28 Then, besides all this, I have the daily burden of my concern for all the churches. 29 Who is weak without my feeling that weakness? Who is led astray, and I do not burn with anger? 30 If I must boast, I would rather boast about the things that show how weak I am."
2 Corinthians 11:18-30 (NLT)
Why?
1. We live in a selfish broken world. No one is exempt from suffering.
2. Christians will encounter opposition from others who are antagonistic to their faith
3. Christians do not “fight with the weapons of the world”. (10:4)
4. Christians act with integrity and honesty in a world that honors conflicting values.
5. God will not allow Christians in the end to rely on their own power, but in their weakness to experience God’s power.
6. God will stop at nothing to grow us up. To grow from what I am now to become what he wants us to become requires the pain of change.
Are you able to find blessing in your suffering and consequent weakness?
Prayer
“Lord, please help never to complain about the pain I encounter, rather to be grateful that you are at work in and through the very thing that is causing me to suffer. Amen."
Suffering Should Be Expected
“since others boast about their human achievements, I will, too . . . . Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they descendants of Abraham? So am I. 23 Are they servants of Christ? I know I sound like a madman, but I have served him far more! I have worked harder, been put in prison more often, been whipped times without number, and faced death again and again. 24 Five different times the Jewish leaders gave me thirty-nine lashes. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked. Once I spent a whole night and a day adrift at sea. 26 I have traveled on many long journeys. I have faced danger from rivers and from robbers. I have faced danger from my own people, the Jews, as well as from the Gentiles. I have faced danger in the cities, in the deserts, and on the seas. And I have faced danger from men who claim to be believers but are not. 27 I have worked hard and long, enduring many sleepless nights. I have been hungry and thirsty and have often gone without food. I have shivered in the cold, without enough clothing to keep me warm. 28 Then, besides all this, I have the daily burden of my concern for all the churches. 29 Who is weak without my feeling that weakness? Who is led astray, and I do not burn with anger? 30 If I must boast, I would rather boast about the things that show how weak I am."
2 Corinthians 11:18-30 (NLT)
Why?
1. We live in a selfish broken world. No one is exempt from suffering.
2. Christians will encounter opposition from others who are antagonistic to their faith
3. Christians do not “fight with the weapons of the world”. (10:4)
4. Christians act with integrity and honesty in a world that honors conflicting values.
5. God will not allow Christians in the end to rely on their own power, but in their weakness to experience God’s power.
6. God will stop at nothing to grow us up. To grow from what I am now to become what he wants us to become requires the pain of change.
Are you able to find blessing in your suffering and consequent weakness?
Prayer
“Lord, please help never to complain about the pain I encounter, rather to be grateful that you are at work in and through the very thing that is causing me to suffer. Amen."
Friday, July 13, 2012
This Week's Topic: Finding Financial Peace
Premise
The only way to financial peace is straight through a giving and generous heart.
Generous Giving > “Proof” of the Gospel > Prayer and Affection
"This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God's people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. 13 Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, men will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else. 14 And in their prayers for you their hearts will go out to you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you. 15 Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!"
2 Corinthians 9:12-15
Reflect
Theodore Roosevelt said, “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”
When your generosity, at a great cost to yourself for my sake with no obvious benefit to you, comes my way, I’m impressed. It makes me feel like I actually matter and I wonder why. Then, when I discover that your motivation is Christ, I’m suddenly interested in this person who has motivated you to an action that is so extraordinary. I may actually consult this Christ (prayer) and I may reciprocate to you by praying for you. You will certainly occupy a special place in my thoughts. Perhaps so much so that your generosity will one day be that which has paved the way for me to become a believer and follower of this Christ, who, though rich, became poor for my sake.
Prayer
“Lord, I would love for You to use whatever meager generosity you have led me to express to be a conduit for others to know Christ. I'm open. Amen"
Premise
The only way to financial peace is straight through a giving and generous heart.
Generous Giving > “Proof” of the Gospel > Prayer and Affection
"This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God's people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. 13 Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, men will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else. 14 And in their prayers for you their hearts will go out to you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you. 15 Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!"
