Captured by Love

I think if I were to claim a life verse, it would be the following:

'For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and He died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for Him who for their sake died and was raised.' -2 Corinthians 5:14-15

Our pastor is preaching a series on The Church. Last night we came to a series of verses about what the church is to look like. He came to the stage with nine points, but ended up just sharing two. The first was this: be captured by the love of Christ. We are to never move past this simple, yet robust truth. Christ loved us with a selfless agape love. This love is a deep, unselfish love that pours itself out and expects nothing in return. Our pastor urged us to not seek more discipline, but to pray that God would capture our hearts with His love for us. This is the model in the Scriptures. We are motivated, changed and protected because of the love of Christ, and nothing else. This is what I am praying for my heart this week and for yours.

His second point was that we are in the Spirit. He used many verses to illustrate this. Because of the Spirit we are sealed and have a guarantee (down payment) on the inheritance to be received. But more than this, we have life in the Spirit in this present age. The verse that really stuck with me last night was this:

'Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus.' -Acts 4:13

Our pastor urged us not to seek more discipline again, for it is not the wise and learned that will find favor in the sight of God, but instead those who have been with Jesus. To ask this question of ourselves is difficult. When people see me, do they recognize that I have been with Jesus? We need more people in the church who have been with Jesus, not more volunteers and loud singers. We need more people in the workplace who have been with Jesus and are recognized for this by those outside and inside the church, not their domineering morality. We need more people going to the nations who have been with Jesus, for the world will not respond to anything but the Spirit moving.

Let us not confuse a vast knowledge of the Word, an eloquent prayer and staunch morality with a relationship with Jesus. My prayer is that we would commune and abide with Jesus this week and be captured by the love with which He has loved us.

Commonalities

God is doing so much in my heart right now. It is hard to put it all out there though. I am going to examine my heart more frequently. I have become dry and comfortable in my walk recently. It is nothing major, just a small shift. But that is really all that it takes. I am learning much about the mundane and the unnoticed, daily disciplines of life. We are no more than our habits, whether good or bad. There is no glamour or praise for the one who stays the course day after day. But the one that remains faithful, no matter the circumstance, is the one that is becoming something. Faithful. Disciplined. Steadfast. These are words that I think we all want said of us, but few of us are willing to stick to the course long enough to see the fruit.

I want to share a few truths that are stuck in my head after church tonight. Our pastor is killing it. The series is about The Church. The purpose is that we might see the fullness of the gospel, not just partialities and trite, Christian phrases.

We are all broken sinners who are separated from God. This is truth, whether we accept it or not. God is Holy. We are not. This separates us from the intended community and life that was meant to be from the outset of creation. Life was the design, but our sin brought death into the world.

We all seek that which we believe will give us life to the fullest. The objects that we seek are different, but we all seek that object until it leaves us empty. We then find another object to seek after or even worse, continue to seek after that which has left us empty for so many years. The range of possibilities for life-giving objects is endless. Success. Money. Power. Attention. Fame. Comfort. Approval. Ease. Death. All of these objects are not life-giving, but are instead ways that we are deceived. All of these end in death without Jesus Christ.

The gospel is about life. The gospel is about so much more than praying a prayer to get to heaven and promising to do better and trying to not sin anymore. The gospel is not a prayer and a destination. The gospel is about reconciliation. The gospel is about being brought back into life, both here on earth and forever with Jesus. The gospel is about changed lives. The gospel is about moving from death to life. The gospel is life-giving. Jesus has made a way for us to be reconciled. The gospel is about seeking Jesus, because in Him we will find life, unlike the other objects that we sought after.

*Prayer – Dad and a team from HFBC are in Guinea, West Africa even as I type. Two new brothers among the UPG they are working with have come to follow the “Jesus-way”. They want to be baptized. This is a monumental decision in their lives. They are openly professing to their Muslim communities that life is found only in Jesus Christ, not in any other religion or lifestyle. Pray that whole villages would receive the truth of the Kingdom of God. Pray that God, the Lord of the Harvest, would raise up workers for the harvest that is to come among these people. Pray that Mousa would be strengthened daily in the Word of God. Pray for these two new brothers that they would be rich soil and not rocky, dry or weed-infested soil. Praise God for salvation among those at the ends of the earth!

