I'm recovering from a cold, and the question I like to ask is "Do you think I'm getting better?" because I really want to know if it will end now or very soon. And the answer I usually hear involves the words "this shows your body is healing." The word "heal" is a word I like to hear these days. It's a slow and steady process, but it means I'll soon be back to normal.
It reminds me of how powerful that word is in the Bible. One instance of it is "I have seen his ways, but I will heal him" (Isaiah 57:18). On the days I'm feeling the sickest with my cold, I love to hear that it will get better. It will heal and is healing. And we can feel that way as Christians. On the days when we feel the worst, we can know that God is helping us grow and he's a forgiving God. Jesus' death and resurrection, and our faith in that, allows this to be true.
That reminds me of these verses: "He who was seated on the throne said, 'Behold, I am making all things new'" (Romans 21:5).
Showing posts with label Christian growth. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Christian growth. Show all posts
Saturday, December 12, 2015
Saturday, June 13, 2015
Patience: Why It's Worth Praying For
"Don't pray for patience!" The "joke" usually starts off like this and continues: "If you do, then God will allow some situation to really try your patience so that you will have a chance to grow in it! No one wants to have a difficult situation like that. Bad things happen. It's hard to be patient." I've heard this joke when I was a teen, and I admit I laughed the first time.
But over the years, it's hard to laugh at it because I realize now patience is so closely tied to hope and growth in general. How do people become good at writing or good at a profession or a hobby? Well, over the years I've noticed, by just participating and being there, what I painfully knew I couldn't do--to think of certain words that are just right when I need them (I tend to write and edit)--actually happen much more often and easily now. It happened just by patiently watching, reading, and practicing over many years. That was patience. The opposite of patience would be to rage and give up.
We hear grand stories of people who somehow were experts or had great success in something in a small amount of time and hope we are like that. But honestly that is rare, and that's why we hear about it.
Or most likely, we see a finished piece of anything, and think it must be easy. But when we get there, we wonder why it's so hard. Like writing. As I studied it, I've been told that the best writing, the ones with smaller snappier words that seem like conversation or compelling, are sometimes the hardest and take the longest to write. You would have never guessed by just reading it, unless you've endeavored to be a writer and experienced it.
I think patience is hard to want because we felt like as a child patience was always what we were told to do when it was so hard. Filled with energy, we didn't want to wait. Excited over the smallest things, we were ready to go now. And we had to depend on our parents to do many things like go somewhere. Now we're older, but in a consumer culture getting things now is much better than waiting.
Wisdom and Patience: How They Work Together
Along with patience helping us grow in a hobby or skill, patience is also a big part of much wisdom. Want to be wise with money? Learn how to save and invest. Saving and investing is basically being patient in not using that money now.
Also, fearing/respecting God is wisdom, and to do that we need to be patient in allowing what we want to happen in God's timing, or being okay if things work out differently than we wanted or imagined. We recognize that God is all-wise and all-good, so what he allows is good for us and him.
How to Respond to "God Allowing Trying Events"
If patience is a big part of wisdom, why not pray for more of it? If we're worried like the joke says, that we'll have another trying event if we do pray for it, and that we can't handle one more hard thing in our life, maybe it is a good time for patience. Part of patience is knowing that life is hard in general and letting it go--not worrying about it that much and knowing that this too shall pass in time and focusing on what matters most and the process of things.
It's possible that we're ignoring the fact that much of life, if we've taken on normal responsibilities of school or work, are filled with times to be patient: Human relationships require patience because of human error from all sorts of things: misunderstandings in communication based on differences in values, personality, or culture; lack of sleep or food can cause grumpiness or mistakes; and even at our best, we still make mistakes. And just the way our world is, whether we pray for patience or not, our car will break down at some point or a new or unexpected bill arrives in our mailbox. Life, if we're living it well, is full of times that require patience. But it's totally worth it.
So I'd say take the risk to pray for patience. It's worth it, especially since it's so helpful in everyday life when you grow in it. Even if soon after you pray for patience you experience one of the hardest times of your life, there will be years after where you benefit from how at that time you learned how to more quietly and confidently weather difficulties. What if each time you prayed for patience, the helpful stuff you learned in tough times spread to all areas of life for years ahead.
The key is to continue to be open and willing to learn. Some people stop caring about learning as they get older, convinced they feel fine and are probably right about, well, everything. But we are called to be humble in learning from God's Word, which applies to all of areas of life and living. In difficult times we may be able to learn something. Not always, but sometimes.
But over the years, it's hard to laugh at it because I realize now patience is so closely tied to hope and growth in general. How do people become good at writing or good at a profession or a hobby? Well, over the years I've noticed, by just participating and being there, what I painfully knew I couldn't do--to think of certain words that are just right when I need them (I tend to write and edit)--actually happen much more often and easily now. It happened just by patiently watching, reading, and practicing over many years. That was patience. The opposite of patience would be to rage and give up.
