What in the World? Prayer

                                                                      
Last night, I went to bed, fell asleep, woke up, and could not fall back to sleep.  Sound familiar?

Rolling around in my head were many topics: work projects, friends, work frustrations, past conversations, writing this blog series, work fears...  

I also replayed part of conversation with my husband regarding my work situation and started to pray. I felt like my thoughts were a jumbled mess of truth of God as well as realities of the current stressful situation with too many tasks and deadlines with not near the time to complete them.  The questioning begins: How am I going to get it all done, this is unfair, fear of failure, what if's...you get the picture.

As I wrestled with these thoughts, I questioned whether or not God would hear this prayer.  My first response was no, I need to clean up these thoughts and make them more neat and orderly to present to God.  Then He will hear my prayer.  But as soon as this thought was out of my head...that is not true.

Philippians 4:6 tells us to not be anxious for anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. The New Living translation says Tell God what you need and thank Him for what He has done.

Additionally, we are to approach the throne of God boldly.  Sometimes that is hard to do because we are approaching our perfect heavenly Father, who is sovereign over all things.  But the reality is He is just as eager to answer as we are to ask.


Now there are some caveats to this, as God is not Santa Claus or the genie in the bottle just wanting to grant our every wish, but when we ask in faith, believing, God will answer our prayers there is no telling what God will do.  In the process, He may change our thoughts, actions, and attitudes rather than the situation.
                                                                                              

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What in the World? Seek

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What in the World? Mind Renewal

                                   
In our lives, we have constant inputs: parents, spouses, siblings, friends, teachers, adds on TV, FB, Pinterest to name a few.  Some inputs are positive others not so much.  Some uplift.  Others bring low.  All input shapes are thinking.  Sometimes it is subtle like a creeping spider that silently winds down on it's web and other thoughts overwhelm like gusty winds or large unsettling waves of the oceans crashing on shore.

But Romans 12:2 tells us Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the RENEWAL of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good, acceptable and perfect. 

The definition of renewal:

• the replacing or repair of something that is worn-out, run-down, or broken
• the act of being made new, fresh, or strong again

Over the last few days, I've been pondering the words in Romans especially renewal.  Many times, we think that we are alone with our thoughts.  But the truth is we are not.  Even if our thoughts are scary or anxious or weighty or happy...Jesus is with us with the power to change us.  Renewal is a present continuous verb.  It is constantly happening.  We have a Savior along the way that is able to to renew and transform us.  All this is needed is a willing vessel, open to the reconstructing power of Christ in ALL areas of our lives including our thoughts.  He brings repair, freshness, and makes us strong again.  What a beautiful thought!

What in the World? Change

I have been pondering the question of change in a person's worldview.  Can a person's worldview change?  I think the simple answer to this question is yes, a worldview can change. Change occurs by maturing, life experiences, exposure to different situations and people, and most importantly by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Romans 12:2 states "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect."

In my own life, I am in the process of developing my palate to eat seafood.  I did not grow up eating seafood (except fried shrimp).  As I have grown and matured, I have come to find that I like lobster, some fish (especially with a delicious sauce), and am especially fond of jumbo lump crab cakes.  This has come through experiencing tasty seafood through exposure to eating various types of seafood.  For the record, I am still not wild about scallops, clams, and sushi.

The same is true in our spiritual life.  We must avail ourselves to have exposure to Christ's word in order for Him transform us from the inside out.  That is not say that God will only change us when we are in His word, but remember that Scripture is our filter.  When we are in God's word it WILL affect our thinking patterns and change us for the better into the person that Christ wants us to be.

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What in the World? Jesus

                                                                            
   
Good people will go to heaven.  
There is no one "right" religion.  
There is no hell.  
I do not believe in the trinity.  
There is no god.  
There are many gods and many ways to get to heaven.  
Haven't we all heard those statements?

These phrases are constructed from worldview.  If one believes all good people like those who help grandma cross the street, those who make chicken soup for the sick, and those who just live a good life because they did not murder anyone will enter the pearly gates, are living out their worldview in real life ways.  Their reaction to situations and conversations will be colored by their thought process.  Additionally, their behavior and judgement will be reflective of their view of the world.  

How does this play out for me?

At the heart of my worldview is Jesus Christ.  I believe He is who the Bible says He is.  Believing in Jesus is an act of faith. There are many aspects to believing in Jesus that we can ONLY take by FAITH.  For example, Jesus is God.  John 1 tells that everything in the world was created by God and Jesus was present at creation. 

How does that play out in real life?

Well, I work for a public school system in Virginia in the registration center and have the privilege of meeting many students and families from around the world.  Working for the school system has many joys and challenges.  (Isn't that a metaphor for life really?) I try to live out my faith for others to see while at the same time being respectful of others and their views. One area of worldview that differs greatly between my colleagues and I is on the topic of evolution.  I can recall two separate instances when this topic came into question.  The first time was with a fellow teacher (when I was still actively in the classroom teaching) and I was working with  another teacher who was doing a 3rd science lesson related to sun and moon.  And she directly asked me how many billions of years old I believed the earth to be?  To be honest, in the moment, I do not remember exactly what I said back to her - something about scientists have much debate of exactly how old the earth is..., but later that afternoon, we had a conversation about creationism and how I did not believe in evolutionary theory. 

The second question came a few years later, this time with a 3rd grade Muslim student.  He asked me about the creation of the world and how it happened - in my usual fashion, I tried to redirect back to the lesson, but he would not be put off.  He said "I really want to know what you think about the creation of the world- how did we get here?"   In that moment, I prayed for guidance (remember this is public school), I told him there are two big schools of thought evolution verses creationism and that he should go home ask his parents their beliefs and research both topics on the web to get his own belief.  In those moments, I pray for those people that the eyes of their hearts will be opened to the truth of Jesus.

