Quotable friday

So I am currently reading a book for school, "The Critical Journey". This book outlines 6 stages in our faith journey. The last stage is called life of love and one line in particular caught my eye in the chapter. Here is the line for my quotable Friday.

"In constant dialogue with God, our lives are permeated with unconditional love".

I Want To Know You - by Sonicflood

I have been singing this all week.

Can I present the good news?

I believe there are many qualities of a good minister of the gospel, too many in fact to list and make this a short answer rather than a book. But I also think there are 5 key qualities that not only make a good minister of the gospel but also impact the gospel that is being ministered. They are as follows.

Humility- The gospel is not about us and not designed for out glory. The gospel is about God and His plan which was carried out through Jesus, His son, with the serviced of the Holy Spirit in our lives. So a minister of the gospel must not have pride and must have a humble realization that they are serving a sovereign and holy God. Jesus is the greatest example of a minister of the gospel and the gospel is because of Him and Jesus was the most humble and gracious person on earth. The minister of the gospel must be humble enough to direct others to Jesus and show them His power that changes lives. They must also be humble enough to realize it is about Jesus and not about them and be full of all ever time God uses them to save or care for someone else with the gospel. The minister of the gospel cannot do anything until they are humble enough to let God use them to spread His message of Jesus and the cross. Humility must be the foundation and cornerstone of the minister caring out the gospel in action and deed for God.

Courage- 1 Peter reminds us that Jesus was rejected by the world. This means fro those who stand with Jesus and tell others about this amazing man and story (the gospel) the world will reject us also. That means it takes courage to go into the world and make disciples and tell others what Jesus and God have and do for us. A minister of the gospel will be rejected and persecuted continually in the world, so courage is needed. A minister of the gospel inside the church will have to stand against sin and Satan as they equip and live around other fallen but saved humans. This stand for truth and living in a world of sin, even with brothers and sister in Christ, must take courage. 

Hope- The gospel changes us as people into a people of hope. The gospel itself gives us hope in the future in that there is a place of perfection and eternal bliss that when this life is over we have hope in God. But hope is also give in the moment in that now God is for us and showers grace and mercy on us each day in every moment and circumstance. When we have hope because of the gospel it affects our heart and is an outward sign of the gospel in action. To be a minister of the gospel than one must have hope that the gospel will change and impact others the same it impacted us.

Joy- Jesus in the midst of suffering was still filled with joy. Paul commands us to rejoice in the Lord through all circumstances in life. So joy must be a part of gospel ministry. If the person ministering the gospel does not have joy, no one he is ministering to will first want any part the that gospel and secondly those around his ministry will not want to be around a person not full of joy. Joy is another outward sign of a heart for the gospel.

Love- The gospel is a love story between God and mankind through His Son Jesus. So how can the person ministering and living out the gospel not have love also? Not only must a gospel minister have love in his life he must minister through and with love. Love must flow from his lips not only to those inside the church but also outside of the church. Love must flow from his actions with what he is doing in ministry for the church but also to the world. Love is a quality that when the world see, they see Jesus and the gospel in action. Love must be a foundation of not only the gospel but also the works of the gospel.

"I want to know You"

I have had this song running through my head all day. I have been studying the passage for this Sunday's teaching time and Paul writes a line about knowing Jesus and His surpassing greatness. I started to hum the tune and have been singing it since.

In the secret, in the quiet place
In the stillness You are there
In the secret, in the quiet hour
I wait only for You
Cause, I want to know You more

I want to know You
I want to hear Your voice
I want to know You more
I want to touch You
I want to see Your face
I want to know You more
I am reaching for the highest goal
That I might receive the prize
Pressing onward, pushing every hindrance aside
Out of my way
Cause, I want to know You more

I want to know You
I want to hear Your voice
I want to know You more
I want to touch You
I want to see Your face
I want to know You more

Paid Ransom

Mark 10:45
"Even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many".

Jesus ransoms us from the wrath of God, which means that we never need to fear His condemnation if we trust in Christ alone for our salvation. In ransoming us from God's wrath, our Savior also rescues us from the bondage to sin and Satan. That means that we are no longer compelled, held by, and under sin but may be able to please the Lord through our love of God first, and love of neighbor second. As Christians, let us live out our reality that we are in Jesus Christ, and that daily we can turn from sin and walk in the light of his ways by the power of His Holy Spirit.

