Tag: Faith

Ideas for going deeper in your faith

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The pastor of my church preached a sermon series on Living Deep and then gave us a list of 14 practical steps to help us go deeper in our faith. I took the liberty of rephrasing a few of them. The most useful piece of advice for me is to look beyond what I can see to the deeper reality of what God is doing behind the scenes.

  1. Trust in God’s loving plans.
  2. Trust in God’s loving protection.
  3. Depend on the Holy Spirit.
  4. Look beyond what you can see to the deeper reality of God’s work.
  5. See yourself through God’s loving eyes. (Examine yourself accurately  based on God’s truth.)
  6. Come out of hiding and confess your brokenness.
  7. Simplify your life and make time with God a priority.
  8. Dive deep and immerse yourself in Scripture.
  9. Remember who you once were and embrace your new identity. (Learn from your history and get wiser.)
  10. Focus on who you are (and can become) rather than on what you should do.
  11. Replace unhealthy thoughts with healthy ones.
  12. Choose the right path each day. (Choose a new direction and start on it again each day.)
  13. Cultivate thankfulness, generosity, and kindness.
  14. Become an everyday vessel for God to use.

And here’s one of my own to grow on:

  • Seek God’s truth and wisdom.

Remember who you once were and embrace your new identity

On By Innermost BeingIn Diving Deep3 Comments

At the end of a sermon series called “Living Deep,” my pastor handed out a list of practical steps to help us go deeper in our faith. He called the ninth step, “learn from your history and get wiser.” When I read this phrase, I thought he meant, learn from your mistakes. But after reading the Bible verses he shared, I think he was saying: “remember who you once were and embrace your new identity.”

One of the verses on the reading list was Deuteronomy 7:6, which says “For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession.”

Although the Old Testament story of God’s chosen people of Israel is not my history, I can relate to it and learn from it. It is a story of rebellion and disobedience, of second chances and God’s unfailing love. In Psalm 105, David reminded the descendants of the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, that God would forever remember the covenant he made. The prophet Jeremiah said that the Lord would make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah.

After reading about God’s chosen people in the Old Testament, I read the Parable of the Wedding Banquet in the New Testament. The last verse, Matthew 22:14, struck me as significant because it says: “For many are invited, but few are chosen.”

The “All about Jesus” website explains what the parable means. Jesus was alluding to the history of the people of Israel. The invited guests who refused to come to the wedding banquet are the descendants of Abraham who turned away from God to worship other gods. God sent deliverers to turn the hearts of his chosen people back to him. Even though his people rejected him, God kept trying to get them back. He warned them. He disciplined them. They were stiff-necked, refusing to repent. God sent messengers or prophets to warn his chosen people that they would be punished. In response, the Israelites killed God’s messengers.

Even so, God – the king who prepared the wedding feast – did not give up on mankind. We are his beloved creation. He made us and he loves us. See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! (1 John 3:1) He loves us so much, he continues to invite the world to his banquet: This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. (1 John 4:9)

Jesus fulfilled the promise of a new covenant and made the old one obsolete (Hebrews 8:13). For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant. (Hebrews 9:15)

Those of us who have accepted the invitation to the wedding feast have a new identity in Christ.

Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth.  But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.  God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are,  so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.”

– 1 Corinthians 26-31

I remember who I was before Jesus – a shy, young girl. I wasn’t special. I certainly wasn’t of noble birth. I felt like I wasn’t good enough. Christ Jesus became my wisdom from God. God values the meek and the lowly. As a young woman, I wandered away from the God who had always been with me. Then about twenty years ago, something bad happened that reminded me how good God is. I remembered who I am in Christ. In him I find my worth, in him I find my identity.

