So this is a blog!

Hello to anyone reading this! This is my blog which I'm writing to look at things that take my fancy with a Christian twist, I am nowhere near the last authority on any of this, that's the Bible, God's word, but I thought I'd share my thoughts so that you might have something to think about or share with friends.

God Bless

Thursday, April 26, 2012

Reflecting God

So this is the second in the two part bit on the weekend away I went on which is essentially on how we should be reflecting the trinity. I'll be running through the 6 six points we were given and voila it's done. So how can we reflect God in our lives?
Firstly, by being certain in what we believe in. (Hebrews 11) As in the last blog we need to certain, confident and assured of what we believe in and through that we can start to live a life suited for it which is point two.
To be focused solely on the purpose to which we are called. (Ecclesiastes 12:13)
Now all has been heard;
    here is the conclusion of the matter:
fear God and keep his commandments,
    for this is the duty of all mankind.
It's our duty to fear God and keep his commandments, now I don't mean fear as in "AAAAAAHHH!!" horror movie sort of fear but rather an awe or reverence fear, a fear of his almighty-ness which expresses in a form of awe. It's through focusing on our God like this and keeping the commandments He gave us that we can grow to know Him better and so be able to reflect His nature to this world better.
The next three points are quite tied in with one another but here's point three. Our thoughts match what we believe. (Proverbs 15:26)
The Lord detests the thoughts of the wicked,
    but gracious words are pure in his sight.
(Philippians 4:8)
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things.
The first is self explanatory and combines well with the second one to tells us to keep our thoughts on things that are pure, true, noble, right, admirable and lovely and not to think like the wicked do. Our thoughts aren't ever really thought about oddly, what I mean to say is we never really advise people to keep their thoughts pure but only their words and deeds, which I'll come to later. It's a challenge though to be more aware of what we are thinking and to set that thinking, that focus of our thoughts on God.
So on to point four, our words should match what we believe. Well this is more talked about and a bit more obvious as we want to portray God's love but here's the verses. (Colossians 3:17)
And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
(Titus 2:7-8)
In everything set them an example by doing what is good. In your teaching show integrity, seriousness and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned, so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us.
So yep again I think the Bible talks for itself and really teaches us more than I could explain, but here's food for thought. Reflecting God is to be consistent with God, just as the Trinity is consistent with one another. Again to reiterate a point near to flogging a dead horse over and over again we need to reflect God and the only way we can do this is by focusing on Him more and more until we align our world view with His. On to point five though: Our deeds should match what we believe in (1 Corinthians 10:13)
No temptation[a] has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted[b] beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted,[c] he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.
(Colossians 3:17)
 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
 Looking at the Corinthians verse we can see that God will not allow us to fall into temptation because of Him but rather by our own choice, we act badly because we choose to. We cannot be excused but through the blood of Christ for the sinful choices we make. If you really can't stop making those wrong choices, and some choices you just repeatedly make wrongly, then bring them all before God and ask Him to help you seek out the right choice, ask Him to help you reflect Him here on Earth. To tie them all together though point six, everything we do, think of and say is consistent with who we are in Christ. (2 Corinthians 13:11)
Finally, brothers and sisters, rejoice! Strive for full restoration, encourage one another, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you.
(1 Thessalonians 4:7)
 For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life.
Boom! I think it's a great verse to end on. We are called to live  a pure and holy life, to be consistent with one another in Christ. It's in the unity of Christ we stand. We spend a lot of time bickering and discussing the differences in denominations and I respect that but there is something much greater at the center of our faith that means those don't actually matter. Obviously going off scripture is wrong and unholy but when people squabble over styles of worship it's not love compelling them to my mind, it's comfort in what we are used to. We aren't called to complacency butt we are called to reflect Christ in all we do and to encourage one another in our mission on Earth. I hope I've given a small insight into how we can reflect the Trinity, I realize there aren't any practical explanations written by me here but I think reading the Bible and getting to know God is the only way forward.

God Bless.
 

No comments:

Post a Comment