This one is something that’s come up in conversation a few times with friends. How does Gods will fit in with the fact that He’s given us free will and won’t cross that line to make us do something or accept him. The conversation that really got me thinking about this was a recent one with a friend who was talking to me about her brother and about him turning away from God. My advice at the time was to trust God and keep praying. The response was that it’s not about trusting God, because her brother had made the decision and God won’t mess with free will. Which is partially correct, we need to trust God, but he won’t mess with free will.
Yep, thats right. God will not reach down, stick a finger inside our heads and twiddle away at the neurons until the right one fires and a decision is made that I need to become a christian and love God. It might seem that way sometimes but free will is an institution that God invested in man right back at the start and it’s not something that He’s going to violate because he is integrity. And there are no levels to the free will thing. It’s not like he’s given us the scope to choose what we’re going to wear today or how much sugar we put in our coffee or which insurance company we’re going to go with; and not the big life changing things. No, He’s given us the ability to make the choices in the trivial and the important.
So how does this work with scriptures like that in Luke 18 about the persistent widow and the judge? Using the parable of the widow who has been dealt a hard hand by the courts, Jesus explained that we should be persistent in our prayers, petitioning constantly for the justice we need and for those things that we desire. Now take this with the other way that we’re told to pray in the Lords Prayer (Luke 11:2) which says “your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven”. So it’s pointless asking for thins that are clearly not God’s will, but last time I checked I was pretty sure that God’s will was for every one of us to come to know him. After all he didn’t send Jesus to die on the cross for a part of the population, he sent him for the World. (John 3:16)
So how does this marry up? God won’t make the decision for us. He won’t make us love Him any more than He’ll make us do anything else, but he says that if we petition strongly then how can he refuse to do what we ask? The way I see it, God is a shrewd and very skillful negotiator and a brilliant builder of arguments. As I stated in a previous blog, He’s the master strategist, every element falling into it’s specific place in the plan. If his people are petitioning him night and day, unrelenting, for the salvation of people He will do everything in His power to bring that about. He’ll build heavy arguments in the favour of coming to know him. He’ll your hand to be forced, allow you to find yourself in difficult positions as a result of your choices, so that a decision is required. But there’s a but.
I won’t say that it’s a sure thing. Simply because we as humans are pig headed and stubborn. So we can’t afford to give up if we have people on our target list to see won into the Kingdom. We can’t afford to relent for a moment. After all God is omnipotent, all powerful so he’s got a pretty big armory to bring to bear. He’ll show you the truth, He’ll show you what your missing out on and then if He needs to do it again and again he won’t let up until it’s sunk in.
And then after all that. It’s your decision.
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Sunday, November 25, 2007
We're at War People!
I've been reading a book called "Wild at Heart" by John Eldredge which is, in his words, an invitation for Men to be man they are supposed to be. This book is a pretty intense read and one of the realisations that it has opened my eyes to is that we're at war. Sure I don't have bombs going off in the streets that I live in but God is opening my eyes to the fact that I am a part of a spiritual war, one between the Kingdom of Light and that of Darkness and contrary to the polished stone, stained glass windows and pretty painted walls that we see in our churches with our physical eyes, this isn't pretty at all. While we don't have limbs being blown off and people being disfigured physically there is are far more devastating results in the spiritual realm with souls being scarred and minds being tormented.
This realisation has changed my perspective on a number of scriptures including my life verse, Romans 8:28, which states that "all things work together for the Good of those who love God and who are called according to his purposes". This is an awesome powerful scripture that once you get a hold of it can do wonders for your outlook on life. That and other scriptures like Jeremiah 29:11 and that other one that I can never remember the reference for that says "The steps of a Good man are ordered by the Lord".
God has slowly been changing my view on Rom 8:28, first by revealing the things he's specific about in that scripture and also the things that he's not specific about. For starters he's not specific about who the good is going to happen to, except that it's for those who love him and are called according to his purposes, and he's not specific about how it's going to happen. He likes to have that ace up his sleeve, sometimes i think so he can stand back and say "Betcha didn't think it'd happen like that hey." The thing that he's specific about is what will be used, and he's quite specific that it's all things. At first the realisation that I might go through troubling times and not get anything out of it at the end or see a result for my pain is quite disappointing. This is also quite selfish and when it boils down to it, the perspective is limited to that which I can see in the natural and doesn't trust God to the full.
