Will This Be Me?
I just finished reading Mere Christianity, by C. S. Lewis – an incredible read! The high points of Lewis’ writing are his wonderful illustrations and his ability to get you to think deeply about matters of faith and virtue. The negatives, in my opinion, are when he thinks a little too far outside the box. As with all the writings of men, you must read Lewis with your brain fully engaged.
I’d like to share with you the second-to-last paragraph from Mere Christianity, book IV, chapter 9:
I find I must borrow yet another parable from George MacDonald. Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on: you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of–throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were going to be made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself.
What do you think of that picture?
God bless,
Nathan
An Encourager
Do you consider yourself to be “good”? Would you use that word to describe yourself? Do you think GOD would call you “good”?
Barnabas was blessed by God in this special way – God called him “a good man” (Acts 11:24). Notice two quick things about this good man:
1. His main purpose in life was to encourage. His real name was Joseph, but the apostles nick-named him Barnabas, “son of encouragement” (Acts 4:36). Are there any sons or daughters of encouragement around? Are you one? Am I? What does an encourager do? Specifically, Barnabas rejoiced with the brethren when he saw the work of the Lord prospering, and he encouraged the brethren to remain true to the Lord with a resolute heart (Acts 11:23). The seed for his encouraging nature must have been strong faith. He believed…and he shared his faith with others – probably with a big smile on his face.
2. His encouraging attitude led many to the Lord. As a direct result of his encouragement, the church at Antioch flourished and prospered. “Considerable numbers were brought to the Lord” (Acts 11:24). This attitude of encouragement fostered real growth! You can imagine unbelievers looking at all the joy and unity of the Antioch church and just wanting to be part of something like that. Also, the brethren at Antioch would be energized by this attitude to go out and share this faith with others.
There’s a lot of power in the right attitude and focus. There’s a lot of good one good man, or one good woman, can do in the kingdom. Are you that encourager? Then encourage with all your might! See the kingdom prosper as the attitude of faith, hope, and trust pervades the church.
We need a few good men.
God bless,
Nathan
Mysterious Birth
The growth of the kingdom if kind of mysterious. Who knows the secret ingredients which lead men and women to completely change their life patterns? Those ingredients are found in God’s word…but different people need different buttons pushed. We plant the seed and the seed sprouts at some point – how we do not know.
God is behind the process. The murderer lays down his weapons and becomes an advocate for peace. The drunkard lays down his bottle and begins searching the Scriptures for true meaning to life. The sexual pervert repents and gives what is left of his AIDS-infected life to helping others come out of their addictions. The liar focuses on truth. The selfish woman starts thinking of others and begins to give. The party-animal no longer hangs out at the bars – he hangs out in the homes of Christians, helping, encouraging, enjoying his new life in Christ.
Those in the world wonder at what happened to their friends. Why do they not run in the same cloud of dissipation and intoxication as before? Why are they not wanting to party all weekend as before? Why have they turned so NICE all of a sudden? They are bewildered.
And those who already had their lives radically changed through Christ also may wonder – but not as much. Once you experience the changing influence of Jesus Christ you can only smile and praise God when you see others coming through the same process.
All of a sudden there is ripe spiritual fruit ready for the harvest!
Praise God!
Nathan
