GodSprings - February 29, 2016

Is God There In My Conversations?

Sing to him, sing praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts. 1 Chronicles 16:9 (NIV)

The modern world we live in we have countless devices abound through which we can communicate with one another. We have a variety of smartphones, computers, and tablets that allow us to blog, tweet, e-mail, text, instant message, update social media, and spend face time. If all this fails, we can turn to the good old-fashioned way of communicating. We can write a letter or send a card. With more outlets available today to reach more people with our thoughts and views on life, how much time is spent actually talking about the wondrous works of God?    

King David talked often about God and sought to praise God for all His wondrous works. He sang songs, he wrote poems, and he publicly declared the greatness of God and used every means available to him to speak of the God of wonders. When we have experienced the goodness and greatness of God in our lives, we will want to find as many ways to talk about God with as many people as possible, whenever possible.

F.B. Meyer said that as Christians, “We talk about sermons, details of worship and church organization, or the latest phase of Scripture criticism; we discuss men, methods, and churches; but our talk in the home, and in the gatherings of Christians for social purposes, is too seldom about the wonderful works of God. Better to speak less, and to talk more of Him.”

We may find working the wonders of God into everyday conversation difficult, but that is only because we have created difficulty for God in the work of His wonders in our hearts. We have allowed our lives and our hearts to be filled with so much that is not God that not speaking much of God is only natural. We have fallen out of the practice of praising Him because we have fallen out of the practice of being captivated by Him.

We have the tendency to only talk about what is in our hearts. Therefore, if we are having a difficult time talking about God, we need to get more of God in our hearts. Let us take the time to focus on all God has done in our life and all He has done for His people, and I am sure we will not be able to stop all the God talk that pours from our lips.

GodSprings - February 28, 2016

Little Faith, No Faith, Great Faith – How Does God Define Mine?

Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed at that moment. Matthew 15:28 (NIV)

In his book Decoder of Dreams, Daniel Donald Campbell, shares the story of Sir Wilfred Grenfell, medical missionary in Labrador who found himself adrift on an ice flow, headed out to sea. How was it possible for Sir Wilfred Grenfell to survive the odds? This is what he says – “He mercifully killed his dogs, made a coat out of their hides, put up a distress flag, and lay down and slept. Later he said, There was nothing to fear. I had done all I could, the rest lay in God’s hands.”

Every moment of my life I live because I trust and I believe in people with whom I associate. I believe in a physician when I put my case into that physician’s hands, and trust him to cure me. I believe in a lawyer when I leave my case in his hands, and trust him to plead for me. I believe in a banker when I put money into his hands, and allow him to keep it on my behalf.

The Canaanite woman is described by Jesus as having a "great faith".  When we survey the bible this is the only occurrence of that adjective describing faith in Matthew. Yet, she didn't walk on water, as Peter did in Matthew 14. She didn't move a mountain because it says if you have faith as small as a mustard seed you can move the mountain. She probably had never been to church in her life. She certainly had never read the Bible. What's so great about her faith?

She doesn't approach Jesus with anything great: no great faith, no great obedience, no great religious piety. She comes with a great nothing: no Jewish faith, not knowing or keeping God's commandments, if she had any religious training, it wasn't centered on the God of Israel.

Perhaps we can define her great faith as coming to Jesus with nothing – nothing to offer Him, yet trusting Him to give her what she needed. She was persistent in her plea, stubborn in her faith, and yielded in her heart, and the Lord granted her request.  Jesus said she had great faith.  It wasn't she who approached Jesus talking about how great her faith was: "I really believe in you, so you should do this for me."

What is this great faith?  It’s a faith that lays hold on to Christ and will not let go. As we continue our journey in this Lenten season how does God define our faith – Little faith like Peter, No Faith like the Pharisees or Great Faith like the Canaanite woman?

“Faith for my deliverance is not faith in God. Faith means, whether I am visibly delivered or not, I will stick to my belief that God is love. There are some things only learned in a fiery furnace.” – Oswald Chambers

GodSprings - February 27, 2016

Am I Simply Going Through Religious Motions?

A person is not a Jew who is one only outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. 29 No, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a person’s praise is not from other people, but from God. Romans 2:28-29 (NIV)

The nineteenth-century Danish theologian Soren Kierkegaard in his book Concluding Unscientific Postscript, said there were two kinds of religion: Religion A and Religion B. Religion A, he said, is faith in the name of religion only. Those in this group will act as though they are religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. They will be involved in attending church without genuine faith in the living God. Religion B, on the other hand, is a life-transforming, destiny-changing experience. Religion B followers have a definite commitment to the crucified and risen Savior, which establishes an ongoing personal relationship between a forgiven sinner and a gracious God.

So, what does God have to say about religion? Is God looking for more “religious” people? In Paul’s day, the most religious people were the Jews. They had been blessed by God in many ways. They were the chosen people through whom the Messiah would come, and they had been given the Word of God. The name “Jew” meant “God be praised” The Jews had been protected by God, provided for by God, delivered by God, and directed by God. The Jews were dedicated to living a very religious life and therefore believed everything was okay in their relationship with God. But the Apostle Paul challenged their view of religion and showed them that religious activity does not mean a right relationship with God.

Paul, like Jesus, was saying, “Your heritage doesn’t save you, sacraments don’t save you, service doesn’t save you, knowledge doesn’t save you, and for the Jew, not even circumcision saves you.” These are all outward acts, and although they are not wrong, they are not what bring salvation. In other words, being religious does not mean that you will go to heaven.

The principle is the same today. Whatever you call yourself—Mar Thomite, Orthodox, Roman Catholics, Jacobite, non-denominational—does not matter. Whether you grew up in a Christian home, were baptized as an infant or as an adult, took communion, does not matter. Religious activity, and even religious profession without transformation, is empty religion.

Let us not simply go through the religious motions, but on the contrary gain a relationship with Jesus that changes us from the inside out, because we will never be changed from outside in.