He added another piece to the puzzle about this scripture this week. The fact that we're at war in the spiritual makes an incredible difference in this. A war is made up of many battles, some of which the importance isn't entirely apparent when they're being fought, nor readily apparent to the men in the trenches, and it's not until days, weeks or months down the track that the significance becomes apparent. The battles may even incur heavy losses, inflict physical and emotional pain on those fighting on the front lines but the sacrifice plays it's part in the totality of war even when the soldiers don't understand at the time.
Normally in war it's only apparent to the Generals looking at the bigger picture how the pieces fit together, how each individual battle fits together to secure the victory. Playing each piece of the strategy in it's place. It's the very same with the spiritual battle that each christian wages every day. Each trial and persecution is an individual battle that we go through, persecution from the forces of Darkness to attempt to prevent us from fulfilling that which God has set before us. While we might come out the other side of a battle bruised, bloody, worn out and drained it may not be immediately seen why we had to fight that particular fight. We need to trust that the General knows exactly how that battle fits into His plan of War and that he, as the master strategist knows exactly what He's doing, even though we don't know how the result may end up. He knows, He's promised that it WILL be good and really that's all that matters.
The other thing about fighting this war, is that we're not just numbers. The Master Strategist knows the number of hairs on every soldier's head, he catches every tear and bottles it, and he knows my name. He's been in the trenches with me, fighting side by side with me and he promises that everything I go through He's there along side me, watching my back and yet he knows exactly how my battle fits into the war in it's entirety. Not something that I find easy to get my head around but He's the alpha, the omega, the beginning and the end, He holds the universe in the palm of His hand, and yet he cares for me.
I take heart that God is using the battles I go through for the good of His people, we may not see the outcome immediately but it will be Good. Knowing that the outcome will be good almost makes me glad for persecution. After all, no-one attacks something that they do not perceive to be a danger. I know that if I am under attack it means that God must have something pretty awesome planned and that I can do all things through Christ in me.
This realisation has changed my perspective on a number of scriptures including my life verse, Romans 8:28, which states that "all things work together for the Good of those who love God and who are called according to his purposes". This is an awesome powerful scripture that once you get a hold of it can do wonders for your outlook on life. That and other scriptures like Jeremiah 29:11 and that other one that I can never remember the reference for that says "The steps of a Good man are ordered by the Lord".
God has slowly been changing my view on Rom 8:28, first by revealing the things he's specific about in that scripture and also the things that he's not specific about. For starters he's not specific about who the good is going to happen to, except that it's for those who love him and are called according to his purposes, and he's not specific about how it's going to happen. He likes to have that ace up his sleeve, sometimes i think so he can stand back and say "Betcha didn't think it'd happen like that hey." The thing that he's specific about is what will be used, and he's quite specific that it's all things. At first the realisation that I might go through troubling times and not get anything out of it at the end or see a result for my pain is quite disappointing. This is also quite selfish and when it boils down to it, the perspective is limited to that which I can see in the natural and doesn't trust God to the full.
He added another piece to the puzzle about this scripture this week. The fact that we're at war in the spiritual makes an incredible difference in this. A war is made up of many battles, some of which the importance isn't entirely apparent when they're being fought, nor readily apparent to the men in the trenches, and it's not until days, weeks or months down the track that the significance becomes apparent. The battles may even incur heavy losses, inflict physical and emotional pain on those fighting on the front lines but the sacrifice plays it's part in the totality of war even when the soldiers don't understand at the time.
Normally in war it's only apparent to the Generals looking at the bigger picture how the pieces fit together, how each individual battle fits together to secure the victory. Playing each piece of the strategy in it's place. It's the very same with the spiritual battle that each christian wages every day. Each trial and persecution is an individual battle that we go through, persecution from the forces of Darkness to attempt to prevent us from fulfilling that which God has set before us. While we might come out the other side of a battle bruised, bloody, worn out and drained it may not be immediately seen why we had to fight that particular fight. We need to trust that the General knows exactly how that battle fits into His plan of War and that he, as the master strategist knows exactly what He's doing, even though we don't know how the result may end up. He knows, He's promised that it WILL be good and really that's all that matters.
