Fireproofing our Love for God

There is a particular storyline from the film Fireproof that came to my mind today.  The main character, Caleb, is a firefighter who, due to the constant weariness of life, has become a hard working, though critical and unloving man.  Because of this, Caleb finds his marriage falling apart, even coming close to a divorce. It is then, when he is nearing the end of his wits, that his father challenges him to a daily devotional which is meant to encourage him to re-engage his wife over the course of forty days.

Over time, Caleb devotes himself to the Lord through prayer and Bible study.  As he grows in his devotion to the Lord, he begins to love his wife in a way that he never had.  The culmination of this is the apex of the movie.  For years, Caleb had been selfishly saving and hoarding money for his dream boat.  All the while, Caleb's wife's mother has been deathly sick and in desperate need of medical supplies.  So, in an act of pure love, Caleb quietly uses the money that he had been saving for years to pay for his mother-in-law's medical supplies. His love for the Lord expresses itself through his love for his wife and his mother-in-law.  This is one of the main points of the whole movie.

John the Elder, the disciple whom Jesus loved, has more to say about love than perhaps any of the other New Testament writers.  And while most remember that God loves us through Christ Jesus His Son, many neglect how we love God.  John answers that important and necessary question with this: "No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and His love is made complete in us (1 John 4:12)."  And again, "Dear Friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God.  Everyone who loves has been born of God (1 John 4:7)."

In truth, John is indicating that loving others is how we exhibit our love for God.  In other words, we love God by loving those whom He loves.  This should not be overlooked or neglected ever.  Although worship, praise, and thankfulness are the essentials of loving God, loving others is also a vital and necessary component of that mixture.

This plays itself out in very practical ways.  For as we love others with humility and sacrifice, we are loving and serving God in the very manner that He has asked from us, which means that we will love others as He has loved us.  To be sure, this is not an altogether natural thing unless we pursue the Lord, because only by His empowering will we be able to love others in the way that He asks us to.  In the end, loving others is such a huge part of the Christian life that if we do not love others we are failing to love Him!  Let us then press on to love truly as He has loved us!

Beginning to Know God Exists

A certain young man who was long overdue for a haircut decided to go to the local barber one day.  While sitting in the barber's chair the young man and the barber began conversing.  Near the end of the haircut, the conversation turned to the subject of God.  The barber, as nonchalantly as one with scissors can be, said, "I do not believe God exists."

The young man, being a believer, was taking aback at the barber's atheism and so he asked the barber, "Why do you say that?  What makes you believe that God doesn't exist?"  The barber paused mid-cut and, with gusto, replied, "Just look around, son. There is evil and sadness all over.  If God exists, then there shouldn't be any of that.  It seems so clear to me.  Maybe when you're a little older you'll understand."

The barber finished the cut and the young man paid him for his services, even leaving a nice tip.  While walking out the door, the young man turned back to the barber and said, "You know, I don't believe barber's exist.  I am sure of it that barber's just do not exist."  The barber, a little surprised, said, "How can you say that?  I just worked on you!"  The young man sharply replied, "But barbers can't exist because their are so many disheveled, messy, and long-haired people in the world, so barber's just can't exist."

The barber smirked, shooting back at the young man, "But barber's do exist!  That's just what happens when people do not come to me!" "Exactly!" harkened the young man, "That's exactly the point!  God does exist.  The pain and suffering and evil is just the evidence of a world that has not gone to Him for their trim!"  The young man turned and left, leaving the barber dumbfounded in his own disbelief.

How do we know God exists, really know that He is who He claims to be? This is a difficult but absolutely necessary question.  The consequences for neglecting it are dire and eternal.  For, if God is who He claims to be and Jesus is who He claims to be, then to know Him are of the utmost importance.  We are not left without testimony, though, in this discussion.  The Scriptures themselves attest to the knowledge of God.  And we should find comfort in their witness, for its truth is both self-attesting and authoritative.

At the onset of such a discussion, a brief note about knowledge must be made.  Knowledge refers to knowing someone or something.  True and definitive knowledge, though involving the intellect is a holistic endeavor, requiring all of the faculties of a person.  This is the necessary starting point for knowledge, particularly when discussing matter of spiritual and eternal significance.

While there are many verses to support the knowledge of God,  Paul's definition of spiritual knowledge in matter of receptive revelation in his first letter to the Corinthian church seems to cover the topic quite well (1 Cor. 2:6-16).  In this comprehensive statement Paul indicates that not only is the knowledge of God a spiritual ordeal, but more more importantly, it is revealed by the Holy Spirit. The relevance of such a truth is that although people, like the barber above, would prefer to use their physical sensory perceptions to know God, who is Spirit, the way to know God begins with the spirit of a person.

Additionally, unless we recognize that our knowledge of God is revealed and not earned, we will fail to know.  Because of this reality, we need to come to God in humility for Him to reveal Himself to us.  Paul, in his letter to the Romans, indicates that God has revealed Himself in creation, His eternal power and invisible qualities, and that the only appropriate response to such revelation is praise and thankfulness (Rom. 1:18-23).

