Enriching Your Life to the Extraordinary: Awaken to Amaze (Part 1 of 5)

Sunday, July 25, 2010

“Faith today is treated as something that only should make us different, not that actually does or can make us different. In reality we vainly struggle against the evils of this world, waiting to die and go to heaven. Somehow we’ve gotten the idea that the essence of faith is entirely a mental and inward thing.” -Dallas Willard

One look at the twenty-first-century world and it’s no secret that it is in need of drastic change. Just pick up the headlines every day and you’ll hear about terrorism, widespread hunger and poverty, massive natural disasters, economic depression, senseless murders, and even child trafficking and slavery. They problems of the world seem overwhelming, so it’s much easier to leave them out of sight, out of mind. The burning question we all need to ask is this: “What Does God Expect of Me?” Our faith more and more is being reduced to a single transaction, getting people to make a decision for Christ, and then we can go right back to our comfortable, easy lifestyles. We’ve filled our heads with Biblical facts and knowledge, but when it comes to actually living out what we believe, we balk at the chance; afraid to move forward. The gospel was meant for so much more than just personal salvation of individuals. It also demands a social revolution.

We’re become obsessed with knowledge. We study all aspects of our faith down the last drop: theology, spiritual disciplines, Christian living, eschatology, apologetics. Knowing and understanding about our faith isn’t the problem; it’s when we fail to put the other side of the equation in–Action. “What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds?… Faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.” James 2:14, 17.  Without applying the truth in our lives, we’re hypocrites. Saying and teaching one thing, then failing to actually walk the walk. In order to have a social revolution in our society, we must first come to grips that change is need in our own life. Why are we in the mess that we’re in?    

It is so easy to settle for knowledge rather than experience. Interpretation without application can be illustrated in the life of the Pharisees back in Jesus’ day. They knew the Old Testament inside and out, but they never grasped the truth of the scriptures. Their righteousness was external based on facts; it never led to a personal response. Knowing the truth and not doing it is blatantly–sining. As James 4:17 says: “Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.” In God’s mind, knowledge without obedience is sin. It is so easy to look the other way when we’re got to step out and do what’s right despite what everyone else is doing in our society. Before we learn how to apply the truth; we need to briefly look at the flaws of our approach to application.

There are four common wrong approaches when we fail to apply the truth of the gospel. The first is to substitute superficial obedience for substantive life change. We apply biblical truth to areas where we’re already applying it, not to new areas where we’re not applying it. Thus, there is no noticeable change in our lives. An example would be reading a verse on being patient and thinking of all the areas where we’re already patient. We think to ourselves: I’m patient with my family, friends, co-workers, so I’m patient; patting ourselves on the back. We overlook all the other areas of our lives where we aren’t patient such as driving to work, waiting in line, or waiting for God’s answer to a prayer. By not applying a Biblical truth into every area of our lives, we puff ourselves up, ignoring all the areas that we need change in.

The second approach is to rationalize sin instead of repenting of it. The moment truth gets too close and we feel guilty; we start to defend ourselves. A little white lie. Cheating on our taxes. Not tithing your money to the church so we can spend on ourselves. If it doesn’t hurt anyone, then it’s okay we rationalize. The older we get, the more experienced we become at doing this. We have a huge drawer of responses so whenever the truth gets too convicting, we’ve got a full handful of reasons why it applies to everyone but ouselves.

Another approach is we substitute an emotional experience for decision of action. We hear a wonderful sermon, rave about it and then go back to our everyday lives as if nothing happened. We like the warm and fuzzy feelings that reading a passage of scripture gives us, but that’s as far as we let it take us. We fail to take what’s in our heart to our mind. Real change begins with the will; instead of just being convicted by the truth.

Finally, we prefer communication over transformation. We’re good at talking the talk. As long as we can speak very convincingly about a certain point of Scripture, we’re covered. We lead others to believe that we’ve got the bases covered and we’ve got not problems. But God is not fooled by this approach. He knows our hearts and our heart is truly what matters. “The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7. It is God’s Word that transforms us from the inside out but we must open our hearts into doing so.

The problem is not with Scripture. The problem is this: the human heart resists nothing as strongly as it resists change. We do anything we can to avoid it. Let’s overcome this negative connation and dive into the four critical steps of application. This study will go a long way into changing how you view applying the Bible. First, you need to know the text of what you’re reading. Pretty simple, right? If you don’t grasp the meaning of what you’re reading then what good is it? It is critical also that you pay attention to yourself. Then pay attention to how it applies to helping others. This seems like a contradiction but it isn’t. Why? Because if you don’t know yourself, it is very difficult in knowing how to help others to do the same. Ask yourself: What are my strengths? What are my weaknesses? What are my limitations? What is keeping me from growing? It comes down to this: the reason most of us don’t spiritually grow more is that we don’t know what we need.

The second step is to relate to the passage of what you’re reading. Take a spiritual inventory of all areas of your life: your personal life, family life, church life, work life, etc. and look into how it relates into each area. Spiritual growth is a long-term process and the goal of this process is to become more and more like Christ. Unless you heed the Word of God this process is simply impossible. Once we come to terms with this process it should give new insight to our relationships as well from our a new relationship to God, yourself, other people, and even to our enemies. There are countless examples for us to follow in the Bible of flawed people who dealt with the same issues where dealing with. All we have to do is be willing to look and then relating to their problems and predicaments is actually attainable.

After knowing and relating, we next then to meditate. As King David wrote in Psalm 1:1-2: Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked  or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.” We’ve got to weave Scripture into the fabric of our everyday living. The key is memorization. Yes, it’s a word that we look upon with dread and disgust today but it all comes down to our attitude about it. There’s a direct link between mediation and memory. Ask yourself this: what if I memorized two verses a week? Stop and think about it. That’s really not much. In one year you’ll have over one hundred verses of Scripture firmly fixed into your memory to draw upon at a moment’s notice. Can this really make a difference in your life? Yes! Give it a try and you’ll be amazed at how differently you view your life through situations that are difficult or challenging. Your entire outlook on life will completely change!

Last and most importantly the final step is to practice the truth! The importance of practice can be seen in a simple illustration: In life you need both food and exercise and so it is with Christian living. Too much food leads to obesity. Too little food leads to anemia. But food is transformed into energy, and energy enables you to do that which God wants you to do. Yet in that process you become exhausted and tired, so you’ve got to come back to the Word of God for refreshment. The more we apply the truth, the easier it becomes and more it becomes a habit. Practice, practice, practice!

So what are the implications of application? Once we awaken to the truth and apply it to our lives it leaves a profound mark on the world. The difference is simply astounding. We must become the difference to a world of indifference. This is echoed in the song by the band Hillsong United called Point of Difference:

“So Father open the skies
Flood the earth with Your light
This is love
To break the world indifferent
As we lift up our eyes
Fill our hearts with Your fire
In a world of sin
We’ll be different, the difference”

Before we can change the world, we must be willing to let God change us. If we refuse to budge one inch and stay the same as are today; then we’ll never experience the life God has meant for us. Jesus wants to give us live to the fullest. As He told His disciples: ” I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” John 10:10b. We equate this life to the American dream: having lots of money, acquiring the latest stuff, being successful, and being popular. But this is contrary to what God tells us.  It’s who you become that matters and what all beings with applying His truths from His Word. Why did the church thrive in its infancy? Because they acted out their convictions despite a surrounding culture that was in direct conflict with their belief system. They grew stronger and stronger against all odds of persecution, threats, being thrown in prison, and death. The church can regain this fire if we started actually living out what we believe. They’ll begin to notice and proclaim “There’s something different about you…I want what you have!”

**Next week we’ll look deeper into the issue of living out your faith and becoming Christ-like which I briefly alluded to in this blog. The principle is called: Believe to Become, part 2 of 5. Also stay tuned for a new Profile later this week on the life and legacy of John Wooden. God Bless. **

Sources:

Howard G. Hendricks, Living By the Book. Moody Publishers, Chicago, IL. 1991, 2007

Richard Stearns, The Hole in Our Gospel. World Vision, Inc. 2009, 2010.

Examine Your Past to Exceed: Cherishing and Composing Your Fondest Memories (Part 2 of 2)  

Sunday, July 18, 2010

“We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures.” -Thornton Wilder

The taste of  baked cookies out of the oven. The smell of freshly cut grass. The sound of joyful laughter from your friends. The beautiful, radiant colors beaming across the sky during a sunset. The feel of sand between your toes on warm summer day at the beach. These are the moments were we feel truly alive but so often take for granted. Every sensory detail we take in is a gift from God.  It is when we stop and appreciate the small things that the world God laid out for us becomes real. We catch glimpses of glory; shadows of what life was meant to be before the curse of sin and death. Life was meant to be celebrated, cherished, and cared for. Our culture teaches us that we never have enough, but God instead wants us to realize what we already have. Peace only comes from finding contentment in God and what He provides for us. Without contentment we find ourselves wrestling with bitterness, greed, and jealously that’s poison to our souls. Before we can truly appreciate the here and now, we must take a step back and look at how much God has blessed us throughout our lives.

Our lives are full of achievements that result in a variety of commendations. We have graduation ceremonies, birthday parties, weddings, anniversary parties, and retirement celebrations throughout the course of our lives. Each recognizes a different step in life in which we accomplish academic goals, reach a milestone for our lives, or find the love of our life. Each step of the way, God is carefully weaving the fabric of our lives to make us the person He wants us to become. He wants us to delight in these moments, remembering His good gifts to us.  “Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Ephesians 5:19- 20. By giving thanks for what God has done in our lives it reminds us of God’s part provision and protection. It is so easy to lose sight of this. This is why God instructed the Israelites to establish certain holidays and celebrate them annually. He didn’t want them to forget all that He had done throughout their lives. “And you shall observe this event as an ordinance for you and your children forever. When you enter the land which the LORD will give you, as He has promised, you shall observe this rite.” Exodus 12:24-25. This rite that God is referring to here is the Passover; when God delivered his people from Egypt. This is just one of many examples in the Bible of God telling His people to remember all He had done and provided for them.

There are many ways in which we can reflect and remember God’s goodness in our lives. Holidays, which we celebrate every year, are a good example. Thanksgiving is a time to give thanks for all God has given us. Christmas is a time to celebrate God’s gift of the birth of His Son. Easter was put in place to reflect and rejoice in God giving us His Son for our sins and the gift of eternal life because of His victory our death. We have weekly reminders during our church services with worship and communion. On a more personal level, we collect picture albums, take home videos, or hold on to mementos of things that have meaning and value to us. Spiritual walk journals or prayer journals are another good way in which to look back and see how much we’ve grown in our walk with Christ. There is no right or wrong way in celebrating and remembering on God’s provision and grace in our lives, the important thing to remember is to remember!

