Tag: Christian Blog

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Thorns

Issyk Kul Lake Kyrgyzstan

2 Corinthians 12: 7-9, “Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

THORNS

We all face obstacles in our lives. The easy parts are when the car breaks down, or the furnace fails, we know who to call. There is a point specific solution that meets an immediate need. As we mature, we expect these problems; products fail and need to be fixed or replaced. But what do we do when aspects of our lives seem to be failing us? What do we do when the ways of the world invade our peace?

Now, every time I witness a strong person I want to know: “what darkness did you conquer in your story? “mountains do not rise without earthquakes. – Katherine MacKenett

Life’s problems are like splinters under our skin. If untreated, it starts to fester. The small splinter becomes an irritant we can’t ignore. Sometimes our irritation with the splinter worsens as we scratch, poke, and dig at it until it becomes infected. Life is always giving us splinters; Paul called them thorns.

Paul’s thorn was opinioned to be one of several things; sickness (Galatians 4:15), emotional turmoil about the churches (2 Corinthians 2:4), his false opposition (2 Corinthians 11:3-5), a speaking disability (2 Corinthians 10:10), or possible demonic opposition (1 Thessalonians 2:18). It is not that any of these were given to him by God; he called them a messenger from Satan. But to Paul’s credit, he recognized that God could use them to make him a stronger representative of the Gospel.

Deuteronomy 31:8, “It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”

INFECTION OF OUR WORLD VIEW

How do we accept the challenges presented to us daily and turn them into lampposts for the Gospel? This seems so counter-intuitive. In the middle of a bad day, how do I stop fixating on the issues and start reflecting on the good news? I don’t know about you, but most of my issues revolve around someone’s personal agenda; they have or haven’t done something that has caused a problem for me. Maybe it is the way someone twists the Gospel to meet their political agenda. Or maybe it is an issue of recurring ache or pain that never goes away. Maybe it is a constant feeling of not measuring up to our or someone else’s expectations. We all have to deal with what Paul would call “thorns.” We all have aspects of our lives that fester and infect our world view.

Psalm 46:1, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”

When we are in the middle of one of life’s storms is the perfect time to reflect on Christ. Christ allows, endorses, and even creates these opportunities to demonstrate our need to depend on Him and how He can be glorified through its resolution. In the middle of these storms, God looks for us to call on Him. And when we do, He does not disappoint.

Psalm 50:15, “Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I shall rescue you, and you will honor Me.”

FINDING A CURE

We need to find ways to take world’s weaknesses and shortcomings and make them our personal strengths. Glorifying Christ by using the circumstances we are in to overcome the obstacles put before us. Demonstrating to others that we can not only endure but prosper within adverse circumstances through Christ’s grace.

Romans 12:12, “rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer.”

We need to take this moment in time to reverse our fortune. Knowing that God’s plan for us is to prosper, not destroy, should give us the confidence to distance ourselves from self-incrimination and fear to embrace the opportunity to show grace. Situations that could be seen as opportunities to demean or diminish us can become launching pads for us to show our confidence in Christ’s redeeming grace.

John 16:33, “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world, you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

It is not us that overcomes the worldly issues around us; it is Christ. And in Christ, we have the assurance that He will do just that. If we want to be a positive Christian example to the people around us, we need to do it during our times of adversity. It is our time to rise to the occasion. It is our time to change the world around us one person at a time.

Isaiah 54:17, “No weapon that is fashioned against you shall succeed, and you shall confute every tongue that rises against you in judgment. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord and their vindication from me, declares the Lord.”

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Little Decisions

“What is always true is that the decisions we make today determine the stories we tell about our lives tomorrow” – Craig Groeschel, Divine Direction.

Proverbs 3:5-6, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”

It is easy to point to the grand decisions in our life as having the most impact on our future. What we many times miss is that it was the many small decisions that proceeded the grand decision that set the stage. Decisions about marriage, jobs, or education start with the small decisions made innocuously in the past. Invisible decisions are so ingrained in our existence that we have long forgotten they were decisions.

James 4:17, “Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is a sin.”

What story do you want others to tell about your life? We are not talking about the story you want to tell, but the story others will tell after you are gone. What things in your life will overshadow your service to Christ? What will be mentioned before they talk about your good works or dedication to Christ? What are all the small decisions you have made that will counterbalance the big decision?

“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” ― Maya Angelou

2 Corinthians 1:17, “Was I fickle when I intended to do this? Or do I make my plans in a worldly manner so that in the same breath I say both “Yes, yes” and “No, no”? “

I’m sorry, folks, I can’t get over the waste in humanity. All of those people walking the face of the earth living substandard lives thinking they have made it. People whose greatness is shrouded by the perceptions of the world. We compromise, not knowing we are planting the seeds of an unfulfilled life.