Jesus name

Psalms 23:3
"He leads me in paths of righteousness for His name's sake"

This is a verse that most of us memorized as kids in Sunday School and is also part of one of the most famous passages of Scripture, the 23rd Psalm. But I have discovered that this simple sentence contains a full course of God's truth and teaching. There are 3 important things from this simple sentence that I would like to take a look at tonight and remind us of the importance of our Shepherd.

1)"He leads me". God guides us in our Christian walk if we can just look at and listen to Him. God through Jesus is the great shepherd and truly cares and loves His sheep. God through Jesus has made a covenant with us and through that relationship cares deeply and is committed to our well being. If we truly look and listen to Jesus, He has our best and spiritual heart in mind with every decisions and path He sets before us. Now I am not saying that God will speak audibly to us and give us a direct revelation on what we are supposed to do but God guides us. God gave us His word, His bride, and His world to help lead and refine us. Jesus is our guide in this life and if we let Him will bring us whole into the next life with no regrets. But the fact is we miss Jesus leading and guiding all the time because of our sin nature, the distractions of this world, and the influence of Satan. Jesus is still there though caring, loving, and nurturing us, waiting for us to get back on His path and follow the life He has called us to. Next time we feel lost and at a loss for what to do or where to turn, I bet Jesus is there waiting to lead us if we only stop and go to His word and find His path again. Jesus is the Perfect Shepherd so let Him lead.

2)"paths of righteousness" Jesus leads us only ever in paths that are right. Righteousness means doing what is right, in the sense of meeting all obligations and displaying all relevant forms of virtue, goodwill, and Biblical truth.So what happens when our paths and life get off of the righteousness track? It is not because of Jesus that we fell off the wrong path, it is because of us. Jesus will lead us perfectly and never cause us to stumble, trip up, or commit an act of sin. We do all that by ourselves. So next time when we find that life and the course that is being laid out is wrong and not right, find out what shepherd we are following. I guarantee that it is not Jesus the perfect Shepherd that is being followed. Jesus only ever leads us in the right directions and in the paths to our growth and betterment and righteousness.

3)"for His name sake". Here is the crux of the matter. Why does Jesus lead us faithfully and direct us perfectly into the paths of righteousness? The answer might surprise us because Jesus does all that not for us but for Himself. God cares first and foremost about His own glory and reputation. So that is why Jesus leads us as the Great Shepherd, for His own reputation and spreading of His fame. God's first passion is for Himself and in His amazing choosing and grace, He uses us in this passion. Wow! God uses me to worship and spread His reputation and that is the bottom line of Him leading me. We tend to get caught up too much in ourselves and think it is about us. We even think that about the cross sometimes, that it was about me and what Jesus did for me. That is correct to say but at the bottom line of the cross is the reputation of God and the spread of His glory. And this is why Jesus leads us in paths of righteousness, to spread His fame, glory, majesty, and reputation. So when we are not being led by Jesus and going our own way we might not be sinning but we are sinning because we are stopping the reputation of our Savior from being spread.

So the simple question is, "Are we spreading the reputation of Jesus by following His leading in our lives?"

Final Marriage Quote-the vows

I, ..., take you, ..., just as you are, to share the whole of my life as my wife in a Christ centered marriage. I promise to love you even as Christ loved the church and gave Himself for her. With God’s help, I will love you and cherish you at all times, in all circumstances. I will value and respect you for the person you are and the wife you will be to me. I promise to provide the necessary leadership to establish our home under the Lordship of Jesus as we serve Him together to the glory of God. I love you.

I, ..., take you, ..., just as you are, to share the whole of my life as my husband in a Christ centered marriage. I promise to love and respect you, even as the church is subject to Jesus, my Savior. With God’s help, I will love you at all times and in all circumstances. I will value and respect you for the person you are and the husband you will be to me. I promise to work with you to establish our home under the Lordship of Jesus as we serve Him together to the glory of God. I love you also.

Quotable Friday-the wedding vows

Who are you kidding...i am not posting these until tomorrow night after the ceremony. Check back then....

I married my best freind quote

Here is a friendship quote that we need to keep in mind for our marriages. The quote comes from Stephen Ambrose.