2 Corinthians 9:12-15
Reflect
Theodore Roosevelt said, “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”
When your generosity, at a great cost to yourself for my sake with no obvious benefit to you, comes my way, I’m impressed. It makes me feel like I actually matter and I wonder why. Then, when I discover that your motivation is Christ, I’m suddenly interested in this person who has motivated you to an action that is so extraordinary. I may actually consult this Christ (prayer) and I may reciprocate to you by praying for you. You will certainly occupy a special place in my thoughts. Perhaps so much so that your generosity will one day be that which has paved the way for me to become a believer and follower of this Christ, who, though rich, became poor for my sake.
Prayer
“Lord, I would love for You to use whatever meager generosity you have led me to express to be a conduit for others to know Christ. I'm open. Amen"
Thursday, July 12, 2012
This Week's Topic: Finding Financial Freedom
Premise
The only way to financial peace is straight through a giving and generous heart.
You Reap What You Sow
"Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver . . .
Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. 11 You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God."
2 Corinthians 9:6-11 (NIV)
"Made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion"
Wow! I am made rich so that I can give it away! And then God honors my giving away by giving me more, so that I can give even more away!!!
John Wesley, credited as founder of Methodism, decided as a young man to “cap” his standard of living and then as more money came in he’d give it away. No increase in material comfort, but a great increase in giving. That impresses me as a behavior that would please God.
99% of us have not done this, but we could.
Am I laying a guilt trip on you? Hope not, because if I am, I’m violating the very scripture I am citing.
Give what your heart has decided to give. Then what you sow, you will reap. Then what you reap is meant for sowing. It’s kind of like, “give to get to give to get to give . . . . “, with the last word always being “give”.
Prayer
“Lord, help me think more of what and to whom I can give than what I can next acquire. Amen"
Premise
The only way to financial peace is straight through a giving and generous heart.
You Reap What You Sow
"Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver . . .
Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. 11 You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God."
2 Corinthians 9:6-11 (NIV)
"Made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion"
Wow! I am made rich so that I can give it away! And then God honors my giving away by giving me more, so that I can give even more away!!!
John Wesley, credited as founder of Methodism, decided as a young man to “cap” his standard of living and then as more money came in he’d give it away. No increase in material comfort, but a great increase in giving. That impresses me as a behavior that would please God.
99% of us have not done this, but we could.
Am I laying a guilt trip on you? Hope not, because if I am, I’m violating the very scripture I am citing.
Give what your heart has decided to give. Then what you sow, you will reap. Then what you reap is meant for sowing. It’s kind of like, “give to get to give to get to give . . . . “, with the last word always being “give”.
Prayer
“Lord, help me think more of what and to whom I can give than what I can next acquire. Amen"
This Week's Topic: Finding Financial Peace
Premise
The only way to financial peace is straight through a giving and generous heart.
Desire + Willingness + Finishing + According to Means > Acceptable Gift
"here is my advice . . .. Last year you were the first not only to give but also to have the desire to do so. Now finish the work, so that your eager willingness to do it may be matched by your completion of it, according to your means. For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what he does not have” 2 Corinthians 8:10-12
Reflect
Guilt is a terrible motivator for anything, especially giving. God does not seek your money, He seeks you and out of that relationship, He desires trust, and out of trust, He desires a willingness to align your life with Him.
There are two things here: willingness and then acting on that willingness. It is in the act of actually giving, actually writing the check that requires a true stretch, where faith has meaning. Paul says “match your willingness with completion”.
A tithe (10% of ones income) is a good biblical benchmark, but there are those who give more than that and for them it’s hardly a sacrifice. Alternatively there are those who give a smaller percentage and for them their giving is a real stretch. Thus “according to what you have”.
A baseball analogy just occurred to me. There are men on base waiting for God’s people to get them home to where their needs can be met. When men are on base the pitcher goes into the stretch so that the hitter can . . . . . oops that analogy sure doesn’t work!!! Go into the stretch anyway.
Prayer
“Lord, show me the path to willingness. Show me the path to financial peace through a generosity that's free from the debilitating and imposter of motivation which is guilt. Amen"
Premise
The only way to financial peace is straight through a giving and generous heart.