Genesis 4:7, “If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it.”

There are countless examples of small decisions leading to mundane, soul-crushing vanilla lives that we count as blessings. We go along to get a long hoping that being part of someone else’s plan will prosper us. We long for more extraordinary things deep inside, but we picked the wrong road. We took what we thought was a shortcut to success and found ourselves in a cul-de-sac of unfulfilled dreams. These small decisions raised the price of success until it almost seemed unattainable.

Proverbs 16: 1-2, “To humans belong the plans of the heart, but from the Lord comes the proper answer of the tongue. All a person’s ways seem pure to them, but motives are weighed by the Lord.”

The great news is almost too good to be true. We have heard it a hundred times, but it always applied to others. Who God made you have never changed. Your past decision has not altered God’s plan for your life. It may have made its destination further away, but no less rewarding or attainable.

Romans 8:28, “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”

If you start paying attention to the small decisions facing you daily, the big decision will take care of themselves. But if you focus only on big decisions, you will find few options. Your God is not just the God of the grandiose, but the God of the mundane. Call on Him in every situation.

2 Thessalonians 3:13, “But as for you, brethren, do not grow weary of doing good.”

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Is God With Us?

Matthew 20:17-19, “Now Jesus was going up to Jerusalem. On the way, he took the Twelve aside and said to them, “We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day he will be raised to life!”

I hate stories about myself. I like to live in the shadows. When I’m in a position where I must “perform,” I get not just uneasy but irritated. I hate getting awards; I love achieving them, just not getting them. My social anxiety is paradoxical because I have run large organizations with hundreds of people. I’m fine when I can talk about a subject that does not include me. I don’t like the spotlight on me.

Today I’m going to suck it up and talk about myself. I think there is something in this story that might brighten your Easter. At Easter, we say, “He has Risen.” The response is, “He has Risen indeed.” But do we believe God is with us, or do we go along? Is God tangible?

Luke 24:6-7, “He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.”

THE STORY

Over forty years ago, I was rising in my career and healthy. I ran ten miles every day. I later was informed that I ran every day because I had an addiction to endorphin, not because I had a fixation on my health. Stress filled my life. Because I had never experienced sustained success in my life, I thought stress was just part of the job. So, I ran to be sane. The endorphin kept me on an even keel so that I could cope. Although I must add that I still exercise and believe in exercise, I’m no longer addicted to it.

It was spring, so I wanted to step up my daily routine, but I had an odd problem. After about four or five miles, my vision would collapse into a small hole in the center of my eyesight; it’s called myopia. I would walk a couple of hundred yards, myopia would go away, and I would start running again. I felt great. There were no other symptoms. All I needed was a shot or a pill to make it go away, and I could increase my workouts. I had a friend, Charles, a doctor; he was a cardiologist. I didn’t have a regular doctor because I didn’t seem to need one, so I got an appointment with Charles. Here is where the story takes a twist. After just a few minutes in the examination room, Charles calls one of his partners in; they talk cryptically and then ask, “What are you doing this afternoon?”.

THE TWIST

I’ll try to make this less boring by getting to the part you want to hear as fast as possible. I spent a week in the hospital as they ran an encyclopedia of tests. The results were that they knew I had a severe problem but couldn’t isolate it. So, they demanded that I quit all forms of exercise until they knew what was causing the problem. This is the place in the story where I learned about endorphin addiction and withdrawal.

Months went by, and the problem progressed. I was sitting on the couch watching TV one night, and myopia struck. These episodes were becoming more frequent. I was instructed to call Charles every time I had one. Charles said stop what you are doing and come to his office a 7:30 in the morning before it opens. I told him that I couldn’t do less short of stopping breathing. It was the first time I was concerned; up to this point, I was mainly perturbed. It was an inconvenience in my life. So, I went to bed.

MY MOMENT

This night I was to understand what it meant to have Christ be with me, not figuratively but literally. At around two o’clock in the morning, I woke to see myself lying in bed. I was above the bed, looking down at myself, sleeping. It wasn’t a dream; I was hovering above myself. I slowly slid down the wall until I was back on the bed, eyes wide open, terrified.

Isaiah 41:10. “‘Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely, I will help you, surely, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’”

A thousand thoughts were racing through my brain. Everything I thought had significant risk. Then, all of a sudden, Christ reached down. His message was clear and concise, go to the emergency room across the street from Charles’s office and wait. I was calm and relaxed. It was only a couple of miles away, and there was no traffic in the early morning. I went inside and took a seat. I told the nurse that I was waiting for a doctor’s appointment across the street. I had this odd dialog inside my head, part prayer and part discussion; we talked about my future. The nurse interrupted this discussion to say either you’re in or out; this isn’t a waiting room. I guess I’m in was my reply.

