365 Days with God - Day 158: Silly Sticks

I'm giving myself a challenge. Read the Bible each day for a whole year, following the ESV Study Guide 1-year plan. Each day, I will post whatever God has revealed to me in His Word, and how it is changing me. A friend of mine once said that nothing has changed her life as much as reading the bible each day - and I'm excited for how this will change me. Join me on an adventure into the heart of God - and day by day, we can learn more about who He is and what that means to us!

- Andy Catts

Day 158, May 27, 2014

Readings: Proverbs 3:21-35, Deuteronomy 8:1-20, Deuteronomy 9:1-5, Hosea 4, Hosea 5, Titus 1:5-16

My people inquire of a piece of wood,
and their walking staff gives them oracles.
For a spirit of whoredom has led them astray,
and they have left their God to play the whore. (Hosea 4:12)

Every time I read something like this, about the pagan gods that the Israelites would worship (such as the Asherah pole mentioned here) I cant help but think about how silly it is. When you put it like this - trusting a chunk of wood to inform your future? Crazy!

But...we do the same thing. Except now, it's a piece of paper from a piece of wood. We trust in horoscopes, we trust in paychecks, we trust in job offers and stocks and raises and all manner of things, conveyed to us on...wood.

Yes, even in 2014, we still inquire of a piece of wood.

For our future, for decisions, for our perception of how our life is, we still rely on wood, in many different forms to be our oracle. And while we may not think of it this way, it is true. I have often based my decisions on the outcome written on a piece of paper. Instead of trusting in God to provide the answers, the meaning, the good things in life, I rely on wood. And that need to change.

Unlike relying on Asherah poles, however, we have the advantage with our paper. It can help us, it can inform us, but it should not be our ultimate. decision maker. If God says to go contrary to that paper - contrary we should go. He is the decision maker, He is our hope, He will provide. We don't need to fear when God is with us.

So the next time a big decision lands on your doorstep...are you trusting wood? Or are you trusting God?

365 Days with God - Day 157: Bigger

I'm giving myself a challenge. Read the Bible each day for a whole year, following the ESV Study Guide 1-year plan. Each day, I will post whatever God has revealed to me in His Word, and how it is changing me. A friend of mine once said that nothing has changed her life as much as reading the bible each day - and I'm excited for how this will change me. Join me on an adventure into the heart of God - and day by day, we can learn more about who He is and what that means to us!

- Andy Catts

Day 157, May 26, 2014

Readings: Proverbs 3:13-20, Deuteronomy 7, Hosea 3, Titus 1:1-4

Sometimes, the promises of God seem a little...crazy. Like if I actually imagine them happening, it's pretty silly. But also amazing.

"If you say in your heart, 'These nations are greater than I. How can I dispossess them?' you shall not be afraid of them but you shall remember what the LORD your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt, the great trials that your eyes saw, the signs, the wonders, the mighty hand, and the outstretched arm, by which the LORD your God brought you out. So will the LORD your God do to all the peoples of whom you are afraid. Moreover, the LORD your God will send hornets among them, until those who are left and hide themselves from you are destroyed. You shall not be in dread of them, for the LORD your God is in your midst, a great and awesome God. (Deuteronomy 7:17-21

He'll send hornets. That stopped me as I read. It's a unique (and terrifying) thought. God is our good father, relentlessly pursuing our good. Note that it says nothing about making your ideals come true - this isn't about God the genie. It's about God who will stop at nothing to protect His children, and to help them grow. God is not absent, he is not lax about us.

And we should not forget it! How often do we ponder the mighty works of God? How often do we stand in wonder of the amazing things He has done for us? How he has provided everything we need, through no goodness of our own. How often are we secure in our lives, knowing who our God is? Who our Father is?

365 Days with God - Day 156: The Greatest Commandment

I'm giving myself a challenge. Read the Bible each day for a whole year, following the ESV Study Guide 1-year plan. Each day, I will post whatever God has revealed to me in His Word, and how it is changing me. A friend of mine once said that nothing has changed her life as much as reading the bible each day - and I'm excited for how this will change me. Join me on an adventure into the heart of God - and day by day, we can learn more about who He is and what that means to us!