Reading List

Psalm 105
Deuteronomy 7:6
Job 14:5
Isaiah 46:3-4
1 Corinthians 1:26-31 
2 Corinthians 5:17
Colossians 1:16
1 John 3:1; 4:9

You Say (Lauren Daigle)

I keep fighting voices in my mind that say I’m not enough
Every single lie that tells me I will never measure up
Am I more than just the sum of every high and every low?
Remind me once again just who I am because I need to knowYou say I am loved when I can’t feel a thing
You say I am strong when I think I am weak
And You say I am held when I am falling short
And when I don’t belong, oh You say I am Yours
And I believe, oh I believe
What You say of me
I believe

The only thing that matters now is everything You think of me
In You I find my worth, in You I find my identity, o-ooh

You say I am loved when I can’t feel a thing
You say I am strong when I think I am weak
And You say I am held when I am falling short
And when I don’t belong, oh You say I am Yours
And I believe, oh I believe
What You say of me
Oh, I believe

Taking all I have and now I’m laying it at Your feet
You have every failure God, and You’ll have every victory, o-ooh

You say I am loved when I can’t feel a thing
You say I am strong when I think I am weak
You say I am held when I am falling short
When I don’t belong, oh You say I am Yours
And I believe, oh I believe
What You say of me
I believe

Oh I believe
Yes I believe
What You say of me
Oh I believe

Look Beyond What You Can See

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My church recently studied the First Epistle of John in a sermon series on “Living Deep.” At the end of the series, my pastor handed out a list of fourteen steps to help us go deeper in our faith. Step four on his list is “Pray and look beyond what you can see to the deeper realities of God’s work.”

Look beyond what you can see

I have presbyopia. My old eyes need help seeing things that are far away. It is much easier for me to focus on close objects. My mind’s eye also has trouble imagining the future. When my mind is not occupied with work or ordinary daily activities, I tend to worry about the crisis or scandal of the moment. I get discouraged because it feels like evil is winning.

I am limited by what my eyes can see and by what my mind can conceive. How can I look beyond the chaos I see to the deeper reality of God’s work? My pastor said, pray and look beyond. Pray for insight. Pray for wisdom. Pray for understanding. Pray for hope.

According to 1 Corinthians 2, God’s wisdom is revealed by the Holy Spirit. The Spirit reveals deeper spiritual realities to those who love him. The Spirit explains spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words. Not everyone can accept these words. Not everyone can understand these words. But the person who has the Spirit understands spiritual truths because he has been shown the mind of Christ.

However, as it is written:

“What no eye has seen,
    what no ear has heard,
and what no human mind has conceived”—
    the things God has prepared for those who love him—

these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit.

1 Corinthians 2:9-10

The deeper reality of God’s work

The prophet Jeremiah wrote that the Lord has plans for us – plans to prosper us and not to harm us, plans to give us a hope and a future. But even though God promises to make all things work out for the good of those who love him, he doesn’t promise that there will be no trials and tribulations along the way. Suffering produces perseverance, perseverance builds character, and character produces hope.

Now I see things imperfectly. Someday I will see everything with perfect clarity.

When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things. Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.

Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.

1 Corinthians 13:11-13

Mahatma Ghandi had the right perspective: “When I despair, I remember that all through history, the way of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants, and murderers and for a time they can seem invincible, but in the end, they always fall. Think of it – always.”

Ghandi looked beyond what he could see to the invincibility of truth and love. This is the deeper reality of God’s work. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

When I despair, Lord help me to remember that love never fails. Love always prevails.  Always.

Reading List:
Jeremiah 29:11
John 8:32; 10:10
Romans 5:1-21; 9:16
1 Corinthians 3:19
2 Corinthians 5:15
Ephesians 2:8-10; 4:24
Philippians 4:13
1 John 3:19-24

Trust in God’s Loving Plans

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My church studied the First Epistle of John in a sermon series on “Living Deep.” My pastor handed out a list of fourteen steps to help us go deeper in our faith walk. For each step, he listed several scriptures for further study. Step one is Trust in God’s Loving Plans.

