You are browsing the Blog for scripture - eirejames.com.

← Previous Entries
avatar

Things I already know.

November 7, 2011 in Christian Life, My Christian Walk

Sometimes, when I read my Bible or go to church, I expect to learn something ‘new’ something profound. Yet what I find more and more is that I really just need to rehearse the basics. Passages that should be familiar speak in new ways. Ideas that are foundational still never cease to amaze me. The most beautiful and the most profound things I learn are usually the things I (should) already know.

 

Perhaps this is why it is the Living Word?

 

Take for instance Philippians 3, very familiar, no?:

1Finally, my brothers,[a] rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you is no trouble to me and is safe for you.

2Look out for the dogs, look out for the evildoers, look out for those who mutilate the flesh. 3For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God[b] and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh— 4 though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law,[c] blameless. 7Butwhatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— 10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

12Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. 13Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. 15Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. 16Only let us hold true to what we have attained.

17Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us. 18Formany, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things. 20But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.

(ESV)

Paul is just a fantastic writer. I can’t wait to meet him ‘on the other side’. Maybe we can have coffee? I can’t help but wonder when I read that if I can be like Paul and say that I consider EVERYTHING a loss for the sake of knowing Christ?

Can I consider ALL of my earthly gains and accomplishments as rubbish?

Can I too say that I WANT to not only be like Christ, but to share in his death and suffering?

Do I consider myself a citizen of heaven or of an earthly nation?

Do I consider it my GOAL to know Christ and to be found in him?

 

I have read these words so many times. I have heard sermons on them. I have talked about them. Yet, somehow, I cannot help but be struck anew with them, and to be challenged by them again.

 

Sometimes I wish I would ‘get it’ the first time I read it. Because I feel stupid when I re-read these familiar passages and feel like I have never read them before. Yet, the reality is I don’t know that I’d have it any other way. To be awestruck again and again with the beauty of God, expressed in the Word–really, it’d be dull if it all just clicked on the first read and I never needed to ponder those words and ideas again.

 

Lord, yes, teach me the new, but never stop reminding me of the basics, the familiar, the routine, the orthodox. Never let me lose the awe and the wonder found in your Word. Never stop teaching me things I already know.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
No Comments »

avatar

Recentering

July 6, 2011 in Thoughts of the Day

I came across a great quotation today that I thought would be worth sharing, especially in light of my post yesterday. Currently, I am reading Making All Things New: An Invitation to the Spiritual Life, which is a fantastic book. Nouwen begins the book talking about our modern, busy lives. I’ve had many conversations about the modern life, modern busyness, and balancing the spiritual life with “secular” life; so I found this quotation thought-provoking:

It is important for us to realize that Jesus in no way wants us to leave our many-faceted world. Rather, he wants us to live in it, but firmly rooted in the center of all things …. [Jesus] speaks about a change of heart. This change of heart makes everything different, even while everything appears to remain the same.

…

Jesis asks us to move our hearts to the center, where all other things fall into place. What is this center? Jesus calls it the kingdom, the kingdom of his Father.

{ Making all things New, page 42-43 }

At first read, it’s just a restatement of the familiar “be in the world but not of it” idea that Christians often (rightly) parrot. But I think Nouwen captures an essence of this delicate balance of Christian life in this world very well. We are to refocus on the Kingdom, just as Jesus did.

This is the freedom Christ offers: death to self and life in Him. When we refocus on that kingdom, and that reality, we experience true freedom. Christ does not call us to forsake all things earthly, rather we are called to refocus so that we are no longer concerned primarily with the physical kingdom around us, but the kingdom of the Father.

May you and I find the strength and the courage to recenter our lives on that kingdom.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
No Comments »

avatar

True Freedom

July 4, 2011 in Christian Life, Thoughts of the Day

Independence day. Undoubtedly, many of us are celebrating today by enjoying time off and spending it with family and friends. Today is a reminder of our country’s heritage and freedom. I would like, however, to offer something that I have been thinking about a lot: what is true freedom for the Christian? I would like to suggest that the freedom we celebrate today, on July 4th, is at best a pale shadow of the freedom Christ offers to us, and at worst an idea that lures us into a false conception of Christ’s freeing work on the cross.

