We have been doing this series on "Close Encounters of the Divine Kind," all about being close to God. It's really the basic goal of any follower of Christ....to be close to Him. Sometimes it feels like He is a million miles away; or a better way to put it is we are a million miles away from Him and where we need to be. John Ortberg likens it to the dude named Waldo. In the beloved children's books, "Where's Waldo," every page of every book is full of action. There are crazy things going on, filling the entire page. In every single page Waldo is there....somewhere. But you have to go and find him. Sometimes its easy to find Waldo, on other pages its quite difficult, but he is guaranteed to be on every page. It's like that with God. He is on every page of our life, waiting to be found by us. He desires for us to be close to Him, to have an intimate relationship with the God of the universe. Can you even imagine an invitation like that coming to us? I know that I am flawed, I am a sinner, with many short-comings and bad habits. But the God of the universe still desires for me to know Him and know Him well. He knows me well! He knew me completely before I was even knit together in my mother's womb. He knew my passions and my talents and the deepest desires of my heart long before I did. God is amazing and His love is vast...and He wants us to know Him.
In His Grip,
Matt
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Monday, July 26, 2010
There are a lot of things I have learned this summer. Some of the things are about me, but all of them are about God. I love that I have an opportunity to serve my God with my few days I have on this earth. I seek to know Him more everyday, and listen to what it is He has to say to me. I want to further His kingdom with my life and I will go where He wants to send me. How can I live more intentionally for Him? How can I be more purposeful with the things I say and do? This is the question that has driven me recently. And its a question that I think I will be constantly refining what the answer looks like. And that's ok with me. God lead me in the path you have for me.
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Preparing for Easter (Part 1)
Easter really snuck up on me this year. I have a few excuses for why, but I am not sure that is really important. What is important is that I reflect on Easter before it is completely over.
This week I tried to imagine I was there for the last week of Jesus' life: the sights, the smells, the emotions. I don't know if there is anything special about doing this, but I have found it important for me this year to really get in the right place leading up to Easter. Let me explain a little bit about how my thinking has been this week.
Palm Sunday- Jesus entered into Jerusalem on a donkey, a specific donkey that fulfilled a prophecy. The crowds shouted, "Hosanna, Hosanna, Hosanna in the Highest." "Lord Save Me!" Ironically in just a week the crowds, many of the same people, would be shouting something quite different. But a book I am reading by Shane Claiborne, put it in a new perspective for me. We are like the donkey that brought Jesus into town. Our job, our role in this life is to bring Jesus to the people. And at first we hear the shouts and the commotion, and we are like, "that's cool, these people are getting it. They understand how amazing Jesus is." After a while we start to think that the shouts and the crowds and the noise is for us. "They really like me." "I must be pretty special." When really we are just the ones commissioned to bring Jesus to the world. It's not about us, it's about Jesus.
Tuesday- I didn't know if anything special happened on the Tuesday of Holy Week, but I was reading in Mark 14 the other day and I found the story of the woman who dumped perfume on Jesus. She entered where Jesus was dinning at Simon the Leper's house with His disciples and she breaks an alabaster jar of expensive perfume over his head. Some complained that she wasted something expensive that could have been given to the poor, but Jesus argued that what she did was a great offering. She was preparing His body for burial, she was cherishing the few moments she had left with the Son of God on earth.
I was challenged by this....do I truly cherish the time I spend with Jesus. Do I soak it in, do I truly treasure time with my God. Imagine the smell that would immediately fill the room where the odor of the perfume was released. It would have been so strong that no one could deny its presence. No one could act as if it were not there. It dominated everything else going on in that room. I want my devotion, my desire for my God to completely permeate and dominate every nook and cranny of my life....so that no one can deny how madly in love I am with Jesus Christ. Jesus finished the scene by declaring that wherever the Gospel will be told, her legacy will also be told...but its not about her, its about the King she anointed, the King who was about to commit the greatest act of love the world had ever or would ever see.
This week I tried to imagine I was there for the last week of Jesus' life: the sights, the smells, the emotions. I don't know if there is anything special about doing this, but I have found it important for me this year to really get in the right place leading up to Easter. Let me explain a little bit about how my thinking has been this week.
Palm Sunday- Jesus entered into Jerusalem on a donkey, a specific donkey that fulfilled a prophecy. The crowds shouted, "Hosanna, Hosanna, Hosanna in the Highest." "Lord Save Me!" Ironically in just a week the crowds, many of the same people, would be shouting something quite different. But a book I am reading by Shane Claiborne, put it in a new perspective for me. We are like the donkey that brought Jesus into town. Our job, our role in this life is to bring Jesus to the people. And at first we hear the shouts and the commotion, and we are like, "that's cool, these people are getting it. They understand how amazing Jesus is." After a while we start to think that the shouts and the crowds and the noise is for us. "They really like me." "I must be pretty special." When really we are just the ones commissioned to bring Jesus to the world. It's not about us, it's about Jesus.
Tuesday- I didn't know if anything special happened on the Tuesday of Holy Week, but I was reading in Mark 14 the other day and I found the story of the woman who dumped perfume on Jesus. She entered where Jesus was dinning at Simon the Leper's house with His disciples and she breaks an alabaster jar of expensive perfume over his head. Some complained that she wasted something expensive that could have been given to the poor, but Jesus argued that what she did was a great offering. She was preparing His body for burial, she was cherishing the few moments she had left with the Son of God on earth.
I was challenged by this....do I truly cherish the time I spend with Jesus. Do I soak it in, do I truly treasure time with my God. Imagine the smell that would immediately fill the room where the odor of the perfume was released. It would have been so strong that no one could deny its presence. No one could act as if it were not there. It dominated everything else going on in that room. I want my devotion, my desire for my God to completely permeate and dominate every nook and cranny of my life....so that no one can deny how madly in love I am with Jesus Christ. Jesus finished the scene by declaring that wherever the Gospel will be told, her legacy will also be told...but its not about her, its about the King she anointed, the King who was about to commit the greatest act of love the world had ever or would ever see.
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