April 12, 2013

"But there is a place where someone has testified: “What is mankind that you are mindful of them, a son of man that you care for him? You made them a little lower than the angels; you crowned them with glory and honor and put everything under their feet.” In putting everything under them, God left nothing that is not subject to them. Yet at present we do not see everything subject to them." Hebrews 2:6-8

The fear of insignifcance is very real. It drives some people and causes others to live constantly frustrated and unfulfilled lives. Everyone wants to matter. No one wants to think that his life has been wasted. Why is that so important? Why do you have that need?

Why does a former superstar athlete or actor always crave the spotlight? Why do they die dreaming of a comeback?

Once you have tasted of significance anything less seems insignificant.

According to Scripture, you were created for significance. Adam was handmade by God Who breathed the breath of life into Him and placed Him in paradise. That's significance!

God gave Adam authority over all the earth and blessed Him with a woman to be his helpmate. Every day the three of them walked and talked together through the perfect splendor of Eden. That's significance!

You and I were shaped for significance - greatness just short of angelic! We had it until Adam lost it! But we still desire it. The loss of it leads to a loss of significance.

Had we never had significance you or I would never have missed it. But to have known perfection and lost it leaves a longing. To have known paradise and to have been banished from it leaves an awful void.

Significance was lost in disobedience and rebellion. It can only be regained through repentance and maintained through obedience. It was lost at the feet of God and can only be regained by returning there with a broken and contrite heart.

The washed up actor will never win another leading role. And the athlete past His prime will never make another team. But you - you can recapture your lost significance when you allow yourself to be captured by the grace and goodness of God!

You were made a little lower than the angels, don't live like the devil........

April 11, 2013

"Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this:" Psalms 37:3-5

 

Desire is a combination of emotion and intellect. Desire is part want and part will. Temptation is a battle over where we will aim our desire.

 

The First Adam aimed his desire at a lie and we have been a deceived race since.
 

Jesus, the Second Adam, aimed His desire at God and remained holy.

 

What about you? Are your desires being steered by your wants or by your will?

 

The Psalmist knew about desire. He wrote some of the most personal, poignant, and passionate poetry ever written. Few people have chased God harder than David. He gives us some insights here in Psalm 37 that you could benefit from. The Psalm promises that if you, "delight yourself in the Lord" the Lord will "give you the desires of your heart".

 

So, the question becomes, how do you do that? How do you delight yourself in the Lord?

 

Before we explore that, let me point out something even more obvious - you must first desire to please God. You must decide that God's desires are more important than your desires. You will not be delighted in God if He is not your chief desire.

 

What does that look like?

 

"Trust in the Lord...." The word picture painted here means "to rely on", "to be confident", "to lean your full weight on" Him.

 

The first way to delight in the Lord is to WANT Him more than to want anything or anyone else. Aim all of your desire at Him. Make it the purpose of your life to meet His desires. Don't even make it about your desires - focus on satisfying His!

 

When you want the Lord more than anything, temptation loses it's strength against you! I doubt if the devil will tempt you toward desiring God.

 

Will you aim your desires at God today? Will you make Him your chief desire? Will you confess and surrender any misplaced desires?

April 10, 2013

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." James 1:2-4
 

For a long time I have been trying to get my mind around this admonition to "consider it joy" when you suffer. I don't think I am there yet. What does that mean? What is required to do that?

I am not sure I have the best answers or the final answer but here is what I found from the limited amount of suffering I have done.

Joy in suffering comes from the confidence that God is in control of your life and your trials. Knowing that can result in:

The Joy of His Provision. When life is easy and things are good you can tend to focus on all the things you want God to do for you and all the things you need from Him. Or, you tend to get lost in the pursuit and enjoyment of those things. But when you are suffering and life is tough it tends to focus you on the things that God has already done. Rather that chasing what you think you want it can cause you to cherish what you already have in Him. He has provided you with so much! There REALLY is benefit in counting your blessings.

The Joy of His Promises. We have the confidence of His promises precisely because of His provision. But He has promised that no tests or trials will befall us except by His permission, so if we are in difficult circumstances it is because He knows we can handle it. He has also promised that with the testing He will provide a way to escape it. You can have confidence about what He will do in the future because of what He has done in the past!