"Friends never cheat each other, or take advantage, or lie. Friends so not spy on one another, yet they have no secrets. Friends glory in each other's successes and are downcast by the failures. Friends minister to each other, nurse each other. Friends give to each other, worry about each other, stand always ready to help. Perfect friendship is rarely achieved, but at it's height it is an ecstasy."

Best freind with extra's

Last night I wrote a post about having our spouses as our best friend and in that post I discussed how God had designed our spouses (or as I like to call her my better half) in a way that they should be our best friends.  Tonight I want to dive into a few other benefits of having a relationship with our spouses the way God created them to be. There are definitely more ways and benefits than I will list tonight and maybe later blogs will add to them. But here are 3 benefits that I have been reminded of over the last 24 hours or so.

#1- Pleasure

Now I know this is obvious to most married couples. Sex as God has designed it is amazing and for our spouse. But we can also find much pleasure in our best friend outside of the bedroom. I came across a picture of my beloved from years ago recently and through that picture I was reminded how much pleasure I can get out of just admiring the beauty that God created in her and the amazing gift of that beauty God has then given me. I love my close male friends but there is some pleasure (outside of sex) that I can only have with my beloved. The pleasure of being know intimately and the fun it can be to watch her know what I am going to do before I do it. The pleasure of snuggling in a warm blanket while we watch it snow on a cold winter day. The pleasure I can get when I hold her hand as we pray in church. Even the pleasure of knowing I am needed is something that only our spouses can bring. So there are many pleasures that can come into our lives by only having our best friends being our spouses. 

#2-Knowing ourselves better.

I have discovered and been reminded over the last few days that a great benefit to having my best friend around me all the time and know me the best, is the fact she can point out things in me that I might never have noticed. My best friend can see things in my life that I might skip or gloss over. She can remind me of things that I might have forgotten or chosen not to remember. Sometimes our biggest idols and deepest sins can only be noticed by others in our life and to have a best friend that can help open our eyes to these things is a huge benefit. Our spouses can challenge us to grow in areas, ask questions to make us think deeper, or even pry into corners to not allow us to hide things. Sometimes the best ways to discover the most about ourselves is by allowing someone to look into our lives and point things out. What better benefit than having the love of our lives be the person that can help us discover the most about ourselves.

#3-Worship

I have know since I was a teen that a place where great worship of God can take place is in a marriage. It has only been recently and after 10 years of marriage that I have truly started to discover what this worship is and looks like. Only in a marriage with our best friend can we; fight to the glory of God, forgive to the praise of Jesus, find pleasure that radiates God's glory, be sanctified with the Spirits power, have a prayer life that unifies, and on the list can go. In a marriage where each partner resembles their Savior, a true bond of friendship, love, respect, honor, compassion, and loyalty takes place and the worship and praise of God is found the most. Worship and praise to God should be an amazing benefit to have with our best friend who is our spouse and better half. Worshiping our Creator and Savior is so much better when we can do it with our best friend, and I have discovered this first hand as my praise of Jesus is so much sweeter when I can do it with my beloved.

Having our spouses be our best friends has some amazing benefits.

Best Freind???

"Husbands, love you wives, as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her"-Ephesians 5:25

"Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh"- Genesis 2:24

Over the last few months God has placed the burden on me about what it means to be a Godly husband and man. God has put a desire deep inside me to be a better leader, lover, friend, rock, provider, heartbeat, and partner for my beloved. Many times over the last few weeks God has reminded me through friends, situations, and His word that I need to take a priority in my relationship with my beloved. And over the last 10 days or so God as chosen a certain area to pick on and really convict me. My friendship to my wife has been an area that God has chosen to focus me on. Here are a few thoughts I have discovered and a few ways that I can improve in this area of my one flesh friendship.

First lets start with a few questions I have asked myself over the last week to gauge how my "friendship" is with my beloved.

1)Who is the person that I think about first, last, and most during my day?
2) When I accomplish something or have something exciting in my life happen, who do I want to tell first?
3) When God shows me an amazing truth about Him or His word, who do I want to share that with most?
4) Who do I want to go see that movie with?
5) Who do I want to do a book study with?
6) Who do I need to repent to first in my life?
7) Who can I cry with?

