Fire vs. Info

I recently read April 27th's devotional in the "Our Daily Bread" and was really impacted. Read it online... http://rbc.org/odb/odb-04-27-07.shtml.

The point of the devotional was a warning to allow God to fill us with the fire of action more than an increase of information.

If you're anything like me, you just love it when God reveals something to you as you read the Bible. But don't walk away from that connection with God thinking that's it. Allow God's word to fill you with passion for action and be "doers of the word, not mearly hearers."

This was a great reminder for me and hopefully a blessing to you too!

=)

Do I really love God?

Last night, Mark Furukawa did a fantastic job leading our small group. We started an 8 week study on "Cat & Dog Theology". If you missed the seminar at our church, go to that seminar or read the book!
The concept behind the book is that most Christians grow up in the church to be self-centered "Cat Christians" because our focus is mostly on what God can do for me rather than how can I give more glory to God.
This thinking/theology affects everything from our quiet times, what we pray for, how we read the Bible, how disappointment and pain affect us, and on and on.
It's been a few months since we had the seminar and like most things, I needed to be reminded of what was taught.
Mark closed our group by challenging us to consider if we really loved God and to think about it this week. It was a powerful time that had a few of us teary eyed as we honestly considered whether or not we truly loved God for who He is rather than for what He's done for us. Even as I type this, I'm a bit emotional because when I look back at my life, God has been so good to me and He has blessed me so incredibly that I can be tempted to love Him because of his blessings.

But would I love God if my life had been harder? Would I love God if He hadn't blessed me? Would I love God just because He deserves to be loved? Would I worship God just because He's God? Would I be able to say with Job, "Shall we accept good from God and not trouble?"

Wake up call #2 came this morning as we got a phone call from a friend. One of our friends was killed in a car accident this morning. He has 3 little kids with 1 on the way. He and his wife have been serving as a missionary in Brazil. Now his wife is left alone with the 4 kids. They were just here visiting not 6 months ago. They borrowed our van to drive around. And now He's gone!

Do I really love God for who He is and not just for all He does? He's such a good God and so many Christians are richly blessed physically and materially. But sometimes the Lord gives and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord!

Warning Signs

Listen to these warning signs from God in the Book of Amos. All of them are signs to return to Him because we, his people, have drifted away.

• Hunger (Amos 4:6)
• No rain & water (v7)
• Agricultural disaster (v9)
• Death & biological disease (v10)
• Political changes (v11)

These are just a few ways God gets our attention and draws us back into a close relationship with Him. Has God been trying to get your attention? One interesting thing about this list is that the signs seem to get worse or more widespread as the list goes on.
God still speaks in a still small voice. But when we will not heed that voice, there are many other ways He can get our attention.
I pray for each of us that he will have our attention without needing to get it.

=)