Let me start out by saying that I by no means wish to “bash” our country or its principles. As a historian, I recognize the uniqueness of our country’s founding, and our ideals; we are indeed blessed with a freedom that many people today and throughout history have not been. I am glad that I can choose my own government—that our government in theory works for us and not the other way around, that I can worship as I please and where I please, live my life as I please, and so on and so forth. But the problem with that list, for the Christian, is that word I.

Christians believe they have freedom in Christ. But what is this freedom? Is it to do as we wish and live as we please? No. Paul tells us in Romans 6:6,7 that “our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin. For whoever has died is freed from sin” And the more I see the power of sin in my own life, the more I see how the word “enslaved” is so appropriate. But Paul does not end there:  (verses 17 & 18) “But thanks be to God that you, having once been slaves of sin, have become obedient from the heart to the form of teaching to which you were entrusted, and that you, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.” We are dead to self and alive in Christ. We are all familiar with Galatians 2:20: “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

Freedom in Christ, then, is fundamentally about far more than little old me. In fact, Paul goes so far as to say that he is no longer living his own life—he is dead to self, but that it is Christ living in him. I should no longer be concerned with my own desires, but the desires of Christ. Not that all human desires are wrong or should be ignored, but rather that I submit them to Christ my master.

Do you see the paradox with what we call “freedom” in America? Freedom here is the freedom to do whatever you wish with your life, and be free of governmental control, religious control, and free from tyranny. Freedom in Christ is the freedom to no longer be concerned about your own life, and to no longer be enslaved to your own sin, but to wholeheartedly give your life to Christ and live for him. To call him Lord and Master: two words that are inherently, not “free.” To be completely free from yourself, your desires, and your sin is true freedom.

Again, I by no means believe there is anything immoral about experiencing what I am calling “American” freedom. Indeed, we are arguably better enabled to serve Christ and live for him because of it. But I hope we can see the limitations of that freedom too. And I hope we can see that our freedom in Christ is completely independent of secular freedom, and perhaps even stands in stark contrast to that secular freedom. Christians living under the most oppressive governments, or Christians who are physically enslaved to someone, can still experience freedom in Christ, and perhaps they even have experienced that freedom more fully than we who live in “free” countries.

I leave you with the words of Christ from John 8:31-36 :

To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, ‘If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples.  Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.’

They answered him, ‘We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?’

Jesus replied, ‘Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.’

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
No Comments »

avatar

The peace of a Christian

December 18, 2009 in My Christian Walk

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.

John 14:27

Truly, God offers us this profound peace in times of great trial and great sorrow. To walk this earth without… what a great tragedy. I have been through a trial far greater than most, and I can still say that God’s peace is with me.

The world is full of discouraging news most of the time; there is no peace in the headlines of the newspapers. Whether you lean to the liberal view or the conservative view politically, there is no peace in the discord of politics. There is no peace in the suffering of AIDS victims, there is no peace in the trials of the 25 million humans enslaved in the world today, there is no peace in the plight of those who live below the poverty line. Our world is broken; it has no peace to offer, no peace to give.

In the midst of such circumstances, God promises to be our peace. I can say that He means what He says.

Where does your peace come from?

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
No Comments »

avatar

The Words of my Mouth

August 10, 2009 in Devotional Thoughts

“May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
be pleasing in your sight,
O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.”
Psalm 19:14

If God were to audit you speech, what would he find? Would your words be pleasing to Him? This year words and speech have been on my heart a lot. The scripture says a lot about our words and our speech, but I wonder how seriously we take that sometimes. Gossip, complaints, words against our brothers and sisters in Christ, cruel jokes, unkind speech…these are all things I have heard come from the lips of Christians, and from my own lips. How sad it is that we fill our thoughts and words with these things!

