God Provides

I have always noticed the way in which God provides immediately after the fall of man in Genesis 3. Right after God curses the serpent, the woman, and the man he turns and provides for his creation. "The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them." Genesis 3:21.

You wouldn't think that God would have it in him. You would think that God should let them live with the consequences of their sin forever. In some ways he did do that. They could no longer be in the garden of Eden (Genesis 3:23). But in other ways he continued to provide for them. And notice that God provided for them before he banished them from the garden.

Do we see that God is the provider first or the banisher?

I stumbled upon something as I read through this account again. Adam and Eve continued to believe that God was their provider. How do I know this? I see it in their eldest son, Cain. He always gets the bad rap for killing his brother, Abel. And rightly so. But, after God announces Cain's curse, I notice what he says...or rather I notice what is assumed in his statement.

"Cain said to the Lord, 'My punishment is more than I can bear. Today you are driving me from the land, and I will be hidden from your presence; I will be a restless wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.'"

Cain knows, despite the evil in his heart, that God provides life. He is terrified of what will happen apart from God's presence; he will certainly die! If he didn't learn anything else, he did have it right that God is the one who provides. Cain must have gotten this lesson from his parents. They knew God provided for them and passed this on to their children. Remember they did bring offerings to the Lord (Genesis 4:3-4).

I know God provides, but how do I arrange my life so as to recognize that he does just that? I think about my offerings. I think about my heart. I think about my life. God provides.

"Don't Waste Your Life"

I just finished this book written by John Piper. Great book that I suggest be read. He spends a good amount of time challenging me to consider the opportunities I have before me all the time. When I don't take advantage of these, I waste my life.

I really like the chapter that challenged the kind of lifestyle that prevents wasted lives. My use of money and my attitude toward possessions needed some focus. He uses a wartime type of mindset to advocate living for Jesus. The stories he tells of people from various wars in history brought me to tears! Kids becoming war heroes who did not consider their own lives worth saving. I can't possibly recount all the stories, but this remains in my head: how many of our teenagers would really consider giving up their life for a greater cause? Not many that I know of. I'm not absolutely positive that I would either.

Anyway...good book. I'll let you borrow it if you come by my office sometime. Worth the read.

Attractive Fruit

Reading the Word
You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes, nor figs from thistles, are they? (Matthew 7:16)

Reflecting on the Word
If grapes weren't delicious people wouldn't eat them and the seeds would never be spread. Think about it. When we walk along a path, eating grapes, we spit out the seeds. All along beside the path these seeds will germinate and new vines will be born.
In the biology of the Christian faith, seeds are wrapped in attractive fruit. If a vine bore only naked seeds, nobody would pick them. Everyone who wants to be a disciple of Jesus Christ is expected to bear fruit. This does not mean that we all have to be successful in bringing many people to the point of decision to become a Christian. It means our lives have to bear the taste, the fragrance, or the nourishment that makes people appreciate what we are and what we have to give. The people we work with, the members of our family or Sunday school class, should sense the pleasure and benefit of being with us. They should know that the flavor of our life comes from our abiding in Jesus Christ.
One day something may trigger the beginning of new life in someone you know who has tasted the flavor of Jesus through contact with you. We may not ever know how or when it happens. But it will be the germination of a seed that was planted because your own personal life was delicious.
Paul Brand, The Forever Feast

Responding to the Word
We give thanks for the harvest of the heart's work;
Seeds of faith planted with faith;
Love nurtured by love;
Courage strengthened by courage.
We give thanks for the fruits of the struggling soul,
The bitter and the sweet;
For that which has grown in adversity
And for that which has flourished in warmth and grace;
For the radiance of the spirit in autumn
And for that which must now fade and die.
We are blessed and give thanks.
Amen.
Michael Leunig, The Prayer Tree

Two Lives

A prayer for two lives:

Lord, I pray that you give me wisdom to understand how detestable leading two lives is in your sight. How can we think you don't see us? How can we say within us, "The Lord does not see; the God of Jacob pays no heed" (Psa 94:7)? Why do we think, "I am the exception to 'No one can serve two masters' (Matt 6:24)"? When are we going to realize that our actions are neither hot nor cold, but only lukewarm (Rev 3:15-16)?

Help me, Lord, to make the choice to begin right now leading one life completely dedicated to you, one life consumed with your will, one life that has shed the misdeeds of darkness. It is through Jesus that you have made this possible, this choice to have life that is truly life right now. In Christ Jesus I offer this prayer to you. Amen.

Worship Renewal

How many drab, boring worship services have I been to? Well, how long do you have? It seems like church services do not naturally get me going in the morning like a good cup of coffee...or two...or twelve. Why is that? Well, I think I have caught on to something.

The most meaningful services I have been a part of usually come around the time when God seems to be doing something with my life. It is like God is working on me and then...wham!...his presence enters my heart while I am singing songs or listening to the sermon. It is like a light bulb goes off in my life (not my head)...ohh...that is how things should be turning around in my life...that is how I should be living for God...ohh...how could I have not seen this before?

Ever since I have been on the worship committee at church, I have been thinking about how I can bring people to a place where they can truly encounter the living Spirit of God through the worship services. Finally, after reflecting on my own experiences, I have come to a tentative conclusion that people encounter the living Spirit of God in worship services when they are encountering him through the way they live their life.

Worship is not something one does once a week; it is something that one does in every action. Now you can choose to worship in the way you live God or the many other gods this world has to offer. But we are encouraged by the Apostle Paul to not let sin reign in our mortal bodies to obey its evil desires. Rather, we are to offer ourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life. We offer the parts of our body to him as instruments of righteousness.

This speaks to those of us who have disconnected the rest of our lives from our time of worship. How can we expect to have moving worship on Sunday morning if God is not moving us toward righteousness the rest of the week?