God Running

Teens toss shopping cart onto woman from 50′ up. Victim Forgives.

“To be Christian means to forgive the inexcusable.”
-CSLewis

Two teens shove a shopping cart over a wall from an upper level, 50′ above an unsuspecting 47 year old woman. The cart lands on top of her, puts her in a coma, and blinds her in one eye.

And she forgives them!

I was both inspired and blown away by this article. Inspired by her ability to forgive and blown away by the realization that I sometimes struggle to forgive people for far more trivial transgressions.

You can read the whole story at Victim Forgives Teens Who Blinded Her – GOOD REPORT.

“I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven.”

-Jesus Christ, Matthew 5:44-45

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 Posted on April 16, 2012 by

 Bible Study

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Feelings

(Photo Credit: http://www.jesus.ch)

Jesus is worthy to receive honor and glory and praise, whether I feel like it or not. He alone is your God, the only one who is worthy of your praise. (Deuteronomy 10:21 NLT) He is worthy.

Relationship with Jesus is not about how I feel. It’s about who He is.

Singing to Him or about Him, reading His word, praying, visiting Him at His house, everything we do toward building a relationship with Him, is about Him, not me, not you.

“Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain,
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength
and honor and glory and praise!”

Revelation 5:12

Relationship with Jesus is not about how I feel.

It’s about who He is.

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 Posted on April 16, 2012 by

 Bible Study, I Wish Someone Had Told Me This When I Was Young

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Pastor Offers to Die: “Your supreme weapon is killing, my supreme weapon is dying.”


Supreme weapon dying Joseph TsonContent for this article was taken from the new book “Love Like Jesus: How Jesus Loved People (and how you can love like Jesus)”. For more articles included in the book go to Love Like Jesus Book. Love Like Jesus is due to be published in 2018.

“Sir, let me explain how I see this issue. Your supreme weapon is killiing. My supreme weapon is dying. Here is how it works. You know that my sermons on tape have spread all over the country. If you kill me, those sermons will be sprinkled with my blood. Everyone will know I died for my preaching. And everyone who has a tape will pick it up and say, ‘I’d better listen again to what this man preached, because he really meant it: he sealed it with his life.’ So, sir, my sermons will speak 10 times louder than before. I will actually rejoice in this supreme victory if you kill me.”

Later, Tson found out another officer said, “We know that Mr. Tson would love to be a martyr, but we are not that foolish to fulfill his wish.”

Tson: “I stopped to consider the meaning of that statement. I remembered how for many years, I had been afraid of dying. I had kept a low profile. Because I wanted badly to live, I had wasted my life in inactivity. But now that I had placed my life on the altar and decided I was ready to die for the gospel, they were telling me they would not kill me! I could go wherever I wanted in the country and preach whatever I wanted, knowing I was safe. As long as I tried to save my life, I was losing it. Now that I was willing to lose it, I found it.”

“As long as I tried to save my life, I was losing it. Now that I was willing to lose it, I found it.”



Your life:

I think all of us are presented with precisely the same issue as Joeseph Tson. We’re afraid of dying, not a physical death, but a social one. We’re afraid if we sell out for Jesus Christ we’ll lose friends, or at the very least, suffer embarrassment. But in the end, we have the same choice as Tson. We can keep a low profile, and waste our life with inactivity for Christ, or we can place our life on the altar, and decide we’re ready to die for Him.

The thing is, like Joseph Tson, once you decide you’re ready to die, socially speaking in your case and mine, for Christ, once you just let go of your social life saver, you’re free! I’ve experienced this myself and observed it in others. It turns out your fear of social death is in your head. Yes there’ll be some awkwardness during the transition, but tell me what transition is without awkwardness! And tell me of anything in life worthwhile that doesn’t require transition!

Like Joseph Tson, you’ll be amazed at the freedom you enjoy, once you decide to place your life on the altar. Once you give yourself over to Christ.