The Joy of His Presence. Pain is intensified when we have to experience it alone. There is comfort in knowing that someone else cares enough to be there with us and for us. Often it is not about the things they say or even the things they do, it is just the fact that they are there and it helps. God is always there. He has promised to never leave us or forsake us. He has identified Himself as a friend who sticks closer than a brother. He is the one who walks with us through the valley of the shadow of death.

The Joy of His Purpose. As hard as it is to suffer, it helps to know that our pain will bring us some gain. Pain is a terrible thing to waste and yet I deal with people all the time who repeat the same mistakes and bear the same hurts and never learn. Their pain only drives them deeper into despair. James promises us that when we walk in the wisdom of God our pain will work for our development. You will work overtime in order to have a better vacation. You will drive that clunker an extra six months in order to save for the new truck. Suffering can be worth it when there is a pay off. When you suffer for Jesus - there is a payoff!

The Joy of His Price. Early in life I was taught the value of hard work. My parents were not able to give me the things I wanted beyond my basic needs. So as soon as I was able I began mowing lawns and baling hay and other odd jobs to earn money for the ball glove I wanted or the bicycle or to be able to go to the county fair. I didn't like pushing a mower on a scorching hot day or standing on a hay wagon tossing 50 lb. bales in 90 degree weather. But the sense of accomplishment was satisfying when I was able to get what I wanted. It was mine! I earned it! The pride of ownership was sweet! Joy comes in the midst of suffering when you realize it is costing you something to follow Jesus.

There is joy in suffering! When you do life with Jesus He brings joy to every part of your life! Even the pain works to your profit! If you are struggling under the load of trials and tests, cling to His provision, His promises, His presence, His purpose and pay His price. When you get to the place where it seems Jesus is all you have you will discover He is all you need!

April 9, 2013

"Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."James 4:7

There is a lot of commotion these days about the bullying issue. I personally think it is way overblown. As long as there have been kids there have been bullies. While I am not condoning it I do believe it is part of the process of growing into adulthood.

 

I had to deal with bullies growing up and so did my kids. I turned it into an opportunity to teach life principles. One thing that helped in dealing with bullies was having a big brother who would help protect you from the bullies. Life was safer when you were with your big brother!

 

In this verse, James, who ironically was the brother of Jesus, reminds us that we have a big brother Who can help us against the spiritual bully known as the devil.

 

If you you were not too proud to admit to your older brother that you needed protection and if you would submit to his protection, life would get a whole lot safer and stress free. It is the same with Jesus.

 

James says, "Submit to God". The word "submit" means to "line up with" or "surrender to".
 

If you line up your heart and your mind with God and surrender your will you can have His protection. You get all of His other blessings as well!

 

Notice also, James says "resist the devil and he will flee from you". The thing you have to understand about this statement is the "you" refers to you AND God! In other words, "you and the God you have submitted to resist the devil" then he will flee from you!

 

There is a bully in the world who delights in harrassing you and terrorizing you. You can face him alone or you can unite with an advocate, a protector, a big brother! Somebody is going to flee, it may as well be him! Let him flee - you be free!

 

Where do you need to "line up" with God today?

April 8, 2013

For in him we live and move and have our being. As some of your own poets have said, 'We are his offspring." Acts 17:28

The Apostle Paul was preaching in Athens and noticed that they were very religious but did not know the One true God or His Son Jesus. In their shrines they had many idols to many idols and to make sure they did not miss a god or offend a diety they built an idol to "the unknown god".

Paul saw an opportunity to proclaim the Gospel and began to tell them about this God Who was knowable, Who wanted to be known, and Who "was not far from them."

What Paul told them about God, we could stand to hear. Let's examine it more closely:

The Centrality of God - "In Him....."

God will not settle for being "a" god. He must be "the" God. There is no god like our God. He is beyond compare. He created you for Himself. He put within you a "God-shaped" void that nothing else can satisfy. You were never designed to be happy or fulfilled without having God squarely in the center of His will.

The Vitality of God - "....we live and move......

