2 Corinthians 10:4-5
The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
NIV
We have all prayed something like this: "God none of me and all of you!" We get this from the prayer of John the Baptist when he said "I must decrease that you may increase." This sounds like a good prayer but it simply isn't legal for a New Covenant believer to pray. John was the last of the Old Testament prophets and was simply stating the obvious, that his ministry was to prepare the way for Jesus. He had done that and was "stepping out of the spotlight" so to speak. I like what Bill Johnson says: "God had none of you before He created you. He didn't think it was a good idea. I wouldn't suggest it again. A better prayer would be 'God all of you covering and filling all of me."
This leads me to "Dumb stuff Christians say" line one. I guess it really cannot be nailed down to a single line. It is more of a mindset. I am talking about the idea that God is in control therefore nothing happens unless He wills it or allows it. First of all, God is sovereign, no doubt, but sovereignty means that He is the Ultimate Authority. However, that doesn't mean that everything that happens IS His will. People die and go to hell everyday and the Bible clearly says that He isn't WILLING ANY should perish but ALL come to repentance. So, not everything that happens IS in fact His will.
Let me put it this way:
I am the "ultimate authority" in my home. :-) Even though I may desire for things to be done a certain way or certain time, not EVERYTHING happens the way I want it to. I like for dishes to be taken to the sink when they are finished being used. I like for laundry to be put in the laundry basket. I like for our family cat to leave our Christmas tree ALONE! Alas, not everything is done the way I ask. I know...hard to believe. The reason for this is I don't live alone. I live with my amazing wife Jessica and our two kids, Tyson and Karisty. They have their own decisions to make in life. They have their own list of priorities and their's are not always the same as mine.
Guess what? MANY people have different priorities than God does. When we are not thinking as He does life tends to get all jacked up. People make decisions and get themselves in a mess or they get others in a mess and the best a "good Christian" can come up with is "well, God must have allowed this to happen to me/you so we can learn from it." No, most of the time it is just the spirit of stupid on people and God gets the blame. Of course, He can and does work all things together for the good of those who love Him because He can win at poker with a pair of twos but that doesn't mean that the situation was His idea. We really have to stop assisting the devil with bad ideas about the character and nature of God. God ONLY has good to give. Selah (a pause in order to stop and think about what was just said.)
We often try to relate to God based on our relationships and experiences with the other humans in our lives. The problem with this is that God is not human. He doesn't get disappointed with us. I know this is a shocking statement but disappointment only happens when the humans don't do what we expect them to do. How ridiculous is it to think that God would expect us to do something other than what He, the ALL KNOWING God, already knows we are going to do? We CANNOT let Him down. We CANNOT disappoint Him. Selah.
He also NEVER gives up!
1 Corinthians 13:4-8
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails.
NIV
Since God IS love we can also read it this way:
God is patient, He is kind. He does not envy, He does not boast, He is not proud. He is not rude, He is not self-seeking, He is not easily angered, He keeps no record of wrongs. God does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. He always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
God never fails.
SELAH!!!
God is so good that He is better than you think! So change the way you think! That is what repentance means.
Think about it.
-Justin
