Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity (perfection).
Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect (mature) man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ:
I was just reading this verse on another blog (thanks Rich) and was really struck by what this passage is really saying... Let me try to re-phrase what I see here...
Therefore, let us leave the behind an elementary school approach to Christ (i.e. do this, get that)and press on to something better! He is giving us the awareness of fully trusting God & expressing it in daily life. This comes by the revelation of Who Christ really is and what He is really all about. We continually discover just how much of Jesus we truly have and what a difference He continually makes IN us!
I know I am not getting this out they way I see it, but I will work on it more and post it again. I see something here that i am struggling to convey after 48 hours of travel and at 2 o'clock in the morning on New Years Day! :)
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Monday, December 29, 2008
Abandoned By God!
Mike's Thoughts - December 29, 2008
I found this article interesting... please read it and then read my thoughts.
http://www.christianitytoday.com/tc/2008/001/3.12.html
Being in fulltime ministry, I have given these same tried and true answers to thousands... Sometimes God does indeed show up, He does provide, support, encourage... but what about the "others" in Hebrews 11?
Having been an "other" for more than 7 years now, I cannot help but see how too often we try to give pat answers for difficult questions. Our entire ministry is built upon Christ, and Him alone. We minister almost exclusively to frustrated, & defeated Christians all over the world, for whom Christianity as we know it simply does not work. For many, God does not seem to show up, He does not seem to provide, support, and encourage. What then?
Inevitably this brings around the usual questions about a persons faith, sin, and personal standing with God. It may even lead to questioning that individuals salvation. "Consider my servant Job..." Ah yes, we might even end up going there. We share how God is doing things we don't understand to accomplish things we cannot see. While all of this may be true, I still ask, where does it leave us? And I can tell you, not only because I have seen it in others, but also in myself. It ends up leaving the struggling believer bleeding on the floor, in an even worse mess. They were depressed before, but now they are suicidal.
Why are we so afraid to tell people simply that we do not know? We do not know why God seems to abandon some, and seemingly bless others.
Lets face it, sometimes God does not come through. What then?
Is it not our calling to encourage one another to love and good works? Is it not our calling to encourage the depth of the persons faith who loses everything and still believes? Can we not simply be willing to admit to people and to ourselves that many times God simply does not make sense? Okay, I'll grant you that SOMETIMES, we go there. But that still misses the mark! Isn't it just astounding that we still keep believing in spite of it all?
I personally have never FELT more abandoned by God than I do today. I see Him do in others what He will not do for me. The words that were hurled at Jesus, the enemy continually hurls at me... "He can save others, but he cannot save Himself." I have seen God to more amazing things in others than most people could ever dream of in a lifetime... but where is God in my own personal situation?
We spent EVERYTHING we had and a lot we did not to pursue His call, believing in His faithfulness, and from our perspective He did not show up. I lost one of my closest friends to a freak virus when He was 25. My mother died of cancer at 56. It is a miracle at all that our marriage has survived. I have seen my children (now 14 and 18) agonize over the struggles and strain, deeply question their God, and their own faith. We lost our house to foreclosure. We have been nearly bankrupt 3 times, and currently have just come through one of the most difficult months financially in a long time. So where was this supposedly faithful God? I have seen myself seething with anger, bitterness, resentment, rebellion, sin... you name it.
Why does He continue to leave us on this insane merry-go-round month after month, year after year, for over 7 years... The level of pain and frustration continues to increase to the point that you either think you will have a stroke, a heart attack, or commit suicide. And we ask ourselves, "this is victorious living? This is Freedom for the Frustrated?"
I've found the answer and I hate it...
Here it is: I don't know.
Do I want to know? YES! Do I get sick of this insanity? Absolutely. Am I angry with God? Couldn't be more so. Would I have it another way... my emotions scream YES. I want out... I want a different life. I want to become a car salesman, or something else... anything else. Let this cup pass from me. I'd do anything to kill this pain. And yet, when it comes to the choices we make day after day, week after week, year after year, there is something that keeps me going.., keeps me from giving up. It is something that is so far beyond me... something that only God can be doing. He is giving us the faith to continue on.
Everything is going according to plan. I just don't know the plan. In the end, we'll look back and see how ONLY God could get the credit (glory). In the end we will look back and say He is genius, the plan is genius. We forget that the will of God includes suffering. Sometimes it is okay to hurt with people, assure them that their feelings are natural, normal, and to be expected. It's even better when we can say... not that we have been there... that we too ARE there. And its okay to encourage them to tell God, "This Stinks." (it's called casting our anxieties on Him.)
Jesus does not offer us freedom FROM our frustration. He offers us freedom even in the MIDST of our frustration. In other words, it's not about getting comfortable, but learning how to live WITH the frustration, to take up our cross and follow. Let's not forget that. The point of praying, trusting, and believing is NOT to receive from God. The point of praying, trusting and believing is that we learn more fully how to pray, trust, and believe.
While he lived on earth, anticipating death, Jesus cried out in pain and wept in sorrow as he offered up priestly prayers to God. Because he honored God, God answered him. Though he was God's Son, he learned trusting-obedience by what he suffered, just as we do. (Hebrews 5:7-8 MSG)
Earlier I asked, isn't it just astounding that we still keep believing in spite of it all? That kind of faith can only be authored by God, That kind of faith can only be perfected by God. Blessed are you when you do NOT see and still believe. Where is the real wealth, the real provision, the real support, and the real encouragement? Is it not in the faith that He gives as we endure things that we cannot endure and cannot understand? Is it not okay to say, "I don't know..."