The other thing about fighting this war, is that we're not just numbers. The Master Strategist knows the number of hairs on every soldier's head, he catches every tear and bottles it, and he knows my name. He's been in the trenches with me, fighting side by side with me and he promises that everything I go through He's there along side me, watching my back and yet he knows exactly how my battle fits into the war in it's entirety. Not something that I find easy to get my head around but He's the alpha, the omega, the beginning and the end, He holds the universe in the palm of His hand, and yet he cares for me.
I take heart that God is using the battles I go through for the good of His people, we may not see the outcome immediately but it will be Good. Knowing that the outcome will be good almost makes me glad for persecution. After all, no-one attacks something that they do not perceive to be a danger. I know that if I am under attack it means that God must have something pretty awesome planned and that I can do all things through Christ in me.
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Have you licked an eyeball recently?
You're probably reading this and wondering "what the heck was Mick smoking when he wrote this?" Well surprising as it may be I'm not high on anything, perhaps a little life but nothing more. The reason eyeball licking is making an appearance in this blog is that I joined an exclusive club tonight, and no it's not the mile high club, although there was an exchange of bodily fluids... mostly spit and tears but thats it. Yeah, I can now say I've licked an eyeball, and we're talking one that is definitely in situ, still functioning.
Normally my blogs have some sort of deeper meaning, something that people can take away and think about. This one is no different. The way I see it, licking eyeballs has overtones of opportunities of significance, more specifically the opportunity to become a christian. The link may seem a bit tenuous but bear with me.
For starters it's not every day that you get the opportunity to lick an eyeball and this is for many reasons. For starters eyeball licking isn't something that comes up in conversation that often. There's social and cultural constraints upon us that simply prevent us from talking about it and for most people it's not a concept that they think about. But once it comes up it's normally brought up by someone who's in the club and is quite enthusiastic about the topic. It's the same with Christianity, there are perceived constraints that might stop us from talking about Christ with our friends or family but once you've joined the club you get quite passionate about the fact that you're a member and you want to bring it up in conversation despite the odd looks you get.
One of the other things is that the opportunity doesn't always come along that often, and when it does it sometimes takes a bit of working up to it before you finally take the plunge and go for the lick. I've got to admit it took me a bit before I actually went in, tongue out and took the lick. I was in the right circumstances, the arguments had been made and so I went for it. It was the same when I became a Christian, it took God quite a bit of effort before he convinced me to make the decision and live for him. He got me in just the right place, made his arguments and I couldn't refuse. I said the prayer, meant it and the rest is history, although that said, the future is not guaranteed.
Once I'd licked the eye well it was the turning point between being a non licker, and a member of the club, someone who's licked someone else's eye. The event marked a threshold that I'd crossed from one state to another and now it's quite difficult to turn it back. When I became a Christian, I said a prayer and committed in my heart to follow Christ as my Lord and Saviour. Now when that happens the Holy Spirit moves in and it becomes quite difficult for you to turn back from your new status. Sure the evidence may not show to look at you from the outside but it's something on the inside that determines the difference.
Post lick there's the benefits of being a member of the eye licker's club. You're probably wondering what those benefits are (and it took me a while to work it out so I had something to write here) but it's mostly the cred you get and the simple fact that you can say "Yes I've licked someone's eye". There's also trade offs. Sure you get some odd looks from people if you do tell them that you've licked someone's eye, but now you can ring up the radio station and actually have a story to tell when they put the call out for the oddest thing you've done. Christianity has it's trade offs. It's not your life any more because when you commit your heart to God, it's no longer I that live, but Christ that lives in me. It doesn't mean that life is going to be peachy from now on and may mean that it could get tougher (probably will get tougher) but the benefits are that you can stand on the promises of God, that your steps are ordered, that He has a future and a hope for you and that no matter what you're going through it will be used for good.
So when you get the opportunity, think about it. Will I regret this later on... probably not. Do the benefits outweigh the pitfalls? Yeah they do, but you won't get to really find out what the benefits are until you take the plunge and lick the eye, or make that decision to accept Christ into your life and live it out.
So have you licked an eye recently?
Normally my blogs have some sort of deeper meaning, something that people can take away and think about. This one is no different. The way I see it, licking eyeballs has overtones of opportunities of significance, more specifically the opportunity to become a christian. The link may seem a bit tenuous but bear with me.
