Be merciful to those who doubt
One of the things I've been learning a lot about lately is doubt. We can doubt all sorts of things: doubt God's power, his will, our purpose/call, or even his existence. And most of the time whenever we doubt, we feel totally filled with shame. We think that we're "bad" christians and are insulting God. As a result, we stop going to church, stop fellowshipping with our brothers and sisters and stop praying. Not at all in an attempt to make the doubts go away, but just to hide. To a degree, that was me this summer (which is one reason why the blog dried up). I was freed of that last night and pastor Dino preached an amazing, revealing message that I'll try to convey here.
We oftentimes like I said have such a skewed view of doubt, almost like a tunnel vision of our shame. We're totally forgetting that every single christian struggles with it at some time. As a result, we pass judgement on those who are struggling and to some degree shun them. Jude 22 is a verse that is so small (half a sentence) that most people just gloss over it, but its implications are HUGE. God's telling us to as the church welcome those who are doubting, walk along side them through that doubt, and see how we can help them. Not only that, but he's also saying for us to do the same about ourselves! You, when you doubt, when you feel that shame building, have mercy on yourself! Don't get down on yourself and being filled with shame - no. Tell yourself it's alright and normal the things you're thinking, then gently pick yourself back up and keep on walking: with your brothers/sisters and with God.
Not only does God remind us that it's perfectly normal to go through seasons of doubt, he even promises in Matthew 12:20a that he'll be there beside us! "A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out..."We so often think God's angry with us when we're questioning all those things about him....that's not true! He's infinitely patient and loving with us. He's not going to snuff you out because the light you once shown brightly is now a bare ember. He's not going to break and toss you aside because you once could stand tall and strong in your faith but now can hardly stand. No :) My friends, he's not like that at all, and says so right there. Look at Peter after the crucifixion. He (who once was an apostle, preaching to thousands) flat out denied Jesus in public three times, but Jesus still forgave him and loved on him.
There's countless examples in the Bible (David, Samson, Thomas, even Moses and Noah!) of doubt and forgiveness, and that's the cool thing: the Bible isn't a collection of just what God DID. If so, that'd be pointless. It's a collection of what he's DOING. God's doing for people what they cannot do for themselves. Maybe for you that's taking away doubt, maybe it's just loving you through that doubt. You've got two great promises. Cling to them :)
Monday, July 9, 2012
Friday, May 11, 2012
James 4:7-8
7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners,
and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
Man, here's one that I'm constantly clinging to. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. One of satan's favorite lies is to tell us that we can't resist temptation. Especially when we're in the middle of being tempted he likes to shout that we have no option but to give in. This verse says that's a flat lie. Ask God to give you the strength to avoid a temptation, and when you do get tempted, cry out to him. Then rebuke the devil in Jesus' name, and he'll have no option but to run away!
It goes on to say in verse 8 that when we draw near to God, he'll draw near to us. Wow. I imagine that as we're going to give God a hug, unsure of his reaction, and then he sweeps us up in the biggest hug ever. That's how amazing it is to me that he'll draw near to us. But that also comes with a command to wash our hands and purify our hearts. Haha, when I first read it I was like "Hey! That's not unconditional!" but then I thought about it: whenever our hearts are cloudy and we're doing evil, we're going to see evil wherever we look. Even if we try to look to God, we won't be able to see much of him through the fog over our eyes. But if we clean that up (something we can only do under his power - ha, we're so human..) and truly desire and make an effort to purify our hearts (so freaking hard to do, but so worth it) then that fog will burn away and we'll see him and be able to draw near (thus we're able to have him draw near to us).
So the main theme for today is purity. Keep in mind that while we're still human so we all still mess up, but strive for that. Whether it's sexually, physically (drugs), or even just emotionally (giving your heart away to anyone or anything, or being filled with contempt and malice towards others), the very first step is to give it over to Christ. He crucified that with him on the cross. Don't give in to lies. It's possible for you to overcome. I promise. :)
(for a great song that really shows the internal struggle with sin, listen to "Indwelling Sin" by Lecrae: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-lb260iIpTs)
8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners,
and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
Man, here's one that I'm constantly clinging to. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. One of satan's favorite lies is to tell us that we can't resist temptation. Especially when we're in the middle of being tempted he likes to shout that we have no option but to give in. This verse says that's a flat lie. Ask God to give you the strength to avoid a temptation, and when you do get tempted, cry out to him. Then rebuke the devil in Jesus' name, and he'll have no option but to run away!
