Tag Archives: Christian

Hello My Name is: YOU

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I’ve been writing this blog for several years now and my audience has changed over the years. I want you to know that I really appreciate you taking the time to read this blog. I want to encourage you and speak a language that resonates in your everyday life. The best way for me to do that is by knowing who you are. Could you take a few moments to take this survey? Thanks!

Steve (a.k.a. – MartyrPriest).

PS – If I can get 25 respondents to the survey I will share the story of how and why this blog is named MartyrPriest.

Body AND Soul

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God is profoundly interested in what you do with your body!

The very first commands God gave to Adam and Eve had everything to do with their bodies. I find it fascinating that God did not say something like: “have a great daily quiet time” or “don’t forget to pray before every meal”. Rather, God said, “I gave you the gift of sexuality…use it well!” and “get your hands dirty in the garden!” (Genesis 1:26-28).

God wants followers who are committed with body AND soul. It simply will not do if you only commit your heart to Jesus. He wants both body and soul because the two are inextricably connected. What is primarily physical is also spiritual. What is primarily spiritual is also physical.

Think about it. Is there such a thing as truly “spiritual” prayer? Prayer that does not engage any part of our body…at all…ever? Is there such a thing as truly “spiritual” worship? Or isn’t it true that we engage our voice, our hands, and so many other parts of our body in worship.

So reverse it, is there such a thing as purely physical eating? or sleeping? I think it’s easier for us to think so. But the truth is, if we follow God, these physical activities have a spiritual component as well. What and how we eat says something about our relationship with God. How much or little rest we take says something about how much we trust God to provide.

God wants us to submit our bodies to him in service, not just our hearts. Have you given Him both?

Thoughts to consider:

How do we serve God through what and how we eat?

What do we reveal about our relationship with God by how much or little rest we get?

What are some warning signs that we have made our bodies into idols in place of God instead of vessels to be used by God?

Find Your Sodom

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They all died. Every single one. Their violence, their immorality, their savagery led them to the brink. They reached the edge of the cliff so quickly that it was a small matter to jump off…even if it was to their own demise. They were the people of Sodom and Gomorrah.

…bu they could have been saved you know.

Hours before the fire and brimstone fell on these cities Abraham had a conversation with God about their fate. He pleaded with God to extend his grace if just a handful of righteous people might be found among the teaming masses.

But there weren’t 10 godly people to be found in the city.

So the city was destroyed.

The tragedy is that Lot, Abraham’s nephew, lived in the city. He was a major player in the town. When the angels of the Lord found him he was sitting at the gate. This was a place of honor for the leaders of the city. Lot had an incredible opportunity to influence this city for God, but instead their fallenness got to him. It seeped into his bones. It changed him.

Heartbreaking.

Lot’s family, his wife and children, his grandchildren; combined they could have outdone superman. They could have saved the city. Their righteousness could have withheld the fire.

The next time you watch an inspiring movie that makes you feel like you want to do something great for God here’s a thought; live righteously. Maybe your a father; teach your children to love God. Maybe you’re a wife; don’t give stop praying for the heart of your husband. Maybe you’re a student; don’t comprise because it’s easy. Just because everyone else is or isn’t doing it don’t stop being righteous; you just may be holding back the fire.

For many years I thought one of Lot’s biggest mistakes was going into the city in the first place, but I don’t think that quite right. 10 godly people can be enough to hold back judgment, that’s an important point to remember. 10 righteous people in a town of hundreds, 10 righteous people in a city of thousands, 10 righteous people in a metropolis of millions. We can hold back the fire if we only hold the line.

Find your Sodom. Hold the Line. Live righteously and watch as God not only sustains you but in the process saves a city!

Community Questions:

Where has God placed you to hold back the fire?

What are some of the challenges those who live in Sodom face? How can we find success in the cities?

Are Questions Ever Bad Part 2

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I want to pick up on my last post and offer another thought on the subject. We were considering how to avoid the danger of cloaking anger, fear, frustration or mistrust in the form of a question in our prayers. First I suggested that you start your prayer with silence. Next I want to encourage you to:

Replace the word “why” with the phrase “what now

I recently turned 30 and so my annual check up is due soon. While I’ve yet to meet someone who actually enjoys getting a physical (and if you enjoy getting a physical you need to see a doctor…pun intended) there are certain parts of the physical that still intrigue me. Take for instance when the doctor checks you reflexes. He taps your knee in just the right spot and our leg responds with a jerk. It’s where we get the idea of a “knee jerk” reaction to something.

The word why is often our knee jerk response to God when things go unexpectedly bad in our lives. We barge right into the thrown room of God demanding to know why all this or that has happened. Many times behind our why lies the smouldering embers of anger.

So many times when we ask why what we are really asking is why not another way. And this is important. I’ve rarely asked God why when things went according to my plans. But, when I’m clearly not the one in control, I find why flying from my lips quicker than a major league fast ball. Even more troubling is that many times our demand to know why masks a distrust in one of two areas. Either we believe because of what has happened God is not good and loving or we believe that because of what has happened God is not all powerful.

Honestly, have you ever been tempted to think that….say that….pray that?

Let me challenge you to keep talking to God about the challenging things going on in your life. He wants the dialogue. But try replacing a few of the why’s with what now. When we ask what now we are acknowledging the fact that God is still, and if fact has always been, in complete control. We are saying that, despite the pain we might be facing right now, God is still good.

More importantly, we are giving God an opportunity to speak instructively into the most intimate and perhaps painful moments of our lives.

Are Questions Ever Bad?

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Have you ever asked a question you knew was leading you, at break-neck, James Bond movie car chase, speed, into trouble? I know I have. Interestingly Bond’s car and my ego have often paid an equal price when the deed was done.

Christians ask all sorts of questions when they pray and that’s good. The Bible encourages us to take our needs to God. But is a question ever more than just a question?

Sure.

Jesus loved entertaining questions when He was on earth. He answered all sorts of them. Yet there were times when he absolutely shut down the one asking the question. So was Jesus rash? Did he like some people and not others? Was he temperamental? Were there days when he just had enough? More importantly how can we know our question will be well received when we come before Jesus in prayer today for the hundredth time?

The key is in the posture of our heart.

The truth is yes, there are times when questions are bad. I believe that many of us have been pushed, in moments of desperation, to use the question mark as a weapon. In the pain and confusion of life Job lashed out at God with a question: “Your hands fashioned and made me altogether, And would you destroy me?”. He could not, at that moment understand God’s plan and so he lashed out at God. God’s was not silent, but offered this response: “gird up your loins like a man; I will ask you, and you will instruct Me. Will you really annul My judgment? Will you condemn Me that you may be justified?”

So how do we avoid the danger of cloaking anger, fear, frustration or mistrust in the form of a question.

In moments of intense pain, fear, or worries start your prayers with silence.

Our words are a reflection of our heart. So if we are to be truly silent before God out heart has to be silent, not just our lips. Have you ever noticed that, many times, the heart goes on talking even after our mouth is shut. Being silent before God means being quiet in soul and body. Psalm 62:1 says “My soul waits in silence for God only; From Him is my salvation.” There is something about quiet that helps us become fully present before God. Further, when we understand, like the Psalmist, that our salvation…indeed our very existence is sourced in God, only then do the issue at hand truly come into focus.

The next time you’re tempted to lash out at God with one of those “this really isn’t a question” question take a moment to be silent…you may find you’re answer even before the question is asked.