Our Story or His?
This morning I started with this reading:
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Bumping Into God
By John Greco
"In the future, when your children ask you, 'What do these stones mean?' tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever."
Joshua 4:6-7 TNIV
IN THE OLD TESTAMENT, when the nation of Israel crossed through the Jordan river into the Promised Land, God told them to place twelve stones at the site as a memorial. He wanted them to remember what He had done for them and to tell their children. Their stories had bumped into God's, and the pile of stones would serve as a way to bring it up in conversation: "Those stones? Yeah, those are from when God delivered our people. I was there you know."
The stories of people meeting God don't end with the close of the Bible either. History is full of people who had an encounter with Jesus and whose lives were never the same. Every person who has met Jesus and had their life changed by Him has a story.
Followers of Jesus don't have everything figured out. Sometimes they have doubts and questions. Sometimes they sin. They don't always know why bad things happen to good people and they can't give you eight simple steps to a happy, prosperous life. Christians are just people whose stories, at some point, bumped into God's story and the two plot-lines became one.
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Last night we talked about the pressure that is applied to students today (whether good, bad or ugly) and what it leads to. Some burnout, others follow the pressure applied by others to self-destruction, while some become something amazing (think coal to diamonds). However, one thing is always true: we only have two options when dealing with the pressures of life, to choose to be God's or to choose something else. The idea of dying to live is so strange and almost unintelligible to us, yet it is what it comes down to. But when we die to our selfish motivations and desires to become God's servant, we have literally joined the two plots to become the one story that God is writing. History was His story and God wants it to become our story. But, it takes some serious sacrifice and commitment.
If you pick up your cross (meaning you die to your desires, whims, etc.) and follow Jesus, people will bump into God through your life. The question becomes: are people bumping into you or Jesus Christ living in you? My prayer is that it is the latter or that it at least becomes the latter...
___________________________________________________________
Bumping Into God
By John Greco
"In the future, when your children ask you, 'What do these stones mean?' tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever."
Joshua 4:6-7 TNIV
IN THE OLD TESTAMENT, when the nation of Israel crossed through the Jordan river into the Promised Land, God told them to place twelve stones at the site as a memorial. He wanted them to remember what He had done for them and to tell their children. Their stories had bumped into God's, and the pile of stones would serve as a way to bring it up in conversation: "Those stones? Yeah, those are from when God delivered our people. I was there you know."
The stories of people meeting God don't end with the close of the Bible either. History is full of people who had an encounter with Jesus and whose lives were never the same. Every person who has met Jesus and had their life changed by Him has a story.
Followers of Jesus don't have everything figured out. Sometimes they have doubts and questions. Sometimes they sin. They don't always know why bad things happen to good people and they can't give you eight simple steps to a happy, prosperous life. Christians are just people whose stories, at some point, bumped into God's story and the two plot-lines became one.
___________________________________________________________
Last night we talked about the pressure that is applied to students today (whether good, bad or ugly) and what it leads to. Some burnout, others follow the pressure applied by others to self-destruction, while some become something amazing (think coal to diamonds). However, one thing is always true: we only have two options when dealing with the pressures of life, to choose to be God's or to choose something else. The idea of dying to live is so strange and almost unintelligible to us, yet it is what it comes down to. But when we die to our selfish motivations and desires to become God's servant, we have literally joined the two plots to become the one story that God is writing. History was His story and God wants it to become our story. But, it takes some serious sacrifice and commitment.
If you pick up your cross (meaning you die to your desires, whims, etc.) and follow Jesus, people will bump into God through your life. The question becomes: are people bumping into you or Jesus Christ living in you? My prayer is that it is the latter or that it at least becomes the latter...
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