We don't get it! We flat-out just don't understand the character of God. If we had a right perspective, not necessarily a complete understanding, but a view that at least points in the right direction, of who the God that we love and serve really is, I think life would be much simpler. All the issues we bring up of lacking faith and the struggle against sin disappear when we recognize who the Creator of the Universe really is.
Yes, He is completely full of mercy and grace, but that doesn't mean He sits around tossing down forgiveness like an old grandpa doling out candy. On the other extreme, that does not mean, either, that we have to perform some magical works to receive forgiveness. But, we do serve a perfectly holy and just God. So, what's the deal? I know my finite mind cannot grasp the infinite fullness of the character of God, but why do I settle for that and go on about my life living the mundane? Why do I not spend every last ounce of my life seeking to know the character of God?
With that, I don't think that we have a proper understanding of the magnitude of sin. We see that in, one, a continual struggle against sin and general lack of 'effective' repentance and, two, an incomplete concept of grace. I'm not sure if we can fully grasp it, but do we even have a clue as to the weight of sin that was placed on our Lord Jesus Christ as He bore the cross of Calvary? I think that if we did we would catch a vision for Biblical repentance and genuine worship. Look at the actions of the disciples of John the Baptist. Before Jesus even came on the scene, they recognized and repented of their sins because they knew enough about God and what He had declared through the prophets, including John, to see the need for repentance.
This idea of understanding the enormity of sin is, again, tied back to the concept of knowing the character of God, specifically His holiness and justice. So, once more, I ask why we are not pursuing a deep, intimate knowledge of Who God is? Why do we not run headlong, as Paul said, in a manner so as to win the prize? The root of the problem is not so much that we don't understand God. The really scary thing is that we're okay with that; we're okay with skimming the surface; we're okay with repeating the same sins over and over and over again. It just doesn't seem to be a big deal to us that we hardly know our Heavenly Father. The One Person that we can actually have full and complete intimacy with is the one we know the least. Why have we taken the most blessed oportunity presented to mankind and set it on a shelf, neglecting its fullness? Because we're too scared to fully know, believe, and, thus, change because of that fullness.
Many have argued, and I have, at times, been included in this group, that God is such an incomprehensible, cosmic force that we can never fully understand Him. A couple thoughts on that: Yes, He is beyond the comprehension of our finite minds, but Paul prays in Colossians that they would be "filled with the knowledge of His will" and ever "increasing in the knowledge of God" and again, in Philippians, that they would "abound [...] in real knowledge and all discernment." This doesn't seem to make room for our inability to grasp God's infinite character. The key that we seem to lack is the Third Person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit of power who we, at least in the Bible Belt community, tend to fear and neglect. The Spirit is our Counselor, the One who is supposed to explain and teach us the things that we simply cannot understand on our own. As with everything in the Christian life, on our own abilities, it is absolutely impossible, but, by the indwelling power of God Himself mainfested through the Holy Spirit, it is simple. We can know and be filled with the fullness of God Himself because of the Blood of Christ Jesus. Praise the Lord! The veil was torn for a reason - that we might intimately know that Holy Lord of all Creation. How sweet is that!
But what does that realization look like? Check out Isaiah's vision in Chapter 6: "I saw the Lord sitting on a throne." Hold on. Did you catch that? Isaiah saw the Lord, fully arrayed in the splendor of His holiness, majesty, and power. Isaiah saw God for who He really is, "lofty and exalted" with angels constantly declaring His holiness. Immediately, he recognized who he was and cried out in distress because of his sin and that of his people. He knew that God had told Moses that "no man can see [God] and live!" And, because of that, he was stricken and paralyzed by fear crying, "Woe is me!" But, Isaiah got it; he understood, in a very real way, the magnitude of both who God is and who he is. Right after that, the angel purified his lips and the Lord called him to take His message to the people. The Lord used Isaiah in mighty ways, but it wasn't possible until he recognized the reality and fullness of the character of the Lord. It doesn't have to be through some supernatural vision, but we need to be people like Isaiah, people who really get it, who see God for who He is and grow more deeply in love with Him because of it, serving the people for His glory and His purposes.
This post categorized under Personal Thoughts and The Church.
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Friday, July 28, 2006 at 4:54 PM. Yes, He is completely full of mercy and grace, but that doesn't mean He sits around tossing down forgiveness like an old grandpa doling out candy. On the other extreme, that does not mean, either, that we have to perform some magical works to receive forgiveness. But, we do serve a perfectly holy and just God. So, what's the deal? I know my finite mind cannot grasp the infinite fullness of the character of God, but why do I settle for that and go on about my life living the mundane? Why do I not spend every last ounce of my life seeking to know the character of God?
With that, I don't think that we have a proper understanding of the magnitude of sin. We see that in, one, a continual struggle against sin and general lack of 'effective' repentance and, two, an incomplete concept of grace. I'm not sure if we can fully grasp it, but do we even have a clue as to the weight of sin that was placed on our Lord Jesus Christ as He bore the cross of Calvary? I think that if we did we would catch a vision for Biblical repentance and genuine worship. Look at the actions of the disciples of John the Baptist. Before Jesus even came on the scene, they recognized and repented of their sins because they knew enough about God and what He had declared through the prophets, including John, to see the need for repentance.