1 Corinthians 15:20-21, “But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man.”

My heart stopped four times in the emergency room before Charles arrived. I apologized for getting him out of bed, and then the lights went out. The next thing I saw was a masked man looking down at me, saying it would be alright. God smiled and said, “I told you so.”

GOD IS TANGIBLE

I could have died that night at home alone, but God had other plans. It was His presence that calmed my soul and gave me clarity. It was His plan for my life that pulled me through. Christ was a presence as real as Charles.

Easter isn’t a feel-good story. Instead, it is the culmination of eons of compassion, love, and caring. If we don’t experience His presence in our lives, it is because we don’t believe He is truly with us. Christ paid an enormous price so that we could have a deep, personal relationship with Him. He is there in the room with you now. He will not desert you or grow tired of you.

Romans 10:9, “If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

HE HAS RISEN INDEED

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Being in the Who’s Who of the Bible

The Bible is full of stories of ordinary people doing extraordinary things. The stories weren’t stories like many of the best sellers we read today, they are real people, leading real lives, during desperate times.  To get a mention in the Bible is itself extraordinary, but their acts were not supernatural or over-the-top; they were somewhat mundane. Let me give you a few examples.

Jochebed (Exodus 6:20), the mother of Moses, if she did not decide to put Moses in a reed basket to save his life, he would not have delivered Israel from the Egyptians. I’m sure that Jochebed did not contemplate God’s deliverance of the Jews from the Pharaohs at the time. Ruth (Ruth) pledged to follow Naomi and worship her God. From this act, she eventually married Boaz, giving birth to an ancestor of King David, whose descendant was Jesus Christ. Esther (Ester), having lost her parents, entrusted to an uncle, and banished to a pagan land, saved the Jewish people from destruction. Ananias (Acts 9:10-14) was directed by God to minister to the deadliest enemy of the Christian faith at that time; Saul.

There are more such people mentioned in the Bible. People who God gave a simple task that ultimately changed Christianity. Most of these people had no idea of the impact they would have. Most were doing what they thought was proper but not extraordinary.

I also think of others like Agur, who wrote a beautiful prayer in Psalms (Proverbs 30:7-9), or the famous prayer of Jabez, which is only 33 words long (1 Chronicles 4:10). None of these people were looking for notoriety or fame. None of them set out to make a mark in history. Instead, they all sought the pleasure of God.

How do we become a people of Biblical proportions? How do we live our life so that we will be known when the end of days comes? These people did not live extraordinary lives blessed by God. They were not the movers and shakers of their time. They did not measure the ramifications of their acts; they just obeyed.

FOLLOW HIS EXAMPLE

Ephesians 5:1-2, “Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”

How do you live your life? Most of us become caught up in the day-to-day grind. We don’t think about its significance; life is a series of stimuli and responses. We are like Pavlov’s dog, reacting rather than living. Being proactive in life requires taking a risk.

Ephesians 3:17, “May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.”

We are filled with all the fullness of life and power of God. To be in the Who’s Who of the Bible, we need to follow Christ’s example. We need to take courageous and improvisational risks. We should consciously seek out those in need and courageously take the risk to love them. Our day planners and commitments need to take the second chair to look for and react to God working through us for others. You don’t have to author a worldwide revival; we need to show compassion where compassion is missing.

REDEEMING YOUR TIME

Ephesians 5:15-16, “Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, redeeming the time because the days are evil.”

I pray that your time is long and your joys are many, but we do not know until the end. We should live our lives as if this day was the last day we have to share the Gospel. This day may be the last chance to tell our family, friends, or neighbors how much God loves them and wants them as part of His family. Today we need to correct a wrong, forgive the past and show compassion to someone in need.

Job 9:25-26, “My days are swifter than a runner; they flee away; they see no good. They go by like skiffs of reed, like an eagle swooping on the prey.”

Many people I know wish they had one more moment with a loved one that has passed. They want to share one more conversation; they want to say I love you one more time. KiKi King, an instrumentalist, once said at a TEDTalk, (paraphrased) time goes on to eternity behind us, time goes on to eternity before us making this moment seem insignificant. But this moment is all I have. So, I will live this moment as if it was the most significant moment of my life at this time.

Matthew 6:34, “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”

If you want to be in the Who’s Who of the Bible, you have to use each moment as if it was the last and most significant moment of your life.

ALWAYS GIVING THANKS

Ephesians 5:20-21, “Always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.”

