Michael Kelley's Blog, page 17

From “Woe as Me” to “I Belong Here”

What do we mean when we say God is “holy?” We are familiar with the word – we use it as an exclamation in phrases like, “Holy cow!” or “Holy moly!” or worse. So we use it frequently enough. We are familiar with the word; perhaps even too familiar. Perhaps we have become far too comfortable with a God who is holy.

The basic meaning of holy is one of separateness. Sacredness. Something that is not common or like other things. Now I don’t know if you’ve ever found yourself in a place where you clearly do not belong. Maybe it’s a fancy restaurant where you’re the only one wearing t-shirt and flip flops. Or maybe it’s in the middle of a very serious conversation you walked in on your parents having. Whatever the case, you get this sense all of a sudden that you are in a place that is too serious for you. And it’s uncomfortable. 

The holiness of God reminds us just how separate and sacred God is. He is not meant to be treated trivially, and those who do so do so at their own risk. This is part of what the prophet Isaiah discovered.

If you take a look at Isaiah 6, for example, you find that beginning to understand holiness is the beginning of learning about God. “Holy” is the cry that even now is ringing in the heavens to describe God. That’s what Isaiah encountered as he was taken up in a vision and saw the Lord:

“In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a high and lofty throne, and His robe filled the temple. Seraphim were standing above Him; each one has six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another:

‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts; His glory fills the whole earth’” (Isaiah 6:1-3).

By calling God “holy” three times, the seraphim were pointing to the absolutely essential and foundational nature of God’s holiness. They didn’t chant “loving, loving, loving” or even “glorious, glorious, glorious.” They opted for holy, and therefore we must recognize that to understand a bit of who God is we must start here with this characteristic.

To be “holy” is to be separate. Other. Apart. When we describe God as holy, the word sums up everything that makes God who He is and sets Him apart from us. Furthermore, because this is more than just a characteristic of God but rather a summation of all His characteristics, His holiness filters down into everything else we say about Him.

His love is a holy love. His justice is a holy justice. His wrath is a holy wrath. God’s holiness reminds us that God is completely and perfectly pure, without spot or blemish. That’s part of what John got at when He described God as light with no darkness in Him at all. He’s not partly light just as He’s not partly holy. God is wholly “other” than we are.

Finding himself in the throne of God, in His holy presence, Isaiah did not dance around. He didn’t have a party. He was undone:

The foundations of the doorways shook at the sound of their voices, and the temple was filled with smoke. Then I said: “Woe is me for I am ruined because I am a man of unclean lips, and because my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of Armies.”

Isaiah, the man of God, was terrified, and why? It’s because the holiness of God suddenly brought into focus his own uncleanness and sin. When you truly come into the presence of God, you know that you don’t belong there, just as Isaiah did. But in this moment of terror, of fear, from God’s prophet, we see a shadow of the gospel.

Isaiah could not clean himself up. He could not make himself holy and acceptable. He could do nothing about his condition. God would have to do something for him that he could not do for himself, and that’s exactly what we see happening:

Then one of the seraphim flew to me, and in his hand was a glowing coal that he had taken from the altar with tongs. He touched my mouth with it and said:

Now that this has touched your lips,
your iniquity is removed
and your sin is atoned for.

This is a shadow of the gospel. Isaiah should have been dead because he was sinful, and he had come into a place in which sin cannot be. But God took the initiative and made him clean. 

This is the only way by which you can be made clean. This is the only way you can stand before the throne of God. And for us, the coal from the altar is the cross of Jesus Christ. In the cross, Jesus is punished for your sin, and you are given credit for His sacrifice.

The gospel grants us glorious access to the presence of God. The dividing barrier of sin has been torn down by the cross, and as a result, the children of God are welcome into His presence. And as such, we should come – even boldly – into that presence. This is what the Bible tells us to do:

Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens—Jesus the Son of God—let us hold fast to our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every way as we are, yet without sin. Therefore, let us approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in time of need (Heb. 4:14-17).

Think of that for a moment. Because of the righteousness of Christ given to us, we can come – not timidly, not shakingly, not apprehensively – but boldly into God’s presence. We can come boldly because we know what we will find there. We will find compassion. Sympathy. Understanding. And mercy.

When it comes to the presence of God, the gospel moves us from “Woe is me!” to “I belong here.”

