Christ Fellowship Blog

    "I am the vine; you are the branches.  If a man remains in Me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing." John 15:5

    Would you say you connected with God this week?  Did you see Him in your life?  Did you take time to look for Him?

    Try this experiment sometime soon.  Get a glass of water and two straws.  Put one straw in the glass and the other outside.  Put both straws in your mouth.  Now try to drink using both straws.  Having trouble?  Try again.

    When you drink through a straw, you begin by lowering the pressure in your mouth.  But with one straw outside the glass you continue to bring outside air in your mouth.  This keeps the pressure the same inside your mouth as it is outside making it hard to drink.

    During the last week did you find it hard to connect with God?  You tried but you weren't getting anything?  How did you feel?  Think of what Jesus said in John 15:5.  What things in your life resemble the outside straw and hinder your attempts to connect with God?  What helped you connect with God?  I have found reading a little of God's Word and thinking about it during the day helps me connect a lot.

Every now and then I can fall into a pattern of reading God's word and tend to "dog it". You know, when you get to that verse of scripture you've read before about a hundred times and you probably know it backward and forwards. Or you do it to fulfill your duty for the day. When you get to it, you "dog it". It may not excite you any more, or you know it all; the "been there, done that" approach to your bible reading. I can become casual, too familiar.

Dallas Willard highlights Peter's casual approach to Christ in Luke 5:4-8.

 At some point a certain realization began to grip Peter's mind. Whose suggestion was this that he treated so casually?...Lord you are something else altogether from me! How can you stand to be around me?...Peter was overwhelmed by the "otherness" of Jesus. Holiness is, fundamentally, otherness...

Sometimes I am too familiar with Jesus. Perhaps to casual as I approach His word to me. But God is wonderful and merciful. When He sees me doggin it, He often throws a curveball at me and gives me a new insight or inflection to give new meaning to something I "already knew". Sometimes, I see things or even feel things I've never experienced before. People or situations may come to mind to help me internalize His word.

Thank God today for His otherness, love and mercy.

“Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path!” Psalm 119:105

            Have you ever walked into your bedroom without turning on the light in search for something?  You are so familiar with everything that is in the room you don’t need to turn on the light.  Or if you are married maybe your spouse is sleeping but you desperately need something in that room. 

            Whatever the reason you open your eyes wide to try to see better but you stumble about. You thought you knew where you put what you wanted but it doesn’t seem to be there.  You feel around and end up knocking something over waking up whoever is asleep.

            Your spouse wakes up and lovingly says, “What are you looking for?”  He/she can see and points you in the right direction.  You feel around and sure enough you get it.   You think, “Aha, now I have it.”  You discover it was where you thought it was but you weren’t in the right place since you were in the dark.

            Reading the Bible each day causes us to have those “Aha!” moments all the time as we discover what God is pointing us toward all along.  He speaks through the darkness that surrounds us by His Word.  As we read it we don’t always see how it applies to our life.  But as our day develops the Spirit of God helps us connect the dots.  The Word of God comes alive in our life.  We discover its truth lived out and we see what others don’t.

            Experiencing those Aha moments is a great feeling.  Why would anyone not want to?  Who doesn’t want to hear from God?  Especially when all we have to do is read the Bible each day.   

         Jesus came to save everyone! The bible tells me so! So when I read Matthew 15:21-28 I was confused as to why Jesus wasn’t so willing to heal this woman’s daughter. Jesus says things to her like “I was sent only to help the people of Israel…not Gentiles” and “It isn’t right to take food from [the] children [of God] and throw it to dogs.” What?! I’m sure if I was there I would’ve been one to exclaim “BUT JESUS!!” That’s not the Jesus I’ve read about in all the other stories, the same Jesus that healed thousands, that fed thousands and that DIED for thousands.

            I sat discussing this passage with a friend and it dawned on us. Jesus loved this woman, He knew this woman’s heart and most importantly He wanted to teach her a lesson. A lesson He is trying to teach us. Fight for what is rightfully yours- salvation! Fight for an intimate relationship with Jesus. Just like this woman, we often encounter resistance in our relationship with God. We’re trying to advance in intimacy, trying to read more of the Word, trying to love the unlovable and so on but there’s always something that can get in the way, something that will make us give up and keep us away from that life we are meant to have with Jesus. We have to say NO! because “even dogs are permitted to eat crumbs that fall from the master’s table.” So how much more do you, one who is a child of God, deserve to have the intimacy, healing and fullness that Jesus offers. When it’s hard to pray after a long day- fight! When reading feels like it’s a drag- fight! When that specific person in your life is cutting you down- fight! I believe it’s all setting us up for victory. It’s shaping us more and more into the earth-shaking believers we were meant to be!

Every good coach knows how to inspire his or her team with a good pre-game speech. Pat Summit is an excellent motivator; Vince Lombardi was legendary.  

Likewise in John 15:1-17, Jesus prepared his "team" by laying out the game plan after his work was finished. For three years Jesus and the disciples "practiced" their drills, strengthening their spiritual muscles. They learned from the Master how to pray, teach, and heal. They witnessed the way Jesus interacted with the rich, the poor, women, children, harlots, tax collectors, demon-possessed, pharisees, the deaf, mute, and blind.