Giving thanks is the frosting on the cake. Recognizing God is the difference between a good person and a righteous person. If we show loving, caring compassion toward everyone and do not credit the author of our story, then we have done nothing of value. God is the Alpha and the Omega; everything starts and ends with Him. Everyone we come in contact with must know this. Our life must center on and radiate out from Christ. The light in the darkness we shine is not our light but a reflection of His light. Our humility is genuine because we understand the power of the one who sent us. We accomplish all things through Christ.

Matthew 6:33, “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

Our story is never going to be amended to the Bible. But there will come a time when we will have to face Jesus to account for our faith. So, while there is still time, please make the most of it. Take courageous impetuous risks, knowing God has your back.

1 Thessalonians 5:17, “Pray without ceasing.”

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God’s Insatiable Love for Us

Psalm 31:7, “I will be glad and rejoice in Your unfailing love, for You have seen my troubles, and You care about the anguish of my soul. “

Love is a tricky animal to tame. It can be the thrill of a lifetime while simultaneously being our greatest fear. Love is one of those things we crave to the point of distraction. We know, untamed, it will destroy us, and yet true love is a bond that can’t be broken. We have committed so many sins chasing after love. If we were ever the fool, it was because of love. But there is only one pure, deep, passionate, and powerful love; it comes from Christ.

The love that God lavishes on His people never operates apart from His holiness, mercy, omnipotence, justice, or other divine attributes. It is the glue that holds all of His attributes together.

PURE

1 John 4:18, “Such love has no fear because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced His perfect love. “

Pure love drives out fear. When we rest in the arms of the one who truly loves us, we are secure. Pure love is described in Corinthians. When we read this passage from a human perspective, we see a goal or an objective to which to aspire. To be all of these things for another seems impossible. But God is all of these things for us. Corinthians not only describes how we should approach love toward each other, but it also describes how God loves us. God did not create two standards, one for us and one for Himself. He created a single standard of how He loves us, then asks us to try to love others the same way. Reread this passage; this time, read it as God’s description of how He loves you.

1 Corinthians 13:4-7, love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud, or rude. It does not demand its way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. “

How pure is this? He was scourged, humiliated, and hung on a cross to demonstrate His love for us. He did not do this because we deserved salvation. He did it to open the door to salvation for wicked, stubborn people. His love for us was not dependent on our love for Him.

Romans 5:8, “But God demonstrates his own love for us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

DEEP

Romans 8:38-39, “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Several passages in the Bible help us understand that God’s love runs deeper than anything we have ever experienced. This last week, NASA reported to have observed a single star 28-billion light-years away; that’s 168 trillion miles. When God says that nothing in all of creation can separate us from His love, imagine 168 trillion miles in front of you, in back of you, above you, and below you. His love is greater than all of that. But more importantly, it is the depth of His love within your heart. It goes to the core of who you are; who you were created to be. You were created to be loved by the author of the universe.

Ephesians 3: 17-19, “that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, so that, because you have been rooted and grounded in love, you may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and thus to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.”

PASSIONATE

John 11:35, “Jesus wept”

Jesus wept. I don’t know of a more provocative statement than this. The God of the universe, a perfect being in nature and existence, cried over one of His own. Knowing the nature of Christ and the nature of man, it is incredible that He would weep over us, but Christ does. He does because we are part of His family; we are errant, headstrong, wayward children, but we are His children.

1 John 3:1, “See how very much our Father loves us, for He calls us His children, and that is what we are!”

One of the more remarkable aspects of God’s passion for us is that He knew what we would become from creation. All of our pigheadedness still gives Him great pleasure to call us His own.

Ephesians 1:5, “God decided in advance to adopt us into His own family by bringing us to Himself through Jesus Christ. This is what He wanted to do, and it gave Him great pleasure.”

All humanity finds shelter in the shadow of His wings; His passion for us is unceasing. There is nothing we can do to make Him desert us. All we need to do is repent, and He is gracious to forgive.

Psalm 36:5-7, “Your unfailing love, O Lord, is as vast as the heavens; your faithfulness reaches beyond the clouds. Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, Your justice like the ocean depths. You care for people and animals alike, O Lord. How precious is Your unfailing love, O God! All humanity finds shelter in the shadow of Your wings. “

God left us a guide and companion so that we would always know He is present in our lives. He understands that we cannot love as He does. He gave us a voice to reassure us when we feel alone or forgotten. The benefits of the love of God towards His children are blessings of joy for those who keep His Commandments.

Romans 5:5, “And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us because He has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with His love. “

POWERFUL

Job 36:22, “God’s power is unlimited. He needs no teachers.”

Job said it very succinctly; His power is unlimited. There is nothing He can’t do; no task is too small or too big. His power is beyond our ability to understand. The God that loves you, the God that wept over you, is the God of unlimited power that can make your life meaningful. He not only wraps you in His love, but He also has the power to protect you from evil. Here in Job, we read the definition of His power.

