Zach, Nathan, Leah, Bob
How long have you been a Christian? Are you happy with where you are at right now spiritually? How do you decide if where you are is a good place? Good question! Do you look at others and compare yourself with them? Do you look at the church and see how the people are living and use that as a norm? Or do you look at Christ in the
gospels and see how He lived? Do you read the Acts of the Apostles and see how they lived? Have you ever wondered if maybe we are supposed to live like they did? Believe how they believed? Sacrifice like they sacrificed? Give as they gave? Go as they went?
As Americans, we love to surround ourselves with comfort, security and freedom. If you think about it, those 3 things will keep you from growing in your faith. When you read about the Apostles and other saints in history, that isn't the way they lived. It's time to be uncomfortable, insecure and a slave. That'll cause some changes! Ha. If you want to kick it up a level, ask for some pain and suffering too. How unAmerican does that sound?
Mat 7:11 says...
"If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!
In my earlier years of being a Christian, I read this verse and knew that it meant that God wanted me to be comfy and secure because He would give me everything I needed to be happy and fulfilled. He only would give me "good" stuff. If I was sick, pray harder. If I was broke, confess my wealth louder.
Elijah, Jake, Leah, Zach, Jackie
But God always wants us to grow and become more and more like Him--it's His will. If we are brave enough to ask, it's His will to do that very thing. How that manifests in your life may not always be comfy. Again, we Americans think God wants us to be comfortable, cozy, secure, free, and so on, but look at good old Job. Job was the first book written in the Bible so its example for all that followed must be fairly important. Job was a man who was "blameless" in God's sight yet he went through unbelievable suffering and it changed him. Why? Believe me he asked and all the while he was going through that time of suffering, there was no answer. But in the end, Job was changed and his life was put back together better than before. He became like our example in 2 Cor. 3:18.
Lauren & Jackie's Mom, Justine
Like Job, we also go through testing and suffering. Why? I often hear people say it must be some kind of sin. I guess that could be true, but it isn't always because of some sin (Job was "blameless"), but it may just be God answering our prayer to become more and more like Him. Don't fight it. It's the way the saints of old grew and it will work for us just as it did for them. God gives good gifts ALL the time so don't worry about what they may or may not look like or even how they may manifest themselves in your life.
While it's true we are in a war with Satan and we must be aware of his schemes, Satan has to run things by God before they run into us. Look at Job again for an example. Satan had to get God's permission to hassle Job. Armed with that truth, we have decided that trying to figure out what's going on isn't nearly as helpful as giving thanks in ALL things ALL the time. If it comes to me, it came to Christ first and He knows what I need and He only gives good gifts. Therefore, no matter what my circumstance, I can be thankful that God is working in my life. To do otherwise invites questions that can't be answered and usually steals peace.
Charlie and the grand kids
So that's my challenge in 2008. It's time for us to quit goobing around and ask, seriously ask, that God make us more and more like Him. To do that, we simply need to look in the gospels. Look in Acts. Read Church history. Look at those who have finished the race and emulate their lives. Don't look at how the people in your church live for what's normal Christianity. I'm not saying there aren't saints in the churches today, there are. But look at the Bible and Church history first and
model your life after that. Oh, as an aside, don't point fingers. The first step to change is the realization that YOU have failed, not the ones around you. Being like Jesus means we love like He loved so love those in your church--don't judge them. Get them to join you in your quest for maturity and growth.
Julie, our niece. I thought surfing took balance!
If you were wondering about Jackie and her health/knee challenge, we continue to
pray and persevere. She is making progress but still not walking. She has a doctor's appointment with her new specialist (we had to give up on the original) on January 15th and that's when he said she should be walking or her chances of ever walking would be about zero unless she gets a knee replacement. Yes, we have had to even give thanks for all of this even though we are clueless about what's going on--we only know that God gives good gifts and that He is our Redeemer. There have been many tears shed but our faith in Him is solid (today!). Please keep on praying for
Jackie's recovery from all that went wrong from a simple test.
All the photos aren't in, but here's one of Bum and her parents from her Christian wedding last week. We are very happy for her and Glynn. Please pray for them as they begin a new life together in Christ. More photos to come.
Finally, honest. Thanks for all your love, prayers and support through 2007. We are His unworthy servants and appreciate you!
Bob and Jackie
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