02.09.10
Feelings And Discerning God’s Will
Decisions constantly have to be made. What career? Who to marry? Go into ministry? Preach… Education… Missions? What major course of study in college? Buy this car or that one? Click here for a previous post on this topic. Today’s post is a follow up to that one…
God’s will for our life is more something He does than something He reveals.
At the same time, we are to be discerning and wise in our decisions. But if you think through that, hardly any of the decisions we make are NOT directly addressed in Scripture! There’s not a verse that names the person we’re to marry nor a verse to name the career to choose or whether to enter ministry as a pastor or missionary.
So what is the Christian to do? Become a person who makes wise decisions… who walks with God… who has an intimate relationship with God through Jesus Christ. Ask God to make you a person who is filled with His wisdom. Then the believer will be a person who makes wise decisions. There is a way to do this, but first consider this hypothetical interchange…
Congregant: “Pastor, I think God is calling me into the ministry.” Pastor: “Really? How do you know this?” Congregant: “I feel it.” Pastor: “Really? Why do you feel that way?” Congregant: “I don’t know. I just do. I think it is the Holy Spirit’s leading.”
Pastor: “Are consistently attending church?” Congregant: “No.” Pastor: “Then you must be regularly reading and reflecting on Scripture?” Congregant: “Uh, no.” Pastor: “Oh, then you must have a phenomenal prayer life.” Congregant: “No, I don’t pray too much.” Pastor: “How can you possibly know God’s plan for your life when you have cut off all means of communication with God?”
Discerning God’s will is not putting your finger to the wind or reading tea leaves in the bottom of a cup or going on your feelings. Instead Christians put themselves in positions and do things that make them wise, Christ-like, and mature them in the faith. The point of doing those things isn’t to hear from God to help us make decisions, but to know God intimately so as to be the kind of person who makes wise decisions. There is a difference.
Do you have decisions to make? Worship God regularly with a congregation of believers. Constantly read the Bible. Make prayer a regular part of your life. Those are your lines of communication with God. Cut any one of them and you will be hindered in life. THEN you will become the kind of person who makes wise decisions… after all… God’s will is something He does rather than something he reveals. Kind of sounds like Matthew 6:33 doesn’t it?
Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added unto you.
02.08.10
When Life Falls Apart
When Life Falls Apart
Life can fall apart around you… and it not be your fault… it not be God punishing you. That is what this message is about. How to keep on keeping on when the dominoes start falling one upon another and there is no end in sight.
There are a couple of misconceptions that need to be addressed. Some think when life falls apart it is some form of God’s punishment. Others think it is an attack of Satan. On the flip side…
If you do everything right, things will go well. That it is God’s will to provide material and financial blessings for His children (Health, Wealth, and Prosperity gospel). What I’m saying is that God is does not will for us to have our best life now. He is much more concerned about His glory and our sanctification than short term ease, blessings, or a temporal life of financial security (Wealth).
Just because life falls apart, it does NOT mean God is punishing you. Here the Biblical examples are Joseph and Job. In both cases their life fell completely apart…
Satan can only do what accomplishes the opposite of what he intends. God wills every believer to be conformed to the image of Christ (Ro 8:29). God so wills this that Paul describes our Christ likeness as being predestined (Ro 8:29 is not about being saved, but sanctification). As John Piper writes, “Satan is God’s lackey in our sanctification.”
