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#ThrowbackThursday – This post originally published December 23, 2015.
How often do we go through life and wonder why certain things happen to us; life-changing events that can be very emotional and gut-wrenching. In the midst of these traumatic events. we can’t always see how they can shape our character and strengthen our faith. Jeremiah 18 gives us a vivid picture of how God works in our life to mold us into someone with Godly character.
In verse four, Jeremiah notes, “But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him (NIV).” God uses this image to show Jeremiah how he is working to remove the blemishes from Israel to shape them into a vessel for his purposes. God shows Jeremiah how he will continue to apply pressure on Israel to stop them from continuing as a marred pot that refuses to follow His ways.
In our own life we can act like Israel, pushing back on the pressure God applies as he works to mold us. We try to form our own life in our own way, preferring to remain a marred pot or even a lump of unusable clay. As we struggle it may seem like God has abandoned us, but all the time God’s loving hands are wrapped around us, gently applying pressure to shape us in his image so we can become a vessel for His kingdom.
In Jeremiah 18:6, God said to Jeremiah, “Can I not do with you, Israel, as this potter does?” declares the Lord. “Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand.” It is a good reminder that God touches our life with his love and grace. Even though the pressure may seem like too much to bear, God’s hand is always upon us.
© 2015 CGThelen
As much as we desire to stay at the feet of Jesus and worship him, sometimes he asks us to not remain there. As much as we enjoy the fellowship of other Christians, God calls us to go beyond the walls of the church. As much as we relish sharing with other believers the great things God has done in our life, he calls to share this good news with others outside of the church.
Such was the case in Luke 8:26-38. In this passage Jesus demonstrated God’s power over demons in a dramatic way. They had just arrived in the region of the Gerasenes across the lake from Galilee, when “he was met by a demon-possessed man from the town (verse 27, NIV).” The man immediately fell at Jesus’ feet and acknowledged him as the son of God.
Jesus commanded the demons to come out of this man, but they begged Jesus to not torture them. Instead they asked Jesus to let them go into pigs grazing on a nearby hillside. Jesus gave them permission and the demons entered the pigs. Immediately the pigs ran down the hill into a lake and drowned.
News of this event spread quickly and soon people from town and the countryside came and saw the once demon-possessed man seated calmly at Jesus’ feet, “dressed and in his right mind (verse 35).” When the people heard what had happened, they were filled with fear. They asked Jesus to leave because they were afraid of him. They had just seen the power of God to overcome demons. Jesus left, but he also left behind a powerful example of God’s truth.
The formerly demon-possessed man begged to go with Jesus, but Jesus told him, “‘Return home and tell how much God has done for you.’ So the man went away and told all over town how much Jesus had done for him (verse 39).”
Imagine this man sharing his story in his home town. People who knew the man when he was demon-possessed could not deny he had changed; could not deny Jesus had changed his life. God calls us to do the same.
We are so grateful for what Jesus has done in our life that we want to remain at this feet and worship him — to remain with the community of believers and worship him. But Jesus calls us to share what he has done for us, to spread the good news to others we know outside the church; to those who knew us before Jesus entered our life and can now see the change in our life.
© 2019 CGThelen
I noticed a man standing alone, anxiously waiting to hear his name. He was on standby in the gate area of the airport, waiting to see if he would be able to board the plane parked outside. If his name was not called he would not be able to board the plane and it would leave for its destination without him.
Such is life. We may have our own itinerary for our life, but in the end if our name is not on the right flight we will miss the destination of heaven. Revelation 20:15 tells us, “Anyone whose name was not found in the book of life was thrown into the Lake of Fire.” To get your name on the right flight, you need to go through the travel agent called Jesus Christ. Dedicating your life to Christ means you will not be left behind, tossed into the Lake of Fire because your name was not found in the Book of Life.
A life in Christ means living a life in the Spirit and catching the flights he reserves for you instead of settling for standby on the flights of your choosing. It is putting aside our agenda and focussing on serving God instead of the desires of the flesh. Revelation 21:27 tells us, “Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the book of life.”