Shalom, friends,
Mike
------------------------------------
Mike Rule
Living Covenant Ministries International
6240 W Main Street - Suite 5
P.O. Box 188 Cass City, MI 48726
989-872-8525
In the US - toll free 1-800-965-LCMI
http://livingcovenant.com
LCMI - Freedom for the Frustrated!
I found this article interesting... please read it and then read my thoughts.
http://www.christianitytoday.com/tc/2008/001/3.12.html
Being in fulltime ministry, I have given these same tried and true answers to thousands... Sometimes God does indeed show up, He does provide, support, encourage... but what about the "others" in Hebrews 11?
Having been an "other" for more than 7 years now, I cannot help but see how too often we try to give pat answers for difficult questions. Our entire ministry is built upon Christ, and Him alone. We minister almost exclusively to frustrated, & defeated Christians all over the world, for whom Christianity as we know it simply does not work. For many, God does not seem to show up, He does not seem to provide, support, and encourage. What then?
Inevitably this brings around the usual questions about a persons faith, sin, and personal standing with God. It may even lead to questioning that individuals salvation. "Consider my servant Job..." Ah yes, we might even end up going there. We share how God is doing things we don't understand to accomplish things we cannot see. While all of this may be true, I still ask, where does it leave us? And I can tell you, not only because I have seen it in others, but also in myself. It ends up leaving the struggling believer bleeding on the floor, in an even worse mess. They were depressed before, but now they are suicidal.
Why are we so afraid to tell people simply that we do not know? We do not know why God seems to abandon some, and seemingly bless others.
Lets face it, sometimes God does not come through. What then?
Is it not our calling to encourage one another to love and good works? Is it not our calling to encourage the depth of the persons faith who loses everything and still believes? Can we not simply be willing to admit to people and to ourselves that many times God simply does not make sense? Okay, I'll grant you that SOMETIMES, we go there. But that still misses the mark! Isn't it just astounding that we still keep believing in spite of it all?
I personally have never FELT more abandoned by God than I do today. I see Him do in others what He will not do for me. The words that were hurled at Jesus, the enemy continually hurls at me... "He can save others, but he cannot save Himself." I have seen God to more amazing things in others than most people could ever dream of in a lifetime... but where is God in my own personal situation?
We spent EVERYTHING we had and a lot we did not to pursue His call, believing in His faithfulness, and from our perspective He did not show up. I lost one of my closest friends to a freak virus when He was 25. My mother died of cancer at 56. It is a miracle at all that our marriage has survived. I have seen my children (now 14 and 18) agonize over the struggles and strain, deeply question their God, and their own faith. We lost our house to foreclosure. We have been nearly bankrupt 3 times, and currently have just come through one of the most difficult months financially in a long time. So where was this supposedly faithful God? I have seen myself seething with anger, bitterness, resentment, rebellion, sin... you name it.
Why does He continue to leave us on this insane merry-go-round month after month, year after year, for over 7 years... The level of pain and frustration continues to increase to the point that you either think you will have a stroke, a heart attack, or commit suicide. And we ask ourselves, "this is victorious living? This is Freedom for the Frustrated?"
I've found the answer and I hate it...
Here it is: I don't know.
Do I want to know? YES! Do I get sick of this insanity? Absolutely. Am I angry with God? Couldn't be more so. Would I have it another way... my emotions scream YES. I want out... I want a different life. I want to become a car salesman, or something else... anything else. Let this cup pass from me. I'd do anything to kill this pain. And yet, when it comes to the choices we make day after day, week after week, year after year, there is something that keeps me going.., keeps me from giving up. It is something that is so far beyond me... something that only God can be doing. He is giving us the faith to continue on.
Everything is going according to plan. I just don't know the plan. In the end, we'll look back and see how ONLY God could get the credit (glory). In the end we will look back and say He is genius, the plan is genius. We forget that the will of God includes suffering. Sometimes it is okay to hurt with people, assure them that their feelings are natural, normal, and to be expected. It's even better when we can say... not that we have been there... that we too ARE there. And its okay to encourage them to tell God, "This Stinks." (it's called casting our anxieties on Him.)
Jesus does not offer us freedom FROM our frustration. He offers us freedom even in the MIDST of our frustration. In other words, it's not about getting comfortable, but learning how to live WITH the frustration, to take up our cross and follow. Let's not forget that. The point of praying, trusting, and believing is NOT to receive from God. The point of praying, trusting and believing is that we learn more fully how to pray, trust, and believe.
While he lived on earth, anticipating death, Jesus cried out in pain and wept in sorrow as he offered up priestly prayers to God. Because he honored God, God answered him. Though he was God's Son, he learned trusting-obedience by what he suffered, just as we do. (Hebrews 5:7-8 MSG)
Earlier I asked, isn't it just astounding that we still keep believing in spite of it all? That kind of faith can only be authored by God, That kind of faith can only be perfected by God. Blessed are you when you do NOT see and still believe. Where is the real wealth, the real provision, the real support, and the real encouragement? Is it not in the faith that He gives as we endure things that we cannot endure and cannot understand? Is it not okay to say, "I don't know..."
Shalom, friends,
Mike
------------------------------------
Mike Rule
Living Covenant Ministries International
6240 W Main Street - Suite 5
P.O. Box 188 Cass City, MI 48726
989-872-8525
In the US - toll free 1-800-965-LCMI
http://livingcovenant.com
LCMI - Freedom for the Frustrated!
Sunday, December 28, 2008
On a whim!!!!
Hello,
I just decided to start this blog. I have no idea why. So here I am posting my first post and I have NOTHING to say! So, there it is! What a way to start a blog, hey??? ;)
I just decided to start this blog. I have no idea why. So here I am posting my first post and I have NOTHING to say! So, there it is! What a way to start a blog, hey??? ;)
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