When looking back at all our fondest memories and moments it’s important to not let pride in our way.  Pride so often times blinds us and makes us believe the lie that we’re mainly responsible for getting ourselves where we are today. As the Proverb goes: “Pride goes before destruction,  a haughty spirit before a fall.” Proverbs 16:18. When we come face to face with the truth, we need to realize that without God nothing is possible. He is the one responsible for giving us life in the first place and He sustains us every moment of our lives. It’s not necessary wrong to take delight in our accomplishments and goals achieved. It’s when we push God out of the picture and stop thanking Him for what’s He’s given us that pride becomes a much larger issue.  This being said, the one thing we can always boast in proudly is what we have in Jesus Christ. “May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.” It is because of the cross that we have been given new life, a life that has no end, and this is one past event that we need to celebrate in constantly throughout every day of our lives. May we never grow weary of the victory we have in Jesus Christ!

When it comes down to it there are two kinds of people: whiners and worshipers. Each of us makes a daily choice to either be thankful or unthankful about our lives. We either recognize a blessing or we overlook it. It’s a decision we all make. It’s a difference that can be clearly seen. Ingratitude reveals a proud heart. As Nancy Leigh Demoss wrote: “Pride is the father of ingratitude and the silent killer of gratitude.” When pride gets in the way, he feel a sense of entitlement. We think we deserve so much and that God is here to meet our needs. We forget that God owes us nothing and we are the ones who owe Him everything we have. Despite this, He has given us everything by offering his Son to die for our sins and giving us life, a life full of His blessings, grace, goodness, and love. Most of our failures and sins that plague us can be traced back to the persistent root of bitterness and ingratitude towards what God has already given us. It is when we choose to worship and thank God for all He has provided that our hearts become full. It is God “..who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.” 1 Timothy 6:17; so ask yourself this: What does any of us have that we haven’t received?

Want more reasons to be grateful for all God has given you? Consider some of these facts about how blessed we are:

• If you attend a church meeting without fear of harassment, arrest, torture, or death you’re very fortunate. Over three billon people can’t.
• If you have food in your refrigerator, clothes on your back, and a roof over your head you’re richer than 75 percent of the world.
• If you have money in the bank and in your wallet you’re part of the top 8 percent of the world’s wealthy.
• If you woke up this morning feeling more healthy than ill, you’re more fortunate than the million who wouldn’t survive this week.

Celebrating thanksgiving every day is a very powerful practice. When we remind ourselves of God’s past provision and protection it brings us hope for the uncertainty of our future. The apostle Paul learned to be content in all circumstances when we was faced with possible death in prison: “I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need.” Philippians 4:11-12. Our perspective often dictates the course of our lives. We can choose to view life is bitterness or see our circumstances through God’s eyes. As we can already see we are already blessed immensely more than most people here on earth by just living in the United States, having food to eat, or simply having our health. Stop focusing on your circumstances and problems–focus on God and choose to praise Him!

Not every moment in life is going to being us joy and pleasure. Pain is inevitable and a necessary part of life. It is imperative that we still take time to thank God for the moments and circumstances that we’ve gone thought that were difficult and painful. Hillsong’s beloved  Desert Song was written to express this train of thought: All of my life, In every season, You are still God, I have a reason to sing, I have a reason to worship.”  As I went stated in further detail in my previous blog “Fearlessly Failing Forward” every single moment of our lives has a purpose and God uses every hurt, disappointment, failure, and pain to further develop, mold, and create us to the person we are meant to become. God is God no matter what we go through and He deserves to be praised regardless. Sometimes we are put through difficult situations just we see what our reaction will be to it. Do we whine and complain that everything isn’t going our way, or do we instead praise God for who He is and trust it the fact that He is in control. These daily choices will greatly affect the course of our lives. Choose to thank God not only for all of the good memories but also the difficult ones, your heart will draw closer to Him in ways you never thought possible!

Every moment past and present is made for worshipping. With every breath praise God for His provision and provisions. Stop and celebrate the people He’s put in your life. Recall and remember all the wonderful opportunities and moments He’s given you. Delight in all He’s accomplished though you every step of your life. Never forget all the times He was there giving you His strength, power, and guidance to overcome the odds and fight adversity. Thank Him for giving you another day to worship Him and reflect upon His glory. Steven Curtis Chapman captured this joyous outburst with these lyrics:  “This is a moment made for worshipping, Cause this is a moment I’m alive, And this is a moment I was made to sing, A song of living sacrifice, For every moment that I live and breathe, This is a moment made for worshipping.“ When our lives are through, may they become a collages of celebration and commendation towards our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ each pointing towards bringing Him all the glory and honor. What a beautiful sight it will be to behold!

**With the start of next week’s blog, we’ll begin a long look into living our lives to the fullest in the series: Enriching Your Life to the Extraordinary. There are seven principles that we will look at; five in this series and the other two we’ll go over down the road in the fall. Next week we’ll look at the first principle: Awaken to Amaze, which is on application of our faith. It’s also on living a life of action and the basis on the second half of the my slogan “Live the Truth.”  I look forward to the incredible messages God has in store for this series! May God bless you through them! **

Sources:

Nancy Leigh DeMoss, Choosing Gratitude. Moody Publishers: Chicago, IL, 2009.

Don Cousins, Unexplainable. David C. Cook Distribution: Colorado Springs, Colorado, 2009.

Examine Your Past to Exceed: Learning, Growing, and Moving On from Your Past(Part 1 of 2)

Sunday, July 11, 2010

“Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards.” Soren Kierkegaard

If we’re honest with ourselves we’d admit that all of us struggle with the crippling power of fear in our lives. One of the biggest fears we struggle to come to terms with is fear of failure. Our pasts are littered with mistakes, regrets, and failures; events that we wish we could take back and do over again.  A recent survey was taken to see which tense people lived in. It revealed that 50 percent people live their lives looking in the past, while 40 percent live in the moment and 10 percent think constantly about their future. Why is the case? Because the past has already happened to us; it’s part of our memories. The present and future are being written, but aren’t part of our individual story yet. So we tend to live our lives in the past. The past is a large part of who you are but that doesn’t mean we must live in it. Instead we must learn from our mistakes and failures, grow and become the person God made us to be, and live in the present with no fear of failure from what we’ve already gone through.

Everything in our lives is used by God to shape us and mold us for His purposes. As Romans 8:28 states: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him who have been called according to his purpose.” For every achievement and positive moment in your life there are painful, difficult moments that God used for His glory. Divorce, physical abuse, cancer, depression, job loss, suicide, abortion, alcoholism–the possibilities are endless, but everything has a purpose for our life.  Every circumstance of our lives develop our character. This is obvious because we face circumstances 24 hours a day! Life is all about how we deal with circumstances, learn from them, grow because of them, and overcome them. Nothing is a on accident or random–it’s all used for God’s purposes.

Life is a series of problems. No one is immune to them. Every time you solve one, another one is right around the corner. Not all problems and circumstances are big, but everything is used to draw us closer to God. Sometimes our most profound and intimate experiences of worship come from our darkest days; when we’re broken, out of options, and our pain is overwhelming–we have no choice but to turn to God.  Joni Earekson Tada says this on pain from our past: “When life is rosy, we may slide by with knowing about Jesus, with imitating Him and quoting Him and speaking of Him. But only in suffering will be know Jesus.” The problems of our lives force us to look to God and depend on Him instead of our lives. You simply don’t know that God is all you need until God is all that you’ve got. Even accidents are part of God’s good plan for your life. Everything that happens to you has spiritual significance.  Nothing is outside of God’s plan. So what can we learn from our past?

Your past is a part of you but that doesn’t mean it has to define you. Before you do anything else in regards to your past, you must learn to forgive yourself from our past.  Christian artist Matthew West writes about this in his song, “History”: “ You know you can’t stay right where you fell, The hardest part is forgiving yourself, But let’s take a walk into today, And don’t let your past get in the way.” If you stay caught up in your past regretting every mistake and failure you’ve made, you can’t effectively live in the present moment.  Guilt is never productive. It hurts, hurts, and hurts some more, you’ll never accomplish anything with this mindset. There’s no end in sight: self-condemnation, shame, remorse, regrets, sorrow. What we need is a different kind of sorrow and remorse–repentance. Repenting is like turning around and going in the opposite direction. It is productive instead of counterproductive. So, once you come to terms with your mistakes and forgive yourself, you must completely surrender your past to God.

We like hiding our emotional scrapes and scars. We sometimes aren’t even aware we’re wearing a mask. Pretending to be someone else becomes appealing so we don’t mind it all that much. The different masks come in all shapes and sizes–the mask of importance makes the insecure look secure, the mask of materialism makes the lonely feel valued, the mask of security helps the fearful person look strong, and the peaceful mask helps the worrier look calm. In the end, though, the only people we fool ourselves. As Proverbs 3:35 states: “The wise inherit honor, but fools He holds up to shame.” Stop hiding your past scars, guilt, and failures, bring them to God. He is able to heal you completely and make you stronger from them. The Lord comforts, strengthens, and is close to those in need. Psalm 34:18 says:”The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”  It may help to write your past mistakes, failures, and regrets down. Then in prayer, ask God to forgive you for them and hand them over to Him. Then tear them up and let God heal you from them. Christian artist Brooke Barrettsmith captures this is her song, “Farewell” : “Night turns to morning, You wonder why nothing’s changed, Do you really want forgiveness?, Or just the pain to go away?, Put pen to paper, This time for a different aim, The future is redemption, Your story of escape..”

God uses every part of our past to teach us something about Himself. Every problem is a character-building opportunity. Our circumstances are temporary, but our character will last forever.  We ultimately go through the same experiences Jesus went through in order to become more like Him. We are tested in problems of loneliness, temptation, stress, criticism, rejection, impatience, and many others. Our natural reaction to problems is bitterness and anger but this doesn’t help build our character. You must stay focused on God’s plan for our life, not the pain or problem you deal with. To have endurance in this life, you must remember your pain is temporary but your reward is eternal. “Our present troubles are quite small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us an immeasurably great glory that will last forever!” 2 Corinthians 4:17 (NLT). From experiences of impatience we can learn patience, from lapses of worry we can learn peace, and from rejection we can learn acceptance. Every instance we experience is a given opportunity to grow our character to that of Jesus Christ.

Why is character building so difficult? Because it’s a very slow process. We must learn how to become patient and persistent in the process of character building. If we try to avoid or escape the difficult, painful lesson in life, we delay our growth, and this causes an even greater pain–denial and avoidance. When trouble comes stop asking “Why me?”, instead ask “What do you want me to learn from this?”. Instead of giving up and accepting your situation–grow up! Don’t stop maturing your faith just because it’s taking longer than you’d like. Remember that your greatest triumphs are from our greatest challenges we face.

