Nooma 003|Trees"We want to know why we are here. If our lives really matter. How our religion is relevant to this life. Today. We want to understand what significance this minute, hour, week, month, and year has to our lives.To our world. We need a God who cares about this life, in this world, right now. We want to understand why everything we think, everything we say, and everything we do matters. We don't want to just sit back and wait for something to happen or someday to come. We want to know if all the choices we make now will shape our world and lives for eternity. Because we want our lives to have meaning today, and our lives today to have meaning forever. " - NOOMAtube
Late lunch today, sorry! Have you ever asked yourself the questions why am I here? Or what is my purpose in life? I know that I have. It's something that isn't obvious to us as humans. I commonly think that I have things in my life figured out and then God throws me a curve ball and I find myself once again lost, confused and back at square one. I want to do good in this world but how can I do so when the yuck of the world seems to be taking over? How can God's beauty live side by side with such pain? Despite what I commonly believe it's not up to me. Yet God does give a choice. I can live live the way that I want to live or I can live life the way that God created me to live.
The way that God created us to live...think about that for a second. How did God create us to live? In the days of Genesis, God created us to live as one in peace with the land and animals. Then there was this whole fiasco with the tree. Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit and were kicked out of Eden. As Rob says, the trouble with this is not that it happened but that it happens. Each and every day we are faced with sinful temptations and we continue to choose the path of sin. We are given the choice to gossip, the choice to lie, and the choice to steal yet over and over again we take the temptation.
So where is God in all of this? As we walk through our everyday lives, why can't God be by our side at all times whispering in our ear? "I need a God who is now. I need a God who teaches me how to live now. I need a faith that's about today, that helps me understand the world that I live in today" (Rob Bell). Yet we live in a world full of beauty, full of life. God created the trees, he created art and music. All the things we enjoy, God created and God is in them. We live "in a world drenched in God. And some people seriously ask, you know, "Where is God?" Maybe the better question would be "Where isn't God?" I mean, his fingerprints are all over our world" (Rob Bell).
I personally need to take a step back and rededicate my life to the Lord. To admit that I cannot do it on my own and to understand that without Him, I will fall victim to the world's temptations. We as followers of Christ, should work towards living the way that God created us to live. To be committed to work with God to make the world the place that He intended it to be.
Please, if you are interested I encourage you to participate and share your thoughts. I would love to get some feedback and hear what each of you took from the day's topic. Just click the comment button at the end of each blog and let me know what you think!
The way that God created us to live...think about that for a second. How did God create us to live? In the days of Genesis, God created us to live as one in peace with the land and animals. Then there was this whole fiasco with the tree. Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit and were kicked out of Eden. As Rob says, the trouble with this is not that it happened but that it happens. Each and every day we are faced with sinful temptations and we continue to choose the path of sin. We are given the choice to gossip, the choice to lie, and the choice to steal yet over and over again we take the temptation.
So where is God in all of this? As we walk through our everyday lives, why can't God be by our side at all times whispering in our ear? "I need a God who is now. I need a God who teaches me how to live now. I need a faith that's about today, that helps me understand the world that I live in today" (Rob Bell). Yet we live in a world full of beauty, full of life. God created the trees, he created art and music. All the things we enjoy, God created and God is in them. We live "in a world drenched in God. And some people seriously ask, you know, "Where is God?" Maybe the better question would be "Where isn't God?" I mean, his fingerprints are all over our world" (Rob Bell).
I personally need to take a step back and rededicate my life to the Lord. To admit that I cannot do it on my own and to understand that without Him, I will fall victim to the world's temptations. We as followers of Christ, should work towards living the way that God created us to live. To be committed to work with God to make the world the place that He intended it to be.
Please, if you are interested I encourage you to participate and share your thoughts. I would love to get some feedback and hear what each of you took from the day's topic. Just click the comment button at the end of each blog and let me know what you think!
the world is such a dark place...and it's all because of this silly disease called sin.
ReplyDeleteso often when i feel completely caught up in the darkness, completely overwhelmed, i have to remind myself that God is bigger and more powerful than all of that...that not only are we wiped clean of every sin we commit, we are viewed as holy and righteous and without blemish in His sight...and on top of that, with the power of God, we are able to reclaim all of the things that we've lost or given away or have been stolen from us.
it's such an easy task to give God praise when all is going according to plan...but when i step back, like you said, and examine that thought, it's only when things are going according to MY plan...not His. when things are tough, i am quick to feel abandoned...but we need to learn to praise him in the storm (thank you, casting crowns)...because we are told that we will see suffering before we see glory.
it's about trust.
and dedication.
i love seeing all of your insight on this, brother!!!