3 Life Implications if Christians Are to “Run the Race to Win the Prize”

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize… (1 Cor. 9:24).

This is one of the metaphors Paul used to describe the Christian life. He likened it to an athletic context – specifically a race. Paul wrote these words to the church in Corinth, and his readers would likely have had a pretty vivid picture of athletic contests.

Of course, the most famous games in ancient times were the Olympics, but between the Olympics there was another set of games held right there in Corinth. These contests were called the Isthmian Games, and Paul may have even seen them. So when he wrote to the Corinthians that the Christian life was like a race in which you compete, they would certainly have been familiar with the metaphor.

So if that’s true – that the Christian life is like a race – what are the implications for us today? There are at least three of them:

1. The Christian life is a journey.

A race is, fundamentally, a journey; it is forward motion from one point to the next. So the first and most basic implication of the metaphor for us is that the Christian life is also a journey. And though that journey will be filled with ups and downs, joys and pains, it is a journey with purpose and meaning.

Just like a race isn’t an aimless kind of walk, so also is our journey with Jesus. From the moment we believe in Jesus, God puts us on a journey of transformation. We are, day by day, moment by moment, being formed in the likeness of Christ. We are becoming like Him. And while that progress is painfully slow sometimes, we can look back over the course of our lives in Christ and say along with John Newton:

“I am not what I ought to be, I am not what I want to be, I am not what I hope to be in another world; but still I am not what I used to be, and by the grace of God I am what I am.”

We – all of us – are still in process. Still growing. Still changing. Still becoming holy. Because God has already made us His children and given us the righteousness of His Son, we are becoming what we have already become. This is our journey.

2. The Christian life is disciplined.

If the Christian life is like a race, then the second implication for us is that it is disciplined.

Despite what the training montages in the Rocky movies might lead you to believe, it’s hard work to be an athlete. It’s waking up at 4 am every morning and going to bed early every night. It’s having a plan for what you eat and how you spend your time. It’s about making sure that all the small choices in life all point to the one goal. That’s the metaphor Paul chose for growing in Christ – it’s an athletic contest, not a magic show where doves come flying out of a hat.

Paul continues to explain this in 1 Corinthians 9:

Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize (1 Cor. 9:26-27).

3. The Christian life has a goal.

If the Christian life is like a race, then a third implication for us is that there is a goal. Here’s how he put it in 1 Corinthians 9 again:

Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever (1 Cor. 9:25).

Back to the Isthmian Games, the prize for the winner was a wreath that was worn like a crown. But what is that goal?

In a world that is fixated on achievement and personal validation, the Christian doesn’t seek after a temporary acknowledgment of their greatness, but instead has the goal of a crown that will last forever. What we are after in this disciplined journey of life is to life faithfully to Jesus, doing what He has called us to do and being who He has called us to be. It is our goal to life in such a way that, having been changed by His grace, we are faithful stewards of what God has given to us and birthed in us. Our goal is to hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant,” just as the man did in Jesus’ story (Matt. 25:23).

Yes, life is a race. May we run it with all our might.

Wednesday Links

Four links to some things you might have missed, or at least ones that caught my attention this past week:

1. Gen Z’s Missionary Potential

Don’t sleep on this generation. Here is an encouraging article detailing some of the characteristics of Gen Z, and why they make good missionaries.

2. How Routine Awakens Devotion

This is a helpful treatment of how the spiritual disciplines actually serve to awaken passion, rather than restrict it.

3. Stop Filling Every Quiet Moment with Scrolling

This definitely happens at our house. It’s as if we all live with a terrible fear of not being entertained at a given moment.

4. The Science Behind Marvel’s Time Travel

Yes, there is some actual science. At least a little bit.

3 Reasons to Read the Bible First Thing in the Morning

God’s Word has never been more accessible. That’s not to say there aren’t cultures and languages who do not have access to the Bible; there certainly are, and we should be working to change that. It is to say, however, that the majority of us not only have a copy of the Bible in our homes (or several); we have one in our pocket that can be called up at a moment’s notice.

But perhaps with the accessibility of God’s Word comes a neglect of God’s Word. After all, if you’ve never had to pump your own water you’re not likely to appreciate the wonder of turning on a faucet and seeing it come out. Sadly, and despite how easy it is for us at least in North American to read the Bible, we do not. But we should.

