Quiet time revelations

Today, in my quiet time, I opened up my internet browser to see what the BibleGateway verse of the day was. Today's verse reads:

“[Trials and Temptations] Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.”- James 1:2-3

So, of course, my first thoughts are, "Oh man, God, please, not today...trials of many kinds..." to which He gently reminded me that life - every day - is full of trials, and if today ends up seeming like it has extra, it is His will for my good. Then, He directed me to the second part of the verse, which I thought was cool:

"because you know that the testing of your faith..."

You see, whenever I read this verse, I think about how trials develop perseverance--how storms make us more steady, how mountains make us stronger, how valleys make us braver. But today, the part of faith was the part that struck me. Trials test our faith. Do we have faith in God? If we do, then we will trust Him and can be in His peace. If we worry (as if we have any control over the circumstances), then we are not trusting Him and our faith is weak. Trials test our faith; they gauge our faith.

I was so excited that I decided to blog about it and share my "little" revalation with you all. But when my browser hit my home page, I saw something else: the K-LOVE verse of the day (which is my home page). It said:

"So you see, faith by itself isn't enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless." James 2:17 NLT

Haha, WOW.

Isn't that neat? God knew what I'd just read and learned, knew that I was going to blog, and He put that verse on the K-LOVE site...He knows everything :)

Trials test our faith. But it isn't enough to just "make it through" the trial while trusting in God and reminding yourself that you're getting stronger. Though the first verse emphasized our attitude in trials, our inward attitude is just the first step. From these verses, it appears that God wants us to make the most of every moment, even the difficult ones. He doesn't want us to just survive; He doesn't want us to just live; He wants us to live lives for Him, lives producing good deeds and good fruit. He wants us to live a productive life.

For myself, today's challenge is to not only survive every moment. It's not even to live every moment thinking about God. It's to actively look for and pursue His will, actively seeking to make a difference in others' lives.

Here's the point I want you to think about. I'll even put it in big bold type:
Faith is not just an emotion or a thought. Faith is letting God work His will through you; faith is following God whole-heartedly.

Will you join me in pursing this challenge?

DISCLAIMER: Of course, God's words aren't mine, so I could be a little or completely wrong. I'm just telling you what I've learned and believe; please investigate for yourself and decide if you believe I am correct (God doesn't want us to be gullible; like the Bereans, He wants us to double-check doctrines and ideas against the words of the Bible before we accept them as His ideas. I believe He wants us to do this partly so that we don't follow false teachings). These words should not be considered words of God or extra-Biblical revelation, as I am simply trying to explain what has already been written in the Bible.

Tough Questions Post 2: Were David and Jonathan gay?

Um, no.

Honestly, I don't know where this assertion came from. Were David and Jonathan gay? Well, let's think about it.

No.

Let me ask you a question: are you friends with people of your same gender? Yes, you are? Do you have close friends that are your same gender? Yeah? You really do?

Wow, I didn't know you were gay! What is it like, you know, being gay?

Or for you gay and lesbian people: are you friends with individuals of the opposite gender? Yes, you are? Do you have close friends that are the opposite gender? Yeah? You really do?

Wow, I didn't know you were straight! I thought you were gay/lesbian. What is it like to be straight?

The statement "David and Jonathan were gay" just doesn't make sense. Sure, I know that there were gay people in that time period, and yes, I agree - it could have happened. But we're talking about whether or not it did happen. The Bible clearly points out gay people, as seen in the story of Sodom and Gomorrah.

We don't know a ton about David's friendship with Jonathan, but we do know a ton about David's relationship with women. And David certainly was straight. Think of Bathsheba (ew). David had many, many, many wives. David actually desired women.

Do gay men desire women? I don't think so. Men who like women are called "straight," not "gay."

So no, they weren't gay. Good try, but that theory just doesn't hold up.

Tough Questions Post 1: Did They Go To Hell?

Welcome to the first post in my series "Tough Questions."
Someone on a Christian discussion board once asked how to handle a conversation like this:

Non-believer: My brother just died.
Believer: I'm so sorry! That must be so hard.
Non-believer: Yeah, it's tough. But I know I'll get to see him in heaven someday.
Believer: Your brother was a Christian?
Non-believer: No, but he was a great person. He'll go to heaven, right?

The believer wanted to know how to tell the non-believer, basically, "Your brother went to hell" without being too harsh.

Well, here's my answer: you don't have to lie, and you don't have to tell them their brother went to hell. Because you don't know for sure that he did.

Example: Charles witnesses to Bob. Bob turns down the gospel invitation and drives away. Bob is driving on the highway when he realizes that he really does need God. Bob becomes a Christian. Bob reaches for his cell phone to call Charles, and a drunk driver swerves in Bob's lane while Bob is looking down. Bob dies.

