Boldness vs Humility

Boldness vs Humility

Some conversations got me thinking about our claims that we have access to God. Isn't awfully presumptuous of us to think that we are of His elect? That we can "approach the throne boldly"? How can we be comforted by thoughts of Jesus coming with all His glory, when we are not sure who's side we will be on?

I love metaphors.

So lets say the brakes go on your car. You get a ride to work and your worried all day about what you will do with your car. You call a buddy when you get home and tell him your situation and ask if he can help. He says sure.

Expecting a ride, you come out the next morning to find your buddy in your driveway cleaning up some tools. "What's going on?" You ask.

"I fixed your brakes, but new ones in, I even tested them. Your good to go."

How would you react? What if you said, "Thanks man, but I'll just take a ride to work."
"what? Why?"
"I'd just feel better getting a ride."
"what, you don't believe me? Look, I've been fixing cars for years! Look, I have your old brakes out here on the driveway! I'm all dirty from fixing your car!"

So at what point is your fear an insult to your friend? you could excuse it by saying, "I don't know much about cars, and I just don't know how he did it, I don't' feel safe."

Same thing with the cross man. At what point does it become an insult to say, "Look God, I just don't believe I'm saved, that I'm on your side. Sorry."
"What? Here's your sin on the cross! Here is the blood poured out! I'm God! I never lie! I never mislead anyone! If you can't trust Me, who can you trust!"

Sure, you can say, "what if I interpreted it wrong." Well, I'll tell you what, if we as Christian interpreted this wrong, then we don't have a faith at all, so if you can't trust this one, you might as well give up on the whole deal.

I hope this makes sense.

I really want to keep this on the down low, but I finished a song that I shared here a while ago, and here are all the lyrics. I really hope it will draw people into who God is.

Who You Are

Every pen put to a page; is yours to guide; to move or to still

A tongue to talk, a hand to hold; a heart and lungs to empty and fill

You reach past the worst offense, the simple minds, the ignorance;

To help us understand true beauty.

Creation sings a single theme…

(Chorus) You are beautiful,

Like a promise never broken, like long-hidden love out, spoken.

like the prison gates flung open,

You are beautiful,

Like the only real safe place, to put my hope in.

Every pleasure, every joy, created and bestowed with delight.

Within You balanced perfectly, grace and justice; mercy and might.

The strength to stand and then to dance, every first and second chance,

Passed from holy hands, to dirty

So we can sing together now… (Chorus)

(Bridge) I praise You Lord, for the love You show

When you move the things, that hide who you are… (3x)

Oh Please take them out of my life…

So I can see that… (Chorus)

Haven't heard from me in a while, eh? Stuff has been happening anyway though, let me tell you. I guess I don't know how I'm going to say this because it is so simple, and in a way so cliche. I guess I've figured out what it means to focus on Jesus. To worship. To "set your eyes on the prize". I've also learned a lot about faith.

The biggest thing is realizing that I still think that Christians look at the Bible the way the Pharisees did. The look at it for rules and ways to live. We get things like "don't judge" and "love your neighbor" and tougher ones like "sell all you own and give it to the poor". The problem is that if these behaviours come from our own will-driven desire to be "good," they are idolatrous and blasphemous.

Here it is, red letter gospel:

John 5:38-9: You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life.

So many of us are still just trying to be GOOD. But how? by our own will power, and when we accomplish our lack new found moral behaviour, we have just given power to our idol of pride (look how good I am) or fear (phew, no one will see how I really am). I still do this a lot.

Now if I was reading this at this point, I would be thinking, "so what do I do, just sit around a watch the TV and hope God changes me?" No. We focus on God. WHO HE IS. WHAT HE HAS DONE.

Sometimes I go out and God shows me so much about His character. I say to Him, "no one can ever teach you anything. At every falling leaf, you know why it fell, when it began the process of falling, and when its successor will take its place. You create master pieces without a single tool. You put such care into creation that it would take a person 1000 years just to make a blade of grass with the same care."

These are characteristics of God. So how do we focus on who God is? On who Jesus is? We read about Him. We talk to Him. We walk with Him. Check this out...

¹¹And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war.

¹²His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems; and He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself.

¹³He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God.

¹⁴And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses.

¹⁵From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty.

¹⁶And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, "KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS."

I think there is a need to confess sin. To be aware of our depravity. But once we have done that, to continue to look at our sin and our fault is pointless. Saying we "should" be a certain way does not give us the power to do it. Jesus' love gives us the power to do it. We need to focus on Him and let His beauty change us. We need to acknowledge our sins not just as sins, but as reflecting a perspective that we don't have the faith to believe that God is better than TV, food, people's approval, personal pleasure, and selfishness. I'll be the first to admit that often my actions suggest that looking at a girl is better than God, who created feminine beauty!

This is what I do now. This is how I change. I avoid what I can in order to have God on the throne of my heart, and I try to love others.

I would encourage us all to put God 1st in our hearts, because as we all know, it's a long fall from 1st to 2nd. We were created to worship God, lets do what we were meant to do.

Tawmis.

Sacrifice...

I had a bit of an internal drama over the last few days that can be traced back to what might be a bit of sinful pride.

I was contemplating life in general, and I thought that I had finally come to a place where I could answer Jesus "yes" to the command he posed to the rich young ruler. That is, "sell all you own, and give it to the poor." But then it hit me. There is one thing that would be really hard for me to give up, if I could at all: my music.

I don't want to talk about why it is so important, I just talked to someone the other night who said their music wasn't very important to them, but he had something else. So for me, its my music.

I wrestled with this for quite a few days. The practicality of if, the motivation behind it, etc. etc. Last week I took a day just for me and God, and this question came up again in a big way, so that I finally relinquished. I would give away all of my music, however I could. Wipe my computer clean, delete everything off my ipod, etc.

I started going through the practical side of it, and it being Saturday, I remembered that pawn shops were commonly closed on Sunday, so I commited aloud: "okay Lord, I will bring them to the pawn shop on Monday." Knowing some of my tendencies, I next exclaimed, "Lord, I'm not going to go back and forth on this, my mind is made up, and if there is some reason why I should not do this, you will have to stop me somehow."

Almost immediately after I said this I realized that the promised Monday fell on a holiday. New Years Day to be exact. So immediately went into figuring out the next day I could bring them in, when God reminded me of my promise to bring them in Monday. All of a sudden the issue of giving away my music became the issue of "letting your 'Yes' be 'Yes' and your 'No' be 'No'".

I could not deny that my prayer had been answered, God had stopped me. There were other things that happened that day that confirmed it further, but I kept myself open to the slim possibility that the pawn shop may be open on Monday. (Maybe they cash in on New Years resolution sales! Who knows?!)

Stay with me the point is coming....

So on Monday I packed up all my CD's, and headed for the pawn shop and of course, it was closed. As I rode away, I felt a bit of praise rising up in my that is explainable in a sense, I got to keep my CD's, right? but it was something different, it was something real.

It is simply this:

Why would God stop me from giving away my music?
Could it have been a good thing? Of course!
Even if it was a bit misguided, could it have been used for good? Yes!

I must conclude that God never asks us for anything unless it is Good for us. He doesn't even want me to go through the insignificant amount of pain that would be involved in giving up my music.

So when something hurts, or you think God is asking too much of you, just remember that He would not ask if it was not absolutely necessary for YOUR benefit. That's all.