And not only should we read God’s Word, but perhaps we should be reading it first thing in the morning. Now to be clear, there is not (at least that I can find) a scriptural mandate for early morning Bible reading. And there may well be life circumstances that prevent one from doing this. That not withstanding, there are certainly examples of Scripture that point to reading the Bible in the morning as a good and wise practice:

Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love,
    that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days (Ps. 90:14).Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love,
    for I have put my trust in you.
Show me the way I should go,
    for to you I entrust my life (Ps. 143:8).Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed (Mark 1:35).

In a perfect world, then, we would all make the time first thing in the morning to spend time in God’s Word, meditating and praying through what we find there. But that’s difficult. It’s hard. And it takes alot of discipline and effort to do so. Why is it worth it? Let me suggest three reasons:

1. To reorient our thinking.

Paul reminded us that we should not conform to the pattern of the world. Instead, we should:

…be transformed by the renewing of your mind (Rom. 12:2). 

To put it another way, we should not think about things in the way the world thinks about things. We should have a different view not only of God, but of our circumstances, our families, our work, our provision – everything. Christians must think differently. This is the work of discipleship – it’s not just knowing what to think about this issue or that, but knowing how to think about the whole of life.

In that sense, the Bible serves as a kind of mental marinade for us. We simmer in God’s truth, and as we do, we find our entire thought process being seasoned by that truth. Now of course, that simmering can and should happen at all points during the day. But immersing ourselves in the Bible first thing in the morning orients our thinking from the very beginning of the day. It helps us approach all the various challenges, joys, tasks, and everything else from the right orientation. This reorientation isn’t something that happens one time; rather, it happens every single day. Or at least it should.

2. To prepare for battle.

If you’re a Christian, then you are going to be in a fight today. It’s a fight for hope. For joy. For contentment. For holiness. And much of that battle will happen between our ears. Every day we have a choice about whether we recognize the fight that’s going to come, or rather we just allow it to come upon us unaware.

For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 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 (2 Cor. 10:3-5).

When we choose to read the Bible first thing in the morning we are doing more than just reading a few verses; we are recognizing the reality of the mental battle we are going to inevitably fight. And we are preparing ourselves with the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, so that we can indeed be ready for when that mental fight comes. Armed with God’s truth, we can actually fight thoughts of pride, greed, despair, loneliness, and all the rest.

3. To demonstrate priorities.

We know, of course, that reading the Bible ought to be one of our main priorities as Christians. It is the Word of God, given to us, and in it we have God’s revelation of Himself and subsequently the knowledge of what the world is and who we are in it. God’s Word is our treasure:

See how I love your precepts;
    preserve my life, Lord, in accordance with your love.
All your words are true;
    all your righteous laws are eternal.

Rulers persecute me without cause,
    but my heart trembles at your word.
I rejoice in your promise
    like one who finds great spoil (Ps. 119:159-162).

But it’s one thing to say this; it’s another thing to really mean it. And one of the ways we demonstrate the priority of God’s Word is making time for it. And not only making time for it, but making time for it first thing.

This is not just any book we have, friends. This is God’s book. His Word. His promises to us. One of the ways we demonstrate our belief in the nature of God’s Word is by reading it faithfully, and doing it first thing every day.

3 Questions to Ask When Trying to Find a Good Church

Finding a church is hard work. For many, it involves week after week of making visit after visit, scouring websites, and listening to multiple messages. Despite the difficulty, it’s good for us to take care when trying to find a church though. That’s because finding and committing yourself to a local congregation is incredibly important.

The word “church” is the Greek word ekkllesia which comes from the verb meaning “to call out.” Therefore, “church” is the New Testament designation for those who have been called out. Out of darkness into light. Out of sin into freedom. Out of death into life. The word only refers to a local institution secondarily; primarily, it’s a term that doesn’t specify a membership card or a locality, but rather a world-wide group that all people enter into when they start walking with Jesus. That means if you’re a Christian, you’re part of the church whether you like it or not.

The church is, by its nature, a people; it is the collective term for who we are as a group of Christians. The church is our identity as well as a group we participate in. This helps answer the question of whether or not the church is optional for the Christian – the answer, of course, is no, because to abandon the church is to abandon ourselves. Active participation in the local expression of the church is assumed for the writers of the New Testament because leaving that local expression was, I believe, equivalent to leaving the faith.

