Have you ever gotten the the heavy feeling like you have been away from home for to long? Like you wish to be somewhere else, where you will be with your long lost family? Whenever I come into a situation where my beliefs and faith conflict with someone else's, I get this feeling. I have this feeling right now, as I type this post. I get an overbearing sense that i don't belong. As everybody who reads this will probably agree, everyone longs to belong. Mostly we try and find the right group of friends, try and be accepted in you family by believing or following similar beliefs as your siblings. But to no avail, that sense of belonging just doesn't quite fill the need.
Then, as I read the title of a picture where I got the name of this post, I was reminded that we are simply "Homesick for Heaven". We know deep down inside that we don't belong here on Earth, that this is a temporary placement until Jesus comes to take us home. So next time you are feeling like you don't belong don't beat yourself up trying to find a place to belong. You already do belong, just not on earth.
Remember, the next time we see Jesus won't just be a visit, we are going home.
Praise God.
Monday, January 25, 2010
Thursday, January 14, 2010
The Concept of War.
The Concept of War, I have found, is usually looked upon badly by the Christian community. All people tend to think about when the topic of war comes along is murder, rape, assassinations, and torture of troops and/or civilians. Don't get me wrong here, I also agree that that is bad. But people, Christians especially in my opinion, tend to forget that there is a more serious war going on that we tend not to pay attention to. Which is strange considering, we're in it!!!
In 1 Peter 2:10-12, it says, "11Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. 12Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day He visits us". There are a couple things that caught my attention in this passage. As "aliens and strangers" we are, or should be, foreign to the world. And since we are foreign, people should see us as different, right? Does anyone reading this know what generally scares people the most? Lack of Knowledge. People have always feared what they didn't understand. In Bible times people were afraid of deep water because they thought that monsters or evil spirits lived there. So if we are foreign to the people around us, we should not just be blending into the background. In fact, we should be causing people to feel a little discomfort from doing things so differently. And when two opposing ways of life occupy the same area, there will be conflict.
Similarly, when peter tells us, "to abstain from sinful desires, which WAR against your soul" we can gather that when we give into our sinful desires, it poses a conflict against our soul. So just as we will probably cause some uneasiness in the people around us, the people around us can have just as much of an effect on us. This constant conflict is part of this war I am describing.
So, now that we have established that we are indeed part of a war, what should we do about it? Well in Matthew 28:16-20, the Great Commission, it says, "16Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in[a] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age".
I want to focus on a few things of mention. First of all, what is a disciple?
On thefreedictionary.com the definition of disciple is "One who embraces and assists in spreading the teachings of another" and comes from the Latin word "discipulus" meaning pupil. So we are supposed to be pupils of Jesus and teachers of others. Others who want to join God's Army are to be taught by others by those who have experience to share. But, as we are called to be pupils as well as teachers, we who have more experience aren't in high rank over the new follower, but are in ranks with them. That is what it means to be a disciple. That is what the family of God is supposed to look like.
I have joined the Army of The One, have you?
In 1 Peter 2:10-12, it says, "11Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. 12Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day He visits us". There are a couple things that caught my attention in this passage. As "aliens and strangers" we are, or should be, foreign to the world. And since we are foreign, people should see us as different, right? Does anyone reading this know what generally scares people the most? Lack of Knowledge. People have always feared what they didn't understand. In Bible times people were afraid of deep water because they thought that monsters or evil spirits lived there. So if we are foreign to the people around us, we should not just be blending into the background. In fact, we should be causing people to feel a little discomfort from doing things so differently. And when two opposing ways of life occupy the same area, there will be conflict.
Similarly, when peter tells us, "to abstain from sinful desires, which WAR against your soul" we can gather that when we give into our sinful desires, it poses a conflict against our soul. So just as we will probably cause some uneasiness in the people around us, the people around us can have just as much of an effect on us. This constant conflict is part of this war I am describing.
So, now that we have established that we are indeed part of a war, what should we do about it? Well in Matthew 28:16-20, the Great Commission, it says, "16Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in[a] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age".
I want to focus on a few things of mention. First of all, what is a disciple?
On thefreedictionary.com the definition of disciple is "One who embraces and assists in spreading the teachings of another" and comes from the Latin word "discipulus" meaning pupil. So we are supposed to be pupils of Jesus and teachers of others. Others who want to join God's Army are to be taught by others by those who have experience to share. But, as we are called to be pupils as well as teachers, we who have more experience aren't in high rank over the new follower, but are in ranks with them. That is what it means to be a disciple. That is what the family of God is supposed to look like.
I have joined the Army of The One, have you?
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