John 15:4 - Spend time with God or DIE

Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me.

Sorry for the dramatic opening, but I was listening to a podcast by Joyce Meyer this morning called "The Benefits of Fellowshipping with God" (link here), and had a new revelation about this verse.

I don't know why, but I'd never before realised that this is talking about spending time with God (amongst other things). What other motivation do you need to spend time with God? As with the vine, if you don't spend time with God you will wither up and die. Become miserable and lifeless. And you won't produce fruit.

I don't know why I've never realised this before. Love how God can nail you with a verse you already know quite well.

Will definitely be spending time with God tonight...

Romans 8:28 - Playing chess with God

And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.

Hi all,

Just finished writing this email to a friend and thought I’d share with with the entire world by posting my thoughts gratuitously on the internet.

Most definitely will be coming to Discovery tonight and my week so far has been challenging but good. God is promoting growth in my life. I feel like I’m playing chess with God and he’s checkmating me into growth. Wherever I turn, no matter what moves I make, God is able to manoeuvre it into a growth-promoting exercise. Even if I’m too lazy to pursue it myself – isn’t that cool?

As much as I find that this verse gets over-used and clichéd, things feel so different when you're actually in it. And I think it's bigger than "Don't worry about this problem, good will come of it". It means that - for example - you'll download a podcast and find that God speaks to you even through that, at just the time you needed it. God is so cool.

1 Timothy 3:2 - The Bible's leadership standards test

2 For an elder must be a man whose life cannot be spoken against. He must be faithful to his wife. He must exhibit self-control, live wisely, and have a good reputation. He must enjoy having guests in his home and must be able to teach. 3 He must not be a heavy drinker or be violent. He must be gentle, peace loving, and not one who loves money. 4 He must manage his own family well, with children who respect and obey him. 5 For if a man cannot manage his own household, how can he take care of God's church? 6 An elder must not be a new Christian, because he might be proud of being chosen so soon, and the Devil will use that pride to make him fall. 7 Also, people outside the church must speak well of him so that he will not fall into the Devil's trap and be disgraced.

I think I can consider myself well and truly in a position of 'eldership' (read: leadership) within the church. In reading this, though, I realise that I don't fully live up to the Biblical Benchmark on Being a Big Cheese. So here's a running inventory:

1. ...whose life cannot be spoken against. Generally this is true. Hopefully from now on it will always be true. (Talk about an acid test).
   
2. Faithful to his wife. No problems here. She's my imaginary friend (cheaper that way).
   
3. Exhibit self-control. Pretty good in this department, maybe with the exception of my finances.
   
4. Live wisely. This is very subjective, but I do have a stable job, investment property and I have appropriate measures of accountability and growth in my life so maybe I can say yes to this one?
   
5. Have a good reputation. Pretty sure I'm okay here - apart from the small minority of women who think I'm a coffee whore (I do coffee with too many different women).
   
6. ...must enjoy having guests in his home. Love this, no problems.
   
7. Be able to teach. That's my full-time job.
   
8. He must not be a heavy drinker or be violent. Check and check.
   
9. He must be gentle, peace loving. If anything I'm too gentle.
   
10. ...not one who loves money. God's working on this in me.
    
11. He must manage his own family well, with children who respect and obey him. My children haven't complained so far.
    
12. ...must not be a new Christian. Definitely okay here.
    
13. People outside the church must speak well of him. I like this one. This is very important to me. I think it's a great test of someone's character - and it's very important. I really don't want to be perceived as yet another one-dimensional Christian with no personality or life. And I don't want to be known as a hypocrite who doesn't practice what they preach. Two very important things.

So that's me. If you think I've lied for any of the questions, you're welcome to make your point known of course. :)

Peace out.

1 Timothy 4:16 - Life & Doctrine

16 Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.

Credit for today's post goes to a dear friend, Dan Changer. Dan was mentioning how 1 Timothy 4:16 states how we should look our for both our life and our doctrine. In other words, we need not only to have our theological i's dotted and our doctrinal t's crossed, we also need to have our life together, so as to bring glory to Christ - and to live the lives we were meant to live.

Our lives should be radiant with the frangrance of God's love. One of the great things about Hillsong church is that is empowers people to life Christ-filled lives, not just to be able to recite comprehensive and cogent doctrinal statements. And I like that about our church.

No church is perfect, but I'm glad we focus on helping people live lives...