So don’t be afraid of dying.

Live free.

For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.

-Jesus Christ, Matthew 16:25

[Image via Klearchos Kapoutsis – Creative Commons]

Resources and related articles::

ToEveryTribe.com

Joseph Tson is the former president of The Romanian Missionary Society in Wheaton, IL. He was the pastor of Second Baptist Church in Oradea, Romania until 1981, when he was  exiled by the Romanian government.

Randy Alcorn, Josef Tson: What His Suffering for Christ in Communist Romania Taught Him, and Can Teach Us, Eternal Perspective Ministries, June 24, 2022

Source: ToEveryTribe.com, fall 2009 Newsletter

1106 Design Love Like Jesus Book Cover

Newly released book by Kurt Bennett, now available on Amazon!

Love Like Jesus: How Jesus Loved People (and how you can love like Jesus)

Love Like Jesus begins with the story of how after a life of regular church attendance and Bible study, Bennett was challenged by a pastor to study Jesus. That led to an obsessive seven year deep dive. After pouring over Jesus’ every interaction with another human being, he realized he was doing a much better job of studying Jesus’ words than he was following Jesus’ words and example. The honest and fearless revelations of Bennett’s own moral failures affirm he wrote this book for himself as much as for others.

Love Like Jesus examines a variety of stories, examples, and research, including:

  • Specific examples of how Jesus communicated God’s love to others.
  • How Jesus demonstrated all five of Gary Chapman’s love languages (and how you can too).
  • The story of how Billy Graham extended Christ’s extraordinary love and grace toward a man who misrepresented Jesus to millions.
  • How to respond to critics the way Jesus did.
  • How to love unlovable people the way Jesus did.
  • How to survive a life of loving like Jesus (or how not to become a Christian doormat).
  • How Jesus didn’t love everyone the same (and why you shouldn’t either).
  • How Jesus guarded his heart by taking care of himself–he even napped–and why you should do the same.
  • How Jesus loved his betrayer Judas, even to the very end.

With genuine unfiltered honesty, Love Like Jesus, shows you how to live a life according to God’s definition of success: A life of loving God well, and loving the people around you well too.

A life of loving like Jesus.

(Kindle, hardcover, and paperback now available on Amazon.)

 7 Comments

 Posted on April 12, 2012 by

 Bible Study

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Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you — 1 Peter 5:6-7

90 Minutes in Heaven by Don Piper

I’m reading about Don Piper who was crushed in a head on collision with an 18 wheeler, was dead at the accident scene for 90 minutes, and then revived when a pastor, who happened to be passing by, felt lead to pray for him. He gives an amazing account of what those 90 minutes were like. He says he went to heaven. (90 Minutes in Heaven by Don Piper)

The good and the bad for Don.

Good: He was permitted to experience heaven for 90 minutes.

Bad: He was permitted to experience heaven for 90 minutes.

Now that he’s alive he finds himself physically devastated and in constant excruciating pain. Pain all the morphine in the world won’t touch. Having had a taste of heaven, he longs to go there, and he struggles with the difficulties of remaining in this life on earth.

Then he does something that changes everything. He gives his whole life over to God. And the great thing about giving your whole life over to God is He gets all of it — even the heartbreaks and pain.

The great thing about giving your whole life over to God is He gets all of it — even the heartbreaks and pain.

From that point, his whole life turned around.

So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor. Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.