Should Charles live life believing that Bob went to hell? No, of course not! Just because Charles doesn't know that Bob became a Christian doesn't mean Bob never did become a Christian. Last-minute conversions happen; think of the thief on the cross the night Jesus was crucified!

You see, we can explain the gospel to others, but we can never be sure whether they go to heaven or hell. Even those who deny God to their dying breath might, while believed to be in a coma or dead, make a last-minute decision to trust in Him.

So no, don't say "Your brother went to hell." You're not God. You don't know that.

Tell the person what you believe: no one is good enough to get into heaven, so Jesus died to pay the price for our sins. Tell them that you believe only those who trust Jesus go to heaven. But also tell them that you believe their brother could have made a conversion without their knowledge and gone to heaven. :)

Tough Questions

Hi all,
I'd like to start a series called "Tough Questions."
Please comment with your question ideas - they can be your question's, a friend's questions, a relative's questions, something you read in a book....any tough questions dealing with Christianity.

Psalm 105:14-15

¹⁴ He allowed no one to oppress them;
for their sake he rebuked kings:

¹⁵ "Do not touch my anointed ones;
do my prophets no harm."

This passage is from Psalm 105. Here, God speaks of how He protected the Israelites.

Some observant Christians may see a contradiction.

The prophets certainly underwent harm. The Israelites certainly were oppressed - they were slaves, for goodness' sake!

Reading the verse in context:

¹³ [the Israelites] wandered from nation to nation,
from one kingdom to another.

Now, we could hardly call going from one conquerer to another "wandering."

Or could we?

You see, God was always in control of the Israelites' situation. He realized that, though it appeared that the conquerers were ruling the Israelites' destiny, He was protecting them and guiding them. Though it appeared that the prophets were being abused by the people, God only allowed certain harm to come their way. When extra abuse was introduced, God said "No - do my prophets no harm."
Only the things He allowed into their lives happened. Only the places He gave them they went. Their conquerers were really powerless; God was in control, doing what was best for the people and for His glory.

Now, imagine that you are an Israelite. Have you any "conquerers"? Have you imagined anything to be a controlling factor - friends, school, weather, whatnot? Realize that God sees everything - EVERYTHING - that is happening in your life right now, in the past, and in the future. He not only sees it, but He has set it up like that and it's for your best, for His glory, and for the good of those around you - all at once.

Changes your perspective, huh?

Do You Know Her Name?

That new girl in your class. Do you know her name?

Yeah, I know. Your heart goes out to her. You're praying that God will provide friends for her.

Are you brave enough to introduce yourself? Are you willing to be that friend who God provides?

I've met some amazing people. I believe that God is the One who brings people into our lives, and I know that I would never have met many of my friends if it had not been for Him.

Use that knowledge - that God is in charge - as a tool. Trust that because God brought this girl to your attention, He may want you to reach out to her.

It always shocks me when I have Christian friends who pass up opportunities to reach out to other girls. I'm thinking, "You're in the perfect position to introduce yourself - and you didn't. That girl is so unique - you will never meet anyone like her. Besides, Jesus loves her, and that's enough reason to encourage her. She's feeling uncomfortable/depressed/etc. Why, you don't even know her name. You don't know her grade or her school or her favorite movies or what makes her tick or what breaks her heart or what makes her excited or her hopes or her dreams....how can you pass up an opportunity get to know this amazing girl God has created?" Don't be like that. Get to know about people. Care about people. Don't just wildly reach out to everyone in sight in an attempt to be a better person. Reach out to those people God has given to you, those on your heart.

Trust me - when I've stepped out, even when I've felt like it may be too late to do so, I've met some amazing people and gained friends I can't imagine not knowing anymore.

I know we've all been tempted to just stay in our comfort zone. But I'm challenging you to do something different.

Today, reach out to someone who God has put on your heart.

Sin

I just realized this today...I don't have time for a whole post, but...

You know when we say someone's beautiful inside and out? Or someone is beautiful on the outside but ugly on the inside?

Everyone was created beautiful. Everyone IS beautiful on the inside. But some people let sin run rampant in their lives (willingly), and we begin to see the sin instead of the person. Not because there's anything wrong with us, but because the person is letting the sin DEFINE them.

Like people who are mean and don't care if they hurt others' feelings. They were created beautiful, and they still have that potential. They still are beautiful. But like fog on a mirror, they let sin mask their personality until all we can see is sin - and sin is ugly. When they repent of their sin, their beautiful self begins to shine through. As they try harder and harder to follow Jesus, their beauty becomes more and more obvious.

We are all beautiful on the inside..sometimes our lives just need a really good scrubbing ;)