Desire + Willingness + Finishing + According to Means > Acceptable Gift
"here is my advice . . .. Last year you were the first not only to give but also to have the desire to do so. Now finish the work, so that your eager willingness to do it may be matched by your completion of it, according to your means. For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what he does not have” 2 Corinthians 8:10-12
Reflect
Guilt is a terrible motivator for anything, especially giving. God does not seek your money, He seeks you and out of that relationship, He desires trust, and out of trust, He desires a willingness to align your life with Him.
There are two things here: willingness and then acting on that willingness. It is in the act of actually giving, actually writing the check that requires a true stretch, where faith has meaning. Paul says “match your willingness with completion”.
A tithe (10% of ones income) is a good biblical benchmark, but there are those who give more than that and for them it’s hardly a sacrifice. Alternatively there are those who give a smaller percentage and for them their giving is a real stretch. Thus “according to what you have”.
A baseball analogy just occurred to me. There are men on base waiting for God’s people to get them home to where their needs can be met. When men are on base the pitcher goes into the stretch so that the hitter can . . . . . oops that analogy sure doesn’t work!!! Go into the stretch anyway.
Prayer
“Lord, show me the path to willingness. Show me the path to financial peace through a generosity that's free from the debilitating and imposter of motivation which is guilt. Amen"
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
This Week's Topic: Finding Financial Peace
Premise
The only way to financial peace is straight through a giving and generous heart.
Excel
"just as you excel in everything--in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us--see that you also excel in this grace of giving . . . . For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich” 2 Corinthians 8:7-9
Reflect
God has made you to be a giver. It’s God’s image into which you were born. You will never flourish just being on solid financial footing unless you are a joyful and generous giver. It is giving that initiates and facilitates the flow of God’s joy through your body. There are many kinds of giving, but a giving heart will always include giving money. Rationalizing that giving my time and talents is an acceptable substitute for giving from my wallet, is just that, a rationalization, which usually means I’m not willing be the giver God wants me to be.
Jesus didn’t just give, he became poor, so that we could become rich. Why? He was already rich in his relationship with God. Are you rich enough in your relationship with God that you are willing to become poor for His sake and for the sake of others?
Don’t just give, excel in the gift of being generous.
Prayer
“Lord, I want to know the freedom that you had, the freedom from materialism, the freedom from fear of losing resources in favor of giving of my resources. Lord set me free to give. Amen"
Premise
The only way to financial peace is straight through a giving and generous heart.
Excel
"just as you excel in everything--in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us--see that you also excel in this grace of giving . . . . For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich” 2 Corinthians 8:7-9
Reflect
God has made you to be a giver. It’s God’s image into which you were born. You will never flourish just being on solid financial footing unless you are a joyful and generous giver. It is giving that initiates and facilitates the flow of God’s joy through your body. There are many kinds of giving, but a giving heart will always include giving money. Rationalizing that giving my time and talents is an acceptable substitute for giving from my wallet, is just that, a rationalization, which usually means I’m not willing be the giver God wants me to be.
Jesus didn’t just give, he became poor, so that we could become rich. Why? He was already rich in his relationship with God. Are you rich enough in your relationship with God that you are willing to become poor for His sake and for the sake of others?
Don’t just give, excel in the gift of being generous.
Prayer
“Lord, I want to know the freedom that you had, the freedom from materialism, the freedom from fear of losing resources in favor of giving of my resources. Lord set me free to give. Amen"
This Week's Topic: Finding Financial Peace
Premise
The only way to financial peace is straight through a giving and generous heart.
First to the Lord
"Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. 3 For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, 4 they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the saints. 5 And they did not do as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us in keeping with God's will."
2 Corinthians 8:1-5 (NIV)
Reflect
On Paul’s Missionary journeys he was also collecting donations to help with famine relief back in Jerusalem. He found the Thessalonians to be leaders in generosity. Therefore Paul praised them for their generosity while simultaneously teaching the Corinthians and us the key elements of what it means to be godly stewards of our money.