So how can you find a good church? Here are three questions to ask:

1. Can I be protected here?

The New Testament is full of warnings about false teaching, for even in those early days of the church there were offshoots of Christianity that were growing. In fact, much of the New Testament writing was aimed at keeping the doctrine of the church pure. Here, for example, is what Peter wrote:

Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure position (2 Peter 3:17).

The presence of false teaching and distorted doctrine means that when looking for a church, we should be very careful to ask not only what this church claims to believe, but what the focus of the teaching is on a weekly basis. Is it the Bible, or is it something else? Having the answer to that question means knowing whether a church is safe or not for us to be a part of.

2. Can I grow here?

One of the reasons why we should commit ourselves to a local church is so that the faith community can help us grow in our faith. Here’s what Paul said about the church in Rome:

I myself am convinced, my brothers and sisters, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with knowledge and competent to instruct one another (Rom. 15:14).

This is what happens in the church – we help each other grow. We remind each other of what’s true, correct each other when we stray, and uphold each other when the going gets difficult. And in all these things, we are helping each other grow toward God’s will for us all, which is to be like Jesus.

When we are looking for a church, then, it’s a good and right thing for us to ask if this particular place is a church where we can actually grow in Christ.

3. Can I serve here?

Even though we should ask whether this particular church can help us grow, we must be careful not to take a consumerist mentality to the church. We must remember that we aren’t only meant to receive from the church; we are meant to give. This is why we have each been given spiritual gifts – it’s in order to help build up other people inside of Christ’s body. We are meant to contribute – to help each other – so that we can all, together, reach maturity in Jesus.

There is a reason why our weekly meetings are called “worship services” – it’s because we are meant to serve. Indeed, without us, the church really is incomplete. Each of us has been reborn to play a vital and varying role in the church, and if we aren’t in attendance, then that contribution is also absent.

So when we are looking for a church, we must also consider if this is a place where we can really make a contribution and serve.

Yes, finding a church is hard work, and it’s supposed to be. That’s because joining a church is one of the most important decisions we can make. So let’s be sure we are asking the right questions when it comes to a decision of this magnitude.

—

This post originally appeared at thinke.org. 

Wednesday Links

Four links to some things you might have missed, or at least ones that caught my attention this past week:

1. Don’t Think About Elephants

Here is a simple illustration, but a powerful principle in dealing with anxiety.

2. The Judgment of Getting What We Want

This is the Romans 1 dynamic. Sometimes when we push and push for sin, God will simply give it to us.

3. CS Lewis and Caring for Doubters

Lewis came to understand that no one is immune to doubt. Here is a helpful article on walking with someone through such a season.

4. Sean Connery’s Conditions for Playing Bond

I like the confidence.

Everything is Moving Toward One Thing

My father is a statistician. He has taught statistics at the university level for upwards of 30 years, in addition to doing statistical analysis for the university at large. I know this not only because, well, he’s my dad, but also because I took three classes from him when I was a college student.

Three.

In statistics.

In this confessional moment, though, I must acknowledge that I don’t remember a ton from those days. But one thing that has stuck with me is that in statistical analysis, you want to be careful in paying too much attention to individual data points. Instead, you want to have enough of those individual data points in order to see not what they represent individually, but to see the overall trend line they are forming.

The market has had ups and downs; indeed, that happens every single day. But most investors know that the key to successful investing is consistency. That’s because despite the relative ups and downs during a given season, there is a long trend line of upward growth in the market. That’s the difference – a data point is just that. It’s a short-sighted, small range view. But the trend line – that’s where the truth really lies. It shows you, over a longer period of time, the overall arc of where the data is headed.

I bring this up today because I think the same statistical principle applies in other areas of life that applies in the stock market. The question, then, isn’t so much about the individual data point. It’s more about the trend line. And the Bible has something to say about that. Specifically, it says this:

Everything is moving toward one thing.

Here’s the way Paul points that out in Ephesians 1:7-10:

We have redemption in Him through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace that He lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure that He planned in Him for the administration of the days of fulfillment-to bring everything together in the Messiah, both things in heaven and things on earth in Him.

Everything is moving toward one thing. God is bringing all things together that Jesus Christ might be prized and worshiped above all. Everything is moving toward one thing.

