Wednesday, October 22, 2008

God's Goodness

One thing I recently realized is..the importance of writing down what the Lord does in our lives. I think it is extremely important to be able to recall all of the circumstances that the Lord has proven Himself in our lives. We recently at my fellowship have begun to explore “Faith” and what it means from Biblical standpoint. We started to write down times past that the Lord’s hand was evident on our lives and also to write prayer requests you’ve been praying for years. Sometimes after praying something for years and years-the prayer or person praying it-loses the once urgent fervency and it becomes repetitious. Or may become lackadaisical and absent of true biblical faith of belief.

Two things stuck out for me while I thought on the goodness of the Lord.

1. True Friendships
2. A Real People and Real Christians

Less than 2 years ago while making the Holy Spirit driven exodus from the false church; I used to HATE the Church of Christ or Body of Christ with a passion. I literally and unapolgetically can honestly say I thought the church folk were “Ignorant and Unlearned People.” Before making the exodus I searched long and hard for someone to hear me in my plea of Biblical Accurate Exegesis. If I could have ran to the pulpit in my old synagogue and screamed at the top of my lungs. “WHY CAN’T YOU PEOPLE HEAR ME!!!” I would have and probably should have.

Slowly and I do mean slowly the Lord started to reveal His saints to me one by one and I began to love the idea of the Church and how the members function as a body. Initially I started to meet a lot of believer’s on line and through electronic communication but no one close. As the Lord saw fit he did place me into a local fellowship of Bible believing people who were just as zealous about truth as I was. Not exactly the route I would have taken but the Lord knows exactly what He is doing.

Secondly, I have a very transparent personality and don’t like having superficial friendships. I spent at least 12 years trying to cultivate solid relationships but found out that once you start studying the Word people will either love you, hate you, or keep you at distance. The Lord has given me true friends that will rebuke, love, correct, and many other things that will push me to Christ and His Word. I just want to encourage you in the Lord to write down the things the Lord has done for you and your family in the past.

I think I can make a strong case for doing this from the scriptures. Just think throughout the Old Testament all the times that the Prophets reminded Israel of all that Lord had done for them and miraculous things the Lord had done in times present and past. They were constantly reminding them of the many works of the Lord. Even from a New Testament perspective we hear Christ doing the same things, we hear Paul reminding Agrippa, and we hear Stephen before his murder also reminding the people of their ancestors. David time and time again speaks of the works of the Lord and uses that to encourage himself when going through a trial. Point is, that this is a Biblical concept. Take the time to reminisce of the Lord’s faithfulness in your life. Just a few questions for you to ponder as well.

  • Do you love God’s Church that was bought by the Blood of Christ?
  • Are your relationships intimate with God’s people and more so than your relatives?
  • Not only what has God done for you but how is He using you for His glory?
  • Are you being fed not only by your elder/pastor but are you feeding him?
  • What about the Body?
  • What are you grasping from your fellowship and is it really true communion?