Like a Child

Have you ever taken a moment to look at things you’re used to seeing through the eyes of a child? They are fascinating creatures. God fashioned them (and us) after them (the Trinity). They are inquisitive and open to adventure and trusting. Earlier today, I spent time with two of my nephews and a niece at the children’s museum. While we were going from exhibit to exhibit, I realized how much they want to just experience the world we live in. While one of the nephews was concerned about what would happen later in the day, the other was all about the moment. Many times, he got so excited he couldn’t contain himself – he wanted to experience everything that was available to him. He had no thought to whether he could do something or not – he wanted to try. 

As I relate them both to regular life, I recognize the latter is who I want to live my life like. While we definitely have to prepare for tomorrow, we need to learn to live with abandon. I don’t mean to ignore situations and not take responsibility for our actions, but I do mean live in the moment…not worrying about what tomorrow will bring but making the most of today (Matt 6:34).  Carpe Diem – seize the day! 

Are you like me? Striving to be present and be in the moment and life gets in the way where feelings of inadequacy or fear rise up and make you question whether you should do or try something. Or thoughts of the future distract from what is right now. While the future is important and we need to consider it, thoughts of it should only propel us to take action now (Prov 6:4). 

Everything we do matters and it affects what will be. In order to make the most of today, we need to live as if this is the only time we have. The fact of the matter is that it is the only time we have. Right now is all we’ve got – we can’t go back and change the past and the future is not guaranteed (Prov 27:1). All we have is right now and it’s up to us to make the most of it. 

If we want to experience all that God has for us, we have to make the decisions in the now to seek and follow Him. The only limits with God are the ones we place on Him (Luke 1:37). Want to experience life at its fullest, be like a child and seek the Father (Matt 18:1) - live in His will with abandon and leave nothing on the table trusting Him. Take every opportunity to experience all things within His will. He will provide exactly what we need and we will never be sorry for following Him.

Redeemed!

Today, I was with our middle schoolers at church and we studied God as our Redeemer. I’m the first to acknowledge that I needed to be redeemed. Just like everyone else, I’ve sinned and fallen short of God’s glory (Rom 3:23-24). When I think of all the ways I’ve messed up throughout my life, I thank God for always having a plan for my life…..even before the creation of the world (1 Pet 1:18-21). He knew me before I knew myself. Even though He knew we’d sin before He created us, He still created us. 

He loved us before He made us, knowing we’d need redemption and that His son would be the necessary sacrifice to save us. God’s love for us is amazing. In fact, the Bible is His story of our redemption. He started from our beginning and walks through the story of our existence ending with our restoration back to Him. There are plenty of lessons along the way, but the one that keeps coming up again and again is the story redemption and restoration. 

Just as God’s plan was to provide a new way of life for the Israelites when he delivered them from the hands of Egypt (Exo 3:7-10), He does the same thing for us. Before we accepted Jesus, we were living in darkness. Now that we have a relationship with Him, we are living in His marvelous light (1 Pet 2:9). We have moved from darkness into light so that we might have life and it more abundantly (John 10:10), not when we get to heaven, but right now. We are already living in eternity, just on this side. 

We are visitors passing through this world (1 Chr 29:15). We are not here to stay but we can have a life that is full of God’s blessings for us. Yes, there will be trials and tribulations, but God has a plan for us and it will be fulfilled no matter what (Psa 138:8). When Jesus died on the cross and shed His blood, He paid our debt and redeemed the price of our sin for all time (Rom 6:23). What an amazing gift! This is why it’s so important for us not to sin – the cost is too high. Don’t you agree?

Getting Things Done

So, I’m late. I know. This has been on my mind since Saturday when I realized I wouldn’t be able to post on Sunday since I was traveling and didn’t take my computer. I thought I might be able to skip a week, but here I am on Thursday morning after having this weigh on me for days. Ever had something you knew you were supposed to do and you put it off thinking that feeling would go away. Well, the blog has been that for me this week. I kept telling myself, I would just pick up again this Sunday. It’s just one week, right? Well, it isn’t. 

When I agreed to this once a week, I told God that as long as He gave me something to write, I would. And apparently He’s still giving it to me and I having agreed to it, have to do my part. It’s better never to agree to something than to break that agreement (Ecc 5:5). When we know our purpose, we have a responsibility to fulfill it. Once we know better, we are expected to do better. This is the same with fulfilling our obligations. Once we’ve given our word to do something or give something, if we don’t do it, it is sin to us (Jam 4:17). 

We have to remember that we are to be salt and light to the world. While we are no better than others, we do represent a God who is AWESOME. He is everything that is Good, while our best is as filthy rags (Isa 64:6). We are made righteous through our relationship with Christ, because He is righteous (Rom 5:1-11). So when He gives us something to do, we have to get off the stick and get it done. He’s not going to beg us, but if you’re like me and you’ve been putting something off, it doesn’t feel good to have it hanging over your head. Don’t get me wrong, while I know I owe everything to the Lord (Psa 89:18), I do this because I believe it pleases Him. I love Him and I want Him to be pleased with me. 

