Tag: Love

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Job or Naomi, You Pick

Job or Naomi, you pick the one closest to yourself. This decision is not a question of gender but temperament and faith. It might be easy for some to let gender play too big a role in this comparison, but that would be a mistake. How we approach God in times of trouble is not dictated by gender, environment, or ethnic background but by faith.

It is essential to realize that gender does play a role in Naomi’s situation, as she is both an immigrant and a woman. It does add to her suffering, but she does not suffer from Job’s physical condition. So they somewhat offset each other. I do not believe the Bible means for these two stories to distinguish between male and female suffering but to contrast their approaches to suffering. So, are you Job or Naomi?

Job

Job 1:20-22, “At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship and said: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.” In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.”

Job devastatingly lost everything. God took everything Job loved and cherished. He still had his wife, although her assessment was, “Are you still maintaining your integrity? Curse God and die!” ( Job 2:9). Not exactly the type of support one would expect. Job’s friends took the time to give him bad advice. They assured him that he brought on his problems through his poor behavior. Job did not see anything in his possession as his, but God’s to do with what He pleased.

Job 3:25, “What I feared has come upon me; what I dreaded has happened to me.”

Job feared suffering. He did not understand why God would let him suffer instead of taking his life. Job did not understand. But, through everything, Job stood with God. He would not blame God for his misfortune. He was not a victim. 

Naomi

Ruth 1:20-21, “Don’t call me Naomi, [pleasant],” she told them. “Call me Mara, [bitter] because the Almighty has made my life very bitter. I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi? The Lord has afflicted me; the Almighty has brought misfortune upon me.”

Naomi also lost everything. She lost her husband and sons, which was her ability to care for herself. Unlike Job, thieves did not rob her; the death of her husband and sons robbed her of her ability to create income. Also, unlike Job, she was a foreigner, an immigrant. Therefore, she had no standing in the community.  

Naomi, as opposed to Job, assumed her suffering was of God. She felt that God had chosen her for suffering. Naomi hints at the idea that what was hers was hers, and God just took it away. Naomi sees herself as a victim.

Restoration

God, in His compassion and wisdom, rescues both. God restored Job.

Job 42:10-11, “After Job had prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his fortunes and gave him twice as much as he had before. All his brothers and sisters and everyone who had known him before came and ate with him in his house. They comforted and consoled him over all the trouble the Lord had brought on him, and each one gave him a piece of silver and a gold ring.”

God redeemed Naomi through Boaz.

Ruth 4:9-10, “Then Boaz announced to the elders and all the people, “Today you are witnesses that I have bought from Naomi all the property of Elimelek, Kilion, and Mahlon. I have also acquired Ruth the Moabite, Mahlon’s widow, as my wife.”

You

Matthew 5:45, “that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.”

Often, we endure trials seeking God’s deliverance from them. Suffering is painful for us to endure or to see those we love endure. While our instinct is to flee trials, remember that even in the midst of suffering, God’s will is being done. – Paul Chappell

Are you Job or Naomi? Which do you choose; what is your approach? In this broken world where bad things happen to good people, do you praise God in your affliction, or do you see yourself as a victim of God’s judgment? Do you think that as a dedicated Christian, God should rescue you from the world around you, or do you look for ways to glorify God within your circumstances?

My dad used to say, “Life is unfair; get over it.” We serve a loving God who will take us through the darkest times. We need to cling to that promise. 

Isaiah 54:10, “Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken, nor my covenant of peace be removed,” says the Lord, who has compassion on you.”
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Pursuit of Happiness

The Pursuit of happiness is one of the most cherished possessions of all United States citizens. The pursuit of happiness is so cherished it is in the first sentence of our Declaration of Independence, signed in 1776. The right to the pursuit of happiness is considered unalienable; unalienable rights are rights that can never be forfeited. They’re fundamental parts of humanity, the basis for moral interactions between people, and are irrevocable.

Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776 “We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.”

“Every man, whatsoever his condition, desires to be happy.” —Saint Augustine

Unalienable Rights

Thomas Jefferson, the primary drafter of the Declaration of Independence, described unalienable rights as, “We human beings are born on this planet with these rights, and so these are our birthright. These great virtues keep us separate from other living species and protect human dignity. These rights are like God’s gift to the human race.”

Ecclesiastes 3:13, "Also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil—this is God's gift to man."