This is a blog I have been intending to write for some time now, but keep putting it off because I keep finding new things that relate to this subject, and I keep wrestling with it myself. So instead of writing one blog on the topic, and trying to say everything (which for me would result in a small book, considering how wordy I am) I have instead decided to devote a category of my blog to “The Importance of Words.” Here I intend to post scriptures and stories that relate to this. I believe this is critically important to our Christian walk, and I for one want to look at it more closely.

I want to quote James 3:9-12 to start this “series” off. It really struck me what he says concerning the words that we speak about others.

“With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.”

I believe that “cursing” isn’t just speaking a spiritual curse over someone, as a witch might do. I’ve always read verses on cursing as meaning something along those lines, a curse; a spell. But what if it was more than just that, what if it were any negative word we spoke? What if our grumblings against other people, especially other Christians, was the same as cursing them? What if our thoughts about others were just as powerful as our words?

Ouch.

If then, that is what God means when he says not to curse one another, we ought to take this seriously. Our mouths praise God, and our mouths speak words against our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. When we speak against other people, we are speaking against a person made in the likeness of Almighty God. As James says, “This should not be.”

Judgment lies in the hands of God, not ours. I don’t believe this means to never say anything against the actions of another person, or that a wrong should not be addressed. Sometimes it is good to note how one might handle a situation differently than another person did, and sometimes a situation needs to be corrected. But we must be careful to distinguish between learning and gossip. Too often I think this type of conversation, “I don’t think So-and-So did that right” becomes just plain gossip and grumbling. One example I have heard among many single people is grumbling against dating couples—something I too have done. Though I have been hurt by decisions others have made, I want in no way to let that become grumbling: cursing, as James puts it. My heart has held onto decisions of others at times, and I have criticized in my heart and in my words them for those decisions long after it was the appropriate time to do so.

This type of thinking nearly brought some friendships to a close for me. I became guarded as I saw others doing things I didn’t like, and that in some cases hurt me. I also let lies form in my mind, comparing past actions to present, and concluding things that lead me from desiring friendship. I held onto old hurts, that though forgiven, I was unwilling to completely let go of. Things that happened in one friendship started to affect how I saw all of my friendships. Of course, when you are hurt, you become guarded—not always a good thing. Coupled with my struggles with loneliness, it became a potent combination that became close to terminating many good friendships with good people. God thankfully stopped me in that process, and healed that in my life.

That is why this is such a crucial area of our lives.

By allowing words and thoughts to crop up about others—by allowing ourselves to “curse” them—we foster something we do not want. It opens the door to hurt friendships—because you are speaking negative, hurtful words about others. It opens the door to lies—because you start to believe more and more lies about the people you are speaking about. It prevents you from seeing the good in their lives—because you become focused on their faults. It does not edify, but rather it destroys and tears down, at the expense of an image bearer of the Most High God.

They may seem like trivial, harmless words to you, but they are not harmless. Words are a powerful weapon that can be used for good or for evil; for life or for death. God takes words very seriously. We call the scriptures the Word of God. God spoke the world into existence. His words are powerful, and so are ours. We should guard ourselves then, with the words—and thoughts—that we speak. To do otherwise is to add a heavy weight to our spiritual walk. It hinders our ability to walk the Christian walk, something that should frighten us.

I for one do not want to let both praise and cursing come from my mouth. There is no place for it in my life, according to scripture. Certainly even though I have been working on this area for a while, I am not perfect. But by the grace and love of Christ, I hope to change. And I challenge you to pray about the words you speak. Ask God to show you what you are saying that is right, and what you are saying that is “cursing.” Ask Him to come and change your heart and your words. It’s time to grow up as Christians, and build each other up instead of tearing down. Let us consider the weight of all our words, and change our speech accordingly. It is critically important to our Christian walk.

May He find the words of your mouth, the meditations of your heart, and the words of my mouth and meditations of my heart pleasing to Him.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
No Comments »

← Previous Entries