For God...

This week are contemplating the person of God. There are a million ideas about who God is, what God is like and how God has been revealed to us.

For Christians there is only one standard we can point to; The Holy Bible.

Even as we believe that God continues to reveal Himself to us today, we also submit that He will not reveal things that are contrary to or contradict what He has revealed before. For instance, since He told us in the ten commandments that we should not lie, God will not today decide that lying is just fine. With that in mind we can take what he DID say in His word to be just as true today as it has ever been.

I've really been captured by the first four words we find in the Bible. "In the beginning God..."

We are sort of hopelessly connected to the idea of time. We are over-scheduled, minutely planned and anxiously clock aware. God does not have this problem.

Whatever God did after the "beginning" (and it was a great deal) we learn something HUGELY profound about God in these four little words.

If you ever wonder if God is really capable to care for you, or whether He even knows what he's doing then hear this: Before TIME, GOD WAS. Forever. Pre-extistent. Do you know anyone else who has a resume like that? God himself asks Isaiah, "Who can compare to Me?"

That's what we call a rhetorical question.

Of course there is no one. And doesn't that make God supremely qualified to direct the course of your life?

That's another rhetorical question.

The Most Famous Conversation in the BIble

Jesus has a very revealing talk with Nicodemus in John chapter three. For me, one of the most amazing elements about it is that its the same conversation He eventually has with everyone who considers becoming a believer.

We ask a question, such as "how can I be saved?". Or we simply approach Him wanting to know who He really is. And as he always does, he opens the doors of life. And, thankfully, it is an arrestingly simple doorway.

Believe and receive. Period.

As with Nicodemus, God (Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit) is willing to detail the why's and what for's of our conversation. But the boiled down message is truly simple.

There is nothing you can do to add to the offer. Your best efforts will always fall short of making it any more amazing than it already is. There is no physical event you can add on to the spiritual gift that will cause His acceptance of you to be any more complete. While Grace is not opposed to effort, it is equally not in need of it either.

God is able and willing to complete his rescue of you on His own terms.

Believe and receive.

But do me one favor. Believe with an eye toward the future. The days to come will not be about what you can do, but what God can do IN you and THROUGH you in the power of the Holy Spirit. There is an old saying that says God loves you just the way you are. That's good as far as it goes but I have found it to be incomplete.

It's true that God loves you just the way you are. But He loves you too much to leave you that way.

"I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." Philipians 1:3-6 (NIV)

Prepare the Way

I have a fear that the church is not living up to its calling. And when i say "church", I mean the BIG church of the worldwide body of Christ as well as our little community at C3AK. We've been through a lot of ups and downs, highs and lows, celebrations and disappointments. But the truth of the matter is that it is time for us to look forward and leave what is behind us well... behind us.

This is a new year and a new day. There is a fresh calling and a fresh anointing on this church and its ministry. In that light let us take on the Spirit that influenced John the Baptist and determine that we are going to "Prepare the Way of the Lord". we are going to be a people of faith, hope and love that reached out to friends, loved ones, co-workers and strangers with the compassion of Christ for ONE PURPOSE: That they will be drawn to Him as we lift Him up.

Commit yourself today to be renewed and strengthened in your walk with Jesus and both seek and act on opportunities to share the good news with others. As we are going to discover in the new Sunday Series: "3:16" the good news is really very simple:

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life."