We hear grand stories of people who somehow were experts or had great success in something in a small amount of time and hope we are like that. But honestly that is rare, and that's why we hear about it.
Or most likely, we see a finished piece of anything, and think it must be easy. But when we get there, we wonder why it's so hard. Like writing. As I studied it, I've been told that the best writing, the ones with smaller snappier words that seem like conversation or compelling, are sometimes the hardest and take the longest to write. You would have never guessed by just reading it, unless you've endeavored to be a writer and experienced it.
I think patience is hard to want because we felt like as a child patience was always what we were told to do when it was so hard. Filled with energy, we didn't want to wait. Excited over the smallest things, we were ready to go now. And we had to depend on our parents to do many things like go somewhere. Now we're older, but in a consumer culture getting things now is much better than waiting.
Wisdom and Patience: How They Work Together
Along with patience helping us grow in a hobby or skill, patience is also a big part of much wisdom. Want to be wise with money? Learn how to save and invest. Saving and investing is basically being patient in not using that money now.
Also, fearing/respecting God is wisdom, and to do that we need to be patient in allowing what we want to happen in God's timing, or being okay if things work out differently than we wanted or imagined. We recognize that God is all-wise and all-good, so what he allows is good for us and him.
How to Respond to "God Allowing Trying Events"
If patience is a big part of wisdom, why not pray for more of it? If we're worried like the joke says, that we'll have another trying event if we do pray for it, and that we can't handle one more hard thing in our life, maybe it is a good time for patience. Part of patience is knowing that life is hard in general and letting it go--not worrying about it that much and knowing that this too shall pass in time and focusing on what matters most and the process of things.
It's possible that we're ignoring the fact that much of life, if we've taken on normal responsibilities of school or work, are filled with times to be patient: Human relationships require patience because of human error from all sorts of things: misunderstandings in communication based on differences in values, personality, or culture; lack of sleep or food can cause grumpiness or mistakes; and even at our best, we still make mistakes. And just the way our world is, whether we pray for patience or not, our car will break down at some point or a new or unexpected bill arrives in our mailbox. Life, if we're living it well, is full of times that require patience. But it's totally worth it.
So I'd say take the risk to pray for patience. It's worth it, especially since it's so helpful in everyday life when you grow in it. Even if soon after you pray for patience you experience one of the hardest times of your life, there will be years after where you benefit from how at that time you learned how to more quietly and confidently weather difficulties. What if each time you prayed for patience, the helpful stuff you learned in tough times spread to all areas of life for years ahead.
The key is to continue to be open and willing to learn. Some people stop caring about learning as they get older, convinced they feel fine and are probably right about, well, everything. But we are called to be humble in learning from God's Word, which applies to all of areas of life and living. In difficult times we may be able to learn something. Not always, but sometimes.
Sunday, November 16, 2014
Christlikeness
Often people like to talk about being or becoming more like Christ but underestimate the difficulty. Christ is perfect and we are imperfect people.
That doesn't mean we shouldn't try, and the good news is that the Holy Spirit helps every Christian in this. Through the Holy Spirit, God offers us help, even when we feel weak.
"It is the Spirit of God that enables us to grow and begin to keep his commandments. Each day we grow a bit by faith," Danny writes in "The Relationship of Justification and Works."
"Two of the Holy Spirit's chief delights are to show us the glory of Christ and to change us into the image of Christ," says John Stott in Life in Christ. "Sanctification is the process by which we are being transformed into the image of Christ by the Spirit of Christ."
In the book, Stott offers this example:
For more on this topic:
That doesn't mean we shouldn't try, and the good news is that the Holy Spirit helps every Christian in this. Through the Holy Spirit, God offers us help, even when we feel weak.
"It is the Spirit of God that enables us to grow and begin to keep his commandments. Each day we grow a bit by faith," Danny writes in "The Relationship of Justification and Works."
"Two of the Holy Spirit's chief delights are to show us the glory of Christ and to change us into the image of Christ," says John Stott in Life in Christ. "Sanctification is the process by which we are being transformed into the image of Christ by the Spirit of Christ."
In the book, Stott offers this example:
William Temple helped people in his day to grasp the Christian way of holiness by drawing an analogy between Shakespeare and Jesus, and declaring the impossibility of copying either. How could we ever write plays like Shakespeare's? How could we ever live a life like Christ's? It is impossible. The very suggestion is ludicrous. Ah, but if the genius of Shakespeare were able to enter us, then we could write plays like him, and if the Spirit of Jesus were able to enter us, then we could live a life like him. The good news is that although we cannot have the genius of Shakespeare we can have the Spirit of Jesus! The Christian way of holiness is not that we struggle to live like Jesus but that he by his Spirit comes to live in us.Some verses on the Spirit's work in becoming Christlike are 2 Corinthians 3:18, Romans 8:5-9, and Galatians 5:22-23.