                                             
Jesus tells us "He is the WAY, the TRUTH, and the LIFE and no one comes to the father by through HIM."  That is a huge statement.  It does not leave room for any other God!  It does not leave room for any other path to the heaven.

For many years, I have heard the saying Preach the Gospel at all times, and if necessary use words.  (This has been attributed to St. Francis, but not verified in any of his writings)  Recently though, I heard a message about the need to preach the Gospel with our mouths.  At times, I have hidden behind preaching the Gospel by saying look at my life.  The truth is my behavior  is " mostly good", but I have my moments when it is not so "good".  So what am I preaching in those moments?  After that message, I was reminded that speaking the truth in love and not being afraid to share the truth of Jesus (with my mouth) is critical.

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What in the world? The Bible

                             
                                               

The Bible gives me the basis for EVERYTHING in this life.  Let's first talk about the element of faith.  The book of  Hebrews tells me, faith is the substance of something hoped for, yet not seen. 

It takes just a much faith the believe there is a God who created all of this world as it does to believe all of the earth and it's inhabitants happened just by cosmic chance.  I'll be blunt - I do not believe that.  I cannot see air, yet I know it is here filling my lungs.  I cannot see the wind, but I know it blows the fall leaves down.  

This world was made by a majestic creator although, I have not yet seen Him.

                                                                                                  

I'm borrowing a list of topics from a Top 10 List of The Bible is True from Essentialbibleblog.com.

1. Manuscript Evidence - There are over 5800 parts of the New Testament (NT) which is preserved more than any other ancient text.  For example, compare that to Homer's Iliad which only has 457 manuscripts.

2.  Archaeological Evidence - the more folks dig, the more that is found to support the Bible as truth.

3.  Corroborating Accounts - Non-Biblical sources like Josephus, a Jewish historian, born in 37 AD who provides valuable background information.

4. Literary Consistency -  The Bible is comprised of 66 books over 1500 years, by 40 writers and yet it tells ONE big story.  "There is indeed a variety of human authors and themes in the Bible, YET behind these lies a single divine author with a unifying theme" - John R.W. Stott

5. Eye Witness Accounts - The Bible was written by folks who under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, saw the events and many were persecuted and martyred YET never changed their story.

6.  Prophetic Consistency - The Bible contains over 300 specific prophecies in the Old Testament (OT) that are fulfilled in the NT through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

7.  Expert Scrutiny -  The early church had extremely high standards for what books were judged to be authentic and therefore included in the Bible. A book had to have been written by an Apostle or someone in their immediate circle, had to conform to basic Christian faith and had to be in widespread use among many churches.

8.  Leader Acceptance - Many greats have vouched for the authenticity and truth of the Bible. "I believe the Bible is the best gift God has ever given man. All the good from the Savior of the world is communicated to us through this book. But for it we could not know right from wrong.” - Abraham Lincoln.

      9.  Global Influence - The Bible has had a greater influence on the laws, art, ethics, music and literature of world civilization than any other book in history.  Can you think of one that even comes close?  “Christianity”, as set forth in the Bible “is responsible for a disproportionately large number of the humanitarian advances in the history of civilization—in education, medicine, law, the fine arts, working for human rights and even in the natural sciences….” Craig L. Blomberg.

     10.Changed Lives - From the Apostles to St. Augustine to Martin Luther to everyday peeps like me, the words of the Bible have changed me forever!  

     There is much evidence demonstrated to me proving the authenticity, reliability, and validity of the Bible.  I once heard a pastor say, "Genesis 1:1 'In the Beginning God created the Heavens and the Earth.' You might as well stop right there if you have a problem with that."  While I agree with that statement, I also believe I have a responsibility to share the truth of the Gospel and the Bible with others so that they may too believe.  Scripture also teaches us that Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.  I hope I have encouraged your faith today.

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What in the world? Gold Mining

Understanding of worldview helps me to be conscience of where a friend or co-worker is coming from on many issues of life.  This may sound funny, but grasping and wrestling with my own worldview assists me in comprehending where I am coming from...

                                    
As a young child, I was taught the simple truth in a simple song:  Jesus loves me this I know for the Bible tells me so.  I was well-taught this as a hard and fast fact just as the sun rising in the east every morning. Growing up I had the privilege of attending private Christian school for middle and high school where those "simple" truths were expanded upon and explored.  I was not (and am not) naive enough to think everyone was brought up this way.  I bring this up to let you know my starting point and my gratitude that as a young young lady, my worldview was being shaped into a Biblical Worldview.  Having a christian thought process, that was established so young, has caused me as an adult to truly examine and dive into scripture to investigate what I truly believe in light of the Bible for myself.


  

The filter of Scripture is so important.  My husband watches gold mining shows set in Alaska.  I occasionally tune in (mostly just to be with him). These miners take great pains with so much equipment to get tiny nuggets of gold.  Sifting though dirt, grim, and rock in order obtain to small pieces of shiny pure gold. In this life, the filter we must use to find priceless treasure(s) is Scripture. Scripture alone to quote Martin Luther.  It helps us weed out all the dust and debris this world is trying to convince is truth, the lie of self importance, and what the world says happiness is and should look like.  The treasure we seek and what Scripture reveals is in the person of Jesus Christ.  Jesus proclaimed in Scripture is the framework and solid foundation that we need to build everything else in our life on!

Stop back later this week as we continue on this journey...

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