Greetings,
I talked with a young lady today who has been through many foster care homes and has only recently been placed in a “forever home.” She is 14 and is thoughtful and intelligent. We began talking about what she thinks about when someone says that she is God’s child and what that makes her feel. She said it doesn’t make a lot of sense to her. She can recognize it as it relates to other people but she doesn’t really know what that means for her personally.
I find myself thinking often that if people understand that God is their father, they should find security in that. If people just realized that in Christ’s eyes they are significant, secure and accepted, they would be able to rest in that identity. What this girl reminded me is that without a positive fatherly experience, a personal and practical application of God as a protector, defender, provider, comforter and approachable is nearly impossible.
If I said, "draw a tiger," you probably could draw something that could be distinguishable as a tiger. What if I asked you what a tiger sounds like when it is happy? Or what belly of a tiger feels like? Or what is it like to have a tiger lying in your lap? Very few people could tell me because only a few of us have experienced that. I could explain to you the chuffing sound they make when they are happy. I could describe something similar in feel to the underbelly of a tiger. I could describe the awe of having a tiger laying across your lap as you hug it and pet it. All of it falls short of experiencing it yourself.
Most everyone knows what the responsibility of a father is supposed to be, even if you’ve never had one or if you had a bad one. But not everyone has experienced the love of a father. What does it mean to be God’s child to a person who has never known what it is like to be anyone’s child? That is a tough emotional puzzle to solve.
Psalm 139 describes an amazing display of who God is and His care for me. I told this young lady to read it and apply it to her. That God wants her to know that she is valuable, significant, accepted and secure even if she doesn’t feel it. Give it a try. Maybe you didn’t have a good dad or any dad. Maybe you relate well with this young lady. It could be that God wants to say to you today, "You are valuable; you are significant; you are accepted; and you are secure."
If you trust that Jesus took the penalty for your sins on himself, if you believe that he rose from the dead, claiming victory over the enemy and over death--if you believe that in your heart and confess it with your mouth, you are indeed a child of God and this message is for you.
I love you,
Chris
Greetings,
"So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him… And God blessed them. And God said to them, 'Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.'" Genesis 1:27-28
"For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now." Romans 8:22
The thought that God has shared the responsibility to control and have dominion of His creation with us is a humbling and terrifying thought. Throughout history, humans have done a lot to subdue creation. With subduing comes tough lessons. I am sure that we don’t know the name of the first man who attempted to tame a wild tiger--for a good reason. He became the guy everyone looked to for what not to do.
Wise generations look to the ones before them to learn what to do as well as what not to do. That is one of the reasons that I love history. I was teaching my girls about the 1932 dust bowl and the natural consequences of the combination of heightened innovation and ignorance and some poor timing. In hindsight, we should have known what was going to happen. It was our ignorance, having never experienced such incredible machinery and production before at a time of a great drought that brought us today's knowledge. Through much pain and suffering came proper practices of plowing, grazing, irrigating and general crop production in the USA that will, hopefully, prevent us from learning that lesson again.
The work of subduing creation should be a blessing. However, because of the unfaithful sinfulness of mankind, all of creation is now groaning and awaiting death and the hope of a new life. The whole of creation groaning isn’t due to some new climate change issue. If we believe scripture to be accurate, creation groaning is also not something that we can stop from happening. Of course, we should all be good stewards of the responsibility that we have been given as the children of God. We are ordained by God to produce fruit in order to bring about multiplication, fill the earth, subdue it and have dominion over it--all of it. It should be a given that we maintain healthy practices and wisdom in our dominion. To honor the Lord and to obey the command to multiply. This multiplication is not just in people but in all the ways--to feed the people and take good care of the people.
The issue of the earth groaning is meaningless, though, if we do not believe the scripture. If we don’t believe that God created us. If we don’t know that it is our job to subdue it and do so fruitfully. If we somehow think that education minus God is going to motivate humanity to alter our course from greed to grateful, we are sadly mistaken. This “woke” culture that we live in is in need of a great reminder that we are the created beings, humbly given the task in partnership with the Creator to tend to this blessing that we have been given.
Without God we, in our pride, believe that we are the solution to the earth’s groaning. One thing I think we can all agree on is that it is because of mankind that Earth will see its ultimate end. Not because we drive, fly, or create plastics, or due to big cities or the flatulence of herds of cattle, but because of sin.
Repent and believe that the Lord Jesus, the Creator of heaven and earth, takes away the sin of the world. This world and its desires, its greed, pride, and arrogance, will all pass away but the one who does the will of God will live forever (1 John 2:17).
Love ya,
Chris
Greetings,
There are some things that we as Christians are called to do that are considered awkward and perhaps socially bizarre. For example, baptism--the act of being submerged under water to publicly confess Christ and provide a picture of what Christ did for us. It is a beautiful symbol and an obedient act of faith, yet it’s weird and kind of awkward if you think of the act alone and not the spiritual implications.
We have been going through the great letter to the Hebrews on Sunday mornings and talking about the supremacy of Christ. Each week, I have challenged us as individuals to engage in conversations with others about the supremacy of Christ.
I know, I know, that is a big ask! How do you move from water cooler conversations to "Jesus is the most important and all supreme authority in heaven and earth?" It can be awkward and socially intimidating to bring up such a weighty topic.
I was recently approached by a man in a parking lot and I moved the conversation abruptly from someone stealing his bike to the supremacy of Christ. Although it was a harsh transition, it colored the remainder of our conversation with a focus on eternal perspective. You may think, “Chris, you’re a pastor, of course you would do that.” Or “Chris, your spiritual gift is in evangelism, so it comes easily.” Actually, my spiritual gift is not evangelism and even if I weren’t a pastor, I would try to be purposeful about telling people about Jesus.
It's important to consider that you might be the best possible person to discuss the supremacy of Christ with someone. Imagine an older married couple, for example. Maybe the wife has been really passionate about proclaiming the gospel to a wayward son or daughter, and she has exhausted all of her approaches and now feels she would push her child away if she continues to share. It may be that the husband, who has remained quiet about such issues previously, could set up a meeting with the adult child and have a serious heart to heart with the child about why he loves Jesus and how important Christ is to him. Sometimes, the people closest to us don’t really know why Jesus is so powerful to us because someone else uses all the spiritual oxygen. Your approach of honestly proclaiming who Jesus is to you and why He has changed your life may be the very word that they need to hear from the very person they need to hear it from.
Only the Holy Spirit can prepare a person's heart for the transforming power of Christ. However, we are to be obedient, risking looking foolish and socially awkward for the hope that the Holy Spirit works in the lives of some.
I’m praying for every person at Way of Life to be bold in their faith and proclaim the great news of hope and salvation in Christ!
Love ya,
Chris