In the Shadow of Divine Perfection

I need to be devoted. Not to show some sort of awesome piety that exceeds everyone else. Not a self focused, self righteous thing. No, I need devotion in my life like Jesus had it. I need to be love-focused, I need to be peace-focused, I need to be God-focused. Far too often I find myself becoming focused on everything except for God. Ministry, sermons, Facebook, blogs, whatever it is, it's not God. That's idolatry. That's scary.

I wrote this devotional for my young adults group at SHBC last week, and I don't know, I felt like I was writing to myself.

Devoted. Joshua 6:21 "They devoted the city to the LORD and destroyed with the sword every living thing in it—men and women, young and old, cattle, sheep and donkeys." Don't be fooled, devotion isn't for the faint of heart, especially when it comes to being devoted to Jesus. It may just kill you, in a good way. It's more than just adhering to a discipline (I've gotta get my 10 minutes of prayer in), because God isn't impressed with us and our discipline. If we try to work ourselves to Him, we do exactly the opposite of what needs to be done because Jesus already did all the work.

Instead, we should be devoted like Jesus was devoted. He was interested in spending time with the Father, not out of regimented religion but out of true understanding that knowing the Father was the most important thing. Through relationship with God will devotion come forth, like a plant sprouting because of the water and sun and soil. Our devotion should look like us dying to know God.

Pursue Christ, brothers and sisters. Devote yourself to Him.

You see, sometimes we get lost thinking that the paths we use (bible study, sermons, ministry, etc) are God. Maybe not cognitively, but it sometimes happens. The truth is that all of those things are shadows of God. Michelangelo said, "The truest work of art is but a shadow of the divine perfection." Don't be confused, sermons, bible studies, ministry and the like are all great and good, but we must remember that they are shadows of our GREAT GOD. We must pursue HIM. Christ did not get flogged, beaten, stripped naked, and hung on a cross so we could have bible study. He did that so we could have a change of heart, mind and relationship toward God, so we can approach God and be in His presence.

Don't misunderstand me, I believe wholeheartedly in using sermons, ministry, bible study and the like to pursue God, but if they don't push you closer to Him, if you focus on the shadows, you are going to miss a lot. Jesus is everything guys. In the words of Lecrae,

To live is Christ yeah that's Paul I recall
To die is gain so for Christ we give it all
He's the treasure you'll find in the mall
Your money your singleness marriage talent and time
They were loaned to you to show the world that Christ is Divine
That's why it's Christ in my rhymes
That's why it's Christ all the time
My whole world is built around him He's the life in my lines
I refused to waste my life
He's too true ta chase
That ice
Heres my gifts and time cause I'm constantly trying to be used to praise the Christ
If he's truly raised to life
Then this news should change your life
And by his grace you can put your faith in place that rules your days and nights.

A Little Break...

So I decided to take a little break from the arguments to do some more devotional type stuff.

I recently went though this passage in a class I'm taking and just thought I'd share some of my thoughts on these beautiful verses written in 1 John 4: 15-19.

"Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God."

We live in a time and place where claiming an absolute statement on truth is considered ridiculous. Spiritual and cultural relativism is rampant and people are under the impression that even if there is a singular divinity out there somewhere, that there cannot possibly be one way. Here, John reaffirms the Truth that Jesus is the only way to be in connection with God.

"We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him"

A lot of times, people want to understand this verse as saying "Love is God." Notice, though, that John does not say this. Love is a description of God.

"By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world."

What is the 'this' that John mentions here? 'This' is referring to our relationship and connection to God through abiding in Jesus, which in turn allows us to abide in God allowing love to be perfected in us.

"There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love."

When we love, we are not to fear what others think about us, what people may do to us, or even fear messing up. When we have this kind of fear, we are living as if we are still apart from God. We are to be living with reckless abandon in the way we love God and others! Don't confuse this fear with the 'fear of the Lord' that we find in the Hebrew Scriptures-that is a correct fear in respect and loyalty, but never a paranoid fear that God is 'out to get us.' That fear is reserved for those who stand in opposition to God, but we are called to cast out that fear by bringing the Good News of God's forgiveness!

"We love, because He first loved us."

We love God and people not because we are so awesome and intrinsically good, for we surely aren't. We love because it is a response to the love that God has shown us and continually gives to us.

I hope this was a nice little break!

May the Lord God bless you and keep you in His heart for all time. Grace and Peace be with you all in the gracious name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.