1 Peter 5:6-7

References:

Bible Gateway

90 Minutes in Heaven by Don Piper

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 Posted on April 9, 2012 by

 Bible Study

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Back From the Dead

Back from the dead

Christ’s Empty Tomb

Speaking to the Pharisees, Jesus said,

“You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life.” (John 5:39-40 emphasis mine)

“But do not think I will accuse you before the Father. Your accuser is Moses, on whom your hopes are set. If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me.” (John 5:45-46 emphasis mine)

Jesus is saying here, the scriptures are all about Him. And, in our Genesis study, in chapter 37, we’re about to enjoy a beautiful Old Testament picture of Jesus’ life in the story of Joseph. The picture is so compelling, God devotes a full quarter of the book of Genesis to Joseph alone. He is one of only two main characters in the Old Testament for whom there is no mention of sin (Daniel is the other). We’ll see Joseph greatly humbled as Jesus was greatly humbled, but, in the end, greatly exalted — as Jesus was greatly exalted. It’s impossible to read of him and not see the striking parallels between his life and Christ’s. All of the Old Testament testifies of Jesus but it may be that nowhere else is it more obvious than in the story of Joseph.

Here comes that dreamer! Joseph’s brothers said to each other. Let’s kill him, this one who dreamed of us bowing down to him. After, we’ll lie to our father about what became of him. Then we’ll see what happens to his dreams.

They hated Joseph, even as Jesus’ brothers hated him. The only problem with their plot was that Joseph’s dreams weren’t really Joseph’s dreams, they were God’s dreams. So when they plotted to kill him, to put a stop to those dreams, they might as well have tried to stop the wind from blowing, or the sun from shining, or the rain from falling. They were God’s dreams and God’s dreams always come to pass.

Satan plotted to kill Jesus to stop God’s dream for His Son. And on Friday, it appeared he was successful.

But on Sunday…

I am so glad for Jesus’ resurrection. I am so thankful He’s alive and available to enter into a relationship with me. I’m so blessed He’s there for me to communicate with. I’m filled with faith because He validated all His teachings and promises by dying and rising again. I’m so grateful His claims of divinity were confirmed.

God’s dream for His Son was realized, as God’s dreams always are.

I’m so very thankful.

He is risen.

But I’m also thankful for something else. I’m thankful Jesus not only rose from the dead Himself, but He brings others back from the dead as well.

While Jesus is on His way to heal the daughter of Jairus the synagogue ruler, people meet Jairus on the road and tell him, Your daughter died, so, why bother Jesus with it anymore?

Jesus overhears this, leans over, and tells Jairus, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.”

Then He grabs Peter, James, and John, and goes to Jairus’ house where people are already mourning his daughter’s death by wailing and crying. Jesus says, Why all the fuss? She’s not dead, she’s just sleeping. But they laughed at Him.

So He sends everybody out of the room except for her father and mother, and the three disciples, He takes her by the hand and says, “Talitha koum!” which means, Little girl, get up!

Right away she stands up and starts to walk around. Of course everyone’s blown away. And get this, Jesus gives strict orders not to tell anybody about what happened. (Mark 5:35-43)

Jesus brings people back from the dead.

In my own life I can’t tell you how many times I had a problem, the kind of problem where anguish wells up inside of you. I found myself praying with everything I had, asking Christ to raise something from the dead. And He did.

Maybe you’re someone who’s feeling dead right now, or near death, or your project is dead, or your marriage is dead, or your job is dead. Maybe there are people around you who are wailing and crying. Maybe there are people around who laugh at you whenever you talk about hope.

Take heart because Jesus specializes in these situations. He’s Someone good to have in your corner. Someone good to have a relationship with, the kind of relationship where you can call on Him if you’re in trouble. You may need Him to bail you out. You may need Him to raise you, or your relationship, or your whatever, back from the dead. You may need to pray, to ask Him, with everything you have, to bring something back from the dead.

And anytime you ask for help, the better you know the person, the easier it is to ask.

So my advice to you? Get to know Him well and remain close to Him, for the rest of your life. You never know when you might need Him to say, “Talitha koum!”

He is risen.