These are questions I have asked myself over the last week as I have been convicted by the Spirit about my friendship with my wife. God has exposed to me the fact that my wife needs to be the answer to all of these questions because for better or worse she is the one friend I have that is one flesh and should know me the most. As the verse in Genesis says my beloved is my one flesh. That should be the closest relationship I have on this earth, she should be my best friend.

Our spouses need to be our best friends. I should be enjoying the times I spend with my beloved the most. Our relationship should be filled with laughter, love, crying, and joy. My beloved and I should be full of devotion for each other and the passion of our lives after God Himself, should be for the best of the other member. As the verse from Ephesians reminds me, I need to put my wife first in my life (after Jesus) and her needs, desires, wants, joys, and passions should be placed first in my life. My wife and our friendship should be the most intimate relationship I have on the earth. She should be the one person that is free in this life to challenge me when I am wrong, forgive me when I repent, and grow with me in my walk with God.

My friendship with my beloved should be the most needed relationship I have. She should be the one who should meet my needs first and if she cannot she should be the one to help me find ways to meet them. I should then be the one who meets her needs and takes care of her first and if I cannot help her I should find a way to meet them. This also shows that our friendship should be two ways and not just a one way street. Our friendship should be growing together and blessing others by our relationship and marriage. Because of our friendship others should be blessed, God must be glorified, and the gospel must be preaching to a world by word and deed. The world must also see the gospel at work in our friendship and desire to know the Jesus that is at the center of our friendship. My wife must truly be my best friend with many benefits.

This has lead me to then ask 7 different questions about my friendship with my beloved.

1) What are her needs, wants, desire, and passions?
2) How can I cultivate our friendship and grow together?
3) How can I be a better friend to her?
4) What should I be prayer for her more about?
5) How can I pursue her and make sure she knows it?
6) What activities can we do together that she would enjoy?
7) How can we glorify God more together and preach the gospel through our relationship?

I pray that God will challenges others in their one flesh friendship as He has challenged and convicted me.

Husband Marriage Quotes

Here are some of my favorite quotes about marriage in relation to the husband.

"Husbands' submitting to our wives for the sake of oneness is a bedrock biblical principle".

"Would I rather be right or righteous"?

"A husband must "die" for the sake of unity with his bride, just as Christ Himself did".

"It's all about action; it's all about loving sacrifice".

"Most of us husbands aren't thinking about what our wives truly desire".

"The sacrifice of male submission will set an example, but its primary purpose is to release our wives to live life fully and blossom to their God given potential".

"Serving isn't something we do-it is something we are".

"Deal with your spouse based upon who she is today, not upon what you want her to be".

"Can we justify placing our wives anywhere but in the highest place of prestige in our lives? In fact, that place should be hers already".

"If we are leading solely from our own perspective, disastrous decisions can and will look perfectly logical".

"When love is our motive, going beyond the call of duty becomes our norm".

Marriage Quote

This week in honor of doing my first marriage sermon this coming Saturday I want to share some of the great quotes I have read on marriage. My favorite is my first one and deserves it own post.

“Marriage was never designed to be about ME.”~Timothy Keller

Quotable Friday

"It is one thing to go to church; it is quite another thing to go to God".~ Charles Spurgeon

Am I the Enemy?

How many times do we feel the enemy to God? How many times do we find ourselves playing the blame game with God and others? How many times do we face sin and ourselves for what we really are? I have been thinking about this a lot over the last few days as I have pondered the theology of working out my salvation. I found this prayer/song in response:


Used to think You didn't care,
I, was just a pawn in the game You were playin'
Puttin' walls up everywhere
Never thought You heard a word I was prayin'

I stood in the way
When I needed to run to You
But I was too proud to say

Take away the blindness
Lead me through the dark
Don't let me fall apart
Save me from my bitterness
Show me who I am
Make me who You want me to be
I know I pushed You away
Lookin' for someone to blame, yeah
Now I can see, I've been my own worst enemy

Who was I to sit and judge?
Always pointing my crooked finger
Holding tight onto a grudge
All along I was a chief of sinners

I stood in the way
When I needed to run to You
Lord, I was too proud to say

Take away the blindness
Lead me through the dark
Don't let me fall apart
Save me from my bitterness
Show me who I am
Make me who You want me to be
I know I pushed You away
Lookin' for someone to blame, yeah
Now I can see, I've been my own worst enemy

No You never gave up on me!

