If you ask me, the things you have to do in the lifeboat in order to not get left behind are absurd. Here are some things about how to be loved on earth.
1) Security: Athletes will often pound their chests as if to say, Look at me, look at me, Look at what I did. This is why I am important in the lifeboat. And if you think about it, the reason they probably feel so great about doing that is not only because it is difficult to do, but more likely because thousands of cheering fans deem this valuable. Outside of that, it's kind of a dud. You're just jumping into the air to put a ball into a hoop. woohoo! This reminds us of what is so easy to forget. If you win the whole thing, you only get a ring. You can always buy a ring. What we really want is for the jury of our peers to give us a feeling of security.
2) Good Looks: Though it may seem normal for you and me to base worth on looks. What is beautiful, after all? Saying beauty isn't good, because it is; God made it, but using it to compare one person to another is not something I believe, that occurred in the Garden. Beauty became a kind of point system to determine worth when the relationship with God was broken.
3) Wealth: Humans are the only species to insatiably accumulate wealth. Like the show MTV cribs. Why would one individual want to bury himself in so much stuff. Birds don't build six-story nests with heated pools. But I was thinking that in the lifeboat, currency becomes a point system by which we compare ourselves to our peers just like beauty and smarts.
The list goes on. But the things I have mentioned are very true. We see that if we can do these things, we will be okay on the lifeboat and won't fall off or be booted off. This is why a lot of individual young people get so frustrated with themselves and the world. Because of the fall of Adam and Eve, we have to, or think we have to add up to something, something that is valuable or worth while. But here this, to God, you are a diamond. A jewel in the making. And beautiful human being that will, and I hate to tell you this, never be perfect. There is no possible way for us to be perfect. Be who you are, and don't try to fit in. Why try so hard to fit in, when you're born to stand out.
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Monday, March 5, 2012
Living Well ; Understanding Life
“Do not forsake wisdom, and she will protect you; love her, and she will watch over you.
Wisdom is supreme; therefore get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding.” – Proverbs 4:6-7
Proverbs chapter four paints a picture of wisdom as being a loving woman. There’s a lot of truth to that. If we understand wisdom as being a part of God, then we can understand that it will protect us and watch over us.
Solomon says, “Wisdom is supreme.” Only in the sense that God is supreme and true wisdom comes from God. This is important to know. There are many who think that God’s wisdom is simply one of many truths in the world. But if we are going to take God’s Word seriously, we will come to realize that it isn’t really so.
An Aztec king who lived AD143–172 said “Verily, the gods that I am adoring, what are they but idols of stone without speech or feeling? They could not have made the beauty of the heaven, the sun, the moon, the stars, which light the earth, with its countless streams, its foundations and waters.… There must be some God, invisible and unknown, who is the universal Creator.” (Quoted in Theological Quarterly 10:82, 84–85)
The tragedy is that while this Aztec king understood that there had to be something greater than his own worthless idols, he never found the true God as made known in Jesus Christ. There are many who live today who are in the same tragic circumstances. Some of them may even live under your roof. You can change that. You can tell them about the God who is the universal creator who also is a loving Father who sent Jesus Christ to live, die and rise again.
So many men are searching for the truth, the wisdom that will tell them, show them, the way to live well and right. Every decade has their “gurus” who present some program to reveal this wisdom to the masses. Yoga, Dianetics. Even Winsor Pilates! But there is one “guru” if you will that has withstood the test of time. He is Solomon writing by the inspiration of God the Holy Spirit. His proverbs are “Written down so we’ll know how to live well and right, to understand what life means and where it’s going.” (Proverbs 2:1 – The Message).
That is what these devotions will be trying to tell you. How to live well and right. To understand what life means and where it’s going. These are universal questions. Men from every generation since Adam have asked these questions, have been searching for the answers. The answers lie in being a True Man.
“Look, in this town there is a man of God; he is highly respected, and everything he says comes true. Let’s go there now. Perhaps he will tell us what way to take.” (1 Samuel 9:6)
Are you such a man? Do you want to be this kind of man? If you answer yes, then you are striving to be a True Man. God has a plan for you. He has called you to be a husband, a father, a grandfather. You’re role is one that has been lost in the previous generations. It can be regained. Your role as a True Man of God as you love your wife, love and take care of your children. As you raise your family you will influence not only the next generation of your family, but also the next generation of this society and culture.
The power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in your life transforms you into a True Man. We’ll take that journey together, you and I. Our church will be transformed. Our community will be transformed. Our country will be transformed. But most importantly, you will be transformed by Christ and leave a legacy to your sons and daughters that God will use to His great glory.
Wisdom is supreme; therefore get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding.” – Proverbs 4:6-7
Proverbs chapter four paints a picture of wisdom as being a loving woman. There’s a lot of truth to that. If we understand wisdom as being a part of God, then we can understand that it will protect us and watch over us.
Solomon says, “Wisdom is supreme.” Only in the sense that God is supreme and true wisdom comes from God. This is important to know. There are many who think that God’s wisdom is simply one of many truths in the world. But if we are going to take God’s Word seriously, we will come to realize that it isn’t really so.
An Aztec king who lived AD143–172 said “Verily, the gods that I am adoring, what are they but idols of stone without speech or feeling? They could not have made the beauty of the heaven, the sun, the moon, the stars, which light the earth, with its countless streams, its foundations and waters.… There must be some God, invisible and unknown, who is the universal Creator.” (Quoted in Theological Quarterly 10:82, 84–85)
The tragedy is that while this Aztec king understood that there had to be something greater than his own worthless idols, he never found the true God as made known in Jesus Christ. There are many who live today who are in the same tragic circumstances. Some of them may even live under your roof. You can change that. You can tell them about the God who is the universal creator who also is a loving Father who sent Jesus Christ to live, die and rise again.
So many men are searching for the truth, the wisdom that will tell them, show them, the way to live well and right. Every decade has their “gurus” who present some program to reveal this wisdom to the masses. Yoga, Dianetics. Even Winsor Pilates! But there is one “guru” if you will that has withstood the test of time. He is Solomon writing by the inspiration of God the Holy Spirit. His proverbs are “Written down so we’ll know how to live well and right, to understand what life means and where it’s going.” (Proverbs 2:1 – The Message).
That is what these devotions will be trying to tell you. How to live well and right. To understand what life means and where it’s going. These are universal questions. Men from every generation since Adam have asked these questions, have been searching for the answers. The answers lie in being a True Man.
“Look, in this town there is a man of God; he is highly respected, and everything he says comes true. Let’s go there now. Perhaps he will tell us what way to take.” (1 Samuel 9:6)
Are you such a man? Do you want to be this kind of man? If you answer yes, then you are striving to be a True Man. God has a plan for you. He has called you to be a husband, a father, a grandfather. You’re role is one that has been lost in the previous generations. It can be regained. Your role as a True Man of God as you love your wife, love and take care of your children. As you raise your family you will influence not only the next generation of your family, but also the next generation of this society and culture.
The power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in your life transforms you into a True Man. We’ll take that journey together, you and I. Our church will be transformed. Our community will be transformed. Our country will be transformed. But most importantly, you will be transformed by Christ and leave a legacy to your sons and daughters that God will use to His great glory.
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