Whatever you’ve been called to do, don’t sit still waiting. Go and get it done (Pro 27:1). You’ll be freer when you do.

Do you Know the Lord?

I’ve come to know that there are many people who know about Jesus, but don’t know Him. They are everywhere - in churches, workplaces, at the grocery store, etc. I’ve recently realized that those in churches may the hardest to reach. Much like the Sadducees, in the bible, many of them have grown up in the church and they’ve heard messages and they do work there and believe they know all there is to know, but their hearts are not changed (Matt 7:21-23). They haven’t really developed a relationship with the Lord. They haven’t actually accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior. Outside of the church environment, they don’t spend time with Him and their lives are not changed. The Holy Spirit is not present in their lives. They don’t know Him (1 John 2:4). 

How do I know? Because a tree is known by the fruit it bears (Luke 6:43-45). If we know Him, we will exhibit fruit that looks like Him. As my aunt and I were talking recently, if a tree doesn’t bear fruit its only for two reasons – it’s either a different kind of tree or it’s dead/barren. Jesus told a parable about a fig tree that was not producing that needed to be cut down (Luke 13:6-9). If we are not bearing Godly fruit (Gal 5:22-23), which is evidence that we are in relationship with Him, we should reevaluate that relationship and ensure we have one (1 John 3:10). Not only will our relationship determine where we spend eternity, but it will also impact the life we have here on earth. God expects us to be fruitful, if we are His (Col 1:10).

Jesus came that we might have life and it more abundantly (John 10:10)! But, it requires that we know Him intimately and we follow His leading and His ways. If we don’t, we can’t expect to have His promises. To know Him, we have to spend time with Him – in prayer and studying His word. Knowing God allows us to understand His nature and who He is. Knowing Him leads us to love Him and others, because He first loved us (1 John 4:8). While we were His enemies, He sacrificed His Son for us so that we could know Him (John 3:16). 

Yesterday, Cece Winans gave a message (during the Generations Live Conference) – Faith is in the Knowing. It moved me so much. One of the things she said was that Knowing God is the principle thing (Prov 9:0). She discussed how the Word of God is the ultimate authority on who God is, what’s He’s done and how much He loves us. She mentioned how we have to take time with Him to know Him. One thing she said that stuck with me is that even if we never get what we want, God is still GOOD. Our answers can’t be tied to God’s goodness – He is Good no matter what the answer is and even if I totally dislike it. That’s the assurance we have when we know Him. 

God is Good. It’s a trait of His. The more we Know God, the stronger our faith in Him grows. If we know Him, we know He will never leave nor forsake us. I realized I need to spend more time with Him – in prayer and study and quiet. I’ve mentioned before how easily I’m distracted – I don’t know that I spend enough quiet time with Him. I want to hear His voice clearly, but He doesn’t operate at my speed. God is in control and He moves when He’s ready to move. I want Him to move through me because He has purpose and plans for me and I want everything He has for me. But I have to understand there are things I have to do in order to get everything He has for me – I have to know Him (Phil 3:10), I have to obey Him (1 John 2:3), I have to pray to Him (Luke 18:1), I have to praise Him (Rom 14:11). 

Once we know God, we know what He likes and how He sounds - we know His attributes and we learn what He expects of us. Do you know Him? If not, I hope you get to know Him. While I’m continually learning new things about Him, I know His Holy Spirit lives on the inside of me. I’m by no means perfect, but I see the fruit in my life. The more I know Him, the more the fruit grows and flourishes. I pray God’s blessing over you that you would get to know Him and the power of His might and that your life would be transformed in ways you can only imagine - full of peace, joy and love.

Make a Habit of Studying the Word

I know I mentioned earlier that I’m reading the bible through this year. I’ve run into a few obstacles, but I’m still pressing forward. For the past few months, I’ve been in a small group studying the book of Romans and I’m teaching family bible study covering the book of Acts. Some might say that’s a lot of studying and time spent in the bible. Depending on the perspective, I guess that could be true. However, the more I study, the more I realize how much I have to learn. No matter how much we study, we’ll never learn it all. But, the more we study, the more we want to learn. 

God’s Word is living and my experience with the Word changes as I do (Heb 4:12). The Word doesn’t change, it just has more meaning than I can fully comprehend at any one time. It’s a process. But in order to excel in the process, I have to spend significant time in the Word. God told Joshua in Josh 1:8 (MSG), don’t for a minute let this Book of The Revelation be out of mind. Ponder and meditate on it day and night, making sure you practice everything written in it. Then you'll get where you're going; then you'll succeed. 

