Day 204: An Unreliable God, A Trustworthy God
Read: John 14:11 - 15, Hebrews 13:7 - 13
Today, my friends, the Lord has placed a topic on my heart that is very
dear to me. I have been making an effort, with the Lord's help, to
bring to mind for your prayerful consideration, contrasting images of
God anyone of us could have based on our own lifetime experiences. One
image has consistently been one that might be considered to be a
distorted personal or worldview. The second, one that has been seen
through the hearts and minds of God's constant, unchanging faith,
hope and love. But what is on my heart is this - Once we have placed
that particular image of God in our hearts we live and act out our lives based on that image, sharing the message of that image, protecting and guarding that image.
In particular is this - is the image of a God who is 'unchanging'
actually a reliable one for us? Is it trustworthy and true? This
question for some is probably 'of course', 'no doubt on my mind' 'what
else would there be to believe if God changes like we do?' I guess that
last question is the one that kicks at me the hardest, maybe you too. I
ask this because for those who have no faith in God or a faith in God that says "Oh I know God is reliable, I know he is unchanging, faithful and true and all that and all that. Let me tell you where I believe God is unchanging from generation to
generation ... and they lay out a litany of stuff - my daddy was blind
and deaf to me, so therefore my ABBA, my Father God is too!
So, as I consider what I
should be praying about today as I prepare for entering the prison
environment, is the broad expanse of contrasting world views of God held
by those participants and the steadfast unchanging reliability that
they have assigned for themselves to live and act out their daily lives
by. I once had a Sunday school teacher a long time ago who was asked
by another 5 year old, "How do you pray to God? A significant question
is it not, and pretty foundational to us if we hold to God's always
'reliable' promise: "Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so
that the Father
may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it." (John 13,14)
The teacher said this "It is simple. As you would talk with your own
dad, just talk with God!" Great answer, very profound answer, very safe
answer. So, I got the message, considered it to be fully reliable,
trustworthy and true. Now, my friends, about that 'talking with your own
dad' stuff? Humph, my dad was deaf in both ears. So if I wanted to talk
with him, I had to yell and he did not like me to do that. I would try
to express my heart to him, the first thing dad did was turn off his one
hearing aid. Try to continue, dad would turn off his other hearing aid,
then he would finally remove them altogether. The alleged reliability
of my dad transformed me and became the Unreliability of my God!
Let us Pray: ABBA
Father, we learn and learn well from the experiences of our lives. What
we learn becomes how we act and live out our daily lives, not always in
the most intelligent of ways when compared to the wisdom of Your plan.
Our views of life in your kingdom on earth as it is in heaven so often
become reliably and tragically distorted. Too often it takes too long
for us to recognize this and sadly by that time, we have made one too
many mistakes which we hold on to as being unforgivable. Our 'most
reliable' image of you as an unchanging God who is always faithful,
always merciful, always forgiving and always loving God becomes for us
not the least bit believable. ABBA Father, search our hearts, and by
Your grace and wisdom change me from the inside out. Transform the eyes
of my heart to see You as You really are.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9azOSb_bONA
From the Inside Out (Lyrics) - Phillips Craig and Dean
www.youtube.com
Read: John 14:11 - 15, Hebrews 13:7 - 13
Today, my friends, the Lord has placed a topic on my heart that is very dear to me. I have been making an effort, with the Lord's help, to bring to mind for your prayerful consideration, contrasting images of God anyone of us could have based on our own lifetime experiences. One image has consistently been one that might be considered to be a distorted personal or worldview. The second, one that has been seen through the hearts and minds of God's constant, unchanging faith, hope and love. But what is on my heart is this - Once we have placed that particular image of God in our hearts we live and act out our lives based on that image, sharing the message of that image, protecting and guarding that image.
In particular is this - is the image of a God who is 'unchanging' actually a reliable one for us? Is it trustworthy and true? This question for some is probably 'of course', 'no doubt on my mind' 'what else would there be to believe if God changes like we do?' I guess that last question is the one that kicks at me the hardest, maybe you too. I ask this because for those who have no faith in God or a faith in God that says "Oh I know God is reliable, I know he is unchanging, faithful and true and all that and all that. Let me tell you where I believe God is unchanging from generation to generation ... and they lay out a litany of stuff - my daddy was blind and deaf to me, so therefore my ABBA, my Father God is too!
So, as I consider what I should be praying about today as I prepare for entering the prison environment, is the broad expanse of contrasting world views of God held by those participants and the steadfast unchanging reliability that they have assigned for themselves to live and act out their daily lives by. I once had a Sunday school teacher a long time ago who was asked by another 5 year old, "How do you pray to God? A significant question is it not, and pretty foundational to us if we hold to God's always 'reliable' promise: "Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father
may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it." (John 13,14)
The teacher said this "It is simple. As you would talk with your own dad, just talk with God!" Great answer, very profound answer, very safe answer. So, I got the message, considered it to be fully reliable, trustworthy and true. Now, my friends, about that 'talking with your own dad' stuff? Humph, my dad was deaf in both ears. So if I wanted to talk with him, I had to yell and he did not like me to do that. I would try to express my heart to him, the first thing dad did was turn off his one hearing aid. Try to continue, dad would turn off his other hearing aid, then he would finally remove them altogether. The alleged reliability of my dad transformed me and became the Unreliability of my God!
Let us Pray: ABBA Father, we learn and learn well from the experiences of our lives. What we learn becomes how we act and live out our daily lives, not always in the most intelligent of ways when compared to the wisdom of Your plan. Our views of life in your kingdom on earth as it is in heaven so often become reliably and tragically distorted. Too often it takes too long for us to recognize this and sadly by that time, we have made one too many mistakes which we hold on to as being unforgivable. Our 'most reliable' image of you as an unchanging God who is always faithful, always merciful, always forgiving and always loving God becomes for us not the least bit believable. ABBA Father, search our hearts, and by Your grace and wisdom change me from the inside out. Transform the eyes of my heart to see You as You really are.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9azOSb_bONA
From the Inside Out (Lyrics) - Phillips Craig and Dean
www.youtube.com
From the Inside Out (Lyrics) - Phillips Craig and Dean
www.youtube.com
No comments:
Post a Comment