[Image via James Emery – Creative Commons]

[HT ChristianBeliefs.Blogspot.com]

 2 Comments

 Posted on April 7, 2012 by

 Bible Study, How Jesus Loved People - How You Can Too

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George Wilson Refuses Pardon from Death Penalty

Photo credit: Jazz and Culture (http://www.jazzandculture.com/2010_08_01_archive.html)

Today, Good Friday, the day we commemorate the death of Christ on the cross, our pastor shared the story of George Wilson. He was charged with “robbing the mail and putting the life of the carrier in jeopardy.” (United States v. Wilson, 7 pet. 150 1833) And was sentenced to hang. But fortunately for George there was a saving grace. The U.S. President pardoned him.

Strangely though, George Wilson refused the pardon. Chief Justice John Marshall had to decide the case and found:

“A pardon is a deed, to the validity of which delivery is essential, and delivery is not complete without acceptance. It may then be rejected by the person to whom it is tendered; and if it be rejected, we have discovered no power in a court to force it on him.” (United States v. Wilson, 7 pet. 150 1833)

George Wilson, against the President’s will, was hanged.

You, and I, and every other living person on the planet find ourselves in the same position as George Wilson. God’s standard is perfection. If you have any doubt of that just read Christ’s teaching from the Sermon on the Mount. (Matthew Ch 5) With that unattainable standard in place, every one of us falls short, every one of us is found guilty.

But, fortunately, like the case of George Wilson, there’s a saving grace. Yes you and I are guilty, yes you and I are sentenced to hell for it, but, God has pardoned us. He’s provided the sacrifice of His Son in your place, and in my place, and in the place of every person on earth, to provide for us a pardon from our guilt.

You have only to accept it.

You can go to hell, God says. But if you do, you’ll have to do it over My dead body — over the dead body of Jesus Christ.

Rejecting His sacrifice on your behalf is like Wilson’s rejection of the President’s pardon.

Accept His pardon.

There’s just no reason to hang back.

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.

John 3:17-18

References:

Bible Gateway

United States v. Wilson, 7 pet. 150 1833

Jon Courson

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 Posted on April 6, 2012 by

 Bible Study

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You will be called Cephas” (which, when translated, is Peter) — John 1:40-42

Peter's Sword (Photo credit: Galeria Imagens Biblica)

Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ). And he brought him to Jesus.

Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which, when translated, is Peter).

John 1:40-42



How Jesus loved people:

Jesus knew Peter would say something so stupid and offensive, Jesus would call him Satan. Jesus knew Peter would wield his sword so recklessly, he would cut off the ear of the high priest’s servant Malchus. Jesus knew Peter would disown Him and even call down curses in response to a teen-age girl’s questions about Christ in the courtyard of the high priest. But here we not only see Jesus accept Peter completely, just the way he was, but we see Him rename him, Peter, which means “Rock.” (Matthew 16:21-23, John 18:10, Matthew 26:69-75)

If Peter were an associate pastor in today’s church, I think he almost certainly would be fired. Imagine with me what the conversation might be like.

Board of Directors: “You said what? To who?”

Associate pastor Peter: “I rebuked Jesus.”

Board of Directors: “Let me see if I have this straight. You, an associate pastor, rebuked God. Is that right?”

“Yes.”

And later…

Board of Directors: “You whipped out a sword and did what with it?”

And finally…

Board of Directors: “A teen-age girl asked you about Christ and you disowned your Lord and Savior? Publicly?”

“I’m sorry Peter, but you’re an embarrassment to this church and to the Christian faith. You’re just not fit for ministry.”

Rejected.



How you can too:

Of course Jesus knew all this was to come. Jesus knew accepting Peter into His circle was going to be messy.

But He did it anyway.

You may have read the story, that came out recently, about the atheist who was embroiled in a battle with local government officials of Henderson County, Texas, concerning a nativity display on their front lawn. The atheist, named Patrick Greene, began to lose his eyesight to cataracts, after which there was an outpouring of help from local Christians (unbelievers helped as well). In response to those believers who reached out to him in that way, Patrick Greene ultimately received Christ. (See Atheist Becomes Christian After Believers Show Him Compassion)

I posted a link to this article yesterday and received some interesting comments from a professing atheist. The comment thread went like this:

Atheist: “Do some research on this particular gentleman. And on the atheist community’s opinion of this particular gentleman before he converted.”

