http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/taste-see-articles/the-morning-i-heard-the-voice-of-god
A short message from Pastor John Piper on hearing the voice of God/hearing God speak.
Showing posts with label God. Show all posts
Showing posts with label God. Show all posts
Monday, November 8, 2010
Friday, September 18, 2009
The Desires of your heart vs. God's Will
This was a letter to my brother. He's been feeling down. I feel like I know what he's feeling because in some ways he sounds like I did, and sometimes do. So here you go, some real brotherly love - eat your heart out Philadelphia.
Yea, sometimes life kinda sucks. Here's a little something that makes me feel better when I feel like that...
Ecclesiastes 3: 1-14
1 "There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under heaven:
2 a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
3 a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
4 a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,
6 a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
7 a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
8 a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.
9 What does the worker gain from his toil? 10 I have seen the burden God has laid on men. 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. 12 I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. 13 That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil—this is the gift of God. 14 I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that men will revere him."
The whole idea behind this is that God is working all things in your life ultimately to work on you, bring you closer to him, and ultimately to glorify himself. I think that 13 really nails the problem: That everyone may.. find satisfaction in all his toil - this is the gift of God.
I can tell you, this is the hardest thing I've found to learn yet: to find satisfaction in where you are, and who you are; not in where you think you're going. As it turns out, all things happen for a reason. Even a break up with a girl that at one point you were sure you were gonna marry, 3 switches in career choices, and 3+ months of unemployment ultimately lead to God's glory and something better that God has in store for you.
Since I'm sharing wisdom I've discovered I'll tell ya an even bigger thing that took me a long time to figure out.. If you wanna know the will of God for your life Rule #1: read the Bible. It's cliche to hear it, sometimes terribly boring to do it, and if it seems like you're not getting anything out of it then you're probably not. And you should figure out how to fix that. But the honest truth is that if you're truly seeking after God, like really putting forth an effort, he transforms the desires of your heart to his desires for you. Romans 8:5 & Romans 12:1-2
I'm not saying all your current dreams will come true, but you might find that those things didn't really have much value, and new things will come to replace them. And, if you've ever asked God to give you more interest in it, he'll do that too, but he's not about to turn you into his little disciple puppet. The relationship thing comes from you being willing to act out what you believe.
P.S. Romans 12:1 says to offer your body as a living sacrifice.. the thing about living sacrifices is they have a tendency to step away from being the offering. Your job is to keep yourself in that place and be satisfied with it.
-Archer
Yea, sometimes life kinda sucks. Here's a little something that makes me feel better when I feel like that...
Ecclesiastes 3: 1-14
1 "There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under heaven:
2 a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
3 a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
4 a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,
6 a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
7 a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
8 a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.
9 What does the worker gain from his toil? 10 I have seen the burden God has laid on men. 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. 12 I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. 13 That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil—this is the gift of God. 14 I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that men will revere him."
The whole idea behind this is that God is working all things in your life ultimately to work on you, bring you closer to him, and ultimately to glorify himself. I think that 13 really nails the problem: That everyone may.. find satisfaction in all his toil - this is the gift of God.
I can tell you, this is the hardest thing I've found to learn yet: to find satisfaction in where you are, and who you are; not in where you think you're going. As it turns out, all things happen for a reason. Even a break up with a girl that at one point you were sure you were gonna marry, 3 switches in career choices, and 3+ months of unemployment ultimately lead to God's glory and something better that God has in store for you.
Since I'm sharing wisdom I've discovered I'll tell ya an even bigger thing that took me a long time to figure out.. If you wanna know the will of God for your life Rule #1: read the Bible. It's cliche to hear it, sometimes terribly boring to do it, and if it seems like you're not getting anything out of it then you're probably not. And you should figure out how to fix that. But the honest truth is that if you're truly seeking after God, like really putting forth an effort, he transforms the desires of your heart to his desires for you. Romans 8:5 & Romans 12:1-2
I'm not saying all your current dreams will come true, but you might find that those things didn't really have much value, and new things will come to replace them. And, if you've ever asked God to give you more interest in it, he'll do that too, but he's not about to turn you into his little disciple puppet. The relationship thing comes from you being willing to act out what you believe.
P.S. Romans 12:1 says to offer your body as a living sacrifice.. the thing about living sacrifices is they have a tendency to step away from being the offering. Your job is to keep yourself in that place and be satisfied with it.
-Archer
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Fill me?
