Tag Archive - surrender

Room for God?

January 10, 2011 in Ponderings with 2 Comments

I have this backpack that tends to go most everywhere with me. It’s a nice bag that’s brown with black trim. It has multiple compartments and can hold lots of stuff. It always has my laptop and accessories in it. I’ll carry books, files, and magazines. It has pens, business cards, and other fun stuff.

As nice and roomy as it is, though, there are times I have to make choices about what to put in it. Sometimes I can’t take everything I want to take. Other times I have to ask if I really want to max it out and lug around a heavy bag? Do I need to take something out to make room for another more important thing?

The other day, I noticed the bag was heavy, and I realized it was getting full. I knew it was time to take a look at what was in there. Was it time to remove some things that were no longer essential? I knew I needed to “trim the fat”, so to speak, because there would be other things I would need to put in.

As I thought about that, my thoughts turned to life. How similar is our life to my backpack? We think we have plenty of room for all kinds of stuff, but suddenly realize we are maxed out in life because we’ve kept putting stuff in without taking anything out. Or we find that we’ve taken out some really important stuff to make room for a lot of lesser things. How much sense would it make for me to stop carrying my laptop and accessories (like the power cord) to have more room for old magazines and folders? Continue Reading…

Sunday Setlist: 6/07/09

June 9, 2009 in Sunday Setlist with 0 Comments

Just Passing ThroughAs we have continued through 1 Peter, we’re seeing how many Christians live today as if the world were our final destination. We pour our life resources and energy into things that will barely last 50 years, let alone eternity. We frequently cave in to the old sinful desires. We struggle to remain faithful in the midst of great suffering. We’ve lost sight  of the glorious inheritance waiting for us.

God calls us to live as “strangers” in this world, spiritual sojourners that are just passing through. As children of the living God, our focus should be on eternity as we point people to the living Christ who paid it all for us. Our priorities and lifestyle should undergo a radical transformation.

In 1 Peter, Peter unpacks what this transformed life looks like and how it should interact with this world. In 1 Peter 4:1-6, we see that when we put our faith in Jesus, we bury our old lives, and choose to pursue a radical new lifestyle. It’s a lifestyle that is characterized as all or nothing and is marked by the magnificent obsession to live all for Jesus. Continue Reading…

Worship as a Sacrifice?

April 15, 2009 in Ponderings with 0 Comments

It’s one of those concepts we toss around in relation to worship: the idea of a sacrifice of praise and worship being a sacrifice. But do we really believe that worship involves sacrifice? Do we comprehend what that means? Do we believe it’s true, and if so, do we act and live like it?

I found an article over at ExperiencingWorship.com by a guy named Russell Henderson. I don’t know anything about him, but he wrote a great article about this concept drawing on a story from the life of David as he sought to purchase the threshing floor from Oman in order to offer a sacrifice to make amends for a huge sin David committed.

Some of the things that stood out to me:

  • We know from scripture that worship is sacrifice, but many times we want to curt-tail on someone else’s sacrifice. In other words, we want someone else to do all the work to get to God, and we want to share in the benefits of their labor.
  • We are called to worship just as much (or more) in the bad times as we do in the good times.
  • True worship will take us to a place where God will respond.
  • Take a look at what you are offering to God. Is it someone else’s offering, or is it something that comes from your heart in repentance and surrender?
  • As worshippers we must understand that God wants genuine sacrifice.

It’s an awesome article. I encourage you to go and read all of it here.

Does your worship involve genuine sacrifice? What does that look like in your life?