Don’t just settle for standby in life where you anxiously wonder if you’ll make it to the destination of heaven. Secure your ticket today by committing your life to Christ.
#ThrowbackThursday – This post originally published Jan. 16, 2013.
© 2013 CGThelen
The pain is deep
It eats at my soul
My heart stiffens
I ache for relief
My body tightens
Muscles tense
Tendons strain
I can’t move
My brain swells
Turbulence within
Emotions swirl
A whirlwind inside
Tears well up
Eyes close
Salt water streams
Touch my lips
Body crumples
Folding in half
Whimpers break
The silent room
Darkened window
Broken shade
Beam of light
Upon the floor
Tear drops glisten
Reflecting light
Sparkles of hope
Deep in my soul
“I am worn out from my groaning. All night long I flood my bed with weeping and drench my couch with tears.” – Psalm 6:6
“Why, my soul, are you downcast?Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.” – Psalm 42:5
© 2019 CGThelen
I quickly darted into the house unannounced as the downpour started. Inside I found a man sitting on the floor in a large, vacant room looking up at the ceiling.
“I’m sorry,” I said to him. “I just needed to get out of he rain.”
The man acted like he didn’t hear me. He just continued to stare at the ceiling. I took a step closer to him. That’s when I noticed water dripping onto his face. I looked up at the ceiling and saw water seeping through some of the tiles in the ceiling.
“You oughta fix that roof,” I told the man. “And why are you sitting under the dripping water?”
“It was repaired,” he replied with a smile as water trickled on his face. “But I kinda like it like that.”
I shook my head not understanding the appeal. “But why?”
“Well the other day a man stopped by and helped repair the hole. But honestly he wasn’t very good at patching roofs.”
“So why did you let him patch it?”
“Well, the man said he felt responsible.”
“Responsible?”
“Yeah, the other day that guy everyone is talking about, Jesus, was in town in this very house.”
“Jesus was here?”
“Yeah, the place was packed. So this group of guys made a hole in the roof and lowered a paralyzed man down on a mat in front of Jesus.”
“So the guy who did the repair was one of the guys who tore the hole in the roof?”
“No, it was the paralyzed guy who repaired the roof,” the man replied.
“Wait a minute, are you saying the paralyzed man fixed the roof?”
“Yeah, Jesus healed him. He came back because he felt bad about the hole in the roof.”
“Jesus actually healed him?”
“It was the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen,” the man said as he stared at me intensely. “I was there. I watched them lower this helpless man on a mat down from the roof. I watched Jesus heal him. I watched the man pick up his mat and walk away. Then a few days later I watched him climb a ladder and fix the roof.”
“So it’s true?” I asked. “He was healed?”
“It’s true,” he replied as he looked up at the ceiling again. “It’s true.”
I watched him sitting under the leaky roof as water dripped on his face. He smiled again as he said, “You know what’s even more amazing?”
“No,” I replied.
“Jesus said his sins were forgiven before he healed him.”
I stood a moment and watched the water dripping on his head and streaming down his face. It was hard to tell if he was crying.
#WednesdayWalk Through the Bible — an exploration of what unknown people might have seen or felt when they witnessed the events in the Bible. This post is from the perspective of someone who witnessed Jesus healing the paralyzed man in Luke 5:17-26.
© 2019, CGThelen
Over the years I have encountered many people who are bitter about life and the things that happened to them. Their demeanor is so sour and angry about the past that it affects their outlook on the present. At times this attitude can cause them to lash out at people.
I thought of this attitude of bitterness when I read 1 Samuel 30. David has allied with the Philistines after fleeing from Saul. After they join the Philistines to fight Israel, they are sent back to their homes in Ziklag only to find their town has been pillaged. David’s men are angry with him when they find “it destroyed by fire and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive (verse 4, NIV).”