I’m definitely spending more time in the bible than I have before, but I still have work to do. I’ve haven’t been meditating on the Word day and night like the apostles were after Jesus ascended back to Heaven. I have entirely too many distractions. I get distracted by life, obstacles, TV, social media, etc. There are so many busy things going on around us that we are easily distracted from the most important thing - keeping our eyes, mind, heart and actions aligned with God’s Word. The only way to do that is to know it and practice it (Prov 4:10-13).

The more time we spend in God’s Word, the more we’ll be drawn to Him. With that in mind, we need to make strides to make bible study a habit. The better we know His Word, the better we know His character and His voice. I believe our lack of study and meditation are among the reasons we don’t exhibit the same power the apostles did with the Holy Spirit working through them. If faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God, we have to get into the Word. What are you going to do?

Who are you leading and where?

I’ve talked about leadership skills in the past. I’ve also mentioned that we never know who may be watching us and the way we live. Many believe you aren’t a leader unless you have a position or a title. This is absolutely not the case. Position and title don’t make a leader – it may make a boss or a supervisor, but not necessarily a leader. 

A leader is someone who inspires passion and motivation in followers. A leader is someone with a vision and the path to realizing it. I’ve heard movie stars and successful athletes demote their role as leaders or role models in communities, but they are, whether they want to be or not. But, what role are they modeling for those around them or their fans? For those of us who love Christ, we pray that our vision comes from Him, so that we are obedient to follow the path He has set for us. We want to do His will and operate like He would. But He gives us skills and talents, we have to work to develop into maturity, that will help us inspire the passion and motivation of others. 

The Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Cor 11:1, “imitate me, just as I imitate Christ.” He understood that He was nothing without Christ (Rom 7:18), but he also understood that he was a leader of those around him. He wanted to set a good example indicating he was a follower of Christ and that others could follow him because he was going to imitate Christ. To be a good leader, you have to know how to follow well (Matt 20:26-28).

Paul is a good example of one inspiring passion and motivating others. When you think of his story, it is an amazing one. He was originally an enemy of the Church – the followers of Christ. But, even when He was an enemy, He was passionate and action oriented, but he had also done the work since he was a child. He had learned “the law” and he was applying it as he understood. When he was converted, all those skills and talents changed direction based on the changing of His heart. Paul applied all those skills in his preaching, teaching, writing and missionary work. 

Just like Paul, we are born with skills and talents, but they must be developed so that we can apply them to the mission or purpose God has for us (Rom 12:4-8). We have the ability to inspire, influence and motivate others based on what we do with those skills and talents. The question is - what are we doing with them? How are we modeling Christ-like behavior? Do we recognize that there are people watching to see how we live and how we react to certain situations? Are we living a life that can be imitated? These are answers to ponder and pray about. We have to remember we are providing an example for someone – we’re leading them somewhere. Hopefully, we’re leading them to Christ, who is the only way to the Father.

Celebrating the Resurrection of Jesus

I realize I’m a day late for an Easter wish, but it’s never the wrong time to celebrate Resurrection Day. When you think about Easter, it’s really easy to get caught up in what society has made it – day to celebrate the Easter Bunny and candy eggs and egg hunts and lots of fun. It’s easy to get caught up in the fun and not the real meaning for which the day was set aside. 

Jesus, the Messiah, who had healed and taught and freed people, had been crucified. He had been beaten beyond recognition and hung from a tree. He had taken on the sin of the whole world. He had endured pain beyond belief, as a man. He, the second part of the Trinity, had sacrificed Himself for His enemies – those of us who were unsaved and rejected Him – so that we would have a path to redemption (Isa 53)…so we would not have to pay for our own sins with death (Rom 6:23). He loved us when we hated Him. The very people He’d walked among planned His demise and manipulated a world system to kill an innocent man and He allowed it to happen so that He could save us (John 19:11). 

Then on the third morning after His death, He rose from the dead with all power (Matt 28:18). He took the power from death and the grave (Rev 1:18) and provided us a way to be adopted by God into His family. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life – the only way to the Father. He gave the free gift of salvation to all of us, but many don’t want to accept the salvation or a life surrendered to His will and way. We can’t be the Lord over our lives and expect Him to take second seat, not after He paid the price for us (Col 1:14). 

It’s pretty arrogant to think we can have our cake and eat it, too. In many cases, we are exactly like the Israelites coming out of the land of Egypt. We want what we want and we want God to line up with us as if he is a Fairy Godfather. We were bought with a price, so we belong to Him, not the other way around (1 Cor 6:20). In our desire to be in control, we sometimes forget that we’re not in control of much. The only thing we can learn to control is our reaction to situations (and that only turns out well with the help of the Holy Spirit). 

We are blessed beyond measure by a Father who continues to provide us chance after chance to be transformed into His image (Rom 12:2). Yes, it is a process made available to us through the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. Why wouldn’t we worship a living, caring, gracious God, who loves us in ways we can’t even comprehend? I challenge you to keep the real celebration alive in your heart and your life. It can only point you and others to Jesus.