For starters it's not every day that you get the opportunity to lick an eyeball and this is for many reasons. For starters eyeball licking isn't something that comes up in conversation that often. There's social and cultural constraints upon us that simply prevent us from talking about it and for most people it's not a concept that they think about. But once it comes up it's normally brought up by someone who's in the club and is quite enthusiastic about the topic. It's the same with Christianity, there are perceived constraints that might stop us from talking about Christ with our friends or family but once you've joined the club you get quite passionate about the fact that you're a member and you want to bring it up in conversation despite the odd looks you get.
One of the other things is that the opportunity doesn't always come along that often, and when it does it sometimes takes a bit of working up to it before you finally take the plunge and go for the lick. I've got to admit it took me a bit before I actually went in, tongue out and took the lick. I was in the right circumstances, the arguments had been made and so I went for it. It was the same when I became a Christian, it took God quite a bit of effort before he convinced me to make the decision and live for him. He got me in just the right place, made his arguments and I couldn't refuse. I said the prayer, meant it and the rest is history, although that said, the future is not guaranteed.
Once I'd licked the eye well it was the turning point between being a non licker, and a member of the club, someone who's licked someone else's eye. The event marked a threshold that I'd crossed from one state to another and now it's quite difficult to turn it back. When I became a Christian, I said a prayer and committed in my heart to follow Christ as my Lord and Saviour. Now when that happens the Holy Spirit moves in and it becomes quite difficult for you to turn back from your new status. Sure the evidence may not show to look at you from the outside but it's something on the inside that determines the difference.
Post lick there's the benefits of being a member of the eye licker's club. You're probably wondering what those benefits are (and it took me a while to work it out so I had something to write here) but it's mostly the cred you get and the simple fact that you can say "Yes I've licked someone's eye". There's also trade offs. Sure you get some odd looks from people if you do tell them that you've licked someone's eye, but now you can ring up the radio station and actually have a story to tell when they put the call out for the oddest thing you've done. Christianity has it's trade offs. It's not your life any more because when you commit your heart to God, it's no longer I that live, but Christ that lives in me. It doesn't mean that life is going to be peachy from now on and may mean that it could get tougher (probably will get tougher) but the benefits are that you can stand on the promises of God, that your steps are ordered, that He has a future and a hope for you and that no matter what you're going through it will be used for good.
So when you get the opportunity, think about it. Will I regret this later on... probably not. Do the benefits outweigh the pitfalls? Yeah they do, but you won't get to really find out what the benefits are until you take the plunge and lick the eye, or make that decision to accept Christ into your life and live it out.
So have you licked an eye recently?
Saturday, November 17, 2007
Do Us a Favour
Kings Christian Church has started it’s relationships series in November and has got off to a screaming start with a good down to earth relevant message on why Christianity is relevant to how you conduct your relationships. Good practical stuff and really quite worthwhile getting into you regardless of where you are in your relationship lifecycle, be it single, going out, engaged or married, and for those who have unfortunately had to go through it divorced.
One of the best bits of the night is the panel segment where people, not necessarily preachers, but those in the church, get up and are asked about how they did things, are doing things and how it’s going for them. All sorts of probing questions get asked, and the closing question that was asked was “What is your advice for those single people who are wanting a relationship?” My good friend Richard Griffiths, who was being interviewed that night, came out with the gem “Stop Looking” which is absolutely golden.
There’s a few reasons why looking isn’t such a good thing and my favourite is “you find what you’re looking for” which basically means that if you’re actively looking for a relationship you’ll find it in pretty much every girl that you cross paths with because you’re constantly asking the question “Is she the one?” (Please bear in mind that I’m writing this from my perspective, so if you’re of the female persuasion and reading this substitute the opposite pronoun) Basically you’ve got your target sensors switched to high, your standards overridden and are on a mission to bag yourself a target… well probably not quite that harsh but a wife is to be seen in every girl, even if it’s not the right time and she’s not the best thing for you.
So, do us a favour… a favour to all of those people who are currently single around you. Help us to stop looking. Stop reminding us that we’re single. Stop joking around about going looking for girls, or making comments about the fact that a girl is pretty or nice. If we’re not smart enough to figure that out on our own what hope do we have? If anything the constant reminders, while well meaning or joking, are a bit of a drag really.
If this singleness thing is a season then I want to be running as hard as I can for those things that God has for me in this season without being distracted and slowed down by constant niggling that I should be looking somewhere else. If I’m going to be less effective in this season because I’m getting distracted, I don’t want to be distracted!
