We talk about doing God’s work, but have we stopped to consider what it really is? God’s work includes witnessing to people, helping the needy, and prayer, but all of this does not define it. God's work is about creating his kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. He loves us yes, but we were made to glorify Him. This is the end; that his name be high and lifted up, exalted above every name. So are we doing his work? Are we glorifying him in everything thing that we do and say?
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How often I hear God tell me, “Take your thoughts captive.” I am a sinful person with many faults. Whenever God shows me a new fault, or reminds me of an old one I still struggle with, I ask him to help me. “What should I do?" I ask God. The answer comes and most often it is to take my thoughts captive.
Anytime I might lust after something or someone. He says, “Take your thoughts captive.” Whenever, as it is often, I am proud He says, “Take your thoughts captive.” When complaining is all that wants to come out of my mouth He says, “Take your thoughts captive.” There are so many things I do that stem from my thoughts not being taken captive. I have heard in church, many times, about how important it is to control your thoughts, but it is something special to hear straight from God himself. God wants to help us to be Holy, but there are some things we have to do ourselves. Taking our thoughts captive is one of those things. Now, of course, we are able to do so because of him, but we cannot sit back and expect Him to do it all. It is a difficult thing to take captive your thoughts. As Elisabeth Elliot said captives generally do not want to be taken. So, be prepared to fight, but know that freedom awaits you, and me. Today, in church, in Ghana, the pastor spoke saying to seek God first and then his blessings will be added unto you. He said that when you pass the test you will receive a promotion and used the tests they have in school as an example. I sat in my seat cringing at almost every word he said. It is not entirely his fault though. I have been hearing this message about giving or seeking God and getting a blessing a lot lately and upon hearing it once more began to cringe. Every time I have heard someone say God will bless you they do not clarify what the blessings are, but it is understood to be something material. Like today, when the Pastor talked about getting a promotion, he wasn’t really talking about spiritually because that wouldn’t make much sense on its own; he would have to explain that analogy more for it to be understood.
Now, I do not think it is good to associate giving to God and receiving a blessing. We should give to God out of our love for Him, not to receive anything. Still, we should consider what blessings are. As I said, many that talk about them mean material things, but could they be other things as well? Could the best blessings be intangible things? I believe this is the case. Blessings come in all shapes and forms and the best ones I have received have not been tangible. The best blessing of all is the felt presence of Jesus Christ. We take for granted, perhaps, that we will always feel his presence with us, or his love for us. However, if you ask some of the saints you will find this to not always be the case. Personally, I have experienced just a short time where I did not feel his presence, but Mother Teresa lived twenty plus years not feeling his presence. How awfully difficult it was for her. She was blessed in abundance with material things to help the people with, but she was still left longing for Him, for Jesus. Only the blessing of His felt presence could satisfy the longing in her heart. When we began to see his felt presence, felt love, felt mercy, felt grace, and all the rest of those wonderful things as blessings; we began to see how even the poorest of poor can say, “I am blessed.” To feel these things is a blessing that can be taken away. All of these things are no less true when we don’t feel them; only each day becomes more difficult. God still loves and his presence remains whether you feel it or not, but praise the Lord if you can feel it, because it is one of the greatest gifts he can give to you. A blessing is much more than some material thing or promotion. My position remains. There is nothing you can do to earn God’s blessing. If you do not feel His presence it does not mean you are doing something wrong. Just the same, if you are not financially rich it does not mean you do not have relationship with Christ. God blesses us in so many ways and the more we seek him the more he shows us the numerous ways in which he has blessed us. God blesses us, it is true, but you might not be able to see them all until he opens your eyes. So, what am I trying to say? God will bless you whether you give or not. When you give he blesses you, but not necessarily in a way you will immediately recognize. Blessings are more than tangible things, like money and promotions. Finally, you should give to God out of your love for him, not to receive something from him. This is what the verse means that says, “Seek first his kingdom.” Put your focus on God and getting to know him and you will see that he will take care of you. Do not worry about money and the rest, just seek God. That’s the point of it all. Today in church the pastor spoke on the Holy Spirit. He said that the first evidence that you have the Holy Spirit is that you speak in tongues. Additionally he said that the Spirit will leave you if you grieve it and so you can lose your salvation. He asked us to consider whether we are really saved if we haven’t spoken in tongues.