Go, Give and Pray

I had a chance this evening to get together with some people with kindred spirits. Because one of my good friend's crazy ideas, this group of people are going to put together a banquet/fundraiser for Living Water International here in the Permian Basin. Most of us have been on a trip with LWI and have seen God move in many ways through water. We want the people around us to be moved to go, give and pray as well. So, we're going to be putting together an event on May 25th at Rock the Desert's facilities to raise up volunteers to go and to give as well. There is going to be plenty of food, music, video, pictures and stories of reaching the thirsty with water and the Living Water. Please pray that God begin to move and stir up hearts to go, give and pray.

I'm thankful for people that see no difference between our outward actions and what God has done on the inside. These two should be so intertwined and mingled that there is no discernible difference between who we truly are and who we portray ourselves to be by our actions. God has rescued us and is satisfying our thirst, so we should be rescuing and satisfying the thirst of others too with physical water and the Living Water, Jesus Christ.

I really can see God doing some big things through this event. We really don't know how big or small this thing could be. Our goal is to stir up hearts to go, give and pray. This literally could raise millions of dollars of impact, or just a few hundred dollars. This could begin to change hundreds of lives, or just one. Either way, we seek to honor God and be used by Him.

Father, use our talents, influence, monies and skills to bring you glory and honor. We pray that You would begin the work of reconciliation in many people's hearts through this. We pray that You would use the wealth of the Permian Basin to bless countless people. We pray that You would usher in Your Kingdom through the drilling of these wells. We pray expectantly, knowing that You can do far above all that we can hope for. 

List-eater Christians

I started the Daniel Fast on Monday. My plan is to do it for 40 days and maybe longer. As I have changed my diet, I have seen how many things I run to before Jesus. These are not just food, but many other things. This fast has just provided an opportunity for me to be reminded of my dependency on so many things before Christ. I have also found that the list of things I find emotional comfort in before Jesus to be long and worn out. I believe the term for this in the Bible is idolatry.

Idolatry – placing anything in a position of greater importance than the most important thing; worship of anything that is not meant to be worshiped but to cause worship of its creator; replacing things of ultimate worth with things of temporary and fading worth

I have also found as the week has gone along that my ability to stick to the rules of the fast has increased. I have learned the things that I can eat, I like to eat, and that fill me up. I have found a way in my humanness to do my list. As this has happened, I have struggled with opening the Word and remembering my dependence on Christ. Early in the week, I found it easy to dwell on Christ because I was often hungry and unsatisfied. But now, as I have adjusted to the differences, it is much harder to remain in that constant state of dependence. This fact points out my weakness all the more. Christianity is not about a list, but life. If we just had a list, then we would learn to keep that list and never enter into a relationship with God. My list has changed from two weeks ago to now, but even in 7 days I have adjusted to keeping this list instead.

There is an old Aggie story about the ‘list-eater’. To get tickets to football games, you have to wait in this line according to your seniority throughout the week. Many people camped out for days and days to get the best seats. To make sure that it was known who was there first, they kept a list. Apparently, one year before the big Texas game, things got pretty tense and tight. There was a major argument about the list and who was in the right order. The famed ‘list-eater’ took the list in a moment of frustration and rage and proceeded to eat the list, never to be seen again. This caused even more confusion and ruckus than before since the list was gone.

I want to be a ‘list-eater’ Christian. I want the list of things that I feel like I have to do to please God to be digested and thrown out. Sure, some of those things on that list might have been around a long time and deserve some importance. Sure, I cannot get away from doing things on that list whether the list exists or not. But based on my experience with God and with the Bible, the list is meaningless. The list is Satan’s attempt to keep us entrapped, entangled and in bondage to rules and not relationship. The list is our attempt to stay in God’s good graces. Sure, not having the list might cause some confusion because we are used to a set of guidelines and not a relationship. But the relationship is what matters, not following an obscure set of rules.

I have also found that freedom and life is in Christ alone. Everything else that we call life, is only a tainted image of what true life is about. I have begun to see a glimpse of that life over the past few years. I have seen life more fully this past week than I had previously.

For those of us who are in Christ Jesus, we need not work to earn our salvation or favor in God’s sight. We could not increase nor decrease God’s view of us. He is wisdom and therefore sees all things as they truly are. We are what we are, and that comes through Jesus Christ. We are accepted because of Him. We are treasured because of Him. We are valued because of Him.

Our lists are a form of religion that is not pure and undefiled before God. Our lists get us nowhere fast. Our lists cause us to forget the gospel. Our lists hinder growth and life.

Let us be ‘list-eaters’ and seek God and not the rules we make up.

Romans 8:1 – There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Hosea 6:6 – For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

Isaiah 64:6 – We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.