Standing Firm

One of the great perks of having a staff team with us is the wisdom and love that accompany them. We spent all day together, starting this morning with a devotional and spending the rest of the day showing them around the city.

I really liked the devotional that Steve led this morning. He said a lot of it come from what he learned while he was living in Barcelona; wrestling with why it seems tremendous spiritual growth happens overseas but back in the States the norm tends to be “causual” Christianity. He knew that isn’t supposed to be the case, you don’t have to be a missionary or pastor to experience God’s dynamic work in you. These are two things that stood out to him as he sought the answers in Scripture.

1) Be reminded of the Gospel over and over and over again.
The Gospel is the whole point of the Bible. It contains the story of how God reconciles us to Himself. A great encouragement comes when studying what God’s motivation is in saving us. Hebrews 12:2 states that Jesus endured the cross “for the joy that was set before Him.” What was that joy? The way of salvation for man! The saints are the joy that was before Christ’s eyes. That was the only thing that Christ didn’t have before He came to earth and that which He left with victoriously. Do you know the depth of God’s love for all the saints? For you? Does it blow you away? That the God of the universe loves you in this way?!? There are many other verses which expound on God’s love for the saints. As we go over these verses and know and experience God’s immense love for us, we can’t help but to grow tremendously. This growth is simply the response to revelation and “heart” comprehension of God.

2) Be continually involved in the great commission.
Matthew 28 contains the passage labeled the great commission, but really the whole Bible is the great commission. When sin happened, God pursued Adam and Eve. The Bible is all about God’s pursuit of man. It’s most clear to me when I ask two questions.
a) Who is God? God is the supreme being and creator of all seen and unseen. He is holy and all good, perfect and omnipotent, and much more.
b) Who is man? Man is dead in trespasses and sins, separated from Christ and having no hope.
God and man are separate. No commonality. Enter the Bible. The Bible describes the reconciliation of mankind to God. This is the context of the Old Testament preparing for the Messiah. This is what Christ accomplished. This is why He established the church. We are God’s agents of reconciliation!

As we understand God’s heart for us and His calling in our lives, we experience growth because these things resonate in us like nothing else can. We were made for this: to bring glory to God. By focusing on this in Scripture and praying that God would enlighten His truth upon your heart, you will see the desires of God come alive before you, applicable in your life and those around you. Setting our eyes on Christ will give us an eternal perspective with which we can see clearly where to take the next step. It also shapes our attitude and gives hope and meaning as we realize our purpose.

How great is our God and worthy of praise! Amen?!? Amen!

This entry was posted on Monday, March 5th, 2007 at 7:25 pm and is filed under General musings. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.