This idea of understanding the enormity of sin is, again, tied back to the concept of knowing the character of God, specifically His holiness and justice. So, once more, I ask why we are not pursuing a deep, intimate knowledge of Who God is? Why do we not run headlong, as Paul said, in a manner so as to win the prize? The root of the problem is not so much that we don't understand God. The really scary thing is that we're okay with that; we're okay with skimming the surface; we're okay with repeating the same sins over and over and over again. It just doesn't seem to be a big deal to us that we hardly know our Heavenly Father. The One Person that we can actually have full and complete intimacy with is the one we know the least. Why have we taken the most blessed oportunity presented to mankind and set it on a shelf, neglecting its fullness? Because we're too scared to fully know, believe, and, thus, change because of that fullness.
Many have argued, and I have, at times, been included in this group, that God is such an incomprehensible, cosmic force that we can never fully understand Him. A couple thoughts on that: Yes, He is beyond the comprehension of our finite minds, but Paul prays in Colossians that they would be "filled with the knowledge of His will" and ever "increasing in the knowledge of God" and again, in Philippians, that they would "abound [...] in real knowledge and all discernment." This doesn't seem to make room for our inability to grasp God's infinite character. The key that we seem to lack is the Third Person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit of power who we, at least in the Bible Belt community, tend to fear and neglect. The Spirit is our Counselor, the One who is supposed to explain and teach us the things that we simply cannot understand on our own. As with everything in the Christian life, on our own abilities, it is absolutely impossible, but, by the indwelling power of God Himself mainfested through the Holy Spirit, it is simple. We can know and be filled with the fullness of God Himself because of the Blood of Christ Jesus. Praise the Lord! The veil was torn for a reason - that we might intimately know that Holy Lord of all Creation. How sweet is that!
But what does that realization look like? Check out Isaiah's vision in Chapter 6: "I saw the Lord sitting on a throne." Hold on. Did you catch that? Isaiah saw the Lord, fully arrayed in the splendor of His holiness, majesty, and power. Isaiah saw God for who He really is, "lofty and exalted" with angels constantly declaring His holiness. Immediately, he recognized who he was and cried out in distress because of his sin and that of his people. He knew that God had told Moses that "no man can see [God] and live!" And, because of that, he was stricken and paralyzed by fear crying, "Woe is me!" But, Isaiah got it; he understood, in a very real way, the magnitude of both who God is and who he is. Right after that, the angel purified his lips and the Lord called him to take His message to the people. The Lord used Isaiah in mighty ways, but it wasn't possible until he recognized the reality and fullness of the character of the Lord. It doesn't have to be through some supernatural vision, but we need to be people like Isaiah, people who really get it, who see God for who He is and grow more deeply in love with Him because of it, serving the people for His glory and His purposes.
This post categorized under Personal Thoughts and The Church.
Well, as a bit of a follow-up from the trip, I just wanted to throw out a few things that need to be prayed over from this side of the ocean. I feel like the Lord really burdened all of us to be praying specifically for our friends from this summer. He brought home the realization that we may be the only people praying for them. Along with that, the Lord has had to work on my mindset a lot to bring me to pray for big things in faith trusting that He will and is completely capable to do those big things, things bigger that we even know (Eph. 3:20-21). Anyway, here are some people that I would love for you to join me in praying over:
*Note: I stole this idea from Danielle. So, you should check out her prayer list also...
This post categorized under Personal Thoughts, Missions, and Culture.
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Friday, July 21, 2006 at 12:35 AM. - Mike: I'll probably write about this guy later. It's a stinkin' awesome story of how the Lord worked in ways that I absolutely did not expect. Anyway, this guy is a new brother, right at two weeks old. So, he's just beginning to crawl in his faith. It was a sweet thing to watch his desire to know and understand more about the Bible. Pray that our Father would fill that desire and use it in huge ways and that discipleship with one of the long-termers would be really productive. Pray also that Mike would open himself up to being used as God's mouthpiece for spreading the Name of Jesus. Mike talks incessantly, but now he's got something good to talk about. Pray also for general protection from the attacks of the enemy and rapid growth and expansion of the Kingdom through this brother. I can see the Lord doing some sweet work through him.
- LD: The circumstances around how I met this guy are crazy awesome, too. So, I'll probably have to write about that also. He's super-interested and really wants to know a lot more about the Bible. From spending some time in his family's home, I found out that his dad has a Bible and has been to church at least a few times, if not more regularly. Ask that the Spirit would reveal Truth to him, that He would see Jesus as the Living Savior, not just some Western-minded philosopher. Pray that LD would seek Truth with the right motivation, not merely to expand his worldview or knowledge base, but for the redemptive power of Jesus. Pray for his family also that their eyes would be opened to the Light and that they would fully embrace the Lord Jesus for who He is.
- PowerKing & Shu: Yes, his name really is PowerKing, PK for short. Don't ask why. I never did. These two guys became some of my really close friends, which is a bit weird because most of all we ever did together was play basketball, and, if you've ever had to watch me play basketball, you know how insane that is. Anyway, it took a long time to finally get to spiritual conversations, and, when we finally did, they didn't go super deep. I feel like it was more breaking up ground by loving them. Pray that the Spirit would use that and really show them that my love came from Jesus. Pray against the strongholds of Buddhism and Chinese thought, especially for PK. Pray that the Spirit would silence all other voices - friends, sports, materialism, superstition, etc. - and would speak Truth to their spirits. Pray for salvation.
*Note: I stole this idea from Danielle. So, you should check out her prayer list also...
This post categorized under Personal Thoughts, Missions, and Culture.
The past six weeks have flown by way too quickly. I've got lots of stories and plenty of thoughts about the trip. So, I'm sure a good deal of those will get posted, but I'd love to sit down and talk to anyone who wants to know more. I'm glad to be back from the tired-from-running-so-hard aspect, but I miss my friends and our city a lot. Thanks for your prayers.
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Monday, July 17, 2006 at 3:38 PM.
