Just You

What can you give God? What is something you have that He doesn’t? You can’t give Him stuff; He created everything. He can make whatever He wants. You can’t give Him money; He owns that too. We can’t work hard enough; He can do it Himself. So what can we give Him?
You can give Him yourself. He wants you.

In the parable of the prodigal son, the father waited for the son’s return. He watched for his son, waiting hopefully. When the son returned, the father was overjoyed and joyfully welcomed the son back home.

God is always overjoyed when He has us. He rejoices when He has you. He just wants you. When the prodigal son returned, he didn’t have any money, or cloths, or anything of value. The father didn’t care; all he wanted was his son.

God doesn’t want your money or your stuff; He just wants you. You are His child, and He is longing to be with you. He doesn’t care if you don’t have anything else to give Him, or if you’re dirty; He just wants you.

The More I learn

The more I learn about God, the more I see how perfect He is. The more I see how perfect He is, the more I see how sinful I really am. The more I see how sinful I am, the more I see how much I desperately need His grace.

Sweet lie #1: All you need is love

You’ve probably seen this one in a romance movie. Girl is broken and unfilled. Boy is broken and unfilled. They meet, and suddenly everything is perfect. They’re life is fulfilled, their broken heart fixed. Everything is perfect! They are never broken or wanting again.

If only…

This lie states that human love is the answer to all life’s problems. This is a lie, but it’s close to the truth. The truth is that God’s love is the answer. It’s His love we need.

Human love is great, and we are called to love each other, but without the unfailing love of God in our life, we will found that human love is never enough. As my pastor likes to say, “It’s like pouring water through a grocery cart. Nothing sticks.”

Human love is not the answer to all life’s problems: God’s love is.

"But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved."
Ephesians 2:4-5

Simple

Christianity is simple. The Bible is simple. Sometimes, we think it’s too simple, and try to add rules and complicate the gospel: you have to pray this way, you have to worship that way, you have to serve this way, etc. That’s what the Pharisees did, right? They took the simple word of God and added their own rules. What does it mean to rest on the Sabbath? Can you cook? How far can you walk? We often like to add our own rules and definitions to God’s word.

When Jesus was asked what the greatest command was, his answer was simple: Love God with your all heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself. Simple right? You could take this one verse and lived by it for a year, and you could change a lot of lifes.

Simple doesn’t mean easy. ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’ is simple, but it’s not easy. Being told ‘dig a ditch that’s 1’ wide, 1’ deep, and a mile long’ is simple. Is it easy? No. That’s the beauty of God’s word: It is simple, yet not easy.

100 posts

Since I've started this blog, I have 100 posts (this is post #101.) It's a milestone worth noting. From videos to songs to Bible study to world views, it been a fun ride. Thanks to everyone who's been keeping up! So tell, which posts did you enjoy reading?

As we grow

"Every year you grow, you will find me bigger." --Aslan.

I love this quote from C.S. Lewis's Prince Caspian. Lewis does such a good job capturing the natural of God and Christianity. As our knowledge of life and God grow, the more we realize how big and powerful God is. The more we learn about God, the more we see we He is too big to understand Him fully.