Trust in God’s Loving Plans

After the election, my pastor said he thought that people (like me) who were worried about the election of Donald Trump lacked trust in God. The truth is, I don’t trust dishonest, self-centered people. I do trust in the One who knows every corner of  my heart. Why do I trust in God? What does it mean to say that God is in control? Does God really have a plan? Is God sovereign over man’s free will?

Why do I trust in God?
1. I know him and he knows me.

I know my Father, the One who is from the beginning. I trust in him because I know that he is good. God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. (1 John 1:5). God is love. He is merciful and forgiving. He is just. He is honest. He is faithful. He will never leave me nor forsake me. Because God is good, I can trust him to do what is good.

God knows my heart. He knows my every thought, the good and the bad. I can’t hide from him because there is nothing about me that he does not already know. When I call out to him, he hears me. Even when I sin, he still loves me more than I can fathom. What love the Father has lavished, that I should be called a child of God!

Psalm 139:1-4 

You have searched me, Lord,
and you know me.
You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.
You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.
Before a word is on my tongue
you, Lord, know it completely.
2. He leads me on the right path.

I trust him because he shows me how to live right. The Lord is my shepherd. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake. I hear his voice and I follow him. He is my teacher. He teaches me what it means to love others as I love myself. He teaches me to be meek. He teaches me to be humble. He teaches me to be merciful. He teaches me about anger and forgiveness. He shows me how to care for the “least of these.”

He steers me away from the wrong path. He warns me to watch out for false teachers. He tells me to be on guard against wolves in sheep’s clothing. Enter through the narrow gate. The road that leads to life is narrow and few find it.

By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.  A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. – Matthew 7:16-18

3. He restores me.

I trust him because he changes me for the better. He restores my soul. He comforts me and quiets my anxious thoughts. He gives me hope. Even when I face trials, I am grateful because I know that it is for my own good. He searches me, he tests me, he reveals my sins. When my faith is tested, I persevere. When I face challenges, my faith grows. I am strong because his word lives in me.

We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed. – 2 Corinthians 4:8-9

Is God in control?

The first scripture on my reading list was Job 42:10-12, the epilogue to the story of Job that says he lived happily ever after. But you can’t understand Job’s restoration without knowing what he lost. He was a wealthy, righteous man with a healthy fear of God. Yet God allowed Satan to put him through some really awful tests of his faith. He lost everything he had: his children, his servants, his home, the respect of his community. His body was afflicted with painful sores.

Job’s friends were sure that Job had done something to deserve God’s punishment. They lectured him. Job knew that he hadn’t done anything wrong. He cried out to God, but God did not answer. He felt like God had turned on him ruthlessly. Oh, that I had someone to hear me! What have I done to deserve this? So he asked his accuser to answer.

God responded by saying “Who is this that darkens my counsel with words without knowledge?” He asked Job, where were you when I created the earth? Do you know the laws of the heavens? God made the case that he has dominion over all we see, that he is the supreme, intelligent mind behind creation. Who are we to question his plans?

Job was humbled. He despised himself for questioning God. He realized that he spoke of things he did not understand.

I believe that God is sovereign, the supreme power of this world. He was here from the beginning. He sees and knows everything, including the future. God is working behind the scenes in ways that we can’t see, in ways that we can’t comprehend.

What are God’s loving plans?

The reading list my pastor gave us did not directly address God’s plans. God revealed many of his plans in scripture – his plans for creation, his plans for individual people and for nations. God’s specific plans for most of us remain a mystery so we are left to speculate about what they might be.

Here’s what I do know: God’s loving plan for mankind is summed up in John 3:16 –  For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. He has a grand, loving plan for redeeming and restoring this broken world.

God promises that everything will work out for the good of those who love him. There was a time when I got hung up on what God’s plan was for my life. What was my purpose? Was I missing out on a calling? But now I believe that as long as I follow him and seek him, his plans for me will fall into place.

God’s sovereignty or man’s free will?

