The God Shaped Hole

My last blog post was about the human soul desperately searching for something, not knowing what we need to fill this desperate longing with something of this Earth. Ephesians chapter 4 says, “Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more.” It’s not addictions, material things, work, or any kind of human relationship. Ephesians chapter 4 says, “Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more.” Carolyn Moore says this longing, this search for something is like homesickness, that we were made for something we are trying to get back to. 

While at Bible Study yesterday talking with my small group, my friends again blessed me with some amazing insight. I quickly wrote down these three thoughts that they shared:

• We are created with this God shaped hole. We are made to want to look for God.
• Our souls thirsts for God.
• We don’t know what we don’t know….

Later, as we watched the video and I looked in the book to find the illustrations and tables being referred to, these two passages popped out at me from the pages of our book, As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God. Psalm 42. and Does your soul thirst for God?

Now get this! After Bible Study, my friend, Mary, gave me a water bottle that said, “… he that believeth on e shall never thirst.” John 6:35. What a wonderful God Thing!!! I just love it when He sends these little messages to meJ

When I got home yesterday the first thing I did was Google “God shaped hole.” I was expecting to find some more references and details about this concept. What I did not expect to find were images. As a very highly visual person, I was immediately drawn to these images, which then lead me to more information.

Inside each of us is a "God-shaped hole"--a place inside of our hearts that only God can fill. If we try to put anything else in there, it won't fit. It won't fill the need we have inside of our soul.

I learned that the concept is biblical: John 7:37-39 Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If any man is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. "He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, 'From his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water.'"  But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. NAS

The word "innermost being" is the Greek koilos, meaning hole or empty place. In John 7, Jesus is describing a spiritual empty place in the heart of man. This empty place is the source of thirst and the divine solution to this hunger/thirst is to fill it with living water from the Holy Spirit.

Unhealthy Wants

You know, you can find messages about God in so many rather unlikely places. Take song lyrics for example, I listened to one this morning after reading a lesson in our current Bible Study, Encounters of the Spirit. This song, “Sin For a Sin” by country music singer Miranda Lambert, had a line that just captured my attention.  Initially, the song is about a cheatin’ man, but then this line just jumped out at me:

“Bad things come with consequence
What feels good, hurts in the end
Don’t want to think about that now”

This is EXACTLY what I read this morning! In 1 Corinthians 2:13-16, Carolyn Moore, the author, asks us to consider if all our wanting is for something Earth doesn’t have? She goes on to wonder “what if our addictions and our debt and our serial relationships are all about this yearning for God even when we don’t realize that’s what we’re after? What if the answer to our brokenness is God’s holiness?” Moore posits that we are not merely after a mental idea of God, but a relationship. She likens it to homesickness, explaining that we were made for something we are trying to get back to.  Ephesians 4:19 says, “Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more.”

I am getting a lot out of this book, but this particular message resonated with me. It was like a big aha moment.

Just for fun, you might like to listen to Miranda Lambert’s song. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WlvUmYGLdgM

Some additional lyrics from this song read:
Bible told me to forget
All those who trespass against  
 
Fire and brimstone
Dirt and a headstone
Bury them, baby
Along with your sins
Hear the thunder
Six feet under
Hit your knees
Wont do it again

False Prophets

While reading and watching the news this past week, I found myself repeatedly thinking of God. How very heartbroken he must be at how we treat one another. So much of the torment in the world today is because of religion. People don't agree and they fight over their beliefs, who should be ruling and what land countries should possess etc. I also recalled what the Bible says about false prophets, and what I learned in a recent Bible study on world religions.

False prophets are very real, and often disguised as religions, even Christian religions. In 1 John 4:2-3 we are told how to test the spirits. “This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.”

We shouldn’t believe everything we hear just because someone says it is a message inspired by God. There are many ways to test teachers and even entire religions to see if their message is truly from the Lord:

• check to see if their words match what God says in the Bible
• their commitment to other Christians, which we call the body of believers
• their life-style
• the fruit of their ministry
• But the most important test of all, says John, is what they believe about Christ. Do they teach that Jesus is fully God and fully man?