- Andy Catts

Day 156, May 25, 2014

Readings: Proverbs 3:1-12, Deuteronomy 6, Hosea 2:2-23, 2 Timothy 4:9-22

 "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

"And when the LORD your God brings you into the land that he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you - with great and good cities that you did not build, and houses full of all good things that you did not fill, and cisterns that you did not dig, and vineyards and olive trees that you did not plant - and when you eat and are full, then take care lest you forget the LORD, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. It is the LORD your God you shall fear. Him you shall serve and by his name you shall swear. You shall not go after other gods, the gods of the peoples who are around you - for the LORD your God in your midst is a jealous God - lest the anger of the LORD your God be kindled against you, and he destroy you from off the face of the earth. (Deuteronomy 6:4-15)

God is good. And He alone gives us everything we need.

365 Days with God - Day 155: A Crummy Job

I'm giving myself a challenge. Read the Bible each day for a whole year, following the ESV Study Guide 1-year plan. Each day, I will post whatever God has revealed to me in His Word, and how it is changing me. A friend of mine once said that nothing has changed her life as much as reading the bible each day - and I'm excited for how this will change me. Join me on an adventure into the heart of God - and day by day, we can learn more about who He is and what that means to us!

- Andy Catts

Day 155, May 24, 2014

Readings: Proverbs 2, Deuteronomy 5, Hosea 1:1-11, Hosea 2:1, 2 Timothy 3:10-17, 2 Timothy 4:1-8

Old Testament prophets usually had a pretty crummy job.

They lived in caves, running for their lives. They faced death and hatred most of their lives. They were loved by some, but despised by many more. And they were only called out to cry to the people of Israel during times of great disobedience and dismay. Nobody wants to listen to the guy forecasting their doom. And in the case of some, they even lived their lives as an example of Israel's lack of faith.

When the LORD first spoke through Hosea, the LORD said to Hosea, "Go, take to yourself a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom, for the land commits great whoredom by forsaking the LORD." So he went and took Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son. And the LORD said to him, "Call his name Jezreel, for in just a little while I will punish the house of Jehu for the blood of Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel. And on that day I will break the bow of Israel in the Valley of Jezreel." (Hosea 1:2-4)

I'm imagining that Hosea was a pretty stand-up guy. He was selected to be a prophet of God, after all. He was probably young. He was probably looking forward to setting up a life where he could quietly live out his faith, marry a good woman and teach his children. But God had other plans.

Hosea's plans, his best intentions, his godly desires (because there's nothing wrong with what he probably wanted) were thrown asunder by God. God desired that he live differently, and it wasn't an easy calling. Called to marry a prostitute. Called to prophecy to the very kings and people who would probably end his life. Called to suffer, again and again, as his wife and his people forsook their first love.

God does not call us all to a life of grandeur, of perfect lives and perfect families. He calls us to follow Him in whatever He asks - trusting that He has a greater purpose. Trusting that He will provide everything we need. God's heart is for His people - all of them. We are to be messengers of His word, no matter what it takes.

365 Days with God - Day 154: Forget God?

I'm giving myself a challenge. Read the Bible each day for a whole year, following the ESV Study Guide 1-year plan. Each day, I will post whatever God has revealed to me in His Word, and how it is changing me. A friend of mine once said that nothing has changed her life as much as reading the bible each day - and I'm excited for how this will change me. Join me on an adventure into the heart of God - and day by day, we can learn more about who He is and what that means to us!

- Andy Catts

Day 154, May 23, 2014

Readings: Proverbs 1:20-33, Deuteronomy 4, Jonah 4, 2 Timothy 3:1-9

I think the only movies I see anymore are kid movies. I don't have time for others, and a lot of them seem to be junk anyway. And so, this is how I found myself watching Prince of Egypt last night, and it was oddly close to me because of where I'm at in this journey through the bible.

But at the end of it, Elisha and I kept coming back to the same place. How could the Israelites turn away from God? How could these people, who have seen amazing things from their God, their Deliverer, and yet they beg Moses to return them to Egypt. They never really believed, despite all that they had seen. They were so hard-hearted that they forsook the Promised Land because of their unbelief.

Even though again and again, Moses reminded them to not forget.

"Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. Make them known to your children and your children's children - how on the day that you stood before the LORD your God at Horeb, the LORD said to me, 'Gather the people to me, that I may let them hear my words, so that they may learn to fear me all the days that they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children so.'" (Deuteronomy 4:9-10)

Are we forgetting the things we have seen and experienced? The grace God has shown us? The things he has provided us with? While it may not be as stark in contrast as the exodus from slavery, they still forgot. Even with all that, they forgot. Should we not be diligent? Should we not remind ourselves constantly of who our God is? What He has done for us? How he loves us?

365 Days with God - Day 153: Redeeming Repentance

I'm giving myself a challenge. Read the Bible each day for a whole year, following the ESV Study Guide 1-year plan. Each day, I will post whatever God has revealed to me in His Word, and how it is changing me. A friend of mine once said that nothing has changed her life as much as reading the bible each day - and I'm excited for how this will change me. Join me on an adventure into the heart of God - and day by day, we can learn more about who He is and what that means to us!

- Andy Catts

Day 153, May 22, 2014

Readings: Proverbs 1:8-19, Deuteronomy 3, Jonah 3, 2 Timothy 2

The word reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. And he issued a proclamation and published through Nineveh, "By the decree of the king and his nobles: Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything. Let them not feed or drink water, but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and let them call out mightily to God. Let everyone turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. Who knows? God may turn and relent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish."

When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it. (Jonah 3:6-10)

This is true repentance.

The people of Nineveh, right up to the king, gave up their very lives to beseech God for mercy. Fasting from food and drink in the hope that God would forgive them and spare their lives. They knew that they could not live long without food and water. But they also, in that moment, knew the fear of God. What good is it to eat and drink if God himself is planning your destruction?

But instead of ignoring him, instead of tossing him aside, they repented. They laid themselves bare, forsaking life-giving food and water in hopes that the Giver of life would relent. That he would spare them. And spare them he did.

So often I want repentance to just be a few words - a hasty prayer, choosing not to do one wrong thing one time. But repentance is heart change. Repentance is casting everything else aside and throwing ourselves at the feet of Jesus, begging for mercy from the only One who can save us.

Gracefully, he does not demand our lives. Gracefully, we are forgiven through his saving work at the cross. How will we respond to that grace? Will we forsake our very lives in repentance? Or will we carelessly cast God aside in pursuit of our own pleasures? 

365 Days with God - Day 152: Fear = Respect

I'm giving myself a challenge. Read the Bible each day for a whole year, following the ESV Study Guide 1-year plan. Each day, I will post whatever God has revealed to me in His Word, and how it is changing me. A friend of mine once said that nothing has changed her life as much as reading the bible each day - and I'm excited for how this will change me. Join me on an adventure into the heart of God - and day by day, we can learn more about who He is and what that means to us!

- Andy Catts

Day 152, May 21, 2014

Readings: Proverbs 1:1-7, Deuteronomy 2, Jonah 2, 2 Timothy 1:8-18

 I'll get this out there right now: It's going to be hard not to write about the Proverbs every day as I work through them.

Solomon was the wisest man who has ever lived and ever will live. He wrote the Proverbs and we are blessed to have them today. But something beautiful is contained where he begins. Something simple, yet so profound.  A good place to start, and applicable throughout.

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge;
fools despise wisdom and instruction. (Proverbs 1:7)

We think of fear as intimidation, horror and malicious. But the fear of the LORD is not fearing His power. It is not fearing His wisdom. It is not fearing Him as our Creator. No, it is respect. We are to be in awe of His power, to be overwhelmed by His wisdom, and to honor our Creator.

If we want to be wise and knowledgeable, we must begin here. God is so much bigger than we are! I would not dream of standing toe-to-toe with a doctor on medical knowledge, or an artist on how to paint, or a lion on how to hunt. Yet every day, we challenge God on running the world. Every day, we think we know better. Every day, we question His every move.

Today, I want to fear, respect, honor the LORD. And maybe I'll get some knowledge.

365 Days with God - Day 151: The Tempest

I'm giving myself a challenge. Read the Bible each day for a whole year, following the ESV Study Guide 1-year plan. Each day, I will post whatever God has revealed to me in His Word, and how it is changing me. A friend of mine once said that nothing has changed her life as much as reading the bible each day - and I'm excited for how this will change me. Join me on an adventure into the heart of God - and day by day, we can learn more about who He is and what that means to us!