This issue of free will was not addressed in the scriptures my pastor provided on trusting God’s plans but it has been weighing on my mind. In these troubled times, some evangelicals use “trust in God” as a euphemism for “don’t resist” their chosen, worldly leader. They cite Romans 13 as proof that Christians should submit to all civil authorities. But if God is sovereign over us, we should ask, who are the higher powers of Romans 13? Why would God demand that I submit myself to the authority of a wicked man whose ways and plans are contrary to his?

When I wrote about how upset I am about this administration, my sister pointed out that God uses imperfect people. This is true. She quoted the prophet Daniel who said (Daniel 2:21), “He changes times and seasons; he set up kings and deposes them.” In other words, God set up King Trump so trust that his presidency is God’s will?

I studied the book of Daniel myself and even memorized the verse about God setting up kings. But I have a real problem with selectively using scriptures like this to justify the choices that people make. If I believed that Daniel’s prophecy applied to all leaders, I would have to believe that God set up Hitler and every evil leader who ever lived. I would then conclude that God is not good because a good God would not choose a leader that he knows is going to commit atrocities. God does not need to use wicked people to carry out his plan. No, not every leader is ordained of God.

Is God like a puppeteer pulling all the strings or do our choices matter? Are we blaming God for bad outcomes that we brought about on our own? From the beginning, we have had the free will to do things that do not fulfill God’s intentions. Human beings are selfish and greedy and we tend to pursue our own self-interests. We have plans that are not consistent with God’s. Woe to those who carry out plans that are not his.

Many are the plans in a man’s heart , but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails. – Proverbs 19:21

“Woe to the obstinate children,” declares the LORD, “to those who carry out plans that are not mine, forming an alliance, but not by my Spirit, heaping sin upon sin.” – Isaiah 30:1

I trust that God intends what is good: feeding the hungry, freeing the oppressed, caring for immigrants and refugees, putting an end to war and strife. These are loving plans. I trust that in time God’s intentions will come to fruition despite the circumstances that human beings create when we exercise free will.

I trust in God’s loving plans. My spiritual challenge is not a lack of trust in God’s loving plans but a lack of patience. I am impatient for God to fix the wrongs. My challenge is not a lack of trust but a lack of understanding of how this all fits into God’s grand plan to redeem mankind. It’s hard for me to understand why anyone has to suffer and why evil people seem to get away with doing wrong. So I must take heart and wait for the Lord.

Reading List:

Job 42:10-12
Psalm 23: 1-6
Psalm 139:23-24
John 10:27-29
James 1:3-4
2 Corinthians 4:8-9
1 John 2:12-24, 3:19, 5:13-14

I Would Walk 500 Miles

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This month, I ran a 6.5 mile leg of a marathon relay. After three or four miles, I noticed that the refrain of 500 Miles (I’m Gonna Be) was playing in my head – the only words I knew. Later, I looked up the lyrics. At all times, no matter what the singer is doing, he is so devoted to the one he loves that he’ll go twice the distance.

But I would walk 500 miles
And I would walk 500 more
Just to be the man who walks a thousand miles
To fall down at your door

Before this song got stuck in my head, I had been thinking about writing a retrospective post about the past 500 days – about the spiritual angst I feel as a follower of Christ living under the Trump presidency. But the song made me think that I should be looking forward and not backward.

When I am drowning, I know I’m gonna be,
I’m gonna be the sinner saved by you.
When I’m hurting, I know I’m gonna be,
I’m gonna be the one healed by you.
When I’m lost, yeah I know I’m gonna be
I’m gonna be a disciple following you.
When this world falls apart, dear Lord, I’m gonna be
I’m gonna be the one trusting you.
But I would walk 500 miles
And I would walk 500 more
Just to be the one who walks a thousand miles
To stand outside your door.

Before I ran my relay, I went through several weeks of training to improve my speed and endurance. When we all finished, everyone of us got a medal, just like those who ran the whole distance.

I am not running to get a medal that will not last. My reward is eternal life with Jesus.

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. – 1 Corinthians 9:24-26 (NIV)

via Daily Prompt: Retrospective