Your Marriage Can Succeed!!!

I Went to Church

In addition to being Monday, today was one of those hectic days at work. I am sure you know what I mean.

During lunch, I went to Wendy's. After I had ordered my food, the dining room hostess walked by and spoke. I said hello and asked if she had a good weekend. She said "yes, I went to church". Not only was the answer strange to me, it was stunning as well. All I could say was yes ma'am.

As I sat down to eat I thought that her answer was both refreshing and convicting. The highlight of her weekend was going to church. The weekend was good because she had gone to church. To be honest most of us probably went to Super Bowl parties. Our watching the game and the commercials or participating in some other activity was the highlight of our weekend. It was not church.

I knew immediately that she was right. Going to church and getting closer to God ought to be the highlight of my weekend. When I was younger and oh so far from the Lord, the weekends were always good because if nothing else we were going to get drunk. That sounds sad when I think about it now, but that's what constituted a good weekend. Now, that I have Christ my weekends are always guaranteed to be good because I can go to church and participate in it's activities.

My weekend will be good because no matter what else happens I can go and praise God. No matter how hard the week has been I can go and worship God. No matter what else happens I can commune with my creator who loved me enough to lay down his life to cover my sins and restore a broken fellowship bridging the chasm between his perfection and my sinful humanity (John 3:16, Romans 5:6 – 8). I can go and fellowship with likeminded people who face the same obstacles and struggles I do and we can encourage one another. I can go and serve others and sacrifice in God's house.

I hope to attain to this dear ladies level and be able to say yeah my weekend was good because I went to church. How about you? Do you have a restored relationship with God that allows you to say my weekend was good because I went to church and fellowshipped with the Almighty?

Called To Be Different

Each of us is unique and special.  We each have proclivities and idiosyncrasies that make us who we are.  As such, if we try to be someone we have not been created to be, we end up miserable and unsuccessful.  I believe that it’s human nature to want to fit in.  Most people don’t want to be odd or different.  We all inevitably desire to be accepted and loved by our friends, peer groups and the society we live in.  But when this acceptance comes at the price of sacrificing who God has called us to be; that price is too high.  Conformity by God’s people to a secular and worldly standard is nothing new; we find this occurring in 1 Samuel the 8^th chapter:

1 Samuel 8:5 – …now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.

1 Samuel 8:19 – Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, Nay; but we will have a king over us;

1 Samuel 8:20 – That we also may be like all the nations; and that our king may judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles.

This conformity however comes with dire consequences:  In 1 Samuel 8:7, we read

And the Lord said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee:  for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them. 

When we choose to conform to the world’s way then we are choosing the world as our sovereign lord and not God.  However, Romans 12:2 teaches that we should not be not conformed to this world; but be ye transformed by the renewing of our mind, that we may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. 

In many instances, when we look at the church today there is very little discernable difference between the church and the world.  The divorce rate in church is as high, if not higher, as outside the church. The rates of teen pregnancy are comparable to that of the world.  You have many supporters of abortion in the church.  There are many who believe that it’s okay to lie when faced with certain situations.  There are many who don’t believe in absolute truth.  There are many within the church who are biblically illiterate.  They rarely if ever read the bible let alone apply it to their lives. 

These things should not be.  In the second chapter of Philippians, the Apostle Paul calls the Philippians to a higher standard of living.  He tells them that they should have the mind of Christ.  They should be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world. (Philippians 2:15 )   They should be a beacon of light in the midst of a crooked and perverse world infested with no fault divorces, adultery, fornication, homosexuality, co-habitation, stealing, rape, lying, idolatry, etc.  The church is to be a lighthouse of truth and holiness that leads the lost to Christ.  We have been called to take a stand for righteousness and holiness.  We are ambassadors for Christ reaching out to the lost and hurting with the message of God’s grace, mercy, love and the life altering power of Jesus.

If we however are no different than the world why would they be attracted to us?  Look at what Jesus said:

Matthew 5:13 – Ye are the salt of the earth:  but if the salt have lost his savour wherewith shall it be salted?  It is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out and to be trodden under foot of men.

Matthew 5:14 – Ye are the light of the world.  A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid

Matthew 5:15 – Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.

Think about it.  What good is salt that’s not salty?  What good is a flashlight that does not shine?  What good is a Church which has chosen to be like the world?  The answer is none!  Mind you none of this means that we will never make mistakes.  However, it does mean that we are to follow hard after God and pursue Christ likeness.  I think the best model of this is the early church (read Acts).  This church was counter cultural but impactful.  In Acts 17:6, the world said this of the early church.

These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also

Look at all the souls that were saved and how Christianity spread like wild fire.  The love they had and the way they lived was contagious to those around them.  I challenge you to live your life in such a way that you are salt and light.  I challenge you to live a contagious life for the sake of the world we live in.  If we don’t then what good are we for the kingdom of God after all?

God is Good!!!

God is good is a statement that you hear a lot in churches.  Sometimes I wonder if this is a question or a statement of affirmation.  Do we really believe that God is good?  I know that it may seem almost sacrilegious or blasphemous to question the idea of the goodness of God.  Still, it’s a statement that unbelievers reject in the midst of a world filled with sin, death and destruction and believers struggle with while in the midst of the unthinkable unmerited trial. 