When God identifies Himself as the "Alpha and Omega", the beginning and the end, He is acknowledging that all life begins and ends with Him. Since that glorious and ancient day when He commanded, "Let there be....", life has flourished on this beautiful planet. And He personalized life when He sent His only Son, Jesus, so that His life could flourish within us.

The Identity With God - "....and have our being."
 

Paul was speaking to men who were very religious and somewhat superstitious. They wanted to make sure that they covered their bases spiritually. If there was a god they needed to know - they wanted to know him. It was important for them to be right with their gods. I imagine that the Great Apostle was moved by their sincere desire to be right with a God they had yet to know. So he sweetens the deal by promising that this unknown God, his God, is One Who knows you, can be known by you, and wants to dwell in you. This God is so vast and so good that you can lose yourself in Him - and only when you lose yourself in Him do you find yourself! Some of them did!
 

Have you?

April 7, 2013

The Apostle Paul holds up the image of the Original Shepherd:

 

"Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others, In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death — even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."  Philippians 2:1-11

 

Jesus was born to become the Shepherd for His people. A good Shepherd lays down His life for His sheep.

 

He was also the Lamb of God Who would take away the sins of the world.

 

How do you measure up to the Good Shepherd?

 

Paul, then shines the spotlight on two men who made the soulshift from sheep to shepherd. The first is Timothy.

 

"I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, that I also may be cheered when I receive news about you. I have no one else like him, who will show genuine concern for your welfare. For everyone looks out for their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. But you know that Timothy has proved himself, because as a son with his father he has served with me in the work of the gospel. I hope, therefore, to send him as soon as I see how things go with me. And I am confident in the Lord that I myself will come soon."  Philippians 2:19-24

 

What do you in Timothy that would help you shift from sheep to shepherd?

 

Another one Paul points to as one who made this soulshift is Epaphroditus:

 

"But I think it is necessary to send back to you Epaphroditus, my brother, co-worker and fellow soldier, who is also your messenger, whom you sent to take care of my needs. For he longs for all of you and is distressed because you heard he was ill. Indeed he was ill, and almost died. But God had mercy on him, and not on him only but also on me, to spare me sorrow upon sorrow. Therefore I am all the more eager to send him, so that when you see him again you may be glad and I may have less anxiety. So then, welcome him in the Lord with great joy, and honor people like him, because he almost died for the work of Christ. He risked his life to make up for the help you yourselves could not give me."  Philippians 2:25-30

 

What can you learn from Epaphroditus to help you make a soulshift?

 

Jesus was the Lamb Who became a Shepherd!

 

Timothy and Epaphroditus were sheep who became shepherds.

 

Learn from them to help you make this soulshift!

 

April 6, 2013

"And Jesus, when he came out, saw many people, and was moved with compassion toward them, because they were as sheep not having a shepherd: and he began to teach them many things."  Mark 6:34

 

This is one of those rare times when you almost sense that Jesus may have been feeling a little overwhelmed by the size and scope of the need. He knew that if these people were to be reached He would need some help. That is why He had been preparing His disciples to be his under shepherds to care for His sheep.

 

Through these first six chapters of Mark He had called them and sent them out to do three basic but essential tasks:

 

1) To Follow Him

 

2) To Fish For Him

 

3) To Feed His Sheep

 

In the process He had modeled what a shepherd/leader looks like. Not all leaders are shepherds but Jesus calls His leaders to be just that!
 

Shepherds have internal qualities that set them apart. Sometimes they do things other people do, but shepherds have extra dimensions to their work that flow straight from their hearts.

 

Shepherds have compassion toward their sheep. They are not critical because they know their limitations. They can empathize with those under their care.

 

Shepherds know their sheep by name. They spend time with their sheep. They hear the same tired stories and put up with a lot of mundane things, but it is here in the small talk that the sheep learn their shepherd’s voice. Leaders don’t lead with voice as much as with vision. They decide where the flock needs to go but don’t worry much about who or how many are going.

 

Shepherds are self-forgetful. They lay down their lives. When something isn’t working, they try again because shepherds are attracted to the sheep. Leaders are attracted to an idea. They are frequently worried about promotion and rank and recognition.

 

Jesus is looking for disciples to become shepherds, because the problem with the world is that so many people are ―like sheep without a shepherd.