Through it all we need to give thanks for God  in all circumstances. “Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” 1 Thessalonians 5:18. How is this possible you ask? God doesn’t expect us to be thankful for our suffering, sins we’s committed, and painful consequences we deal with. Instead, He wants you to thank Him that He will use your problems to fulfill His purposes. Don’t rejoice for over your pain, but rejoice in the Lord. God knows what’s best for us and is using everything to create something beautiful inside of us. The song “Miracle” by Audio Adrenaline declares this well: “Everything’s beautiful, Now that you’ve ruined my life, You took my dreams, And stole my schemes, And turned my life upside down, You took my heart, Stole every part, And made it a miracle.” Also know that God is going through the pain with us. He isn’t distant and apart from what we’ve going through. Contrary, God is there with us every step of the way never leaving our side.

So how do we overcome our fear of failure? A large part of our fear of failure comes from what we’ve already experienced. We can relate how it feels to put effort, time, commitment, passion, and our heart into something only to come up on the short end. With each failure, we grow more tentative and frustrated until we eventually just want to give up. The first thing we must realize is failure is a part of life. It can’t we avoided no matter how much we dislike or disown it. Also failure is a tool used to show us how much we need to rely on God. We’ve all imperfect and flawed in need on the One who can alone supply our needs. Failure in a way is God’s megaphone to get our attention! As C.S. Lewis wrote: “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks to us in our conscience, but shouts in our pains; it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.” Through our mistakes and failures we grow stronger in our character. As I stated earlier, character building is essential to becoming the person God created you to become. In conclusion, don’t let failure dictate how you approach the present. Stop the negative feelings of guilt flooding your memories of how you’ve failed in the past. God wants to carry the burden of your past, all you have to do is let go! Once you do, true freedom is yours to be found and you’ll begin to experience the life you were meant to live! Live as if you’re fearlessly failing forward!

**Next week I will conclude this short two week series outlook on Examining your Past. We’ll look at our positive achievements, outcomes, and memories. Through this we’ll see what can be taken away from them, how to cherish them, and use them for God’s glory in the present. Then starting in late July I’ll start a 5 week series on Enriching Your Life to the Extraordinary on how to live your life to the fullest. Have a wonderful day and God Bless. **

Sources:

Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Life. Zondervan Publishers: Grand Rapids, Michigan, 2002.

Erik Rees, Only You Can Be You. Howard Books: New York, New York, 2009.

Enlarging Your Vision: Picturing the Possibilities for Your Life (Part 2 of 2)

Sunday, June 27, 2010

“We are limited, not by our abilities, but by our vision.” -Anonymous

There are two realms in which people live in today–neither of which exists. These two realms are the past and the future. Why is this? Primarily because they don’t grasp the need for a strategy for the present leaving the past behind and confidently stepping into the future. What they lack is vision. People of vision understand that the past is a teacher, the present is an opportunity, and the future is not something to be feared. Vision is simply the ability to see God’s presence in your life, perceive that God is in control, and focus on God’s plan despite the many obstacles and hurdles in your way. Vision ignites our desires, gives us purpose in life, and motivates us to achieve an accomplishment. Helen Keller, born blind, was once asked what’s worse than being blind. She responded by stating, “Having sight without vision.” The value of vision is vitally important to live the life you were meant to live and God’s vision is one that guarantees a journey of fulfillment and joy.

Vision is a bridge to the future; it is the force that invents the future. It is the ability to see your dreams and desires before they manifest in your life. It’s taking the invisible and making it visible. In order to have vision you first must learn the art of focusing. If you can’t see something clearly, you live in a fantasy world. Your vision will remain a dream. Every great journey begins with only potential and possibilities. For some of us, the problem isn’t that we don’t have any dreams; it’s that we have way too many dreams. We live in our dreams rather than actually living them out.

There’s so much we want to do, so many possibilities, so many things that burn within us that we run the risk of choosing a lesser life than God wants from us. Instead of harnessing the energy you have, you instead conserve it. Erwin McManus says this about focus: “Focus allows you to live a life of full intensity with all your passion fueling your momentum in a singular direction. Focus isn’t about less but about more. It is the difference between a diffused light or a laser.” Focus is countercultural to the world around us. We live in a world that tells us we should know something about everything. We’re raised to be a jack-of-all-trades. Our educational system trains us in all fields–math, science, history, English,  geography, psychology, foreign languages–you name it. If you’re going to create the life of your dreams you have to learn to say no to all the other options. The choices are necessarily between good and evil–but between the equally good options out there that are not the right paths for you.

The real enemy of our lives is called “average” a life entrapped in a mediocre, lukewarm status quo mode. As King Solomon, a man of great wisdom said” Where there is no vision, the people perish.” Proverbs 39:18 (KJV). When people have no vision they walk in circles, just like the Israelites did in the desert for fourty years. Vision is like a map and a compass giving us the tools needed in times of decision to steer you in the right direction and keep your eyes on your destination. When we can see tomorrow clearly we can anticipate and avoid the many problems and pitfalls that come our way.

Another key thing to keep in mind with vision is trusting in God’s plan for your life. God has a plan for you to prosper as He states in scripture: “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11. We must believe He has a plan for us trusting that He’ll use us to accomplish His purpose for our life. How do we do this? First, delight yourself in the Lord as He promises us that if you, “Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.” Psalm 37:4. Read and meditating on His Word, depositing His desires into your heart. Also remember to imagine the impossible; don’t be afraid to try something that seems unattainable or improbable–if God wants for it to happen, it’ll happen in His time. Finally, come with an attitude of expectancy. Expect for God to come through and fulfill His promises. This is the very definition of faith stated in Hebrews 11:1: “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

Your words and thoughts have an important role on your vision. A good indication of how strong your vision is, is by listening to the words you say to yourself and others around you. Are the words you speak encouraging and uplifting? Or are they constantly negative, pessimistic, and bitter? It’s all up to out to produce good fruit in your life and it starts with your words. Jesus said this on producing good fruit in your life: “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things.” Matthew 12:35. If your heart is full of worries, fears, and doubts you need to change the conversation in your heart to words that produce life. Feed on faith, hope, and truth from God’s Word. Put deposits of good treasure in your heart and it’ll shape a future worth living.

Your vision shapes and motivates everything you do in your life. Ask yourself, what gets me out out of bed in the morning? Some get up because that’s the time they’re supposed to get up. Others get up to write a book, train for a marathon, encourage others, teach others a valuable lesson, paint a masterpiece, or build something that will revolutionize their culture. When we let our circumstances and situations drive our lives, “maintenance” becomes our glass ceiling. You do what you think you should do instead of what you are created to do. Doing what you were created to do is exciting and motivating; to do what we think we ought to do is a life of drifting, defeat, and depression.

Now the question is what kind of vision should I have? There are two kinds of vision: vision from the world which is self-oriented and focuses on “what I can get” or vision from God which is people-oriented and focuses on “what I can give.” How do we examine our vision? If your vision is from the world is usually involves fame, fortune, position, or material possessions. If your vision is from God it speaks of love, joy, peace, and a desire to help others.  When we have a vision from God we come to realize God’s purpose, plans, dreams, and desires for our lives.

How do you activate the power of vision in your life? Here are some key steps to follow in order for vision to become part of your everyday life. First, invest time in prayer. Establish a time each day to pray and seek His wisdom and revelation in your life. Then stop and listen to His answers. The time length isn’t what matters concerning pryaer, it’s the quality of your conversation. Also keep in mind that interruptions do happen. Don’t let condemnation tear you down; stick to your daily time with God no matter where you are or what time of the day it is. Along with prayer, meditate on God’s Word every day. The more your meditate the clearer God’s will in your life will become. Here is what Scripture tells us concerning this: “Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.” Joshua 1:8.

Share your vision with other believers. Stay close to people you encourage, uplift you and avoid people who are negative inflating your energy and drive in life. Seek godly counsel and wisdom. Also make sure to keep your heart open to correction and direction. Sometimes we need the advice of someone else to point out the danger or pitfalls we can’t see. As it says in God’s Word: “Where there is no counsel, the people fall; but in the multitude of counselors there is safety.” Proverbs 11:14.

A vital step in making your vision a reality is to put it in writing. In other words, break it down in small attainable goals. As the well known saying goes: “If you fail to plan, plan to fail.” Make sure to establish checkpoints along the way to measure your progress. Make your goals concise and clear–not vague and too general in nature. There are many goal-setting guides out there that can help you if you’re not someone who’s well-versed in setting goals. Goal-setting is a topic that I simply don’t have the space to write about but if you do some research you’ll see there’s a ton of good, solid information on this skill. If you haven’t made goal setting a priority in your life, consider doing so. Becoming a successful goal setter will change your life in ways you can’t imagine!

Remember that you vision is unique to you. Don’t try to copy someone else’s vision. Take ownership of your vision. You are the only one you can carry out the vision God has given you. If you don’t take ownership of your vision, no one else will want to embrace it either. Finally, endure and press on towards your vision until it comes to pass. Trust in God’s timing even when it seems like His promises aren’t getting any closer. God tells us in His Word: “But these things I plan won’t happen right away. Slowly, steadily, surely, the time approaches when the vision will be fulfilled. If it seems slow, do not despair, for these things will surely come to pass. Just be patient! They will not be overdue a single day!” Habakkuk 2:3 (TLB). Our expectations of time never seem to match up with God’s. Keep pushing forward knowing that God will come through with His promises. The wait will be well worth it!

Everything God created has potential–including you. What you see today is not all there is. Your potential is waiting to be tapped into. God has given you vision to see beyond your present by giving you a mind’s eye of the way things will be in the future yet to come. You were created to live beyond the above and beyond the ordinary. Reach out and capture the vision God has in store for you. Dare to live the extraordinary life and shape your future for God’s glory!

**Next week I will be taking a week off to celebrate the 4th of July Holiday weekend. The following week, July 11th we’ll start a brief two part series on our Past:  Examining Our Past to Exceed. A New Profile has been posted on Albert Pujols in the Profiles section. Happy 4th of July everyone and God Bless. **

Sources:

Art Sepulveda, How to Live Life on Purpose. Zondervan Publishers: Grand Rapids, Michigan, 2004.

Erwin Raphael McManus, Wide Awake. Thomas Nelson: Nashville, Tennessee, 2008.

Enlarging Your Vision: The Implications and Importance of Your Thoughts (Part 1 of 2)

Sunday, June 20, 2010

“Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.” Colossians 3:2

The way we live is a direction reflection on the way we think.  What makes you, you–is mainly  because of what you think. Why do we limit ourselves, settle for mediocrity, and just live to merely get by? It all begins with your thoughts! Take a look at the people who live great lives and you’ll find a common bonding theme–they habitually thin great thoughts.  How do we do this? We’ll look at this, along with why mediating on the Bible is so vitally important in our lives. Do you want to flourish and find the flow of the Spirit? Then keep reading!