What are those teachings? First, their trials plus their joy plus their poverty led to rich generosity. Second the gave themselves first to the Lord, then to those in need, and that resulted in rich generosity beyond their ability to give.
I find it compelling that poverty and trials led the Thessalonians to generosity. I find it incredibly compelling and completely logical that giving oneself to the Lord results both in desire to give and in giving beyond what the checkbook says I’m capable of.
Prayer
“Lord, I confess to being selfish with my resources, with my wealth. Lord please trigger in me a generous spirit which leads me to give 'beyond my ability'. Amen "
Premise
The only way to financial peace is straight through a giving and generous heart.
First to the Lord
"Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. 3 For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, 4 they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the saints. 5 And they did not do as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us in keeping with God's will."
2 Corinthians 8:1-5 (NIV)
Reflect
On Paul’s Missionary journeys he was also collecting donations to help with famine relief back in Jerusalem. He found the Thessalonians to be leaders in generosity. Therefore Paul praised them for their generosity while simultaneously teaching the Corinthians and us the key elements of what it means to be godly stewards of our money.
What are those teachings? First, their trials plus their joy plus their poverty led to rich generosity. Second the gave themselves first to the Lord, then to those in need, and that resulted in rich generosity beyond their ability to give.
I find it compelling that poverty and trials led the Thessalonians to generosity. I find it incredibly compelling and completely logical that giving oneself to the Lord results both in desire to give and in giving beyond what the checkbook says I’m capable of.
Prayer
“Lord, I confess to being selfish with my resources, with my wealth. Lord please trigger in me a generous spirit which leads me to give 'beyond my ability'. Amen "
Friday, July 6, 2012
Sex and the Single Life
"Sometimes I wish everyone were single like me—a simpler life in many ways! But celibacy is not for everyone any more than marriage is. God gives the gift of the single life to some, the gift of the married life to others. 8 I do, though, tell the unmarried and widows that singleness might well be the best thing for them, as it has been for me. 9 But if they can't manage their desires and emotions, they should by all means go ahead and get married. The difficulties of marriage are preferable by far to a sexually tortured life as a single."
1 Corinthians 7:7-9(MSG)
Reflect
I was married in my 20’s, divorced and single in my 30’s and have been married for 25years since. This means that I spent my 30’s as a single adult at the height of my sexual desires and I found it difficult. No, I found it extremely difficult.
A huge discovery I made during those years was that the message that bombarded society and still does, “you can have it all”, is a lie. It is such an obvious lie, but one which so many of us buy into anyway. Bottom line is that, although I struggled mightily and imperfectly with my decision to be celibate until marriage, I had to discover that it was possible to be happy without “having it all”, including being happy without sex. And this I did discover.
There is something worse than being single and celibate. That something is the thousand ways that sex outside of marriage messes with your mind, emotions, body, relationships, faith, perspectives, and leaves consequences which are life altering: some of those life altering consequences are obvious and deeply experienced. Other life consequences are not noticed until decades later, when the slowly accumulated emotional and spiritual scar tissue has taken its toll and you discover that you are not quite as alive, not quite as whole as you once were.
Prayer
“Lord, I accept that your boundaries are also your provision. Like a loving parent you want each of us to live out all of your gifts in their context, in the place where they are dynamic rather than harmful (even when the harm feels great at the moment) . Amen"
"Sometimes I wish everyone were single like me—a simpler life in many ways! But celibacy is not for everyone any more than marriage is. God gives the gift of the single life to some, the gift of the married life to others. 8 I do, though, tell the unmarried and widows that singleness might well be the best thing for them, as it has been for me. 9 But if they can't manage their desires and emotions, they should by all means go ahead and get married. The difficulties of marriage are preferable by far to a sexually tortured life as a single."
1 Corinthians 7:7-9(MSG)
Reflect
I was married in my 20’s, divorced and single in my 30’s and have been married for 25years since. This means that I spent my 30’s as a single adult at the height of my sexual desires and I found it difficult. No, I found it extremely difficult.