False teachers are popular with the world because, like the false prophets of the Old Testament, they tell people what they want to hear. John 3 tells us that Christians who faithfully teach God’s Word will not win any popularity contests in the world. People don’t want to hear their sins condemned. Nor do they want to listen to demands that they change their behavior. A false teacher will be well received by non-Christians.

Some people believe everything they read or hear. Sadly, many ideas printed and taught are simply not true. We must verify every message we hear, even if the person who brings it says it’s from God. If the message is truly from God, it will be consistent with Christ’s teachings. This is one reason why reading and studying the Bible is so important. No matter how much we learn, we must never forget or ignore the basic truths about Christ. Jesus will always be God's Son, and his sacrifice for our sins is permanent. No truth will ever contradict these teachings in the Bible. No matter how much we learn, we must never abandon the basic truths about Christ. Jesus will always be God’s Son, and his sacrifice for our sins is permanent. No truth will ever contradict these teachings in the Bible.

In warning against antichrists John has this to say: Dear Children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. Who is the liar? It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a man is the antichrist – he denies the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also. 1 John 2: 18, 22-23

John is talking about the time between Christ’s first and second comings. During this time, antichrists (false teachers who pretend to be Christians and who lure weak members away from Christ) will appear. Then, just before the world ends, one great antichrist will arise.

However, we don’t need to fear these evil people. The Holy Spirit shows us their errors, so we will not be deceived. We must share and teach God’s Word clearly and carefully to those in the margins, weak members among us so that they won’t fall victim to people who “come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.” (Matthew 7:15)

Our culture is high on politically correctness right now. Psychologists call this movement social engineering. We are constantly told to embrace all religions and that they all have value and are good. Unfortunately, this is simply not true. The reason we must be aware of the false prophets is so we don’t follow any of their ideas. We must approach one another with love and kindness, but we are not to be gullible either. We do not have to agree with others in order to treat them with kindness and respect.

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Wikipedia has this to say about social engineering: “Social Engineering is a discipline in social science that refers to efforts to influence popular attitudes and social behaviors on a large scale, whether by governments, media or private groups. Social Engineering can also be understood philosophically as a deterministic phenomenon. A social engineer is one who tries to influence popular attitudes, social behaviors, and resource management on a large scale. Social engineering is the application of the scientific method for social concern.”

 

Understanding the Gift of the Holy Spirit

The book of Acts tells of the early Christians and that as God's people, they shared the gospel in the power of the Holy Spirit. The Bible tells us of a gift from God that unleashes the power and wisdom of His kingdom, providing everything we need for life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3). The Spirit's coming upon believers was so dramatic that onlookers "...were all amazed and marveled..." (Acts 2:7)

Does the world marvel at Christians today? Much of what happens in the church today is mainly a reflection of the values and the reasoning of the surrounding culture, rather than a clear demonstration God's power. Why is this? What happened since the time of the first century Christians?

For many Christians, when we attempt to discover our part in the work of God's kingdom, the question we ask ourselves is kind of self-centered. "What can I do for God?" Perhaps we should be asking a more God-centered question: "What does God want to do through me? What is His specific assignment for me? If we can make that subtle shift in thinking and experience the true giftedness of the Holy Spirit that follows from it, we will have dramatic results in our lives. Because what we'll witness will be God's power to transform lives, not just our own ability to help people in need.

Did you ever wonder why today's church has so little impact? Why there are so many frustrated Christians? In a world desparately needing what we claim to have, why do so many believers seem to be powerless?

One reason is that Christians are seeking gifts of the Holy Spirit and not the Holy Spirit Himself. They want power instead of a relationship with the One whose presence gives that power. Christians want to do great things for God, but perhaps they haven't understood that greatness in the kingdom of God comes out of a relationship with Christ and being filled with the Holy Spirit. People in today's society have become so enchanted with SELF that we have no idea what is on God's heart.

If we seek the gifts of the Spirit and not the Holy Spirit Himself, we'll always focus on SELF. We need to understand that there are no gifts apart from an intimate relationship with the Spirit.

There are several popular books out on spiritual gifts and many online tests to take to help you identify yours. What these books often leave out is the fact that if you do not have a close relationship with God, if you have not received the Holy Spirit, you do not have a spiritual gift.