In Joseph’s case, he was thrown into a pit by his brothers… almost murdered… sold into slavery… falsely accused of rape… thrown into prison… & forgotten for two years by a man who promised to help him before being elevated to Vice-Pharaoh. All of this happened over the course of thirteen years![i]
CLICK HERE for the rest of this post…
02.05.10
Tomorrow…
From Charles Haddon Spurgeon…
In our Christian pilgrimage it is well, for the most part, to be looking forward. Forward lies the crown, and onward is the goal. Whether it be for hope, for joy, for consolation, or for the inspiring of our love, the future must, after all, be the grand object of the eye of faith. Looking into the future we see sin cast out, the body of sin and death destroyed, the soul made perfect, and fit to be a partaker of the inheritance of the saints in light. Looking further yet, the believer’s enlightened eye can see death’s river passed, the gloomy stream forded, and the hills of light attained on which standeth the celestial city; he seeth himself enter within the pearly gates, hailed as more than conqueror, crowned by the hand of Christ, embraced in the arms of Jesus, glorified with Him, and made to sit together with Him on His throne, even as He has overcome and has sat down with the Father on His throne. The thought of this future may well relieve the darkness of the past and the gloom of the present. The joys of heaven will surely compensate for the sorrows of earth. Hush, hush, my doubts! death is but a narrow stream, and thou shalt soon have forded it. Time, how short—eternity, how long! Death, how brief—immortality, how endless! Methinks I even now eat of Eshcol’s clusters, and sip of the well which is within the gate. The road is so, so short! I shall soon be there.
AMEN!
02.04.10
Strength Requires Weakness
In order for God to use Paul, He decided to crush him… to completely rid him of any and all strength… to put him in a place he had to completely rely upon God. Otherwise Paul would have become proud… he would have relied upon himself… he would have become a hindrance rather than a help for the kingdom.
Think about that! For God to use Paul, every single vestige of self reliance had to be destroyed. And to make sure Paul’s complete reliance upon God would continue… the thing which made him rest upon God alone would always be with him (Paul called it a “thorn in the flesh,” a “Messenger {angel} of Satan”). The only thing God promised was that along with the pain and hardship, He would turn up the grace in ever increasing measures. The weaker Paul was, the more grace would flood his life, the more God would be glorified.
The same is true for us. Consider what Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 12:7-10…
To keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
No one is too weak to be used by God for His glory… but many are too strong. Whatever hinders God being glorified in the believer, God will pulverize for His own glory and the believer’s ultimate good. Self reliance and pride are the biggest hindrances to the Christian’s sanctification. The only way any believer gains power is to be completely divested of all personal strength. The weaker the believer is, the greater God’s power is manifested.
Therefore do not say when in difficulty that Satan is after you. He is only allowed into the believer’s life to the extent that God accomplishes His work of sanctifying us and conforming us to the image of Christ. When we grasp that concept, THEN we will say with Paul… “I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
Question: What God has placed in your life to keep you from becoming conceited… prideful? Be thankful for it!
02.03.10
Drew Brees’ Christian Faith
Sunday the Super Bowl will be played (God willing). This interview with New Orleans Saints quarterback, Drew Brees, may give some insight into the character of at least one of the players on the field.
02.02.10
Abortion Workers Defecting To Pro Life
What happens when a doctor who is 18 weeks pregnant performs an abortion on a woman who is also 18 weeks preganant. Read below to find out. Over the last few years a good number of people who work in abortion clinics are defecting to the Pro-Life movement. I found this on Dr. Al Mohler’s blog about abortion… click here for to read his entire post.
The same is true for an article that just recently appeared in The Weekly Standard. In “Mugged by Ultrasound,” David Daleiden and Jon A. Shields reveal a reality becoming more and more common — abortion workers turning pro-life.
Abortion activists, they note, are usually detached from the actual process of abortion. Thus, they can hide behind arguments about a woman’s “right to choose” or “reproductive freedom.” But, as Daleiden and Shields explain, those who are actually performing the abortions cannot hide from the horrible reality, and some of them cannot handle the horror. Eventually, “a noteworthy number have found the conflict unbearable and have defected to the pro-life cause.”
Daleiden and Shields trace some of these defections to two developments that changed the experience of providing abortions. First, the usual means of aborting second-trimester fetuses around the time of Roe v. Wade (1973) was saline injection. But, that is no longer the case. Those abortions are now done by “dilation and evacuation” (D&E), which involves the dismemberment of the fetus within the womb. For doctors and others involved in a D&E abortion, there is no way to escape the horrifying reality of that procedure.