A huge discovery I made during those years was that the message that bombarded society and still does, “you can have it all”, is a lie. It is such an obvious lie, but one which so many of us buy into anyway. Bottom line is that, although I struggled mightily and imperfectly with my decision to be celibate until marriage, I had to discover that it was possible to be happy without “having it all”, including being happy without sex. And this I did discover.
There is something worse than being single and celibate. That something is the thousand ways that sex outside of marriage messes with your mind, emotions, body, relationships, faith, perspectives, and leaves consequences which are life altering: some of those life altering consequences are obvious and deeply experienced. Other life consequences are not noticed until decades later, when the slowly accumulated emotional and spiritual scar tissue has taken its toll and you discover that you are not quite as alive, not quite as whole as you once were.
Prayer
“Lord, I accept that your boundaries are also your provision. Like a loving parent you want each of us to live out all of your gifts in their context, in the place where they are dynamic rather than harmful (even when the harm feels great at the moment) . Amen"
Thursday, July 5, 2012
This Week’s Topic: Sex
Sex in Marriage
"The marriage bed must be a place of mutuality—the husband seeking to satisfy his wife, the wife seeking to satisfy her husband. 4 Marriage is not a place to "stand up for your rights." Marriage is a decision to serve the other, whether in bed or out.
Abstaining from sex is permissible for a period of time if you both agree to it, and if it's for the purposes of prayer and fasting—but only for such times. Then come back together again. Satan has an ingenious way of tempting us when we least expect it. 6 I'm not, understand, commanding these periods of abstinence—only providing my best counsel if you should choose them."
1 Corinthians 7:3-6 (MSG)
Reflect
Is sex a place of conflict in your marriage? If it is then God is speaking to you. He is saying that you need to check your attitude. Are you focused on your needs or on your partner’s needs? Are you being selfish or generous with your body? Remember that your body belongs to your spouse as well as to you. In fact you are “one”.
Never use sex, or withholding thereof, as a weapon. Never use it as a tool of manipulation.
Men, remember that of a wife’s top five needs, sex is not on the list. Woman, in the list of men’s top 5 needs, sex is number two. Husbands, have you learned to give your wife a back massage without it leading to the satisfying of your needs? Wives have you learned to initiate sex when you don’t feel like it because meeting his needs is more important to you than succumbing to your desire to skip it?
Sex is a GREAT place to practice living for your spouse and not yourself. And the payoff isn’t bad either.
Prayer
“Lord, help me this week to recognize that the power of my sexual desire (or lack thereof for my spouse) is a reminder to subordinate what I feel to my responsibility to put the needs of my spouse first. Amen"
Sex in Marriage
"The marriage bed must be a place of mutuality—the husband seeking to satisfy his wife, the wife seeking to satisfy her husband. 4 Marriage is not a place to "stand up for your rights." Marriage is a decision to serve the other, whether in bed or out.
Abstaining from sex is permissible for a period of time if you both agree to it, and if it's for the purposes of prayer and fasting—but only for such times. Then come back together again. Satan has an ingenious way of tempting us when we least expect it. 6 I'm not, understand, commanding these periods of abstinence—only providing my best counsel if you should choose them."
1 Corinthians 7:3-6 (MSG)
Reflect
Is sex a place of conflict in your marriage? If it is then God is speaking to you. He is saying that you need to check your attitude. Are you focused on your needs or on your partner’s needs? Are you being selfish or generous with your body? Remember that your body belongs to your spouse as well as to you. In fact you are “one”.
Never use sex, or withholding thereof, as a weapon. Never use it as a tool of manipulation.
Men, remember that of a wife’s top five needs, sex is not on the list. Woman, in the list of men’s top 5 needs, sex is number two. Husbands, have you learned to give your wife a back massage without it leading to the satisfying of your needs? Wives have you learned to initiate sex when you don’t feel like it because meeting his needs is more important to you than succumbing to your desire to skip it?
Sex is a GREAT place to practice living for your spouse and not yourself. And the payoff isn’t bad either.