Greater is He

Have you ever thought about the power of the Holy Spirit living inside you? The Holy Spirit is God. That means we have God living inside us if we trust and have faith and believe in Jesus as our Savior. God is by far greater than anything else and He lives in us. God created everything, sustains everything, and completes everything. We have someone living inside us that is greater than any superhero created and any superpower thought up. But think about this when it comes to God, the Holy Spirit, living inside you. Let me list some of the things God could do you you while living in side us.

He could blind you with His Holy light.
He could incinerate you with His powerfully glory.
He could burn you up with His perfect wrath.
He could grind you to dust with His "little finger".

He could also give you the power to walk on water.
He could allow you to move the mountain in faith.
He could give you the ability to speak every known language.
He could give you the breath of life to heal someone.

He does give us the power to resist temptation.
He does give us the strength to love others.
He does draw us closer to Jesus.
He does walk with us in our Christian walk.

Do we depend on the one in us who is greater than anything else in this world?

Jesus is everything

As important as he was in God's plan of salvation, John the Baptist was called not to exalt himself but to point to the Savior. That is our task today. As many have said, we are just "poor beggars telling other beggars where they can find bread". Thus, we must continually point beyond ourselves to Christ, refusing to puff ourselves up but submitting wholly and eagerly to Him as the only Savior. In ourselves, we are nothing. Jesus is everything.

Work out your salvation

Do you enjoy, discover, develop, enrich, learn more about, unravel, and feast on the salvation that God has given you?

Do you worry?

We tend to worry about things in life because we are ignorant of who God is and the promises He has given us of His love and complete control over out lives. We need to respond to worry by studying the Bible.

When we worry it is a control issue. We want to be able to fix what is going on in our lives and control the circumstances that are happening to and around us. This is a selfish and a form of Idolatry in our lives. Instead we need to worship God by giving Him back the thrown of our lives and living in faith of Him, which will then result in us loving others first and desiring to serve those around us facing bad circumstances.

Worry is another form of being anxious and instead of it we need to be at peace with what God is doing.

We tend to worry sometimes because of our guilt about something, so instead of worrying we need to repent and turn it over to God.

We worry sometimes because of immoderation. We love this world to much and the things in it, which in turn can kill our joy if we are in bondage to this life and the worry it can bring.  So we should be generous with everything realizing that everything we have is God's and the only place to find joy is in the Lord. We should also kill our affections for this world and only focus them on God.

Worry can also happen when we worry about future blessings and passions for God. We instead of worrying about God's gifts we need to shout, I Trust God!

Worry can lead to confusion and deception in our lives, it can be a distraction to our mission. Worry leaves us vulnerable to other sins we could commit and ultimately worry makes us cowardice. So in response to worry we need to set our minds on and commit our lives to God. We need to be prepared and know God never said this life would be easy and with courage we need to keep remembering God's provisions in the past for us.

Satan leads us to worry because it can cause us crippling fear. So instead of worrying pray to Jesus.

Worry in the base form is an act of unbelief. So believe that Jesus loves us and does everything for our good.

Worry is finally a sin. So instead of sinning, do like Jesus commanded in Matthew 6:33-34 and Seek first the kingdom of God. 

As I close my thought on worry for now, my Pastor in this morning sermon taught us on worry from Luke 12 and I want to share the poem he used to illustrate why we should not worry. This taken from verse 12:24.

Said the Raven to the Sparrow,
“I should really like to know
Why these anxious human beings
Rush about and worry so.”

Said the Sparrow to the Raven,
“Friend, I think that it must be
They have no Heavenly Father,
Such as cares for you and me."

Quotable Friday

“The ultimate way to handle the troubles of life is not just through prayers of petition, but through worship.”

When we get to heaven

I have been thinking about regret over the last few days. I truly beleive when we get to heaven and see Jesus we will have no regrets other than times we missed preaching the Gospel. But when I get to heaven there are things I know I will not regret and none of us will. Here is a list of things I will never regret when we are in heaven.

