Are You A Fanatical Christian?

Wingchi Poon

Fanatical: filled with excessive and single-minded zeal. Extreme, radical.

If your family or others have ever told you you are a religious fanatic and taking it too far, you are in good company. That is what they said about Jesus. In fact, they said worse things than that. They said he was either insane or demon possessed.

When you think of this, it is amazing that when people saw God on earth they thought he might be insane or the devil himself. 

Jesus said many times, "He who has ears to hear; let him hear."  In other words, not all people can hear the voice of God and respond positively to it. But there are some who have the ears to hear correctly. We should pray for God to open our ears, eyes and heart to understand his words.

Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered, so that he and his disciples were not even able to eat. When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.”

And the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem said, “He is possessed by ! By Satan, prince of demons he is driving out demons.”    Mark 3:20-22

Then Jesus’ mother and brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent someone in to call him. A crowd was sitting around him, and they told him, “Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you.”    Mark 3:31,32

So, Jesus was in a house and it was full of people. It was so crowded that there was no time or room to stop for lunch and dinner. Many were there who begged to be healed; many just wanted to listen to his words; many were there to find something against him.

Someone must have told his mother and brothers what Jesus was doing. How he was breaking the Sabbath and preaching new and radical ideas. Perhaps they were told the rulers of the church were already plotting to kill him. They became upset and worried, so they all went to that city and house to force Jesus to come home. He would be safe at home. They could hide him away in the house if he had gone crazy.  Mary must have felt afraid for Jesus.

As far as we know, Jesus refused to see his family, he said his true family was his disciples and followers. “Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.”

Surrounded by God.

Jerusalem Valley

Photo by:  http://shankbone.org/

As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the LORD surrounds his people both now and forevermore.

Psalm 125:2

I love the image of God surrounding me. It makes me feel protected and loved. One of my favorite verses is the one just below, Psalm 3:3, because he not only surrounds me but when my head is bowed in sorrow or defeat. he lifts it up! 

But you, Lord, are a shield around me,

my glory, the One who lifts my head high.

I call out to the Lord,

and he answers me from his holy mountain.

Psalm 3:3,4

You are my hiding place; You preserve me from trouble; You surround me with songs of deliverance.

Psalm 32:7

Many are the woes of the wicked,

but the Lord’s unfailing love

surrounds the one who trusts in him.

Psalm 32:10

Surely, LORD, you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favor as with a shield.

Psalm 5:12

For the angel of the LORD is a guard; he surrounds and defends all who fear him.

Psalm 34:7

Surrounded by God.

Jerusalem Valley

Photo by:  http://shankbone.org/

As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the LORD surrounds his people both now and forevermore.

Psalm 125:2

I love the image of God surrounding me. It makes me feel protected and loved. One of my favorite verses is the one just below, Psalm 3:3, because he not only surrounds me but when my head is bowed in sorrow or defeat. he lifts it up! 

But you, Lord, are a shield around me,

my glory, the One who lifts my head high.

I call out to the Lord,

and he answers me from his holy mountain.

Psalm 3:3,4

You are my hiding place; You preserve me from trouble; You surround me with songs of deliverance.

Psalm 32:7

Many are the woes of the wicked,

but the Lord’s unfailing love

surrounds the one who trusts in him.

Psalm 32:10

Surely, LORD, you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favor as with a shield.

Psalm 5:12

For the angel of the LORD is a guard; he surrounds and defends all who fear him.

Psalm 34:7

Nightmares.

Every night, for the past year or so, I wake up startled as soon as I fall asleep. I wake up fully alert and hungry. I'm trying not to eat late at night, but tonight I cooked myself eggs and cheese in the hope protein won't pack on the pounds.

I think I know why this happens. All my life I have had nightmares; now, I guess my brain is telling me, "Don't go to sleep. You will have horrible dreams." Thank you, brain. Thanks a lot; you are only making me feel worse. I long for sleep.

The dreams used to be about my father. Dreams like a horror story. Waking up screaming, shaking and terrified. Dreams of a sexual nature. Dreams of him driving me in a bus and looking like a maniac. After therapy, I finally dreamed I was driving the bus and not him. That made me feel good.

The latest dreams are about a woman who is choking a baby or child to keep it quiet. Very upsetting. Sometimes the woman is me, as it was last night. I told my husband there was something around the baby's neck while I was trying to give it a bottle. I couldn't see what it was that was choking her. Sometimes the woman is someone else. I know the dreams mean for me to keep quiet. Don't tell anyone.

The little girl inside me says, "No one loves you." The teenager inside me says, "No one loves you." But the adult now says, "God loves me, my husband loves me, my children love me, my grandchildren love me and my mother, who is still alive at 89, loves me. But the adult has a hard time controlling the young ones. They don't listen to me. They don't believe me.

Why am I writing about this? I don't know. I probably want pity. Maybe though, I think it might be that I can't tell many people about this; it would just upset them. My family doesn't read my blog, so I can say anything here and get it off my chest. Yes, I tell my husband my dreams, but it doesn't seem enough. I want someone to understand what I go through every single day of my life. How I have to fight to want to even live in this world.

