In God I trust

I heard a great reminder yesterday. Proverbs 3:5,6 says that if we trust in God with everything we have He will make our paths straight. There is a really important presupposition in this passage; outside of trusting God, our paths are crooked. If we are not trusting God with all that we are, our paths are crooked, all over the place and generally lead to frustration and dissatisfaction. The problem is that often we want God to bless us and what WE want to do rather than surrender to Him and conform to what He wants for us. I do this all the time. "God, please bless_________ and ___________ and this thing here and that opportunity over there..." an then I wonder why I get so frustrated because "nothing is working out the way I wanted it to." It's because my path is crooked. When we put our total faith in God, he will straighten our paths and get us to our destination. So, where do you place your trust? Is it in your plans and paths or is it in the God who directs our paths?

The Source of Knowledge

Paul writes in Colossians 2 that Jesus is the source of all wisdom and knowledge. Can it really be that simple? Yes, it really is. James, Jesus' brother in his letter writes that if anyone lacks wisdom, just ask for it! Solomon, in the Old Testament, when given the opportunity to ask for anything he wanted, asked for wisdom! Unfortunately, too many times we pray for things and stuff, myself included and yet we are to desire wisdom and knowledge which is found in Jesus. So how do we practically do that? We spend time in God's word and pray. My friend Jan reminded us over the weekend that we need to focus on God's word. In other words, when reading, really focus on what you are reading; don't let the flood of thoughts and distractions that WILL come get in the way. The enemy of our souls wants nothing but to distract us from the Truth and we must be disciplined (yeah, no one likes that word, but it's true) to stay focused. I admire Yoga enthusiasts and their dedication to their practice and focus on the breath. We would do well to apply the same focus on our reading and study of God's word.

One of the most disturbing phrases I have read in the Bible is this..." I rejoice in my sufferings." Let me put it in today's vernacular, "I love it when my life is miserable, when everything and everyone is hell bent on bringing me down and stuff just sucks." Put it bluntly, he's a masochist. Let me put this into some context. Paul, the guy who wrote most of the New Testament and who endured hardships, imprisonment, shipwrecks, poverty, beatings and outright persecution for the cause of Christ is saying that in all of this, he can be thankful and yes even joyful. Let me be honest. when things don't go well for me, I whine and complain; forget being joyful or happy and yet Paul found reason to rejoice. Why? He found that he could be more like Jesus when he was suffering for him. Today, you watch the preachers on TV with their expensive suits and huge arenas full of people mesmerized at their message of "happy, happy, joy, joy" and you'd think that they had it all together and yet Paul likens suffering for Christ as a way to be more like him and that we should rejoice in that. What a concept.

Hostile Minds

Are you hostile towards God? Has that thought ever even crossed your mind? Paul in Colossians addresses people who, as he describes, were "alienated and hostile in mind" towards God. Most people I would think probably don't even give a thought to God throughout their day other than the occasional G--D---- that slips through their lips. He just isn't a real entity in their lives. The word hostile in this phrase means an enemy of God. Paul is saying that by our very thoughts we can be enemies of God; hostile in mind. So, I ask the question, by the way you think and choose to live, are you an enemy of God? Do your thoughts and actions line up to what God would consider "good"? In this day and age, it's all about what "feels" right and living for self pleasure. We can see it all around us. But just because something "feels" right, doesn't mean that it is, at least not in God's eyes and we can choose whether to live for self, or for God.

Ave Maria

I've been listening to Ave Maria by Pink. Yes, I am a fan of Pink. Yes, she is edgy but she's honest and she's a great artist. No, this isn't a song slamming Catholicism. Anyways, this song really struck me because of its honesty. Here is a sampling of her song:

Ave Maria
Where did you go
Where did you go
How did you know to get out of a world gone mad
Help me let go
Of the chaos around me
The devil that hounds me
I need you to tell me

If the darkest hour comes
Before the light
Where is the light
Where is the light

The song basically describes that the world as we know it or, as she sees it, has completely fallen apart. she references suicide bombings, hurt and pain in the world and she asks, "where did you go?"

I think all of us can look around our world and ask the same question to God, "God, where did you go? Are you still in this?"

Colossians 1:15-19 speaks to this. It tells us that in Jesus all things hold together. "WHAT? the world as we know it is falling apart morally and environmentally and we're supposed to believe that Jesus still has it under control?" Yep. This is not a simple, contrite answer. The point here is that in Jesus all things hold together, he's like the glue, if you will. The issues and the problems we face in this world are the result of man's free will to choose right and wrong and for now, God is allowing it for better or for worse. Paul writes in another book a quote we all like to use, "we reap what we sow". While he was speaking to financial blessing and giving, the point holds true in every aspect of life. Others would say, "what comes around goes around" or "karma". Jesus is still in this. he walked the Earth and experienced it and promised to come back. Imagine how bad it would be if he wasn't in this? It would be infinitely worse.

So, my prayer for Pink and many, many others like her that believe this world is falling apart is that, yes, it is true, it is falling apart and yes, the Light, Jesus, will come one day and rescue those that have faith in him from this "world gone mad" and will restore this Earth to the way it was originally designed.