Our thought patterns become as habitual as brushing our teeth. Over time, we don’t even think about them; we just get used to them. Bitterness, anxiousness, discontent are so ingrained in our mind that we never even recognize that they’re there. One big barrier to thinking great thoughts is called mindlessness. It’s being absentminded–not mentally there at the present moment. Your body may be eating lunch but your mind is ruminating over your problems, tasks,  and worries that flood your mind. Or you may be sitting in class, but your mind is on what you’ll be doing later in the day. The first key to thinking great thoughts is to monitor your mind. As the Apostle Paul wrote: ^“The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace;” Romans 8:6. We need to ask ourselves this: What direction do my thoughts lead me in? Towards life or towards the other direction of despair, destruction, and death?  For a week, at random intervals throughout the day, write down what you’re thinking, what you were doing at the moment, and who you were with. By doing this, you’ll being to see which activities, people, and places bring out the best in you and which situations do not.   

Also learn to become aware of the flow of thoughts in your mind without trying too hard to change them. When we try harder to not think negative, self-deflating thoughts it leads only to more negative, self-deflating thoughts. Instead, we can learn to turn our thoughts in one direction or another. This explains why two people in the same set of circumstances come away with completely different experiences. As John Milton wrote in his Poem, Paradise Lost, “The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven.” We need to turn our thoughts on heavenly things, thoughts that are attuned to the Spirit of God. “Set your mind on things above, not on earthly things.” Colossians 3:2. How do we do this? By reading, memorizing, and mediating on God’s Word. When we do this, we can’t help but see our lives through the lens of God’s eyes giving us the mindset only He can give us to carry out His plan for our lives.

So you now are probably asking: How many minutes do I have to read the Bible a day? Five, Ten, Thirty?  What is the minimum amount I can read so that God wouldn’t be mad at me? This is the wrong question to ask. God doesn’t love us anymore or any less regardless of how much we read the Bible. The question instead should be: What can I feed my mind with so that it can flourish? We need to stop trying harder, try softer instead. Let’s look at a key passage from the Psalms that gives insight on this subject: “Blessed are those…who delight in the law of the LORD and meditate on His law day and night. They are like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither–whatever they do prospers.” Psalm 1: 1-3.  What is meditation you ask? Mediation is basically turning a thought over and over in your mind. When something matters and has meaning to us we can’t help but meditate on it, thus we take delight in it.

What would it look like if you took delight in the law of the Lord? It goes much deeper than being excited about a bunch of rules listed in Leviticus or getting pumped up by memorizing the genealogy records listed in Genesis or Matthew. It all starts with the vision of being loved by God. This God–the God of the universe whose all-powerful, holy, mysterious–loves…me! He loves me! When we learn this profound thought it rattles our minds to the point where we can’t stop thinking about it. But we do stop thinking about it–and it’s not because we’re spiritual failures. The psalmist in the above verse is saying that he has actually found ways to carry thoughts of God’s love, protection, guidance, and peace into his mental life. Being loved by God has such a deep part of this mental makeup that it now affects all of his other thoughts as well. We must start to look at our world through the Scriptures not just at them. You can look at a window–the glass, dust particles, streaks–or look through the window. This is same approach we need to have in regards to reading God’s Word.

“…Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” Philippians 4:8. This is a well-known verse written by Paul to the church of Philippi but rarely do we stop and consider its implications. The most important word in this verse is the word, whatever. The Bible is not the only source to feed out minds.  Is this counter to what you’ve been taught? Think about the phrase “whatever is lovely.” What is lovely to you? A beautiful sunset, the glistening of snow falling to the ground, reading a book, baking a cake, listening to your favorite band, seeing someone you love…Let your mind dwell on these things for a moment and give it your undivided attention. By doing this you obey this commandment in the Bible. God’s desire is for you to habitually think things that are noble, pure, right, admirable thoughts. He has given us great freedom–whatever—to allow the Holy Spirit to rewire your mind. Find activities, places, and people who draw you to focus on these things and take delight in them, for this will produce a life overflowing with joy, peace, and contentment.

While we are free to feed our minds with every good source that God has given us, there is no source like God’s Word. It is his written revelation on who God is and His purposes for us. No book on earth comes close to matching its significance and life changing impact. Today, scripture has never been easier to obtain– it’s one click away on your computer, in most hotel rooms, in hundreds of different translations, and yet it’s never been more difficult to absorb. If we’re honest, we’ll state that we find the Bible to be boring. This is a very serious problem and something that past generations never struggled with. Back then they had no TVs, internet, movies, etc.–and we automatically assume that it must have been very boring. But they were not bored, we’re the ones who get bored because our mental capacity to focus our attention has been weakened by our dependence on external stimuli.  A large reason why taking delight in the Bible is so hard for us is that we have so many more tempting alternatives.  Everywhere we turn there’s something calling for our attention: our cell-phones, IPods, daily chores, recreational activities…how do we learn to fed our minds with the Bible?

First, we must learn to ask questions when we read the Bible. Approach the Bible with curiosity. One of the biggest barriers to reading the Bible is that we think we already know everything. We’re already heard the key passages or verses to the point that they’ve become background noise. John 3:16, Romans 3:23, Psalm 23, Genesis 1, Matthew 28:19 have been repeated so many times in our minds that we take them for granted never giving them much thought.  Our minds are wired in the face of what’s new and novel and it shuts down under familiarity. So use your imagination, take time to recreate the details of the story, put yourself  in a certain character’s place. Don’t be afraid to approach a passage like you’ve never read it before. Act like you’re reading it for the first time, ask the Who, What, Where, Why, and How questions. If you use this approach, reading the Bible will never become dry and dull–but delightful, engaging, and exhilarating!

Also when we read the Bible we should come with expectancy. Sometimes when people show up for a gathering, they just show up. But when people are hopeful of meeting someone and engaging in activities; living life together–there is electricity in the air. They are fully alive. This is the same approach we need to have with God. If you really believe that you’re meeting with God when reading His Word, don’t just show up. Instead awaken your mind, approach reading His love letter with a different attitude. You can’t always make yourself excited to read the Bible, but things change when you come with expectancy of meeting God face-to-face.

Another approach to have when reading God’s Word is to do so with an active mind. When you study something,  you take its order into your mind. You internalize it and it belongs to you. It becomes a part of you. New worlds open up to you that you never knew existed come fully alive. The characters in the Bible are not just moral object lessons, abstract in nature. They are real people just like you and me with flaws that God uses for His purposes. Stop trying to get all the right answers; approach the Bible with a new found wonder, learning all aspects of the world in which it took place: its language, culture, geography, history–make the Bible come alive so that it’s not just a story about some people who lived a long time ago. Relate to the message by engaging in the message. Which leads us to the final way to approach reading the Bible:

It’s not enough just to read, study, memorize, and mediate of Scripture. If we don’t apply what we read, then everything we learn is all in vain. As James stated ” Be doers of the word, and not merely hearers.” James 1:22 (NRSV). Most of the time, people would rather debate doctrine or beliefs than actually do what Jesus says. The common saying “Actions speak louder than words” holds true when it comes to God’s Word. You already know more than you know; just do it! It is so much easier to be smart than good. Our main problem is not what we don’t know anything; it’s that we don’t want to do what we already know. Practice loving someone different from our normal group of friends, give away something of value to you, serve your community, speak kind words to a stranger in need of love, forgive your spouse for hurting you–let God’s vision become your vision! When we take God’s Word to heart, we can’t help but overflow with love, kindness, compassion, peace, and forgiveness. Imagine the impact we would have if we actually applied what we believed!  

**Next week we’ll conclude this short two-week series on vision by looking at how to create a powerful vision for your future. The following week there will be no blog posted due to the 4th of July holiday. The Profile on Albert Pujols is still in the works and the target date for its completion is Wednesday. Happy Father’s Day and God Bless!**

Sources:  John Ortberg, The Me I Want to Be. Zondervan Publishers: Grand Rapids, Michigan, 2010.

Establishing Your Identity: The One and Only You (Part 2 of 2)

Sunday, June 13, 2010

“There could never be a more beautiful you
Don’t buy the lies disguises and hoops they make you jump through
You were made to fill a purpose that only you could do
So there could never be a more beautiful you” -Jonny Diaz Lyrics

It’s amazing what can be learned from movies about life; even if it’s dealt in a fantasy world such as toys coming to life interacting with each other and expressing human emotions. The following scene takes place in the classic Pixar movie Toy Story between the main characters, Woody, a cowboy doll, and Buzz Lightyear, a Space Ranger toy. Buzz convinced that he is a real Space Ranger out to conquer the evil emperor Zerg, takes Woody’s spot as Andy’s favorite toy and Woody grows jealous of him. They eventually end up at Sid’s house, the next door neighbor who torments toys for fun. Buzz then finds out he isn’t a real Space Ranger and views his identity as a toy as a curse. Thus the following interaction between Woody and Buzz transpires:

 Buzz Lightyear: “No, Woody you were right all along. I’m not a Space Ranger, I’m just a toy; a stupid insignificant toy.”

Woody: “Wait a minute. Being a toy is a lot better than being a Space Ranger.”

Buzz Lightyear: “Yeah, right.”

Woody:“No, it is! Look over in that house there is a kid who thinks you’re the greatest, and it’s not because you’re a Space Ranger, pal, it’s because you’re a toy. You are his toy.”

Buzz Lightyear: “But why would Andy want me?” 

Woody:”Why would Andy want you? Look at you! You’re a Buzz Lightyear! Any other toy would give up his moving parts just to be you! You’ve got wings, you glow in the dark, you talk, you’re helmet does that whoosh thing, you are a cool toy!!”

A lot can be taken away from this short scene that corresponds to us as Christians dealing with our identity. First, just like Buzz, we convince ourselves that being someone else other than what we really are makes us more significant. Also we struggle to come to grips with why being human is so special, what separates us from the rest of creation? Finally, we wrestle with why God would want us? Why would the creator the universe whose full of infinite wisdom, grace, power, and love ever want to use us for His glory and love us more than we can possibly imagine? The answer lies in what each of one of us possesses: a special unique set of talents, abilities, personalities, gifts, experiences, and story that only you have. There is no one is history like you. Not before, not now, not in the pages of recorded history yet to be written. You are the only you!  There’s a reason why God gave us all a one of a kind fingerprint that no one else has–to display how truly special you are in His eyes! Before we look into why to establishing your identity, let’s go over the wrong approaches in grasping our identity in Christ and how our society views identity.  

