Tonight at NMC

I shared a message tonight that has been brewing in me for many years.  Here's some of the biggest thoughts from it...

• Have you ever felt used in a relationship? I know I have.   I had my license early in my Sophomore year, and it was amazing how many people became friends with me at that point. We can run a risk of doing this with God. When our main reason for following God is out of a desire to get something from him… heaven, feelings, a supernatural move (miracles, gifts, etc.)… we are missing the point. 
• The reason we follow God because He is God. 
• Tonight, we did not sing "You are here for us".... we sang, "We are here for you."  BUT, which version are we singing in our everyday life?
•  The idea of seeking God over God’s move is laced throughout scripture... 
• In Amos the people were seeking the places of worship over God.  He had some harsh words to say to them in Amos 5:4-6.
• We love the promise of Jeremiah 29:11 (For I know the plans I have for you) but that promise is incomplete without Jeremiah 29:12-13 (You will seek me and find me when you seek ME with all your heart).
• Philippians 4:13 is grossly misquoted.  Check out Philippians 4:11-12 sometime.

•  Some of you may be saying, “Wait a minute? So I shouldn’t want to see God move? I shouldn’t want to get to heaven? Is it bad to want to feel God’s presence?” No, I’m not saying that. What I’m trying to get at is this… 
• Let’s be careful that we are seeking the Creator and not his creation. 
• Let’s worship the Doer and not the things he’s done. 
• Let’s place our trust in the Giver and not in His gifts.

Passages: I John 4:19

We love because he first loved us. 

                                                                              I John 4:19 

I was in High School. I wasn't pursuing after Christ. I had a ton of religion and no relationship with Christ. I had to sit through church services on Sunday morning and Sunday night. I would do anything to pass the time... Tic Tack Toe, drawing, passing notes, and sometimes when I was really board, reading my Bible.

I can't remember the exact date or even year, all I remember was I was in High School. As I leafed through my Bible, I realized for the first time there was the book of John, but there was also the book of I John. I started skimming through I John. When I hit chapter 4, verse 19 something just made me pause.

It was a simple statement, but it spoke to me. I am able to love because of God's love. In that moment, I decided to do something I'd never done before. I was going to memorize the verse and where it's found. Don't get me wrong, I had memorized verses before, but every other verse was because I was told to or it was so I could earn a patch for my "Missionary Cadet" sash.  This time my memorization was different.  It was the first verse I ever memorized because I thought it would be good to memorize.

I don't think I memorized another verse or passage of scripture until I fully surrendered my life to Christ my Freshman year at Bethel College.  After that moment and in the years since, I have committed many passages to memory.  This one will always be a special one to me.  Both for the message and for the reality that God was speaking love to me as I was running away from him.

Passages

Kind of funny that I'm heading on a vacation and I'm going to kick out a blog series. Normally vacation time means no blogging. I figured I would switch The concept of "Passages" is to throw out passages of scripture that are especially meaningful to me an the story of why. Look for more to come over the next few weeks.