There Must Be a Way to Sing You a Greater Song [1]
“God in my living, There in my breathing, God in my waking, God in my sleeping, God in my resting, There in my working, God in my thinking, God in my speaking… Be my everything” [2]
1 Cor 10:31 says, "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”
Leviticus is a book filled with rules, rules and more rules… rules about where to offer sacrifices, when to celebrate feasts, redeeming property, owning slaves, making vows, and on and on. However, one thing is central to all the rules: acknowledging God. The people of God are to acknowledge God in everything they say and do.
In Leviticus 20:24b-26, God says, “I am the Lord your God, who has separated you from the peoples… You shall be holy to me, for I the Lord am holy and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be mine.”
As the people of God, there is nothing that we say or do that does not have spiritual impact. By our every action we are choosing to acknowledge God, honor and follow Him or we are choosing self will and to turn away from Him.
It is not enough for us to go to church on Sunday, do some religious activities, and try not to swear – God wants everything. He wants every area of our lives to be fully lived for Him. In turn for everything, He offers us abundant life in Him.
We are His people and we are to be holy as He is holy. So what does this really look like?
I used to think that my focus and attention should be on being holy by getting all the actions right. If I just followed all the rules according to God’s laws I was doing well and if I failed to get one of the rules just right, I was sinning. However, it really is not about the rules themselves but about one’s heart towards God. It is really about is loving God, honoring Him, and living for Him.
Under the law we are in bondage but living for God we have complete freedom. “I’m free to live, free to give, free to be, free to love you… my chains fell off my heart was free… I’m alive to live with You… You gave everything for me, now I give everything for you” sings. [3]
What I realize is that all my actions speak to God. They are either saying yes or no to His Lordship in my life. When I trust Him and obey Him, I am saying yes to Him. It is a form of prayer that invites Him near. But when I shrink back, avoid suffering or follow something that is not His will, I am not only saying no to my circumstances but I am saying no to His Lordship in my life.
Filling my life with religious activities to try to appease God or people is not the same as obedience. Self is at the center rather than God. When I become busy in religious activities rather than embracing His will, it also is a form a prayer that says no to His Lordship in my life.
I had the opportunity to read a book today called “Chasing Francis” by Ian Morgan Cron. While I rarely ever read fiction, I couldn’t put the book down once I started it. It is an incredible story of a pastor who had a faith crisis. In the midst of his crisis, he developed a thirst for a more authentic relationship with God which led Him on a spiritual journey resulting in a completely different way of doing Christianity. As with David in Psalm 42, Chase, the main character, cried out in thirst for the living God and found as deep called to deep, all the religious stuff fell away and God was at the center of his life in a new and authentic way.
I could barely choke back the tears as I read the book. It left me longing and thirsting for more of a genuine authentic relationship with God in my own life –not meaningless words or actions designed to appease God or others. It left me wondering, how do I really “be holy”? What does an authentic Christian walk without all the religious stuff look like for me?
So often I have tried to play the part of a Christian -getting all the actions right, being “nice” to people, and doing all the things I am supposed to do. But am I really living a genuine faith?
My face turned a little pale as I read the part in the book where Chase discovered that Christianity was about story and not black and white theology. He discovered that each of us is a part of the story and that hiding one’s story is like hiding one’s talent in the ground rather than using it to earn interest.
It has been much more comfortable for me to “be holy” by getting all the actions right rather than by sharing my story. Until a year or two ago (okay I still fall into thinking this), I had thought that it was my getting all the actions right that would draw people to Christ rather than my story of all my failures and weaknesses and how I found God in the midst of everything I have faced. To be honest, moving towards sharing my story with others has been incredibly hard and humbling for me.
God is amazing and He is worthy of so much more than I offer Him.
Lord, nothing I have to offer You is worthy of You. I desire to bring You so much more than I do. Please forgive me for falling short. I long to have a more authentic walk with You. Free me from religion and show me how to live in genuine faith.
