Monday, April 14, 2008

Drifters

Hebrews 2:1-4 Paul tells us to pay attention to what we have heard and not to forget what we have heard. I got thinking about what I have heard and whether or not I retain the information or if I just dismiss it. When we dismiss what we have heard, we have more possiblilty or a larger guarantee that we will slip into the old ways or backslide.


So I started thinking about what I have heard myself that I am not "hearing"? These are the things that realize about myself and need to be willing to change;


1. I am prideful. I do not always do things for the glory of God. My life should be a radiant reflection of God and everything I do should be done only for His glory and not for human recognition, appreciation or satisfaction.


2. I can be arrogant. I know that I'm not any better of a person than anyone else, but I do tend to react in that way and the emotion is in the deepest part of my heart. God knows my core and when I really sit and evaluate my reations to things and people and why I react the way I do, often times it is because I am both prideful and arrogant. This combination will not allow me to ask forgiveness or even to grant forgiveness. It will cloud my judgement and smudge my testimony. A deadly combination!


.3 I am selfish. The first two will create an outcome that will only allow for this conclusion. Selfishness is the act of being centered on self and looking at the result of your efforts and how they directly affect you. Also, it shows a severe lack of servanthood. Christ showed the ultimate in servitude. Washing the disciples feet, laying His life down for us, allowing Himself to be covered in all our sins and lowering Himself to our level of existence from His own high position. When is the last time you thought about how truly self-centered and selfish you are? Do you even realize that you are?


4. I am discontent. Paul states that we should be content no matter what condition we find ourselves. No matter what we have, how much, how little, how healthy, how busy, etc. I always am looking for more and better. Not “things”, but just that life would be more or better. That desire creates discontentment.

5. I will mumble! I know that this falls under discontentment, but I thought that it sometimes overpowers me to the point that it needs it’s own category! I will mumble and grumble about things that I have no right to grumble about! Rather than talking to God and giving Him all the worries and choices, I take them and run to another human or twist them around inside me so much that they start to eat me.

Life can change in an instant! My faith is still there and still alive and well. Sometimes I wander away and forget what it is that I have learned, but I am a work in progress. As long as I remain willing to listen to Him and let Him mold me, I’ll be in good shape. Are you setting sail, or are you a drifter? What have you heard that the Holy Spirit is challenging you about?

Saturday, April 12, 2008

How Well?

One of my favorite hymns to sing as well as to listen to is "It is Well With My Soul". Without ever having known the circumstances behind this hymn, I loved it. Then I heard the story that is attatched to the words.

The article below is a copy of a wonderful rendidtion of this tale. The link is as follows and has additional Bible Study attatched to it. I hope whoever would read this would take the time to look at the study. http://www.biblestudycharts.com/A_Daily_Hymn.html
This hymn was written by a Chicago lawyer, Horatio G. Spafford. You might think to write a worship song titled,'It is well with my soul', you would indeed have to be a rich, successful Chicago lawyer. But the words,"When sorrows like sea billows roll ... It is well with my soul”, were not written during the happiest period of Spafford's life. On the contrary, they came from a man who had suffered almost unimaginable personal tragedy.Horatio G. Spafford and his wife, Anna, were pretty well-known in 1860’s Chicago. And this was not just because of Horatio's legal career and business endeavors.

The Spaffords were also prominent supporters and close friends of D.L. Moody, the famous preacher. In 1870, however, things started to go wrong. The Spaffords' only son was killed by scarlet fever at the age of four. A year later, it was fire rather than fever that struck. Horatio had invested heavily in real estate on the shores of Lake Michigan. In 1871, every one of these holdings was wiped out by the great Chicago Fire.

Aware of the toll that these disasters had taken on the family, Horatio decided to take his wife and four daughters on a holiday to England. And, not only did they need the rest -- DL Moody needed the help. He was traveling around Britain on one of his great evangelistic campaigns. Horatio and Anna planned to join Moody in late 1873. And so, the Spaffords traveled to New York in November, from where they were to catch the French steamer 'Ville de Havre' across the Atlantic. Yet just before they set sail, a last-minute business development forced Horatio to delay. Not wanting to ruin the family holiday, Spafford persuaded his family to go as planned. He would follow on later.

With this decided, Anna and her four daughters sailed East to Europe while Spafford returned West to Chicago. Just nine days later, Spafford received a telegram from his wife in Wales. It read: "Saved alone."On November 2nd 1873, the 'Ville de Havre' had collided with 'The Lochearn', an English vessel. It sank in only 12 minutes, claiming the lives of 226 people. Anna Spafford had stood bravely on the deck, with her daughters Annie, Maggie, Bessie and Tanetta clinging desperately to her. Her last memory had been of her baby being torn violently from her arms by the force of the waters. Anna was only saved from the fate of her daughters by a plank which floated beneath her unconscious body and propped her up. When the survivors of the wreck had been rescued, Mrs. Spafford's first reaction was one of complete despair.

Then she heard a voice speak to her, "You were spared for a purpose." And she immediately recalled the words of a friend, "It's easy to be grateful and good when you have so much, but take care that you are not a fair-weather friend to God."Upon hearing the terrible news, Horatio Spafford boarded the next ship out of New York to join his bereaved wife. Bertha Spafford (the fifth daughter of Horatio and Anna born later) explained that during her father's voyage, the captain of the ship had called him to the bridge. "A careful reckoning has been made", he said, "and I believe we are now passing the place where the de Havre was wrecked. The water is three miles deep." Horatio then returned to his cabin and penned the lyrics of his great hymn.The words which Spafford wrote that day come from 2 Kings 4:26. They echo the response of the Shunammite woman to the sudden death of her only child. Though we are told "her soul is vexed within her", she still maintains that 'It is well." And Spafford's song reveals a man whose trust in the Lord is as unwavering as hers was.

It would be very difficult for any of us to predict how we would react under circumstances similar to those experienced by the Spaffords. But we do know that the God who sustained them would also be with us.No matter what circumstances overtake us may we be able to say with Horatio Spafford...

When peace like a river, attendeth my way,When sorrows like sea billows roll;Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,It is well, it is well with my soul.Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,Let this blest assurance control,That Christ hath regarded my helpless estate,And hath shed His own blood for my soul!It is well ... with my soul!It is well, it is well, with my soul.

So I ask you, how well is it with your soul? What personal tragedy do you have going on right now that would justify you turning away froma Lord and Master who has every hair on your head counted? What purpose are you being preserved for? What heavy or hurting heart will you be able to comfort because it is a reflection of your own? It may be something as tragic as divorce, death, sickness or a unexplainable as loneliness.

Take heart! Draw your strength from the Lord.