Xapa to the World

Tag: Religion and Spirituality

  • “Flame of God” by Amy Carmichael

    I first read this poem when I was in college and thought it amazing. Amy Carmichael is my own personal hero and I delight in her many writings. She was a gifted woman who sought to serve God with what she had and where she was. Her own perplexity at why He made her a certain way encourages me beyond what I can say. God has a purpose for us and He reveals that to us in His due time. We might not understand what purpose something has for our lives and our future, but God does not waste a gift. Only we do. Are you grateful for the gifts that may not even seem like a gift?

    Anyway, I love this poem. She’s asking God to not let her shy away from the challenge that she may face – to stand bold for Him and to even pursue the hard tasks. She even asks to be spent completely in His glory. I can only attempt the same.

    ———————

    From prayer that asks that I may be
    Sheltered from winds that beat on Thee,
    From fearing when I should aspire,
    From faltering when I should climb higher
    From silken self, O Captain, free
    Thy soldier who would follow Thee.

    From subtle love of softening things,
    From easy choices, weakenings,
    (Not thus are spirits fortified,
    Not this way went the Crucified)
    From all that dims Thy Calvary
    O Lamb of God, deliver me.

    Give me the love that leads the way,
    The faith that nothing can dismay
    The hope no disappointments tire,
    The passion that will burn like fire;
    Let me not sink to be a clod;
    Make me Thy fuel, Flame of God

  • Bread for All Time – Bonhoeffer

    I’ve had this book, A Year with Dietrich Bonhoeffer, for a while, and pick it up when I have a mind to.  It contains letters and writings of Bonhoeffer stretched out across a full calendar year.  It’s really interesting and whenever I do pick it up, I learn something good.  He was a great man of God.

    Saturday, I picked it up and read the entry for February 5th.  Here it is:

    “Almost all of us have grown up with the idea that the Scripture reading is solely a matter of hearing the Word of God for today.  That is why for many the Scripture reading consists only of a few brief selected verses that are to form the central idea of the day.  There can be no doubt that the daily Bible passages published by the Moravian Brethren, for example, are a real blessing to all who have ever used them.  Many people have realized that to their great amazement and have been grateful for the daily Bible readings particularly during the time of the church struggle.  But equally there can be little doubt that brief passages cannot and must not tak the place of reading the Scripture as a whole.  The verse for the day is not yet the Holy Scriptures that will remain throughout all time until the Day of Judgement.  Te Holy Scriptures are more than selected Bible passages  It is also more than “Bread for Today.”  It is God’ revealed Word for all peoples, for all times.  The Holy Scriptures do not consist of individual sayings, but are a whole and can be used most effectively as such…The ful witness to Jesus Christ the Lord can be clearly heard only in its immeasurable inner relationships, in the connection of Old and New Testaments, of promise and fulfillment, sacrifice and law, Law and Gospel, cross and resurrection, faith and obedience, having and hoping.”

    – from Life Together 58-60

    I’m guilty as charged.  I’ve not even respected the Scriptures enough to read the “couple verses” or passage each day.  God’s Word is precious and I’m not neglecting It out of ignorance to the strength, comfort, joy that comes from reading It.  I’m not reading it because of this lie in my mind that tells me I don’t have the time or that I know enough of it already.  That’s far from the truth, and I definitely know it.  I’m always learning something new through reading my Bible.  So, there you have it…a conviction and resolution of sorts.

    Check out the martyr Bonhoeffer’s life here.

  • Moses Forgets

    This week, at one of my ESL classes, we read the story about the people of Israel complaining of their thirst in the wilderness.  This happened at least twice because it’s recorded twice that they complained enough for Moses to ask God to give them some water.  The first time, Moses asks and God says to hit a rock with his staff.  Moses does so and water comes out of the rock to quench the people’s thirst.  The second time, the people complain and Moses asks God for help.  God says to him to take the staff and tell the rock to produce water.  But when Moses goes before the people, he ridicules them and then hits the rock with the staff twice.  Water still comes out, but at a dear price – Aaron and Moses will not be allowed to enter the Promised Land, because they did not believe God and take Him at His Word.

    This is one of those stories that I have usually just skipped over.  I love reading about Moses, but this one, for some reason, seems to just register and then I go on to the next thing.  But my student did not.  She had some questions, like:

    If Moses had done it once before, then why didn’t he believe it would happen again the way God said it would?*

    and

    If Moses believed God, then why did He test him again?*

    These are great questions!  I love watching a non-believer respond to the Holy Spirit, even if they are just questions, because asking questions are a sign that God is working on them.  I love the promise that God’s Word is living and active – It always does a work when spoken or heard.

    The first question, well, how often do we forget what God has done in our lives before?  Moses was the advocate for the people of Israel and he came to God many times to petition for forgiveness for their forgetfulness of God’s love and provision…but he was not exempt himself from forgetting.  I cannot imagine what it would be like to lead people who constantly griped and complained about everything, but that one single action – that one burst of anger and pride – led to him not being able to enter the promised land.  Look at the wording:

    “Hear now, you rebels: shall we bring water for you out of this rock?”
    – Numbers 20:10, ESV

    It wasn’t, “Shall God bring out water for you?” but “Shall we…”  God says that because Moses and Aaron did not uphold Him as holy before the people, they will not bring those people into Canaan.  A little later in the chapter, Aaron’s death is recorded and his robe and office of high priest are given to his son, Eleazar.

    The second question speaks to God’s nature and not Moses’.  Why does God test those who have, thus far, proven that they follow Him?  Why did God ask Moses to just talk to the rock this time instead of striking it again?  Why did God ask Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac after he had waited for 100 years to have him?

    We’ve been talking in church the last couple of Sundays about Great Stories in the Bible and this last week the story was Abraham and this sacrifice.  My pastor spoke about how God did not throw a challenge like that on Abraham right off the bat.  Yes, asking him to leave his family and home to go to some land that he had never heard of was a big challenge, but it was a test comparable to his level of faith. And it’s not like Abraham never failed at a test that God gave him.  God promised him a son in his old age and beyond his wife’s physical ability, and rather than believe the fullness of God’s promise, Abraham cut a corner by sleeping with Sarah’s handmaiden.

    God tests us; it continues throughout our lives as believers.  He will give us challenges at various times, but praise God, that He takes into account the level of faith we have at that time.  We may not pass them, but it is not because God has given us a challenge greater than we can handle, but because we are doubting ourselves, doubting Him, or believing a lie (or all of the above).

    “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man.  God is faithful, and He will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation He will also provide a way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.”
    – 1 Corinthians 10:13, ESV

    So, back to the second question, why does God continue to test us?  It’s to grow us and to make us more like His son.  We will not be perfect until He makes us so, and that won’t happen until heaven.  But that doesn’t mean He doesn’t want to start us on that road now.  And the successes in our life, our conquering those tests and moving on, serve as testimony to the lost that our God is a great and mighty God.  That He is concerned with our lives and with our hearts.  That He can change a person from being selfish and in despair to being selfless, a servant, and filled with hope.

    And that verse above gives me hope that when I face a challenge to my faith and in my life, God has already gifted me with the strength I need to endure it.  What I have faced before now has only added to, not taken away from, the arsenal in my will to resist the devil and move forward in maturity in Christ.

    *paraphrased into English