Faith and Pleasing God
Hebrews 11:6 - "And without faith it is impossible to please God. . ."
One thing I'm learning as I delve deeper into the Scriptures is that I need to stop and camp out sometimes. Guess that's what I love about Oswald Chambers. He has the unique gift of unpacking a verse or part of a verse that makes me think and see deeper into God's Word and into God, Himself.
Hebrews 11:6 was one of those for me this morning.
The depth of this verse is not easily seen. I mean, on the surface it's about faith. . .right? But as Josh White reminded me recently, we Christians often have a vocabulary more robust than our understanding. We through around words like faith. We use them in sentences. We quote verses on or about faith. But do we stop long enough to get it. . .I mean really understand it? Because if we did it would change our relationship with God and with the world.
The faith the author of Hebrews is referring to is the kind that lives itself out in our everyday life. . .through the hardships & difficulties as well as the celebrations & blessings. Through our jobs, families, friends, and foes.
Pleasing God. . .now there's a whole nother facet of our relationship with God. While God is pleased when we enter into a relationship with Him, He desires to be pleased with us continually. And, according to the author, the way we please God, is to put our trust in Him, not just once, but as we live out our relationship with Him. It's the ultimate surrender. It the greatest release of control in our lives. Not easy for control freaks like me. May not be easy for you either.
If I live out my life without putting my faith and trust in the Lord, then do I really believe God is who He says He is and He will do what He says He will do? (Man, that's a mouthful!) It's keeping God at arms length. It's placing ourselves in God's place in our lives. It's saying God is good enough to save me from my sins, but He's not big enough, or strong enough, or able enough to help me with the rest of my life. It's the ultimate snub to God.
I wonder how many times I revoked my trust in Him? How many times did I take back control of my life from God? Way too many times! I wish it wasn't true but it is. Man, if that doesn't convict me I don't know what will.
If I stop for a minute, I will realize that when I don't live in faith with God, then I am not pleasing Him. I've never through about displeasing God, except for when I sin. But I can't recall ever thinking about displeasing Him with my lack of faith.
You?
God is asking Cindy and I to trust Him as we transition to another chapter of ministry at Wynne Baptist Church in Wynne, AR. In the next week or so we will pack up and move there. New relationships. New ministry. New community. New doctors, favorite spots, and figuring out where stuff is in their Wal-Mart. New challenges and hardships. New celebrations and laughs and smiles.
The question is not if we will go, but will we trust God? Will we trust God to find a buyer for our house. Will we trust God to get us across the country? Will we trust God with our ministry there? Will we trust God to help me find stuff in Wal-Mart? (What kind of person keeps mentioning Wal-Mart? What's up with that?) Will we trust God?! That is the real question.
Where is God asking you to trust Him in your life right now? Will you trust Him? Will you?
One thing I'm learning as I delve deeper into the Scriptures is that I need to stop and camp out sometimes. Guess that's what I love about Oswald Chambers. He has the unique gift of unpacking a verse or part of a verse that makes me think and see deeper into God's Word and into God, Himself.
Hebrews 11:6 was one of those for me this morning.
The depth of this verse is not easily seen. I mean, on the surface it's about faith. . .right? But as Josh White reminded me recently, we Christians often have a vocabulary more robust than our understanding. We through around words like faith. We use them in sentences. We quote verses on or about faith. But do we stop long enough to get it. . .I mean really understand it? Because if we did it would change our relationship with God and with the world.
The faith the author of Hebrews is referring to is the kind that lives itself out in our everyday life. . .through the hardships & difficulties as well as the celebrations & blessings. Through our jobs, families, friends, and foes.
Pleasing God. . .now there's a whole nother facet of our relationship with God. While God is pleased when we enter into a relationship with Him, He desires to be pleased with us continually. And, according to the author, the way we please God, is to put our trust in Him, not just once, but as we live out our relationship with Him. It's the ultimate surrender. It the greatest release of control in our lives. Not easy for control freaks like me. May not be easy for you either.
If I live out my life without putting my faith and trust in the Lord, then do I really believe God is who He says He is and He will do what He says He will do? (Man, that's a mouthful!) It's keeping God at arms length. It's placing ourselves in God's place in our lives. It's saying God is good enough to save me from my sins, but He's not big enough, or strong enough, or able enough to help me with the rest of my life. It's the ultimate snub to God.
I wonder how many times I revoked my trust in Him? How many times did I take back control of my life from God? Way too many times! I wish it wasn't true but it is. Man, if that doesn't convict me I don't know what will.
If I stop for a minute, I will realize that when I don't live in faith with God, then I am not pleasing Him. I've never through about displeasing God, except for when I sin. But I can't recall ever thinking about displeasing Him with my lack of faith.
You?
God is asking Cindy and I to trust Him as we transition to another chapter of ministry at Wynne Baptist Church in Wynne, AR. In the next week or so we will pack up and move there. New relationships. New ministry. New community. New doctors, favorite spots, and figuring out where stuff is in their Wal-Mart. New challenges and hardships. New celebrations and laughs and smiles.
The question is not if we will go, but will we trust God? Will we trust God to find a buyer for our house. Will we trust God to get us across the country? Will we trust God with our ministry there? Will we trust God to help me find stuff in Wal-Mart? (What kind of person keeps mentioning Wal-Mart? What's up with that?) Will we trust God?! That is the real question.
Where is God asking you to trust Him in your life right now? Will you trust Him? Will you?
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