Flawlessly Relevant

“All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:16-17

This week was frustrating for me, because I was to doubting the validity of the bible.  I have realized that I've misinterpreted the bible at times, and that many of the older folks who taught me had done the same thing.  As these frustrations began to build, I wondered how much we have gotten wrong and whether or not we needed to rewrite our textbooks.  Is it really true that ALL scripture is inspired by God (2 Tim 3:16-17)?

I do believe that to be the truth, but it's interesting that I am wrestling with these thoughts while attending seminary.  I mean here I am, surrounded by smart men and women who have studied the bible for decades and believe it to be the authority in their lives, but I'm more skeptical than ever before.  What is going on?

It was explained to me last week that seminary isn't a "special time" where Christians are safe from the schemes of Satan.  Instead, many seminary students are plagued by more doubts and more temptations than ever before, partly because its hard to read the bible as a text book and maintain its authority in your life.  I mean, isn't the point of higher education to question the current paradigms?  Aren't college students taught to examine and then critique their textbooks?  Don't teachers encourage students to "think outside the box" and reach for greater truths?   I know my undergraduate professors did.

I was a chemistry major as a college student.  We knew that certain parts of our textbook were out of date.  We knew that scientific advances would soon cause other parts of our textbook to be inaccurate as well.  Science isn't perfect, and needs to be refined.  The point of chemistry was to learn from the current information so we could refine and perfect it.  But how can you refine and perfect the bible?  Isn't it the perfect book?

That's the problem with my thinking.  I'm learning that seminary isn't intended to refine and perfect the bible:  it's intended to refine the perfect the student (although we won't be perfect until we reach heaven).  It's true that "refinement of the student" is the point of science as well, but there is also the hope that we will discover something new that will rewrite our textbooks.  But unlike scientists, a biblical scholars will never unlock some "new mystery" that will allow us to rewrite our theology. The bible is complete as it is.

While most people don't go to seminary, I still think everybody deals with these doubts at times.  Humans spend so much time trying to learn from the faults of others and questioning the practices of our leaders, that we find ourselves doing the same thing with Jesus.  We begin to question the authority and validity of His story, believing that it's a flawed book that is irrelevant to today.  But that's not true.

The bible is both flawless and relevant.  The bible flawlessly shows the fact that God is perfect in love and justice, and it shows that mankind is sinful and corrupt.  The bible relevantly shows how sinful people can relate to and be in relationship with a perfect God.

So let me ask you a question: if there is a God, and if that God created everything, and if we will spend eternity either with or without that God, what could be more important and relevant than knowing how to relate to Him?

I believe in God, and I believe He is the only flawless and truly relevant thing in my life.  Do you?  Why?

The Pursuit Of...

In my last blog I wrote that seeking God is a passionate, zealous and continuous activity.  We pursue God the way He pursues us.  But if you are like me, it's hard to know what we are trying to pursue.  Are we pursuing facts and theology about God?  Are we pursuing a good feeling?  Some might ask what kind of God we are pursuing; an angry God, a happy God, distant but wise God?  Another might ask why we are pursuing Him; is He is hiding from us?  

Let's take another look at some verses which discuss seeking God: 

But from there you will seek the LORD your God, and you will find Him if you search for Him with all your heart and all your soul.  (Deuteronomy 4:29)

Glory in His holy name; Let the heart of those who seek the LORD be glad. (1 Chronicles 16:10)

O God, you are my God; I earnestly search for you. My soul thirsts for you; my whole body longs for you in this parched and weary land where there is no water. (Psalm 63:1)

Evil men do not understand justice, but those who seek the Lord understand all things (Prov 28:5)

The young lions do lack and suffer hunger; but they who seek the Lord shall not be in want of any good thing. (Psalm 34:10)

The first thing that stands out to me is that we are seeking after a person.  Deuteronomy says that we will find HIM if we seek.  Everything else that I mention will flow from this thought.  We don't seek stuff (even good stuff like spouses, children, jobs, etc); we seek God Himself.  This is important, because sometimes we forget that God has feelings, and that God created us to be with Him.  With that said, we see that seeking God will result in: gladness, refreshment from longing, understanding and many other good things.  

These are all great gifts, especially if we stop and think about what they mean.  For example, could you imagine be so satisfied that you never want anything ever again?  That would be amazing.

I want to admit that the reason I focused on the priority of seeking after God instead of His gifts, is because I struggle to do that.  To be honest, I often catch myself seeking after God because I know He brings joy and peace.  I'm like the kid that goes to my friends in order to play with my friend's toys.  I think that is something we all struggle with, but I know that God will gently remind us when we are doing it.  Let me give you a quick example:

Last week was challenging for me, because I wanted peace and rest.  It eventually became my main focus throughout the day.  In my desire for rest and relaxation, I failed to appreciate the amazing opportunity I have to search for God in seminary.  Although God desires to give us rest (and "love, joy, peace, patience, etc"Gal 5:22), it's easy for me to desire the rest, joy and peace above desiring Him.  I know that to be true, because many times  I avoiding being with God when He is suffering.

That statement might raise a question in your mind: "Does God suffer?"

And the answer is Yes!

The problem with this world is evident.  God didn't indent for people to starve to death.  He didn't intend for women and children to be sold into sex trafficking.  He didn't intend for children to be forced into fighting a war.

Those things hurt God's heart.

