My dear friend Carly is so fun to be around, is so full of life and takes her relationship with God very seriously saying things like, "I want a comfort zone of faith that is constantly violated." She is a woman whose maturity in her understanding our roles vs purpose is evident. I have found that there are not many people who push you to live more radically for Jesus and when those people come around, they are like diamonds in the rough. They help you store up treasure in heaven at the expense of your flesh reactively biting thier head off. They love. They push you toward greatness even when the repercussions to themself might be large. Carly is one of those people. She loves Jesus more than life itself. My husband left for the middle east yesterday morning to bring the gospel to a country where less than 1% of the population understands the gospel. Last night we had a phone call of someone telling us that perhaps the risk is too great. It would be awful to be widowed with 3 kids under 3.5. But isn't it up to God to decide? Whether Austin goes or stays, his life is not really in his hands. Is it not better to die doing the very thing God is passionate about rather than padding a safe little bubble of imaginary safety. Risking for God's glory is not foolishness, it is a beautiful reliance upon His providence. It is leaving room for God to come through. Esther, the widow that gave out of her poverty (Luke 21:4), the widow who gave Elijah her last piece of bread (1 Kings 17:7-24), Jonathan and his armor-bearer taking on the Philistine army by themselves (1 Sam. 14) and so many others took huge risks for God's glory and left room for God to come through.
To risk for God's glory is right. When I read the book Radial by David Platt it was like a big balloon was about to burst inside me. All the things I was thinking but put into words that actually made sense. Exciting and challenging. He says things like, "The most glorious reason you exist is for the proclamation of the glory of God to the ends of the world. And it's more than having a nice life." and "We are giving in to the dangerous temptation to take the Jesus of the Bible and twist Him into a version of Jesus we are more comfortable with. We are molding Jesus into our image...This is the unavoidable conclusion of Matthew 10. To everyone wanting a safe, untroubled, comfortable life free from danger, stay away from Jesus." When we leave room for God it allows Him to show Himself great. Ok. So really, how does this radical-ness happen in our hearts? Because if we are honest, we realize that anything good doesn't come from us. And a heart-change like this, a willingness to have our comfort zone violated is not something we can produce in ourselves. Just as a fruit doesn't grow because it tries real hard but because it yields itself to the vine, so must we. Recognize that we can't... but that God can and ask Him to do it in us. And as we keep our attention, our gaze fixed on the Lord, He does it. We become what we are gazing at. "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." 12:2 Sweet Carly says, "God is so faithful beyond our willingness." Let's not rob God opportunities to show off. When we get to heaven, I doubt we are going to say, "man, wish I wouldn't have risked so much to glorify God." What would it look like for you to leave room for God to show up? How are you leaving room for Him to show off?
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Bob's favorite at Cafe Jordano (a little local place in Lakewood Colorado) is the greatest meal on the planet! I love it so much (apparently Bob does too) that I have zero desire to try anything else though they have won all sorts of awards for other things as well. For me the cost is just too high for me to try anything new there since I know I would be missing out on my favorite. Austin and I went there with our friends Zach and Salina not too long ago. My husband loves to get into spiritual discussions and tries to break the sound barriers. He asked our waitress a question leading into a spiritual conversation, she was eager to talk. We spent over an hour talking with her. Somewhere in our conversation she mentioned she didn't have a Bible but really wanted one. So, I gave her the little one I kept in my purse. Not long after that another waitress came up to our table and asked if we had another Bible for her! Turns out she has really been seeking, trying to find out more about God. I was blown away. Sometimes it's so easy to just go through life without realizing that a lot of people around us are seperated from God but really want to know Him. It is so easy to believe the lie that people have it all together and don't really want to hear the gospel. Austin, Zach, Selina and I went to Cafe Jordano to feast on some incredible Italian food, but turns out the waitress' wanted to feast on God's Word. My friend Gloria figured out how to make something very close to Bob's favorite and has posted it in the comments. PS Would you please take a second to vote for me so I can brag on God and help more women live for His glory. Thank you!!!!
For 10 years of my Christian life I didn't share the gospel because I honestly thought I would offend people. Really I was filled with doubt as a result of not sharing. Since I had never stepped out and depended on God to come through, I never got to see Him come through. But then I saw this guy (now my increbible husband) sharing his faith a lot and the craziest thing was happening. People wernt offended, they were coming to Christ! I asked him to teach me how to share and when I did the lies I was believing about people not wanting to hear were exposed for what they were. People are eager to know the very thing God built them to live for. Getting into a spiritual conversation can be difficult and then going from a spiritual conversation to the discussing the gospel all the way through is even more difficult. Here are my top ten questions to get into a spiritual conversation. And next week I will post my top ten questions to lead into sharing the gospel. 1. What experience has most affected your view of God? 2. If God were to tell you what He thinks of you right now, what would you say? 3. I've never really heard what your religious/spiritual background has been. What is it and where do you stand today? 4. If you could know God personally, would you want to? 5. What do you think about Jesus? 6. Have you looked into spiritual things much? Did you come to any conclusions? 7. Has anything ever happened to you that caused you to believe God is real? 8. I'm wondering if others can tell what the most important thing in my life is. If you had to say, what would you think it is? Do you know why it is? 9. How do you think someone becomes a Christian? 10. If you were to die today, where do you think you would go? Why? "But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light." 1 Peter 2:9 And just in case you think non-believers are offended by someone taking initative with them. Here is an athiest giving his point of view. It's pretty encouraging. And eye-opening. |
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