Wednesday, September 30, 2009

On Prayer

This is a short section out of Desiring God by John Piper that I wanted to share. It really hit me tonight since I've been thinking a lot about what prayer is and its importance:

"Jesus says to the woman, 'If you just knew the gift of God and who I am, you would ask Me - You would pray to Me!' There is a direct correlation between not knowing Jesus well and not asking much from Him. A failure in our prayer life is generally a failure to know Jesus. 'If you knew who was talking to you, you would ask Me!' A prayerless Christian is like a bus driver trying alone to push his bus out of a rut because he doesn't know Clark Kent is on board. 'If you knew, you would ask.' A prayerless Christian is like having your room wallpapered with Saks Fifth Avenue gift certificates but always shopping at Goodwill because you can't read. 'If you know the gift of God and who it is that speaks to you, you would ask - you would ask!

And the implication is that those who do ask - Christians who spend time in prayer - do it because they see that God is a great Giver and that Christ is wise and merciful and powerful beyond measure. And therefore their prayer glorifies Christ and honors His Father. The chief end of man is to glorify God. Therefore, when we become what God created us to be, we become people of prayer."

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Empty Me

Last night I put the song "Empty Me" by Jeremy Camp into my blog. But I didn't really think about the words too much. I didn't let them sink in, so I want to do that now.

Empty Me
By: Jeremy Camp

Holy Fire burn away,
my desire for anything
that is not of you and is of me.
I want more of you and less of me.

Holy Fire burn away,
my desire for anything
that is not of you and is of me,
I want more of you and less of me, yeah.
Empty me,
Empty me, yeah,
Fill, won't you fill me,
with you, with you, yeah.

Holy Fire, burn away,
my desire for anything
that is not of you and is of me.
I want more of you and less of me, yeah.
Empty me,
Empty me, yeah.
Fill, won't you fill me, with you, with you, empty me now.

Well won't you empty me, well won't you empty me now. repeat x2
I want more, I want more, I want more of you, Jesus.
I want more, I want more, oh.
Thank you, Jesus.
Thank you, Jesus, oh yeah,
Thank you, Jesus, yeah.
Holy Fire, Holy Fire, Holy Fire, Holy Fire.

------

Let me start with the first line: "Holy Fire, burn away my desire for anything that is not of you and is of me, I want more of you and less of me." Is that really my prayer and my cry? Do I really have a desire for God to take away anything that's not of Him? Or do I enjoy my sin and my selfishness too much? I think many times we like to sing the 'pretty' words of a praise song, but we don't actually mean what we're saying. Because it would be pretty big and pretty deep if we did mean them. This request of God should not be taken lightly. This is because in order to be filled with Himself, He has to 'burn away' those things that are not of Him. And I don't know about anyone else, but getting burned HURTS. It's not a pleasant experience.

However, this reminds me of the verse that talks about us being like gold refined in the fire. Yes, it's going to hurt to be molded and shaped by God. But it is absolutely essential in order to become more like Him and His Son. No, it's not fun. Yes it will hurt. But it is worth it in order to become less like ourselves and more like our Savior, who gave Himself up for us when we were still His enemies.

The other part of the song goes, "Empty me, Empty me... Fill, won't you fill me with You, with You..." Our prayer needs to be that we are emptied. Completely emptied of ourselves. Our sin, our selfishness, our ungodly desires. God wants to fill us with His love, compassion, righteousness, and many more things in order to make us more like Him. But here's the thing: we have to be willing to allow this to happen. Oh, we may sing the words all the time, but I don't think that we mean it nearly as much as we sing it.

I was encouraged by my friend Danielle yesterday while we were in a meeting for the women's ministry exec team on campus. We were sharing prayer requests, and she talked about how her desire was for God not only to mold her and shape her, but to absolutely BREAK her. Now that's a really bold prayer. Not many people are willing to be broken by God, because this would mean extreme heartache and pain. But Danielle's willingness is such a challenge to me to look within myself and see if I have the same willingness to pray that prayer.

And my question to everyone who may read this is that very thing. Are you willing? Are you willing to take that step of faith to be broken by God and be completely emptied of yourself? It may be one of the hardest things in the world to do, but we must be broken at some point in order to become more like God and His Son, and to grow in our faith. So what is it going to be? Are we going to remain stagnant and 'comfortable' in our faith? Or are we willing to become uncomfortable as God shows us the things He wants to change in us, and even go through some pain as we go through the process of transformation?

Hm... That's just some food for thought. It's definitely a question that I have to constantly ask myself as well. And at this point, as much as I'd like to say that I'm willing to be broken by God, I'm really not 100% sure if that's true.