Job 26:7-14, “God stretches the northern sky over empty space and hangs the earth on nothing. He wraps the rain in his thick clouds, and the clouds don’t burst with the weight. He covers the face of the moon, shrouding it with his clouds. He created the horizon when he separated the waters: he set the boundary between day and night. The foundations of heaven tremble; they shudder at his rebuke. By his power, the sea grew calm. By his skill, he crushed the great sea monster. His Spirit made the heavens beautiful, and his power pierced the gliding serpent. These are just the beginning of all that he does, merely a whisper of his power. Who, then, can comprehend the thunder of his power?”

LASTLY

1 Corinthians 2:9, “But, as it is written, ‘What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love Him'”

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Battle for Our Soul

We live in a crazy world. When I think it has become as dysfunctional as possible, we find a new level. I was in my teens during the ’60s. The ‘60s in the United States was about anti-war movements, free love, and following your bliss. It was a time of anti-everything. The “Man” was in charge; he needed to be taken down a peg or two. My parents thought our generation would amount to nothing and destroy the world. You see, my parents were part of the “Greatest Generation.” As I grew older and wiser, I began to understand how right that was. Their sense of duty and sacrifice was beyond anything we see today.

Maybe my parents were right about who we were. Many of the unacceptable things in the ‘60s are not only typical today; the law protects them. The book of Revelations warns us about the march of time. It describes the Seven Seals that mark the second coming of Christ. Revelations is clear that no man can determine the time of Jesus’ return. But the battle rages on.

Matthew 24:6, “You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come.”

The actual battle is for our soul, and it will never end in a loss for those in Christ. They will not surrender to the evil of this world. They have an army of thousand-thousand angels fighting at their side; they have the King of all creation covering their back. He guides them with love, compassion, and grace. He wrote their story before the universe came into existence; the ending was there for them to choose.

Deuteronomy 20:4, “For the Lord your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you victory.”

It is so easy to become bogged down in everyday life that we forget our true purpose. Our purpose is not to gather worldly wealth or achieve worldly acclaim; our purpose is to glorify and serve Christ. But, unfortunately, there will always be those who do not know Christ and will choose the things of the world. They are the ones who will suffer the loss. They are the ones who are losing sleep over political aspirations, economic woes, and social stigmas. They are the ones who fruitlessly pursue peace by forcing acceptance of worldly pleasures.

Romans 8:37, “But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.”

We stand on the bedrock of Christ’s salvation. Although we can not escape the effects of those who do not know Christ, we can rise above it by focusing on God’s plan for eternity. When worry overcomes us, we need to do nothing more than speak with our Father. He will comfort us in our time of need.

Romans 8:35, “Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?”

It is tricky, especially when we are younger, not to focus on all the world before us. Life seems like a long time; we have dreams, plans, and dragons to slay. We want to make our mark. We want to leave a legacy. We want to rise above the hum of everyday life to make our voice heard. Our focus is on the next project, the next promotion, the next pay raise, the next anything. We forget that our existence is for eternity.

Luke 10:19, “Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will injure you.”

We have an inner strength that can sustain us when the world does not make sense. As much as we should try to overcome evil in the world, there is only One who can, not us. The battle is for our souls. The world will do what the world will do; The Garden of Eden sealed its fate. But we each have the opportunity to escape that natural end. We have a chance to focus on eternity.

Matthew 11:28-30, “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and You will find rest for your soul. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.”

Every worldly endeavor has an eternal component to it. Therefore, you can use any passion to glorify Christ. Consequently, it is not so much what you choose to do with your life that is important as how you choose to do it. Who do you choose to glorify? Is your purpose focused on the near future or eternity?

Matthew 12:20, “A battered reed He will not break off, and a smoldering wick He will not put out until He leads justice to victory.”

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Kindness

Colossians 3:12, “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.”

Kindness (noun): the quality of being friendly, generous, and considerate; a kind act. — English Oxford Living Dictionaries

We are wired to do acts of kindness; the longer we think about it, the less kind we become. We negate the natural tendency to be kind by overthinking the return on investment. Being kind is intuitive; it is the way God made us. It is part of the design specification from before the universe was formed.

FOR THE GEEK IN YOU

God designed us so that we would benefit from acts of kindness. Kindness produces a significant hormone, oxytocin, “the love hormone.” Oxytocin is associated with stress reduction; it achieves this by inhibiting sympathoadrenal and stress response activity, which includes preventing the release of adrenal corticoids. Oxytocin acts both on the psychological level, increasing bond formation, and on the physiological level, via inhibiting stress hormone release and producing opiate-like effects. (The Science of Kindness).

