All Is Rubbish
Ansel Talberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15789534985809182961noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125
Updated: 2 hours 46 min ago
Full of it? Full of Him.
I was reading Forgotten God by Francis Chan last evening when I came across the following phrase concerning the indwelling of God's Spirit. "You've probably heard this truth a hundred times, but have you marveled at it? Would you be willing to take thirty seconds right now just to dwell on the fact that God is in you?...This is the Spirit of God choosing you and me to be His dwelling place. That means that as I write, the Spirit of the living God is inside me...As you face tragedy and pain. As you buy groceries. As you walk your dog. As you make decisions. As you live your life, the Holy Spirit is dwelling in you."I sat still marveling at this question being asked. "God is in me. God is in me. God is in me. God dwells in me!", I thought. What greater Christmas gift could I receive than God taking up residence? My mind, my heart, every part of my being seemed to be crying out, singing even. That does sound weird even as I write this. Every part, though, was singing. My heart, my mind, my bones, my flesh, my eyes, my head moved to the rhythms of this heavenly dance, the hair on my body stood as if it was reaching out for the unseen glory as I was overcome by being not just known by Him, but a temple in which He has taken residence permanently. Forever. I can't stop thinking about this. I've always known this, but it suddenly became so real in that instance. Since then I've searched His word over to hear and know even more clearly what it means to be a dwelling place of God the creator, the healer, the Saviour, the almighty when I bumped into Romans 8:9-11.9 However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him. 10 If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness. 11 But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.As Christians, we are different because "the Spirit of God dwells in you." Look right in the middle of verse 9 to see this: "However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you." This is the very presence of the Spirit of God dwelling in us.
The word "dwell" is important. It´s more than "be there," like you might be in a restaurant or in a train station or in a car or in a store. "Dwell" (oikeo) comes from the word "house" (oikos). And so the implication is that the Spirit of God is not present in you as if you were a stopover. He has taken up residence here. This is where He lives. This is His home. You are His home. The implication is nearness and familiarity and influence. If someone makes your house their home, they will be near you a lot. They will become familiar with you and you with them. And they will have an influence on you and the way you live. Know this about yourselves, Christ-followers: the Spirit of God dwells, makes his home, in you. If you are not becoming very familiar with Him, and seeking Him, and communing with Him, and being influenced by Him, something is profoundly wrong. Do not ignore Him or grieve Him or resist Him.
What greater Christmas gift could the risen Christ give you than the Spirit of God to dwell in you?
The word "dwell" is important. It´s more than "be there," like you might be in a restaurant or in a train station or in a car or in a store. "Dwell" (oikeo) comes from the word "house" (oikos). And so the implication is that the Spirit of God is not present in you as if you were a stopover. He has taken up residence here. This is where He lives. This is His home. You are His home. The implication is nearness and familiarity and influence. If someone makes your house their home, they will be near you a lot. They will become familiar with you and you with them. And they will have an influence on you and the way you live. Know this about yourselves, Christ-followers: the Spirit of God dwells, makes his home, in you. If you are not becoming very familiar with Him, and seeking Him, and communing with Him, and being influenced by Him, something is profoundly wrong. Do not ignore Him or grieve Him or resist Him.
What greater Christmas gift could the risen Christ give you than the Spirit of God to dwell in you?
Delight+Pleasure=Sabbath
Deuteronomy 5:12
12"Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the LORD your God commanded you."
As we heard about Sabbath, about keeping it holy, about how our eternal, untiring, Heavenly Father commands us to take a "delicious" day of remembering Him, His redemption, and His desire to renew us, I couldn't keep from seeking out what else the scriptures speak to us about Sabbath. As I searched, I came across this passage in Isaiah 58 that spoke so clearly the message of Sabbath our Saviour desires for us:
13"If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath,from doing your pleasure on my holy day,and call the Sabbath a delightand the holy day of the LORD honorable;if you honor it, not going your own ways,or seeking your own pleasure, or talking idly;14then you shall take delight in the LORD,and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth;I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father,for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.
But this day is to not be a burden! Why? Because it is a day in which we delight ourselves in the Lord in ways we can't on the other busy days. It is a day that we remember how our Saviour broke the chains of slavery to sin with a "mighty hand" and, at the same time, drew us to the greatest good in all the universe, namely Jesus, with an "outstretched arm". He is the greatest delight our souls could ever taste. He is "delicious" and the Sabbath is designed to provide a weekly meal for our shriveling souls.
**Disclaimer: The word "delicious" was used in Sundays sermon by Bill Goans. Gotta give credit where it is due!-)
Bread and Wine...Juice! I mean juice!
It's been a while, but I feel very led to typity type a bit. I don't know why it's been too long and I wish I was a little more consistent like my friend Marshall but, alas, my laziness has been tough to fight off. This day, oh this day, I have risen in victory over my flesh. So here we go...
It was that feeling. I couldn't explain it. I couldn't put my finger on it's birth place. Why, oh why, was I feeling a sense of unrest when I just spent the better part of a week worshipping in all gladness and joy of my Saviour. The songs still ring fresh in my head. The words, the Word, shared was still there for feasting and I was eating and drinking my fill. Oh, the taste was a delight and I wanted every mouthful to last just so I could savour the sweet taste of my glorious God. Then I couldn't figure it out.