The Bible and Spiritual Gifts

In Spirit Gifts the gift is called…	Romans 12:3-8	1 Corinthians 12:4-11	1 Corinthians 12:27-31	Ephesians 4:7-16
Prophecy	prophecy	prophecy	prophets	prophets
Pastoring	ministry			pastors
Teaching	teacher		teachers	teachers
Encouragement	exhorter
Giving	giver
Compassion	compassionate
Wisdom		wisdom
Knowledge		knowledge
Faith		faith
Healing		healing
Miracles		miracles	power/miracles
Discernment		discernment
Tounges		tongues	tongues
Interpretation		interpretation	interpret
Apostleship			apostles	apostles
Assisting			assistance
Leadership	leader		leadership
Evangelism				evangelists

The Holy Spirit

• The wind and the Spirit of God are a lot alike. Both Greek and Hebrew use one word for both meanings.                                                                                                                                   spirit Greek: pneuma                     Hebrew: ruach (roo akh)
  wind  Greek: pneuma                     Hebrew: ruach

• Live a supernatural life under supernatural guidance. Be blown by God’s Spirit. He blows whenever He pleases and takes us where the world cannot go. “The Wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you n tell when it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” John 3:8

• The Spirit’s touch is intensely personal. The Spirit speaks through the thoughtful and loving interaction of God’s people.

• The fruit of the Spirit and Spiritual gifts are not of our own achievement. They and others are the outgrowth of the Spirit’s work in us, by grace, through our faith in Jesus the Christ and they are not given for personal gain. Through these fruits and gifts, the Holy Spirit empowers us for ministry in the word.

According to a study conducted by the Barna Group, about 40 percent of American Christians believe the devil ‘Is not a living being but is a symbol of evil.” Another 20 percent are less convinced, but leaning in that direction. However, about half of those also believe a person can be under the influence of spiritual forces such as demons.

About 60 percent of Christians believe the Holy Spirit is merely “a symbol of God’s power or presence but is not a living entity.” On the other hand, about half of these same people also believe the Bible is completely accurate in all its claims and yet the Bible is saturated in Holy Spirit language!

The same percentage of people who do not believe the Holy Spirit is an actual being are actually more likely to believe in ghosts. In fact, the percentage of those who believe in ghosts is three times higher than it was twenty ago.

My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge... Hosea 4:6

Three good articles on the Holy Spirit:
"Who Or What is the Holy Spirit," Christian Apologetics & Research Ministry

"What Does The Holy Spirit Do?" Christianity Today

"Our Christian Roots: The Holy Spirit," The United Methodist Church

The Barna Group is a research and resource company, widely considered to be a leading research organization focused on the intersection of faith and culture. The Barna Group offers customized research, resources and training to serve churches, non-profits, businesses and leaders.

True Balance Begins With Christ

Too much of even a good thing can throw us off balance in life. Look at what has happened to many people who have achieved great wealth or fame. It throws them off balance. I recently read about Jordy Nelson, a wide receiver for the Green Bay Packers. He signed a 39 million dollar contract with the Packers, but he still works on his family farm during the off season. He puts in 12 hour days on the farm, which shows he is trying to maintain balance in his life, rather than letting fame and fortune throw him off balance.

I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves. Matthew 10:16. Chris Tiegreen, in At His Feet, explains that the opposition from the Pharisees was like the ravaging wolves. The disciples looked to their Shepherd for protection. “Today, we face similar hostility, and like the disciples we are not to be sheeplike in our attitude, but prudent and sensible. We are not to be gullible pawns, but we are not to be deceitful connivers either. We must find a balance between wisdom and vulnerability to accomplish God’s work.”

I’ve posted this Irish blessing before, but as I think about the balance needed in life, I think it bears repeating. This blessing is a good reflection of God’s character, and his hopes for us.

This blessing is all about balance, asking for just enough, not more, just enough.

Enough happiness to keep you sweet with enough trials to keep you strong.

Enough sorrow to keep you human with enough hope to keep you happy.

Enough failure to keep you humble, with enough success to keep you eager.

