What Are You Feeding On?

Have you been to a church or spoken with other Christian friends and heard (or made) the comment, “I am just not being fed”? What is this all about? I know in Scripture, Paul refers to the Word of God as milk and solid food (Hebrews 5:11-14), but being “fed” has everything to do with what you intake, and very little to do with the process of how this happens. I believe we are confusing what we want to hear with how we are being “fed.” Look at what Paul writes in Hebrews:

Hebrews 13:9 (ESV)
“Do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings, for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, which have not benefited those devoted to them.”

Jesus says He is the bread of life (John 6:50-59), and that to gain eternal life we must intake of Him. This passage does not speak to the methods or messenger required, but simply that in order to gain eternal life, there is only one food source that will accomplish this: Jesus Christ. One name for Jesus is the Logos or the Word of God. All we have to do to be fed is feast on Jesus – or in other words the Word of God (the Bible).

Saying that one is not being “fed” at church would be tantamount to walking into a restaurant, sitting down, ordering, being served a meal, not doing anything with it, and then complaining that you were not satisfied with the feeding. That was not a feeding: that was merely a meal “viewing”.

Maybe the issue is not the feeding source, but what you are doing with what is being offered? If it is from the Word of God, then there is a meal waiting every time a Bible is opened. Why not try ingesting the Word instead of just viewing it, and then stop talking about what you are not getting…you might find yourself all filled-up.

In His grip, 

Pastor Pat

No Sweat

We all have a lot of work to get done, and some of it is hard, sweat producing work. I love physical labor. Whenever I get the opportunity to work on a physical project, I take it. I get the satisfaction of working with my hands, and at the end of a physical project there are physical results that can be measured. Although labor is good, when it comes to our relationship with God, it is not what He has asked for.

When it comes to relating to God, it should be a "no sweat" deal. Sweat represents the by-product of physical attempts to get to God, and that is not what God requires. When Adam and Eve chose to eat of the forbidden fruit they suffered the consequence of sin. This consequence is what separates us from God, and only through Jesus' completed work on the cross can we be re-connected...no sweat on our part required. This is grace. In Paul's letter to the church in Corinth he explained this truth to them:

"For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." 2 Corinthians 5:21 ESV

We must be righteous to get to God, and we are made righteous by no work of our own, and we find our righteous place in Christ - no sweat.

In His grip,

Pastor Pat

Mything Out?

Have you ever been told that you are the master of your own destiny? That all you have to do is apply yourself completely and you can do whatever you want to do? Even though I want to encourage my children to chase whatever they choose with all that they are, there is still no guarantee that they will be able to do it. The reality is that not everyone who chooses to do something will be able to do it. Although some will, not everyone will, and that is not a reason to stop trying, but a reason to look at why we are trying to do it in the first place.

Everyone should have big dreams, and chase them. The difference is all in who is glorified in these dreams. If the glory is all about you, and the dream is not met, the disappointment is all on you. This can lead to feelings of failure and inadequacy, that if they could only be overcome then the dream might be realized. Unfortunately, if the dream is left unrealized, one's self-worth can take a serious hit. This could lead to things like depression, and take you to a place you never dreamt of going to.

I believe that everyone should pursue their hearts desires, but do so with the attempt to glorify God in the process. This way wherever you find yourself to be, it never becomes about a destination or lack of one, but all about who you are living and working for. Paul told this to the church in Corinth who were struggling with this:

"So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." 1 Corinthians 10:31 ESV

Only when God becomes the focus for the glory can the myth that I am in total control can go away and God can be glorified. Soli Deo Gloria = Glory to God Alone.

In His grip,

Pastor Pat

FAMIDOLATRY

In church circles “idols” are bad, and looked at as a problem. In Old Testament times, idols were easy to identify: they were mostly statues that represented any god other than the One true God. Today, “idols” are much harder to identify. Let’s then begin with a simple definition: an idol is anything that diverts or gets our attention that belongs to God; so anything that we put between God and ourselves, agreed?

Let’s face the truth here: we all have idols; we just prefer not to talk about them. Idols of success, career, belongings, etc., you know what I am talking about here, right? What about the idol of family and children? Wait a minute here, that is sacred ground and not an idol. Is it? Remember, an idol is anything we put in between God and ourselves.

We don’t have to get very far into the Bible before we see this exact thing happen to Abraham (Gen. 22). Abraham was a faithful man who loved God and believed God’s promises without question. But one promise was a bit of a stretch for a man of his age (almost 100 years old at the time): the promise of descendants more numerous than could be counted. You see at the time of this promise, he and his wife were apparently barren. So when God’s promise was fulfilled (and there has never been one that wasn’t) through Isaac, they were overjoyed to say the least, and it didn’t take long to start to love Isaac over the One who gave Isaac to them. It’s the old out-of-sight out-of-mind thing.

All too often when it comes to the promises of God, we are quick to appreciate and experience the promise over the God who gave it. That is why it’s not hard to put our families first, especially our children. But when we put our children first, what happens to them when they get into the world without us? They have been first in your world for so long they are often expecting to be first out there too. I am not in any way saying that our family should not come first; they should, right after we give thanks and glory to the One who gave us the family.

In His grip,

Pastor Pat