God - Jeremiah's Vow

Satisfied with God

As a Christian, my greatest joy and deepest satisfaction is found in God, and God alone.

Introduction

The culture in which we live tells us that we should have whatever we want.¹ As a matter of fact, if we are unable to get what we want then some injustice has been perpetrated against us. As a Christian, I have to fight against the weight of this temptation. It has become so pervasive in our culture that we have begun exporting it around the world. The craziness is that there is a secular and a religious version of this message. As an American, we call it the American Dream. As a Christian, it takes the form of “name it and claim it” theology. In either form, it is harmful to the human soul and detrimental to our societies and local communities. Continue reading “Satisfied with God”

1 John 1:10 | If I am not a Sinner, God is a Liar

To claim that we have never sinned is to throw our sin in the face of God.

¹⁰ If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

The last verse of the first chapter of 1 John brings the section and discussion about what it means to walk in the light to a close. It also draws one final implication regarding those who claim to know what Jesus’ sacrifice means, but who have not acknowledged their sin. Continue reading “1 John 1:10 | If I am not a Sinner, God is a Liar”

1 John 1:8 | We are Fundamentally Broken

⁸ If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

The greatest form of deception is self-deception. When we make a conscious decision not to take heed of the knowledge, wisdom, and experiences of those we trust we have set our course toward self-destruction. Continue reading “1 John 1:8 | We are Fundamentally Broken”

Connect the Dots!

Let me start by asking you a question.

Can you tell me the story of how God has been at work in your life?

If I pressed you to tell me the story, could you do it? Some of you reading this may be wondering what I even mean with that question. Well, let me tell you. Then let’s see if you can answer the question. Continue reading “Connect the Dots!”

Sleeping Through God’s Will

I may, from time to time, sleep through an alarm. But, there is one thing I never want to do. I never want to get caught sleeping through God’s will.

I don’t know how many times I have done it, but I know that I have slept through a few alarms in my life. I am and have always been a heavy sleeper. Whoever invented the phrase “sleeping like a rock” must have had someone like me in mind. It is not an easy thing for me to get roused in the morning. It may have to do with the fact that I am also a night owl, but that is a topic for another day.

This past Saturday, something happened that was both unusual for me personally and a demonstration of God’s grace. About two months ago, or so, I was asked by a friend of mine to speak at a youth breakfast for his church. I checked the calendar and confirmed that I would be able to go. That day came on Saturday. Continue reading “Sleeping Through God’s Will”

On Chewbacca Masks and God’s Glory

When we lift up the name of God we are living into the ultimate purpose for our existence.

Candace Payne is a stay-at-home mom who decided to share a short video with some friends about something that really made her excited. The video has now gone viral with over 110 million views and over 3 million shares on Facebook (as of this post).

I’ll be honest. I saw it come on my news feed several times and just rolled my eyes about another stupid viral video. But, as is the way of social media, I gave in and watched. And I am glad I did. I have included it here. Watch it and meet me below.

There are two thoughts that came to mind when I saw this video. One, I love her laugh. Someone who can laugh so genuinely is a person I know I will like. I love to laugh. It is such a rejuvinating thing. And, I love to laugh in such a way that I can’t help it. When it happens spontaneously. This video gifted me with one of those.

Two, I wanted to know more about this crazy lady that would post a video like this. And for that, I offer this second video. I encourage you to watch the whole thing. There is some talk about what it has been like since the video went viral. That is all well and good. However, in the last couple of minutes, she talks about her faith and what she has learned in her walk with God and what she would say to her 16-year-old self. Watch it and I will say one final thing.

What Candace shared is powerful and true. I could not agree with her more. It was so impactful that I decided to write these few words about it.

Right at the very end she said something that has left an impression on me. She talks about the three things that she would say. If you watched the video you know what they are. But there is something that she says as the video comes to a close that just punched me in gut. Not in the “Victor, you have to watch out for this kind of way.” Even though I do.

What hit me so strongly was that I have for the longest time known that what matters most is making God great. What I mean is that when we lift up the name of God we are living into the ultimate purpose for our existence. Lifting up His name should not be a burden. It should be a joy and an opportunity to remind ourselves, most of all, that there is more to life than being famous. What I did not have was the language. In one short and poignant sentence, Candace articulated why we should continue to make great the majesty and wonder of God and not our own. What did she say?

I love this statement. I will be using it and it will be helping me stay focused on what matters most.

1 John 1:5 | God is light

⁵ This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

After his introduction, John makes a declaration regarding the message that he now proclaims. In these first five verses, John makes reference to the message that he and the other disciples are preaching eleven distinct times. Continue reading “1 John 1:5 | God is light”

Your Fears are a sign of God’s Grace

There are many people who love being scared. They go on rollercoaster rides, to haunted houses, through Halloween mazes, and even watch scary movies to get the “rush.” I am not one of those people. I tend to be rather skittish when I know that something is about to happen. I just want it to be over. This makes me a bad movie partner. I talk to the characters on the screen and tend to laugh at things most people don’t see as funny. Over the years my wife as learned to just deal with my movie-watching antics. This may also be a big reason we watch more movies at home than at the theater.