But that was just practice. The coach cannot play the game for the team. The team has to go out an execute the game plan without the coach; all they have are the coaches instructions. And as a team, we face a formidable opponent who seeks to kill, steal and destroy.

Just like the disciples we can and do know the game plan. Jesus has revealed the game plan to us in His word (John 15:15). We can be sure that we are up to the task, because he personally recruited us to His team (John 15:16). And whatever we need to win, God will equip us. And best of all, if we follow the game plan, we are sure to win!

    From time to time you will hear a person, when faced with an unlikely or unforeseen challenge, say: no way in hell. No way in hell will the team win, no way in hell will ___________ come to church. No way in hell will...I'm sure you can fill in the blank. In reality, "No way in hell" is one of the truest statements anyone can make. To call on the power of Hell for something to happen will result in nothing happening. While there is "no way in hell" for good things to happen there is a way in heaven.

    Jesus calls us to abundant living, life to the fullest, a life where the word 'impossible' doesn't exist. After the disciples saw Jesus perform miracles they were full of doubt in their own potential. In response to their doubtful minds Jesus says, "With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God." (Mark 10:27). So forget there being "No way in Hell". Instead, know and believe that there is ALWAYS a way in heaven.

Yes, Christmas is still over a month away. Most stores already have up at least some decorations, well before Thanksgiving! This got me thinking of how some of us wrote Christmas wish lists as kids, full of the gifts we wanted. I guess this was okay, after all, we were only kids! But how many of us pray with lists? We go to God and say “oh, I need this, and oh, I really need that...” The truth is, God already knows what we need, and we need to trust that if it is His will, He will deliver it unto us! Our worldly desires often will not match with His heavenly intentions, though, or His timing may not match ours, so continue to have faith and trust in Him.

Here’s a challenge for this season: try to pray at least a few times without asking for anything at all for yourself. Instead, go before the Lord in prayer with only praise for Him and rejoice for what He has already done in your life, and thanks for what He has yet to do. If you do ask for something, how about asking that someone who is not saved come to know and accept the Lord? What better gift could someone possibly receive?

1 Timothy 2:1-2 First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people... that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.)

"To the person who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind." Ecclesiates 2:26

     Solomon pursued everything imaginable to achieve lasting bliss. But the smartest man alive still had a restless mind. The richest man in the world couldn’t buy happiness. The most powerful person in the Kingdom was unable to satisfy his own heart. Although he had 700 wives and 300 mistresses, he never found true love. He built marvelous temples, aqueducts, he planted forests and vineyards, and through the wisdom that God had given him, he even made the Kingdom of Jerusalem the most prosperous Kingdom around at that time. And what was his conclusion, these pursuits are meaningless, completely unsatisfying, a chasing after the wind.

    When I read it really blew my mind and for a second I almost thought that this whole entire book was a big typo! Solomon was the most wise, smart, intellectual person who ever lived and if he couldn’t figure it out what hope do I have. Everything is meaningless, totally and utterly meaningless Solomon says, a chasing after the wind.

    But there is hope. Solomon says that: "To the person who pleases Him(God), God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness..." Its almost as if he is saying: "There is something worth chasing...chase God! Pursue God, and above all please God.

    What are you chasing? A degree, money, power, position, love, the next big thing in technology, boyfriend/girlfriend etc.. My prayer for you today is that you realize just like Solomon did; that although these things may seem worth it they will leave you completely unsatisfied. Chase what matters....chase God, chase His heart.

Challenge: How do you think you are able to please God today?

Look at your hands. In our hands we have power to do many things. With their hands, the Founding Fathers drafted the Declaration of Independence and later the Constitution. With hands we vote. It is with hands that homes are built, symphonies are played, tears are wiped away and wedding rings are put in their place. With his hands, the Savior of the universe sacrificed His life for you and me. Now ask yourself: what am I going to do with my hands today?

In Psalm 24, David asks question, “Who may ascend the mountain of the LORD? Who may stand in his holy place?”  The answer is challenging, “one who has clean hands and a pure heart...” What will you do with your hands today? Will you build or destroy? Will you help or hinder? Will you help build the kingdom of heaven here and now on Earth? It is your choice. The future is in your HANDS.

"Who can discern his errors? Forgive my hidden faults. Keep your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me. Then will I be blameless, innocent of great transgression.  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 19:12-14

Many times what seems like a good thing to do may not be the right thing to do. When we make decisions like that, without knowing, we are in sin.  Then, there are sometimes when we just flat out sin with full knowledge of the fact that we did. David knew this, he had experienced it, and in this particular Psalm he voices it. He is pleading with God, letting Him know that he alone cannot discern his own errors. He knows that he carries with him faults that are not known to him, faults that are buried deep into his soul. But, he does the one thing that he knows best.  He runs to God. With a humble character he acknowledges God as the only one who can see the depths of his heart and as the one who has the power to keep him from willful sins. Armed with this, David concludes his prayer saying that he wants his words and the meditation of his heart to be pleasing in the sight of God.

Since God is the only one who can view the depths of our soul, and nothing is hidden from His sight (Pr. 15:11NLT).  We should learn to put our trust in Him and in His strength, just like David did and watch Him make us innocent and blameless in His eyes. Blessings.