With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility

How can we become closer to God?  This is a question that is often asked.  Is it merely a quest for knowledge that brings us closer to God?  Should we immerse ourselves in bible studies, church small groups or classes to gain more knowledge of the bible?  While doing these thing are certainly worthwhile, this alone I don't believe will get any of us where we would like to be in our relationship with God.  All of these things will help us to know about Him more but not know him more.  If we want to truly KNOW him, we have to strive be like his son Jesus.  We have to do the things he did.  When Jesus walked the earth, he went from day to day, living a life that was an example.  He taught when the circumstances called for it.  He would speak into peoples lives in the moment right when they needed it.  It is a continual lifestyle not a seminar or class that will help you to know God.  Here is the real question:  Do you want to KNOW God or do you want to KNOW ABOUT God?

“You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord, "and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he.”   Isaiah 43:1

This is God speaking through the prophet Isaiah.  He is saying that He has chosen us to serve him so ultimately we can KNOW him and BELIEVE him.  Notice it does not say "know about me" or "believe in me."  Think about this. 

We can know about God, but not know him.  We can believe in God, but not believe Him. 

To know about God and to believe in Him implies no action on our part.  But in order to know him personally and to believe him we must act.  We must be his witnesses.  How can we do this?  The answer is so simple to put down in words but so hard sometimes to carry out.   1.) Serve: Get involved in a church that is committed to bringing people into a relationship with Jesus Christ.   2.) Be a Light: (Matthew 5:14-16)  Let's start talking about how Jesus is changing us, and about what he his doing in our lives.  None of us is perfect and we all have a ways to go.  But our experiences can help others if we are willing.  We'll start seeing opportunities to talk about him in our day to day life if we open our eyes.  We can speak hope into others lives, just like Jesus did.  In fact. He's planning on it and has divine appointments already lined up for each of us.  To know him we must take action, not just aquire more knowledge.  I say again, If we want to truly KNOW him, we have to strive be like him.

Now imagine this!  Jesus said that we would do even greater things than even he. 

"I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father."  John 14:12

We not only have God's resourses, we also tap into his power.  The same power that flowed through Jesus is in us.  With great power comes great responsibility.  Do you realize that you hold life in your very hands.  How can we keep silent?  We cannot covet God's power in order to gain more knowledge.  What good is knowledge if it is not used to bring people into a relationship with Jesus?  We must allow God's power to work through us and bring people into a relationship with Jesus Christ.  When we do this we will be closer to God and know him more.

Are You Hiding?

1 Samuel 10 What would it be like to become the first King of Israel? To practically be thrown right into the job. Saul was told by Samuel that he would be the king. It wasn't because God wanted a king but it was because the people of Israel wanted to be like all the other nations. But Samuel didn't want the Israelite king to be like the kings from all the other nations where they made their own rules. He wanted Saul to answer to a higher authority - God. Saul starts out pretty good, but he struggled with insecurity, jealousy, pride and other things throughout his reign. In 1 Samuel 10, we see the first signs of his on/off again allegiance to God. He goes from being inspired boldness to uninspired weakness, all in one chapter. Samuel tells Saul that the Spirit of God will come upon him. And just as Samuel had said, the Spirit does come upon him. Saul meets up with some prophets and he proceeds to speak the words of God along with them. Very commendable and bold. I think that he was coming off of a spiritual high after being with Samuel and hearing all the things that Samuel told him. He was ready and prepared to receive the Spirit. If you are a church leader this is much like what we experience after we get back from a leadership conference. We are hyped and excited about new possibilities God is revealing to us. But this spiritual high ended for Saul. When Samuel was ready to announce Saul as king to the tribes of Israel, Saul hides among the baggage. People had to go look for him and drag him out. Stop for a second and think about that. The bible does not linger on this and it is easy to read right past the significance of him hiding. It would be like the President of the United States hiding backstage and refusing to come out when it was announced the he won the Presidency. Not a good sign of things to come, that's for sure. Maybe it was Saul's fear of the unknown. Like I said at the beginning, he was pretty much thrown into the job. Maybe it was because he was afraid to fail or look stupid in front of his peers. Saul went from allowing the Spirit to reign in Him where he boldly spoke of God, to allowing his insecurities to cause him to cower among the baggage. I can't help but see the parallel in for our lives today. Sometimes, when we are faced with something difficult, we hide, we don't act, we don't go for it like we should. Often, things look impossible to us. We think, "How can I ever get through this?" When things look impossible, I challenge you (and me) to rely on HIM to pull you through. Don't hide from something God is calling you to do or from something that looks impossible. These situations are the perfect time to rely on Him because then you will see Him move and your faith will become stronger.

Longing To Calling

A few weeks ago a friend of mine told me "God's truth is in your DNA". I knew this instintively to be true but seeing it in print intrigued me. I wanted to find proof of it in God's word. A verse I found while reading in Ephesians 2 is one of many that show that God has implanted us with a God longing that can ONLY be filled by God Himself. A God longing is a desire to know Him and to be loved by Him and we don't even know we have it at first. Try as we may to fill our longing with all sorts of other things, only to be left wanting and spiritually parched. Most times we don't realize the source of our condition so we continue to try to fill it with other things...some things may even be good worthy things, but if we are using it as a stand in for God it still won't fulfill the God longing inside of us. Here's the verse in Ephesians 2 I mentioned earlier

For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Ephesians 2:10

So God has something He has already prepared for us to do! How awesome is that? And not just the "talented" people, ALL of us are created to do something amazing for God. It IS in our DNA to be "alive in Christ" (Ephesians 2:4-5) If we are not ALIVE in Christ, then we are DEAD in our sin. If you are a Christ follower you know that it is not always easy to follow Him. We still sometimes feel like sinning, but we have the assurance that God is there to give us strength...not human strength but His un-explainable strength. We cannot withstand our own evil desires or the prowling of Satan on our own. We receive the gift of strength from God. That is a beautiful gift we recieve when we accept Jesus Christ into our lives.

I can do all this through Christ, who gives me strength. Philippians 4:13

And then...when we fail, we turn to Him and receive HIS INCREDIBLE grace. Grace is defined in the dictionary as divine assistance given to humans for their regeneration. Grace is immediate restoration to God and forgiveness. Plain and simple, His absolute forgiveness is immediate and covers all my stupid!

Now back to the original verse that I started with. Let's not forget how Ephesians 2:10 says that we are created to do good works. We have that longing but what good is a longing when it isn't magnified and used by God. Our longing for God will ultimately move us into a calling. When we are seeking Him we will always desire to serve Him in some way. Sometimes it is hard to know what God is calling us to do, but keep seeking and with His leading you will figure it out. It IS in your DNA to live for Him and if you fight it, there will always be an unfulfilled longing and never a realized calling that leads to great reward. (2 Corinthians 5:10; Ephesians 6:7-8)