Over 130 national constitutions recognize happiness or well-being as a constitutional value worthy of protection. However, this is high praise for a concept so pure yet so misunderstood. We all crave a world where we are free to chase what makes us happy. We freely endorse that all people have the right to be happy. The problem comes into play when we start to define happiness. Some things that might make one person happy infringe on another’s happiness. Many things that might bring us happiness at the moment are short-lived and harmful in the long term. Almost every perception of human happiness concerns the here and now.

Misapplied Happiness

Most people pursue happiness at their peril. The list of things people do to pursue happiness makes the sins described in Second Timothy sound like a shopping list. Somehow we seem to gravitate toward things opposed to God.

2 Timothy 3:1-5, "But understand this, that in the last days, there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power."

“There is no man upon the earth who isn’t earnestly seeking after happiness, and it appears abundantly by the variety of ways they so vigorously seek it; they will twist and turn every way, ply all instruments, to make themselves happy men.” —Jonathan Edwards

Happiness becomes self-centered. Happiness becomes about having, being, or controlling rather than giving, loving, and accepting. The pursuit of worldly happiness makes us more unhappy. We become insecure about what we have. We become possessive of our happiness over others’ happiness; slaves to the very things we are pursuing.

True Happiness

Happiness is untested delight. Joy is delight tested.- Jack Hyles

Galatians 5:22-23, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things, there is no law."

Happiness is situational; joy is a decision. God did give us the unalienable right to Joy. Pursuing it does not lead us to gain something but to give up something. Once we give up our right to be joyful and start helping and loving others, we find we have joy. God has built this joyful quotient into us that the more you give, the more you get. We chase happiness like an animated object trying to allude us. Joy is stationary, waiting for us to apply the Gospel to our everyday lives and reap the rewards promised by God.

Ecclesiastes 3:12, "I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live."

Happiness is a valent concept that would lead us to praise it as if it was an object to be worshipped. But, in fact, it is a by-product of our condition. On the other hand, we get joy when we give up on everything worldly. It is the peace that comes from knowing God is with us.

John 15:11, "These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full."

The world is spiraling downward toward the end predicted in Revelations; those who do not cling to the God of the universe will eventually suffer significantly from it. Accordingly, happiness is about serving; not about others serving us.

“It is a Christian duty . . . for everyone to be as happy as he can.” —C.S. Lewis

Philippians 4:11-13, “Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance, and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”

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A Sobering Thought

I was reminded of a sobering thought today. I was looking through old documents I had written to see if there was something that God would use to speak to me. But instead, I found an MP3 audio file from a few years ago. I very seldom record my thoughts. I used to, but I learned that God wanted me to write them out while they were fresh in my mind. I have a big file of Letters to Myself. So I listened to the recording to see what was so important that I recorded it.

Psalms 36:7, “How priceless is your unfailing love, O God! People take refuge in the shadow of your wings.”

It is hard to describe the enormity of God’s love for us. The fact is he wants all of us to spend eternity with Him. God demonstrates this through His relentless passion for us by constantly pursuing us despite our condition. We can never become so degenerate or lowly that He will stop loving us.

1 John 4:9-10. “This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.”

In the Dark of the Night

I recorded that message at four o’clock in the morning on an IMED trip while in Kyrgyzstan. It started to be about Andrey. Andrey was a student looking to expand his small construction business. Andrey has spent time in a Russian prison. His relationship with God was of the tough love type. God loved him unconditionally, but God had rules, just like everyone. In Andrey’s life, anything that came easy wasn’t worth having. He had spent his life overcoming. There was something about that man I loved. But he dropped out of the program because he couldn’t understand why we had to know so much about him. His leaving deflated me because we could have done so much for him, and his testimony was incredible.

2 Timothy 1:9, “He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time.”

I sometimes get off subject and have to serpentine my way back, I‘m told; here is the tie-in. In this recording, talking about Andrey made me think more about myself. I had built this narrative around my life that had to do with God loving me so much that He saved me so I could help others. I didn’t die in the Emergency Room because God had a plan for me. It was a plan to serve others and expand His Kingdom. Andrey taught me that it was a faults narrative. It wasn’t about High Tech Ministries, Champions for Life, International Mission Connection, or Roswell Day of Hope. All of that would have been just as effective without me.

The Sobering Thought

The sobering thought was this, had I died that night, I would have spent eternity separated from God. I would be in Hell. God could do everything I have done since then without me. He did not need me; I needed Him. I just didn’t realize it yet. It was several years before I fully understood that I needed Him. I spent the immediate years after getting my pacemaker lamenting my loss of invincibility. Before that night, I was bulletproof and invisible. There was nothing I could not achieve. Now I was battery operated.