If it is a season then God, in his wisdom, will draw that season to a close in his own time with a peace that passes understanding. After all it’s written that God gives us the dreams and desires of our heart. I choose to believe that this is a twofold meaning, in that he puts the dreams and desires there in the first place, then fulfils them once their time has come. God cannot be defined or contained so who knows how he’s going to bring those dreams to pass.
I’ve heard it said that often times God brings a person into your life when you’re running full on. You glance to the side and see someone running along side you. That’s not the end of it though, if you glance over again and they’re still there, and again and they’re still there then you’re probably on to something but don’t stop to find out, just keep running. If they’re meant to stick around they’ll keep up.
I ask the question a whole lot about whether or not I really do trust God in how I live my life and really when you trust God, you let go. I can’t trust God while I’m trying to hold the reins and look for myself. As the words from “Your Sweet Voice” by the Paul Colman Trio go:
So excuse me if I don’t laugh at the jokes or respond that well to the suggestion that I should get together with such-n-such because she’s such a nice girl. I’ve got a race to run and I don’t need the extra drag right now.
Do us a favour if you’re friends of single people, get around them and be their pit crew (to continue the racing analogy). Encourage them in the things that they are doing, support them and ask the hard questions when they need asking and keep them focussed on the racetrack, not the pretty girls they’re passing on the sidelines.
One of the best bits of the night is the panel segment where people, not necessarily preachers, but those in the church, get up and are asked about how they did things, are doing things and how it’s going for them. All sorts of probing questions get asked, and the closing question that was asked was “What is your advice for those single people who are wanting a relationship?” My good friend Richard Griffiths, who was being interviewed that night, came out with the gem “Stop Looking” which is absolutely golden.
There’s a few reasons why looking isn’t such a good thing and my favourite is “you find what you’re looking for” which basically means that if you’re actively looking for a relationship you’ll find it in pretty much every girl that you cross paths with because you’re constantly asking the question “Is she the one?” (Please bear in mind that I’m writing this from my perspective, so if you’re of the female persuasion and reading this substitute the opposite pronoun) Basically you’ve got your target sensors switched to high, your standards overridden and are on a mission to bag yourself a target… well probably not quite that harsh but a wife is to be seen in every girl, even if it’s not the right time and she’s not the best thing for you.
So, do us a favour… a favour to all of those people who are currently single around you. Help us to stop looking. Stop reminding us that we’re single. Stop joking around about going looking for girls, or making comments about the fact that a girl is pretty or nice. If we’re not smart enough to figure that out on our own what hope do we have? If anything the constant reminders, while well meaning or joking, are a bit of a drag really.
If this singleness thing is a season then I want to be running as hard as I can for those things that God has for me in this season without being distracted and slowed down by constant niggling that I should be looking somewhere else. If I’m going to be less effective in this season because I’m getting distracted, I don’t want to be distracted!
If it is a season then God, in his wisdom, will draw that season to a close in his own time with a peace that passes understanding. After all it’s written that God gives us the dreams and desires of our heart. I choose to believe that this is a twofold meaning, in that he puts the dreams and desires there in the first place, then fulfils them once their time has come. God cannot be defined or contained so who knows how he’s going to bring those dreams to pass.
I’ve heard it said that often times God brings a person into your life when you’re running full on. You glance to the side and see someone running along side you. That’s not the end of it though, if you glance over again and they’re still there, and again and they’re still there then you’re probably on to something but don’t stop to find out, just keep running. If they’re meant to stick around they’ll keep up.
I ask the question a whole lot about whether or not I really do trust God in how I live my life and really when you trust God, you let go. I can’t trust God while I’m trying to hold the reins and look for myself. As the words from “Your Sweet Voice” by the Paul Colman Trio go:
I’ll wait for Your sweet voice
Guiding me to the right choice
I’ll wait for Your sweet voice
I’ve gotta let it go, let it go
Yeah your sweet voice
So excuse me if I don’t laugh at the jokes or respond that well to the suggestion that I should get together with such-n-such because she’s such a nice girl. I’ve got a race to run and I don’t need the extra drag right now.
Do us a favour if you’re friends of single people, get around them and be their pit crew (to continue the racing analogy). Encourage them in the things that they are doing, support them and ask the hard questions when they need asking and keep them focussed on the racetrack, not the pretty girls they’re passing on the sidelines.
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