My reply: “I did a little research as you recommended. I think I see what you mean. It appears many in atheist community had problems with him, before he converted.”

Atheist: “And I don’t mean to imply his conversion is false, just to be clear. I have no idea. Just, if you wanted to cite a convert as a positive example to other atheists, this gentleman may not be the person you want.”

“…this gentleman may not be the person you want.” He said. My research on Patrick Greene revealed two things:

1) His behavior was very similar to Peter’s. He liked to whip out his sword and cut off people’s ears, so to speak.

2) This gentleman was not a person the atheist community wanted. They were embarrassed by him.

So this was my reply to the atheist’s last comment: “I appreciate your concern, however what I want isn’t important. What’s important is this is precisely the person Christ wants.” (Previous post and comment thread)

Jesus accepts the Peters, and the Patrick Greenes, and you, and even me. And if you desire to love people the way Christ did, you will too.

So stop setting the bar so high for the people in your life. Take down that bar you’ve set so high and lay it at the foot of the cross, where Jesus died on Good Friday, not just for your sins, but for the sins of every single person in your life, for the sins of every person in the world. Roger Ailes in his classic book, “You Are the Message,” talks about CEO’s and other high powered people (including Ronald Reagan) he used to coach in the art of communication. He said, time and again, the single biggest change these people needed to make was to simply lighten up! Accept people for who they are, warts and all.

Loving people is going to be messy.

Do it anyway.

Jesus did.

References:

Bible Gateway

You Are The Message by Roger Ailes

Serious Questions About How God Does Things

 1 Comment

 Posted on April 6, 2012 by

 Bible Study, How Jesus Loved People - How You Can Too

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I Don’t Want to Go to Heaven! | Faith Bible Blog

I Don’t Want to Go to Heaven! | Faith Bible Blog.

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 Posted on April 5, 2012 by

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Atheist Activist Becomes Christian After Believers Show Him Compassion

Atheist Activist Becomes Christian After Believers Show Him Compassion.

 6 Comments

 Posted on April 4, 2012 by

 Bible Study

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How Much of the Bible is Enough? — Matthew 4:4

Are you connecting with Christ? (Painting: Prayer by Mark Dachille, mark.thewildhoods.com)

I’ll never forget when my mother announced she was going to start running. She’s a tiny woman, 5’2″, with a pretty and youthful appearance. When she’d visit me in college my friends sometimes asked if she was a friend of mine from home. She is also very bookish and education oriented, today she has a Masters in International Studies and a PhD in Education. So it surprised me when she made this proclamation because I never saw her run before. I was home from college for spring break when she said she would start by jogging to get the mail — the mailbox was a half a block from the house.

“Mom,” I said, “you can’t start a running regimen by jogging to the mailbox. You’ll never progress that way.”

“We’ll see,” she replied.

A few days later I headed back to school where I studied, played sports, pursued girls — the usual college scene. When I came home for the summer, my mom asked if I’d like to accompany her on a run in Moraine Hills State Park just a few miles from our house in Island Lake, Illinois.

“How far will we be going?” I asked.

“Oh, seven miles.”

Yea, sure, I thought to myself. From a jog to the mailbox to seven miles. Not likely. I agreed to go, so we drove to Moraine Hills, found the trail head, and began our run.

After a couple of miles mom showed no signs of slowing or fading, and I was kind of wishing she would, because although I was only twenty, I hadn’t been doing much beyond an occasional basketball game. After four miles I asked to take a short break. By the end of the seven miles I had asked for two more breaks and was hanging on for dear life! When we arrived back home I collapsed into bed and took a two hour nap. I was buried on a seven mile run — by my mom!

I asked mom how she went from jogging to the mail box to someone who might qualify for the Boston Marathon, and she said she simply made a point to run a little bit each day. Little by little she was able to increase her distance and speed until she was capable of embarrassing her twenty year old son on the trails of Moraine Hills State Park.