1 John 3:1, “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.”

Andrey reminded me that he survived a Russian prison so that he could be saved. He didn’t see himself as the next Martin Luther. Instead, he saw himself as a child of God trying to please his Father. As Christians, we sometimes become arrogant in our beliefs. We start to think that we are one of the critical gears in God’s machinery. We can’t seem to accept that we exist because He loves us. Sure, He wants us to spread the Gospel, but His primary motivation is love for us.

1 John 4:16, “And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.”

We all have an expiration date. Unfortunately, we don’t know when that is. Sharing God’s story is so that others may be saved before it is too late. We don’t know when that is. We don’t know when that is for ourselves, our family, co-workers, and friends. God can do everything you have accomplished and more without you. We can not change His plan, but we can decide to be part of it.

Ecclesiastes 9:1, “So I reflected on all this and concluded that the righteous and the wise and what they do are in God’s hands, but no one knows whether love or hate awaits them.”

Living is about getting to salvation and finding our way home and helping others find their way home. God loves us unconditionally; He wants to be with us for eternity. And that, folks, is a sobering thought.

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Being Loved is Life

Being loved is life; it is what gives us substance and hope. Love fuels our passion for life. However, only when we learn to love do we start to understand what it means to be loved.

Being loved is life’s second greatest blessing; loving is the greatest. – Jack Hyles

Ephesians 2:4-5, “But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.”

DESIRE

One of my greatest desires and fears is to be loved. I have loved very deeply and hurt because of it. But I know that on those nights when sleep evades me, my mind starts to wander to a place I go to what it would be like to be completely loved; not the love I have experienced in my life but a deep-abiding love mentioned in the Bible.

1 Corinthians 13: 13, "And now these three remain faith, hope, and Love. But the greatest of these is Love."

I lay in the darkness, with no distractions but my thoughts, thinking about love with no agenda, secrets, or motive other than me. I think about a love so consuming that it dictates my existence, a love so large it threatens my heart. It captures me with an attraction that terrifies me. To have and then lose a love like this would be devastating.

Colossians 3:14, "And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony."

LOVE

Altruistic, unselfish, complete love that quenched my desire to be loved is potent. My desire for it makes me vulnerable to its power. To lose it would be to fall into a deep black hole with no escape. The joy of experiencing a love like that is balanced by the pain that would occur if I lost it. And with that thought, I retreat into my world. I return to the safety of a worldly love bartered and traded. I content myself with minor love and minor pain, emotions that I can understand. It is a human love that is well-intended but flawed. Because of that, we build an invisible wall around our hearts to protect us from pain, and that same wall holds back what we can give.

To love someone means to see him as God intended him. – Fyodor Dostoevsky

1 John 4:19, "We love because he first loved us."

The love I desire is out there. It has existed since before time. God, in His infinite wisdom, built the desire for that love into us. It is that hollow feeling we have that we are never complete. You are trying to fill that hole when you chase fame and fortune. Drugs, alcohol, money, status, sex, and power are cheap alternatives. But, ultimately, it is more drugs, alcohol, status, sex, and power we crave because the desire remains. The fire rages because we have not found the one source that will fulfill that desire once and for all time.

1 John 4:7-8, "Dear friends, let us love one another, for Love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is Love."

CHALLENGE

The challenge is that God’s love is not manifest in worldly trappings. He does not replace His love with cheap imitations. He does not confuse our desire to love and be loved, with our desire to possess. One desire demands purity the other grovels in our sinful nature. One looks at eternity; the other looks only at today.

Everything God does is Love — even when we do not understand Him. – Basilea Schlink

God is love in its most pure form. God’s very existence defines that He will freely give Himself without hesitation. God does not fear loss as we do. Instead, he gives and gives and gives. There is no limit to what He will do to demonstrate His love to us. Because His love is perfect, we do not have to fear loss. He will always be with us for eternity.

Deuteronomy 7:9, "Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments."

In the dark of the night, I try to set aside my worldly experiences and trust in His promise. I dream of overcoming my fear and fully embracing what God has always wanted for me, to learn to lean on my faith that He will do everything He has promised. I want to free my heart to love as He loves me because being loved is life. 

Hebrews 10:23, "Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful."
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Seeking Faith Rather than Seeking Christ

Are we seeking faith rather than seeking Christ? This quote is a paraphrase from John Wesley concerning the mountaintop experience of many Christians. It was an interesting question. The connotation is that we don’t necessarily fully understand the implication of Christ’s Love for us; we only understand the security of what He does for us.