Monday, September 28, 2009

Galatians 2:11-21

"But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party. And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with th truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, 'If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?'

We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners, yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.

But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we too were found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor. For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. I do not nullify the grace of God, for if justification were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose."


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11-14 -> Paul is talking about how Cephas was afraid of the circumcision party because he did not live according to the Jewish law as they did. Paul proclaims Cephas to be a hypocrite because he tells the Gentiles to live like Jews even though he, a Jew, does not (v. 14).

15-16 -> Paul admits that though he is a Jew, he is not saved by his works as a Jew. He realizes that it is only through his faith in Jesus Christ that he is saved.

17-18 -> Paul is saying in these verses that he is still a sinner even after being justified by faith, because it still is not because of his works that he is sanctified. "For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor." This means that if he were to say that Christ was a servant to sin, than he would go back to being justified by works and not by Christ's sacrifice.

20 -> "I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." Paul is being explicit in saying that he lives for Christ. He has died to himself.

21 -> Salvation cannot come from the law, because then Christ would have died for no reason. His sacrifice would mean nothing.

------
Application:

Paul lived his life with incredible passion for his faith, and opposed others who were not totally sold out and became hypocritical. He is emphatic that it is not our works that save us, but faith alone, and this is a theme that Paul repeats throughout all his letters.

He is also very passionate about the fact that he no longer lives for himself, but for God. We need to be crucified with Christ. This literally means that we need to put to death anything that is of us and not of God. We need to live for Christ and Christ alone. This is essential to the Christian life. If we live our lives characterized by selfishness, then we will quickly lose our platform for ministering to others.


Empty Me
By: Jeremy Camp

Holy Fire burn away,
my desire for anything
that is not of you and is of me.
I want more of you and less of me.

Holy Fire burn away,
my desire for anything
that is not of you and is of me,
I want more of you and less of me, yeah.
Empty me,
Empty me, yeah,
Fill, won't you fill me,
with you, with you, yeah.

Holy Fire, burn away,
my desire for anything
that is not of you and is of me.
I want more of you and less of me, yeah.
Empty me,
Empty me, yeah.
Fill, won't you fill me, with you, with you, empty me now.

Well won't you empty me, well won't you empty me now. repeat x2
I want more, I want more, I want more of you, Jesus.
I want more, I want more, oh.
Thank you, Jesus.
Thank you, Jesus, oh yeah,
Thank you, Jesus, yeah.
Holy Fire, Holy Fire, Holy Fire, Holy Fire.

Saturday, September 26, 2009

Why?

Why do I do this? Why do I constantly and consistently mess things up all the time? I mean really, I seem to have made an art out of making mistakes. Other people's lives seem so put together - and then there's me. Making big mistakes every day and not seeming to learn from them. I just don't understand it. I want to be better and learn from my experiences. I really do. It just never seems to work out the way I want it to. I know that God loves me and He always forgives me, but human beings aren't the same way. Even people that I see as really good friends of mine I wear so thin that I end up frustrating them and stressing them out because of how much I mess things up. But I don't know how to fix it. Every time I try to fix it, I just end up making things worse, and it continues to spiral downwards.I really feel like a failure when it comes to making and maintaining friendships.

I know that one of my problems is that I depend on my friendships way too much. I realize this and I'll readily admit it. But honestly, I don't know how to fix it. I really want to, but I just can't seem to. I just always seem to be clingy and then I become high-maintenance with my friends, and then no one wants to be around me. So how do I make this better?

I feel as though I keep spiraling downwards further and further into a situation that I can't get out of. I really want to be different, but every time I try and make a change, I just end up either in the same place or even worse. I know self-control is one of the fruits of the spirit, but God ha been working on me with that for so long, and I don't know if it's ever going to get better... I have tried and tried, but I always end up saying and doing the wrong thing to get myself in a mess.

I love my friends. I really do. And I care about them SO much. But I guess I always forget that people need space. I'm not one of those people that really needs a lot of space from others, but I forget that other people are not like me. And then because I forget that I start getting upset because someone doesn't want to hang out or does something to disappoint me. And then once I do that, they in turn start to feel smothered and want me to back off.

I did this with a friend just today, and a different friend the other day. Why do I do this to myself? I feel like such a masochist, putting myself into situations where I'm just going to get hurt, and where I'm also going to hurt others. I want it to stop. And people don't seem to understand that it's really not as easy as it seems to change.

My friend that I did it to today really got upset with me, and while I was hurt by this person, I was more upset by the fact that I had messed up once again. But what do I do? People always tell me to just pray about it. Guys, I have prayed. Many times. But God doesn't seem to have spoken to me about it. I feel as if I'm on my own, and that scares me. I don't know what to do.