Our society is obsessed with conformity. From TV ads, to magazines, to celebrity look-a-likes we want to be like someone else. They tell us you’ve got to be like Kobe Bryant, Megan Fox, Miley Cyrus, look like a certain supermodel, or sing like the latest American Idol. This train of thought has trickled into all aspects of society from the food to eat, to the clothes we wear, to the technological gadgets we carry around. Being you just isn’t good enough; so we strive to find happiness by being someone else. Sadly, this kind of thinking has largely impacted the church as well. Instead of being unique and finding new, creative ways to approach being the hands and feet of Christ, churches now look at the big, booming churches. Success is measured by how many are in attendance or by how similar are worship programs and sermons are to what everyone else is doing.  Conformity is now the big drawing card to which we reach for in America and it’s beginning to show its ugly head.

The first main reasons we struggle with our identity is we pretend to be someone else. God doesn’t ask us to be Billy Graham, Rick Warren, King David, Josh Groban, Beth Moore, or any other celebrity. Pretending to be someone we’re not is hard work and leaves us frustrated, tired, and defeated. That’s why we feel tired after a job interview, a first date, in the accompany of a new friend, or on the first day of school when we feel like we need to project an image for someone else. You have to start being honest with yourself, God created you to be you and no one else.

The comparison game also is a wrong approach to our identity. Comparison is a killer to spiritual growth. We think we should be like someone else because they’re more successful, popular, and happy than we are. We’re at odds with what we think we should be with what God made us to be. As Henri Houwen wrote: “Spiritual greatness has nothing to do with being greater than others. It has everything to do with being as great as each of us can be.” Your false self is an illusion of misplaced pride, ego, and neediness.  God made you to want his plan for your life not out of obligation!  Comparison leads to either feeling prideful about what we have that others don’t, or shameful on what others have that we don’t–and neither does us any good.

The third reason is wanting to become what everyone else wants you to become. Everyone wants you to change: TV networks want you to watch more television, your boss wants you to be more productive, credit card companies want you to be more in debt, stores want your business, and restaurants want you to eat more food. Everybody has an agenda for you and has a specific role they want you to play. When we live to please others, we’re in bondage and freedom is impossible to obtain. You have to be willing to disappoint people sometimes; because  nobody knows the true you except God. Even you can’t tell yourself how to fully become the person who were meant to be, because you didn’t create yourself. God knows what the best version of you looks like and is already working to make it happen in your life.

Finally the fear of failure of becoming what we were meant hinders how we look at our identity. The failure to thrive instead of just survive paralyzes us to the core. The largest mental health problem of our day is not depression or anxiety–but a loss of hope and meaning. This is other known as languishing. It’s the absence of mental and emotional vitality. Our dreams over time fade away, we give up on growing and living our life’s purpose and lose our will to live. As St. Irenaeus said: “The glory of God is a human being fully alive; and to be alive consists in beholding God.”  Perhaps it’s time we stop relying on our own strength and power to become the person we were meant to be and instead turn to the one that knows best–God.

So, why do we struggle so much in establishing our identity? It’s because we sometimes fail to remember who we belong to. In the Disney animation classic, Lion King, we can again see how a fantasy world with talking animals gives us an illustration of reality. Simba, who is the true heir to the throne of the animal kingdom, is falsely blamed for the death of his dad, Mufasa. Simba runs away in fear and guilt, giving up on his dream to one day be king. Then one day Mufasa appears to him in a vision and the following interaction takes place:

Mufasa: “Simba, you have forgotten me.”

Simba: But Dad, how could I ever forgotten you?”

Mufasa: “You have forgotten who you are, and therefore you have forgotten me. Remember who you are. You are my child, the one true king.”

In the same way, God says to us: “Remember who you are. You are my child. You are the child of the King.” The reason so many people barely cease to exist is because we have forgotten the one we belong to. As C.S. Lewis put it, “There is no neutral ground in the universe, every square inch, every split second is claimed by God and counterclaimed by Satan.” This doubt of who we are and who God truly is can be seen in the song, “What You Want” by Caedmon’s Call:  ”The lie’s always cheaper than the truth, But the lie’s all I’ve ever known of you,  Maybe none of this is true..But I’m not what you want, No, I’m not anyone, But if you needed me, Then I could be someone.” When we don’t trust God to use us from His purposes and accept that lie that He doesn’t want to use for His glory, it’ll leave us paralazed to move forward. God wants to reclaim you and to do this we must recognize that this astonishing fact—the God of the universe created you, loves you, and wants to claim you! It is when we come to realize and understand this, that we can begin to grasp what purpose and plan God has in store for us.

Your life is no accident, it is no fluke of nature, God thought of you long before time began. It was not luck, chance, or coincidence–it’s for His purpose and glory that you exist. Every natural talent, personality trait, and passion you possess was determined for a specific reason by God. As the Bible says: “For you created me in my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that fully well.” Psalm 139:13, 14. God’s motive for creating you was His love. The reason for creating the world was because of you. Everything in the world was fine tuned just to make life on earth possible. God doesn’t just show love or possess love for you–He is love! Love is the essence of God’s character. God didn’t need to create you, He had perfect fellowship and love in the Trinity. But He wanted to make you in order to express His love. This is where our identity begins, knowing that God loves us and has a plan for our lives! “He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.” James 1:18.

You are a masterpiece created by the Grand Master of the universe whose attention to detail and interest in His creation far outweigh any artist you will ever meet. The Bible states, “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so that we can do the good things He planned for us long ago.” Ephesians 2:10(NLT). Self-help books say to look within to discover the life you were meant to live but the key to this discovery is not looking within, but looking to God.  Once you discover who you are, it is then you can discover what you were meant to do. Christian artist Steven Curtis Chapman captured God’s heart for us in his song “Treasure of You” which states:  ”So take a look in the mirror in the light of the truth, Oh, yes it’s true , See there’s nothing more you can say or do, God loves the way He created you!” You are a masterpiece, a divine work of art, a treasure waiting to be discovered!  One more thing we need to keep in mind concerning oour identity is this:

One of the greatest lies our society that is commonly used is this: “You can be anything you want to be.” If God made you uniquely–the one and only you–can you really be anything you want to be? If you’re reserved in nature can you become a public speaker? If you aren’t fast, can you become a Olympic track runner? If you don’t have an appreciation for kids, can you really become a kindergarten teacher?  Maybe, but you’re have to work much harder, deal with much frustration, and be left with an incredible sense of dissatisfaction with what you’re doing. The question instead we should ask ourselves is this: Can I be everything God wants me to be? The answer of course is–Yes! Erik Rees, author of S.H.A.P.E. states this in regards to why we were created: “You were not created to conform. You were not created to compare. You were not created to compete. You were not created to compromise. You were created to contribute to God’s kingdom and make a significant difference with your life. You were created to just be you!” Be the best you, because you’re the only you the world will ever see!

Once you establish these important implications, you’ll begin to grasp that God made you to flourish. Flourishing is God’s plan for you, and when you flourish you are in harmony with God, other people, creation, and yourself. Flourishing means moving toward God’s best version of you. As you grow with the help of God, you will change, but you will always be you. John Ortberg says this about flourishing: “God wants to redeem you, not exchange you…inside your soul there is a battle between a flourishing self–the person you were created to be–and a languishing self.”  This involves your spirit, mind, how you spend your time, changing your daily experiences, and your relationships. We will look at each of these throughout our long look into discovering the flourishing life that we were meant to live in the upcoming weeks. For now I’ll leave you with a poem by Russell Kelfer that best sums up how special you are to God:

 “You are who you are for a reason.

You’re part of an intricate plan.

You’re a precious and perfect unique design,

Called God’s special woman or man.

 You look like you look for a reason.

Our God made no mistake.

He knit you together within the womb,

You’re just what he wanted to make.

 The parents you had were the ones He chose,

And no matter how you may feel,

They were custom-designed with God’s plan in mind,

And they bear the Master’s seal.

No, that trauma you faced was not easy.

And God wept that it hurt you so;

But it was allowed to shape your heart

So that into His likeness you’d grow.

 You are who you are for a reason,

You’re been formed by the Master’s rod.

You are who you are, beloved,

Because there is a God!

**Next week, we’ll start a short 2 week series on vision and why it’s so vital to have vision in order to live the life we are called to live. Also a new Profile on Albert Pujols will be up by the weekend as well.  God Bless.**

Sources: Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Life. Zondervan Publishers: Grand Rapids, Michigan, 2002.

John Ortberg, The Me I Want to Be. Zondervan Publishers: Grand Rapids, Michigan, 2010.

Kerry and Chris Shook, One Month to Live. Waterbrook Press: Colorado Springs, Colorado, 2008.

Erik Rees, Only You Can be You. Howard Books: New York, New York, 2009.

Erik Rees, S.H.A.P.E. Zondervan Publishers: Grand Rapids, Michigan, 2006. 

Establishing Your Identity: The Exchange (Part 1 of 2)

Sunday, May 16th, 2010

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” 2 Corinthians 5:17

Transformation is the reason why Christ came. It’s the reason why we’re still here on earth. The reason we find transformation and change so difficult is because we try to go on doing it by ourselves; but we were never meant to. Before we can begin this transformation, though, we need to look under the microscope of who we are in Christ. There are three fundamental questions we ask ourselves in regards to our identity:  Who do I say I am?, Who do people say I am?, Who does God say I am? All too often, we base our identity on the answers to the first two questions rather than the third. When we do this, we arrive at wrong conclusions about our self-worth basing them on what people say; then what God says of us. A firm understanding of who God says we are is vitally important in our growth and maturation in Christ. Who does God say we are? Here are some answers found in Scripture:

•  You are a child of God.

“But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name.” John 1:12

• You are accepted by Christ.

“Therefore, accept one another, just as Christ also accepted us to the glory of God.” Romans 15:7

• You will not be condemned by God.

“Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Romans 8:1

• You have been set free in Christ.

“It was for freedom that Christ set us free; there keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.” Galatians 5:1

• You are God’s workmanship created to produce good works.

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

• You are a citizen of Heaven.

“For our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.” Philippians 3:20

• You have been raised up with Christ.

“Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.” Colossians 3:1

• You are a new creature in Christ.

“There is anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old has gone, the new has come!” 2 Corinthians 5:17

There are many erroneous views on our identity that have crept in theological thinking including the following:

False: We can no longer sin, or repentance of sin is unnecessary

True: Although we no possess the Holy Spirit within us we are still subject to sinning. “For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.” Romans 7:18-20. But we are no longer bound by sin and have been given control to the Holy Spirit. Once we are born of God, sin is now contrary to our new born nature: “No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God.” 1 John 3:9. Our full redemption is not yet complete; God wants us to transform more and more like Christ each and every day. When we sin, though, we need to be repentant  towards God and be willing to turn from it.

False:  The Passive approach to life: “Let Go and Let God, life is all about Jesus and none of me.