God has given me the will to fight. I quote scripture when I feel bad and I am immediately helped. I can then go through the day with some joy. Sometimes lots of joy, praise God. If I didn't have God, I'd have nothing. He, "gives me songs in the night." He gives me hope. He is, "the God of all hope." He gives me strength, "God is the strength of my life."

Father of all Good.

Photo by: NASA

"Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow."  James 1:17

This verse is saying that every good thing we see happening in the world is from God. When we see people helping others - that is from God. When we see healing, whether from a scraped knee or cancer - that is from God. When we see an animal save a human - that is from God. Those who don't believe in God have no idea how much they owe him for the good in their lives.

This verse calls God the "Father of lights." What a beautiful name. Some say this could mean the stars in the heavens as in, "The Father of the stars." And he is that, since he created them. Others say it means all light: wisdom, truth, etc. But the next verse seems to justify calling God the "Father of the stars," because it speaks of the sun, moon and stars.

"With whom there is no variation or shifting shadow." The stars are eclipsed. The sun has spots. It's shadow moves along the earth. There are nova (stars exploding) and super nova happening all through the cosmos. The moon has its phases. The stars grow old, change in the growing and eventually die out.

God is not like that. He does not shift and change. He is who he is forever and ever. He is dependable. We don't need to wonder how he is feeling today. Good mood? Bad mood? No, God is love. He has always been love and ever will be. He looks on you with love, the love of a mother to her child. 

"Can a woman forget her nursing child And have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, but I will not forget you. See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me."  Isaiah 49:15,16

May the Father of the Stars shine in our hearts and may his name be written in the palms of our hands.

Sometimes I Don't Know What to Say.

"Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groaning too deep for words."

Romans 8:26

Have you ever had trouble praying? I have. Especially when I am really upset about something; when I'm in pain for a loved one. Those are the hard times. "Oh God, help them; help me," is what comes to mind at first. And actually, it is enough. He will do both those things for us.

But when it is daily scheduled (first thing in the morning) prayer time, it can be hard to think of what to say. Years ago, when my mind couldn't seem to stay still,  I wrote out my prayers in notebooks. This helped me stay focused. What I do quite often now is "pray the Bible" which means to use prayers from the Bible that have the ideas you want to convey to God, but can't find the words.

Psalms is a book of prayers. There are some that don't relate to my life; but almost all of them do. I sometimes copy them down and read them to God in the morning. Joyce Meyer says to begin our prayers with praise and thanks. I think this is good advice. Doing this brings our minds off ourselves and onto God and his power.

Sometimes I say the Lord's Prayer out loud. Sometimes I copy Paul's prayers for the church and pray them for me and all the people in my family and friends who are written in a Prayer Book and for all the people I know at Facebook, on blogs and online. This gives me great joy, to pray for all these people. I don't always read off their names, there are so many, but God knows who they are.

Joyce always says, "Believe God is working." This I believe. Every prayer is heard; every prayer is answered. Prayer is when God has an open channel to our hearts and is sometimes the time he uses to speak directly to us. In prayer we are saying to the universe, "I need God in my life. I want God in my life."

Here are some prayers I copied the other night that say what I feel in my heart.

 Blessed be the Lord who daily bears us up.

Blessed are those whose strength is in you.

Gladden the soul of your servant, for to you, O Lord, do I lift up my soul.

For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you.

In the day of my trouble I call upon you, for you answer me.

Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth; unite my heart to fear your name.

I give thanks to you, O Lord, my God, with my whole heart, and I will glorify your name forever. For great is your steadfast love toward me. You have delivered my soul from the depths of hell.

You, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness. 

My Jar is a Bit Cracked.

Photo by Mervat Salman

"For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God's glory displayed in the face of Christ.

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us."   2 Corinthians 4:6,7

I was feeling discouraged about myself the other day. When I fail to act like Jesus, I feel sad and guilty. I don't think God wants me to feel that way. As soon as I ask him to forgive me, I should believe it and move on. But when I've made a few boo-boos in a row, that's when I get down on myself. 

I opened my mail, and this verse was the verse of the day. "We have this treasure in clay jars..." The treasure is salvation through Jesus and we hold this beautiful truth in our hearts - we are the clay jars. Clay jars are not strong; they can be easily broken. They are not bejeweled treasure chests. I went to Bible Hub to study this and found some sermon notes by J.R. Thomson. Here are a few excerpts:

http://biblehub.com/sermons/auth/thomson/spiritual_treasure.htm

 "As Eastern kings stored their gold, silver, and jewels in earthen jars, so a plain casket may hold a costly jewel, a miry soil may yield an abundant crop, a battered ship may carry a precious freight, a lamp of clay may give a brilliant light, a mean book as to appearance may contain noble thoughts. So it is no objection against the gospel that those who preach it are in many respects unworthy of an office so dignified."

"To what purpose was this arrangement which the apostle here describes? He himself gives the true reason." 
1. That all Christian labourers may feel their littleness and their weakness. 
2. That they may recognize the exceeding greatness of the spiritual power of God. 
3. That they may give Heaven the glory, alike for what they receive and for what they impart. - T. 

The Bible says, "Indeed, we all make many mistakes. For if we could control our tongues, we would be perfect and could also control ourselves in every other way." James3:2  What I need to remember is to take my eyes off myself and look to Jesus. You can't get discouraged when you do that!