I Do(n't)

Just a little over three months ago, my wife and I said these two simple words to each other, "I do". But, as simple as the words are, the commitment behind them is what drives their meaning. When we became married, we made a vow to each other to be devoted to serving one another at all costs, a vow that was consecrated by God, through God, and for God. We have now officially committed our lives to serving God together, as one, as husband and wife. 

Now, three months into marriage (which is literally the best thing ever, I adore my wife), God has been revealing more and more to me the importance of being true to these vows beyond being a husband, but being a follower of Christ. In Luke 9:21 (NIV), Jesus says, "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me." Jesus says we must deny ourselves. Deny our rights, our entitlements, and our pride. He didn't say you "should" deny yourselves, He said you MUST, at all costs.

Being married means you're in closer proximity with another person more than ever before, which means you're exposed to the best and worst of your spouse, as well as showing your spouse the best and worst of you. This often results in ugliness I didn't even know I was capable of, which turns my "I do" into "I don't".  Situations may come up where I'm feeling prideful or selfish and I don't serve my wife selflessly in the way God has called me to, or I'm arrogant in an argument and refuse to humble myself, putting her down. The vow I made to honor God and Hannah is trumped by my sin.

This ugliness is a product of sinful nature, but, because of Jesus Christ's work on the cross, we have the power to turn that ugliness into beautiful truth and love. I have the power of the Holy Spirit to lay myself down, and pick God up. I have the power to love and serve even if it's inconvenient or difficult. I have the power of Christ to show Christ to my wife and others, and that's through following Him and picking up my cross saying "I do".

In Ecclesiastes 5:4-5 (NIV), it says, "When you make a vow to God, do not delay to fulfill it. He has no pleasure in fools; fulfill your vow. It is better not to make a vow than to make one and not fulfill it." Marriage (since it is the relationship that mirrors Christ and the church) has been showing me how to serve God in more committed ways. It has showed me the seriousness of what a vow means. So often "Christians" say they follow Jesus and have devoted their lives to Him, yet when things are hard their cross is still on the ground because the sincerity and seriousness of devotion to God isn't there. In Joshua 24 he says, "If serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve [...]". Serving and following God isn't a thing out of convenience. It's not an "oh, I'll honor God here but then do my own thing here." 

When we say we follow Christ and ask Him to overtake our lives, we're committing ourselves to Him and devoting what we say, how we think, how we act, everything we do, to Him. Marriage has helped me understand the importance of being true and devoted to the vow I've made with Christ. Please know though, it does not take being married to see this. Whether you're single, dating, or have been married for 40 years, following Christ is all the same, it's about being true to your "I do" with Jesus, and humbling yourselves like our Savior did so we can honor Him through devotion of our lives.

Jesus, completely free of sin, humbled Himself to human form, left His throne in Heaven, bore our sins on His shoulders, was crucified and raised from the dead all out of faithfulness and love for us. He was, is, and will be committed to us. 

The question is, are you ready to be committed to Him?

The Endgame of All Prayer

I'm writing from NYC this morning. God woke we up earlier than expected this morning with an unreasonable amount of energy. After fiddling around with trying to fall back asleep for a few minutes, I gave in. I bent to my knees, closed my eyes, and the first thing that came out of my mouth as I began to pray confirmed that this morning my schedule included an unforeseen appointment with the Holy Spirit.

"Let the endgame of all of my prayers and blessings be glory to you, Father..."

Prayer, like any conversation, has an endgame, a moment where one finally receives what one was looking for. All the prayers we pray, whether we realize it or not, have an endgame. We pray a prayer of thanksgiving in order to count our blessings and remind ourselves of how fortunate we are. We pray a prayer of confession in the hopes of repenting and cleansing ourselves from sin. We pray a prayer of adoration to remind ourselves how powerful and loving our God is. And we pray a prayer of supplication in the hopes of seeing God move in our lives.

These are all honorable and justifiable endgames for our prayers. But being in NYC, and praying for God's favor recently, I have been reminded that the true endgame, the pinnacle, the answer to every prayer, is the glory of the God we're speaking to.

An answered prayer isn't truly answered until the glory is placed in the proper hands of the Lord God. "Every good and perfect gift comes from God" (James 1:17), and therefore "His glory is the desire of our hearts." (Isaiah 26:8).

I truly believe that everyone's life would be better if they had a personal relationship with the Lord God and His Son Jesus Christ, and because of this, with every prayer I pray, I want to echo the words of Isaiah and cry out for God to be glorified. If God goes unnoticed, the prayer has not really been answered. The endgame of all prayer is the glory of God, because the endgame of our lives is the glory of God. Let my life be a prayer for you, O Lord.

"Be exalted, O God, in the heavens, let your glory be over all the earth." Psalm 57: 5&11

jon

Our Irrational God

So I am really into food.  But often times for one reason or another, I am chowing down without thinking about what I am eating. Just chomping away at the plentiful bounty on my plate. I finish eating and the only thing that is satisfied is that my stomach is now full and now longer empty. I guess that is okay, it goes along with the saying, "eat to live, not live to eat". But there is a big difference between what I have just described and the experiences of savoring your favorite meal!

My all time favorite meal, is a steamed Maine lobster at my favorite Lobster shack in southern Maine. I will never eat one of those puppies, without thinking about the taste, the aroma, and texture! I marvel over God, that He would make food taste so good , something that is a basic need in which we would do anyway in order to survive, yet he designed it to be pleasurable (please, no theological debates on whether God intended us to eat Lobster. I am aware of the Jewish laws prohibiting the consumption of shellfish). I mean think about it, the muscle of an animal actually TASTES GOOD! Isn't that kind of weird. However, I am not writing this blog in order to encourage us to stop and think about our food. I want to try and relate the opposing experiences of eating to our relationship with God.

So many times, especially those who have grown up around the church and the message of the Gospel, we forget how crazy and pleasurable God's love is; and therefor find seasons in where it is difficult to worship and praise. I know we know God so loved the World that he gave up his one and only Son so that we may have everlasting life, but do we get how radical and weird that is. I mean the Words of God have told us that we all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. No matter what our attempts are, our effort is a miserable attempt to be holy and live to Gods standard. Gods own word says that we are filthy and sinful, which sin in itself is something God himself detests. Yet, God was so in love with me, and so in love with my wife, and so in love with you and everyone you know, that he covered all of our crap by sending Jesus, his own Son, to die in the most miserable way taking our full punishment, so that He may be with our wretched selves!!! And on top of all of this, HE WANTED TO! He longed for the chance to stand beside me while I struggled to give up lust. He wants to patiently love you and help you while you let go of your sinful nature. He wanted and has always wanted us, you and I, and all of the baggage we come with! Now you have to admit to yourself, our God is crazy in a beautiful way.

The best description of this love is in Ephesians 1: 3-9 (ESV)

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ

Before the foundation of the World, it was Jesus' want and logical decision to shed his blood, be separated from Heaven and God (who is all light and love) to save us because he loved us. This makes no sense and I am so grateful we serve a God who thinks the way he does. His wisdom is not ours and lets praise Him for that.

In His love,
Cory