True: Jesus came to give us life and life to the fullest not to take it away from us. When we die to ourselves, it is then we truly become who we were meant to be. Although, Christ is the focal point of everything we do in our lives, it doesn’t mean we stop making decisions and living our lives! Christ may be in control, but he still gives us personalities, skills, spiritual gifts in order to carry out His will for our lives.

False: The spiritual life is sudden and instant.

True: From the moment we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, into the moment we die; we’re constantly growing more and more like Christ. Through this process there are many setbacks, struggles, and stumbles. Through it all God is working in us so  ”that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Philippians 1:6. As we mature, we’re able to face more difficult situations, appreciate more of what’s given to us, and have a better understanding of who God is.

False: We are to follow rules and rituals in order to God to love you more.

True: When we serve, love others, and sacrifice out of obligation just to earn God’s love we sadly fail to see that we can do nothing to either make God love us less or more. God loves us with a unconditional love that doesn’t depend on what we think, say, or do; we should serve and love others out of our love for God; not to make God love as any more.

 Now that we have established some basic truths about who God says we are and the incorrect views on our identity let’s now change gears and look at our needs. Humans at the core have three basic needs that can be divided into three major categories:

Everyone needs the security that comes from feeling unconditionally loved and accepted.  We are incomplete without a sense of belonging. We want to belong to our family, friends, church, school, community, etc. The problem is that this need is met at best imperfectly and in some cases completely unmet. Wherever it may be: rejection by our parents, peers, society because of our looks, skills, race, gender, social status, and so on.

People desire a sense of personal significance and identification with someone or something greater than themselves. They have the desire to feel self-worth and that life has purpose. We can’t stand to partake in things that have no meaning or personal significance! Through experiences of personhood rejection lead us to try to find worth in owning the right things, wearing the right clothes, having the right friends, or having enough money.

The final basic needs we as humans have is to make a difference and accomplish something in life that will last. This is conflicted with performance rejection and this leads to inadequacy. We then seek to validate our worth through achievement and performance.  Thus, we seek to find personal worth through appearance, status, and talent. From this we fall into materialism, greed, aggression, and excessive competition.

Now let’s look at how God meets these basic needs we have:

God’s answer to our desire to be unconditionally loved and belong is laid out in His plan to create a spiritual family that He can love and accept in eternal fellowship. “Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household,” Ephesians 2:19. We are part of this family and as members of God’s family, our need for unconditional love is fully met.

The second basic need of personal significance and identification is fully met through God’s design of the spiritual body. We are that body, and Christ is the head. “And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way” Ephesians 1:22-23. God did not save us according to our works “but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity.” 2 Timothy 1:9. When we join this family, we discover that we have  individual parts to play and God has a special plan for each and every one of us.

Finally, God desires to create a community of spiritual beings who will receive and reflect the likeness of God and glorify Him forever. The Holy Spirit has blessed every believer with spiritual gifts, and we have been given the time, opportunities, and abilities to accomplish His purposes for us. This is met by His plan to create a spiritual temple of living stones that are competent to serve and glorify Him. We are the temple, and Christ is the cornerstone.  ”As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him— you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” 1 Peter 2:4-5. As the living stones in God’s temple, our need for making a lasting difference is fully met. Now that we have looked at who God says we are and how He fulfills our needs; let’s look at how we’re exchanged our old life for the new life that God offers us:

Before we came to know Christ, we were enemies of God. Our minds, emotions, and wills were under the dominion of sin. Our eternal destination was not heaven, but hell. We were under condemnation because of our sin before God and had no hope of restoration. “Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.”Romans 8:8. Everything inside of us groaned and ached for a redemption, restoration, and resurrection.“We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.” Romans 8:22. Out of legalism we try to “do”, draw on our own resources, we produce out of guilt and condemnation, and this creates a life on bondage, duty, and obligation.

We then moved from knowing the truth to believing the truth. Our desires, wants, pursuits, and will were surrendered to Christ and He took control. We died to ourselves and accepted God’s gift of grace; we identified with Christ in his death, burial, and resurrection life. This is symbolized when we were baptized. The old life of sin, decay, selfishness, and legalism was buried and the new life of freedom, peace, fulfillment, and blessings took its place.  Once we accepted God’s grace, we declared “It’s done”, this led us to draw upon God’s resources, produces a life of acceptance and security; and this creates freedom and victory which we once could not obtain by ourselves. “But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.”

When we think of the word, metamorphosis, we usually think of the butterfly. The caterpillar forms a chrysalis and begins the process of transforming itself into something beautiful with wings.  Like the caterpillar, we desire to transform into something beautiful. In order to take flight, we must be willing to change.  The process is often long, hard, and trying as we strive to break free. Unlike the caterpillar, though, we are provided help in the process of our metamorphosis. God is there guiding us along the way giving us the strength and tools needed to become who we were meant to be. We are given the Holy Spirit, the indwelling life, instead of an independent life. Another example of the transformation that takes place in inside of us is the metaphor of a tree that Jesus gave to his disciples:“I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. John 15:5,8. When we abide in Christ, our lives are overflowing with fruit and blessings; when we try to change and grow without Christ, our braches wither and die. So in order for this transformation to fully take place we must continually seek Christ through His Word, prayer, fellowship with other believers, and worship.

In summary, we need to remind ourselves daily of our true identity disregarding what our own feelings and how others view us. God’s opinion of us is all that matters in the end. Also all our needs are met and satisfied in our relationship with God; when we look outside of Him we will come up empty and frustrated. It is through grace that we are given a new identity that exchanges our old one giving us freedom from the bondage of sin. Our desires, decisions, drive, and destination all are changed! Finally, transformation is found when we abide and live inside of the life that Christ has provided for us. It is then that we can break out of our cocoon and soar effortlessly side by side with Christ! Let transformation begin to take place today!

**I will be on vacation next week, so there will be no blog written. The next blog will conclude the short series on our identity in Christ and then we’ll begin a short intro into enlarging you vision during the first two weeks of June. Also both the launch of the SPECIAL and Manual sections will be delayed a few more weeks, due to unforeseen circumstances. I want to give this projects the full attention, detail, and care that’s necessary, so please be patient, I promise the wait will be worth it! Also a Profile on Albert Pujols (the reigning 2009 National League MLB MVP) is targeted for the first weekend of June. God Bless**

Sources:

Kenneth Boa. Conformed to His Image. Zondervan: Grand Rapids, Michigan, 2001.

Surrendering Your Life To God Part 2 of 2: Are You Madly in Love with God? (Reader Discretion Advised!) 

Sunday, May 9th, 2010

“Lukewarm living and claiming Christ’s name simultaneously is utterly disgusting to God.”-Francis Chan

**Warning: What you are about to read will offend you–I guarantee it! It offends me and I wrote it! My responsibility is to present the truth of the gospel–not to puff you up and make you feel good about yourself. Also, I personally am NOT except from what I’m about to write, so if you’re willing read on… **

There is one and only one God and… He loves us! Think about it! This should blow our minds! He created everything before us–trees, rivers, animals, the sky, mountains, colors, laughter, music–and gave us life– yet we take little notice of Him most of the time! In fact we live our lives on most occasions as if God doesn’t exist! This is a huge accusation to make–but it’s become the truth that now characterizes our society and yes, the church. We’re comfortable with what’s easy, safe, comfortable, and just looking out for our well-being. We give God only a little part our lives and think that’s enough. We give out of guilt, serve out of obligation, worship only to show off our musical talents, engage in Christian media to be entertained, and attend church to earn brownie points with God. God is our “magic genie”–He’ll give us what we want and live to serve our needs. The God of the universe is here for our benefit; to make our lives happy and fill our plates with everything we could possibly ever need or want out of life.

You are probably in self defense right now, questioning whether this is really true about your own life. Before you completely accuse me of being judgmental or ignorant you need to really dig deep and look at your life. Ask yourself: Are you truly madly in love with God? To you live to serve Him and others wholeheartedly? Do you put yourself in positions where you’re vulnerable and you MUST trust in God at all costs? Do you give beyond what’s comfortable and easy?  Let’s first look at the problem before we discover how we truly lived surrendered lives to Christ.

Our society is all aimed at keeping us comfortable and safe. From our cars to our home security systems–we  love the feeling of  being safe.  Also we like to be entertained with movies, television, concerts, music, videogames–as long as we don’t have to think for ourselves, make risky decisions, and step out of our comfort zones. The pursuit of happiness has become the American dream. Once we have a sizeable income, with a fancy home, cool gadgets, a stylish car, the latest versions of technological advancements–we’re made it in life. We’ve become prisoners of our own pursuits, pleasures, and preferences that God has become just an afterthought and His purpose for our lives is utterly prevented at all costs. Sadly, we fail to recognize that this is not how God measures success. In the parable of the sower given by Jesus there are four different responses to the seed being sown in the soil. If we’re honest with ourselves we would see that most of us are the soil that chokes the seed because of all the thorns in our lives. (Luke 8:4-15) A thorn is anything that distracts us from God. There’s just too much stuff in our lives. Money, activities, sports, addictions, television, the internet, shopping, parties– are all piled on top of our relationship with God. A lot of different things are good by themselves, but when it’s all put together it keeps us from living passionately for God.

In the church today, numbers impress us. We gauge the success of an event by how many people are in attendance or how many come forward. Big crowds wow and amaze us. Everything is measured by the amount of members our church has. The goals of American Christianity seem today are having a nice marriage, children who don’t swear, a comfortable lifestyle with a suburban home, and having enough savings to retire at the age of 65. But actually taking the words of Christ literally is almost never considered. That’s only for the “radicals” and missionaries. Most of us want a balanced life of control, safety, and one that involves no suffering. So now we have to ask ourselves, are we madly in love with God or do the words lukewarm, halfhearted, sometimes committed come to mind in regards to your relationship with God? Here are a few descriptions of lukewarm people taken from Francis Chan’s Crazy Love. Take a close look to see if they describe your life:

• Lukewarm people give money to charity and to the church…as long as it doesn’t impinge on their standard of living. If they have a little extra and it is easy and safe to give, they do so.

• Lukewarm people tend to choose what is popular over what is right when they are in conflict. They desire to fit in both in the church and outside of it; they care more about what people think than what God thinks of their lives and hearts.

• Lukewarm people don’t really want to be saved from their sin; they want only to be saved from the penalty of their sin. They don’t genuinely hate sin and aren’t truly sorry for it; they’re just sorry because God is going to punish them.

• Lukewarm people are moved by stories about people who do radical things for Christ, yet do they do not act. They assume such action is for “radical” Christians, not average ones.

• Lukewarm people rarely share their faith with their neighbors, coworkers, or friends. They don’t want to be rejected and don’t want to make anyone uncomfortable.

• Lukewarm people gauge their morality by comparing themselves to the secular world. They’re satisfied because they don’t swear, watch rated R movies, drink alcohol, attend wild parties, or gossip while the people around them do.

