Someone very close to me wrote a great talk that they'll be giving very soon, all about courage. I thought I'd share it on here, as I don't think they'll mind at all (all credit to them and God though, not me!)
(I don't remember it exactly, but this is roughly it:)
Struggling with fear and courage
People struggle with fear in many different ways. It could be anything from stepping out the door to whatever you can imagine.
Now there's a difference between courage and confidence, the dictionary definition of courage is, "the ability to do something that frightens one".
Courage is not without fear, it is inherently linked to fear. Which is itself encouraging, as it means that those who fear can still be courageous.
But what does the Bible have to say about courage?
Joshua 1:9 says, "9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”"
It may seem at first a bit tight of God, commanding Joshua to be courageous in the face of great problems and fears, without explaining a step by step method to be courageous. God doesn't seem to give him courage on a plate, but rather an opportunity to be courageous.
And not just that but He promises to be with Joshua always, wherever he goes.
Also check out Isaiah 43:2:
"When you pass through the waters,
I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers,
they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire,
you will not be burned;
the flames will not set you ablaze."
What does this mean for us?
It's ok to be afraid, and it's ok to admit it. We need to trust in God more, take courage from Him and see opportunities for courage out of situations of fear.
The person who did this gave the great analogy of a story from when they were very young and wanted to join with their older siblings playing in the sea at the beach, but every time they went to join them a wave came which seemed really big, so they ran back terrified, but looking back saw that the wave was only really small. In the same way problems can seem massive to us, but in hindsight, or from God's perspective, we can see how small they really are compared to Him.
Where do you struggle with fear? Where can you be more courageous in and through God?
10 Feb 2014
The Importance of Bible Grounded Teaching and Thinking #2
And in addition to that...
God's word nourishes and grows us, it lets us get to know God better than any experience with tongues, prophecy, meditation or charity work. Without God's word we become famished and depraved, it drains our faith. Feeling weak in your faith? How much have you been reading and delighting in God's word?
Check out Amos 8:11-14:
God's word nourishes and grows us, it lets us get to know God better than any experience with tongues, prophecy, meditation or charity work. Without God's word we become famished and depraved, it drains our faith. Feeling weak in your faith? How much have you been reading and delighting in God's word?
Check out Amos 8:11-14:
11 “The days are coming,” declares the Sovereign Lord,
“when I will send a famine through the land—
not a famine of food or a thirst for water,
but a famine of hearing the words of the Lord.
12 People will stagger from sea to sea
and wander from north to east,
searching for the word of the Lord,
but they will not find it.
“when I will send a famine through the land—
not a famine of food or a thirst for water,
but a famine of hearing the words of the Lord.
12 People will stagger from sea to sea
and wander from north to east,
searching for the word of the Lord,
but they will not find it.
13 “In that day
“the lovely young women and strong young men
will faint because of thirst.
14 Those who swear by the sin of Samaria—
who say, ‘As surely as your god lives, Dan,’
or, ‘As surely as the god[b] of Beersheba lives’—
they will fall, never to rise again.”
will faint because of thirst.
14 Those who swear by the sin of Samaria—
who say, ‘As surely as your god lives, Dan,’
or, ‘As surely as the god[b] of Beersheba lives’—
they will fall, never to rise again.”
Do you see? To not read God's word is like a famine, it makes you weak and restless, no surprise is it that our faith is weakest when we think on God and listen to what He has to say least! If you want revival in your faith, God's word, the Bible (with prayer), is a great place to start (if not the best).
Compare Amos 8:11-14 to Psalm 1:1-3:
1 Blessed is the one
who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
or sit in the company of mockers,
2 but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
and who meditates on his law day and night.
3 That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither—
whatever they do prospers.
who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
or sit in the company of mockers,
2 but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
and who meditates on his law day and night.
3 That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither—
whatever they do prospers.
See the difference? Famished and faint, staggering around, or prospering, yielding fruit, well nourished? You choose. (Choose the second one!)
(Also Amos 8:9-11 sounds a little Christ in the OT, but I'm not sure.)
The Importance of Bible Grounded Teaching and Thinking
One thing I've really began to grasp this year is the absolute importance that we ground our thinking and teaching in the Bible.
2 Timothy 3:14-17 says this, "But as for you, continue in what you have become convinced of, because you know those from who learned it, and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."