They write:
Such studies are few. In general, abortion providers have censored their own emotional trauma out of concern to protect abortion rights. In 2008, however, abortionist Lisa Harris endeavored to begin “breaking the silence” in the pages of the journal Reproductive Health Matters. When she herself was 18 weeks pregnant, Dr. Harris performed a D&E abortion on an 18-week-old fetus. Harris felt her own child kick precisely at the moment that she ripped a fetal leg off with her forceps:
Instantly, tears were streaming from my eyes—without me—meaning my conscious brain—even being aware of what was going on. I felt as if my response had come entirely from my body, bypassing my usual cognitive processing completely. A message seemed to travel from my hand and my uterus to my tear ducts. It was an overwhelming feeling—a brutally visceral response—heartfelt and unmediated by my training or my feminist pro-choice politics. It was one of the more raw moments in my life.
02.01.10
Pastor With Brain Cancer (Matt Chandler)
Matt Chandler is the pastor of The Village Church of Flower Mound, Texas… a Southern Baptist Congregation. Each week he delivers God’s Word to 6,000 people. He is 35 years old… has three children… and has been considered one of the up and coming stars in the Christian faith. Then on Thanksgiving day of 2009, he had a seizure after feeding his infant daughter. He woke up in the hospital and tests revealed he had cancer in his brain. A very serious form that can be fatal. Click here to read the article from MSNBC (Not a particularly Christian platform!).
But what is worth considering is how he is teaching the world, and especially God’s people, how to suffer for God’s glory! Consider a few quotes from the MSNBC article…
Chandler is trying to suffer well. He would never ask for such a trial, but in some ways he welcomes this cancer. He says he feels grateful that God has counted him worthy to endure it. He has always preached that God will bring both joy and suffering but is only recently learning to experience the latter.
Since all this began on Thanksgiving morning, Chandler says he has asked “why me?” just once, in a moment of weakness.
He is praying that God will heal him. He wants to grow old, to walk his two daughters down the aisle and see his son become a better athlete than he ever was. Whatever happens, he says, is God’s will, and God has his reasons. For Chandler, that does not mean waiting for his fate. It means fighting for his life.
Chandler’s long, meaty messages untangle large chunks of Scripture, a stark contrast to the “Eight Ways to Overcome Fear” sermons common to evangelical megachurches that took off in the 1980s. His approach appeals, he believes, to a generation looking for transcendence and power.
His theology teaches that all men are wicked, that human beings have offended a loving and sovereign God, and that God saves through Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection — not because people do good deeds.
Chandler’s cancer is a “3″ on a 1 to 4 scale with 4 being the worst…
Chandler says learning he had brain cancer was “kind of like getting punched in the gut. You take the shot, you try not to vomit, then you get back to doing what you do, believing what you believe.
“We never felt — still have not felt — betrayed by the Lord or abandoned by the Lord. I can honestly say, we haven’t asked the question, ‘Why?’ or wondered, ‘Why me, why not somebody else?’ We just haven’t gotten to that place. I’m not saying we won’t get there. I’m just saying it hasn’t happened yet.”
At church, he has deflected sympathy with reassurances that this is a good thing, that he is not shrinking back. Chandler has preached the last two weekends and is planning trips to South Africa and England. He recently lost his hair to radiation but got a positive lab report last week and feels strong.
Chandler would rather this not have happened. But he is drinking life in — watching his son build sandcastles at the park, preaching each sermon as if eternity is at stake — and feeling a heightened sense of reality.
“It’s carpe diem on steroids,” he says.
Read the article (Link in first paragraph)… pray for Chandler… and prepare for the day when you may be called on to glorify God in suffering.
01.30.10
Blinks Of Time (Dr. R Kent Hughes)
I had the joy of spending time with Dr. Hughes and listening to him preach on the topic of “Disciplines of a Godly Man” at CrossPoint Church in Argo, Alabama today (Dr. Ryan Whitley Pastor). There was a never ending stream of quotes he gave… but there was one that really grabbed me and all the other men (400+) who were in attendance…
Two blinks ago (1963) my daughter was born. A couple of more blinks and I was holding my daughter’s child… my grandchild. Another blink and I was doing my grandchild’s wedding. Another blink and I’m holding my great grand child. A few more blinks and I’ll see Jesus!