• Lukewarm people will serve God and others, but there are certain limits to how far they will go with their time, money, and energy they are willing to give.

• Lukewarm people are thankful for their luxuries and comforts, but rarely consider trying to give as much as possible to the poor.

The following profiles are not meant to be used as ammunition to judge a believer’s salvation. Instead it’s meant to be an examination of whether or not we are living completely surrendered lives to Jesus. “Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test?” 2 Corinthians 13:5. We are all flawed human beings, and no one is totally immune to the above examples. There is however a big difference between a life that is characterized by these mentalities and those who are being radically transformed by Christ. Now let’s dig a little deeper in the main issue:

So how does God deal with the lukewarm? In Revelation 3:15-18 He tells us: “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.” Jesus’ call to commitment is clear: It’s all or nothing. You’re either hot or cold. For Him or against Him. There is no in between! The truth of the matter is we’re only willing to make changes in our lives if we think it affects our salvation. We ask questions such as: Will I still go to heaven if I go to a party and get drunk?, Do I have to get baptized to be saved? If I have sex with my girlfriend, am I still a Christian? Do I have to give 10% percent of my income to my church? Our concern is more on going to heaven than loving Jesus and this has become the tragic state of our hearts.

We usually don’t mind offering God our leftovers. We find it easy to fill ourselves with what the world has to offer and then give God whatever is left on our plates. Hosea 13:6 states: “When I fed them, they were satisfied; when they were satisfied, they became proud; then they forgot me.” A flimsy two minute prayer once a day, a few dollars in the offering plate, reading a chapter of the Bible when we feel like it,….we throw scraps to God because we think something is better than nothing. God on the other hand considers this point of view as evil. Yes, evil. Our initial response is to say giving something is better than nothing. But is it? Does anyone enjoy praise because it’s out of obligation or guilt? Why would we think God would want any differently? “When you bring blind animals for sacrifice, is that not wrong? When you sacrifice crippled or diseased animals, is that not wrong? Try offering them to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you?” says the LORD Almighty.” Malachi 1:8. God is not pleased with when we give Him what’s leftover…He wants your best and only your best!

Success to God is measured by how we love and not much else really matters in the end. To follow Christ isn’t something that can be done halfheartedly on the side when we feel like it. How many of us would really leave our families, jobs, friends, homes, communities if Jesus asked us to? No explanation, no directions, no roadmap–Jesus just asks you to leave everything behind and follow Him. Are you really willing to follow Him at any cost? How we spend our time, what our money goes towards, and what we do and say is all equivalent to choosing God or rejecting Him. Nothing should concern us more than our relationship with God. Nothing. Holding nothing back is what true faith is all about. It’s betting everything we have on the hope of eternity, not what we can see in front of us or what feels right.

The answer is love. When you’re in love with someone you go to great lengths to be with the one you love. You talk with them even if you’re busy or in a hurry, and you’re willingly to spend a small fortune of money of them. Being apart from each other is painful, miserable, and unbearable. You spend all your time thinking about them–any chance you get to be with them you jump at. The same should be true with our relationship with God. The solution to the problem isn’t to try harder, fail, and then make bigger promises to God just so we can fail again. When we love God out of obligation, we focus even more on ourselves. Instead pursue His love, running towards Christ, remembering that He is all you’ll ever need. Through Christ we are free, and loving Him and others becomes more natural. The more we focus on Him, the easier it is to love Him and others. This is where true satisfaction is found. Look at these intimate words to God written by the psalmists:  “Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.” Psalm 90:14. “You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.” Psalm 16:11. When you look at your relationship with God as a chore, a sacrifice; then you are getting the glory–not God. God gave us life so that we might seek Him, know Him, and love Him, not because He needs us!

Sometimes we assume that if we’re nice, kind, and polite; people will know that we are Christians. Truth of the matter is it doesn’t usually work this way. There are a lot of non-believers who are kind, generous, and fun to be around with. True love, though, makes you stand out. You have to become obsessed. Obsessed with your love for God. What does it look like to be obsessed? Here are a few descriptions from Francis Chan’s book Crazy Love on what it means to be obsessed:

• Obsessed people love those hate them and who can never pay them back.

• Obsessed people aren’t consumed with their personal safety and comfort above all else. They care more about God’s kingdom coming to earth than being shielded from pain and distress.

• Obsessed people live lives that connect them with the poor in some way or another.

• Obsessed people are more concerned with obeying God than doing what is expected of them. They do things that don’t always make sense with what the world defines as success.

• Obsessed people seek to make themselves less known and Christ more known.

• Obsessed people do not consider service a burden. They take joy in loving God by loving people.

• Obsessed people a characterized by committed passionate love for God, above everything else and every other being.

• Obsessed people have an intimate relationship with Him and are nourished by His Word every day passionately seeking Him.

Are you obsessed with Jesus? By now you’re probably wondering what all of this means to you? The answer can be stated simply, but is complex to grasp: We have to start living our lives in faithful, committed, whole-hearted surrender to God. I’m not saying you should sell everything you have, quit your job, and become a missionary for a third-world country. Instead take a hard look at your life. Are you totally committed to Christ, living as if every person you came in contact with was Christ? Are you truly the person you proclaim to be;  loving with reckless abandon?  Also when doing this, don’t compare what you’re doing for Christ to someone else’s life. God calls us to be ourselves not someone else. God has created unique people to accomplish a vast array of purposes throughout the world. Another thing to keep in mind is that it takes a deliberate pursuit and attentiveness for Christ to live a fully surrendered life. If you stop pursuing Him, your relationship will deteriorate and die—just like any other relationship. Finally, remember you are never alone. God is always with you and has given you His Holy Spirit. It is by His Holy Spirit that we can live lives that God has called us to live. He provides all we need; all we have to do is trust Him to carry out His will in our lives. Then at the end of your life when it’s all done and said you can say: ^“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” 2 Timothy 4:7. So don’t settle for a lukewarm approach to God’s love; give Him everything you have. Declare  your love of Jesus to the world! Let Him become your magnificent obsession!  After all, who loves leftovers?

**Next week we’ll begin looking at the first principle of SPECIAL: Our Identity in Christ. Also the Manual and SPECIAL sections will be launched sometime next week and it’ll add on to the brief intro I’ve given you on surrendering to Christ in these past two blogs. There’s also a new Profile on Francis Chan who wrote Crazy Love which is the book that inspired me to write this blog. I highly suggest reading this book if you haven’t already! God Bless.**

Sources:

Francis Chan Crazy Love. David C. Cook Distribution: Colorado Springs, Colorado, 2008.

Surrendering Your Life to God (Part 1 of 2): The Struggle for Control

Sunday, May 2nd, 2010

“All to Jesus I surrender; All to Him I freely give; I will ever love and trust Him,
In His presence daily live. I surrender all, I surrender all;  All to Thee, my blessed Savior, I surrender all.” -Beloved Hymn by Winfield S. Weeden

We are at war.  At the very moment we were conceived, we were at war with God. We had conflicting goals, want, desires, strategies, and loyalties that are in contrary to God’s will for our lives.  Then the message from God was sent to our hearts: There can be no peace until you’re willing to accept my terms–unconditional surrender.  We then came to realize that surrender was our best and only option, so we agreed to accept His terms. We waved the white flag; we gave our lives to the One who gave His life for us on the cross–the One who demands and deserves our wholehearted allegiance and devotion.  God then gave us a new heart; a heart to love Him and to obey and follow Him as our Captain and Lord. This is the beginning point of surrender–what the Bible calls being ”born again.”  The act of surrender does not save us by any means; it is Christ’s work on the cross, His sacrifice, that is our means of salvation. But sadly, today more than ever we succumbed to the idea that whoever prays the salvation prayer and says the “magic words”  that we’re saved. The Bible does not recognize such a profession as genuine.

The terms of our surrender to the Lord Jesus Christ are nonnegotiable and unconditional. What is required of us to surrender? Simply–everything. Jesus warned “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of the Father who is in heaven.” Matthew 7:21.  As every new believer soon discovers, the initial point of surrender does not end with asking Jesus into our heart and accepting Him as our Lord and Savior–it’s just the starting point.  Most often we fail to recognize what the implications of full surrender really mean.  Why is full surrender so difficult? Let’s look at a few reasons why we’re so unwilling to give ourselves completely and wholeheartedly to God:

One major challenge of complete surrender to Christ is we don’t know what lies ahead in our futures. We want to know the details. We want to see all the fine print so we can read over it, think about it, and then decide whether we want to sign on the dotted line. Signing on the dotted line is very risky…What will this cost me? Where will God expect me to go? What will He ask me to do? In the whole scheme of things, we cannot lose , because God is in control and He can be trusted. If we’re willing to let Him He will fill in the details of our lives with incredible wisdom, a sovereign plan, that’s written in the ink of His covenant of faithfulness and love.

We don’t like the word sacrifice. In fact, we sometimes cringe at the word; wanting nothing to do with it. The Bible provide a number of word pictures that help us understand what it means to be a true follower of Jesus Christ. One of the biggest images is a burnt offering. Often offered as a sin or guilt offering, burnt offerings were intended to express the worshiper’s total dedication to the Lord. It was a picture of complete surrender to Him. We as believers are called to be living sacrifices: “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.” -Romans 12:1. Our bodies represent all that we are, all that we have, and all that we do. Notice we are to offer ourselves as a living sacrifice–we are to go on living in our bodies, recognizing we are not our own and that we belong to God. God may be asking you give money to a certain cause, call someone in need of encouragement, give your time to serve your church, give up going on a vacation to financially help a family in need; whatever it may be remember that whatever God ask us is never pointless. We can be assured that every sacrifice made serves God’s higher, eternal purposes for our lives and for the furthering of His kingdom.

The final main reason we’re afraid of surrendering our lives completely to God is fear.  Our natural tendency is to hold on tightly to the things we think we can’t live without. We’re afraid that if we surrender everything to God–our health, possessions, relationships, reputation, career, rights, and future–He might take us on it! Visions of God stripping away all the things we love and enjoy, or being sent to a third world country flood our thoughts. These fears fall into four main categories:

1) Provision–Will I have everything I need?  The Bible tells us to be content with what we have and not worry about how our future needs will be met. ^“Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said  ”Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” Hebrews 13:5. Based on this promise instead of complaining or worrying we simply and confidently ask Him to provide for us. If we don’t, we are susceptible to greed, stealing, lying, coveting, or cheating. 

2) Pleasure–Will I be happy? It is unavoidable that we will experience pain and suffering. Suffering is an tool that God used to mold and sanctify those He loves. Despite this, God also created us to experience intense pleasure and joy. The problem lies in the fact that we look outside of God for pleasure and instead turn to people and things. We will never truly be satisfied with less than Him. “You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” Psalm 16:11.  The joy God offers is a breathtaking foretaste of heaven’s eternal pleasures. If we are unwilling to trust God with our happiness we instead turn to the world’s temporary pleasures and become dominated by overeating, sexual promiscuity, pornography, drugs, drunkenness, or gambling.  