For more on this topic:
- "Christian love is supernatural in origin. It flows from our union with Christ in his death and the Holy Spirit working in our hearts," Danny writes in "Christian Living is Based on the Gospel."
- "When we dig into the word, God can cause incredible things to happen if he dwells in our heart," Danny says in "Christianity Is About a Relationship."
- "When a man accepts Jesus and begins to be transformed by sanctification through the work of the Holy Spirit he becomes who he was always meant to be," Danny writes in "Becoming Somone." "When we follow God in faith our lives are enriched."
Friday, November 14, 2014
Complexity in Life and Faith
Life is full of complexity. You see the multifaceted nature of everything when you study something for a day, or a year, or even decades. That's how long it takes to truly attempt to learn all the details of something at times.
The same goes for knowing the Bible, God, and living a Christian life. Often people want it to be simple: Hear the message once and respond, and that's it. Or go to church, and you've got it. Those are good thing, but there's more.
The gospel is simple in a way. But it also has a beautiful depth to it too. When you accept Christ, all you need to know are some basic truths. But after that, growing in knowledge is important.
What more is there to grow in knowledge, you may be asking. Here's a starter list to help you see what topics there are:
Learning about these things can aid in living in a Christian way.
The same goes for knowing the Bible, God, and living a Christian life. Often people want it to be simple: Hear the message once and respond, and that's it. Or go to church, and you've got it. Those are good thing, but there's more.
The gospel is simple in a way. But it also has a beautiful depth to it too. When you accept Christ, all you need to know are some basic truths. But after that, growing in knowledge is important.
What more is there to grow in knowledge, you may be asking. Here's a starter list to help you see what topics there are:
- Grace. The true meaning of grace.
- Law/Commands/Sin. How this relates to grace, too, but we must first see why we need and are given grace. And learning how God's commands really are good for us.
- Wisdom. Since life is complex, sometime discernment and good judgment are needed. The Bible helps us in learning wisdom.
- Love. What it means to truly live out those two commands. It is active and much more. I've created a list of 6 posts on loving others.
- How God has related to humans throughout history. This includes feeling loved and accepted by Christ if you're a Christian.
- The Trinity.
Learning about these things can aid in living in a Christian way.
Thursday, November 6, 2014
Learning About God
When we study God's Word and think through what living a Christian life means, it's important to think about who God is and how he relates to people. Often it's easy to take a passage of Scripture and only think about what that means for what we should do. That's fine to do at some point, but it's important to be sure we take time to think about what it means about God and how he relates to us.
If we never study or think about God's power and strength, and how he uses it to help us, it might be much harder to cast our anxieties and burdens on Christ (Psalm 55:22 and 1 Peter 5:7, ESV). Knowing about God's power helps us to be able to respond to God's call.
If we never study God's mercy and gentleness to his people, including us, then we might find it hard to be merciful and gentle to others and ourselves out of love.
If we never study God's pure holiness and goodness, we might not realize how extremely blessed we are to even get a chance to talk to him.
Some people worry that a lot of theology isn't practical, but how we view God and how he relates to us definitely affects the way we live. We should also of course see what the Bible has to say about humans too.
While learning the attributes of God is of great importance, it's more important to see God as he interacts in history—how the Christian God is a personal God. Read more on this in Danny's article "God Known through Actions."
Danny also wrote about how theology speaks to all areas of life in "Theology as a Meta-Discipline."
If we never study or think about God's power and strength, and how he uses it to help us, it might be much harder to cast our anxieties and burdens on Christ (Psalm 55:22 and 1 Peter 5:7, ESV). Knowing about God's power helps us to be able to respond to God's call.
If we never study God's mercy and gentleness to his people, including us, then we might find it hard to be merciful and gentle to others and ourselves out of love.
If we never study God's pure holiness and goodness, we might not realize how extremely blessed we are to even get a chance to talk to him.
Some people worry that a lot of theology isn't practical, but how we view God and how he relates to us definitely affects the way we live. We should also of course see what the Bible has to say about humans too.
While learning the attributes of God is of great importance, it's more important to see God as he interacts in history—how the Christian God is a personal God. Read more on this in Danny's article "God Known through Actions."
Danny also wrote about how theology speaks to all areas of life in "Theology as a Meta-Discipline."
Wednesday, October 29, 2014
Why Long-Time Christians Still Need to Hear and Think on the Gospel
The good news of the gospel always applies and affects Christians, even ones who've been Christians for a very long time.