Wow. Think about that! As I have been meditating on it myself… I’m resovled to make the most of each moment (blink) God gives me until I see Jesus for myself!
Disciplines Of A Godly Man
Today I am at CrossPoint Church in Argo, Alabama. Dr. Ryan Whitley is the pastor and has secured R. Kent Hughes as the speaker for a Men’s Weekend. Dr. Hughes wrote the tremendously popular book a number of years ago, “Disciplines Of A Godly Man” which helped me early in my pastoral ministry.
There over 400 men in attendance who are listening to Dr. Hughes speak seven times. The worship is tremendous (There is nothing like the sound of 400 men praising God together at the top of their lungs!). To this point there have been so many blessings… not the least of which was having breakfast with Dr. Hughes Friday morning at Dr. Whitley’s invitation.
If you have never read “Disciplines of a Godly Man,” get the book and read it! If you are a lady, get the book for your husband… then also read “Disciplines of a Godly Woman” (Written by Dr. Hughes wife). God may very well use them to bring you to a closer walk with him!
Godliness doesn’t just happen… it takes work… discipline… purpose. Odd thing I’ve found is that the work isn’t work… it’s joyful! For God’s glory and your good… purpose to be Godly.
01.29.10
Christian Martyrs In Egypt
The last several posts have been about church, worship, and living in a manner that honors Christ. That is EASY to do in America. Yet across the world our brothers and sisters in Christ are being killed for one reason… they are Christians. I found this article last week and it reminded me to pray for Christians who are suffering in ways we can’t imagine. Below are some quotes and you can click here to read the article.
Egyptian Maher El-Gowhary and his 15 year old daughter Dina never pray twice at the same church, never stay longer than a month in any one apartment. They are constantly under threat, always on the run because they converted to Christianity in a largely Muslim country.
They tell their story out of fear and desperation. Born Muslims they chose to convert to the Christian Church after both claim they had religious visions. Now Maher says “Muslims try to kill us, and will kill us if they find us.”
Several religious fatwas have been issued for “spilling his blood” after Maher asked an Egyptian Court to legally recognize his conversion, so he can one day be buried as a Christian and so his daughter won’t be forced into a marriage by her Muslim mother. The court ruled a legal conversion to Christianity would threaten public order. In some cases authorities turn a blind eye to attacks on Christians, in other cases there is evidence police sparked the attacks.
Now… how should Christians in America view the lives of our brothers and sisters who are being murdered? Consider the following…
It is God’s will that some Christians die for their faith in Christ (Phil 1:29; Rev 6:9-11).
Pray for those who are being persecuted (2 Thess 3:1-3).
Identify closely with those who are persecuted (Heb 10:32-34).
Have a Biblical perspective of joy in the midst of suffering (Mt 5:11-12; 2 Cor 1:7; 1 Pet 4:13-14; Col 1:24).
The God who answers prayer is powerful. We may not know their names or the situations they are in, but we can pray for them to be strengthened… protected… and (If it is God’s will for them to be martyred) to glorify God in their death.
01.28.10
Reasons NOT To Go To Church
I found this on a friend’s blog and thought it worthy of posting it here. It is from Josh Harris. Make sure to note the reasons NOT to love the church… those are good!
Do you love the church? Romans 12:10 tells Christians to “Love one another with brotherly affection.”The affection and love we’re to have for fellow-Christians is to be based on the work of Jesus Christ for us. It’s not about elitism, it’s not because Christians are better than anyone else, it certainly isn’t because Christians are necessarily more lovable. We love the church because we love the Savior who redeemed the church.
Acts 20:28 tells us that Jesus obtained the church with his own blood. Is this what your love for the church is based on? If it’s anything less, it won’t last long.
Don’t love the church because of what it does for you. Because sooner or later it won’t do enough.