In the end, the matter is a spiritual one.  Our knowledge of God is based on our spirit's malleability to be affected by the Holy Spirit revealing Himself in our hearts.  If we are hard of heart and deaf of ear, we will not receive that revelation, for to accept God's revelation one must first have faith that revelation is in fact possible.  But this knowledge is of a holistic and transformative nature, meaning that to know God forms the backbone of all knowledge.

Therefore, let us start the conversation of the existence of God where it needs to begin: in the spirit.  Starting there and working itself outward through every facet of our person, the knowledge of God will transform us.  But we must receive that revelation in order for it to take its affect within us.  But praise be to God that He has revealed Himself and that we can know Him!

Whoever Wants Fruit Must Be Willing to Work With Seeds

A woman goes to the Farmer's Market to pick up some local flowers and fresh vegetables.  She moves leisurely through the market, chatting and conversing with each of the vendors, buying various herbs and flowers and some  lovely, fresh bell peppers.  The woman finally comes to a small stand that was manned by Christ Jesus Himself.

Jesus held out his hand and said, "I have the greatest of fruit in all of creation.  Anything you want, just ask me and I will give it to you."  The woman, without hesitation, bursts out, "I want joy, peace, faith, wisdom," and a slew of other things, adding, "Can I get enough for my neighbors and the whole world too?"

Jesus smiles gently and replies, "I don't think you understand, young lady.  I have seeds, which are the powerful Word of God.  But it is up to you to plant them and to care for their growth, though I will bless whoever is willing to commit to the work."  The woman walks away dejected because of her impatience.  She wanted the greatness of God now without the work it required.

One of Jesus' first parables is the Parable of the Sower; it goes something like this:

A sower went out to sow.  As he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. Other seeds fell along the rocky ground, where the they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up because of the shallow soil, but when the sun rose they were scorched.  Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them.  While other seeds fell among good soil and produced grain.

Jesus is describing the Word of God takes root in the hearts of humans.  Like the woman at the stand, many of us would prefer the full-grown fruits of God and righteousness instead of a seed.  But God gives us the seed of His Word, and asks us to plant it within our hearts.  And though we would all assume that we are the good soil described in the parable.  But if we are not willing to plant, to till, and care for the seed, which equates to Spirit-led Bible study put into practice, then we take on the soil characteristics of the other soils. We should be sure to accept the reality of our responsibility to the cultivation of God's Word appropriated to our lives.  Let us then commit with diligence to the task of working the seeds in our lives.  And by the power of God working in us we will be blessed with godly fruits!

The Joy of God

Mariah was a beautiful young woman when her life was forever and dramatically changed.  She had been homecoming queen in high school, president of her sorority in college, and had been working her dream job for only a matter of weeks when the accident happened.  She was on her way home from work.  A normal drive, a normal day.  Suddenly, a semi-truck, whose driver had went into cardiac arrest while driving, smashed into Mariah's vehicle and pinned her car against the railing.  Her car rolled off the highway and she was crushed under its weight.

Before the wreckage was cleared entirely, Mariah was rushed to the emergency room to undergo extensive surgery to remove the shards of metal and glass from her body, most importantly her spine.  When she awoke, she found out that she had lost the ability to move her legs; she was paralyzed from the waist down.  She would have to go through years of rehabilitation to learn how to live a new life without the use of her legs.  The beautiful and able-bodied young woman was forced to accept that her life would never be the same and that she would need a wheelchair for the remainder of her life.

During her years of therapy and rehab, though, the nurses and doctors whom Mariah had been working with witnessed a young woman who never lost her infectious smile and energetic spirit.  One day, after her session, as Mariah was preparing to leave, one of the doctors asked her a question that caught Mariah off guard, "Mariah, how do you always have so much joy?  You've been through so much and yet you always make everyone feel so happy that you're here."

Mariah turned her wheelchair toward the doctor, smiled and then answered, "Do you want to know what I do everyday?  I wake up every morning and cry to God that I don't have the strength to do it another day, and I pray that He would give me the strength I need to do it.  So when you see me smile with a joy that's overflowing, it is all God.  I ask Him to come and fill me because I am empty of any joy without His help."

If only each of us would rely on God with such dependence, remembering that only in Him alone is there any joy.  Scriptural joy is two-fold.  The first is the joy of being in God's presence which is done through Jesus, by the power of the Holy Spirit which teaches us all things, especially the joy of His commandments and His Word (Psa. 16:11, 19:8; John 14:26, 15:9-11).  It is thus through reliance upon the Lord that we receive His joy.

The second part of the biblical concept of joy is dependent upon suffering.  In fact, Scripture says that it is through suffering that our joy is refined and made sure (Rom. 5:1-5; James 1:2).  This does not mean that we should seek trial and suffering, only that we should remember that it is through suffering that we become more dependent upon the Lord for our joy and strength.

Far from saying that suffering will be any less difficult, rather, we will understand that suffering serves eternal purposes that make us better Christians and, like the story of Mariah, better witnesses of the power of God.  Let us then look to the Lord, through the torn flesh of His Son Christ Jesus, so as to be filled with a perfect and holy, inexpressible joy!