Most of us are unwilling to burn our bridges when it came to trusting God. One needs to be ready with a backup plan in case He doesn’t come through, right? Absolutely, because if we come with a backup plan, we will need it. Why would God come through for whatever idol one is protecting in their life? If we are not trusting Him all the way, we are not trusting Him at all. Perhaps we are using Him as a means to a different end…
Social status? Financial stability? A marriage? If we put anything before God, we are not in a right relationship with Him and should examine ourselves to see if we are in the faith.
Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you fail the test?
– 2 Corinthians 13:5 (NASB)
What about sacrificing temporal things without recourse for getting them back? Are we really willing to let go of our homes, our comfortable lifestyle, etc. to never get them back? Do we really recognize that we have an eternal home that far outweighs any suffering we may experience here? Quite possibly not.
Do we imagine that God will take second place in our lives, allowing us to worship our trivial earthly blessings above Himself? He won’t.
“For My own sake, for My own sake, I will act; For how can My name be profaned? And My glory I will not give to another.
– Isaiah 48:11 (NASB)
And if it seems that He is tolerating this in your life, then perhaps it is because He doesn’t know you and will not acknowledge you before the Father… Clearly He will not go against His Word. Have we forgotten the holiness of God? More likely, we have never known it nor considered it. Truths such as these have been compelling me to move beyond the American Dream, beyond the typical life of a Christian in America, beyond ensuring that education, finances, health and retirement are all in order… and expecting God’s blessings upon those endeavors. Just what if I and my family were to throw ourselves away for the sake of serving others? What if we were to sacrifice the American-defined ideal life for the sake of those in dire straights? We may never recover, but does it matter? Christ did this for me. If I am to fulfill my purpose in being one of God’s self-portraits, I should not be surprised if He leads me to do as Christ did.
Last weekend I took my 12 year old son caving in West Virginia. It was actually far more than that. We went camping at Douthat State Park for a Dennis and Barbara Rainey Passport2Purity weekend. We had a grand time as he learned from me and the Raineys what to expect as he grows into a man. Now my wife had just sent me a link to this blog post: Why I don’t teach purity a day before we left! I have to say that I agree with a great deal of what Jennifer had to say there! But, it did not negate my purposes. The goal of our trip wasn’t to set an expectation and to prepare for the assignment of condemnation should my son fail to live up to God’s standard. It was an opening up of the conversation. A demonstration that I was available to talk – about anything. I want my sons to seek me out when the wild and confusing changes we call puberty mess with their minds. I want them to be comfortable talking about this and so demonstrated that openness.
It is a major failing among those who call themselves Christians that we don’t discuss this subject and leave it to the godless society around us. Do we expect that our children will have a solid foundation for painting an excellent picture of God in this area of their life without our mentorship? Perhaps we are uncomfortable because we want our children to imagine we are perfect in this area. If we want them to come to us when they fail or even just struggle, wouldn’t it make sense to come clean ourselves and be honest with them? I wonder how many of you who did not live a life of purity and now want to encourage your children to do better than yourself have actually openly spoken of your sin with your child. I had to talk about a few of them myself this weekend.
We had a grand time. We talked about sexuality, good and bad peer pressure, the purpose of marriage, etc. My goal is for my son to understand who God is, why he designed this wonderful aspect of life (I am a very fulfilled husband and father of 5 children), and how to be God’s self-portrait in it. There are a thousand things I could say, but let me constrain it to simply this: that if we approached marriage with selflessness and an intention of bringing glory to God rather than merely passion and self-centeredness, things would look a good deal different than they do.
Do nothing fromselfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves;do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, …
– Philippians 2:3-5 (NASB)
It has been a long-held notion that the divorce rate among so-called Christians in the U.S.A. is about 50%; about the same as the rest of the country. While it appears that this is not quite accurate (see this, for example), it is ridiculously high. It is even used as evidence that God is imaginary. We can leave that author’s blatant logical inconsistencies alone and learn something from him or her: that God is blasphemed on account of those who call themselves Christians. The truth is not that God doesn’t exist. The truth is that the Christians referenced by that author have an imaginary god made in their own image or never encountered the God they claim. It is probably that both are the case. I refuse to teach my children the lie that following Christ is a matter of personal benefit and morals. I refuse to teach them that saying a prayer will spare them from being damned by a Holy God and that the way they live doesn’t have anything to do with it. One’s actions in all facets of life reflect our hearts and are a true indication of whether or not God is ruling there.
“The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart.”
– Luke 6:45 (NASB)
So we went caving at Organ Cave, WV. Highly recommended. This was a phenomenal adventure that went beyond our wildest dreams. Organ cave is a historic cave with artifacts from the Revolutionary and Civil wars still intact. It has some 40 miles of known passages and more yet to be discovered. We and two others were led by a mom and daughter team who have been leading the adventurous through this cave for many years.