This past week, as our LifeGroup meeting was closing one of our members made the comment that when they start praying for God to be at work in their lives, almost immediately, they have fears pop up in their minds. As this member shared and we listened, a thought came to my mind. It was something I had thought about before but had never verbalized in quite the same way I did in our meeting. I told my LifeGroup, “Our fears are evidence of God’s grace in our lives because they reveal to us where the battle will be joined.” If we know where the battle will be fought it only makes sense to strengthen our defenses in that area.

We are created to experience fear. It is a truly remarkable quality to the human experience. It is a built in defense mechanism. However, what many of us do not always see is that our fears are warnings we are supposed to take notice of. We are overcome my our fears rather than learning what is causing them so we can stop being afraid.

I have started saying that fear is faith in the wrong thing. When we are fearful we have replaced the comforting truth of God’s word and God’s character and God’s promises with something that is unable to sustain us. That is why we fear. We become afraid when we realized that what we wanted to hold us up cannot support what we are entrusting to it–our lives.

I know that there are some things we fear that are not life altering, i.e., my own fear of heights and spiders. I can’t explain or control these fears, but they do affect how I live my life in some way. So, what do we do when we have a fear of greater import? How do we respond when we are afraid that we have failed God in some way? What do we do to overcome our anxiety of falling back an undesired habit or pattern? How do we overcome the feeling that God will not be able to do something we are asking his help in doing?

These are genuine issues we all face. I am sure we could all come up with a list of fears we have as it relates to our faith journey. The question we must ask ourselves is how can we trust God to help when we feel unworthy?

The place I go for encouragement and a reminder is 1 Corinthians 10:13:

¹³ No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

God provides a way of escape for every temptation we face in life. The choice we have to make is to take it. It is already there. Paul seems to indicate that the way of escape is apparent because it is tied to the temptation itself. When we are being tempted, the solution is right in front of us. We know what it is because we are the ones being tempted.

Our fear in whatever situation we find ourselves is the signpost pointing to the way out. We have to trust it and follow it. There are many reasons we fall prey to fear. But, the most prominent of them all is that we already know what we must do and many times we choose not to choose the path to freedom. If we want to overcome our fears we ought to put our faith in the right thing (i.e., God) and see our fear as a grace of God pointing me to the way of escape he has provided.

The Best Antidote to Legalism

Legalism is the belief that the way to please God and secure access to heaven is by complying to a set of regulations. This does two things. First, legalism robs us of any peace and joy the Gospel offers to us. When we are governed by fear we flip faith on its head. We begin to put our trust in something that neither has the power, nor was it ever intended to keep us safe–namely, our own ability. The Gospel reminds us that we are unable and incapable of meeting every regulation that God has for holiness. When we try to live out the Gospel in this way, we kill ourselves a thousand times a day.

Second, legalism distorts the God the Bible describes, who extends grace to sinners. God becomes a tyrant rather than a father. God is capricious and not gracious. God becomes impatient, petulant, and vindictive when we fail to live up to the standards legalism imposes. None of these attribute describe God. And yet, this is how we feel when legalism is the guiding theological lens we see through.

Legalism over promises and never delivers. It fosters a combative mindset and a environment of one-upmanship that is unhealthy for the church and unbecoming of a follower of Jesus. Legalism is a poison withing the soul of a believer and there is only one cure. We have to have a sound and true understanding of what the Bible says. This is the only remedy. The best antidote to legalism is good theology.

This means that every Christian should become a better theologian. We already are theologians. The only difference between many of us is the time we spend getting our theology right.

Disappointed with God

Over the last several years I have seen a change in the world and the church. No one can deny that the current state of both is nothing like it was ten years ago. It really doesn’t matter what side of the aisle you live one or what you pet social issue is, the world has changed. Some people see it “moving in the right direction” others as not. The bottom line as that line has moved.

Some of the assumptions that at one time served as the basis for our decision-making have changed. And in some cases have even been erased, never to be found again. The world has truly changed.

I talk about the change because I find myself wondering if people truly understand the consequences of their actions. Have they considered the potential unintended consequences of their actions? Or do they not care. That is not something they want to think about because it is not right in front of them. I will admit that I can take a short-sighted view as well, but that is not a sign of progress, but of immaturity.

In the end, this is what I feel. I feel that we have become a nation of children rather than mature adults. We have become petulant rather than penitent. We have become whiners rather than winsome. We have become self-centered and selfish rather than sacrificial in our living.

Over the last several weeks I have been wondering how many people who claim to be Christians will be disappointed with God when they stand in his presence? How will we feel when we find out how wrong we were about some things? Will we still want to spend the rest of eternity with a God who is so disappointing?

Do you see what has happened in our world? We have become so confused about God’s character that we have made him the scapegoat. We say to ourselves and to others, “God wouldn’t do this or that,” never really understanding that what God decides to do or not do was never really for me to know. I feel that the Church has tried too hard to speak for God rather than allowing God to speak for himself. I am glad God wrote down what he wanted us to know.

My problem is deciding whether or not I am willing to conform my life and thoughts to what he said.

I may come to the end of my days, stand before God and be disappointed. But, I pray it is not because he failed me, but because I failed to live into and up to what He desired for my life.