Of Masks and Men

Our home group meeting last night was pretty amazing. There were 23 of us there. We discussed the second study in the Virtual series our church is doing. Nancy and I started this group 1 year ago. We had a few couples who came for a while, then disappeared. We had one couple who stuck it out with us, and are still with us. Then in January we had a 'growth spurt.' New people kept showing up. In fact, last night we even had two new couples join us!

The discussion last night was great. People shared from their hearts. We talked about the masks we wear around others. Why do we feel like we have to defend our actions and choices to others? Galatians 1:10 helps us remember where our focus should be. We were reminded that we often forget whose we are. We are not trying to please other men (at least, we shouldn't.) We should be concerned with pleasing God.

Galatians 2:20 is an amazing verse. "I have been crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live." It is an amazing mystery, to try and fathom the depth of the meaning of this verse. That I, a sinner, separated from God, have been crucified with Christ. And the life I live I am not living, but Christ is living in me! If we could just believe this, and live our lives in this manner, allowing Christ to have the control, we would be free, we would be bold, we would be on fire for Him and His Kingdom!

Do you belong to Christ? Then quit trying to please men! Allow Christ to have control of your life, and live your life to the fullest!

Knowing is Different than Doing!

“Teach me to do thy will” Psalm 143:10

David understood something important. The question is not “What is God’s will?” Our problem is not that we don’t know God’s will, it is that we don’t DO God’s will.

Think about it...

We have a building with about 250 seats. We have over 2000 people coming in here every week. We are in desperate need of more seats. Should we say “God, what is your will?” OF COURSE NOT! God’s will is that we reach as many people as we possibly can. “Go into all the world,” etc. It’s not knowing God’s will that is the problem. It’s DOING it! “Teach me to do thy will!” As a church, we should be praying “Teach us to do your will.” Common sense tells us to build. Building requires cash. We know what God wants us to do. The problem is it isn't being done.

Disobedient Christians are what keep God from using a group of people to accomplish His plan. Sure, God's plan will be fulfilled--with or without us. But wouldn't you rather be a part of it? I don’t know about you. I want to be in on God’s work. I don’t want to be sitting in my rocking chair someday, looking back on my life, and saying “God sure could have used us, but we were disobedient as a gathering of believers. God sure got the job done with that other church though!”

Not me! Let’s DO what we know God is telling us to DO.

“Teach me to do Thy will.”

Where do you live?

The other day I was sitting on my couch, looking around the house. I thought to myself, "Is this house the perfect house for my family?" The layout is ok. It could be better. The furniture, well, we've had it for a few years now. What could I do to improve things? We could consider moving. Maybe we could find that perfect house.

Then it hit me, as I realized, this house is not the perfect house. Of course it's not. Jesus said Himself "I go to prepare a place for you." This world is not my permanent home. This house will one day burn, with the rest of the houses, and everything else on earth. It's all going to go up in smoke. It's nice to have a nice place to live, but if all I do is put effort into making this temporary house perfect, I am wasting a lot of energy and resources.

We are only here for a short time. There are much more pressing matters than the perfect floor plan.

We must keep our eyes on the goal, focusing on the Kingdom, rather than the insignificant trivialities all around us.