Marc & Andrew just before entering the cave. Notice how clean we are…
After two and a half hours of bouldering over, around and under, we came into a huge room of waterfalls. The room was so massive that the darkness seemed to swallow the light from our powerful headlamps. The piercing shafts of light would hardly illuminate the wall or ceiling. The echos of the falling water and our voices (and my warbling son!) was like no other place I’ve been. Even with so little light, it was beautiful. We were a couple miles from the entrance and 400 feet below the surface.
Andrew scuttling through a narrow spot.
The cave was both peaceful and disconcerting at the same time. The quietness and dark shut out the world and troubles above, creating a sanctuary that beckoned me to pray. It was tempting to let the group crawl on ahead, shut off my lamp and worship in complete and unimaginable solitude. Yet each new corner we traversed brought continual reminders that the earth might crush any one or all of us at any moment. Does not this house-sized boulder on which I’m crawling fit perfectly into the spot on the ceiling where I just bumped my head? Yes, obviously.
Care for a tight squeeze? Here Andrew found a bat skeleton.
If it hadn’t so kindly moved, we wouldn’t have been able to get up into this cool passageway where we are risking our lives a little more effectively!
Here we had to either straddle a lovely crevice beckoning for us to slip and become a permanent fixture of the cave, or cling to one side – which had in some places almost enough of a ledge on which to balance…
We were under the ground for four and a half hours, and had probably hiked/climbed/slid/crawled as many miles. All along we (especially Andrew!) were searching for what history might be found in that cave.
One of our guides, Phyllis (fossil hunter extraordinaire) explains to Andrew and another spelunker how to identify fossils.
But more importantly, we went caving in search of what is in our hearts and what our actions, our words, or desires will look like when Christ redeems us and the Holy Spirit sanctifies us. What do you find when you look at the condition of your heart as revealed by your actions, words and desires?
Formerly brand new boots after a successful emergence from the cave. Exhausted and thoroughly happy.
“Prayer is a mighty instrument, not for getting man’s will done in heaven, but for getting God’s will done in earth. “ – RobertLaw
I was reminded of this fantastic quote by a dear friend of ours and a sister in Christ who understands her relationship with Him better than just about anyone else I know. She was bemoaning the difficulty of teaching others to ask God not for good times or other earthly blessings, but rather to be conformed to God’s image. Burdened by the prayers of others that imply that Jesus is our butler, she instructs that we should seek to be like Christ regardless of whatever situation we are in, “good” or “bad”.
How few of us understand how temporary our focus and how meaningless we make our lives when we pray for “good” days or for things to go “well”. Should we not be praying for a heart like God’s, for His Holy Spirit to indwell us and to take charge of us?
To turn our eyes from our temporary comforts or the loss thereof, to seek God’s presence enables us to do what I call redeeming evil. It is not unusual for God to take miserable evils that come our way and twist them for ultimate good. I have often wondered how committed followers of Christ who have gone through terrible trials have been known to say and do confounding things. Joni Eareckson Tada, having become a quadriplegic from a diving accident, states, “My weakness, that is, my quadriplegia, is my greatest asset because it forces me into the arms of Christ every single morning when I get up.” Steve Saint, whose father he loved dearly was murdered by the Waodani in Ecuador, forgave the perpetrators, loved them, and essentially became a part of their family. Many Waodani now follow Christ. Surely these individuals and many more have found in Christ something that many of us have not. Joseph understood this concept. After having been sold as a slave by his own brothers, falsely accused and punished, and left and forgotten by those he helped, he recognized that God’s hand was present even amid pernicious wickedness:
“As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive.” – Genesis 50:20 (NASB)
The ultimate redemption of evil is Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. Through His death, Christ restores us so that we can begin to paint an accurate picture of God once again. Surely the secret such individuals have learned is that the joy of knowing God intimately far outweighs all difficulties in this life. It is His own redeeming work through us. Will you allow God to do the same sort of work in your life? Submit to His authority, even amid suffering, rather than seeking the first exit to Utopian Comfortville. Looking to Him, seek opportunities to twist your suffering for God’s glory.
Perhaps our ability to find beauty amid catastrophe is a quiet voice from heaven reminding us that we must chase God, not earthly pleasure.
Hello friends and friends-to-be. The purpose of this blog is to convey thoughts and inspirations about our purpose: to image God. It was through our middle school pastor at church that God really drove this point to home to me.
God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
Of course, we are not so God-like as we would like to imagine. Who’s image are you concerned about? God’s or yours? Having fallen from grace, God’s image is virtually unrecognizable. But God through His Son, Jesus Christ, restores His image in us. Only then can we know and fulfill our purpose in life. Hopefully you will join me in a bit of a journey for a while so that we can learn together how to take our eyes off ourselves and put our eyes on Christ.
During our last (home)school year, I would set things up each evening for the next school day. In a bid to get the kids started on the right track I give them a tidbit to point them to Christ. It was one of those evenings when I came up with that tagline: “You are a picture of God. Make it a good one.” Thus the moniker: theozografika. Painting God. What kind of picture are you painting?
Marc with some of his boys on a hike in the mountains of NC
These posts will be aimed at being like God; reflecting His character. Next up (I think!) — Redeeming Evil.
theozografika 