1 John 4:18 "There is no fear in Love, but perfect Love casts out fear because fear has to do with punishment. Whoever fears is not perfect in Love."

INTRODUCTION

I listened to an interesting Podcast concerning the events at Asbury University this last week. In case you do not know, Asbury University, a private Christian school in Wilmore, Kentucky, had somewhat normal chapel services on March 9, 2023, which led to a non-stop multi-day religious experience. The University does not call it a revival, as they believe only history can determine if it is an actual revival. In the podcast, the commentators paraphrased Wesley, “Are we seeking faith rather than seeking Christ.” The question elicits deeper thinking concerning the emotional impact of the moment as opposed to the eternal impact of Christ’s Love.   

Faith is a misunderstood concept. You can have complete faith that someone is going to lie to you. They have a track record of doing it, and there is no reason to feel they will go against the trend in the given situation. Faith in something is nothing more than confidence that you can predict what will happen. Faith is confidence in the outcome. Christ’s unchanging nature gives us confidence in what He will do.

THE QUESTION

Are we seeking faith rather than seeking Christ? Christian faith should be a byproduct of understanding the depth of God’s Love for us. It is not faith in what God will do but in who God is. If we understand the depth of God’s Love for us, we have no concern for what He does for us. What He does will always be directly related to how much He loves us.

Love is not merely an attribute of God’s character but the essence of his being —

Sunday Adelaja

John Piper, in his book “God Is the Gospel” asked this question, “The critical question for our generation—and every generation—is this: If you could have Heaven, with no sickness, and with all the friends you ever had on earth, and all the food you ever liked, and all the leisure activities you ever enjoyed, and all the natural beauties you ever saw, all the physical pleasures you ever tasted, and no human conflict or any natural disasters, could you be satisfied with Heaven, if Christ was not there?”

Who do you seek? Do you seek the experience of Christianity but not the joy of Christ’s Love? Christ offers us a lot. For those who call Him King, the reward is an eternity like nothing we have ever experienced. But would we still seek Christ without the promise of that experience? Do we crave heaven with or without Christ? Is the fear of losing heaven the driving emotion behind your faith?

But do you feel His Love? When you think of Christ, does it elicit an emotional response? When your prays are not answered as you had desired, do you bask in His Love? Do you really believe that despite who you are, what you continue to do, and how you treat Him, He loves you unconditionally? Do you believe He loves you no matter what you are going through?

John 15:13, "Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends."

We are not just His creation; we are His friends.

LIVING WITH THE ANSWER

You have to live with your answer. You can lie to yourself but not to God. We live in a material world filled with measurements and agendas. None of us have ever experienced altruistic Love. It is not natural for man to love that way. Everything is up for sale. We barter and trade affection like shares of stock. We judge others feeling toward us by what they are willing to do for us and us for them.

Romans 8:35-37, "Who shall separate us from the Love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written: "For Your sake, we are killed all day long; we are counted as sheep for the slaughter." No, in all these things, we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us."

The God of the universe, who spoke it into existence, sent His son to die for you. He didn’t just die for you; that would have been too simple. Instead, he was humiliated, tortured, and hung alive on a tree with spikes through His hands and feet. He is God; He didn’t need to do any of that. He created us and could have easily destroyed us and started over. But He didn’t. He kept pursuing us.

Romans 5:8, "but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

Our faith should not be in what God can do but in how much He loves us. In Love, He will do everything possible to ensure you spend eternity with Him. It is not about how perfect heaven is but about who will be there, the only entity in existence that can and will love you the way you desire to be loved.

Do you need the image of eternity in the Garden of Eden with all of your loved ones who have passed before, perfect weather, agile strong bodies, and peace and goodwill to motivate you toward Godliness, or is spending eternity with your creator, worshiping at His feet enough? Is it about what He provides more than who He is?

This verse describes God’s Love toward us that we should try to emulate toward others.

1 Corinthians 13:4-7, "Love is patient and kind; Love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things."

Do not strive to spend eternity in heaven; strive to spend eternity with the God who loves you unconditionally.

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Faith with Absolute Assurance

Faith is the assurance of things we hope for but have not received. Our faith in Christ is grounded in His promise to us through Abraham. We believe because we can see the impact on our lives today that encourages us about our future. It does not mean today is puppy dogs and unicorns, but it does mean that today is leading to a better tomorrow.

John 16:33, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world, you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

Whenever I face a critical issue, I return to a simple truth; “Do I believe what I say I believe?”. Everything is condensed down to this one critical question. When I distill an issue down to the root cause, it always boils down to this; do I trust that Christ is who I say He is, and do I believe He cares the way He says He does?