The temptation as a Christian (young or old) is to shy away from the Bible in preaching and leading. We love topics so much, we think, "I want to talk about that!", and many of us love comedian style preachers, and as much banter and as many illustrations and stories as possible. Many of us would have our ideal sermon as a combination of those things. Now I think these things have their places, but notice a key thing missing? The Bible. How can the Bible be missing from a sermon when, "the holy Scriptures... are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus" and, "All Scripture is God-breathed and useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work"!?
Can we honestly say that comedy, illustrations and stories are able to make us wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus, are God-breathed and are useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work? Perhaps they can do some of these in part, but they certainly don't have the same weight or authority as the Bible! Not one of them is mentioned here by Paul, and he's not someone I, or any other Christian I know today, can look down on when it comes to evangelism and discipleship.
How should we preach the Gospel? With the Gospel.
But how prominent should the Bible really be in sermons, talks, Bible studies and discussion groups?
Utmost. I don't think I really need to argue this, afterall, "But as for you, continue in what you have become convinced of, because you know those from who learned it, and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.""
And this includes stuff with non-Christians, "the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus", it really is self-explanatory. You may be afraid of putting someone off of the Gospel by showing them the Bible, but at the end of the day the Bible is the Gospel, and they're never going to get to know and love it unless you show it to them. Pray that it won't put them off, and be ready to challenge and encourage them, answering their questions, but for flip sake show them the Bible! Definitely in a sermon!
I might write a much better version of this at some point, but I really do think you don't need much more convincing than that.
2 Timothy 3:14-17 says this, "But as for you, continue in what you have become convinced of, because you know those from who learned it, and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."
The temptation as a Christian (young or old) is to shy away from the Bible in preaching and leading. We love topics so much, we think, "I want to talk about that!", and many of us love comedian style preachers, and as much banter and as many illustrations and stories as possible. Many of us would have our ideal sermon as a combination of those things. Now I think these things have their places, but notice a key thing missing? The Bible. How can the Bible be missing from a sermon when, "the holy Scriptures... are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus" and, "All Scripture is God-breathed and useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work"!?
Can we honestly say that comedy, illustrations and stories are able to make us wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus, are God-breathed and are useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work? Perhaps they can do some of these in part, but they certainly don't have the same weight or authority as the Bible! Not one of them is mentioned here by Paul, and he's not someone I, or any other Christian I know today, can look down on when it comes to evangelism and discipleship.
How should we preach the Gospel? With the Gospel.
But how prominent should the Bible really be in sermons, talks, Bible studies and discussion groups?
Utmost. I don't think I really need to argue this, afterall, "But as for you, continue in what you have become convinced of, because you know those from who learned it, and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.""
And this includes stuff with non-Christians, "the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus", it really is self-explanatory. You may be afraid of putting someone off of the Gospel by showing them the Bible, but at the end of the day the Bible is the Gospel, and they're never going to get to know and love it unless you show it to them. Pray that it won't put them off, and be ready to challenge and encourage them, answering their questions, but for flip sake show them the Bible! Definitely in a sermon!
I might write a much better version of this at some point, but I really do think you don't need much more convincing than that.
9 Feb 2014
Consistency in Faith
I heard a song recently which had a verse I found really interesting and helpful. It was this:
"So Ill stop living off of how I feel
And start standing on Your truth revealed
Jesus is my strength, my shield
And He will never fail me"
Often I find I worry about my life as a Christian. I see countless ways in which I struggle, I thought I'd list a few of the main ones I can think of:
- My pride
- The way I treat others
- What I think about
- The way I spend my money
- The way I spend my time
- My anger
- The way I judge things/people
- The way I pray
- The way/how much I read God's word
- My idolatry
- The lies I make
- The way I make plans
- The time I take with other people
- My lack of involvement in the rest of the Church
- My lack of involvement in the rest of the world
- My selfishness
- My laziness
- My cowardice
- My lusts
And I could go on. I mean these genuinely. I imagine many of them are the same for you, or you have ones of your own. It's so easy to get stuck in a rut, or worry that you're not the Christian you once were, or the Christian someone else is.
How easy it is to forget God in all this!
Look with me to Ephesians 2:
"2 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh[a] and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. 4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
11 Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “the circumcision” (which is done in the body by human hands)— 12 remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
14 For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, 15 by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, 16 and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. 17 He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.
19 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 21 In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22 And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit."