[1] A Greater Song by Matt Redman
[2] Everything by Tim Houghes
[3] Holding Nothing Back by Tim Houghes and Martin Smith
1 Cor 10:31 says, "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”
Leviticus is a book filled with rules, rules and more rules… rules about where to offer sacrifices, when to celebrate feasts, redeeming property, owning slaves, making vows, and on and on. However, one thing is central to all the rules: acknowledging God. The people of God are to acknowledge God in everything they say and do.
In Leviticus 20:24b-26, God says, “I am the Lord your God, who has separated you from the peoples… You shall be holy to me, for I the Lord am holy and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be mine.”
As the people of God, there is nothing that we say or do that does not have spiritual impact. By our every action we are choosing to acknowledge God, honor and follow Him or we are choosing self will and to turn away from Him.
It is not enough for us to go to church on Sunday, do some religious activities, and try not to swear – God wants everything. He wants every area of our lives to be fully lived for Him. In turn for everything, He offers us abundant life in Him.
We are His people and we are to be holy as He is holy. So what does this really look like?
I used to think that my focus and attention should be on being holy by getting all the actions right. If I just followed all the rules according to God’s laws I was doing well and if I failed to get one of the rules just right, I was sinning. However, it really is not about the rules themselves but about one’s heart towards God. It is really about is loving God, honoring Him, and living for Him.
Under the law we are in bondage but living for God we have complete freedom. “I’m free to live, free to give, free to be, free to love you… my chains fell off my heart was free… I’m alive to live with You… You gave everything for me, now I give everything for you” sings. [3]
What I realize is that all my actions speak to God. They are either saying yes or no to His Lordship in my life. When I trust Him and obey Him, I am saying yes to Him. It is a form of prayer that invites Him near. But when I shrink back, avoid suffering or follow something that is not His will, I am not only saying no to my circumstances but I am saying no to His Lordship in my life.
Filling my life with religious activities to try to appease God or people is not the same as obedience. Self is at the center rather than God. When I become busy in religious activities rather than embracing His will, it also is a form a prayer that says no to His Lordship in my life.
I had the opportunity to read a book today called “Chasing Francis” by Ian Morgan Cron. While I rarely ever read fiction, I couldn’t put the book down once I started it. It is an incredible story of a pastor who had a faith crisis. In the midst of his crisis, he developed a thirst for a more authentic relationship with God which led Him on a spiritual journey resulting in a completely different way of doing Christianity. As with David in Psalm 42, Chase, the main character, cried out in thirst for the living God and found as deep called to deep, all the religious stuff fell away and God was at the center of his life in a new and authentic way.
I could barely choke back the tears as I read the book. It left me longing and thirsting for more of a genuine authentic relationship with God in my own life –not meaningless words or actions designed to appease God or others. It left me wondering, how do I really “be holy”? What does an authentic Christian walk without all the religious stuff look like for me?
So often I have tried to play the part of a Christian -getting all the actions right, being “nice” to people, and doing all the things I am supposed to do. But am I really living a genuine faith?
My face turned a little pale as I read the part in the book where Chase discovered that Christianity was about story and not black and white theology. He discovered that each of us is a part of the story and that hiding one’s story is like hiding one’s talent in the ground rather than using it to earn interest.
It has been much more comfortable for me to “be holy” by getting all the actions right rather than by sharing my story. Until a year or two ago (okay I still fall into thinking this), I had thought that it was my getting all the actions right that would draw people to Christ rather than my story of all my failures and weaknesses and how I found God in the midst of everything I have faced. To be honest, moving towards sharing my story with others has been incredibly hard and humbling for me.
God is amazing and He is worthy of so much more than I offer Him.
Lord, nothing I have to offer You is worthy of You. I desire to bring You so much more than I do. Please forgive me for falling short. I long to have a more authentic walk with You. Free me from religion and show me how to live in genuine faith.
[1] A Greater Song by Matt Redman
[2] Everything by Tim Houghes
[3] Holding Nothing Back by Tim Houghes and Martin Smith
Comments