Commitment and Friendship

Today as I was sitting in my university's library, God was urging my heart to get into His word.  I started reading in Jeremiah.  God prompted me to look into His word further than just seeing it as history, but to look at it in terms of our relationship.

What God showed me through the first 8 chapters or so of Jeremiah is that God wants to be our number one priority; He doesn't want to be our second choice.  At the time of Jeremiah, Judah and Jerusalem were worshiping other gods.  They only came to speak to God when they needed something, when they wanted protection (Jeremiah 7:10).  God called out to them repeatedly.  He asked for them to come back to him, but they would not listen (Jeremiah 7:13).  He was upset  because they were hurting themselves by worshiping things other than Him (Jeremiah 7:19).

This same thing happens to us (me included) all the time.  We are constantly thinking and worrying about things of this world rather than thinking about our God.  We only come to God when we need something from Him.  We only come to Him when we wish to ask for something in prayer.  God is not seeking that kind of relationship with us.  He is not wishing for a servant; He is searching for a friend (John 15:15).

“…Plow up the hard ground of your hearts!  Do not waste your good seed among thorns. O people of Judah and Jerusalem, surrender you pride and power. Change your hearts before the Lord…” (Jeremiah 4:3-4 NLT).  

Grace

One thing that always amazes me about God's nature is his grace.  God has grace to not treat us as we deserve, but to instead bless us everyday.  At the end of the book of Job, God shows grace to Job's three friends.  In Job 42:7-8 (NLT), God says to Eliphaz (one of Job's friends):

... I am angry with you and your two friends, for you have not spoken accurately about me, as my servant Job has.  So take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and offer a burnt offering for yourselves.  My servant Job will pray for you, and I will accept his prayer on your behalf.  I will not treat you as you deserve, for you have not spoken accurately about me, as my servant Job has.

Although Job's friends had told him that he was sinning and this was why God was angry at him and although his friends had represented God inaccurately, God gave Job's friends grace and did not punish them.

God often extends this same grace to us.  Instead of saying, "I will hold you accountable for all of your wrongs", God says, "Welcome Home, my child."  He says this with open arms.

In Luke 15:11-32, Jesus tells the parable of the Prodigal Son.  Paraphrased, this parable says the following.  A man had two sons.  The man split the inheritance between the two sons that they would have received after the death of the man.  The youngest son moved to a distant land and wasted all of the inheritance that the father had given him.  After the son was almost dying of hunger because he had wasted all his money, the son realized what he had done and decided to go home and apologize to his father.  He wanted to go back and work as a hired servant because he felt that he was no longer worthy to be called his father's son.  Instead of confronting the son with rejection and anger, the father ran to the son and embraced him when he saw him coming home.  This is how God sees us when we have wronged him.  God forgives us and is excited that we have come home.  He extends his love and compassion towards us.  God celebrates when we ask for forgiveness and come home to Him.  That is how much He loves us!

The parable ends when the father says:

We had to celebrate this happy day.  For your brother was dead and has come back to life!  He was lost, but now he is found! (Mark 15:32 NLT)

 God says this to us every time a sinner comes back home.  How awesome is that?

Light and Darkness

I have always loved to read.  I actually review books on another blog, Book Reviews from a Christian Gal.  Recently, I have been reading My Name is Chloe by Melody Carlson.  This is a book that is about a 9th grader who becomes a Christian.

There are two things that I really enjoy about this book.  The first thing is that it shows how nonbelievers sometimes view Christians.  It illustrates this in the beginning of the book before the main character becomes a Christian.  She is often confused about all of the "rules" that seem to be involved in Christianity.  As she comes to learn more about God, she realizes that being a Christian is not about rules, but is about having a relationship with God.

The second thing that I really enjoy is that the book illustrates that new Christians often understand things about God that people who have been Christians for a while often forget.  New Christians can bring new things to fellowship.  The point that I want to talk about today is best illustrated through a quote from the book in which the main character, Chloe, is talking to her Christian friend, Laura:

"Do something for me, will you? Close the door and then turn out the lights, all of them." I waited for a few seconds. 
"Okay, I did it.  And now I'm standing in here in the dark.  Are you happy?"
"Right.  Now Turn the lights back on."
"okay.  I did."
"What happened to the dark, Laura?"
"Uh...it's gone."
"Right.  Now what happened to the darkness when you turned off the light?"
I heard her gasp. "Oh, man, I think I get it!"
"Yeah, that's exactly what I thought too.  If we remove ourselves from the so-called darkness, then what is left?"
"Just darkness."
"And excuse me for sounding so elementary, but why did Jesus come to earth?"
"To bring light?"  (Carlson, p. 140-141)

Darkness and light cannot mix. When light comes in, only light shows and there is no darkness. But when there is no light, there is only darkness. Therefore, we should hang out with sinners, like Jesus did, because when the light is there through us, there can be no darkness.  We should not be afraid to eat with sinners because the light will always conquer the darkness.

References 
Carlson, M. (2002). My Name is Chloe.  Oregon: Multnomah Publishers Inc.

God Speaks Through Everyday Things

God speaks through everyday things.  He talks through events in our lives.  This is what the theme of this blog is going to be.  I am going to share with others what God has shown me.

I am on a quest to know more about God.  I know that He loves us an extreme amount, but I want to learn more about Him.  I want to become more like Jesus.  In order to do so, I must learn more about God.

I hope that you enjoy hearing about what God has done in my life and I hope that you will share a little about what He has done in your life too.