- Andy Catts

Day 151, May 20, 2014

Readings: Psalm 150, Deuteronomy 1, Jonah 1, 2 Timothy 1:1-7

Have you ever felt as if you were in the midst of a storm in your life? A huge storm? One so big that you could not escape it? One that made you feel as if you would be torn to pieces by it? That you could not survive? And in the middle of it, did you ask God why?

Then they said to him, "What shall we do to you, that the sea may quiet down for us?" For the sea grew more and more tempestuous. He said to them, "Pick me up and hurl me into the sea; then the sea will quiet down for you, for I know it is because of me that this great tempest has come upon you." Nevertheless, the men rowed hard to get back to dry land, but they could not, for the sea grew more and more tempestuous against them. Therefore they called out to the LORD, "O LORD, let us not perish for this man's life, and lay not on us innocent blood, for you, O LORD, have done as it pleased you." So they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea, and the sea ceased from it's raging. (Jonah 1:11-15)

Jonah was running from God - and God sent a storm to bring him back. But this storm didn't just affect Jonah, it affected the sailors and passengers on the ship. His sin endangered many others - and God was willing to let them all be shaken by the storm. He didn't rescue them before Jonah had relented. He didn't calm the storm until Jonah had given up - until Jonah was thrown over.

Many times in our lives, the storms will continue until we hurl our sin overboard. Until we allow God's grace to rule in our lives, until we turn back to Him and stop trying to do our own thing.  He does not send the storm to redeem us, but to bring us home. He does not send the storm to destroy us, but to rescue our souls. When will you stop running?

365 Days with God - Day 150: America, The Tragic

I'm giving myself a challenge. Read the Bible each day for a whole year, following the ESV Study Guide 1-year plan. Each day, I will post whatever God has revealed to me in His Word, and how it is changing me. A friend of mine once said that nothing has changed her life as much as reading the bible each day - and I'm excited for how this will change me. Join me on an adventure into the heart of God - and day by day, we can learn more about who He is and what that means to us!

- Andy Catts

Day 150, May 19, 2014

Readings: Psalm 149, Numbers 35, Numbers 36, Joel 2:28-32, Joel 3:1-21, 1 Timothy 6:3-21

He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain.

But godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into this world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. (1 Timothy 6:4b-7)

Where have we gone wrong?  There are many ways to look at the state of America and wonder how we have ended up here. Why is there so much injustice? Why so much pain, hurting and strife? Why so much dissension and distrust of God?

I think Paul hits the nail on the head with this passage in 1st Timothy. We (and I include myself in this) often imagine that godliness is a means of gain. If I follow God's rules, He will give me wealth. If I honor God, He will give me prosperity and success. If I serve Him, my life will go as I planned it, with the right job, the right family and the big house.

We've chosen to ignore the second part of this: godliness with contentment is great gain. We only stand to gain when we are content. But not in the way we think of gain. We think of riches and prosperity. But in godliness with contentment, we gain heavenly riches that we will carry on. That will be eternal.

Next time you're planning on doing something good for God, ask yourself why: Is it for God, or is it for gain?

365 Days with God - Day 149: Paid Labor

I'm giving myself a challenge. Read the Bible each day for a whole year, following the ESV Study Guide 1-year plan. Each day, I will post whatever God has revealed to me in His Word, and how it is changing me. A friend of mine once said that nothing has changed her life as much as reading the bible each day - and I'm excited for how this will change me. Join me on an adventure into the heart of God - and day by day, we can learn more about who He is and what that means to us!

- Andy Catts

Day 149, May 18, 2014

Readings: Psalm 148, Numbers 33:50-56, Numbers 34:1-29, Joel 2:18-27, 1 Timothy 5:1-25, 1 Timothy 6:1-2

Have you ever heard anyone complain about the pastor's salary? Complain about how it's a "service of God" and how the money should be "used for better things" and so on and so forth?

That isn't right.

Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching. For the Scripture says, "You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain," and, "The laborer deserves his wages." (1 Timothy 5:17-18)

This isn't a labor dispute - but our biblical teachers and preachers deserve their wages. They are working to spread the news of the gospel - both to us in the church body and to others. It's not a free service, or something we "deserve" - God has called them to preach and teach, and us to support it. We're not exempt from this equation. 