RELIGIOSITY

Let me give you a real-life example from several years ago. I knew someone who owed me money. They asked me to do some work for them, I did it, they acknowledged that I did it, and their client was satisfied with the work. I asked several times over the next year about getting paid without a resolution. He is a professing Christian. He has plenty of money, so he shouldn’t be concerned. Now I am a huge commitment type of guy. I believe you say what you will do, then you do it. It’s not the money; it is the principle of the matter.

My first thought goes right to righteous indignation:
Proverbs 3:27, “Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due when it is in your power to act.”

I am owed; you, as a Christian, have an obligation to pay me. So, I start to build my argument. I start remembering bible verses that condemn him and justify me. I pray for the right (passive-aggressive) approach to make him feel guilty if he does not pay. It stopped being about money some time ago. It is now religiosity. I own the high ground. God is on my side.

There are a few things I should think about first:
Proverbs 16:2, “All a person’s ways seem pure to them, but motives are weighed by the Lord.”
Proverbs 20:22, “Do not say, “I’ll pay you back for this wrong!” Wait for the Lord, and he will avenge you.”
Proverbs 27:19, “As water reflects the face, so one’s life reflects the heart.”

What started as a quest to right a wrong has turned into a vendetta. My motivation turned selfish. It is not about getting my wages but proving my religious superiority. It has turned to punish him for not being as good as me. I stopped trying to let God work through this and started dictating the terms.

FAITHFULNESS

Living by faith requires a different approach. When we decide to follow Christ, we commit to allowing Him to lead. This commitment requires a certain level of trust. I believe Christ does not want us to suffer needlessly or without kingdom impact. Therefore, if we must suffer, there is a purpose in the suffering, and that purpose will positively impact His kingdom here on earth.

The next question that comes to mind is, at what cost? Who wins and who loses, and by how much? Does evil prosper? The ultimate answer to those questions is in Revelations.

Revelation 20:10, “And the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.”

And who does this apply to?

1 John 3:8, “Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.”

There is an actual price to be paid by those who reject Christ. We must be assured that God will do what He said He would do.

APPLICATION

When we have been wronged, what should we do? The first thing we should all do when faced with a dilemma is to pray for guidance. It is through prayer that we gain assurance that our faith is rewarded. There are too many permutations of grievances to suggest a one-size-fits-all solution. But, the starting point is always the same. Prayer

It is also essential to determine where our ego is during this time. Is the grievance material or emotional? Is the wrong subjective or objective? Do I believe God has my best interest in mind, even if I don’t get what I want? Am I advancing my kingdom or His? What do I believe about Christ’s dominion over the world? These are the critical questions, not our perception of right and wrong. God will handle right and wrong.

LAST POINT

The last point is that there are times when we must take advantage of the authority God has established over man to help with worldly issues that broken man can not adequately address. We have laws and governing authorities for that purpose. These are tools for Him to use to help us. They are not tools he has created so that we can punish those we dislike or disagree with.

Romans 13:1-2, “Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.”

Trials will come. That is part of being human in a fallen world. How we face those trials will determine our impact on His kingdom for Him. Our assurance of victory comes through our faith in the victor. We can win the battle but lose the war.

James 5:11, “As you know, we count as blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.”
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Fighting Discouragement

We are all fighting discouragement from time to time. The less fortunate among us face discouragement daily. The verb to discourage means “to deprive of confidence, hope or spirit; dishearten.” The word discourages is synonymous with afflict, beat down, demoralize, depress, dismay, distress, frighten, intimidate, irk, and trouble.

Discouragement comes from the root word courage. The prefix dis- means “the opposite of.” So discouragement is the opposite of courage. When we are discouraged, we lose the motivation to press forward. The battle is too fierce, the river too wide, the hill too tall, or the destination too far, and we lose the courage to continue.

Romans 7 21-23, “It happens so regularly that it’s predictable. The moment I decide to do good, sin is there to trip me up. I truly delight in God’s commands, but it’s obvious that not all of me join in that delight. Parts of me covertly rebel, and just when I least expect it, they take charge. I’ve tried everything, and nothing helps. I’m at the end of my rope. Is there no one who can do anything for me?” (MSG)

The Discouragement Lie

A lie from Satan is the source of every discouragement. Satan uses our desire to do and be good against us. He knows he cannot overcome our strength in Christ, so he uses our desire against us. He makes sure that we feel we don’t measure up.