Prayer
“Lord, help me this week to recognize that the power of my sexual desire (or lack thereof for my spouse) is a reminder to subordinate what I feel to my responsibility to put the needs of my spouse first. Amen"
Wednesday, July 4, 2012
Read 1 Corinthians, chapters 5-7
This Week’s Topic: Sex
“Now getting down to the questions you asked in your letter to me. First, Is it a good thing to have sexual relations? Certainly—but only within a certain context. It's good for a man to have a wife, and for a woman to have a husband. Sexual drives are strong, but marriage is strong enough to contain them and provide for a balanced and fulfilling sexual life in a world of sexual disorder." 1 Corinthians 7:1-2(MSG)
Reflect
It is interesting to note that when Jesus was asked (Matthew 19 for ex.) questions about marriage and divorce he immediately repeated the passage from Genesis 2 where God through Moses established a context for sex “in a world of sexual disorder”.
In what ways do you see marriage as the context within which sexual oneness should be contained?
Look up Genesis 1:27 and then read Genesis 2:24. When considered together, do these verses tell you something about the why of ensuring that the practice of sex is reserved for the marital union of a man and woman?
In light of this week’s scriptures, are you able to see a way that sexual intercourse between two unmarried people (same sex or opposite sex), practiced lovingly, with commitment, and selflessness, can be a practice approved by God?
Prayer
“Please lead me to clarity on your purposes for sexual practices. Help me to eradicate any condemnation (1 Cor.5:10, 12) of others, rather to simply want your best for all people. Amen”
This Week’s Topic: Sex
“Now getting down to the questions you asked in your letter to me. First, Is it a good thing to have sexual relations? Certainly—but only within a certain context. It's good for a man to have a wife, and for a woman to have a husband. Sexual drives are strong, but marriage is strong enough to contain them and provide for a balanced and fulfilling sexual life in a world of sexual disorder." 1 Corinthians 7:1-2(MSG)
Reflect
It is interesting to note that when Jesus was asked (Matthew 19 for ex.) questions about marriage and divorce he immediately repeated the passage from Genesis 2 where God through Moses established a context for sex “in a world of sexual disorder”.
In what ways do you see marriage as the context within which sexual oneness should be contained?
Look up Genesis 1:27 and then read Genesis 2:24. When considered together, do these verses tell you something about the why of ensuring that the practice of sex is reserved for the marital union of a man and woman?
In light of this week’s scriptures, are you able to see a way that sexual intercourse between two unmarried people (same sex or opposite sex), practiced lovingly, with commitment, and selflessness, can be a practice approved by God?
Prayer
“Please lead me to clarity on your purposes for sexual practices. Help me to eradicate any condemnation (1 Cor.5:10, 12) of others, rather to simply want your best for all people. Amen”
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Read 1 Corinthians, chapters 5-7
This Week’s Topic: Sex
“There’s more to sex than mere skin on skin. Sex is as much spiritual mystery as physical fact. As written in Scripture, 'The two become one.' 17 Since we want to become spiritually one with the Master, we must not pursue the kind of sex that avoids commitment and intimacy, leaving us more lonely than ever—the kind of sex that can never 'become one.'
There is a sense in which sexual sins are different from all others. In sexual sin we violate the sacredness of our own bodies, these bodies that were made for God-given and God-modeled love, for "becoming one" with another. 19 Or didn't you realize that your body is a sacred place, the place of the Holy Spirit?
Don't you see that you can't live however you please, squandering what God paid such a high price for? The physical part of you is not some piece of property belonging to the spiritual part of you. 20 God owns the whole works. So let people see God in
and through your body." 1 Corinthians 6:16-20 (MSG)
Reflect
1. Does the above passage shed new light for you on the issue of sex?
2. Did you know that the physical part of you and the spiritual part of you are inseparable?
3. Did you know that you can do nothing spiritual that is not embodied, that there is not a“spiritual part of you”, there is only a “you” who belongs to God.
