Ephesians 1:15-19a
15 For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people, 16 I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. 17 I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. 18 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, 19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe.
Can't you just see the humility of Paul here? How humbled he is in what God has done in Ephesus? He is not patting anyone, including himself, on the back for the faith and love of these people. He knows that there is only one who gets the praise, and that is God. Knowing that all things come from God he first gives thanks. Thanks to the one who is responsible for all good gifts. And beyond that, he prays for them, praying to God that the faith that he has heard about will continue to grow. Praying that the Spirit will be unleashed in their lives. Why? That they might know Him better. Because as they come to know Him better, their faith will increase, their love for one another will grow even greater.
Doesn't this stand in stark contrast to most of Christianity today? We see the church is growing, and we smile and pat one another on the back. We send an offering to Haiti or Japan, and of course we print the amount of the check in hte bulletin and newsletter, because we want to know just how awesome we are. Go God, You sure know how to use us awesome Christians. We often offer up a prayer too. But is it constant? Does it echo the humility of Paul and of Christ?
What we need to understand is, it is knowing Him that brings us to our knees. It is seeing His grace and glory that creates life change in us. We don't respond to get closer by works that seek to impress God or others. Those who do have already "received their reward in full." (Matt 6:2)
Showing posts with label humility. Show all posts
Showing posts with label humility. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Tough Questions
I was on a friend's blog, and happened upon a post written a while ago that I had not read, regarding comments made by an anonymous person in regard to a post on Stephen Hawking's Spontaneous Creation.
I enjoyed the banter that the post created, and thought I would tackle some of those issues for a few posts.
The first question asked is, "Who created God?"
In the tradition of Eastern teachers, let me respond with some questions of my own...
Which is easier to believe, that the universe has always been here, or that God has always been? Both take faith. If we say that the universe came into existence at some point, then we still have to answer the question, Where did it get its materials? Why can someone not accept that God did not have to be created, but can accept that the universe did not have to be created?
Many times when someone is debating such issues, they will say things like, "According to our current understanding of ..." So I will ask another question. How much understanding of the universe do we really have? 10%? I doubt it. Have you really considered the size of the universe? 1%? I still doubt it. We would probably like to think we know more than that, but how would we know? What if there are other substances on those planets, how would we know? Didn't we use to think that the universe was infinite, but know I hear people say that there are other universes out there. Have we just changed our definitions? We do like to shrink things to make us look bigger. Just ask God.
How does the finite understand the infinite? I believe the answer is that it can't. It can only understand within the limits of its own knowledge. And I am starting to guess that even with all of today's technological genius, that we haven't yet come close to even a 1% understanding the infinite, both God and the universe.
I will end with one last question. What do you want most out of life? I think if most people were honest, they would say "to know that this is not all there is." If we knew, I think that would change things. And maybe that is exactly why we don't know. If there is a God, He gets to make the rules.
I know what my daughter wants for Christmas. It is a doll that used to belong to her grandma, my mom, who died before my daughter turned 1. She has begged, pleaded, and even took out her change purse and offered to buy the doll. I know that one day soon it will be hers. I look forward to the joy she finds when that gift is finally given to her. I think that the waiting maybe even will increase her joy when it is received. But for today, I get to make the rules. Not that I lord that over her, but I think there is prudence in waiting for the right time.
Ecclesiastes 3:11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.
There is a certain amount of humility in admitting that we don't know it all. I'm okay with that.
I enjoyed the banter that the post created, and thought I would tackle some of those issues for a few posts.
The first question asked is, "Who created God?"
In the tradition of Eastern teachers, let me respond with some questions of my own...
Which is easier to believe, that the universe has always been here, or that God has always been? Both take faith. If we say that the universe came into existence at some point, then we still have to answer the question, Where did it get its materials? Why can someone not accept that God did not have to be created, but can accept that the universe did not have to be created?
Many times when someone is debating such issues, they will say things like, "According to our current understanding of ..." So I will ask another question. How much understanding of the universe do we really have? 10%? I doubt it. Have you really considered the size of the universe? 1%? I still doubt it. We would probably like to think we know more than that, but how would we know? What if there are other substances on those planets, how would we know? Didn't we use to think that the universe was infinite, but know I hear people say that there are other universes out there. Have we just changed our definitions? We do like to shrink things to make us look bigger. Just ask God.
How does the finite understand the infinite? I believe the answer is that it can't. It can only understand within the limits of its own knowledge. And I am starting to guess that even with all of today's technological genius, that we haven't yet come close to even a 1% understanding the infinite, both God and the universe.
I will end with one last question. What do you want most out of life? I think if most people were honest, they would say "to know that this is not all there is." If we knew, I think that would change things. And maybe that is exactly why we don't know. If there is a God, He gets to make the rules.
I know what my daughter wants for Christmas. It is a doll that used to belong to her grandma, my mom, who died before my daughter turned 1. She has begged, pleaded, and even took out her change purse and offered to buy the doll. I know that one day soon it will be hers. I look forward to the joy she finds when that gift is finally given to her. I think that the waiting maybe even will increase her joy when it is received. But for today, I get to make the rules. Not that I lord that over her, but I think there is prudence in waiting for the right time.
Ecclesiastes 3:11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.
There is a certain amount of humility in admitting that we don't know it all. I'm okay with that.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)