John 8:44, “….for he is a liar and the father of lies and half-truths.”

We have talked about this often; we live in a post-modern world designed to make us discontent. We are overwhelmed with influencers who only show us the highlights of their lives. The media paints pictures designed to make us want more, do more, and be more. None of this is from God. Instead, God points us to the exact opposite.

Psalm 27:14, “Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage”

The person God made you to be, is perfect for what He made you to do. No one else has control over that.

Three primary forms of discouragement

Fleeting:

Fleeting discouragement is when we experience minor problems or pressures that affect our emotions; we quickly become discouraged when we seek rewards or affirmation from those around us. This is something we fight every day. If it is not how we look or how we talk or whom we know, it’s what we don’t know. We are being evaluated against a worldly performance standard that is not tied to whom God made us. These minor issues evaporate like morning dew, but the accumulating effect lasts a long time below the surface.

2 Timothy 1:7, “For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.”

Mild discouragement can grow into significant discouragement. We relive our shortcomings over and over until it becomes part of us. We lose our sense of reality because it has been replaced with repetitive negative thoughts. Like the erosion of sandstone by dripping water, we become something different than what we were created to be.

Significant:

Discouragement becomes problematic when we face significant problems or pressures that affect our spirits. Some of these pressures are self-inflicted, but many are not. When we let mild discouragement mushroom or set our standards too high, we can create an environment that fosters strong discouragement. This type of discouragement only goes away slowly. You can’t blow it off and move on. You have to face the source of that discouragement and defeat it before it becomes disabling.

Ephesians 4:24, “and put on the new self, created in God’s image, in the righteousness and holiness of the truth.”

The second source of strong discouragement produces the same result. This discouragement is the creation of those around you. Sometimes it is meant to be motivating, but mostly it is a passive-aggressive approach to making someone else feel better about themselves. Sometimes a well-meaning friend or parent wants you to become who they think you should be. Other times, someone uses you as a punching bag for their shortcomings.

Deuteronomy 20:4, “for Jehovah your God is He that goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.”

None of this is from God. All of it is Evil trying to distract you from your real purpose in life. Go back to scripture and reaffirm who you are. Distance yourself from the desires of others and concentrate on the desire of God. Don’t allow others to define who you are.

Disabling:

This happens when our hearts “melt” within us, and we have no desire, energy, or ability to fight on. I’ve been there. You know you have arrived when getting up in the morning doesn’t seem worthwhile. If God has a plan for your life, you are so far off course that there is no way to correct it. You blew it; there is no “do-over” in life. This is the biggest lie of all.

Deuteronomy 31:6, “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”

You can never get so far off course that God cannot bring you back where He wants you. You can give up on God, but he will never give up on you. It may take time and effort, but it is achievable. Seek professional help if required. Make sure that help is scripture based. You don’t need another person to point you in the wrong direction.

God is there. He is always there. He knows what you are going through. His timing is not always our timing, but believe me, he loves you unconditionally and will not let you go.

Isaiah 40:31, “But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.”

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Winning in a Meritocracy

What does winning in a meritocracy mean? First, winning in a meritocracy is almost impossible. Meritocracies are like vermicular designs or mazes; they spawn out in every direction with dead ends and false trails. Every country has a version of meritocracy created over time to reflect cultural norms. In some Asian countries testing in school can set the path for the rest of your life. In western cultures, whom you know and what you know determines where you stand in the social rankings.

Romans 12:2, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

MERITOCRACY

Meritocracy: (noun) A system in which advancement is based on individual ability or achievement.

Winning in a meritocracy is about playing the game when some rules are hidden. Some rules are open and easy to understand. A high grade in school moves you up the ranking, and a low grade moves you down. Social structures can be subjective. Being a doctor can move you up the ranking, but being a doctor of what? Does a Surgeon, a General Practitioner, a Chiropractor, and a History Professor have the same status? It’s according to who else is in the room.

As children, we start with a subconscious understanding of merit. We are rewarded for specific behavior and punished for others. We get awards to commemorate each good occasion. Sometimes the merit system needs to be clarified, as in a participation award. Did that move me up or down? Is the fact that I participated a remarkable thing worth rewarding, or is it wrong because I didn’t distinguish myself?

2 Corinthians 4:4, “In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”

We face competition in every aspect of life, but one. We compete at work, in extracurricular activities, in relationships, in school, in how we dress, how we talk, whom we know, and what we know. And we compete for our place in this world. We face a pie of limited size, and we compete for our slice.