What about the people who die everyday without hearing the good news that God loves them and wants to be with them?  What about people that are killed by their parents because they choose to believe in Jesus?

Those things hurt God's heart.

Seeking God will bring us incredible rewards, but it also requires work and sacrifice at times.  Jesus suffered for us, and He asks us to pay it forward.  In other words: followers of Jesus must be willing to sacrifice for others just like Jesus sacrificed for them.  This means forgiving people who hurt you, asking for forgiveness when you hurt others, and showing love to your enemies.  It's not always easy, but it's worth it.

A small sacrifice that I make is writing this blog in order to help people understand that God loves them.  It's not a big deal, and only takes a few hours, but it is something I think is important.  In fact, it makes me feel good in the end, because I grow closer to God by writing about Him, and I have faith that God uses these words to express His love to others.   But in reality, it's not about me or my feelings.  Neither is it about you and your opinion of me.  It's about God and His desire to tell people that He loves them.  I want to be the messenger of His good news:

"God loves you, wants to be with you, and is worth every sacrifice you will make."

I encourage you to seek God passionately, and remember that you are seeking Him instead of His stuff.  If the creator of the world wants to be in a deeper relationship with you, why wouldn't you want to spend time with Him?

Seeking God

As I mentioned in my last blog I was recently required to read 10 verses that encourage us to seek God and then describe what it means to seek God.  As I started reading the verses, I realize that God wants us to seek us the same way that we sought Him.  He left everything to look for us, but how are we suppose to look for Him?

As I started looking at the verses, I became amazed by how God teaches us to "seek" Him.  Here are a few of the verses that I found:

• But from there you will seek the LORD your God, and you will find Him if you search for Him with all your heart and all your soul.  (Deuteronomy 4:29)
• Glory in His holy name; Let the heart of those who seek the LORD be glad. (1 Chronicles 16:10)
• But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. (Matthew 6:33)
• Seek the LORD and His strength; Seek His face continually. (1 Chronicles 16:11)

As you read through the verses, I assume there will be a few words that stick out to you:

With all your heart and soul

First/Primarily

Continually

When I read these verses, I see God asking us to seek Him with energy and gusto.  He wants us to be more interested in seeking Him than anything else, and He wants us to be continually searching for Him.  

I especially like the concept of continually searching, because I think there are two elements to the word "continually" that are important.  The definition that I typically think of is the idea of searching for a long period of time.  Have you ever met an old person who still reads their bible?  Even though they can probably rattle off a 100 bible verses, and have been going to church since the time they can remember, they still wake up every morning and read the bible.  That's someone who seeks continually; until the day they die.  

One of the other definitions of "continually," is the concept of frequency, and this is the definition that I'm learning to appreciate as I grow older.  Have you ever met a person who expects to see God everywhere in everyday life?  If it starts raining and a stranger offers them a ride home, these people are convinced that God sent them an angel. While other people might maintain some skepticism that God had His hand in the situation, these people are convinced it was from God.  They see God as a Father who cares about their needs and is willing to do something about it.  They believe God is frequently (continually) revealing Himself to them.  That's an amazing aspect of the word continually, and I think it's something God wants.

As I mentioned, this is a new way of viewing the term, "continually" in my walk with God.  I think some people are more prone to see unusual coincidences as blessing from God, and others, like me, are not.  Maybe we have a lack of trust, maybe we have been taught to be more "rational" and scientific, maybe we don't think God cares. 

Personally, I've struggled with all these reasons.  I was trained to be more skeptical of "coincidences" because of my science degree in college.  I was also afraid that people would laugh at me if I called random coincides a blessing from God.  I was even scared that if I tried to look for God in everyday life, I would be let down..."why would God waste His time with me?" I thought.

The more I get to know God, though, the more I realize that He does care.  I should seek Him with passion, energy, longevity and frequency, because He loves me and He wants me to know Him more.

As I read through those verses, I was amazed not only by how we should seek after God, but what we should be expecting to find.  So, next time I will talk about what I think we should look for when we seek Him, but first, let's pause and apply this to our own lives.

Christians, thank you for choosing to bring glory to God, and let's keep it up.  First, I encourage you to ask our Father to make "seeking Him" our innermost desire.  Secondly, I encourage you to pause throughout the day and ask God where He is working.  Finally, I encourage you to thank Him for the little blessings He brings.  It might seem weird at first, but it will become a joy to see these little coincidences as His gifts to you.  

Non believers, if you are reading this, then you are seeking.  Why else would you read a blog about God if you didn't have any desire to know Him?  My first challenge for you is to persevere.  Don't give up.  My second challenge is to ask yourself and God this one simple question; "Why don't I trust God to save me?"  And then clarify your answer.  Are you afraid of what God might ask you to do?  Do you feel like you don't deserve God's love?  Is it hard for you to distinguish Jesus from other prophets?  Maybe you think that God owes you something.  Well, what is it?  What do you think He owes you?  Name it, describe it, dig deep.  Send me a message if you have questions or want help, but this is the most important decision of your life, so don't be content with a simple answer.

Finally, this is my prayer for all of us:

God, thank you for revealing yourself to us.  Thank you for the questions and uncomfortable moments that drives us closer to you.  You are a good God who desires us to seek you, so please give us that desire as well.  Father, I'm so grateful that you demonstrated your love through Jesus.  Thank you for your Spirit.  You are good, please help us to experience that even more.