"You must be filled with the Holy Spirit because it is only through Christ in you that you can live the Christian life.
Because the Christian life isn't difficult
it is impossible.
And the sooner I realize that the sooner I can relax and allow Jesus to be in and through me what I know I can never be on my own."
-Richard Dahlstrom
Friday, October 26, 2012
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Movement
If you took physics in high school or college or you might remember that the guy who figured out gravity also came up with some insights about movement. He said something like this:
I have been studying the book of Acts this month, and was encouraged to see that this was also true of the early church. Just before leaving the disciples, Jesus shares his vision for his followers to go out and share the gospel, not just in the relative comfort of the places they knew in the culture they knew, but outwards to new places and people:
Acts 1:7-8 He (Jesus) said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
After this, the disciples do wait and they do get the Holy Spirit, and they do good things and the church is growing and they are resolving problems, but at the same time they are also not moving out as Jesus intended. They are still in Jerusalem, for the most part. Then Stephen infuriates the Jewish religious leaders and is stoned to death. After that this happens:
Acts 8:1b-8
On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. 2 Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him. 3 But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off both men and women and put them in prison.4 Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went. 5 Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah there. 6 When the crowds heard Philip and saw the signs he performed, they all paid close attention to what he said. 7 For with shrieks, impure spirits came out of many, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. 8 So there was great joy in that city.
The church is persecuted and that is the spark that causes them to go out, as Jesus intended.
I have been feeling that I need to pursue something bigger with my life than what I am currently doing, but don't have a solid grasp on what that might be. Fortunately, I am being pushed out from this place i'm in by many factors right now: an impending move, uncertainty at work, and other things. I'm not sure what this all means yet, but i'm trying to be thankful for the challenges that are going to force me to move to where God wants me to be.
An object at rest stays at rest and an object in motion stays in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force.Now, we don't live in friction-less physics theory land, but I wonder if this is true of people as well. It seems to me that when I get into a rhythm of some comfortable spot, my tendency is to stay in that place. And this consistency can be either in movement and trajectory or in a lack of movement.
I have been studying the book of Acts this month, and was encouraged to see that this was also true of the early church. Just before leaving the disciples, Jesus shares his vision for his followers to go out and share the gospel, not just in the relative comfort of the places they knew in the culture they knew, but outwards to new places and people:
Acts 1:7-8 He (Jesus) said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
After this, the disciples do wait and they do get the Holy Spirit, and they do good things and the church is growing and they are resolving problems, but at the same time they are also not moving out as Jesus intended. They are still in Jerusalem, for the most part. Then Stephen infuriates the Jewish religious leaders and is stoned to death. After that this happens:
Acts 8:1b-8
On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. 2 Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him. 3 But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off both men and women and put them in prison.4 Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went. 5 Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah there. 6 When the crowds heard Philip and saw the signs he performed, they all paid close attention to what he said. 7 For with shrieks, impure spirits came out of many, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. 8 So there was great joy in that city.
The church is persecuted and that is the spark that causes them to go out, as Jesus intended.
I have been feeling that I need to pursue something bigger with my life than what I am currently doing, but don't have a solid grasp on what that might be. Fortunately, I am being pushed out from this place i'm in by many factors right now: an impending move, uncertainty at work, and other things. I'm not sure what this all means yet, but i'm trying to be thankful for the challenges that are going to force me to move to where God wants me to be.
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