‘The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!’ (Matthew 6:22-23) As a Christian, here’s how I ‘see’ life: I believe that Jesus is ‘God with us.’ (Isaiah 7:14/Matthew 1:23) I believe that Jesus created the world, and has authority over both the earth and the heavens. (Heb 1:2; Mt 28:18) I believe that Jesus has ‘defeated death’, and by believing in him, we, too, have eternal life. (2 Tim 1:10; Jn 3:16) I believe that the ultimate purpose and direction of life here on earth, is the eternal construction of the Kingdom of God. (Mt 6:10; 1 Cor 3:13) I believe that it is God’s will that all people hear about Jesus Christ and have an opportunity to ‘respond’ to him personally. (Rm 10:2,14-15,17; Mt 24:14) I believe that by the Holy Spirit, my ultimate purpose is this purpose of God’s – i.e. to bring the message of Jesus to all people in all nations. (Jn 15:26-27) I believe this is the reality of life, and life’s ultimate purpose. This is how I ‘see’ life. This expresses itself differently in all situations, the same way the wind blows uniquely and untraceably all the time. But the wind - the Spirit - is always present, and always blowing. (Jn 3:8) There are good times in life, hard times, and yet in all seasons this ‘gospel’ of God is the ultimate ‘real’, the heartbeat and point of everything. (2 Tim 4:2) There are times when every person present, and every fiber of a circumstance, are hostile to this truth, this gospel of Christ. Wisdom and the Spirit will be needed. But nonetheless, these persons and circumstances will pass away, but the words of Christ, as Christ himself said, ‘will never pass away.’ (Mt 24:35) And there will come a time when ‘every knee will bow, and every tongue confess, that Jesus Christ is Lord.’ (Phil 2:10-11; Rm 14:11; Is 45:23) By faith, this is how I ‘see’ life. I see life in this way, by faith. ‘We live by faith, not by sight.’ (2 Cor 5:7) My heart has seen and known that Jesus is true, and I have put my faith in him. So I have determined to see life through Jesus, the ‘life that is truly life.’ (1 Tim 6:19) Jesus said, ‘I am the light of the world, and whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.’ (John 8:12) The light in my eyes is the light of Christ. And the light that Christ throws on the land before me, is how I will see that land. I have faith eyes. And what I see, I will see through faith. That, I believe, is what is truly real. Jesus said, ‘Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.’ (John 18:37) How do you see life? For more on ‘First Steps’ with Jesus, please visit: https://1peter1three.weebly.com/first-steps.html
0 Comments
We crave worship. I hate putting it so bluntly, so crassly, but it is true. In fact, it was the promise to ‘be like God’ that compelled us to compete with him, go against him, to reach for the forbidden. (Gen 3:5) I love this candid, exposing quote by Nietzsche: ‘If there were gods, how could I endure not to be a god? Therefore, there are no gods!’ (Thus Spoke Zarathustra, 1885) Nietzsche’s basis for atheism is that he could not endure the thought of there being a God - and him not being that God. Absolutely unbearable concept to the point of having to just deny that God exists. Period. Think of flattery. What is it, essentially? Well, it is a form of ‘worship’ or ‘adoration’. And there is never a time that true flattery is a good thing. Flattery is dangerous. It is not the same as a kind compliment. Why? Well, the ‘spirit’ is different. Flattery worships you, in order, ultimately, to be worshipped. If it is reciprocated, well, there we have a ‘fraternity’ or ‘society’ for a time. But it will not last. It will explode, implode, corrode, or disappear ‘like smoke out a window.’ (Hs 13:3) This is why Jesus did not allow the ‘rich young ruler’ to call him ‘Good teacher!’ (Mark 10) Because Jesus knew this flattery was a 2-way street, and there is no 2-way street when it comes to worship and God. There is no reciprocity. God loves and honors you. But only God is safe to ‘worship’. If not God, what we worship is a type of god, an idol. Anything can be an idol - all it needs is worship. This worship does not make the idol anything special, it just makes it an idol. How do we know what we worship? Well, where’s your heart? Jesus told us that our treasure - our idol - is where our heart will be. (Mt 6:21) How do you know where your heart is? Well, where’s your treasure? If your heart will be where your treasure is, where’s your treasure? Where do you put your money, your thoughts, your time, your energy? That’s your treasure. That’s where your heart is. ‘Jesus said the most important commandment is this: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, your soul, your mind, your strength.’ (Matthew 22:37 - quoting Deut 6:5) So how do you become an idol, especially if nothing or no one is ‘worshipping’ you? Well, here’s the interesting thing. You will become exactly like the idols you make, you worship. Again, here we see a very loving reason that God calls us to look to him, gaze on him, worship him. Because we will become like him as we gaze on him. (1 Jn 3:2) God calls us to worship him, so we will become like him. But if our heart and treasure - our ‘worship’ - is towards money, sexual immorality, pornography, people and status, then we will become the essence of those things: ‘Those who make idols will be like them, and so will all who trust in them.’ (Psalm 115:8) We will become like that which we worship. Have you given your heart, and your worship, to Jesus? For more on ‘First Steps’ with Jesus, please visit: https://1peter1three.weebly.com/first-steps.html |
AuthorPeter Walker. I hope you enjoy these reflections. Please feel free to comment!:) Archives
February 2024
Categories |