- Don’t love the church because of a leader. Because human leaders are fallible and will let you down.
- Don’t love the church because of a program or a building or activities because all those things get old.
- Don’t love the church because of a certain group of friends because friendships change and people move.
Love the church because of who shed his blood to obtain the church. Love the church because of who the church belongs to. Love the church because of who the church worships. Love the church because you love Jesus Christ and his glory. Love the church because Jesus is worthy and faithful and true. Love the church because Jesus loves the church.
Keep these things in mind as you prepare to worship God this coming Lord’s Day…
01.27.10
Honoring God For Your Good
Today, Sunday is pretty much the same as Saturday for most people… including Christians. There are runs to Wal-Mart, house cleaning, washing the car, yard work, catching up on unfinished business from work, taking in a game or two on TV, hunting, fishing, and a host of other things we do with what has become to be considered ”free time.” But I must ask, is the Sabbath ”free time” for us to do any and everything but work?
It is written in Exodus 20:2, 8…
I am the Lord your God, who who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery (New Testament term is… “I saved you.”). 8 Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
It is interesting that the Ten Commandments were given to Israel AFTER God delivered them from Egyptian bondage. It was because God delivered them that they were to keep His commandments. The same is true for New Covenant believers in Christ. Because God saved us, we keep the commandments… not visa versa. Now to discuss the Sabbath…
I suggest that the Sabbath (Sunday for believers) is not a day where we’re free to do whatever we’d like as long as we’re not doing “work” (Which people define liberally). Instead it is a time that is to be kept holy (Separate, different, not the same as other days). Keeping the Sabbath holy is an integral element in our spiritual health and well being. Unless we keep it holy, as God would have us to, I’m not sure we can be rejuvinated in the inner man as God intends (Nor is He honored).
To keep the Sabbath holy, here are a few suggestions (Any and/or all are good)…
Spend time taking in God’s creation… praising Him for what He has made.
Read Psalm 119 slowly… reflecting upon God’s truths.
Spend time reflecting upon God’s grace and blessings in your life… especially salvation.
Spend time in prayer… communing with and listening to God.
Spend time meditating on a portion of God’s Word that is new to you.
Take time to pray for God’s glory in the church you attend… for the staff… for God to send revival.
Find a way to do an act of kindness and/or love for someone who needs it (Shut in, hospital, nursing homes).
Make sure that you worship IN church with God’s people on the Sabbath (Radio and/or TV don’t count… unless you are completely homebound. Neither does it count to say you did this in the woods or on the lake!).
Pray specifically for the spiritual health and growth of your family and friends. Don’t forget to ask God to grow you spiritually… to make you more like Christ.
As you make it a weekly practice to keep the Sabbath holy, you will find God renews you in the inner man… your spirit.
01.26.10
Getting Ready For Sunday
Today is Tuesday. Sunday (The Christian Sabbath) is still several days away. However, I suggest now is the time to begin preparing for being in God’s House this weekend. Remember this… Sunday is a reflection of how you have lived and walked the previous Monday through Saturday.
If you want the worship to be meaningful… the message to be substantive… to encounter God and know Him better, then take steps toward that end. I say that because most people take more time to prepare for a birthday party, date, or attending an athletic event than they do going to worship Jehovah God. Consider Isaiah 1:11-15…
What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? says the LORD; I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of well-fed beasts; I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of goats. 12 When you come to appear before me, who has required of you this trampling of my courts? 13 Bring no more vain offerings; incense is an abomination to me. New moon and Sabbath and the calling of convocations— I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly. 14 Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hates; they have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them. 15 When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood.
