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Madmen - Wavorly |
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by Billy Graham. Excerpts and.. well, duh. Reflections.
Today being "born again" is big news. Time magazine carries a feature story on "Born Again Faith." Political candidates give the subject as much attention as the latest economic statistics or the energy crisis. A former Black Panther leader and radical of the 1960's returns from exile and announces, "My life has turned 180 degrees. I have been born again."
To be "born again" requires a turn around in our lives. There are things that will need to change.
One is our direction. If we do not believe in Jesus, we are heading towards destruction - no matter how good a life we are leading. It is inevitable. We do not have the support or strength to turn around and head up the path towards eternal life - because being up hill, it is not an easy path.
There's a song on the radio at the moment, well I haven't actually heard the song. I just kept on hearing the one line. "It's a 360 revolution".
What's the point of that? You just end up going the same way you were already going and nothing changes.
And with Jesus, great changes are possible. Things can completely turn around. There will still be obstacles in our life, if not worse, but we will have turned around.
I am reminded of the conversion of Paul. He turned around tremendously - from persecuting Christians to being one of the persecuted Christians. And he still faced trouble in his life; even writing some epistles from jail; but his life was turned around and he saw things from a Godly perspective - he saw that the world cannot defeat us. Only our hearts can - something that comes up every now and again in his letters. Saul saw the importance of having a life utterly dedicated to Jesus, and through his turn-around was used as an incredibly influential tool in establishing the church - and maybe we can be so incredibly influential, too.
A man who was deeply involved in one of the most publicised political scandals of our time writes a best seller explaining the change in his life as a result of being born again. A Gallup poll comes up with the astonishing conclusion that in the United States "more than one-third of those who are old enough to vote have experienced 'born again' religious conversions."
And so it bothers me that the US do not come across as the most godly nation ever. A born again religious conversion shouldn't be one off, as it seems to be, but something that should continue to affect Christians for the rest of their lives. When we are born again we need to ensure that it is into Jesus; not into the same sinful lives that we had already been living.
A few weeks ago a sermon was given at 7.15 that allegedly sounded like people could lose their salvation. While not the first impression I received of the sermon, it was one expressed to me. But I still sincerely believe that it is impossible to lose salvation - if someone appears to, they probably never had it in the first place.
Because, unfortunately, it is very easy to get caught up with the euphoria and excitement of a new church without welcoming Jesus into your heart. And the passage in question seemed to say more to me; "Please make sure that Jesus is the biggest part of your life. Here's instructions on how to do it."
Hebrews 4
A Sabbath-Rest for the People of God
1Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. 2For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith.[a] 3Now we who have believed enter that rest, just as God has said,
"So I declared on oath in my anger,
'They shall never enter my rest.' "[b] And yet his work has been finished since the creation of the world. 4For somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in these words: "And on the seventh day God rested from all his work."[c] 5And again in the passage above he says, "They shall never enter my rest."
6It still remains that some will enter that rest, and those who formerly had the gospel preached to them did not go in, because of their disobedience. 7Therefore God again set a certain day, calling it Today, when a long time later he spoke through David, as was said before:
"Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts."[d] 8For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. 9There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; 10for anyone who enters God's rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his. 11Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience.
12For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. 13Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
We need to combine the euphoria and excitement with genuine faith. The euphoria and excitement will not always be there; and if faith is rooted in them, how will it stand when the good times crumble?
One time to evaluate our walk with God is in his rest; in his Sabbath rest. While I don't know if it's important that it be a specific day; I do believe that it is important to have a day off from all the busyness per week and just spend time with Him.
And this week I've found great encouragement in the life of Joseph. Sold to another nation by the ones who should have loved him. Things started looking up when he became a head slave for this Potiphar guy, who seemed to like him a lot, and Joseph became pretty esteemed pretty quickly. Not only was he well respected for a slave, he was pretty good looking and muscly. And chicks dig that.
Things were certainly looking fantastic.
Then came the wife who called "rape" (haha.. rape.. wolf) and things got crappy again. Joseph was chucked into prison and forgotten about.
And he hadn't even done anything wrong.
But it was okay, because in jail he met these two guys. And these guys were having dreams. And Joseph interpreted them - pretty accurately. After that, people saw God through him, and everything was fantastic.
But then they forgot about him. And just left him to rot in prison.
But sometime later the Pharoah of Egypt started having dreams, and he was concerned. He looked for someone who cpuld interpret dreams, and Joseph's name popped up. Joseph accurately interpreted the dreams, thanks to God, and probably saved Egypt from being wiped off the map by great famine.
And when the ones who were supposed to love Joseph turned up, asking for food, you might think that he told them to get stuffed. Maybe that's what we would do. But here's the inspirational part - Joseph realised that even though a lot of bad stuff had happened in his life, God used all of it to take him to somewhere better. If it wasn't for his brothers selling him, if it wasnt for his being chucked into prison, if it wasnt for being forgotten about until a most opportune time - he wouldn't have become such a powerful figure in history.
And it shows us that even when things are hard, God's timing is perfect.
I mean, I'm feeling pretty much right now like the ones who were supposed to love me (the brothers of Joseph) want nothing to do with me, and it hurts. I feel like they've chucked me on the outside and I don't know how to deal with it.
But I realised that if they hadn't chucked me away, I wouldn't have been picked up elsewhere. And I think I've had time better spent elsewhere than could have been with them.
And I feel like I'm dealing with Potiphar's wife daily when my dad stocks ammunition against me. Sometimes it feels like me sneezing is a crime. Just yesterday I was yelled at for leaving the dinner table prematurely to clean up.
But Joseph recognised that all these negative situations in his life shaped something so much better, and so harboured no bitterness. Joseph recognised that he could serve God through all of this - and to what extent!
Yeah. The story of Joseph is pretty meaningful to me right now.
I.. think I'm going to go to bed and pray a lot right now. Despite all these assurances that God is shaping something better through the disappointments in this life - and the evidence also - I'm still hurting a lot right now, as if I'm just rotting in a prison cell.
Maybe I can write meaningful things on the mildewy walls with chalk instead of tallying the days - as I wait patiently (even if a little sadly) for the Lord and his perfect timing.
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