Jumping the gun

Having only gotten to chapter 2 of this book, I feel kind of silly making this recommendation but I make it none the less.
Jesus + Nothing = Everything
by
Tullian Tchividjian
(grandson of Billy Graham)

Here are some quotes to wet your whistle:

"We habitually look to something or someone smaller than Jesus for the things we crave and need. And none of it is ever large enough to fill the void"
He points out that John Calvin said our hearts are idol-making factories from the start. Christian, non-Christian, we just long to identify with something or someone but we also ask it to satisfy us.

"An idol is anything or anyone that you conclude in your heart, you must have in order for your life to be meaningful, valuable, secure, exciting, or free."

That one is a whopper. This does not mean only negative things like cheeseburgers, cigarette or alcohol. This means political reformation, kids, a spouse, a house, good treatment, a growing church, no debt, social reform, homeschooling, etc... basically everything on the face of the Earth.

If you decided you must have something that doesn't go by the name of Jesus Christ savior of the world to be satisfied in this life, then you have added something to the equation and now you have Jesus + that thing.

You are essentially saying Jesus is not enough.

Ouch cubed.

That doesn't mean you cannot have any of those things in your life, it just means you have to be at peace with God if they are taken away.

Any time you feel stress or anxiety it's the indicator you have one.

I have been longing, pleading, begging God to make our Church strong, amazing, changing the world for Him. I feel anxious when it does not happen. I NEED it to happen. I have a hard time staying calm when I talk about it. It's not a bad desire, it's a godly one.

But I have asked it to make me feel satisfied. God, if you would just do this everything would be okay. It's an idol.

Talk about rocking my world and making me feel like Alice in the looking glass. I need to just obey God daily, feel His peace, soak up all the Jesus through scripture I can and release all that longing to Him. If my church never becomes all those amazing things that does not diminish my obedience at all.

My faithfulness is to Jesus, not an idea or outcome. If He leads me to do something, I do it. The end. If He stops me, reroutes me, moves me, or radically changes me, so be it. He's enough.

Paul got it. Peter got it. Do I? Maybe, I feel like I have some tough choices mentally to make about how I look at the world.