This is a great illustration of the power available to you found in doing something daily, even if it’s just a little bit at a time. Combining this principal with reading the scriptures is a key to your relationship with Christ.

When Jesus was tempted in the wilderness He made the statement, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'” Jesus quotes scripture here in a manner that declares God’s written word as the ultimate authority. And during this time in the wilderness, he quotes two more scriptures in like fashion, “It is written…” Any honest evaluation of Jesus’ life reveals His regard for God’s word as completely authentic. But beyond that, Jesus is quoting here from Deuteronomy 8:3, the full verse of which reads, “He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.”

Here’s what I see for your future should you decide not to pursue investing time in God’s word. Because He cares for your eternal condition more than your current comfort, because He will always do what He knows to be best for you, because of His great love for you, because He’s not content for you to remain the person you are today but desires to grow you, God will certainly allow you to be humbled, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD. We human beings often seem to require a good drubbing before we move our relationship with Christ to the forefront of our lives. I am as bad as anyone. We learn from experience but it doesn’t have to be our own experience, we can learn from someone else’s. Why then do I seem to need to learn the hard way, I don’t understand. I suppose it’s just my innate human appetite for doing it my own way without interference from God. I remember times when I held back from going deeper in my relationship with Christ because I was afraid it would take away from my career, or my retirement investments, or my entertainment, or my recreation. It wasn’t until the Lord allowed me to be humbled, in a variety of ways, that I fully surrendered myself to Him. And even now at times the old kurt creeps in, so I have to continually surrender. I have to surrender daily.

My advice to you — don’t wait for God to bring humbling experiences into your life to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD. Read God’s word, just a little bit each day. It’s easy to do. You can even subscribe to a Bible Gateway daily reading plan if you want to. Don’t even worry about reading everything they send you, just read a little from the Old Testament and New Testaments, even if it’s one verse each. The key is to do it each day, every day. It’s not a question of how much of the Bible you read each day but how often. And when you do, as you feel like it, pause and pray to God as you’re reading — make it a conversation. Ask Him questions, make requests. After a couple of months evaluate your life and see if you don’t notice a difference.

If you really want to become a disciple of Christ’s, if you really want to know the truth about God and your own life, then come and see what a little time each day in God’s word will do.

“If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

–Jesus Christ John 8:31-32

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 Posted on April 4, 2012 by

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Serious questions about how God does things — John 1:40-42

Peter Denying Jesus by Mark Dachille (http://mark.thewildhoods.com)

Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ). And he brought him to Jesus.

Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which, when translated, is Peter).

John 1:40-42



I have serious questions about how God does things:

Here in John chapter 1 we see Andrew bring Simon to Jesus and Jesus accepts him as one of his disciples. He even renames him “Cephas” (which, translated, is Peter) which means Rock. Imagine with me what that would have been like. You’re brother or sister brings you to the Messiah and as you’re meeting him for the first time He renames you “Rock.” Peter, formerly known as Simon, must have been completely blown away.

But Jesus’ acceptance of Peter raises serious questions. Knowing, as he surely did, Peter would put his foot in his mouth to the point where Jesus would call him Satan, knowing Peter would impulsively whip out a sword and cut off a servant’s ear, knowing Peter would disown Him twice at the courtyard of the high priest, even calling down curses in the process, knowing Peter’s impulsive and emotional nature, why on earth would Jesus accept this man as His disciple? (Matthew 16:21-23, John 18:10, Matthew 26:69-75)

And Jesus not only accepted Peter with all his faults and frailties, he also endorsed the other disciples, who would bicker among themselves about who would be greatest in heaven, and even seek to call down fire on an entire village. (Luke 9:46, Luke 9:54)


The Organic God:

