Category Archives: Spiritual Growth

Spiritual Growth

My Feet in a Large Room

The Bible discusses many things that we might not include if we were the writers. For example, my feet would probably not be a topic I would choose to discuss. But God’s word comments on feet!  In Psalm 31:8, we read, “And you have not given me into the hands of the enemy, but have set my feet in a large room.”   Now notice the scripture does not talk about big  feet – but rather a big  room. I’m glad about that. In fact, literal feet in a room is not the point of the words we read.

The point of the passage is that God always wants us to expand our spiritual horizons—thus the word picture “…my feet in a large room.”  He wants us to broaden our sense of worth and to appreciate our abilities to accomplish great things for his cause. We all face the challenge of not limiting his nature and power through us and through his Word. We may “place God in a box” and thus limit his greatness in the world around us.

Throughout the Bible we see God challenging people to think bigger and see more far-reaching goals in doing his work. Remember some of the admonitions he made to his people. He prodded Moses to take his people to the promised land. He inspired Isaiah to be his missionary. He motivated Jonah to go and preach to the city of Nineveh. He convinced the band of twelve to go and evangelize the world. He sent Philip to preach to the eunuch. God persuaded Barnabas and Saul to preach to the Gentile world.

We need to remember the power of God as Paul describes it in Ephesians 3:20-21:  “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to the power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever! Amen.”  We need to expand the way we think and the possibilities on God’s behalf.

Put your feet in a large room.

 

Spiritual Growth

Don’t Quit!

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I know we all need the mercy and grace that God provides through his son, Jesus Christ. But probably all of us at times fail so much we think about giving up on living for him.

That is one of the reasons Paul is such an inspiration to me. He does not mention his specific weaknesses in this passage, but his passionate feelings seen in his description of his efforts at self-control tell me that at times he failed in his Christian walk. His thoughts in I Corinthians 9:26-27 give me comfort in my own struggles. He writes, “Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.”

From secular careers we have insight that failing is not fatal. Babe Ruth hit 714 home runs in his career, but he also struck out 1,330 times–a record.

Burma Shave, the first brushless shaving cream, was finally created with formula 143. Actually, the chemist was up to formula number 300 and then accidentally discovered that if you aged formula 143 for several weeks, you got a fine shave with it. If you have lived several decades, you may remember the roadside Burma Shave signs such as this one: “The whale put Jonah down the hatch, but coughed him up because he scratched—Burma Shave.”

Remember each new day is a new beginning. God does not give up on you; don’t give up on serving God.

Spiritual Growth

Unexpected Answer, Unexpected Question

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In our Let’s Start Talking project, we often repeat Luke stories because we sometimes meet with six or seven readers a day. Thus we teach the same lessons multiple times. The questions and answers, however, are not the same. For example, lesson four is about Jesus staying in the temple in Jerusalem to talk and listen with religious leaders. His parents on their way home don’t know this and think he is lost.

One of the questions I often ask the reader after reading this story is, “Have you ever been lost?” Usually the answers center around being lost in a store or at a festival. This middle-aged reader we will call Leo thought for a moment and in his limited English said, “Yes, a long time ago.” I wasn’t clear on what that meant, so I asked him more about the situation. I quickly realized he was talking about being lost spiritually! He said he eventually found Jesus and is no longer lost. That answer surprised me, but I realized he had made an excellent point.

I have preached many sermons on the crucifixion and events surrounding it. Yesterday with another reader I was talking about how the blood of Jesus takes away our sins because he died on the cross.

Then he asked, “How does the blood take away your sins?” Finding words to give a clear and accurate answer to one who is newly learning about Jesus was for me very difficult. What seemed logical in a sermon no longer seemed to fit this young and curious reader. How does the blood of a person who was killed 2000 years save us today? I did not do a very good job. Since our reading together, I have been mulling over a better answer so I will be prepared when that question is asked again.

Since many readers have a limited knowledge of the Bible and all are from a different culture, finding the right answer and responding to an unexpected answer certainly keep me from growing weary of doing the same lesson multiple times.

Spiritual Growth

Do You Believe in Reincarnation?

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Readers are unpredictable. In the middle of our lesson yesterday, Alex asked, without introduction, “Steve, do you believe in reincarnation?”

I was stunned. We had been talking about the temptation of Jesus, and I tried to think of how his question related to our lesson. It didn’t. I stumbled in getting out the words, “No, I do not believe in reincarnation.” I decided to go with the abrupt change in topic and asked him, “Do you believe in reincarnation?”

His answer? “Yes.”

He then proceeded to say that he believes in Spiritism and gave me a brief explanation of his religion. Alex mentioned, for example, that if a person is born with some impairment or is subject to some tragedy in life, he is paying for his sins in a previous life. If a rich man in this life is selfish and does not share his good fortune with others or treats others badly, in the next life he will be poor and will suffer many losses. In each life, you evolve and your goal is to be more and more like God.

They use the same Bible and will read from it at their gatherings (not called worship services). They meet regularly at centers. He said the room is not that much different from our buildings but they don’t have music and preaching.

I left that session overwhelmed. Here is a young man who is very goal-oriented, intelligent, and a delight to be around. Yet his religion is so different from mine! I had a hard time connecting him with his approach to life. I try to respect everyone’s philosophy of life; I have to admit that this conversation broadened my knowledge of how different other people’s spiritual outlooks can be.

However, I plan to go to our next session tomorrow with faith that God can work in his life to see the truth. I want him to understand that Jesus is the Son of God, that heaven and hell are real, and that Jesus wants us to follow him. I believe that God can work through me–and others–to help this young man know Jesus Christ.

We will continue to read stories from Luke and make applications to our lives. I hope he will see me as an illustration of how the Scriptures can change us to be more like Jesus every day—for this life and life eternal.

Spiritual Growth, Travel

When a Tree is Not Just a Tree

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A few weeks ago in a sermon at Central I told about a small tree that we saw growing in a large pothole in Natal, Brazil. I made the point that the infrastructure in Brazil is very different from that of the United States. Basically, I was saying that potholes go so long without repair that trees start to sprout.

I found out how wrong I was! When I was talking to prospective readers at our information meeting Tuesday night, one of the readers asked me what I thought of Natal. I retold the tree story.

One of the people said, “Oh, that is not why the little tree was there. When a pothole gets that huge, someone will put a tree [or, as we observed, an umbrella] in the hole so people won’t hit the pothole. The hole is so deep and dangerous that you can ruin your car if you hit it directly.” He said further, “That is not uncommon at all in our country.”

This conversation reminded me of how we view things differently in cultures not our own. Other customs that are different in Natal include the rudeness of eating any food with your fingers. In a restaurant yesterday I chose a chicken leg to eat, as did Lanita. Then she realized and reminded me that it is very rude to eat any food with my fingers. You use a fork or, in the case of sandwich or hamburger, a napkin to put the food into your mouth.

The Apostle Paul dealt with different customs in writing to the church at Rome in Romans 14:1-15. He was concerned that we should respect each other in our different customs about eating and special days.

We should respect other nationalities’ customs and traditions as long as they don’t contradict God’s Word. We can even apply this, I think, to other regions of the country where we live. Be willing to eat foods of a region that might not specifically appeal to you. I learned this lesson in adjusting to Lanita’s Southern cooking and especially in eating in the homes of her relatives when we first started dating. I’m still working on eating cooked turnip greens, however.

So I am trying hard here in Natal to avoid insulting any of my readers or hosts in my actions and deeds.  As Paul said, “…I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some” (I Corinthians 9:22.)

Remember, a tree is not always just a tree. It may be another country’s orange barrels.