THEN THERE IS GOD

Genesis 1:27, “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”

God wiped out the merit system when He sent His son to die for our sins. That should be embraced as incredibly good news. The constant striving to have meaning is replaced with open arms and purpose. We are not created equal in the sense that the world sees equal. We were created equal because God created us uniquely and ideally for the purpose He had in mind. As a result, not a single person is better qualified to do what God has planned for them.

Winning in a meritocracy has no meaning to God. We are saved through grace, not works. Therefore, we do not compete with each other for God’s love and acceptance. Our place in eternity is assured through His grace.

TAKE A BREAK FROM THE RAT RACE

Colossians 3:2, “Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.”

In Luke 12, Jesus tells a parable about a rich man whose crop yielded a great harvest. The rich man decided to tear down his barns and build bigger ones so he could be secure for the rest of his life. In verse 20, God says, “You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?” We are all gifted uniquely, but it is God who makes the plants grow. It is God who determines how long we have to enjoy His gifts.

We still need to do our best in all that we do, but it is not to please others. We don’t have to look over our shoulders to see who’s gaining on us. Instead, we can rest in the knowledge that God has our back. It is hard to shift gears when you have spent your life competing at every level. Uncertainty comes with breaking away from the worldview to embrace an eternal view. But the peace of mind from trusting God will give you the confidence to excel in all He put before you.

Philippians 4:8, “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

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Enter the New Year

Enter the New Year. It is the Chinese year of the rabbit, which is appropriate. As we enter the new year, time is fleeting. We must make the most of this new year before it’s gone.

So, as we enter this new year, I wanted to tell you a story that might help you set your objectives. It’s my story. Like David, Moses, and many other characters in the Bible, my life has had its bumps and bruises. But also it has a lesson. It starts with the first question I had to answer; “who am I?”. That was a tough question for me to answer. A lot of clichés’ came to mind. I also gravitated toward things that sounded grandiose but weren’t true. My true mission in life wasn’t admirable, but finding it and articulating it opened my eyes to what has happened. Writing this is cathartic.

Proverbs 1:8-9, “Hear, my son, your father’s instruction, and forsake not your mother’s teaching, for they are a graceful garland for your head and pendants for your neck.”

THE STORY

Who am I? I am the only son of a high-achieving “greatest generation” father. My mission in life was to be like him but better. I tried to achieve my mission by outworking everyone around me. My dad had one college degree; I have three. He worked full-time through college, and so did I, three times. I studied for every meeting and every engagement like it was a final exam. I had to be the smartest guy in the room. No one could be on my team if they didn’t have my work ethic.

THE JOURNEY

I tried to be this person by emulating my father. My father was a successful engineer; He was President of the City Council in my city and President of the School Board when I graduated from High School; his signature is on my High School Diploma.

He was well-liked, had a good sense of humor, and was a man of high character, brilliant and unassuming He could multiply two eight-digit numbers in his head to entertain my friends. I loved and idolized my father.

Romans 4:4, “Now to the one who works, his wage is not credited as a favor, but as what is due.”

I was driven to succeed in everything I tried. I was raised to believe that you didn’t appreciate anything you didn’t work for. This drive manifested itself in anger and frustration. I didn’t feel I ever measured up. My father seemed so natural at it, and it seemed so unnatural to me. I was constantly pressing. Although it did drive me to a high level of success, it didn’t provide any satisfaction in that success. It created relationship problems in almost every aspect of my life.  My life and ambition controlled me. I was a slave to whom I thought I must be. My ego and pride painted over all my insecurities.

“To love yourself is to know that your past does not change your worth.”

THE AWAKENING

I was divorced at a young age. I was running 10 miles every day to help deal with the stress. By the age of 30, I had to have a pacemaker. Caffeine and stress short-circuited my heart’s electrical system. Success was killing me; I knew I couldn’t keep this up; I either had to abandon my mission in life or find a better way.  

I couldn’t abandon who I thought I was, so I turned to the Bible for advice. I turned to the Bible because I remember it from my childhood days attending church. Going to church still wasn’t in the plan; I was a self-made man. The Bible proved to be an owner’s manual on how to live—changing my approach to working with people significantly reduced my stress. Knowing that I was part of a plan that could not fail gave me confidence, even when things didn’t go well. I started to relax but still lacked purpose.

Proverbs 22:6, “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.”

I decided I needed help from people who understood the Bible better than me, so I started attending church.