Wait a minute, you might say. I look around every single day and I see little evidence of that fact. Instead, I see sickness and pain. I see rebellion and mocking. In fact, the one thing I don’t see is the world being brought to the realization of the greatness of Jesus.

But remember the data points. Remember the trend line. Remember that God is not bound by the shackles of time. And remember that He is in it for the long term.

Remember that for centuries God had in His heart the coming of His Son. Remember that He slowly revealed pieces of His plan through the law and prophets. Remember that even when Jesus came, people drastically misunderstood.

He is a trend line God. And because He is, we can by His grace be a trend line people. When we are a trend line people, we recognize the difference between the overall arc of the universe and an isolated event in time. And by faith, we can recognize the gravity of a single situation and yet remain calm and faithful in the midst of it. We can rest assured that God is bending history for His own ends.

We can sleep tonight knowing that everything is moving toward one thing. And it will eventually get there.

Faith Adjusts Around the Provision… Not the Other Way Around

“I’m hungry.”

Anyone who has raised teenagers knows those two words all too well. It’s a near constant refrain between the ages of 12 and 18, and probably continues after that as well, except you might not hear it as often if your children head to college. And I get it – I was a teenager once too, with that same unstoppable freight train of metabolism, that allowed me to eat a dinner on the way home from baseball practice and then sit down for second dinner when I walked in the door.

As a parent, though, I am now able to see beyond those two words, because there is a definite subtext. If you don’t believe it, then try this little experiment and see how it goes:

Teenager: “I’m hungry.”

Parent: “There are raw carrots in the refrigerator.”

Teenager: (Silence, contemplating next move. Then sulks away.)

It’s telling, isn’t it? Yes, I believe the teenager is hungry. But I also believe that, whether that teenager knows it or not, they had something different in mind to ease that hunger than carrots. To put it another way, there was a need, a need expressed, a provision given, and a provision rejected. It was rejected because it was not the preferred kind of provision.

As parents, we might be frustrated at this reality, but we should also be familiar with it. That’s because we tend to do the same thing with our Heavenly Father all the time. The pattern starts out the same – with a need. It could be financial, relational, emotional, or something in between, and we do the right thing with it. We bring that need to our Father and express it to Him in prayer. Then we wait for His response.

We are right to do this. God is a good Father who knows our needs before we even express them. Not only so, He delights in providing for us. Though the Bible speaks of this provision in many places, one of the most simple and beautiful is in Philippians 4:19:

“And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”

And He does supply all our needs. God provides. But we are like the Israelites of old, who were also hungry. And God miraculously provided everything they needed to meet that hunger – quail for meat, and the miraculous bread from heaven on a daily basis. But the provision provided was not the provision preferred:

The rabble with them began to crave other food, and again the Israelites started wailing and said, “If only we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost—also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic. But now we have lost our appetite; we never see anything but this manna!” (Num 11:4-6).

We need money, but we don’t like the job provided. We need companionship but we don’t like the relationships in front of us. We need food, but we don’t like the carrots… or the manna. Oh God provides, but He often does not provide in the way we would prefer Him to do so.

So what do we do with our stubborn, hungry hearts? We choose the pathway of faith.

Faith adjusts around the provision; not the other way around. And the reason why faith can do this is not because it likes the particular provision; it’s because faith trusts the Provider. We look at the carrots or the manna or the job or the relationships and we choose, by faith, to believe that for some unknown reason, this particular provision is the right provision for us. At least for right now.

If we look back to that summary verse of Philippians 4:19, we see that this statement of confidence that God will provide for all our needs comes right around the time in Philippians when Paul is writing about the nature of contentment. This is something he has learned, he says – to be content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. He has learned, in other words, to trust the Provider. And the trust in that Provider is most expressed in our attitude toward the provision.

3 Principles to Help Us Practice God’s Presence

The Practice of the Presence of God is a book based on the teachings of Brother Lawrence, a monk who lived in the 1600’s. One of the more famous passages points out that one can commune with God even in the washing of pots and pans, which was one of the friar’s daily duties. But this post is less a commentary on that little book, and more about that phrase:

Practicing God’s presence.