This explanation is science-speak for “Kindness makes you feel good,” both emotionally and physically. So, why did God create this natural reaction to acts of kindness, and what does God say we should do about it? How do we integrate this into our everyday lives so that they are not individual disconnected acts?

LEAD WITH COMPASSION, FOLLOW WITH KINDNESS

Ephesians 4:32, “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”

Let’s start with the basics. We are, and always will be, sinners. God could hold that against us, but He has compassion for His creation. It is through this compassion that He expresses kindness toward us. Without compassion, there would be no foundation for kindness. We would be rebellious, wayward sinners unworthy of reconciliation. His compassion toward us paves the way for His kindness to us.

We are to mirror God to others. To do that, we need to build a foundation of compassion toward those we do not see as worthy of compassion before our acts of kindness start to looking like genuine kindness. We can be obedient without experiencing kindness. We can act out of obligation or submission without being kind.

Ephesians 4:29, “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.”

A place we might start is to heed Ephesians 4:29. If we focus our speech on building up those less fortunate, it leaves little room for criticism. Whenever we emphasize a fault or weakness, we should instead point out virtue or strength. Would we start to look at people differently? If we do, we start to see the gifts God gave them rather than their shortcomings? Once we recognize their unique value, we can more easily show kindness. Kindness no longer becomes an act of submission or obligation but becomes an act of gratitude.

Matthew 5:24, “leave your gift there in front of the altar. First, go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.”

Matthew reminds us that we must first make our gift worthy before presenting it to Christ. So you make kindness a worthy gift by making its foundation, compassion.

GIVE TO GIVE, NOT TO RECEIVE

Luke 6:35, “But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.”

The other trap we need to avoid is Quid Pro Quo. It is the natural inclination of all people to calculate, even subconsciously, the value of the act. If I extend this amount of effort, what happens? We do not expect a direct tit-for-tat; we expect that we have invested with future value. That value may not come from the person for which we have extended the effort, but it exists just the same. Have you ever thought, or said, why has this occurred with the good I have done? Is there some karma in the world that withholds kindness from those who do not practice it? If I show kindness, should it not benefit me?

Kindness is an act, in and of itself, that does not require external motivation. It is a gift you give to yourself. It is an attempt to be more like Jesus.

FINDING YOUR RHYTHM IN LIFE

Kindness is not an obligation or submission to a higher authority. It isn’t a habit to be performed mindlessly over and over. It does not reach out from your subconscious to grab the moment and steal away. Kindness is a conscious act of will that integrates you into the lives of those around you to share what God has given you. Kindness should be the heartbeat of who you are. God loves you unconditionally. Because of that love, He has compassion for what you are going through. That compassion is expressed in kindness toward you. He paid the total price.

Kindness should flow from you as a natural part of being. It should be like breathing, inseparable from life itself. When kindness becomes the music in your head that lightens your step and softens your outlook, you have started to live the life God created for you.

1 Peter 3:9, “Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.”

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You are God’s Delight

Psalm 149:4, “For the Lord takes pleasure in His people; He will beautify the afflicted ones with salvation”

In his book “The Heart of Christ,” Thomas Goodwin states, “Christ’s joy, comfort, happiness, and glory are increased and enlarged by His showing grace and mercy, in pardoning, relieving and comforting His members on earth.”

Aside from the question of how can a God who is holy, eternal, almighty, and self-sufficient can increase in anything? How can this God that suffers no lack, knows no limitation, and experiences no deficiency be enlarged? Aside from that, we know that God delights in us asking Him for anything. The very act of asking means we have brought Him into the equation; we have thought of Him.

Zephaniah 3:17, “The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.”

‘I cried because I had no shoes until I met a man who had no feet.’  From “The Rose Garden” (circa 1259) written by the Persian poet Sa’di.

I need to do what I can, and He will do what I can’t; I need to prioritize my requests. Some problems and needs are just too small for a mighty God. I should not whine and snivel; others have it worse than me. I need to get away from the concept that God is limited in His ability to answer prayer.

We are conditioned to optimize resources, and we see God as one of those resources, thus making God into our image. When we put constraints on God, we do not constrain Him but constrain what we ask of Him. We limit His impact on our lives by limiting His involvement.

God has unlimited wealth; we, the global eternal Christian community, can not exhaust His resources. His world works in infinite parallel processes that are not limited by the volume of requests; we don’t wait in line or queue up for help. He has no supply chain issues. 

