Ignition part 4
"Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth" (Psalm 46:10). I love this verse. But I think in some ways it has become more of a hinderance than a help. I think we've taken "being still" and turned it into, "doing nothing." And that's a problem. I think we've taken the idea of God being exalted among the heathens, exalted in the earth, and we've turned it into, "as soon as God exalts Himself things are really gonna change for the better." Guys... WE are the earth that God is exalted in! When WE are among the heathens--when we are LOVING the heathens--that's when (and how) He is exalted! He doesn't do anything apart from us. In Him we live and move and have our being and in us He lives and moves and has His being! So while we're waiting for God to do something... He's waiting for us to take what He's done and run with it! Jesus said it like this, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go to my Father" (John 14:12). The way this whole "Christian life" works is NOT God doing everything for us. He already did that in a very real way 2,000 years ago on the cross. The way it works is God doing everything IN and THROUGH and AS us! Look at Philippians 2:13, "For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure." It's God working in us. And that's where the "want to," the will, and the "power," the doing, of His good pleasure comes from. We always think we have to like force ourselves to serve God. But what God WANTS us to do is be still and know that He is God. What God wants from us is not for us to serve Him. Jesus said He didn't come to be served, but to serve. What God wants from us is a relationship. Not laws you keep, but a life that keeps you. Jesus already started the fire. And its a fire that consumes everything except itself. Like the burning bush in the desert that drew Moses' attention, this fire feeds on itself but never burns out. Love feeds on love. The more you love, the more you FEEL loved. But if you're waiting until you feel it before you do it... if you're waiting for God to do something that He's already done... then all you're really doing is robbing yourself. All you're really doing is missing out on what is available. There's a difference between "being still," operating from a posture of rest, and doing nothing. Rest is NOT inactivity. Rest is Holy Spirit directed activity. Rest is what happens when you know and believe that the work is finished. You don't try to finish it anymore. You do the same works... and greater works. Because you're equipped and empowered TO love by BEING loved. And love is the greatest work of all. Love is what the cross was all about. Jesus showed us the greatest expression of love that exists by laying His life down for us. And then He picked it back up and gave it to us!