The battle is made up of thousands of little moments – choices between self and service.
– Tim Chester in You Can Change
Tag: Tim Chester
Bigger and Better
When we worship God, we’re reminding ourselves that God is bigger and better than anything sin offers.
– Tim Chester in You Can Change
Asking the Right Question
Don’t ask, “How far can I go toward sin?” Ask instead, “How far can I run from sin?”
– Tim Chester in You Can Change
Like Mold
Sin is like mold: it grows best in the dark. Expose it to the light, and it starts to dry up.
– Tim Chester in You Can Change
Never Stray
The secret of humility, and therefore of change, is never to stray far from the cross.
– Tim Chester in You Can Change
Thirsty Again
If you look for satisfaction or fulfillment, meaning or identity, anywhere other than Jesus, you’ll be left empty. There may be a moment of refreshment or pleasure, but you’ll soon be thirsty again.
– Tim Chester in You Can Change
God Is Better
The invitation of the Bible is not to dreary abstinence. It’s a call to find in God that which truly satisfies. It’s believing that we find lasting fulfillment, satisfaction, joy, and identity in knowing God, and nowhere else. Whatever sin offers, God offers more, for God offers us himself. God isn’t just good, he’s better – better than everything else – and the true source of all joy.
– Tim Chester in You Can Change
Book Look: You Can Change
You Can Change – Tim Chester
This was one of the best books I have read this year. It gives a great overview of the Biblical principles of sanctification, and then helps the reader apply those principles in very practical ways. It begins by reminding us of the goal of change – to be conformed into the image of Christ. From there it looks at right motives and method. The center of the book tackles the issue of idolatry – central to any change we will make. It concludes with roadblocks that keep us from change, disciplines (including community) to help us change, and a final challenge to press on. Each chapter ends with reflections, and a section designed to help the reader change in one area chosen by the reader. So how do you want to change in the coming year? This book would be a great resource to help and encourage you in the process.
Whose Story Is It?
Here is one more quote from Tim Chester’s excellent book, You Can Change:
Our problem is that we think of ourselves as being at the center of our world. We think of our lives as a story and, if we’re Christians, God is one of the characters in our story. We look for him when we need him and expect him to be grateful when we serve him. He’s a lovely piece of our story, but we still think of it as our story. But it’s not our story. It’s God’s story. Of course there is a sense in which God is there for us. But the bigger reality is that we’re there for God. We exist to give him glory. He doesn’t owe us anything, not even explanations. Meanwhile, we owe him everything as our Creator and Redeemer.
So are we living like it’s our story or God’s story? Ponder how our approach to life would be different depending on whose story we think it is….
Walking All Over Your Idols
In Ephesians 4:31, Paul tells us: “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.” Tim Chester in his book, You Can Change, makes these illuminating comments on this verse:
These behaviors all have two things in common. First, they all involve other people. Second, they’re all symptoms of thwarted and threatened sinful desires. Often we can’t spot sinful desires. But when they’re threatened or thwarted by other people, we respond with bitterness, rage, anger, brawling, slander, and malice. One of the great things about living as part of a community is that in community people walk all over your idols. People press your buttons. That’s when we respond with bitterness, rage, and so on. And that gives us opportunities to spot our idolatrous desires. God is using the different people, the contrasting personalities, in your church to change your heart.
These are important words for the church today where many Christians whose idols are walked over simply find another church or leave church altogether. But God placed us in the church to help reveal our idols, to change us, to draw us nearer to him. So next time someone irritates you, consider why. What idol are they walking all over? What sinful desire in your heart is your response to their actions revealing? That other person isn’t the problem. The idols in our hearts are the problem. Together we can identify our idols, and with God’s help turn away from our idols to serve more and more the one true God.
Brian J. Mikul 