It goes on to say in verse 8 that when we draw near to God, he'll draw near to us. Wow. I imagine that as we're going to give God a hug, unsure of his reaction, and then he sweeps us up in the biggest hug ever. That's how amazing it is to me that he'll draw near to us. But that also comes with a command to wash our hands and purify our hearts. Haha, when I first read it I was like "Hey! That's not unconditional!" but then I thought about it: whenever our hearts are cloudy and we're doing evil, we're going to see evil wherever we look. Even if we try to look to God, we won't be able to see much of him through the fog over our eyes. But if we clean that up (something we can only do under his power - ha, we're so human..) and truly desire and make an effort to purify our hearts (so freaking hard to do, but so worth it) then that fog will burn away and we'll see him and be able to draw near (thus we're able to have him draw near to us).
So the main theme for today is purity. Keep in mind that while we're still human so we all still mess up, but strive for that. Whether it's sexually, physically (drugs), or even just emotionally (giving your heart away to anyone or anything, or being filled with contempt and malice towards others), the very first step is to give it over to Christ. He crucified that with him on the cross. Don't give in to lies. It's possible for you to overcome. I promise. :)
(for a great song that really shows the internal struggle with sin, listen to "Indwelling Sin" by Lecrae: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-lb260iIpTs)
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Zephaniah 3:17
17 “The Lord your God is in your midst,
A victorious warrior.
He will exult over you with joy,
He will be quiet in His love,
He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy.
So sorry I haven't posted in a while! School ending kind of caught up with Emilie and I, so this blog got lost in the rush.
The verse for today is Zephaniah 3:17. I found this one while looking up verses to distract a friend from an immediate pain she was facing and make her smile. It worked :) As such, this part of Zephaniah (verses 14-end) are considered a song of joy. Zephaniah had just finished rebuking some of the Jews for not living up to being a light for the rest of the world to see, and was resolving it with joy at God's protection and providence (like every rebuke should be! They're to be sanctifying which in turn brings us closer to God!) Read the verse right now and pause after every period to soak it in.
God's fighting for us - he's protecting us
He loves us so much that he'd break out into song
...wow
If that doesn't brighten your day, I don't know what will! If you're going through a rough time or can see you're going to have a tough day, write this verse on your hand or wrist to remember it. So good.
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Psalm 139:13-16
For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place,
when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
Wow.The last part of 16 really strikes me. I love this passage so much for two reasons. First, because of the sense of purpose it gives. If God wrote out everything in our lives before we were even made, we SO have a purpose. He's got a great plan for each and every one of us just like in Jeremiah 29:11. Second, after reading this, it's really hard to feel insecure. The trap of looks is broken because we're fearfully and wonderfully made. The battlefield of the mind is won because we know he created our inmost being. And also, it means each one of us is special to God. He made us in the "secret place". That definitely implies individual attention. You've read this, now live like it! If God is for us, who can be against us? I love the hope this whole passage brings :)
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place,
when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
Wow.The last part of 16 really strikes me. I love this passage so much for two reasons. First, because of the sense of purpose it gives. If God wrote out everything in our lives before we were even made, we SO have a purpose. He's got a great plan for each and every one of us just like in Jeremiah 29:11. Second, after reading this, it's really hard to feel insecure. The trap of looks is broken because we're fearfully and wonderfully made. The battlefield of the mind is won because we know he created our inmost being. And also, it means each one of us is special to God. He made us in the "secret place". That definitely implies individual attention. You've read this, now live like it! If God is for us, who can be against us? I love the hope this whole passage brings :)
Hello!
To start this blog off, you probably need a little introduction. My name is Braxton, and I'm writing this blog with the help of Emilie. Emilie writes verses on her hand every day to remember, and I turn them into a mini devotion! I'll only type a little for each one to give you enough to think about, then you do the rest. A great tool for looking at verses is SOAP
Scripture
Observation - Context. What is literally going on?
Application - How can I apply this to my life?
Prayer
That's it! We're here for you, so if you have any questions about any of the verses, or just the whole living life with God thing in general, please please don't hesitate to email me at braxtonianman@gmail.com.
Now let's dance and sing through this together :)
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