Patience

Patience is not the ability to wait, but how you act while you’re waiting.[1]

We glory in tribulations also: knowing the tribulations bring about patience; and patience, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

Romans 5:3-5 (NASB)

Waiting for something, for example relief from suffering, is not patience. The excitement of a teenager anticipating a driver’s license cannot be rushed. You can open birthday presents early, even though your birthday has not arrived, but the state will not hand over its confirmation that you are a licensed driver until you reach the appropriate age.

Patience is not the fact that we had to wait to receive it. We were going to have to wait anyway. We had no choice in the matter.

Neither is patience apathy, an attitude of not caring if a certain deadline passes or not. A person may endure a crisis simply because they perceive that crises and suffering are simply a part of the life God has dealt them, and if it is not this particular trial, it would simply be a different one.

No, patience involves our attitude and actions while we wait for the future to arrive. Our emotions may involve a desire to be free from some form of difficulty or they may center on some highly anticipated event yet to come. Either way, patience is grounded in the firm belief that our Heavenly Father is caring for us and overseeing all that occurs. We can be certain that, in His perfect timing, we will receive deliverance or blessing. We can trust in Him completely because He is entirely faithful and compassionate in His dealings with us. Patience is a quiet longing for what God has in store for us. What are you patiently waiting for, today?

Pastor Craig

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[1] @LovLikeJesus

Direction

 

When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants them to go. Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts.

James 3:3-5 (NIV) 

Probably most of the sermons and studies you have heard on these verses from James have to do with the impact your words have on others. Not all the bullying we hear through the news is physical bullying. Nor is all the abuse that one person suffers at the hands of another physical.

Certainly, the statements above are true. However, for this article I want you to look at the idea of “bit” and “rudder” as compared to tongue. Both bit and rudder are used to set direction. Have you ever thought that your tongue may be a bit or a rudder for your whole life. “If you want to know where you’ll be in five years listen to what you talk about most now.”[1]

It’s a scary thing, isn’t it? Take time to think about how trivial much of our conversation is, how uncouth, crude, and, sometimes vulgar. I do not mean to say that every word that comes out of our mouths needs to be some deep philosophical or theological thought, full of long words and heavy. It is obvious that the uncouth, crude, and vulgar parts we need to do without. I hope it is clear that God created joy and laughter and wants our hearts to be light and enjoy the lives he has given to us. However, we should be mindful that while our words do impact the people we direct them towards, those same words our steering our lives at the same time.

You are steering a course. If you continue to follow your tongue, where would you say your destination will ultimately be?

Pastor Craig

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[1] #lovlikejesus

When will you be Christian?

C. S. Lewis (@CSLewis) tweeted at 11:01 AM on Sun, Oct 21, 2012: A Christian society is not going to arrive until most of us really want it: and we are not going to want it until we become fully Christian. (https://twitter.com/CSLewis/status/260048226500083712) Get the official Twitter app at https://twitter.com/download

Why are you here!

C. S. Lewis (@CSLewis) tweeted at 11:06 AM on Tue, Oct 16, 2012: The whole purpose for which we exist is to be thus taken into the life of God. #MereChristianity http://t.co/yPQQkT08 (https://twitter.com/CSLewis/status/258237436486885376) Get the official Twitter app at https://twitter.com/download

Wickedness

C. S. Lewis (@CSLewis) tweeted at 11:03 AM on Sun, Oct 14, 2012: Wickedness, when you examine it, turns out to be the pursuit of some good in the wrong way. #cslewis #merechristianity (https://twitter.com/CSLewis/status/257511951968653312) Get the official Twitter app at https://twitter.com/download

Bound

Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all men sinned.

Romans 5:12

What is sin? We tend to think of sin as lying, infidelity, murder, theft, prejudice, hatred, etc. However, the Scriptures seem to use a different definition. “The nature of sin is not immorality or wrongdoing, but the nature of self-realization which leads us to say, ‘I am my own God.’”[1] Yes, every time you decide that you know better than your Creator as to how to run your life, you are setting yourself up as self-governed. In other words, you are throwing off the authority of God and proclaiming that you will answer to no one but yourself. That, my friends, is the very nature of sin.

The sin of the first people in the Garden of Eden was not simply that they ate from the tree from which God had forbidden them to eat. No, it was the fact that they decided that God’s rules did not apply to them, that they could make up their own rules and laws, that they were autonomous creatures.

We continue to do this far more often than we would like to believe. We create our own interpretation of Scripture, sometimes ignoring the clear and plain meaning of the text. We try to explain away God’s laws that we consider burdensome or outdated, failing to even ask about the principle that may have been behind the commandment.

How can we know that our interpretation is a valid one? How can we be assured that we are not simply putting more weight on the texts which seem to promote the agenda most in line with our beliefs? Well, rest assured that none of us have it perfect. However, we can keep ourselves from significant error by maintaining a teachable spirit at all times. It is when we proclaim that we already have the truth that we lose that spirit and Christian growth in spirituality stops. How are you aware of the Holy Spirit moving within you this day?

Pastor Craig

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[1] One-Minute Meditations

 

It cost God nothing, so far as we know, to create nice things: but to convert rebellious wills cost him crucifixion.