Here’s the point. A life lived in disobedience to God will prohibit encountering Him in worship on Sunday. A life lived that honors self above God results in Him rejecting prayer requests. In other words… how we live Monday through Saturday has great bearing on our experience in worship on Sunday! Let that sink in…
Thus… in order to prepare for worship… consider the follwoing Monday through Saturday:
Treat others as you would have them treat you…
Love, honor, and respect your spouse. Encourage your children and bless them daily…
Do not steal time or goods from your employer…
Be honest in all your dealings with all people all the time…
On dates, keep yourself pure and respect the person you are with…
Keep your mind and heart pure by not dwelling on sin or sinful practices…
Honor God in all things, at all times, with all people…
Show love to all people, regardless of how they treat you…
On Saturday night… pray for your pastor, for God to speak through him, then go to church on Sunday morning listening for God’s voice.
Our life, how we conduct ourselves, is worship. Not only that, it directly effects our encounter with God in corporate worship. My somewhat educated guess is that as we honor God and prepare for worship, God will manifest Himself in worship in powerful ways. Try it. After all, as it is written…
Romans 12:1-2, I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
John 4:23-24, “But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.
01.25.10
Prepare For Tomorrow
Did the State of Alabama’s anti gambling czar think he’d get caught gambling in Mississippi? Did any Democrat think Sen. Kennedy’s seat would be lost to a Republican? Did Colt McCoy expect to be injured in the first quarter of the National Championship game? Did the people of Haiti expect an earthquake the day before it happened? Does anyone expect that their last day on earth will be their last day when they wake up in the morning? Do any of us know what tomorrow holds?
Truth is, no one… no one… has any idea, clue, or knowledge of what the next hour… day… week… or year will hold. The future is known to one person… God Himself. To all the rest of us the future is hidden. Thus the Scripture,
Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be granted unto you. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble (Matthew 6:33-34).
Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. (James 4:13-16)
Jesus gives the answer about how to view tomorrow in Luke 12:22-29, 31…
Do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on. 23 For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. 24 Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! 25 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? 26 If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest? 27 Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 28 But if God so clothes the grass, which is alive in the field today, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith! 29 And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried. 31 Instead, seek His kingdom, and these things will be added to you.
Short bullet points to consider from Jesus…
Don’t be anxious because life is more than what we think it is (this world stuff and events)…
Since God takes care of mere animals, how much more will He care for us!
Anxiety and worry accomplish nothing… it is a useless activity… worthless… SO QUIT!
The way to quit worrying is by trusting God through what He says! Vs 31… God takes care of those who honor Him, love Him, and seek Him! TRUST GOD’S economy of life.
01.22.10
Can You Drink The Cup?
In Matthew 20:20-23 it is written,
Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came up to him with her sons, and kneeling before him she asked him for something. And he said to her, “What do you want?” She said to him, “Say that these two sons of min are to sit, one at your right hand and on at your left, in your kingdom.” Jesus answered, “You do know know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink?” They said to him, “We are able.” He said to them, “you will drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.”
As I thought on this passage recently, the question Jesus asked rolled over and over in my mind… “Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink?” Granted… the thoughts I’m about to suggest are of different context than Jesus was speaking… but this is where I’ve been.
Lord… I want to be just like your son. “Are you able to drink the cup he drank?”
Lord… I want to love like your son Jesus did. “Are you able to drink the cup he drank?”
Lord… I want to be able to forgive like Jesus did. “Are you able to drink the cup he drank?”
Lord… I want to be humble like your son Jesus was. “Are you able to drink the cup he drank?”
Lord… I want to glorify you as your son did. “Are you able to drink the cup he drank?”
Every time I voiced a desire to be like Jesus in some way, the answer was the same… “Are you able to drink the cup he drank?” It was after a good period of time it came to me that God does not give those things to us as much as he teaches us those things. They aren’t granted to us so much as they are learned.
I’m of the opinion that too many believers want the gain without what it takes to get it. They want the ends without being willing to endure what it takes to get there. The cup may be the way God exposes who is genuine and fake. Consider Matthew 13:20-21…
As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away…
I couldn’t help but wonder if when God begins the process that is required to be more like Christ (Tribulation, Persecution), they didn’t count on it being that hard… so they give up and quit. They aren’t willing to drink the cup that Christ drank. Again… I may be way off base here. It’s just something I’m thinking through and considering. Any thoughts?