I know that God is calling me to have more faith. But I just don't know what that looks like...

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Galatians 1:11-23

"For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man's gospel. For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ. For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy. And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers. But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by His grace, was pleased to reveal His Son to me, in order that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia, and returned again to Damascus.
Then after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and remained with him fifteen days. But I saw none of the other apostles except James the Lord's brother. (In what I am writing to you, before God, I do not lie!) Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. And I was still unknown in person to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. They only were hearing it said, 'He who used to persecute us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.' And they glorified God because of me."

-----

In this passage, Paul is giving his evidence of how he was called by God in order to preach the Gospel. This is because in the previous section he told the Galatians not to believe the false teachers, and he is now showing that he is not false, but that he really was sent by God. He makes sure to tell them that the Gospel that he received is not man's gospel, but God's. He tells the Galatians that he received the Gospel from Jesus Christ Himself, and then he goes on to explain why it had to have been from Christ.

Paul was a persecutor of the Christian church before he converted to Christianity. Because of this, there could be no way other than Christ talking to him Himself that he would make such a drastic transformation.

One thing that's important to point out is how Paul talks about the fact that he was "set apart." In verse 15 he says, "But when He who had set me apart before I was born and who called me by His grace..." Now, this may not be the point of the passage, but Paul is talking essentially about predestination in this case. He does not say that he chose Christ, but that Christ chose him and chose to reveal himself. Paul did nothing on his own to believe in God, but God CHOSE HIM BEFORE HE WAS BORN. This would allude to the belief of the elect. But I digress. That's not the point of the passage.

Continuing on into the passage, Paul goes on to explain where he went after his conversion. In verse 20 he tells the Galatians that he is not lying, which would seem to suggest that he is telling them these things in order to convince them that the things that he has to say really are truth, and he is not out for his own gain.

Then at the end of the passage Paul talks about how other people noticed that he used to persecute the Church, but had changed and was preaching the Gospel. Because they saw him doing this, he says that they glorified God.


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This leads into the application part. Throughout this whole passage Paul is giving evidences of and reasons why he believes what he does, and at the end he says how it affected other people. The people GLORIFIED GOD because of him. I believe that it is important for Christians as a whole to make sure that we are giving reasons for our faith and also telling others about who we used to be, so they can see the transformation that has taken place. If they cannot see it, then they cannot glorify God as the Gentiles had done when Paul preached the Gospel.

We need to be willing to be transparent. We need to be willing to share with others our own failings, especially before transformation has taken place. Now in some cases, like mine, we can't remember what our lives were like without Christ in them because we accepted Christ at a young age. If we can't share about our lives before Christ, then, we need to be able to talk about how God has transformed us in our walk with Him. Being transparent does an awesome thing for the Kingdom of God, so this makes it so important not to hide things that have happened in our lives.

Monday, September 7, 2009

Galatians 1:1-10

"Paul, an apostle - not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised Him from the dead - and all the brothers who are with me. To the churches of Galatia: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel - not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.
For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ."

----------

Paul starts out in this passage with a cordial greeting to the church of Galatia. After his introduction he gives a short gospel message before he goes into his letter. This ties into the things that he's about to say afterwards, because right after he tells them that Christ sacrificed Himself for our sins Paul starts basically yelling at the Galatians for believing a gospel that's different than the true Gospel.

The Galatians had started turning to false prophets and teachers, and Paul is chastising them for doing so. He says that he is astonished that they have moved away from God's gospel into something else.

One thing that is repeated in this passage is Paul's declaration that whoever teaches a false gospel needs to be accursed. He's not messing around here. He's making it very clear that those false teachers must be thrown out and not listened to anymore because they are presenting a false gospel. After he says these things, he shows the Galatians that he is not ashamed of what he has said because he tells them that he is not seeking the approval of man. All he cares about is God's approval because he is Christ's servant and nothing else matters. Because of this, Paul is adamant that those false teachers need to be thrown out in order for the advancement of the Kingdom to take place. He is not concerned with whether or not he steps on anyone's toes because of how much he cares for God's truth.

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This is a really interesting passage. One thing it makes me think about is the many false teachers that are out there today, and they're treated well, as if they're doing something right! Of course, I'm only speaking of one false teacher, and that's Joel Osteen. And I'm also speaking of all the people who go along with what he teaches. I hate... absolutely HATE the prosperity gospel. I'm sorry, I wasn't aware that the Bible has a hidden verse that says, "Just kidding! The Christian life won't be hard. If you follow me and if you're REALLY doing what I say, then you'll be completely healthy, financially stable, and good-looking. If one of those things isn't happening... well... something's obviously wrong in your life."