Enough wealth to meet your needs, not more, just enough.

An Irish Blessing

May your joys be as bright as the morning,

and your sorrows merely be shadows that fade in the sunlight of love.

May you have enough happiness to keep you sweet,

enough trials to keep you strong,

enough sorrow to keep you human,

enough hope to keep you happy,

enough failure to keep you humble,

enough success to keep you eager,

enough friends to give you comfort,

enough faith and courage in yourself to banish sadness,

enough wealth to meet your needs and one thing more;

enough determination to make each day a more wonderful day than the one before.

Humble Flowers of God's Garden

 When I was a little girl, I thought dandelions were so pretty. I’d often pick them for my Mom. She’d put them in a vase and give me a hug. Eventually she told me that dandelions were weeds. I remember thinking they are such pretty little flowers, how can they be weeds? I graduated to picking fistfuls of wild violets that grew along the roadside of our Indiana farm.

This morning, while walking with my dog, I spotted a dandelion, face up toward the sun and thought how cheerful it was. Then I thought of Jesus and how he did not chose to hang out with the hybrid, the fancy, the first class. He chose from among the common, tax collectors and ordinary fishermen. They grew an extensive root system of faith. They were hardy, they didn’t readily fall victim to the diseases of sin in society. Like the dandelion, they were useful. The dandelion has an ingenious method of seed dispersal. So too, did the disciples. The wind of the Holy Spirit blew them across the world to preach the gospel and they survived intense hardships. Like the dandelion, they had a cheerful countenance, faces lifted toward the heavens.

We should all endeavor to be more like the dandelion, with cheerful dispositions, readily dispersing seeds of faith all while being useful plants:

• Dandelion root has been used in traditional herbal medicine for hundreds of years.
• Dandelion leaves can be harvested and eaten as an addition to a green salad.
• Dandelion leaves can also be steamed or added to a stir-fry or soup.
• The flowers are sweet and crunchy, and can be eaten raw, or breaded and fried.
• Dandelion flowers can also be used to make dandelion wine.
• The root of the dandelion can be dried and roasted and used as a coffee substitute, or added to any recipe that calls for root vegetables.

This humble “weed” is actually quite a useful plant that doesn’t require expensive soils or fertilizers to grow. We only need faith in Jesus to save us and God’s Word to help us grow into useful plants in God’s garden.

Without Light We Can Not See Clearly

"You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men. "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.  Matthew 5:13-16

Matthew 5:13 tells us that if seasoning has no flavor, it has lost its value. If Christians don’t make an effort to affect the world around them, they are of little value to God. We are worthless if we are too much like the world. Christians should not blend in with everyone else, we need to affect others positively by letting our light shine. If the Holy Spirit lives within us, we want others to see what Christ is like by our words and our actions – by showing our light. We hide our light by going along with the crowd, by being quiet when we should speak and by not explaining our light to others.

In this day, it is most important that we speak openly about being a Christian. In his response to Justice Kennedy’s recent opinion on same sex marriage, Justice Samuel Alito said, “people can whisper their thoughts in the recesses of their homes, but if they repeat those views in public, they risk being labeled as bigots and treated as such by governments, employers, and schools.”

"Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.”        Matthew 5:11

 

Many people today talk about how the Church is “in exile” and “at the margins.” We are being pushed to maintain our beliefs as long as we don’t carry them with us in public. But we have a higher authority in Christ who said, “You are the light of the world.” Our lights can not shine if they are hidden under a bowl. God has not given us a light to be hidden or a spirit of fear. God has given us the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16). We need not apologize for offering the light of Christ to this dark world. However, we do owe our most profound contrition to God if we do not show our light by sharing the gospel. We must not be timid in this. The secular world takes offense at the gospel, but we must not be intimidated by this world.

Instead of praying for our personal situation to improve, we need to pray for God to help us be the lights he wants us to be.

When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."      John 8:12

Christianity and the Supreme Court

Tolerant: showing willingness to allow the existence of opinions or behaviors that one does not necessarily agree with.

Jesus said the greatest commandments were to love God with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your mind, and to love your neighbor as yourself. I can treat others with kindness and respect and love them without agreeing with everything they do or believe. I can love my neighbors without sacrificing my beliefs. I can love them and be tolerant of them without agreeing with them. 