We won’t regret playing hide and seek with our children.
We won’t regret turning off the t.v. and putting the phone away.
We won’t regret that one night (or week, or even season of life) we let the kids get happy meals just so they would be happy and we could survive.
We won’t regret the time we spent hiding the word in our hearts.
We won’t regret jumping in a pile of leaves every fall.
We won’t regret overlooking a lot of little things that bother us about our spouses.
We won’t regret kissing our spouse in front of the kids.
We won’t regret going to bed with a messy house if that meant we had time to chase the kids around in the backyard.
We won’t regret all the wasted time with friends.
We won’t regret laughing often and laughing loudly.
We won’t regret hugging our kids whenever they’ll let us.
We won’t regret the times the kids slept in our beds and the times in the middle of the night we had to carry them softly back to theirs.
We won’t regret being a little bit goofy.
We won’t regret asking for forgiveness, and we won’t regret forgiving those who ask.
We won’t regret dancing at weddings–fast and silly with our kids, slow and sweet with our spouse.
We won’t regret giving most people the benefit of the doubt.
We won’t regret commiting to a good church and sticking around.
We won’t regret learning to play the piano, read music, or sing in parts.
We won’t regret reading to our children.
We won’t regret time spent in prayer.
We won’t regret going on long road trips filled with frustrations, but full with memories.
We won’t regret letting our kids be kids.
We won’t regret walking with people through suffering.
We won’t regret trusting Jesus.

Cost of Jesus

 I have been recently studying and reading about the early church of the first and second century. There were many men I have read about or even read some of their writing that I have come to appreciate. I have come to love followers of the first few centuries; men like Ignatuis and Polycarp and even women like Perpetua. But what got me really thinking is what it meant for these churches in the cost of discipleship. The early church knew that to be a disciple of Jesus Christ was first a person that followed Christ, and later also meant someone that was willing to pay the ultimate sacrifice and die a martyrs death. Now I do not think that death is required today to be called a disciple, but a Christian should be a description of a disciple who is willing to give their life for Jesus.  When was the last time we were persecuted, whether vocally or by discrimination, because we stood for Christ. The real question is would we feel honored to stand next to the first and second century disciples of Christ because we to stood for Christ?

Pray even after you are sure

Isaiah 37:14-15
"Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messenger, and read it; and Hezekiah went up to the house of the Lord, and spread it before the Lord. And Hezekiah prayed to the Lord".

This was the verse from my devotions today and it reminded me that Hezekiah got the answers fro  the Lord already and was sure of what God had said, but he still went up and talked to God all the more. Hezekiah's willingness to pray indicates that while the promises of God are sure, we should not be afraid to pray even after we have received them. As we seek the Lord's face, He brings His purposes to pass, as He has ordained that our prayers are a means by which He fulfills His words to us. That is why, for example, we pray for the Lord Jesus to return. His return is sure, but the Lord will bring it about as His people pray to Him. So do we pray to God and talk to Him even when we know the outcome and answers? We can be sure and confident in God through our prayers when we talk to Him and He grows us more like Him, through our prayer life.

Timeless yet Timely?

Our church family has taken the Bible reading challenge. As a church family we will be reading through the Bible in the year 2015. We will have many other activities throughout the year to promote the reading and the learning of God's word. This got me thinking more about the Bible as I have been preparing and reading more for next year.

First, have you ever realize that the Bible was written 2000 years ago and much farther back. But the words of God are just as relevant today as they were many, many years ago when Moses, David, Luke, and John wrote them. God's word is timeless and is just as fresh today when we are reading it as it was when it was written. So next year as my church and I read through the Bible and we read through books like Exodus or Hosea, they will be just as important, fresh, and powerful as when they were read the first time. This is the amazing aspect of God's fresh words to us today. They have never changed and still impact us the same.

This leads us to the second amazing aspect about the Bible, it is just as timely today as when it was written to the first audience. We the church today are not the nation of Israel, nor are we the church in Rome or Philippi. But God and His word still speak to us today in the timely manner that we need. Next year as we read through the Bible as a church, not every passage ever day will speak with power that we need for that day. But some days the Words of God from that passage that we have read will speak to the exact situation that we need for that moment or day. God's word is always brought to us by God when He knows we need to hear it and is given when we need to hear from God.