I heard someone say once that he's heard the gospel story, so he'd rather not hear it again. He knows it. So why mention it again?
A major reason for needing to hear it again and again is that we all have a human nature. All of us have a nature that leans toward distraction and chasing after trivial things at times. So we need to be reminded of God's part in our lives then and now because of Christ's work for us.
Often when we hear how we were not worthy of fellowship with God but we are through Jesus's work and faith, we feel compelled to praise and worship and do good works.
We are also learning over time. When we read about certain accounts of Jesus in the gospels, we might see some detail that really shows us more the mind or love of Christ. Or how it relates to certain situations in our daily lives.
Not only in preaching or worship songs can we be reminded of the gospel, but it's important to include this in our devotional times too. Some devotions may only speak of how we need to do better--but really we need to be sure at times that we think about Christ being the reason we don't have to constantly think we have to do better. We can rest in him. We can know that everything will end well in a sense. And that often helps give us the peace and courage to do what we're commanded by God. There are times when we do need to think about doing better, but that shouldn't fill up the entirety of our devotional time. There is a place for worship too.
I heard someone say once that he's heard the gospel story, so he'd rather not hear it again. He knows it. So why mention it again?
A major reason for needing to hear it again and again is that we all have a human nature. All of us have a nature that leans toward distraction and chasing after trivial things at times. So we need to be reminded of God's part in our lives then and now because of Christ's work for us.
Often when we hear how we were not worthy of fellowship with God but we are through Jesus's work and faith, we feel compelled to praise and worship and do good works.
We are also learning over time. When we read about certain accounts of Jesus in the gospels, we might see some detail that really shows us more the mind or love of Christ. Or how it relates to certain situations in our daily lives.
Not only in preaching or worship songs can we be reminded of the gospel, but it's important to include this in our devotional times too. Some devotions may only speak of how we need to do better--but really we need to be sure at times that we think about Christ being the reason we don't have to constantly think we have to do better. We can rest in him. We can know that everything will end well in a sense. And that often helps give us the peace and courage to do what we're commanded by God. There are times when we do need to think about doing better, but that shouldn't fill up the entirety of our devotional time. There is a place for worship too.
Friday, October 3, 2014
Hope for the Weak: Sanctification
Post by
Michelle Dowell, Contributor
God will continue and finish the good work in each one of us that he started, the Bible says (Phil. 1:6). When a person sees a personal area of weakness that continues to be that way, it can be disheartening to that person.
It may be a desire for more patience, less worry, or some other godly trait. Even though there might be some growth over time, there's that trap of comparison to others and a concept of perfection.
But the good news is that it's not our power alone that can help us grow. God is working in this world, in our hearts at times. If we believe in the sovereignty of God, it's not hard to believe that God has power to help each one of us grow over time (sanctification), and he says he will. Sanctification is the term for this, one word that means a sentence full of words.
If we are truly Christian, he promises to help us. The good work won't be complete until he returns, but we will be growing over time--possibly a step back here and there, but overall in the end farther than where we started.
If we are truly Christian, God's love for us and our love and gratitude to him makes us want to grow and be less weak. Our faith sometimes shows us our weakness more clearly: We care more deeply and therefore see more deeply.
It also means that it's a process. Wherever we go, there are ads selling us things that we hope will make us truly happy or solve some problem permanently. Whether or not that's the case for the product, this is not the case for our lives. There's no quick fix or total perfection gained at any point. But we don't need to be perfect to be loved, to be told "well done."
Michelle Dowell, Contributor
God will continue and finish the good work in each one of us that he started, the Bible says (Phil. 1:6). When a person sees a personal area of weakness that continues to be that way, it can be disheartening to that person.
It may be a desire for more patience, less worry, or some other godly trait. Even though there might be some growth over time, there's that trap of comparison to others and a concept of perfection.
But the good news is that it's not our power alone that can help us grow. God is working in this world, in our hearts at times. If we believe in the sovereignty of God, it's not hard to believe that God has power to help each one of us grow over time (sanctification), and he says he will. Sanctification is the term for this, one word that means a sentence full of words.
If we are truly Christian, he promises to help us. The good work won't be complete until he returns, but we will be growing over time--possibly a step back here and there, but overall in the end farther than where we started.
If we are truly Christian, God's love for us and our love and gratitude to him makes us want to grow and be less weak. Our faith sometimes shows us our weakness more clearly: We care more deeply and therefore see more deeply.
It also means that it's a process. Wherever we go, there are ads selling us things that we hope will make us truly happy or solve some problem permanently. Whether or not that's the case for the product, this is not the case for our lives. There's no quick fix or total perfection gained at any point. But we don't need to be perfect to be loved, to be told "well done."
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