Are we buying off God?

This past Sunday we talked about Simon from Acts 8 who tried to buy the ability to give the Holy Spirit to people. He saw that the Apostles laid hands on the people and the Holy Spirit was seen in their lives and he wanted to have that type of impact. The sad thing with Simon was that he wanted that kind of impact for his own sake and not for God's glory. It made me wonder if sometimes we don't do the Christian things for our own sake instead of God's glory. Do we go to church because it is the right thing to do for our reputation or to take time to praise God? Do we read our Bible to feel better about how good we are at being a Christian or because we want God to guide us. It can be the same thing with prayer when we seek things for our benefit but refuse to listen or see how God answers our prayer. I am not immune to this myself and know that I have times in my life where I do something "Christian" for that good feeling that comes from it instead of doing it for God. When we do the right things for the right reasons God will work greatly in our lives and it will absolutely be to our benefit. However, when we aren't really motivated by God and our relationship with God and instead focus on our duty and reputation we will miss something that God wants from us.

Two Book Recommendations

I just completed reading two books by Francis Chan and I would recommend that anyone who sees this post pick them up and read them also. The first book was called "Crazy Love" and it puts the relationship aspect of our Christian faith into a proper perspective. It is a book that is very challenging and encourages us to get back to our "first love". The second book is called "Forgotten God" and it is a book about the Holy Spirit that is incredibly practical. It is not a theology book and it is not one that is either too conservative or charismatic. He takes a look at the reality of the Holy Spirit and how many of us live our lives not considering that the Holy Spirit is God living in our life. I hope that Francis continues to write new material because the challenge he lays before the Christian is necessary at this era of American Christianity.