It’s a beautiful little phrase, and one that is packed with spiritual truth. The idea behind it, I believe, is that one can actually through a certain mindset and discipline not just have a set aside time to be with the Lord, but can actually walk with God throughout the day. We have been conditioned to think that the key to a vibrant and growing relationship with the Lord is a daily quiet time. And there is certainly truth in that. Each of us ought to have time set aside – specific and devoted time – in which we read the Scriptures, pray, sing, and a host of other things. And yet this set aside time should not be the exclusive time of day in which we do those things. This is what the phrase is getting at, or at least how I’m using it.

It is driving at the fact that though we might set aside a particular time, the way we want to live is in a constant relationship; that there is a way in which we can move through the ins and outs of daily life in which we are truly walking with the Lord the whole day through. Think of it like this:

I have spent the majority of the last 18 months working from home, and as a result, my dog and I have never been closer. And by closer, I mean closer. He goes everywhere with me, to an annoying extent actually. His presence is so constant that sometimes I forget he’s there. Every once in a while, he will bark, or scratch at the door, or whatever and I’m reminded that he’s there. So he is always present, but I am not always practicing his presence. If I were I would be constantly noticing him, talking to him, and walking him. So there is a difference between being present and actually practicing the presence.

So how might we do that in a spiritual sense? I suggest remembering at least these three truths in order to practice God’s presence:

1. Awareness rather than arrival.

The question of whether or not God is with us, as Christians, has been settled. Jesus Himself promised He would be with us always when He gave His great commission; the writer of Hebrews explicitly lets us know this truth as well:

Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said,

“Never will I leave you;
    never will I forsake you” (Heb. 13:5).

Indeed, according to him, the presence of God is so real and so powerful that it is all we need. It is God’s presence that frees us from materialism and other earthly comforts and places us into a state of contentment. So as a Christian, we do not have to wonder if God is with us. The question is just how aware we are of Him, not whether or not He is there. This is a basic truth, but in order to practice God’s presence, we should understand that we are not beckoning Him to come and be with us; what we are really doing is actively acknowledging the reality of His presence which is already there.

2. Sacred rather than secular.

The second truth we need to remember is that there really is no division between the sacred and the secular. Now I suppose we could argue that there certain aspects of life that are purely sacred, like the time of dedicated worship when we meet with the people of God. And yet we can not argue that any aspect of our lives is meant to be devoid of sacredness. Just one example:

Let’s say that you are a computer programmer. Your work is not for the church; it is not for a Christian ministry; and the websites you create are for various businesses. What’s sacred about that? Well, nothing on the surface, except for the fact that all work, when done for the good of society and the flourishing of humanity is good. In other words, work – in and of itself – is a sacred thing because our work is one of the ways God extends His common grace to the world. When we work hard, we work well, and we work with excellence we are not only honoring the Lord – we are actually participating with Him in providing for the world.

We must, then, in order to practice the presence of God break down the mental wall we have between that which is sacred and that which is secular.

3. Faith rather than feelings.

This is the third truth we need to believe – that practicing God’s presence is much more a matter of faith than of feelings. True enough, there are some moments when we actually feel  the presence of God. Or at least we think we do. The problem comes when we don’t feel the presence of God. In those moments, we are at least likely to not actively remember God is with us, if not feel like He has left us altogether.

As long as we are dominated by our feelings, we will never really practice God’s presence. Instead, we will always be waiting for that perfect kind of feeling to come over us so that we know that God is really there. Faith is better. Faith is truer. Faith is much more trustworthy.

This is what we all want, isn’t it? Don’t we want to walk with God? Don’t we want to know He is near in the mundane as well as in the crisis? I believe it is. And thanks be to God that He is indeed with us. What is left for us is to actively grow in our awareness and faith so that all of life might become a sacred time.

—

This post originally appeared at thinke.org. 

Wednesday Links

Four links to some things you might have missed, or at least ones that caught my attention this past week:

1. They Will Never Understand How Much I Love Them

This is a reflection from a father that any parent will resonate with.

2. 3 Tips for Surviving the University of Babylon

Per the start of the school year, here’s some helpful advice gleaned from the first chapters of the book of Daniel.

3. 5 Resolutions for the Worn Out

The most surprising one on here is to regularly share the gospel. It’s good to think of that as an antidote for weariness.

4. Chuck Norris Facts – The Rest of the Story

I loved reading this long form article about the rise of Chuck Norris facts.