The Power of Now
Watch me tie this into the power of the church! Yeah, I'm that awesome. HAHA!
Over the past week my faith has really been tried and tested. A friend of mine the other day said, "Before God elevates you, He tests you." It is so true, and makes sense. How can you survive higher levels in life if you can't handel what you have now? One of the things I've been doing is asking the "What if" question. Through this time of testing, I've been thankful for the people who have taken the time to pour their word of advise and encouragement in me. Without it, I probably would have given up a long time ago. It's a bad habit of mine. As I have pondered on my friends words and advice something that has kept coming back to mind is, believing in the power of now. There is nothing I can do about my past, somedays I hate what I've been through and have done to myself, but then there are days that I am thankful for the pain, and what I've been through. It's made me more appreciative of the simple things in life, such as just sitting and having a conversation with a friend somewhere. We don't have to do anything special, just to be in the presence of someone I like and love means the world. Likewise, there is nothing I can really do to change my future until I believe in the power of now. What I do today will determine my reach for tomorrow. We can control now, and we can control the decisions we make. We reap what we sow, whether good or bad. Magnifying your past, and worrying about your future gets you nowhere! Some of us have to take life second by second because we don't know what's going to happen or how to plan.
SO how does this tie into the church?
It's quite simple, there are many of us who don't "feel" like it's time to get involved with church. Then there are some who don't feel they can possiably make an eternal impact today. The same goes for putting off salvation! We want to keep having a good time and not live under any rules or expectations. (Wow, that statement alone will take a whole blog post!) The point it, there is power in now for the church. Every second of the day someone needs us for something. Remember how we were talking about Barnabas, and his encouragement? Because he reached out and encouraged people, they trusted him and began to listen to him...Barnabas made eternal impact by believing in the power of now.
So what's it gonna be ya'll? You gonna lay on the couch another day and feel you have nothing to offer, or that all hope is lost? Hope is never lost. Hope is a precious commodity. It is not some warm and fuzzy idea about progress. Hope is not optimism. Optimism is faith in humans and human potential. Hope is rooted in someone beyond ourselves who has demonstrated that possibilities exist beyond both our abilities and our imagination. Hope is relinquishing control over life in the sense of entrusting the future to this holy one who offers us nothing more than a promise. Sometimes things look hopeless through a human perspective. But we do have hope, we believe in the birth of our Savior, we believe in His life, we believe in His resurrection and so we are prisoners of hope. What an image! We do not cling to hope, trying to manage. That is not hope at all. That is merely an attempt to control, to maintain the status quo which inevitably ends in death.
"I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit."
Romans 15:13
Over the past week my faith has really been tried and tested. A friend of mine the other day said, "Before God elevates you, He tests you." It is so true, and makes sense. How can you survive higher levels in life if you can't handel what you have now? One of the things I've been doing is asking the "What if" question. Through this time of testing, I've been thankful for the people who have taken the time to pour their word of advise and encouragement in me. Without it, I probably would have given up a long time ago. It's a bad habit of mine. As I have pondered on my friends words and advice something that has kept coming back to mind is, believing in the power of now. There is nothing I can do about my past, somedays I hate what I've been through and have done to myself, but then there are days that I am thankful for the pain, and what I've been through. It's made me more appreciative of the simple things in life, such as just sitting and having a conversation with a friend somewhere. We don't have to do anything special, just to be in the presence of someone I like and love means the world. Likewise, there is nothing I can really do to change my future until I believe in the power of now. What I do today will determine my reach for tomorrow. We can control now, and we can control the decisions we make. We reap what we sow, whether good or bad. Magnifying your past, and worrying about your future gets you nowhere! Some of us have to take life second by second because we don't know what's going to happen or how to plan.
SO how does this tie into the church?
It's quite simple, there are many of us who don't "feel" like it's time to get involved with church. Then there are some who don't feel they can possiably make an eternal impact today. The same goes for putting off salvation! We want to keep having a good time and not live under any rules or expectations. (Wow, that statement alone will take a whole blog post!) The point it, there is power in now for the church. Every second of the day someone needs us for something. Remember how we were talking about Barnabas, and his encouragement? Because he reached out and encouraged people, they trusted him and began to listen to him...Barnabas made eternal impact by believing in the power of now.
So what's it gonna be ya'll? You gonna lay on the couch another day and feel you have nothing to offer, or that all hope is lost? Hope is never lost. Hope is a precious commodity. It is not some warm and fuzzy idea about progress. Hope is not optimism. Optimism is faith in humans and human potential. Hope is rooted in someone beyond ourselves who has demonstrated that possibilities exist beyond both our abilities and our imagination. Hope is relinquishing control over life in the sense of entrusting the future to this holy one who offers us nothing more than a promise. Sometimes things look hopeless through a human perspective. But we do have hope, we believe in the birth of our Savior, we believe in His life, we believe in His resurrection and so we are prisoners of hope. What an image! We do not cling to hope, trying to manage. That is not hope at all. That is merely an attempt to control, to maintain the status quo which inevitably ends in death.
"I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit."
Romans 15:13
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