Taking Chances For God

 

So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most. Hebrews 4:16

How much of heaven do we have access to but we don’t live in? How bold can we be? How far off the edge? I think when most people think of grace and mercy, they think of their sin and yes, we need mercy and grace for that. But what about the mistakes we make for Christ? The times we dare greatly, risk everything, and need God to rescue us? I think that’s such a better use of grace.

Can you have a passionate relationship with Christ without risk? Isn’t taking chances one of the most powerful ways we show love to other people? Without it, our relationship with Jesus can diminish and dim, but I think it’s an aspect that has been really downplayed in the church.

Biblical Obedience and Belief are the Same Thing?

And to whom was Gaod speaking when he took an oath that they would never enter his rest? Wasn’t it the people who disobeyed him? So we see that because of their unbelief they were not able to enter his rest. Hebrews 3:18-19

Ok…this was a really interesting passage I ran into while I was studying rest. It essentially directly equates belief and obedience. I find this fascinating because of how different it is than the way we typically look at belief. Belief means almost the opposite of obedience; an implied inaction because you believe in the intangible. But that’s not how the Bible sees it.

There are a couple times we equate belief and action. For example, imagine being in a restaurant and someone telling you that the kitchen is on fire and everyone needs to leave. If you do / don’t believe him, you act. You either sit there and continue your meal or you walk out - we would never say that we didn’t obey the person. Why is it different with God things today? Why do obedience and belief seem to be divorced from each other?

I can think of some possibilities: 

We are too heady and theological with our faith. When you leave a Bible study or service knowing the Greek word for spirit but not having a single actionable thing to do differently in your life, this will naturally lead to a divorce between belief and action. 

We are afraid of taking God at His word. I joke that the difference between belief and faith is people encourage you and bless you when you show belief; but people cringe and doubt when you show faith. You can talk all day about God being the provider and protector but when you give your food to the poor or take your kids to Africa where there is malaria, everyone starts getting really concerned. 

The American Church is focused more on emotions and relationships than action and impact. There’s a place for both, but I think the pendulum has swung way over on the introverted and emotional spectrum to the detriment of being Christ’s hands and feet.

 

Re-learning Rest

So there is a special rest still waiting for the people of God. For all who have entered into God’s rest have rested from their labors, just as God did after creating the world. So let us do our best to enter that rest. But if we disobey God, as the people of Israel did, we will fall. Hebrews 4:9-11

Here we go back again… apparently I need to re-learn rest. I hit the ground running after my insane trip to the US and got pretty badly burned out - this weekend I didn’t go to church after working 12+ hour days the rest of the week.

Running multiple projects with all of the facets they have like we are doing is very taxing. Unfortunately there are a couple projects that are due this week and the school is starting next week. That means I am stretched to my limit, and probably a bit beyond.

This reminds me of my time at the university. When God told me to start Equip Mozambique, I was already very busy. I had a bunch of commitments and suddenly my life got much crazier. However, I found that under enough pressure, my life would suddenly align to all of the things I should have been doing anyway - it’s like a diamond; when a lump of coal is under enough pressure, it’s forced to disintegrate or realign to a stronger formation.  I started waking up earlier, spending more time with God and rigidly scheduling my week, things I normally don’t do if I am left to my own devices. Today I woke up at 4:30 after going to bed at 8. My kids get up at 5:30 so it’s pretty important to get some God time in before the house goes crazy. Fortunately, I got enough sleep. 

There are plenty of things we need to do that God doesn’t. How much more do we need to do the things that God does? There is something special and restorative about rest. The godly perspective of it is a completion of the cycle of work - a time to enjoy the accomplishment of the work, to stop and recuperate, mentally, physically, spiritually. The world’s perspective of rest is a necessary evil, and the less rest you need, the more dedicated you are. Sadly, that attitude seems to permeate the church as well, and it’s even worse if you are a Christian worker. We expect pastors to be all things to all people and often expect an unreasonable amount from our missionaries.