Who were we when God called us? We were people far away (v17), people dead in our sins (v1). Were we able to do anything to fix it by our own strength? NO. (v8-9)
How was it that we were saved? By grace! (v5,v7,v8)
Who was it that saved us? God! Not us! (v4,v6,v8,v10,v13,v14,v17,v18)
Why were we saved? Because we were good or impressive? NO. Because of God's great love and rich mercy (v4), in order that God, in the coming ages, might show us the incomparable riches of His grace, expressed in His kindness to us in Christ Jesus (v7). God saved us to do the good works He has prepared in advance for us to do (v10). God saved us in order to create a new humanity, a single people of God in Christ (v11-15). God saved us so that we would be reconciled to God (v16), be citizens of God's people and members of God's household (v19), be a holy temple in the Lord (v21) and be a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit (v22).
God keeps his promises. Christian, you didn't save yourself, God saved you. We need to trust in Him, we need to let Him keep doing the work, it never becomes about our goodness, it's always about Him. Delight in Him, have faith in Him (faith and delight that He gives you!! We can take literally none of the credit - thanks and praise be to God!).
Give thanks to God for the fact that God saved you... "Because of God's great love and rich mercy (v4), in order that God, in the coming ages, might show us the incomparable riches of His grace, expressed in His kindness to us in Christ Jesus (v7). God saved us to do the good works He has prepared in advance for us to do (v10). God saved us in order to create a new humanity, a single people of God in Christ (v11-15). God saved us so that we would be reconciled to God (v16), be citizens of God's people and members of God's household (v19), be a holy temple in the Lord (v21) and be a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit (v22)."
"So Ill stop living off of how I feel
And start standing on Your truth revealed
Jesus is my strength, my shield
And He will never fail me"
Often I find I worry about my life as a Christian. I see countless ways in which I struggle, I thought I'd list a few of the main ones I can think of:
- My pride
- The way I treat others
- What I think about
- The way I spend my money
- The way I spend my time
- My anger
- The way I judge things/people
- The way I pray
- The way/how much I read God's word
- My idolatry
- The lies I make
- The way I make plans
- The time I take with other people
- My lack of involvement in the rest of the Church
- My lack of involvement in the rest of the world
- My selfishness
- My laziness
- My cowardice
- My lusts
And I could go on. I mean these genuinely. I imagine many of them are the same for you, or you have ones of your own. It's so easy to get stuck in a rut, or worry that you're not the Christian you once were, or the Christian someone else is.
How easy it is to forget God in all this!
Look with me to Ephesians 2:
"2 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh[a] and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. 4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
11 Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “the circumcision” (which is done in the body by human hands)— 12 remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
14 For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, 15 by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, 16 and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. 17 He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.
19 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 21 In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22 And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit."
Who were we when God called us? We were people far away (v17), people dead in our sins (v1). Were we able to do anything to fix it by our own strength? NO. (v8-9)
How was it that we were saved? By grace! (v5,v7,v8)
Who was it that saved us? God! Not us! (v4,v6,v8,v10,v13,v14,v17,v18)
Why were we saved? Because we were good or impressive? NO. Because of God's great love and rich mercy (v4), in order that God, in the coming ages, might show us the incomparable riches of His grace, expressed in His kindness to us in Christ Jesus (v7). God saved us to do the good works He has prepared in advance for us to do (v10). God saved us in order to create a new humanity, a single people of God in Christ (v11-15). God saved us so that we would be reconciled to God (v16), be citizens of God's people and members of God's household (v19), be a holy temple in the Lord (v21) and be a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit (v22).
God keeps his promises. Christian, you didn't save yourself, God saved you. We need to trust in Him, we need to let Him keep doing the work, it never becomes about our goodness, it's always about Him. Delight in Him, have faith in Him (faith and delight that He gives you!! We can take literally none of the credit - thanks and praise be to God!).
Give thanks to God for the fact that God saved you... "Because of God's great love and rich mercy (v4), in order that God, in the coming ages, might show us the incomparable riches of His grace, expressed in His kindness to us in Christ Jesus (v7). God saved us to do the good works He has prepared in advance for us to do (v10). God saved us in order to create a new humanity, a single people of God in Christ (v11-15). God saved us so that we would be reconciled to God (v16), be citizens of God's people and members of God's household (v19), be a holy temple in the Lord (v21) and be a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit (v22)."
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)