Life

Asking the wrong questions is the surest way to get the wrong answers!

And sometimes…

…asking questions is the surest way to get answers that, right or wrong, will distract us from the path of action in front of us.

Remember, “Knowing the path, and walking the path, are not the same thing.”

Our relationship to God is not about answers to questions but about interaction with a super-personal being who fathered the whole of creation. To reduce that interaction to a series of propositional truths is to miss the whole point (not that these too, do not have their time and place as God is immediate as well as transcendent). It is akin to reducing our whole network of pains and pleasures, familiarity, love and sacrifice, that we call “family,” to a genealogical record. It is not the real thing, it is a statement about the real thing (albeit an accurate one).

Or, as someone once wrote, “Faith without works is dead.”

It is a dangerous thing to be consumed with knowledge, it can inhibit action; we can be so consumed with the minutia of theological definition that we fail at loving the individual in front of us or the God who created, MAY THIS NEVER BE!

There is a disconnect between what we know and how we act. We must be wary of this; knowing something about God does not make us close to Him, knowing much about the Bible does not equate to living a life shaped by its pages. We should seek first to live our faith, in that pursuit our faith will grow. If we seek however, to grow our knowledge as an end in itself, it will cause our very selves to whither away.

How wonderful that God is not this way. Who He is and what He does are not inconsistent; when Moses asked God who He was, He answered Moses, “I AM.”

May we also, in this same simple yet transcendent way, BE…

I have always been a great fan of C. S. Lewis. I have said that, “I am at home in his mind.” I have grown up reading his fantasies, and been influenced by his concepts, always, I am amazed at his uncanny ability to approach an issue from an odd angle. I read recently a chapter out of Miracles that spoke to me about the nature of God.

“The Pantheist’s God does nothing, demands nothing. He is there if you wish for Him, like a book on a shelf. He will not pursue you. There is no danger that at any time heaven and earth should flee away at His glance. If He were the truth, then we could really say that all the Christian images of kingship were a historical accident of which our religion ought to be cleansed. It is with a shock that we discover them to be indispensable. You have had a shock like that before, in connection with smaller matters-when the line pulls a your hand, when something breathes beside you in the darkness. So here; the shock comes at the precise moment when the thrill of life is communicated to us along the clue we have been following. It is always shocking to meet life where we thought we were alone. ‘Look out!’ we cry, ‘it’s alive’. And therefore this is the very point at which so many draw back-I would have done so myself if I could-and proceed no further with Christianity. An ‘impersonal God’-well and good. A subjective God of beauty, truth and goodness, inside our own heads-better still. A formless life-force surging through us, a vast power which we can tap-best of all. But God Himself, alive, pulling at the other end of the cord, perhaps approaching at an infinite speed, the hunter, king, husband-that is quite another matter. There comes a moment when the children who have been playing at burglars hush suddenly: was that a real footstep in the hall? There comes a moment when people who have been dabbling in religion (‘Man’s search for God!’) suddenly draw back. Supposing we really found Him? We never meant it to come to that! Worse still, supposing He had found us?

So it is a sort of Rubicon. One goes across: or not. But if one does, there is no manner of security against miracles. One may be in for anything.”

Chapter 11 - Christianity and ‘Religion’

All of us want God to be a ‘tame’ lion… (which is to cease to be a lion)
…none of us are truly comfortable with the ‘good’ lion; who’s very goodness promises us no such security or comfort, only life eternal and infinite and abundant.

“I know deep down there must be an exciting world waiting for us if we would only pull back the curtain or jump to the other side of the ravine – but we're all too afraid to make the leap. My inner being says, ‘Jump!’”

Burlap Bob

What do you see?

Do you see your enemies. or do you see the armies of God?

Are you overwhelmed by the darkness of your present circumstances, or are you too busy glorifying the God of Light?

A vision:

Standing in the dark, inky, blackness; looking through grey shades of increasing light. A pile of rusted, dirty, blooded, chains and shackles lies on the ground; a door of metal bars is flung open wide, and beyond...

...a man walks, free! ...into a world of glorious color and brightness, free and alive!

The Word:

Acts 16:22-34

If we will simply do what we are called to do, God will shake the very foundations of the earth; He will bring His glory, He will reveal Himself to those around us. Are you in prison, sing mightily to the God of Hope so that others in prison might know of His Glory!

2 Kings 6:15-17

What would it take to make you leave?

I realize that few people will like or agree with every circumstance or problem that they find themselves in. Something is bound to strike you the wrong way or simply be misunderstood.

Often when people don't like something or someone for whatever reason, they will simply say they are quitting. I remember one case in particular after a magazine issue, "Cat Got Your Chum?" where I explained that I had to give away my cats because my wife was terrified of cats. A lady emailed to say that she was not subscribing because she couldn't respect any man who would put his wife over his cats. Perhaps she had one too many 'good cat/bad man' experiences.

Many instances are similar. I began to see the parallel with other relationships in life: Job - marriage - siblings - friends - parent and child - churches - schools - even countries.

Many will leave a relationship for the slightest reason. Marriages break up over trivial things. Lifelong friendships are destroyed in a blink. Brothers and sisters won't speak to each other nor children to parents. You'd be surprised how many prayer requests I get from grandparents asking for prayer to soften the hearts of their children to let them see their
grandchildren.

Something made them leave. Something broke the relationship. Something caused the split.

I told my wife when we married what it would take for me to leave her. She would have to leave this earth; other than that, I was committed, come cats or high water.

With every relationship that you have, that question looms. With the increased sensitivities these days, the answers on that list are often long.

When you ask yourself the question, "What would it take to make me leave?" the shorter and more traumatic the list, the more likely the relationship will endure because with all
relationships, sooner or later something is likely to happen.

So think about your relationships, and ask yourself the question:

What would it take to make me leave?

...and for the relationships that you really want to last, perhaps you should shorten the list.


Have a great weekend ahead.
(AUTHOR UNKNOWN).