Okay. The Bible says NOTHING about that. In fact, it says that in this life we WILL have trials and tribulations. Following Christ is not an easy road. That's why Christ says that there's a narrow gate and a wide gate. The people following Christ enter through the narrow gate because not many people make it there. They aren't interested in not living for themselves and answering to a Being that is higher than themselves. However, people LOVE to hear that if they follow God their lives are going to be easier and they'll be healed of their sicknesses and they'll have so many more friends. That's why the prosperity gospel is so popular.

However, Paul clearly points out that people who teach things like that need to be accursed! We as Christians who believe in the one true gospel must not stand for it! Unfortunately though, Joel Osteen's church is one of the biggest in America and is thriving as of right now. But because this "gospel" is so rampant in America today, we must be even more passionate and ready to speak about the true gospel. We cannot allow this kind of thinking to overtake the minds of our fellow Americans, because they will be sorely disappointed if they're really wanting to follow Christ. They WILL experience hardships. They WILL be persecuted for their faith. Yes, there's immense joy that comes with being a follower of Christ, but that has nothing to do with the circumstances that we're put in. Paul says to the Philippians that he has learned to be content and joyful NO MATTER WHAT the circumstances are. We don't get joy from the situations of life that we find ourselves in. We get our joy from knowing God and knowing Christ's sacrifice for us on the cross.

In being more passionate and straightforward about the gospel however, we must remember that it is of utmost importance for us to say those things in love. 1 Peter 3:15-16 says,

"...but in your hearts set apart Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame."

We MUST be prepared to make a defense and give the gospel to those who ask. But just as importantly, we MUST be prepared to do it with gentleness and respect. Otherwise I guarantee that those people will be completely turned off to anything about God and Christ because we did not respect them and we forced it upon them.

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So I guess the main lesson to take out of this message is to make sure that the false gospels that are out there are not winning out. Be bold in the faith and know that what we believe is true and we need to take a stand for it. If we don't, then the false gospels WILL win out, and we will lose our platform to tell people about the true sacrifice of Christ.

Thursday, September 3, 2009

No, no, no drama.

I know that I want to write, but even as I sit here with so many things running through my mind, I'm finding it hard to find the right words to say. Things have started out well here in Chicago. Even though I'm already feeling like I'm behind in my classes, I'm really loving them. It's great knowing that I won't be the only person I know in my classes because I've been here before.

I really am excited to see all the things that God has in store for me this year. I know that I grew a lot over the summer and I've been changed in so many different ways, and I'm excited to see what else God has to teach me. I know it won't be easy though, that's for sure. I know that there's always a lot of pain that comes along with being transformed more into His likeness, but I'm ready and willing to do what's necessary in order to grow.

I've also realized in the past few days why it's important to spend time with people who are in the same life situation as I am. Now I'm not saying it's bad to spend time with people who are younger... But at the same time, I feel as though they're not quite at the maturity level where there could be a deeper friendship. Now when I get older, I'm sure a couple years' age difference won't really matter... But right now it really does. And the reason is because we change so muchbetween the ages of 18 and 22. I'm only 20, so I know that I still have a lot of growing and changing to do, and I'm looking forward to it. However, I'm a completely different person than I was when I first started college.

My point in saying this is that I've tried to be friends with the freshmen. Really, I've tried. And I've been getting along with them for the most part... But there's something that just seems to be missing when I'm spending time with them and not my other friends who have had the same or more life experience as me. When I'm around these certain individuals, I feel as though I'm transported back into high school again, and that's not a good thing. Now I understand why the upperclassmen last year didn't really try and get to know all the freshmen and transfers. It's because it's a lot more difficult to be friends with people who aren't at the same place in life as you are, especially when they've just come out of high school.

I need to remember that the next time I'm tempted to hang out with a freshman, especially a freshman guy... Because there will definitely be nothing but drama if I allow that situation to take place. And I'm determined not to have any drama this year, so I'll be staying away from that. I've already had some drama, but I cut it off and I'm not going to allow it to happen again. It's just too ridiculous...

But anyway. Again, I'm really looking forward to seeing what God does this year. I'm excited to grow and go through situations where I know that He knows it's best for me. And while I would enjoy being in a relationship this year, I know that at least for the time being I'm not ready for one. I need to just wait and see where God leads. If a guy is interested in me then great, but if not... well, then that's perfectly okay too.

Philippians 4:11-13
Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
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Oh and also, I'm going to be studying the book of Galatians for my quiet time, and I'll probably put up my writings on what hit me on here as well.

Love.