 

The Role of Profit in the Christian Life

“I am the Lord your God, Who teaches you to profit, Who leads you by the way you should go. Oh, that you had heeded My commandments! Then your peace would have been like a river, And your righteousness like the waves of the sea." Isaiah 48:17 & 18

This is a difficult verse for me. I have always seen profit as undesirable - anything more than you need is excess. That’s not biblical. Now I’m stuck investigating profit’s role in the Christian life.

I hated money. That’s why I wanted to go into ministry, counseling, mission work, etc. If you think about it, non-profits survive on someone else’s earned money. If you don’t understand godly business, it’s easy to judge our donors as less-than’s because they’re not in ministry. Actually, it’s sometimes the opposite. People who are faithful to God in their business face greater character challenges and hotter fires of temptation.  I thought I flunked out of the kingdom when God kept me in business. Having to deal with money and profit forces you to wrestle even harder with keeping God first. In the end, you develop even greater Christlike character.

In my study a couple things are very clear to me - one is that this you can’t make profit a hard and fast rule; as a general rule will you be poorer or richer for following Christ? It’s impossible to say - Christ raises up from dust and poverty kings and princes, and humbles the wealthy and powerful. He leads business owners to become monks and the homeless to create empires. The same God that called Jeremiah to live in the bottom of the well called Daniel to run a kingdom! When looking from our own human eyes it seems unjust but I have to trust God’s plan more than my own poor eyesight. The only thing you can say for certain is that following God will change your world.

The Bible seems to focus much more on the internals, which makes sense. Money is a proxy for so many things in life. Some people crave wealth because it brings security, others because it brings fame or respect. But God can give all of those things without you owning a penny. But on the other hand He loves giving His children good gifts.

All I can say is Come Lord Jesus. Yes - whatever your plan is for me, I say Yes Lord. In either abasing or abounding, I will praise your name.

 

 

Strong and Courageous

Then Moses called for Joshua, and as all Israel watched, he said to him, “Be strong and courageous! For you will lead these people into the land that the Lord swore to their ancestors he would give them. You are the one who will divide it among them as their grants of land. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord will personally go ahead of you. He will be with you; he will neither fail you nor abandon you.” Deuteronomy 31:7-8

I woke up completely jet-lagged with the house flooded. We have been back less than 2 days but Alizah’s sleep schedule is very messed up, meaning all of our schedules are messed up. Luckily we weren’t electrocuted but we were all trying to clean up since before 6 in the morning. Then I had to go to immigration a plead our case before the official there. This was after Sunday, which was one fight after another - baggage, immigration, flights… I was completely despondent and worn out - there was nothing left of Jon. God’s word to me? Be strong and courageous.

I wonder how many times Joshua second-guessed those words. “But God, those are really high walls!” Be strong and courageous. “I’ve never been a warrior and my people aren’t trained in fighting!” Be strong and courageous. “I don’t had the technology or equipment I need - other armies have chariots and horses!” Be strong and courageous.

There is a reason this is in the Bible. There is an even bigger reason that it’s in Joshua’s story so often. In Joshua 1, God says the same thing 3 times! It’s because with every trial, temptation, or problem, we are tempted to think it’s something different and harder. But while the problem is different, God is still the same. And His Word to us as leaders is still the same - Be strong and courageous… Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord will personally go ahead of you. He will be with you; he will neither fail nor abandon you.

Do we believe that? Whether we do or not doesn’t change that God is on the throne. It just changes our level of worry and stress.

Be strong and courageous, for you are the one who will lead these people to possess all the land I swore to their ancestors I would give them. Joshua 1:6

First Moses told Joshua to be strong and courageous. Then God told him directly. He was the one to lead the people into the promises God had for them. 

This is very much like our call. We are leading God’s people into the promise God has on their lives. This is our mission - it’s not to build projects or become great in the world, but to teach Mozambicans how to take possession of what the Lord has already promised them. Therefore, we don’t need to worry. When the government is after us, we don’t need to worry. When finances are slow in coming, we don’t need to worry. When we are being attacked on all sides, we don’t need to worry. Because God has called us and He himself is telling us to be strong and courageous.