Let the horse do the work
“I want you to take your hands off the reigns and trot over the bars without holding on.” The instructor said.
“You want me to do what?” I looked down at her perplexed from atop a beautiful, large horse. I hadn’t ridden on a horse in over 20 years and I had only been on this one for about 15 minutes.
“You’re leaning forward with your shoulders, using your own power to keep you up.” She replied. “You need to sit back more and allow the horse to do the work.”
I’m a sports guy, I’ve played them my entire life. The instructor went on to explain that in sports you are trained to lead with your shoulder and in horseback riding it’s the complete opposite. There’s this large, powerful horse underneath you, and if you try to hard to control him you never end up going the right way.
Reluctantly I let go, and went trotting over the bars laid out on the ground. My arms stretched out wide, I felt so unstable and was terrified I was going to go flying off.
“Go again.” She said.
Sometimes we feel like we are so wrapped up in sin that there is no way out. I’m in to deep we say. And we start pulling on the reigns in panic. We pull and we tug, and we twist, and when we look up we realize we aren’t where we wanted to be.
In John 8 the Pharisees bring a women caught in the act of adultery and throw her at Jesus feet. We all know the story, Jesus stoops down and writes in the sand and says “if any of you are without sin, cast the first stone”.
There’s a disappointing point in this story: “At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time”. Who knows what Jesus wrote in the sand, maybe He was pointing out their sins. But don’t you wish that verse said “At this, they were grieved, and repented and they wept with Jesus”?
We are so conditioned to not want to hear the truth and we fight it when we are (Galatians 4:16). We argue, “I can do what I want, God forgives all sins.” While that is true, God’s grace is not permission to live like the world. If we continue to keep pulling the reigns we’re not going to head down the path the Lord has for us.
Just like my instructor, Jesus didn’t say hey go work on that, fix your life, come back and then we can talk. No! He talked to her right then and there, broken and naked, full of sin. My instructor didn’t condemn me but correct me and guide me. In the same way, Jesus did not come to condemn, but convict(John 3). Satan is the one in your ear condemning you, mocking you, and making you feel like you can’t get out.
As the Pharisees all walked away they left her in the best place she could be: alone with Jesus. And at that moment, alone with the Lord, is where He gives us direction. “Go and sin no more” He said.
I was left alone with my instructor. I could have chosen to keep my hands on the reigns and try to ride it out but she was only trying to allow me to grow and learn. And as I let go and allowed that strong horse to carry me I was a little terrified but when it was over I was proud of my accomplishment and stronger than before.
1 Peter 5:10 says “But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you”. You may be going through a trial right now. Maybe you are terrified to let go. But know that as Peter says, after you suffer the Lord will perfect you, establish you, strengthen you, and settle you.
Rely on the grace of the Lord. It’s not because we deserve it, it’s because He loves us and wants to give it to us. His grace is sufficient because His power is made perfect in our weakness. When we learn to let go and expose our weakness the Lord shows us His power to get us through what we thought was impossible.
As I rounded the circle and trotted back towards the bars for the second time, I spread my arms outstretched and let go. My mind raced with fear of falling but I pressed on, trusting the horse to do what he does time and time again, and when it was over I was strengthened.
As Christians we sit on the back of Jesus, the most powerful place we could be, but we don’t trust Him when we get in difficult situations. We pull and tug and try to use our own power but it just sends us in circles. When we finally let go and let Him lead us He delivers us from our trials and takes us to greener pastures(Psalm 23).
why does God allow satan to live?
this little excerpt is taken from John Piper’s blog (you can read the rest here):
Why does God allow Satan to live?
…before I answer it, let’s make sure that we agree that it is true that God could take Satan out anytime he chose. Because I think there are some who would say, “He really can’t, because of some rights (or authority, independence, free will, etc.) that Satan has.” But the reason I know God can take Satan out without turning me into an automaton or breaking any rules is because he is going to take him out. He is going to throw him in the lake of fire.
And the question is, “Why didn’t he do it yesterday? If he had done it yesterday I wouldn’t be tempted the way I am today. The Bible says, ‘Lead me not into temptation.’ Well, the best way not to be led into temptation is to take the Tempter away! Isn’t it? Take him out! I’ve got sin in my life plenty enough to make me struggle. I don’t need Satan on top of my sin making my life more miserable. So God, take him out! You have the right and the power to take him out. You’re doing nobody wrong when you take him out. Take him out!”
here’s my first problem (of many) with this article: “if he had done it yesterday i wouldn’t be tempted the way i am today.” while this is true in some respect, it puts on display that which Piper, an elite reformed theologian, places the most emphasis: his sin. is there something wrong with this picture or is it just me?
when i was reading this i thought he might say something like, “if he had done it yesterday pain would cease. there would be no more murder, no more hate, no more thievery, no more orphans and widows, no more poverty, no more deceit, no more tears, etc.”
this is really bothersome to me. not only does this kind of thinking play directly into the hands of individualism, it is not representative of a holistic, Biblical model of redemption. it is not all about ME and MY SIN!
we are redeemed. we will most certainly continue to fall short, but that is the beauty of being in relationship with God through God’s Son! since we are redeemed, we have been given the distinct privilege of sharing the greatness of the Gospel with those who are dying. God has freed us through the incarnation of God’s Son, and through his submission to death. he freed the captives. therefore, we are already free from Satan’s power on us so that we may have a hand in freeing others (through the power of the Holy Spirit of course).
Jesus Christ has already unhanded Satan and has endowed us with the power of God to extend the love of God’s kingdom throughout this broken world.
so, my foremost concern is not that Satan would be destroyed because i fall from time to time, but that he would become powerless so that those who are broken inside and out will more swiftly and easily come to find life in Christ.
