The End of Life on Automatic
I picked up a photography book yesterday, Understanding Exposure. After reading it for five minutes, I have officially abandoned the Automatic setting on my camera and now enthusiastically, yet shakily, move forward into the world of Manual mode. I will practice "real" photography, failing time and time again with blurry and overexposed shots, but then I'll begin to get it and experience the joy of photography well done.
This also happens to parallel my life right now. Kelly spoke this a.m. about suffering. Paul tells us in Acts,"We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God." In Matthew 11, "Then Jesus said to his disciples, 'If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.'" Obviously these verses are not talking about salvation, nor are we talking about legalistic works or the keeping of law to gain God's approval.
As always God cares about my heart. What does suffering for Him accomplish? What is hardship and suffering? Kelly explained it well. In these verses, suffering is a place we CHOOSE to go to willingly. We choose the cross when we FORGIVE, when we BEAR THE BURDEN of others who can't bear their own, SHARE THE GOSPEL in a hostile environment, REBUKE THE UNGODLY, standing up for Christ and justice, FAST in order to pray with greater clarify and focus, FORGO a purchase to meet the needs of another financially.
Remember Philippians 3? Paul understood hardship, the purpose of it, always keeping the end goal in mind...the advancement of the gospel for the glory of God. He experienced the amazing grace of God that carried him through it all. II Timothy 1 says, "We continually remember before our God and Father your WORK PRODUCED BY FAITH, your LABOR PROMPTED BY LOVE, and your ENDURANCE INSPIRED BY HOPE IN OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST. For we know, brothers LOVED BY GOD, that HE HAS CHOSEN YOU, because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction." Wow, talk about intentional, Spirit-filled living. It's not "safe," but it sure is purpose-filled.
So as William and I start praying about God's purpose for our family, I desire God's heart, not my own. It may not be comfortable, it may be terribly sacrificial, but we can know that in obedience joy will come. I chose to take my life off of the Automatic setting of relative comfort and mediocrity to intentionally pursuing the Holy Spirit Manual mode of life. And so with my Bible (and my "Understanding Exposure" book) firmly by my side, into life (and photography) I go.
This also happens to parallel my life right now. Kelly spoke this a.m. about suffering. Paul tells us in Acts,"We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God." In Matthew 11, "Then Jesus said to his disciples, 'If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.'" Obviously these verses are not talking about salvation, nor are we talking about legalistic works or the keeping of law to gain God's approval.
As always God cares about my heart. What does suffering for Him accomplish? What is hardship and suffering? Kelly explained it well. In these verses, suffering is a place we CHOOSE to go to willingly. We choose the cross when we FORGIVE, when we BEAR THE BURDEN of others who can't bear their own, SHARE THE GOSPEL in a hostile environment, REBUKE THE UNGODLY, standing up for Christ and justice, FAST in order to pray with greater clarify and focus, FORGO a purchase to meet the needs of another financially.
Remember Philippians 3? Paul understood hardship, the purpose of it, always keeping the end goal in mind...the advancement of the gospel for the glory of God. He experienced the amazing grace of God that carried him through it all. II Timothy 1 says, "We continually remember before our God and Father your WORK PRODUCED BY FAITH, your LABOR PROMPTED BY LOVE, and your ENDURANCE INSPIRED BY HOPE IN OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST. For we know, brothers LOVED BY GOD, that HE HAS CHOSEN YOU, because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction." Wow, talk about intentional, Spirit-filled living. It's not "safe," but it sure is purpose-filled.
So as William and I start praying about God's purpose for our family, I desire God's heart, not my own. It may not be comfortable, it may be terribly sacrificial, but we can know that in obedience joy will come. I chose to take my life off of the Automatic setting of relative comfort and mediocrity to intentionally pursuing the Holy Spirit Manual mode of life. And so with my Bible (and my "Understanding Exposure" book) firmly by my side, into life (and photography) I go.
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