More Thoughts on Imago Dei

So I walked the Greenway again the other day, and continued to pray for people, and God continued to show me more about how His image is in each person. I watched people enjoy talking, laughing, walking, and just being together. Some may be believers, others are not. As a believer, I wonder, how do unbelievers find some level of joy without Him? Why do we all seek to be in relationship with others? Why do we want to be married or have deep friendships? Bkz being in relationship with another person who is created in His image (whether believers or not), is giving us a taste of being in relationship with Him. We find some fulfillment with these relationships bkz we are in relationship with someone who was created in His image. But we, being created in His image, aren't Him; so we find the relationships only partly fulfilling.

The only fulfilling relationship is with the Father. He will complete us totally, and do it perfectly! So seek hard to develop your relationship with Him, and be careful to treat those created in His image with love & respect.

Imago Dei

Last evening, I was walking the Greenway in Cleveland, TN. I've taken up walking instead of running, bkz I've found that it is actually more stress relieving than running. It just takes longer. So in order to make the time faster, I decided to pray. I get very easily distracted when I pray, so God told me to pray for every person that I passed. If you've ever been on the Greenway in the evenings when it is beautiful out, you'll know this can be a challenge.

I passed some young teenage girls and prayed for them to know that they are loved & valuable to God. I passed an older couple, and prayed that they would love their families well & be encouraged by those around them. I passed an older woman, and I prayed that she wouldn't feel alone. I passed these 2 young boys that were trying to get my attention, and I prayed that God would put good mentors in their lives to give them good attention. I prayed for young moms that were screaming at their kids about how they are such "brats," and I prayed that God would give the moms patience, love, and encouragement for their kids. That their significant others would love them well, and encourage them. That the kids would know that they are valuable & loved by God. I prayed that all of them would come to know God if they didn't already. I passed a middle aged woman with a mentally challenged young man, and I prayed for patience with him & comprehension of God for him. Whatever God laid on my heart, I prayed.

I found that as I prayed I began to see people differently. I didn't get annoyed with the young boys acting rudely trying to get my attention. I didn't get angry with the moms screaming at their kids. I began to pity them. A homeless man walked by me, and God said, "Whether he knows me or not, he is created in My image." It is amazing how that changes things. I got in my car, and got frustrated with the driver in front of me. Instantly the Lord reminded me that they were created in His image. I have no idea what is going on in their life. Don't judge them.

So this morning, I was reading James 3 where it talks about controlling the tongue. I found verse 9 really fascinating in light of yesterday's experience: "With it we bless our Lord & Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God." I went from blessing people for an hour on the Greenway to cursing them in my car. OUCH!

So it is my goal today, to bless the people that I come in conact with . . . at Walmart, in the car, on the Greenway, at work . . . bless and don't curse. They were all created in the image of God!

Twisted Truth

It has been a rough several months, and I think I've finally come to the bottom of my funk. I've discovered a new lie in my life, that I'd not noticed before. About 4 years ago, I was on fire for God. I was always content, always happy, always speaking about Him, and things changed. I still stuck to the truth, but my joy was gone. I think it started about 2 years ago when I read a good book that I took to the extreme: Shattered Dreams by Larry Crabb. It is a great book with great points, but when taken to the extreme it makes God a kill-joy. I then kept running across the quote: God is more interested in our character than our comfort. Again, this is true, but when not balanced with other things like James 1:17 "Every good thing given & every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow." or "Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart" (Psalm 37:4).

There seem to be a few things that Scripture teaches that we aren't smart enough to remember to balance. Predestination vs. Free will; Eternal security vs. Blasphemy; etc. We can't wrap our brains around them here, bkz we are finite, but Scripture addresses both sides of these issues. The same is true with what I have been believing . . . a truth twisted. God is more concerned with His glory & our character than our comfort or happiness, but He is still our Father. He still loves us. He still rejoices over you (Zeph.3:17).

So as I've been in my funk for the last several months, I've discovered that somewhere along the line, I started believing that bkz I want something, the Lord isn't going to give it to me. This is a complete contradiction to the 2 verses in the first paragraph (and there are more that teach this!). We have to understand that we'll never understand God this side of heaven, but we have Scripture & prayer that help us to try to make sense of it all.

I'm so glad that I serve a God that loves me, likes me, delights in me, and His joy is my strength!

David, a Man after God's Own Heart

You know, I often am encouraged by David. He often messed up . . . royally. Lust, adultery, murder, deceit, concubines, etc. etc. But I've been reading through I & II Samuel recently, and I'm reminded that David was a pretty amazing guy in spite of his flaws. He refused to lay a hand on the Lord's anointed king even though that king was pursuing David's life. Before David took as much as a step, he would ask the Lord for direction. When the Lord answered him, he would ask him another question to be sure that he knew exactly what the Lord wanted him to do. I have enough trouble trying to remember to ask the Lord at all, but David made it is his priority, as we should.

