Considering God in 2014

"The vision of the Linger Conference was born out of a desire to help fellow believers seek God; not God's blessings or God's strength through trials, but God himself." AW Tozer in his classic work, The Knowledge of the Holy wrote: "Without a doubt, the mightiest thought the mind can entertain is the thought of God, and the weightiest word in any language is its word for God." But Tozer did not stop at mere concept. He went on to tell how the idea of God results in practical Christian living. Tozer said, "I believe there is scarcely an error in doctrine or a failure in applying Christian ethics that cannot be traced finally to imperfect and ignoble thoughts about God." Tozer applied the simple maxim: as man thinks, so he is; and to think well, is to think well upon God.

So here we stand in the new season of 2014; in the presence of God and with natural life all around us. So, how does the knowledge of God translate into transformational Christian living in 2014? I have some suggestions. And I am glad to say that my suggestions are borrowed from greater minds -- I am proud to be a scavenger of great thoughts. John Piper helped me here in my thinking. So, here are thoughts from John ...   

We can say for certain, God is personal. And, God desires us to know Him personally and live personally among fallen men and women in the imitation of Him, as Ephesians 5:1-2 tells. Here are wise questions that flow from the image of God in a fallen world. I commend them to you in 2014...

Where have I been in the year preceding me?

• What special friendships were made (Psalm 119:63)?
• What books did I and my family read (Proverbs 1:1-7, 8; 2:1-22)?
• What Scriptures did my family memorize (Psalm 1:2-3; 19:7-14; 119:1-11)?

How did I fair under the varied seasons of life?

• What loved ones passed on (Psalm 90:1-17; Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, 11; 7:1-2)?
• What were the great personal, ministry, national tragedies and losses of the year? How does the true knowledge of God help me through these (Psalm 23:1-6; 46:1-11; 1 Samuel 1:1-2:11; Isaiah 40:12-31)?
• What were the great personal, ministry and national blessings of the year (Psalm 37:1-40; 103:1-22)? Did I give thanks?
• What were my most significant failures, even sins, for the year behind me (Psalm 36:1-12; 51:1-19)?
• What commitments have I made to overcome sin in 2014 (Psalm 1:1-6; Psalm 119:1-11)? Is there a slavery I need to be free from?
• What significant spiritual and practical victories did I experience (Psalm 42:1-11; 43:1-5)? And will I capture this moment and reproduce it?
• In what tangible ways did I communicate gratitude to those who have blessed me and invested in my life (Psalm 105:1-45; Isaiah 52:7)?

Am I honoring well the shoulders I ride; those mentors who walk before me?

Whatever happened to the man or woman who first opened to you the words of life from the Scripture? Where is the comrade, coach, or instructor who believed in you and helped you to accomplish a great goal? What about the Bible teacher whose careful handling of the Word opened up new vistas of understanding? Where is the friend who stood with you through thick and thin?

In review of the year past, make a list of two types of people: The first list is the names of people whose life, ministry or personal investment in you have deeply touched you and changed your life—go beyond the year if you like. The second list should include those people who played the most significant role in your life.

Write a brief, meaningful letter to each of them. Be specific in your gratitude. Explain what they did for you and why it was important to you. Show them how they were God’s instrument of blessing in your own life. And pray over each letter realizing that you are a debtor to them for their investment in your life.

Have I completely and fully forgiven those who harmed me?

Fresh starts should begin with forgiveness for others. Having a genuine spirit of forgiveness towards those who have wronged us is a mark of biblical Christianity: “Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors” (Matthew 6:12).

Successful Christians are men and women who are free from bitterness. They have learned the principle modeled by our Lord Jesus Christ who, while suffering death at the hands of people he had never wronged, was able to say “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:24).

The first thing you will likely realize is just how many offenses are polluting your thought life and, probably, your spirit. This is a sign of latent bitterness. Bitterness will kill you. It renders you completely ineffective.

Have I considered Him?

As you look to a new day, adopt a new spirit of forgiveness towards your insensitive friends as well as your hateful enemies. Psalm 37:1-11 will help you. Forgive your imperfect father and mother for whatever it is you need to forgive them for, and pray to the Lord that your own children someday will forgive you for your failures. Quit devoting untold precious hours to commiseration, mental replay of the wrongs done, and thoughts about just how badly you were wronged. Stop blaming everybody but you for your problems—if others are our problem, we are slaves; if we are our problem, we are free; for freedom is the power to act to our best end, to our best interest, to our best glory of God and good of another (1 Corinthians 6:12).

Will I miss this moment?

The opportunity to remember and to say “thank you” may never come again. Trust the Lord. He is in charge: “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all y our ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths” (Proverbs 3:5).

There are questions and actions that flow from the nature of God.

Tom Brown
Training Leaders International
www.TrainingLeadersInternational.org

The Word Became Flesh

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” John 1:14

When was the last time you watched a game show? Most of us have stayed home sick from work or school and flipped channels between Let’s Make a Deal and Family Feud. Back when I was in college, I won The Price is Right. It was kind of a big deal. Heaps of fun. Loads of embarrassment. One thing I’ve noticed over the years is that games shows are built around the big reveal. Think with me to that moment in a game show when the host (usually spray tanned to a tropic orange color) asks a contestant if they want the prize behind door number one or door number two. This question brings the audience to a frenzy and the contestant waits on pins and needles for the big moment of revelation.

Revelation. The word means an uncovering, a removal of the veil, a disclosure of what was previously unknown.

Christmas is a type of revelation. For at the birth of Christ, God came to us and revealed His heart, His character and His plan. God came that we may know Him. Under a chorus of angels, worshipped by shepherds, in a cold stable in Bethlehem... the Creator of the world became a baby. Up until the moment when Mary swaddled baby Jesus, the world was left to scrap together bits of information about God. Sure, there were many things we could know about Him from the Creation and from how He revealed Himself in the Old Testament, but for God to truly reveal Himself to us, He had to become one of us. The seminal passage on this revelation of God to man is found in the Gospel of John 1: 1-14.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
 There was a man sent from God whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.
 The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

John uses the title “The Word” to introduce Jesus. A word is a thought expressed. A word reveals a message. For example, when we read the word “tree” an image immediately forms in our minds. The word expresses the idea. Jesus is the living Word of God. This is the incarnation. The divine mystery that should absolutely stop us in our tracks is this...God became a man.

This is Christmas. God stepped into our story to invite us into His story. I pray we don’t miss Christ this Christmas. Let us behold His glory.

If you want to know who God is...behold Jesus.

If you want to know what God is like....behold Jesus.

If you want to know how God would respond....behold Jesus.
If you want to know the will of God...behold Jesus.

Further Scripture to Study: Hebrews 1: 1-3; Colossians 2:8-10; 1 John 1:1-3

By Marian Jordan Ellis
www.MarianJordan.com