music :: worship :: life
So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”
—Genesis 1:27-28
Make a difference. . . Change the world. . . Leave a legacy. . .
From the beginning, God imagined us with this in mind. He created us for this purpose. He—the true creator—fashioned us in his own image: designed us especially for continuing his work of creation in the world. He planted in our very natures the dreams and visions and ambitions to shape and remake our worlds, to create roles for ourselves that will enable us to fulfill our purpose in his master plan.
In Isaiah 49:16, God says, “See, I have written your name on the palms of my hands.”
These are the same palms that were later pierced by nails on the cross. What kind of love is this?
I first thought of junior high, when kids write the name of their boyfriends or girlfriends on their hands. But this is God writing the name of his beloved on his hand—that’s us. And unlike junior high, where you need erasable ink to keep up with the ever-changing list of current favorites, God’s love is forever. And our names are written in indelible ink on his palms.
Delight yourself in the LORD
and he will give you the desires of your heart.
—Psalm 37:4
This doesn’t mean that the Lord will buy you a Mercedes Benz. If the desires of your heart are material things, then you are not delighting yourself in the Lord: you are delighting yourself in the world.
Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
—Romans 12:1-2
If, instead, you give yourself—body, mind, heart and soul—to God as a living sacrifice, as it says in Romans 12:1, then Romans 12:2 will naturally follow. You will be reshaped by God: your mind will no longer fit the mold of this world, but will be transformed to more closely reflect the mind of God. You will become more Christlike. You will be “clothed in Christ.”
And when that transformation takes place, the desires of your heart will be to please God and to carry out his purposes in the world. Then it will be God’s pure joy to give you all you ask of him and to ensure that your plans will succeed.
Someone once said that all true pleasure comes from God—all the world can offer are diversions. I have found that when I am enthralled by the stuff of the world—people, places, and things—nothing satisfies: my inmost longings go unfulfilled. Blaise Pascal said, “There is a God shaped-vacuum in the heart of every man which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God the Creator, made known by Jesus Christ.” When I “seek first the Kingdom of Heaven,” I find that God’s provision more than satisfies. Perhaps it is no accident that the world’s amusements are called diversions.
You have made us for yourself, O God, and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in you.
—St. Augustine
Every week as Christians we celebrate Sunday, the day of Resurrection, the day of Victory. And that is good. It reminds us of God’s power, that he has conquered the world, defeated Satan, broken the curse of Eden, commuted the death sentence, and so made us co-heirs with Christ to God’s Kingdom.
But there’s another day each week to remember—a day that is very special: Friday, the day of Love, the day of Sacrifice. For God loved us so much that he sent his son as a sacrificial offering, to reconcile us through his blood, and restore us to life eternal in communion with him. He could not bear to be without us in eternity. God cared enough to send the very best.
Should we give any less?
Satan decided to have a garage sale. Like everyone he got out all his stuff, put price tags on it, and lay it all out on some tables. People came by to see what he had for sale. One table was filled with stuff like Pride, Envy, Greed, etc. All of Satan’s most familiar tools were there. The prices were high, but after all, these were the most famous weapons from Satan’s personal arsenal!
But off to one side there was a table with only one old, worn-out item on it. It wasn’t named, and the price tag was outrageous. “What tool is this, and why is it so expensive?” one customer asked.
Satan answered, “That is my most powerful secret weapon. It works where nothing else will, and it operates by stealth. Everybody recognizes these old tools, like Pride, Deceit, and Greed. But I can attack someone with this, and they will never even know it was me. Its name is Discouragement. When everything else has failed, just when someone is on the verge of fulfilling God’s purpose, I can launch this at them, like a submarine torpedo, and it goes straight to their heart without them ever knowing. It destroys their hope, their faith, and their joy, and they give up on everything God has in store for them. And because it works by stealth, they usually blame themselves and God. They never think to blame me at all.
“It’s the perfect weapon!” Satan said.
Well, maybe it was the perfect weapon. But now his secret is out.
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
—Phil 4:6-7
God has more in store for us than we can even imagine, as long as we keep “pressing in” and “pressing on.” “Pressing in” like the woman with the hemorrhage, who pressed in through the crowd to get close enough to Jesus that she could be healed, having such faith that she needed only to touch the hem of his garment to be made whole. Recognizing Jesus, and seeing him from a distance as he passes by, surrounded by the crowds of the curious is not enough. As in the song, Breathe, “I’m desperate for you; I’m lost without you,” it is only when we are desperate enough to fight our way through whatever worldly roadblocks stand between us and Christ, that we can be become fully ourselves in the fullness of his mercy and grace.
And “pressing on” like Paul, who never let anything distract his eyes from the goal, which was to know Christ, and to be all Christ had in mind for him to be. As Stephen Covey said, “The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.” And the main thing is to focus on Christ, so that we don’t get sidetracked by worldly concerns or Satan’s torpedoes, and so that, as Paul says, “it is God who works in you to will and act according to his good purpose.”
I heard a story about a little girl who got on Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride with her mom. She spent the whole time gripping the steering wheel with white knuckles as the car barely missed colliding with a train, careened through ditches and hedges, knocked down walls and plowed through buildings. When the ride was over, she turned to her mom and said, “Next time, you drive. I didn’t know where I was going.”
That’s kind of the way I feel about my whole life! Sometimes I wish I could start over and turn to God and say, “Next time, you drive. I didn’t know where I was going.” But at least (when I remember) I can loosen my grip on the wheel, knowing that God laid the tracks and knows the way, and I can just relax and enjoy this wild ride wherever it goes.
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