Hey everyone! I hope that you are finding ways to stay out of this awful heat that we are experiencing this week. I mean seriously, it's a tad ridiculous. So I wanted to tell one quick story before we begin tonight, and it involves me randomly getting hurt. Today, I decided that I would go swimming at one of my friend's houses after work. I got there, changed into my trunks, grabbed the pool basketball and jumped in. The water felt amazing. Anyways, I took one shot, a warm-up fade away, and then I went to go get the ball as it splashed down in the water. Little did I know that the basketball had recently been accepting housing applications from wasps, so as I reached out my hand to grab the ball, I was stung on the palm by this bee. I backed up, a little bit stunned all the while shaking my hand like it was on fire. I hadn't taken two steps back before a now angry wasp started flying right toward my face. I didn't even see it coming. Well technically I did, but the bee was so quick I never stood a chance. And just like that, I was stung again, this time right above my left eyebrow. Instantly, my eye swelled up like I was in a Rocky movie. SO needless to say, I now look like I got suckered punched in the eye, minus the black and blue bruising. I'm always looking for great new excuses to explain a swollen eye, so if you have any, leave them in the comments below.
Moving forward onto things that actually matter, I wanted to start off tonight by announcing that I am going to be doing a mini-series based on the title, "What if We..." If you've read this blog before, you probably know that I read the devotion 'My Utmost for His Highest' by Oswald Chambers because I make so many references to it; however, I read something that really stood out to me and I want to run with it for a bit. Saying that, the official title of this blog is..
What if We... Believe?
On July 9th, Oswald writes a really interesting couple of lines that I want to hinge this blog around; not so much the actual words, but the concepts. These lines are as follows:
"If we really believed that God meant what He said, just imagine what we would be like! Do I really dare to let God be to me all that He says He will be?"
These lines have been running through my mind the past few weeks and I finally felt like I was ready to discuss and digest them. Let's get started.
Oswald claims, "If we really believed." At first, I wanted to turn my head and scoff at this statement. Psh, please! If we really believe. Of course we really believe! If we didn't, why do we spend time in prayer or reading the word? Who is this man to say that we really don't believe? Although I am not proud of it, these were some of my very initial thoughts. It hurts for someone to come in and say "If you really believed." I'd like to think that I really believe. I wanted to see what the bible had to say about this, so I turned to some scripture that I will cite now.
The first scripture that I turned to was Luke 17:6, and I think that most of us should be familiar with this passage.
" 6 He replied, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you."
As I read this, I thought it was so applicable to what Oswald was saying. Of course we believe, but do we really believe? We have faith, but why aren't we up moving trees? I'm sure the answer is probably yes, but just to clarify, do you realize how small a mustard seed is? I found this picture that I wanted to include just to justify the smallness:
This stinking small! Is it discouraging to know that in most cases our faith doesn't even amount to this size? Almost as much as being told that "if we really believed." However, I think that both of these statements can and are to be used as encouragements. Why don't we strive for a faith that is larger than a mustard seed? Why not strive for the life that we would know if we really believed in what Christ says. And the amazing thing is, is that these things that we strive for are totally realistic and are goals that can actually happen. How do I know this? Well, I think that John 14:12 backs me up pretty well (keep John 14:12 in your heads; there may or may not be a blog about it coming up!). John 14:12 says:
12 Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.
Jesus directly says that we will do even greater things than the works that He did himself. But like with everything else and the central theme to this blog, what is the key to being able to perform those greater things? Nothing other than a belief in the Savior of the world, Jesus Christ. How cool is that?
Now we get into the second part of Oswald's statement: "Do I really dare to let God be to me all that He says He will be?" This is an interesting challenge. Usually when people dare someone to do something, there is always a negative connotation to it. And this is no exception. Well... kinda. If we are brave enough and believe in Christ enough to allow Him to be everything He says the He will be, we are dying to ourselves and to the world, and committing to living for Him. So in reality, we are losing out on the pleasures and importances of this world, but we are gaining something that is so much more ever-lasting.
I am doing a study through some of the minor prophets, and I read through the book of Joel last night. It is a very short book and good study. I would recommend it to anyone! Anyways, I liked the way that Joel puts all that God says He will do in chapter 2, verse 23. Joel writes:
23 Be glad, O people of Zion, rejoice in the LORD your God, for he has given you the autumn rains in righteousness.[a] He sends you abundant showers, both autumn and spring rains, as before.
How amazing is that!? God calls us to rejoice in Him why? Because He has given us the autumn rains in righteousness. I don't know about you, but this verse gives me a great perspective of what God says He will do in my life. So, do I dare to let God give me the autumn rains in righteousness? You bet you bottom dollar that I do. But for real. Bet your bottom dollar. God blesses the poor. That is another topic for another day.
Anyways, I hope that you enjoyed the first installment in the "What if We..." mini-series. Stay tuned for more blogs coming up! If you are new to this blog and want to know when I will be putting up new posts, you can either go to facebook and add me: http://www.facebook.com/bobbalockinosmagockin, or you can follow me on twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/jdaghe.
Later tonight I am going to go see the midnight release of Captain America! Hopefully I will stay awake! Have a great rest of your weekend and stay hydrated in this heat!
Buried and Risen with Christ,
Buried and Risen with Christ,
Signing off,
JD
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