I tried to nap late Sunday. Key word "tried". I tossed and turned with an anxiety I could not explain. I lay on my bed for at least an hour before I stood, put on a coat (I was already dressed in other clothing), grabbed my keys and drove out of the driveway to wherever He led me. I just drove and talked. Drove and questioned. Drove and listened. You see, the previous Sunday we partook of the Lord's Supper or the Eucharist or Communion, whatever you wish to call the eating of bread and drinking of wine (juice in my case) in remembrance of Christ's giving of Himself. I sat there in my seat holding my blood of Christ cup and wafer of Christ bread with a thought going through my head..."can I faithfully eat and drink of His suffering when there is someone I know and care for that I've wronged and not pursued forgiveness between? How could I?" I hesitated with cup and bread in hand. It was that moment that sat so heavily on my heart a week later. Why now? I thought the healing had begun. What was really filling me with this unfounded anxiety? I pondered...work? nope. middle school retreat? nope. leaders? nope...what could it be? I called all my mentors and prayer partners to no avail until I happened upon the least likely, for me at least, person to give a strapping christian boy (haha) advice...my stepmom, Pamela. And she spoke wisely and to my heart when I'd actually called her to get my dad. Our conversation consisted of the following:
As a follower of Christ we're told, and rightly so, that Christ should always be the central, the focal, the pedestal, the one we seek first in all things. I sooooo badly desire this! I despise when I put other desires before Him. Even good, God drenched desires like marriage or ministry. When one of these good desires pops up and I turn my head from Christ and begin to desire that good thing more than my good Saviour, I've let idolatry slip in through the back door. Where I've taken a good thing, like marriage, made it my god thing which makes it a bad thing. There is only one God, Christ Jesus, and He alone is to be worshiped. But those good things sneak in and I'm like the sea gulls from Nemo...mine, mine, mine...and I try to dive in and grab this good tasting thing, all the while Christ, the best tasting of all, sits on the shore tending a fire, roasting the good things that they'd taste even better because He makes all things better when He is central. So my focus is Christ, but these good things dive in and I turn my head from Christ and I don't want that. I want Christ. Give me Christ. I want so badly to submit all these to Christ and I confess I don't always know how, but I desire this. Praise be to God through Jesus Christ my Lord! He'd take a sinner like me and mature me into a follower of Him. I want to partake in Him whether it's bread or waiting or blood or struggles, I want to partake of Him.
It was that feeling. I couldn't explain it. I couldn't put my finger on it's birth place. Why, oh why, was I feeling a sense of unrest when I just spent the better part of a week worshipping in all gladness and joy of my Saviour. The songs still ring fresh in my head. The words, the Word, shared was still there for feasting and I was eating and drinking my fill. Oh, the taste was a delight and I wanted every mouthful to last just so I could savour the sweet taste of my glorious God. Then I couldn't figure it out.
I tried to nap late Sunday. Key word "tried". I tossed and turned with an anxiety I could not explain. I lay on my bed for at least an hour before I stood, put on a coat (I was already dressed in other clothing), grabbed my keys and drove out of the driveway to wherever He led me. I just drove and talked. Drove and questioned. Drove and listened. You see, the previous Sunday we partook of the Lord's Supper or the Eucharist or Communion, whatever you wish to call the eating of bread and drinking of wine (juice in my case) in remembrance of Christ's giving of Himself. I sat there in my seat holding my blood of Christ cup and wafer of Christ bread with a thought going through my head..."can I faithfully eat and drink of His suffering when there is someone I know and care for that I've wronged and not pursued forgiveness between? How could I?" I hesitated with cup and bread in hand. It was that moment that sat so heavily on my heart a week later. Why now? I thought the healing had begun. What was really filling me with this unfounded anxiety? I pondered...work? nope. middle school retreat? nope. leaders? nope...what could it be? I called all my mentors and prayer partners to no avail until I happened upon the least likely, for me at least, person to give a strapping christian boy (haha) advice...my stepmom, Pamela. And she spoke wisely and to my heart when I'd actually called her to get my dad. Our conversation consisted of the following:
As a follower of Christ we're told, and rightly so, that Christ should always be the central, the focal, the pedestal, the one we seek first in all things. I sooooo badly desire this! I despise when I put other desires before Him. Even good, God drenched desires like marriage or ministry. When one of these good desires pops up and I turn my head from Christ and begin to desire that good thing more than my good Saviour, I've let idolatry slip in through the back door. Where I've taken a good thing, like marriage, made it my god thing which makes it a bad thing. There is only one God, Christ Jesus, and He alone is to be worshiped. But those good things sneak in and I'm like the sea gulls from Nemo...mine, mine, mine...and I try to dive in and grab this good tasting thing, all the while Christ, the best tasting of all, sits on the shore tending a fire, roasting the good things that they'd taste even better because He makes all things better when He is central. So my focus is Christ, but these good things dive in and I turn my head from Christ and I don't want that. I want Christ. Give me Christ. I want so badly to submit all these to Christ and I confess I don't always know how, but I desire this. Praise be to God through Jesus Christ my Lord! He'd take a sinner like me and mature me into a follower of Him. I want to partake in Him whether it's bread or waiting or blood or struggles, I want to partake of Him.
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