So I’m sitting here in my room trying to figure out what I want to share with you. I keep going through different passages that God has used in my life in the past couple of weeks. It’s so funny how God works because as I’m trying to figure out what I would like to say, in the back of my mind I’m thinking what it is that you want to hear. Ultimately this is an opportunity to glorify Jesus Christ, but I am battling against the desire for your approval more than the worship of my God. So this leads me to
Romans 1and how the Lord has recently revealed to me the presence of idols in my life and the power that they can have over me. Romans 1:21-22, 25 – “For although they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.” Verse 25 – “…they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the created rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.”
Time after time in my life I have chosen people, dreams, desires, things above Christ. I know Christ because I have accepted Him as my Savior and He has rescued me from the power of sin, but for my own selfish gain I have chosen to dishonor God for the temporary satisfaction of things such as approval or comfort. Verse 21 makes complete sense because when I place something in my life above God, darkness comes to my heart in confusion or anxiety and it only brings about the desire for more selfish gain and less Christ. I often claim to be wise like in verse 22 but who but a fool would choose something or someone above the glory of God, the inheritance that He has granted us as sons and daughters?! Why would I ever exchange being an heir of God and eternal glory for mere temporal enjoyment? Verse 25 says that whatever we worship, we serve. I’m not just talking about how we can worship people or images, I’m talking about a lifestyle of worshiping and serving things like approval or comfort or achievement. Things that the world has told us are part of our identity, part of our personality. False! We were not created to gain the approval of other people or even to be successful. God the Creator made us to worship Him, to adore Him, to praise Him.
I do not write this so that I can talk about how messed up I am. I am writing this because I feel like you may know what I’m talking about. I love the passage in Romans because it is a picture of what exactly we are doing when we worship and serve something else rather than God alone and it brings to light things that I tend to keep so secret. It’s really easy to keep things hidden and underneath the surface so no one can see what’s really going on in our hearts. I wanted to share this with you that you may be encouraged to really get on your knees before the God of the universe and ask Him to reveal the idols in your life so that you may understand why it’s so easy to be confused or anxious or sometimes just numb to everything. When Christ is not first, there is no joy, no peace, no clarity, and no direction. I don’t want you to think that I have this figured out. I’m battling through this daily. God basically shook me this past week at the realization of the things that I have placed before Him and how tightly I have held onto these things, even identified myself with them. But somehow in the midst of this discovery Christ has made know to me who I am and who I am not. If we profess Him as Lord of our lives we can trust that “Christ has covered the remaining imperfections in our lives like a robe of stainless holiness and we are in the process of removing the imperfections as we are enabled more and more to put off the bondages of sin and put on new life in Christ.” Rejoice because we are set free! Galatians 2:20.
Post by:
2009-10-27 14:21:06
Refuge Staff Blog: Matthew Adams
So often I forget what the Lord has done for me. Too often I focus on what I want to Lord to do for me and not how he has already blessed me beyond anything that I would ever deserve. I am ever presented with the fact that I deserve nothing but God’s wrath, but through His mercy and grace I have been given the greatest gift.
So, I as spent some extended time with the Lord last Friday, I started my time simply writing down the things that I am thankful for. I wanted to write out every gift the Lord has blessed me with, whether big or small. Here is what came out:
• I am thankful for the changing weather
• I am thankful for my wife and how she cares for me
• I am thankful for my apartment
• I am thankful for all the stuff in my apartment
• I am thankful for that You saved me
• I am thankful that I can come to You with all my problems
• I am thankful that I have such a loving family
• I am thankful for all the financial support my wife and I have
• I am thankful for the Bible study we were invited to
• I am thankful for my own good health
• I am thankful for marriage counseling books
• I am thankful for forgiveness
• I am thankful for the gift of a new TV
• I am thankful for the country that I live in
• I am thankful for my staff team at LSU
• I am thankful for my friends
• I am thankful for You, Lord
• I am thankful for grace
• I am thankful for my coffee in the morning
• I am thankful for time spent with my Lord
• I am thankful for losing weight
• I am thankful for the Holy Spirit guiding me
• I am thankful for guys to disciple
• I am thankful for opportunities in fraternities and dorms to share Your Gospel
• I am thankful for the books I enjoy reading
• I am thankful for God’s word
• I am thankful for journals to express thought
• I am thankful for the music I love
• I am thankful for struggles that produce growth
As you can see, some of these are spiritual, but many are not. It is important to take time to survey in detail our lives and discover all that the Lord has done for us, whether it is as grand as Christ’s grace or as minor as a cup of coffee in the morning.
God is in all things and gives us all that we have and when we recognize this simple truth and thank Him for it all, it is kind of hard to stop.
You are my God, and I will give you thanks;
you are my God, and I will exalt you.
Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;
his love endures forever.
Psalm 118:28-29
Post by:
2009-10-19 10:07:42
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