FOUR REASONS WE DON’T APPROACH GOD

  • Believing sadness disappoints God
  • Our Sin Leaves Us Feeling Unworthy
  • The need to be in control
  • Hard seasons disqualify us from God’s promises

Believing Sadness Disappoints God

Hebrews uses the word “sunpathesai,” which means cosuffer. The implication is that once we are God’s children, he sympathizes with what we are going through. He is not disappointed in the muck and mire of our lives; He is sympathetic. I have said this more times than I care to count; we live in a fallen world, God knows this. God is compassionate that there are days when we feel we are drowning. What brings Him joy is when we turn to Him during those times. It is when we get comfort from laying our head on His chest to listen to His heartbeat; those are the moments He cherishes.

Our Sin Leaves Us Feeling Unworthy

John Piper made this statement, “The power by which you daily strive to overcome the imperfections in your life is the confidence that you are already perfect.” Because of Christ, we believe in Him and what He did on the cross and His perfect life. We believe in Him, and by faith, God unites us to Christ. His perfection is counted as ours. It is the devil who wants you to feel inadequate, not God.

We ask God from the desires of our hearts, and He gives us what we need. What we need may not be what we desire. You are the source of His joy, comfort, happiness, and glory. He created you to have communion with Him. So don’t start believing that just because you didn’t get what you prayed for, God treated you as unworthy. No, He gave you something better, and you didn’t recognize it.

John 6:37, “Whoever comes to me I will not cast out.”

Talk to God about everything. He loves to hear the sound of your voice. You can not exhaust Him or bore Him.

The Need to Be in Control

Ecclesiastes 3:11, “He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.”

Whether you are willing to accept it or not, you are not and never have been in control. Even if you do not believe in Christ, you still are not in control. Believing is not a condition put on the creator of the universe.

We are His body, His body which He is concerned over; its health and wellbeing. He does not want His body to suffer needlessly. Pain is an indicator in the human body; we immediately want to understand it and relieve it when we feel pain. Sin indicates to the Spirit that something wrong in the Christian body that needs to be understood and fixed. That is God’s domain which no human can control.

1 John 4:10, “In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.”

Hard Seasons Disqualify Us From God’s Promises

Webster’s New World College Dictionary defines relationship as “the quality or state of being related, a continuing attachment or association between persons.”

But what makes for a genuine, long-lasting friendship? If you’re fortunate, it is a mix of shared interests, shared values, commitment, loyalty, and kindred spirits. Would you consider a friend, indeed a friend, if they disappeared every time you found yourself in a bind? Would you abandon your friends in their time of need?

Philippians 4:6-7, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Hard seasons are the very aspect of life that God most wants to share with you. The hard times are God’s forte. Therefore, we need to condition ourselves that when we feel insufficient, unworthy, or out of control, that is the best time to chat with God. He will surprise you with what He knows.

Jeremiah 9:24, “but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord who exercises lovingkindness, justice, and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things,” declares the Lord.”

Always remember this:

1 John 3:1-3, “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure?”

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Godliness with Contentment

King Solomon was not only favored by God; he was considered one of the wisest men ever to walk the earth.  He made this statement:

Ecclesiastes 9:11, “I have seen something else under the sun: The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favor to the learned; but time and chance happen to them all.”

We all struggle with insecurity.  That insecurity can be job security, basic provisions, self-worth, or purpose.  We live in a marketing-driven world that demands that we strive for perfection.  We are continually comparing ourselves to others.  It is not always vanity that drives us; sometimes, it is pure competition, the need to matter,  or the need to stand out in a noisy world.

Galatians 6:4, “Each one should test their own actions.  Then they can take pride in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else.”

When I think about what Solomon said, I sometimes go to Hugh Heffner.  That is right, Mr. Playboy.  Hugh Heffner lived a bohemian lifestyle, devoid of a moral foundation by almost any standard.  He promoted a completely hedonistic lifestyle, not just for himself but also for everyone; He carried the banner for Godlessness, yet he was a multi-millionaire.  The Playboy Enterprise was called an Empire.  What killed his business model was their success.  Pornography has become so widespread and accessible; Playboy could no longer make money.

If the measure of Godliness is worldly wealth and fame, why do the Hugh Heffner’s exist?  Just as Job’s friends tried to explain, we should be able to look at the material value of a person and see their Godliness.  But it doesn’t work that way.

 1 Timothy 6:6-8, “But Godliness with contentment is great gain.  For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it.  But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.”

King Solomon reminds us that we are not in control of our future.  We can do everything right, and it still can go wrong.  We can watch others do everything wrong and prosper.  Timothy tells us to be content with whatever happens.  He reminds us that we should seek Godliness with contentment.

Romans 14:17, “For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, but of living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.”

As Christians, our purpose in life is to know God and bring Him glory.  Therefore, we should first seek His glory and be content with the outcome in everything.  Larry Crabb talks about making the first things first.  He warns us about putting worldly issues in front of God’s glory.  He states, “The forces of darkness value blessings; they call them life, they feel entitled to them, and they’re willing to do whatever it takes to get them.”

