I have spent the past couple of months really trying to get over this notion in my head that I am closer to God on Sunday morning than I am on Tuesday afternoon.
I will try to remind myself while I'm working that God lives inside of me. His Holy Spirit is watching me and trying to purify me and lead me when I do an audit or write an order. When I mop the floors, I try to remember the Scriptures that talk of working not for men, but for God. (Colossians 3:23-25)
I have had some cool moments trying to live like this. I truly do feel like I am worshiping at times, when I praise him for the healthy body he has given me to work, for the job I have, for letting me be competent at it.
I have also had some bad moments, when I catch myself thinking evil thoughts, or getting upset at customers, or just generally being a grinch. God will just reinforce his presence in my life, as if to say "Do you think I don't care what you do, or how you think, outside of church? Do I only want you to become more like my Son on Sunday and Wednesday?"
There is a little book written by a monk whose name was Brother Lawrence. He titled the book "The Practice of the Presence of God." He reached the point where he felt as close to the Savior washing dishes as he did reciting prayer. I would encourage you guys to read it, and to think on what he is proposing.
God wants us to worship him in ALL things. We are told to give thanks to God for everything in Ephesians 5:20. When was the last time you thanked him for your drive to work? When was the last time you thanked him for the boss you have, and the specific co-workers you are surrounded by?
Instead of grumbling about the drive and traffic, try to praise him for providing for your needs with a job. Instead of harboring resentment about the bad attitude of your co-worker, or the tyranical zeal your boss has for filing your paperwork, pray for them. If they don't have Christ, all they have is this world. And the last time I looked, it was pretty bad. So don't marvel at how bad they act. Give thanks that God saved you, and he has given you something greater to hope for than what this world offers (John 16).
We need God every second. I am humbled and appalled that I go hours, days, sometimes weeks without really tapping into this truth. He is our life.
I plead with you guys, especially the married ones, MAKE ROOM FOR GOD. Life becomes so cluttered because we fill it with so many things. God is gracious to us, and he allows us to feel his presence wherever we are. If you wish to talk to him at work, he will be there. At the gym, he will answer your call.
But don't spend your life fitting God in. Don't make it where the only time you talk to him is on your coffee break, or on the drive somewhere.
Single people have this problem too, but it's the married couples that I see who make 'good' excuses why they don't have time.
"We have kids to take care of, and events to get them to."
"The house doesn't pay for itself, and if I am a good steward of what God gives me, I will work my butt off to pay for it and give my family nice things."
"I've been in this pattern for too long to change it now."
Please wake up! Please!
God desires your hearts. He should have destroyed us for our sins, but he loved us and sought us to forgive our sins and to heal us. (Jeremiah 3)
I will close with a hymn that I think we would all do well to think on, and wonder when we last felt like this.
"I Need Thee Every Hour" by Annie S. Hawks
I need Thee every hour, most gracious Lord;
No tender voice like Thine can peace afford.
Refrain:
I need Thee, oh, I need Thee;
Every hour I need Thee;
Oh, bless me now, my Savior,
I come to Thee.
I need Thee every hour, stay Thou nearby;
Temptations lose their pow’r when Thou art nigh.
I need Thee every hour, in joy or pain;
Come quickly and abide, or life is vain.
I need Thee every hour; teach me Thy will;
And Thy rich promises in me fulfill.
I need Thee every hour, most Holy One;
Oh, make me Thine indeed, Thou blessed Son.
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Hello, learn and think together
This is my first trek into the blogosphere. I am reminded of my first months of teaching a Sunday school class more than 28 years ago. I really did not believe that I had anything to add because I was sure that all of the students in my class already knew the Bible. After a year or so, I realized that the students, at least most of them, knew less than I did. So, from there on, we learned together. Now, having said all that, I don't expect to be writing anything that might be considered earth shattering, mind boggling, divinely inspired or life changing to the max. My only desire is to maybe cause some reader to think. To question. Not doubt their Christianity, but to maybe see a view that would allow for more closeness with God and a desire to serve. I hope that I would be accepted as a fellow learner as we all travel down the path toward total sanctification. A deeper appreciation of God's gift and Christ's sacrifice. I hope and pray that God blesses you more each day.