C. S. Lewis

The finer things in life. . . Do a Google search for Christie’s, the world-famous auction house of “finer things”, and you will come across the most recent sales items. It turns out that the most recent sale listed was for four custom made handbags. The handbags were Passe-Guide bags. That may mean something to some of you. I know nothing about handbags or purses. However, I do know that one of these custom purses sold for more than $128,000 US dollars! I hate to think what the matching shoes would cost!
 
The most beautiful things God has made come to us for free. He is generous with His glorious sunrises and sunsets. The powerful beauty of the thunderstorm can be seen and heard on many a night. Fireflies in a glass jar are a wonder to behold. The priceless look of our child or loved one peacefully asleep comes for free.

 God, Himself, is willing to pay a great price to possess those things He holds most dear, those things which, honestly, He already has claim and power over. I am talking about that rebellious will mentioned above. Humanity’s greatest sin is not adultery, murder, or even genocide. It is the refusal to recognize our Creator as having any claim over our lives, our hearts, and our wills. We proudly fly our own flag from our heart, seeking to repel any others that would attempt to conquer that hill. Oh, yes, we give it to a loved one, but even then, only at an equal exchange rate. They must make us happy or we will tear down their flag and cast it aside. They must do as we expect and want or we will remain alone atop that mount.

 
God will not fight you for your own heart. You must give it to Him. He will fight anyone else who tries to claim it from Him once you have declared Him its conqueror and king, but he will not grapple with you. Yours must be an unconditional surrender.
 
Who owns your heart? Yes, it may have been abused by many in the past. It has probably been trampled on and run over. It has been treated unkindly and without compassion. The result is that we guard it very closely. We keep it behind locked gates. The drawbridge to it remains up and the moat that must be crossed to gain access to it is wide.

 Jesus Christ calls to you to lower the drawbridge to your heart and will, to let Him in and be King. He will treat your heart kindly. He recognizes the value it has. He has already been willing to pay a tremendous price in the hopes of getting your attention. Now, will you let down this last defense and be at peace?

 

Craig Krueger

Good Intentions

For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good.    (Romans 7:15)

We are all about good intentions. We want credit for trying, for giving our best effort. We intend to follow Jesus in all that we do. We really want to. When this doesn’t work, we intend to try harder. We really do. Well, when that doesn’t. . .Are you getting the picture?
 
We are up against the perfect law of God. Good intentions don’t matter, only results. Are you perfect yet? Me neither!

Until we come up against that perfect law of God, until the gravity of our own sinfulness becomes reality to us, until we recognize that our best efforts are not even fit to be put in God’s garbage can, we can’t truly experience God’s infinite mercy. You see, until we recognize just how short we have fallen, we can’t appreciate God’s love. We turn Jesus into a helper. Well, let me tell you right now – Jesus did not come to earth to help you be a batter person. Jesus came, died, and rose again that you might become someone totally different. Jesus doesn’t want a better you. He’ll start with that, but He will never leave you there. He won’t allow it. He is going to remake you from head to toe. Nothing is going to be the same.
Following Christ is not about a cessation of sinful activity and an initiation of righteous living. Our righteousness will never get us where we truly need to be. No, Christianity is about a living relationship with our Savior, Jesus Christ. Much of Christian literature is about telling us what is wrong with us. Most of us already know that!

The gospel is about telling us what God has already done to take care of the problem. There is nothing for you to do, no multi-step program to begin, only to fail miserably like every other time we have tried to live up to our good intentions. Jesus Christ comes to us to live life together, in community, with us. He comes to us to proclaim in our lives as He did on the cross, “It is finished.” No, that won’t mean you’re always perfect from that point onward, but you will be whole!

Pastor Craig

C. S. Lewis (@CSLewisU) tweeted at 0:48 AM on Mon, Oct 08, 2012: If He who in Himself can lack nothing, chooses to need us, it is because we need to be needed. #CSLewis (https://twitter.com/CSLewisU/status/255182976147668993) Get the official Twitter app at https://twitter.com/download

Treasure

Don’t let your happiness depend on something that you may lose.

C.S. Lewis 

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

(Matthew 6:19-21)

Where is your heart? It is so easy to long for this world. There are many things in this world that cause us joy, but there are many things that cause us frustration and heartache as well.

Remember, if you can, the story of Lot’s wife. If you need a refresher course go home and read Genesis 19 this afternoon. In the story, the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah are so wicked that God decides to destroy them completely. In the whole region Scripture only records one person that God warned prior to the event, Lot.

Angels came to warn Lot and his family of the coming destruction. The family did not seem to want to leave the city. Finally, the angels compelled them to leave with the warning to not look back and feel sorry for the city. The warning is not one against glancing back. Rather, it involves a sadness for the city or a sense of remorse over what lifestyle is gone. As the family fled the city, Genesis records that Lot’s wife stopped to look back, with the consequences that she was turned into a pillar of salt.

We do not know the thoughts that were in her mind. She may have thought of the place of importance Lot had among the men of the city. She may have thought of the parties or festivals. We do not know. We do know that part of her looking back was a desire to be back there in the midst of it. She chose that which did not last, that which God was going to destroy.

It’s OK to take pleasure in this world. God made it for his glory and our enjoyment. However, we need to pay attention as to where we invest our heart!

Pastor Craig