June 24 - The impossible made probable
Scripture focus: It's impossible to please God apart from faith. And why? Because anyone who wants to approach God must believe both that he exists and that he cares enough to respond to those who seek him. Hebrews 11:6 (The Message)
I have a friend who loves to perform for God. He loves to use today's verse to tell me why I'm probably not pleasing God with all this talk of our need to love and trust God. According to him, if we get too carried away with this idea that the work God has set before us is to trust him, then we're going to create a community of religious slackers. And who knows what will happen? We might not have anyone willing to keep the nursery, or give to the building fund, or paint the inside of the church!! My friend is seriously NOT going to like today's devotional. In studying this verse, I've discovered that the word for faith in this section is "pistis," and in noun form it means "trust." As I read this verse, it says that God is pleased when we trust him.
How do we trust him?
We believe that he exists. We know that he is real.
We believe that he cares enough to respond to us when we seek him. His motivation is love and caring. He's not distant or angry. He's responsive in his love for us.
Last week my son's class acted up when supervised by a substitute teacher. His teacher returned, got the report, and asked each class member to write a note of apology. My son wrote a note that said something like, "I didn't act up and it would be codependent of me to apologize for someone else." This resulted in some healthy discussion with his teacher and a revised note that neither took responsibility for others nor had a smart-alecky tone.
So I need to follow my son's lead on this, and I don't want you to take this word as smart-alecky, but I've got to tell you – what you do with the truth that God is pleased with you when you trust him is all up to you. If that results in you getting carried away with this idea of grace and you becoming a religious slacker, that's your decision. That won't change God's love for you or me! But it's my firmly held conviction that people who invite God to embrace them, please God. And when we know how pleasing we are to God, our hearts grow so exponentially that we can't help ourselves – we are compelled to trust and love others. We keep the nursery not because we have to, but because we want to love the babies and their families. We give to building funds because we love the people that this building will shelter and serve. We paint the inside of the church, and our friend's houses, and even shelters because we love the people who will use rooms that are freshly painted. I'm going to take my chances. I'm believing what God says. I can't wait to see what happens as a result of choosing to trust him. Now I'm off to watch a soap opera or two and eat bon-bons!
Recommended reading: 1 Corinthians 1-3
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Copyright 2009 NorthStar Community
- click on the word comments and join our conversation
Copyright 2009 NorthStar Community
3 comments:
I missed a few days, I let my head shake my heart.Someone told me if I keep asking tough questions they were going to tell me to stop eating the book. Thanks! Time to keep trucking,next time I visit Josh maybe I'll get it, it is ok I didn't this time.God is still who I know him to be, the doubts were mine never his. I am a recovering slacker.My slacking was ruined by someone who told me to trust and step when spoken too.Thanks!I believe if we trust,listen and act there is not much room for slacking. From reading yesterdays blog and feeling the power of THANKS, I would like to offer a thought. What if we took our community directory and just emailed someone the word Thanks. Someone who had listened, reached out or helped us by sharing themselves or maybe as simple as a hug or a smile. Could you use a Thanks today? God Bless
What a great idea. Here's another one. How about if we posted every time someone gave us a thanks, and share how it impacted us? Yesterday my girlfriends gave me flowers and a lovely lunch in celebration of some good news I had received (and trust me, there has not been a lot of good news lately in my hut). It was lovely. I am sitting here right now looking at those lush flowers, and feeling very loved.
Are you suggesting that you are going to take charge of the "thanks" project? How can I help you? t
I found this evening that I need an updated directory, I also realized how few people I know in my community.I pray that maybe the folks I know will start their day tomorrow with a smile.The ones who do not read the blog will be like "He lost is mind again." I wonder if we could start a Thanks chain.Someone sends a Thanks to a friend and they forward a Thanks to a friend and so on and so on. I could try to take charge and as for how you can help. "Thanks" would be the simplist word for how much you have already helped me and my hut mates. The next right question is,How can I help you? Hut to Hut messaging is allowed anytime! God Bless
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