imago Dei

I had a proud moment today (which isn’t out of the ordinary).

It started while I was planning for next semester. I am registered for a Spanish class that is half in a classroom, half outside of the classroom doing volunteer work in the Latino community in Champaign-Urbana. While researching potential volunteer opportunities I reminisced upon the last class that I took like that (the prerequisite course) where I was one of the best Spanish speakers in the class and got a lot of praise because of it. 

I loved it.

I then daydreamed about this upcoming class and what it would be like to be one of the best Spanish speakers again, basking in continuous compliments and pretending like I do it all effortlessly. 

I love being the center of attention & being continuously affirmed in all that I do. And while affirmation is nice (and is great at combatting low self-esteem), it oftentimes goes to my head. 

Verses that challenge me in this area:

• “The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but man is tested by the praise he receives” - Proverbs 27:21. (I have this posted on my desk)
• “For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted” - Matthew 23:12. I prefer to humble myself before God humbles me, because when God does it, its not very fun. Its effective, very effective (real life examples: suddenly not being able to speak or understand even the easiest Spanish, publicly embarrassing myself, etc), but it sucks.
• “Not to us, O Lord, not to us but to Your name be the glory, because of Your love and faithfulness” - Psalm 115:1 Standing next to God, I’m really not all that impressive. But He is! (=

I’m currently reading through the book of 1 Chronicles. Today I came across this verse:

“Give thanks to the Lord, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done. Sing to him, sing praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts…” - 1 Chronicles 16:8-9

God LOVES to bless us. Matthew 7:11 says “If you, then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!’

Yet sometimes, I think its easy to fall into the mentality that “God blesses me because I deserve it” or “God blesses me because I am a good person” and leave it at that. In reality, its a bit more than all of that. 

God blesses us so that His name can be made known and glorified. That verse in 1 Chronicles is a calling for us to not only accept God’s blessings and give thanks, but to let them be made known, so that He is made known. 

A few examples of this in Scripture:

• Jesus changing water into wine. He didn’t do it just because they needed more wine at the wedding. Verse 11 shows that Jesus performed that miracle to reveal who he was, which ultimately led to the disciples putting their faith in him.
• Jesus healing the blind man. In verse 3, Jesus said that the man was born blind so that God’s work may be displayed in his life. In other words, by healing the blind man God’s name would be known 
• Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. This is one of my favorite examples. Verse 4 shows that this happened so that by raising him from the dead, Jesus could be glorified. 

In so many other points in Scripture, people began to follow the Lord because of the miracles and blessings that He did. Therefore, let us not just rest in our blessings from the Lord. Rather, let us speak boldly about the ways that God has blessed us, so that people can see His presence in our lives and glorify Him! 

In other words, advertise God!!

see 1 Corinthians 1:26:31

I am not perfect.

I rush into things and often quit when they get hard. 

I struggle with legalism, and maintaining strict convictions for myself and casting them upon others.

I pride myself on the quality of my relationship with the Lord.

I’m insecure about my body, and am convinced that areas of my body that I do not like are a result of a lack of self-control/self-discipline.

I get frustrated when people don’t understand/accept the Gospel - fully ignoring the fact that I denied Christ for 19 years before He came into my life and saved me.

I like to “casually” drop cool facts about myself into conversations so that other people think that I’m cool/envy me/practically worship me.

I struggle with compassion. And pride. And other things.

I am not perfect. But Christ came to save people like me.

“While Jesus was having dinner at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and “sinners” were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the “sinners” and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and ‘sinners’?”

On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

(Mark 2:15-17)

“Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential, not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things - and the things that are not - to nullify the things that are, so that none may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God - that is, our righteousness, holiness, and redemption.” 

(1 Corinthians 1:26-30)

I am not perfect. But I am saved, by grace through faith.

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—  not by works, so that no one can boast.”

(Ephesians 2:8-9)”

I am not perfect. Although I’m saved, I still struggle with sin - much like many of my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ - including the Apostle Paul (who wrote most of the New Testament)

“So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; 

23 but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!”

(Romans 7:21-25)

I am not perfect. But the Lord is patient, gracious, and compassionate anyways.

“Therefore the Lord longs to be gracious to you, He rises to show you compassion”  (Isaiah 30:18)

“The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love” (Psalm 145:8)

I am not perfect. But the Lord loves me (and each and every one of us)…a lot. 

“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39)

“How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” (1 John 3:1) 

Verse: Romans 13:1-7 (NIV1984)

Text:

“Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. For he is God’s servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God’s servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience.

This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.”

My Thoughts: Sometimes I daydream about Judgment Day. Although I know that my salvation is secure because of my faith in Jesus Christ (see Ephesians 2:8-10, Romans 10:9, John 3:16, etc.) I do realize that I will be held accountable for everything I do on earth (see 2 Corinthians 5:9-10). As I make certain day-to-day decisions (e.g. whether to cross a street when its not my turn because theres no police around, or whether to mess with copyright infringement laws, etc) I try (and often fall short, fail, repent, and rest in God’s grace - but nevertheless try) to remember this verse and idea that the laws that are in place were put in place by a governing authority, and all governing authority is established by God. Therefore, by breaking the law (no matter how small) I’m disobeying the Lord, and [again, while following the law is not what saves me!] I will have to bring it before the Lord on judgment day, and the thought of having to that isn’t very fun :P

“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

   “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

“The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’ ” – Matthew 25:34-40

Doesn’t this sound a lot like social work? (= 

Additional verses that have been on my heart as of late:

—-“What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

 But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.”

 Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.

 You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend.  You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.

In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction?” – James 2:14-25