Tag: the story of God

It’s Not About You…

When you wake up, what is the first thing you think about? It is probably something related to what is going on in your day ahead or your personal life right now. Although some days may come with excitement for the day’s events, there is probably also some worry or anxiety about if you will get everything done you need to do and also about what is going, or could go, wrong. It is natural and normal that nearly all our thoughts are focused on ourselves, or as we have children, our family. It is also human nature for us all to have Problem Centric Thinking (PCT). We most commonly focus on the negative or what’s going, or could go, wrong. This is very similar to when you are driving down the road and a bug hits your windshield. Ninety-nine percent of the windshield is clear, but you keep focusing on the one bug…and it can drive you nuts.

Our thoughts tell us that most of us believe we are the main character in our life’s story. However, in his October 25th sermon at Eastview Christian Church, Ben Miller reminded us that we are not the main character in our life’s story…God is. As much as we think it is, our life is not about us. Our life is about how we can live for God’s glory and make an impact for Him while we are here on this Earth. If we take the focus off ourselves and realize God is the main character in our story, then we are better positioned to face whatever curve balls life throws us.

A mentor and friend of mine has a great quote he always says, “Nothing happens to us, only for us.” After hearing Ben’s sermon though, I would make a slight adjustment and say, “Nothing happens to us, only for Him.” We won’t ever like and want bad, or even challenging, things to happen to us and in our lives in the same way we don’t want harm to our own physical body. However, when we take the focus off ourselves and know God is in control and He’s the main character in our story, we can better deal with and handle the challenges life brings us. Our life is not really our story, it’s His story. How awesome is it that He has made us a part of it?!

Here are a few questions we might ask ourselves when facing challenging times…

  1. What might God be doing through the challenges in my life right now that can be used for Him and His glory now or in the future?
  2. How can God take my past mistakes and/or current mess and turn it into something not only good, but something great, much like He did for some of the most influential people in the Bible?
  3. What God really wants is more of our heart, how might He be using these challenges to bring me or others around me closer to Him?

 

The amount of joy we will have in our life is in direct proportion to the amount of trust we have in God’s love, will, and perfect plan for us and our life.

 

“Be still and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:10

 

“You keep him in perfect peace whose mine is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.” Isaiah 26:3

 

“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28

 

“Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”   Ephesians 3:20-21

Restoration

A recent post by Mike Somers asked two great questions that challenged me, and hopefully challenged our readers as well:

  • What do you long to do each day?
  • What do you look forward to when you wake up each morning?

In line with those questions but adding a scenario: What do you long to do, or what do you look forward to when things in your life seem wrong or misaligned?

Numbers 36; Psalm 80; Isaiah 28; 2 John 1

Once in a while my route home takes me near the entrance to the emergency room at a local hospital. When slowly passing by I will see things like police cars, ambulances, concerned individuals rushing toward the door, and injured people seeking immediate medical attention. These symbols always remind me of times when either myself or someone I care about was not well. I don’t know about you, but when I’m sick, injured, or have a major issue, I don’t care about much else other than wanting to be well again; I seek restoration.

Psalm 80 is about restoration; not from illness but the relationship between God and his people. Three times it repeats a request to God for him to restore them; for His face to shine, that they may be saved (verses 3, 7, 19). So many of us seek restoration in things such as human relationships, physical and mental health, and finances. However, if we are not restored first and foremost with our creator, things will always seem off. He made us for a purpose, for relationship with him and to give him glory.

The Bible overall is a story about restoration between God and his people. In the beginning Adam and Eve had a close relationship with God, then came sin and the fall of mankind. This sin separated them and us from God, thus the need for restoration. The only way we can be restored is through faith in Jesus Christ; he can be our restorer if we so choose to follow him.

This week I had the opportunity to meet some amazingly gifted and humble individuals from a non-profit organization called Spread Truth. This organization has produced a captivating video that in just six minutes brings the story of the Bible to life through animated video, voice, and music. It is a simple story for all of us, one that starts in the beginning and ends in restoration. This video is a great evangelism tool to help spread the gospel. Check it out:  Story4.us/jonbharris

Enlightenment

I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. -Ephesians 1:18-19
Numbers 8; Psalm 44; Song of Solomon 6; Hebrews 6

Enlightenment is something people throughout history have pursued in many ways. It is the pursuit of many and the desire of most. I am no exception.

According to Webster, enlightenment is “the state of having knowledge or understanding.”

For a chapter of my life, I was a self proclaimed mystic and seeker of “truth”. This was mostly a line of defense to disguise a self centered life of hedonism and pride. I looked into other religions to construct a personal belief system, one which ultimately served my personal needs and desires; or so I thought. As it turned out my syncretism did not lead where I had hoped. God knew the desires of my heart better than I, and had provided the means to attain them. It was a very specific path and available to everyone.

As a child, I had been introduced to the idea of Christianity, but my progress was temporarily misdirected in the confusion of grief and the call of my rebellious spirit. Later in life, I returned to what I believed was the most certain path to discovering truth, but for many years I wrestled between trying to establish a relationship with the God of the Bible, and finding fulfillment in everything the world had to offer.

As my quest for truth became more urgent, I focused more on God. This process was like swimming upstream, against the current of a culture whose force was the countless choices of the lives of those who turned towards idolatry, including the deification of self. Fortunately there were others who swam against the power of self, kindred souls who offered great encouragement: like my wife Heather, my brother Mike and Jon Harris, and BJ Armstrong, Mike Sommers, Arnold, Josh and Jerry; my fellow Bible journal writers, Eastview’s awesome pastors, my generous small group partners and many more.

Eventually it all came down to this: If there was a God who created everything (which I certainly believed); and if that God was both infinite and personal (attributes of God clearly spoken to in the Bible); and God had a plan for the salvation of mankind (assuming of course we needed saving from something, which is a central theme in the Bible story, and certainly one that applied to me) — how would God interact with His creation? And if he did why wouldn’t he document His amazing story in some way? Certainly words and stories are filled with power that can either lead us towards or away from God.

I wanted to learn as much about God as possible, so I chose to respond in faith to all means of revelation available: the power of nature, scripture and by looking for the reflection of God in the lives of others. (Psalm 19)

The great thing is this: the promises of God as documented in the Bible can literally be experienced in the transformation of our lives. If we could know God personally, why wouldn’t we? Becoming the people we were meant to be, offers strong evidence for the existence, the power and truth of the Biblical God. It has for me.

Now as I swim upstream against the culture of America, and of the world, I am learning to find eddies where the current is still heading back towards God. I have learned to cross the river to bigger eddies without going backwards. The longer I swam, the stronger I became in the power of God’s Holy Spirit. As I swam, my life filled with grace and gratitude towards others and with God’s peace that transcended all understanding. This change was able to permeate deep into my soul! Why did I wait so long?

It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age and who have fallen away, to be brought back to repentance. To their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace. – Hebrews 6:4-6