Have you thanked your pastor lately? Given praise for the work he does and the sermons he preaches? Have you given him double honor for his service? I can tell you this, as a pastor's kid - they get a lot more criticism and discouraging words than encouragement. They are working with you and for you, as well as your community, to help the body bring Jesus' hope and healing to the world. That's an important job - and one that we are called to support, with our words and our dollars.

365 Days with God - Day 148: What the Lord Desires

I'm giving myself a challenge. Read the Bible each day for a whole year, following the ESV Study Guide 1-year plan. Each day, I will post whatever God has revealed to me in His Word, and how it is changing me. A friend of mine once said that nothing has changed her life as much as reading the bible each day - and I'm excited for how this will change me. Join me on an adventure into the heart of God - and day by day, we can learn more about who He is and what that means to us!

- Andy Catts

Day 148, May 17, 2014

Readings: Psalm 147, Numbers 33:1-49, Joel 2:1-17, 1 Timothy 4

What is it like to face God's judgement? What do we do when we know we've done wrong? Maybe we've been living in a sinful way, or need to repent for a sinful attitude. Is God the great lightening bolt in the sky, waiting to throw down massive judgement on our heads? Is he really waiting for us to make that one mistake so he can wipe us off the face of the earth?

"Yet even now," declares the LORD,

"Return to me with all your heart,

with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;

and rend your hearts and not your garments."

Return to the LORD your God,

for he is gracious and merciful,

slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love;

and he relents over disaster. (Joel 2:12-13)

This is what Jesus spoke about when he called the Pharisees a "whitewashed wall!" Having the appearance of goodness - following the traditions (ripping your garments was a sign of distress & repentance in Jewish culture.) But God doesn't ask us to rip our clothes. He wants us to rip our hearts. To be sorrowful for the wrong we have done, and to return to Him.

Ripping clothing doesn't make us righteous any more than the slaughter of lambs made the Israelites righteous. Rituals and traditions can never perform the life-changing work of God. God is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. Rituals are cold, heartless, a process without real results. God desires a heart change, not a clothing change.

365 Days with God - Day 147: A Lesson She Should Learn

I'm giving myself a challenge. Read the Bible each day for a whole year, following the ESV Study Guide 1-year plan. Each day, I will post whatever God has revealed to me in His Word, and how it is changing me. A friend of mine once said that nothing has changed her life as much as reading the bible each day - and I'm excited for how this will change me. Join me on an adventure into the heart of God - and day by day, we can learn more about who He is and what that means to us!

- Andy Catts

Day 147, May 16, 2014

Readings: Psalm 146, Numbers 32, Joel 1, 1 Timothy 3

 Anyone who has met my daughter knows that she is obsessed with everything princess. The dresses, shoes, dancing, balls, books, hair, songs - you name it, if it's princess-y, she's into it.

But I know that one day it's going to shift, ever so subtly. Someday it's not just going to be about the fancy things. Someday all the background noise about a prince charming, the noise that is overrun right now by other things, is going to come to the forefront.  But I want more than that for her. And God does too.

Put not your trust in princes,
in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation.
When his breath departs, he returns to the earth;
on that very day his plans perish.

Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the LORD his God,
who made heaven and earth,
the sea, and all that is in them,
who keeps faith forever;
who executes justice for the oppressed,
who gives food to the hungry.

The LORD sets the prisoners free;
the LORD opens up the eyes of the blind.
The LORD lifts up those who are bowed down;
the LORD loves the righteous.
The LORD watches over the sojourners;
he upholds the widow and the fatherless,
but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin. (Psalm 147:3-9)

This is the kind of Prince I want my daughter to be in love with, to long for, to search for. I want her heart to be given to the Prince of Life, the Prince of Peace, who gives abundantly and loves without limits. He is so much more than any prince charming will ever be - real or imagined.

365 Days with God - Day 146: Not Exclusionary

I'm giving myself a challenge. Read the Bible each day for a whole year, following the ESV Study Guide 1-year plan. Each day, I will post whatever God has revealed to me in His Word, and how it is changing me. A friend of mine once said that nothing has changed her life as much as reading the bible each day - and I'm excited for how this will change me. Join me on an adventure into the heart of God - and day by day, we can learn more about who He is and what that means to us!

