God running this place?

There was one day when the Prophet Isaiah was speaking with the people, reporting on how Israel was finally at rest in the Promised Land, enjoying their feasts and festivals. There was worship in the land. They were finally 'settled' - no longer wandering hither and yon. The land was a blessing - providing for their needs in a great way. They were protected from attack - secure in their new homes. One of the best parts of the report was these words: "God runs this place and he'll keep us safe." When God is in control of our lives, we will be safe. If we take back that control, or just 'let it go' because we aren't paying attention, we will open the gates wide to disaster and destruction.

Just take a look at Zion, will you? Centering our worship in festival feasts! Feast your eyes on Jerusalem, a quiet and permanent place to live. No more pulling up stakes and moving on, no more patched-together lean-tos. Instead, God! God majestic, God himself the place in a country of broad rivers and streams, but rivers blocked to invading ships, off-limits to predatory pirates. For God makes all the decisions here. God is our king. God runs this place and he’ll keep us safe. (Isaiah 33:22)

We are often guilty of not continuing in the things God has provided within our lives. We read the Word, but do we take time to allow it to actually speak to us? We pray on occasion, but do we take time to listen to things he tells us throughout the day in those tiny prompts, lifting up prayers for him to be in control of those things? We hang out with friends, but do we invest in these relationships so they grow in Christ? Festivals and feasts are a good thing, but if they have become the center of our 'worship' relationship with Jesus, we are a bit out of sync with what God desires in the form of intimate relationship with us.

Does God 'run this place' and is he keeping it safe? The place? Your heart - your mind, will, and emotions. Your spirit - the place of our connection with Jesus. Is it possible to be a Christian and not have our mind surrendered to Jesus? Absolutely, and many of us actually hold onto thoughts that we know aren't right - they actually dishonor God and show how much we don't trust him. Can we determine to serve Christ and still have a struggle of the will? You betcha! The will is influenced by the mind and played upon by the emotions. Why do you think God put that scripture in his Word that reminds us the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak? (Matthew 26:41)

If God is truly 'running this place' (your heart, will, emotions), there will be a continual stirring within. You might think becoming a Christian means we will always know peace and contentment. God keeps us safe - but safety doesn't mean inactivity. When God is in control, maybe we will be stirred into activity when we'd rather be at rest. Obedience isn't always convenient, but when God is 'running this place', there will be a strength and security like no other. It is time to really 'be safe' - to go all in for Jesus once again. Just sayin!

What did obedience cost Mary and Joseph?

As we have looked at the birth of Christ, we have considered the fact he was born of a virgin, with an earthly father so willing to honor God with his life that he married a woman who was already pregnant. In that day and time, a very taboo thing. We also saw how the mother of Christ was chosen by God and given the dramatic news that she would carry the Son of God. Imagine her awe, but also see her tremendous amount of fear as she would have received this announcement, knowing all she knew about the time in which she lived about how a woman out of wedlock showing up pregnant would be treated. We also explored the lowly birth of Jesus in a stable of sorts, surrounded by animals, visited by shepherds, and then honored by magi from afar. The announcement of his birth was by angels - start to finish. Mary heard from an angel (a messenger from God), while Joseph was set at ease by a messenger from God on another occasion - assuring him the thing he was about to do in marrying Mary wa

A brilliant display indeed

Love from the center of who you are ; don’t fake it. Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good. Be good friends who love deeply ; practice playing second fiddle. Don’t burn out; keep yourselves fueled and aflame. Be alert servants of the Master, cheerfully expectant. Don’t quit in hard times; pray all the harder. (Romans 12:9-12) Integrity and Intensity don't seem to fit together all that well, but they are uniquely interwoven traits which actually complement each other. "Love from the center of who you are; don't fake it." God asks for us to have some intensity (fervor) in how we love (from the center of who we are), but he also expects us to have integrity in our love as he asks us to be real in our love (don't fake it). They are indeed integral to each other. At first, we may only think of integrity as honesty - some adherence to a moral code within. I believe there is a little more to integrity than meets the eye. In the most literal sense,

Do me a favor

If you’ve gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care—then do me a favor: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Don’t push your way to the front; don’t sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don’t be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand. (Philippians 2:1-4) Has God's love made ANY difference in your life? What is that difference? Most of us will likely say that our lives were changed for the good, while others will say there was a dramatic change. Some left behind lifestyles marked by all manner of outward sin - like drug addiction, alcoholism, prostitution, or even thievery. There are many that will admit the things they left behind were just a bit subtler - what we can call inward sin - things like jealousy,

The Plumbline

Search This Blog