On Sunday December 14, 2009, I watched as a young couple walked into the church, visibly tired and worn down from the previous day.  They came in with their two small children carrying heavy hearts.  You see the night before they lost their three year old daughter.  As I watched them in service holding on to their kids with tears flowing down their faces, I could not help but to marvel.  I love God but I’m just not sure that I could have come to church the next day.  I’m not sure that I would not have been broken, distraught, confused, bitter, and/or angry. 

All I can think of is how David laid before God praying for the life of His son. However, once he knew the child was dead David arose from the earth, cleaned himself-up, came into the house of God and worshipped the Father.  (2 Samuel 12:15–22)  How could David do that after his child had just died?  David believed that God was good!  In spite of what had just happened, he trusted in that goodness. 

How could this couple go to church while still hurting so much, while still reeling from the horror, shock and sadness of things?  How often do we run from God instead of running to Him in the midst of a crisis?  I know there were no words that I could have said to comfort them or ease the pain they felt.  Yet God’s able to comfort and console their grieving hearts.

I found myself struggling that Sunday and for a little while thereafter.  While I was thinking about David I also wrestled with the why question.  Why did this three year old child die and there are murderers, rapists, pedophiles, and degenerates who reject God still living.  As, I watched this family my heart was extremely heavy.  Tears welled in my eyes.  How do you reconcile a good God with something like this?  This is not a new question.  It is one that we hear every time people die from a natural disaster, especially when children are involved.

As I pondered the question, I thought of the Lord's reply to Job. (Click here to read God's reply to Job.  It is really good.  (Job 38 – 42))  Job questioned the goodness of God in the midst of his suffering.  He began to wonder how can a good God let such things happen to His faithful servant?  God’s answer is astounding.  He says

Job 38:2 – Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?

Job 38:4 – Where was thou when I laid the foundation of the earth?

God tells Job that he doesn’t even know what he’s talking about.  Then He reminds Job that He’s God.  A sovereign God does not need a counselor.  God asks Job "when I was laying the foundation for the world, establishing the whole of creation where were you?" 

Reading these words now prick my heart all over again.  Like Job, I had to ask myself "who am I to judge God by my standards of goodness"?  Who am I to question the Almighty?  Where was I when He was creating the earth?  Better yet, where was I when He was hanging on the cross for my sins? 

How can a finite mind comprehend the eternal? The answer is simple; it cannot.  You see we only have a snapshot in time.  God has seen the beginning, the end, and everything in between.  God’s goodness cannot be measured based on human criterion.  We cannot judge God based on human standards of goodness.  We are not good enough to do that.  God is the only one who is perfectly holy and righteous.  James 1:17 says that God is the giver of every good and perfect gift and that there is no variations, vacillations, or changing in Him not even so much as the turning of His shadow.  This means that God is continually, perpetually, eternally good.

Regardless of my trials God is good!  Regardless of those things and loved ones I have lost, God is good!  Regardless of sickness, God is good!  He is good always and forever!  So no matter what life throws at me I will trust and praise God because a good God is worthy to be praised.

I’m Thankful

Wednesday, November 11, 2009 was a cold and wet night.  After leaving church and dropping a friend off, I realized how thankful I was and how much I had to be thankful for.  I just thanked God for having a home to return to because some people were out in the cold and wet.  I was thankful for the car I had to drive.  I didn’t have to stand out in the cold and wait at the bus stop.  I just realized how blessed I was.

 

Then the thought came to me, God I’m thankful that every day is not a cold and wet day.   I’m grateful to God that every day is not winter. 

 

Lately, my life has been kind of cold, dreary, and wet.  I haven’t worked in 8 months.  I have gone through a period a discouragement; not wanting to be bothered at times.  Contrary to what may be espoused by some, Christianity is not a cure all or defense against hardship and/or hard times. 

 

Therefore, it was great to be reminded that life will not always be like that.  It’s good to know that troubles are not forever, that every storm ends, that tribulations will pass and that regardless of how things may look God is still in control (Even when His plan and time table does not coincide with mine).

 

I’m just thankful that God is loving, full of tender mercy and kindness, gracious and forgiving and sovereign.  I’m thankful for Jesus Christ and salvation.  I’m thankful that God loves me.  Let’s be honest I can be pretty hard to love sometimes and God still loves me in spite of me.  In spite of my shortcomings and rebellion, He still loves me and I’m thankful for that.   

 

Sometimes we just need to be reminded of who God is no matter what life throws at us.  In the good times God is still God and in the bad times God is still God.  I’m thankful that no matter how bad things may get that’s not the end.  As a child of God, I have a better inheritance awaiting me and I am thankful for it.  These earthly things will pass away, my money will be spent, my car will breakdown, and so will this body, but God has an inheritance for me that is immortal, imperishable and incorruptible.  I pray that I keep this in mind so that my lows will not be too low during the bad times and my highs don’t get to high during the good times.  I pray that I remain thankful and keep the Father as the God of my life regardless of how things look.

 

The Psalmists put it this way:

 

Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands. Serve the LORD with gladness: come before His presence with singing. Know ye that the LORD He is God: it is He that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture. Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise: be thankful unto Him, and bless His name.  For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting; and His truth endureth to all generations. (Psalms 100)

 

Thank you Father for all you have done, all you are doing and all that you will do for us.