3) Protection-Will I and my loved ones be safe? We live in a dangerous, menacing world. Everywhere we turn there’s a risk of getting hurt either physically or emotionally. God doesn’t promise that we will never face danger, but those who take refuge in Him are placed under His protection. He is our refuge, fortress, shelter, and deliverer. “He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.” Psalm 91:4. If we fail to trust God with His protection, we will be overwhelmed with fearfulness, worry, mistrust in people, fear of intimacy, hatred, prejudice, or become paranoid. 

4) Personal relationships–Will my relational needs be met?  The key to rich, engaging, love relationships is an intimate relationship with God. God has promised us that He will never leave us or forsake us and be with use not matter where we go or what we do. He is everything we need.  When we believe this we can say confidently: “Whom have I in heaven but You? And there is none upon earth that I desire besides You.” Psalm 73:25. If God is not valued as our primary relationship, we live in fear of losing human relationships and things such as lust, unforgiveness, manipulation, dishonesty,  and jealousy will overtake us.

It is truly awe-inspiring and refreshing to see a human being fully surrendered to the will of God because it is so rare. The greatest example of this is found in the life Jesus lived. He willingly gave Himself up to become a human being and walk among us.  He lived an obedient life towards His parents, resisted giving control over to Satan in the wilderness, and never acknowledged anyone but God as the one in control. Not once did He resist the will of the Father. There was never a power struggle for control–just complete, glad surrender. Jesus even surrendered His life willingly so we could inherit eternal life. ”But made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross!” Philippians 2:6-7. If the Son of God was willing to surrender His life, can anything God calls us to do, be too great a cost to sacrifice for Him?

In conclusion, we need to ask ourselves this: What would surrendering to God’s control look like for me? What areas are you holding back from Him? What fears or doubts are keeping you from living a complete, surrendered life to Him on a daily basis? The areas and issues that we could be holding back could be endless: possessions, spending habits, our health, eating habits, our time, addictive habits, our comforts, our thoughts, the words you speak, or your future. We rarely ask, when difficult and hard circumstances come up: “What does God want me to do? What does His Word say about this?” To live a fully surrendered life to God is to say “Yes” to God concerning: His choices for our life, difficult circumstances that come your way, His plans and purposes, His disciplines, and control over our body, time, relationships, our future–our everything. 

One last amazing example of complete surrender is the life of Eric Liddell. At the 1924 Paris Olympics, he dropped out of his best event, the 100 yard dash, because it was held on a Sunday. He instead preached a sermon at a nearby church. So instead of the 100 yard dash he entered himself into the 400 yard dash, which we had not trained for. He ran the race and finished five yards ahead of the nearest competitor, thus setting a new world record and winning a gold medal. From there Eric served as a missionary in China ministered to fellow prisoners in a Japanese concentration camp. While in camp, he suffered a brain tumor that left him partially paralyzed. On the day he died in a hospital bed struggling to breathe and going into a convulsion his last words to His nurse was: “Annie, it’s complete surrender.” May our lives reflect these words as we raise the white flag, bow our knees, and proclaim complete surrender over to Jesus Christ. Only then will we experience a life of peace, happiness, contentment, and joy that only God can give us. Jesus, I surrender all!

**Next week I’ll conclude the short two-week series on surrender by looking at how we can apply complete surrender into our lives and give more examples of what a life of complete surrender to God looks like. Then we’ll begin looking at our identity in Christ and who we are. Stay tuned for the launch of the SPECIAL Ministry and first section of the Manual set to be up within the next few weeks. Also the next Profile, on Francis Chan, will be posted later on this week. God Bless **

Sources: 

Nancy Leigh DeMoss, Brokenness Surrender Holiness: A Revive Our Hearts Trilogy. Moody Publishers: Chicago, IL, 2008.

The Search for the Meaning of Life (Part 2 of 2)

Sunday, April 18th, 2010

“For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible,…everything got started in Him and finds its purpose in Him.” -Colossians 1:16 (Message)

Contrary to what you’ve been told and what you want to believe–it’s not about you. It never was and it never will be.  The reason why the search for the purpose has eluded so many is because we look in the wrong places. We look for it in our career, our family, our friends, our peace of mind, our dreams and no matter how hard we try it leaves us feeling empty and lost. Why? Because we start with looking within ourselves instead of looking to God. Why do you exist? You were born by God’s purpose and for His purpose. Until we grasp this nothing in life will make sense. You didn’t create yourself, so how can you possibly know what you were created for! You only exist because God wills you to exist. Only the one who created who knows what your purpose is. Your starting point for discovering the purpose of life is turning to God.

Through God we can discover life’s meaning and with it out origin, identity, purpose, significance, and future. Most self-help books offer this about finding life’s purpose: consider your dreams, set goals, aim high, be disciplined, believe  in yourself, and never give up.  While these suggestions more times than not lead to success, they still miss the purposes for which God created you for. Even if you reach all your goals and find success by the world’s standards you still wouldn’t find what you’re looking for. Money, fame, possessions, accomplishments can’t fulfill the longing for meaning in your life and God made it that way so we find true satisfaction only in Him.

So we have two options to consider when it comes to the purpose of life: speculation or revelation.  If we speculate we’ll just guess on the meaning of life and hope we’ve come to the right conclusion. The alterative is revelation from God’s Word. If you want to know the purpose of something look what to you usually do? You look at the owner’s manual. In this case, the Owner is God and His manual is the Bible. The verse, Ephesians 1:11, found in His Word tells us: “In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will,”. God is not only the starting point of your life, He is the source of it. So to discover the meaning of life you must turn to God’s Word, not what the world tells us to find meaning in. So now that we know the source of meaning and where to turn to find the answers for discovering our identity, purpose, significance, and future; let’s look at an analogy of life that we can relate to when looking for the meaning of life:

In many ways, life is like a play performed on a theater. God is the director, writer, stage manager, and coordinator of the play that is before us. The script was written before time began and your part was chosen to fulfill a specific role necessary for the play to run properly. For the play to work well, everyone needs to know their part and what the director, God, wants them to perform. Also, no part is bigger than any other part, everyone’s specific design and abilities is used to carry out the role necessary for the play of life to be performed. You may be asked to take a lead role, a surrounding cast role, a backup role–every role is important in God’s eyes. Another important thing to keep in mind is that there are no tryouts–everyone is part of the play regardless of where they are in life. It’s our responsibility to find out what role we’re supposed to take part in the play of life.

The audience consists of those of gone before us, the heavenly hosts, and God. They are there watching, cheering us on every step of the way. We are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses: “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” Hebrews 12:1. Every action, word, and thought is observed by the director, God, and nothing is ever unnoticed by Him. There is no backstage where we can hide from the audience of God and be unseen, everything is being observed. He already knows the script and what’s to come, so nothing is a surprise to Him. He takes joy in triumphs, comforts us in our pain, and delights when we glorify Him. God is not only part of the audience– He is actively taking part of the play helping us, guiding us, and directing us throughout every scene take we take place in. He is by no means a spectator!

The play itself is a dress rehearsal for the real play–eternity with God in Heaven. How we perform and fulfill our specific role determines our reward when the curtain falls down on our life. We only get one chance to carry out our part, there are no recalls. So it’s critical that we not only grasp who the writer and director of the play of life is, but who we are and what are role in this play is as well. If we don’t know our role then how will be able to fulfill the unique part given to us by God? There are three critical things God looks at when viewing us in the play of life:

Through this play of life, we are given tests on our character, faith, obedience, love, integrity, and loyalty. There has been many tests already given throughout the lives of people in the Bible: Abraham, Joseph, Ruth, Esther, David, and Daniel. Character is both developed and revealed by tests and God watches how you respond to every problem, success, conflict, and disappointment that you’re faced with. God tests our faith through problems, our hope through how we handle our possessions, and our love through the people in our lives. Tests are often difficult and trying, but God promises to be with us as each test comes our way and through these tests we will be prepared for the more difficult scenes that lie ahead of us.

Not only is the play of life about tests, but also it’s a trust. In taking part of the play, God trusts us with our energy, intelligence, opportunities, relationships, and resources that He has freely given us to us to carry out the role he designed for you. We are stewards of everything we are and possess. “The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it” Psalm 24:1. All the props on the stage are His given to us to carry out our role in the play. He has entrusted everything to us for our care and management. It’s our responsibility to use them to the best of our abilities and give glory to the one who gave them to us. We must treat everything we’ve been given respectfully and honorable for nothing on the stage on life–the props, costumes, equipment, our talents and abilities–are ours. They’re His and His alone.

Finally, the play of life is temporary. Eventually, your role will be completed and you’re be promoted to eternity on the great stage of Heaven. So don’t get too attached to your role on earth and the stage you’re on because it doesn’t last forever. Compared to eternity, this play is very short and brief. It’s just a few seconds long in the whole production that God has in store for your life. As King David prayed “Show me, O LORD, my life’s end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting is my life.” Psalm 39:4. So give each day on the stage of life everything you have and don’t hold anything back because you never know when your final scene will arrive.

In conclusion, remember that the point of being part of the play is not to bring glory to yourself but to God. It is a fatal flaw to assume that your role is to gain material prosperity or popular success, as the world defines it. In God’s eyes, the greatest roles are played by people who treat this life as a temporary assignment serving faithfully with what they’ve been given. Everything we do is to glorify the one who wrote the script, gave us parts in play, and made us who we are. The script is not yet complete here on earth, there’s more to your story when you leave the stage on earth. 2 Corinthians 4:18 reminds us: “So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” When the play of life is over, we’ll finally meet the creator and director of the play welcoming us to the grand stage we were created for–Heaven. It is then that we will hear the words we long for: “Well done, good and faithful servant, now take part in an much greater role I have designed for you on this grand stage that I built just for you! Together we will take part in the script in which every each scene is better than the last one!!”

**Next weekend I’ll be on a retreat, so I’m taking the week off from writing a blog. Starting in the first weekend of May we’ll begin a 6 month look into the different principles of our SPECIAL package: our identity, vision, calling, gifts, past, present, and future. For the first 2 weeks of May we’ll look into what surrendering to God really looks like and entails, and then look into discovering our true identity in Christ. Within a few weeks, I’ll launch both the SPECIAL section and Manual on this website that will add to and complement the blogs that I’ll writing each week. For more information on SPECIAL and the Manual read the information provided on the SPECIAL link on this website. God Bless**

Sources:

Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Life. Zondervan Publishers: Grand Rapids, Michigan, 2002.