The reason/epitome of selfishness isn't the unwillingness to give, nor disdain for a fellow human being. It's the manifestation of emptiness; a need to fill oneself. Likewise, love is the movement to fill another, but only when in the interest of the other. Therefore, love is not a crutch to selfishness. But by the grace of God, it's the cure.
-Archer
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Unconditional
It's been over a month since I've posted, but I have not been idle. I've been in and out of a lot of media recently and there's one thing that I feel lead to write today, so I am.
Don't ever be discouraged, Ever. Understand that if you are seeking after Christ, which is not an easy task, you will be used by God. There have been great things done and said by God in the most humble of places. All you can do in this life is seek after God and trust in him. In doing so you will love others and be used and experience a joy that's not of this world, a peace that is alien to this "reality." I understand that it sounds strange, and supernatural to say something like that and I also know that it turns people off to what is being said when something of that nature is being discussed. I know that it makes me sound like a ghost hunter, or someone that is giving an account of the abduction that they experienced in Aunt Edna's guest room when they stayed for the weekend last summer. And surely you realize that I wouldn't say these things if I were seeking the approval of man, or if I were trying to put forth an image that I'm some form of super disciple of Christ or something. I'm telling you that God Heals people, that God causes events that surpass what would be considered natural in this world. God does miracles. He is all powerful and he loves us and he will do whatever it takes to bring as many people as he can to his love.
That being said, he uses subtle things as well. You and I both know that this life, though it may appear so on the outside, is not about a popularity ranking, or about showing everyone else that you have it all figured out, or about proving that you are perfect or great or sucessful. It's about being conformed to the image of Christ. The goal of God isn't to make us sucessful servants. We're to be conformed into his likeness, to live like him. The fact is you don't have to move a fraction of an inch to be loved by God. You don't have to be successful, powerful, funny, or pretty, or smart, or strong, or fast or anything else to be loved by God. Your joy shouldn't come from your performance. In a world in which you've experienced hurting, suffering, and abuse there is a source of unconditional love. UNCONDITIONAL LOVE. The sooner you understand that your worth is constant, and that you're not measured by the amount of "usefulness" you are to God the sooner you can truly experience that love.
I'm telling you that the greatest act of faith you could do is to look directly into the mirror, knowing exactly how terrible you are, knowing all those things that you can hide from everyone else but can't hide from yourself, and then choosing to accept that God loves you UNCONDITIONALLY. There is no aspect of you that brings you away from that love. You are loved. Accept it.
-Archer
Don't ever be discouraged, Ever. Understand that if you are seeking after Christ, which is not an easy task, you will be used by God. There have been great things done and said by God in the most humble of places. All you can do in this life is seek after God and trust in him. In doing so you will love others and be used and experience a joy that's not of this world, a peace that is alien to this "reality." I understand that it sounds strange, and supernatural to say something like that and I also know that it turns people off to what is being said when something of that nature is being discussed. I know that it makes me sound like a ghost hunter, or someone that is giving an account of the abduction that they experienced in Aunt Edna's guest room when they stayed for the weekend last summer. And surely you realize that I wouldn't say these things if I were seeking the approval of man, or if I were trying to put forth an image that I'm some form of super disciple of Christ or something. I'm telling you that God Heals people, that God causes events that surpass what would be considered natural in this world. God does miracles. He is all powerful and he loves us and he will do whatever it takes to bring as many people as he can to his love.
That being said, he uses subtle things as well. You and I both know that this life, though it may appear so on the outside, is not about a popularity ranking, or about showing everyone else that you have it all figured out, or about proving that you are perfect or great or sucessful. It's about being conformed to the image of Christ. The goal of God isn't to make us sucessful servants. We're to be conformed into his likeness, to live like him. The fact is you don't have to move a fraction of an inch to be loved by God. You don't have to be successful, powerful, funny, or pretty, or smart, or strong, or fast or anything else to be loved by God. Your joy shouldn't come from your performance. In a world in which you've experienced hurting, suffering, and abuse there is a source of unconditional love. UNCONDITIONAL LOVE. The sooner you understand that your worth is constant, and that you're not measured by the amount of "usefulness" you are to God the sooner you can truly experience that love.
I'm telling you that the greatest act of faith you could do is to look directly into the mirror, knowing exactly how terrible you are, knowing all those things that you can hide from everyone else but can't hide from yourself, and then choosing to accept that God loves you UNCONDITIONALLY. There is no aspect of you that brings you away from that love. You are loved. Accept it.
-Archer
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)