6 Little Stories

I received this in an email this morning and thought it was sooo precious! It reminded the sender of our Bible Study lesson last week.

Once some villagers decided to pray for rain, on the day of prayer all the people gathered but only one boy came with an umbrella.
 That's FAITH

When you throw a baby in the air, she laughs because she knows you will catch her. 

That's TRUST

Every night we go to bed, without any assurance of being alive the next morning but still we set the alarms to wake up.
 That's HOPE

We plan big things for tomorrow in spite of zero knowledge of the future.
That's CONFIDENCE

We see the world suffering, but still we get married.  That's LOVE

On an Old Man's shirt was written a cute sentence, 'I Am Not 72 Years Old…  I Am Still 16 with 56 years' Experience.'

That's ATTITUDE

 Do you live your life like the above 6 stories?

Thanks FBI Barb! 

Pretty On The Inside

My Grandma was quite fond of telling me, "It's pretty on the inside that counts."  Grandma Witt and I were very close when I was little. I was lucky enough to have her in my life until I was 13. I'm the youngest child of a youngest child, so Grandma was 67 years young when I was born. She was truly an inspiration, and the most Christ-like woman I've ever known, and that is saying a lot because I've been blessed to have many, many wonderful Christ-like women in my life.

This saying has been on my mind quite a bit lately, as I think of how obsessed our society is with physical appearance. Youth and beauty are exalted far beyond and above the place they should take in our lives. A supermarket tabloid proclaimed last week that a plus-sized supermodel was bullied as a teen, and Facebook adds shout to visit a website to see kids who grew up to be ugly adults, and botched face lifts on those who try to conquer father time and reclaim their lost outward beauty. Think about it, aging can actually improve our inner beauty.

According to InStyle Magazine, the average woman spends $15,000 on cosmetics during her lifetime! That's a lot of money and cosmetics only cover outward flaws!! Shouldn't we be much more concerned with our inward flaws?  What's on the inside is what matters to God. I'm not saying we should let ourselves go all natural and be totally unconcerned with our appearance, but wow! $15,000 is a lot of money, that could feed a lot of people in a third world country. I'm saying we should be more concerned with non-cosmetic changes, with what's on the inside.

1 Peter 3:3-4
Do not adorn yourselves outwardly by braiding your hair, and by wearing gold ornaments or fine clothing: rather, let your adornment be the inner self with the lasting beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in God's sight.

1 Timothy 4:8

For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.

Proverbs 31:30
Charm is deceptive, and beauty does not last; but a woman who fears the LORD will be greatly praised.

I took a shower, I have clean hair and clothes that look nice. I think I will go without make up today. Of course, I'm only going to the Post Office...

My Guest Writer for today is Judy Phillips

I love gardening, or at least my raised bed vegetable gardens. Just being in the garden is a place of relaxation and joy. Every morning I walk and check everything to see if anything got "attacked" overnight by bugs, deer, or other varmints. After an inspection I make a plan for what to do that day. Again at night Gary and I walk by and check and comment on what's going on. Everyday there is something to do. One day it might be weeding or thinning or transplanting. Another might be pruning or staking.

Some days are fertilizing and spraying. Every single day the plants must have water and of course, sunshine. Vegetable plants will not grow without plenty of sun.

There are a lot of daily things to do in a garden. Skipping a day can cause problems, but definitely skipping a number of days will mean less vegetables to enjoy. It's very much the same way with our spiritual lives. Just as We must plant in good soil to develop strong plants and root systems, so must we have willing hearts and minds to receive God's love and let it grow. Prayer and the word, fellowship with other Christians, and giving of our time, talents and money is the fertilizer, water, and sunshine to have our relationship with God flourish. And, the vegetables we harvest are the love and experiences with the Lord that we share with others. Nothing that I buy at the store is as good as what I go pick directly from my garden. There is no substitute. That is exactly the same as the relationship we have with the Lord. There is no substitute for His love and salvation.

As we enjoy our Garden Get Away I hope we will let the Lord grow his Garden of His fruits in our lives.