Butterflies are amazing creatures. I’ll never forget a certain bike ride I went on one beautiful spring day. I started up a five mile road that climbs toward the top of Talabox Mountain. The views of the Applegate Valley are spectacular, but, the beauty of the views is exceeded by the steepness of the grade, which ranges from 6-16%. I hadn’t ridden that route for a few years and by the time I neared the top, my lungs were raw and my legs were so weary they felt like someone had infused them with cold fudge. During the final mile or so I lost the shelter of the mountain and was fighting a very chilly 5-10 mph headwind on top of the unrelenting steep grade. Even though I was wondering to myself, “Could I walk up this mountain faster than I’m riding right now?” I was still feeling pretty good about “conquering” Talabox Mountain. Then, out of nowhere, a butterfly appeared right next to me, at eye level, not more than two feet to my left. As I labored at my painstakingly slow pace I watched the butterfly, flying against the same headwind, pass me on the way up the mountain. “How is that even possible?” I cried out loud. You know, I could almost hear the hissing sound from the escaping air of my deflating ego.

Butterflies are amazing creatures, and God is an amazing God. Do you remember how He wrote the ten commandments in His own hand on two slabs of rock? Do you remember how He wrote on the palace wall, in His own hand, when He passed judgement on Belshazzar of Babylon. (Exodus 31:18, Daniel chapter 5) If He chose to, He could have written out His entire plan, in His own hand, perfectly displayed on a cliff face somewhere in the Israeli desert, for all to see. But instead He did things organically. (I use the word as defined in the Urban Dictionary: An analogy in the creative process, used to describe a work such as a novel or movie script made in such a way that the various parts developed as they were written/painted/whatever, one from another, rather than sticking rigidly to a preconceived plan.) God used Moses the meek and the Israeli nation attempted to rebel against Moses more times than I can remember. He used David the adulterous murderer. He used Jonah the prophet who ran away. He used many others who would fall and fail. When He sent Christ into the world to do His redemptive work, He could have left Him here, on earth, for the rest of eternity, to run the world with perfection. But instead He had Jesus mentor eleven very flawed disciples, then after only three years He took Jesus away, and turned the whole thing over to them, the eleven. And now, today, He chooses to use the pastor who exaggerates facts during his sermon, and the missionary who sometimes counsels amiss, and the elder who can be rude, and the Bible teacher who’s overbearing. He could have done things so much more cleanly, so much more neatly, without the mess that comes from doing His work through human beings, without the mess from doing things organically. He could have done things Himself. But that’s not His way.

Butterflies are amazing creatures. The Monarch can fly up to 12 mph and even faster for short periods. They’re one of the few insects capable of flying across the Atlantic Ocean. Their metamorphisis from a slow crawling lowly caterpillar to a beautiful creature capable of flying over one thousand miles is one of the most amazing transformations found in nature. The process of breaking out of their cocoon, or chrysalis, is particularly interesting. It’s a struggle. There are long pauses when nothing is happening. The efforts of the emerging butterfly are clumsy. The efforts of the emerging butterfly are awkward. It would be so easy for a human being to just take a razor and slice open the chrysalis so the butterfly could escape without having to undergo such distress. The only problem is, in most instances, if the butterfly receives assistance, if he doesn’t struggle to escape, he’ll live, but he won’t be able to fly. (see How to Help a Butterfly Out of Cocoon)

I sure don’t know why God does things the way He does. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are His ways higher than your ways and my ways, and His thoughts than your thoughts and mine. (Isaiah 55:9) But knowing how gracious He is, knowing how loving He is, knowing His propensity to do what He knows to be best for us, in spite of ourselves, knowing He loves us so much He sacrificed His own Son to save us, I’m guessing it has something to do with His desire to transform us.

To transform us into a creature who can fly one thousand miles.

May He have His way.

References:

Bible Gateway

Wikipedia

ehow.co.uk

 6 Comments

 Posted on April 2, 2012 by

 Bible Study, I Wish Someone Had Told Me This When I Was Young

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