So it begins...
Well, here I am. I started a very intensive bible study program this morning and it has really been a blessing. I am trying to get an e-version of it so that I can pass it on to others who express interest. It is based on the need for a greater understanding of the Old Testament and the ways that we as a body of believers have both correctly and incorrectly reading and living out scripture. It has been very convicting.
It has been hard for me to be consistent in my walk with God. Looking at much of my life I realize that most of what I do is self indulgence. I do things that interest me, please me, satisfy me (or at least my "need" to be temporarily entertained). I was thinking about Heaven the other day, and I felt confident that there would be hard work in Heaven, because hard work (in reference to manual labor) has been such a growing, necessary experience for me. Then I began to wonder about what hard work really means. I figure it's something like putting great amounts of effort into something, to pour time and strength into something that you see as needing done. Well I need to start reading the bible more and praying more, spending time with the God that everyone thinks that I love. If by our obedience do we show God our love, then I have not loved him. And I would like to. I'm so grateful that he has allowed and empowered me to love him. I know that apart from God I will do nothing good.
I would encourage you to take joy in the hard work of putting in time and effort with our God. Don't read the bible and pray to God to earn your salvation (that would be a very ironic and terrible mistake) but rather, put hard work into your relationship to experience your salvation. Through our obedience do we show God our love, and through that same obedience does God show us more and more the beauty of this present Kingdom of Heaven.
in His grip,
Colby
ps - I learned about the fallacy of proof-texting today and realized how prevalent it is our American churches and in my own life. Come to the bible to discover and better enjoy the relationship God desires to have with us, not to find clever ideas, not to strengthen your own philosophical/theological/political arguments. Come to the bible to better understand God's relationship with man from God's perspective, not man's.
It has been hard for me to be consistent in my walk with God. Looking at much of my life I realize that most of what I do is self indulgence. I do things that interest me, please me, satisfy me (or at least my "need" to be temporarily entertained). I was thinking about Heaven the other day, and I felt confident that there would be hard work in Heaven, because hard work (in reference to manual labor) has been such a growing, necessary experience for me. Then I began to wonder about what hard work really means. I figure it's something like putting great amounts of effort into something, to pour time and strength into something that you see as needing done. Well I need to start reading the bible more and praying more, spending time with the God that everyone thinks that I love. If by our obedience do we show God our love, then I have not loved him. And I would like to. I'm so grateful that he has allowed and empowered me to love him. I know that apart from God I will do nothing good.
I would encourage you to take joy in the hard work of putting in time and effort with our God. Don't read the bible and pray to God to earn your salvation (that would be a very ironic and terrible mistake) but rather, put hard work into your relationship to experience your salvation. Through our obedience do we show God our love, and through that same obedience does God show us more and more the beauty of this present Kingdom of Heaven.
in His grip,
Colby
ps - I learned about the fallacy of proof-texting today and realized how prevalent it is our American churches and in my own life. Come to the bible to discover and better enjoy the relationship God desires to have with us, not to find clever ideas, not to strengthen your own philosophical/theological/political arguments. Come to the bible to better understand God's relationship with man from God's perspective, not man's.
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