The response to this horrible event reveals the character of David and some of his men. In verse 6 we read that David “was greatly distressed because the men were talking of stoning him.” Not only was David upset that his wives had been taken, but now he faced the anger of his men who blamed him.
The second half of verse 6 is instructive for us in how we choose to respond to horrible things that happen to us in life: “each one was bitter in spirit because of his sons and daughters. But David found strength in the Lord.” Because David focused on the Lord instead of the men who were bitter in spirit, he was able to seek the Lord’s guidance and rescue their wives and children as well as everything the raiding party had taken from them.
Bitterness about horrible things that happen to us can taint our attitude about so many things in life. When we are bitter in spirit as David’s men were, it can cause us to be angry with people and lash out at them for even minor injustices. David’s ability to find strength in the Lord, even in the midst of his own loss, enabled him to seek the Lord for wisdom on how to respond to their tragedy (verse 7-8). He follows God’s wisdom and rescues their families.
Bitterness of spirit can be destructive to us and those around us. It can sow seeds of mistrust, revenge and division. Read 1 Samuel chapter 30 and compare David’s response to his bitter and grumbling men. Seek the Lord’s wisdom in your response to bad things that happen in your life.
© 2019 CGThelen
It’s hard to believe it’s December. As another year draws to a close, I reflect on another year of joy and sorrows. The older I get, the more the sorrows seem to accumulate to the point where they can overpower the memories of all the joy I have in my life. The older I get the more I feel my body showing it’s age.
Yet Paul’s words in 2 Corinthian 4:16-18 remind me, “do not lose heart (NIV).” He reminds us that as Christians there is much more than the sorrows of this world and our failing body — “inwardly we are being renewed day by day.” With Christ Jesus in our life we are actually growing and maturing our eternal body inside of us.
Some days it is difficult to remember that everything in this world is temporary. The only eternal value it has is how we use what God has given us here to help others learn about Christ Jesus. Paul encourages us to keep a proper perspective: “For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all (verse 17).”
The next time your body’s aches and pains remind you of your age; the next time the struggles of this world get you down, remember the eternal hope we have in Christ Jesus. “So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal (verse 18).”
© 2018 CGThelen
As followers of Jesus Christ, how often do we make plans that include his will for our life? In 1 Corinthians 16:5-9, I am struck by how committed Paul is to following the Lord as he made his plans. When he talked about doing certain things, he often deferred to what the Lord might have him do.
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In verse 6 he said, “perhaps” when he discussed how long he will stay and concluded the sentence with, “wherever I go.” In verse 7 he concluded the sentence with “if the Lord permits.” In verse 8 he stated how he wanted to remain in “Ephesus until Pentecost because a great door for effective work has opened to me (NIV).” Each statement expressed Paul’s desire to temper his plans with what the Lord would have him do.
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It is evident that Paul cared deeply about his friends and fellow servants in Christ. This is clear in many of his letters. In 2 Timothy 1:4 he wrote, “Recalling your tears, I long to see you, so that I may be filled with joy.” In 1 Thessalonians 2:17 he wrote, “out of our intense longing we made every effort to see you.” These are people that shared faith in Christ Jesus with Paul, people he longed to spend time with in their homes.
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Yet Paul remained faithful to where the Lord placed him to share the gospel, even when he faced “many who oppose him (verse 9).” Though he longed to be with his dear friends, he chose to place Christ first in his life. It’s a powerful testimony to what it means to give your life to serving Jesus, a testimony that makes me contemplate the depth of my faith in Christ and my willingness to follow him, even at the expense of things that I hold dear to me.
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Jesus said in Matt. 16:24, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” Sometimes that means sacrificing our desires for God’s desires. It is part of the process of pursuing a heart after God, a process of acquiring a longing for people to know the joy of the Lord Jesus as their savior.