CLARITY OF PURPOSE

That was when I received my aha moment; it was the tangent point that changed the direction of my life. I was given a cassette tape of a one-person play called “The BEMA.” It was about what you have done for Christ since you met Him. I realized that life had never been about me. It had always been about others. My legacy was not in what I achieved to elevate myself in life but in what I was doing to help others elevate themselves. I found purpose with meaning.

The pressure was gone. The drive is still there, but it is focused on results that do not belong to me. Kingdom gain is the measure; material gain may or may not follow. My goal was to be obedient to Christ when He called.

I quit corporate America and started a couple of companies operating on Christian principles. I held Bible Study once a week in my business to show my commitment to Christ and hold myself accountable to my employees for living up to that commitment. In retirement, I now work with several Christian-based missions using the skills and resources developed in me by God through life experiences. Anger is long gone. I am at peace with the person God made me. And, I want for nothing materially that I do not have or can’t obtain. God is good.

THE LESSON

“Don’t let your past dictate who you are. Let it be the lesson that strengthens the person you will become.”

As we enter the New Year, answering the question of who you are, will open your eyes to what drives you. You might find that the wrong standard drives you. I didn’t realize my dad’s impact on my life until my sisters pointed it out. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen until I was over 60. I was driven by an aberration. I know my father would never have wanted that for me. But I didn’t know it was happening. Christ entered my life and fixed a problem I didn’t know I had. I could not have written my story this way ten years ago. Ten years ago, I still saw myself as Don Quixote saving the fair maiden. Like the fictional Don Quixote, I was tilting at windmills.

Psalm 103:13, “Just as a father has compassion on his children, So the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him.”

God has made us incredible creatures capable of amazing things. But when we try to control who we are or want to be, the wheels come off. Sometimes this control is subconscious. Give it to God. Why? God is good all the time.

Psalm 20:4, “May he give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed.”

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The New Beginning

Every January first, we think, “This is the new beginning.” It is the start of a new year. It is a chance to change, erase last year’s mistakes and start afresh. We have just celebrated the birth of Christ, the new beginning.

Isaiah 9:2, “The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.”

Howard Hunter

My sister had this taped to the back of her Christmas card to me:

“This Christmas, mend a quarrel. Seek out a forgotten friend. Dismiss suspicion and replace it with trust. Write a letter. Give a soft answer. Encourage Youth. Manifest your loyalty in word and deed. Keep a promise. Forgo a grudge. Forgive an enemy. Apologize. Try to understand. Examine your demands on others. Think first of someone else. Be kind. Be gentle. Laugh a little more. Express your gratitude. Welcome a stranger. Gladden the heart of a child. Take pleasure in the beauty and wonder of the earth. Speak your love and then speak it again.” – Howard H. Hunter.

That is quite a bucket list for 2023. ( download it here) There are so many items on the list that I must attend to. So many, not so many wrongs that need righting, as neglects that need attention. Great people in my life that make my life worthwhile that I treat as common. I celebrate their special occasions, but every day I treat them as a constant. I forget that life is fleeting. Bad things happen to good people. I can not count on having a tomorrow to tell them how much they mean to me.

James 1:17, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.”

Gifts

There are so many good gifts that God has bestowed on me that have just become part of me. I have lived with them so long that I treat them as inseparable from my existence. They are not seen as gifts but as attributes. I somehow own them. That must change.

In 2023 I need to stop treating God’s gifts to me, whether it be people or things, as some privilege or status I have earned. Everything I have or ever will have is a gift from God. It is mine only to expand His kingdom here on earth. I should show gratitude for all of it every day. Tomorrow may never come.

James 4:13-24, “Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.”  Why you do not even know what will happen tomorrow? What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.”  As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil.  If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is a sin for them.”

New Beginning

The new beginning I seek is to live my life as if it was a gift from God. This includes the bad things that happen to me. Not that God would ever visit evil on me, but it happens, and God is there if I call upon Him. Christ has made me a new person. I need to start living my life like I believe that is true. Can I do all the things on Howard Hunter’s list? To be honest, I doubt it. But I can try.

The key to doing good is not the act itself but to whom you give the glory. What person do they see when I do what God has asked of me? Is it me, or is it the image of God? Are they drawn to me, or are they drawn to the person who made me new?

Matthew 6:2, ‘So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.”

If I believe that everything I am, is a gift from God to serve His kingdom, I will be content with the outcome.

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.”

Benediction

Every day is a new beginning. I wish you the very best this coming year. I pray that come December 31, 2023, you will look back on this year and see your progress. Perfection isn’t ours to obtain. It is only for us to use what we have been given to do what we can.

Hebrews 13:20-21, “Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.”

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