4. How many people is a person built to become one with?
5. If sex is for oneness, then what does the kind of sex that “can never become one” do to a person?
Prayer
Lord, help me to see your purposes for sex and your reasoning and how it plays out in life so that I’m not stuck on my or others’ opinions, rather I want to know everything I can about why you have set things up for human relationships as you have. Amen”
This Week’s Topic: Sex
“There’s more to sex than mere skin on skin. Sex is as much spiritual mystery as physical fact. As written in Scripture, 'The two become one.' 17 Since we want to become spiritually one with the Master, we must not pursue the kind of sex that avoids commitment and intimacy, leaving us more lonely than ever—the kind of sex that can never 'become one.'
There is a sense in which sexual sins are different from all others. In sexual sin we violate the sacredness of our own bodies, these bodies that were made for God-given and God-modeled love, for "becoming one" with another. 19 Or didn't you realize that your body is a sacred place, the place of the Holy Spirit?
Don't you see that you can't live however you please, squandering what God paid such a high price for? The physical part of you is not some piece of property belonging to the spiritual part of you. 20 God owns the whole works. So let people see God in
and through your body." 1 Corinthians 6:16-20 (MSG)
Reflect
1. Does the above passage shed new light for you on the issue of sex?
2. Did you know that the physical part of you and the spiritual part of you are inseparable?
3. Did you know that you can do nothing spiritual that is not embodied, that there is not a“spiritual part of you”, there is only a “you” who belongs to God.
4. How many people is a person built to become one with?
5. If sex is for oneness, then what does the kind of sex that “can never become one” do to a person?
Prayer
Lord, help me to see your purposes for sex and your reasoning and how it plays out in life so that I’m not stuck on my or others’ opinions, rather I want to know everything I can about why you have set things up for human relationships as you have. Amen”
Monday, July 2, 2012
Read 1 Corinthians, chapters 5-7
This Week’s Topic: Sex
“It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you” “don’t you know that a little bit of yeast works itself through the whole batch of dough?”
1 Corinthians 5:1 (NIV)
Reflect
In the 70’s and 80’s I would spend about a month a year in a certain town in Germany. One of the things I noticed was that the German’s view of sexual morality was overall much different to that of the average American. For example it was simply expected that couples would live together before marriage, if indeed they would marry at all.
I wondered then if this liberalized view of sexual practices would eventually become the norm in America. Indeed that is what happened.
When the Bible speaks of sexual immorality it’s not so much an issue of “doing something bad” as it is an issue of how life works, how God has created people to flourish and what causes them to crash.
Sex is powerful. It creates life (babies) and is a conduit to the destruction of life (disease). The highest things contain within them the potential for the lowest of things. Sex as marital commitment between a man and woman where it represents mutual love is beautiful and wonderful and creative power. Sex as an act of the animal kingdom still creates life, but without commitment and marriage it creates poverty, creates a vast population of people who do not know what a father is and fills prisons.
One begins to see that the term sexual immorality has much more behind it than the secular critics want to see.
Prayer
“Help me to see beyond the desensitizing mores of 21st century America to your plan and purposes for sexual expression among us human beings onto whom you have conferred your image” Amen”
YouVersion Results from Sunday, July 1, 2012
Question: What are some things that I worship ("I have to have in order to be happy", "can't live without") ahead of God?
Sun, Jul 1, 2012 at 1:30pm EDT - TV and chocolate.
Sun, Jul 1, 2012 at 1:30pm EDT - I guess it's electronics, I don't bow down to them but I use them all the time.
Question: What do you see in the Lord's Supper that is the foundation of all Life? What do you see in the Lord's Supper that models how I should live?
Sun, Jul 1, 2012 at 1:30pm EDT - Taking on the role of a servant on purpose.
Sun, Jul 1, 2012 at 1:30pm EDT - Jesus want us to have something to remember him by, he gave us the broken bread which represented his broken body, the wine represented his blood which was spilled to make us clean.
Question: Why is it crucial for every believer to orient his life around attending Sunday morning worship every week regardless of how one feels, regardless of whether or not one feels "fed"?
Sun, Jul 1, 2012 at 1:31pm EDT - Refueling is required, because we can't go on empty. Further, no matter how one worships during the week, we need to be with others in community.
Sun, Jul 1, 2012 at 1:31pm EDT - To grow stronger in Christ, a weekly refreshment of God so they continue to feel "fed" all week.