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“Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” – Psalm 37:4
© 2018 CGThelen
For years I drove by the fast food restaurant on a busy corner in town. As time passed, a fresh coat of paint or a new sign would change its look, but inside you could tell it was the same old building. One day I noticed the words “Closed for Remodeling” on the lighted sign in front of the building. I chuckled as I wondered how they could possibly succeed in giving this old place a new look.
It shocked me the next day when I drove by and saw that the entire building was gone. Only the familiar “Closed for Remodeling” notice remained out front. It was readily apparent they were not interested in papering over the old condition of the building, but wanted to make a fresh start. In the weeks that followed, many that passed by that busy intersection took note of the emerging new restaurant.
It’s a good example of what can happen in our Christian life. Sometimes it seems easier to paint over lingering sin than to admit our struggles. We want others to see our fresh coat of Christian paint, but inside we still wrestle with the flesh of our old way of life. But as we grapple with these remnants of our former life, we should think of it “as a weaning from that old sinful habit of always expecting to get your own way. Then you’ll be able to live out your days free to pursue what God wants instead of being tyrannized by what you want (1 Peter 4:1-2 MSG).”
Pursuing what God wants means we have to tear down the walls that formed our old, worldly life. It’s a painful process that requires us to remove self-centered pieces that are more concerned about ourselves than following Jesus. Some of these bricks are so securely cemented into our old life that it takes a chisel to break them free. It’s part of the painful process of putting off “your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds (Ephesians 4:22 NIV).”
As we make a new life with Jesus, we replace the bricks of selfish desire with bricks focused on serving him. We build a new life in Christ that others take note of on the busy intersections of life. We become part of something bigger than ourselves: “you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ (1 Peter 2:5 NIV).” You become part of God’s kingdom which will stand forever. “For in Scripture it says: ‘See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame (1 Peter 2:6 NIV).’”
#ThrowbackThursday – This post originally published Sept. 3, 2010.
© 2010 CGThelen
I have often found it a challenge to put into practice 1 Thessalonians 5:16: “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus (NIV).” As much as I want to, I just can’t seem to maintain a constant state of rejoicing and prayer. I began to wonder if it was even possible until last week when I ran into Sandy, a woman I have know for years.
Sandy is a giving person who has served on a village council for more than 10 years. When she first joined the council, their small village was depressed and not very prosperous. One person described it as being stuck in the 1950s, but she persevered with a grateful heart. Over the years she worked to implement one positive change after another. A mural here, an improvement to a park there, a repaved street here and there. Before long a positive momentum emerged as people saw the town change for the better.
I remarked to Sandy about all the good things happening in her village. “We are so blessed,” she exclaimed to me. Then she listed all the good things going on just this year. “I don’t have all the answers, but I keep praying for our town, our businesses and our people.” I smiled as I realized she is an example of 1 Thessalonians 5:16. In essence she bathed everything in prayer, rejoiced always and was thankful for everything.
Then she told me what really mattered to her. “Oh but what we really need is Jesus,” she said to me with a smile. “Now you know my real passion.” She had shown me that I had 1 Thessalonians 5:16 backwards. Her optimism wasn’t just out of her efforts to have a positive attitude about everything, it was a joy born out of her love for Jesus and her deep desire for others to have that same joy.
For too long I focused on the first part of the verse, “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances,” as this challenge to be joyful about everything; to lift up everything to God in prayer. I was treating it almost as a chore, keeping track of how many times I failed to pray or be thankful about something. What Sandy taught me is that the second part of this verse is really the answer: “for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”
It is God’s will that in Jesus Christ we can rejoice always in continual prayer. Through Jesus we can find the ability and the will to gives thanks in all things. We can see God at work in all things. When our optimism is born of the Spirit of God through our faith in Jesus Christ, we are aligned with God’s plan and his will. It is having a passion to serve Christ Jesus, to bring Jesus to others, that makes us want to constantly rejoice, to constantly pray, to continually thank God.
Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. – Colossians 4:2 (NIV)
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. – Philippians 4:6 (NIV)
And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people – Ephesians 6:18 (NIV)
© 2018 CGThelen