Augustine said, “There can be only two basic loves, the love of God -unto the forgetfulness of self, or the love of self-unto the forgetfulness of God.”

Ephesians 2:10, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

Do our words and deeds glorify God, or do they glorify ourselves?  If we live a life focused on praising God, are we content with the outcome?  God knows what we need as aliens on the earth.  He understands the environment in which we live.  He wants us to live a life that is attractive to others so that we can share the Gospel.  Therefore, everything we have or experience should glorify His name to attract non-believers to the contentment within us.

We should use the gifts that God gave us in the environment that He has put us in to succeed in what He has set before us.  But we do this for His glory, not ours.  We are working for Him, not for our gratification.

Colossians 3:23, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters.”

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Performance-Based Faith

I have just returned from a trip to Honduras, where we were vetting a potential future project to help locals create micro-businesses.  These trips present a cadre of potential conflicts.  First, we have the friction created by my obedience to God’s call.  It conflicts because I am responding to what I believe to be God’s vision for my life, but I am also judging my effectiveness; how much good am I doing.  The second has to do with what we are teaching.  We are teaching people to use Godly principles to create for-profit businesses.  Most of us see the potential conflict in that.  We must balance living in a performance-based world with grace-based salvation.  It is tough to keep the two separate.

Genesis 2:15, “The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.”

Christ modeled our relationships here on earth after our relationship with Himself.  He wants us to learn from Him and grow closer to Him through involvement with Him. But, we are to honor the originator of all things in the process.

Ephesians 2:19, “Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household.  “

TRANSACTIONAL FAITH

In a performance-based world, we become obsessed with goal orientation.  We, through constant reinforcement, fixate on achievement.  Our parents remind us that results do matter.  So when we take on a task, we want to know why.  Is it the best use of our time?  Is it within our calling, aptitude, and gifts?  We somehow can’t take our hands off the wheel; if we can’t drive, we want to navigate; even when we don’t know the destination.   

Colossians 3: 23-24, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward.  It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”

The key to this statement is “as working for the Lord.” God was very clear from the beginning that we needed to be active while living the life He has created for us.  That activity must have a purpose, and with it comes achievement.  Our part is to be obedient in doing the task before us, not the outcome.  The outcome is the exclusive domain of God, not us.  Whatever God puts before us is part of His plan for our lives.  We must do it with peace and joy.  God does not get His highest pleasure from our achievements; He gets it from our obedience.

Ephesians 3: 12-13, “I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live.  That each of them may eat and drink and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God.”

In The Purpose Driven Life, Rick Warren writes, “Work becomes worship when you dedicate it to God and perform it with an awareness of his presence.”

The implication here is not that we get satisfaction from what we accumulate or accomplish but from the tasks that God puts before us because it is a gift from God.  Being the person God has made you be isn’t about creating something; it is about discovering something.  The pursuit is progressed not by the honors that we accumulate but by our obedience to God’s plan for us.

BUT PERFORMANCE COUNTS

Work is one of the ways we demonstrate God to non-believers.  But, if non-believers cannot trust us with the worldly endeavors one can see, how can we be trusted with spiritual works that require faith?

1 Peter 2:12, “Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.”

So, we endeavor to meet a high level of performance not to please God but to glorify God to non-believers.  We are held responsible for our results; we need to take that seriously.  God created us to work; setting and meeting goals is part of the responsibility.  From a worldly perspective, this responsibility produces the most anxiety in our lives.  It not only affects the way we perceive the nature of our work, but it also affects other aspects of our worldly existence.  It affects our self-perception and self-image and our drive to have better material goods and living standards.  One of our obligations as Christians is to be a good team member, employer, parent, child, and spouse.

2 Thessalonians 3:12 “such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and earn the bread they eat.”

BUT NOT TO GOD

Ephesians 2: 8-9, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.”

For most of us, it is hard to turn that switch off.  Somehow, we still try to do good works as if they are the keys to salvation; they aren’t.  That is not to say that we should not strive to do good works; it is just that those good works will not get us to heaven.

Matthew 7:16-20, ” By their fruit, you will recognize them.  Do people pick grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles?  Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.  A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.  Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.  Thus, by their fruit, you will recognize them.”

It is when we start to believe we can be good enough, fruitful enough, holy enough that we lose sight of the beautiful gift of God; eternal life with Him in heaven through grace.  The balance we need to strike is to understand that while the world requires performance as a means of measuring worth, God does not.  Spiritual performance is a by-product of grace, not a goal.

Philippians 4:19, “And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”

We need to get back to helping our Father with His business.  We are to be obedient to His will.  We cannot control the outcome or the timing; we can only enjoy working in His presence.

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