Piper goes on to explain why he believes God allows Satan to live and does so without use of scripture to support his claims. despite this fact, Piper claims that if we disagree that his reasoning is in fact the way God handles pain and suffering “we will reject God, we will reject the biblical testimony, and we will perish forever in Hell.” strong words.
is it possible that not believing in God’s ordination of suffering at the hands of Satan will result in our eternal demise,” as Piper claims? does God really have a “long leash” on Satan (which insinuates God’s hand is in every awful thing that happens in this world)? what do you think?
-dave-
We’re all searching
For in the image of God has God made man. – Genesis 9:6
Our DNA is hard coded to worship Jesus. For any of us who follow Christ daily this fact is undeniable. When we worship it stirs up emotions we don’t feel at any other time. At points it drives us to tears of repentance, sometimes tears of joy, and other times tears of shear awe.
For those who don’t serve this God, who have doubt, who have questions, this seems perplexing. How can worshiping something no one can see help me? How can it possible change my life? How do I know it’s even real?
John 16:13 says “But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all truth.” When Jesus died, rose from the dead, and ascended to heaven God sent His Spirit as our guide.(John 16:5-11) In worshiping God and surrendering your all to him you allow His Spirit to come and guide you.
A young boy and his father were hiding in a church during the Revolutionary War as British troops marched on their town. The march of footsteps drew them to the window. As they peered out the window the young boy exclaimed “Dad! minutemen! We’re saved!” No son, those are redcoats. The dad explained. “No, look dad! They’re wearing white coats.” The dad, perplexed, and a bit concerned looked down at his son and realized what had happened. Being so small, his son was looking through a piece of red stained glass at the bottom of the window. You see, if you look through red glass at red all you see is white.
We are gross and grimy; covered in sin. Yet Jesus shed his blood for us. When we accept Him we are covered by the blood of the Lamb. God takes one look at us and all He sees is His son, as white as snow. You are gonna make mistakes, even through His Spirit guides you but God’s grace will always be greater than any sin.
When something bad happens to you how do you feel? As a Christian I’ll tell you how I feel. I feel upset, disappointed, angry. But shortly thereafter I remember how big my God is and remember that He has a plan for my life. He also promised to protect me. I’ve seen non-Christians experience bad things. Cancer, death, and even small things have caused people to ‘give up’. They have no hope. When someone asks me, I point to 1 Peter 3:15 which says always be prepared to give an answer for the hope that you have. People think I’m crazy for being upbeat when something bad happens. If I told you that whenever something bad happened to you you would be happy and that it would turn out okay every time wouldn’t you take it? That is what Jesus is offering you! This is your life changing moment.
Finally, how do you know it’s real? Before you were even in your mom’s womb, He knew you(Jeremiah 1:5). So what you say. You’re just quoting from the Bible and I don’t believe that. Ok, listen to the lyrics of some of the music you listen to. Listen to famous actors and athletes. They all have everything this world has to offer and are still searching for something. Searching in this world drives them crazy, leads them to drugs and to do crazy things.
Listen to these lyrics: “Check your pulse it’s proof that you’re not listening to The call your life’s been issuing you“. Sounds like something in a Christian song right? It’s John Mayer.
Each one of us has a hole in our heart and it’s deadly. We search high and low trying to fill it with anything we can think of but nothing in this world can fill it. The only thing that fills this hole is Jesus and He’ll fill it perfectly, satisfying all your needs.
We are hard coded to worship the Lord, our maker. And when we choose to reject Him we search endlessly for an answer that isn’t attainable, leading to death. “Seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”(Matthew 7:7) People who choose to follow the world may get all the material blessings they search out. People who choose to follow God get eternal life with all the blessings thrown in.
Products of our Environment
Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it. – Proverbs 22:6
Over the past few months I have had several run-ins with friends from my past. It’s always good to see old friends and reminisce about the past, catch up on what you missed, and question where you’re headed.
God has really placed a burden on my heart to really contemplate each of these encounters individually. To see the different places these people are in their lives and to understand how they got there, but also to praise Him for the foundation He gave me.
Going to a Christian school my entire life jaded me as a youngster. I wasn’t the strongest Christian in high school, and in fact, most of my friends were stronger.
I look back now and see where some of them are and my heart is sad. Their lives are in shambles. Some say they feel empty or alone. Others are stronger than ever, living for Christ and being an example to all.
When I started thinking about each of them there was one thing that pressed open me, family. Those that are down, broken, and not seeking Him are those who’s families aren’t either.
I’m one of the lucky ones. When I stopped going to church, my mother kept going. When we ridiculed her every Sunday morning as we sat on the couch watching tv, she kept going. For at least 5 years this went on, week after week.
Then, one rainy night, He pulled me back. And He’s never let me forgot that I have my mom to thank for saving my eternal life. I had it easier than most. I was raised a Christian, always knew the truth.
What does this mean for all those with broken homes, with non-believing families? It means it’s going to be hard. Surround yourself with Christian friends who build you up and keep you honest. Who check up on you and correct you when you’re wrong. Even I need those relationships and I’m blessed to have bunches of them.
The lesson I’m taking from this is to stand strong because some day I’ll have a family to care about and worry about. If I am consistently saying I’m a Christian yet am drinking to get drunk and sleeping around my kids are bound to repeat the same mistakes.
I made some huge mistakes growing up, but kids will always come back to what they know. I need to make sure what they know is the truth. The Holy and Anointed Word of God. My foundation.
