Guest writer: Sue Weaver
Maybe you saw pictures on Facebook. A crane lifted a big air conditioning unit to the church roof on Wednesday morning. Getting ready for the new unit, all the wires to the old one were cut – including the one that sets off the fire alarm if the unit dangerously overheats! An unplanned fire drill ensued.
Outside (enjoying the sunshine and the crane, I must admit), I chatted with several people from different parts of the building. My job at the church takes place in one small area of the building, so I always enjoy seeing friends “from the other end.”
While chatting, I saw Lois Ross! Turns out Lois was part of the fire drill because she had an appointment at the school. We started talking, and our conversation soon turned to our summer reading, Desiring God.
The chapter on conversion was our focus; we talked about how difficult it is to grasp how we convert to following Christ. Not how in the sense that the blood of Christ saves us, but how in the sense of process, steps, what is His part and what is our part. Yes, we do the trusting in Christ’s sacrifice for us, but first we have to realize that we’re sinners because we’re not glorifying Him—this He provides. Conversion theories abound, but we agreed that since our very existence is God’s idea, our salvation originates with/in/from Him, no matter how we describe our part.
We explored Piper’s definition of sin being everything that does not glorify God. Boy, sin looks big through this lens! It makes us realize that we routinely dishonor God by exchanging our focus on God’s glory for things of lesser value: we trust ourselves, we take credit for His gifts, and we turn from His commandments because we think we know better. Lois pointed out that we hold the glory of the Lord in contempt with cultural catchphrases like, “It’s my body and I’ll do what I want with it.” It’s not our body—He not only created it, He bought it with His blood.
The Bible says that whether we eat or drink or whatever we do , we are to do it all to the glory of God. I told Lois that I have often experienced the phrase ”glorify God” as so spiritual that it’s vague, and it ended up having little practical meaning. But Piper explains that glorifying God doesn’t mean making Him more glorious, it means valuing Him above everything else and acknowledging how marvelously glorious He is, and then making His glory known. I told Lois that the phrases “valuing God” and “reflecting Him” make the concept of glorifying God clearer for me; Lois remarked that if we value God when we eat and drink it will surely change our diets!
Guest writer: Sue Weaver
pastor ivanildo 
I am a chapter behind everyone else. I started a week late and it took me a week to digest the introduction, phew! I’m just getting ready to read Chapter 2 and am so excited because many of the things God has been working in my heart the past couple of years is popping up on the pages of this book. I love how God continues to affirm this quote in me Jeremiah 29:13, “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”
great, patti. i would love for you to post here what are some of those areas of convergences, if you don’t mind. i am always interested in the different threads God used to construct the tapestries of our lives. blessings!
Well, about 5 years ago I had an epiphany of sorts that I am the one who is responsible for my relationship to/with God. I had lots of questions no one but God could answer and I began to seek Him earnestly in a way I never had before. I had been content for a very long time to go to church, eagerly serve in any way I could but, in many ways I was sort of mindless of God in the process. I wasn’t asking God what He wanted me to do but did what Patti wanted to do. Bit by bit this began to feel off kilter. Lots of other things were happening behind the scenes in my life that I had no freedom to share because I feared what people would think. Gradually and loving God broke down that wall and now I am totally free!
I continued to watch, wait and pray. Then, I began reading the Scripture on a liturgical basis. The connections between the Old and New Testament began to astound me. I hungered and thirsted more. God now had my full attention and the burdens of my heart began to grow as I read and began to understand in a very new way what God really intended for us when He created us.
He created us to worship, love and obey Him and to love others not discriminating in anyway. He helped me to see others through His eyes. He created man in His image. He put eternity in the hearts of all men. Christ died once for all men. He broke my heart, literally. The day that happened forever changed my life.
I’ve been praying like I have never prayed before that He would make Himself known to us afresh, to remove the blinders from our eyes, to help us think rightly according to His Word, to understand His mission and purpose for each of individually and corporately at Grace.
I’ve recently read a book and am leading a discussion on the same book called Respectable Sins- Confronting the Sins We Tolerate. Many of the same scriptures Piper uses are used by Jerry Bridges in his book.
Sue’s conversation with Lois brought all that to the forefront of my mind. There are still days I fall so short and get caught up in “my flesh”. But the lag between acting out of an ungodly response and having the Spirit get a hold of my heart is much shorter, most times it happens in moments. I think uhoh, I don’t think I did a very good job of walking my talk at that moment especially when it’s with an unsaved person.
This is just the tip of the iceberg of what God has done and shown me. I am so thankful He never gives up on me, when I’ve wanted to give up on myself. He’s resurrected me and given me His spirit and I just can’t thank Him enough for that profound work He wrought in my stone cold heart.
thanks for sharing your journey, patti. i am sure that lots of people can also relate to your story. God’s Word is still a most amazing tool He uses to break through our cold heart and our veiled eyes. what amazes me though is that what you began to see and what others have begun to see through saturation with His Word had always been there. in a sense this is an enlightenment of sorts. buddha said in response to the question of how he wanted to be remembered, “i am the one who woke up.” well, he did wake up to something, i am sure, and it was meaningful enough to him that helped change his life. but his experiences pales in comparison to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord, for whose sake i have lost all things, as paul put it. what Jesus does to us is truly amazing and i am so blessed to be walking in His light. thanks for sharing your thoughts and please keep chipping at that iceberg!