As he spoke about speaking in tongues as the sign that you are a believer I began to be grieved. I have been a Christian for eight years now and have never spoken in tongues. It hurt deeply to hear someone say I was not saved. My thoughts were, “What have I been doing all this time then?” and “Why bother any longer with any of it?” I have prayed before for tongues, not as much as other things though, because of several reasons. First, to my knowledge Jesus never prayed for that. I have been praying the things that I know Jesus prayed for. Second, Paul says speaking in tongues does not edify the church as well as prophecy and other gifts. Lastly, I have always believed that it is a gift that the Holy Spirit decides who to give it to and when. I want to be one with the Father and to glorify him, so if speaking in tongues will do this (and it will) then I want it. I want the Father’s will for my life. I am not against it in the least, yet I still do not have that gift. So, am I not saved? Jesus said you will know people by their fruit and Paul tells us what those fruits are. The fruit of the Holy Spirit do not include speaking in tongues; no rather, they are things that can be more easily seen and relate to how we treat others. I agree with the Pastor that these develop more over time, as we learn more and more about them and the Father’s will. I do believe, however, that these fruits will be evident from the beginning. There will be an immediate change in a person’s demeanor and life when they accept Christ and anyone who knew them before will know something has changed. Will they be the most loving person? No, but they will be more loving than before. Will they be the most patient person? No, but they will be more patient than before. The fruit will begin to show in a new believer’s life. Additionally they will put off the old self and no longer act in certain ways that dishonor God. As to whether or not you can lose your salvation, I agree partially with the Pastor. I do believe that it might be possible to lose your salvation, but like the writer of Hebrews I am confident of things pertaining to salvation. I don’t think it is as easy as he made it seem to lose your salvation. We can have assurance of things hoped for and still not be perfect. Look at how Paul addressed the Corinthians, he called them infants for acting according to the flesh. An infant is someone who is born and so, Paul was talking to believers. They were not the best of believers, perhaps, but they were believers nonetheless. I pray that all of us will humbly seek the Lord in these matters, which can be confusing. That we will be careful with what we say so that it builds others up in the faith and pushes them closer to God and not away. We will likely disagree with one another from time to time, but Christ is the head and he will show us the way if we ask him. I have been here almost two weeks now, though it seems like much longer. It amazes me how different this trip has been so far, as compared with the trip to Honduras. Since we are living here for a while there has been no rushing around to do this or that and we have had more of a chance to just live life day to day as someone here might. (Of course, we still we have it better than most here.)
At first I thought it would be hard adjusting to being near other sweaty people and the overall lack of cleanliness, as compared to the U.S. but it has proved much easier than expected. Back home, I wouldn’t dare eat until I washed my hands with soap and water and dried them, preferably with a paper towel. Here, I wash them in the white cloudy water and then eat my meal without a second thought. The difference is that, here, I have a different mindset and this is just part of the way of life here. People do not freak out about germs like in America, and so I do not freak out. It truly is ok. Now, there are still some things that are hard for me to watch, like people eating with their hands, however, with time I am confident this would change too. Many times, as Americans, we tend to think that the people that live in, what we would call shacks, need more things, that what they have is not good enough. What I have learned is that what they have is more than enough. Our purpose is to live each day to glorify our Lord and they are able to do just that, even living in a small shack. We can hardly imagine life like this, but it is just a matter of fact and not as big of a deal as you might imagine. Thus, now, when I see these kinds of homes, which are not nearly as nice as ones in the states, I do not think, “Oh, poor people. They have to live in such a small house.” They are blessed people, who have a roof over their head and they are, for the most part, perfectly content with it. So why should I be discontent for them? Now, this is not to say that there are not any who need more of whatever it may be, just that many really do not need more. I like it a lot here. Sure it may smell like sewer sometimes and it is really hot so I smell bad all the time, but what does that really matter? People are so relaxed here and enjoy life. They are not frantically worrying about what will happen tomorrow or even later today. Additionally, there is no pressure to look a certain way. To be called fat is a good thing here, so you can imagine that anorexia is not an issue in the least. Now, if I were to live here longer, I would have to start getting used to their food. As of now, I eat at the lodge where they use bottled water to cook with. I would probably get sick a lot at first, but after sometime my body would adjust and I could really live like a Ghanaian. These people have it great here, and I will sorely miss living here. What a sad day it will be, the day I have to leave. I am so thankful to God who has prepared me so well for this experience. He has and is continually sanctifying me so that I become more like Him and more in love with Him. As a result, when the power has gone out and we have no running water, I am able to give thanks. Running water and electricity are good, but not having them does not disturb my peace and I thank God for that. |
What I write AboutMy posts are all about the Christian walk in some way or another. I do my best to make what I post worth reading, thus there are many more things that I write about but do not post. Some of my posts are my reflections on scripture or a quote, other posts are simply my testimony, and others still are letters of encouragement. I hope that you will be encouraged or challenged in your walk with Christ as a result. God Bless you, my friend.
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