So the Bible is a timeless yet at the same time a timely word from God. Amen, for this beautiful, amazing, powerful, and graceful book from the Creator for the ages and the day

Word Of God Speak

Introvert vs. Extrovert

I  have been thinking a lot over the last few days about Spiritual formation and the personality type. I am a introvert by nature and I prefer seclusion and solitude for my spiritual formation. This means that I like alone times with God and quiet Bible study in prayer. I would much rather spend one on one time with a single person than be in a group of many people. Being in a large group is very tiring to me and I find most Sunday at church is exhausting and I exert much energy in the worship service with my fellow faith family. Where as an extrovert being alone could be death to their spiritual formation. An extrovert likes to be around others and Spiritual will be set on fire for Jesus with a group of people. Thinking around this type of personality type, being introvert or extrovert, as me thinking of 2 important truths to contemplate.

First, whether you are an introvert or an extrovert, God has created you that way and He will form you spiritually the way He desires. No matter the type of person we are God began a good work in us and He will see it through to His completion in our lives. God created us the way He wanted to, so He will provide and supply all that we need to grow. We must rest in God and His care for us rather then try to make excuses for the lack of growth or Spiritual depth we see in our lives. We must trust that God created us the way He wanted and not make excuses for it, change it, or refuse to grow deeper becasue we do not like the way God created it.

The second truth that we must all understand, whether extrovert or introvert, is that both alone quiet time and large group time is important and essential for Spiritual formation and growth. We need to church and the group or faith family God has placed us in to grow spiritually. We also need some alone time with God and us so He can speak to us and we can speak back. The Christian life is a life alone with God but also at the same time a life in the church with others. So whether it is alone or in a group that requires work from us we need to work in the hard things in life to grow. A life of growth in Jesus is hard work, whether it is straining against the world or the devil. We even need to work at the areas of life that are hard for our growth. So whether it is hard to find quiet time with God and against your personality type, or if you are like me and it is hard to be around others very much; we all need to work in areas in our Christian life to grow more like and Jesus and more in love with Him.

So introvert vs extrovert is not about your personality type but is about working hard to grow spiritual more life and more in love with Jesus.

Quotable Friday

Don’t grow tired of repenting. God does not grow tired of forgiving.

The Heavenly Father

 This post shows the father from the parable of the Prodigal Son is a great picture of the Heavenly Father.

 

When you look up the word prodigal in the dictionary you will find that it is defined as; recklessly extravagant or having spent everything. So when you read the story of the prodigal son, and you understand what prodigal means, you will begin to realize that the real prodigal person is the father. First, the father destroys his own name and tears apart his estate and sells off half of what he owns so that he can give what his first son asks for. The father loves the first son so much that he knows it is probably going to turn out bad in the end for this rebellious son, but the father gives it all and sacrifices himself and his name for what the son asks. Then, after the younger son comes slinking back, the father runs, which was shameful for a respected man in that culture, to go and greet and love his rebellious son all the more. The father re-sacrifices himself and some of his wealth to bring back this rebellious son into his home. 

Than the older son becomes rebellious and starts to show his true lostness and what does the father do? The father runs out and chases after his older son. The father pleads with his other lost son that everything he has is now his son's and the father extends a hand of love and forgiveness to this son also. Simply put the father spends everything he has and everything that he is on his two sons and sacrifices totally for each son, trying to bring them back into his life and welcome them home with open arms. 

So what does this father teach us about our Heavenly and perfect Father? First, His love is sacrificial. God knew that loving us, His rebellious and moral children, would mean total and complete sacrifice, even to the point of death. Second, we can never escape or run to far from God's love and even when we come back skulking God will open His arms wide and welcome us back just like we had never left or ran from Him. Third, God and His grace for us, is abundant and will never run out. Just like when the younger son came back and the father gave him more again after he had spent all of his, God will give us grace and love continually. This also means that even when we spend and waste the blessings God has given us from Him, He will freely and unconditionally give us more when we seek with a forgiveness. Fourth, whether we are rebellious and outside of the church, or moral and lost inside the church, God our Father will chase after us and continually seek us out to welcome us into His family and give us His blessings and love. This important to realize because even after we enter a church door and call ourselves "Christians", God is still chasing after us sharing His love and compassion to us and desiring us and a relationship with Him. Lastly, this father teaches and shows to us about our Heavenly Father, that if and when we enter His home, there will be a celebration and great feast. God desires for us to come home and come inside the family so that He can celebrate and we enjoy the feast of God and explore and enjoy His many blessings.

I pray that next time you read through this parable or hear someone teach on it, that you will remember and rejoice in everything the father in this story can teach us about our true, perfect, and loving Heavenly father.

The LEGO Prodigal Son