Backpack God-Part 2

Backpack God-Part 2

 

The short excerpt is by Tim Keller, and the Scripture is Galatians 6:7 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.

 

Imagine living your whole life with backpack God and then one day dying and meeting the real God.  There is going to come a time in our lives when we realize how foolish that is.  If life is going great for you; and you have a backpack God, when life falls apart and little backpack God will not come out, I have some great news for you.  Broken people call His name, and He answers.  That is why most people come to faith in Christ through brokenness because the façade of life and being in control is broken apart and you realize that you were never in control.  Here is what you can expect from God every single time.  Grace and mercy in your time of need (Hebrews 4:16).  Surrender is not something to fear, but it is where the peace and purpose is.  It is where your faith intersects with God s faithfulness and suddenly you are going to have your heavenly Father coming alive in your experience.  But anything short of that you are just playing games, and you are just insulting your Creator.

 

Not my will be done, but your will be done on Earth as it is in heaven.  What would life look like if you surrendered your life?  Get in or get out.  Who are you fooling?-only yourself.  Your gracious Heavenly Father has invited you into a relationship characterized by trust, and trust translates into surrender and that is where the life change takes place.

 

If you are not willing to surrender your life to God, then just try a season without Him at all.  Maybe that will be the thing that God will use to bring you back into the relationship of grace and mercy to which we have all been invited.  Great faith is great surrender, and great surrender is simply living our lives as if God is who He says He is and that He will do everything that He has promised to do.

 

Have a great week!-David Vining

 

Backpack God

Backpack God

 

The short excerpt is by Andy Stanley, and the Scripture is Luke 9:23 Then Jesus said to them all: Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.

 

I like it when I say, God I have some things that need to be done, and I need you to help.  That is not faith, but it is backpack God.  I take God wherever I want to take Him, and I also leave God wherever I want to leave Him.  I am going to do something this weekend, and I really do not want Him to be apart of it.

 

Most Americans treat God like He is a manageable thing.  I am not inviting you in every area of my life.  I want you to heal Aunt Martha, and then I want you to get back in the backpack, and then I will decide when and where that I want you to be involved in my life.  What an insult to God!  If you are not going to live your life like you can trust Him for everything, then why do you get frustrated with God when He does not come through in your life in the one little area that you invite Him into?  If you are going to live like there is no God, why are you going to get upset when God does not show up as God?  Who do we think that we are, and what have we done? 

 

The ultimate insult is to come up with some new part of philosophy or religion and invite Jesus into it.  We want to take bits and pieces of Jesus and bring Him into this new way of thinking to help me get what I want out of life and feel better about myself.  It is an insult, it is ignorant, and you have not read the full story.  He came as the Savior that bled and died, but He did not even have His own agenda but just came to say and do the will of the Father.  Now you may not like that or follow it or believe it, but at least have the courtesy then of leaving Him out of your life and do not insult Him by trying to pick Him apart and treat Him like someone He never came to be and does not even present Himself to be.

 

Champions, have a great week!-David Vining

Great Faith-Part 3

Great Faith-Part 3

 

The short excerpt is by Andy Stanley, and the Scripture is John 14:13-14 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.  1 John 5:14-15 This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.

 

Jesus will do anything you ask Him to do.  If you have faith and believe in His name, you just believe, and then you can receive.  It feels and sounds so good, but you have not listened to the whole deal.  When Jesus talked about receiving and doing it was about receiving and doing the will of the one who sent Him.  This is about surrendering and saying, God, what do you want me to do with my life, with my career, with my son, or with this relationship?  How do you want me to manage my morality and my sexuality?  How do you want me to manage and handle my finances? What do you want me to do with this debt?  What am I supposed to do with my parents? What am I supposed to do with my prodigal daughter?  God, I will do anything that you want me to do because I believe that you can do anything that you want to do, and I want to be in alignment with that, so I am surrendered.  I am here to do what you want me to do and to say what you want me to say.  I am like the one I follow, Jesus, and I am just a vessel and a jar of clay or a pipeline.  I am here to do your will, and I am not trying to get you to do mine.

 

You are to be like the Savior.  You are to spend your life trying to understand whatever it is that God wants done in the world.  Who does God want taken care of or loved, or what does He want accomplished?  What organizations need to be accomplished, and what kinds of people need to be hired?  This can go in every single direction and is not just about ministry.  You are to spend your life trying to discern and understand God s plan for you and for the world and then get in line with what God wants done. Then God is going to do what He does and wants to do; and if you are in alignment with Him, then He will do what He wants to do in this world through you. 

 

Champions, have a great week!-David Vining