A few books and thoughts

Here are a few books that I've read recently. I absolutely LOVE reading true stories of people that live out their lives for Jesus. They challenge me to want to do the same; that's the easy part...the hard part is actually doing it. God has shown His strength and power over and over when we are at our weakest. God never said he wouldn't give us more than we can handle...He never gives us more than HE can handle.

"Shadow of the Almighty" is about the life of Jim Elliot, who only lived to 28 years old. He sought Jesus with his whole heart, and wanted to share the truth of Jesus to those who had never heard. God did amazing things through his (and his family's and friend's) suffering. Through his wife's forgiveness of his killers, salvation was brought to the "savage" tribe in the jungle.

I just finished reading "The Hiding Place." I'm sure many of you have read it already. I LOVED reading about this "ordinary" Dutch family that was brought up to love Jesus. When German occupation shook their world, they refused to do nothing. They showed the world the mark of a Christian: Self-Sacrificing Love. Love for family, love for friends, love for the poor and wounded, and, most Christ-like, love for their enemy. The two sisters experienced horror upon horror in prison and concentration camps, yet they never gave into the lies of the enemy. They believed God put them there in that time and place, horrific as it was, to bring the light of Jesus to the darkest, deepest evil pit one could imagine. Betsie, the older sister, knew how important it was to share the Gospel at the "very gates of Heaven." With all the people dying around her, she knew she was in the place she was supposed to be. She quoted the verse, "Give thanks in ALL circumstances," (one of Jordan's verses she's memorized, and we've focused on this week) and thanked God for even the flea infested bunks. It turns out that the fleas kept the guards out of the sleeping area, which allowed the women to conduct Bible studies at night. Betsie even prayed for the Nazi's, believing that they were the ones that were truly to be pitied. To live without love and be driven by hate must have been the worst place to be.

My reactions to the stories of those suffering for Christ don't seem to go together. My first reaction is, "What great JOY to be able to experience the presence of Jesus Christ!" Then I think, "Joy? Suffering beyond imagination and I'm feeling envious? I must be crazy!" I don't want suffering, but I want Jesus. I'm not sure you can fully and completely have both. Jesus called us to suffer for His sake, to pick up our cross and count the cost of following him.

Life is not about me. I'm excited to read a book that I ordered, "I am not, but a know I AM." I got tired of looking for inspirational books to read the other day, because they all seemed to make me the center: "you have to love yourself before you can love others." Really? I'm pretty sure that's not the way it works. When I love others, I stop making myself the center of my world and my mind begins to have the right perspective. I want Jesus to be the center. We are nothing apart from Christ. We don't matter apart from Christ. We are dust apart from Christ. Life is not about me.

Our small group read "The Hole in Our Gospel" over the summer to gear up for our missions minded groups this fall. It was a good eye-opener to make you think outside of yourself. I have been motivated by this book to actually DO SOMETHING to bring the Whole Gospel to those in desperate need of it. I can't do it all, but I can refuse to do nothing.

A story we talked about, that someone brought up at group, was Jesus feeding the 5,000 from a few loaves of bread and fish. It never occurred to me before, but the boy that offered his food was most likely not the only one with food to share. He just happened to be the only one that offered. The other people there were not obligated to give their food away. Nothing was "wrong" with them not sharing. But guess what? The boy got to be a part of what Jesus was doing, and the other people sat on the sidelines and were left just watching. I don't want to be a spectator in the Kingdom of God. I want to be a player, on the front lines, sharing my fish and bread so that I don't miss out on what Jesus is doing.