Sun, Jul 1, 2012 at 1:31pm EDT - It is important to start the week out centering your plans around Christ and what he wants for us. Without God at the head above all of our idols we cannot live a life for Christ.
Question: How do you or could you place yourself in a position each week where you can learn to love, honor and enjoy God?
Sun, Jul 1, 2012 at 1:27pm EDT - Put him first when I wake.
Sun, Jul 1, 2012 at 1:27pm EDT - Talk to other believers, check up on each other and go to church along with a small group (men's group, United, etc.)
Poll: In What area of worship do you most need to grow?
33% Attending Worship for God not me
17% Serving others as a life style
33% Seeing unfulfillment as God speaking to me
0% Accepting the pain of releasing an idol
0% Choosing to enjoy God
0% Choosing to believe God is Good
This Week’s Topic: Sex
“It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you” “don’t you know that a little bit of yeast works itself through the whole batch of dough?”
1 Corinthians 5:1 (NIV)
Reflect
In the 70’s and 80’s I would spend about a month a year in a certain town in Germany. One of the things I noticed was that the German’s view of sexual morality was overall much different to that of the average American. For example it was simply expected that couples would live together before marriage, if indeed they would marry at all.
I wondered then if this liberalized view of sexual practices would eventually become the norm in America. Indeed that is what happened.
When the Bible speaks of sexual immorality it’s not so much an issue of “doing something bad” as it is an issue of how life works, how God has created people to flourish and what causes them to crash.
Sex is powerful. It creates life (babies) and is a conduit to the destruction of life (disease). The highest things contain within them the potential for the lowest of things. Sex as marital commitment between a man and woman where it represents mutual love is beautiful and wonderful and creative power. Sex as an act of the animal kingdom still creates life, but without commitment and marriage it creates poverty, creates a vast population of people who do not know what a father is and fills prisons.
One begins to see that the term sexual immorality has much more behind it than the secular critics want to see.
Prayer
“Help me to see beyond the desensitizing mores of 21st century America to your plan and purposes for sexual expression among us human beings onto whom you have conferred your image” Amen”
YouVersion Results from Sunday, July 1, 2012
Question: What are some things that I worship ("I have to have in order to be happy", "can't live without") ahead of God?
Sun, Jul 1, 2012 at 1:30pm EDT - TV and chocolate.
Sun, Jul 1, 2012 at 1:30pm EDT - I guess it's electronics, I don't bow down to them but I use them all the time.
Question: What do you see in the Lord's Supper that is the foundation of all Life? What do you see in the Lord's Supper that models how I should live?
Sun, Jul 1, 2012 at 1:30pm EDT - Taking on the role of a servant on purpose.
Sun, Jul 1, 2012 at 1:30pm EDT - Jesus want us to have something to remember him by, he gave us the broken bread which represented his broken body, the wine represented his blood which was spilled to make us clean.
Question: Why is it crucial for every believer to orient his life around attending Sunday morning worship every week regardless of how one feels, regardless of whether or not one feels "fed"?
Sun, Jul 1, 2012 at 1:31pm EDT - Refueling is required, because we can't go on empty. Further, no matter how one worships during the week, we need to be with others in community.
Sun, Jul 1, 2012 at 1:31pm EDT - To grow stronger in Christ, a weekly refreshment of God so they continue to feel "fed" all week.
Sun, Jul 1, 2012 at 1:31pm EDT - It is important to start the week out centering your plans around Christ and what he wants for us. Without God at the head above all of our idols we cannot live a life for Christ.
Question: How do you or could you place yourself in a position each week where you can learn to love, honor and enjoy God?
Sun, Jul 1, 2012 at 1:27pm EDT - Put him first when I wake.
Sun, Jul 1, 2012 at 1:27pm EDT - Talk to other believers, check up on each other and go to church along with a small group (men's group, United, etc.)
Poll: In What area of worship do you most need to grow?
33% Attending Worship for God not me
17% Serving others as a life style
33% Seeing unfulfillment as God speaking to me
0% Accepting the pain of releasing an idol
0% Choosing to enjoy God
0% Choosing to believe God is Good
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