-Jim Capps
-Jim Capps
Monday, May 3, 2010
The Four Soils: The good stuff.
Mark 4:1-9
And now we’re reached the end of our little journey through the parable of the sower, and although it was looking a little scary there in the middle, we can finally see some good ground. I don’t have much to say on this soil because I feel that I would just be repeating what I said in the previous posts, but there are a few things that I think could be helpful.
The final soil mentioned by Jesus is the good soil. Of it he says in verse 8, “And other seeds fell into good soil and produced grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.” This seed produces fruit. It is deep and free of thorns. This is what we should long to be, and the power to be good soil is not of ourselves. If we want to live lives that produce fruit for the Kingdom of God we must rely on him to give us new hearts and to keep us from fulfilling the desires of our flesh. David says it best in Psalm 19 when he says, “Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me.” James says that we are dragged away and enticed because of our own wicked desires. And to put the cherry on top, Paul says that we are altogether of ourselves unrighteous. If we want to bear fruit we must rely on the Holy Spirit and his regenerative work to make our hearts into the deep, briar free soil that we need it to be.
I also would like to bring attention to that fact that the seed is bearing the fruit. In all that God does, he is working to bring praise and honor to himself. Even in the redemption of his people. He is the one sowing the seed, and the seed is what is bearing fruit. Good soil without any seed does nothing. So when God uses us and we begin to see the fruit being produced in our life, we need to remember that it is only because of the grace of God that it is happening. We have to be mindful of this, so that we do not become prideful, and thus rendering ourselves ineffective in his kingdom.
The last thing to look at is verse 20. In it Jesus says that the ones who produce fruit are the ones that “hear the word and accept it and bear fruit.” We first have to hear the word. And once we have heard it, we must accept it. Jesus says some pretty harsh things in the Gospels. He isn’t always a people pleaser. He may tell us something we don’t want to hear. But regardless, we have to submit to his words of rebuke and command just a willingly as we do to his words of encouragement. If we hear it and accept it, the word of God will produce fruit, if our soil is good. And it is the branches that produce fruit that are truly members of the True Vine.
-Mitchell
And now we’re reached the end of our little journey through the parable of the sower, and although it was looking a little scary there in the middle, we can finally see some good ground. I don’t have much to say on this soil because I feel that I would just be repeating what I said in the previous posts, but there are a few things that I think could be helpful.
The final soil mentioned by Jesus is the good soil. Of it he says in verse 8, “And other seeds fell into good soil and produced grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.” This seed produces fruit. It is deep and free of thorns. This is what we should long to be, and the power to be good soil is not of ourselves. If we want to live lives that produce fruit for the Kingdom of God we must rely on him to give us new hearts and to keep us from fulfilling the desires of our flesh. David says it best in Psalm 19 when he says, “Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me.” James says that we are dragged away and enticed because of our own wicked desires. And to put the cherry on top, Paul says that we are altogether of ourselves unrighteous. If we want to bear fruit we must rely on the Holy Spirit and his regenerative work to make our hearts into the deep, briar free soil that we need it to be.
I also would like to bring attention to that fact that the seed is bearing the fruit. In all that God does, he is working to bring praise and honor to himself. Even in the redemption of his people. He is the one sowing the seed, and the seed is what is bearing fruit. Good soil without any seed does nothing. So when God uses us and we begin to see the fruit being produced in our life, we need to remember that it is only because of the grace of God that it is happening. We have to be mindful of this, so that we do not become prideful, and thus rendering ourselves ineffective in his kingdom.
The last thing to look at is verse 20. In it Jesus says that the ones who produce fruit are the ones that “hear the word and accept it and bear fruit.” We first have to hear the word. And once we have heard it, we must accept it. Jesus says some pretty harsh things in the Gospels. He isn’t always a people pleaser. He may tell us something we don’t want to hear. But regardless, we have to submit to his words of rebuke and command just a willingly as we do to his words of encouragement. If we hear it and accept it, the word of God will produce fruit, if our soil is good. And it is the branches that produce fruit that are truly members of the True Vine.
-Mitchell