(Wrote this blog on Sunday in the van on the way home...no, I was not driving while I was writing)
Just on my way home from a wonderful weekend with 50+ men who were seeking God's word and will together (and kicking some serious butt at table tennis etc.) and then from sharing in a church. Aside from more bills than I care to look at, I am feeling very full and rich (I haven't paid the bills yet) indeed.
This morning I preached on the importance of building a "rooted" relationship with Jesus. A relationship that is based in truth yet kept very personal and heartfelt. A relationship that is built intentionally and nourished by reflecting on and experiencing the overwhelming love of God.
One of the truths that struck me freshly this weekend was the thought that struck me when I first truly gave my heart fully to Christ. Either what the Bible says is actually true or it is not. But it is easy for me to live as if it is "sort of" true. You see, if it is actually true it has radical implications for me and my life that I am not always ready and willing to implement. If it is actually true that ....
1. God created me for a relationship with Him
2. That without engaging fully in and participating personally and experientially in that relationship I will be void of true meaning and joy (many other things can provide temporary or false experiences of meaning and joy)
3. That when I am engaged in a personal and powerful relationship with God my sense of satisfaction and joy overflow and I am able to give and bless those around me because "my cup is full". I can approach the people in my life (and my God) with a desire to love and bless and serve and without any selfish ambition because I am already as rich and blessed as imaginable.
4. That when I neglect my relationship with Jesus and lose my "first love" I begin to look in the wrong places for my satisfaction and joy. This causes me to use people and abuse God's good gifts that I was meant to enjoy freely instead of being in bondage to them.
If this is really true then I must engage intentionally and pursue wholeheartedly this relationship above all else. If it is not, then efforts about and with God are a waste of time. Too often I feel that people live somewhere between it being really true and not.
Just on my way home from a wonderful weekend with 50+ men who were seeking God's word and will together (and kicking some serious butt at table tennis etc.) and then from sharing in a church. Aside from more bills than I care to look at, I am feeling very full and rich (I haven't paid the bills yet) indeed.
This morning I preached on the importance of building a "rooted" relationship with Jesus. A relationship that is based in truth yet kept very personal and heartfelt. A relationship that is built intentionally and nourished by reflecting on and experiencing the overwhelming love of God.
One of the truths that struck me freshly this weekend was the thought that struck me when I first truly gave my heart fully to Christ. Either what the Bible says is actually true or it is not. But it is easy for me to live as if it is "sort of" true. You see, if it is actually true it has radical implications for me and my life that I am not always ready and willing to implement. If it is actually true that ....
1. God created me for a relationship with Him
2. That without engaging fully in and participating personally and experientially in that relationship I will be void of true meaning and joy (many other things can provide temporary or false experiences of meaning and joy)
3. That when I am engaged in a personal and powerful relationship with God my sense of satisfaction and joy overflow and I am able to give and bless those around me because "my cup is full". I can approach the people in my life (and my God) with a desire to love and bless and serve and without any selfish ambition because I am already as rich and blessed as imaginable.
4. That when I neglect my relationship with Jesus and lose my "first love" I begin to look in the wrong places for my satisfaction and joy. This causes me to use people and abuse God's good gifts that I was meant to enjoy freely instead of being in bondage to them.
If this is really true then I must engage intentionally and pursue wholeheartedly this relationship above all else. If it is not, then efforts about and with God are a waste of time. Too often I feel that people live somewhere between it being really true and not.