The passage that most stood out to me other than David asking God for direction multiple times was after Bathsheba had the baby. David knew that his judgement was that the baby was going to die. He was on his face before God for 7 days while the baby was sick. He begged God for mercy on the child. After 7 days, the baby died, and David's servants were afraid to tell him bkz he was so upset about the baby being sick. When David found out, he got up, cleaned himself up, ate, went to the house of the Lord, and worshipped. He knew that this is what God told him would happen. He didn't whine, complain, or scream at God . . . he went & worshipped Him acknowleding God's sovereignty & power. (2 Samuel 12:15-23)

He was in significant pain, and he worshipped the Lord. When I'm in significant pain, the last thing I want to do is worship the Lord, but we should. James encourages this in chapter 1 as well. Pain, struggle, and trials all make us more like God. They teach us perseverence & endurance. When we can worship Him in the midst of difficulty & find our joy in Him, the contenment in His strength comes quickly. The goal of our lives should bring Him glory, and what better way to bring Him glory than by praising Him in the midst of pain. There isn't an unbeliever in the world that would get that . . . nor would alot of "believers."

I hope that I can learn to do this better each day.

Alas! and did my Savior bleed

And did my Sovereign die?

Would He devote that sacred head

For sinners such as I?

The body slain, sweet Jesus, Thine--

And bathed in its own blood--

While the firm mark of wrath divine,

His sould in anguish stood.

Was it for crimes that I had done

He groaned upon the tree?

Amazing pity! Grace unknown!

And love beyond degree!

Well might the sun in darkness hide

And shut His glories in,

When Christ, the mighty Maker died,

For man the creatures sin.

Thus might I hide my blushing face

While His dear cross appears,

Dissolve my heart in thankfulness,

And melt my eyes to tears.

But drops of grief can ne'er repay

The debt of love I owe:

Here, Lord, I give myself away

'Tis all that I can do.

At the Cross by Isaac Watts

It is Easter week . . . the holiest celebration in our calendar, and it is overrun by eggs, bunnies, & Reese's. I have thought about everything but my Sovereign Lord's death. Without His death, I'm all the lies that I fight daily to not believe. I am worthless, without value, unloved, sinful, lonely, etc, etc. But bkz of the pain that He chose to go through, all of these lies are just that . . . Lies from the pit of hell.

I've borrowed The Passion of the Christ from a friend to watch this week. It is disturbing, and I didn't buy it bkz I don't ever want to become complacent towards the movie. I remember watching it in the theater several years ago. I remember the emotional reaction that I had towards it as well as the emotional reactions of complete strangers in that theater. I remember a grown man sobbing as he watched the movie. I remember watching it with my roommate. Tears streamed down our faces, and yet we were silent in our own processing. We didn't speak for nearly an hour later.

I've become complacent to the gospel message, and I hate my complacency. It is the turning point, not only in history, but also in my own life. I love the line in this hymn above that talks about the "debt of love I owe." I remember when I asked the Lord how to love Him, He reminded me of what He did for me. I was so stuck in my pride, that I didn't even see my sin. So I'm praying that the Lord will again show me how to love Him, so that I can gratefully sing the refrain to Watt's hymn:

At the cross, at the cross, where I first saw the light, and the burden of my heart rolled away, It was there by faith I received my sight & now I am happy all the day!

Michael W. Smith Says It Best

Jesus I've forgotten the words that You have spoken
Promises burned within my heart have now grown dim
With a doubting heart I follow earthly wisdom
Forgive me for my unbelief, renew the fire again

I have built an altar where I worship things of men

I have taken journeys that have drawn me far from You

Now I am returning to Your mercies ever flowing

Pardon my transgressions, help me love You again

I have longed to know You & Your tender mercies

Like a river of forgiveness, ever flowing without end

I bow my heart before You in the goodness of Your presence

Your grace forever shining like a beacon in the night

Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy

Lord have mercy on me

Michael W. Smith

The Love of God

This week, a friend & I have challenged each other to spend time at the Lord's feet, and meditating on one passage of Scripture unless the Lord leads us elsewhere. So Romans 8:31-39 is the passage:

"What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? Who will bring a charge against God's elect? God is the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written, "FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE BEING PUT TO DEATH ALL DAY LONG; WE WERE CONSIDERED AS SHEEP TO BE SLAUGHTERED." But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

There are a thousand things that I could point out in this passage, but I'll just share 2 thoughts. My first thought is that God is the One who justifies us; no one else. So if God justifies us, how could anyone else condemn us (including ourselves)?

My second thought is just bkz I'm experiencing some tribulation, does that mean God doesn't love me? Just bkz I'm experiencing some distress, does that mean God has stopped loving me? Just bkz I don't have any food, does that mean the Lord has ceased to love me? ABSOLUTELY NOT! And yet, I go there often. Why God are you allowing this in my life? It is so hard. Don't you care about me anymore? Do you still love me?

Yes, absolutely, more than I could ever know. I love the verses in Ephesians 3 (14-21) that Paul prays for the Ephesians, specifically the bolded portion in vs. 19.
For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen

He prays that they would know (experientially) the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge (it is intellectually incomprehensible!). I pray this for myself, and for other people as well. Oh that we would really come to experience His love which is unable to be known intellectually! Only He can do that . . . I can do nothing, except come before Him on my face with gratefulness and a willingness to live in light of that love.