- Andy Catts

Day 146, May 15, 2014

Readings: Psalm 145, Numbers 31, Obadiah 1:15-21, 1 Timothy 2

 Ever get the feeling that some people shouldn't be given pardon for their sins? Maybe what they've done is so atrocious, or so long-lived, that if it was up to you, you wouldn't forgive them? Do you write them off? Do you protest against them? What does God say about it?

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time. (1 Timothy 2:1-6)

Supplications, prayers, intercessions and thanksgiving doesn't sound much like protesting. Or picketing. Or judging. In fact, it sounds like God cares a lot more for these people than I often do. Like he wants them saved. Wants them to come to know him. To love him. Surely, he wants them to change as well. But God never writes them off. Never says that they are too far gone, unlovable. God desires that all people would be saved.

Which doesn't leave us doing nothing - it leaves us with the challenge of loving those who we struggle with. Not only treating them amicably, but seeking their good through prayer. God doesn't want us to just be passive in their salvation - he wants us to actively petition God to see them saved.

365 Days with God - Day 145: The Purpose of Faith

I'm giving myself a challenge. Read the Bible each day for a whole year, following the ESV Study Guide 1-year plan. Each day, I will post whatever God has revealed to me in His Word, and how it is changing me. A friend of mine once said that nothing has changed her life as much as reading the bible each day - and I'm excited for how this will change me. Join me on an adventure into the heart of God - and day by day, we can learn more about who He is and what that means to us!

- Andy Catts

Day 145, May 14, 2014

Readings: Psalm 144, Numbers 29, Numbers 29, Obadiah 1:1-14, 1 Timothy 1

Why do we believe? Who should we become because of our belief? What did we do to deserve such grace, and how do we bring that grace to others? There's lots of ideas floating around about Christianity, and who it's followers should be, and why we choose this path.

Some choose it for a measurement of morality, some for social justice, some for a seal of righteousness. These are not bad things, but they are certainly not the ultimate reason.

The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. Certain persons, by swerving from these, have wandered away into vain discussion, desiring to be teachers of the law, without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make confident assertions.

The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. (1 Timothy 1:5-7, 15-16)

Jesus saved us so that we could save others. So that through our faith lived out in life, others would come to believe in him and live lives devoted to him. It's not for our own morality, or salvation, or even for the social good of the world. It is so others would come to know the saving grace of Jesus.

Now, morality, salvation and social justice may be side effects of this transformation in our lives and in the lives of others, but they are not the ultimate goal. We do not follow Jesus for these reasons, we follow Jesus for his reasons. We follow Jesus and live for Jesus so that others can know him.

365 Days with God - Day 144: My Work is Meaningless

I'm giving myself a challenge. Read the Bible each day for a whole year, following the ESV Study Guide 1-year plan. Each day, I will post whatever God has revealed to me in His Word, and how it is changing me. A friend of mine once said that nothing has changed her life as much as reading the bible each day - and I'm excited for how this will change me. Join me on an adventure into the heart of God - and day by day, we can learn more about who He is and what that means to us!

- Andy Catts

Day 144, May 13, 2014

Readings: Psalm 143, Numbers 28, Numbers 29, Isaiah 66, 2 Thessalonians 3:6-18

 This is really hard for me to understand, and even harder for me to implement. It's as if I'm wired to believe that the work I do will equal the reward that I "should" receive. I want to believe that I can do something to earn my own salvation, that I can do something to be accepted, that I can do something to assuage my guilt for doing wrong.

But I can't.

Thus says the LORD:
"Heaven is my throne,
and the earth my footstool;
what is the house that you would build for me,
and what is the place of my rest?
All these things my hand has made,
and so all these things came to be,
declares the LORD.

But this is the one to whom I will look:
he who is humble and contrite in spirit
and trembles at my word." (Isaiah 66:1-2)

What can I make, what can I bring, what can I do that will pay God back for the wrong I have done? How can I repay him for the mercy and grace that He has shown me? I can't. There's nothing I can do. He has made all things and is in control of all things. I have to stop believing that I can control my outcomes, and instead trust Him to do it.

Because when I really think about it, that's why I want to do those things. If I can control my outcomes by my behavior, then I am in control of my life. My choices (even if they are good things) are not done because I desire to do right, but are done because I desire to be in control. But I'm not in control. And there's nothing I can do to force God to be satisfied with me either.